The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 7, 1904, Page 5

GARDENS LOSE THEIR RICHES Thousands of Pretty Buds| Used to Adorn Vehicles| for Parade at San Jose| ] ARRIVE| _— MANY VISITORS —_— Battle of Is to Take Place at Agricultural Roses Park After the Procession i i 6.—The ladies in s fete to be held Jeted their ar- night and everything is the greatest floral Ce ral ifornia > h been search- t flowe and vis- will rrow Thousands of witness a | T rosea v alla lilies n v rate the car- r biles floats that are matrone by MOBILES. DECORATED AUTO! PARADE F. H ¥ FORMATION. ADVERTISEMENTS. Which would you rath- er have, if you could have r choice, transparent skin or perfect features? the choose one way; and you \ world would can have it measurably, If you use Pears’ Soap and live wholesomely otherwise, you will have the best complexion Na- ture has for you. Sold all over the world. i | | A Shirt to Be Proud Of, because it was laundered at the United | States laundry. Garments left with us are washed absolutely clean, thoroughly rinsed. and in ironing are given that per- feet finish which is recognized by all | No saw edges. | UNITED STATES LAUNDRY, ’ 1004 MARKET STREET. Telephone South 420. who dress right. | number of races. NEWFOUNDLAND NOW SATISFIED Negotiations on Fisheries Question Practically As- sures Sovereignty of Island | DENY ALLIANCE RUMOR | Diplomats Perceive Signs| of a Rapprochement Be-| tween England and France —_— PARIS, April 6.—It is denied in offi- cial quarters that there is.foundation for the report that Newfoundland will take steps to enter the Dominion of Canada as a result of the Anglo- French settlement ,of the shore and fisheries questions, which heretofore had interfered with Newfoundland's complete sovereignty. i The fact that the Colonial treaty will be signed at an early date is bringing out another manifestation of the rap- prochement between Great Britain; and France. The Temps seys in this| nection that Great Britain's gain in | Newfoundland is America’s loss, but declares that the United States has| been covetous of the French fisheries and says France had difficulty in making it understood that the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon were not for | sale ! —_———— | WANT EXTRADITION ‘[ ON BRIBERY CHARGE America Asks That a Retroactive Agreement Be Made With | France. PARIS, April 6.—Foreign Minister Delcasse, at the request of the United States e assy, has written to Minis- ter of Justice Valle, requesting an early decis the request of the United tes to make bribery ground for ex- aditi The Foreign Office officlals on have no objection to the American re- quest, but as a formality referred it to the Minister of Justice, in whose de- partme t has been siumbering for s0 It is believed that the the State Department's the agreement retro- cover bribery hereto- | The retroac fea- will not be granted, but expected that they sensatjonal sequel cer- now sojourning in Europe pected of having been con- municipal bribery in me months delay ve is Murfit Katzenjammers," s Holbrook, Black, | Little “Wise MG Mrs. M. Portal and Miss tal; Mrs. J. Krausman; Mre tnger; J. E. Fisher; Mrs. L. A Mrs. Will Ryder; ank Burke; Mrs, auman; Mr. and Mrs. Willlam Leet and Mrs Williams and Mrs. Alb Auzerais: Miss Blanche zieanor Dougherty: Mrs. F. nd Mrs. J. H. Campbeli; the Misses Granger; Mrs. Will Selby: T. B, Keli; Mr. and Mrs. Leaman: Miss Eleanor Cator and Miss Maude Campbell; Mrs. J. Nathan; Mrs. . H. Pennoyer and Mrs. E. Knicker- bocker: Woman’s Club tallyho; Young Wom- an's Ciub tallyho: basebail teams in carriages. Sixth division—Lydia M. Bell, aid: E. Salas, stic Lodge No. 10, I T., on Vendome Parlor, N. W., on wheelmen; horribles on wheel ! n division—Wilbur Edwards, marshal; | Sien Lumbard, al fifty decorated automo- ne of march: Parade forms on East Santa thence to Second street, thence to to first, to Santa Clara, to Third, irst, to Bassetf, counter: | ia 1o Agricultural Park. | BATTLE OF ROSES. | The to Agricultural Park scene of festivities will be shift-| in_the after- As the parade enters the grounds those in line will be showered with flowers as they pass under the tribunes at the entrance to the park. A battalion of the Third Artillery from | San Francisco will give an exhibition | drill. Then will come the battle of flowers, in which teams from Santa | Clara and San Jose will meet. A ring | spearing contest by mounted knights will follow and the Columbian Park | | Boys’ Club of San Francisco will give ! 5 a drill. There will be a grand show | parade by the blooded race horses now | in training at the track, followed by a Mayer Bros. club! and the Santa Clara Co'lege basebail | team will give an exhibiticn of base- | bail. | A helping factor in the “lossom fes- | tival is the Young Women's Club, an| auxiliary of the Woman's Club. It is | composed of young society buds, and | they have worked energetically to! make the fete a success. Prominent | among them are Miss Rita Dinsmore, | Miss Edna Latta, Miss Jeanette Noble and Miss Florence Latta. ———— e Grocers buy Hills Bros Arabian Roast | &resh almost every day. " l | ed to the stand. Biocked by the | was there frequently { he | not remember, afd James Scott brought THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY. APRIL HYDE AND DIMOND UNCOVER EVIDEN McEnerney Opens the Way for Hard Blows at Defendants. Witnesses for Prose- cution Tell All That They Know. Some very sensational testimony was given yesterday against Defend- ants Hyde and Dimond in the great land fraud hearing, and it was given by witnesses they had themselves call- ad- verse rulings of Commissioner Hea- cock upon their repeated demands that the Government produce the evidence upon which the indictment was re- turned, the defense found that its only way to djscover the prosecution’s case was to let the Government witnesses, whom they have been calling in’ rota- tion, tell what they really knew. So there was a change in the tactics of defendants’ counsel yesterday. Instead of continuing to ask merely negative questions as to what the Federal Wit- { nesses, were sure not to know, Mec- erney. Schlesinger, Wheeler and Knight opened the bag wide and the cat came out. Now they know the worst, or some of it, and will prepare thelr case to meet it. The star witness yesterday was Mrs. Belle A. Curtis, formerly chief stenog- rapher in the office of Fi=d A. Hyde. | ne is said | but that was eaough to cause | | every person in the courtroom to give She told only part of what to know. breathless attention. 1In brief, her di- rect testimony in answer to McEner- ney’s questions, and still more her re- plies tc Heney's cross-examination, amounted to this—that F. A. Hyde and John A. Benson were partners virtue of a signed agreement in the business of obtaining fraudulent titles to school lands of the States of Califor- nia and Oregon and exchanging them for good titles from the Federal Gov- ernment; that the State lands were ac- quired by the wholesale use of mies and forged afidayits, and that in this werk they were aided by State and | Federal officials, some of whom were named by the witness and accused of collusion with the alleged conspirators. | Mrs. Curtis’ testimony was followed by other evidence in similar tenor, and it will be further corroborated, it is un- derstood, when the hearing is resumed next week. A DAMAGING WITNESS. The direct testimony of Mrs. Curtis, given in answer to questions by Gar- ret W. McEnerney of Hyde's counsel, was in substance as follows: yde's stenographer eptember, 1899. Dur- period his but it was later removed to street mercial street 415 Montgomery Who were employed there besides yourself? ' and two nephews were offl Farwell was the cashie Schoeider (one y with Hyds ndrews and se Mr. was also there part of the time siness was Hyde engaged in? That of a land attorney, buying and selling acrip and locating land for people. He had large daily mail and dictated a great ma letters to When entered his office 1 m had hink he aiready begun to select lands under the forest reserve act of 1897, both for himself and for his nts. Among these clients were A. B. Forbes, Frank J. Symmes, two men named Dutton, Charles Sutro and M. H. Hecht, all of San Franclsco, aleo some What do you mea scrip? Lands_that can used in locating other ands. He purchased a great deal of such land during the entire pericd I was in his employ 1 first met John A. Benson in Hyde's office There was a private telephone from Hyde's Montgomery-street office to Benson's office Benson was in Hyde's office Veey often, talk- ing with Hyde about their land business. 1 remember when they gave some certificates of purchase to Crawford W. Clarke as security for morey they borrowed from him. Clarke I don't know how much he loancd them. 1 once beard Clarke tell Hyde didn’t_care to advance money to Benson without Hyde as security. Hyde could get all he wanted from Clarke, and finally got the loan for Benson. Clarke always took notes for this money. Afterward the certificates of pur- chase for the California lands located and the deeds given by the State of Oregon were a signed to him as security. There were great many of these. transactions, and Clarke furnished a big lot of money for Hyde and Benson Have you your stenographic notes of any letters from Hyde to Benson? None in my possession A PROMISE “Hold on there, NOT KEPT. cried Government Counsel Heney. “This looks like an- other fishing excursion.” “Our object,” McEnerney retorted, “is to show by this witness that :the relations between Hyde and Benson were absolutely inconsistent with the existence of such a conspiracy as is charged in the indictment and that there was no conspiracy “I think it evident,” Heney said, “that defendants are simply trying to find out what the Government can prove—just what mnotes this witness has. As a matter of fact, they ought to have these notes in their own pos- Vell, we haven't,” answered Hyde's lawyer. “A newspaper in Washington,” Heney continued, “started the story. that Mrs. Curtis had read her steno- graphic notes before the Grand Jury. Mrs. Curtis, is that true?” “No.' Those notebooks were Mr. Hyde's property and when I left his office I left them there and have never seen them since.” This disposed of that tangle and Mec- Enerney continued the examination, with the result of almost immediately calling from the witness the following testimony, which alone may hold his client for trial: Mrs, Curtis, did you ever apply for a land n in_California? I signed an application at Mr. Hyde's request, Many others in the office or near by aid the same, among them being Miss Farwell, our cashier: her sister. Miss Susie Farwell: Leon Samucls. an attorney who had desk room in Hyde's office; Mrs. E_A. Ellsworth; C. N. Stein, a barber: Mrs Sarah Stein; ' James Scott, the colored janitor of the building, and many others. Stein brought in a number of men to sign applications whose names I can- great many negroes, who also signed . the blanks, Besldes these there were a number cf employes on Hyde's ranches who signed ap- plications at his request. ~All these applied for_California lands. What about locations of school lands in on? Schneider was sent up there by Hvde to get hold of Oregon lands, and ‘Benson and his son were in Oregon and Wa on themselves. Hyde and Benson were ing together in interest. HYDE AND BENSON PARTNERS. How do you know this? use of the by | dum- | office was at 630 | Hyde's brother, | He also bought scrip | 1 agreement which I wrote out Heney took just one more turn at CE FOR GOVERNMENT FRarclS HERES | F.A. HYDE'S FORMER STENOGRAPHER, | IN LAND F WITH TWO | MAKING NT FIGHT FOR A , THE STAR WITNESS YESTERDAY | WELL KNOWN LOCAL ATTORNEYS - | from aictation and which Hyde and | signed in duplicate, each keeping a copy | How did they get title to the Oregon lands? By the same methods used here—that is, by getting persons to sign applications for the lands, and when the deeds were made out in | their name then to assign the deeds to Hyde or_his agent, Schneider. 1 know this by the | correspondence which camie to the office and which 1 had to file away in the proper boxes relating to the different cases. You have no knowledge as to forgery in connection with any of these lieu lands, have | you? | 1 had some knowledge, but did not see any | torgery committed. Did you know the defendant Dimond while in_Hyde's office? I never saw him there or knew of his con- | necflon with Hyde's business until after I left the office. Benson Then the witness was turned over | to Henmey for cross-examination. He questioned her just enough to bring out the Government's grounds that the transactions she had described were tainted with fraud. Mrs. Curtis testi- fied in part as follows: I signed two apolications at Mr. Hyde's re- { quest.” The first was in August, 1898, for acres in Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Forest Reserve, Santa Barbara County. 1 never saw | this land. I did not swear to my application. | Hyde paid me $10 to sign, and afier the certifi- cate of purchase was issued in October, 1898, 1 assigned it to him a: his request. My second application was for 440 acres in no County. This, 1 assigned the . and re- the Sierra Forest Reserve, Fr Neither of t ore a you not know 1 right? Yes; but 1 was working for Hyde and he asked ‘me, g0 I just signed. AN AFFIDAVIT FACTORY. ‘What was the practice In Hyde's office with regard to having the Notary’'s jurat put on arfidavits? Most of them were sent out in the hands of an office boy to a Notary and came back with his jurat on them. This was a common prac- tice. I saw both Hyde and Schneider send out bundles of affidavits to be comvleted th this ar: you | acknowledged b | . Dia were losing your were not pres- put his jurat on their a¢f- commonly employed for this work was Henry P. Tricou. These affida- vits were in applications for California school lands. Most of the apvlications which Steln red for Hyde wefe brought to the office al- igned, but not sworn to. Some of the whom Seott, the Janitor, got to sign their applications before a Notary. You know it was perjury to swear out an application without having seen the land? 1 did not know. it then. 1 wrote at Hyde's dictation many letters to officlals of the de- partment, and also many others,. in which the names of the person addressed were not given. These latter letters began simply with the words, ear Sir.”" Hence they were known in the office as the ‘‘dear sir letters.”” ‘They always related to cases pending in the Land Office, but as a rule we did not know to whom they were mailed by Hyde. Once, bowever, T taw him eddress such a letter' to J. J. Barnes, whom. from the contents of the letter, i assumed to be a Government official. MONEY TO PUBLIC OFFICERS. Among the State and Federal officers who frequented Hyde's office and consulted with him behind the closed doors of his private of- fice were B. F. Allen, then Forest Superin- tendent, and Special Agent Prior, both of the General Land Office; M. J. Wright, then Sur- veyor General of California, and his son and deputy, Frank Wright. Did you ever, by direction of Hyde, inclose | money to Government land officials? Yes; often. Some few sent it back. The money was sent to the registers and receivers of the different land offices throughout the State. The first time I inclosed the money—it Was generally $2—1I thought Hyde would want it mentioned in the letter 1 was writing for him to the official, and o 1 inserted this sen- tence: ‘‘You will find $2 Inclosed.”” But Hyde made me rewrite the letter, leaving this out. He said the money was their perquisite. We got daily advices from the Surveyor Ge: eral's office at Sacramento regarding applic tons filed there for State school lands. Accompanying the selections of lieu lands a non-mineral affidavit had to be filed. These affidavits were signed In blank in the office and when needed they would be filled out and sent over to the motary fot his jurat. I saw J.-C. Bunner -.}.'i‘dA,“n-nlen. surveyors, sign ¢ these affidavits. T fave you any il feeling toward Hyde? None whatever. 1 have always felt very kindly toward him. McEnerney then took the witness in hand, and the following questions were asked and answered: What was the subject of the letters con- taining money? Land selections, > Did you ever write to receivers of the local 1and offices for piats at $1 each? Miss Farwell may have done so. I never aid. [ What was the subject of that letter from which Hyde ordered you to strike out the reference to the money inclosure? T cannot recall it exactly, but the letter did not refer to any money transaction. All these letters were official, and intended to be filed in_the land offices. How often was the $2 sent? Generally whenever letters were wWritten to the registers and receivers. HYDE PLANNED RESERVES. | California and Oregon, ol questioning, and Mrs. Curtis added this bit of information: We kept office coples of Hyde's letters to Forest Superintendent Allen regarding contem- | plated forest reserves. 1In these letters Hyde would tell Allen what lands he wanted in- cluded in the reserves. Hyde also had mape prepared for reserves in Southern and Northern In making up these maps Hyde took care to have the school sec- tions, 16 and 36_included whenever these sec- tions were not already sold to other applicants. Through his influence with Survevor General Wright he secured precedence for his applica- tions for State school lands, Thé next witness took up the story where Mrs. Curtis left off and told of Hyde's operations in Oregon, where J. H. Schneider had acted as Hyde's agent in 1898. This witness was Thomas McCusker, who testified brief- ly the other day. McEnerney had only one question for him yesterday, but that one at once opened the door to a wide cross-examination by Heney. WHAT McCUSKER KNEW. “Have you ever seen any affidavits, applications, deeds or other documents emanating from Hyde his transactions in Oregon lands that were false, fraudulent or forged?” was asked by Hyde's attorney. McCusker said he had seen none that he recog- nized as forged or fraudulent. Then Heney got out the following testimony: J. H. Schneider came to Portland with an introduction from Mr, Sherman of the San Francisco house of Sherman & Clay. He ex- plained his plan for acquiring Oregon school lands. I did not then see anything wrong about it. and as he offered me $10 for each application I might bring in_I agreed to help | him. T had many acquaintances and soon had the applications coming in rapidly. plicant got $5 for signing, Schneider fur- nished all the blanks with descriptions of the lands to be located, written by himself. I had some of my friends assisting me in getting signers. (The witness read a long list of sign- ers obtained by him and his canvassers.) All_the applicants secured went before No- tary D. Alexander and swore to their appli- cations, ‘I took up some land myself and transferred it to Schnelder. Last year a young man named Levinson came to me in Portland, saying he was from Schneider, and asking me to sign some papers. These papers contained a declaration that the lands were taken up of my own free will and that T had acted in everything without any outside pressure. 1 refused to sign because by this time I had heard so much talk of land frauds that I was determined to have nothing more to do with Schneider. I told Levinson that if the Government wanted to know what T knew I would tell everything. The last witness of the day was D. Alexander, the notary mentioned by McCusker. He confirmed MecCusker's testimony and added further evidence against Schneider. as follows: Schneider brought me many transfers for me to fill in my jurat. In every case the name of the grantee was left blank. I affixed my jurat at his request. None of the parti peared before me to acknowledge the assign. iments, ~ Schneider promised to send them ‘around, but they never came. Did you think it right to do this? Well, you see, Schnelder came around to my office and talked about his plans for an hour, and 1 thought he was such a respectable fel. low he wouldn't do anything wrong. Besides, he pald the notarial fees promptly, aid_ ke not? Yes, sir. Owing to other engagements of coun- sel, the hearing was adjourned until Tuesday morning next. It is expected that Miss Marion Doyle, who succeed- ed Mrs. Curtis as Hyde's chief stenog- rapher, will bring the story told yes- terday down to a much later date. Miss Doyle was one of the Government wit- nesses before the Grand Jury that re- turned the indictment. —_———— Sunny Suburban Homes. Beautiful illustrated booklet outlining ad- vantazes and attractios of Sunny Marin County for summer or all the year round sub- urban es—80 minutes to one hour from San Francisco. List of hotels, Dis- tributed free at Information Bureau, No. 626 Market street, sco, or mailed ‘o San Franch any address on receint of 2c e Dr. A. W. Perry lectured to an au- alence composed of physicians and students at the Emanu-El Sisterhood last night on the hygiene of digestion. G —_——— SAN JOSE, April 6.—The t A By e in this city two dayw ago, was shipped to-day Bt "ouls. his birthplace, byd oy P | !road Company, or relating to | Every ap- | | | | { | { He will die. | | foolhardy attempt at a holdup. | PACIFIC STEEL COMPANY | Steel Company for the purchase of ex- | | tenisivi | erty consists of coal land, railway ex- | tension and a coking plant. DARING ROBBER FATALLY SHOT Receives a Bullet Through Lung While Attempting to Hold Up Gambling House DROPS OUTSIDE DOOR Proprietor - of the Place Uses Revolver After Pre- tending to Be Intimidated S Special Dispatch to The Call. TUCSON, Ariz., April 6.—An attempt at the boldest holdup in Tucson since the robery of the Cabinet Club, about two months ago, was frustrated last night when a masked robber, who gives the name ‘of Jim Smith, entered Hunt's gambling hall and started in to clean out the place. It was mid- night and thére were few at the tables. Smith covered the proprietor with a revolver and he submitted so easily that the robber took it for granted that there was not a revolver in the house. But Hunt suddenly pulled a revolver from a drawer and opened fire, the bullet entering Smith's right lung. Being near the door Smith es- caped before another shot could be fired. He did not stop to carry off the| gold he had swept from the table into| a canvas sack. Officers attracted to the scene by the shots found Smith where he had fallen outside the door. Hunt's place is in the center of the town and Smith dis-| played great nerve in making such a The officers suspect that he is the man who held up the Cabinet Club and secured $500. { { | { —_— COMPLETES BIG DEAL Closes Negotiations for the Purchase of Coal Lands and Railway Ex- | tensions in Washington. SAN DIEGO, April 6.—Negotiations were closed to-day by the Pacific coal lands near Tacoma, Wash., owned by John H. Scott. The | sum to be paid is $650.000. The prop- | Another deal was closed for the purchase of 320 acres owned by the Tacoma Coal and Coke, Company, of 1728 acres leased from the Northern Pacific Rail- and 1435 acres, the controlling stock in which is owned by the Tacoma Coal and Coke Com- pany. H TACOMA. Wash., April 6.—"T do not know of any such concern as the Pa- cific Steel Company and there is ab- solutely no truth in the statement that 1 have sold to it any property of any kind,” said John H. Scott to-night when shown the San Diego dispatch which says he had sold his coal lands to the Pacific Steel Company for $650, 000. i 1 PANAMA, April 6.—The members of the United States Canal Commission received an erthusiastic .welcome on their arrival here frem Colon _to- | doing. | are CUTS THROAT WITH A RAZOR PR U Rene Thorsch of San Fran- ciseo Attempts to Commit Suicide at Los Angeles CONFESSES TO CRIME Says That He Is a Fugitive From Justice, Having Em- bezzled Employer’s Funds Spectal Dispatch to The Call LOS ANGELES, April 6.—At the re- quest of the San Francisco Police De- partment Rene Thorsch, who was found in Central Park this morning after he had tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a razor, is | being held until an officer can reach here to take him back, the informa- tion having been received here that he is to be prosecuted on a charge of em- bezzlement. Thorsch is only 19 years of age and says he came here from San Francisco to escape prosecution. At 1:45 o'clock this morning he was found in the park with his throat cut and his wrists gashed. He was taken to the Receiv- ing Hospital, where the surgeons stopped the flow of blood and pre- vented him from bleeding to death. On his person was found the following note: “My name is Rene Thorsch. M home is in San Francisco, where m parents live at 2392 Pine street. I hope God will forgive me for doing this, but it is for the best. It is my own fault, as I always have had a good home, but gambling was my un- My belongings are at 1702 South Grand avenue. Please notify my father, as the shock would kill my mother.” The wounds which Thorsch inflicted not serious, although he would have bled to death if not discovered in time. Thorsch stated to-night that he had been in the employ of J. B. Whitney of .120 Sutter street, San Francisco, and admitted that he was short in his accounts. He expressed a willingness | to go back to San Francisco to face ‘any charges which may be preferred and intimated that others would be implicated in what he had to tell when he reaches San Francisco. — ———————— WELL-KNOWN RESORT IS DESTROYED BY FIRE Hotel, Cottages and Bathhouses Orr Hot Springs in Mendocino County Are Total Loss. UKIAH, April 6.—Orr Hot Springs, a summer resort, eleven miles west of this city on the Mendocino road, was destroyed by fire last night. The cause of the fire is unknown. The fire started in the hotel and soon en- veloped the cottages and bathhouses. The loss will reach $20,000. Within the past ten years the hotel has been burned twice. Special Values ThisEasterWeek In conjunction with our Annual the first in our-new Geary-s Week values are being offe Spring opening— treet store—special Easter red in every department. Decisive reductions on both high grade and popular priced goods, which are making things exceedingly in- teresting. An excellent opportunity for you tovisit this magnificent establishment, made the more attractive right now by a gorgeous display of the season’s new productions. you are welcome. Come without a thought of buying— Below are a few of the many spe- cials to be offered for two days more: Weathered oak desks, like picture duced from $17.00 to...... Weathered oak buffets reduce Birdseye maple chiffoniers red: to Golden oak .to ood seat rockers Imitation Arabian curtains reduced from $7.50 and $8.50 the pair to............ Axminster rugs, 27 by 63 inch $25 1o o5 above, re- d from $15.00 to $12.75 $11.25 $5.25 $22.50 reduced from $8.50 ss.m f!dl..lced fro:n SI.95 uced from $30.00 es, ' (Formerly the California Furniture Co.) 261 to 281 Geary Street, at Union Square