The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 24, 1904, Page 1

Forecast made cisco for thirty erly wind. VOLUME XCVI—NO. 116 THEE WEATHER. midnight, September 24: San Francisco and vicinity— Showers Saturday; brisk south- G. H. WILLSON, Local Porecaster, Temporarily in Charge. at San Fran- I hours ~ending | o — | side.” Grand—* ship.” Tivoli—‘"The Matinees at All Theaters To-Day. Alcazar—‘“Monbars.” California—"Tess of the D'Ur- Central—“FAllen by the Way- Chutes—Vaudeville. Columbia—“Wizard of Oz. Fischer's—“Miss Mazuma.” ‘Princess Fan Tan. Majestic—“The Altar of Friend- Orpheum—Vaudeville. Tan.” Serenade.” — SAN FRANCISCO, ATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1904. PRICE FIVE CENTS. WITH APPALLING SLAUGHTER PORT ARTHUR RESISTS THE FINAL ASSAUL. JAPANESE ATTAGK BY LAND AND SEA AND THE STRONGHOLD SEEMS DOOMED PARIS, Sept. 24.—The Matin's St. Petershurg correspondent telegraphs as follows: “Telegrams, of which the general staff have as yet no knowledge, reached the Czar at 4 o’clock this morning. I can affirm that they concern Port Arthur, regarding which the greatest anxiety prevails at court. The Japanese are now engaged in a general assault, which is more furious than its predecessors, attack- ing the town on three sides simultaneously and employing their whole forces, being determined to finish the business. Russian mines blew up whole battalions. General Fock especially distinguished himself, directing the fire from the wall, which the Japanese reached after indescribable massacre. The whole of Admiral Togo’s and Vice Admiral Kamimura’s squadrons are aiding the struggle, which, it is feared, will be final. The hesieged forces are fighting as in a furnace. A perfect storm of shell is falling on the town, port and fortress from the hills and roadstead. General Stoessel is going from fort to fort encouraging the defenders in their desperate efforts. In St. Petersburg the facts concerning the tragic events, which perhaps will terminate in a glorious fall of Port Arthur, are wholly unknown. At court hope has not yet been entirely abandoned.” — AUTUMN STORM BRINGS WOE TO FARMERS AND UPSETS THE URBANITES 3o & e g . | S » people are not the only sufferers by the untumely and unexpected Septem- | ber stor | parts of the State, with the exception of the far south, comes word that | heazry of rain are falling. In the fruit-raising sections much damnmage has beer done, ‘ he grape crop, and to the fruit spread out in the fields to dry. orm that swept over the city Thursday night and yesterday did thousands of dol- ars’ T h of d For threc hours last night a terrific thunder-storm raged. A bolt - of 4 ruck a telegraph pole at Fillmore and Bay strects, burning out all the wires in the dis- trict he hardware firm of Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden lost $12,000 in a flooded basement. | - - > Storm’s Local Dam- l.f‘..‘f,‘wi"n:r“‘;g?‘?il:‘? ey 3.‘;5,%“‘,‘;’:’] Rain Falls in Nearly | sion and the secretary’s as well as| % Thousands. , |™in,fee ofices wers apened b ‘Siats red down the walls ruining the | 7 4 < laster and flooding the floors. eh e e e D oo Mcial| | STOCKTON, Sept. 22.—The untimely the stree f d The rai from the x‘.»‘xlh‘[ nched the entire und to the Te-l bout 7 n'dwnh! ate at night rain sly and brilliant pearing in rapid | the murky sky, lled continuously. | 1e bolt struck | Filimore and Bay | in thirteen ember day | Weather | ugh dry | mit the en the| record break- | “the flood. da by igan & Hay- ware merchants at erday morn- f basement wall f water. The ware- water soaked into the firm’s private papers his hunting suit, a hack. Carrigan, would be hard to and that prompt nd the watch detached the vator and IKE k ag WORK 1 e trio were al- ves of Dunham, Car- gan to'troop to work they were treated to a president working as laborer. The millionaire was ith mud and perspiration and oiling at the pump. A gang s was set to work at the min- | ake. rigan estimates the dam- | by the firm as being over des the damage done to books and valu- ve been ruined. The e the firm has not | water rushing down | last night tore a great | hat thoroughfare near Bay | E d of Public Works | the place. All night | aborers toiled in the rain,| ee to check the cataract. f sand they were able to | stop the d; e to a small extent, but | the torrent did not loose in volume. LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKES. Thile th were at work a bolt ightning blinding flash shat- near them. The | followed almost | s for a while and | to abandon their | With sack yunder blinded were forced ey task temporari Meanw the torrent of water | ¥n the steep hill and the re. foot, known as Cow Hollow, | an inlapd sea. Cellars were | and y cases wooden structures w most undermined. After the flash of lightning’ struck the telegraph pole the neighborhood | was in a state of panic until the thun- | derstorm died down. That bolt de- stroyed the entire telephone service of the district. Fire alarms were made usgeless .and the electric fuse In the North End Police Station was burnt ! out. { With a portion of the roof open to ! the skies, in the course of repair, the south end of the big Ferry Building was caught in the storm Thursday night and between $8000 and $9000 worth of damage was done. The open- | e into | is still half full of water. { record book and paper of the Harbor | Commission was more or less injured by the water that streamed down the walls d fell from the ceiling. In the engineer’'s department the flood played havoc with walls, furniture and car- pets and completely destroyed many valuable records of the office. Maps, rlans and specifications of construction work are injured in many cases beyond repair. DESCENDS THROUGH ROOF. The direct cause of this costly acci- dent is due to the fact that in mak- ing repairs to the slate roof of the | building broken bits of slate and plas- ter got into the gutters and drain pipes, choking these outlets and thus dam- ming the water on the roof to fall finally into the rooms and the nave be- low. In many places the workmen were obliged to dig through the solid concrete to get at and clear the pipes. The work of drying and repairing the damage will be hurried forward as rapidly as pcssible, All over the wholesale district pools in the streets overflowed and descend- basements, where valuable inerchandise was stored. Nothing like a complete estimate of the dam- age done in this manner can yet be made. At a late hour last night some of the warehouses were still deluged despite the efforts of gangs of men to clear them. Baker & Hamilton, hardware mer- chants at 2 Pine street, are heavy los- ers. Their warehouse containing any flooded. Wine kegs in Chevalier & Co.’s wine wvaults at 9 Beale street were afloat when work yesterday morning. the employes arrived to The place Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson, Market street, sustained slight damage from the su- perfluity of water. The pressroom of the Brunt Printing Compa on Clay 297 | street had several feet of water in it. A gang of men at the Enterprise Brewery were at work all day pump- ing out the flood that rushed into the brewing department yesterday morn- ing. ¥ DRIVEN FROM HOME. The foundations of the house occu- pied by Mrs. E. Ludwig at 3 Lycett place were washed away by a sudden rush of water. She was obliged to leave all her belongings in the totter- ing building and seek shelter in the home of a neighbor. The house may collapse at-any moment. Yesterday was the rainiest day in thirteen years, Forecaster Willson says, and the rainiest September day | in the history of the weather bureau. Forecaster Willson gave the people a clear morning for the Odd Fellows’ parade, but in the afternoon he again let loose his showers. The rainfall for the twenty-four hours preceding 5 o'clock last night was 3.09 inches. The rainiest day San Francisco has known since 1850 was on December 19, 1866, when 7.76 inches of rain fell in twenty-one hours. From 11:45 o'clock Thursday night to 1:45 yes- terday morning the rainfall amouted to 1.24 inches. From 12:35 to 12:45 yesterday morning nearly a third of an inch of rain fell. The exact meas- urement wa® .32 of an inch and is the record for the time mentioned. During Thursday night there were two thunder storms. The wind was light from the south throughout the storm. The bean and raisin crops will suffer greatly according to the Weather Bureau. The ground does not need moisture at this time and the only good that the downpour will do so far as is known is to extinguish the forest fires in the north. HIGh WIND AT SEA. Outside the heads the wind was much stronger than ashore. The velocity at Point Reyes was seventy miles an hour. The storm centered yesterday at Eureka and was not moving in any direction at last accounts. When the center of the disturbance starts on its trip again it will head for San Francisco unless there is a marked change in pressureé over the Northwest. .Willson forecasts more heavy showers for San Francisco to- day. In the Mission the streets were flood- ed at several points, but no great dam- age was done. Sewers were broken by the pressure of water at Polk and * Continued on Page 2, Column 4. thousands of dollars in stock | rain of last night and to-day has jcaused a loss to the growers in this { county of fully $250,000. If the rain should continue forty-eight hours, and there seems a prospect that it will, the | loss will reach half a million dollars. | That statement is made by J. B. Me- ; Joche, who is in close touch with the conditions. Table grapes and beans suffer the most, though onions are also hurt considerably. The rain could not have come at a worse time for the beans. The effect will be to advance prices fully 25. per cent on beans. Wine | 8rapes are not injured; on the contrary, | they are benefited. The recent hot | spell had begun to dry them out and | increase the sugar to an undesirable | extent. | SAN JOSE, Sept. 23—Up to 10:30 a. | m. to-day one and thirty-hundredths | inches of rain has fallen in this valley | since last evening, and in the foot- | hills the precipitation has been fully | twice as much. Reports indicate that | many wine and table grapes are hope- | lessly damaged, and that many hun- | dred tons of prunes, still on the ground, will be a total loss. The bulk of the crop, however, has been picked, and where the trays were stacked the dam- age vil be slight. FRESNO, Sept. 23.—The first show- ers of the season freshened things about Fresno County to-day and this evening. Rain has been pouring | steadily though not heavily. Many seem glad to welcome the rain, but the raisin growers who have their trays in the field are down in the mouth. It means the loss of many dollars. Plenty of warning was given by Weather Bureau Observer Bolton, but some of the ranchers delayed stacking their trays till too late. Those still in the field probably will be spoiled. GRAPE GROWERS LOSE. SACRAMENTO, Sept. 23.—The grape growers of this locality have suffered a loss of thousands of dollars from the | present storm. The grape season was ‘in its height when the rain began, but | row ail shipments to the East have been stopped. Most of the grapes that remain on the vines will be ruined, be- | cause the moisture will cause decay as soon as the grapes are picked. The bean crop which was just beginning to be harvested has also suffered great loss. The total rain€all for this storm amounts to more than two inches, the greatest precipitation ever recorded fon a September storm. SANTA BARBARA, Sept. 23—A heavy rainfall in this county to-day re- sulted in much damage to crops, beans in-particular suffering. The threshing season has just opened, and thousands of tons of beans are still in pod in the fields. In Santa Maria and Los Alamos dis- tricts an average of an inch of rain fell during the day, an inch and a half be- ing reported from one section in four hours. RAIN IS WELCOMED. . GAZELLE, Sept. 23.-The fall of rain which began yesterday still continues, making an acceptable change in the at- mosphere, as typhoid and mountain fever were developed by the recent hot spell. NAPA, Sepot. 23.—A heavy wind and rain storm visited Napa Thursday and to-day and rain is falling to-night. The rainstorm is one of the heaviest in this vicinity in September in many years. It will do considerable damage to hay, much of which has been left stacked or baled in the fields. Grapes were be- ing hauled to cellars, and the crop on the vines will be injured, especially if "hot weather follows the rain. REDDING, Sept. 23.—In the twenty- four hours ending at 7 o'clock this evening 3.26 inches of rain fell here, making a total of 3.47 inches for the storm and season. Rain is still falling. Drying fruit will be ruined where caught out. Stock raisers are bemoan- ing the destruction of the dry feed, al- though the green feed will be started if the weather moderates. SAN DIEGO, Sept. 23.—San Diego was visited by a slight sprinkle last :venlng. It is cloudy to-day, but clear- ng. LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23.—The storm which has been raging in the northern end of the State has not reached South- ern California as yet, though the Continued on Page 2, Column 3. IMPRISONED FIVE YEARS IV A BARY Police Rescue [nsane Daughter of a Buer Horse Stall in Her Wealthy Father's Stable the Child’s Habitat, Parents Guard Secret So Closely That Neighbors Fail to Learn of Girl's Caplivity. RAE S Special Dlm&w The Call. LINCOLN, Neb, Sept. 23.—Twelve- year-old Maigaret Stumpf, the child of William Stumpf, a wealthy street railway man and banker, was discov- ered to-day by the police in her| father’s stable, where she had been confined for five years. As a child her mind had been weak and rather than have her around the house her parents bad taken this means of putting her out of the way. None of the neighbors knew that the Stumpfs had a daughter, so closely was their secret guarded. When the police entered the barn the girl, entirely unclad, was seated on the straw in one of the stalls. It was explained by her father that she could not be made to wear clothing. During her long, solitary confinement she had grown to the size of a mature woman, but her hands and face are abnormally small. She has completely lost the power of conversation, and, when she tries to talk, is only able to utter unintelligible grunts. When the police officers entered her prison to- day she greeted them with a loud cry, like that of a wild animal. Before she was placed in the prison the girl was wont to amuse herself by | tearing her clothing from her back, and, if permitted, would treat other members of the family in the same way. She was taken in charge by the | pelice matron, who discovered that she | had no knowledge of how to feed her- self. Arrangements are being made to have her taken to the home for the feeble minded. + YA LIFE IS SAVED BY MATCH Flash ofiith Brings Aid to Victim of Train, | KUROPATKIN TO RETIRE FROM MUKDEN WITHOUT RISKING PITCHED BATTLE & SR | = QN Z'ILLUSTEATION s < P e e i | - o s ST THE “HUMAN PYRAMID"—JAPANESE METHOD OF SCALING THE WALLS AT PORT ARTHUR. L s » — Hope Is Deferréd for Stoessel’s Gallant Men. Special Cable to The Call and New York Herald. Copyright, 1304, by the New York Herald Publishing Company. ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 23.—In spite of répeated affirmations to the contrary, there are undoubted indica- tions that the second Pacific squadron will leave the Baltic so that, under economical coal consumption and mod- erate speed, it will reach Port Arthur in January. Then, with greatly aug- —_— Epecial Dispatch to The Call. NEWMAN, Sept. 23.—As a special passenger train, bringing Newman peo- ple back from the Ringling circus at Fresno, reached a point just north of Dos Palos late last night, a blaze of fire on the track caught the eye of the engineer and he brought the train to a stop. Leaving his cab and going for- ward he found a man lying beside the track in a fainting condition, one leg having been cut off. He had been struck by a southbound freight train a few minutes before. The man was alone and but for the possession of a newspaper and a match and the nerve to make the brief flash of fire that brought the special to a stop at just the right time, would have bled to death beside the track. He was sent to Fresno on the Owl to receive treatment. The nervy fellow’s name is John F. Carroll. He is a machinis ——————— Raiding Cruisers Returning Home. SUEZ, Sept. 23.—The nu-::l auxil- cruisers St. Smo- T R . T e mented forces, General Kuropatkin will time himself for a simultaneous effort to reach the defenders of the fort, whilé Admiral Wiren will leave the harbor and attack the Japanese fleet. Admiral Bireleff, commander at the Kronstadt Navy Yard, has been or- dered to work night and day unceas- ingly upon the ironclad Orel, the cruis- ers Olep and Jemchug and the trans- port Kamchatka, so that they may join the main fleet, now lying at Libau, with the utmost rapidity. The orders are imperative that they quit Kronstadt on Sunday, while the Izumarum is be- ing pushed forward and will leave on Thursday next, As showing how urgent the departure of the fleet is considered, every avail- able mechanic at Kronstadt has been called upon for extra time and work. The navy vard also has been heavily drawn upon for assistance and every man has been urged to work at high pressure. Of course, after the adoption of such ployed. 70, lensing | 000,000), it is estimated, will | for railroad War Bulletins. ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 23.—Gen~ eral Kuropatkin telegraphs that the Japanese have assumed the offensive from Bentsiaputze, on Fu Pass, which is on the railroad between Mukden and Fushun, about twelve miles from Mukden. TLONDON, Sept. 24.—The corre- spondent at Kobe of the Daily Ex- press, telegraphing on September 23, says that the Japanese seized the British steamship Crusader in the Tsugaru Strait and took her to Hak- o2ate. TSINGTAU, Sept. 23.—A Russian naval officer here has received official advices that cholera has appeared at Port Arthur. Up to September 19 there were only a few cases, but there are grave fears that the disease would become epidemic. MUKDEN, Sept. 23.—The military authorities continue to express the be- lief that a battle will be fought near Mukden within a few days, but on the other hand the Chinese assert that hostilities are remote. A war balloon ‘was sent up to-day southeast of Muk- den, which seems to indicate that the Jupanese arve cxpected to appear in that direction. — yabinsk was the cause of the recent untimely breakdown in the forwarding of troops. - Prince Khilkoff to-day formally open- ed the Circum-Baikal 000,000 ‘ rubles ($35,- required oad construction alone in the iy _Continued on Page 2, Column 3. Retreat Will Be Pro- tected by Rear Guard Action. ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 24, 2:45 a. m.—Absence of detailed reports from the seat of war, despite the imporfant character of events that are believed to be developing around Mukden, leads to the supposition that General Kuro- patkin, after all, may not seriously contest the Japanese advance and the long expected battle at Mukden may turn out to be merely a rear-guard action on a large scale. General Sakharoff reports that the | Japanese army is moving from Bent- siaputze toward Fu pass, six miles northeast of Mukden and near the right bank of the Hun River. The river at this point is shallow and prob- ably for this reason the locality has been selected by the Japanese for crossing. If the Japanese gain a foot- hold at Fu pass, General Kuropatkin's position at Mukden will be insecure, as the Yapanese will thence be able to threaten the Russian line of communi- cations. Fu pass is only twenty miles north of Bentsiaputze, but at the pres- ent rate of progress the Japanese prob- ably will occupy four or five days in traversing these twenty miles. The Russian force south of Mukden is believed to consist of only one army corps, which is acting as a rear-guard and is not intended to offer serious re- sistance to the Japanese. pRS # i Russian Cruiser Leaves Las Palmas. LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands, Sept. 23.—The British cruisers St. George and Brilliant arrived here and anchor- ed this morning. The Russian cruiser Terek, which began coaling here yes- terday, but was ordered to leave Las Palmas, following instructions re- ceived from Madrid, sailed to-day.