The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 24, 1905, Page 1

Forecast made at thirty hours ending 1905: San Francisco Wednesdey, north winds. A and continued San Francisco 1or| midnight, May 24, vicinity—Fair warm; light . 6. McADIE, VOLUME XCVII—NO. 177. ALCAZAR— Matinee to-day. CALIFORN] COLUMBIA—"A SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1905. SMITH PLEADS GUILTY THE THEATERS. ‘A Fool and His Money.” TA—"The Unwelcome Mrs. Matinee to-day. CENTRAL—"The Convict's Daughter.” C!‘:“!—-Vlm‘hvfllkq lone.’ GRAND—*Way Out West." Matines 8y, LYRIC HALL — Work." ORPHEUM—Veudevilla. Matines t>- ay. TIVOLI—Comic Opers. This p ANCISCQ of Ath. Lecture, ‘““Weltare PRICE FIVE CENTS. AND IS GIVEN TEN YEARS Judge Lawlor’s Purpose to Make Two Sentences Concurrent May Not Hold and Term LONC, REST FOR NOTED INSTRUCTOR Hilgard to Enjoy| Leave of Absence for Year, SR R On His Return May Become Emeritus Professor. New Director Teachirg Has Made a Brilliant Record. — . Professor Ed- « been appointed E r of the agricultural ex- 5 " ns of the university by Ide Wheeler and t was made that he would W. Hilgard in the ntire agricultural Professor Hil- service, extending Tuarter of'a century, by @ year's leave of Hilgard has exceeded it of 70 years, it is not ex- will meritus Professor Wick- certain to re- I this position £ - the z f the State r T large ricultural new ag- to cost be done in of the col- conditio; as very han in the lways bYeen a re- s been connect- him the State , and ractical agri- was promoted to tessorship of agricul- mology and later s’ institute ed to the profes- Itural practice in Wickson's “ooks o 1 pics, including “Califor and How to Grow Them fornla Vegetables in Garden are well known. as appointed in 1899 a special the United States Department ns of the Pacific Coast is 2 valuable one. Aside strictly professional ser- vices Professor Wickson has served several es as secretary and presi- dent of the San Francisco Mieroscopical Boc! He was the first president of a Floral Soclety when it 1888. He served ten ector in Berkeley s president of the stee of the Cal- hnie School at San Luis CUBAN LIBERALS NOMINATE GOMEZ Select Him as Candidate for President of the Republie. HAVANA, May 23.—The National Lib- tal Convention to-day nominated Jose Mig Gomez, Governor of Santa Clhra yvince, for President, and Alfredo as for Vice President. Gomez re- ed 108 out of the 109 votes cast, the membership of the convention num- bering 150. General Masso received one vote. There were five blank ballots and these were presumably cast by the Nunez ates. e Miguel Gomez is 50 years of age native of Santa Clara province. He icipated in the two great revolutions. te first he reached the rank of major J in the second was major general. He cne of the Commissioners sent to \Washington to advise as to & practical hod for dissolving the revolutionary army. He was selected a delegate to the constitutional convention and particl- pated in the work of the convention. He was ‘selected Governor of Santa Clara province and when his term expired he was elected as a Republican, or Con- servative. n of the college of | | in the| | the college for o investigate the pomo-/| | Wickson Will Succeed Hilgard £ AGRICU A WHO SIENTIST WHO S LTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNI- HAS BEEN GRANTED A YEAR'S LEAVE CCEEDS HIM. % - AUTOMOBILE | IS BLONN U 1 Sweeper Causes an * Explosion. e Special Dispatch to The Call NEW YORK, May 23.—Through the carelessness of a street sweeper, who threw a lighted match beneath the | $10,000 touring automoblle owned by Mrs. and Fifth avenue shortly after 6 o'clock to-night, the expensive machine | partly wrecked by an explosion and then | almost consumed by the burning gaso- | line that escaped from fits tanks. The | torce of the explosion startled diners in | the Waldorf-Astoria, who rushed to the | windows and into the street, fascinated |by the pillars of flames which were wrapped around the perishable material | in the automobile. | From the Waldorf-Astoria a fire alarm j was sent in. When the engines and other apparatus were arriving, Fifth avenue, always filled with vehicles of all descrig- tions at that hour, became congested. Drivers of carriages containing persons of weaith and prominence sought to es- cape the fast coming fire engines. The police prevented a stampede and finally cleared the street for the apparatus, which soon had the fire subdued. The costly machine was a wreck. In rushing to the fire an engine horse was Instantly killed by being driven against an elevated railrcad pillar in or- der to avold running down an old woman and a boy. —_———— GERMAN DOCTOR CONSIDERS SECRETARY HAY A WELL MAN BAD NAUHEIM, May 23.—The dilation of Secretary Hay's heart, the functional disorder for which he came here to be treated, has, according to Professor Gro- del, entirely disappeared. The professor oronounces Hay a well man | Howard Gould, which was left standing | | in front of a garage at Thirty-third street was | FORMER WAVOR iND A TRAINED Robert C. Davidson Disappears From Baltimore. Specfal Dispatch to The Call BALTIMORE, M4, May 33.—Mrs. Robert C. Davidson, wife of a former Mayor of this eity, who has been prom- | inent in financial, political and Baptist church circles, announced to-day that her husband had disappeared. She said that he sailed for Hurope last Wednes- day and that he did not intend to re- | turn home. Mrs. Davidson declared that her: hus- band had converted all of his property —about $175,000 in stocks and bonds— into cash. Her announcement caused the biggest surprise here since Mayor Robert M. McLane shot himself. Mrs. Davidson also says that Miss Laura Banning Noyes, a beautiful ltra.lm-:d nurse, has left the city. Miss | Noyes is a brunette, about six' feet tall, and is a friend of Mpvidson. According | to Mrs. Davidson her husband and Miss ioyes have been seen frequently in public places recently. They have been | notlced driving In David Hill Park, she says, and have been seen at luncheon in the fashionable hotels. Mrs. Davidson said that she remon- strated with her husband, and that he said that he could not help himself. Her husband had been drinking at an increasing rate, especlally since Janu- ary, and she fears he may commit sui- j cide. She says that he had urged her to get a divorce, but that she will re- main Mre. Davidson. ——— Ohio River-Lake Erie Canal. PITTSBURG, May 23.—The long- talked-of Ohio River and Lake Erie ship canal is to become a reality at la ing is to be put through by Pittsburg men, who have formed a company with a capital of $2,625.000, which will be increased to $30,000,000, - NUASE ELOPE Match Thrown by Street t, through private capital. The undertak- | the State SLAV SHIPS Elude Togo's Fleet, and Reach the Open Sea. Council of War Hastily Called in Japanese Capital. Mikado's Land Forces Said to Have Isolated the Vladi- vostok Stronghold. Special Cable to The Call and New York Her- ald. _Copyright, 1805, by the New York Her- ald Publishing Company. 35 TOKIO, May 28-An fmport: con~ forence was %l ot ihe resiten tae Premier iy this city to-day. Tepdrted that the Russinn fleet ha passed out into the Pacific, and that the Teceipt of this news was the cause of the calling of the conference. LONDON, May 23.—Unofficial news continues to bear out reports that | & remewal of operations in Manchuria is impending. A dispaich to the Tele- graph from Tokio asserts that the Jap- anese have cut the railway to Viadivos- tok, which city Is now isolated, render- ing Rojestvensky's voyage futile. The Japanese army hus been reinforced, and its sirength is now equal to that prior to the battle of Mukden. Railway com- munication between Dalny and Mukden has been restored. Correspondents in | St. Petersburg communicate but Ilittle mews, but there is a general expectancy of fighting. | LONDON, May 24—The Shanghai cor- | respondcnt of the Morning Post says he | learns from a trustworthy source that Vice Admiral 'Fogo's fleet is still off | Masampho, on the southeastern coast of Korea. ST. PETERSBURG, May 23.—The news from the front continues to point to the imminence of a renewal of fighting on a large scale. General Linevitch is pressing the Japanese center, both on the line of the railway and on the Mandarin road, but wheth- er he is simply feeling out Field Mar- shal Oyama’s strength or has assumed a genulne offensive s not vet clear. There is no doubt, however, that Linevitch has made complete prepara- tion for a big battle. All the Russian | sick and wounded who were at Harbin and places south of there have been transported westward to Irkutsk, and orders have been given to clear the in- tervening hospitals. Sanitary trains have been ordered to the front. General Linevitch, in a dispatch from the front, dated May 21, announces that the Russian detachment east of the railroad, which, on May 18, approached the village of Shahotze and was at- tacked by a considerable force of Japanese from the coal mines south of that place, occupied Shahotze on May 19 and continued southward on May 20. Prince Troubetskoy's detachment met the Japanese artillery fire on May 17 near Changtufu station, but the Jap- anese were forced to evacuate the position and retire southward. The Prince on May 20 advanced farther southward and another Russian de- tachment on May 20 exchanged rifle fire with a strong Japanese force oc- cuping the village of Armagan, about four miles west of Kinchuantso. R S PITIABLE VICTIMS OF SIEGE. Lunatic Russian Soldiers Saflors Taken From Port Arthur. CHEFU, Tuesday, May 23.—Forty- four lunatic Russian sailors and sol- diers from Port Arthur, including a violently insane lieutenant who was on the Sevastopol during the siege, ar- rived here to-day and were transferred to the Russian improvised hospital ship Whampoa, under the British flag, for transportation direct to Odessa. The condition of the insane men va- ries from a mild melancholy to the violent state. Many of these cases are the result of the long incarceration of sick men in hospitals during the ‘terror of the siege. Some are the re- sult of scurvy, and the condition of others is due to the terrific nervous strain of continuous bombardments and incessant service. All of the men are apparently physical wrecks. e SRR MAY CONTEST DECISION. America Objects to Classification °of Cotton as Contraband. WASHINGTON, May 23.—In cabling Department that the high court of the Admiralty at St. Petersburg has reversed the decision of the Viadivos- Continded on Page 2, Column L of |o) - = May Be Doubled Edward J. Smith, the defaulting Tax Collector, pleaded guilty to two charges of felony embezzlement yesterday and was senlenced to ten years' imprisonment at Folsom by Judge Lawlor. Foreman Andrews says that the Grand Jury will not rest untl Su_uth s co- conspirators are run down. Several attorreys contend that Smith will have to serve the two ten-year sentences cumulatively that i | Judge Lawlor thought would run concurrently. L Z . SMITH, FORMER TAX COLLECTOR OF .SAN FRANCISCO, WHO YESTERDAY PLEADED GUILTY TO D A OF FELONY EMBEZZLEMENT ANDWHO WAS SENTENCED BY SUPERIOR JUDGE WILLIAM P. LAWLOR TO TEN YEARS' CONFINEMENT IN THE STATE PRISON AT FOLSOM. — s Grand Jury Will Push Its Efforts to Uncover Co-Conspirators of ex-Tax Collector. Former Tax Collector Edward J. Smith pleaded guiity to two charges of felony embezzlement yesterday. Judge Lawlor imposed two sentences of ten years, to run concurrently. Such was the court’s intention, but sev- eral attorneys maintain that the method ‘of procedure followed by Attorney J. J. Barrett leaves the defaulter in a position ‘where he may be made to serve twenty years. Barrett first allowed his client to plead gullty to the two charges at the same time. In such a case the sen- tences would be cumulative, that is, one must be served on completion of the other. Shortly afterward Barrett became aware of this technicality of the law and asked permission to withdraw the pris- oner’s pleas temporarily, so the proceed- ings could be gone over again and made to conform to the provisions of the code as to concurrent sentences. Judge Law- lor granted the request, desiring to have the two sentences run as one. . But several lawyers maintain that fhe court could not legally allow Smith to withdraw this plea as he did. It is stoutly asserted by some lawyers that Smith, under the law, must serve twenty years instead of ten, as Judge Lawlor intended. District Attorney Byington sald last night that he had no} looked into the matter, as he did not consider it witfin his province to do =o. He thought, how- ever, that if such a point were raised it would not .be pressed until Smith serves his first sentence. Smith came into court braced for the ordeal. With a forced smile on his face he walked into the courtroom . accom- panied by Attorneys J. J. Barrett and Archibaid Barnard. He sat down at a table, confronting Judge Lawlor and looking straight ahead with a fixed stare. The two attorneys remained standing and held a whispered conveérsation, ’ The clerk read the indictment charg- ing Smith with stealing $15,058. “What is your plea?’ the clerk asked. > The prisoner. arose with an effort and cleared his throat with a gasp. The crowded courtroom was silent and necks were craned forward. “Guilty,” Smith replied huskily. $ 5 Clerk Martin immediately proceeded to read the second indictment for embez- zling $24,378. The defaulter remained standing, looking straight ahead. ‘“What is your plea to the second charge?’ was asked. 2 “Guilty,”” replied Smith. The self-con- fessed criminal did not move while the Judge glanced over the indictments. Be- hind the prisoner were the subdued jeer- 7 x ings and whispers of the court hangers- on, but he remalned motionless as a statue. READY FOR SENTENCE. “May it please the court,™ Attorney Barrett spoke up, “we ask for imme- diate sentence In these cases. We are prepared and stand ready to receive sen- tence.” “That ‘being your request I will pro- ceed to pass sentence at omce,” said Judge Lawlor. “Under section 1191 of the Pepal Code sentence cannot be passed within two days after the defendant's plea of guilty has been entered without consent of the defendant. But#as you waive the statutory allowance of time I will proceed to sentence. Edward J. Smith, stand up for sentence.” A shadow crossed Smith’s face as of a look of agony, but it faded quickly. He lowered his eyes and waited. The Judge continued: “On April 7, 1905, you were indicted by the Grand Jury of this city and county for the crime of embezzlement, to wit, the misappro- priation of public funds of which you had charge. On May 17, 1905, you were ar- raigned, but on motion of your counsel tlie case was continued till May 2. Here to-day you have pleaded gullty. “The penalty provided by law for the misappropriation of public funds intrust- ed to an official's care is a term not less than one or more than ten years. Edward J. Smith, the judgment of the law and the sentence of this court is that you be confined in the State prison in Folsom for ten years.” The prisomer started back slightly as though a blow had been struck at him, and his face was ghastly. He had been told what to expect, but when he heard the words spoken he could not help be- traying to some extent the fact that they struck deep. “Now 1 will proceed with the second judgment,” continued Judge Lawlor, “with the understanding that the sen- tences run concurrently.” Attorney Barrett interrupted, holding that if the sentences were passed at the same time they could not run concur- rently, and asked a continuance until 2 o'clock. This was granted, and Smith was ordered into the custody of the Sheriff. The two lawyers, Barnard and Barrett, left the courtroom and after a brief con- sultation returned and asked that Smith be ‘called again. The defaulter was brought down from the City Prison. _ _PLEADS OVER AGAIN. A ‘discussion on the technicality invel took place between Judge Law- - lor and Attorney Barrett. Finally Bar- rett asked that the second plea of guilty be withdrawn. This was granted, and Smith was asked again to plead guilty to the second charge of felony embezzle- ment. The criminal obediently followed the order of his counsel. He realized that he was down and out, helpless, disgraced and alome. Mechanic- ally he strode from the courtroom be- tween the two attorneys, trying to the last to assume an attitude of unconcern, but the effort was a ghastly one. He was taken to the Broadway jail to awailt transportation to Folsom. One of the parting shots of Judge Law- lor rang in his ears as he passed out: “A person so convicted may never again hold a position of honor in the State or hold any position of public trust.”™ Nobody visited the criminal last night. His brothers, who had been with him through all his ups and downs, did mot make their appearance yesterday at all. The woman whom he had wronged most of all—his wife—did not go near him. Folsom prison was Smith’s own selec- tion. At one time he held an honorable position at San Quentin and he did not care to face those whom he had known when he could lock all men in the face. He will be taken away the latter part of the week. Foreman Andrews of the Grand Jury still ‘maintains that there were others involved with Smith in his stealings. Andrews declares that the Grand Jury ‘will not abandon its investigation until the entire conspiracy is uncovered and those who are equally guilty with the defaulting Tax Collector are behind the bars with him. “It is a hard undertaking.™ declared Andrews, “but the conspiracy did exist. ‘We are sure of it. It is the Grand Jury's duty to run it down and we will keep at it “Smith did not spend all the money he took. That would be impossible. Re- will get evidence to implicate Smith’s co- conspirators. —_—————————— Mormons Buy Vermont Land. SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt., May 23.—The trustees of the Mormeon Chureh at Lake City have purchased forty acres farm land fn this town where they erect a monument, shrine and on the site of the birthpiace of Smith, founder of their faith. i