The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 18, 1905, Page 1

pe taksn TTONE sat? han — THE WEATHER. For San Francisco and vicinity— Cloudy unsettled weather Baturday light rain; fresh south winds, ing to westerly. A. G. McADIB, Distriot Forecaster. Any Other Paper Publi THE THEATERS. ALCAZAR—“The Little Minister.” CALIFORNTA—Tiger Lilies CENTRAL—“The Darkest Hour.” CHUTES—Vaudeville. COLUMBIA—'"The Prince of Pllsen.” FISCHER'S—Vaudeville. GRAND—"‘Buster Brown." ““The Light Eternal.”” ORPHEUM—Vaudeville. LYRIC HALL—Watkin Mills' Quartet. Matinees at all theaters. ORI BT AR MAJESTIC- CVIII—NO SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1905. PRICE FIVE CENTS. WCURDY OF EQUITABLE SOCIETY INVOLVES CALIFORNIANS IN INSURANCE SCANDAL TESTIFIES TO THE PAYMENT OF MONEY TO THE BROTHER OF STATE COMMISSIONER CLUNIE Samuel S. McCurdy testified yesterday before the legislative committee that the Equitable Society, the New York Life and the Mu- tual had each paid %250 a month to General Clunie while his brother Andrew J. Clunie was State Insurance Commissioner. W. H. Chickering of this city also received a large sum in fees. 13 CALIFORNIANS ARE INV Samuel S. = special counsel to 1900. represent of California in w total amount paid t was way £9000. for the Mutual Chickering was counsel not know If for: interpret some intricacies of the State Insurance law. McCurdy of the Equitable Soclety testified yesterday that the Equitable before a commission appointed hy Insurance Commissioner Clunie The appointment was made at the suggestion of E. sttorney, who had told the witness that the money was paid to a brother of the Insurance Commissioner. The H. Chickering, also of California, was paid approximately $17,500. Life Insurance Company. each paying $350 a month to the same msn who had been retained by the Equitable. overnor Budd had received any of the ~+ OLVED IN THE SCANDAL $250 a month had been pald to S, Pillsbu the society’s regular ¥ The New York Life and the Mutual were Witness McCurdy did money. Budd was employed by the company to 5 o ' EX-GOVERNOR BUDD EXPLAINS HIS POSITION. Former Governor Budd, in an interview last nizht, ~xaid that his services with the Equitable began some time after hix term of Governor had ended. made two visits to New York in that eapacity, for which he received compensation. York dispatches, and says he will willingly go before the of transactions mentioned in the New investigating board in New York upon the conclusion of mts he received for his work without reference the alleged the am satisfactory. He was employed as advisor 4o to the insurance companies, and He denies nll knowledge certain private business. He could not state definitely to his accounts, but sald the sum paid him was not SAY CLUNIE DREW MONTHLY SALARY. Retained by Companies| to Guard Interests. PAY - ROLILS N THREE YORE, N end of the morning ses- | - - ttee oh insurance in- | which not been ; The wit- Hyde he day was ed to testify al funds by the resterday that ) Jast year. It d early t s will be n Equitable 1 Life, said he From him was 7, when the In- ed an investiga- Equitable in he justified the e Equit- e the ex- nds of the exorbita POOR. MEMORY s information Te for legal serv! rather limited, and these vouchers he he * and “your rambunc- nator said he knew Nichols Equitable, but he aid, was once e active in politics. the stand when adjournment until former Comptroller of the ety, was the first witness at a previous session that he of his father or mother and not know whether thev were living or dead. To- be-had not since learned of his father's where- had received a letter from his mother, who is in | e said nothing about his father. As to his profits | surance written on properties morigaged to the he said his father received none of them. He had what proportion of his business the Equitable fur- | nished him | McCURDY INVOLVES CALIFORNIANS IN SCANDAL, , assistant registrar of the Equitable d. He had formerly been secretary to jam Alexander of the society. As assistant he had custedy of vouchers for money paid out for xpenses, He produced the vouchers for such expenses e last ten years. On the vouchers for 15% was a let- James W. Alexander from Robert H. McCurdy of al Life Insurance Company, which accompanied a quitable’s share of salary and expenses of George ary legal representative’™ of the Equit- New York Life Company and Mutual Life In- | mpany. The salary of Batcheller from this com- | »n was given in a statement as $77.700. It was brought | at Batcheller's duties were abroad. e packages of vouchers fbr payment for legal services | various State Legislatures were gone through by. Attor- | Hughes, who asked as to the legal services rendered by signers of the various vouchers. A voucher from James M. Lewis, dated January 27, 1899, | s for $1000, “jn full for services rendered during the com- | & session of the General Assembiy in Missourl.” Witness | t know Lewis or the services he performed, nor did | e shed much light on other vouchers. McCurdy sald that $250 a month had been paid to special ol to represent the Equitable Society before the com- mission appointed by Insurance Commissioner of California Clunie in 190, demanding that the society make a list of its outstanding polides, at the suggestion of E. S. Pillsbury, the soclety’s regular attorney, who had told the witness it was paid to a brother of the Insurance Commissioner, The total amount paid in that way was $9000. The witness said also | that approximately $17,500 was paid to W. H. Chickering of | California, counsel for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. D NOT KNOW IF BUDD WAS PAID. At the close of 1899, when the Equitable Society filed its annual statement with the California Insurance Department, | the commissioner asked forty additional questions, the wit- ; ness said, which the commissioner knew it was practically impossible for the seciety to answer because its books were Bot kept so as to do this. This, the witness said, was prac- Continged on Page 3, Columa 2. | former LOCAL ATTORNEYS ARE 0UT OF CITY BUDD TALKS OF CASE Says That His Work for the Equitable Was in Legal Capacity. The press dispatches containing the statements of wit- ses before the New York legislative commission that probing the affairs of the large Insurance companies »d much discussion in business and professional vesterday as the names of promipent Californians ca circles are involved in the far-reaching scandal. By a curious coincidence, the men named in the dis- patches, with one exception, are all out of the city and B business associates have only a general idea of their cabouts. An attempt to locate former Commis- sioner Clunie yesterday resulted in the Information that he had been out of town for a week and was in Los whe; Angele His office was closed and persistent calls at his residence failed to bring an angwer. Word was re- ceived late last night that Clunie is on his way home and will arrive here this afternoon. in the New tigation is W. H. Chickering. Inquiry at Chick- revealed the fact that “he had left there half ur ago” for Los Gatos and would not return for sev- . He could not be found at Los Gatos last night. E. 8. Pillsbury who Is mentioned as having advised the Equitable to pay General Thomas J. Clunie, brother of Commisser Clunie, $250 a month, was not to be en at his offiice yesterday afternoon and inquiry at the Palace, where he resides, revealed the fact that he also is out of town. OLD RUMORS OF SCANDAL ARE REVIVED. When the first investigation of the insurance com- panies began Mr. Pillsbury was mentionel as an attorney of the Equitable and in a former interview sald that he had simply been retained by the insurance company to use every legal means to have the State tax reduced and that after succeeding in doing this his connection with the insurance company ceased. . The revival of the old rumors or scandal recalls the career of former Insurance Commissioner J. N. E. Wilson, who was shot and killed by his client, James Clancy, five years ago. Wilson was unfortunate in the conduct of his office and narrowly escaped charges of embezzlement of money he had collected from insurance companies and deposited in a local bank instead of turning over to the State. When Wilson was made Insurance Commissioner he had as partner Eugene Bert, an attorney and baseball Another attorney prominently featured York ering’ an magnate, and when Wilson was appointed Bert became the Insurance Commissioner's official attorney. Bert is the livelong-friend cf Andrew J. Clunie, who was ap- pointed by Governor Budd to succeed Wilson as Insurance Commissioner, but during Clunie’s administration his brother, General Thomas J. Clunie (now dead), acted as legal adviser of the Commissioner. General Clunie owned the building in whicn the Insurance Commissioner's office was situated and Bert had his offices next door. At the conclusion of Governor Budd's administration, Budd was appointed special attorney for the insurance companies and in that capacity made two visits to New York in 1900 and 1901 BUDD EXPLAINS CONNECTION WITH CASE. In speaking of his connection with the insurance inves- tigation in New York, ex-Governor Budd sald last night: “The first time I was in any_way connected with the Equitable was when I went to New York in 1900, two years after my term as Governor expired. At that time I inter- preted forvthe Equitable several intricacies of the Califor- nia insurance laws, for which I received a fee, or rather a compensation, < “I returned again to New York in 1901, and at this time, and on the occasion of my former visit, saw the heads of many of the big insurance companies, but my visit was entirely in connection with legal matters. “Regarding the compensation I received I really cannot tell how much it. was without referring to my accounts. But I know the compensation was not endugh and I was dissatisfied with it at the time. Perhaps Mr. Chickering will tell you what the amount was, as‘I was in conference' with him. “I want it distinctly understood that my connection with the Equitable was purely in a legal capacity, and took place after my term as Governor expired. Whatever the transactions were I can give an accounting for;them with a clear conscience, although I cannot tell about them at the present time, for that would be osing the profes- sional secrets of my clients. READY TO APPEAKR BEFORE COMMITTEE. “Regarding-the charge made against Insurance Com- missioner Clunie, I have no knowledge of the matter. T appointed Clunie as Commissioner during my term, but I Jad no connection in any way with the Equitable during that time, or at the time of Clunie's appointment. “I know nothing of any advice M to have been | Continued on Page 2, Column 3. N -~ MILLIONAAE'S SIN ARRESTED N ST. LOUs Fraud With United States Senator. ST. LOUIS, Nov.. 17.—Richard Kastor, son of H. W. Kastor,’a millionaire, was ar- rested to-day by ja'Deputy United States Marshal at the Federal building on-an | indictment returned by the Federal Grand Jury, chiarging him with conduct- ing a scheme to defraud in connection | with the Merchants' Brokerage and Com- mission Company of St.:Louis. The Postoffice Inspectors allege that Kastor acted as the.go-between, between the Merchants’ Brokerage and Commis- sion Company and a United States Sen- ator; that the corgpany paid Kastor to prevent the issuance of a postal fraud order against it, and that Kastor worked through the Urnited States Senator. The indictment, which was returned this afternoon, was voted after the Grand Jury had heard testimony from a num- ber of men who have either been convicted of charges of conducting fraudulent con- cerns or who have woperated concerns against which fraud orders have been is- sued by the Postoffice Department. The first evidence toward this indict- ment to be given serious consideration was included in a reported confession of George H. Sultzbach, known as G. Louis Stern, who is under indictment on a charge of conducting a scheme to defraud. For more than a week Sultzbach-has been in daily conference with Postotfice -In- spector W. L. Reid. 5 Kastor was released on $2000 bond. —_——————— ARTIST INSULTED Invited Exhibitor Ordered to | Take Pictures Out _ of Library. FRESNO, Nov. 17.—Society circles in Fresno are deeply agitated over what they term the “brutal ejection’” of John { Ivey and his collection of pictures from the exhibition room of the Carnegie Free Public Library. artist and Chautauqua ‘lecturer, was brought here through the instrumentality of the various laides’ clubs of the: city. His plctures were placed on.exhibition In the library building and it was advertised that he would give lectures for the benefit of the library. But alas, Ivey exhibited a willingness to part with his pictures | ., for cash and the hard headed Tibrary trus tees thought they scented a graft. The li- brarian was told to order him to pack his traps and go, and this morning peddler's license. The insulted artist is —_— e s Accused of Aiding in a BY FRESNO PEOPLE. Ivey, -well -known-as-an| numwflwurulkdmheym'm: Attorney CHURCH 4T SEA Archbishop /Riordan of San Francisco Officiates. PSS RNE Special Dispatch to The Call. NEW YORK, Nov. 17.—With a quartet’ from an opera troupe singing hymns and Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco officiating, Vincenzo Giordano, a sailor on the North. German Liloyd steamship Koenigen Luise, which arrived to-day from Mediterranean ports, was ‘buried in mid-ocean ‘on Wednesday, twenty-four hours after he had been injured by a fall from the ship’s rigging. Giordano asked for a priest and Archbishop Riordan, who was a cabin passenger on board, admin- istered the last rites of the church to the dying seaman. : § At dawn on Wednesday the body of the sailor was laid out on deck and Captain Feyen and his officers stood by while the Archbishop read the burial service -of the Catholic Church, assisted by several other priests who were jalso passengers. After the four members of _the troupe had sung, the body was commit- ted to the deep. Y ~“The passengers- learned that- Giordano- h;s a wife and four children in lll made up .a purse of 2000 lire, w will be forwarded to the bereaved famil; PROMINENTLY YESTERDAY AT THE INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED IN NEW YORK BY A LEGISLATIVE COM- FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA AND TWO WELL KNOWN SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEYS WHOSE NAMES FIGURED MITTEE INTO THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE BIG INSURANCE COMPANIES, | SHLOR BURIED (AOW FOLLOWS WITH RITES OF | INABILITY T * NITATE CANE ‘Manin Trouble Because He Could Not Stand - - on One Leg. —_— " Special Dispatch ‘to The Call NEW YORK, Nov, 17.—If he had only ‘been’ ablé to stand on one leg, all the troubles that followed would . not have pursued Salvatore Macaroni so’ fast and furfously. Macaroni, who is a bridegroom of a few months, lives with his wife, Gracl, and her brother, Guido Starran- tino, in a tenement house on East One Hundred and Fifth street. Macaroni had to go out on-business last night, and he returned late.. His bride accused:him of | being under the influence of liqour.. He declared. that he was not. . 3 “‘You stand om oné leg-then,”"she com- manded, between her sobs. Macaroni tried it, but upbraided him and the two began to fight. The noise excited twenty “he fell over, other Italiun families living In the place, and some one ran; out on to the fire escape and began firing a revolver. Mrs. Macaroni, -her. brother to follow _her, dashed pugh the house into First avenue. - Her husband followed and all ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO BLACKMAIL ARMOUR Placed Under Arrest om ak Packer. OHICAGO, Nov. 17.—William S. Me- A .and William Cole, his brother- . , wWere here to-day with attempting to CRUISER LEWA SEEKS SAFETY AT HDROLULY Ship Shuns Vladivostok Because of Mutiny and Riots. 3 piY Spectal Cable to The Call. e HONOLULU, Nov. 17.—The Russian cruiser Lena arrived here to-day from the Aleutian Islands, whither she went after leaving San Francisco. The Lena was under orders to proceed to Viadi- vostok, but in the Aleutians word was received of the mutiny and riots at the Siberfan port and the officers: decided not to take chances, so steamed to Honolulu. The cruiser is now a ship ‘without a home, for there is no Rus- sian_part to which the officers believe it ‘safe to go. Moreover, the vessel is without coal and the supply on hand here is not equal to the needs of the vessel. It is possible that the warship will remain at this port until the situ- ation clears in Russia. The officers of the Lena indignantly deny that any members of the crew were put to death on the high sea. They denounce the story as a pure fabrication. 3 —_————— ! British Embassador May Resign. LONDON, Nov. 18.—The Standard this " Prinee Is Guest at Astor Residence. NEW YORK, Nov. 17.—Prince Louis Battenberg wound up his social here to-night by attend- ing a at the New York Yacht Club. @ Prince went to the club ‘house from the Astor residence, where he had been the guest at dinmer.