The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 2, 1906, Page 1

For San Franciscoand Vi- i WEATHER FOREC | cinity: Cloudy Saturd | fog 1n the afternoon west wind. ay, wjth ; brisk — ' news paper The Call prints more Francisco. than any other published in San VOLUME C SAN. FRA CISCO, SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1906. GOVERNOR PARDEE ISSUES CALL FOR THE SPECIAL SESSION PRICE FIVE CENTS. POLICY-HOLDERS WILL PROBABLY BRING SUI'T AGAINST TRADERS MILLIONAIRE DIRECTORS. The directors of the Traders’ Insurance Company of Chiéago are -toéet‘her worth about $50,000,000, not to speak of the stockholders, and the committee appointed by the policy-holders believes that these men of wealth can be compelled to make good the $5,000,000 of losses in this city. The Federal courts, CALIFORNIA' LEGISLATORS T GAPTAL | BY STATE,S EXE[;U"VEECompanies That Issue Debris Permiis and Time Extensions and. SUMMONED it 1s th Proclamation Declares That There Is! Need for New Statutes Because of the Recent Disaster. Changes in Laws to Meeit Conditions Due| to Fire Are Suggested in the Official Statement. SACRAMENTO, June 1.—There were searcely a dozen members of the Legislature in this city prior to the arrival of the evening train from San Frapeisco. By S o'clock, however, members of both houses were in evidence | in the hotel bles and about the Govermor's office at the capitol. = Sema- | tors and Assemblymen from Southerm California were the first outside rep- ! resentatives on the ground, 2ithough hotel acecmmodations had heen previousiy cngaged for members It was stated this evening tkat the Govermor's call for the special ses- sien of the Legisiature - had been bis departure from Sam Franeisco this morming, but the document was not from all parts of the State. practically completed: at ‘the hour of ixsuwed untll this evening. Govermor Pardce, assisted by Judge W. S. Wells of Martinez and his secretaries, was engaged all day in the revision of the fexi. The afternoon was devoted to the elimination of . matfer 1 écemed ruperfinows. The eall reads as folloyes: | £ great conflap public calamity, extraordi lature the State of ene: now therefore ior of the e of ‘the ted - by e B the “on- ate of California; do re to meet extraordinary se the State Capi second _day of en -hundred of that g laws nend- to act a law providing w olidays have been declared by thirty days, gal or offic acts or pr ¥ &uch ‘holiGay or ed and held as performed of made on or days other than RESTORATION OF RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS DESTROYED enact lawé with reference to e restoration, reissuing, ‘reproduc- tion, evidence or proof of and papers lost, in- d by conflagration or mity and also to enact ion, re-issu- tution,. evi- of ‘instruments, docu- scords, public destroyed er in- or private, frecting the ownership of or in- or affecting any blic or l private, evi- documents, and for de- ablishing and quieting the property or rights and providing for of cases in which the part thereof has r destroyed; also for establishing seting to real or ced theret sposition record or any been title personal , appropriate provision for the construction, reconstruction, repair and re- n of buildings, structures and property of the State of California dam- aged, injured, lost or destroved flagration or other public calamity provide for their protection st fire APPROPRIATION FOR MILITIA AND STATE INSTITUTIONS 4—To appropriate money for the use of State institutions, courts, commis- boards ahd officers and the Uni- y of California and its afiliated colleges, and to provide for deficiencies in the funds of said State institutions, courts, commissions, béards and officers University of California and ted colleges : ) provide for the pay, expenses, subsistence and transportation of the National Guard of California and the and the risen mnd exists re-| that | such holiday ! money and to university cadets during the months | of April. May and Jure, 1906. { —To amend section 1238 of the Code | ot Civil Procedure by adding thereto a w ' subdjvision which shall provide] J¥ that plants of title insurance and Zuaranty companies and title abstract! { companies and all copies 6f public rec- | used by such companies be in- cluded as one of the purposes for which | ithe right of eminent domain may be { exercised in behalf of 4 municipality. 7—To provide: for the erection or| leasing of a building at San Francisco | for -the use of the officers, institutions, | organizations, commissions, boards and departments of the State government maintaining headquarters in San Fran- isco and mot Gtheryise provided for in State bulldings and for the purchase or leasing of the necessary land therefor. 8—To appropriate the sum of $25,000 or so much thereof as may be neces- ! sary for the publication at the State| printing office of school text books to | be supplied at cost to the children of | ;indigent parents in the city and county of San Francisco REAPPORTIONMENT OF FUND i FOR STATE HIGH SCHOOLS | 8—To amend section 1636 of the Po- | litical Code by adding another subdivi- thereto, so as to provide for a substitute school census in cases where, by reason of conflagration or other | public calamity, ‘a schoel census has| not been or may not be taken. 10—To add a new section to the Po- ! litical Code, 80 as to provide a substi- | tute for school records or registers lost, injured or destroyed by conflagra- | tion. or other public calamity. 11—To amend section 5 of the act of | March 6, 1905, relating to .the high.| school fund, so as to provide for appar- tionment of said fund in cases where | 180 days of school have not been held, | or an average attendance of twenty | pupils has not been maintained, by rea- son of conflagration or. other public calamity. 12—To add a new section to the Po- litical Code, so as to' provide for the issuance of teachers’ certificates where the originais have been lost or de- stroyed by conflagration or other pub- lic calamity. 13—To amend section 1617 of the Po- litical Code by addimg another sub-di- vision thereto, so as to enable school | trustees and boards of education to | compromise litigation arising from the | destruction of school buildings - i course of erection on April 18, 1906. | 14¢—To amend the Political Code by adding a new section thereto, so as to require insurance companies to furnish | the Insurance Commissioner, when re- quested by him, as of a date past.or present to be designated by the com- missioner, with complete data with ref- erence to policies tssued by them in the |State of California, or any portion | thereof, and to provide for penalties for failure or neglect so to do. £ GRANTING FURTHER TIME TO INSURANCE COMPANIES 15—To extend to July 31, 1906, the time in which insurance companies or-" | { ords { sion e e, Ceontinued on Page 2, Columu 1.- | tional demoralizing delay, ought, Promote Expedition Want to Be Free of Recalcitranis. DISRUPTION Yvill bring to brook the millionaires of the Windy City who waxed f OF ADJUSTING BUREAU NOW THREATENED OAKLAND, June l.—Unless matters pe themselves soon in a more inl- ness-like manner in the Fire Under- writers’ Adjusting Bureau so that set- tlementis of the big fire losses in San Franciseo can be made without addi- the disrup- tion of the organization Is expected. A erisis in the affairs of the imsurance body, which was formed six weeks ago for the purpose of expediting the ad- justment and payment of fire claims, rapidly nearing. Practically all of the companies interested in the Samn Francisco losses, and there are 117 of | them, are afiliated with the Fire Un- derwriters’ Adjusting Bureau. Today eighty-one companies siguned an | notice that policy holders would be permitted to begin the removal of de- | bris at once under certain conditions, and seventy-two of the concerns issued motice of an extension until August 18 |of the time for filing proofs of loss. | The faflure of the recalcitrant compa- nies to join in granting these considera~ tions ix one of the causes of the lack of harmony. - Affairs have now reached that stage in the operation of the bureau where thirty-five companies, representing about sixty-five per cent of the in- surance losses in San Francisco, are ready to break away from the adjust- ing . organization and proceed to ad- | just and settle their individual losses upon a fair and equitable basis and pay dollar for dollar. Of the 781 as- signments of losses where more than six companies were interested, made to adjusters by the general adjusting committee of fifteen of the Fire Un- derwriters’ Bureau, not one has. yet been definitely settled and payment made. The adjusters began their work on these big losses nearly five weeks When the findings of some of the adjusters were submitted to the com- panies interested. in the -losses -the question of liability ‘arose. This was made complex by the conflict in pro- ivisions of the policies of the various companies and the situation was fur- ther: entangled by the problem of the reinsurance practiced by the com- panies. These difficulties appear to be udus‘liunc*nfly and many com- { panies are looking for a way out of the maze of technicalities so that they | can settle with their clients. | SOME COMPANIES STALLING. Many of the smaller companies and those companies which dealt mainly in reinsurance are apparently hanging on | the ropes and stalling for time. They are taking advantage of every techni- cality'and it is because of these tactics, the managers of the larger companies say, that the payment of large losses is delayed. Some of the smaller com- panies have declined to be bound by the - regulations of the Fire Under- writers’ Adjusting Bureau and - are antong the principal factors in the deadlocks and dissensions that have developed in the workings of the or- ganization. Results were finally reached by the Fire Underwriters’ Adjusting Bureau | at its meeting in Reed Hall today im the matter of préparing for notices to San Francisco policy holders affected by the fire of permission to remove debris and of an extension of the time for filing proofs of loss until August 18. Eighty- one companies of “the 117 Interested signed the debris notice, and seventy- two of the companies signed the time extension agreement. Some of the rep- resentatives of companies refused to sign either the debris notice or the ex- tension stipulation, giving as their re: sons that they had not received au- thority from their home offices. Other managers of companies declined to sign the time extension agreement for the reason that their home offices had al- ready granted such privilege. Other managers there were, particularly of foreign companies, who would not sign the extension agreement, fearing the effect of such action on reinsured risks. MAY REMOVE DEBRIS. Following 18 the notice relative to the removal of debris and the compa- nies that signed it: NOTICE TO POLICY HOLDERS. “Notice is hereby given to all policy holders" of the undersigned insurance companies who sustained loss or dam- age by the catastrophe which occurred in San Francisco on or about the 18th dgy of April, 1906, that they may, with- ‘?;;m & SCENE: IN THE ‘DESTROYED BUSINESS SECTION OF THE FRANGISCO ARE NOT LOSING Committee Believes the Company Are The policy-helders of the defunct Traders’ Insurance Company of Chi-| fcago will in all probability begin suits | {in the Federal courts in the State of | | linois against’ the multi-millionaires | land other directors and stockholders | | for ‘full payment of the claims growing | | out of the fire in this city. - That thisi | course is: feasible is the conclusion of :the commiittee appointed at the meeting | of the claimants on Thursday to inves- tigate the representations that W. C. | Bates, who styled himself the agent of “elght’.or ten” stockholders, made to the:policy-holders in bis proposal that they. accept 60 per cent of what the policies . call for. Out. of the . investigation that has promptly been made has come to light the hopeful prospect that the law does | give the victims of the corporation-Te- TY SHOWIN ANY TIME IN.PROVIDING THEMSE TIES FOR THE RESUMPTION OF BUSINESS. at on the concern. That Those Behind Liable for Losses. Attorney Bates' Representations for Sixty Per Cent Settlement Not Accepted. Investigation Reveals That Men of Great Wealth Seck to Evafle Obligations. under the California law.. Each polfey is a legal contract. - Such being the fact, it will not be difficult, by bring- ing suit in the Federal court at Chi- cago, to reach the stockholders of the Traders’ Insurance Company. This is the substance of what they will report to the policy-holders at their meeting to be held next Monday afternmoon at Webster and California streets. Names of the directors and some of the principal stockholders of the Traders’ Insurance Company have been ascer- tained since the meeting of Thursday. The directors are Ebenezer Buckinge . ham, C. L. Hutchins, Clarence Bucking= | ham, William Dickinson, Abram Pools, John J. Mitchell, T. J. Lefens, Ernest A. Hammill and A. N.. Young. There | are nine of them. Possibly they are the §“eight or-ten”. that Attorney Bates I 1) G HOW THE MERCHANTS OF SAN LVES WITH QUARTERS AND FACILI» SEVERAL MEN KILLED DURING A MINE RIOT Clash at Greene Prfiperlies ‘in Mexico Following a Strike. LOS ANGELES, June 1.—A special to the Times from El Paso tonight says: Reports from Naéo state that in.a riot following a strike of the Mexican min- ers at ithe Greene consolidated mines at Cananea ten Mexican policemen have been killed, together with George Mc- Donald, manager of the lumber depart- ment of the mines,-and his brother. The entire Cananea police force was wiped out, and the Mexicans are in control, being remjsted by American miners and citizens, who have surrounded the Con- solidated property. - Thirty strikers are said to havé been killed. y Dispatches declare the town is on fire and that the rioters have used dy- namite to blow up the houses of Amer- course in the courts. Tha men who drew 10 per cent dividends from the company that did a busin of $160,- 000,000 insurance on a cdpital stock of $500,000 and was therefore compelled to go into the hands of a receiver when a loss of $5,000,000 was sustained in San Francisco can be brought to book, it is thought, and compelled to meet the obligations. . They claim legal immunity further than the payment of $1,800,000 assets available, but lawyers have looked into the statutes and decisions, and they say that the unhappy message Attorney Bates spoke with so much air of mys- tery is not to be accepted as conclusive, and that neither he nor the company s well sustained by the law of the land when they tell the policy-holders they had betier take 60 per cent on the dollar rather than be obstreperous and get less or nothing. < REGARD CONTRACT BINDING. The committee representing the San Francisco policy-holders met at Cen- tury Hall yesterday. The important decision that they reached was adopted after due deliberation and discussion. 1t ‘was pointed out that the contracts for insurance were made in California claimed to represent at the meeting of policy-holders. The directors are all prominent and | wealthy. Some of them. with other | stockholders, were applicants for the | appointment of a receiver for the Trad- ers’ Insurance Company. The list of those who asked at Chicago for the | receiver is as follows: Ebenezer Buck- | Ingham. Clarence Buckingham, Rosells | S. Carpenter, Ethel S. Dummer. Clara S. ‘Johnson, Marfon D. E. Sturgis, Wil- | liam Dickinson, Charles L. Hutchinson, Thies J. Lefens, Abram Poole, Samuel A. Rothermel, William C. Seipp. A. Nu Young, George Sturgis and Johm A King. DIRECTORS WORTH $30,000,000. T. J. Lefens, president of the Trad- ers’ Insurance Company, is supposed te be the wealthiest German in He is a brother-in-law of Willlam | Seipp, whose name is attached to the list of those who asked for the i | pointment of a receiver. Lefens is director of the Merchants’ Loan and | Trust Company. John J. Mitchell s vice president of the Traders' o Company and president of the Trust and Savings Bank.