The San Francisco call. [volume], September 04, 1895, Image 1

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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VOLUME LXXVIII.— NO. 96.
THE DURRANT JURY AT EMMANUEL CHURCH.
District Attorney Barnes
Makes the Opening
Statement.
STORY OF THE CRIME.
The Case of the People Clearly
Stated— Mr. Deu prey's
Objections.
DTJEEANT IN THE BELFRY.
Attorney Dickinson Insists Upon
Having the Press Excluded From
the Church.
THE DURRANT CASE IN A MINUTE— THE
JURY VISITS EMMANUEL CHURCH.
Now all the preliminaries have been finished
and the trial of William Henry Theodore Dur
rant for the murder of Blanche Lamont will be
proceeded with this morning by the introduc
tion of testimony going to prove the main fact
—that a murder was committed. A remarkable
proceeding yesterday was an official visit to
Emmanuel Baptist Church, participated in by
Durrant himself, the trial Judge, the jury,
attorneys and officers in the case. In court Dis
trict Attorney Barnes made the opening state
ment for the prosecution, and in the proceed
ings this morning Dr. Barrett, the surgeon who
performed the autopsy, will be the first wit
ness. '•■'.:■; »'
Note to tub Rkapbb.— lf you wish only to
know what was actually accomplished in the
Durrant case yesterday the foregoing summary
will give you that information. If, however.
lt is your desire to learn The particulars of this
Interesting trial you will find subjoined a clear,
succinct, impartial account ot all important
matters. Under no circumstances will the
offensive details be admitted. They are not
essential to an intelligent understanding of
the progress of the case, and will be accorded
ao place in these columns.
The corridors leading to Judge Murphy's
court were thronged for some time before
the nour for convening, and necessarily
but a small percentage of the crowd could
be admitted to the courtroom.
When the Judge had taken his seat and
District Attorney Barnes rose to begin the
opening statement of the people's case
against the prisoner, the latter's leading
counsel, Mr. Deuprey, insisted that all the
witnesses should be excluded from the
courtroom. It was so ordered by the
court. - . . -
Mr. Barnes then made his - statement,
which occupied the remainder of the morn
ing session. SSBS
In the afternoon the jury, accompanied
by Judge Murphy, District Attorney J
Barnes and his assistant, Mr. Peixotto, by
General Dickinson, by the prisoner, Dor
rant, by Policeman Russell, who drew the
plans of the building, and by a comple
ment of men from the Sheriff's office, all
went out to the Emmanuel Baptist Church
and examined the premises carefully and
thoroughly, from the entrance to the pas
tor's study to the very last floor in the
belfry where the remains of the murdered
girl were found.
This expedition consumed the afternoon
session, and when the party returned court
adjourned until this morning. ..
OPENING OF THE TRIAL.
Mr. Barnes' Statement and the
Jury's Visit to the Church.
The case of the People of California
against William Henry Theodore Durrant
is now fairly on trial. When Judge Mur
phy's court opens this morning Dr. Bar
rett, the surgeon that made the autopsy
on the body of the murdered girl, will take
the stand. His testimony will be followed
by that of those who found the body of
Blanche Lamont high in the belfry of
Emmanuel Church.
Yesterday the crowd that tried to get
into Judge Murphy's court was larger than
ever, and only the fortunate few who came
early and waited long succeeded in passing
the bailiffs at the door. Among the lutky
few and the unlucky many were about as
many women as men. The women were
more eager, if anything, and one of them
that squeezed into the crowded courtroom
yesterday held a babe in her arms.
Department 3 is scarcely large enough
to accommodate all the principals in the
great case and the small army of news
paper writers and artists and shorthand
reporters that must needs be accommo
dated. Realizing this Judge Murphy has
made arrangements for moving his court
temporarily into the room at present occu
pied by Judge Sanderson's court. The
change will' take place after the noon ad
journment to-day if , the . programme is
carried out. There more of the public can
be accommodated, and all of those who
must •be . present perhaps comfortably
seated.
There was no change noticeable in Dur
rant yesterday. He came into court as
-neatly dressed as ever, as calm and as un
conscious in his movements and deport
ment as on any previous day of the trial.
He nodded and smiled pleasantly to
acquaintances, then sat quietly and uncon
cernedly through the proceedings. . He
was a disappointment to those who saw
him for the first time and expected to read
some traces of the awful crime in his coun
tenance.
Things moved smoothly and expedi
tiously. Court opened at a few moments
past 10 o'clock, and after the rollcall of the
jury and the announcement by Judge Mur-
phy that a larger courtroom had been se
cured and would be occupied on the fol
lowing day. District Attorney Barnes arose
to make his opening statement of the case.
But the leading counsel for Durrant had
something to say first. Mr. Deuprey was
on his feet almost as promptly as Mr.
Barnes. The former's first request was
that the official reporter be ordered to
transcribe his notes at the conclusion of
every day's session. Mr. Barnes joined in
this request, and the order was given by
the court. Then Mr. Deuprey had another
motion. It was that' all the witnesses
should be excluded from the courtroom be
fore the District Attorney began his state
ment.
Judge Murphy thought the request was
a little premature, and said as much.
"I think not, your Honor," said Attor
ney Deuprey, "for I understand the Dis
The San Francisco Call.
trict Attorney intends to touch upon the
evidence in his opening address."
Thus persuaded Judge Murphy made the
order. It excluded from the room all wit
nesses excepting the arresting officers.
Those affected by the mandate left the
room with evident reluctance. They were
taken in charge by the bailiff and housed
in Judge Murphy's chambers.
Then the District Attorney began. He
spoke distinctly, in a clear voice and not a
word of what he said was lost by his aud
itors. His statement was the story of the
crime, and it was prefaced by these intro
ductory remarks:
At this point in the trial, and before proceed
ing with the evidence, it becomes my duty as
a representative of the people to ma__e what is
called the opening statement of the case. This
is a survival, partly, of the old common law
idea that the accused must be made familiar
with the evidence against him, of which the
opening statement is his official notification,
and is further made for the purpose of inform
ing the jury of the circumstances of the case so
that they may listen to all the evidence intel
ligently, and be able as the testimony falls
from the lips of the witnesses to fit it in its
proper place in the chain that is woven link by
link, and may be able to give it its just weight
and its ' proper consideration. The opening
statement should not be regarded by you
in the light of testimony, neither should it
be regarded as an argument upon the facts. It
should not have any weight with you, nor
should you consider it as militating against
the prisoner; it is merely a statement of what
the people expect to prove— a statement of the
evidence which they intend to present for your
consideration, and upon which they will con
fidently rely for a verdict at your hands, which
shall sweep away the sophistries and the tech
nicalities that have enveloped criminal pro
ceedings in this State as with a garment, and
shall.declare that the land we live In is blessed
not only with the manifold gifts of nature and
of God to man, but it is further blessed with
the hard, clear common sense that can rise
above the tortuous environments that surround
the criminal, and punish the crime committed
in the manner required and demanded by all
laws, both human and divine.
Of course there were objections taken to
Mr. Barnes' speech. When he reached
that part of it describing how the school
girls had seen Durrant and Blanche La
mont leave the High School Mr. Deuprey
interrupted to say that it was not fair for
Mr. Barnes to tell what the schoolgirls said
to one another.
The court sustained the objection and
ordered the jury to regard the words ob
jected to as not having been uttered.
Mr. Deuprey again objected to the state
ment concerning Mrs. Leak's anxiety over
the non-appearance of her daughter while
standing at the window. But Judge Mur
phy thought this was competent and over
ruled the objection.
When Mr. Barnes reached the point
where reference was made to the finding of
Minnie Williams' body Mr. Deuprey made
objection to any reference to the other
case. Judge Murphy decided that the ref
erence might be made as an incident to the
discovery of the body of Blanche Lamont.
Upon the point raised .by Mr. Deuprey,
however that of merging .the two cases —
the court declined to rule until the • issue
should be fairly presented in the course of
the hearing. ' !'-'';..- 77/-
At the conclusion of Mr. Barnes' ad
dress Judge Murphy requested the counsel
on both sides to confer with him at the
bench. At the end of the conference At
torney Dickinson made the motion for the
jury to visit Emmanuel Church. He
spoke at some length of the necessity for
such a procedure and was anxious to have
the jury conducted by a specified route,
but the court held that a general examina
tion of the church should be made.
"This is a very risky piece of business,"
said his Honor. "On such trip remarks
of an improper kind are apt to be made."
The question of who should accompany
the jury to the church was considered.
Judge Murphy remarked that the law com
pelled him to be present.
• "The defendant must go," said Attorney
Dickinson. .
The court looked displeased, but the
reading of a Supreme Court decision on
the point decided the matter and his
Honor ruled that the prisoner must accom
pany the expedition.
"Gentlemen lof the jury, what is your
opinion of the "matter ? Would you like to
visit the church?" asked his Honor.
Juror Hooper spoke for all. He stated
that he would very much like to make the
trip. JBjjTßl
"Very well, then, we will go." remarked
Judge Murphy, "but we will not start
until 2 o'clock."
THE STORY OF THE CRIME.
District Attorney Barnes Makes, a
Clear Statement of the Case.
District Attorney , Barnes' opening ad
dress to the court and . jury was as brief as
might be under the circumstances. It was
couched in plain words and simple phrase,
it was clear and succinct, and was delivered
with as little employment of his forensic
powers as a feeling man could well dis
pense with in the recital of but. the bare
facts of this most dramatic, most terrible
of modern crimes. , He spoke as follows: iii
This opening statement should not have any
weight with you, nor should you consider it as
militating against the prisoner; it is merely a
statement of what the people expect to prove—
a statement of the evidence upon which they
will confidently rely for a verdict at your
hands, which shall sweep away the sophistries
ano the technicalities that have enveloped
criminal proceedings in this State as with a
garment, and shall declare that the land we
live in is blessed not only with the manifold
gifts of nature and of God to man/but is further
blessed with the hard, clear common sense
that can rise above the tortuous environments
that surround the criminal, and punish- the
crime committed in the manner required and
demanded by all laws, both human and divine.
• We will show you that in the month of Sep
tember, 1894, Blanche Lamont, a young girl of
about 20 years of age, came from her home
where she was born and brought up, in Dillon,
ln the State of Montana, to San Francisco. : She
was a tall," slender and delicate girl. -«-•
j She, with her sister,, Maud, resided with her
uncle " and _ aunt, Mr. and . Mrs. C. G. Noble at
209 Twenty-first. street. We will show that
Dur.cant was in the habit of accompanying her
home from church and prayer meeting; that he
was a caller upon her at her aunt's house ; that
upon the only occasion upon which she went
anywhere with any young man, as far j as we
are Informed, she visited the park on one after
noon in company with Durrant. 7 :-/l
We will show you her connection j with* the
defendent and we will show you why the State
says that he who was responsible for the
slaughter of this young life is William ; Henry
Theodore Durrant. We shall ■ demonstrate by
irrefragable and unanswerable evidence that
he, apd he alone, committed this murder.
On the 3d of April, .1895, Blanche Lamont
left her home at 209 Twenty-first street about
SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 4, 1895.
«— * r^ss_^. — «-
PUBLIC OPINION IS OUTRAGED BY THE WAY IN WHICH THE HAO IN THE PICTUBE IS
MANIPULATING THE SCALES.
HUXTIXGTOy (soliloquizing)— My men are loading down the record with weighty evidence in the shape of freight tariffs
and wheat schedules, so that when we resort to the courts we shall be able to hoodwink the Judges and defeat 'the will of the
people, who have demanded a reduction in fares and freights. ' ■ -
8:15 a. m. and went to the Boys' High School
on Sutter street, between Franklin and Gough.
On this morning . trip on the cars she was
accompanied by* the prisoner, Durrant, as far
as the Boys' High School. He then continued
on his way to the Cooper Medical College,
where he .was a student in medicine. After
she completed her morning's work at the High
School she went to the Normal School on Powell
street, j between . Clay and Sacramento, where
she was attending lessons in cookery. '.
- About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and while
Blanche Lamont was engaged in her cooking
school, Durrant came to the neighborhood of the
school, on the block on Powell street, between
Clay and Sacramento, and there for nearly an
hour he waited for his girl victim to come from
school. Up and down he paced, eager, anxious,
watching, waiting, until a few minutes before
3 o'clock, when the cooking school being ended
Blanche Lamont and a school-girl friend,
named Minnie Belle Edwards, came out from
THEJTJB'X' AND OFFICERS OP THE LAW EN TURING EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH.
, [Sketched by- a " Call " artist.] '•"' "* , , : '-*'," .
the school together and walked down to the
corner of Clay and Powell streets to take the
Powell-street car going toward Market street.
As they came to the corner of Clay and Pow
ell the. defendant, Durrant, approached them
and j raised' his hat. to Blanche Lamont. She
stopped to speak with) him and was separated
from Miss Edwards, who got Inside the car,
Blanche Lamont and Durrant getting jon the
outside of . the car. 'Two other young ladies
who attended the Normal School, Miss May
Lannigan '-; and Miss- Alice Pleasant walked
toward Market* street; from- the school, along
Powell street, 'on the east side of the street.
When | they reached the southeast; corner of
California , and Powell • they saw Durrant and :
Blanche together on the car. . 4' ■'"■'■" :'■
At Powell and Market Blanche and Durrant
evidently transferred >to the Valencia-street
car, for the next seen of them was by Martin
Quinlan, an attorney ? at-law, on the j corner of
Bartlett and Twenty-second streets .about', ten
minutes past 4in the afternoon. They passed
by within a few feet of him, on the . same side
of the *> street, coming from - the . direction of
Twenty-first street, going * in * tho ; direction of
the Emmanuel Baptist Church, upon the same
side of the way, walking slowly and talking
together. . •
As they passed '.along toward the church
they were also seen by Mrs. Leek from her win
dow at 124 Bartlett street, diagonally opposite
the church. .:. V • ,v ; ,:
She couldn't see the girl's face, and therefore,
could not identify j her, but the will.tell; you
that this young lady was dressed in a dark suit
and with a large light hat, which will - corre
spond with * the clothing worn by Blanche
Lamont at the time of her disappearance. Mrs.
Leek cannot be mistaken about Durrant. ■'■' ,
When they arrived at the side gate of the
church on the Twenty-third street side, which
opened upon the path leading to the side door
of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Durrantopened
the gate, the young lady stepped through first,
Durrant followed her and closed the gate upon
her. The closing of this gate was between a
quarter and twenty • minutes past 4 in the
: afternoon.
I About 5 o'clock, or a* little after 5, George R.
King, then the organist of. the Emmanuel Bap
tist Church, entered " the church v through the
main door on Bartlett « : street by means of his
key to practice some music on the piano in the
Sunday-school room :of the church, a . large
room situated ' upon the ' ground : floor of the
church. .As he entered •'."■ the \ \ church he
noticed what seemed to him to be the smell of
gas. He looked to see where the leak was, and
as he looked about he . noticed ' that the door
that opened into the library-room of the Sun
day school was open. This was } a little room
that opened off : the vestibule of the - church
upon the left-hand side as you enter.
.. Durrant at i\ this . time was the assistant
librarian of the Sunday-school.*- He and George
! King "; had charge :of ; the ! books, and be and
; George' King, between them, a > little ; while
before April 3, had removed the old lock of the
; library-room door, and had substituted a new
j patent lock, to which only Durrant and George
King had keys. *.' King then noticing that', this'
library door was open, and remembering that
he I himself had '< put :i a . new tip '5 on the ; gas
burner ; in 7 there, entered . the , library room to
see if ■ the smell of ■ the gas came from there.
He could not discover it there, but lit a match
and tried it on the j gas-fixture to see if there
was an escape. , ' - . ... .*'...
j \ Not finding any, he passed out of the library
room, locking the ' door behind ' him, to play
the piano.*; The Sunday-school room proper is
separated from . the- infants' ' classroom that
opens off it and behind it by sliding doors.
These doors were closed, with the exception
of one that was open for a space of . two or
three feet. While j King sat at the piano,
through this space in 7 the folding-door, ap
peared Theodore " uurrant. He was pale, dis
heveled and without his coat and hat.' . King
jumped up from the piano. •
"What is the matter with you?" he said.
Durrant told him that he had been up in the
ton of the church fixing the electric light
wires, and that while up there he had been
overcome by escaping gas; that he felt ill and
faint, and asked King to run out to the drug
store and get him some bromo-seltzer, at the
same time giving King a half dollar to pay for
the medicine. King took the half dollar and
ran to the drugstore on Valencia '; street, be
tween Twenty-second and Twenty-third, - pro
cured the bromo-seltzer and returned. When
he got back he found Durrant still there, and
Durrant went into the kitchen of the church,
which is -1 close ;to . and opens off the infants'
schoolroom, and there, drawing some water,
took a dose of the bromo-seltzer. V.
1 Then King asked Durrant to help him carry
down from - the , choir in the church | proper a
small 7 organ J into \ the ; Sunday-school : room.
They went up and carried it down, Durrant be
ing forced to stop several times on the way to
rest ion . account of his | excessive _ weakness.
Mr. King will tell you that the smell of the gas
in the auditorium of . the . church *on the floor
above .the % Sunday-school room was , not as
strong as ; it was • in the ; Sunday-school room
Itself. • When they • had got , downstairs with
the organ. King and Durrant opened the: door
of the library-room again, and there on a box
lay ; Durrant's coat and hat, which Durrant
put on. * '4/ . ":. :":.-. ' ." "J.
4. You will notice that Durrant's . coat and hat
were found * in the library-room ' after King's
FIGURES FOR THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
absence from the church to get the bromo-selt
zer, but that King did not perceive them when
he was in the library-room first looking up to
see if there was a leak of . gas there. We will
show you that the statement of Durrant that
he was overcome by gas in the upper portion
of the church, and that he was there arrang
ing electric wires, is utterly improbable, if
not absolutely impossible; we will produce
the plumbers who had repaired and made per
fect the gas connections a few days before.
We will show you by the janitor of the church
and others, that the electric wires were in per
fect condition; that the only places in which
gas could escape from the sun-burners, or the
great cluster gaslights in the top of the church,
of which there were three, were connected by
large tin ventilators and pipes with the roof,
so that any gas escaping from them would rise
through the ventilators to the roof, and so
escape outside the building; and that the only
electrical apparatus in the church were three
wires which- transmitted an electric spark to
these sun-burners, and which ware operated by
press-buttons in the gallery of the church
itself. -cf- ..
. When George King left the church, about a
quarter to 6, Durrant accompanied him a
greater portion of the way home, although
King's home lay in exactly the opposite direc
tion to Durrant's. That evening— Wednesday,
April 3, 1895— was the time for the regular
Wednesday evening prayer- meeting at the
Emmanuel Church, which began at half-past 7
in the evening. Blanche had not come home.
Her aunt was very much alarmed about her,
although she did not want, as yet, to notify the
police or her friends or neighbors of Blanche's
non-appearance.' Therefore Mrs. Noble went
to the prayer-meeting in the hope that per
haps Blanche might have stopped to supper
with some of her friends and gone to the
prayer-meeting. -. ':z4?
. Mrs. Noble did not see Blanche at the prayer
meeting, but she saw Duirant, and Durrant
asked her on the evening of the day on which
we claim he had murdered this girl if Blanche
had come to the prayer-meeting. Mrs. Noble
told him that she had not. He then told Mrs.
Noble that he had a book for Blanche, "The
Newcomes," which , he had promised to give
her, and intended to give her, and would come
and leave it at the house for Blanche on a later
occasion. . 77-77
A few days passed and the disappearance of
Blanche Lamont was reported to the police
and made known to the world. Durrant, in
company with George King, called at the
Nobles' house.' He offered his services to assist
in finding Blanche Lamont, and suggested to
this sorrowing - family, by intimation— we
shall, show you that he stated directly to a
fellow-student of his at the medical college—
that Blanche Lamont had gone astray, and was
in all probability in some house of ill repute
in this City. He offered his services to search
the houses to find this girl, who at that time
lav strangled to. death in the belfry of the
church. So the days passed by until some day
between the 4th and 10th of April (we cannot fix
the day more definitely), when a ring was of
fered for sale Dy Durrant to a pawnbroker
named Oppenheimer at 405 Dupont street.
This ring, a plain gold band, containing a
chip diamond, belonged once to Maude La
mont, who had exchanged it with her sister for
a garnet ring. . • \ 4/4/7.
On Saturday. April 13, 1895, a package was
received "by Mrs. Noble. It was '.a., newspaper,
the Examiner, with a newspaper I wrapper
around it. 'inside 7^this r newspaper were the
three rings that Blanche wore when she left
home— the little diamond ring offered for sale
to Oppenheimer and two others.""* On that Sat
urday morning, April 13, the Saturday preced
ing Easter \ Sunday, some j ladies went .to the
Emmanuel "Baptist Church to decorate the
altar and the church with Easter lilies and
flowers. ".'."''' " .
When they arrived a tthe church their atten
tion was attracted to the Sunday-school library
room and In this library-room was found the
murdered body of Minnie Williams. The find
ing sof this body led to the calling in of the
police and the search of the church. . When the
officers detailed to search the church . reached
the door that led into the belfry they were un
able to proceed further, the door being closed'
and locked and the knob of the door . being
broken off. They were compelled to break <
open the door. The belfry of the Emmanuel
Baptist Church is ascended by means of a wind
ing stairway and at the top of this stairway
there is a platform. 7 7, \ , .;
On this platform was discovered the dead
body of Blanche Lamont. She lay un
clothed upon her back, her feet together, her
hands crossed over her bosom and her head
supported by two blocks of wood •in the man
ner in which medical students are accustomed
to lay out dead bodies. In various portions of
the belfry and of the unfinished portion of the
church, in parts that could only be reached by
a person entirely conversant with the church
and with its ramifications, were found the
clothes and the schoolbooks of the dead girl.
. An examination of the body showed that the
girl had been strangled to death; her lungs
were congested; her brain was congested; the
thorax and the trachea were compressed; upon
one side of the neck were five finger-nail inci
sions, and upon the other seven finger-nail in
cisions. We will show you that the door that
led into the belfry had been closed from the
inside, and that the knobs had been broken off
from the inside and thrown from the inside
underneath the flooring of the gallery upon
which this door opened. 7 ;.//:/'
Having accomplished this, the only way in
which the murderer of this girl could descend
into the main body of the church was over the
false roof of the auditorium from the belfry,
coming down behind tho pulpit to the bap
tistry, down the stairs that led into the Sun
day-school room, through the doors from the
infant classroom . into the main Sunday-school
room— the position in which Durrant met the
startled eyes of King, the organist. *
During the - time of . the disappearance of
Blanche Lamont, and before her body was dis
covered, Durrant was seen, by Frank Sademan,
the janitor; of the Emmanuel Baptist Church,
down at the ferry at , the foot of ! Market street.
Durrant informed him that he had a clew that
led him to the belief that Blanche Lamont was
going to Oakland to visit some * friends, and
that he was waiting at the ferry to intercept
her. * . . ■ z:4/-.^7, ;. ;.- ; ;..\7;;.--"
On April 3, 1895, . when Durrant met this
girl and accompanied her to church, his name
appeared upon r the „ rollcall -of students who
were present at Dr. Cheney's lecture at the
Cooper Medical College, \ but this rollcall was
taken at the end of the lecture, when there is
great confusion. i* We • will t show . that on occa
sions before this Durrant j secured fellow-stu
dents to answer his name as being present at
these rollcalls when in ■ fact . he was not pres
ent, and that there was no student in the - en
tire class who saw Durrant present at the lec
ture. ; 774:77- ' '■ ---...
: A few days after this he met a fellow-student
and induced him to go into a room at the col
lege and there to read over to him the notes
that he took at Dr. Cheney's lecture upon this
day in order that he (Durrant) might sustain
the doctor's questions upon the lecture.
7lf we show you these facts, and, as we confi
den expect, that no / one ; but the prisoner
could have committed this outrageous and hor
rible crime, we shall look to you as citizens of
the great State whose (reputation for justice
and for enforcement of the laws we, as its
officers, are trying . to uphold, .to render your
verdict that the prisoner at the bar is guilty of
murder in the first degree. . ,
DURRANT AT THE CHURCH.
Expedition of the Court to the Scene
of .the Awful Murders.
The 7 prison „van 7in front of Emannuel
Church, an accused murderer hauled ! back
to the scene of two crimes that startled the
continued on Slnth Page,
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
More Statements of the
Southern Pacific
Company.
REVENUE FROM FREIGHT
Comparative Incomes From
This Source for Two
Years Submitted.
TWO INTERESTING LETTERS.
Contradictions Made of. Certain
Railroad Testimony—Finan
cial Affairs.
On no day since the Railroad Commis
sioners took up the consideration of Chair-
man La. Rue's resolution providing for a
horizontal cut of 15 pei cent on grain rates
throughout the State were the railroad's
representatives so hard pressed to make a
favorable showing. They only succeeded
in leaving a record of broken promises,
evasions and direct contradictions of
former statements.
So marked were these developments that
it led Commissioner Stanton to call atten
tion to them, saying that they justified
him in having , suggested another course
than that of taking up the 15 per cent
reduction.
. "What we should have done," he re
marked, "was to have adjusted those dis
criminations which in particular bad been
called to our attention, such as those in
the Salinas and San Joaquin • valleys.
These should have been acted upon with
out any long-winded investigation, and
then we could have taken our time in
making the j most .thorough investigation
into the affairs of the Southern Pacific
Company in connection with the 15 per
cent resolution. -
"These delays are just what I had ex
pected to encounter. They will prevent
the farmers from getting any reduction in
the moving of this season's crops, and it
was this outcome that I wanted to prevent.
"1 am not opposed to the 15 per cent
resolution, but I was opposed to taking it
up before we had adjusted the most flag
rant discriminations.. I still think that
my plan is the proper one. Present dis
criminations must be adjusted before a
horizontal reduction can be fairly made."
Two interesting communications were
read by Assistant Secretary Kelly pre
liminary to the further hearing of the
Southern Pacific case before the Railroad
Commission yesterday.. The first was
from . the farmers' > Co-operative 1 Union 7 of
Biggs, Cal., "and called attention to an al
leged misrepresentation of General Freight
Agent Smurr in one of his comparative
rate statements. It' was as follows : -
:; v.: . '/'■/. -:-. :.■:. Biggs, Cal., Aug. 31, 1895.
H. if. La Rue, Railroad Commissioner, ' San
Francisco— Dear Sir: I desire to call your at
tention to the list of towns on the California
and Oregon Railroad and their distances from
Port Costa presented at the meeting of your
board on the 20th inst. by Mr. Smurr. - In that
list, as published in the San Francisco papers,
the distance from Biggs to Port Costa is stated
to be 131 miles, which is the distance from
Biggs to Port Costa via Roseville Junction and
Sacramento. Now, Mr. Smurr ought to know
that all ' grain hauled from Marysville and
points north of that place to Port Costa is
shipped via Knights Landing and Davisville,
which is eighteen miles less than via Sacra
mento, so that the distance from Biggs to Port
Costa is; 113 miles instead of 131 miles.
Eighteen miles should be deducted from the
distances on Mr. Smurr's list in order to get the
number of miles from Marysville and towns
north of that place on this railroad. .
In conclusion I desire to state that the farm
ers and business men here appreciate your ef
forts to get a reduction on grain freight rates.
Every signer of the petition sent from here is a
grain-grower, and if times had not been so bad
a delegation of farmers would ' have attended
your meeting. Yours very truly,
■ - - C. N. Brown,
Superintendent and Secretary the Farmers'
Co-operative Union.
The other took exception to the state
ment made by Assistant General Manager
Curtis before the commission that no ma
terial reduction of wages had ever been,
made by the Southern Pacific Company.
It is as follows: '
San Francisco, Aug. 30, 1895.
Mr. H. if. La Rue— Dear Sir: I saw an article
in this morning's paper in regard to a question
of wages in . the commission yesterday. Mr.
Curtis states that the wages have not been re
duced. The wages were reduced on the Ist of
November, 1894, in the freightsheds from
$2 25 per day to $1 80 per day, and not full
time at that. Sometimes the wages are not
more than $32 in a month, at the rate they
work, and still they say the wages have not
been reduced. We wish you would please de
mand the books to find out the truth of our
statement. We are unable to make a living at
the wages paid us. If you will please demand
the payroll for the last ten months you . will
find what we say is true. 'Relying on your
honesty in the : past, we hope you will bring
this before the commission, and also Mr. Cur
tis, for Investigation as soon as possible.
' Remember the freightsheds, corner of
Fourth and Townsend . streets. Hoping you
will bring this "to notice, -we remain, Yours,
very respectfully, . The Workmen. 1
These were filed for future reference, and
then Attorney Martin made another plea
for the railroad's failure to fully comply
with the request of the Commissioners in
reference to furnishing a statement of ita
freight business according to the schedule
of the Western classification, and which
on Saturday its representative had prom
ised to do. - He said :
So far as we have been able to prepare it we
will present a statement of the freight traffic
and the revenue . derived ' from it. We 'shall
give the | entire tonnage of freight, including
the products of farming, mining, manufactur
ing and merchandise originating within the
State. This will give the comparative tonnage
of these different things with - the wheat ton
nage. Then we will give you the revenue from
Continued on Eighth Page.
Kept Me Well
All Summer
Says one , hard working woman, to
whom vacation was only a vision, and
; 7 . who took the great blood purifier,
nerve tonic and appetizer,
Hood's
Sarsaparilla