The San Francisco call. [volume], November 04, 1897, Image 1

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

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VOLUME LXXXII.-NO. 157.
SUFFERING AND DEATH
WILL BE THE PORTION OF
IMPRISONED WHALERS
Has just arrived from the Arctic Ocean. The crew of the vessel fought their way to safety inch by inch, and only escaped being imprisoned in the 1 icepack after four
days of incessant labor.
There is no hope of the imprisoned
whaling fleet getting out of the Arctic
until next July. Four of them are in a
most dangerous position and the others
are not very much better off. Each of the j
eight vessels has only three months' i
I supplies aboard, snd as it will be at least |
" :•■;? month? before -help can reach them .
-.he situation is a desperate one.
The' steam whaler Alexander arrived
here from Point Barrow, via Unalaska,
yesterday. It' was only win the greatest ,
difficulty that Captain Tilton got his ves
sel through the. ice, and had the Alex
ander not been an unusually stout vessel
and Captain Tilton an able and deter
mined master she would now be irozen in
with the others of the fleet.
■ '. "There ate bound to be a great many
deaths on the whalers this winter," said
Chief Engineer M. McKitinon of the Alex
.; ander yesterday. "The steamers Orca,
Jessie H. Freeman and Belvedere and the
' •scnooner Rosario are in a very bad place.
When we left them they were anchored
off Point Barrow and the chances are that
they will become wrecks next spring.
. They can get neither to the eastward nor
westward of the point and the vessels will
be exposed to every wind that biows.
There were no provisions at Point Bar
iow. Captain Cogan of the Thrasher had
to take men away from there because of
: that fact. There is very little game at the
point and the Indian villages are miles
away, so one can see that the 150 or 200
on those four vessels are in a tight box.
At Cape Smith there is a small supply of
provisions belonging to the North Pacific
Trading Company, but it will go a very
short way among the imprisoned men.
•'Fortune lavored us or we would have
been caught in the iee 'also. We hud to
i. discharge some trade at Cape Smith and
k left Point Barrow before the Orca, Free*
\ nan, Belvedere and Kosario. Not one of
us thought that the ice was closing In
and the result was that we had to tight
our way inch by inch to safety. For
eighteen hours it was 'full speed astern.'
th.^n 'stop her' and then 'full speed
.ahead,' followed by the crash as we
struck the icefield. Back and forth we
went and every succeeding crasn seemed
to us down in the engine-room as though
it would be our last. It did not seem pos
sible that wood and iron could stand the
: strain mucn longer. Alter getting through
the pack we bad to fight our way througn
150 miles of young ice an inch and a half
thick. I '-an tell you when we reached
Sea Horse Island and saw open water be
fore us we were a happy set of men.
"The steamer Jeanie, steam whalers
Fearless and Newport and the bark
; Wanderer were all frozen In between Point
Barrow and Herscbel Island. When we
left tne latter place the only ve^Bel left
there was the Mary D. Hume. The
Narwhal, Balaena, Beluga and Grampus
have gone to Copper Mine River to winter.
There would therefore be very little succor
for the imprisoned fleet from that source.
The four vessels to the eastward of Point
Barrow are in a better position than those
a". Point Barrow, that is if there is any
better in a case that is bad at the best.
They will have a chance of getting deer,
g-ouse and rabbits by hunting, and they
are -hot far from an Indian village.
The Alexander sailed from HerscheJ
Inland on August 20. In his report Cap
' ••. tion Tilton says:
. On August 30 we left Flaxtnans Island for
the west pack and passed along the pack until
'"j toptember 1 by Midway Island, the ice
■A i-rounding in two fatuous to Harrisons Bay.
*. SFtiere was heavy ground ice on the west side
Vj/.ttie harbor and the same off Cape Hackett,
7 pWWeK was passed on the same day. The i ack
: .ice was grounded very heavily here, also at
SAiiths Bay, where we passed close inside of
; die grounded floe.
I" At ip v. m., after a bard afternoon's work,
' we tie * up to the pack and found we had run
up with the Orca, Belvedere and Jessie Free
•• nan. A northeast wine sprang up when we
' git under way, and for two days were in com-
my with the steamers, fighting toward the
. o.p^n. September 5 fresh westerly breezes
. r ( >raug up accompanied by snow squalls.
Point Barrow was reached, and on Sep*
THE STEAM -WHALER ALEXANDER
t mber 7 the Alexander left for Caj c
Smith. Continuing Captain Tilton says:
From the 8 in to the 1-th we m irked against
the floes and alone the pack and then came i
terrific battle for freedom from the frozen
masses. HIS
Steam was on at full pressure and we com
menced work with a vengeance. We took the I
narrowest pari of trie grounded ice and !
worked for eighteen hours without ceasing to ;
get four ship* lengths to the open strip of 1
water beyond.
On September 17 the Alexander pot clear
of the ice and at Herald Island met the
whalers Karlttck, William Baylies and
Jeanette. In conclusion Capiain Tilton
says:
The fl -et we left in the ice has not enough
provisions' to last through the winter, and
the men must make their way over lite ice
to the Indian villages or a great disaster may
follow.
Albert Walters, one of the crew of the
wrecked Navarcb, came down on the Al
exander. Both his feet were frozen and
will have to be amputated in order to save
his lie. Directly the whaler came to an
anchor he was removed to the United
States Marine Hospital.
HIES AWAY TO WED
HIS FORMER WIFE
James Leighton Leaves Fresno
Suddenly With a Bride
• Elect.
D vorced Couple Seek a Mecca
Where They May Be Lagally
R married.
\ Special Dispatch to The Cam.
FRESNO, Nov 3.— James Leighton, a
i well-known citizen of Fresno and part
\ owner of the Excelsior stable, has left the
r city with his former wife, Mrs. Alice
Leighton. They left last Saturday for the
, north, presumably to seek the high seas
or some other State where the -bonds of
; matrimony that were severed by the court
i a few weeks ago may be reunited. Within
| the past three months they bad separated
I and become reconciled again no less than
three times. Finally Mrs. Leighton sued
for a divorce. The husband wss willing
; that she should have it and allowed judg
ment to be taken against him by deiauit.
The love between the man and woman,
! who had lived together for over twenty
i years, was not to be dissipated so easily,
| Shortly after the divorce Leighton pro
• ceeded to lay siege to the heart of his
■■ former wife again. Experience had taught
', him how to wage nis suit successiully and
! he won.
Then that troublesome law passed by
the last Legislature prohibiting divorced
persons norn marrying again within a
year presented itself in their way. It wa*
to overcome this law that the fiance and
his bride-elect left Fresno. Whither they
have gone is unknown and nothing has
j been heard from them as yet. It is
i thought that they went to Nevada to get
; married.
• »
SAVED BY HIS GOOD RECORD.
Naval Engineer Chambers, Guilty of
Scandalous Conduct, Gets Off
With a Scolding.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3— Passed As- ;
sistant Engineer W. H. Chambers, U. !
S. N., was recently tried by court-martial I
at Mare Island on a charge of absence
from duty without leave and scandalous i
conduct. He plead guilty to both
charges, but showed an excellent record
and good character in other respects, so
that the court contented itself with sen
tencing him to be publicly reprimanded i
by the KfCretary of the Navy.
Th 2 Secretary has just approved the \
proceedings and findings of the court, but
has disapproved the sentence as inaed-j
quale and has made a few pointed re
marks on bis indorsement, which, never
the less, free the officer from the sentence.
The San Francisco Call
SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 4, 1897.
PUT TO DEATH
BY CANNIBALS ON
TIBURON ISLAND
Captain Porter of San Diego and a Sailor
Companion Slain and Probably
Eaten by Fierce Seris
Indians*
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 3.— George W. Ber
maker of this city, who is now at Hermo
sillo, Sonora, wired to the Evening Sun
to-day as follows:
Hep.mosillo, Mexico, Nov. 3.
Captain Porter and a sailor named Johnson
of the junk World of ban Diego were killed,
about October 27, by the Seris Indians on
Tiburon Island. They left the junk to kill
birds and on their return found the boat* in
charge of ' Indians. The ; white men ' fired
twelve shots before they were killed. The
sloop Juliet brought the new*. The infor
mation is reliable.
Captain George Porter left here on the
schooner World almost a year ago to
make a long cruise along the Mexican
toast, and especially in the Gul: of Cali
fornia. He was a gatherer of curios and
shells and was part owner of the World
shellsto-e in this city. . His pattner, Miss
Cook, was not inclined to believe the dis
patch, as she had received a latter from
Captain Porter saying that he would not
go near Tibuioi, as the island was barren
and he did imt care to take chances
against the Indians with only one com
panion. In oider to verify the story, if
possible, Miss Cook wired to the Ameri
; can Consul at Guaymas and received the
j following dispatch this evening:
"Such a rumor in circulation/ Will ob
tain facts and send by mail."
Captain Porter bad lived in San Diego
about twelve years, and during all that
; time was in the shell and fishing business.
! He was well acquainted with the Mexican
coast and well aware of the dangerous
1 character of the Sens Indians, who in
; habit Tiburon Island. Some weeks ago
he was at Guay mes with his little schooner,
| and was seen by Captain Lew B. Harris
of the schooner Emma and Louisa of this
j city. He told Captain Harris that he was
i about to take another little run up the
gulf, and would soon return to San Diego
] with a rich cargo of curios, shells, birds'
j eggs, etc.
Miss Cook said the last consignment of
! shells from Captain Porter came last Au
| gust, and no word since then had been re
; ceived. Sue expected that he would soon
I return from the south.
Captain Porter was 88 years of age and
unmarried. He leaves a mother and sis
ter residing at Cleveland, Ohio. John
Johnson, his assistant on the schooner,
was a well-known water-front character.
He had been a sailor all his life. It was
because he spoke Spanish fluently that he
was engaged to go south on the World.
Captain Lew Harris, who visited Tiouron
while on his recent cruise and learned
much about the Indians by his own ob
servation and by conversation with Mex
icans, said:
"if the bodies of Captain Porter and
Johnson were not recovered at once there,
is little doubt that they will have been
eaten by the savages on Tiburon. The
Mexicans insist that those Indians are
cannibals, and tell of people who have lost
their lives and whose bodies have never
been recoverd. Tne Indians are full of a
malignant cunning, and it would be one of
their tricks to lure the prospectors into
the interior and capture their schooner. I
know Beermaker well, and have every
confidence in his reliability. If he sent
such a dispatch with those details it is to
be believed."
REVOLT In VENEZUELA.
Troops Sent From Caracas to Quell :
r. -\ Uprisings in Lara and
.Bolivar.
NEW YORK, Nov. 3.— A special cable
from Caracas, Venezuela, to the Herald
says: Advices just received from the
'. States of Lara ami Bolivar report troubles
■of a revolutionary characier there. In
| Bolivar particularly tie trouble seems to
i be serious, as three companies of infantry
i have been ordered to leave Caracas to-
I morrow for Ciudad, Bolivar.
BULGARIA'S THREAT TO TURKEY.
i
Will Declare Her independence Unless
the Porte Complies With a
Certain Demand.
BERLIN, Nov. 3.— The Frankfort Zeit
iing publishes the following sensational
dispatch from Constantinople:
The Bulgarian Government recently
delivered an ultimatum to Turkey threat
ening to declare the independence of
Bulgaria unless the berats to Bulgarian
Bishops in Macadonia were granted by 10
o'clock on the morning of November 3*.
NEWS OF THE DAY.
Weather forecast for San Francisco:
A fair Thursday with a cloudy evening.
FIRST.
Disaster to 'Whalers.
Eastern Elections.
Eaten by Cannibals-
SECOND,
Eastern Races.
Cocos Island Treasure.
THIRD.
Eggs for Klondikcrs.
Story of Shipwreck.
FOURTH.
McKcnna on. Union Pacific.
Overtures for Reciprocity.
Sacramento's New .Mayor.
* FIFTH.
Wiped Out by a Rig Rla/c.
Sternberg Is Not Pardoned.
Tcrcdocs Want the Universe.
Polhcmus Asks for Rig Money..
j^ ; v- SIXTH. .
Editorial/
, Mirth.'
„',' NINTH.
■ ! Oakland News.
"Races.
; ■ .' -TWELFTH. 'i^/?^
t No More Rooks for the Girls. : • ••
Hailed a Brand New Leader. * : . •• >■'>
•; SEVENTH.
Court the Trade of Alaska. '''-•
■ Menaced ■ by : Grave Danger.
- Gamblers on the Diamond*
HANNA HAS WON,
GORMAN HAS LOST,
IN THE OFF YEAR
The Legislatures of Both Ohio and Mary
land Are Close, but the Republicans
Have the Better of the Position.
THE RESULT IN NEW YORK.
NEW YORK, Nov. 3. — Returns from the State and city elections received to-day
do not change the result announced by the Associated Press early last night. Returns
from all the counties in the State indicate a plurality of more than 58,000 for Alton B.
Parker, Democratic candidate for Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals. His plurality
in Greater New York is 133,058.
Van Wyck, Tammany candidate for Mayor of New York, has 81,548 plurality
over Seth Low, and 118,401 over General Tracy. The State Legislature remains Re
publican. The Senators hold over and the new House of Assembly stands 85 Republi
cans to 68 Democrats. Ten of the newly elected Republican Assmblymen are said to be
anti-Platt. In the present Senate the Republicans' majority is 30 ; in the House 7B.
The special election in the Third Congressional District of Brooklyn resulted in a
victory for Edmund H. Driggs D. over William A. Prendergast R. by nearly 2000 ma
jority. Last year Francis Wilson R. was elected in this district by more than 7500 plu
rality. He resigned to become Postmaster of Brooklyn. Prendergast suffered because
of the bitter fight between the Republican factions of Brooklyn.
BALTIMORE, Nov. 3 —State Senator
Norman B. Scott, chairman of the Repub
lican State Central Committee, to-night
made the following statement as to the
Legislative situation:
"It does not avail now." said he, "to do
any claiming that will not be substan
tiated by the returns. We nave sixteen
Republican Senators to nine Democratic
and one doubtful the one from Calvert—
although I am as
sured that both the
Republican Senator
and members of the
House were elected
there. If we ■ l"ct a
Senator from Calvert
we will naive a ma
jority of eight in
the Senate.
TWO OP THE; LOSERS,
"In the .House
there are ninety-one
members. It takes
forty-six of these to
organize the House,
which we have. This
gives us a majority
of one in the House
and either seven or
nine on joint ballot.
This is my claim and
it will be found that
it will be substan
tiated. I must con
fess that the major
ity is a little too
close lor comfort, but
Mich a small working
majority has some beneficial effecs, for it
always results in cementing the party to
gether for good legislative work."
The Discredited Maryland Leader of the Democracy and the Beaten Candidate for
Governor of Ohio.
Tne chairmen of both State committees
dispatched trusted lieutenants to Calvert
County to watch tbecjunt there.
IS ALL ONE WAY
IN OLD VIRGINIA.
The Republicans Are Very
Lucky to Have Preserved
Their Organization.
RICHMOND, Nov. 3.— The latest re
turns from yesterday's elections give the
Democrats all the Senators elected and 94
and perhaps 95 members of the House.
The Republicans get four, perhan3 five,
members o the House, and the Indepen
dents one member. Tne Democrats made
heavy gains in the southwest and in the
valley.
NOT DEPRESSING
TO REPUBLICANS.
Expected a Slump, and It
Might Have Been Very
Much Worse.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3.— A conserva
tive non-partisan yew of the election
taken by a great many people is that the
result is not a direct slap at the adminis
tration nor a vote of a lack of confidence
in tne Republican party, but largely the
result of machine manipulation and boss
ism. The opinion is expressed that the
administration is involved in the defeat
no further than it became associated with
the machine in certain localities where
there was a revolt. It is not conceded
that any popular repudiation of Re
publican principles is indicated.
Secretary Sherman arrived in Wash
ington early this morning and was at his
desk busy with the affairs of state, look
ing as fresh as if he ha I not voted yester
day at Mansfield, Ohio, ana made the
long trip back to Washington over night.
The Secretary had not received any pri
vate advices from Ohio, but said that he
was satisfied from the condition of affairs
as known to him last night that the Re
publicans bad carried the State ticket and
the Legislature as well, insuring a Re
publican Senator as a successor to Mr.
Hanna.
Senator Carter of Montana said that be
did not regard the result of the election
as depressing to Republicans. They ex
pected a slump in the elections following
a Presidential election, and did not regard
the slump in this instance as a bad one.
lt'miuht be very much worse, he said,
without being very depressing. . He did
not think ■ that the administration had
been - rebuked or that ■ the people of the
country bad changed their minds ; as to
the wisdom of having the Republican
party in power.
The general declaration of the Demo
crats is, however, that the result is a
triumph for Bryanism; that the next
House of Representatives will be Demo
cratic, and that they will have a great lift
toward the election of Mr. Brvan in 1900. '
Even those who fear that Tammany may
use its power to the injury of Bryan be
fore the nomination of toe next Presiden
tial candidate concede that he moral in
fluence of it victory now cannot fail 'to
help the par'y and that Tammany will,
of course, have to be loyal to the party
when it comes to a national election.
Withal they rejoice vrener illy...
Secretary Long fin's hi 3 only consola
tion in the returns from 0 iio and Massa
chusetts. "I am very much rejoiced,''
said he "at the prospects of Senator
Hanna being returned to the Senate."
KANSAS LINES UP
WITH THE GUARD.
It Is a Clean Sweep in the
Home of Jerry Simpson.
* TOrEKA, Nov. 3. — At a late hour to
night tne Returns from Tuesday's election
in Kansas are still very incomplete. The
indications are that the Republicans have
elected eight of the thirteen D. strict
Judges voted for. Republicans claim to
have elected ten of the Judges and they
concede three to the fusionists. On the
other hand the fusionists claim to have
been successful in eight of the judicial
districts, but no figures are given out. In
complete and unofficial returns from
ninety of the 105 counties of the State
would indicate Republican victories in
almost half the county elections. Thes?
returns show that in forty-nine counties
the Republicans have elected all or nearly
all their candidates for county officers.
In fourteen counties the fusionists have
elected all or nearly ail of their candi
dates. In twenty-six counties the offices
are about evenly divided between the
fusionists and the Republicans. In one
county a straight Democratic ticket was
elected. However, Taylor Riddle, chair
man of the Populist State organization,
issued a statement to-night in which he
shows that the returns have increased
the number of Populist officeholders from
194 to 350, and possibly 375.
In Barber County, the home of Jerry
Simpson, the Republicans scored a clean
sweep.
NEW JERSEY NOW
IS ALL REPUBLICAN.
Legislature Goes to That Party
and Mr. Hobart Is Sus
tained.
.TRENTON, N. J., Nov. 3.— New. Jersey
Assembly will have a Republican major
ity of 21 on joint ballot. The latest fig
ures from the different counties show that
the Dmiocrals have elected Senators in
trling'on. Hunter, Middlesex, Passaic,
and Sussex counties, and that Robert E.
Hand, It., is elected Senator from Cape
May by about 150 majority. ; With the
hold-over Senators, this makes the Senate
stand' 14 Republicans to 7 Democrats.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. a— This has
been a day of anxiety with the Ohio poli
ticians. It opened with the Republicans
and Democrats both claiming the election
of their State tickets and a majority of the
Legislature. This afternoon the Demo
crats conceded the election of the Republi
can State ticket by larger pluralities than
were given last night in the earliest of
these dispatches as the claims of the
Republicans. To-
night the Democratic
State Committee an
nounced no definite
claims on the Leg
islature and the Re
publican State Com
mittee raised, it?
claims to a majority
of five on joint bal
lot, as follows: Sen
ate, 17 Republi
can?, 19 Democrats;
House, 5S Republi
cans, 51 Democrats;
total, 75 Republi
cans. 70 Democrats.
Wood 3 County had
been conceded to the
Democrats until to
night, when the
complete returns
caused the Republi
cans to claim it.
On the returns
complete at Repub
lican State beadquar-
~~ ters the Democrats
will Lave a majority of 2 in the Senate
and the R publicans of 7 in the House.
The fusionists from Cincinnati are all
counted as Democratic. The Republicans
can organize the House without them.
Senator Voight is the only one of the four
Senators elected on the fusion ticket in
Cincinnati who is a Republican, and he
now become* a factor. If Senator Voight
should vote with the Republicans on the
organization of the Senate, or anything
else, the vote would be a tie, with the
Republican Lieutenant-Governor having
the deciding vote.
The Republicans now expect two mora
j of the fusion Republicans to vote with
! them for Senator, in which event they
claim a majority of 9 on joint ballot,
with 77 Republicans and 08 Democrats,
j When it was thought to-day that control
I of the Legislature might depend on one
j vote there was apprehension of trouble in
I some counties. Emissaries were sent out
I Irom State headquarters to close counties
to watch the counting. The Ohio law
provides that "not less than one nor more
than five days from the date of election
the deputy State supetv.sors in each
county shall begin the official canvass of
the vote, and continue from day to day
until completed."
In the event of protracted contests in
the close counties the suspense of to-day
might have continue I until the Legisla
ture met next January.
Since the change of the claims at Demo
cratic State headquarters on the com
| plexion of the Legislature, two important
' rumors have been vigorously circulated.
j One i* that John R. McLean will be
I pressed by the Ohio Democracy for the
j Democratic nomination for President in
j 1900, and the other is that Senator Hanna
j will have opposition in his own party for
i election to the Senate. It is claimed by
i those advocatinc McLean for the Presi
! den<i3l nomination that he deserves it for
j the reduction of the Republican plurality
; to less than half of what it was last year,
i and of the Republican majority in the
! Legislature from SO Ton joint bal.ot t6 5i
j And the Democrats claim that the major-,
! ily on joint ballot would be 5 the other
1 way if they had an equal chance on con-,
tests. There are thirty-six members of
the State Senate and there are only one or
two of the Senatorial districts that are so
close or doubtful as to- admit of contests
on which Republican Senators could be
unseated.
On the other band there are 10" mem
bers of the House, in which the Republi
cans claim a majority of seven, wmle the
Democrats have a majority of two in the
Senate. And there are several counties
so close on the vote for representatives
that several seats could be changed in
that body. In the settlement of contested
seats the Republicans would have such an
advantage in the House over the Demo
crats in the Senate that it is not likely