The San Francisco call. [volume], February 15, 1898, Image 1

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

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VOU'ME LXXXIII.-NO. 77.
SUNK IN BERNER
BAY WITH CREW
AND PASSENGERS
Alaskan Steamship Clara Nevada Re=
ported to Have Gone Down With
All on Board.
THE STEAMER CLARA NEVADA.
SEATTLE, Feb. 14.— Meager details
on the loss of the steel steamer Clara
Nevada have been received here from
I'pnaimo, B. C. Th? Clara Nevada left
Pfcaguay for Juneau on her home trip
{o Seattle, and when off Skyward City.
Pmruw : Bay, about thirty miles south
I ;>. Bhe was seen by the reef-
dents of Seyward City to Vl^V 1^ all ablaze,
a mass of hungry flames. While the
••^^ig wharf at Berner Bay was crowd
* ed with spectators of the awful scene,
a loud report was heard, -which re
;,led the explosion of boilers, and
i thing more was seen of the ill-fated
steamer.
It is feared the unfortunate forty
passengers and the entire crew arc
lost as no trace could be found of tb^m
along the beach of Berner Bay. The
sea was rough and a furious gale was
blowing. It is thought the vessel was
trying to make Berner Bay for shel
ter.
The steamer Inlander, for Victoria,
called to-day at Union, whence Captain
Irving telegraphed the news of the dis
aster. He sent word that the Clara Ne
vada was reported to have been on fire
and to have disappeared after a great
explosion on board in the neighborhood
of Seyward, fifty miles north of Juneau.
The beach in the vicinity of Beyward
is strewn with wreckage, freshly paint
ed like the woodwork of the Clara Ne
vada. This wreckage was seen by Cap
tain Thomas Lathan of the steamship
Coleman, lately at Juneau from Skag
uay.
On the evening of February 5 George
Beck and wife of Seyward City saw a
■mall steamer proceeding slowly
against a head wind well out in the
channel, and while they watched its
efforts to make headway the vessel
broke out Into flames. This vessel was
unquestionably the Clara Nevada. The
pea was very rough, so that those on
board would have had very littlechance
to make shore anywhere in boats. The
fire was seen by many other residents
of Seyward City.
This was the first trip of the Clara
Nevada, and she was due to leave
Seattle last Saturday on her second
trip, with all berths sold. The steamer
Rustler had left for the scene, but no
report from her is obtainable.
The Clara Nevada was formerly the
steamer Hassler of the United States
Coast Survey Service, and was sold
last August to MeGuire Bros, of this
city, who refurnished and overhauled
her for the Alaska trade. She was on
h^r way from Skagurty to Juneau and
had forty passengers on board. She
was a three-masted schooner, rigged
without gaff 3. She was of 319 tons bur
flrn, VM feet l'>ng, 24 feet beam and 10
'. -pp depth. She was built in 1872
at Camdcn, N. J. When inspected the
boi!»rs of tho Clara Nevada stood a
cold water pressure of 146 pounds,
equal to 200 pounds steam pressure.
She had a steel hull fitted with five
transverse air-tight bulkheads. She
cost the McGuires $15,000 and they
upent $15,000 more on her alterations.
Fhe was considered entirely seaworthy
and was given a first-class rating.
In the reports of the loss of the Clara
Nevada it is stated that the steamship
left Skaguay on her return trip to Se
attle on February 5. W. W. McGulre
says that he has positive knowledge
that the steamship had not reaohed
Bkaeuay on February .4. McGulre does
The San Francisco Call
SOME OF THE LOST.
SEATTLE, Feb. 14.— The officers of the
Clara Nevada were as follows:
Captain, C. H. Lewis.
First mate, Mr. Smith.
Second mate, Smith.
Purser, George Foster Beck.
Steward, O'Donnell.
Freight clerk, George Rogers.
Pilot, Ed Keely.
Chief Engineer, David Reed.
The entire crew numbers twenty-eight, in
cluding six sailors, five cabin-boys and three
Chinese cooks.
The vessel is supposed to have had forty
passengers on board.
not believe it possible for the Nevada
to have left on the sth. There does not
seem to be any doubt about a vessel
being lost, he says, but there is a pos
sibility that it may not be the one re
ported.
PORTLAND, Or., Feb. 14.— Captain
C. H. Lewis, of the steamer Clara Ne
vada, has been in the employ of the
< Togon Railway and Navigation Com
pany and the Pacific Coast Steamship
i 'ompany for twenty years. At differ
ent times he has commanded the
steamer George W. Elder, the Willam
ette, the Idaho and the Michigan. Last
August he attempted to take the stern
wheel steamer Eugene from this city
to St. Michael, but met disaster on
Vancouver Island.
G. Foster Beck, the purser and one of
the owners of the Clara Nevada, was
one of the best known young men in
this city, having lived here the greater
portion of his life. He was about 28
y^ars of age and was the son-in-law of
Mrs. R. L. Hawthorne, probably the
wealthiest woman in Portland.
SECRETARY SHERMAN
HAS NOT RESIGNED.
Although Suffering From a Bad Cold
He Will Soon Resume His
Official Duties.
NEW YORK. Fr.h. 14.-A Washington
special to the Herald Bays: Sr-orr-tary
Sherman is confined to his home suffer
ing from a severe cold. His physician,
Dr. Frank Hyatt, told me his condition
is by no means serious. lie confidently
expects that the Secretary will be able
to take up his work at thr> department
again in a very few days. Mrs. Sherman
to-night donled emphatically tu^ report
that the Secretary has resigned from the
Cabinet, and said that he entertains no
intention of doing so at present. She de
clares that there is no foundation what
ever for the rumor. It is also stated at
the White House and at the State De
partment that the Secretary is not known
to contemplate withdrawing from the
Cabinet at this time.
New Cannery for Hanford.
HANFORD, Feb. 14.— At a meeting of
fruit growers and citizens to-day 1000 tons
of fruit for canning purposes was guar
anteed to Fontana & Co, and a site for
their cannery to be built in Hanford was
pledged the company. Fontana was pres
ent and accepted the guarantee and said
that operations would begin at once to
erect a plant to cost $25,000. The cannery
will employ between 800 and 600 arsons
during the canuin* season.
SAX FRANCISCO, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1898.
SHOT TO DEATH
BY A ROBBER
Dennis Connors, a Teamster,
Murdered at the Head of
Kootenay Lake.
"Fire Away," Said the Victim,
the Bandit Carried Out His
Threat.
Special Dispatch to The Call.
NELSON, B. C. Feb. 14.-The steamer
Nelson arrived this evening from Kuska
nook, a new town at the head of Koote
nay Lake, formerly Goat River Landing
and brought the body of Dennis Connors!
who was foully murdered on Sunday
night. The facts of the case so far as
learned are: The murdered man, who
was a teamster in the employ of con
tractors for the Crows Nest Pass Railway
Construction Company, was sitting in the
barroom of Erickson's Hotel, when a
man known here as Doyle and in Ross
land as Sullivan entered the place. With
out any provocation Doyle drew a re
volver and pointing it at Connors said:
"Dig up or I'll shoot you."
Connors replied: "Fire away." Doyle
immediately fired. Connors fell dead
without a groan, with a smile on his face.
Doyle fled from the house.
Constable Ford, who is acting in Con
stable Jarvis" absence on special duty in
Nelson, arrived on the scene about five
minutes later and at once started out in
search of the murderer along the toll
road to O'Leary's place", along the route
of the Crows Nest Pass Construction
road. Although a strict search was made
no trace of the murderer could be found
MORALES CAN RETURN,
BUT MUST COME PEACE.
• PANAMA, Feb. 14.— Advices by cable
from the Herald's 'correspondent in
Guatemala, Guatemala, say - that Presi
dent -Cabera refuses to see any one ex
cept the , higher state; and military offi
cials. Senor ) Auguiano, Minister of i For
eign Relations, says ■ in an interview that
the Government «:■ has no candidate for
the Presidency, to succeed Senor. Barrios,
who 'was * assassinated last Tuesday. ■> The
present :; Government, he .says, is only
striving to preserve peace throughout the
country. Senor v Augulano also says that
General .■„' ProspeTo Morales will be re
ceived in a friendly manner if ho .returns
to Guatemala in a peaceful way, inas
much 'as »he t s ? included '< in '• an ■•: amnesty
decree which was issued yesterday. v Gen
eral Morales ! has ■ many friends in i Guate
mala, ■ who have already taken' steps ; to
• advance his ? candidacy for ', the i Presl-
Aansx. ■'■'-. ; .■.;,• ?; ;;.- ■ -■;■.'; '
PLACED IN
FALSE LIGHT
BY A FOOL
Spanish Ministers Are
Grieved by De
Lome's Letter.
Sagasta and ' Associates
Condemn the Vile
Utterances.
They Have Decided to Reply
in Fitting Way to Minister
Woodford's Statement.
SENOR DUPUY IS SCORED.
Luis Polo Bernabe, Director of Com
merce, Appointed Minister to
th© United States.
Copyright, IS3S. bi James Gordon Bennett.
PARIS, Feb. 14.— The Figaro
says: No state could make such
an apology as the United States
demands from Spain -without the
loss of dignity, i If the United
States should attack Spain under
such a futile pretext as the De
Lome incident the whole of Eu
rope would support the latter.
' ■ - -■ ' . ' '
4 4 * 4- 4 4 4 4 4-.4- 4- 4-;4 4- 4 4
MADRID, Feb. 14.— As a result
of "the meeting of the Council of
'Ministers it has been decided to
reply in a fitting way to Minis
ter Woodford's statement about
Senor de Lome's letter. I have
just had a conversation with one
of the Ministers- present at the
council, and he said: "You may
say openly, as ; coming from
Senor Sagasta, and from each of
us, that we entirely condemn, in
a most absolute manner, Senor
de Lome's letter. We . are
ashamed, grieved and sorry
thereat. The Ministers feel more
aggrieved than President Mc-
Kinle,y can possibly be. ; We are
honest men, who "jave - been
- placed In a ■ false posj t! on by ft&
fool." ;
. In reply to further questions
the Minister said: "Canalejas*
journey was absolutely private
and in. no way possible did we
trust him or use him."
The council has appointed, to
replace Senor de Lome, Senor Luis
Polo Bernabe, now Director :of
Commerce in the Foreign, Office,
who has lately been engaged in
preparing a treaty of commerce
with Senor Moret. " He is,, there
fore, especially fitted to take it
and put it in shape in Washing
ton. His father was Spanish
Minister in Washingto-n in 1872.-
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.— Actuated
by a sense of honor and a strict idea
Continued on Second Paga.
NEWS OF THE DAY.
Weather forecast for San' Fran
cisco: Fair ' on ■ Tuesday, probably
fog In the "morning; northwesterly,?
changing to southwesterly, winds.
Maximum temperature for the past
twenty-four hours:
San Francisco ...70 degrees
Portland 60 degrees .-
Log Angeles ....86 degrees
San Diego ' .76 degrees
FIRST PAGE.
Awful Tragedy, of the Sea.
De Lome's Successor, Named.
Sentiment Changing to Zola.
Defective Shells in Congress.
SECOND PAGE.
Chief Dwyer to Enforce Law.
Braly Escapes Prosecution.
Kansas Pacific in Congress.
Republicans Ready to Battle.
THIRD PAGE.
Blizzard Sweeps Whites Pas*.
Laws to Favor Americana. •
11l Luck of the Oregon.
Protection for A*merican Miners. ,
Annexation a Crime.
Chinese Hatred of Foreigners.
: : -„,.'. FOURTH PAGE.
San Jose Scandal to Be Probed.
Son In Jail. Mother Dead. ; ,
Drink Leads to Suicide.
Flannelly Given More Time.
San Jose May Not Be Looted.
Lawyer Jailed as a Firebug. ,
Perished In His Family's Sight. (
A Tragedy of Bakersfifld.
• FIFTH PAGE.
Grand Jury After Pugilism.
Official Choice of a Fender.
SIXTH PAGE.
Editorial. '
Out of Towne.
Put .Up or Shut Up.
Branded Seals.
Relief for the Whalers. *
Perverted Justice. .
The Dread Menace of Ophthalmia.
Corridor Stories. '. ".■ .. ; < *
Answers to' Correspondents.
: SEVENTH PAGE. .
Off for r the Klondike. ?
Hospitals for Insane Consumptives."
Slapped aßecreant Lover. : ' :
Dogs at the Mining Fair. -
EIGHTH PAGE.
Water Rates No Lower. ■ : ;\^l
Reported ' Famine", at J Dawson. '
-■-.-• NINTH; PAGE. i
News of . the Water . Front. . .
The : Bostonlans ' Are Here.
Library Trustees ' In ' Danger. {•
' •: TENTH PAGE.
Commercial World. •
■, ELEVENTH PAGE. W. \
News From Across the Bay. .
Death of A. D. Wilder. : ,
Lieutenant' Peary. Here. ■".,
: .... TWELFTH : PAGE. - ■
Racing at Emeryville. . . .
" ;■• . THIRTEENTH v PAGE.
Births, Marriages and ' Deaths.
FOURTEENTH < PAGE.
Rotten Harbor j Board Wharves. L --- '-■ ; '
Twice Robbed One House. '■
PUBLIC CLAMOR
AGAINST ZOLA IS
QUIETING DOWN
M. FERNAND LABORIE, Counsel for Zola.
AROUSED BY
THE EXPOSE
IN THE CALL
Hilborn Will Cause a Thorough
Investigation of the Defective
Shrapnel Scandal.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14. —
Representative Hilborn to-day
introduced in the House of Rep
resentatives his resolution di
recting the Committee on Mili
tary Affairs to make an investi
gation into the matter of defec
tive shrapnel furnished to the
army by private contractors.
This matter is creating great
Interest in army and navy cir
cles and in Congressional cir
cles as well. Copies of The Call
containing accounts of the fail
ure of the shrapnel at the Pre
sidio have been brought to the
attention of Congressmen and
army officers.
Members of Congress believe it to be
a very serious matter and are in favor
of an investigation. Congressman Hil
born said to The Call correspondent
to-night "The results of the tests of
the shrapnel at the Presidio, when i>o
per cent of the ammunition was found
to be unserviceable, cannot be passed
by without notice. It is too serious a
matter. It Is true that war is not im
minent, but 'in time of peace prepare
for war.' And In no way can we pre
pare for war more effectually than by
devising means for certain delivery of
perfect ammunition and stores in case
of war.
"It appears that we have purchased
and paid for a considerable amount of
shrapnel which is worthless. This
means either that the inspection by
our army experts was faulty, at the
time of delivery, or that the materfal
has deteriorated in a very brief period
so as to become useless. In either case
there should be a thorough investiga
tion. If the army officers are careless
in making tests of material received
from contractors they should be taught
to be more vigilant, and if the ammu
nition we are accepting is manufac
tured according to a faulty formula
and lacks stability so that it becomes
worthless in a few years we should
know that also. If war comes we do
not want to be in the condition in
which France found herself when her
war with Germany commenced. Her
army marched to slaughter instead of
war because of the insufficiency of the
war material furnished by dishonest
contractors.
"Whenever practicable the Govern
ment itself should manufacture its war
material. Then there will be no
temptation to furnish unserviceable
ammunition. The cost may be a little
more, but it will pay in the end. We
recognize this in the manufacture of
our navy guns and make them at our
ordnance shop in Washington, with our
own skilled men. They are not only
the best guns in the world of the;r
kind, but they are made so cheaply
that no private contractor thinks of
competing for the work.
"In the matter of powder, our posi
tion is peculiar. When we used the old
black and brown powders made of sal-
I neter. sulphur and charcoal, the Gov
ernment purchased Its powder in the
open market from some of the hun
dreds of manufacturers of that pow
der in this country. When, however,
we required a special kind of brown
and black prismatic powder for our
high-power guns, which had to be
made under great pressure, we had
trouble to get contractors to bid for
its manufacture.
"Secretary Long in his last report
complains of the lack of competition
in the manufacture of powder by pri
vate manufacturers. We have now,
however, reached the point when the
brown and black powders must be
abandoned, if we propose to keep up
with the other nations. Smokeless pow
der is the powder of the future. It has
45 per cent more power and is not so
destructive to the gun; it aoes not ioui
the gun, and the operation of swabbing
Is dispensed with. But its great ad
vantage is that it is smokeless. The
ship using brown powder will after the
first fire be fighting in a cloud of
smoke, while her enemy, using smoke
less powder, will not have her view
obscured. The ship enveloped in a
cloud of smoke must necessarily shoot
wildly and become an easy prey to the
torpedo, which she •will be unable to
discover and avoid. Our navy experts
have worked out the problem at the
experiment station at Newport, and
have obtained formula for a smokeless
powder of great energy, which is stable
and will not deteriorate for years un
der any conditions of heat or cold, dry
ness or moisture. This was a great tri
umph and reflects credit upon our na
val officers. This r.mokeless powder is
equal if not superior to any powder in
the world for ship use. It has no nitro
glycerine in it, which makes it a desir
able powder for ships. The powder
used by the army, called Payton pow
der (in honor of its inventor, Bernard
Payton, superintendent of the Califor
nia Powder Works at Santa Cruz) has
forty parts of nitro-glycerine. The
army officers do not object to this and
find this safe on the land. But there
is some volatilization of nitro-glycerine
from the mass, resulting in a deposition
of free nitro-glycerine upon the cooler
surface of the powder mass. The vola
tilization will be accelerated in the hot
magazines of the ship.
"The army powder of which nitro
glycerine is a component part is deemed
unsafe to use in ships. The smokeless
powder adopted by the ordnance de
partment of the bureau is made wholly
of gun cotton of high nitration. It is
called pyro-celluloise. This powder
possesses remarkable properties. A
splinter of it may be lighted and when
in full flame may be blown out with a
breath. But fired in a high-power gun
it takes on another character. Two
powder manufacturers in this country
have undertaken to produce powder ac
cording to this formula, which has only
been perfected within the last year.
These companies are the Dupont
Powder Works of Wilmington, Del.,
and the California Powder Works of
Santa Cruz. The California company
has turned out a product which is pro
nounced fully up to the standard, but
has as yet delivered none to the Gov
Continued on Second Pa«a.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
CHANGE OF
THE FRENCH
•SENTIMENT
Greater Regard Is
Shown the Perse
cuted Novelist.
Some Fresh Sensations
Sprung Daily at the
Trial.
Disappearance of Document
Upon Which Dreyfus Was
Convicted.
TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS.
One Declares That Friends of th»
Convicted Captain Offered Him
a Big Bribe.
Copyrighted, IS3S, by James Gordon Bennett.
PARIS, Feb. 14.— A remarkable
change Is manifest to-day in the
demeanor of the public toward
Emile Zola.. In the crowds of
people who collected outside the
Palais de Justice there could not
have been more than a dozen
or so at most who went with the
intention of making demonstra
tions in favor of or against Zola.
The impression obtained by the
Herald correspondent, who was
present outside the court from
the time of Zola's arrival until
his departure at half-past 5, was
one of calm — such absolute calm
that one almost wondered if hos
tile intentions had ever been
shown by the public toward the
novelist. At 10 o'clock there were
few people In the Galerie de
Harley facing the Place Dau
phine, and when Zola arrived
at 12 o'clock at Quai dcs Orfev
riers the number was not percep
tibly increased. He was greeted
with a few cries of "A has Zola"
and "Vive Zola," with an accom
paniment of whistles from a
small body of anti-Semites,
but it is a notable fact that there
were no cries of "Vive l'armee"
when the military witnesses ar
rived.
As the day wore on the num
ber of people increased, and
there must have been at least
20,000 on the various quays and
Place Dauphine. To-day being
a Paris workmen's holiday, a
great part of these were arti
sans, who sauntered along the
boulevard with glances of curi
osity through the large gilded
gates at the main entrance to
the Palais, then along Quai de
l'Horloge, where a company of
soldiers were on picket duty,
back to the Place Dauphine,
and thence to Quai dcs Orfe
vriers. thus making a complete
circuit of the Palais de Justice.
An incident in the afternoon pro
vided a matter of much gossip.
Prince Henri d'Orleans pre
sented himself at the court, but
was refused entrance because he
was not provided with a special
permit.
As Zola left there came from
Quai de la Messagerie the sound
of whistles. About a dozen anti-
Semites had taken up a position
on the parapet of the quay and
did not lose this opportunity of
demonstrating, at a distance,
against Zola. Now the question
arises to what can we attribute
this change from the vociferous
demonstrations of last week? It
is suggested that the answer can
be only one of two things — either
the police previously employed
agents or provocateurs who are
now withdrawn, or the public
feeling toward Zola has been in
fluenced in his favor by the
reading of the reports of the
trial.
PARIS, Feb. 14.— When the trial of
M. Zola and Perreux was resumed to
day M. Jaures, the socialist member of
the Chamber of Deputies, was recalled
and reiterated his belief in the culpabil
ity of Major Esterhazy.
The examination of It Bertlllon, the
handwriting expert, was then resumed.
He said he thought it impossible to ask
the Minister for War for the incrimi
nating documents seized at the resi
dence of Dreyfus in 1894, which, accord
ing to the testimony of the witness on
Saturday last, would enable him to
prove that Dreyfus wrote the border
eau.
M. Laborie, counsel for M. Zola,
thereupon protested, and twitted M.
Bertillon with being unwilling to tes
tify in court, while giving interviews
to newspapers.
M. Bertillon said the interviews were
""Being pressed by M. Laborie to tell
how unless he had seen the secret doc
uments, he was able to prove at court
martial that Dreyfus wrote the border
eau. M. Bertlllon answered that he