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The San Francisco Call. VOLUME J.XXXVI— NO. 38. MOVING TO THE RELIEF OF FLOOD SUFFERERS NEGROES STUNNED BY THE CALAMITY IN THE TEXAS FLOODED DISTRICT. On the Brazos River, a Short Distance Below Sealey MANY WILL DIE BEFORE HELP CAN COME There Are 10,000 Starving People to Be Cared For. <:.:. .,;..,>-•. :■•<:• •*>-<> - ; •-:'-■:•• •:•••-■• j ■ . I AUSTIN, Tex.. July ".—Further evidence of the terrible stress and destitution of the many thousands of refugees in the in undated region was brought to light to-day. It is ported by reliable persons, who have visited the scene of devastation, that a large number <-f negroes have already succumbed to the pangs of hunger. In Washington, Austin. "Waller, Fort Bend and Bra 7-ioria counties the work of rescuing the water-bound inhabitants was contin. I tied all last night and to-day. Scores! of men. women and children were -say- j ed "with barely sufficient life left in . their Vidies to enable them to hold on, to th*-: branches < -f trees "> which they j had been clinging for t_ past three I days. Relief boats were to-day able to ; reach the Sand Knoll, in Austin Coun ty and word was received from, there this evening that the 500 people, who had been huddled together on the lit- ; tle plat of ground for the past four days had been rescued. The experi ence of this colony of refugees was ter rible in the extreme. When the flood came they were driven from their com fortable homes and sought to make their wav to higher ground. They, found that the waters had made a wide detour, and that they were already on ! an island. This island decreased in area rapidly, nd for the past four days embraced only about three acres. On i this little space the refugees gathered -with a large number of cattle and ; horses, and to add to the horror of the situation, it was made _ place of ref- , uge by thousands of venomous snakes. j with dee;- and other wild animals. The j snakes writhed in and out among the j terrified and suffering people, and a : number were bitten and are still in a critical condition. It will take the people of the inun dated region several years to recover from the effects of the calamity. There . are many instances of wealthy planters having had all their Tops and movable property destroyed by the flood, leav ing them practically penniless and de pendent upon charity for food and clothing for themselves and families. This condition of affairs is particu larly true in Fort Rend, Brazioria and Austin counties, which were largely de voted to sugar cane culture. These ri<M I and highly improved plantations have { built up within the past twenty-five i years, and on each of them there was from $50,000 to '$200,000 worth of im provements in the way of sugar mills,., refineries, fine stables and residences. All these are gone. Advices were received hereto-day that MINERS REPORTED TO HAVE DIED OF SCURVY News Reaches Dawson That a Score of Men Perished at Wind River. SEATTLE. Wash., July 7.— An uncon firmed story comes from Dawson City that, several prospectors who have arrived there over the Edmonton route report that a score of miners lied from scurvy at Wind River, a branch of the Peel River, and that a number of others are suffering from its effects. They had no list of those who died, but they. report the following among the sick: \ •.. ' ■ DR. J. B. MASON, Chicago. W. C. CI'CH. RR* _ BROTHERS. DR. MARTIN, dentist. Chicago. EDWARD HARRTSON M ITCH X 1.J. . Dr. Martin was camped with two other Chicago men. Both took scurvy. Martin loaded them, on a sled and tried to puil them to Wind City, a distance of seventy-five miles, where he expected to find medicines and fresh supplies: Ot\g man 'died soon after the journey began. Martin took th« other man on his back and completed the journey. MAN AND WIFE FOR SIXTY-FOUR YEARS SAN DIEGO. July Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Smith of this city celebrated the sixty fourth anniversary of their marriage to day by giving a -banquet to their children and -heir children's children. Those pres ent included Colonel John R. Berry and wife, Mrs. Berry being a daughter of the host ar.d hostess. J. Russell- Smith of : this city and Mrs. Rosa Eigemann of ■ BloominVton. 111., were the other children present, though there are two sons of the ■ aged couple living in Illinois. C. K. Smith and Lucretia Gray were j although no definite information had been received from the convicts who were working on plantations in the flooded regions, it is believed that they were removed to higher ground when the waters began to rise and that there are nci cases of drowning among th-?m This applies only to the leased convicts. _*>"•• information was received from the inundated State penitentiary planta tion in Fori. Bend County, where sev eral hundred convicts were employed. The taking care of 30,000 or mere des titute negroes is going to be a big job. They seem to be absolutely indifferent as to their conditions and fate. Many of them were prosperous planters be fore the flood came. . They had been ever since the late war accumulating their modest fortunes, and to have all swept away in a few hours is such a shock that they are stunned. it is now' the accepted belief that there will be but little replanting of cotton. It will be too late in the sea son before the ground is in condition to work, even should the flood subside rapidly. The refugees will have no op portunity of making a crop, and the planters whose places have suffered such destruction will have no work to give them until next season. In the meantime the unfortunates must not j be allowed to starve. It will take a large amount of money to tide them j through the next several months. The general stagnation Of railroad traffic Is being gradually removed. Hundreds of workmen are doing quick work in making repairs to roadbed, track and bridges, and the former reg ular service on several of the affected lines was restored to-day. The first di rect and through mails from St. Louis and the North and East reached here to-day. Governor Savor? received the follow ing message this evening from Mayor John Phillips" of San Felipe, Austin County. We have a thousand sufferers from the Brazos flood. Five hundred are p. need of food and clothing. They are starving Help us. We have done and are doing all we can. but our resources have all been swept away. The Governor replied by pending $2000 to Mayor Phillips to be used in buying food supplies. The shipment of 20,000 Government rations reached Richmond this evening and the work of distribu tion among the needy was immediate ly begun. A number of United States Government boats are plying the wat ers, rescuing the refugees and taking food supplies to the starving ones. Telegrams were received by Governor Sayers to-day from charitable people of Texas and distant parts of the coun try, tendering financial aid to the flood sufferers of the State. Frank Gould of New York City wired the Governor to draw op him for $5000 and to apply the sum where was most needed. Presi dent Richard A. McCurdy of the Mu tual Life Insurance Company and Col lis P. Huntington of New York each contributed $5000. H. P. Hollins & Co. of New York contributed $1000. A St. Louis firm contributed $100. The total married at Woodstock. Vt., on July 7, 1835. Mr. Smith at that time. was pub lisher of the Vermont Courier. Two years later the young couple removed to Graf ton. 111., where Mr. Smltn published the Backwoodsman. In 1839 he moved to Rock Island, 111., ancl in 1^47 to Mon mouth, 111., where he published the Mon mouth Atlas until 1857. In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Smith came to California, spending the following winter in. San Francisco. In 1876 they came to Southern California and li.:-. lived a retired life since. Fourteen years ago to-day Mr. and Mrs. Smith celebrated ■ their golden wedding with a party at the seashore, and they •were then considered very old; but now, although the husband is S3 and the wife 82. both are sprightly and their minds are -bright. They enjoy outdoor life and are thoroughly nappy, looking ahead to the celebration of their diamond wedding an niversary. ;v. .-'••. ■ -■ •,.■_-- ■-_. HAS NO COMBINATION WITH GOVERNOR PINGREE Alger Denies a Story Concerning His Candidacy for the Senate. NEW FORK. July General Alger. Secretary of War, who was at the Fifth ; Avenue Hotel to-day. emphatically denies i that there is any political combination be | tween him and Governor Plngree of Mich igan with reference to his candidacy for j the office of United States Senator. When asked about the recent conference be tween himself and Governor Plngree, ac counts of which were published recently, he said: . "There was just enough truth in the re ports of the so-called conference between Governor Pingree and myself to start a lively political story. No combination ex ernor Pingree and myself to start a v political story. No combination ex ists between Governor . Pingree and my self. I was opposed to the election of Pingree as. Governor and he and I do not' agree upon some very Important points." SAX FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1899. PENNED ON ISLAND WITH VENOMOUS SNAKES '& Hunger-Stricken ReFu- < § gees Are Bitten and < £ May Die. y o- • o- » -o • o- a -o • <>- <> -O'-o -v - *>■ cash contributions from all parts was about $30,000. The attention of the War Department has been called to a. peculiar effect of the recent flood in the Rio Grande River. The former channel of the er ratic stream passed within a few rods of Fort Ringgold, Tex., and the pump ing station was so located as to afford an adequate water supply for the army post.- . During the recent big rampage the river cut a new channel, slicing off a large section of Mexico, and placing about a mile between the post and its present channel. The pumping station was not prepared for such an emerg ency as this, and the water supply at the post is now cut off until some other means of obtaining it ( an be devised. The Intern -fi-uml Water Boundary Commission will be called upon to In vestigate the question of the rightful boundary between the two countries at that point. RELIEF COMMITTEES ARE WELL ORGANIZED GALVESTON, Tex., July 7.— The sit uation in the Brazos Valley is rapidly improving. The river is falling. There is an unconfirmed rumor that five lives were lost near Sartartia in Fort Bend County. The report sent out Wednes day from Brookshire. Walter County, that two lives were lost there now ap pears to be an error. Those who were supposed to have been drowned persist in making their reappearance. Relief committees are now well or ganized. At Brookshire the relief com mittee has opened a commissary and Issues a. half ration per capita. Precau tions have been taken so that only the deserving shall get these rations, and therefore the committee issues to the planter for all the tenants he had when the flood came. D. S. ('agent, a prominent citizen of Brookshire, has ordered a carload of cotton seed which he proposes to give to all who will plant and undertake to cultivate the crop. He says, moreover. that crops of cotton, sorghum, Kaffir corn, June corn and potatoes can be raised now if the people had the seed, but they have neither seed nor money, and he suggests that contributions of seed would help them. These crops would enable them to live until the be ginning of next year, when they would be able to draw supplies from the-mer chants from the prospective crops. There are rations enough at Brookshire to last for a week or more. Along the Brazos alone it is estimated more than 10.000 negroes have lost everything. The loss by drowned horses, mules and cat tle is something enormous.' ANNUAL MEETING OF VALLEY ROAD DIRECTORS E. P. Ripley to Succeed Claus Spreck- els as President Ten Days Hence. I.OS ANGELES, July ".-Manager W. G. Nevin of the Santa Fe has been advised that the annual meeting of the stockhold ers ■In the San Joaquin Valley Railway will he held at San Francisco on July 17. at which time B. P. Ripley will be chosen to succeed Claus Spreckels as president of the new line. Other changes in keeping with the Santa F*e_ absorption of the Valley lines will then he made. . J. A. Barr. the new third vice president of the Santa Fe system, whose election at New York was reported yesterday, in a. stranger to Los Angeles railroad people. Mr. Barr is. however, known to local rail road men by reputation". He will be in charge of the operating department of the system, which has never before had a distinctive vice president at its head. Mr. Barr is at present vice president and general manager of the Norfolk and Western, and has been an operating man on one of the North Pacific Coast iin«*.-*. He is expected In this vicinity some time in August on a tour of Inspection when President Ripley visits the Pacific Coast. *> ■ ,, — , — — ORDER IS RE-ESTABLISHED. Barcelona Has Resumed Its Normal Aspect. Special Cable to The Gal] and the New Tork _■_-*'<_. Copyrighted, 1899, by James Gor don Bennett. 'i:-'< ; BARCELONA, July 7. -Order is com pletely re-established, tramways are run ning, theaters are open and the city has resumed Its normal aspect. Those wounded during the disturbances aro doing well. ■:---..', » TORTURED BY NEGRO SOLDIERS I An Innocent Miner Prodded i With Bayonets in the - Bull Pen. TOLD INIFFIDAVITS — — .' Story of Indignities Heaped Upon Men Who Would Not Consent ' to Give False Testimony. Special bispatch to The Call. As the trials proceed at Wal lace of the men accused of com plicity in the dynamiting of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mining j properties, more of the methods employed under so-called martial law to hold the citizens in subjec tion are revealed. One miner, for instance, makes affidavit that he was prodded v/.th bayonets by, negro soldiers to compel him to bear false witness,' and upon his reiterated refusal was threatened wth death. Freedom, in the oeur d'Alenes, seems to consist in the freedom of those in pov/er to do as they like, regardless of the rights of others. - WALLACE, Idaho, July 7.— The methods employed by the State authorities, aided by the military, Id obtain testi mony against those accused of participating in the riots of April 29 were brought to the attention of the court to-day in the trial' of Paul Cor coran. The defense filed several affidavits in support of a motion for continuance, on the ground that the defendant could not have a fair and impartial trial at this time because of the intimidation practiced by the military, authorities I upon witnesses in his behalf. The affi- I davit of a miner named Simpkins, re cently released from the bull pen, was among those filed, whifj" .vt forth that afUs.nt shortly -.Sfte' 1 his incai '••ration ! had been taken by lour negro soldiers to a remote corner of the pen and made to stand : gainst a fence facing the soldiers, who then prodded him sev eral times with their bayonets, after which they cocked and aimed their rifles at the prisoner and assumed a firing attitude. Simpkins was then told ! by Burch, the superintendent of the Bunker Hill mine, that it was well ; known that he (Simpkins) could iden- tify many of the rioters, and that if he did not tell all he knew regarding the occurrences of the 29th he would have to suffer the consequences. Simpkins says he expected to be shot, but refused to perjure himself, and maintained that he knew nothing of the riot or of those who participated in it. After unsuccessfully attempting in this way to extort testimony from him. Rurch ordered the soldiers to escort Simpkins back to his .quarters. Attorneys for the defendant also filed the affidavits of William Mitchell and John Chidester, Who* stated-, that they met Paul Corcoran, the defendant, on the road near his home a short dis tance from the town of Burke between the hours of 12 and lon the day of riot, and that it Would have beep im possible for him to have been at Ward tier on that day. Chidester and . Mitchell state that they were employed at the Standard mine on the day of the riot and shortly afterward were arrested by. -,' United Continued on Second Pace.' MYSTERY FADES INTO A DOMESTIC SCANDAL Miss Florence Campbell's Melodramatic Plot to Capture Rathom From His Wife. Divorce and Not Murder Was the Purpose of the Clumsy Scheme— Rivalry for the Husband's Smiles. THE melodramic mystery in which John R. Rathom and Miss Flor ence M. Campbell figure as prin cipals has practically been solved. The affair possesses no more in terest now than attaches to the dis agreeable recital. of an illicit associa tion between a man and a woman. The case has developed simply into the ex pose of the woman's shame and the man's dishonor, coupled with the woman's clumsy scheme to retain her lover's affections and force him to sacrifice his wife. The police have in vestigated the matter thoroughly and have found nothing to warrant even a suspicion that an attempt to commit murder was made. There is nothing to indicate that poi soned candy was sent through the mails nor is there a single fact to show that either Miss Campbell or Mrs. Elsie Scheib was poisoned. That they were ill there is do question, but that their illness was the result of theirown efforts there appears to be ample proof. The facts in the case indicate that the ab surd plot was conceived in the Scheib household with the purpose of assisting Miss Florence M. Campbell to secure a monopoly of the volatile affections of thorn. Miss Campbell knew that Rathom was becoming very weary of her. He wished to be reconciled to his wife — a wish that did not meet with the appro bation of Miss Campbell. Rathom had tried time and again to rid himself of his mistress. He had given her money to leave the city and go to her home. He had promised his wife *.hat his liaison with the woman would cease. Miss Campbell knew all of this and determined to. prevent, if possible, the Joss of her lover. While the police have not established the identity of the person who sent the candy through the malls, they have a moral conviction that it was sent by Miss Campbell to herself and was not poisoned. There is everything to Indi cate that th Scheibs were parties to the plot and were animated by a de sire to clear the way for an unimpeded play of Miss Campbell's affections upon Rathom. The clumsy schemers believed that Rathom would fall into the net, accuse i his wife of attempted murder and sink gratefully into the expectant arms of Miss Campbell. When the melodrama was at its height the male Scheib. igno rant of the possibility of publicity or exposure. Informed Rathom that the I crime of .poisoning the female Scheib j and Miss Campbell would be condoned j if Mrs. Rathom would leave the State ! and sign a document admitting that | she had deserted her husband and was 'I willing that he. should accept the law's redress in divorce. Meanwhile Mrs. | Scheib and Mis;- Campbell were rapidly •recovering '" from a dose of mustard. which is disagreeable but not danger j ous when taken internally. ; Rathom refused the bait and an unenviable no j toriety followed for - all i concerned. I Miss Campbell has lost her lover, Mrs. Scheib is more than ever convinced that a dose' of mustard is not a love talis man even by proxy. Mr. Scheib is splut tering in a sea of his own contradic tions and Mr. and Mrs. Rathom are debating the propriety of kissing and making up. As far as public interest is concerned the last curtain has been rung on a domestic drama that has enough of seriousness in it to make it comic. The life threads of Mr. Rathom and Miss Campbell crossed at Santa Cruz. Rathom is a newspaper man and at the time of the meeting Miss Campbell was an ambitious novice in the field of newspaper work. She' sought encour agement and Rathom gave it. She asked instruction and Rathom supplied it. The association reached a climax that appears to be not unusual. Mrs. Rathom learned of the affair and tried in a woman's way to win back her hus band. She went to Miss Campbell and begged her to be decent. Miss Camp bell pleaded that she had been deceived, claiming that Rathom had represented himself to her as an unmarried man. In this assertion Miss Campbell said what she knew to be untrue. She re ceived many letters from Mrs. Rathom during the negotiations for the pur chase of a husband. Several of these letters were sent by messenger and not through the mails, a fact which is of great significance in connection with subsequent events. Up to this time neither Rathom nor Miss Campbell had met the Scheibs. The newspaper man and his mistress were living at 610 Ellis street for a j while and then .m- -—d. In December they returned and again sought iodg- Yu^s. They i'ound a new landlady in . barge-— Mrs. Elsie Scheib.- Mrs. Scheib had lived at Turk and Hyde streets, renting three rooms from Mrs. Ella Parker. In December Mrs. Parker re ceived a stroke of what she believed to be good fortune. A very dear friend of hers, who has served with distinction CHARACTERS AND IN CIDENTS IN THE MYSTERY WHICH DEVELOPED INTO A DOMESTIC COM EDY. . upon legislative committees .of public morals, had! been elected to the State Senate. Mrs*. Parker believed that an era of prosperity had dawned and she asked Mrs. Scmelb t" -«rlve up her rooms. Whether or not Mrs. Parker was justi fied In her lhopes by the realization is another storj^*, but perhai j Senator Slg Bettman cart tell. At all' events. Mrs. Scheib moved. She went to 610 Ellis street and , shortly after received Rathom and Miss Campbell as lodgers. Mrs. Scheil/» and Miss Campbell be came great friends. They were very thick In the' company of each other and Miss Campbell assures the public that Mrs. SclUib is not only her friend but her benefactor. In April Rathom and Miss Campbell left the Scheib household. ' The Schelbs • understood thoroughly thi relationship existing be tween Miss .Campbell and Rathom. The dressmaker knew -that Rathom had deserted ,his .wife and that Miss Campbell wished to make the deser tion permanent. After leaving 610 Ellis street Miss Campbell called there pe riodically for hjier mall. '•'•/>' On Thursday afternoon a week ago a package and) a letter for Miss Camp bell were dell red by a postman. On Friday afternoon Miss Campbell -called PRICE FIVE CENTS. and received them. The letter was one which Miss Campbell had written to Mrs. Rathom and which was returned upopened. Mrs. Rathom had written upon the letter the name and address of Miss Campbell. The package was an oblong, wicker basket of unusual make and filled with perhaos seventy-five preserved cherries. The basket had been bought at one place and the cher ries at another and neither had been purchased at a candy store. The most rigid inquiry has failed -thus far to re veal where the purchases were made. Miss Campbell opened the basket and saw its contents. There was neither address nor message in the basket, but this created no curiosity in the mind of Miss Campbell. She saw the handwrit ing on the cover and recognized it aa that of Mrs. Rathom. The address was written on an envelope which had been cut. It will be remembered that Miss Campbell had several of these address ed envelopes. She* declared in answer to an inquiry that she knew the person, who had sent the box. She said it was a lady friend living in Oakland. When she said this she knew that the address was in the handwriting of Mrs. Rathom, who did not live in Oakland. Miss Campbell offered some of the cherries to Mrs. Scheib and to the young dressmaker in the establishment. Somebody said that it was dangerous to eat candy so sent and particularly by an unknown person. Miss Campbell laughed away a reference to the Botkin case and ate a cherry, although she was absolutely sure that her own un opened letter had just been returned by a woman who has every natural right to hate her and the box of cherries had been addressed by the same woman and enemy. Miss Campbell appears to be an intrepid woman. Mrs. Scheib also ate some of the cher ries and then Miss Campbell . left the house. She went immediately to a drugstore on the corner of Ellis and Larkin streets, and complained that she had been poisoned with arsenic. She described the drug as green and bitter. It happens to be neither, a fact which Miss • Campbell possibly forgot. Nothing more was heard of her until midnight. She bore her stiff-rings until then, when she sent for her paramour. When he arrived. Miss Campbell was sorely distressed from some internal disturbance. Rathom gave her some mustard, which she drank in liquid form. She said she had been poisoned by arsenic hidden in some cherries. She declared that Rathom's wife had .•ent the poison through the mails. The ..dy.from Oakland had disappeared, diss Campbell then had a vivifying spasm of recollection and told Rathom that Mrs. Scheib had also partaken of the cherries and it would be wise to warn her to take an antidote. The cherries had then been in process of digestion for over five hours. Rathom did as he was directed, and was politely recommend ed over the telephone to mind his own business. The next afternoon Mrs. Scheib re ceived the attention of a physician, but was not ill enough to require a second visit. . Rathom had the cherries ana lyzed, and the chemist said that there was enough arsenic in each cherry to kill a person in a very few hours. The ■Continued on Second Page.