VOLUME XCI— NO. 177.
FURTHER proof is presented to-day by The Call to shew that Warden Martin G. Aguirre of San
Quentin prison certified to forged bills of accounts, prepared by. convicts and foisted by the Warden
and his associates upon the the Board of. Examiners and the State
Comptroller, thereby obtaining goods by fraud and other felonious acts.
The records at San Quentin prison have, been falsified by convicts in order to cover up stealing of,
State supplies of foodstuffs, by Warden Aguirre, which have been enjoyed by Governor Henry T. Gage
and' other bosom friends of the Warden.
. ' As a sample of the vast amount of foodstuffs drawn by Aguirre from the commissary department of,
San, Quentin prison, The. Cull publishes to-day a list of supplies drawn by Aguirre in March last and the
cash values of the same: The items and figures were copied last week from the prison records. The docu
ments at San Quentin show on their face notations to charge the bulk of the supplies to other accounts.
I'H FURTHER PROOF OF CHARGES
STATE RECORDS PRESENT PR OOF THAT WARDEN M. G. AGUIRRE
PURCHASED FEMALE APPAREL WITH PUBLIC FUNDS AND
OBTAINED VAST SUPPLIES OF FOOD BY FORGERY AND FRAUD
Continued on Fag« Two.
Again The Call charges Warden
Agnirrc and his . intimates with having
'obbed the State and that Governor
Another sample of the work of for
gcr> r and fraud, hatched by the, leading
members of the corrupt ring and carried
cut by the aid of convicts, forced; by
their official guardians to commit
crimes, is explained herewith. - -
,y URTHER proof of the
ff gross frauds perpetrated by
g~l the ring 'of forgers that is in
M, control of the . finances of
San Quentin- Prison is pre
sented this morning by" The Call. . i ,
The expose of" the scandal that has
involved Warden M. G. Aguirre as one
of the arch plotters and Governor Gage
s? a beneficiary ha« treated dense in
dignation in every part of the State of
California. There is a general demand
from citizen* of a!! classes 'that an im
mediatf: and thorough investigation of
the records of San Quentin Prisori be
made by the Board of Prison Directors
and that the fair name of the common
wealth b< cleansed of the foul stain that
hss been put upon it by the punishment
of the guilty members of the San Quen
tin ring, no matter what position they
Aguirre has frequently entertained
Governor Gage and his family, in addi
tion to other friends^ It would be .a
sight for the gods if perchance the chief
executive • of ' the State/, retired to rest,
while, a guest of 'Aguirre, clad in a
charming robe de - riuit. , trimmed , with
lacc'arid'other Ceaainine knick-knacks.;
In the list of goods ordered was an
item of one dozen ladies' night gowns.
Warden .Aguirre is a single man and
garments of feminine wear do not figure
in prison supplies sent to . a Warden's
house.- 'Aguirre certainly did not wear
the .robes de nuit, and the question
naturally arises as to the identity of the
person? for. whom the dainty articles
were destined.
Buys Women's Gowns.
In' April of last year a verbal order, for
goods was given to the firm of Levi
Strauss & Co] by ladies related by mar
riage to Warden Aguirre. The goods
were duly fdrwarded to San Quentin
Prison and charged to the. penitentiary
account. -
Henry T. • Gage and his friends have
been the' beneficiaries of acts of'fraudsi
forgery/ obtaining, goods by false pre
tense's, misappropriation of public, funds
and malfeasance in office.. . '. •
Books of San Quentin Prison
Show Falsification.
Steal Food Supplies.
The systematic work of forgery ' and
The night gowns that were delivered
to -Warden Aguirre's house at Sari
Quentin were paid for with money "ob-^
tained by forgery and fraud; and the
records of the prison and at the Corhp-^
trollcr's office at Sacramento show; the
damning proof of- felony on the part of
Aguirre, the bosom 'friend of Governor
Gage: ' " . '¦'.',]. . ¦<¦ ¦'".':
With the certification of Aguirre and
Foley upon it, the forged bill was duly
ordered paid by State officials... When
a check was sent to Levi Strauss '&
Co.. in/ payment for: certain accounts/
Aguirre sent, the bill for goods, includ
ing night gowns, to be receipted for by
the firm. 7 ¦ . ;;.
A forged bill was prepared, certified
to as being correct by Warden Aguirre
and Commissary Foley. The item for
ni ght , gowns wa s changed to one ,• of
table cloths'* and ¦¦the 'bogus -document
was fpisted .upon the Board of Prison
Directors, the Board of Examiners and
the State Comptroller.
To secure payment with. public funds
for the night gowns, deliberate forgery
was . committed by j convicts, 911 the in
structions of their guardians. . . y
Aguirre knew that- these ; officials
would never. ? pass, a bill that included
"night gowns," so the brains and pens
of convict bookkeepers were' utilizedrin
order that the wearing apparel might be
paid for by the State. : , * ' '" ';':'.
Prepare Forged 'BIN.
The bill of goods rendered by Levi
Strauss & Co. on April 13 of last year
and charged to the "Sat/ Quentin" Prison
account was as follows:
Five dozen napkins, at 53 60.. $17 BO ;
Two .dozen doylies, at 85 cents......... 1.70
One dozen gowns .' 15 0D
$34 20
This bill was certified to as being cor
i rect by Commissary Francis Foley, the
purchase of the goods, however, being
hidden up in the commissary stock book
by the work of the convict bookkeepers.
An item of $2 for binding tape was
added to the amount of the bill and en
tered up as a total of $36 20.
The articles billed by Levi Strauss &
Co. on Aprili3, 1901, were entered on
the commissary books and charged to
the Warden's house under the heading
of "F. and F.," which means "furnish
ings and fixtures." :'.
The bill for goods, including ladies',
night gowns, was never sent to Sacra
mento to be passed upon by the Board
of Examiners or. the Comptroller.
;; /Acting ; Warden. J. A- Aguirre denied
that/any alteration had. been made ; in
the entries ; in the books and' said = that
he knew nothing about the rhatter/ He
refused to send for Commissary Foley
"or any of ) the .' convict ) bookkeepers to
explain;! the falsification^pf ..the* books.
At the, Very time' that Acting -Warden J.
A: Aguirre denied that the accounts had
becril tampered with, the pencil "copy? of
Less ; than eighteen ' hours after this
evidence^ of fraud was discovered bv
Call I representatives, the commissary's
monthly statement -was falsified. .The
item for "Warden's : house for, subsist
ence" was changed : from $.^07 i.v ; to
$107/ 13,. while the "prison mess" ac
count "was'; raised from 1 $3352 34 to
$3552 34-.. V ' ' ; - ': '". ' .
Felons. Are Alarmed.
: . . .When this evidence of fraud i was
pointed ou to Commissary-. Foley. and
his convict assistants," ,they : hastened to
explain; thatHhe whole matter was "an
error." ; For. committing such' "errors"
there are dozen of >felons in Saa' Quen
tin Prison to:day.
On the segregation sheet for the
prison 'mess the following notation ap
peared: .
"Add $200 from W. . H." ¦ \.
The initials*"W. H. J> - represent "War
den's house." _'.'¦
"On the segregation sheet for the
Warden's supplies, the following nota
tion was written in by a convict book
keeper: '
, ¦ "Charge $200 jj to' prison mess and
credit Warden's house." .-¦ , .
Books Are Falsified.
\A sample of this work was discovered
by Call representatives last week in-ex
amining the records for March of this
year. The \ 'rough segregation sheets
arid the • commissary's ¦ monthly states
ment book showed that Aguinre. had
drawn food supplies in March amount
ing to $307.13. The segregation sheets
and the statement book disclosed that
the prison mess was charged with food
supplies' amounting to $3352 24.
The entries on the day requisition
book are first tabulated in pencil by the
convicts on s ;reg. '.'.on sheets and the
amounts carried out. These sheets
show the amount of food supplies drawn
by each department. Acting on in
structions, the convict bookkeepers, in
copying the segregation sheets in ink,
reduced the total charged against the
Warden's house and increased other ac
counts. : '.'. ; ".,.-"¦
was discovered by an, investigation by
representatives of The Call. •.-¦-. '
"v-Tlie | manner ,- in which \ the . convict"
bookkeepers ' falsi fied the records of the
commissary department and /charged the
overdrawing of. supplies by ; the Warden
; Where the supplies went _to j might be
explained by; a < search | of certain ; books
of expressmen in ' Marin County. - Even
if ' Aguirre' had ..entertained ':a V dozen
friends '{daily;':- the': quantities T of {"supplies'
drawn by- him, : could not : have? been
used: up'.' V; ;¦¦'. ;. '¦_ \ ¦ .' '. •¦'/. / ¦'-'¦ '% ;
1 Aguirre; has not'followed the.
rules in the matter of requisitions for his"
own I ¦ house. : : Supplies have been . sent
from the commissary to Aguirre's house
on verbal ' orders. 4 The convict- book
keepers; in the commissary." department
have' made entries in the day book pur
porting to.be of foodstuffs con
sumed .daily- ; in. Aguirre's. home.! Al
though the entries charged against the
Warden are. far j less than the- amounts
he received,' they^ represent enough.sup
plies daily^for'a large family and'in some
cases ; supplies were drawn sufficient to
feed' the' guests of a; large, hotel.
Prison Rules Broken.
'These requisitions, when filled out, are
sent to the Warden's office,' There they
are copied .by .a 'convict', into a : book
called the "day. requisition book." '.The
book; is ; taken 'to the commissary ,de- ;
partment .and the articles and.subsist
ence called ! for are issued arid " charged
against the various departments. * >
"¦'¦ The rules governing the issue of sup-'
plies at San Quentin Prison require that
the commissary shall issue all articles on
receipt of a requisition from various de
partments. ,
The, allowance of $100 per month for
the Warden's subsistence has been ex
ceeded twice and three times over. The
convict bookkeepers have been instruct
ed to falsify the prison records as to the
Warden's subsistence accounts. The
excess of his subsistence allowance has
been charged to the prisoners' mess.
Time and time again; Warden Aguirre
and Governor Gage have, dined sumptu
ously at ) San . Quentin arid the dainties
set "before them have been stolen from
the State The .cloths' on- the- tables
were obtained by forgery and fraud and
even the: napkins on which they, wiped
their hands -were, secured by felony. ; ;..
fraud by the San Quentin ring was not
confined alone to obtaining articles for
household or personal use. Well know
ing that the State allowed him the sum
of $ioo -per month for supplies ..and
subsistence, Warden Aguirre has enter
tained Governor Gage : and his friends
and'regaled them with bounteous feasts
of food and liquors.- ,
The "day requisition book" of the
commissary department at San Quentin
Prison shows that in ' the month of
March of. the present year the following
supplies were drawn for the Warden's
house, the figures before the various
items representing the. quantities of
pounds, pints^or similar amounts:
. ' 3 bottles raurfhroomt.
2 bottles oyster sauce. .¦*
- ; 4 manila paper!
: • - 6^ toilet paper.. -
Disclosed by Books.
'The books and records relating to
San Quentin Prison disclose that War
den Aguirre. in entertaining Governor
Gage and his friends, has drawn, an
enormous amount of food supplies from
the State. What he actually drew and
what he certified to is shown by the fol
lowing table of figures:
Commls- Aguirre's
i sary Report to
MONTHS. • Ledger. Directors.
—1901.
July .5225 32 * $101 47
August...:. 210 25 98 33
September 213 57. 99 S3
October... '.'. 226 38 100 30
November 233 57 99 79
December ........; 196 25 98 20
: ... —1902.
January i. 2S7 58 100 95
February 212 69 ' 100 96
March ..........: 311 79 11179
the segregation sheets for March' bear
ing the true amounts, was in his pos
session.
9th — Item ia charged of $4 67 for this das
(Sunday), when commissary's stora
was closed and there ta no entry oo
books for that clay.
10th— 2 rolls butter.
6 cans corn.
1 bo t. sweet trickles.
. 1 sack flour. .
5 R. B. powders.
2 rolls butter.
10 cl. soap.
12 cakes earcUa.
11th— 10 beef.
2 rolls batter.
1 ham.
12th — 1 doz. tsga.
*
X TiM. m.
. X SiQ5* DACOZ1*
• x ** t; Qua. „ j"U."^»
1 bunch bananas.
% doz. pt. brushes (7. A T.)
19th — 2 rolls butter.
1 doz. towels.
2 chocolate.
3 bots. mushrooms.
. 2 rolls butter.
10 cL *oap.
12 sa polio. >
1 box clothes ptes <F. & F.)
' 12 sapolio.
'22nd — S rolls butter.
WARDEN AGUIRRE In March last drew 81 dozen e££s from the State supplies and 50 rolls of butter, averaging two pounds to a
roll, or 100 pounds of butter, during the month. Aguirre is a single man and his household is very small. What has Aguirre,
the bosom friend of Governor Gage, done with 81 dozen eggs and 100 pounds of butter drawn from the State supplies at San
Quentin prison in one month? ; f 0~£
GENUINE BILL FOR WOMEN'S APPAREL AND FORGED DOCUMENT FOISTED BY AGUIRRE ON THE STATE.
PRICE FIVE J3EOTS*
SAN FRANCISCO, . MOND A Y^ -MAY -26, 1902.
The San Francisco Call.