The San Francisco call. [volume], January 22, 1903, Image 1

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

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NOTED SHIPBUILDER AND
POLITICIAN WHO ARRIVED
I HERE LAST NIGHT..
Continued on'' Page 5/ Column \,
HONOLULU,, .Jan.; 21.r-The Honolulu
stockholders of the Chinese telegraph sys
tem have received news that the Empress
Dowager intends , to seize the! telegraph
system, giving v decorations and orders In
payment for, stock. A meeting of the local
stockholders has been called. • ' ; '
Chinese -Telegraph in Danger.
Continued on Page 5, Column 3.
referenW^to Mr. ¦ Mahoney Is utterly and
maliciously false, and no one knows it
better .than the man who wrote It. The
charge that I was influenced by John D.
Spreckels or M. H. do Young is also ut
terly false. The charge that I had any
understanding. with the Mayor . in ; refer
ence to the appointment of Mr. Mahoney
is also false. The reason that I made up
my mind. as I did was that I, was looking
to the ; best business and commercial.in
terests of this community. They asked
me to vote "for any one rather., than the
old one— that the business of this city was
suffering, and., that perhaps there jwould
be trouble with a quarantine against Cal
ifornia. • ';".. .
"Dr. Buckley then said to me, 'You
nave sold out to the Examiner/ and I re
plied that If I had sold out to that paper
I had also sold out to M. H." de~ Young
and John : D. Spr^ckels, because they
all feel the same way about the 'bu
bonic* Board of Health. "*..''
"I said It was false — I simply, mention
those papers; I might have mentioned the
other papers also, but " It Just", happened
that. Way. The statement that I made in
answer to the question about, its- being a
deal— 'Yes, that is just the case exactly'—
Is utterly untrue and false. in' every par
ticular. . I never said It. at all; I have no
reason to go and make an affidavit. I
come here as a man to make my state
ment face' to face.', This is; an. old politi
cal* trick to get a man Into. a private of
fice and get Into a conversation with him,
and then go out and put words Into his
mouth. That \ Is what Is known • as dirty
politics. ',* -
BUCKLEY.. HEATEDLY. REPXIES.
While Chief Wittman was speaking Dr.
Buckley, sat at his desk.; his hands tightly
clenched -and 'his face red . and ; white al
ternately. At the conclusion. of the Chiefs
statement" he arose" and In a voice full of
bitterness and, mortification -said: - : , '.'.'
."Ibelleve the Chief *3 knbwledgeof dir
ty, politics Is • better 'than"! "rny, '.own.
His;, statement, that ray statement Is ; un
true" Is hurl back '.into his teeth;' It la a
question of hlsword against jmine/ I have
ina.de • a l statement under - batbV^an'd /.can
corroborate . every ' one off my ;.- allegations
I/' necessary."'.''/ '•,'," ,.' • !
*• At • the" conclusion of the -/acrimonious
"It is hard to cay how long I shall re
main out here. I will, attend ! the : annual
meeting of the Union Iron Works, which
takes place 'in; this city on January 27. I
shall then hurry ' East v and expect to be
very busy, as we have on" hand contracts
amounting to $50,000,000."
"I have little to say about politics. I re
tired from Tammany t . because politics took
up too much of my time and; there were
certain features which were distasteful to
me. When I ¦ waa -the head- of the ' organ
ization I often worked twenty hours a
day. It is agrand organization, however,
and does much good; I ¦cannot say
whether Ulchard Croker . will return
and take an active part again in', the .'or
ganization.* . '¦¦{r-S'-
"The Union Iron Works will still be em
ployed to build battleships, at which they
have made such a success in the past, and
also big cargo steamers. .
"Within a few days' Max Pam, counsel
of the Steel Trust and a. prominent officer
of this company; Charles C. Deming, a di
rector, and -A!. C. Gary, the treasurer of
this company, will, arrive In; this city and
look over the Union Iron' Works with me.
Shipbuilding Company I have seen In one
slip a battleship, in the next a tug and
possibly (it the adjoining one a yacht.
"Mr.. Chairman, ; I would rise. to a ques
tion of privilege- and 'ask "the "indulgence
of this 1 board f before* the motion to ad
journ; is ¦ put. : ' I read recently .; In \ the dally
press an affidavit to have been
signed by.' a"' member, of , this ' board charg
ing me with haying : made' certain state
ments ; to him In', -my, office.". .About , the
only thing true in '"; that affidavit - Is} that
he did5 call" and fask'me to > vote for* him.
The' statement that" a deal had been made
between" ' w the 'members^of the'JPoIlce 'Com
mission and: the' Mayor of- this dlty'' with
of Health yesterday morning, and
facing Dr. Vincent P. Buckley In a few
remarks containing sundry sharp invec
tives unequivocally contradicted the alle
gations made by that member of the
board In an affidavit sworn to several
days ago. The scene was most dramatic,
and when Dr. Buckley 'rose to his feet in
reply and stated that he hurled the Impu
tation of prevarication .back , Into the
teeth of his accuser, the other , members
of the board shifted uneasily In their
seats, speculating on the natural outcome
when two men ( Indulge In such belligerent
language.
It had been anticipated for several days
that the meeting. would be productive of
something of a sensational character, and
when Secretary Emery called the meet-
Ing to order the room was well filled with
spectators. In calling the meeting to or-'
der Mr. Emery stated that Inasmuch as
ho was only elected to preside over; the
deliberations of .the board - temporarily,'
the -first order of business would be 'the
election of a permanent or temporary
chairman. At this, juncture Michael
Casey, chairman of the Board ¦ of Public
Works and . ex-offlclo member . of , the
Board of Health, - no doubt -realizing 1 a
threatened outbreak was in % the air,
sprung one of " the \ surprises ; of the day
when he moved , that the \ board . adjourn
until next at the same timc.-
The motion waa duly seconded, but before
the question could • be put Chief , Wittman
arose and said: , -5 ¦.. . ;• "- : .
WITTMAN M A^ES . STATEMENT.'
HIS frame quivering with emotion
and his voice choked with sup
pressed rage, Chief of Police
George W. Wittman arose to his
feet at the meeting of the Board
MEMBER OF BOARD OF- HEALTH WHOSE AFFIDAVIT . WAS CON
TRADICTED BY-CHIEF, OF POLICE YESTERDAY AND SCENE AS
THAT OFFICIAL DENOUNCED ALLEGATIONS AS FALSE. : ; \'_~ \
great rapidity. '
At 1 o'clock an explosion oc
curred, apparently^ in the- fort,
and a cloud of smoke covered
part of the ramparts.
A number of Indian fishermen
were intercepted, fleeing from
the direction of the fort in their,
dugout canoes. ' They reported
.that the smoke seen was from the
burning village of San, Garlos,
which had been sheJled by the
German ships arid was in flames.
-The shelling of San Carlos has
created much excitement among
the German residents of this city
and Maracaibo, who have pro T
tested against the action of the
warships. It is reported here that
the German ships landed marines
ami set fire to the village.
• The Government ,. troops were
* Popular feeling in the capital
and elsewhere is inflamed over
this new outrage on the part of
Germany. \ *
A press correspondent in a
rowboat approached to within
three miles of the fort from Mar
acaibo at noon. The roar of the
guns was terrific. The Panther
appeared to be not more than
500 yards from the fort. The
guns werebeing fired every min
ute. The fort could not be seen
for. the clouds of smoke, but it
was plain that the Venezuelan
gunners were answering thevGer
man fire splendidly and with
CARACAS, Jan. 21.— The
bombardment of Fort San Carlos
at Maracaibo, which resulted in
the defeat of the German gun
boat Panther on January 17; was
resumed at 10 o'clock this morn
ing' by the Panther, which was re
inforced by the German cruisers
Vineta and Gazelle. When the
news reached here at 2 o'clock
this afternoon the bombardment
was still going on furiously. It
jyas reported, that the fort was
making a gallant defense and was
returning the heavy German fire
with no sign of cessation, al
though the fort had suffered ter
rib|y. .Many of the shots from
the/ German warships had
reached the mainland, where they
did great damage.
...Special nitpatrh - W'-The Cail,'
Great Damage Is Done by
the Guns of the
Warships;
discussion upon the statement of Secre
tary Emery, that It was imperative that
the salaries and bills be allowed. Commis
sioner Casey withdrew his motion for ad
journment. The matter of electing a tem
porary chairman was then taken up, and
Lessler made a partial statement to tha
subcommittee yesterday and amplified It
this afternoon, making it more definite.
He declared that early last summer John
McCullough, superintendent of elections
In New York, had come to Washington
and in the presence of his secretary had
threatened him with defeat for renomina
tton, or defeat at the polls if nominated,
in case he did not support a proposition
to purchase Holland boats. In disclosing
further pressure that had been put on
him Lessler used the name of Lemuel Ell
Qulgg. He was unable to support his
statement with any documentary evidence,
although he did -mention the names of
persons who were present when a money
offer was made. • He also declared that he
had been approached in other ways In the
effort to Induce him to vote for the pur
chase of Hollond boats.'
The subcommittee to-morrow will make
a partial report to the full committee and
leave the matter in the hands of that
body; to determine what further action
shall be. taken.
ANTE-ELECTION THREATS.
The Lessler charges were the subject of
an investigation to-day by a sub-commit
tee of the House Committee on Naval Af
fairs. In connection with his accusations
Lessler has used the names of ex-Repre
sentative Lemuel Ell Quigg and John Mc-
Cullough, superintendent of elections In
New York. The proceedings have been
conducted In secrecy, and if the matter 13
not cleared up to-morrow by a report
fiom the committee It is not Improbable
that a resolution may be offered In the
House calling upon the Naval Committee
for a statement concerning the charges.
Lessler declared that he had been ap
proached by a former member of Con
gress with an offer of K0C0 if he wouM
vote to report the bill providing for the
purchase of Holland boats. He persist
ently refused to give the name of the al
leged briber, and upon being further
questioned qualified his statement some
what by saying that the offer had been
made to his secretary.
The offer had first been made, he al
leged, shortly after his appointment to th«
Commltttee on Naval Affairs to succeed
the late Representative Amos J. Cum
mings. and it had been repeated since tha
opening of the present session. As Less
ler's statement was somewhat vague and
indefinite, Representative Wheeler offered
a resolution, which was adopted, author
izing a subcommittee to make a thorough
investigation. ,
A campaign has been conducted in the
halls and lobbies of Congress, In commit
tee-rooms, in newspaper offices, at social
functions and on yachts which for Its
scope and persistence has had no parallel
In recent years. Naturally all sorts of
stories have been current as to the meth
ods used to get the support of members
of Congress for a policy which ia con
demned by naval experts until a full test
has been made of the boats which the
Government now has. But Lessler is the
first member of either house who has
come out bluntly and said that he wai
offered money for his vote In committee.
¦>,*: INQUIRY IU SECRET.
CALL BUREAU, 1406 O STREET. N.
W., WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.-Representa
tlve Lessler's charge that an attempt bad
been made to bribe him into voting for
the construction of a large number of
Holland submarine torpedo-boats has bad
the effect of directing attention to the
methods used during the last four or five
years to Influence Congress favorably to
ward building large numbers of thl3 typa
jxjssUnst the almost unanimous jprotest_pf
the* most" experienced officers'of the Navy
Department
E^eclal Dispatch to The Call
LEWIS NIXON, president of the
great shipbuilding trust and for
mer leader of Tammany, arrived
late last evening at the Palace
from Los Angeles. He is accom
panied by his wife and his son,
Stanhope W. Nixon.
Mr. Nixon is comparatively a young
man. with pleasing and quiet manners. He
would be picked out by the, most unob
servant stranger after a moment's con
versation as a man among men. He re
ceived the representatives of the press
heartily a few moments after his arrival
at the hotel and at once launched out
into an animated description of the trust
of which he is the executive bead. His
only reservation was t6 refuse to talk
politics.
"This is my first visit to California and
I am here on a business trip," he said.
"I am going to look over the Union Iron
Works, •which, as you know, was ab
sorbed by the United iStates Shipbuilding
Company, of which Uam the president."
"What position does Henry T. Scott
hold with the company now?" was asked.
"He Is still vice president of the com
pany, but no longer chairman of the exec
utive committee. You see, there was a
great deal of work which had to be at
tended to here and so he came back to
San Francisco. He asked to be appointed
president of the Union Iron .Works here
and his request was granted. His stay
In San Francisco is indefinite."
"What shipbuilding companies are now
In control of your syndicate?" he was
asked.
"The Bath Iron-Works, the Hyde
Windlass Company of Bath, Mass.,
and the Eastern Shipbuilding Company of
New London, Conn., which .yard j builds
the Jargest ships In this country. There
are two steamers now completed which
will be launched from these yards when I
return to the East. They are both of 33.
000 tons. We also own the Crescent Ship
yard Company of Elizabethport, N. J.,'
the Samuel L. Moore & Sons Company of
New Jersey, the Harlan Hollingsworth
Company of Wilmington, Del., the Bethle
hem Steel Company Works, which has the
finest armor forges in the world, and the
Union Iron Works of this city.
"Our buildings and works cover 375 acres
and we employ between 15,000 -and 16,000
men. Our capitalization is $20,000,000 pre*
ferred stock, $25,000,000 common stock and
$16,000,000 bonds.
"We do not own all tne shipyards In
America, but wje have, enough to control
and execute every specialty of work..; In
the past shipbuilders had to do every kind
of work, but now we segregate, the con
tracts to the yards where, wej think that
the plant Is best adapted. to do the work.
For instance, in the yards of the' Crescent
The fiiscats'on wag ended by Spooler
moving an adjournment, which was, car
ried, and at 5 o'clock the Senate ad
journed
The Republicans voting or paired In the
negative were: Burton," Clark of Wyom
isg, Elkina. Foraker. Foster, Washington.
Gallinger, Hansbrough, Jones of Nevada,
SlcCumber, llason, Mitchell, Penrose,
Perkins, Quay, Stewart and Wellington.
Fairbanks gave notice that he would
call up the immigration bill to-morrow
morning. The regular order was then
demanded by Quay.
"Now. Mr. President," said he, "we are
ready for a vote on this bill."
Nelson was quickly on his feet and de
clared Quay's course was clearly out of
reason, as Burnham had not concluded
his remarks.
"That question was practically deter
mined by the vote of the' Senate," re
marked Quay.
Burton requested the passage of a bill
which, he said, had been vetoed once by
the President, and explained that In its
present chape It was eatisfactory to the
President. There was a disinclination to
take it tip/ and finally Hoar criticized the
President for having Indicated to Burton
bis approval cf the measure.
"It is being continually stated in the
newspapers," said Hoar, "that such and
euch bills are administration measures
and that a set of Senators had called
on the President and made arrangements
for the Senate's action on trust bills, the
statehood bill and other measures* The
time for the President to make up his
mind about statutes is after we have
passed them, and not before, unless he
avails himself of his continual privilege
to make communication to the entire body
by a message."
The following pairs were announced
(the first named -would have voted for
the motion): Warren witlj Daniel, Platt
cf New York with Penrose. Kearns with
Mitchell, Scott with Elkins, Hawley with
Teller, Dilllngham with Tillman, Kean
viln Money, Kittredge with Patterson,
Depew with SIcEnery, Platt of Connecti
cut with Bailey. HaJe with Foster of
"Washington.
Noes — Bacon, Bate. Berry, Blackburn, Bur
ton, Oarmack. Clark of Montana, Clark of
Wyoming, Clay. Cockrell, Cull^rwra, lrahoi*.
Foraker, Foster of Loui.-ia.na. GalllnKer, Gib
eon, Hansbrouch. Harris, Heitfeld. Jones of
Arkansas. Jones of Xevada. McCumt*er. Mc-
L.-.ur:n of Mississippi. Mallory. Martin. Mason,
Jfior^an, Perklna, Pettua. Quay. Rawlins,
Bimmcns, Etewart, Tallaferro, Turner, Vest,
Wellington— si.
lest vote on the statehood bill.
Toward the end at the day Hoar criti
cized the President for expressing his ap
proval or disapproval of bills before Con
gress had acted on them. His remarks
were called forth by Burton offering a
bill -which he said had been vetoqd once
by the President but now met with his
When Cullom appealed to Quay to per
mit an executive session for consideration
cf the Cuban reciprocity treaty and the re
quest was not acceded to, Cullom re
marked that he would see if the Senate
under the circumstances would sit here
and do nothing, and moved an executive
¦«£ion. Quay said he hoped the motion
would l»e voted down, and it was lost.
This vote, showing the strength for and
against the omnibus bill, was as follows:
Ayee — Aldrlch, Alger, Allison, Bard, Beve
ri£«e. Burnham. Burrows, Clari>. Cullom,
Dittrich, I>«bc«e. Dolliver, Dr-j-den, Fairbanks.
Try*. Gamble. Hicna, Hoar, l^odee; McComas.
ilillard, Nelson. Proctor, Quarles," Simon,
Ejvooner, Wetmore— 27.
Cnllozn explained the necessity of con
sidering the Cuban rec!pr»»city treaty, and
appealed to Quay to permit an executive
Eesslon. The latter refused and the mat
ter was put to a vote, with the result
that the Senate refused to go into execu
tive session. Zl to 27, which was the first
WASHINGTON". Jan. 21.— For three
hours to-day Burnham of New Hamp
shire addressed the Senate In opposition
to the omnibus statehood bills. Becom
ing fatigued, he suspended his remarks
until to-morrow.
Hoar Scores the President
for Interfering With
Upper House.
Fort's Gunners ¦ Offer
Splendid Resist-
l tillvvi
influence For Holland Boats
Overrides Opinions of
Experts.
Quay Retaliates Upon
Its Obstructionist
Opponents.
Persistent Campaign
Without Recent
1 aiclllGli
FifeRageslnSan
Garlos During
Affoplf
Has Clear Majority
of Ten in the
Senate.
Lessler's Charges
Turn Light on
Lobby.
STATEHOOD
BILL WINS
TEST VOTE
Lewis Nixon, Once the Leader of Tammany,
Arrives on the Pacific Coast to Irispeci
Plants of Trust, of Which He Is. Presideni
Chief of Police Severely Castigates the Chair
man of ".Bubonic" Health Board, Which
Prompts the Latter to Make Sharp Retort
NAMES MEN
WHO TRIED TO
INTIMIDATE
WARM WORDS ENSUE
BETWEEN WITTMAN
AND DR. BUCKLEY
HAS QUIT POLITICS
TO GIVE HIS TIME
TO SHIP BUILDING
VENEZUELANS MAKE BRAVE DEFENSE
ft/IARACAIBO, January 21— Three German warships—the Panther, the Viheta and the Gazelle-^began shelling Fort
* San Carlos at 10 o'clock this morning. The fort returned the fire. The engagement was in progress at 2 o'clock
KAISER'S SHIP AGAIN BOMBARDING
voLuai-B^oin— no. 53.
PRICE CENTS.
SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY,; JANUARY 22,; 1903.
The San Francisco Call.