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SCHMITZ GRAFT
NOT CRIMINAL
According to Decision of California
Circuit Court of Appeals.
HOLD-UP GAME LAWFUL
Abe Ruef Also Gets Benefit of Peculiar
Decision-Court Declares That No
Crime Was Committed.
The California district court of ap
peals at San Francisco handed down
a decision Thursday setting aside the
judgment in the case of former Mayor
Eugene E. Schmitz, convicted of ex
tortion in the French restaurant case.
Abe Reuf also benefits by the ruling
of the upper court, for, according to
its decision, he pleaded guilty to an
act that was not an offense against
the lav/s of the state.
According to the appellate judges, the
compelling of French restaurants to
pay “fees” to Abe Reuf was not a
crime, even though Reuf divided the
fees with the mayor.
After discussing the point the court
reversed the judgment against Schmitz
on the ground that no acts constituting
a ©rime had been proved against him.
Abe Reuf, who pleaded guilty to ex
torting money from the French restau
rants is therefore equally guiltless.
The decision wipes out the French
restaurant cases and pending charges
of extortion against Schmitz and Reuf
must he dismissed. Both are now en
titled to release on bail. If they obtain
the necessary bondsmen they can re
main at liberty until such time as a
jury finds them guilty on one of the
indictments charging them with receiv
bribes from corjiorations. Owing
to the number of cases against them
the bail, figured at SIO,OOO a case,
would reach an enormous figure.
Schmitz and Reuf cannot take ad
vantage of the decision for sixty days.
The prosecution has twenty days in
which to ask for a tehearing. Then the
appellate court will have ten days to
coins id er the application. When that is
done the prosecution will go through
the same procedure in the supreme
court which will take the same length
ef time. Consequently Schmitz and
Reuf will still be kept in jail for two
months at least.
The decision was written by Justice
Cooper. The opinion comments on
Judge Dunne’s ruling, and says he
erred in admitting hearsay evidence.
“In our opinion,” saya Cooper, "the
cross-examination was entirely im
proper, and was not confined to the
matters on which the defendant was
examined in chief.”
They had reference to the answer
Schmitz gave in regard to the pay
ment to him of part of the $5,000 con
tributed by the restaurants.
The attorneys for Schmitz had at the ;
trial questioned Reuf as to whether
he was testifying in expectation of
immunity. Judge Dunne refused to
permit any of these questions to be
answered, holding that they were not
proper cross-examination.
The appeallate court says:
“These rulings were erroneous and
highly prejudicial to the defendant.
The decision comments on Reuf hav
ing pleaded guilty to the same charges
and then taking the witness stand
against one who had been his friend.
“His conduct,” said the appellate
judges, “was such that under the plain
provisions of the penal code his evi
dence was branded so that the de
fendant could not have been convicted
upon it without corroborative testi
mony.”
It is not an unlawful act, reasons the
court, to threaten to hold up the
licenses of the restaurant keepers, or
actually to do so.
The decision will have the effect
of invalidating the other four indict
ments charging Schmitz, as well as
Reuf with extortion, and renders void
the ptea of guilty made by Reuf as
the appellate court held that no crime
has been committed.
FRIGHTFUL LIST OF FATALITIES
Shown in Report of Accidents on flew
Jersey Roads in 1907.
The New Jersey railroad commission
ers, in their annual report to the go\-
ernor, state that from January 29th to
December Ist, last year* 108 persons
were killed and 198 injured by the rail
roads in New Jersey.
Railroad companies are blamed - or
the long fatality list. Unguarded grade
crossings are said to have been respon
eible for many of the accidents.
ANOTHER RAIL HORROR.
Passenger and Freight Crash Through
High Trestle—Five People Killed
and Many Hurt.
A disastrous werek on the Alabama
and Mississippi road occurred Friday
morning about 7 o’clock, about ten
miles from Vinegar Bend, Ala., caused
by a head-on collision between a pas
senger train and a logging train. Five
persons were killed outright and two
seriously injured. The trains were
badly wrecked and the escape of other
persons from death and injury is con
sidered remarkable. The dead are:
W. B. Paine, merchant of Vinegar
Bend; Charles C. Busbee, a section
fioremant; three negroes, names un
known. The list of injured is as fol
lows: Frank Marks, engineer of the
passenger train, seriously injured; will
die. Henry Hall, fireman of passenger
train, seriously injured; will die. Sev
eral negroes, slightly injured.
Ten miles west of Vinegar Bend the
road turns sharply and the greater por
tion of this curve is made up of trest
llng that spans a ravine and a small
brook at the bottom. Bowling along
at a fair rate of speed with a number
of passengers, the passenger train took
the curve and trestle just as an extra
freight train came into view on the
opposite end. Before Engineer Marks
could bring his train to a stop both
trains met head-on in the very center
of the trestle.
Simultaneously with the collision the
trestle gave way and both engines and
trains crashed through, falling to the
bottom of the ravine.On the logging
train were a number of convicts, as
were also others on the passenger
train going to various points along the
road.
As soon as news of the wreck was
received at Vinegar Bend all available
physicians and a number of other per
sons were placed upon the hand cars
and hurried to the scene.
Engineer Marks resided at Vinegar
Bend, where he has a wife and several
children. He has the distinction of
pulling the first train over the road
sixteen years ago.
OVERRULES LABOR FEDERATION.
Temporary Injunction Against Boycott of
Stove Company Not Changed.
Justice Gouid of the supreme court
of the District of Columbia at Washing
ton overruled a motion made by the
American Labor Federation to amend
the court’s order in the case of the
Buck Stove and Range company of St.
Louis, in which the court recently tem
porarily enjoined the federation from
placing the company on a boycott and
unfair list in the federation publica
tions.
The case Involved the right of labor
organizations to boyoott. The motion
of the federation contended that the
order was erroneous, because it was
made to run until the final decree In
the case, instead of until the further
order of the court; because it may bo
construed to enjoin the defendants
from uniting to agree not to patronize
plaintiff’s products; or construed to pre
vent the defendants'and their associ
ates from saying to others that they had
united and combined not to patronize
guch products or construed to enjoin
their announcing that they had com
bined not to deal with others who
should deal with the company. The
motion also contended that the order
abridges freedom of speech of all the
defendants, and freedom of the press
“which is protected by the first amend
ment of the constitution of the United
States.” The court decided that it
•would not alter the order in any way.
WARNINGS OF STORM ISSUED.
Notice Given of Heavy Gales All Along
the Gulf Coast.
From Texas to Florida storm warn
ings were issued on the gulf coast Fri
day. Special warnings were issued for
the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
coasts and stated that a storm was
moving eastward and over Texas.
pABAGEiiToB COLLAPSE OF BRIDGE
Al,b.m.WG.WV.riict Api-t G.ot-
County for $4,000.
The jury in the federal court at At,
lanta in the salt of J. C. Bunthath
.Alabama against the county ot Haral
son, in Georgia, brought m a rdict
(or the plaintiff in the sum of M.OWh
Burnham brought suit against the
county W #SO.O. BurnhamJ.
“°y under'him, precipitating the^lain.
’ ~, a"agon and his team into the
stream below, a distance of thirty feet
SECTIONALISM SHOWN
In Strenuous Debate' in the House Over
Bill to Codify Penal Laws of the
United States.
A Washington special says: There
was considerable oratory, clash of wit
and detonations of verbal bombshells
in the house Monday, when the bill
to codify and revise the penal laws
of the United States was up for con
sideration. The engagement was at Its
hottest when the old reconstruction
acts were reached.
The democrats announced to the re
publicans that the civil war had been
over for some years; that reconstruc
tion was likewise a dream ln many
parts of the south a horrid nightmare —
and that there was no use retaining on
the statute books measures passed in
the heat and enmity from 1865 to
1870. The republicans conceded that the
democrats were right on their history,
but charged they were trying to make a
sectional issue out of the penal code.
To show there was no sectional issue,
they cast a solid party vote for the sec
tions to which the democrats objected.
In reply to some kind words of Colo
nel Hepburn, who told how John Sharp
Williams had been elected to the sen
ate over Governor Vardaman, who fa
vored repealing the fourteenth and fif
teenth amendments, Mr. Williams told
how it happened and w'hy he got such
a small vote. He says the people of
Mississippi did not believe the war
amendments could be repealed.
The law providing for the use of sol
diers at the ballot boxes and for the
punishment of members of the Ku Klux
Klan was opposed vigorously by the
democrats as being anachronisms In
this day of peace and good feeling. The
republicans thought so too—then voted
to keep them in.
The provision that no person should
be denied the right to “sit upon fed
eral juries or the juries of any states
on account of race, color or previous
condition of servitude,” was amended
by the democrats by proposing to
strike out the words “of any states.”
By a strict party vote, the words were
kept in the law. The law provides that
any person who shall exclude a juror
for the above cause shall be fined not
more than $5,000.
As to the use of federal soldiers at
the ballot boxes in the southern states.
Representative Webb thought it would
be all right if the law provided that
this should be done only when the gov
ernor of a state called upon the presi
dent to furnish troops. His amendment
was lost.
After it was over. Democrat Leader
Williams told a funny story to a group
of republicans—it may have been a Ku-
Klux Klan story. Anyway, they all
enjoyed it, and the battle ended and
the amendments stayed put.
SOUTHERN REDUCES SALARIES.
Cut in Expenses Inaugurated With Officers
and Clerical Forces.
A Washington special says: The ad
ministrative officers of the Southern
railway and their clerical forces have
felt the pinch of reduced earnings.
President Finley Monday announced a
cut of 10 per cent in his own salary,
that of the vice presidents of the sys
tem, all the general officers and their
office forces, effective February 1. This
is announced as a “step in the program
of reducing expenses.” The wage earn
ers have not been affected yet. Possi
bly the next step will reach them.
The decreased earnings of the South
ern, as shown by its thirteenth annual
report, covering the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1907, will help to explain the
impelling necessity which prompted the
executive officers of the road to take
this step.
The company passed its regular semi
annual dividend, due on October 1,
1907, thus saving on this account sl,-
600,000.
The appropriations for improvements
and betterments were almost cut in
half. A dividend of 1 1-2 per cent,
amounting to $900,000, was paid out of
accumulated surplus on October 17.
The decrease in net earnings was very
largely brought about by the increased
cost of everything from steel rails to
labor.
The last annual statement does not
ahow the effect of the panic of the past
few months. It is understood that the
loss in revenue has been from $40,000
to $50,000 a week under that of the
last fiscal year.
FLEET IN BRAZIL PORT.
Bob Evans' Sixteen Battleships Anchor at
Rio Janeiro and Whole Bunch is
Given a Hearty Welcome.
The American fleet of sixteen bat
tleships entered the port of Rio Janeiro
(Brazil) at 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon,
after a passage from Port of Spain,
Trinidad, more than 3,000 miles, un
marred by serious accident, replete
with interesting Incidents and ending
with a royal welcome from the thou
sands that had gathered to greet the
visitors.
The fleet weighed anchor at 4 o’clock
on the afternoon of December 29, at
Port of Spain, and exactly at 4 o'clock
Sunday afternoon the vessels were
swinging at their anchors in Rio Ja
neiro's beautiful harbor. The fleet has
so far covered about 4,600 miles, about
one-third of the distance of the voyage
to San Francisco.
Early in the morning the crowds be
gan to gather in the streets of Rio
Janeiro, and long before the signal
flags were hoisted announcing the ap
proach of the American ships of war,
thousands of curious spectators had
taken up the points of vantage on pub
lic buildings and the elevated quays.
When the fleet steamed Into the har
bor, under the splendid mountains that
frame the bay, beautiful In the tropi
cal sun, It was a spectacle incompar
able to the eye.
The Connecticut, Rear Admiral Ev
ans’ flagship, was in the lead, with the
Brazilian cruisers, dressed in gala at
tire, on either side. PaV.ing the for
tresses the Connecticut fired a salute
of twenty-one guns, which was respond
ed to by the Brazilian warships, the
German cruiser Bremen and tho shore
guns. The yards and fighting tops were
manned and cheers upon cheers were
given for the splendid passage of the
flagship and her sister ships.
As soon as the anchorage was made,
the Brazilian minister of marine, Ad
miral Alencar, the captain of the port,
the American consul, G. E. Anderson,
the commandants of naval divisions
and the civic authorities, went ou
board the Connecticut and extended a
hearty welcome to Rear Admiral Ev
ans, his officers and men. Not less
than 15,000 to 20,000 persons were
aboard these boats and more than 50,-
000 others were gathered on shore to
celebrate the coming of the fleet. Sun
day night the city was beautifully il
luminated and a gala occasion was
made in honor of the visitors.
All the way down from Port of Spain
the voyage was an enjoyable one and
all on board the ships were well and
seemingly happy. To some extent the
progress of the fleet was hampered by
the strong currents and the swell, poor
coal and minor derangements of the
auxiliary machinery of several of the
ships. Until Friday, the 10th, a uni
form speed of ten knots was maintain
ed. The speed was then increased to
eleven knots and finally to twelve.
At midnight on the fifth of January
the fleet crossed the equator.
FOR PRESERVATION OF FORESTS
Great Mass Meeting Will Be Held iu At
lanta on January 16th.
A monster mass meeting, designed to
crystallize southern sentiment in favor
of the preservation of the forests of
the south will be held in Atlanta on
January 16th, when a nuYnber of dele
gates representing every section will
be present.
Enthusiastic plans have already been
arranged by the promoters of the big
gathering, which will result in a strong
delegation being appointed to be pres
ent when the Appalachian-White moun
tain bill is brought up in congress.
FAKE RECEIVERSHIP REPORTS.
Southern Railway in No Danger of Col
lapse Says J. S. B. Thompson.
J. S. B. Thompson, assistant to the
president of the Southern railroad,
states that the report as sent out from
Washington in regard to a receivership
for the Southern is without fact or
foundation, just as it was declared
in that city.
ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS KIDNAPED.
Twenty-Eight Dagoes Mysteriously “Dis
appear” in Louisiana.
The Louisiana State Immigration
League announced that four Italians,
numbering about twenty-eight persona,
have been apparently kidnaped.
They were enroute from New Orleans
to Girard, La., where employment had
been secured for them. At Tallusah a
man giving the same name us the
Girard planter, boarded the train and
persuaded the Italians to follow him,
since when they have not been heard
from.
SCORES DIE IN
THEATRE FIRE
Frightful Holocaust Occurs in Lit
tle Pennsylvania Town*
MOVING-PICTURE SHOW
Large Crowd of Church People Caught to
Raging Flames and Many are Cre
mated-MaJority Children.
A catastrophe, horrifying In its do
tails, and sickening In its result, Mon
day night swept nearly one hundred
souls of Boyerstown, Pa., into eternity
in almost the twinkling of an eye,
and injured nearly three score, many
of them fatally. A majority of tho
killed were members of the leading;
families of the town.
While the “Scottish Reformation’'
was being produced in Rhoades’ opera
house by a moving picture machine,
an oil tank used in the apparatus ex
ploded, and fire quickly followed.
Immediately there was a wild rush
for the exits of the building. Men of
mature years endeavored to still the
panic, but their voices could not be
heard above the shrieks and screams
of the terrified women and children
who composed the greater part of the
audience.
The burning oil scattered in all direc
tions, and the lamps, which wore used
to light the opera house, also exploded,
throwing the blazing oil over the ter
ror-Btrlcken people who were fighting
frantically to gain the exits.
The building was crowded with
the members of St. John’s Lutheran
Sunday school, who were attending a
benefit given for that church.
The flames, fed by the oil, shot al
most to the celling, and there was a
wild rush of the seven hundred persons
to escape from the burning building.
Scores of women and children were
trampled upon, aitd several who es
caped being burned to death, died af
ter being dragged from the opera
house.
In many cases, it is said, entire fam
ilies have been wiped out.
The scene which followed the explo
sion is indescribable. Scores of per
sons who were in the balcony at the
time the explosion occurred, jumped
from the windows and sustained frac
tured limbs and skulls.
To add to the terrible disaster, tho
fire apparatus became disabled, and
the structure was left entirely to tho
mercy of the seething flames.
Assistance was asked from Potts*
town, but before the fire apparatus
from that city reached the scene, tho
entire center of the structure was a
roaring furnace.
Had the women and children heeded
the warning of the cooler heads in tho
audience the horrible loss of life might
have been averted, but there was the
Usual panic and stampede, which al
most Invariably accompanies such a
catastrophe.
Every home within a radius of a
dozen blocks of the opera house was
made a temporary hospital, where the
wounded were rushed by carriages and
other means of conveyance.
Boyerstown is a borough with a pop
ulation of about 2,500, and is located
about midway between Pottstown and
Reading, Pa.
The night was one of wailing and
anguish. The shrieks of mothers who
had rushed to the scene as soon as
they learned of the fire was pitiful.
It Is extremely doubtful If the re
mains of the victims can be distin
guished from the debris, as many per
sons in the audience were covered with
burning oil as the lamps exploded.
NAVY YARD MEN LOSE JOBS.
Nearly One Hundred Have Been Laid Off
So Far at Pensacola.
Fifty more skilled workmen lost
their positions Thursday when there
was another reduction in the forces
at the Pensacola navy yard at Pen
sacola, Fla., making the second to oc
cur within the past ten days, and
letting out nearly one hundred men,
who drew large salaries.
The reduction Thursday was in tho
department of construction and repair,
and the men let out are iron and ship
workers. t fi