Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-02-25

70 loo,S at them He, however. asked 10 see the
letter which stated that IA 600 jute bags had no.
been produced in a day. and which letter had
been referred TO by Mr.. Mathews.
Mr.. storke proceeded to find the desire. letter
1t was room produced, marked Exhibit 50 =
Shanahan handed it 10 General McComb, and
requested him to state whether he wrote it.
After a long examination General McC0rnh
replied "Yes, sir, wrote 1t. But the date of the
letter is April l. 1881 and at that time the state
ment was true. The mill had then been run
ming but about two weeks, and was not in fu
working order The capacity of l4,009 bags a
day was reached later on. us was stated In one
of the other letters which has been referred to- y
In reply to 4 question by Mr.. Mathews, wit
ness stated that it was not true that 100 loom:
run at night produced less than 20 run in the
daytime.
In answer to question by Mr. storke, wit
ness stated that the cost of a bag by day WORK
was 5cents, and by night about 5.3 cents. The
fraction of extra cost was on account of the
lights at night. Otherwise the output would b
the same
Questioned BY Mr. Mathews, witness stated
that it was not true that on the books of the
prison part Of the day product had been added
! TO the night product Tor the purpose of making
good showing. He statsd that the accounts
do not distinguish between the day and nigh
l-output of each twenty-four hours
| AT the time the night shift was inaugurated i
was desired to relieve farmers from the exac
tions of the "a ring" The night shift had served
| the desired purpose of Immediately increasing
the supply of jute bags.
One objection to doubling the plant of jutt
| machinery was that it would require the bes
part of year to get it here from Dundee. He
thought there would be very little gained b,
| stopping the night work and doubling the day
| Replying to questions by Mr.. Ostrom, witness
| stated that the cost of sacks hal never gone
beyond 5.27 cents each. He was in favor of in
creasing the revolving fund from $4,000 Il
900, so that necessary capital might be KEEP
on hand with which to take advantage OF bar
Icr I'M YrnF arlra
| Mr.. Mathews informed the witness that thu
committee was in possession of great mass o.
| figures purporting to give the exact outputs o
| the d ~ and night shifts, and tending TO show
| that the night shift had been financial failure
MORE LETTERS
Mr.. Shanahan then handed witness siExhibi
TO- which, after a brief examination, he pro
was also declared genuine. and which read a!
| follows:
| WARDEN's OFFICE, SAN QUENTIN. PRISON,
Marian County, Cal, Dec. z, 1883.
Mr.. Walden: The abstract of expenses
| table No. 8, in the eighth annual report of the
| Directors, show Mr.. Snirlev's expenditures at
Sl5S,722 rs against sls4, 17o in the ninth annual
| report. How can these sc, 900 be accounted for
That is the question we shall be called upon tC
| meet in the morning.
/ don't know how these abstracts are made
| up, as there does not seem TO be any rule fol
| separating sums that appear in the table of dis
burSements.
The table made by Mr.. John is very good, but
needs little polishing on the last page. he
treats of the gross disbursements and makes q
| satisfactory exhibit. but we are Just now called
upon TO meet the ST, 600 puzzle think it wll
not be difficult to find that amount in extra
cost of food, extra rations, increased cost O
coal, gatling guns and cannons, electric lights
gas fixtures, extra gas. horses, houses, tools
palisad ne, b.tuminOu: rock. etc.
JOHN Nc oMB. Warden
Questioned by Mr.. Storke, witness said the
letter was selfexplanstory, and perfectly cleal
concerning the $4,000 puzzle" The Calling
guns and cannon, for instance, had cost soInt
81 400. He would not undertake to state the
amount of the other items mentioned withou
referring to the books.
He explained that the extra rations'' mean
both more and better rations. The cost PEI
capita of maintaining prisoners is estimated
mainly from past experience. The rate is abou
4215 cents per day. One hundred and fifty pris
oners had been transferred from Folsom to SaI
Quentin
In reply to question by Mr.. Mathews, witness
said he estimated the prison would require $3.50,
900 year for the next two fiscal years, in addi
ton to the profits received from the manufact
ures carried on within the prison. This wa
s2e 900 higher than the estimate for each of th'
| last two years.
Replying 10 Mr.. shanahan. witness states
| that ex-conyict Walden had proven himself
had been recommended by Captain Thomas
who had now unjustly and falsely accused
Walden.
| Mr.. Walden was present and manifested de
| sire to address the committee, but was no
called upon to do SO.
| SOMETHING ABOUT SACKS
Replying to Mr. whitehurst, witness statet
| that ali purchasers of sacks had been required
| to send the cash with their orders. Boggs, Rose
| Hager, Poundstone and such well-known mel
had been given the privilege of paying on de
| livery. Paris KilboI1rn had bought a larg
| NJ carHS which Ia had maid for hy
| check dated seven days ahead. lit had beel
cashed in due course of business. Albert Gala
| tin had bought sacks on one occasion, and CAV
| a check dated fifteen or twenty days ahead. a
| he did not wish the goods delivered until tina
| time. Other prominent consumers had beef
| permitted 10 telegraph their orders for sacks
+, and pay for them on delivery. He had instruc
| tions from the Board of Directors not TO charg
/ more than eight cents per sack. Up TO that limi
| he sold at a fraction under the ruling marke
price. When the market rate exceeded eigh
| cents the price at San Quentin remained at tina
| limit. The market price had sometimes gone t
nine and half cents.
| Exhibit s. was handed the witness and
| identified as genuine
| This letter referred to complaints made b,
Rector the foreman OF the night shift IN this
! jute mill, who had complained to the WardeI
| that he was getting discouraged trying to max,
| a success of il.
Also. Exhibit e. pronounced genuine b,
| the witness:
October 4. 1sSs-Director scrivner is of tht
opinion that IL viii be best to have the reorgan
iZstion of the night shift made before the meet
ing of the Board, so that he can say, positively
| that the night shift is running with nearly the
| full complement of prisoners. 1t Scriyner made
! that statement he was imposed upon, as suct
was not the case. think you had better repor
| TO me exactly what you said to the Governor OF
| the subject, so that may make what have Il
/ say fit in what you have already said"
At the request of Mr.. Mathews, the commit
| tees stenographer read the figures preyiousl!
ALLUDED TO as having beer furnished by CaptaiI
Thomas, and showing that the night shift was
| failure.
edly had been manufactured by Captain
| Thomas, as the mill accounts were not kept &
| as to distinguish between the night and da.
| shifts
At o'clock the committee adjourned unit
| 7:30
At the evening session General McComb agar
took the stand. The committee desired him t.
| pass upon the letters, some sixty in number
one by one but the General demurred anC
| asked that they be left until the next meetin,
| of the committee After considerable discus
/ sion the clerk of the committee was Instructed
| to notify the senate Committee on State Prison
! that the Assembly Committee on Ways ane
! Means viii continue the investigation at a meet
ing to be held at the State Library next Tuesda,
| evening, at which time Warden McComb vii
be present and pass upon the letters and ais
| present important figures concerning the much
talked-of jute mill.
Chairman Shanahsn read aloud the followin,
| letter:
| SAN FRANCISCO May IS, 1883.
| Dear Be7l-Luttrell came back this morning
! feeling frst-rate. He is so thoroughly com
| mitted that have no fears of his kicking owe
| the traces again soon. That was a magnificen
| scheme we concocted 10 form a syndicate, ant
worked to charm Haven't seen Sonntsg, bu
| from what Luttrell tells me, mis- enthusiasm
| grows as it gets older. The idea of making hin
| the leader did the business. You ought to ex
plain that little racket TO the General. 1t is toe
| good to keep from him
| Now for the mai business. ellis hasn't beer
| in, and suppose will not be to-day Have beer
| looking for him all DAY. / think the idea yo,
suggested of putting in some of our reserve
forces a good one. We must not let the battl,
! lag. IL we do, II will get stale and hard Il
move. Delays are always dangerous and tend u
make your combination disiointed, and yer,
much weaken the effort. So let us bring VI
some of the reserves and put them In line. Lee
Higgins be brought into the fight as you sug
| gested. 1t seems that there can never be bet
/ ter time TO do that than the present Certainly
no harm can come of il. 1t viii only strengthen
even II 1t proves to have been unnecessary
Hadn't you better communicate with ellis anC
| learn what he is doing- Yours, truly,
j. j. ScRIySER.
| General McComb remarked that Mr.. Scrivnel
was the pronqr nerSou n "a in haf Iestar