The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-27

told of the ex-Congressman, believing the
tales are exaggerated, however.
brief description of the man who less
than twenty years ago represented this
district in Congress will prove that many
of the tales told about him are by no
means exaggerated.
Piper was man who constantly COM
planned that he hated to take a bath be-
cause it made him sick. He was so SLOW
emily in his attire that he was frequently
referred to as hog. His clothes were
never brushed, his boots were never pol
lshed from the day he bought them. He
lived on the income from his big estate in
a dirty room that would be scorned by
scayenger. He grasped every cent in
sight, and there is no record OF his ever
having done thing to help his fellow-man.
He was one of those who snarl like dog
IN a manger at his progressive brother and
try to stop all modern improvements,
| though he himself would be benefited.
Piper hunts himself to his hole when he
hears of any up to date project being adj
vanced, and while figuring how much
greater his income is than any amount he
could possibly spend, he cries down the
march of progress, and refuses to aid in
anything which even tends to enhance his
large property interests in this city. AS
one of his old friends remarked recently:
piper is man who is of course behind
the age. A man like him could not be ex-
pected to improve or beautify a city, as he
never attempted to beautify himself or to
make any improvement except to increase
his hoardings."
Piper is most illiterate man, and no
one could ever induce him to receive in
| struction, even in spelling. With all his
millions he would not pay one cent to i'm
prove his intellect. That he had been sue
cessful in getting money and in keeping it
was sufficient to convince him that people
had no need of education. His spelling is
one of the amusements of his friends. He
! persists in using such photography as tan
| neywhares" and "Sudabel." When spoken
| to by friend about his spelling he said:
"What difference does it make? Don't you
| understand about what / mean?'
| Piper was born in Pennsylvania SO wears
ago. He learned the carpenter trade, but
became a Shylock. He left Pennsylvania
! for st. Louis and there made his start in
| life. When Donathan's regiment was
| formed Piper joined it as private. As
soldier he fought all through the Mexi-
can war. He then returned to st. Louis.
| AS soon as he learned of the discovery of
gold in California Piper and his brother
started for San Francisco. They both had
! little money.
Besides following the carpenters trade
he commenced to loan money at and
per cent month. He began to buy prop
erty cheap and waited for it to increase in
value without joining any progressive
movement to enhance the price of land
! here. Never would he contribute a cent,
though it would bring him great results.
He let the others pay for advancing the
worth of his property and snarled at them
as boomers.
About twenty years ago Piper was made
to believe by some persons who wanted to
make him open the strings of his purse
that he was the very man to represent
| California in Congress. San Francisco
then constituted the First Congressional
District. In 1872 Piper secured the Demo-
cratic and the Liberal party nominations,
! but he wss defeated by Hon. Charles Clay
| ton, the Republican candidate, by vote
/ of IL 1913 to 1883.
In 1875 a split occurred in the Republi-
can ranks. Ira P. Rankin received the
regular Republican nomination, and Hon.
John F. Swift ran Independently. Piper
| received the Dem ocratlc nomination again,
but as soon as the nomination was an
nounced Piper mysteriously disappeared.
| He failed to produce his share of the cam
paign expenses, and the politicians did not
| know what to make of it. 1t was not
known whether he had been mysteriously
| murdered or whether he had lust run away
to avoid paying for campaign expenses.
He was finally found, after two or three
weeks search, at Aptos, little village in
Santa Cruz County.
1t was a wild, out of the way place then,
| and Piper thought he and his money were
| safe from discovery. But the Democratic
politicians were hungry and hunted hard
| for him. When they got him he surren-
dered. He was elected then, the vote stand
| ing: Piper EAT, Rankin 6791, Swift 6103
| Piper's career in Congress did not startle
the world. 1t was dtring his stay in
Washington that Piper and c. P. Hunting
ton had their famous quarrel. They met
at Wizards and Huntington called Piper
filthy human hog" In the celebrated
letters in the Cotton case Huntington
again refers to Piper as ''dirty hog"
In 1876 Piper ran for Congress the third
time and was defeated by Horace Davis,
who polled %, La votes to his 19, 1853.
Since his defeat Piper has lived Sc
eluded life. He devotes most of his time
to playing poker with some old chums.
! Shortly after the Palace Hotel was finished
I Piper took up his residence there, as he
considered William Sharon his friend.