The San Francisco call., 1896-01-11
IFr0Dl q photograph

against England she might give little
attention to the San Francisco Fire Com
missi0ners, who accuse men of felonies
and then try them without permitting
them to be represented by a lawyer.
That's what they did to me-" said ex-
Foreman Buchanan of engine 8.
Il was simply found guilty and dis
missed without being permitted a counsel.
1t happened right in this City, portion
Of America, the land of the free, etc. Why,
less things than that have plunged coun-
tries into war, but here in this City the
Fire Commissioners take the law into
their hands and sit as a court.
"Here is the way they did it: On the
7th Of December, 1885, Hoff man & Alex
ander's wholesale clearinghouse caught
ire, and among other engines No. 8, of
which l was foreman at the time, answered
the alarm. Six days after that l reported
Engineer Kennedy for neglect in not keep
ing a cover on the hose. On the next day,
or seven days after the fire, Kennedy re-
ported that he had seen some clothing on
the apparatus that looked as though it had
been taken from the fire on the 7th. He
said that it was stolen, and the Commits
sloners forthwith tried US for petty larceny
on the 26th of December. There were five
of Us ltogether-WilliamH H. Cronin John
Holmes, James Collner, Thomas Null
downey and myself
Il asked the Fire Commissioners to
have the case laid over until the man who
had made the charge would get out a
proper complaint through the proper
authorities, and that we be tried in the
Superior Court Just the same as other
people. They refused to listen to such a
proposition, although / told them that If
we were tried in the manner laid down by
the law of the State and found guilty
they were then at liberty to dismiss us
from the service of the Fire Department.
To this proposition they turned deaf ear,
and / finally asked if we would be per-
mitted to have our own attorneys. This
was also refused and the trial proceeded.
i called ten witnesses, all OF whom tes-
titled that there was nothing of the kind
charged in the complaint of Kennedy;
that they had observed and that they had
seen no clothing that did not belong to
the accused. On the other hand Engineer
Kennedy and Driver Cain testified that
they saw a bundle of something on the
apparatus that appeared to be clothing.
They had nothing, mind you, as evidence
10 prove this charge, not even a collar
button, but their word was taken as against
ten others, and Cronin and Holmes were
found guilty as charged and Immediately
dismissed from the service. Now that is
not the end. Wait until you hear me out
and you will get an insight into how a man
can be prosecuted. At that trial the rest
Of US were eXonerated, but in a short time
after that l was charged with two more
offenses. One was not changing the wet
hose for dry one, as is the custom after
8ll fires. The other was for not reporting
the men who were alleged to have taken
the clothing. How could / repert them
when 1 did not know and did not believe
that they took the clothing? On the
charge of not changing the hose brought
in to the Fire Commissioners the books of
The clerk OF engine 8 and proved that /
did change the hose and that IL was done
Immediately after the fire. On the charge
of not reporting the men who stole the
clothing l was dismissed, probably be-
cause | did not believe they were the
thieves. Is that the way for body OF
Commissioners to do business with men
who happen to come under themH 1t may
appear to the laymen that | was not alto
get rid of me, but it was not that at all,
but because fought them on the PROPOSE
ton of converting the Widows and
Orphans Fund into political fund. That,
sir, and nothing else was the cause OF my
dismissal from the Fire Department and
can prove that they wanted to get rid OF
me for that reason and that reason alone.
II have been in bad odor because have
been the only defender of the fund and
because l have taken every occasion to
fight for the widows and children of dead
fremen-men who died in their attempts
to save property to the citizens OF San
Francisco. / will explain to you how the
fund is created. In case of the death OF
fireman from accident or natural or other
causes we all chip in 81 apiece and give
the total amount to the widow or his
orphans, provided he has any. There are