The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-22
NEW HOMEMADE HALOS
Attorneys in the Bitumen Con-
solidated Case Indulge
in Satire.
Defendants Brief Reads Like a Twain
DiSSer tation on Morals and
Manners.

The suit of A. C. Bassett VS.. ]. A. Fair
child, including the Bitumen Consolidated
Mining Company, has taken satirical
turn.
A. c. Bassett and J. H. Swift drew out
of the Bitumen Consolidated Mining Com
pany some months ago and instituted
suits against the other directors, alleging
fraud, conspiracy and general misuse of
the compaDy's funds.
The plaintiffs charged that Manager
Fairchild had taken the Supervisors to
Pismo Beach and treated them to clam
bake and wine supper during their visit of
inspection to the company's bitumen
mines and tn at said bake, wine, whisky,
cigars, etc., cost the company something
like $500. As a result of that clam bake
Manager Fairchild claims that the COM
pany sold 10000 tons of bitumen, but that
las nothing to do with the plaintiffs side
of the story.
Four weeks ago plaintiffs attorneys,
Messrs. Gunnison, Booth & BARNETT, filed
a sarcastic brief with Judge Seawell, in
which the clambake was commented on at
| length. Now comes Frank Shay for the
defendants and his effort in the satirical
vein makes good reading.
Among other things he sets forth:
Counsel Tor the plaintiffs in the above
entitled action have served and filed what
they term plaintiffs opening proof. In
unstinted abuse of the defendants it fol-
lows the bad example they set in their
complaint. They have evidently
sought to divert the attention of the court
by calling the defendants bad names by
the use of epithets, elegant and otherwise,
and by assuming the existence of fraud,
dishonesty, conspiracy and cheating,
| where there is no evidence upon which TO
| base such an assumption. Since
their inception these suits have been
known as the mud suits, because of the
methods employed by the plaintiffs. y
"a great deal is said by them about the
| clam bake at Pismo Beach, at which it
seems that certain persons at that time
| Supervisors of the City and County of San
| Francisco were guests of the Bitumen
| Consolidated Mining Company.
''The clambake is described as absurd and
ridiculous, whereas the testimony shows
it to have been an eminently respectable,
| decorous and properly conducted affair.
| Counsel fairly shrieked with horror at the
| fact that those present at the little party
| were treated to wine, whisky and cigars,
and seemed to be surprised that San Fran
cisco Supervisors ever INDUCED in such
amusements No fault, however, seems to
| have been found with the quality OF the
viands, nor do they charge that the guam
| tity consumed was excessive.
$50 far as may be gathered from plain
tiffs' brief, skipping the parts where they
| lose themselves in sort of hysterical
abuse of the defendants, they seem to
| claim that the defendants carelessly and
recklessly permitted some of the money
of the Bitumen Consolidated Mining Com
pany to be wasted in the payment of sal
| aries, in the defense of certain litigations,
| in the employ ment OF counsel and special
agents and in treating certain City officials
to clans. wine, whisky, cigars and pousse
| cafes.
Defendants are charged in both actions
with having looted the treasury by allow.
| ing themselves compensation for their
| services as directors at the rate of $40 a
loot. Swift calmly ignores the fact that
he was one of the hooters. To be sure he
retained the amount of his 'stealings'
(as he terms these payments when refer.
ring to the defendants) couple of months
afterward, although he stated that his con-
science began to trouble him within an
hour or two after he had pocketed his
share OF the swag. After battling with his
conscience for two months the still, small
voice conquered and he made an attempt
TO return to the treasury the money he
had received for services rendered as di
rector. Like most reformed persons
who repent their sins and become saint:
with brand-new homemade halos, Swift
conceived violent hatred for his late as
sociates.
"Bassett was reformer also. He had
donned the red shirt and selected his bass
drum and cymbals long before the wave
was known to have struck Swift. The two
reformers entered into a com bination to
either reform the other directors land in.
cidentally gain control of the corporation
or break up the company. 4 They
failed, and, dropping their masks for a
time, set about causing the destruction OF
the company. They determined to finan
cially iniure these defendants even though
they themselves and their associates, Cap
tain N. I. Smith, Timothy Hopkins and
others. should be injured in the wreck II
was feeble imitation of the Samson act
| without the Samson provocation.'
The case is herewith submitted on briefs