The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-08
ST. J0SEPH'S GENE Terry
Many Objections Against Dis.
turbing the Graves of
Half a Century.
Every body in the Historic Town Is
Personally Interested in the
Attempt to Reopen.
OAKLAND OFFICE SAN FRANCISCO CALL
908 Broadway. Dec. Z


908 Broadway, Dec. Z.
A warm discuSsi on took place to-day at
the meeting of the Board of Supervisors
over the proposed opening OF the old st.
Joseph's Cemetery at Mission San Jose.
J. F. Caffney, who appeared for the pc
titioners, said it was the understanding
that persons having property rights in the
cemetery were not to be disturbed, but he
has found that this course was not being
pursued. The opposition petition, he de-
clared, was not acting in good faith. He
was very emphatic in declaring that the
large number of burials SAID to have taken
place in the cemetery is not borne out by
facts, many of the bodies credited to ST.
Joseph's being in the Indian Gem etery.
IF these six thousand bodies" he said,
(which the opponents say are under the
ground were stood up shoulder 10 shout
der the little patch could not hold them.
In 1868 the old church was destroyed by
an earthquake. This left a lot of adobe
which was spread over the cemeteryS to
depth of four feet. If there are any graves
underneath they are buried so deep that
the bones can never come to the surface"
Father McNaboe of the church asked
that the request be granted to open the
cemetery. He said ne was in favor of al
lowing those having unoccupied lots to
opening new lots inside the fence of the
present cemetery. But if the people of
the Mission desire TO extend the limits of
the present cemetery by adding a few
acres of unused ground he thinks they
should be allowed to do so.
P. J. Bee said he pleaded for the widows
and orphans whose hus bands and fathers
were buried in the cemetery, and said
that there was no one among the Opposl-
ton who objected to the ground on the
sanitary basis. II say it is a shame" he
said, Ito make the widows give up the
corpses of their dead and transplant them
three miles away in a mirehole. We have
old pioneers there, men who can go back
forty years and tell all about this sanitary
trouble, and they demand justice. The
fact that the clergy 1--we within twenty feet
of the graveyard is the best proof that
there is nothing wrong with its sanitary
condition"
The Health Officer of Washington Town
ship has declared that the opening CT the
graveyard is inadvisable from sanitary
point of view, and Judge Scribner, who
represented the opponents, also took this
view. Many prominent residents of the
Mission gave their testimony, and as a
compromise seemed possible the case was
continued for two weeks. The affair is
crea ing considerable interest in The Mis-
sion, as nearly every body in that historic
town has personal interest in the old
cemetery.
Webster-Street Bridge Unsafe.
OAKLAND. CAL, Dec. &c II. Tebbs,
on behalf of the Alameda Electric road,
reported to The Supervisors this morning
that the Webster-street bridge is in a dam
gerous condition. The ioists, he declared,
are so rotten that nails driven into them
will not hold. He desired immediate &C
ton, as the present condition is very dan
eerous, and the matter was referred 10 the
District Attorney to report on the powers
of the board in the premises.
Acme Club ntertains.
OAKLAND, CAL, Dec. THE annual
entertainment of the Acme Club was
given tonight. Many members of the
Olympic Club gave their services and the
large audience was RECALLED with really
tirst-class entertainment.
One OF the most striking numbers on
the programme was a pantomim specta-
Gle entitled "A Dream in Fairyland," -.
given by the pupils OF Caro- True Board