The San Francisco call., 1896-02-15

will be an outspoken report, in which
spades and other things will be called by
their right names. but there will be no
mention in it of the death of little Mary
Harris at the Fountain Grove community
The sensational features of that tragedy
have all been exhausted, and no we'll in
formed person believes that there is any
ground upon which to base a criminal
accusation against any member of the
colony.
Those in this city who are personally
acquainted with Thomas Lake Harris, the
community's founder and its primate,
speak in the highest terms of him. Judge
Temple is his friend, and was one of the
signers of document which declared as
vicious and false the accusations brought
against Harris by Miss Chevalier about
three years ago. But since then Harris
has resided in New York, living in quiet
with his wife and a few congenlal friends
in a handsome house on upper Broadway,
and enjoying the society and confidence of
intellectual and thoughtful men, among
them William Dean Howells, and during
his absence Fountain Grove has been un-
der the management of the Japanese
Kanai Nagasawa.
Perhaps in former DAYS Nagasawa had
dreams and visions of higher things than
commercial prosperity, but to all appear
ances those dreams and visions have
passed now and the vice-primate is busi-
ness mana good one, perhaps. but only
that. Certainly Fountain Grove has pros
pered in a financial way under his man.
agement and its wines and fruits are fa-
nous, but to all external appearances the
Grove is now spiritually and esthetically
dead. II looks commonplace. The
grounds are not picturesque and the un-
productive parts are not cared for. Foun-
tain Grove is a business proposition to-
day, and doubtless its little, shrewd- faced,
black-eyed manager does not regret the
free advertising it has been getting. 1t
was, however, a sorry home for bright,
sensitive, sympathetic girl of 16 summers,
with neither parent, sister nor friend in
which to confde her hopes, her fears, her
joys. Indeed, of joys she had none, and
eventually hope left her, SO secure was her
imprisonment, SO harsh and restrictive ap-
pears to have been her treatment.
However, it is no crime to break a girls
heart; and then, again, there may be even
another side to this story, for most stories
are two-sided.
''We investigated the matter very care
fully, Think said B. NJ. Spencer, fore
man of the Grand Jury, to-day, 'and we
are satisfied that we have not warrant
sufficient to even censure the Fountain
Grove people in the matter of the death of
Mary Harris. My own opinion is that
they were too strict and rigid in their
treatment of the girl, but even that is
merely an opinion, and | could not state
it as fact. The Grand Jury will make no
report in the matter whatever. Its mem
bers do not entertain any suspicious
against the inmates"
One thing that will surely tend to in
crease the hostility of the outer world, or
as much of it as pays any attention to the
matter, against the Grove management is
the fact that all the white employees at the
community are being replaced by Japan
esq., Still, this is not very sensational
thing in itself, seeing that the manager is
himself native born Japanese. 1t may
be. as some claim, that Nagasawa's chief
object in employing only Japanese labor
is to preserve greater secrecy concerning
the affairs at the Grove. Indeed Nagaa-
was own attitude corroparates this view
to some extent.
To-day CALL correspondent went out
to the Grove and sought an interview with
the vice -primate. This he. firmly declined