The San Francisco call., 1897-01-25

submitted to him. was out of the question
until Little Pete convinced his attorneys
that he was right.
Gentlemen" he continued, you are
not as well acquainted with the pol ce de-
partment as 1 arr. They have been black
for years. and it is not question OF rlgh'
or wrong with them; it Is now mucn
money do we get?'
Yes, gentlemen, I paid those ot1cers 8
bribe, but it was honestly done, as asked
them to take the money and only TESTIFY
to the truth. The truth is all wanted
of them, and l thought $4OO would be
enough for them to tell that, but 1t was
not. They. came back for more money,
not only convicted my friend but ar
re sted me-"
Little Pete, whose English was as per-
feet as any Americans, told the above
story in court before jury and Judge
Toohy. Tne jury disagreed and upon
subsequent trial Pete was convicted.
Upon the latter occasion the Judges
charge was a virtual instruction 10 the
jury that Pete be found guilty, as emma
mans word could not bear the same weight
as that of a white man. Upon the latter
showing the Supreme Court granted Pete
another trial, at which he was acquitted.
In the mean time. however, Pete suffered
eighteen months incarceration IN the
Folsom Penitentiary.
Subsequently Pete was arrested on a
charge of embracerv in connection with
this same matter of Lee Chuck, but he
secured an acquittal.
In those days Chris Buckley, the Demo-
cratic boss, was in power. Pele had
named him the sBIind White Devil -
While searching Little Pete's safe during
his incarceration the police obtained con-
siderable evidence showing that Buckley
and Pete were doing business, and one
letter in particular or, rather, copy OF
it, from Pete to Quang Chic, told the
story of the formers refusal to any longer
submit 10 Buckley's demands.
That Little Pete was a man of great
business acumen, as well as heavyweight
thinker and general schemer, needs no
better illustration than the hourishing
condition of his estate.
His attorney, Thomas d. Riordan, who
has been his legal adviser during more
than a decade, tells how his client was
clever enough to take advantage OF all the
benefits to be gained both in this country
and in China. Here he had but about
$50 900 invested. This amount was sufi-
cient for him to carry on his large shoe
establish ment and other enterprises. Tn
China, however, Pete had nearly 500, ,000
invested in artificial fish ponds, the in
dustry there that pays even better than
the cultivation of tea or rice. IN fact, it is
claimed that Little Pete's profits on his
fishing investment amounted to more
than per ce Mt.
Pete was a great lover of American
methods and particularly of the life
insurance plan in vogue here. He fre-
quently spoke to his friends, saying that
he would deem himself benefactor of h is
race # he established life insurance among
his people. He carried a rather heavy
line of insurance upon his own life, the
beneficiary being his brother, Fong Shun.
Pete had a great reverence for his old
mother in China and cared for her IN
good style. He also thought very much
of his wife, who lived with him in this
City up to the time of his death.
Contrary 10 the usual custom of white
men who insure for the benefit of theil
wives, Pete followed the custom OF his
race and his brother was made the bene
ficiary. The condition of his estate would
have been different, however had his eld-
est son been of age. This not being the
case the entire estate must revert to the