The San Francisco call., 1897-02-08

ing conditions the United States Com
missioners were able to bring out all the
facts they wished to establish.
This antagonistic feeling in Victoria
was due to the very important factor
sealing has been in the business of the
place. 1t is estimated that 10 per cent of
the total business capital of Victoria is
invested in the ocean sealing business.
Those primarily interested are princi-
pally sailors and men engaged in marine
business, but their success and their mis-
fortunes have an effect upon the whole
community, particularly when it comes to
taking sides in an international contro-
versy.
In private social life Mr.. Dickinson found
the people OF Victoria most courteous and
most entertaining. He also has words of
praise for the courtesy and learning of the
British commissioners. Victoria be styles
a very cosmopolitan place, with a par
ticularly enterprising population.
The original claims presented amounted
TO near 81, 100000, but evidence failed to
sustain many of them. They were re-
duced fully one-half. Mr. Dickinson ex-
plains that in justice to the people of Vic
toria it should be known that the most
fagrant attempts TO establish false claims
were those traceable directly to unscrupu-
lous neutrality-suspicious. who, while citi-
zens of the United States. had attempted
10 get damages as British subjects.
Speaking of the collision in which sew
eral of the cars of his train were, shortly
after o'clock yesterday morning, de-
rallied, overturned and smashed, Mr..
Dickinson said that he him elf was jolted
out of his berth onto the floor by the force
of the impact and was slightly bruised.
he was the only one. however, of all the
passengers i'll the Pullman coach that
suffered any inconvenience, for he hap
pened Just at the moment to have assumed
position on the edge of the berth, from
which he was easily thrown.
The Pullman car. the last one on the
train, was the only coach that escaped
injury. It's front trucks were raised two
feeS from the rails by the cowcatcher of
the north bound train which smashed the
tourist sleeper all to splinters. The coup
ling between the sleeper and the Pullman
broke and prevented the last coach from
beng overturned.
The escape of the passengers in the
sleeper was miraculous, particularly as
number OF them were United States de-
serters from the army and were compare
lively helpless, because of being in irons.
One of these captives had an arm broken.
A commercial traveller was badly ratified
but instinctively snatched his satchel out
OF the pool OF water into which the
sleeper had been thrown, remarking as he
did so that 1t contained his com missions
amounting to 500 for goods sold.
Donald Mcdonald Dickinson, the chief
United States counsel in the Bering Sea
damage inquiry, was born in New York
Statei in 1916 and in 1867 was graduated
from the University OF Michigan. He be-
came a lawyer and was interested in many
important suits. He was chairman of the
Democratic Stale Committee of Michigan
in 1876 and in 1880 was a delegate e-at-large
and chairman of the Michigan delegation
in the Democratic National Convention.
For some time subsequent to 1884 he rep
resented Michigan In the Democratic
National Committee. He was nominated
for Postmaster General late in 1887 and
the Senate confirmed the nomination
early in 1888. He has been noted for his
personal devotion to President Cleveland.
In this connection it may be stated that
he thinks that free silver will not again
be an issue, but that if it should have any
supporters four years hence it will be
completely defeated in 1900. In the Mich
igan Democratic convention in 1886,
when the chaplain in his opening prayer
failed to mention President Cleveland,
Mr.. Dickinson arose at once to protest,
and thereupon offered a supplementary
prayer, in which he invoked a blessing for
the President, considered as "a Demo
crat of Democrats, the noblest of them
all -