The herald., 1898-10-23
CALM Before A STORM
NO NEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE
PORTER BOARD BILL CASE
Only the Courts Can Now Settle the
1atter-Rumors Run to Earth
Prove to Be Baseless

The Porter Banning imbroglio appears
be in statu quo ante, that is TO say, no on
has ''anteed' since Mrs. Banning made tn
game. Mr.. Porter has maintained dis
Greet silence and has avoided the glitter an
dash which usually with the ta-ra-rs-ra Q
the admiring onlookers announce his pres
ence. The hanson has not glided about tn
streets on its comfortable rubber tires an
its precious load, and even at the Californi
club the gilt-edge youth has not been s.
prominent as has been his wont, for 1t !
whispered that since the talk and the fus
and feathers of the board bill incident n
has not been exactly persona grata in tn
precincts of the club; that the more con
servative reading room whist players-go
home-at-9-oclock set of members or op
posed TO such goings on, and have given II
out that Mr.. Porter is not the sort OF mem
Der to add to the comfort of the club or it.
popularity. This, of course, cannot be veri
fed, for the club men will not talk yer,
much for publication about their affairs
But there is something like if not quite thai
feeling existing.
And then statesman Frank Pilot Flint
has even made a quiet exit to the north tt
look after "Hennery." Mr.. Flint has long
been an attorney, United States district
attorney, politician and a society man and
viveur, who can tell the difference be
tween an alligator pear and a lobster at
first sight, but he has failed to find bis real
place, his true prominence, until he became
attorney for Mr. Porter and was engaged to
defend him in the suit against him for the
S2l0 board bill.
1t was Mr.. Flint's idea, that of the night
watchman set-otf, and possibly it would
have been carried out if it had not been
laughed out of court by the world. Since
that device has been dissipated it has not
been ascertained what line of defense Mr..
Flint will follow. 1t is possible that he will
insist that Mr.. Won Spiegel should pay his
own bill and that Mr.. Porter has no re-
sponsbility for that gay young mans ex-
penses.
Downey block! What reparation is to be
made for such desecration. And what
explanation. Mr.. Porter says he really
does not remember anything about the
signs. though after bit he did recall that
Won Spiegel had brought up to the house
a lot of stuff, but he. Porter, did not be-
lieve that he had had anything to do with it.
He thinks not, and possibly he is right.
Some OF the anti-Porterites now assert that
when the celebrated case came to trial
there will be a number of other young men
who will be summoned as witnesses to show
what they were doing at the place during
Mr.. Porter's incumbency, and all of the
of their visits. In fact the
list of witnesses who will be summoned for
one thing or another, for character witness
es and the like, is rumored to be of great
length and of even greater complexity.
One thing was settled yesterday, and that
is that there is no immediate danger of any
shooting scrape growing out of the matter
1T once. On Friday evening the report
gained currency that Hancock Banning had
his intention of blowing Mr.. Por-
ter off the earth at the first opportunity,
but when MIR; Banning was asked about this
story. yesterday he at once pronounced it
9 be a most unwarrantable bit of untruth.
He expressed himself as most friendly tow
ards Mr.. Porter, and spoke of that young
gentleman in the highest terms. He de-
the author of the report, whoever
he might be, as fabricator. So if there is
TO be no harm from it all, on with the play.
found to be equally baseless, in the story
that a. court of honor had been formed in the
California club to try Mr.. Porter. the jury
% consist of Peter Martin, Guy Barbam.
Nat Wiltshire, Johnny Gaffey, Willie Childs
and j. Reginaldo Hastings There is no
for the story, it can be officially
tated. As under the circumstances there
IS Mr.. Porter, even If he were willing to re,
ort to the duello, cannot challenge lady.
nd the reverse being equally true, there
annot be a court of honor, for as all of the
proposed members contend, such a court is
nly admissible in case Of o resort to the
'rdeal of combat, in case one or the other
# the contestants before the court is adj
main in the prosaic bounds Of Justice Morri-
on's court, and Mr.. Flint and Mr.. Mercer,
he opposing counsel, will do the fighting for
heir principals.