davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
TO PROTECT OUR
 ALASKA TRADE Amended Act of Congress to Take Effect This
 Month.
Penalty Has Been Raised From Two Dollars to Two Hundred Per
 Passenger.

The attention of Collector Jackson has been called to an act of Congress which will go into effect on the 17th of the pres ent month. The act is a very important one. for it vitally affects, in the way of protection, the commerce of the United States by debarring foreign vessels from competing with American vessels in car rying passengers and freight for the Klondike trade. The penalty, which for carrying passengers was $2 per head, has been increased to $200 per head which cannot fail to make the statute effective.
 The act is as follows:
 Be it enacted (etc) that no merchandise shall be transported by water under penalty of for feiture thereof from one port of the United States to another port of the United States either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the voyage in any other vessel than a vessel of the United States. But this section shall not be construed to prohibit the sailing of any foreign vessel from one to another port chandise other than that imported in such vessel from some foreign port which shall not port or place in the United States to another.
 Section ?. That section of An act to abol- ish certain fees for official services to Ameri- can vessels and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners. seamen, owners of ves- sels and for other purposes, approved June 19. IsS6'' is hereby amended to read:
 Sec s. No foreign vessel shall transport pas States States either directly or by way of foreign port under a penalty of S200 for each passenger so transferred and landed
 Sec & Whenever merchandise is imported into the United States by for immediate exportation to a foreign port by sea, or by river the right to ascend or descend which for the purposes of commerce Is secured by treaty to the citizens of the United States and the subjects of a foreign power, the Secretary of inc Treasury is hereby authorized to prescribe regulations for the transhipment and trans portation of such merchandise.
 Sec 4 That section 3109 of the Revised Stat utes Is hereby amended to read:
 Sec 3109 The master of any foreign vessel laden in ballast arriving, whether by sea or otheryyise in the waters of the United States from any foreign territory adjacent to the northern northeastern or northwestern from tiers of the United States. shall report at the office of any Collector or Deputy Collector of the Customs which shall be nearest to the point at which such vessel may enter such waters and such vessel shall not transfer her cargo or nassengers to another vessel proceed farther Inland either to unlade or take in cargo without d special permit from such Collector or Deputy Collector issued under and in accordance with such general or special regulations the Sec retary of the Treasury may in his discretion from time to time prescribe. This section shall also apply to trade with or through Alaska.
 For any violation of this section such vessel shall be seized and forfeited
 Sec 5 This act shall take effect month after its passage.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
GIVEN'S MORTGAGE INVALID. Secured Through Fear and Compul-
 sion to Protect the Prisoner.

OAKLAND, March fudge Hall to- day refused to set aside the submission of the suit to cancel a mortgage executed by Mrs. Given to secure to her husband immunity from prosecution for forging her name to a note. This is victory for the widow, after a long and bitterly con- tested trial in which numerous affidavits and dispositions were introduced. The court instructed the attorney to strike Mrs. Givens name from the note and can eel the mortgage.
 ''The original note and mortgage" the court continued. "are void. as they were secured through fear and compulsion. The law does not permit one to make traffic of crime and in this matter I am satfs- fled MT. Given committed forgery. It was not said in the contract but it was an es- sential element that if Mrs. Given would make this note and mortgage her hus- band should not be prosecuted for his crime
 "The defendant Morris must therefore submit to his loss despite the fact that lie loaned his money in good faith. He, how ever, allowed the note to run until about outlawed before he presented it to or called Mrs. Given's attention to it. No principal or interest was ever paid. He was no worse off before he secured Mrs. Given's security than he is now, as Mrs. Given had nothing, so nothing Is lost by the chanRe.'
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
NEED OF AN ENDowEDT THEATER
Professor Lyle Declares 1t Would -. Elevate the Standard of the

BERKELEY, March 7.-Professor Louis Du Pont Lyle of the English department of the university, in a lecture this after noon on ''The Advantages and Desirabil- :, ity of an Endowed Theater," declared T that if there were in the various large cities of America theaters endowed by the munificence of the wealthy, such as many universities now are. there would be a great improvement in the character of the drama.
 More standard classical dramas would be seen upon the stage he declared, and there would be fewer plays of the present prevailing type, which consists of a series of unreal situations and aims at merely dollars and cents.
 At present there is no tendency of the stage to elevate popular taste. Plays are written merely to suit some particular star. In the United States less attention is paid to Shakespeare than in Germany and the lack of an endowed theater in America Is largely responsible for this. Shakespearean plays are staged in Ger many which we never see produced here; for in America no play takes unless 1t have sufficient of the spectacular in 1t.
 For political reasons a theater en- dOwed by municipal or State funds would be impossible. If the same liberality were shown by wealthy men in the endowment of theaters as has been recently shown in the endowment of colleges such a theater would be a possibility. A $500 900 endow- ment would be sufficient to establish and maintain one.'
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Jackson Deering Could Not Endure His Suf-
 fering.
A Successful Merchant Found Dead in the Rear of
 His Store.
Left a Brief Note Which Robs the Tragedy of All Element of
 Mystery.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
 sos Broadway. March |

When Fred Curtiss and D. Macdonald went to the store of Jackson Deeriug this morning they found it locked, and on looking through the glass door they saw the dead body of their employer lying on the floor in the rear with a dagger in his heart.
 J. Deering was the proprietor of a gents furnishing store on San Pablo avenue, near the City Hall. He had always been moderately prosperous and his business required the services of two assistants. For some months Jack son complained of the pressure on his brain. He suffered from se- were pains in the head. but had not given any indication of a desire to end his life. The following little note left in his coat pocket shows plainly that Jackson knew what he was doing when he plunged the weapon into his heart:
 Sunday, March [. l am suffering with terrible brain pressure, almost at times uncomfortable. The Lord help me.
 JACK DEERING. Last evening Deering visited his rela- tives at Golden Gate. The family of his brother-in-law, M. Thompson, saw nothing unusual about him, and he left at an early hour. On his return to his store he purchased one ounce of laudanum at Maclise's drug store. He signed the register and the empty vial, properly labeled, was found in his room this morning. As nearly as can be learned, Deering went to his living apartments, which are in the rear of the store, and drank the laudanum, af- ter which he took knife about twelve inches long and plunged it into his body below the heart, at an angle that insured the blade reaching a vital spot. Such a wound would be almost instantly fatal. and when found this morning the knife was not entire ly free of the wound.
 Curtiss and Macdonald, on seeing Deering, forced an opening to the store and the police were summoned. Deer ing had been dead several hours, and was removed to the Morgue. The dead man was single and about 40 years of age. He has a brother living in San Francisco and another in Fresno. He has been engaged in business here foI some years, and was a very steady thrifty merchant.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
LOST IN THE FOG. Adventures of Student on the Red wood Canyon Road

OAKLAND, March 7.-George s. Evans, the missing Berkeley student, has turned up safe and sound He walked several miles more than he intended to when he bade his friends good-by, but he is none the worse for his experience.
 Evans left a house in Berkeley where he had been visiting late Saturday night 10 return UT + 10 s Sakana nd ana ana neing over night he lost his way. He travelled in a wrong direction from the start, and soon discovered his mistake. Instead of ap- preaching Oakland Evans headed unwit- tingly for Fruitvale He soon found that he was going nowhere in particular, but decided to keep on, as it was too cold to think of resting.
 Evans wandered about all night and got into Redwood canyon. He. could only make slow progress, as in the darkness and thick fog he did not know where he might land. When the fog lifted he was near Fruitvale and about seven miles from where he should have been. He ar rived home twelve hours late.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Contractors Assert His Report Is Not Cor
 rect.
County Bridge Matter Again Reopened Before the
 Supervisors.
Johnson and Peterson Claim to Have Been Grossly Misrepre-
 scented.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call.


 There is much dissatisfaction among some of the firms who bid upon the plans for building the new county bridge at Webster street The trouble is over the figuring of Expert Brown and his report is challenged by Peter son & Johnson and by the San Francis co Bridge Company. This morning the Supervisors met and MT. Peterson was present and stated his grievance.
 The report of Expert Brown recom- mended that the plans of Johnson & Peterson and those of the San Francis co Bridge Company be sent back, as they did not fulfill the requirements. He also recommended that the plans of Cotton Brothers be accepted. Last week final action was about to be taken when Chairman Talcott succeeded in having the matter postponed till to-day. The bridge cOmpanyS man was on hand and declined to discuss the matter, merely demanding that his check and plans be returned
 MT. Peterson, however, was not so delicate. We claim" he said, that we have been grossly misrepresented by the board and we want a hearing. We understand, as MT. Brown told us so himself, that he had a man to figure upon the strain sheets, and we assert that we have been misrepresented in those figures. MT. Brown says there is a discrepancy between our strain sheets and our sections, and we claim that they are correct. Our engineer Is as competent as MT. Brown, and we be- lieve that we have good grounds for ] complaint"
 1 MT. Peterson also claimed that there i had been a misunderstanding which l operated against his firm in regard to the piling necessary to sustain the weight of the span.
 1 Supervisor Mitchell doubted very much if MT. Brown had employed any one to do the figuring for him, and Su- l pervisor Church said it made no differ ence, as MT. Brown was alone respon- sibIe for his figures
 After further discussion the matter was postponed till tomorrow morning. ! The expert will then meet with the Su- perviSors and the contractors and the plans will be carefully examined.
 The contract for the new bridge is a large one and there is a keen contest for 1t. 5]..
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Union Printers Strike e Against a Change in
 Wages.
Youthful Paper Carriers Join the Typos in the
 WalkOut.
IInion Men Will Hold a Mass Meet
 ina in the College Town Next Wednesday.

RERKELEY. March 7.-The union nrinters of Berkeley are out on strike against a proposed change in their schedule of wages.
 Roth the daily papers-the World and tbe cazette-are involved, as are also the two college papers-the Californian and the Occident. Eleven of the em-
 nloves of the Gazette and World re-
 fused to go to work this morning and this evening the carriers of the World, all of them youngsters of less than 15 years. resolved to go out with the com
 positors. and refused to deliver the papers.
 The strikers were called out by Oak land Tvpographical Union, which they racentlv joined in body. The old rate of wages before Berkeley was union izad,' was from $7 to $9 a week. The
 ,1nfon rate was $15 week. The strik-
 CTS claim that the new scale means a reduction to $10 and SIP week, but the
 proprietors of the papers claim that there has been no material reduction
 made, that they merely propose a cbanea from paying by piecewOrk rates
 to paying by the day.
 The striking printers are ten in
 n,n,her three of them being women.
 They allege that the World and Ga- zette have combined to reduce wages,
 and in support or thelr contention state that both papers are printed from the same type, the headings only heinz changed The proprietors who are said to have joined the combine arc c Rorkheim and Louis Borkheim of the Gazette and w. F. Sell and F.. M. Maruuand of the World. District Organizer J. J. Calvin of the 1nterna- tional Typographical Union, who tried in vain to effect a compromise, de- cIares that the union will conduct a vigorous and gentlemanly fight to pro tect the members.
 A mass-meeting will be held in Shat tucI. Hall next Wednesday evening under the auspices of the Federated
 Trades of Alameda County. James H.
 Barry, J. J. Calvin, Ed Rosenberg and others will make addresses. Louis Borkheim, manager of the Ga zette. stated this evening that the nlaces of the strikers had been filled without any trouble. He said: 'The proposed change made very little re- auction in the wages of the men, who would have received 50 per cent more
 than they used to get before the town
 was unionized. The fact of the matter is that the men did not go out of their own accord but were ordered out by the Oakland men. The Berkeley men Joined the union recently and are not yet entitled to vote. They were com pelled, without having any say in the matter, to quit their jobs
 we shall continue to get out the papers as usual. We have no fear as
 to the outcome of the affair and the men will find that we can stand it just
 as long as they can."
 Tn the meantime the men are confi-
 dent of winning their fight, which the union considers an entirely just one.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Oakland News Notes

OAKLAND, March 7.-Dr. J. M. Shan non, whose skull was crushed last Satur- day evening" regained consciousness to- day, and the attending physicians now have every hope of his speedy recovery.
 John M Heinbold, the Webster-street saloon-keeper, to-day filed a suit for a d. vorce from his wife, Christina Marie Heinbold, charging her with assertion. He recently published notice stating that he would not be resposibIe for any indebtedness incurred by her.
 T. M Stne, a Southern Pacific railway employe, filed a petition of insolvency to- day. His liabilities are placed at SS67 20. with assets of $50 which is claimed as ex- empt.
 Ex-Judge Fred Adams has failed with liabilities amounting to $26657 79 and with no assets. He Is a well-known veteran of the late war, and formerly resided at San Luis Obispo, where he once owned con siderable property.
 The Board Of Supervisors will meet as a committee of the whole tomorrow morning at o'clock to discuss the Web ster-street bridge plans.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
LONG RIDE FOR A NICKEL.
From Oakland to Alameda and Re
 turn for One Fare.

ALAMEDA, March 7.-The fact was de- veloped yesterday that by the recent changes in the electric car service be- tween this city and Oakland residents of the last named city could pay a visit to Alameda and return home for & single fare instead of the double fare that it has hitherto cost them. Instead of run ming cars continuously and having each one make the round trip from Oakland to Alameda, the corner of Park street and Santa Clara avenue is made the ter minus, and cars run In both directions from there to Oakland and return, while transfers are given at the point named. By this system a passenger can leave Seventh and Broadway and come to Ala meda by way of Webster street and Santa Clara avenue. paying cents. At the corner of Park street he can take a transfer and then ride back to Oakland by way of Twenty-third avenue, reach ing Eleventh and Washington. A great many people enjoyed the long ride for a nickel yesterday, but it is probable that the company will devise some means to prevent it in the future.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
His Preliminary Examin-
 ation Will Commence This Afternoon.
Mrs. Clark and Captain Engel- berg Are Unable to Fur
 niSh Bonds.
Their Cases Were Called in Judge COnlan'S Court and Continued
 Till Thursday.

A large number of people were at- tracted to Judge Conlan's court yester- day in the expectation of hearing the developments in the cases of Mrs. J. A. Clark, the leader of Gods Regular Army in this city, and her captain, George Engelberg, but they were dis appointed
 Mrs. Clark is accused of cruelty to Alice Loy, the seven-year-o girl who came with her from Portland, and En- gelberg is accused of beating the girls brother, Bennie, who is now at the Youths Directory.
 When the cases were called eX-Judge Lawler, who represented the defend ants, said they were ready to proceed and had all their witnesses present. Prosecuting Attorney Mogan, after con- sulting with Secretary Frank Kane of the Pacific Coast Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Children, said that as there was a case in another court which had a bearing upon the Clark and Engelberg cases he would suggest that they be postponed till 1t was disposed of. It would come up for preliminary hearing this afternoon and a continuance till Thursday might be granted. The Judge concurred and the cases were accordingly continued till Thursday.
 Attorney Lawler asked that the bonds for Mrs. Clark and Engelberg be re- duced They were strangers in the city, and had no means of procuring bonds if they were made too heavy. The Judge said he would think over the matter, and ordered the two defendants to be taken down stairs and locked up.
 The preliminary examination of Gen eral" George Sturgeon Duggan, com mander of the Jesus Christ Army, on the charge of criminal assault upon the little girl, Alice Loy, will commence be- fore Judge Low this afternoon, when interesting developments may be ex- pected The girl will be brought from Sacramento to testify in the case, and also Dr. McGettigan.
 Duggan still declares his innocence, and asserts that his arrest is the result of a conspiracy at the hands of his enc mics. among whom he numbers Mrs. Clark The opinion is growing that Mrs. Clark knows considerably more about the girl than she has told, and that her readiness to swear to the war rant against Duggan was for the pur- pose of shielding some one else. Mr. and Mrs. Pray and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who came from Portland with Mrs. Clark and Engelberg, are expected to shed considerable light upon this point.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
TRAFFIC RATES
 DROP AGAIN The Canadian Pacific Is Cutting Fares Still
 Lower.
Fifteen Dollars Second Class From San Francisco to
 St. Paul.
Passenger Agent Goodman Tells Why the Southern Pacific Does
 Not Fall in Line.

The Canadian Pacific has made a new move in the railroad game of freezeout. It has given notice that commencing tomorrow it will make a new cut of $5 on second class rates from San Fran cisco and Puget Sound ports to St. Paul. This brings the second class fare from this city to St. Paul down to the $15 limit, which is $5 under the rate now in existence on the American lines from Portland to that city.
 This does not mean a reduction on the first class rate from here to St. Paul, which remains $25, nor a cut on the through rates from here to New York over the Canadian Pacific, which are still $40 and $50, but it goes $5 un- der the rates on any of the northern lines from the middle northwest coun- try.
 Passenger Agent Goodman, speaking of the situation, said:
 "All this talk of the Southern Pac1f1c acting as a barrier to the prosperity ot the business of San Francisco by not cutting things down is made by people who do not thoroughly understand the matter. We are getting our full pro- portion of the regular travel, and the very slight increase of travel that would result from a reduction of rates would be of no material benefit to the city and would not begin to pay us for the loss we would sustain by the cut. We would not only have to come down to the level of the rates on the northern lines, but would have to cut under them SIP first class and $6 second class in order to absorb the steamer rates from here to Seattle.
 At the commencement of the rush to Alaska the steamer rates from Se- attle to Dyea were $40 first class and $25 second class, and some talk was made by the steamship companies of making an $8 and $4 rate from here to Seattle. Instead of doing that, however, they tackled on an additional $10 to both first class and second class rates from Seattle, making them $50 and $35, and increased the rate from San Francisco to that place to SIP and $6 Now, if they could carry passengers at a profit at the original rate. all this additional is a clear gain for them."
 AS things now stand the second rate fare to Chicago over the Canadian Pa cific is $11 50 added to $15, or S26 50, while the first class fare remains $36 50 to that point and $40 to New York. The second class rate from here to New York is still S30 on through travel.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
WORKING FOR GOOD ROADS. What the State League Has Been
 Doing During the Past Year.

A meeting of the directors of the Cali- fornia Goodroads League will be held this morning in the office in the Mills building. Since it's organization the league has been working quietly, but nevertheless its ef- forts have been far reaching.
 Within the last year the league has been very busy reaching out into the country interesting some of the best citizens in the State in the work in hand and con templated It Is the wish of the leaders 10 have at least one responsible man in every town who will take up the work of organizing minor leagues with the ulti- mate view. of accomplishing the objects of the league.
 A press bureau has been organized to be under the direct supervision of the league with F. I. Vassault as chairman. publication two articles per month and forward them to the country papers. Al ready two articles have been published
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-08
Adams minors Demand Damages.

OAKLAND. March 7-The Southern Pacific Railroad Company and the Pacific Improvement Company were to-day sued for $20, 900 damages for the death or Albert | H Adams He was crushed on the morning of December Il last in a collision between two switch engines. The plaint. ifs are the minor brothers and sisters or the deceased, whom he was supporting They are Leonard. Rowland o; and Ar thur A. Adams. aged IS, l6 and 10 years years respectively; they sue through their joined by Grace H. Ellison and Adeline L.. Heaner, the deceased's two married sis, ters, and their husbands 1t IS alleged that the engine causing the accident was handled by only one man and that he was in the employ of the Pacific Improvements Company.