The San Francisco call., 1898-05-13
Consiqns the Mem bers of the Grand Jury to Pri-
 vate Life.
They Hold an Indignation Meeting in Their Old
 Rooms.
CHARGES AGAINST DUNNE
Barnes and His Assistant Accused of Impeding the School
 investigation.

The Grand Jury, of which the public had been led to expect so much, no longer exists.
 In response to the citation issued by Superior Judge Belcher, the members as- sembled in his courtroom at 2:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. and Judge Belcher asked Foreman Gerberding if he had any report to make. Upon the latter reply ing that he had none, the Judge read the following terse order of dismssal:
 In the Superior Court of the State of Cali
 fornia, in and for the City and County of San
 F'rancisco-In Grand Jury.
 Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: The law re- quires that two Grand Juries be impaneied ir of the court is to inpanel the first Grand Jury of the year at about this time and the second Grand Jury some time in the latter part of the year, according to eSgencies. You were i'm paneled in the month of December, 1897, and the new Grand Jury. For these reasons, and fot other reasons satisfactory to the court, you are now discharged without day.
 EDW. A. BELCHER, Presiding Judge
 May F. 1885,
 As soon as the Judge had concluded, James O'Brien. member of the late Grand Jury, arose:
 'If your Honor please" be began, but got no further, for the Judge interrupted sharply:
 'I do not care to hear anything from you, sir
 That ended tho court proceedings. The members filed out and went to their old rooms, where they held an indignation meeting, at which Judge Belcher Dis trict Attorney Barnes and his assistant, Joseph Dunne, came in for a round of abuse. Brien was accorded the privi- lege of first addressing his associates OBrien was chairman of the Harbor In- vestigating Committee, and he took oc- casion to say that the ferry depot scan- dal had never been placed before him for. investigation. He wanted to ask Judge Belcher if certain statements at tributed to him In an evening paper were true, but the Judge had seen fit to de- cline to listen to him. OBrien denied the assertions and was backed up by his as-
 A. B. Truman made hot speech, dis tributing his attention equally between Judge Belcher, District Attorney Barnes and Assistant Dunne. He said Barnes and even the Judge had failed to furnish certain information the Grand Jury asked for, and the District Attorney was rep resented by drunkard." Witnesses had been frightened by misrepresentations and had been given to understand that they would not be protected. Every time the school case had been taken up some trivial affair had been crowded in to block the Investigation
 we know that influence has been brought to bear on every member of this body to stop this Investigation" he said ''Why is it we could not carry it on? Be- cause we were discouraged by the obsta- cles placed in our way by the District At torney's office, which tried to prevent 1t by every means. The member of this Grand Jury was called a blackguard by politician of this town, and it was Judge Becher's duty to punish the of fender. but he failed to do so We de- layed action on the ferry scandal in order to have Barnes assist us personally, but he refused to do so.''
 John Daly said: ''The members of this Grand Jury have worked hard and ear nIestly. but they were handicapped, first. by the foreman, who was anxious not 10 serve and always in hurry to get away, and, second, by the District Attor- ney's office. Barnes has disappointed us repeatedly, while the Board of Educa- ton has had an attorney present at our meetings from start to finish in the per son of Dunne He protected them in ev- cry way and I blame Dunne more than do Belcher. I have reason to believe he