The San Francisco call., 1899-04-13

" HE portentous sack which is said
TO exist in Chinatown and which,
1t is claimed, has tempted Lieuten-
ant Price and his squad was the
- subject Of investigation by the Po-
lice Commissioners last evening.
For several hours the Commissioners lis.
tened to the reading of the report of Chief
Lees, which is calculated to exculpate
Price and his men of the charges of cor
ruption which have been brought against
them.
At II o'clock the head of the Police De-
partment had not concluded reading his
report. and as Commissioner Tobin was
not feeling well he suggested that 4he in
vestigati6n be continued until next Mon
day night. A motion TO that effect was
made by Commissioner Alvord and i'm
mediately carried.
The Chiefs report, as far as he read,
was a resume Of the work done by Price
in the Chinese quarter Several months
ago, he claimed, number of Chinese
merchants waited on him and asked that
Price be sent to Subdue the disorderly ele-
ment in Chinatown. AS a number of
wanton murders of inoffensive Cinnamon
had been committed Lees sent Price to
assist Sergeant McManus, who was then
in charge OF the Chinese quarter. Shortly
afterWard McManuS was relieved at his
own request and Price instructed to take
full charge.
The Chief declared that Prices work
in Chinatown was eminently satisfactory
to him. He gave list of gambling joints
Price had broken up, and reiterated that
as far as his investigation went he had ab-
solutely no proof that either Price or his
men were guilty or corrupt practices.
The daily reports Of Price and his men. he
said, showed that they had made more
arrests and collected more money than
any other sergeant and squad who have
been IN charge Of Chinatown.
In 1894, continued the Chief, reading
from his report, Lieutenant Esola, who
had been in Chinatown for two months,
was withdrawn, as the Commissioners
and myself had an abundance of evidence
showing that he could not make a raid
without being accompanied by Andrew
Lawrence, managing editor of the EX-
aminer. Lawrence was with him nearly
all the time, and as there were some ugly
rumors floating around which did not re-
fleet much credit on the editor in QueS-
ton, 1 decided, after a consultation with
the Commissioners. to withdraw Esola.
Lawrence in his paper severely criticized
the Commissioners and the department in
general after that, but as l knew I had
beaten him at his own game paid no at
tentiOn to his diatribes.
Shortly after Prices character was as
sailed he visited my office and demanded
an investigation. He vigorously denied
that he was guilty Of the charge of cor
ruption and pleaded with me to withdraw
my belief in his honesty and told him to
continue as he had been doing until such
time as the Commissioners Investigated
the charges preferred against him. Dur
ing my secret investigation l learned that
an eX-convict named Thomas Droulet was
responsible for some of the stories re-
fecting on Price and the men which were
published in the Examiner. Droulet who
is also known as Kelly, is a Chinatown
bum. He has served several terms in
San Quentin ana is a confirmed thief.
Some time ago he was thrown out of a
window by a woman who IS known as the
"Galloping Cow and sustained a fracture
of the skull. Since then he has been a
driveling idiot.
Gambling has materially decreased
since Price has been in Chinatown" con-
tinued the head of the department.
reading from his voluminous report"
Il understand that it has been IN
creased interjected Commissioner To-
bin in rather sarcastic tone.
We will prove that in court or any,
where else" hotly replied the Chief.
1T was called to my attention" con-
tinued Lees, that Price was issuing