The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-03-19
WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS.

BY HENRY JAMES.

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White Hat McCarty has once more
been starving his horses. It is time FOR
an example to be made of this indivld-
uaI. A man who will leave lot OF
horses to gnaw fence boards or go I'M
fed deserves to be kicked to death by
one of them.
Dune. Mcpherson is mad because
when he recently visited the city one
repoyter called him an editor from val
lejo and another sized him up as "a
Santa Cruz rancher. Dune. ought to
feel f1attered. At least he was men
toned.
The more the beef scandal is probed
the worse it seems to be. The people
of this country will not tolerate gang
of murderous rascals who sold for the
use of soldiers meat which was rotten
and full of maggots. They may be
never so highly connected, respectable,
wealthy, but they are a lot of unmiu-
gated scoundrels for whom jail is too
good, and who would disgrace the gal
lows. Furthermore they have dealt one
of the industries of the United States
blow from which it cannot recover for
many years. Foreign countries cannot
be blamed for viewing with suspicion
the output of packing establishments
which sell for the consumption of
American soldiers in time of war
mess of poison, putrid, revolving, and
more deadly than the bullets of the
enemy. l hope the name of every one
+ of the villains will be made public, and
that each offender will be driven from
the commercial life he disgraces and
the social life upon which his presence
is a blot
Mrs. Minnie Adams has been arrested
for the murder of her illegitimate
child, the charge being that she adj
ministered carbolic acid to the little
one. While the ascertaining of the
truth will naturally be left to the courts
any man has a right to his opinion, and
my opinion is that the woman is not
guilty. Even if she is guilty the father
Of the child, who deserted her and then
was eager to bring an accusation
against her, is no better Everybody
knows that the natural tendency of
child upon finding an object, liquid or
solid, is to swallow 1t. If the youngster
who died from carbolic acid had found
a bottle containing the deadly fluid he
probably followed the precedents set by
countless generations of his kind and
endeavored to gulp the contents down.
The mother is not of a high order
either of morals or intelligence. She
would hardly have had the thoughtful
ness in buying poison to give q f1cti-
tious name To be sure a policeman
says that he Identifies her, but the
Identification given by a policeman may
be an error. His unsupported word
ought to be insufficient to convict. If
the woman is guilty, despite her wrongs
and her griefs, there is no palliation for
her. AS yet, however, the astute re-
porter and the eager detective com
bined have in no measure convinced the
unbiased of her guilt.
Mrs. Dora Fuhrig has been convicted
of murder in the second degree and ex-
cept for the benign Intervention of the
Supreme Court will pay the penalty of
her crime. 1t is a pity no law exists by
which this woman can be hanged.
Without discussing the ethics of the
abominable trade she follows certainly
a person addicted to the Staying of in
fants ought to be reasonably sure to
refrain from killing the mothers also.
SO far as publicly known Mrs. Fuhrig
has only slain four foolish members
Of her sex, and to be found guilty in
single instance ought to be crafty
ing experience. She can go to prison,
serve her term and be out in time to
resume the pursuit of slaughter. If
found guilty of all the crimes of which
she knows herself to be guilty she
would have to live a hundred years at
least or cheat the penitentiary.
Doubtless in the case of Mrs. Fiske-
Marceau- FennelI, who has just been di-
vorced again, there are some congratu-
lations due. However, the observer
naturally being at loss as to where
to bestow them, drops the matter at
this point.
Professor Falb of Vienna has been
having another of his spells. He sets
November IS as the date upon which
this globe, after experiencing various
startling jars, is to go into smithereens
The professor ought not to be so out
spoken. If he is wrong people will
think him a scientific Keely, while if
he is right he will not survive to get
the glory.
By the kindness of the Supreme Court
Dick Williams, after having been twice
proved guilty of accepting brides for
landing Chinese, escapes the punish
ment he richly deserves. There has
never been, since Williams was first
accused, a shadow of doubt as to his
crookedness. That he accepted a place
of trust and while occupying it stole
himself rich is known. Probably, now
that the danger of punishment is past,
he would not deny this himself, and
nobody would believe him if he did
Such episodes as this tend to bring the
Supreme Court into contempt. If a
man has committed a certain crime and
the fact has been demonstrated, to bag
gle as to the precise way in which the
demonstration was brought about is
monkey business, unworthy an august
tribunal, and an encouragement to
every rogue. When the law is so pow
erless that a Dick Williams can laugh