The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-09-30

for any crime other than murder. So
he was excused from serving in the
case of Oscar Schaefer. accused of
grave offense.
Il believe" said Mr.. Clark. that
our penal system is radically wrong.
Gross cruelties are practiced in the
state prisons, and 1 would not send
any offender there unless he commit
ted murder"
What would you do with the
authors of minor crimes?" the Judge
inquired.
Il would consign them to reforma-
tory institutions in charge of scien-
tists," was the answer. Prisons
should be maintained for the reforma-
ton instead of the punishment of
criminals"
Yours is not a new theory, Mr..
Clark" quoth the Court, but in
practice 1t has been found wanting.
Statistics show that about seventy per
cent of the convicts who protested
desire to reform and were aided to
do so finally returned to crime. Our
existing system of treating crime may
not be perfect, but half a dozen years
experience as a police magistrate has
convinced me that ii is as good one
as can be operated under existing So
cial and political conditions. Your
suggestion that criminals should be
scientifically coddled and nursed as
invalids is illogical. Fear of punish
ment is certainly a greater deterrent
of crime than fear of being treated as
a hospital patient Transforming our
penitentiaries into sanitariums would
soon have society burdened with
Of lv~4v7 in ls- fnr
now affiicts it. The prison cruelties
you have alluded to, Mr.. Clark. may
be exaggerated, or they may be neces-
sary in the maintenance of prison dis
cipline. PenologiStS know that men in
prison are pretty much like men out
of prison in the matter of difference
of temperament 1ndividualism asserts
itself whether it is CARRIED in stripes
or clothed in broadcloth. Refractory
prisoners must be treated more harsh
" than prisoners who obey the rules.
1t IS we'll for society, Mr.. Clark, that
your humanitarian ideas are not more
prevalent, else I'm afraid crime would
be even more rampant than 1t is.
ITO some extent 1 am a sharer of
the Lombroso theory that crime r.
a hereditary disease. but so long as
civilization is not prepared to adopt
the Lombroso remedy it is our duty
as citizens to make the most of the
established system for the prevention
and punishment of crime. You are
excused from serving on this jury
Soon afterward twelve good men
and true pronounced Oscar Schaefer
not guilty as charged.
5 Judge Cabaniss and the attaches Of
his tribunal handled gingerly and in
spected with respectful awe the wea-
pom which John W. Hughes, bridge
TrvpERa had concealed
on his person when he was arrested
for fighting with the bartender of
Third-street saloon. 1t was single
barrel, muzZle-loading pistol very
short OF barrel and so very wide of
bore that it resembled a diminutive
oId-fashioned mortar. Clerk Barney
Conlan pronounced 1t a Colt derrin-
ger" and inspection proved ii of the
vintage of 1852. Mr.. Hughes said
that he carried the venerable firearm
in remembrance of one of his uncles
who was a famous duelist when Cali
fornia was young and less laW-abldins
than it has since become. His Honor
continued the case till to-day in order
to have the pistol inspected by a COM
mittee of antiQuarians to be selected
by himself.
JJp spake William Brown in behalf Of
himself and four other gentlemen who
had been arrested for sleeping amid the
hay bales on the Harrison-street wharf.
I'VE are not Migrants" said William,
but tourists en- route from Vancouver,
3. c., to Phoenix, Ariz. for change of
climate. The night was warm and our
lodging house, forget what lodging
house il was-became so stuffy that we
sailed for to inhaIe fresh air. Fate
directed our footsteps to the place
where this policeman found us. We sat
down there to rest Above was firm
ament thickly bespangIed with bril-
liants. From the placid bay waited
breeze. gentle as a babes breathing.
The soughing of tiny wavelets amid the
wharf supports came family TO our
ears. We slept. The combined influ-
ence Of
'Twenty-four hours apiece" was
Judge Mogan's rude interruption of Mr..
Browns nocturne.
Frank Berry pleaded that he was un-
der the influence of opium fumes when
he stole a buggy robe from vehicle
on Post street, near Kearny, last
Wednesday afternoon.
Eff | hadn't bin full NV de hop" he
inquired. do youse t'ink I'd a taken
any such chance as dat?'
Judge Cabaniss professed inability to
answer the query with any degree of
interference, anu lltn SCllGnttQ MI.
Berry to three months imprisonment.
she came home with bun on" said
John Dunphy. painter when Judge Mo-
gan asked him why he smashed furni-
ture and terrified his wife in their
home at Fourteenth and Noe streets.
Patrolman Kinville then testified that
discord in the Dunphy dwelling was Of
bi-weekly occurrence. and the neigh
bors complained of 1t. To which Mr..
Dunphy responded by stating that
every time there was disorder in his
donieile it was provoked by Mrs. Dun
ply arriving with bun on" To ex-
press his disaDproval of her condition
he broke furniture.
Don't do that any more" said Judge
Mogan to Mr.. Dunphy. IF you object
to Mrs Dunphy equipping herself with
a bun once a fortnight and if she ig-
nores your objection, the best thing you
can do is to apply for divorce. Fur
niture- smashing is a costly and inef-
fectual way of expressing your dis
pleasure. Go home now"
Hugo Morris, inspired by strong