The San Francisco call., 1904-06-10
WOODW Ard LAW
ENGAGES BOARD
HarbOr COmmissiOnersBe Begin
Hearing Under Complaints
Made Against the Combine
WITNESSES DON'T AGREE
Entire Day Is Given to the
Case in Which Wolf & Son
Are Made the Defendants

The Harbor Commissioners devoted
several hours yesterday to finding out
what truth there is in the complaint
made by Charles ]. Lercari against
Wolf a Son. The allegation made by
Lercari is that Wolf & Son refused 10
sell him fifteen bags of onions at 81 per
bag. and that this refusal constituted
discrimination and warrants the Har-
Dor Commissioners in taking away
from Wolf G. Son their permit TO sell
+ perishable produce on the wharf, wnlch
he asks shall be done.
( The transaction took place on the
| Washington-s street wharf. so no ques-
tion of jurisdiction on the part OF the
Harbor Commissioners was raised, the
wharf being the property OF the state
and under the control of the Haroor
commissioners. There was nothing for
the Commissioners to sift except the
testimony. The proceedings were not
finished when the hour TO adjourn Tor
the day had arrived. The evidence was
all in. but the attorneys wish 10 sum
up before the Commissioners decide.
BY reason of this, arguments Will be
heard this afternoon, beginning at
O'Clock.
Some of the testimony that was
taken yesterday contTadicted other tes-
I
stance, that the refusal to sell so few
as fifteen bags of onions TO Lercari was
due to the rules of the Produce Deal
ers' Protective Association
WITNESSES DISAGREEING.
On the other hand # was as stoutly
asserted by ore witness that there is
no such association, il having gone out
of business. one witness supplied two
different versions of the same transac-
ton IN the space of five minutes.
Throughout the day the produce
dealers, of whom there were possibly
two score in attendance, took lively
interest in the forensic efforts of
Messrs. Wise, attorney for the COM
plainant, and Reinstein, for the de-
fense. At times the lawyers grew quite
warm.
OF the latter there were two hostile
camps before the Commissioners. On
one side were those who are alleged to
be members of the Produce Dealers
Protective Association and on the
other were somewhat more than Lwen-
ty produce dealers who withdrew from
the association and who asserted earn
estly that the association was trying to
coax therr back into mbership.
Charles J. Lercari testified that on
May 2S, on the WashingtOn-street
wharf. he asked Frank Burnham. sell
ing agent of Wolf & Son, the price of
onions per bag and was told by Burn
ham that he could have onions tor 81
per baa He offered a $40 gold piece in
payment and called for fifteen bags of
the vegetables, and Burnham then told
him it was against the rules of the
Produce Dealers Protective AssOcia-
/ ton to sell less than twenty-five sacks
of onions at a time.
LerCari identified papers that were
0
as being the rules of the Produce
Dealers Protective Association. OF
which he was formerly a mem
Der. Rule 3 provides that not
less than fifty boxes of potatoes
and twenty-five sacks of onions shall
be sold to a purchaser. G. Pierretti and
A. Bacigalupi were present, so said
Lercari, when the conversation with
Burnham took place They furnished
the same version of the story as Ler-
carl.
BURNHAM TELLS STORY.
In the afternoon Burnham was called
| as witness for the defense. He testi-
fed that he is the sales agent of Wolf
& Son on the Washington-street wharf
and that he refused to sell the onions
to Lecari, as the latter had tetified, but
Burnham had a different version of
the conversation from the one given
He denied that he had told Lercari
that he refused TO sell because it would
violate the rules of the association. In
fact, said Burnham, there was no Pro-
duce Dealers Protective Association.
John G. Wetmore testified that there
was no Produce Dealers Protective
Association; if there was another assO-
citation to which he belonged he could
not remember its name. On the other
hn cd
fed that he (PierrcttD was formerly a
member of the Produce Dealers Pro-
tective Association and that he re-
! signed therefrom simultaneously with
/ Lercari.
At the afternoon session Of the hear
ing Attorney Reinstein tried strenuous
! ly to get in lot of questions as to
whether the selling price was not de-
! pendent upon the quantity of onions
purchased and strove to persuade the
( Commissioners that it was only a mat
! ter of price that prevented Burnham
{ from selling fifteen sacks of onions at a
/ rate at which a larger lot could be
/ bought.
/ He also asked a great variety of
! questions concerning the custom of
/ dealers. All these questions were OBJ
I jected to by Attorney Wise and they
were practically all barred out by
/ Chairman Spear of the Harbor Com
| missioners.
| This led Commissioner Kirkpatrick
i to remark that the complaint was not
| that the custom of the wholesalers had
/ been violated, but that the Woodward
/ law had been transgressed. After the
! complaint against Wolf & Son has been
fully heard there are other cases. These
will come up Saturday morning.
-s--