The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-04-02
TELLS JURY THE STORY OF CONSPIRACY
:. IN THE CHINESE SUBSTITUTION GASES
Thomas T. Burnett Ex-JaiIer and One Of the Defend
ants Goes on the Witness-Stand and Relates Entire
Transaction to Which He and Others Were Parties

= There YVES tren1or OF excitement
: and a moment Of anxiety in Judge de
!: Haven's court yesterday afternoon
. when Thomas T. Burnett. a former
caller at the Broadway jail and one OF
four defendants. on trial for having IL:
: legally substituted chinese in the pro-
: cess Of deportation, took the. stand as
> the. FIRST witness for the prosecution.
The initial question prepounded by
United States District Attorney Wood
= worth solved the problem of Burnerts
queer position. Having been granted
"a separate trial from his codefendants,
he was ready 20 unbosom the secrets of
=. the conspiracy in which they all par
: Ticipated and to condemn his partners
in crime. g.. -
-. william f. Dasha, T. j. Dempsey
and a, Chinese named HON Toon, the
:: other prisoners at the bar. leaned for
p. ward anxiously when Burnett's name
. was called They and their attorneys
=: were quite taken by surprise; and all
seemed: to. realize what il meant for
!. one. of the quartet under Indictment TO
. tell the story the prosecution would be
: called on To prove to the satisfaction
of -. the jury. Beads Of perspiration
stood out on the brows Of Dasha and
: Dempsey and both men were very
. pale. At times they clutched the arms
= OF their chairs and whispered in an ex-
;. cited manner 10 their attorneys. The
latter. did AL they could to check this
: move OF the prosecution objections on
ynany lines were. offered and the storm
of protest continued throughout yes
:. terday's proceedings. But Wordsworth
. was VICTORIOUS and succeeded in bring
ing Burnett's confession before the
. jnry.s
A LONG STORY.
:. II required but one hour for Burnett
b. 10 tell of the Transactions that led to
=. the. arrests and Of the conspiracy that
had. been formed TO. substitute Asiatics
for. prisoners who had been ordered de-
=: ported. in answer TO the queries of the
District Attorney. Burnett made it
clear that whfle captain of the guard
. in the County jail he and Jailers
.Dasha and Dempsey entered. into a
4: contact with. one HON Toon TO permit
the latter to substitute Chinese at the
rate of 500 apiece. and that the three
: were to divide the spoils. These men
were on one watch at the Jail and were
$ to have charge Of ali matters Within
IT'S. limits. United States Deputy Mar
shall W. 2. Gamble. VINO afterward
= Committed suicide. was to do the work
on. the outside, and. he was also paid
for his services.
a.. -. Rurnett's' testimony. was startling.
: because II brought out the fact that
.. shis illegal. game. has been played for
Sometime Dates Of most of the trans
actions were not given, but the wit
. ness intimated that there have been
other occasions or which heathens, in
*,tended for the Orient, never reached
. their destination. Again Burnett stated
;zhat the conspirators did not propose
doing business. for any one particular
Chinese. but were ready and willing to
work for any one, providing that none
D. tary gain would be the result.
3. PLAN. A SURPRISE.
=: =. AT tho opening of the District Court
yesterday morning the cases of: Bur
d; nett. Dasha,. Dempsey and HON Toon,
p. charged with conspiracy to illegally
land Chinese by means Of substitution,
d. were. called. The cases are famous
- ones; dating back TO August Of last
year. and they were rendered sensa-
fional in their salient features and also
. by the tragic suicide Of United States
Deputy Marshal. Gamble. who. after
having made a confession. shot him
self through the head. The proceed
:: ings began with a request from Attor-
ney John J. Quinn. representing Bur-
nett. that his client should have a
separate trial The prosecution, singu-
iarly. made no objection and. the order
was made. Attorney George A. Nc
.Gowan made the same request on be-
half Of his client. HON Toon, but Judge
: de Haven denied his request.
:: Assistant District Attorney B. F.
Mckinley then made d statement to
the jury. giving an. outline Of the case
and'what the prosecution expected to
=. prove. Mckinley surprised the de-
Tense by supplying figures and dates
designated in the indictment as un-
;. known, and objections to this new in
formation were overruled.
Then Woodwork sprung his sur
4. prise. He called for Thomas F. Burnett.
and the latter walked to the stand.
THE. witness said he was captain Of
The Jail on Broadway. where Chinese
awaiting deportation are kept, and had
charge Of the door leading to the street.
, Dasha had charge of the top tier of
cells, and Dempsey had charge of the
: yard. All worked on the same shift
!, and had charge of the Chinese.
.. Did your ever have any conversation
with Dasha and Dempsey on the sub
ject OF substituting Chinese?"
This question brought all the coun-
sci for the defendants TO their feet at
once with objections. Burnett was
co-defendant. they satd-a cocoon
spiratof-.and his evidence was not
. admissible unless il could be proved
first that conspiracy existed between
the parties. The objection was over
ruled and the witness continued:
STORY OF A CRIME.
4. 1T was about in March or April
last year that Dasha, Dempsey and
myself made a compact to substitute
Chinese. On August IL or is HON
Toon came TO. the County Jail in the
evening with three Chinese who were