The San Francisco call., 1908-07-17

oiACy bdNh VI MS nome ana went 0uI
and questioned him, receiving reply
from the loiterer that he was looking
for place to sleep. The man shortly
left the neighborhood.
1t is claimed that prior to the time
Donahue made this statement Claudi-
anes had told Langdon that he had
been approached by a man late one
night While he was near the alley back
OF the Gallagher house and had told
the latter he was looking for place to
sleep The two stories tally in the es
sental particulars, especially as to the
place where this conversation occurred.
but whether or not Claudianes told
Langdon that this was on Easter Sun
day is not known. When Claudianss
was pointed out to Donahue the latter
failed to identify him and stated that
the man he had talked to was tall and
heaVily built and appeared to be
Swede. Such a description does not fit
Peter Claudianes, the suspected brother
OF the prisoner. nor the mysterious "Fe-
liX,' but il is possible that if John
Claudianes actually has some knowl-
edge of the crime he may have been
told of this incident by the actual per-
petrator of the outrage or may have
been near at hand when the converse
tion occurred.
BELIEVES SUSPECT LIES
Captain of Detectives Petersen still
holds to the theory that Claudianes is
a mental incompetent and an involun-
tary liar and that his reputed confes-
sion is made out of whole cloth. He
was present at the interview with DON
ahue. but does not attach as much inn
portanee to it as do Langdon and Burns.
Il could sit before Claudianes in an
examination and make him confess the
commission of crimes of which he had
never dreamed, simply by Offering sug-
gestions," said Petersen yesterday aft
ernoon. He cannot think on any one
subject for five minutes consecutively.
His mind is constantly flying off at a
tangent Undoubtedly he is a victim
of physical excesses, which have un-
balanced his mentality. He will lie
about any subject that may be brought
up in a conversation if any attempt is
made to lead him by questioning.
would unhesitatingly brand his entire
story to District Attorney Langdon as
false, If 1t were not for one element
which seems somewhat significant.
Claudianes is said to have told Lang
don that one night while he was iurk-
ing in the rear of the Schenck resi-
dence in Nineteenth avenue with a
package of dynamite in his hand
man came out Of a house near by and
asked him what he was doing there.
Claudianes claims that he dropped the
dynamite to the ground. unneticed by
his auestioner, made some trihing ex-
cuse and hurled away.
CORROBORATED BY DoNAHUE
This story is in a measure eorrob-
GRATED by Eugene Donahue, who lives
at 1865 Twentieth avenue, directly in
the rear of the Sehenck house. Dona-
hue saws that about midnight on Eas-
ter Sunday he saw man acting sus-
H. LII
house. He went out and questioned
the fellow, who gave satisfactory ex-
cuse for his presence there, and soon
left the neighborhood. Donahue thought
no more about the affair until after
Claudianes' arrest, when he read the
Greeks alleged confession. Yesterday
when Claudianes was taken to the site
of the wrecked Schenck home by
LangGon, Burns and myself, Donahue
told US about, his experience and de-
scribed the fellow he had seen as tall
and heavily built, with Swedish fea-
lures. When Ciaudianes was pointed
out to him he said with a good deal of
positiveness that he was not the man.
The story published today that Dona-
hue identified Claudianes as the man
he saw behind the Schenck house is
untrue.
However, the mere fact that Clau-
danes included such an incident in his
story is worthy of some considera-
ton, and later developments may show
that the fellow knows more than he
has yet told. So far as the rest of his
story is concerned. would unhesi-
tatingly declare it to be made of whole
cloth.
STORY SOUNDS LIKE A LIE
He is said to have stated that he
carried g basket containing 80 pounds
of dynamite 70 the Qrhanrlr Il
hid it in hole near by, where it was
left for seven days before he used it.
That hole is 10 feet deep and so feet
across and the bottom is visible to any
one passing by. The presence of
basket in the hole could hardly have
passed unnoticed for such a length of
time.
In order to get the dynamite to the
bottom of the hole Claudianes would
have been obliged to use a ladder. for
he is only feet inches tall and he
could not have jumped to the bottom
with the explosive. Then the use of
80 pounds of dynamite in the Schenck
explosion would have blown away
every vestige of the house and its oc-
cupants, and would probably have de-
molished every house in the vicinity
Experts on explosives who inspected
the wreck of the Schenek home after
the outrage declared that only about
y pounds of dynamite had been used
in the bomb. Aside from the feature
1 have mentioned Claudianes' story
sounds like a pack of lies to me.
Il will assist the San Francisco au-
thorities in every way in my power to
clear UP the mystery surrounding this
case, but as yet I am far from salts
fed that there is any truth whatever in
the story told by the Greek"
LOOKED LIKE A SWEDE
When seen at his home this afternoon
Eugene DOnahue absolutely denied that
he had identified Claudianes as the man
he had found lurking in the lot back of
his house on Easter Sunday night.
The fellow 1 saw looked like a
Swede," he declared. 1T was a bright
moonlight night when talked to him
and l got good view of his face, but L
did not pay any particular attention to
him, as he explained his presence in the
lot satisfactorily This fellow Claudi-
anes walks little like the fellow 1 saw
and he might possibly be the same man.
but / don't think so. After nearly
three months 1 do not know that / can
be positive in my description Of the
fellow saw, but nay recollection is that
he had fair features. l simply spoke a
few words to him and did net follow
him or walk down the street with him