The San Francisco call., 1908-12-01
.BLAMfS PACIFIC
MAIL FOR ESCAPE
immigration Official Investigat-
ing Chinese Case Says Com
pany Is Responsible
Government Plans to Bring Suit
Against Corporation for Bond
of Missing Oriental

Further investigation of the whole
sale delivery of Chinese from the deten-
ton sheds at the Pacific Mail docks Sat
llrday night was made yesterday by
immigration department officials. The
work was under the direction of Charles
Mehan, in charge Of the Chinese bureau.
and from the facts SO far at hand it is
now thought the plot to free the 81
orientaIs was engineered by Ham Jung
Hung Chinese detained since June 81.
1907, when he arrived at this port on
the steamer Korea
Although Mehan is working on the
theory that the Chinese were materially
helped from the outside, he refused to
make any statement that might point
to those implicated in the delivery.
Relative to the direct responsibility
aside from the breaking of the immi-
grafton laws, Mehan does not hesitate
in placing it with the officials of the
Pacific Mail steamship company. 1t is
the intention OF the government to
bring suit in this regard against the
corporation, the amount in each account
being $780, the bond of the separate
Chinese. So far only two of the 20 who
escaped have been recaptured, Ng Pan,
whose case was on appeal, and Jew
Wing Sun. whose case was pending in
vestigation. At late hour last night
the officials had located jew Doc Hong
in Sonoma county and he will be. re-
turned today.
NO OFFICIAL REPORT
No official report has been made yet
by Mehan to Commissioner Hart North.
This report will be ready in a few days,
when it will be forwarded to Washing
ton, =. c., to the department headquar-
ters. 1t is probable the report will not
be made until Mehan has decided def
nitely whether the escaping Chinese re-
ceived help from the outside. So far,
according to Mehan, the officers have
failed to. find any clew showing that
they were aided. No investigation has
been made by the steamship people.
During the investigation a report
came in to the immigration department
that several of the Chinese crew of the
Mongolia had escaped. This report
proved to be exaggerated. Leon Too,
a messboy on the liner, left the ship
some time during the night. An Of
ficer was detailed to search for him,
but he had not been found at late
hour last night.
This disclosure was followed by the
arrest of II. E. Morton, captain of the
Mongolia, and William Fisher. the first
officer of the ship. charged with neglect
in allowing Paula Schevacico, Rus
sian detained on account of trachoma,
to escape from the steamer Their
hearing was before United States Com
missioner Heacock at 2 o'clock in tire
afternoon. The cases were continued
until February. 8. when the Mongolia
will return from the orient. They were
released on bonds.
LONG SOUGHT ADMISSION
Ham Jung Hung, the Chinese sup
posed to have planned the break from
the detention sheds. nrst applied for
admission at this port as merchant s
son June 27, 1907. He was denied land
ing on the ground that he had ira
'choma. He next applied for admission
as a son of a native born Chinese. This
was denied and an appeal was taken
to the headquarters at Washington, D.
c. This appeal was dismissed by the
department, which at the same time
ordered him landed as son. of an Of
fciaL This. order came by telegraph
from Washington October 10, but he
was still being held at the time of his
escape.