The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1908-11-02
Owner of Notorious Oakland
Tribune Arouses Anger of
His Former C0nfidant
Editor Attacks Hotel Site
Scheme as That of Preda-
tory Promoter
Reply to Organ of Higher Ups
Suggests Paper Represents
Interested Faction

OAKLAND, Nov. William E.
Dargie, owner of the notorious Oak
land Tribune, and his erstwhile fidus
Achates, raiser of the wind and con-
fidant in many private transactions,
F. r. Porter, are at war again.
To the man on the street it looks
like "the devil rebuking sin" for OAR
gle to denounce any one as a CRATER,
but that is what his Oakland Tribune
has done with Porter, and that is why
Porter has once more taken up the
cudgel and belaborcd that organ of
the San Francisco and Alameda
county grafters and higher ups"
DARGIE TURNS ON PORTER
This time the activities of Porter in
stirring up, as he declares. an interest
in a new site for the projected Bankers
hotel has aroused the hot indignation
of Dargie's newspaper. The Tribune
ins its publication last night turned
upon Porter in a well displayed screed
on the hotel project and gave vent to
it's feelings thus:
A professional CRATER is trying
to create a diversion by asking
Itock holders to favor a scheme to
change the site Of the hotel. He
makes all sorts of false represen-
tatfons in the effort to persuade
the credulous that there Is some
thing in his ridiculous scheme.
There Is nothing in Ii whatever be-
yond the hope Of the protector that
he may be able tc somehow get a
small graft out of Il. However, it
is just as well that the public be
put on their guard against the
plausible statements of this preda-
tory promoter. He has no authority
to offer the proposed site and no
responsible backing for his scheme.
Now comes Porter with the an
nouncement that he is the professional
CRATER" so called. and that he is be-
ing punished by Dargie's Tribune be-
cause he has had the temerity to sug-
gest that some of the stock holders in
the hotel company have thought we'll
Of his idea that the hotel should be
located elsewhere than on the original
site at Thirteenth and Alice streets.
Porter quotes from the Tribune to
SNOW tHdI OdTBle recognized MIN as
one of the promoters of the hotel
project. Porter asserts that he is being
attacked through the Tribune by per-
sons who are representing a faction of
the share holders and who desire the
original site to be held.
TROUBLE OVER FINANCES
This Is not the first falling out Porter
has had with the Oakland Tribune or
it's proprietor. A year ago in a little
brochure Porter made public the details
of a financial transaction in which he
acted, as he said, agent for Dargie in
raising $4,000 for the Tribune's owner
That deal led, according to Porter, to
a severance of all relations between
himself and Dargie, as Porter explained
an attempt was made to force him to
accept $50 as payment for his services
in raising $4,000 for Dargie on a note
backed by 610 shares of the Power
timber company. Porter In detail re-
lated how he had worked for weeks
and had finally landed the loan at Au-
burn after divers visits.
At the time Porter was thus neeo-
tiating, Dargie reprinted in the Oak
land Tribune from a Nevada City news
paper a fulsome laudatory article de-
scribing the negotiator as a potent
factor in advancing the commercial and
Industrial growth of his home city"