The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-02-24
CALHOUN TELLS
PROSECUTOROF
CRYPTOGRAMS
Cipher Messages in Advertise,
ments Brought to Light in
Guise of Investigation
Grand Jury TO Take Up Nara
tive Viewed With Suspicion
for Almost a Year

&fanlAs but L have evidence TO war
rant an Indictment by the grand jury
of any One.'-DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES VI. FICKERT
I'm my opinion the cryptoErams
were communication 10 and from the
Eraft prosecution through its agent.
William }. BurnS.--PATRICK CAL
HOUN.
The paper on which those personals
were written TO the Examiner waS
traced 10 the Office of Earl Rogers, at
tOrney for Patrick CaIhOun.~-FRAN-
CIS J. HENEY.
Displayed as a complete expose Of
The devious methods of jury bribing
and perhaps murder IN connection with
PENDANTS. Abraham Ruef and Patrick
Calhoun. an analysis Of Topographic
publications bearing on the cases has
At last been brought TO light under the
guise OF q grand jury investigation
Freed from dust. touched UP and given
The stamp Of official approval, the mar
rative. which has been viewed with
suspicion for almost a year and has
been carefully tucked away in the in
ner recesses Of AZ least one newspaper
Office. stalks forth under the guidance
Of District Attorney Charles NJ F'ickert.
and with the full approval and con-
sent" OF Patrick Calhoun.
The cryptograms themselves. con-
tanning data most significant in rela-
L.
ants. were simple OF solution. The
method whereby the hidden messages
were first assembled by Calhoun. trans
ferred by him 10 District Attorney
Fickert. by whom they were referred
10 in the grand jury room, and again
transferred 10 the Chronicle for pub
licarion with the approval and con-
sent" Of both. is equally simple Dan
gerous in their original form because
OF the unsupported insinuations con
'tsined in them, the cryptographic mes
ssges could be published with impuniry
II under investigation by the grand
jury.
The story. which has been bufeting
back and forth since last summer when
one morning paper turned il down after
Lsngd0n and Heney had said they did
not care whether or not the story ap-
peared during the campaign. and
which yesterday morning found its way
into the columns OF another morning
paper. is in substance as follows:
William r. Stone. a watch maker
living at iI45 East Nineteenth street
oakland. noticed q peculiar personal
sdvestisement in the columns of & san
Francisco morning paper Nay %, 1908.
Having made z study OF cryptograms
for many years as z mental recreation
he soon discovered the key, which was
10 make words OF the first letters only
Close attention was paid by Stone TO
these cipher messages. He discovered
IS Of them in the same paper from May
%. 1905. 10 August b, 1909. The first
advertisement falling under stones
suspicion read as follows:
Push land and note sale See every
note teller twice over. Future ruling
interests some corporations only gave
utilities rude decision"
BY apping the key this is easily
translated as follows:
Plans sent 10 Frisco. Guard"
When these cryptograms began TO
mention prospective jurors in the Cal
houn jury, Stone went TO the news
paper publishing the advertisements
and talked with the city editor He
learned that the advertisements had
been forwarded by the Los Angeles
agent OF the paper The author OF the
sdvertis enents carried on his deal
ings with the agent by telephone and
by mail. once signing the name AshweII
70 IN advertisement He carefully re-
trained from disclosing his identity.
The advertisements were teIegraphed
10 this city, ample money being in
closed with each advertisement mailed
70 the newspaper agent
FAIL To LOCATE "ASHwELL-
An effort was made to locate Ash
F~ "a
sent from the newspaper Office did not
succeed. When an attempt was made
70 bring "AshWellf out from under
cover by changing his advertisements
SO as 10 rob them Of their cryptic
meaning the unexpected happened. In
stead OF complaining. he ceased ad-
vertising in that paper. No trace Of
similar advertisements were found IN
other papers after that time, so il
would appear that "AshwelT' either
cult his cipher MESA ges or hit upon
z cieverer code.
That "Ashweu" was Intimately con-
uected with either the prosecution or
the defense in the graft cases is fndf-
Gated by the substance Of the crvpto-
grams which deal with the dynarnitfng
Of James GaIlsgher's home. the trials
OF Abe Reuf and Patrick Calhoun.
threats against Calhoun's life the
death Of Police Chief William Biezy
and the suicide OF 3 P Flynn, his
torfan for the prosecution.
II was early last year when the
names of Theodore Binner, Otto T.
HfIdebrecht and HOlzberg. prospective
jurors in the Calhoun case, appeared
in the messages. that Stone went 10
the newspaper Office. During the last
municipal campaign, when Heney was
running for district attorney, the same
newspaper questioned him about the
story. Heney, Lsngdon and Burns de-
MED any knowledge Of the cryptic
grams and said the paper could pub
lish the story If il wanted TO do So
The story was not printed by that
paper.
crvptograms to Patrick Calhoun. Now
mat Charles M- Fickert has been /
elected district attorney. Calhoun has /
turned the matter over 10 him TO be /
aid before the next grand jury.
TRANSACTIONS OF MESSAGES
THAT the ramifcations of these eryp-
+ourarns may be appreciated, the trans
lsffons and the date Of publication are 1
Given herewith. the advertisements ]
beinz omitted because they are ap-
narently as meaningless as the one 4