USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 58
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Work of the Relief Committee
There was one form of expenditure, however, which few in San Francisco were inclined to regard with complacency, least of all those who had imposed upon themselves the onerous duty of seeing that it was accomplished with care. The unprecedented generosity of the world had placed at the command of the relief committee, acting in conjunction with the Red Cross Society, the sum of $9,673,-
YACHT RACING ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY
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STEAMSHIP "YALE," TYPE OF COASTWISE VESSEL SAILING OUT OF SAN FRANCISCO
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057 in addition to 1,850 carloads of food supplies, and 150 carloads of bedding, clothing and household materials. Between April 23, 1906 and May 29, 1909, there was disbursed $9,279,953. Less than one-fourth of the relief fund was distributed before July 31, 1906. During this preliminary period the applicant for relief was not subjected to the searching inquiry inaugurated when the relief committee had effected its permanent organization. In the first days after the disaster it was impossible to ascertain whether the person standing in the bread line had a legitimate claim for aid, but subsequently all applications were closely scrutinized, and as might have been expected some dissatisfaction was aroused. The extraor- dinary spectacle was witnessed of the formation of a corporation of United Refu- gees who urged the right of the dependents on the world's bounty to determine how it should be apportioned among them. This body's creation was largely due to agitators of a class who could convince themselves that the right of dependence was sacred and inalienable. The relief committee entertained a different view, and diligently sought to weed out those capable of doing for themselves in order that the benefaction might be confined to the helpless and really necessitous. This action called forth malignant criticism and resulted in an investigation by a com- mittee of the Massachusetts Association for the Relief of California, which after inquiries made on the spot reported that the rumors were unfounded, so far as incapacity or dishonesty were concerned. The only defect the Massachusetts com- mittee could discover was "too much system," but this could hardly be urged as a reproach in the face of the fact that impostors were continually endeavoring to secure aid, and the well grounded fear that a too easy administration of the fund might result in the creation of habits of dependence.
One of the steps taken by the relief committee was to provide habitations for those rendered homeless by the fire. Some 2,300 frame structures of the ready made kind were bought and distributed. These were sometimes spoken of in the reports as "permanent," but they have virtually disappeared from the City. In some instances they were condemned by the health authorities after a few years use, because of the neglect to provide sanitary precautions, but the most of them were removed to make way for better structures. The refugee camps which were formed in Golden Gate park and in several other parks and plazas of the City, and in some cases on private property, endured for nearly three years. . The work of dispossessing the occupants of public grounds was not accomplished without difficulty. Ideas inspired by the agitators who had urged the charges against the relief committee were freely expressed, and the distorted view that individuals had a right to take possession of public property and retain it for their own uses was put forward. It amounted to a recrudescence in a mild form of the squatter contention of early days, but as most of the places from which the refugees mani- fested a reluctance to move were dedicated to public use, there was no possibility of arousing that sort of maudlin sentiment which frequently asserts itself in com- munities in which common sense and economic considerations are disregarded.
Reference has already been made to the financial precautions which were promptly adopted, and were maintained as long as prudence dictated. The gov- ernor exercised his power of declaring legal holidays, and a temporary jubilee period was created for the debtor who was accorded time in which to meet his obligations. The managers of the banks and other fiduciary institutions warned by the recent experience of Baltimore were in no hurry to open their vaults, and
The Refugee Camps
Financial Expedients
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when they finally did so their prudence was rewarded by complete exemption from disaster to the contents of their strong boxes. During this protracted suspension of payments a remarkable appreciation of the situation was exhibited by those whose funds were intrusted to the custody of banking institutions. There was an utter absence of distrust or concern. Every one interested acted as though assured that everything must come out all right, and this confidence was justified by the event. A remarkable feature of the temporary locking up of the people's funds was the disclosure of the fact that there seemed to be a sufficiency of coin to meet the requirements of such business as was transacted. Apparently this indi- cated that the ordinary supply of the metallic circulating medium had not been greatly impaired by loss in the fire and required little augmentation from outside sources.
A survey of the occurrences attending the efforts to rehabilitate such as here presented conveys no adequate impression of the difficulties and turmoil attend- ing its accomplishment. Had the historian merely to deal with the physical aspects of the achievement he might sum up the performance by saying that on the 18th of April, 1906, so many blocks of buildings with their contents had been destroyed, and that within two or three days thereafter half of the inhabitants of the City had transferred themselves to other places, and that five years later enterprise and industry had replaced the lost property and that San Francisco was as popu- lous as before the fire. But the rebuilding of the City was but a small part of the trouble encountered by the suffering citizens. The relief afforded during the brief interval while the Committee of Fifty maintained the direction of affairs was promptly followed by a succession of evils. Ruef's gang proved a shirt of Nessus. The smoke of the burning city had not fairly cleared away before it resumed its corrupt practices. Petty pilfering and exactions were promptly resumed, and in a short time it began to be understood that no one could pass through the Forest of Arden without paying tribute to the modern Robin Hood. Whoever had business with the unsavory band had to pay for the privilege of doing it on the basis of all the traffic would bear. It was urged some time afterward that Schmitz had comported himself remarkably well during the hour of trial. It would be a denial of the truth to say that he did not; but he speedily recurred to his old practices. It is related by an observer of the traits of animals that during a freshet he saw an outhouse floating down the stream upon which a mon- strous rat and a tabby cat sat together. They had suspended hostilities for the moment. What happened later the amateur biologist did not learn, but the prob- abilities favor the belief that the rat resumed its depredations as soon as the immediate danger had passed.
The Robber Band Resumes Its Sway
CHAPTER LXV
GRAFT PROSECUTIONS AND OTHER TROUBLES AFTER THE FIRE
CHIMNEY INSPECTORS REAP A HARVEST-EXACTIONS OF LABOR DETER INVESTMENTS- A REIGN OF TERROR-THE "GAS PIPE" THUGS AND THEIR CRIMES-JAPANESE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS-ROOSEVELT MENACES THE CITY-ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE ON THE SUBJECT OF JAPANESE IN THE SCHOOLS-CARMEN'S STRIKE OF 1902- TROUBLE RAISED BY THE CARMEN IN 1906-ATTITUDE OF PUBLIC TOWARD PAT- RICK CALHOUN-CARMEN'S TROUBLES ARBITRATED-STRIKE RENEWED IN 1907 AND MUCH VIOLENCE-A DIVIDED COMMUNITY-RUEF AND HIS UNSAVORY CREW- EXPOSURE OF SUPERVISORS BY DETECTIVE BURNS-INDICTMENTS BY THE HUNDRED -POLICY AND METHODS OF THE GRAFT PROSECUTION-PLENTY OF PRECEDENT FOR GRAFT-RUEF IN THE ROLE OF ATTORNEY-THE SHARING OF THE LOOT-EXPLA- NATION MADE BY CALHOUN-ISSUES OF THE PROSECUTION GREATLY CONFUSED FLUCTUATIONS OF PUBLIC SENTIMENT-MAKEUP OF THE PROSECUTION-SUSPICION THAT STRIKE OF 1907 WAS INCITED-RULING THE CITY BY THE GOOD DOG METHOD -SHOOTING OF HENEY AND SUICIDE OF HIS ASSAILANT-SUICIDE OF CHIEF OF POLICE BIGGY-BOMB EXPLODED IN GALLAGHER HOUSE-RUEF THE ONLY ONE OF THE GRAFTERS CONVICTED-CASES DISMISSED-ANOTHER TURN OF WHEEL OF POL- ITICS AND A WORKINGMAN ELECTED MAYOR.
CIT
NE of the summary regulations adopted when the City was plunged in deepest distress was that relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors which was absolutely prohibited. O There was no protest against its enforcement, and under SEAL OF COUNTY the influence of the fear of evil consequences it was gen- O OF SA erally respected. The saloons were all closed, and while it was not absolutely impossible to obtain small supplies the difficulty of doing so was so great that attempts at evasion were reduced to a minimum. The effect was widely commented upon at the time. It was noted that there was a sensible diminution of minor crimes, and that order was preserved with less difficulty than when the drink habit had no restraint placed upon it by making it nearly impossible to obtain the means for its gratification. Perhaps more interesting than its bearing upon criminal impulse was the consensus of opinion reached that the necessity for stimulants was more fancied than real, and admis- sions were frequently made by men who imagined that they could not dispense with their use that they felt all the better for the enforced abstinence. Another curious popular deduction, which, however, is not supported statistically, was that the great misfortune had driven away the smaller evils and ailments to which man is subject. It was admitted by many physicians that the health of the com-
Sale of Intoxicating Liquors Prohibited
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munity was exceptionally good, and their services were less in demand than at any time in their previous experience, and the apparent fact was accounted for by the assumption that the people were too busy to concern themselves about minor woes.
Graft of the Chimney Inspectors
For a brief period there was little to trouble the public mind excepting the obstacles placed in the way of the speedy resumption of normal habits in those quarters in which houses had been saved from destruction. The owners of these were subjected to the necessity of having the chimneys of their premises inspected, and it soon became apparent that the business of inspecting was to be made the vehicle for petty extortion. The Schmitz board of works, and the rest of the of- ficials comprising his administration, came to the fore promptly after the first scare of the disaster was over and at once gave signs of intention to resume their temporarily interrupted practices. It cannot be said that the knowledge of the fact did more than to cause irritation to the individual victim, who, as in the case of a patron in a restaurant voluntarily tips the waiter while chafing under the necessity of paying twice for the same service. It had became the custom to pay to have a municipal job facilitated and the practice was resumed as a matter of course. If a householder wished the examination of his chimney to be expedited he paid for the accommodation by adding something to the established fee; if he failed to indicate his willingness to do so he was compelled to wait. If he was complaisant and "came through" easily, and manifested a readiness to employ none other than a union mason or bricklayer, he enjoyed the privilege of indoor cooking sooner than his refractory or negligent neighbor.
Labor Exac- tions Deter Investments
Outside of this exercise of the tyranny of the unions there was little or no friction with artisans during 1906. As already stated the demand for men in the building trades was so excessive that the normal wage scales of the unions were lost sight of, and to some extent their vigilance was relaxed and men who under ordinary circumstances would have found it difficult to obtain jobs were permitted to ply their craft without objection. It does not appear, however, that this len- iency affected the solidarity of the workingmen's organization in the slightest de- gree. During the rush period there was a disposition to wink at infractions of rules, and this continued until the stage was reached in which the owners of prop- erty contemplating the erection of buildings were obliged to consider the proba- bility of receiving a return on their investments. This consideration did not im- press itself with sufficient force upon some investors who pushed ahead regard- less of the future. There were several instances of important projects which had to be abandoned before completion owing to the excessive labor cost and the ex- actions of the workers. When successive instances of this sort had caused the prospective investor to become more wary, friction frequently occurred, and little inclination was shown by the organized workers to return to the normal, and this unyielding attitude was maintained down to a period in which it became evident to the most obtuse that if it was persevered in there would be a complete arrest- ment of improvements.
Gas Pipe Thogs Inspire Terror
But these were later troubles, and did not disturb the rehabilitation work in 1906, and there was no particular worry in that year concerning the effect of the attitude of labor upon restoration. Indeed it might be asserted in a general way that concern about minor affairs was entirely dispelled by the fear that the City was at the mercy of a band of thugs who were committing atrocious crimes which
THE WATER FRONT, WEST FROM THE FERRY BUILDING, UPON THE ARRIVAL OF THE BATTLESHIP FLEET ON ITS TOUR AROUND THE WORLD
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the police seemed powerless to prevent, and were wholly unable to discover or even surmise who were the perpetrators. The first of these for a time mysterious crimes was committed on the 10th of July, 1906. On the night of the date men- tioned the coroner, named Leland, was assaulted and robbed. An ex-convict named Dowdall was arrested, charged with the crime, convicted and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. On the afternoon of August 20th, Joseph Pfitzner was found dead on the floor of his store. His head was crushed by a blow from some instru- ment and $140 in gold had been stolen. On the 14th of September, a tailor, William Friede was found in the rear of his store on McAllister street, his head battered to a pulp, his pockets turned inside out and the cash drawer empty. In midday of October 3d the Japanese bank known as the Kimmon Ginko on O'Farrell street, was entered and the president and the clerk were assaulted, their heads being battered as were those of Pfitzner and Friede. The former was killed, but the clerk, although horribly mangled, survived and finally recovered, but was never able to tell what had occurred. Nearly three thousand dollars were stolen by the murderous thief who had left behind him the instrument with which he committed the deed. It was a piece of gas pipe about fourteen inches long and was wrapped in a piece of ordinary wrapping paper.
The terror excited by these mysterious murders and robberies produced a state of mind reminiscent of Vigilante days which might have culminated in the expul- sion from the City of all suspicious persons had not the sturdy resistance of a man named Behrand to an attempt made to kill and rob him revealed the perpe- trators of the crimes. It was thought for a time that there was a band of the thieves operating, and a reward of $1,500 was offered by the governor for their capture. The assault on Behrend disclosed that the crimes described, and several other robberies, had all been committed by only three men. Behrend was a jeweler and was assailed in his store by three men, one of whom held him while another robbed the till and a third rained blows on his head. In attempting to kill his victim the robber who was wielding an iron bar struck the man who was holding Behrend and nearly severed one of his fingers. Behrend grabbed his assailant and made an outcry which brought a number of persons to his relief. The cap- tured robber was taken to the police station and there gave the name of Louis Dabner, and his residence as 1786 Union street. It was promptly ascertained that he had a roommate named John Siemsen and it was suspected that the latter was one of the thieves who had escaped. The suspicions of the police were promptly confirmed. A few days before the attempted robbery of Behrend, Siemsen had married a young woman named Hulda von Hoffen. He had represented himself as the heir of a rich Honolulu sugar planter and had lavished some of his stolen wealth on his prospective bride. On his return to the house with the disabled hand he had explained it by stating that he was the victim of a holdup, and that the robber had tried to get his diamond ring by cutting off his finger. The bride telephoned the details of the alleged holdup to her father and he communicated what he had heard to Detective Dinan and Captain Duke. The officers were on the way to von Hoffen's residence with the view of looking for Siemsen and told the father-in-law that they had heard of the robbery and that they had located the robbers and wished Siemsen to identify them. When they entered the house and stated their errand Siemsen said he would call the next day, but a movement to- wards his hip pocket caused the officers to close in on him. They found a big Vol. II-26
The Gas Pipo Thugs Cap- tured and Hanged
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pistol upon him which he apparently designed using. The police gathered con- siderable evidence concerning the operations of Dabner and Siemsen. It was learned that the latter had served a term in San Quentin, but Dabner had no previous criminal experience. The father of Dabner persuaded him to make a confession. Siemsen denied that he had committed any crime and pleaded "not guilty." He was speedily convicted and sentenced to death as was also Dabner, who had pleaded guilty. They were both hanged July 31, 1908, but not until the resources of the law had been exhausted in an attempt to secure their acquittal.
The confession which disclosed that the crimes which had created so much consternation were committed by two or three men at the outside, and that the City was not overrun by murderers and thieves lifted a pall which was beginning to impair the energies of the active by destroying confidence in the ability of the police to afford adequate protection to the people. Another trouble which arose about the same time, although it developed into an international question and oc- casioned a great deal of heat and drew forth an intemperate proclamation from the president of the United States, created much less concern than the depredations of the thugs. It grew out of the attempt of the school board 'to continue the policy inaugurated before the fire of separating the Oriental pupils from the whites in the public schools. Serious objections had been urged against the practice of permitting adult males of Japanese hirth from being entered in the primary grades where they were brought in contact with young girls of tender age. The destruc- tion of many school houses rendered it necessary to make the best possible use of the space for the accommodation of the children and steps were taken to con- struct an Oriental school for the accommodation of the Japanese and Chinese youth. A school of that character had been in existence before the fire and was attended by Chinese children and no exception was taken to the discrimination, but the proposal was resented by the Japanese, who, fresh from their victory over the Russians, were disposed to be bumptious and protested to Washington, finding a prompt champion in President Roosevelt, who in disregard of the rights of Cali- fornia exerted all his authority to compel the school board to recede from its position.
Concurrently with the trouble resulting from the action of the school board there was some friction growing out of the competition of Japanese restaurants which was largely the aftermath of a contest between the unions and the eating house employers. Some outrages, trifling by comparison with those inflicted on white' employers by striking cooks and waiters, were dragged into the controversy, and it was made to appear to the nation that the Japanese in San Francisco were the victims of a persistent persecution. One of the president's cabinet, Secretary Metcalf, was sent to San Francisco to make an investigation and reported numerous trifling assaults made during the period of a boycott maintained by the Cooks and Waiters union against Japanese restaurants doing business in the City. At the same time Secretary Metcalf carefully pointed out the attitude of the con- servative press of the City on the subject of Japanese in the schools, and plainly indicated by his method of dealing with the subject that the labor phase of the question could not be properly linked with the educational matter. He reported the California argument to be substantially as follows: "The public schools of California are a state and not a federal institution. The state has the power to abolish those schools entirely, and the federal government would have no right
Attitude of State on Japanese Public School Question
Japanese in the Public Schools
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to lift its voice in protest. Upon the other hand the state may extend the privi- leges of its schools upon such terms as it, the state, may elect, and the federal government has no right to question its action in this regard. Primarily and es- sentially the public schools are designed for the education of the citizens of the state. The state is interested in the education of its own citizens alone. It would not for a moment maintain this expensive institution to educate foreigners and aliens who could carry to their countries the fruits of such education. Therefore, if it should be held that there was a discrimination operating in violation of the treaty with Japan in the state's treatment of Japanese children, or even if a new treaty with Japan should be framed which would contain on behalf of Japanese subjects the 'most favored nation' clause, this could and would be met by the state, which would then exclude from the use of its public schools all alien chil- dren of every nationality and limit the rights of free education to children of its own citizens for whom the system is primarily designed and maintained, and if the state should do this the federal government could not complain, since no treaty right could be violated when the children of Japanese were treated precisely as the children of all foreign nations."
As already stated, the resolution which excited so much comment had been adopted May 6, 1905. It provoked little or no comment at the time, but the action taken on October 11, 1906, in pursuance of the previous declaration, and which was expressed in these words: "Resolved, that in accordance with Article X, Section 1662, of the school law of California, principals are hereby directed to send all Chinese, Japanese or Korean children to the Oriental public school, situated on the south side of Clay street, between Powell and Mason streets, on and after Monday October 15, 1906," at once brought forth complaints. On the 3d of December, 1906, Roosevelt sent a message to congress in which he recom- mended "that an act be passed specifically providing for the naturalization of Japanese who came here intending to become American citizens," and he added: "One of the great embarrassments attending the performance of our international obligations is the fact that the statutes of the United States are entirely inadequate. They fail to give to the national government sufficient power to protect aliens' rights and to succor them under the solemn treaties which are the law of the land. I therefore earnestly recommend that the criminal and civil statutes of the United States be so amended and added to, as to enable the president acting for the United States government, to enforce the rights of aliens under the treaties. Even as the law now is, something can be done by the government toward this end, and in the matter now before me affecting the Japanese, everything that it is in my power to do will be done, and all the forces, military and civil, of the United States, which I may lawfully employ will be so employed. It is unthinkable that we should continue a policy under which a given locality may be allowed to commit a crime against a friendly nation." In a subsequent message dated December 18, 1906, the president stated: "I authorized and directed Secretary Metcalf to state that if there was failure to protect persons and property, then the entire power of the federal government within the limits of the constitution would be used promptly and vigorously to enforce the observance of our treaty, the supreme law of the land, which treaty guaranteed to Japanese residents everywhere in the Union full and perfect protection in their persons and property. And to this end everything that was in my power to do would be done, and all forces of the
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