, - - . . ' ' rs-.--: 4 TO VOL. 5XT.- TsT0. 14,087. PORTLAND, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31r 1906. sn PRICE FIVE CENTS. iK CAPTAIN LOSES ENTIRE CONTROL Appears to Be Dazed "by Calamity. URGES WOMEN TO STAY ABOARD Life-Rafts, He Declares, Are Not Trustworthy, BOATS ARE OVERLOADED Members or the Crew Mingle With the Passengers and Struggle for Places, Thrusting Women Out of Their "Way. YESTERDAY'S TESTIMONY IN BRIEF. Immediately after the Valencia struck the lifeboats n-ere lowered to the saloon dock, hut were not lathed fast. The crew did not prevent the passengers from crowding Into the boats. Members of the crow were dlstrust ful of the life preservers and one. at least throw away a tulc preserver and secured one of cork. Captain Johnson lost control of his crew and the day following tho Valencia's grounding seemed to lose control over himself. The roliof party that went ashore to send word of the disaster paid no attention to a line that was shot ashore and which, if properly . re ceived, would have enabled many lives to have been saved. Tho steamer Qnecn and the tug Czar might have raved lives had they attempted it. It would have been dangerous, but the Queen could have sont boats to the Valencia and the Czar could have worked in close enough to get a line aboard the doomed steamer. Captain Johnson discouraged the women from going aboard the life raft. He warned passengers they werf tfk'nsr toir.Jlvj-y,hrsiJi5-yi5-- and the women, confident the Queen and Czar would come to their rescue, refused to assume the risk. SEATTLE, Jan. 30. (Special.) Little by little the testimony of survivors of the Pacific Coast Company's steamer Valen cla, bofore Inspectors Whitney and Turn er, is demonstrating that immediately after the boat struck there -was a mad rush for the boats, in which men jostled women aside and fought for places, and in which the crew either was powerless to prevent the overcrowding of the boats. or. losing courage. Joined the rush. There are conspicuous examples of sea' men who did not attempt to save them selves, and there stands out occasionally a man who advised caution, but among the majority of the crew there seems to have spread a panic as great as that felt by the passengers themselves. Inspectors Whitney and Turner the .former, in particular show a sympathy for Captain Johnson that 1s evident in their examination of witnesses. Inspector Whitney today seemed eager to demon strate that Captain Johnson intended to have held the lifeboats on the Valencia until the morning after she struck and then send off the passengers. He was just as anxious to bring out proof that the passengers led a rush toward the life boats, and were responsible for their over crowding and loss. Women. Not Given a Chance. Strongest of all the testimony that bears upon the crew's responsibility is that o Quartermaster Martin Tarpey, who testi fied late today that he had helped to lower lifeboat No. J. whose fall collapsed and precipitated the passengers into the water. Tarpey says, too, that a watchman begged the men to stand back from the boats and give the women a chance. The most sensational of the evidence to "be taken will probably come tomorrow Professor Frank F. Bunker, assistant su perlntendont of the Seattle public schools. will be here then, and ls expected to be called immediately. He has already se verely criticised the company and the Va lencla's crew, and is now on his way here from the west coast, where he was assist ing in the recovery of bodies washed ashore by the tides. A. H. Hawkins, a second-class passcn ger, today testified that the morning the life raft went off with the 18 who were picked up by tho Topeka, Captain John son announced that all who wanted to take their lives in their hands could get aboard the raft. Wait for Rescue Boats. The women, asked to go, clung to the rigging, and, looking out toward the mo tionless Queen and Czar, declared they would stay by the wreck. They said the two rescue boats would soon come to their relief. Hawkins stated that Captain Johnson was greatly excited, and seemed to have no idea of what was going on. The women "believed his declaration that the life-rafts were not trustworthy, and declared they could not be saved that way. Joseph M. Caffrey, who saw both boats lost, declares the first was loaded badly, the bow being heaviest, He declares the boats were not made fast anywherel Then when Inspector Whitney asked If he want ed to add any statement, he said: Tho crew was not disciplined. They appeared to bo badly rattled. The men were not at their posts. Members of the crew mingled with the passengers and struggled for places in the boats. They should have tried to preserve order." Passengers Crowd the Lifeboats. Martin Tarpey, the quartermaster who would have gone on duty at midnight. was called and entered the pilothouse Just after the boat struck. He declared Cap tain Johnson ordered the crew to get out the lifeboats and lower them to the saloon deck and make them fast. Everybody rushed to the saloon deck. and It was overcrowded." Tarpey claimed. The crew tried to keep the passongers out of the boat, but could not do so. I helped lower the first boat, which was overcrowded. 35 persons being aboard. The forward fall gave way and the boat dropped into the sea. The watchman aboard the Valencia stood by the boats and tried, to keep back the men. I hoard him crying: " 'For God's sake, men, let the women set in.' " Tarpey stated that the passengers might have been saved if they had kept away from the boats. and wailed for dawn be fore attempting to reach shore. Line Fired Far Ashore. Speaking of the attempts to get a line aahore, Tarpey says the Valencia fired three shots. The first line was carried away, the second was lost, but the third was carried into the woods an eighth of a mile on shore. Had the relief expodltion gone back to the bluff and attempted to do so they could have taken this line and helped in an efficient rescue. Tarpey de clared the crew was composed of expe rienced men, and the officers did the best they could. "Could boats from the Queen have come in to you?" asked Inspector Whitney. "Yes. they could." declared Tarpey. "It would have been risky, but they could have made it. The Czar should have shot a line abonrd to us. We stayed there watching and expecting the tug would do su. 'When the last two rafts were brought alongside, Captain Johnson would allow no one to get aboard until all the passen gers had been offered the chance to save themselves. After those passengors who wanted to take the chanco had gone aboard he told the crew that if the men wanted to they could go aboard." Greek Hero's Simple Story. John Segalos. the Greek whose attempt to reach the shore with a life line made him one of the heroes of the wreck, was as prosaic in his testimony as he Was spectacular In his life-saving effort. His description of his .attempt to carry a line ashore was lucid: "I was feel sorry." he related simply. "I say to myself. I go ashore. If I live. many will live. So 1 make cross; take off my coat. Then I my, 'Good-bye. boyi,. and Jump into the water. The water was too rough and I could not got on the shore. So I come back." Segalos declared the em thai wa.s jrwo-. nlrig hori was so rough tliat no boat could live in It- Ho contradicted Cor nelius Allison, the aged man who was rescued on a liferaft, and who wore that the sea had calmed down by the time the boat was sinking. Wrhen the passcngerp and crew climbed Into the rigging, the Greek alleged, the seas were running over the vessel and the waves threatened to dash the ship to pieces. Blames Passengers for Crowding. Segalos emphasized the story that con fusion existed on deck when the first lifeboats were sent off, but he blames the (Concluded on Page S.) TESTIMONY OP THE SURVIVORS. Charges of Negligence. Officers and crew of the Valencia alleged to have been Incompetent. Captain Johnson, a comparatively new man on the run, felt compelled by the Pacific Coast Company's orders to forge ahead at ordinary speed in dirty weather, though he knew he was near a dangerous coast. Vessel piles up on Vancouver Island when the captain supposed he was far to the south. Captain Johnson loses his hoad when crash comes, and discipline Is thrown to the winds. Lifeboats are hastily launched in the darkness, when delay until morning would have meant the saving of many lives. Crew was not drilled In the handling of life-saving apparatus. Lifeboat- are put off without being properly manned. Life preservers filled with rushes in stead of cork. Wooden pins of the oarlocks would not fit. Plugs for the lifeboats are missing and water rushes In from the bottom. No life-saving stations provided by the United States or the Canadian government along a stern coast where many vessels have been wrecked. Charges of Cowardice. Women are brutally hustled out of the way In the mad rush for the boats when the Valencia plies up. Members of the crew struggle with passengers for places In boats and on liferafts. Steamer Queen stands far off from wreck. Her master. Captain Cousins, ignores frantic signals for assistance from men, women and children hang ing in the rigging, and sails for San Francisco. Tug Salvor stays In safe harbor at Bamfleld Creek the night, after the wreck, although her master. Captain Troup, had been Informed of the loca tion of the broken hulk with human freight. Tug Czar, of light draft, makes no attempt at rescue, though In close proximity to the wreck. Passengers that get ashore do not attempt to haul In line fired from the Valencia. Relief crew from the Valencia jnakes no attempt to send beats to the rescue. United States marines aboard the Queen offer to man lifeboats, tut Cap tain Cousins will not permit them. No attempt made by Pacific Coast Company boats to pick up passengers and crew floating In the water. HEARST MEN LOSE THEIR THUNDER Republicans and Democrats Shout for Cheap Gas in New York City. GAS TRUST IS FRIENDLESS Old Political Hands in Board of Alderman and Alhany Put Own ership 3Icn in the Hole by Their Shrewd Moves. NEW YORK. Jan. 23.-6pcclaL)-The poor old gas trust hasn t any incnas those days. All parties are taking a whaok nt it, and the indications are that prlcos will tumble before long. And the joke of it is that the real friend of the people, the Municipal Ownership League, has been left far behind in the race for the favor of the public by its two more experienced political antagonists, the Re publican and Democratic parties. I told you. away back last Fall, when Hearst's campaign had only fairly got under way, that the real issue of the campaign was not municipal ownership. which no human bclfig clearly under stands, but gas. It seems that this fact has struck the Republican and Demo cratic leaders, too. and they are prepared to take all the credit for It. A municipal ownership bill, providing for 75-cent gas. now sleeps soundly In the Assembly cities committee. It will never, never be heard from again. The present plan is to have the Republican State Gas Commission fix tho price. If that plan is changed. Chairman Jean Bur nett, of the cities committee, will intro duce a gas bill which will be made a party mnasurc in caucus, pushed through botli houses under the party whip, ac companied by party cries, and signed by a party Governor. Then there can certainly be no doubt among the "common people" that "Cod- lln's the friend, not Short." Ownership Men Ciphers. What will the Municipal Ownership As semblymen do when such a programme is sprung upon them? Confidentially, no body knows and nobody cares. They can vole for the bill, vote against it, or go on the roof of the Capitol and indulge in war whooDS. It is a matter of sublime indlCrcnaeuYtbs m,'tutb nmuai.'crrrof the majority. "Tho Municipal Ownership Assembly men," said one member of the House, in private conversation the other day, "came up here lelleving that they were going to run everything, and that everybody would yield to their wishes and whims. Thoy have gradually been brought to realize that they will be permitted to ride on the New York Central as often as they buy tickets, that each has a desk and chair on the floor of the Assembly, and that so long as they sit there and are 'good, no body will bother them.- But that Is all. dear boy, that is all. On the subject of legislation they are in the position of the little boy who asked for the core of the apple there wasn't any core, and there will not be any Municipal Ownership League legislation. "But why should they worry? Nobody will object to their receiving salary and mileage, as duly provided by law." Tammany Leader's Bombshell. This is the Republican end of the plot. In the Board of Aldermen. Tammany, al though in a minority, has been getting In Its fine work. "Little Tim" Sullivan. the Tigers leader, who is the nearest thing to a statesman on the board, start ed tho trouble by introducing a resolu tion solemnly pledging the members in favor of the municipal ownership of pub lic utilities. Sullivan supported his reso lution by a speech which sounded like an extract from tho oratory of a Hearst meeting last campaign. He declared mu nicipal ownership was a grand and noble thing, and that the Board of Aldcrmon should lose no time in getting on record on the subject. Then he aaked unanimous consent for the immediate passage of his resolution. Under the rules, if one mem ber objected, it would have to be sent to a committee. Of course this created a panic among the Municipal Ownership Assemblymen. They did not know what to make of it. and in their flurry did precisely what Sul livan had hoped they would do. They ob jected to immediate consideration, and the resolution went to a committee. Consequently, oh, joy! Tammany was in favor of municipal ownership, but was prevented from Jumping in right away and "saving the people" by the action of the high priests of municipal ownership themselves. These tyros in politics aro kept busy day and night trying to explain to their constituents why they blocked the "chariot of progress," to use the words of an inquisitive orator. Explanations Don't Explain. "But Tammany Introduced it," replied the Alderman he addressed. "Isn't if Just the kind of a bill you were calling for during the campaign?" was the stern question. The Alderman admitted it was. "Then do you mean to say," was the comment, "that you are so narrow, and partisan that you would rather see the public suffer from, the extortions of the traction trust and the gas trust than ac cept aid from your political enemies? True friends of the people would welcome the assistance of anybody, it it "helped the cause of the common people. Shame upon you! Have you, too, been bought up by the trusts?" Now, what could the poor Aldermen do? Ho is perfectly honest and sincere but he was simply fooled by a bright politician whose tricks be did not understand. The Municipal Ownership Aldermen vi we so busy tei44j- what tkey were go ing to do that they delayed beginning. That was how Tim Sullivan beat them to the post on municipal ownership, and now the Mayor has followed by "trim ming them" on the gas question. The Board of Aldermen had not even de manded three cheers for cheaper gas when the Mayor threw a bombshell into the camp by forwarding the following message: Gentlemen: There Is now pending before the State Legislature a bill designed to fix the maximum price of gas In the boroughs of Manhattan" and The Bronx, the borough of Brooklyn (except that portion known as Coney Island), and In the First Ward of the borough of Queens, at SO cents per thousand fet. and to provide for reductions of similar proportions In the other parts of the city. A similar measure suffered defeat In the last session of the Legislature, partly. I regret to say. through the votes of a number of Sen ators from this city who endeavored to ex cuse their action by stating that the senti ment In favor of the bill did not emanate from th people of the city, notwithstand ing my request as Mayor that the Senators support the bllL In view ci the Importance of the bill now pending, and to prevent. If possible, a re currence of the action of last year, so unjust to New York. I respectfully recommend to your honorable board that you. an represen tatives of the several sections of this mu nicipality, give public expression to the uni versal demand for the passage of this meas ure. Respectfully. OEOHGE B. M'CLELLAX. Mayor. The Municipal Ownership Aldermen al most cried when they heard this read. It not only took all the wind out of their sails, but It carried away the sails, too. "Little Tim" Sullivan promptly moved the adoption of a resolution embodying the message, but again the Municipal Ownership men headed it off. They ex pressed a desire to "alter the phraseol ogy." but Tammany scored a triumph through the mere fact that Hearst men sent the resolution to a committee. Innocent, but Called Traitors. And all over the districts where the third parly showed the greatest strength voters are saying angrily: "What's the matter with that bunch we elected? They vote against cheap gas and they vote against municipal own ership. Are they all traitors?" It's mighty hard for Innocent men to explain away a charge IJko this. And they are innocent,' And in the meantime. Tammany men endorse this statement of a Bowery char acter: "Webster a statesman? 'Little Tim makes him look like a piker." LYNCHERS HOT ON TRAIL Georgia Ncro Assaults Woman and Leaves Her Dying. ATLANTA, Ga., Jan. D3. Mrs. Nina May Dupree. a young woman about SO years old. who lives with W. H. Grogan. a prosperous farmer about six. miles from Atlanta, near Cornell, was assaulted by a negro this afternoon. After cutting her throat and leaving her dying from loss of blood and nervous excitement, the negro escaped. A pojye of more than a hundred citi zens with hounds' is following Ihc negro tonight, and. if he is captured he will in ail probability be summarily lynched. Grogan awdV his wife, returning '8fp Hum Auaiii Ab mat liuui. iuuuu uiua Dupree dying In the dining-room in a pool of blood. Physicians who were Im mediately summoned despair of her re covery. She was too weak to say more than that a tall black negro was the perpetrator of the crimo. CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER The Weather. YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature. 58 deg.; minimum. 40. Precipitation. 0.02 of an Inch. TODAY'S Frobably occasional light rain. Easterly winds. Foreign. Frederick proclaimed King of TJenmark. Page 8. Unionists clamor for Balfour to retire In favor of Chamberlain. Page 3. Rebels In Caucasus submit by thousands. Page 5. High official In Tiflls blown to pieces with bomb. Page o. National. Railroad rate bill Introduced In House. Page 1. Senate passes consular bill, discusses ship subsidy bill and passes many Pacific Coast bills. Pago 2. Shonts telle why he cancelled Markel con tract. Page C Witnesses for packers on claim of Immunity. Page 4. Politic. Ownership party's thunder stolen on cheap gas for New York. Page 1. Domestic Two livestock associations unite at Denver. Page 4. Route of St. Paul road's Pacific extension. Page 4. Attempted graft on insurance inquiry blocked. Page 3. Georgia negro brute pursued by lynchers. Page 1. Black Hand letters sent from Portland to publishers of exposure of Congo horrors. Page 1. Grover Cleveland gives doctors a lecture. Page 5. Pacific Coast. Testimony In Valencia wreck Investigation at Seattle. Page 1. Twenty-two bodies of victims of the wreck have been recoered. Page 6. Oregon Supreme Court decisions. Page 6. Salem lawyers views on the workings of the Initiative. Page 6. Ktfll Ke!zr.. of Cottage Grove. Or., killed by dranketrsnan with a gun. Page 0. Three werak"IIJed In wreck of Oriental LIm I ted trains- In Montana. Page 0. Bunker H1U. & Sullivan mine Is on fire. Page 9. Commercial nsd Marine. Hopgrowers asking above current rates. Page 13. Wheat strong and higher at Chicago. Page 15. Oranges more plentiful In San Francisco market. Page 15. Bad break iafetock market. Page 15. Boston wool ..rsarket firmer. Page 15. January reports of grain and lumber from Portland reach a total value or nearly S1.000,00OJ"sT?age 14. Major Roessler. United States Engineer, de clines to recommend permission to drive dolphins In river at East Side landing of the LowerjAlblna ferry. Page 14. rjjrtlaBd mad VIclalty. Swifts purchase land on the Peninsula for big abattoir Page 18. Southern Pace's aodera hospital on wheels visits Portland. Page 10. President Leyey of the North-Bank Road discusses sjidge. draws. Page 11. Maegly Junction disputed right of way will be argued iefiay-' Page 14. Examination Tor appointment of Annapolis cadet to eV-feeld March L Page 9. Martin Rea4rBot aned. though willing at one tlmo Implead guilty. Page 1 Fish asd Gajaja Association plaas state Mi hatchery. Fr" I. Portias iMi&trJghteu many mercfeast various clefts with Its Mack feaM ad. Page II. ' gx-City XifM- acid t have Vee give high psttMwka Uatoa FaeWc Fa 3r" , . DEBUTE ON MTES BEGINS IN HOUSE Townsend Introduces Bill and the.-Democratlc Party Supports It APPLIES TO ALL TRAFFIC Provisions .Explained by Father of Measure, Who "Warns Hail roads to Accept, Lest AVorse Befall Them. WASHINGTON. Jan. 30. Members of the Housevlnced a more general interest In the discussion of the railroad-rate bill throughout today than in" any- other topic of legislation for some time. The debate throughout was listened to attentively and many questions were asked of the different speakers to bring out cither ob scure points in the measure, or evils com plained of, which no attempt had been made to include in the bill. The debate -bv--Townsend. of Michigan Georgia, representing the followed in commendation of the measure, and in praise of President Roosevelt's stand on the question. Hln- shaw. of Nebraska, depicted the benefit the legislation would do to the great trans-Mississippi country, and Richard son, of Alabama, discussed, as a Demo crat things done and left undone in the measure. Questions addressed to the -various speakers Indicated that there is to bo some opposition to the bill, at least in debate. The feature seemingly most sub Ject to attack Is as to Just what will be the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission under the bill relative to differentials in rates between competing cities and localities. Regarding the question as one of the most important ever before Congress, Townsend advocated the bill as the cor rect remedy for the evils which exist, and predicted that, notwithstanding Che pro tests of the roads, greater prosperity would come to them under its provisions than otherwise. To substantiate this, he called attention to the tremendous strides of a year In the transportation business and this in the face of the legislation which the last Congress Initiated and which the present Congress Is taking up in somewhat more strenuous form. Like the bill of last year which bore Townscnd's name, he said, the present one was the very least the people would accept, yet the present bill confers wider powers and extends over every facility of transportation. However, the present bill he believed to be not only fully within the constitutional powers of Congress, but it was simply an expression of the plain duty of Congress to the American people. In brief, the bill attempts, he said, to place' under the supervision of the Inter state Commerce Commission, every form of Interstate and foreign commerce and all instrumentalities of commerce and transportation. Applies to Private Cars. The most serious complaints on the part of the shippers, he said, have been dl rected against special services, such as private cars. Icing, elevator and terminal charges and the like. Townsend believes the bill affords a complete remedy for all of these evils, as hereafter every such charge must be just and reasonable, and in case it is not. the Commission has power to make it so. The ovll of the "midnight rate" was described and the remedy set forth, re quiring- 30 days notice of a change of rate. Briefly, the "midnight rate" Is a device -whereby a large shipper no tides a road that on a certain date large shipment will be made. On that date the published tariff Is changed for a day. the shipment made at the lower rate and the tariff immediately raised. Power to 3Iake Rates. The main feature of the bill bearing- on the point about which the greatest controversy Is heard, and the one which Townsend believes lies at the foundation of the whole question. Is that which gives the Commission power. upon complaint and after a full hear ing', to substitute a reasonable xnasf mum rate in place of one found to be unjust or unreasonable. Townsend went at length into this phase of the proposed legislation. It was the prin ciple against which the weight of the eppeeitioa had been directed, he ex plained, ana this preposition had been based, alike- o the queetlo&ed cestl- Representative Charles Townsend. tutionality, the impossibility for the : Commission to find a just rate, and the Injury such a finding; would entail alike on business, the railroads and the widowed and orphaned sharehold ers. In the broader view of the ques- tion and in the correct conclusion on : any of these phases, he saw but one answer that to require the railroads j to be just and reasonable could not harm anyone, while it would benefit all. Railroads Not Really Alarmed. As showing- how deep were the fears of the railroad world, he stated that 200 miles of road had been built dur ing tho past year In the United States, and -up to June 30 orders for more than $200,000,000 worth of railroad equipment had been placed. ."While the number of Commissioners Is Increased by two and their salaries raised to 510,000 a year, Townsend ex pressed the belief that, when the law was once established, the duties of the Commission would decrease rather than Increase. The railroads, he sug gested, would doubtless realize the justness of the law and fix their rates with reference to it. He realized fully the great power that was conferred upon the Commission, and believed the higher salary only an adequate com pensation for men of the character needed. The wide publicity of railroad affairs required In the bill was, in his opinion. a potent factor for good. The provis ions expediting- the business of the Commission and the cases in the courts growing- out of the operation of the law he regarded as vital. The courts are to pass simply on the valid ity of the decision, and the appeal to the Supreme Court will be on the ques tion as to whether a given rate fixed by the Commission Is or is not confisca tory. Warning to Railroads. "While Townsend regarded the ques tion as In no sense political, he expressed himself as pleased that the Republican party had taken it up. He arraigned the means employed by the opposition to rate legislation. He proceeded: To me It has seemed that a systematic ef fort has been made to discredit the Admin istration In various matters In order to direct attention from this great question, and 1 have no doubt that delay will be cauged wherever possible In the vain hope that something will yet happen to prevent final action. 1 As one of the younger and most humble Republicans in the House, let me admonish my party associates In both houses that this question will not down nor will It much longer brook delay. The people have spoken and every day to us their demand I more Imperative. The day of grace may be passed and the unpardonable stn of trifling with duty may not be condoned, even with death bed repentance. Temporising will bring nothing but disas ter. Already we. hear the rumblings of dis content, and Socialism smiles with satlsfac Hon with every delay. Regulation of a pub lic servant Is not a departure from the prln clples of popular government, but dlregard of jlghteafcxs. "Vwv- mul wlirucrze io-eyal rc utrlctlons Impoied to protect the people's rights Is more than Socialism it Is anarchy. and were I a railroad agent instead of people's Representative. I would hall the pro posed legislation as a salvation to my roaster from the fate which an Indignant people Is sure to visit upon the corporations who believe that they are above and beyond the law and seek to become a law unto themselves. Era. of Justice at Hand. Let the pass and let the railroads heed Its provisions Instead of retarding its cxecu tion and Its operation and then Instead of be ing the objects of suspicion and hatred, they be recanted an the instruments ot prog res-a and prceperlty. Rate legislation will es ter Into history, for Its entry will not be marked by any business, disturbances, bu rather It wilt indicate the beginning of an era of better feeling between the railroads and the- paople an era of equal right and oppor tunltlea under a Just and impartial law. As his closing sentence, Townsend as serted that the railroads had consistently and persistently opposed every uevice for the safety of the public and Its employes and also that it had maintained rich and powerful lobbies opposing rate Iegis lation. Adamson (Ga.) followed Townsend. He said the Democrats had labored, since the courts revealed the weakness of the In terstate commerce law, to amend its de (Concluded on page 8.) WENT DOWN WITH VALENCIA. Mli Laara Van Wyck. MJs Laura Van Wyck. who lost her life, on the steamer Valencia, was" a prominent young society woman of 9aa Fraaclsco. She was the young est daughter of Mrs. Sydney M. Van iWyck. of 1944 Webster street, and a JCrter-In-la.w ot W. A. Peters, an at- "i-ney of Seattle. MUs Van Wyck a strikingly beautiful girl of the Dapstetie type ana was one or me es of the Southern set. She was seen clinging to the rigging of ft ill-fated Valencia and her clear g voice rose high above the roar rafjthe waves when those on the ves sel started up the Inspiring and con sollsg grand old hymn. "Nearer My God to Thee." She proved herself & heroine to the last, encouraging her companions in distress to cling to , hope uatlf the unmerciful sea Anally .closed, over them. " VENGEANCE NEAR FOR BELGIAN KING Black Hand Letter. From Port land Threatens His Accusers. HAS GUARD AROUND HOUSE Publisher of Mark Twain's Book on Congo Horrors Receives Threats. Postal Officials Seek the Sender of the Missives. "KING IEOrOLD'S SOULOQUY." The book referred to as published by the P. R. Warren Company mak ing aspersions on King "Leopold la "King Leopold's Soliloquy." by Mark Twain. It makes the King himself relate. In the course of a soliloquy la, which he curses his accusers, the "hor rible cruelties perpetrated by his authority in the Congo State. It ls being circulated by the Congo Reform. Association to raise funds for Its work. Mark Twain refusing any re turn from the sale, but desiring that all proceeds be used In furthering the efforts for the relief of the people of the Congo State. BOSTON. Jan. 30. (Special.) A detail of police is guarding day and night the Brookline home of P. R. Warren, a prom inent Boston publisher, and his family Is in a state of terror because of a series of 'Black Hand" letters received from Port land, Or., yesterday, one in each mail. The last message, bearing the symbol "Black Hand," contained the words: "You have but two days left." Sir. Warren thinks these letters may have been sent him because he published Mark Twain's book exposing the Belgian cruelties In the Congo Free State. Threat ening letters have also been received by Judge Sherman, who sentenced Tucker, the murderer of Mabel Page, to electrocu tion. His Time Growing Short. The first letter from Portland gave Mr. Warren four, the second three and the last two days to live. The three threaten ing messages are now, In the hands of Chief inspector Jetljermaiu of the TJnited States Postal Service, and every effort is being made to trace the sender. A possible clew to the sender has been discovered by his private secretary. Miss Cutting, and her suspicions have been communicated to Mr. Letherman. Friend of King Leopold. Mr. Warren thinks that some Belgian, offended by the aspersions in Mark Twain's book on King Leopold and the Congo Is the one making the threat. A startling theory Is held by police officials. who are also Investigating this and cer tain other Black. Hand cases here, that it is the beginning ot work by a Black Hand gang of mammoth proportions, with branches all over the country for mailing letters, and organized for blackmailing on a gigantic scale, with cards especially printed for their purpose. CLARK'S MILL IS BURNED CONCENTRATOR AT BDTTE DE STROYED AT 3ITDNIGHT. Senator Loses $500,000 and Must Send Ore to Anaconda His Smelter Saved, i ANACONDA, Mont, Jan. 31. (2:50 A. M.) Fire of unknown origin partially de stroyed Senator W. A. Clark's Butte re daction works this morning. The fire broke out about midnight, and resisted all efforts of the firemen until at 2 o'clock It had enveloped the concentrator build ing. In which it started, and the large ele vator used for conveying concentrates. At' 2:45 the firemen got control, saving the engine-house, with valuable machin ery, and the smelter plant. The fire is still burning, but is confined to the ruins of the buildings destroyed. A H. Wethey, local manager for Sen ator Clark, estimates the loss at $500,000. only partially insured. The plant will be rebuilt as soon as pos sible. In the meantime all ore from the Clark properties will bo treated at the Washoe smelter, in Anaconda. GOES TO MEET COUNTESS Miss; Roosevelt Welcomes Tuture ' SIster-ln-Law on Steamer. NEW YORK, Jan. 30. Miss Alice Roosevelt and her fiance. Congressman Nicholas Ixmgworth, boarded a reve nue cutter today and proceeded down New York harbor to meet the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, upon which Countess de Chambrun, Mr. Longworth's sjster, was qa passenger. The Countess, who was formerly Miss Clara Longrworth of Cincinnati, has come to this country as a guest at the forthcoming- wedding". At quarantine, where the Kaiser , Wilhelm der Grosse slowed down, the revenue cutter went alongside the big liner. An attempt was made to lower a companion ladder for Miss Roose velt, but the dftlay in doing this was too great and she boarded the steamer by the pilot ladder. Conference Dodges Main Issue. AL.GECIRAS, Jan. 30. The plenipoten tiaries ot the powers today had quiet talks together, but avoided the mala' question, how shall the new military police force of the Sultan be organized and. controlled?