p
DEFENSE TESTIFIES!
fiesner Says There Was No In
tent to Break Laws. ,
TIMBER LAND DEALS LEGITIMATE
Testimony of Witnesses that Implied
Contracts Had Been Made is '
Vigorously Denied.
Portland, Jply 15. Dr. Van Gesmer,
- partner of Representative Williamson
and Marion E.- Biggs, United States
, f land comissioner, two of the defendants
in the case now on trial before J udge
De Haven, testified yesterday in their
own behalf. Dr. Gesner passed through
the rigid cross exanination conducted
by Dibtrict Attorney Heney,' and, al
though his original story was not shak
en much, he was forced into several
admissions that will be used when the
.: government comes to make its argu
ment. This morning Marion Biggs
-will be subjected to cross examination
and unless court should adjourn at
noon, it is possible that Representative
Williamson will take the stand.
Dr. Gesner, in answer to the ques
tions asked by Attorney Wilson, gave
.'his version of the way in which he had
- started out to obtain the timber lands
which since have involved him in the
-case at bar. He admitted having made
me loan w a iiuniuer 01 we entryuien,
but said that be did so in order to pro
tect the property he already had in
' that section of the country. Dr. Ges
: ner denied that he had any contracts
with the various entrymen, and stated
" "there had been no conspiracy with Ma-
rion Biggs and Representative William:
-son The witness gave a history of
the war between the sheep and cattle
men, in which the now famous "30-30"
men played such an important part in
"the Horse Heaven country. The entry
men, he testified, had first approached
him and asked him to lend the money
"with which to file on the claims. He
- tated that he agreed to furnish them
the money, providing they would give
, . ihim the use of the land for a range for
' his sheep. For the use of the range he
iiad agreed not to charge them interest
on the loans. He said that the sheep
shooters had established a dead line
and in order to protect his property he
was forced to secure more range and
thought that he had gone the right
"way about it, when he made the loans
to the entrymen who came to him, and
asked for financial help.
Before agreeing to furnish the money
to the entrymen, Dr. Gesner stated that
he had first consulted Biggs and had
ngaged him as a lawyer. He also
consulted Attorney Barnes, and had
- been assured by both that what he
tended to do was legal, provided he did
not enter into a contract with the en
trymen before they made their filings.
MONOPOLY IS Al AN END.
Pacific Mail No Longer Controls
Traffic of the Isthmus.
the
New York, July 15. The contract
between the Panama Railroad company
and the Pacific Mail Steamship com
pany, under which the later has for
years enjoyed the exclusive privilege of
handling freight on the Pacific side
on through bills of lading, terminated
today. Hereafter all carriers will be
on a parity in respect to transit facil
ities on the isthmus.
Mr. Bristow in his recent report on
the Panama railroad recommended that
if the Pacific Mail Steamship company
-withdraws its present Panama line an
effort be made to induce some other
company to establish a first-class serv
ice between the important Pacific coast
ports of the United States and Panama,
. Upon excellent authority it can be
stated that the government does not
anticipate that the Pacific Mail will
carry out its threat to take its vessels
irom the Panama-San Francisco serv
ice, nor does it expect the abrogation
of the contract to affect in any way the
shipment of merchandise from New
York to San Francisco.
Balfour Opposes Conscription
London, July 15. In the house of
commons tonight Premier Balfour re
ferred to the speech of Field Marshal
Lord Roberts in the house of lords
Monday last, in which the latter said
that the armed forces of Great Britain
as a body were absolutely unfitted and
unprepared for war, and declared em
phatically that the choice lay between
conscription and some practical system
of universal training. The premier
eaid he could never be led to believe
that conscription could be successfully
adopted in England.
Wireless Stations on Coast.
Vallejo, Cal., July 15. Captain
Gearing, United States navy, of the
equipment department, Mare Island
yard, and Master Electrician George
Hanscom, go north on Saturday to lo
cate the remainder of sites for wire'
less telegpraphy stations on the coast.
A location-will be selected either at
Cape Flattery or Neah Bay and at Bre
merton. When completed, there will
be stations at a distance of 200 miles
' irom Bremerton to Point Loma.
Must Keep Cuban Cities Healthy.
i Havana, July 16. President Palma
has vetoed the action of congress which
-' continued in effect the budget for the
fiscal year ending June SO. His reason
ior so aomg mas me oia puagei aia
. i h.hl. tj i j.il
not inciuae any provision ior wie sani-
tation of cities.
DENIES MOTION.
Judge DeHaven Refuses to Dismiss
Land Fraud Cases. ,
Portland, July 14. The case of the
United States against Williamson,
Gesner and Biggs will not be dismissed
by the court, nor will the jury be in
structed to acquit as prayed for in a
day-long argument by Judge Bennett
and H. S. Wilson.' But by the ruling
of "Judge De Haven the case will have
to be fought out before the jury to the
end. According to the opinion of the
judge, the prosecution has furnished
sufficient evidence against. Williamson
and his associates to warrant his sub
mitting the case to the jury.
Judge Bennett opened the case for
the defense yesterday morning with
motion to dismiss, owing to insufficient
evidence to connect the defendants or
to convict them. He asked that the
case be not submitted to the jury, or,
if such had to be done, that the court
instruct the jury to return a verdict of
acquittal. Following this motion the
attorneys for the defense made, exhaust
ive arguments of their position, bring
ing citations from the law to show that
their contentions were within the rule.
Upon making this motion and before
commencing his argument Judge Ben
nett asked the court that the jury be
allowed to remain in the room during
the argument, in order that it might
hear the positions taken by both sides
in the controversy. This, it is alleged
by some, was a mistake in the strategy
of the trial, as the influence of the re
fusal of the court to allow the motion
would tend to throw assistance to the
gide of the government
STORM WRECKS TOWNS.
Destroys Everything in Its Path on
Rosebud Reservation.
Fairfax, S D., July 14. One of the
worst storms that ever visited the Rose
bud reservation struck the towns of St.
Elmo, Burke, Herrick and Gregory, re
sulting in the death of one person and
the injury of U others, two of whom
may die.
At St. Elmo three buildings were de
stroyed and Roy McFadden was killed
At Burke, a few miles north of St.
Elmo, ten buildings were - -destroyed
The home of Mr. Jensen was demolish
ed and Mr. Jensen, his wife and baby
seiously hurt. Mrs. Jensen and her
child may die.
At Herrick, near by, the entire town
was damaged. Two livery barns, three
stores, a saloon and 21 residences were
entirely destroyed and five persons in
jured.
Three large buildings were unroofed
and seven smaller ones destroyed at
Gregory, but no person was injured.
The storm was severe over the entire
reservation and several inches of water
fell at the points which suffered most
Much damage was done to crops and
wries, and most of the details of the
havoc wrought have been brought in by
messengers from the different towns.
MURAVIEFF RESIGNS.
Czar Decides to Send Witte to Wash
ington in His Place.
St. Petersburg, July 14. M. Mura
vieff has resigned his position as chief
peace plenipotentiary.
It may be regarded as practically cer
tain that he will be' replaced by M.
Witte, president of the committee of
ministers, who all along has been ci
sidered the Kussian statesman pre-em
inently qualified to undertake the diffi
cult task of negotiating peace with
Japan.
Though the emperor on two previous
occasions has flatly declined to accept
M. Witte, he has now indicated his
readiness to make the appointment.
The commission, however, will not be
actually signed until Foreign Minister
Lamsdorff, who throughout has been
M. Witte'S warm supporter, has had
an audience with the emperor.' To
that extent only tne matter may be re
garded as settled, nothing being certain
in Russia, as a prominent diplomat re
marked last night, until the emperor's
signature has been affixed.
Orders Reforms in Navy. '
est. reterDsnrg, juiy 14. x&e-'an-
noucnement of the appointment of Vice
Admiral Birileff as minister of Marine
in succession to Admiral . Avellan,
which is gazetted this morning, is cou
pled with a highly significant rescript
n which the emperor charges the new
minister not only with the task of re
building the navy, but also with that
of reforminir and reoTcanizirn t.h
wnole system. Thu minister is in-
structed to eradicate the faults which
have developed under the stress of the
present war.
Conference Meets in Fall.
Berlin, July 14. A rare thing in the
administration of the German empire
was the meeting today of the Foreign
Affairs committee, which had not met
since 1900, when the Chinese situation
was considered. Chancellor von Bulow
made a confidential communication to
the committee on various phases of the
Moroccan- negotiations with France?
The international Moroccan, conference
probably will meet at Tangier in Octo
ber or November.
L t , mi ..
nuTOI wmw rutn Doycon.
nonoium, juiy X4.-i.ocai uninese
are trying to raise a fund of $50,000 to
assise in me Doycow oi American goods
i . 7, . .... . - .
in cnina. it is reported they have
I 1 - : n aaa '
KEEP OUT COOLIES!
President Roosevelt Gives Pledge
to Labor Leaders.
EXPLAINS HIS CHINESE ORDERS
Tells President Gompers How
Stands and What the Diplo
mats Must Observe.
He
Oyster Bay, July 13. Immigration
to the United States and its relation to
the labor problem formed the subject of
a conference this afternoon between
the president and two of the import
ant leaders of organized labor Samuel
Gompers, of Washington, and James
Duncan, of Quincy, Mass., respectively
the president and one of the vice
presidents of the American Federation
of Labor.
The conference was devoted particu
larly to a consideration of the order re
cently issued by the president regard
ing the enforcement of the Chinese
exclusion law. An impression has
been gained by many members of .labor
organizations that the order, to an ex
tent, at least, let down the immigra
tion bars, so far as Chinese are con
cerned. The president assured his call
ers, however, that no such construe
tion properly could be placed on the
order, and that he was just as vigor
ously opposed to the admission to- this
country of Chinese coolies as they
could be.
Mr. Gompers urged upon the presi
den the desirability of an intelligent,
practical and humane consideration of
the general question of immigration by
the people and by congress. The peo
ple of this country and of the whole
civilized world are entitled, he main
tamed, to such a consideration.
GOVERNMENT CLOSES CASE.
Defense in Land Fraud Trials
Will
Not Take Much Time.
Portland, July 18. After Special
Agent Horace T. Jones had been placed
on the stand and identified a map con
taining the ' location of the claims al
leged to have been obtained by Wil
liamson and Gesner, a map that was
introduced so that it can be used for
argument, the government rested its
case against Representative William
son, Dr. Van Gesner and Marion R.
Biggs. This morning the three defend
ants will have their inning.
It is understood that the defense will
not place many witnesses on the stand.
Judge Bennett stated" Tuesday that
there would not be over half a dozen,
and while the counsel for the defense
has not said that the defendants will
take the stand in their own behalf, it
is expected that they will. Judge
Bennett informed Judge De Haven just
before adjournment yesterday afternoon
that he had some motions to make,
and that he would present them this
morning. Perhaps one of these mo
tions will be for dismissal of the
charges. Evidently, Distriot Attorney
Heney is anticipating such a move on
the part of the defense, and he will un
doubtedly have a list of authorities on
hand in case such a move is made by
counsel for the defense.
ADD TO ARMY BUILDINGS.
War Department Allots Money for
New Buildings in Northwest.
Washington, July 13. Announce
ment was made at the War department'
today of allotments of funds for bar
racks and quarters at army posts dur
ing the present fiscal year.- Continu
ing' the policy of gradual reconstruc
tion at Vancouver barracks, provision
has beenmade for the erection of one
double-set of captains' quarters,
two
double-sets of lieutenants' quarters and
two double barracks.
At ' Fort Wright, near Spokane,
Wash., the post will, be enlarged to
accommodate eight companies of in
fantry and work this year will include
the addition of one set of field officers'
quarters, one double-set of captains'
quarters, one eight-set of bachelors'
officers' quarters and two doable bar
racks.
Whole East Sweltering,
Washington, July 13. Hot weather
prevails over the greater portion of
the United States, according to reports
received at the Weather Bureau to
night. Apparentlv, there is no imme
diate relief in sight, except through the
local thunder storms in several scat-
tered sections. - Throughout the West
reports indicate increasing hot weather.
The humidity is high all over the At
lantic coast from New England to Flor
ida, and the prospect is that it will
continue so two or three davs. with
northeast to south winds.
Fight Us with Cartoons.
Victoria, B. C, July 13. Mail ad
vices from Hongkong tell of a novel
plan of campaign adopted by Chinese
in South China to further the bovcott
movement against Unitd States mer
chandise. - Wealthy Chinese of Tekhoi,
in (.Banning district, have imported
inousanas oi Japanese tans, on one
side of which they print rough sketches
of Americans roughly treating Chinese,
and on the other side sketches of buffa
loes being beaten and ill used.
I ,
. six ueaa in milaaelpnia.
Philadelphia. Julv 13. Six deaths
and more than & score of nrostratinna
I . .... . . ' 7 .
due to the hieh temperature of the laat
five days, were reported in this city
I.., , -
today by the police.
GAINS MORE EVIDENCE.
Government Gets Pacts in Williamson-
Gesner-Biggs Trial.
Portland. July 12. What Dromised
few minutes to have been a sensa
tion in the Williamson-Gesner-Bigga
trial yesterday afternoon before Judge
De Haven, dwindled into an emphatic
statement that Dr. Gesner had a verbal
agreement with at least one witness.
From the opening hour of the morning
session until just a few minutes bar
fore adjourning, the trial droned along,
with witness after witness adding link
after link to the chain of evidence that
the government is forging around the
three defendants.
During his cross-examination, Henry
Hudson, no relation, by the way, to
the famous explorer, had furnished the
comedy scene that was tossed into the
day's proceedings, and it was Ben F.
Jones, a retired cattle and horseman,
that furnished the mild sensation
Jones had told on the witness stand
how he and his wife came to take up
timber claims. He stated that he had
done this at the request of Dr. Van
Gesner, that Dr. Gesner had furnished
the money and that he had proved up
on his claim, an'd that his wife had re
linquished hers, i His testimony was in
line with the ten other witnesses that
had been examined He was a bit
more sure about certain events that
had occurred before and after he had
taken uV his claim. . He was turned
over to Judge Bennet for cross-examination,
and because the defense thought
that Jones, having been ' a cattleman,
had been mixed up in the fight againet
the' sheepmen and asked him if he bad
ever shot any sheep, that the incident
arose.
POLICE PREFECT SHOT.
Assassin Fires Five Poisoned Bullets
at Count ShuvalofF.
Moscow July 12. Major General i
Count Shuvaloff, prefect of police
here, and . formerly attached to the
ministry of the interior, was assassin
ated this morning while receiving peti
tions. One of the petitioners drew a
revolver and fired five times at the
prefect, who fell dead.
The assassin was arrested. He was
dressed as a peasant, and has not been
identified. He was recently arrested
as a political suspect, but escaped from
the police station before his examina
tion. -
The assassin waited in the anteroom
of the prefecture until the other peti
tioners had been received, and then,
entering the audience room, he ad
vanced toward Count Shuvaloff at his
desk, firing five shots at close range.
The bullets passed through the body
of the prefect.. ;
Count Shuvaloff owes his death to
his custom of freely granting audiences
and receiving petitions from all classes.
One bullet wounded the count in the
pericardium, another pierced his ab
domen, a third struck him in the arm,
and the fourth - in the shoulder, while
the fifth bullet of the assassin ' struck
the leg of a woman who was standing
near. According to the physicians, the
bullets were poisoned. The victim
speedily lost consciousness ana never
spoke afterward.
A great crowd gathered in. front of
the house of Count Shuvaloff, and
made a determined show of its indig
nation and sorrow at the assassination
of the prefect, who was very popular.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth, widow of
Grand Duke Sergius (assassinated in
Moscow February 17) attended the first
requiem for Count Shuvaloff tonight.
Strategic Point is Taken.
Tokio, July 12. The Navy depart
ment has received the following report
from Admiral Kataoka : 'Two cruisers
and four torpedo boats left Korsakovsk
on July 10 with soldiers aboard for the
purpose ot landing and occupying Cape
Notoro. After some bombardment the
place was taken. The lighthouse and
buildings were left undestroyed." Cape
Notoro is the most southerly point of
Sakhalin, on La Perouse straits, direct
ly facing Cape Soya, on the Japanese
coast. It commands the straits be
tween the two coasts. .
Government Ready to Act
Chicago, July 12. Plans for the
prosecution of railroads for the grant
ing of rebates to large industrial indi
vidual corporations in violations of in
junctions issued by the Federal courts
here and in Kansas City, have been
completed and the first steps in the at'
tack of the government will be made in
Kansas Citv before the endLof this
week. Assistant Attorney General
"urdy, who has charge of the prosecu
tion, left here tonight for Kansas City.
King Christian Objects.
Copenhagen, July 12. It is under
stood that Prince Charles, of Denmark,
will be willing to accept the crown of
Norway if King Christian and the Dan
ish government consent. Some of the
members of the royal family are in
favor of his acceptance of the crown,
but King Christian is believed to be
opposed to it. No decision, however,
will be given out before his majesty re
tains from Gmunden, Austria, next
week.
Four Deaths by Heat. ,
New York, July 12. Although the
temperature was relieved slightly this
1 WiUvHIWJi. UJ uaODlUK DUVITOIO, 1UU1
.ffA.nMn . v. - t
HnathB nnA A1 nmptraMnna frnr th.
hnt ronnrtoA tra-o
Kaw vv Th. A,a
I " - -".i" "" "
in Manhattan ml th tw in
Brooklvn. The hiehest temneratnm of
' x .
- the day was 86.
IN THE "DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY.
s - AAVtjv' w.: .iiwv v. 1
ax ill miW
AN IRISH ISLAND BATTLE. '
An eviction battle recalling the stormiest days of the Irish Land Agita
tion" recently took place between 200 picked men of the Royal Irish Con
stabulary and the entire population of Dursey Island, a bleak speck in the
Atlantic sixteen miles from Castletown Berehaven, County Cork. The two
hundred policemen were sent to evict Daniel Healy, an aged peasant. They '
only did so after a desperate encounter with the other occupants of the'
Island some thirty-five families who met them on landing with a fusillade
of stones, and then fought a hand-to-hand conflict In which fixed bayonets
and the butt-ends of rifles were freely used.
NAPOLEON OF CUBA.
STIRRING CAREER OF THE LATE
GEN. MAXIMO GOMEZ.
Patriot Whoso Wonderful Genius and
Finished Statesmanship Made Cuba
Ubre Possible Born in Santo Do
minico and of Spanish Descent.
The recent death In Havana of Gen.
Maximo Gomez removed one of - the
most picturesque figures that has ever
appeared upon the pages of Cuba's
thrilling history. In the smaller sphere
to which fate confined him, Gomez
showed the great qualities that place
his name fitly with those of Washing
ton and Bolivar. - It was not only In
the field that he won the title of the
Liberator of Cuba, but especially in
the troubled times following the inter
vention of the United States, when his
disinterestedness and statesmanship
helped to bring about a settlement
Though Santo Domingo holda his
birthplace, 'Gomez's life was given to
Cuba and was spent on the island, ex-
cept In long Intervals of enforced exile.
Free Cuba can honor him as her own
with better right than Uruguay does
Garibaldi or Americans do La Fay
ette and Steuben. When time has
given her a history and the slanders
of selfish politicians are forgotten the
greatness and Integrity of Maximo
Gomez will make Cuba proud of her
beginnings.
Gomez, commander-in-chief of the
Cuban army during the war for lib
erty against Spain, who won for him
self the name of. the "Cuban Napol
eon," was 82 years old. He was born
in Santo Domingo and was of good
Spanish descent As a young man he
entered the Spanish army, being grant
ed the commission of a lieutenant, but
when his family emigrated to Cuba he
withdrew from the service of Spain
and gave himself heart and soul to the
cause of Cuba Libre. His home for
many years was near Santiago.
It was in 1868 that he joined the
patriot army, and his ability and In
trepidity earned him rapid promotion.
During the- revolution of that time he
beat the Spaniards at the battles of
Jiguana and Holguln and made the
name of Gomez one to be feared. In
1872 Gen. Agramonts, then command
er-in-chief of the Cuban army, pro
moted .Gomez to a brigadier general
ship, and aftet . that the Spanish sol
diers called him "The Terror." Ha
had only a small, badly equipped force
of half-naked soldiers, who fought
with poor weapons, but he captured
Nuevitas, Santa Cruz and Cascorra
and fought the battle of Las Guasi
mas against overwhelming odds.
In 1874 he invaded the province of
Santa Clara, driving the Spanish
forces before him, defeating Gen.
Jovellar in several small engagements,
and was made a major general. When
the devolution died out In 1878 and the
GEIT. MAXIMO GOMEZ.
A 1 1
WWM'.!',!-.1
SY
i
treaty of Zanjon was signed Gomea
v:as proscribed. He escaped to Ja
maica and lived a farmer's life there
until the recrudescence of the rebellion
in 1895 under Jose Marti.
He landed in Cuba April 14, 1895,
was hailed by the Cubans with wild
enthusiasm and was made commander-in-chief.
His ability and energy
and his genius for accomplishing re
sults without fighting pitched battles
spread the revolution until the whole
Island was involved. His military
tactics caused him to be criticised and
sheered at by the Spaniards, and even -some
of his own officers, but he was
adored by the rank and file and by
the Cuban people, who looked to him
to secure the liberation of the island.
Time after time he used his Spanish '
Time after time he used his
tactics with success against large
Spanish armies, outflanking the over
confident enemy, failing unexpectedly
on their rear and turning apparent de
feat into victory.
Perhaps - his most remarkable
achievement was at the battle of Sar
atoga, where he hastily gathered 500
men to meet the . advancing columns
of Gen. Castellanos. With his little
force of 600 and odd he met, defeated
and drove back the 2,600 Spanish
troops under Castellanos in spite of
the artillery and unlimited ammuni
tion his foes had. The fight lasted
four days. Gomez lost 65 killed and
133 wounded.
Gomez was very proud of the repu
tation he had gained of having never
lost a battle. His personal bravery
had a wonderful effect on the raw re- -
cruits of which the greater part of his
forces was made up during the first
part of the last revolution. It is said
that no man ever flinched, no matter
how thick the bullets flew, while
Gomez's eye wason him.
Gen. Gomez was a small man, about
5 feet 6 inches tall, and slenderly
built During the last years of his
life he suffered greatly from a wounrl
he received In the right leg. He had
keen, penetrating eyes and a restless,
wary look. He had the friendliest
possible feeling for the United States.
He was sorely disappointed When af
ter he had scored important successes
against the Spaniards the United
States refused to recognize the bellig
erency of Cuba. . But when this coun
try lent a hand Gen. Gomez did all In
his power to secure the friendliest re
lations. -
He enjoyed perhaps more than any
other Cuban leader the love and con
fidence of "the Cuban people. His last
visit to the United" States was In the
spring of 1903, when he visited the St
Louis exposition.
An Anecdote of Gorky.
Anecdotes of Maxim Gorky are on
the wing. Here is one . they tell in
Paris. He went to the theater at Mos
cow one evening to see a play by a
popular writer. Instead of paying at
tention to the stage, the entire audi
ence rose and greeted GQrky with pro-'
dlgious acclamation. Then he deliver
ed this address: "What on earth are
you staring at me for? I am not a
dancing girl, nor the Venus of Mllo,
nor a drunkard, just picked out of the
river! I write stories; they have the
luck to please you, and I am glad of
it But that is no reason why you
should keep on staring. We have come
here to see a charming play. Be good
enough to attend to that and leave
me alone." More delighted than ever.
the audience shouted with Joy. Per
haps they thought they would get an
other speech, but Gorky jumped out of
his seat and left the theater In dis
gust -
Advise an old man that h ought to
have good time In life, and you are ,
stumped when he answers, "How ?'
Tiie real critic is the woman with a
"voice," when she hears another wom
an sing.