Editorial note — Chapter XXIV · THE CITY OF FRENCH RESTAURANTS

E. So many people have expressed incredulity concerning these matters that at the risk of repetition I quote one paragraph from the report of the school committee of the grand jury, the chairman of which was Mrs. Samuel Backus, wife of General Backus, former postmaster of San Francisco:

“Mr. Conkling, store-keeper, testified that School Director Miss Sallie Jones condemned the furniture and sold the same to private parties and schools, and the same were at once put into service. Miss Sallie Jones testified that she had ordered the sale of old desks, etc., and that the same were sold at private sale, and at the same time the Department was buying new furniture for the schools, as she would not put old desks or chairs in new schools built by bond money. This is in strict contradiction of the Charter. First, the furniture was not useless, and second, it was not sold at public auction. Most of the sales were made at 25 and 50 cents per desk, and replaced by new ones costing from six to ten dollars.”