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4 THE PROPOSED CIIY CHARTER. A View of Its Provisions From a Favorable Point. While Hot Perfect, It Is Claimed to Be an Improvement. •The City Bas Outgrown its Present Constitution—The Responsi bility Attaching to tha Mayor. [The Herald, a ehort time ago, pub lished a view of the proposed amond ments to the city charter, written by c gentlemen wbo took an adverse view of the matter. Ibe following artiole presents the fa vorable side of toe matter, and was pre pared by G, J. Griffiths, the secretary of the Citizens' league]: The city of Los Angeles has been gov erned for the lastßix yeara under a char ter, whicb, while it was undoubtedly an improvement on the previously existing organic law, was made at a time when the inflation, unnatural growth nnd un common condition of all affairs in tho city rendered tbe task of making a char ter for fnture government very difficult on account of the great change of condi tions which must necessarily take place. While no just criticism of the result of the labors of the board of freeholders, which prepared tbe present charter, can be made, the experience of tbe past fen years has liuuiuuutraieu iiiat iliac char ter is inadequate in many respects, among the prominent points being the payment of salaries to some offioials i which are larger than the requirements of the offices and the current demand ior such services warrant at the present time, but which were probably about rigbt at the time they were made; also, a laxity of construction in defining and prescribing tbe duties of officials wtiich has permitted incompetent, careless or designing men co great a latitude in the adminiatration of public offices as to burden tho city with an expense for the management of current and ordinary affaire far out of proportion to the ser vices rendered, and also to permit tho efficiency of the public service to reach a very low ebb. Another grave lauit of j tbe present charter is that it fails iv ! < every way to provide for the placing of : responsibility for inefficiency and ex travagance. The present council has \ been hampered in its management of city affairs by tbo faults of the charter, and recognizing the desirability of Ija provement therein, set to work same few months since to prepare amend ments; and the Citizens' league, pur suing its policy of assisting and encour aging anything and everything that will tend to enhance the welfare of the city, offered its services in tbe work. Through ita efforts, a committee con- i eisting of three of its members and : three from each of tho followiug organi- I zations, the chamber of commerce, the ! board of trade and the Merchants' it?so ciation, was created to co-operate with ; the council committee in preparing j charter amendments. ' Nearly luur ; months' time has been Rpent in thia ; work and the result of their labors is ' now before the people for their ratifies tion. The proposed amendments are i not in all respects what the members ol the citizens' committee hoped nnd en- . deavored to procure, as tho mom bora of i the council, with whom the final dcci- I Bion rested, could not be convinced of i the desirability ol adopting the propo eitionß advanced in their entirety, but the modifications made are a long stride in the direction of the objects sought, (and ns the charter, if amended aa pro posed, will be a great improvement on the present city law, its adoption by the people is a most desirable object that Bhould be attained. There have been some cfiangeo mside in the number of offices, notahl? the abolishment of the offices o: aaßeseor ' and tax collector. Besides these, the number of school directors is reduced i by two, the Beater of weights aud meas ures iB dropped and a building commis- ; Bion ia established. The abolition of the two former officers needs little comment here, ea it has long been a generally ac cepted conclusion that tho money epent in their maintenance was a large, use leas expense to the city because of the fact that the work done by them is hut a repetition of that done by county officials, and the saving which the do ing away with them will effect will be considered later on. The cilice of Bonier of weights aud measures was Btieh it Beelese one that tho council .has long since practically done owiiy with it by ordinance. The building commission is a much needed addition to the city government, as the administration of this department under the present method ib fur from satisfactory cud there j have been some sad blunders made. Tbia commißisiou will be c m posed of ratn ; of approved char-titer nud ability und J must be chosen from thoso profesjiens wherein membership is a guarantee ol the possession of euch technical knowl edge aa members of such v commission abould possess, und its presence in the oity government will cost nothing, for, likoall other conircieaions, its members aro not paid. Quite a change io mado in tho numbar of officers who are to be elected and the experience cf many ether cities much larger than ouro is a guarantee I fiat these changes will be greatly for the | i better. It is here that the queation of i responsibility cuts a large figure. When J I tbe mayor is elected Btid ia surrounded i by a score of officials, who are also elect- ' ( Ed, the office of chief magistrate virtu ally loses all of its positive usefulness to the community aud retains only the naeative quality of use which may be manifested in an occasional veto. Offi cials who are elected by tbe people ate very liable to think that they are en tirely independent nf all save tbe gen eral public, and are answerable only to that, and in these cases the "general public" is more or less of a vague, inde finable quantity, possessing neither the power nor the will lo correct abuses or right errors, except by now and then rofosing to re-elect to office some man whose misconduct has been particularly flagrant or whose incompetence is glar ingly apparent; nnd when the time comes when even this feeble and inef fective remedy may bs applied, the mischief is already done and the peo ple's monoy has been squandered. Bui under the proposed arrangement tbe elective offices are mndo very few, and they are only those officej whose fuoo tioni are purely administrative or legis lative, sucholiiccaas circnm'itancearlo or moy require to be entirely independent of all others, while all offices the inanngo ment of which requires the exercise of technical ability only and do not de mand the use of judgment, discrimina tion or discretion io their conduct; in short, whose dutiea are of a routine nature, are made appointive, and in sti'-h a way that incompetence or un scrupulousnoss in their management may be at once remedied by removal by the appointing powers and the people may thereby be relievod of tho burden which the bad official places upon them, instead of being compelled to wait for tho expiration of a term oi office, during which time of waiting the abuser) com plained of aro always continued and often augmented. The benefit which thie change will bring, not only in money saved but in improved aud in creased efficiency as well, in practically incalculable. The only elected office's will be the mayor, city attorney, treas urer, councilmen and school directors. All others will either he appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the council, or will be appointed by a commission which will itself be ap pointed by the mayor under tbe same approval, so that in any event the I THE FIRST OF THE SEASON-A scene on spring street yesterday afternoon. responsibility is located definitely in some one place. A very important and valuable amend ment oroposed is that provid ing that no officer of the city, in any capacity, shall be a bondsman for any pereon ■> ho gives a bend to the city. This will prevent the possibility of any j contractor or any other person doing ! business witb the city, being able to se ' cure any influence through bonds that would permit him to defraud the city in : any work or business which he under takes to perform. Another great point in the amend ments is that in relation to the receipt of publio moneys. At present, all offi ; cere who collect city moneys are per mitted to retain them until they see { fit to turn them into the treasury, and some officials let large suma of money ] accumulate in their offices, often ex ceeding the nmouut of their official bond l . Under the proposed amend* | ruenta such practices will ba stopped, | for ail moneys received for the city, cx i cept where state Ibwb govern, must be paid directly to the treasurer and not to ! the official in whose office the business j for which ihe money ia to be paid has ! been transacted. [ A provision ia also made in theße ; amendments for tbo establishment by tho auditor of a thorough eystera of bookkeeping and accounts, something ' which the city has needed for a long . time and the lack of which has cost a ■ greet dent of money. The faults whicb I have existed are not to be conntrued as ' a source of criticism of those persons wbo have filled the city auditor's office, but instead the faults have been in the 1 very poor methods and forms ! which have obtained. The auditor now keeps a record cf the general transactions of the j city which shows the condition of tbe I different funds and the coat of running j the different offices, as well as tho total I coßt of city government: but in the : other office?, where books are kept, they i ore frequently f<ir away from the audit | or's books in balances, and he has no means of keeping them up, and there ia much business passing through many other offices of which he is unable to havo any record or know anything about, aud through this system many extravagances aud much carelessness ' are practiced which a proper system of b ol:-l»eoping would soon bring to light aud correct. The different city offices, in so far as accounts are concerned, fchould bo conducted like a large mer cantile establishment, with a main office and many brancli33, the auditor's office being the head und all other offices branches. The books in each separate office should bo a careful, ac curate, complete, intelligible and scien tific record of the transactions of the office, and from them, at stated pariods, comprehensive reports should be Ben} to the auditor's office, whicli reports Bhould be plum epitomizitions of the bueinoßß of tbe cilice, and from these tbe auditor would bo able to keep a food record of thu detail of city offices. One of the worst faults of tha present syutom is the manner in which the de mands are bandied. Theße paporß are made out in the different deportments where the demands originate, and are not uworu to, iv Dome cases not even signed, b; tho payee, until the money is received. Thoy go from these departments to the council, and upon approval there are sent to tho mayor for his assent. Thence they ure t'orwarucd to the auditor, who, il he approve, turns them over to the respective payees, who take the de mands themselves to the treasurer and receive their money, after which the demands are returned to the auditor to I LOS ALETTES TIERALTTs T THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER. 6, 1894. be tiled away, Tbe demands ahould all be signed and aworn to by the reapect ive persons who are to be paid before being presented to the council, after which tbe courae ahould be the aame aa it ia at present till the auditor's office is reaohed, where they should be retained and the payee should receive bis money from the treasurer on a war rant drawn by the auditor in conformi ty with the instructions given in the demand. This amendment provide* for all of this, and makes imperative the filing of reports from ell officers, which will plainly show not only all ordinary business transactions and the receipt and disbursement of all public moneys, but also tbo receipt aud disposition made of all materials end supplies as well. It also provides that the auditor ehall keep an alphabetical list of tbe bondsmen of all city officials, no that the sufficiency or insufficiency of any offi cial's bond may be easily ascertained at any time. This amendment is one of the most desirable and most needed i that could be conceived, and, taken by itself alone, is amply sufficient reason I for the adoption of the proposed amend ments. The city attorney and his deputies are made to be city officials in the true sense of the word by a provision which requires tbem to devote their time to the duties of the office, and forbids them from attending to any legal business i outside of that iv which the city ia in terested. This will give the city the benefit oi the undivided attention of ita paid legal advisers, untrammaled by the distraction incident to tho work wtiich must be done on outside business and will prevent the possibility of col lusion in any matter to whicli the city is a party or in which it is interested. The question of reports from tbe dif ferent officials is given particular atten- I tiuu iv theso atfiajfidments, provisions being made which require thoroughly comprehensive and intelligible reports to be made annually, whereby tbe gen eral publio will bo able to know all the details of municipal affairs, instead of the general and very unsatisfactory knowledge which may be gleaned from tbe reports whicli aro now made. In tbe matter of salaries, some excel lent and commendable changes have been proposed. Tbe office of mayor carriei witb it a great degree of distinc tion but to piece the sulasv at a email sum would be to make it a rich man's office exclusively, and wouid debar many worthy and honorable citizens whose livlihood"must be earned by their daily efforts, so the office Bhould have a salary which should not estop the aspir ations of tbis class and it haa been placed at $.'!'JOO per annum. It would not be possible to find men of aufficient ability and character to act aa connoil man for less money than is now paid, so the salary of this office has been left at the old figure. Tbe duties of the city clerk are eucb as to require a good deal of labor, fair ability as an aoconntant and the exercise of good discriminative judgment, and it is thought that $2400 per year ia as small a sum as will command the services of such a mm, so this salary has not been alte cd. There are few, if any, book keepers in tbia city who are receiving more than $200 per month nnd ai it must be admitted that this is a good salary for this kind of work, the audi tor's pay haa been placed at that figure. The treasurer's salary has not been changed, remaining at $2100, and the salaries of engineer, chief of police and attorney have been lolt at $3000. The superintendent of buildings has been reduced from $2900 to $1800 per annum, the belief being general that tbe office is not worth more, aud co with the health officer, who is reduced from $2400 to xgJOO. The largest reduction in salary is made in the office oi street superintendent, it being from $3000 to $2000 per annum. The duties of thie office do not require any brilliant nor remarkable qualities in its incumbent, being purely administrative, and any man wno has a fair knowledge of streets I and roadways aud possesses ordinarily good judgment can fill it acceptably and many such can be found who will take the office for a smaller sum, and not only that, but this sum is much more than some Btreet superintendents that wo havo had in the past could pos sibly havo earned outside of office. Al together, these reductions in salaries ef foct a saving of $2800 per year, and in tbe line of direct saving, to this must be added the amount which tbe abo lition of the office of tax collector will save, which will be $20,000. Here is a total of nearly $23,000, and it Is not all. for with the increased efficiency in all officas which must come from the stringent rules which they make, taken I with tbe facilities for the detection and correction of minor extravagances, will increase this naturally and it is sure j that a saving of at leaat $25,000 per year will be effected. One of the best propositions in these amendments is that plaoing the c:ty election in the early spring. At present, with our city election following close upon others which of necessity are of a otrong partisan character, the voter is greatly influenced by his political affilia tions, when he should be at liberty to cast hie ballot with a view only to the benefit of the city. A lapse of four months will give time for partisan feel ing to nubside, and the selection of city officials may then be made outside of party associations,which will often work for the welfare of the city. Au excellent provision is also made concerning contracts for cortain city work. Under these amendments all contracts for lighting, street sweeping, cartiuj? garbage and kindred business must be publicly advertised for at least six months beiore the expiration of the contract which the uaw bidder is to su percede. This will permit of new com petitors having a chance at this kind of work, and destroy the monopolies which now exist by reason of tbere being in sufficient time between tbe time of ad vertising and the commencement of work for new plants lo be got ready for oporation. Another excellent amendment la tbat relating to atreet railway franchises, which provides that cars shall be run on all tracks under franchise from tbe city at least every 15 minutes, aud a failure to comply therewith will result in the immediate forfeiture of the fran chise. One of the very wise provision*) ia that relating to the term of office in the council and board of education. Under the present system if a bad element in politics succeeds in carrying a city elec tion it gains full away, for all council men and achool directors are elected at one time, but under the new arrange ment only half of thie new body (or aa near thereto as may be) is elected at one time. The term of office in each case iB made four years, tbe members of tho council, from the odd numbered wards being olected one year, and two | years from that time those from the i even numherad wards are elocted. The board of education is composed of seven members, elected at large, which will insure the opportunity of getting a good hoard at all times, and they will also be elected alternately. These proposed amendments are not fully in lino with the modern ideas of municipal government,whioh have given great satisfaction wherever tried, but they are in the right direction, and all voters who have the prosperity of our city at heart, who wish to soe a more efficient administration of municipal affaire, who wisii to have taxes reduced, and wbo desite to prevent the future domination ol rings and other corrupt political influence*, should use every j endeavor to bring about tbeir approval I h* tha Afitvtla Ac it ia impossible to give a full, de tailed account of so lengthy a document and bo many amendments in a newspa per letter, there is much in favor of amendments which is left unsaid here, but many facts and much data can be produced in support, and I will take pleasure in giving all wbo wish to call upon me further information in the matter. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. New Members Reoalved—Routine Bnal- The board of directors of the cham ber of commerce met yesterday after noon. There were present the follow ing directors: Freeman, Forman, Stimson, Francisco, Cohn, Eieen, Sev erance, Mullen, McGarvin, Klokke and Jones. The secretary reported on the con dition of the finances of tbe chamber, and eaid that when 70 more members were obtained tbe organization would be in a satisfactory condition, and that at least two-thirds of this number ought to be obtained thie month, It was de cided to resume the active canvass until the required numboi was scouted. The following were elected to mem bership: Henry A. Darling, real estate and loans; H. C. Wyatt, manager Los Angeles theater; D. P. Hatch, attorney ; Southern California Lumbar company, wholesale lumber; Lawia Thome, sec retary Agricultural Fair association. A communication was read from Geo. VV. Parsons, delegate of the chamber to tbe trausmisßießippi congress, reporting what he had accomplished at the meet ing of that body, and the thanks of the chamber were tendered Mr. Parsons for his services there and his action in pre senting a resolution in favor of the im provement of tbe enter harbor of San Pedro. A communication waa read from D. Edeon Smith, secretary of the Southern California Pomological society, asking that a committee be appointed from tbe chamber to confer with a committee from their organization with regard to inviting the members of the American Pomological society, which ia to meet in Sacramento in January, to visit South ern California. The chair was empow ered to appoint a oommittee of three in the matter. The 26th of December wae fixed as the date for a meeting of the chamber, at which nominations shall be made for officers and directors. Additional new members bave recent ly been brought in by \Y. C. Patterson, (Jeorge Gebhardt, Hancock Banning, M. F. O'Daa. O. G. Johnson, E. F. C. Klokke, T. D. Stimson, O. Pooley, li. B. Young. Petty Offenders Fined. In the police court yesterday George : Davis got 20 days in the chain-gang for ! petty larceny; John Gleaaon, Paul Con rad, John Smith, Jack Henley, Thomas j Brown, Charles Tolland and Thomas I Camp got one day each for vagrancy, and I tne drunks came in for the usual fine of !$2 to $5, according to the "aiziness of ! the jag." Thomas Bishop got ao care ' lubs aa to disturb the peace, and waa i mulcted of $5 to settle the damage. Held for Burglary. J, W. Ellis was given a preliminary examination in Justice Austin's court yesterday on a charge of burglary, and was held for trial in tho sum of $1600, Ho is accused of robbing tbe residenoe of Mrs. l'omeroy, at Tenth and Olive stree(6, several days ego, getting away with some valuable cloake, aucquoo, etc. Vucklfjn'e Arnica Halve. The best salve in the world for outs, bruises, sores, ulcers, uaitrhoam, lever gores, teller, chapped bunds chilblain', coma and all skill eruptions, and positively earns piles or no pay required. It is gmrunteed to give perfect tut islactiou or money refunded. Price, Vis cents per box. For aale by (J. F. Ueinzeuiaa, i'l'i N. main street. Largest stock of wa 1 piper at lEckstrom's, 30D Ida It at. Kigbt price-good taste. YESTERDAY'S WELCOME SHOWER The Crops Are Started and the Farmers Jubilant. A Large Yield of Grain in tbe County Now Assured. Oahnanga will Keep Up Iti Reputation for Kerly Shipments of Vegeta ble!—Dlapatchee From Neigh boring tovii, It commenced to rain gently Tuesday night and a general downpour kept up all night, much to the gratification of tbe merchants and business men of the city, who reuiembored the general hard times of last year caused ,by a dry sea son. The farmers are particularly jubi lant, for rain to them meana prosperity. They have patiently waited for a down pour for a month or more, realizing tbat without it their crops would atart only to be burned by tbe heat of the aun's raya. The producera ot tha Cahuenga dis trict are elated. Their section ia noted all over the country for prodncing early vegetables, and the rain to tbem means extensive shipments to supply the de mands of the eastern markets. Ca huenga aIBO produces the finest lemona iv tho state, and tbe rain of yesterday will give new life to tbe lemon trees and insure a bounteous crop. Around Downey, tbe great grain cen ter oi the county, the farmers bave built up great expectations on account of the ahower. Laat aeason tha grain crop waa vory light, hardly paying the coat of harvest, but yesterday's rain ie indicative of full granaries and exten sive shipments. The rain in the elty hae given new 1 lustre to the house fronts, fresh life to to tbe flowers, and has generally purified the atmosphere and flushed the Bewere as no artificial meane could do. It has given a Btimulus to trade, and all our merchants feel like eelecting their holi day gocda with a greater consciousness of ample retnrn. In speaking about the shower, tbe men in charge of the weather bureau said yesterday that it had set in for a "big rain." The barometer began fall ing on Tuesday with easterly-southerly winds and cloudy |weather all over tbe coast. Slight rains had fallen before laat night in San Diego, San Luie Obispo and in Northern California, and there is every indication oi a general storm all over tbe coast. Yeaterday forenoon the barometer be gan dropping again, and the ehower whioh started in the early part of the night before had reached .31 of an inch at 5 o'clock yeeterday morning and .74 of an inch at noon, making a total of I.4Binoheß for the seaaon. TIIK RAIN IN THE COUNTRY, Santa Ana, Deo. s.—lt baa been rain ing nearly the whole day, after ahower all hint nigbt. The rain falls quite slowly and all goes into the ground. It ia a grand thing for the ranchers. It ia atill raining, with good proapocts for another all night rain. Riverside, Dec. s.—The firat general rainatorm of tbe seaaon began last night and continued alt day, with good pros r l®S®a® & m I Woodlawn! i ® This beautiful property « f, i MAMMOTH PEPPER *W H fronts on - j H| ; TREfiS. Jefferson, —I gt mtfirsa T9 *— 'ii ' —n l!!-year-old orange trees H in Main ' /ill 111TiTrifm iTn f r-*-----—" 011 evci> y h,t * © gh Thirty-filth, Z3 | | I \ I ! , j Graded Streets. w Thirty-sixth, ill ' f' IA Cement walks and curbs. ™ Thirty-seventh and IIIii!!||JI I I 1 , { 1 I | 11 Q Building- restrictions. j* \? Maple avenue. ~■ ■ ■ . .y. ■■, ■ ■ igp\ PRICES: jg i 3 SLiff :SI MOO TO,IOOO : %) ~ oa ° b '° Ct We " U SL—J jl[j jj (TTm-nTfTi k CTTN TERMS: H 5 Line, - jjj | j | n IQTT g • -M.p1...'. Electric. j Uj? (JlWi nIKJJ OAM) J -One block N. K. I S *"" Balance i and 2 yeara. FOR MAPS, INFORMATION, DATTrD P, WFCT Owners, 158 W. FIFTH street, mm ETC., ETC., SEE TUI IX-iIY OL YV LiO 1 , or irquire at office on tract. \ HIGHEST PREMIUMS OFFERED IN AMERICA. *^:$««». —1 * Above aU com petitore at \ "" " > ,I s /-\ -~F*f~\ ~ J all exhibits vriie;e work 1 nontn t t e ne ( B late omP '- t; - STUDIO AND OPERATING ROOMS have lately bien remodeled and equipped with all the latest improvements, which places it among the foremost studios in America. All the latest styles and designs used. Platinotypes Carbon and Sepia Portraits. iECURE YCUR SITTINGS IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. lOT NORTH SPRING ST., LOS ANGELES, OAL.. pect tonight for a continuance. The fall here bas been about an inch and a hall of rain, whioh was welcomed by tbe farmers ol thia connty, who now ace a proapect for a good aeaaon'a crop. Santa Monica, Dec. s.—lt commenced raining laat nigbt at midnight and con tinued alowly but continuously until tbia evening, and the indications are good for continuance all night. Ihe gauge shows 1.31 inches About one third of tbe land in this vicinity is planted and the farmers are delighted. San Brk.nardino, Dec. s.—lt began raining here about 10 o'clock last even ing and ia still pouring down. The rain fall up to noon today is 1.80 inches. At Squirrel inn, in the mountains north of the city, the rainfall was 3.25 inches up to 3 o'clock today. Pasadena, Deo. s.—Tne rain, the beautiful rain, put in an appearance last night at (bout 11 oclock, and has been coming down with no let up ever sinoe. Up to 7 o'clock this evening the tall had amounted to about 1.75 inches, and prospects good for a coniinuance. The downfall comes in good time end will prove of much benefit to this section generally. Farmers will he now able to set about ploughing for the grain orop, which has been delayed on account of the rains being so backward. No trouble has ao far reaulted from the rain, . except the falling of an clectriu light pole at the corner of ColnVado and Los ' ltoblea, which delayed travel for a ohort time. The gutters, generally, are carry ing off tbe ntorm water in good shape. AT SAN DIROO. San Diego, Dec. s.—At 5 o'clock to night .18 of an inch of rain had fallen. The barometer was low and indicated more rain. Reports of the downpour bave been received from all over the county. An inch and a half cf rain fell in the mountains. AT SACRAMENTO. Sacramento, Dec's.—A drizzling rain has been falling here nearly all day and tonight. It ia the kind of rain that far mers like. Tbe fall today was about three-quarters of an mob, making 3.25 for the season to date, aa againat 3.32 to the same date laat year. CLAUDE CAMPBELL. Bis Father Sayl the Boy Ii Thoughtless bnt Not Hed. Rev. J. W. Campbell and bia wife, the parents of Claudo C. Campbell, who was hazed by hia olaaamatea at the atate univeraity at Berkeley, the other day, for wearing Stanford colora at a football game, were eeen about the matter by a Herald reporter yeaterday. "You may aay," eaid tbe reverend gentleman, "that while our- boy has caused us more or lesa trouble, he ie not at all vicioua. He ia unusually bright and haa a very nervoue temperament. He ia extremely impulsive, and often is guilty of doing things thoughtlessly whioh be would refrain from doing if he would only stop and think. "His troubles at Stanford laat year, while to be regretted, were not at all disgraceful. He waa entered at the Btate univeraity for thia term and waa to have bean returned to Stanford next year. I hope that thia last trouble will not prevent hie entering tho latter insti tution, for be much prefers to attend there than any place else. The boy iB wild and thoughtless, but. we have every hope that by the time he reaches man hood he will outgrow these- boyish freaks and make up to come extent for the worriment he has caused his frienda who are interested in hia eucceaa." Dr. Parker, dnntiat, 13.1 i West Pint stroes SANTA MONICA. Tha Tt.ln Krok.a Thankagtvlrjg- Aa Kn(ln«rt'i BUI. Santa Monica, Dao. 6.—The patter ol the rain npon tho roof, about midnight, waa the tlueat muaio that our citizsna could hear, und it kept up until about 1 p. m. wheu there waa a ceaaation, but every indication oi more before the final closing up. Ita ooming haa gladdened all henrts, from farmer to tradesman. A large portion of the adjacent lands have already been planted and thus tha rain can' do its good offices with double the results ordinarily expected. On looking over the records of tba nroceedings of the board of trueteea, it ia found that on October 15th tbey passed a resolution authorizing the acting en gineer, Mr. Thomas li. James, to do cer tain work under the supervision of the Btreet committee, which bo did to the complete satisfaction of ths committee; his bill, a small one, by the war, for tha seivices performed, was tbo $15 one left over at the Monday evening meeting, when in fairness to Mr. James, it abould iiave been paid. On Thursday, at the bride'a parents' residence in Pasadena, Eulogio Garrillo, aon of J. .1. Carrillo of this place, will be married to Miaa Grace H. Westover of that place, but who formerly resided here, both bride and groom being popu lar among our young people. Oards are out announcing tbe ap proaching wedding of Miss Marion Annabel, daughter of Mra. V. V. Hop kins. Joe Kennedy, an inmate of the soldiers' borne, was tried before Justice Willie for assault with a deadly weapon in stabbing a fellow inmate witb a pair of shears, and was bound over to await the action of the superior court. Captain Dnuiieid, of ihe luatuuiuiii wharf, has gone to San Franoisco and will return to Port Los Angeles witb tha tug Collie. The wharf haa been aupplied with a number of water pails and ropea, etc., ao au additional protection against fire. Mr. and Mrs, Alexander Young of West Bend, lowa, are enjoying a week here, preparatory to making an extend ed trip through Southern California. Seaside lodge No. 360, 1.0.0. F., at ita last eeaaion elected the following officers for the ensuing term: Geo. W. Heimer, N.G.; I. D. Richmond, V.G.; CD. Middlekauff, treasurer; I. A. Willis, recording secretary ; Geo. B. DexUr, Peo Sec.; S. F, Carpenter, trnatee. Miss Blanche Bancroft, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Bancroft nf Third street, who haa boon absent for tbe paat year and a half, haa returned home, ac companied by Miss Sullivan X, Hooper of Weupun, Wis. Trouble Over Diamond!. J. W. Coleman and A. H. Reed, who got into tronble the other clay concerning aome diamonde belonging to Coleman's mother, Mra. A. H. Spencer, of 845 South Broadway, have been released, the charges against them having been kept out of the courts. It is asserted Coleman took his mother's valuables, and ehe refused to prosecute him. Reed was arrested on a charge of receiving stolen diamonds, but there is not enough evidence to convict him. lie was re leased from tha city jail yo«terdav, while Coleman secured bis release in Sau Ber nardino by means of habeas corpus. Herr August Asmold, Norwegian vio linist, playa on a JSOOO instrument. Performance at Normal School hall, to morrow evening. Tickets, 50 centa; re served aeats, 75 oenls. Drink Shnnta Water, Woollacott agent.