The San Francisco call. [volume], May 25, 1895, Page 16, Image 16

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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16
INCOME-TAX DECISION
Reimbursement May Be Asked
for Taxes Under the
Old Law.
MILLIONS WERE PAID HERE.
Court of Claims the Tribunal to
Which Appeal for Redress
Should Be Made.
When the Supreme Court of the United
States declared the income-tax law of 1894
unconstitutional many people inquired at
once if the decision was not in effect a
declaration that the income-tax legislation
enacted during the war was directly con
trary to the constitution.
If the Supreme Court is now right in
overthrowing a law taxing incomes it was
wrong when it sustained a law imposing a
tax of that character. The decision is re
markable in this, that it reverses a broad
principle under which hundreds of mil
lions of dollars have been collected from
the people of this Nation and paid into the
National treasury.
In the argument of the case when the
issue was pending in the United States
Supreme Court Attorney-General Olney
raised this very point, maintaining that
persons who paid the tax under the old
law would be entitled to relief were the
new law declared unconstitutional. The
moral obligation of the Government to
reimburse the people who paid the former
tax can hardly be questioned in view of
the recent decree of the court, and if steps
are not taken for reimbursement by many
who did pay it will be indeed strange and
out of the order of things.
No decision handed down from the Su
preme Court since the famous Dred Scott
case has created more profound and wide
■pread comment throughout the country
than the one to which reference is here
made.
In San Francisco a deep interest in the
Bubject is taken, not only by lawyers but
by citizens of every vocation. The income
tax was perhaps but an incident of the
war in Eastern cities, but in San Francisco
it was a great event. The records of the
Internal Revenue Department will show
that here in the San Francisco district the
ratio of persons paying the ta« to the
whole population was greater than in any
other city of the United States.
More than that the aggregate amount
collected was the greatest district collec
tion. It is a compliment alike to the loy
alty and law-abiding spirit of the commun
ity that no resistance to payment was
made in the courts or elsewhere. There is
no record or suspicion of perjury having
been committed to evade payment.
San Francisco paid more internal revenue
tax than all other parts of the coast put
together, and the incomes of the people as
reported to the Federal Assessor were
larger than those of any other revenue dis
trict, not even excepting the Third
Congressional District of New York,
which had a poulation of 200,000
and was reputed to be the wealthiest in
the country, as it contained the residences
of many of the merchant princes of tiie
commercial metropolis of the Nation. In
1864 the gold incomes of San Francisco
amounted to $13,600,000, exceeding $20,000,
--000 as a currency basis. Out of 20,000
voters, 8000 paid incomes on more than
$600 in gold. The average income of these
8000 was $1700.
The amount of regular annual 3 per cent
income tax paid in the San Francisco dis
trict (San Francisco and San Mateo) was
$516,000, and the amount of the special in
come tax at 5 per cent was $675,000.
There are many well-known citizens of
California who now recall the cheerful
manner in which payments were made, and
among them can be mentioned W. W.
Montague. William Alvord, Lloyd Tevis,
Raphael Weill, Henry Marshall, Sidney
Smith, Levi Strauss, W. F. Whittier,
Bernard Murphy, M. Castle, General John
Hewston, George W. Granniss, James M.
McDonald and David Bush.
The act of August 5, 1861, imposed a di
rect tax and a tax on incomes, but the in
come portion of the act never took effect.
The first income law under which any tax
was collected was the act of July 14, 1862.
Under this act the tax was 3 per cent on
incomes over $600 and not over $10,000;
over $10,000. 5 per cent. Act of March 3,
1865. over $600 and not over $5000 5 per
cent ; over $5000, 10 per cent on excess over
$5000. Act of March 2, 1867, over $1000, 5
per cent. Act of J uly 14, 1870, over $2000,
2>2 per cent. No income tax was collected
under the act of June 30, 1864, as it was
amended by the act of March 3, 1865,
before it became collectible, but the
numerical order of the sections of the act
of June 30, 1864, was preserved through all
the subsequent amendments until the act of
1870. The income tax expired with assess
ment in 1870 of the income of 1869, accord
ing to the limitation contained in section
119, but was reimposed with some varia
tions and made applicable to the incomes
of 1870 and 1871, by the act of July 14, 1870.
The following from Eldridge's ''United
States Internal Revenue Tax System " is
an abstract of the decision of the United
States Supreme Court on the old law :
It is not competent for Congress, under
the constitution of the United States, to
impose a tax upon the salary of a judicial
officer of a State. (Collector vs. Day, 11th
Wall, 113.)
The question whether the income tax
was a direct tax within the meaning of tlie
constitution, elaborately discussed, and by
all the authorities reviewed and the de
cision of the court stated as follows:
"Our conclusions are, that direct taxes,
within the meaning of the constitution,
are only capitation taxes, as expre?~ed in
that instrument, and taxes on real estate;
and that the tax of which the plaintiff in
error complains (the income tax) is within
the category of an excise or duty." (Sprin
ger vs. Lnited States, 12 Otto, 586.)
Questions of the validity of a "succession
tax," under the act of "June 30, 1864, as
amended. In reviewing the question of
the constitutionality of this tax, the court
Bays that, "whether direct taxes in the
sense of th<* constitution comprehended
any other tax than a capitation tax
and a tax on land is a question
not absolutely decided; nor is it
necessary to determine it in the present
case, as it is expressly decided that the
term does not include the tax on income,
which cannot be distinguished in principle
from a succession tax, such as is involved
in the present controversy." Tax held to
be constitutional and valid and rightfully
levied. (Scholey vs. Rew, 23 Wall, 331.)
The principle involved in the income-tax
enacted during the war does not differ from
that, expressed in the law of 1894, which
the court recently set aside. The section
expressing the intention of Congress in the
law of 1894 reads as follows:
Section 27. That from and after the Ist day
of January, 1894, and until the Ist day of
January, 1900, there shall be assessed, levied
collected and paid annually upon the gains,
profits and income received iv the preceding
calendar year by every citizen of the United
States, whether residing at home or abroad,
and every person residing therein, whether
said gains, profits or income be derived from
any kind ot*property, rents, dividends or sal
aries or from any profession, trade, em
ployment or vocation carried on in the
Lnited States or elsewhere, or from
any other source whatever, a tax of 2 per
centum on the amount so derived over and
above $4000, and a like tax shall be levied,
collected and paid annually upon the gains,
profits and income from all property owned
and of every business, trade or profession car
ried on in the United States by persons resid
ing without the United States. And the tax
herein provided for shall be assessed by the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue and col
lected and paid upon the gains, profits and in
come for the year ending the olst day of De
cember next preceding the time for the levy
ing, collecting and paying of said tax.
The point involved in Attorney-General
Olney's declaration showing a decision of
the Supreme Court overthrowing the
income-tax law of 1894 would render
illegal the tax on incomes collected from
1563 to 1870, and entitle the persons who
paid it to come in now and claim re
imbursement, was presented to Attorney
J. E. Richards last evening.
"It must have escaped Mr. Olney's
mind," said Mr. Richards, "that the con
stitutionality of the income-tax law passed
during the war was tested in the United
States Supreme Court. The court held
that the constitution conferred the power
on the legislative branch of the Govern
ment to levy a tax on incomes.
"Now the present decision cannot give
persons who paid during the war an op
portunity to go into the courts for relief in
the way of repayment. The only remedy
for them that I can see now is before the
Court of Claims. No citizen can sue the
United States without permission of Con
gress, and it is beyond belief that Congress
would authorize suits for sums of such
magnitude as would be involved herein.
And further than that," continued Mr.
Richards, "the decision of the court de
claring unconstitutional the law of 181 M
does not touch the law of 1863. The Su
preme Court may reverse itself, but it does
not affect taxes collected under the former
law. The law of 1863 was declared consti
tutional and the decision touching that
act was not reversed.
The law stood until it was repealed in
1870 or 1872, whenever it was repealed. A
person going to the United States and say
ing, "You must return this money which
you wrongfully collected because the act
was illegal." would receive the answer: "If
there was no law authorizing the tax to be
imposed and collected you made a volun
tary gift of the money to the Govern
ment. Perhaps the identical person who
caused the suit to be instituted for testing
the law would say: "I did not pay volun
tarily, I went into court asserting that Con
gress had no right to impose the tax." He
would be answered: "You did go into
court, and the highest tribunal in the land
affirmed the right of Congress under the
constitution to impose the tax. In law
you have exhausted your reniedv, but you
'may ask Congress to pass a bill for your
relief, or you may file your suit in the
Court of Claims."
The Court of Claims to which reference
was made in the interview with Mr.
Richards was created during the war,
or just after the close of the
struggle, to hear and determine claims
of various kinds. The Government, in its
hour of necessity, took the property of
loyal as well as disloyal citizens, and in
the stir and rush of war many vouchers
were imperfectly issued, and in many in
stances no written evidence was given that
property had been appropriated or confis
cated. How many millions of dollars were
awarded for relief the court records only
can tell.
It is estimated that San Francisco paid
to the Federal Government during the in
come-tax era at least $^,000,000.
W. W. Montague, who paid tax on a
considerable income during^the war, was
of the opinion that the first steps to test
the sense of the Government on the ques-
tion of repayment would not be taken in
San Francisco, but held that many people
here would get in without much delay if
claims for reimbursement were tiled in the
East.
"Our people in San Francisco," said Mr.
Montague, "regarded the income tax as a
war measure, justified by the necessities
of the Government, and it was paid cheer
fully on that principle. That idea was
clearly expressed by Justice Field in the
introduction of his recent opinion on the
tax of 1894. We are now as a nation at
peace with all the world, and there is no
necessity for straining the constitution to
impose a tax, inquisitorial and unpopular,
which only a great emergency can justify."
A large sum was paid as income tax by
Mr. Carroll, who founded the house of
Carroll & Carroll, but the younger mem
bers of the family, who have succeeded to
the business since the death of the founder,
have paid little attention to their an
cestor's transactions with the Government
in the "sixties."
G. L. Barker formerly belonged to the
firm of Wellman, Peck & Co. and paid his
income tax with the others in 1864.
Henry L. Dodge of the house of Dodge,
Sweeney & Co. was in the "sixties," as
now, a prosperous man of affairs. He
paid the income tax, as did others, and ro
garded the payment as necessary for the
preservation of the Government. At that
time California could not spare men to re
enforce the armies in the lield on the
Potomac and Mississippi, but her people
had money to contribute and they gave it
freely in payment of war taxes and in
voluntary contributions to the sanitary
fund. For instance, Captain J. B. Thomas
gave as much as $250,000 to the sanitary
fund. Trenor W. Park and many others
gave freely and largely after Thomas Starr
King aroused a powerful Union sentiment
on this coast.
"At one period," said Mr. Dodge, "Cali
fornia was trembling on the verge of seces
sion. Public sentiment wavered and the
press was timid, if not cowardly. A firm
and resolute stand on behalf of the Union
was not taken by the great masses of the
people until the eloquence of King moved
them to a sense of their responsibility."
P. N. Lilienthal, manager of the Angle-
California Bank, doubted very much if the
merchants of San Francisco who paid the
war income tax would institute proceed
i nes to recover the money so paid to the
Government. He remarked: |"Michael
Reese and Nicholas Luning are dead and
the merchants now living would not want
the public to know what small incomes
they possessed at that time."
Henry L. Payot, now of the house of
Payot, Upham & Co., was in business dur
ing the war and paid his share of the tax.
He was not in town yesterday, but his
partner, Mr. TJ-pham, was sure "that the
amount paid was not large enough to jus
tify proceedings in the Court of Claims to
recover it. He was of the opinion, more
over, that Mr. Payot paid it cheerfully, be
cause the Government needed money, and
would not ask for repayment now.
Mr. Sadler of the firm of Mau, Sadler &
Co. was in business on this coast in the
"sixties." He paid the tax, but the
amount contributed was so small that it
passed out of his mind.
The tax was paid by Holbrook, Merrill <fe
Stetson, Lcvi Strauss & Co., Murphy, Grant
& Co., James Moffatt of Blake, Moffatt &
Towne, and in fact by all the well-known
mercantile houses doing business at that
time. There were no very large incomes
here in the "sixties." The assessment
roll of 1864 shows the names of only a few
men whose personal property assessment
reached $100,000 each. According to popu
lation the wealth was large in the district,
but so distributed that 8000 of the 20,000
voters were income-tax payers.
The income tax law of 1894, recently de
clared illegal by the Supreme Court, did
not impose a tax on incomes less than
$4000 per annum. The war measure taxed
all incomes in excess of $600.
In Prussia all incomes in excess of $214 a
year are taxable, so that no complaint of
inequality can be made. In the year 1894
the tax was assessed upon 25,719,008 per
sons, and 1922 societies and corporations,
the former contributing $27,196,813 and the
latter $1,845,272. The total population was
30,387,231, considerably less than one-half
the population of the United States, and
21,233,624 were exempt because their in
comes amounted to less than 900 marks
($214 20) each, or because of their foreign
nationality. The population affected by
the tax included 4,702,683 persons living in
cities and 4,444,841 living in the country.
The estimated total revenue of all the tax
payers amounted to $1,376,871,808, of which
city incomes contributed $936,379,017 and
country incomes $440,402,791. The average
income tax was $634. The cities paid in
round numbers $20,000,000. and the coun
try $7,000,000. The general average was
od}4 cents to each person.
Bernard Murphy of San Jose while con
sidering that the tax is in its nature in
quisitorial perceives that it reaches the
class most able to pay— a class that should
pay but which manages to avoid payment.
The reasoning of the court in deciding the
act of 1894 unconstitutional does not strike
Mr. Murphy as clear and logical. It fol
lows this style of deduction: "The sun
rises in the east and sets in the west, there
fore the law is unconstitutional."
Raphael Weill is a pronounced advocate
of the principle of taxing incomes. He
believes it to be just and practical. He
paid cheerfully during the war and would
pay again. ,
THE SAN" FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1895.
GOOD STREET PAVEMENTS
Bernard Bienenfeld Tells How
San Francisco May Be
Improved.
CONCRETE AND ASPHALTUM.
Processes and Tests for Material to
Be Used on Highways In
This City.
Bernard Bienenfeld of this City has re
cently returned from a tour of inspection
through Eastern cities, where he made it
his business to critically examine the
latest improvements in the construction of
street pavements. Mr. Bienenfeld is well
qualified to perform this work, as he is a
graduate of the college of Civil Engineer
ing, University of California, and has for
several years been connected with the most
extensive street-paving interests of the
Pacific Coast, with special advantages for
observing local conditions and require
ments. He has devoted much thought to
the subject, and is acquainted with and in
correspondence with the principal paving
authorities of the country. Speaking of
this important subject, now so prominent
ly before the public mind, Mr. Bienenfeld
said : "Years ago the larger cities of this
country and of the Old World had to meet
the same problem that now confronts San
Francisco. More rigorous climatic condi
tions, however, forced them to adopt
rational principles in pavement construc
tion earlier than has been the case with us.
We may therefore learn much from a study
of their methods.
"As the result of an actual inspection of
this brancn of the public service in New
York, Washington, Buffalo, Boston,
Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver
and other progressive cities of the Union,
I shall endeavor to give such pertinent
conclusions as are warranted by the con
ditions that exist in San Francisco.
"There is nothing to prevent our adoption
of sensible methods at once. An enlight
ened public opinion fostered through an
enlightened _ public press will certainly
prove sufficient to secure immediate re
forms needed, now that attention has
been awakened. The construction of a
comprehensive system of underground con
duits for water, gas and electric service is
no doubt a desirable improvement— one
that should precede any general remodel
ing of our pavements. And without ques
tion the organization of a properly quali
fied Board of Public Works is a consum
mation devoutly to be hoped for. But if
we are to await the realization of these
hopes before putting down any pavement
we may long wait in vain. At the same
time we must not lose sight of the less
pressing, yet none the less necessary, gen
eral reforms, chief among which is that of
the law.
"At the bottom of the whole trouble is
the law. The Supreme Court of this State
has practically held as illegal any bid for
public work wherein a contractor proposes
to guarantee and maintain his work in re
pair. The contractor's only incentive for
doing honest work is thus withdrawn. It
becomes his highest motive to perform his
work as poorly and cheaply as possible, to
barely meet the exactions of improper
specifications. After having once received
his pay he has no further interest in the
durability of his pavement.
"Nearly all of the large cities of this
country and of Europe require from the
paving contractor an effective guarantee
extending over a period of from five to fif
teen years. This guarantee is usually
coupled with a nominal charge for main
tenance after the first five years. The re
sult of that system is that the contractor is
spurred on by every consideration of self
interest to do the very best work possible.
He realizes that only by so doing can he be
enabled to maintain his work for the long
period of time fixed in his contract.
"Why the construing of our law upon
this head should be so diametrically op
posed to the dictates of public wisdom I
am unable to say. It is one of our most
crying evils, and until that matter and our
general street law are completely reformed
it will be idle to expect any generally good
street work. The drafting and enactment
of a new street law, after proper study by
qualified lawyers and engineers, is an
urgent necessity. The glaring defects of
the present cumbersome law should be cor
rected and a simple method adopted for
securing honest work. The anti-guarantee
decision of the Supreme Court must be
modified or reversed, and we must be
enabled to exact guarantees for main
tenance of the pavements from those who
construct them. For the present, however,
no immediate reform of this law is pos
sible, although it is not too early to begin
preparing the matter for the next Legisla
ture. The subject should be borne in mind
and acted on as soon as possible.
"In regard to matters of actual pavement
constructiou it is proper to remark that
there is no mystery in the princples of
street-pavement work. It is a mere mat
ter of common-sense, and when stripped
of its technical verbiage readily appeals
to the judgment of any intelligent person.
I would here suggest that it is the duty of
every citizen, of every property-owner and
taxpayer, of every horseman and every
wheelman, to familiarize himself with
these simple principles to the end that
each and every person should be able to
discern whether or not any particular
piece of work is being properly done.
Eternal vigilance is the price "of good
streets, as it is of many other good things.
"First comes the sub-foundation, dv
which is meant the natural ground or the
prepared bed upon which the pavement
structure proper is to be laid. With us
this is usually sand. After being exca
vated to the proper depth the sub-founda
tion is wet and then thoroughly rolled and
compacted. In the East it is usual to em
ploy steai> i rollers weighing at least 250
pounds fo: each inch in width; but owing
to the extremely heavy traffic conducted
on San Francisco's streets double this
weight should be used here. Even then
the weight will hardly equal the pressure
that is sometimes brought on the finished
pavement surface by some of our loaded
trucks.
"After the sub-foundation has been ex
cavated and trimmed to proper contour
and thoroughly rolled, a foundation of
concrete is laid. As a matter of fact, this
foundation is the pavement, the usual
bitumen or basalt-block covering being
merely the wearing surface. Too much
importance cannot be given to this con
sideration.
"The concrete must be thick enough to
readily diffuse any extreme and unequal
load that may come on it at any on< noint,
to that extent acting both as gir<'<ranu
arch. For light residence streets four
inches in thickness is sometimes allowed.
For most of our streets six inches will be
the minimum, and for our heaviest busi
ness streets no less than eight or nine
inches should be used. At the same time
we must be careful not to err on the side of
excessive strength; for by so doing we
may increase the cost so much as to pro
hibit the work entirely in some instances.
The addition of each inch in thickness of
concrete will add nearly two cents per
square foot to the cost of "the work.
"The concrete is composed of water,
sand, cement and broken rock, in propor
tions that must be determined for the
quality of sand and broken rock that are
employed. A usual proportion is one part
of cement, three parts of sand, six parts of
broken rock. The proportion of water
used should be as small as possible.
"The sand must be clean and sharp,
free from loam, clay or other earthy mat
ter. It is best to use sand the particles of
which are of different sizes. The cement
should be of the best Portland hydraulic
cement, and should readily pass the tests
prescribed by the American Society of
Civil Engineers. To this end there should
be instituted a thorough inspection of all
cement to be used in the worK. Samples
are ordinarily taken at random from every
fifth or every tenth barrel of cement; and
in some constructions every barrel is tested
before being allowed to go into the work.
"This cement-testing is an extremely
important feature; and to the complete
absence of it here is to be attributed many
of the glaring defects of our public work.
There is no other important city where
this matter is so completely disregarded as
it is in San Francisco. Even the best
brands of cement will sometimes spoil,
and there is no way to detect the defect
except by actual test. When it is remem
bered that defective cement has about the
same efficacy as brick dust, that it is often
reground and sold to unscrupulous con
tractors for less than half the price of good
cement, that no difference whatever is ap
parent to the eye or touch between good
and bad cement, and that no difference
can be detected except by the tests above
referred to, it will be seen how urgent it is
that we should give some heed to this
matter.
"Th« broken stone should be of good
hard rock, free from loam, clay or earth
It should be made up of particles from the
size of a pea to that which will pass through
a ring two inches in diameter. Trap, gran
ite, hard limestone, quartz rock and meta
morphic sandstone make good concrete.
"Sometimes a bituminous concrete,
wherein asnhalt is the cementing mate
rial and where the other ingredients are
sand and broken rock, is used; but this
foundation is not as rigid as the hydraulic
cement concrete, and it is not therefore in
great favor.
"Having disposed of the foundation the
next consideration is the wearing surface.
The enlightened experience of older com
munities has narrowed the choice down to
two materials — stone blocks and asphalt.
Other materials, such as vitrified brick and
wooden blocks, are also used ; but the best
practice adheres closely to stone blocks for
the very heaviest traffic and asphalt for
everything else.
"Vitrified brick pavements are largely
used in parts of the Mississippi Valley and
in the Southern States on account of the
abundance of good clay in those sections;
but the impossibility of burning the brick
evenly renders it difficult to produce a first
class pavement out of that material. It is
not as noisy as stone blocks, nor as expen
sive; neither is it as difficult to keep clean,
but it is not as durable as stone. It is used
to good advantage on steep grades, where
asphalt would be too slippery.
"Experience in San Francisco with
wooden pavements has been no more satis
factory than that of our fellow-experi
menters on the shores of the Great Lakes,
where cedar blocks have been so largely
used on account of cheapness. Such pave
ments have never been successful, except in
rare instances and under extremely favor
able conditions.
"The best materials for block pavement
are traprock and basalt, both of which are
fine-grained, hard and tough. Granite and
metamorphic sandstone are often used, but
they are friable and not bo durable as
basalt. The blocks are usually four inches
in width, six inches deep and at least eight
inches long, and should be cut fairly true.
They should be laid in regular courses run
ning the width of tne street, each block
breaking joint with its neighbors in the
courses adjoining.
"A cushion of clean sand two inches
thick is first laid on the concrete founda
tion. On this the blocks are set and clean,
sharp sand is brushed into the joints. The
blocks are then thoroughly rammed into
place with a heavy paving-rammer. The
excess of sand ia then swept up and a
grouting of hot asphaltic cement contain
ing as much fine sand or pulverized lime
stone as it will hold without becoming too
thick (usually 60 per cent limestone to 40
per cent pure bitumen) is poured into the
joints, thoroughly saturating the sand that
has been previously brushed into these
joints. The whole is then given a final
ramming with heavy paving-rammers.
"The trouble with our present basalt
paved streets is the lack of foundation and
the irregularity of the size and shape of
the blocks. Eastern specifications allow
no more than a half-inch joint between
blocks; pn some of our San Francisco
basalt pavements there are joints two
inches in width. As to foundation, I know
of no concrete under basalt anywhere in San
Francisco, except on some of the cable-car
lines. The hydraulic cement grouting that
is sometimes used between stone blocks,
while it makes the pavement rigid and
stable, renders it at the same time very
slippery under the feet of draught animals.
It is therefore not to be encouraged.
"Let us now come to the discussion of
the asphalt wearing surface, which is
usually laid directly on the concrete
foundation. It is generally two and a half
inches thick after compression, except in
lightly traveled streets, where it is some
times laid only two inches thick. There
is practically no asphalt pavement in San
Francisco to-day, nearly all of our smooth
pavements being of so-called bituminous
rock. Almost all of the fine, smooth pave
ments of other cities of the Union are of
asphalt, the supply being obtained largely
from the island of Trinidad in the West
Indies. The surface so laid is an artificial
mixture of asphalt, sand and powdered
limestone, and in appearance very much
resembles some of our bituminous rock.
"It is extremely difficult to find a bitu
minous rock that is uniform in composi
tion. It is a natural mixture of bitumen
and sand ; and adjoining parts of the same
deposit will vary extremely both in pro
portion and in quality of the contained
bitumen.
"The term bitumen, by which is meant
the cementing substance of the bituminous
rock, is a broad one, and comprises a range
of substances extending from a fluid and
extremely volatile oil to an exceedingly
brittle and pliable solid. If a bituminous
rock contains the volatile bitumen, it will
soon go to pieces in the pavement through
loss of its cementing material into the air.
If, on the other hand, its bitumen be of the
brittle solid kind, the pavement will soon
be ground to a powder under the action of
the traffic that passes over it. It is there
fore not sufficient to specify that the mate
rial must contain 10,15 or "i 0 percent of
bitumen; the desired quality of the con
tained bitumen mus.t be specitied. What
is that quality? Recent chemistry has de
veloped some exact tests on that subject;
and it is now quite possible to define the
desired quality of bitumen with precision.
Thft matter is* somewhat too technical for
discussion here, and I shall therefore pass
it for the present, trusting, however, on
another occasion to enlarge thereon.
"From a perusal of the foregoing it will
become apparent vi'iy bituminous rock
often wears so poorly. In brief, different
parts of the same quarry have different
bitumen percentages, ana the bitumen in
different parts varies greatly in quality.
The resulting pavement is bound to wear
unevenly. The only way to avoid such
work is to have careful scrutiny of the ma
terial on the lines above suggested.
"This defect-is not usually encountered
in asphalt pavements, for there the
cementing bitumen is of an exact and
proper nature, and the paving mixture is
made up on exact and unvarying propor
tions. Washington specifications limit the
proportion of bitumen in the finished
paving mixture to no less than 9 per cent
and no more than 11 per cent by weight.
By close attention to such exact details
pavements are produced that readily with
stand a range of temperature of 130 deg.
Fahrenheit, between the extremes of sum
mer and winter, being neither too soft in
the warm season nor too brittle in the cold.
Some of the Eastern asphalt paving com
panies guarantee their work for fifteen
years.
"Another defect in our bituminous rock
is the insufficient compression we in San
Francisco give to our* pavements. Eastern
asphalt work is thoroughly rolled while
still warm with a steam roller weighing
no less than 350 pounds to each inch in
width. The only rollers used in San Fran
cisco weigh about one-tenth of that figure.
As a result the pavement suiface is left in
a spongy, incoherent condition and rapidly
gives way under heavy traffic."
It costs more to make the Royal Baking
Powder because its ingredients are purer,
but it is more wholesome and goes further
than any other.
England imports $3,000,000 worth of pota
toes every year. .-,• " " .
» m *
Mask Hopkins Institute or Abt.— Last
week of exhibition. ♦
FOR RIVER BAR MINING.
An Invention That Promises
to Revolutionize Gravel
Elevators.
TO UTILIZE WASTE WATER.
A Plan to Do Five Times the Present
Work With the Same Supply
of Force.
An improvement in hydraulic gravel ele
vators that will, if it does what it prom
ises, add a great impetus to river bar min
ing on a large scale, has been made by
Charles Blagburn, a mechanical engineer
of this city who came out from London
last year in the interest of some English
capitalists to look into ditch property in
El Dorado County.
The present elevator is shown in figure 1.
The water, as now used, passes under high
pressure through the pipe A. At B there
is an opening through which the gravel
enters the discharge pipe C and where the
supply water, passing through a nozzle as
shown sectionally in figure 2, forces it on
up through the flume D leading to the
dump.
The improvement is shown in figure 3,
Gravel Elevator Now in Use.
[Sketched by a "Call" artist from drawings.]
where at E there is a sump or sink, and a
branch pipe reaching into it from the sup
ply pipe at F, where this pipe is expanded
to form a ball or swiveled nozzle exactly
the same in principle as that at B, which
forces the gravel into and up through the
discharge pipe, a sectional view of which
is shown in h'gure 2.
The second swiveled nozzle is to force in
through the pipe from the sump an addi
tional supply of water. In order to get an
equivalent force to the water through the
discharge pipe the supply water must be
given a greater head. The changes then
giving the same force and amount of dis
charge in the new as in the old elevator
will be an increase in the head or pressure
of the supply water, a decrease in the sup
ply equal to the amount taken up from
the sump.
The greatest problem to solve in all
hydraulic mining is the obtaining of a suf
ficient quantity of water. What is claimed
for this improvement is that with sufficient
additional nead the same work can be done
with from a half to a fifth the amount of
water now used, the saving depending on
the pressure obtainable.
Mr. Blagburn in speaking of this says:
"Take one of the old-style elevators, such
as used at the Mammoth Bar mine, which
is probably the best equipped in the State.
With 400 feet pressure 200 inches of water
is used in each elevator, which forces out
through the discharge one cubic yard of
gravel per minute, with about 100 inches of
2— Sectional View of Swiveled Nozzle.
3— The Improved Elevator.
[Sketched by a "Call "artist from drawings.]
additional water coming in with the gravel.
This is all raised a height of seventy feet to
the flume leading to the dump.
"Instead of that, with mv improvement
and raising the head from" 400 feet to 1000
feet, with a supply of 100 inches, you get
the other 100 inches from the sump, and so
do the same work with half the supply of
water from above.
"If, as can be done in a majority of
cases, you utilize a pressure of 2600 feet,
with 40 to 50 inches of water coming
through the supply pipe, 150 to 160 inches
would be taken up by the suction-pipe,
and the same results would be effected as
with 200 inches under 400 feet pressure.
"Water there costs generally about 20
cents an inch per day, and a large saving
would be effected in this. But the great
point is that the supply of water at any
price is inadequate in many places, and
the advantage of running live elevators
with the quantity of water now used for
running one is apparent.
"Again, there is the saving effected in
getting rid of such a large quantity of
water that is coming into the mine and
which now has to be pumped out.
"The largest savine, however, would be
made in labor. At present owing to the
small supply of water and its cost the ele
vators are so made as to pass stones only
four inches in diameter. All larger stones
are carried out of the way by derricks or
wheeled off by Chinamen. Now by mak
ing elevators large enough to carry off
seven-inch stones instead of four-inch ones
and using the same or less water through
the supply pipe over half the labor now re
quired can be dispensed with.
"Along all the large streams of the gravel
belts in this State are thousands of acres of
these bars which, owing to their want of
elevation, can be worked iniy with hy
draulic elevators. That the burs are con
sidered valuable is shown by the fact that
so many of them have been taken up. Dur
ing the last year or two all the bars along
the Middle Fork of the American River
have been located in the expectation that
some of the owners of the large water
rights in El Dorado County would soon
bring in larger supplies of water to be sold
at more reasonable rates."
WANT CHEAP ROOMS.
The Railroad Commissioners Are Com
plying With the Governor's Policy.
The Railroad Commissioners were to
have met at 2p. m. yesterday, but Com
missioner Stantou was called out of town
suddenly and the other members of the
board decided to transact no business in
his absence.
Commissioners La Rue and Clarke were
out oa a hunt for a new office. They gave
a few hours to the task of finding desirable
rooms that shall not cost more than $50 a
month, and returned in the afternoon
quite undecided as to what they might do
In the new appropriation rent of the Com
missioners rooms was reduced from $85 to
$50 a month, and a change is compulsory
before July 1. The board is paying $85
for two rooms at Market and Kearny
streets, but hopes to secure quite as good
accommodations for $50 in a eood location.
THE OPIUM SMUGGLEKS.
A Jfuinber of Others Are Implicate!
and the Grand Jnry Is Inves
tigating Them.
The case of Alexander McKay, the dray
man at 413 Front street, was before the
United States Grand Jury yesterday. It
was at first thought that he was implicated
in the operations of H. L. Foss, the man
now serving time in San Quentin for
smuggling opium and counterfeiting Chi
nese certificates.
Foss, in his confession before the Grand
Jury, admitted that McKay carted all the
opium from the Mail dock to Chinatown,
but swore positively that he did not know
the contents of the* packages. He said the
cases were opened on the dock and the
various parcels were addressed to the dif
ferent Chinese firms and delivered by
McKay.
In the hone that he might in some way
connect McKay with the smuggling trans
actions Louis Greenwald, one of the
Emerald gang, was brought over from San
Quenrin. His testimony was in the main
the same as that given by Foss.
Henry Chaffey is accused of being an
other member of the Foss gang of smug
glers. He used to keep a lodging-house at
the corner of Post and Powell streets, and
there the smugglers made headquarters.
When the Emerald gang was caught
Chaffey left for British Columbia and has
not been seen since. Greenwald and his
wife are thought to know where he is, how
ever, and his capture is expected at any
time. The charge against him is smuggling
500 pounds of opium intot his City in Octo
ber, 1893.
WATCHING THE STEAMERS
Sacramento's Bad Element
Will Receive a Warm
Reception.
The Manuel Llaguno to Sail for Hon
olulu To-Day — The Brown's
Pleasant Trip.
The Sacramento and Stockton steamers
will be closely watched by the Harbor
Police, acting under instructions from
Chief Crowley, ana every suspicious-look
ing character will be lodged in jail. The
order was the result of the action of the
citizens' committee of Sacramento in rid
ding that town of a portion of its unde
sirable population.
The Chief is fearful that the exodus of
criminals and tramps may drift in this
direction, and he proposes to give them a
warm reception. The attention of the
police will probably be directed to the
Horseshoe Club, the members of which
have been infesting Washington-street
wharf.
The American ship Manuel Llaguno
finished discharging her cargo yesterday
and she will sail for Honolulu to-day at 1
p. M. Her discharging was one of the
greatest feats ever accomplished in steve
doring work, her entire cargo having been
taken out in four and three-quarters days.
The Tillie Starbuck got away ahead of
her, but the Tillie had begun discharging
before the Llaguno reached port.
Both vessels are bound for Honolulu to
take in a cargo of sugar for New York, and
it will be a race between them until they
are docked on the Atlantic side.
The American ship J. B. Brown was
towed to Port Costa yesterday afternoon,
and as guests of Captain Magune there
went along J. Ross Jackson, the well
known journalist, Meyer Jacobs and
Thomas ><olan. The sail up the bay was a
delightful one, and the captain was as
loth to bid farewell to his clever guests as
they were to bid good-by to the snug cabin.
There is certainly no baking powder so
well known and generally used as the
Royal. Its perfect purity, as well as its
superiority in leavening power, are mat
ters of fact no longer disputed by honest
dealers or makers of other brands. Its
virtues are so well known to every house
keeper that the slanders of the dishonest
makers of the cheaper goods fail to touch it.
LEAVES THE FIELD.
The Manager of the Merchants' Insur
ance Company Resigns Because It
Refused to Cut Rates.
William H. Friend, general manager of
the Merchants' Insurance Company of
Newark, N. J., resigned his position yes
terday.
This action on the part of Friend gave
rise to considerable comment yesterday
among insurance men. His company had
refused to continue cutting rates, which is
equivalent to withdrawing from the local
field, since it cannot expect to do business
at high rates while all other offices are
cutting rates as much as 60 per cent.
Voss, Conrad & Co. were formerly agents
for the Merchants' Company, and were
succeeded by Friend. The company was
organized in 1858 with a capital paid up of
$400,000. In 1890 its net surpius was $477,
--580, but the amount decreased rapidly
until it was as low as $103,495 in 1893.
With this condition confronting the man
agers it was deemed suicidal to enter into
a losing fight in San Francisco.
It is practically another company driven
out of this field by competition.
A Defendant's Rights.
The Suprgme Court reversed the decision of
the lower court in the case of Joseph D. Thrus
tou vs. P. H. Clark. Clark was Sheriff of Glenn
County and was removed on the information
of Thruston, but the Supreme Court held that
the trial court erred in compelling Clark to
testify against him in a criminal case and
chiefly on that ground the court below is di
rected to sustain the demurrer to the accusa
tion with leave to amend.
g^\ 3XTO-
ft PERCENTAGE
\gJ;F PHARMACY,
JyL 953 MARKET ST.,
v. fHPT: Bet. Fifth and Sixth,
One of our ' FIVE DOORS ABOVE
Customers. HALE BROS.
CUT PRICES ON ALL GOODS.
Electric Belts • - $5 TO $15
Trasses - - 51.75 TO $5
Silk Stockings - - $3.50 1
Galvanic and Faradic Batteries
$5, $7, $10, $15
Obssity Belts - „;-. - $2.50
Crutches .... $2.50
_ Above to be • had at Ferry Cut Kate
Drug Store, Ho. 8 Market street, at same
prices.
NEW TO-DAY.
OPEN TO-NIQHT TILL 10.
BROWNS
In the purchase of Spring
or Summer Clothing at such
a time as this the element of
economy is of first importance.
Buy your suit at Prices
Without Profit."
BLUE
We are the wholesale manu-
facturers who offer you this
exceptional advantage — be-
cause it ; is absolutely neces-
sary for us to clear out the
stock instead of carrying it
over — and Prices Without
Profit" is, we believe, the
way to do it.
SIGNS
BROWN^s
Wholesale Manufacturers ,
Props. Oregon City Woolen Mills '. jt
Fine Clothing y&
' For Man, Boy or Child tfg
RETAILED *.
At Wholesale Prices
121-123 SANSOME STREET,
Bet. Busk and Pine Sts.
ALL BLUE SIGNS
FITSCURED
; {From IT. S. Journal of Medicine.)
Prof. W. makes a specialty of Epilepsy/
has without doubt treated and cared more cases than
any living Physician ; his success is astonishing. iWo
have heard of cases of 20 years' standing cured by him.
He valuable work on this disease which ha
•ends with a large bottle of his absolute cure, free to
any sufferer who may send their P.O. and Express ad-
dress. We advise anyone wishing a cure to address.
Prof. W. H. PEEKE, F. D., 4 Cedar St, New York.
DON'T BE DISCOURAGED !
_wsrf3Ti!3si\ Cultivate j onr
(sss£>* -*j will look 100
per * ent pret *
tier wheQ yoa
remove that
:/ air rom oiir
** face.
READ THESE TESTIMONIALS
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29, 1895.
This is to certify that I have subjected
the Antoinette Depilatory to a thorough
chemical analysis and I find it to b«
superior, to all other ' preparations ' for -
the removal of superfluous hair. It li
without the least irritating; action upon '
th* most delicate skin.
W. T. WENZEIX,
Analytical Chemist.
This Is to certify that I know Professor W. T.
Wenzell and know him to be correct In every de-
tail. M.H. LOGAN, Ph.Q.,M-D.
This Depilatory is WARRANTED not to
stimulate the growth of the hair. Price
SI 50. - TRIAL, SAMPLES of three of my
complexion specialties for 5O cents. ■-
Enough to last 2 or 3 weeks. Just;
what you require. _ r^
HE. MARGHAND,
* Hair and Complexion Specialist, -
131 POST STREET, ROOMS 32-36,
Taber's Entrance. Telephone 1349.
W. L. Douglas
ISTHEBB3T.
>tf!iP^*|bs3. CORDOVAN ,
MffiM^' J\ rRINCHAENAMtUXUCAJJ".
jg||^||l ♦3.5PP0L1CE.3 soles.
x^- sSB&J I * exTllA ri •«• s »
TJkssffit& 2.<l7^. BOYS'SCHOOLSHKSi
Over One. ft* -lion People wear the
W. L. Douglas $3 & $4 Shoes
AH our shoes are equally satisfactory
They give the best value for the money. -
They equal custom Chocs In style and fit.
Their wearinz qualities are unsurpassed.
The prices are uniform,— stamped on sola*'
. From Si to $3 saved over other makes.
If your dealer cannot supply you we can. Sold by
B.KATSCHIN3KI...... 10 Third Sfc.
K. PAUL 324 Kearny St.
JOS. KOHLBECHER 128 Fourth St.
SMITH'S CASH STORE... 41« Front St.
D.DONOVAN 141 2 Stockton St.
M.MILLER & C 0........ 12149 Mission St.
A. STEINMAN... :..... .Golden Uata
JIS3I- OFFICE .J&3T-&
DESKS
924.00 DROPPED $24.00
GEO. H. FULLER DESK CO.,
638 and 640 Mission Street.
NEW WESTERN HOTEL.
K EA^ V*Y * A , ND WASHINGTON KTS.-RE-
XV modeled and renovated. KING, \H\> <■>>
European plan. Rooms 50c to 31 50 per day, »
to sB per week, $8 to $30 per month;. tree bathil
not ana cold water every room: tira slates la overs
room; elevator rusa ail oight, «"«>*#