The San Francisco call. [volume], June 25, 1895, Page 6, Image 6

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

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6
Ob* M Mali
CHARLES M. SHORTRIDGE,
Editor and Proprietor.
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The Eastern oflice of the SAN FRANCISCO
CALL (Daily aid Weekly), Pacific States Adver
tising Bureau, Rhinelander building, Rose and
Duane streets, New York.
THE SUMMER MONTHS.
Are yon going to the country on a vacation? If
bo, It is no trouble for us to forward THE CALL to
cur address. Do not let it miss yon for yon will
niisß it. Orders given to the carrier, or left at
Business Office, 710 Market street, will receive
prompt attention. .
TUESDAY .' JUNE 25,1895
It may be an off year, but politics stay
with us.
Money is a very accomplished thing, for
it can both talk and fly. 77; 7 : "-77
The Twin Peaks are still yawning for the
extension of Market street.
As a parlimentary leader Rosebery was
not much of a huckleberry.
Consumption of home-made goods pre
vents consumption of home capital.
There should be no criticism of the
bloomer girl as long as she is our girl.
To-day the Kentucky Democrats get
into the ring for a fake or a knockout.
It is time to begin your preparations for
the celebration of the glorious Fourth.
Rosebery's failure has , only tended to
lift Gladstone a league nearer the stars.
You will taste of the fruits of prosperity
if you eat of the fruits of home industry.
When tbe practice of purchasing lottery
tickets has become a habit it amounts to a
disease.
Pauncefote does hot regret his trip on
the St. Louis, but he is sorry he put his
foot in it.
Judging by the swing on them, it ap
pears that to some people the world is a
hammock..
The proposed reformation of the British
House of Lords will now take a back seat
for awhile.
If Salisbury dissolves Parliament, Eng
land may have to join us in a campaign or
the silver question.
Rosebery's premiership was just about
as useful and important as the success of
his horse at the Derby.
The difference between living and exist
ing is fully appreciated by those who go
camping in the summer.
Kaiser William's reference to his grand
father as William the Great was a strong
hint to German historians.
Since the great Republican victories of
last year even the Democrats are able to
see better prospects ahead.
People who buy lottery tickets never
have any money to contribute to charity
or to undertakings for the public good.
There is many a hard-working, wearied
girl in the City who might find a pleasant
outing picking fruit during the summer.
The producers of the State should bear
in mind all summer Jbe importance of
making a good display at the coming State
Fair. '^V'-7V;
The electric carnival which Sacramento
is preparing to give will be literally the
most brilliant spectacle ever witnessed in
California.
The sun gives in California the most
valuable proof of the good arising from free
dom and generosity in the exercise of
beneficent powers.
Every trainload of fresh fruit sent over
the mountains from California is an invi
tation to settlement here and a threat to
the fruit industry of the East.
Having taken hold of Korea,' Japan re
gards it somewhat in the light which the
monkey found hovering over the lighted
cigar stump which it picked up.
One advantage of the British system of
government is that it dissolves a crisis as
soon as it occurs, and does not permit it to
drag along like four years of Clevelandism.
Until Californians develop as eager a
tooth for their own fruit and wine as the
Eastern people have cultivated there is
still wide room for the developing of our
market.
Along with our grand celebration of the
National holiday there should be enough
reserve patriotism among tbe people to
prompt every one to stand by the home
factory.
It appears that 'Chicago has an annual
festival known as "wash day," on which a
charitable society gives all the poor chil
dren of the city a free bath and a clean suit
of clothes.
About the only pleasant memory con
nected with the old City Hall is that of the
fact that the Salvation Army daily fed 5000
hungry persons there during the hard
times two years ago.
According to a Berlin critic the German
reporters at Kiel had a more imperial time
than the Emperor himself, and not only
went through the canal but got half seas
over before they came back.
It is a happy arrangement that causes so
many San Franciscans to leave for the
mountains in summer and so make room
for the dwellers of the hot plains to come
and enjoy a deliciously cool climate.
In view of the wide divergence of opinion
it might be well for the Legislature to pass
an act deciding whether the horizontal pro
„ file of Mount Tamalpais. should be called
the Sleeping Beauty or the Old Woman.
There are said to be some persons so good
that the name which Mount Diablo bears
prevents their ascent of the mountain and
beholding from its summit a view which
Professor Whitney declared was the grand
est in the world.
The silurian, who until recently " has
seemed so fierce and formidable an ogre, is
discovered, now that he has been ; caught,
impounded and deprived of his claws and
fangs, to be * the most harmless and pusil
lanimous of whimperers.
Those who insist on calling Los Angeles
"The City of Angels" would exhibit wis
dom by remembering that the name of the
city :in r its original form, translated into
English, means "The Town of Our Lady
the Queen of the Angels."
THE TAX LEVY.
Auditor Broderick has , prepared and
submitted his official estimate and recom
mendation as to the rate of the tax levy
for the present fiscal year.- The rate which
he figures out as proper is $1.2945 on a
property valuation of $300,000,000 or $1
on about $320,000,000 valuation, according
to the way the taxpayer sees fit to look at
it. The truth is that Auditor Broderick is
affected - somewhat by the fetich of the
dollar limit, but realizes that this phrase
of the silurian has lost its power. •
The Board of Supervisors must pres
ently pass upon the estimates of Auditor
Broderick and either adopt or increase his
suggested rate. In doing so they should
be guided by certain business principles,
the logic of which applies equally to cities
as to individuals. These principles are
mainly two. The first is that a tax rate
must be fixed which will provide money
enough to carry the City • through the
fiscal year without a deficit. The honor of
the City demands this, and its plain and
simple obligation to those who furnish it
with its necessaries requires it. The dis
grace of being a defaulting debtor at the
close of each fiscal year should no longer
stain the ermine of the metropolis of the
West.
This observation suggests the second
business principle which should be ob
served by the board in its fixation of the
tax rate. The City of San Francisco al
ready owes a considerable sum of money to
its own citizens for certain necessary
goods, wares and merchandise furnished
to it during the past two years at its spe
cial instance and request. A portion of
this debt has already been put into the
form of judgments and it all could be, for
to these debts of honor there is no meri
torious defense. The tax levy of the
present year should be ample enough to
pay these debts in full. The argument
that there is a clause in the State constitu
tion which forbids cities from paying for
the necessaries supplied during one year
out of the revenues of another is as illogi
cal as it is dishonest. It is inconceivable
that the framers of the constitution
could have intended to provide
that cities should maintain certain
departments at an expense which, though
inevitable, is not susceptible of exact pre
vious ascertainment, and yet that this ex
pense must be ascertained in advance and
be provided for out of the taxes of the year
'in which it was incurred. The Board of
Supervisors should adopt no such non
sensical limitation upon their honesty of
action as the City's agents at least until
the Supreme Court has unmistakably in
structed them to do so. The tax levy
should be high enough to provide for the
payment of every dollar of floating in
debtedness which the City in honor and
justice to the merchants ought to pay.
It is probable that a tax rate which
should come up to these requirements
would be as high as justice to taxpayers
would permit for any single year. It
will be seen that Auditor Broder
ick's report makes no provision
for street improvements or the building
of sewers or for other permanent public
improvements which have been of late
much discussed and earnestly desired.
There is a way open, however, for the
making of these improvements, and the
time is ripe for its adoption. The City of
San Francisco should issue bonds. The
legality of such an issue is past dispute in
view of the express letter of the general
laws. The wisdom and present expedi
ency thereof are a matter of easy demon-
stration. The experience of all great and
growing cities proves the wisdom of making
the future liable for those permanent pub
lic improvements which the future is to
mainly enjoy. The City of San Francisco
has reached a point in its history when it
must determine whether its destiny will
be dominated by the folly of the Silurian
or by the wisdom of the progressive spirit
of the age. -
A SPLENDID POST.
General Schofield has declared that our
military reservation, known as the Presi
dio (a Spanish word, meaning a fortified
place, from the Latin presidium, whence
we get "president" and its allied words),
is not only the most attractive military
post in the country, but that when the
improvements now under way are com
pleted it will be also the best fortified.
While these are evident facts, he some
what surprises with his . assertion that
Fort Winfield Scott is by no means worth
less, and ' that its antique guns could do
efficient work at close range. As it seems
very likely that a single shell from a great
modern gun nine miles at sea could wreck
the ancient brick pile, the close-range
efficiency of the fort's pot-metal armament
would have but a meager chance for its
display. ,V"*V-
However, that is a trifling matter. The
interest which the Government has re
cently taken in strengthening the defenses
of the post is more important. The dyna
mite battery is rapidly getting into shape
on t the high bluff facing Bakers Beach,
and between it and the fort two mammoth
rifles are being mounted. These are the
principal features of the new defensive
armament, which throughout is to jbe of
the latest and best design. While these
improvements are going on, two handsome
brick barracks are being ' constructed, a
railroad and a steam excavator are being
employed in making firm ground out of
the marshes, the planting of trees is being
extended all over the reservation, and the
roads are being overhauled. The abolition
of ', the ' San Diego garrison and its trans
ference to the Presidio will : add another
incentive to developments and improve
ments. f • ■ ': -Tr"^*"
One of the most interesting features of
the Presidio is the beauty of the flower
gardens. The residence of every officer is
a bower of gorgeous blooms, and they pre
sent a refreshing contrast to the desolate
aspect of the City gardens. Whether this
display of superior taste and pride is due
to the fact that the officers' wives are East
ern women and know how to appreciate
the extraordinary advantages of the cli
mate, it would be unnecessary to consider;
but the , fact remains that if one wants to
see beautiful private gardens in San Fran
cisco one must visit the Presidio. ■.''-.
It is difficult . to understand why the
authorities of the post plant even forests of
evergreen trees—eucalyptus, pine and
cypress— in preference to deciduous trees,
and why they go " so . extensively into' the
planting of the acacia, which is the most
prolific of insect-breeders. ■ The peculiarities
of the : local climate make the planting of
deciduous ornamental trees advisable. 7
o Besides being one of the handsomest spots
in the City the Presidio has certain advan
tages which '-• have a special military value.
The climate is of a kind to insure the per
fect ) health of \ the garrison, and the near
ness to a great city gives the post numerous
manifest ; advantages. ' The configuration
of .the. coast permits of so few points at
which even a landing may be effected that
' this port must always be the one to be most
carefully guarded. ; It is the only one that
gives /access ' to the great interior basin of
the State, where future development 'oh a
grand scale:' is to proceed. The many, rich
and . peculiar natural resources of California
give it a special value to 5. the whole Nation
and call for special measures for their pro
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1895.
tection and development. In comparison
with the coast defenses of European coun
tries those at San Francisco seem wofully
meager, and considering the fact that be
hind them is a defensive population ex
ceedingly small in comparison with that
backing the defenses of the Atlantic Coast,
there seems to be every reason for develop
ing the strategic strength of the Presidio
far beyond the contemplation of the pres
ent plans. ____^______ *
A GERMAN MUDDLE.
The great festival at Kiel has gone into
history; the fleets have dispersed, the
splendors vanished, and nothing is left but
a memory and a faction fight among the
German journalists. Out of this contest
there have come some strange stories of
the festival which jas illustrations of the
way things are done over in the land of
the Kaiser and the home of the first print-
ing press are worth noting.
It appears they have over there a cer
tain Herr yon Koeller, who, being a Min
ister of the Interior, had charge of all the ar
rangements for the press during the festi
vals, both at Hamburg and Kiel. This
man is reported to have declared he had
"nothing but contempt for newspaper" men
and the reporters who were sent to the
festivals are now being denounced by their
brethren for degrading the profession by
cringing before a dignitary who, ill his
ministerial chair, bad spoken of jour
nalists in that insulting way. •<
It appears further, however, on the testi
mony of one of the leaders in the faction
fight, that every reporter for the press, on
arriving at the scene of festivities, received
an order-book good for fifty ". bottles of
champagne or other .wine. As the cere
monies continued three days, this allow
ance gave each reporter fifteen bottles of
wine for each day's refreshment and five
more to taper off on when - the fete was
over. The man to whom the reporters did
the kowtow, for which they are so severely
condemned, is the man who made the ar
rangements about the wine; and the ques
tion arises whether, under these circum
stances,' the reporters at the fete are justly
subject to condemnation by those who
stayed at home.
From this distance it appears the re
porters were not so base as their critics are
trying to make them out. Doubtless Herr
Koeller had spoken contemptuously of
them, but it is equally doubtless they had
often spoken contemptuously of him. At
the great national parade the time had
come to let bygones be bygones. The
Minister had evidently done the proper
thing in regard to the wine, and it would
have been unkind to rake up old scores
against him. The occasion, in fact, was
conducive to good feeling, and despite the
criticisms of those who were not there it
appears evident the German journalists
acted on this occasion with as much inde-
pendence and as lofty a sense of dignity as
can be expected of men of any profession
among any people on earth.
A WEALTHY CORNER.
It is a misfortune that some of the rich
est of the smaller valleys of the Coast
Range lie off the main lines of travel and
are therefore practically unknown. A rea
son for this is that these wonderfully rich
spots each as large as some of the smaller
Atlantic States— land bays let into the
mountains and backed by steep slopes
which railroad builders in sparsely settled
regions avoid. The San Juan and San
Benito valleys, whose remarkable attrac
tions were fully described in yesterday's
Call, are instances, 0 and yet they 'are
among the wonders of the State. When
we keep in mind the wise old saying that in
locating their missions the Franciscans
"never made a mistake," and that one
of their noblest missions was founded in
the San Juan Valley, we have sufficient to
look for something extraordinary in the
locality.
We find that it consists of these excel
lencies: a remarkably fertile soil, an
abundance of purest water, a delightful
climate, freedom from winds, fogs and
storms and ideal healthfulness. This does
not include the picturesque which with the
Franciscans was as important over a cen
tury ago as it is to-day among our most cul
tured people. The ground attached to the
picturesque old mission of San Juan Bau
tista has been under cultivation for more
than a hundred years and to-day has a
fertility which to an Eastern farmer would
appear wonderful.
The two main valleys of San Benito
County— San Juan and San Benito — have
each their distinguishing peculiarities.
The San Benito, which contains Hollister,
the county seat, and an intensely modern
and progressive town, is practically closed
against the immediate effect of the Pacific
trade winds. Its climate is very much like
that of the Santa Clara Valley, to which it
is joined by a narrow opening in the moun
tains. The Santa Clara Valley's climate
receives a certain modification from con
tact with the bay of San Francisco, and
hence has a slight ocean character that
the San Benito lacks. The San Juan Val
ley, on the other hand, though further re
moved from the ocean than the San Benito,
opens upon it over the \ Pajaro Valley, and
thus has even more of a coast climate
than the Santa Clara Valley. Being backed
by very high mountains, however, it is free
from the winds and fogs of the coast, and
hence enjoys all the 1 balmy effects of the
trade winds without any of their discom
forts. V* 7
" To th* very high credit of San Benito
County it may be said that all the discov
eries of its wonderful resources and all the
progress seen in their development have
been made by its own residents, without
any assistance whatever from that aggres
sive energy and enterprise which have
been observed in other parts of the State to
have been put forth by , newcomers from
the Eastern States. Hollister , would be
taken for the smartest product of Yankee
industry and thrift, so beautiful have its
residents made it, and so modern is their
way of governing it. j The quaint old town
of San Juan is very different, for its ancient
manana air of sweetness, - comfort and re
pose are as much a part of ; its charm as is
the memory of the old Spanish times that
hovers over it. Those who have not seen
San Juan and come under the spell of the
infinitely soft and winsome graces which
constitute its charm and make it a strange
and picturesque slice out of '• medieval
times, have missed one of the very few "of
these rare pictures which the vandal hand
of progress has not destroyed in California.
ARMY INSPECTIONS
7 Lieutenant-General Schofield and party
left last night to inspect the defenses of
Portland. It has taken the commander
nine days to thoroughly do up : San Fran
cisco and vicinity, and it is safe to assume
that hereafter the Palace Hotel will be held
as a fortress open to attack. '
When General Sherman was in com
mand of the army; he'; always made his
inspections at such times that he could see
his troops under working conditions and
in the field. In following out this plan he
visited Southern posts in midsummer and
Northern posts : ; in midwinter, ; but the
modern idea of warfare as practiced by the
Washington -| authorities • at ; present is to
reverse such conditions of affairs, so that
the inspection is made « for .' pleasure while
the business part is learned in the reports
required from subordinate officers.
7 Instead of a real inspection every four or
five years made . by. the commander and
two or three staff officers, in which the ex
act condition of the troops and defenses is
ascertained, we have reviews and dinners
and receptions— not one, but generally two
or three times a year. And, strange to say,
these reviewing * officers . visit only large
posts, and at that season of the year that
the traveling public most favor that section
of the country. Thus, last summer the As
sistant Secretary of War and friends visited
during the heats of summer a few large
posts where the climate was agreeable in
Northern Minnesota, Dakota, Washington
and California, while during winter of
the same year the Secretary of War en
dured the captivating climate of St. Au
gustine and a few posts in Texas, and
toward hot weather reached Colorado in
time to cool off. This year we have Gen
eral Schofield, his brother, . two sons, his
wife and his wife's sister and the general's
staff coming out here and going back by
way of the Northern Pacific and the Yel
lowstone, while the Secretary of War and
wife and friends are now in the Yellow
stone. .-.."V -^7:7 .' .7
But it is only the large posts where a big
review can be had, a great crowd of specta
tors assembled, that are visited. Angel
Island, Alcatraz and Benicia are better
seen at a distance, and neither will Gen
eral Schofield, while in Portland, visit the
real defenses — Forts Canby and Stevens.
It would not be ''military" for a general
or a secretary to take his family to out-of
the-way posts, where real army conditions
exist, but where reviews ana receptions
are precluded. _-■__
And so the Secretaries and the generals
and their staffs will travel around in pri
vate cars, with little or no expense (to
them), taking their "sisters, cousins and
aunts" with them, holding reviews atone
or two large posts, so that they can draw
mileage for their trip, and the public looks
on, partly understanding, but making no
complaint, because the people feel that It
is not every country that with an army of
only 25,000 men, can support a lieutenant
general, who, with his staff, costs them as
much as the President, who never makes
reviews although commander-in-chief.
ROSEBERY`S EXIT.
The resignation of the Rosebery Ministry
for so small a cause as that of a snap vote
in the Commons on a motion of little im
portance may be taken as a confession that
the Cabinet did not feel equal to the task
it had assumed and was glad to accept any
excuse for getting out of office and turning
the work of government over to the oppo
sition. , ; 'V'^-"'::-
This conclusion of the administration
was not unexpected. When Rosebery be
came Premier he inherited with the office
the great policy which had been formu
lated for the Liberal party by Gladstone.
To succeed the great Liberal in office and
to succeed him in leadership are two dif
ferent things. Rosebery found himself in
the position of the successors of Alexan
der. The wide programme of reform ad
vocated by his mighty predecessor has
hung upon the new Premier "like a giant's
robe upon the puny shoulders of a dwarf."
He entered office speaking brave words of
reforming the land laws, disestablishing
the Welsh church, reorganizing if not
abolishing the House of Lords, and grant
ing home rule to Ireland. He has been too
weak a leader, however, to hold his party
together on a single one of these measures.
Being thus unable 'either to carry them, or
to get rid of them while in* office, he | has
wisely chosen to get out of office and give
the Conservatives . a chance to dissolve
Parliament and submit the issues between
them to the country.
In this crisis Gladstone again stands as
the central figure in the empire. He only
can rouse the Liberals in England to make
a vigorous fight for the great measures
which he has so long advocated- He is an
old man, it is true, but his retirement from
office has given him a chance to rest and
he may still be able to lead his old follow
ing to another victory. The people of the
world who have with so much sympathy
watched his long fight for justice and
liberty on the i British Islands will care
little whether he takes office again or not,
but they would rejoice to see him save his
party from impending defeat and prepare
the way for the passage of a home-rule bill
before he leaves altogether the arena of
politics. ____________^^
RAILROAD STATISTICS.
The seventh statistical report of the In
terstate Commerce Commission, which has
just been published, deals with the . con
ditions of railroads for the year ending
June 30, ; 1894. This period, while it was
marked generally by a widespread and
unprecedented business depression, in
cludes the last four months : of the Colum
bian Exposition, during which there was
a marked increase in passenger traffic. It
is noted, moreover, that at the close of the
year 192 roads, operating 42,000 miles and
representing about one-fourth of the total
railway capitalization of the country, were
in the hands of receivers. The effect of
these various conditions upon the opera
tions of the roads is apparent in nearly all
the figures presented. -
Owing to the business depression the
work of constructing new lines of road or
extending old ones was seriously checked,
and as a consequence the total mileage of
railways was increased during the fiscal
year by only 2247.48 miles, as against
4897.55 miles in the previous year. *- An
other evidence of the effect of the depres
sion is found in the fact that despite the
additional roads put into operation, the
number of railway employes in service on
June 80, 1894, was only 779,608, being 93,994
less than the number employed on the cor
responding date ;of 1893. This decrease,
which amounts to 10.76 per cent, reduced
the railway force lower than at any time
since 1890, and on the estimate of four per
sons being dependent on each wage-earner,
shows that in i the ; railway industry alone
over a third of a million people were de
prived of their regular means of support
It will be noted from the j report that in
bad years as well as in good, the process of
railway consolidation goes steadily on, and
that in fact the depression seems to have
given an impetus to the movement. Dur
ing : the year . fifteen ;' roads / representing
1734 miles were merged, twenty-two roads
representing 2351 miles were I reorganized
and fourteen roads representing 1590 miles
were consolidated. At the close of the year,
forty-four roads operated over 56 per cent,
and ninety roads operated nearly \73 per
cent, of the entire railroad mileage of the
.country.' ■.\- , _ ». ',« -" >
The report gives little evidence of the
attainment of any ;of those long-desired
improvements .in - railway methods and
management that would make the service
safer for employes and travel safer for pas
sengers. During ' the year under : review,
1823 railway employes were killed and 23,
--422 were s injured, as compared with 2727
killed - and 31,729 injured in -, the ; previous
year; but it is believed the decrease was due
mainly to the lesser number of men em
ployed and the f decrease in business, and
only to a small extent - to the adoption of
improved equipments. The casualties ' to
passengers for the year were 324 ; killed, an
increase of 23, anil 3304 1 injured, a decrease
of 195.7 The railway service therefore con
tinues to be one of the most dangerous oc
cupations of men, for among that class of
employes known as "trainmen" the report
shows that during the year of compara
tively little business and no r rush one out
of every 156 was killed and one. of every
twelve was injured.
THE CIVIC FEDERATION AND THE
LOTTERIES.
S.F. City Argus, June Hi.
The Civic Federation has buckled on its
armor, declared war against the lottery evil
and 1 given notice that it will show no quarter
to those engaged in the business; but it is not
likely that it will score a monumental victory
until it secures the election of honest Police
Judges, the reorganization of the Police De
partment, and its members turn informers, and
prosecute In person the violators of the law in
the courts. The federation laid its grievance
before the late Grand Jury; but that body, for
reasons best known to itself, did nothing be
yond recommending, in its final report, that
the Legislature make . the sale of lottery
tickets. and advertising and aiding the lot
tery business a felony j instead of a misde
meanor, and the verdict of a majority of
the trial jury sufficient for conviction, and ad
vising that the present statutes be more rigidly
enforced. Of course no attention will be paid
to this. It takes money to have such a bill
passed by a California legislature, and the fed
eration Is opposed to "Doodling." That the lot
tery evil is one of the greatest enemies .of the
public weal, having a tendency to encourage the
gambling instincts of both men and women and
In a corresponding ratio to discourage thrift in
the vain hope of acquiring wealth without re
turning an adequate compensation to the com
munity, with the result that thriftlessness and
poverty invariably follow, there can be no
question. Indeed it affects the community
more than any other form of gambling, not
perhaps in itself, but because it is so far-reach
ing and all-embracing in its effects. That the
evil has a strong hold in this City Is a fixed
fact. Nearly every business block contains an
agency, and tickets can be purchased at almost
any saloon, grocery, bakery, or tobacco and
cigar store, or from I numerous policemen, or
the hundreds of peddlers who go around from
house to house inducing women and children
to buy them. Of course the sale of lottery
tickets in this City could be effect
ually suppressed could the heads
of the Police Department be induced to do
their duty. They know where every wholesale
agency is located, the name of the wholesale
dealers, and the name of every person who
peddles lottery tickets in San Francisco, and
just where he or she . can be found when
wanted. But they don't dare enforce the law
prohibiting lotteries, and for the simple reason
that for years past they have been paid large
sums of money monthly to protect lottery deal
ers, and were they :to now wage war against
these law-breakers they know the latter
would howl so loud and long that an
enraged community would rise in its might
and punish them as they deserve. Probably
the worst of these violators of the laws is the
Little Louisiana Lottery Company of this City,
the stock of which Is held by prominent poli
ticians, and, it is said, police \ officials.
Its headquarters are well known to Chief
Crowley, as also its stockholders and man
agers; and although for years it has open
ly conducted its business right under the
eyes of the j Chief, there is no record that
any of its managers or stockholders have
even been sent to jail for violating the lottery
law. Why have' these men escaped punish
ment? Are they less guilty than the poor
devils who are forced to peddle tickets, or steal
that they may live? The Argus would like to
see every person engaged in the lottery busi
ness punished as they deserve— not only the
managers and ticket agents, but their protec
tors, the police; but it is not probable that
such a thing will ever be done. Not that there
is not sufficient law to do this, but because
there is no power to enforce the law.
THE GILA MONSTER.
The Reptile's Bite Proved to Be Pols. j
-7,77 ■.-■'•'■ ' .'". - ODOUS. ,'V "' ",'*"*,'. 7
Editor of the Call— I note the very life
like picture in the Call of June 23 of Helo
derma horridum, the Gila monster, and also
the statement that the bite of the creature is
not venomous. 77*- 77
Nature has not been kind to the Gila mon
ster. She has not endowed it with beauty, nor
yet with any such position in the field of use
fulness as might enable it to base a claim for
handsomeness upon even humble Bervice. it
seems almost a shame to add to the burdens
the poor creature has to bear, but having the
public health in view. I beg leave to call atten
tion to the fact that the creature has been
proven poisonous.
The writer of the article in Sunday's Call is
in error in stating that the monster is gener
ally regarded as poisonous. Scientists have all
along been inclined to contend that it is not,
and while ugly enough to poison by sheer
malignancy of appearance it has generally
been considered harmless. The principal
reason for according the Gila monster this in
nocent character is the fact that up to a very
few years ago it was not known that any liz
ards are poisonous. Disgusting, hateful,
shudder-promoting reptiles many of them are,
but zoologists would promptly laugh to scorn
the idea of their being poisonous.
But, in addition to the testimony of many
Mexicans and Indians that death has fre
quently followed the bite of a Gila monster,
the creature has been by modern scientists suc
cessfully proven to be venomous. It is a dozen
or fifteen years since Sir John Lubbock pro
cured one of these reptiles and presented it to
the London Zoo. Tradition followed it from
its home in Arizona, giving it a bad name, but
the English naturalists were loud in their as
sertions that no lizards are poisonous, that the
Gila monster was a lizard, and that therefore,
the Gila monster could not be poisonous. It
was handled freely, was easily tamed, and
while sluggish and stupid seemed quite harm-
Jess.
Dr. Gunther, however, of the British Museum,
in examining the creature, found its jaws to
be very thoroughly equipped wltli a poison
apparatus.
A poisonous snake, like, for Instance, the rat
tler, possesses two elongated and hollow
"fangs" borne on its upper jaw. These fangs
are merely large teeth and their hollow in
teriors each communicate by means of a canal
with the poison gland. This gland, placed in
front of and below the eye on either side, is a
modified salivary gland. Now, examining the
Gila monster's mouth Dr. Gunther found, to
quote the report of Dr. Andrew Wilson
F.R.8.E., F.L.8., "that its teeth formed a literal
series of poison fangs. Each tooth appar
ently possesses a poison gland." Now,
nature does not provide useless ap^
paratus in any creature. Rightly judging
that where there was so much smoke as was
indicated by this elaborate equipment for
poisoning there must be a little fire, the British
Museum authorities tried a few experiments
They made the monster bite a frog and then a
guinea-pig. The frog died in one minute, the
guinea-pig in three. "There can be no ques
tion," again to quote Dr. Wilson, "judging
from the analogy of serpent bite, that the
poison 01 the lizard would affect man."
In some one of his travel sketches, too Mr
Frederic Remington has a characteristic
account of the sufferings of a man bitten by a
Gila monster. Tee man only escaped death by
the prompt application of a native remedy,
and he was a pretty sick man for some time
alter ?
When doctors disagree no layman may ven
ture to decide, but with what is actually
known of the Gila monster to guide us In form
ing an opinion of his harmlessness. it is not
wise to pronounce the ugly reptile innocuous.
He may, perhaps, be handled with impunity
nine times, yet inflict a venomous wound the
tenth. The question may not be regarded as
settled, but prudent people will do well to
avoid handling a creature which experience
shows can be dangerous.
The Naturalist at La rue.
AROUND THE CORRIDORS
: R. C. Irvine, one of the members of the State
Bureau of Highways, was telling at , the Bald
win Hotel of some of ' the experiences of the
members of the bureau in their trips about the
country and the remarkable state of - affairs
they found in regard to roads in : many places.
7/. ''Up in Tehama County," he said, "from Red
Bluff the county road runs over an immense
lava bed. All that was necessary at first was to
remove the loose stones to make a roadway. But
this soon became so worn as to be almost im
passable. Then at one side another road
way would be cleared and used for a
time. In one place we counted five parallel
reads of this sort- We learned, too, that that
stretch of road of twelve miles had cost the
county about $100,000 since it was first
opened and yet it is so bad that a buggy can
not be taken over it faster than a walk. We
showed that with a very small outlay compared
with what has been spent, and by building two
retaining walls and crushing the rock found
there, a good smooth road can be built that
will cost to maintain but a trifle compared
with the present, outlay. . This work is
being undertaken ' now. We have shown
to the Supervisors where we have been
how good roads may be built with a
small initial outlay that would be saved in re
pairs in a very short time. We have been well
received everywhere, and find the ' strongest
kind of feeling in favor of carrying out the
plans for building , good « substantial roads
everywhere. The people are taking hold of
the question energetically, and it will not be
long before there will be a marked improve
ment in the highways of the State."
_."'& Bristol, general superintendent of con
struction for the Western Union Telegraph
Company, is a guest at the Palace. Mr. Bristol
is a nephew of O. 8. Wood, late general mana
ger of the Montreal Telegraph Company. Mr.
Wood is the only man now living who had the
distinction of learning tbe telegraph business
under the direction of Professor S. F. B. Morse.
During the war Mr. Bristol - was continually
at the front constructing telegraph lines under
Generals McClellan, Halleck and Grant, and
was many times in exposed positions during
sharp engagements. General Thomas T. Eck
ert, president of the Western Union, was then
a major on the staff of President Lincoln and
always had his eye on the telegraph men, who
rendered the Union invaluable service and has
not forgotten them. Mr. Bristol will spend a
week or two on the coast.
PERSONAL.
Dr. J. I. Stephens of Petalumaisatthe Grand.
Dr. and Mrs. C. E. Munn of tne army are at
the Palace.
Captain J. H. Roberts of Sacramento is stay
ing at the Grand.
L. W. Juilliard, a leading citizen of Santa
Eosa, is a guest at the Lick.
James E. Enright, a flourmill-owner of Santa
Clara, is a guest at the Lick.
J. F. Millar of New York, the well-known oil
man, is a guest at the California.
C. P. Berry, a big rancher from Mountain
View, and Mrs. Berry, are at the Russ.
J. F. Smith, a mining man & Placerville, was
one of yesterday's arrivals at the Grand.
C. S. Fitch, a mine-owner and hotel proprie
tor of Sonora, registered yesterday at the Lick.
W. H. Chestnutwoodof the Stockton Business
College came down yesterday and is staying at
the Grand. ,
John T. McCall, a well-known mining man,
came down from Nevada City yesterday and
registered at the Grand.
W. H. W. Laugenour, member of the Assem
bly, came down from Woodland yesterday and
is a guest at the California.
Jesse D. Carr, a well-known capitalist and
politician of Salinas, was one of yesterday's
arrivals at the OccidentaL
Hon. J. A. Barharn, member of Congress from
the First District, came down from Santa Rosa
yesterday and registered at the Occidental.
C. C. Campbell, agent for the Standard Oil
Company, in Calcutta, and Mrs. Campbell
came in on the steamer Coptic, and are staying
at the California.
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
Guardians should be appointed for the pur
chasers of lottery tickets.— Rosa Repub
lican.
That paper will live which tells the people
the things the people want to know, and not
the things which some crank thinks that the
people ought to know. — Tulare Register.
Every goose that lays a golden eg-g for Oak
land should be cuddled instead of killed. The
Chicago principle of reaching out for erery
thing in sight should be the rule.— Oakland
Times.
The advent of the typesetting machine in
newspaper offices is revolutionizing things.
The man who views the change with compla
cency is the reporter. No machine can ever
supplant him.— Alameda Telegram.
This country won her freedom with the
Spanished milled dollar and continental cur
rency, and saved the Union with greenbacks,
Dut the gold bond buyer who sent a substitute
to the army wants now to keep silver demon-
Portland (Or.) Sun.
It does not speak very well for the adminis
tration that it sold the Government bonds of
the United States abroad at 104 when the bank
rupt colony of Newfoundland has sold its
bonds, bearing the same rate of interest, in the
same market at Hollister Free Lance.
Sacramento's committee of safety has again
ordered all tramps to leave that city. Now let
our officers watch for their coming and straight
way pass them on to our neighbors. For such
is the enlightened nineteenth-century method
of solving one of our gravest problems.— Fresno
Republican.
A paper having suggested Sitka, Alaska, as a
suitable place to hold a National convention,
what's the matter with the Democratic hosts
going there? It is cold in Alaska, but It will
be nothing compared to the deadly frost which
will overtake Grover's adherents in 1896.—
Santa Rosa Star.
Do yon know the tide is turning? Do you
know that any bad times we may have had are
just changing? Do you know that now, right
now, is the appointed time for grand opportu
nities? It is so. Let us pull together and do
our pulling immediately. We must get there.
—Santa Cruz Record.
Every town that has this year had a floral
fete has been in the eye of the public an at
tractive place. Local pride of place has been
greatly stimulated. New improvements have
been planned. This civic pride will do won
ders in transforming many of these smaller
towns into most beautiful places in the State.
The bicycle, too, has gone forth on its mission
of reformation.— Tribune.
There is no kind of vice that can bring pros
perity to a community any more than it can to
an individual. And that which is harmful to
an individual will in . the end prove equally
harmful to a community. Vice is most flour
ishing in a community which is prosperous,
and the unthinking sometimes conclude that
the prevalence of vice is essential to prosper
ity. While they are concomitants, vices are
always parasites on prosperity and never its
cause.— San Beanardino Times-Index.
. Stockton proposes to hold a Fourth of July
celebration that will be . something after the
fiesta order, and to which her streams and
rivers and shining lagoons will lend them
selves, with float and canoe and flower-decked
raft to give enchantment to the scene. Jubi
lant over the prospect of a competing line of
railroad that shall link her with the great em
pire-like valley of the San Joaquin, she will
make another declaration of independence of
her emancipation from the domination of a
single railroad .; corporation. ; Well, the fiesta
spirit is not so bad for this State, especially
when it makes a new spirit of enterprise and
the determination to press on along new lines
of progress.— Los Angeles Times.
PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT.
It is said that Rev. Hugh P. Hughes, the cele
brated English Methodist divine, has made
the ascent of nearly all the difficult peaks of
the Alps.' *.'■:.■-
Kier Hardie, the labor reformer, believes that
the days of trade unions are past, and that
an industrial commonwealth will shortly be
evolved. 77". : . " .-'.;.
I Zeller, the composer of "Der Obersteiger,"
will soon leave Europe for New York, where
he will conduct * the revival ' at the Terrace
Garden of . his "Vogelhaendler" ("The Tyro
lean").
Mary Moore Davis, who became well known
in the literary world through her charming
story, "Under the Man Fig," is the wife of
Major Davis, political editor of the New Orleans
Picayune. 7
7 Dr. Andrew Wilson of London says that 'the
odor ot violets, mignonette, tuberoses and
heliotrope is Injurious to the voice. Vocalists
are especially susceptible to the scent ot "these
flowers. Violets are said to be the worst in their
effect. . ' ■' ' ' ... ...
Dr. William Thornton, who died in Boston
recently, was widely known as a. student of
philosophy, and he was the 'author of several
medical works of value. He had been a friend
and coworker of the late Professor Kingdon
Clifford of England. 7
Miss Mary Carey Thomas has been nominated
for one of the alumni trustees of Cornell Uni
versity, to be elected in June. This is probably
the first time in the history of any of the lead
ing universities in this country that a woman
has been named for trustee. •
John F. Cook Jr., the only : Afro- American
resident of Bonnerport, Idaho, has been elected
Mayor of that town. He is a druggist. His
father was for a long time Tax Collector of the
District of Columbia, and is now f one of the
most popular and wealthy men of his race at
the National capital. .
THE NEWEST, WOMAN.
Laborer— S'cnse me, Gnv'nor, give ns a light.
New Woman— What do you mean, impertinent
fellow? I shall call my husband I B _l
[From Life.']
SUPPOSED TO BE HUMOROUS.
De Anber (the artist)— What objection have
you to becoming ah artist's bride?
De Rula— Oh, everybody would always be
pointing me out as a model wife.— Truth.
His Thoughtfulness. — She— What kind of a
lawn-mower did you get, dearie?
He— l got a feather-weight, darling, so you
can push Louisville Courier- Journal.
"Do yo think it bad form for one to laugh at
his own jokes?"
'•It may be bad form, but think of the magnifi
cent bravery displayed."— Tribune.
Outsider— Mr. Surplice, why is it that jo«
have service before daylight? **
Mr. Surplice — we have to do that not to
interfere with the bicyclers.— Louisville Courier
Journal.
Maude What's that odious Miss Snubbs do
ing over there at the old lace counter?
Mabelle — Buying something for her collection
of Snubbs family heirlooms, I suppose.—Chi
cago Record. 7-7
"How does Maud like life in the country?"
"First rate. She's trimming grape vines this
week."
"Really? What with— ribbon?"—
Fashion Review. 7. ; ::; ■ i : ,
"But how do you stand on the financial
problem?" asked ncr paternal relative.
"Oh, the money of the fathers is good enough
for me," answered the prospective son-in
law.—Albany Argus.
"You have been a good while getting up,
stairs," said Mrs. Smarte, who, with her lord
and master, was stopping- at one of our hotels.
"Yes," said Smarte, "I stopped to , take an
elevator." i'*'7-v 7 :; - '' :r ?7^,*:- ; ;7
"Oh, you need not have taken the trouble to
tell me," said Mrs. , 8., tossing her head. "I
smelt your breath the moment you entered the
room."— Transcript.
THE RECORDS IN DANGER.
City Officials Visit the Circu-
lar Hall Where They
Are Kept.
Mayor Sutro Will Advocate Their
Multiplication by the Print
ing Press. -
Members of the Finance Committee of
the Board of Supervisors Hobbs
and Benjamin with Mayor Sutro and
Auditor Broderick, paid an official visit to
the Hall of Records yesterday afternoon
upon invitation of Recorder Glynn, he
representing that the hall is in need of
some attention, such as will, cause it to
figure in the next tax levy. He pointed
out to them how more room was needed
for the books and how the books were fall
ing apart because of bad binding. Many
of them he declared should be copied at
once into new and better books, as the
records stood in danger of being lost.
As the cause of the bad shape the rec
ords are in he cited the custom of letting
the contract for making the books out to
the lowest , bidder without a standard of
excellence being set up to which they
should be required to bid.
He pointed out, further, the danger
there was of the los-3 of the records and the
necessity of a big safe for the preservation
of the "indexes and the more valuable
records. He said some very valuable maps
had been carried from the office, and the
freedom with which the public was per
mitted to handle the books and invade the
office was a constant source of danger. .
The committee agreed with him that a
steel safe should be built for the office. •
Mayor Sutro expressed the determination
of advocating the copying of the entire
library records. "It is done in nearly
1 every other city," he said, "and should be
done here. The records should be set up
in type, and thus a number of copies
could be secured. With our complicated
system here the loss of these records would
result in chaos, a confusion that could
never be straightened out, and that would
entail a loss of millions. Type-setters
should be stationed in this office and the
records put in type as they are" made from
day to day, and the old records should be
put in, type as fast as they can be."
"Do you know how much that would
come to?" inquired Auditor Broderlck.
"No, I don't know. A good deal, I have
no doubt, but it should be done."
"It would cost • half a million dollars,"
said the Auditor. . .
"I don't think it would cost more than
$100,000," said the Mayor, '•'and at that
price it would be well worth doing."
This and the big steel vault will be con
sidered further by the City Hall Commis
sioners at the meeting this'morning.
Bacon Printing Conrpany, 503 Clay street "
Pineapple and cherries, 50c lb, Townsend's.*
Wine-drinking people are healthy. M. &. K.
wines, 5c a glass. Mohns & Kaltenbach. 29 Mkt»
A Greek newspaper, one of the journals 0
Athens, is printing Richard Harding Davis'
"Gallagher" stories in daily Installments.
With ''Gallagher" in Greek and "Ben Hur" in
Armenian the barbarian West is paying back
some of Its literary debts to the East.
Pcbe blood and good health go hand In hand.
Take Hoodfs : Harsaparllla for the former and tho
latter Is ensured: ' The weakened system needs a
building-up medicine like Hood's. 'ffilMlllll 1Q!
.; Db. Siegkbt's Angostura Bitters possess an ex
quisite flavor, and ] are a sure preventive tor all
diseases of the digestive organ*.