The San Francisco call. [volume], September 11, 1897, Page 6, Image 6

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

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etc ■Salter-' fell
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1 1, 1807
JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor.
Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager.
PUBLICATION OFFICE 710 Market street, Ban Francisco
Telephone Main 186-;.
EDITORIAL ROOMS 5-7 Clay street
Telephone Main 1874.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) is served by
carriers in this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week.
By mail $6 per year; per month 05 cents.
THE WEEKLY CALL. One year, by mall, f1.50
OAKLAND OFFICE 903 Broadway
_
NEW YORK OFFICE Booms 31 and 32, 34 Park Row.
BRANCH OFFICES— S27 Montgomery street, corner Clay; open until
9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street; open until 9:30 o'clock. 615
Larkln street; op.-n until 9:30 o'clock. SW. corner Sixteenth and
Mission streets; open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street; open.
until 9 o'clock. 1243 Mission street; open until 9 o'clock. 1505*
Folk street; open until 9*30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second
an'! Kentucky streets; open till 9 o'clock.
WHAT GRADE OF CRIME?
THE Examiner yesterday was guilty of obtaining money by
false pretenses, an act that ranks a3 a misdemeanor, or may
at times rise to the dignity of a felony.
The Call Is ready to admire enterprise even in a contem
porary it is denied the pleasure of esteeming, but it is opposed
to the sale of gold bricks, unless the bricks bo genuine. The
"extra" issued by the Examiner Friday morning was not enter
prise. It was the visible token of a desire to impose on a public
already forced through recrular issues of that paper to suffer
much. There was no valid excuse for the yellow flakes of joui.'
nali>m with which the City was bestrewed— the shower consti
tuted an impertinence. Professing to give news on subjects
concerning which interest is at fever beat they cave what 5s
technically known as a "rehash" of information familiar days
ago. The accompanying illustrations were old-stock cut's,
-erne of them already printed at least once, nnd having no pots
tibie bearing on any late developments; simply such cuts, as
are evidently kept on hand to be used in what the master min-Js
of saffron journalism consider to be an emergency. To them, a
profitable opportunity to deceive people is an emeigency.
In this extra was an abundance of large type. A line reacjti
ing heroically across five columns announced. "Etarvatiion
Stalks at Dawson!" That starvation is doing this is a melan
choly circumstance long predicted and repeatedly verified. I'he
arrival of the Cleveland at a British Columbia port was m ide
the occasion for the extra, and yet the Cleveland, sailins bu.t a
few hours alter the National City, brought absolutely nothing
concerning tbis pdint that had not been brought earlier. It
simply confirmed reports so well authenticated that no shacfjow
of doubt as to their somber accuracy bad remained. Bu'. an
extra means nickels. Nickels appeal to the master minds
hereinbefore mentioned. So the story of starvation, the sitme
•story that can be read in any paper printed in the last week, set
forth anew. The stranding of the Weare was detailed agpin
without the addition of a shred of a fact.
The loss of two blades of the Excelsior's propeller was the
one incident connected with Klondike which appeared amidst
all ihi-? mess of words and office rubbish. Thi breaking of
these b'aiea would not, however, justify a wild, triple-hea-ded
alarum. Other reported information in relation to that boat Is
vague and stale. It is said, for instance, to have a certain
amount of treasure aboard. Nobody confirms the tale, lt is
only the estimate of people exercising their right to guess, and
who Lave been guessing forlo! these many days, as reference
to files of any local paper will demonstrate.
Apparently without the knowledge of the editor one item
of actual news strayed in, but it was lost in the tea of slash,
bad nothing to do with the gold field and was not urged in
mitigation of the offensive extra. Taken at its worst — which
from a news standpoint is its best — tbis news was less startling
than has lately turned up daily in some portion of the United
States, without producing any extra affliction, It was so vague
that the painful thought arose that another extra would be
necessary to explain that the yarn was amputated from the
leg of an Andree pigeon, these birds being notoriously prone to
trifle with human faith.
The measure of confirmation vouchsafed one paragraph of
the extra affords no shadow of excuse for the crime of obtain-
ing money by false pretenses. If the Examiner desires to
utterly lose the confidence of the people, already severely
wrenched and never very secure, it could find no more effective
way than the production of bogus extras, the hawking of chest
nuts. Readers of the Mission-street daily are accustomed to
incidental confidence games, but not to seeing the whole estab
lishment resolve itself into one big game. When an episode at
a theater is expanded into a "panic," so that accounts may oc
cupy the better part of a page, they have learned to conclude
there was no panic and to look elsewhere for confirmation even
of the episode. Yet to eel out an extra edition on a purely
bunko basis is felt to be pressing the limit. Perhaps the young
men who run the Examiner now have teen given a large supply
of rope in the hope that tbev may hang themselves. Laudable
as the object, the method involves hardship to the deluded and
innocent outsider.
Information is sent over anew that Queen Victoria, during
the late misunderstanding in thi3 country, "saved the Union."
It was very kind of ber, indeed, nnd suggests the statement of
the small boy that pins bad saved thousands of lives. It will
be remembered that when the small boy was pressed for par
ticulars he kindly cleared the matter by explaining tha; this
had been done "by not swallowing them."
Shall Squirrel Hollow, lone tbe scene of the Innocent
gamboling of its frisky-tailed natives, be given-over to a lot of
imported monkeys subject to the mange? An impression that
it won't is steadily growing. Real estate gentlemen so fortunate
as to own the place will have to think of a new deal, or keep it.
One way to overcome the motion of a streetcar is to let the
car collide with another, and stop in fragments, A second way
is to provide tbe car with brakes. Tbe latter plan commends
itself, and it could be wished the Southern Pacific might over
come its prejudice against it.
Each vessel from the north fails to bring any considerable
amount of treasure, and in every instance explanation is made
that the vessel next to follow will have the gold on board. For
a time this was satisfactory, but careful scrutiny shows that It
is wearing thin in spots.
Some of the miners who returned on the Cleveland talk
confidently about the dust they have accumulated, but.the uni
formity with which tbey refrain from displaying it is remark
able. A sight of yellow nuggets would do much toward sus
taining a waning faith.
Will somebody in possession of inside Information please
state what influence is delaying the Hall of Justice? There is a
pull being exercised and it has been a long and strong one, and
a pull altogether malign.
Rev. Mr. Bliss is going to unnecessary trouble to deny what
the Examiner has said about him. He should even be grateful
that among all his troubles he does not number the approba
tion of that paper.
One of the marvels of everyday life is that when two theat
rical people conclude to be divorced newsgatherers take it for
granted that tbe whole world wants to hear about it.
There is one difficulty in connection with the Floridan canal
that is not receiving due attention. It would create an island,
and then, of course, England would want the island.
There is no denial of the existence of gold in the Klondike,
but the persistence with which it stays there is going to be a
long-drawn-out tragedy.
If the Spanish naval attache at Washington has been spy
ing along the Florida coast the presumption is safe that he is
no gentleman.
THE SAX FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1897.
A NEEDED REFORM.
i ■
THE sectional controversies and contests which arise every
year over the action of the State Board of Equalizers in
adjusting assessments among the counties of the State
may be taken as sufficient evidence that something is wrong
with our system of performing that important work. Allowing
as much as we please for the tendency of taxpayers to be dis
satisfied and to find fault with any assessment which may be
laid upon their property, there remains the fact that where
there is such general and continuous discontent there must be
something to provoke it and prolong it.
It has been the custom to attribute the causes of these dis
contents to some man or set of men on the board. Year after
year some of the Equalizers are set up as targets for public
criticism, and are made the victims of every form of verbal as
sault, from mean insinuations to open and outrageous charges
of official misconduct. As the same attacks are made, how
ever, against each succeeding board, it is clear the blame must
lie elsewhere than in its membership. The board changes, but
the discontent remains, and if we are to allay the cause of
the ill feeling we must apply another remedy than the oft-tried
one of attacking the members.
The real cause of the evil lies in the manner in which the
board is constituted. As the system stands the law assumes
that the various sections of the State are antagonistic to one
another, and provides for a member of the board to represent
each section. As a consequence each Equalizer is regarded
by his constituents as a representative elected to look after
their interests. The member must do his best to have
low assessments on the counties of his district, while putting
high assessments on others. Each Equalizer, being thus ex
pected at least to work for local advantages rather than for the
State at large, is commended or condemned in proportion as he
succeeds in that object.
As a consequence of this condition of affairs we have the
perennial charge that some Equalizers are trying to cinch the
city, while from the interior comes the equal charge that
other Equalizers are trying to cinch the country. No member
of the board can wholly escape these charges, and it is inevita
ble that with the best intentions in the world to do justice he
must be inclined to seek favor with the taxpayers in the dis
trict from which he was elected rather than from those of an-
other district, who neither voted for him in the first instance
nor could aid him in his re-election.
The only remedy for the evil is to abolish equalization dis
tricts and have all members of the board elected from the State
at large. As each member will then have a constituency as
■tr™ ■■*&- -^ **■**' f *tAttavs**x , fctqiasHt^r - "*■■""-■**
wide as the State itself there will be an end to sectional rival-
ries and antagonisms as far as the board is concerned. The
people will cease to regard some particular Equalizer as their
special representative and to look with distrust upon all the
others. Out of such a change there would come, a better tone
of public opinion on this subject and a fairer system of equaliz
ing taxes. This, therefore, is one of the changes that should
be made in our government, and the sooner it is made the
better.
A MATTER OF COMMON-SENSE.
■ ; *09tet*6»datMCBH-V' - -^r*eMHinatMßß>*i
THE question whether or not it would be wise policy at the
present time to establish at the Mission a foul-smelling
zoological garden is invested with many considerations
which intimately concern tbe comfort and well being of the
entire population of San Francisco. Granting for the moment
tbat a collection of wild animals at the place mentioned is
necessary for the intellectual development of the youth of this
city; granting tbat the propositions to sell land for such a park
have no selfish interests behind them; granting also that the
people of the Mission are yearning for the establishing among
them of an odorous "monkey ranch," (Which is far from being
the fact, what shall be said regarding the business expediency
of spending this year 5400,000 of the people's money for such a
purpose? In other words, is not that sum altogether too much
to pay for the zoological whistle?
According to recent reports from Sacramento, the tax rate
this year will approximate 50 cents on the $100 of valuation. The
State Board of Equalization, by reducing the assessment of
thirty-six counties, Las cut over $70,000,000 off the taxable prop
erty of the commonwealth, and has thus increased the rate.
If the annual levy for State purposes does not exceed 50 cents
we shall be fortunate. Locally, the rate for general purposes
cannot fall much below $1 25, and if the Supervisors make full
provision for the County Clerk, the shorthand reporter*, the
Street Department and the other municipal offices for which it
has been the custom to make inadequate appropriations it will
go above that figure ty several cents. In any event, the tax
levy for State ana city purposes cannot be less than $1 75 on
the $100, and it may be more.
It is not necessary to take a gloomy view of the financial
condition of this city to assert that at this time a tax rate of
$1 75 will fully meet the most sanguine expectations of its tax
paying people. Every cent pied upon that sum will be nn
unnecessary burden on the industry, business and energy of the
city. Property-owners and the mercantile community should
not be asked to pay any more, and they will not pay any more
without protest. In truth, until they fully recover from the
depressing effects of the recent commercial calm, they should
not be asked to pay any more.
The question then is, Should the tax-paying masses be re
quired at this time, ia order to appease the avarice of a small
number of real estate speculators, to contribute $400,000 for the
purchase of a foul-smelling animal preserve at the Mission?
What sane person can answer this inquiry in tbe negative?
What business man, possessed of a grain of common-sense,
were be managing the affairs of the city, would contemplate
such an expenditure under similar circumstances?
Nor is this all. If $400,000 is to be expended this year in
"improving" San Francisco, there are many other avenues in
which it can be used with greater benefit to the people. The
city at present owns about 151 miles of accepted streets. These
thoroughfares have been constructed by the property-owners
and are now and for all time will be a charge upon the general
treasury. During fifteen years past little or no money has been
spent upon them. There are hundreds of blocks which are in a
bad* state of repair and hundreds of other blocks which are
upon the verge of ruin. Half a million dollars could be profit
ably devoted to the accepted streets of this city at once. Indeed,
unless double this sura is spent upon them within a very short
time, the greater portion will be beyond repair. Prudence dic
tates that an appropriation.be immediately made for main
taining.the bituminous rock that has been accepted and for re
moving and repairing the stone that is now well nigh worn
out. .
The accepted streets are not the only decaying municipal
work which gives the frugal taxpayer concern. We have no
sewer system. A few years a^o a Republican Board of Super
visors created a Sevage Commission and invested it with power
to devise a drainage system adequate to the wants of the
growing metropolis. A few months afterward a Democratic
board came along and, in order to get the money appropriated
where its taxeaters could absorb it, abolished the commission
and turned its work over to the Street Department. Since then
nothing has been done toward devising a sewerage system or
even repairing the present apology fora system. Yet this work
will have to be done some day, and the longer it is delayed the
more it will cost. One hundred thousand dollars ought to be
spent this year in getting ready for the advent of a great
sewerage system.
In view of the necessity for the expenditure of large sums
in these two departments of pressing public work, how silly it
is for a small coterie of real-estate speculators to try to make
us think that unless we establish a monkey ranch at the Mission
this year the planets will bolt their orbits and the world will
come to an end. Truly, the promoters of the odorous zoo must
entertain a very low opinion of the intelligence of the people of
San Fiancisco. But what shall be said of the newspapers that
are helping their childish scheme along? Are they, too, under
the impression that the taxpayers have gone mad and tbat all
public sense has departed? . It looks tbat way.
PERSONAL.
C. H. Holmes, a dairyman of Kellogg, is at
the Knss. "-."u'r-V
E. J. Cahill, a rancher of San Martin, is at
the Grand.
Rev. Haskett Smith of Pasadena is at the
Occidental.
Dr. Thomas G. McConkey of San Diego is at
the Baldwin. -
Mrs. S. Keller of Bed'.ands, CaL, is at the
Cosmopolitan.
B. F. Schilling of Lafayette, Ind., is at the
Cosmopolitan.
F. Barker and wife of San Jose are at the
Cosmopolitan.
William Jackson Littel, U. S. X., is a guest at
the California.
Dr. H. N. Winton of Haywards is & guest at
the Occidental.
J. Gearhart, a mine-owner of El Dorado, is a
guest at the Lick.
Dan Sweeney, a railroad man from Omaha,
is at the Occidental.
G. McM. Ross, a mining man from Petaluma,
is at the Occidental.
R. H. Willey, an attorney of Monterey, is a
late arrival at the Grand.
Major J. H. Calef, U. a A., is at the Occident
al accompanied by Mrs. Calef.
! Dr. George H. Jackson, a hotel man and
farmer of Yuba City, is at the Grand.
W. H. McMinu of Mission San Jose, a retired
army officer, is registered at tha Lick.
A. Moncure, manager of the Hearst ranch at
Palermo, arrived yesterday at the Occidental.
G. W. Harvey, a real estate and insurance
agent of Stockton, is among the guests at the
Grand.
Fred H. Beach, a hardware manufacturer of
Batavta, 111., is a recent arrival at the Occi
dental.
W. W. Gillett, an orchardM of Palermo, is at
the Occidental accompanied by his wife and
family.
Professor R. E. Allardice.head of the depart
ment of mathematics at Star-lord, is at the
California.
W. A. Brewer, a teacher in Brewer's St. Mat
thew's Hall School at Sin Mateo, is visiting at
Occidental,
J. S. Craig, who has a copper mine near Yer
rington, Nev., is at the Russ accompanied by
bis wile and daughter.
Colonel W. S. Stone, a cattle- raiser and min
ing man of Yreka, is registered at the Russ
with his wife and daughter.
John Walton, a banker of Hongkong, ar
rived at the Occidental yesterday from the
Last and will soon sail for Cnina.
W. L. Swain, an architect and builder of
Marysville, is at the Grand with his wife on
the way home from a two months' vacation.
E. B. Kruttschnttt of New Orleans, a brother
of the general manager here of the Southern
Pacific Company, arrived yesterday at the
Palace.
D. C. McMillan, chief clerk at La Crosse.
Wis., of the Chicago, Burlington and North
western Railway, arrived here yesterday for a
few days' stay.
W. H. Miles, City passenger agent of the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway,
will leave here to-day tor Chicago on a two
weeks' vacation trip.
Henry T. Scott, president and treasurer of
the Union Iron Works, was last Wednesday
elected director of the Croeker-Woolworth
Bank to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
recent death of Colonel Chßrles F. Crocker.
CALIFORNiANS IN NEW YORK.
NEW YORK, N. V., Sept. 10— At the Con
tinental—J. 8. Punnigan; Plaza— Mr?. Mary
B. Milliard; Sturtevar.t— W. A. Williams, Mrs.
J. H. Shields; Stunrt— Klein; Vendome— P.
Lipsei; Broadway— J. Ilartman. The S aie
brought in Mrs. and Agnes Ehrenberg, Miss
Hattle Ehrenberg. Mr. Loci and Miss Elize
Segemay.
OUT OF THE WORLD.
Out of the world of wrack and wrong,
Into the world of jo-- and sons:
Out of the lima of strain and stress,
I. to th" land of happ nes«,
Ail of a summer day.
'i Is good to steal a quiet boar:
'Tls pood to feel the subtle power
Of wood and wave and quiet ways,
And the wo drum spell of a maiden's gaze,
All of a summer day.
For sorrow comes and death apace.
And all the woes of a wanton race
From dar* despair to deep dUxr-ce—
Ate crowded Into the little space
Of one brief summer day.
A
Po out of the world of wrack and wrong
Come to the beautiful world of song,
Where blossoms blow and streamlets flow;
Forget that lite Is lull Of woe
.For one brief summer day.
—The I'urlcan.
RAINIER OR TACOMA?
New York Sun.
One might as safely flaunt a red rag In the
faco of a spirited bull as call the great vol
canic peak, southeast of Puget Sound, Mount
Tticoma, when a Seattle man Is near. On the
other band, If he refers to the- distinguished
summit as Mount Rainier, he is likely to be
the victim of personal violence if a Tacoma
man is by.
It is harrowing to be Impale on cither horn
of the dilemma. Our advice to all visitors to
Puget Sound Is to do as the Romans do when
in Rome. .snout for Mount Rainier In Seattle,
hurrah for Mount Tacoma in Tacoma, and if
you really cannot defer thus far to intense
local prejudices, gaze on the treat peak, when
the clouds wilt let you, in rapt admiration,
and keep your mouth shut.
It is only fair to say that our Board on Geo
graphical Names, contrary to the prevailing
usage in the Royal and other geographical so
cieties, which declare in favor of retaining
aboriginal names, has adopted the name of
"Mount Rainier," which also appears in many
ol the best atlases. All honest writer*, how
ever, will recognize the fact that in dally, ordi
nary usage the mountain goes under two dis
tinct names. Our distinguished geologist and
geographer, C. K. Gilbert, did his duty in this
regard when he wrote, over a year ago:
Vancouver, the navigator, who saw the peak
from Fuget Sound In 1791', named It ln honor of
Admiral Rainier of the KrltlMi navy. More re
cently Tacoma, one of the Indian names, has been
revived, aDd current usage Is divided.
Meanwhile the old mountain will remain
one ol the most splendid summits in America,
and the petty bickerings of rival communities
over its name can never disturb the calmness
of its majesty.
GLADSTONE ON THE NOVELISTS.
lowa State Register,
Mr. Gladstone has said recently that the cen
tury has produced only two great novelists—
Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot. We accept
the decision of the grand old man as nearly
correct. We would have edged in Thacxeray,
but it doesn't matter, Sir Walter Scott and
George Eliot are so clearly foremost that wo
can have no great dispute with the ex-Pre
mier. If he had named more than two, Thack
eray would have come in for honorable men
tion, and bo would Dickens and Charlotte
Bronte, but restricting himself to only two we
do not see how he could have omitted either
Scott or Eliot. Dickens treated life as a car
icaturist, a gen He caricaturist, but a caricatur
ist nevertheless. He was a great and: enter
taining writer, but as a novelist he was not
equal to either of the two named by Mr. Glad
stone. Tnackeray treated life frem a different
standpoint. He was more severe on the foibles
of mankind, but he also exaggerated human
characters. Mr. Gladstone's judgment Is won
derfully good, and we shall not be surprised
to see It become the judgment of the next
century.
INCREASING HUM OF FACTORY
WHEELS.
Buffalo Express.
It Is Impossible to follow all the instances of
the resumption of work. by mills in various
parts of the country Just now. New England
la particular appears to be well, favored by
the wave of prosperity. From four important
manufacturing centers, including Lowell,
Mass., and Providence, R. 1., come reports of
the opening of factories which had been shut
down for longer or shorter periods. There Is a
pleasing monotony aoout such news which is
welcome to all but the professional pessi
mists. .vS3*»»- r *es&*i^
SOME THREATS THAT FAILED.
* hum limit i Tribune.
It is not observed that the countries which
were making that terrific protest against our
new tariff three months ago are putting any
of the implied threats. into execution. They
know now what they knew then— that tbe bal
ance of trade wis in their favor, and that
they could not afford to carry out any of their
threats.
THE CIVIL SERVICE.
Editor San Francisco Call— Sib: The editorial
that appeared in The Call on August 29 call
ins? attention to the defects in the so-called
civil-service law having evoked an expression
of the Tie>»s held by a protagonist thereof it is
fitting that the antagonists of this farcical
system should likewise express their views.
The Call is correct in assuming a "flaw in
the reform," though it does not go far enough
In exposing the fallacy of so-called civil-service
reform. Mr. O'Leary, who, I believe, is con
nected with the customs service, and therefore
an Interested advocate of Clevelandislic civil
service, has not presented any argument cal
culated to impress a thoughtful person with
the efficacy of civil-service rules.
The alleged academic test required to be
passed by applicants for appointment to posi
tions in the service of the United States has
been generally urged as a favorable feature of
civil service, but it is ted, and proof offered,
that appointees of the Cleveland administra
tion appointed before Cleveland issued his so
called civil-service order guaranteeing them
life tenure of office, contrary to the spirit of
the founders ox our republican form of gov
ernment, are occupying positions in this City,
who are totally illiterate. Why should others
be required to pass such an examination if
the incumbents were not required to do so?
It is totally ioreien to the spirit of a republi
can form of government that a Ufa tenure
class should be permitted in official places.
It is about time that we ceased to ape the
ideas of effete monarchies, which, of course,
rely for stability upon the influential and
privileged classes that compose their service
on the life tenure basis. Lei us return to the
good old republican ideas of our country's
lathers, and under which we progressed with
out difficulty before civil service was dreamed
01. There cannot be any valid objection to
the appointing power filling the Government
service with those whom it desires to appoint,
so long as they are responsible to the heads
ot me various departments and give satisfac
tion in return. In a word, let the heads ot all
offices appoint their subordinates at will, and
hod them responsible for the faithful admin
istration of affairs. The head ot the office can
| TO-MORROW'S "GALL"
g WILL CONTAIN
I A REPLY TO WILLIAM J. BRYAN
E BY
1 . JHOMAS B. PEED.
g The Brainy Maine Statesman
So i -J
£ Vigorously attacks the arguments of the orator from
£ the Banks of the Platte. The causes of
E piQH-PRIGED WHE/\J/\j*lD LOW-J>RICED SILVER
g A|JD QENER/\L ppOSf Epijy
C Are explained with Mr. Reed's characteristic lucidity,
>° Don't fail to read this great article in •
I TO-nORROV'S "call."
io
be made responsible for the educational quail*
fications of his subordinates as well as their
capability. Thus the selling of information
relating to the questions asked or supposed to
be asked by the examiners would be a thing
of the past, and the people of the United States
would be saving every year $100,000 now
paid out for a lot of useless civil service offi
cials, who keep up a hue and cry for civil
service reform that they may be benefited.
E M. Galvin.
San Francisco, September 8, 189?.
WITH YOUR COFFEE.
"Aren't you sometimes tempted by the '
stories of sudden wealth which come drifting
in from undeveloped countries ?" asked the
young man. "Don't you feel an impulse to go
to Alaska and be a miner?"
"No, sun," was the emphatic reply. "Glory
is better than riches. I'd rather stay in Ken
tucky and be a major, — Washington Star.
"Say, Weary, there's a woman tryln'toget
Congress to pass a law forcin' every man to
marry."
"I'll bet that's her only chance."—Cleve
land Plain Dealer.
The bicycle stopped suddenly. The old
man went over the handle-bar and turned
a complete somerset In the air. Then he sat
down on the pavement — hard.
"Now, you know how it feels to be whacked
there," said the boy.
And with a merry laugh he disappeared
around the corner.— Chicago Evening Post.
Soxey— Why are those things what widows
wear called "weeds?"
Knoxey— Because they spring up and choke
the grief.— Pittsburg News.
Penelope— did he send you for a wed
ding present? •
Pauline— Cut glass.
Tene'ope— Ah, tableware, I suppose?
Pauline— No; a necklace. Truth.
Mother— Edith, go and see whether the
clock is going!
Edith (coming back)— No, mamma, it Is
standing quite still, only its tail Is wagging a
little.— Enquire Within.
Brown (reading programme)— Ten years are
supposed to elapse between the third and
fourth acts.
Jones— Come out and have something. I
can't imagine ten years having elapsed during
which I haven't had a drink!— Puck.
Young housekeeper— My good man, can't
you find a more useful life than that of a
tramp ? .
Tramp— are useful, madam. Just think
of the number of divorces we prevent by eat
ing young housekeepers' pies.— Judge.
Mrs. Mashem— My do? and I have been sit
ting lor our photographs as "Beauty and the
Beast." ZsmWaWk
Lord Loreus (a bit of a fancier}— Yes; he
certainly is a beauty, Isn't he?— Punch.
PARISIANS AND PURE FOODS.
New York Tribune.
Paris has just established a scheme which is
a boon and means of protection to the poorer
classes. Any citizen who entertains doubt as
to the genuineness of an article of food or
drink purchased from a Parisian tradesman
may take it to the municipal laboratory and
have it analyzed free of cist. If it is found to
be adulterated it is the management ol the
laboratory which undertakes the punishment
of the offender without any further trouble to
the purchaser. The tradesman is liable to
heavy line, as well as imprisonment, and may
be compelled by the police and by law to dis
play conspicuously lv his shop window or over
his door a large placard bearing the words:
"Convicted of adulteration."
ONCE A DOLLAR TO TRAVEL
' f WITH.
Mexican Herald.
A guidebook to Spain, dated 1855, casually
mentions that "a Mexican dollar is valued at
four shillings four pence." The recollection
of thoso delightful days when a dollar was a
coin to travel with and made a royal tip for a
servant makes some of our older citizens pen
sive. The veterans of the Vara Cruz Railway
will tell the curious questioner of the time
when they sold their dollars at a neat pre
mium. Time ban flown and the eagle on" the
dollar has also flown away with some of its
value. .
THE BLACKEST CHAPTER.
Atlanta Constitution.'
When the history of our convict lease sys
tem is written lt will prove to be the blackest
chapter In the history of Georgia. It Is a Pan
dora's box out of which has swarmed a brood
of evils — a brood teat is constantly multiply
ing and growing. The most prominent among
these evils we find fraud, corruption, brutal
ity, butchery and a higb-handeu violation of
the law. This net-work seems to be spread
over the whole State.
WONDERFUL OLFACTORY ORGAN.
A Paris paper published a few days ago an
account of a man who can see tiirougn his
nose. This extraordinary person, it seems,
was born blind, and by systematic training
has been enabled to make his nasal organ
take in some measure the place of his eyes.
The story was read far and wide, and it Is sate
to say that tbe majority of readers gave little
credence to it. Extraordinary things are daily
happening, but most of them are conceivable,
and hence credible. But how is it possible for
a man to see through his nose?
Many asked this question and waited in
vain for a satisfactory answer. If such per
sons, says the New York Herald, will look into
an old book, which was printed at Nurem
berg in 1702. they will find a record of a case
very similar to that recorded in the Paris
journal. This boot is entitled "Oculus Arti-
Teledioptricns Sine Telescopium Est,
and it is the work of the distinguished Ger
man scholar, Johann Zahn. Copies of it are
very rare, ana the one which was consulted in
the present instate.: was found in the Univer*
sity of Bologna.
The man who. according to Zahn, could see
through his nose was a farmer. While ne was
still an infant he met with a serious accident,
which resulted in the loss of his right eye. A
few years later he fell from a cherry tree and
lost his left eye. His nose and left cheek were
terribly mangled at the same time, and it was
a year belore the wound was healed. When
lie was well enough to go out of doors tho
blind lad would sit tn the garden and warm
himself in the sun.
Now one day he fancied that he saw through
his nose a dim ray of light. He was naturally
puzzled, but next day he noticed the same un
accountable phenomenon. Week after week
and month after month he looked for this ray
of light, and, strange to say, it not only never
failed him, but as time passed it grew more
constant and more potent, until, at the end of
five years, he was able to see all objects within
a reasonable distance.
Here, however, is a curious fact. He was
able to see all objects on the ground or in
front of him, but he could not see any objects
above him. Zahu vouched for the trutu of
these statements and said that the dlstin
guished physician, Helnrich Speziu3, was also
re«dy to make an affidavit as to their truth.
Skeptics may say that the man was sham
ming, but, as both eyeballs were lost, it is dif
ficult to see how shamming was possible. Ot
course the man may have imaginea that he
saw objects on the ground or in front of him,
but, according to Zahn, he was subjected to
tests which proved tothe satisfaction of all
eye-witnesses that he was not Imposing on
them.
There must be some explanation of this
amazing phenomenon and if there is really in
France now a person who can see through his
nose he certainly deserves to be made the sub
ject Of serious study.
MEN AND WOMEN.
Lars Kike, who died not long ago in Norway,
was the last Norwegian veteran of the War of
1811 between Norway and Sweden.
Dickens left $500,000 to bis children, but
all of his descendants are said to be poor.
Not a writer of first-class ability has appeared
among them.
Russell Sage said to a reporter a few days
ago: "I'll give you a point; Mr. Gould once
gave it to 'What's past is history; what
may be is mystery.' "
Alexander Plater (colored) died in Calvert
County, Md., the other day, at the age of 103
years. He lived In Calvert County all his life
and was a slave until the emancipation of his
race.
Emperor William's imperial train cost $200,
--000 and took three years to construct. There
are altogether twelve cars, Including two nur
sery carriages. All are elegantly fitted up and
a bath Is a part of eech of the sleeping-cars.
John Otis, who used to be known as the
"milkman Congressman," is in Topeka,
Kans.. in poor health and straitened circum
stances, lie lost all his money ln the failure
of a co-operative colony that he started some
time ago in Colorado.
There is an eminent physician in London
who takes the position that the health of the
people would be, on an average, better and
the duration of human life longer, if there
were not a practicing physician in the world.
In other words, he favors the idea often tersely
expressed in the words, "Physicians kill more
people than they cure."
WORLD'S END POSTPONED.
Kansas City Journal.
Professor Simon Newcomb in a recent ad
dress tried to create a sensation with the old
scare about our running into Alpha Lyras. He
estimated, and as an estimator Professor New
comb has no superior In this country, that we
shall reach Alpha Lyrse In about a million
years, or perhaps a half million— reach Alpha
Lyrse, or. he added cautiously, the place where
Alpha Lyras now Is. That is a clause which
less honest astronomers fail to put in.
. Geologists tell us that our solar system has
b?en doing business for anywhere from ten
million to a hundred million years, and if we
are, going to hit Alpha Lyrae it seems as
though we ought to have done It several mil
lion years ago. But Alpha Lyras is something
of a vagrant itself, and keeps moving on. So
long as we have had this danger of a collision
hanging over us we felt worried, but if it is
only the place where me star now is that we
are to hit— why, let's cheer np. The danger
is no more real than the election of Bryan.
.-■- : *
THE PROOF-READER'S VERSION.
Philadelphia Record.
The old proof-reader was holding forth upon
the question of typographical errors and their
occasional influence on posterity. "The word
■hoodlum' is an instance of this," he said, as
he knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "Out in
San Fiancisco twenty-five years ago there was
a notorious character named Muldoon, who
was the leader of a gang of young ruffians.
They were a terror to the community, and
about as tough a lot of citizens as you could
find on the coast, A reporter who had been
assigned to a story in which they had figured
undertook to coin a word designating the
gang. He reversed the name of the leader
and referred to them as 'Noodlums.' The com
positor mistook the 'v* for an 'h' and as hood
lums the word passed the proofreader. And
now 'hoodlum' is a recognized word, and will
probably survive." v * -
REBEL STRENGTH IN CUBA.
;v~*W Kansas City star.
It is some time since such news has been
received from Cuba as is contained in the an
nouncement of the march of the negro leader
Banderas, from one end of the Island to the'
other with 12,000 men. This march reveals
an army -and with it a commander, Quintin
Banderas. a worthy successor of Antonio
Maceo. The proclamation of Banderas speaks
of fais march as a triumph and of many acces
sions to his ranks by desertions from the
i-pani*ri regiment of Pizarro. Strength will
attract strength. With armies in the place ot
squads, and battles insieaa of skirmishes, the
cause of Cuban independence is won.
CAPTAIN HALL'S
CLEVER TRICK
Duped the Members of the
Santa .Rosalia Bay Mining
Company.
By Giving Them a Fictitious
Location of a Mine He Had
Discovered.
Barclay Henley and Other Prominent
San Pranciscans Largely Inter
ested in the Company.
Quite a sensation was caused in mining
circles on the 12th ult., when Captain A.
W. Hall of East Oakland resigned from
the Santa Rosalia Bay Mining Company.
No reason was given by the captain at
the time for the resignation, and the
members of the company were at a loss to
understand the meaning of his act.
In the latter part ot 1593 Hall, while
traveling overland by burro for the pur
pose of relocating a copper and silver
mine that he had located in Mexico in
1890, accidentally discovered a gold mine
in Lower California, in the vicinity of
Palm Springs.
The dirt, when assayed in this City,
panned out 133.14 ounces to the ton.
Hall immediately informed several busi
ness and professional men of bisvaluabe
find, and the Santa Rosalia Bay Mining
Company was organized and incorpor
ated, and the following officers elected:
Barclay Henley, president; C. B. Hender
son, secretary; Mr. Nolan, treasurer, and
0. A. Macomber, general manager.
Hall had informed the company, of
which he was a member, that the mine
was in the vicinity of Santa Rosalia Bay,
Lower California. A capital stock of
$100,000 was issued, and Hall was given
one- third of it. His share was afterward
reduced to one-fifth of the stock.
Unon learning that bis share had been
reduced Hall resigned.
He organized another comnany of promi
nent men, both of this City and Oakland,
for the purpose of working the mine.
The new company advanced sufficient
money with which to fit out Hall's twenty
ton schooner Grace for an ocean voyage.
An abundance of supplies was put on
board and a large amount of mining
machinery.
On Sunday morning, the 29th nit., at
daybreak, the Grace, under command of
Hall, sailed for Lower California, where
Hall's mine is located.
The vessel was fitted up in Oakland
Creek, and the work was so secretly and
quietly done that the members of the
original Santa Rosalia Bay Mining Com
pany were not cognizant of the fact that
the Grace had sailed until so informed by
a Call reporter this morning.
It now develops that Hall gave the
original company a fictitious location of
his mineral claim, which is said to be
about 900 miles from Santa Rosalia Bay.
Hall was seen just before he sailed and
said: "1 have duped Macomber and that
crowd. I gave them a fictitious location
of my mine, because I knew in the first
instance that they would never do any
thing toward .working it. They had the
matter in hand for three months and
never did anything toward working the
claim.
"Furthermore, I understand that they
state they do not know why I resigned.
The reason was because they first in
formed me tbat the capital stock was to
be $50,000 and gave me one-third of it.
My share was then reduced to one-fifth,
and when I learned that the stock was
$100,000, which would give me only a
tenth share, I severed my connection with
the company.
"They can never fit out a schooner in
time to follow me and I've got a long
start on them. Anyway, they could never
find the mine. 1 will sail at flood tide in
lhe morning."
Barclay Henley stated this morn
ing as follows: "I was Inclined to doubt
te man's story from the very beginning,
but as Mr. Macomber bad so much con
tiaenC3 in him I joined the company. We
had arrangements made to work Hall's
mine on a very large scale, and when he
resigned we resolved to find the claim
from the location he gave us, but we did
not until to-day know that we had been
duped."
Fruit tablets, all flavors. Townsend, *
Best peanut taffy in the world. Townsend*!'
Fine eyeglasses, specs, 15c up. 35 Fourth st*
Strangers, take home Townsend's California
Glace Fruits, 50c lb., in elegant fire-etched
boxes. Palace Hotel building, 627 Market st.*
Special information daily to manufacturers,
business houses and public men by the Pres*
CUpping Bureau (Allen's), 510 Montgomery. -
The Supreme Court has decided that The
Star legal Advertising columns are valid.
Phone Main 358 for our prices. Business
office, 429 Montgomery street, *
Bishop Talbot of Rochester and Canon Gore
will spena the months pf September and Octo
ber in the United States, representing the
Christian Social Union at the international
convention of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew,
to be held in Buffalo.
Keep looking young ana save your hair. Its color
and beauty with Parker's Hair Balsam.
Hindkkcorns, the best cure for corns. 15cts.
Visitors to the city should not fall to Inspect
X <fc G. (lump's gallery of pain tings and different
departments of art goods, pictures, crockery and
glassware.
WHERE SHE WANTED TO CO.
Kennebec Journal.
One of Caribou's bright four-year-old girls in
answer to a question surprised and amused
the hearers. The conversation among the
older people was In relation to heaven, and
some one asked the little miss if she did not
want to go to heaven when she died. The
young girl turned, looked at her father, and
said: "No; Ido not want to go to neaven. I
want to go where papa goes."
NEW TO-DAT.
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ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK.