The San Francisco call. [volume], May 29, 1898, Page 6, Image 6

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

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6
SUNDAY .MAY 29, 1898
JOHN D. SPRECKELS. Proprietor.
Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager.
IPUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts.. S. F-
Telephone Main 186 S.
EDITORIAL ROOMS 2IT to 221 Stevenson Street
Telephone Main 1574.
the CAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND sunday) is
•erved by carriers In tbls city and surroundlrjg towns
for 15 cents a weo*. By mall $6 per year; per month
65 cent*. ,
THE WEEKLY CALL O"« y«ar. by mall. $1.50
OAKLAND OFPICE »°8 Broadway
NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building
DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative.'
WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE Ri£fta Houm
C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent.
CIICAGO OFFICE Marquctte Building
C. GEORGE KROGINESS, Advertising Representative.
BRANCH OFFICES— Morjtgomery street, corner Cloy,
open until 9:20 o'clock- 287 Hayes street. «Den until
9:30 o'.clocK- 621 McAllister street, open until 9:30 I
O'clock- 615 Uarl<;ln street, open until 9:30 o'clock.
1941 Mission street, open urjtil 10 o'clock- 2291 Market j
street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock- 2518
Mission street, open until 9 o'clock- 106 Eleventh
street, open until 9 o'clock- 1505 Polk street, open
until 9:30 o"clock- NW. corner Twenty-second ana
Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock..
AMUSEMENTS.
Baldwin— Tpaye
Columbia—" The Faoo in the Moonlig-ht "
.California— Hojvkins Trans-Oceanic Star Specialty Co
"Yorlck'B Love
Morosco'B— "Mrs. Vartlngton and Her Son Ike-"
Tlvoll— "The Poster."
Orpheum— Vaudeville.
The Chutes-Zoo. Vaudeville, and "Visions of Art. "
• Oljmpia— Corner Mason and Eddy streets, Specialties.
Sutro Baths Swimmin g,
Eecre&tlon Park— Baseball to-day.
Coursing I—liifrleside1 — Iiifrleside Coursing: Park.
Cour6lnp— At Union Coursing- Park.
El Cani)>o— .\iuhic. dancing:, boatlnsr. fishlne. every Sunday.
AUCTION SALES.
By H. L. Reed— Monday, May 80. Jewelry, at 1088 Market St.,
at 2 o clock.
By Killip Co.— Thursday, June 2, Horses, at San Mateo Stocn
Farm, at 10 o'clock.
ThjE SfWOR OF TREASON.
YEARS ago the Examiner was thrown into the
street because of treasonable utterances. The
taint of the old malign spirit seems to linger
with it. still. It is a menace to peace and order.
Just at present that sheet, with the shameless per
fidy which marks its course habitually, is trying to stir
up revolt among the troops stationed at this point. It
says they are ill-fed and that they are on the verge
of mutiny. It says this in the hope of stirring up a
sensation, and caring nothing for truth or for the dig
nity of the army or the honor of the country. Its
statement is a slanderous lie, and every soldier resents
it as an insult.
The troops have been well cared for in the matter
of food. Soldiers do not expect to have the privilege
of training on pie, and yet considerable pie has been
added to their bill of fare here. Government rations
are not luxurious, and to some may not at first seem
palatable. In every company there are grumblers.
So has it ever been. The Examiner has chosen for
its own evil purposes to take the word of these
grumblers, to magnify their statements and spread
broadcast the report that the soldiers are ready to
de-sert the standard.
Perhaps there is no way in which the Examiner can
be suppressed, but for the protection of the army, for
the good of discipline and for the interests of decency
it should be barred from every camp and forbidden to
circulate where the shadow of the stars and stripes
falls upon valiant men and patriots. To all such men
it is an affront..
PROMOTION IN THE NAVY.
AMONG the features of the naval personnel bill
now before Congress which will most effect
ively tend to improve the service is the clause
providing for the establishment of a new grade of
commissioned officers, to be known as chief boat
swains, chief gunners, chief carpenters and chief sail
makers, to rank with— but after — ensigns, and to
which warrant officers shall be eligible.
The object of the clause is to provide a way by
which enlisted men may attain commissions in the
navy. As at present constituted our naval service is
one of the most aristocratic and exclusive on the
globe. It might, in fact, be called unAmerican, so
thoroughly does it deprive the seaman of the Ameri
can right or privilege of rising from the humblest
to the highest rank of employment. In the British
navy, even in the old oligarch days when the Georges
ruled, there was an open way by which the poorest
cabin-boy could make his way to the rank of an ad
miral, and during the long wars of those times a con
siderable number of bold boys did make their way to
rank through this "hawse hole," as it is called. No
such advantage has been enjoyed by the American
sailor lad who entered the navy lacking the advantage
of an appointment to Annapolis, and it is to remedy
this defect that the new set of omce3 are devised.
The opening provided is by no means a wide one.
The bill expressly states that the new- commissioned
offices are to be open only to warrant officers, and
erfc-tiiey are not to be eligible until ten years after
the date of their warrants. It is not easy for a lands
man to understand why this long wait should be re
quired. It would be hard to deprive an Annapolis
cadet of the right of promotion until ten years after
the date of his graduation, nor would it be considered
fair to require him to remain an ensign ten years be
fore he could receive a higher rank. To outsiders it
will seem equally hard and unfair to deprive a war
rant officer of the right of promotion to .. commis
sioned rank until he has served ten years from the
date of his warrant.
It was a frequent saying of Napoleon ih.-t his mis
sion in the world had been to open a way for
talent and give the tools to those who could use them.
It is strange that the navy of the United States should
be one of the last in the world to accept the teaching
of that great apostle of democracy and war. The way
that is to be opened for the talent of enlisted men in
the navy should not be hedged in by ten years' re
strictions. When an enlisted man has shown his
ability to use the powers of commissioned rank he
should not be made to wait a fixed number of years
before the powers are given him.
Promotion should not only go to merit, buj it
should go as soon as the merit is known and the
need calls for the man. The new bill makes a de
sirable change and is to that extent acceptable, but
the change is far from being adequate to the require
ments of the service or the virtues and patriotism of
the American sailor boy.
Apparently ex-District Attorney Page does not
think three straight convictions enough to go to the
penitentiary on.
TME ELUSIVE METERS.
SOME time ago ex-Supervisor Burling, a gas
manufacturer of experience, explained that a
good way to make a gas meter register more
than it ought was to pump air into the pipes. Mr.
Burling did not charge anybody hereabouts with
doing this, but he declared that the process was
practicable and had been tried with success by un
scrupulous gas manufacturers in other portions of
the country. According to this, all a gas company
need do when shy of dividends is to rig an air pump
at the main factory. With that instrument it can in
crease its receipts ad libitum.
This cheerful information for gas consumers is
now supplemented with an equally enlivening point
for the patrons of the electric companies. At a meet
ing of the Finance Committee of the Supervisors on
Friday an electrician said that there were over a
dozen methods for making electric meters register
faster than they should. One of the cheapest and
easiest, he explained, was "to weaken the magnet of
the meter by supercharging the wire from the power
house with an extra voltage of electricity." Another
electrician gave the committee a practical test of
how a meter may be made to run fast by bringing
its mechanism within the influence of a powerful
electro-magnet. By this means he increased the
speed of the meter 21 per cent.
All this must carry joy to the souls of consumers of
gas and electricity in San Francisce. In one case air,
which is the cheapest thing on earth, may be utilized
to raise gas meters all over town, and in the other a
simple change in the speed of a dynamo at the power
house may produce a similar effect upon electric
meters. Of course nobody is charged with employing
these devices hereabouts — although if is a fact that
the discussion before the Finance Committee was
brought about by the discovery that the electric
meters at the City Hall are "fast" — but why should
consumers of gas and electricity in this town be. con
signed to the tender mercies of the corporations en
gaged in the manufacture of those commodities?
Perhaps the gas and electric manufacturers, like the
Roman Senators, are all honorable men, but the un
certainty which accompanies this assumption must be
a constant source of worry.
The Supervisors should employ somebody to look
after these elusive meters. The city now has a gas
inspector, but he is an ornament and of no use. Why
not set an electrician and gas expert upon the track
of the meters? If the people are paying for "extra
voltage" in electricity and wind in gas they certainly
should know it. They will not only be more com
fortable when the truth is imparted to them, but a
tremendous load may be lifted off the consciences of
the men who are running the various gas and electric
companies of this city.
THE COMPETING ROAD.
I~*HE celebration of the arrival of the Valley Road
at Bakersfield signalized the accomplishment of
an industrial victory for California of great
magnitude and far-reaching importance. It was an
event which justly engaged the attention of the whole
State. Among the speakers whose voices were elo
quent in its commemoration were orators not only
from San Francisco and the San Joaquin, but from
as far south as Los Angeles.
The circumstances under which the road was un
dertaken and the means by which the enterprise wa9
successfully launched and pushed to completion can
never be too often recalled. The subject contains a
lesson of supreme importance to the people of Califor-
nia, and the moral is full of encouragement to all who
seek the commercial and industrial advancement of
the State and the complete emancipation of its peo
ple from the excessive burdens of transportation mon
opolies.
When Mr. Claus Spreckels and his colleagues be
gan to give action and movement to the construction
of a competing road the whole United States was
suffering from the effects of a financial panic of ex
treme intensity. The normal energies and industrial
activities of the people were locked in the paralysis
of hard times. Few capitalists were willing to engage
in any form of business involving a large outlay of
money, and in the great financial centers of the nation
almost anything in the form of new railroad building
was regarded either as something not worth consider
ation or else as something which could be considered
only a gambling speculation or a wildcat scheme.
Such was the condition of the financial world at the
time that, although the promoters of the road were
men of the highest credit, they could obtain no money
from abroad. They knew at the outset that whatever
they did would have to be done with home capital.
This fact, it will be remembered, led Mr. Huntington,
a great negotiator of railroad loans, to scoff at the
enterprise and say of it, "It is a toy road; they are
raising money for it by popular subscription."
The openly expressed contempt of the great mag
nate of the Southern Pacific for the new enterprise
may have had its effect in New York and London,
but it had none in San Francisco. The money re
quired to begin the work of construction was ob
tained without difficulty as soon as the large subscrip
tion of Mr. Spreckels was made known. The enter
prise moved at once, and from that time has gone
steadily forward until now the whole reach of the val
ley from Stockton to Bakersfield has been relieved
from the domination of the Southern Pacific monop
oly and secured in the advantages of a competitive
transportation system.
It is safe to say Mr. Huntingtor no longer regards
the Valley Road as a toy, nor will he ever again
speak contemptuously of San Francisco financiering.
He has learned the lesson of what can be accom
plished in the way of great enterprises when led by
the right leaders and supported with the full force of
local energy and capital. The people also have learned
that lesson.
The Valley Road stands as an enduring witness to
the efficacy of self help. Moreover, it is a living wit
ness whose growth is not yet complete. The road
is even now moving westward to San Francisco, and
already the people of Los Angeles are making plans
to obtain its extension to that city. What has been
accomplished is but a part of what is to be accom
plished. Undertakings of this kind go further than
was at first intended, and it may yet be seen that what
was designed as a road down the San Joaquin may
prove to be a portion of a through route across the
continent.
A woman charged with vagrancy was dismissed be
cause she proved to the Judge that her son fought
with Dewey at Manila. Perhaps this was not strictly
in accord with law, but there will be no carping critic
to raise a row about it.
The burglars who visited the premises of Senator
Billy Mason have no respect for military dignity. Or
perhaps they did not realize that Mason was a war.
Once more comes the announcement that European
powers will not interfere. It is always sure of the
greeting given an old friend.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL., SUNDAY, MAY 29, 1898.
GIVE THE BOYS UNIFORMS.
THE fact remains that after all that has been said
there are soldiers in camp in this city not pro
vided with uniforms. Perhaps they can parade
without them, but in all probability they would feel
more like doing so if they had decent raiment. Cer
tainly a call to active duty would embarrass them.
I'atience has been exhausted in waiting for Uncle Sam
to act.
For the State of California to supply the needed
uniforms would be an excellent idea. In due time the
expenditure would be made good by the General
Government, and even if it should not the loss would
be a small one and easily to be borne. California
people are anxious to do all they can to add to the
comfort of the volunteers, and by no single act could
sthey do so much as by clothing the brave boys the
Governor of Kansas permitted to start out unpre
pared. There is naturally a lack of precedents cover
ing the matter. The suggestion that this action be
taken must be unaccompanied by any suggestion as to
the precise method, but there is an abiding faith that
if Governor Budd were to attempt to provide uniforms
for the regulars quartered in this State a way would be
opened, and in due time a way would appear by which
the money would be returned.
California feels an interest and takes a pride in the
soldiers who are here. There is general regret that
they have been neglected. Cannot this great State do
something for them?
THE SPANISH SILVERISTS.
IN the debate in the Cortes on Thursday the Mar
quis de Vilaverde announced that the "silverists"
in the chamber would oppose the impost on the
public debt, which we suppose to be a tax on the
national bonds. The Marquis further declared that
this opposition would go to the extent of obstruction
of the measures of war finance.
If the impost under discussion be a proposition to
tax the national bonds, from an American standpoint
it is unwise, and the silverists have the verities of
financial science on their side. But what are the sil
verists? Do they constitute the analogue of our free
silver party? It is hardly conceivable that they do
and at the same time have the sense to oppose a
proposition which would further cripple Spanish
credit by taxing its paper evidences.
It is a bit odd, though, that in the Cortes and our
Congress the silver party should appear as obstruct
ors of the war revenue measures of each nation.
Spain is sitting like a scared mouse and we roach
our back like a cat ready to spring upon the prey
while the Hispano- American silver party has it out in
a joint jawbone chorus.
The two Governments have already exchanged
prisoners. Why not exchange Stewart for Vilaverde?
We don't like Spain and wish to hurt her, while we
are too big to be hurt by the trade.
The incidents passing in the Cortes and in Con
gress set in motion an interesting train of reflections.
War is a purely scientific affair. Chemistry and math
ematics determine which side wins in modern war
fare. No nation that can help itself goes into war
now with muzzle loading flint locks and the old style
artillery. The strongest country could not win a
campaign now with the batteries and muskets that
Napoleon used. They would be no more effective
than the catapults of Caesar or the spears and short
swords with which Alexander carved and cut his way
from the Morea to the Ganges. It is passing strange
that while men recognize the necessity which com
pels a resort to science in the mechanics of war,
those are found who reject utterly all the conclusions
of science in the finances of war.
The fiatists in Congress tell the country straight
faced that it can fight with one hand and lift itself off
the ground by the seat of its financial trousers with
the other.
They insist that it is more economical to buy the
necessaries of war and pay armies and navies with a
promise to pay than with cash.
Science and experience teach the economy of
cash in hand. No rate of interest needed to secure it
can ever be as great as the discount on a promise to
pay that has no redemption in sight.
THE MANTLE OF CHARITY.
THERE is no hesitation in giving money to the
noble cause represented by the Red Cross. To
alleviate the inevitable suffering of the boys at
the front is a project appealing to everybody. But
there are others to whom charity will be glad to ex
tend a hand, and these are the women and children
j left without providers. It is true that the great bulk
of the volunteers are unmarried, but some of them
leave families. Many among them have mothers or
I aged fathers who in some measure depended upon
them. The wage of a soldier is nothing. The pittance
he receives will be of little avail in caring for any's
wants but his own imperative ones. He will at best
be thousands of miles away. Those who have leaned
upon him fcr- support will miss the sturdy arms.
There is a movement started for the aiding of these
dependents, and it will appeal to all with almost the
force that the needs of the volunteers themselves have
done. When the boys have all sailed away, accom
panied by stores of comforts, with nurses, medicines
and delicacies, with funds for the purchase of more
when need shall arise, there will be among us many
who will require help. It will freely be given.
Whether as a branch of Red Cross work or as an
independent scheme, the people will be ready to assist
all whose demand for aid is based on the fact that
their boys are absent to fight the battles of their
country, and perhaps never to return.
While the country is calling for soldiers it would be
a reflection upon the national patriotism if the second
call should in part have to be devoted to completing
the number asked by the first call. There are confi
dent estimates that the United States could put ten
millions of men in the field, and these estimates do not
go well with the cold fact that some of the States
have failed to fill the modest quota required of them.
The present fashion in telegrams requires an intro
duction explaining that the message is on "good au
thority" and a finale explaining that it "totally lacks
confirmation." To get an idea that he is learning all
about the war one must begin in the middle of the dis
patch and stop without having reached the end.
There is a tendency to discredit the report that
Schley sent a challenge into Santiago de Cuba to Cer
vera. The absence of Cervera from that point would
have made the act one of peculiar difficulty.
According to Rivera, Americans are deceived when
they think their flag is ever to fly over the Philippines.
Rivera has the usual Spanish prejudice against accept
ing the truth.
There seems to be no reason for placing any confi
dence in the insurgent leader Aguinaldo. He has
proved himself a purchasable" rascal, and is, in all
probability, still for sale.
WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS.
There seems to be no doubt that
General Merritt is to marry a Chicago
girl, and that she is in all respects a
charming person nobody has inclina
tion to deny. Announcement of the
coming event has been made in t-o
many papers that even the fact of its
publication in the Examiner cannot
cast over it that uncertainty which
naturally clusters about any statement
made there. The relation of the man
ifold attractions of the prospective
bride, however, leaves the reader in a
state of indecision. She is described
by the correspondent who projects ra
diance into the Examiner, thus: "Miss
Williams is a tall and pretty blonde."
But as the article proceeds confusion
arises. The writer in his enthusias
tic admiration for the lady finds < c
casion for describing her again, and
does it in the following terms: "Miss
Williams is a brunette, graceful and
petite, but of striking appearance, with
jet black hair and eyes." Happy old
warrior! For a Chicago girl to be a
blonde in one paragrnph and a bru
nette in the next would in itself stamp
her as possessing remarkable qualities,
but to be both tall and petite manes
her as a wonder.
While not of a suspicious nature, a
fear arises within me that the removal
of the soldiers from the Presidio to the
Bay District is the outward and visi
ble token of that reprehensible thing
known as a job. There are hundreds
of acres at the Presidio, and if they
are not available for camping purposes
their use is not clear. Rather than
be held for the ocean zephyrs to dis
port in they should be turned into a
pleasure ground or their verdant slopes
, dedicated to the sustenance of the
cow. But the Presidio is at one dis
advantage. It is reached by two car
lines, which have not made any ar
rangement for dividing nickels with the
Southern Pacific. These lines w-ere
garnering nickels fast. The fact was
enough to create pangs in the yellow
building from which the destiny of the
local nickel is ruled. Then the troops
were ordered to the Bay District, to
which access is had only by Southern
Pacific lines. Of course, this may re
a coincidence.
• • •
When Grant said, "Let us have
peace," he spoke words destined to be
immortal. Yet nobody thought the
sentiment based on a desire to have
peace at the cost of everything else
worth having. The sentiment of tbe
general found an echo in each Ameri
can heart. It did not imply that ne
wanted the national honor assailed,
while the nation calmly assented. ITe
did not mean that the stars and stripes
were to be trailed in the dust, anl no
sword drawn. He had no thought that
trruchery should be permitted to mur
der our seamen and no cannon thunder
rebuke. For Grant was a patriot srl
dier. I read with astonishment and
regret and even a shade of unfakh
that there is in this country an organ
ization which also says, ''Let us hava
ptace," but says it with craven lips,
and transcribes It with a traitors pen.
If the president of the Universal Peace
Union has, as reported, sent a mes
sage to the Queen Regent, expressing
on behalf of the body he represents
sympathy for the cause of Spain, Mid
deprecating the course of this country
in taking up arms, he deserves to he
hanged. If the organization hidors^s
such an act on his part it is mad? up
of fools and vicious poltroons, who, if
caiight in session, should be driven to
Jail at the point of the bayonet, and
exiled to the benign realm of Castile.
It nay have been observed that in
an Oakland church scandal the princi
pals are going about their pockets
bulging with pistols, and threatening
to blow through the opposition such
numerous bullet ho]f>s that the gospel
of peace may unobstructed percolate
and edify. The idea strikes me as an
excellent one. If half told about the
parties concerned is true they ought to
be shot for the good of the community.
Much trouble would be saved by an
adjustment of these unhappy differ
ences through judicious pressure of the
trigger. Such rows belong in the Po
lice Court, and the easiest way to get
them there would be by pulling weap
ons and doing less talking. So long as
the squabblers continue to gabble some
reporter is sure to overhear, and then
we all get a dose of it while looking
through the papers for legitimate
news. And in the absence of gore it is
not even interesting.
Some months ago the duty of coun
seling the R&v. Bovard to be less ob
noxious came my way and was cheer
fully accepted. I think my remarks on
that occasion did him good, but reform
was not complete. He has not yet
learned to deport himself as beseems
a minister and a gentleman. Lately
he was stirred to the depths of his soul,
a depth I fancy to be inconsiderable.
by a report that Mrs. McKinley had
attended a theatrical performance on
Sunday. The improbability of this, the
certainty that in any case it was none
of the Bovard business, do not appear
to have occurred to him. So he wrote
the lady and made direct inquiry. I
submit that the act was an imperti
nence. It has never come to my
knowledge that Bovard has been ap
pointed censor of Mrs. McKinley's con
duct. If so, he made the appointment
himself and it has never been ratified.
The President's wife, in her gracious
ness, instructed her secretary to reply.
The answer relieved the Bovard dis
tress. He was thoughtful enough to
announce that Mrs. McKinley had not
been to a Sunday s'iow, and thought
less enough to let the public know how
he had ascertained the fact. People
who have a real regard for the church
and respect for the worthy and con
scientious pastors who minister to it
protest against the Peeping Toms of
the pulpit. The Bovard field is widen
ing. Heretofore he had been content
to denounce some worthy women for
the sin of drunkenness, and to spy
through a clubroom, that he might
thunder against the wickedness there,
and paint the iniquity of not being a
Bovard. In my opinion if he succeed
in regulating the morals of the bay
cities he will be doing enough without
reaching his saving tentacles clear
across the country.
When a San Francisco man of wealth
has the misfortune to die, it may be
assumed that at least one mourning
widow will bob up from the background
mopping her eyes with one hand and
reaching with the other for all the man
left. In nine cases out of ten the
By HENRY JAMES.
widow is bogus, her tears artificial, and
she would run at sight of a policeman.
A recent instance seems to be of a dif
ferent variety. The extra widow is
genuine enough, but for forty-seven
years she has not seen the capitalist
of her choice. All this time he had
been living here and she had stayed at
her home in the old country, content to
receive a monthly remittance. Mean
while the capitalist had acquired a new
wife, and for decades ) ad seemed to be
a model husband to her. When he
was called to his last account her grief
was genuine and her expectation of in
heritance perfectly natural. Comes for
ward the first wife and opines in legal
phraseology of* great impressiveness
that the dough he left is for the mak
ing of her cakes. lam glad the ad
judication of questions of such deli
cacy does not rest with me. If it did
the old wife would not get enough to
make a riouthful of pastry. A woman
who, for nearly half a century, would
live apart from her husband does not
seem to me to be the true and loving
helpmeet for which he had contracted.
There ought to be a time limit to the
marriage relation when neither of the
parties to the contract lives up to the
terms of the agreement.
The war will lead naturally to the en
larging of the navy. Already it has
shown that in one type of boat the
navy is wholly lackirrg. It has no
transports. Our brave boys are out
somewhere on the Pacific and ..some of
them are packed in the City of Peking,
no more regard having been paid to
their comfort than the packer of sar
dines pays to the fish he jams into a
tin box. Of course the Government
had no reason to anticipate the neces
sity for transports, anfl is not to blame
for having been caught napping. Now
there are in the navy several converted
cruisers, and by having the process of
conversion carried a little further they
would make ideal transports. Here
after there will in all probability be
frequent occasion for taking troops to
sea, and it becomes this great nation
to provide that they go in style.
David Starr Jordan, president of
Stanford University, is a great man. I
never heard of his being approached
on any topic concerning which he did
not have information. It once befell
that I had to interview him as to sea
serpents, and fervid that what he did
not know of the subject was simply
not worth knowing. He is posted on
seals and political economy. He is the
world's great authority on fishes. When
a scientist reaches the stage at which
he is always mentioned by his full
name he is not to be disputed with im
punity. David Starr Jordan has
reached this stage. Fancy the temerity
of mentioning him and leaving out the
Starr or contracting it to an initial!
The thing's impossible. Therefore it
is with misgiving I undertake to op
pose recently expressed views of the
savant of Palo Alto. The president of
Stanford does not think this country
should keep the Philippines. I think
it should, and am sorry to think so, be
cause not to agr< with him is in itself
a presumption and a pain. There are
not many courses open. We must either
keep the islands, give them back to
Spain, make them independent or di
vide them among the powers of Eu
rope. To give them back to Spain
would be a crime so gross that the
mere question of policy is not to be
considered. That the people there are
capable of self-government is a pre
posterous notion, and not to be enter
tained. There is no reason for giving
the islands to the powers, for such a
disposition cf them would win the fa
vor of one power, possibly, but the dis
favor of all the rest. If a matter of
morality is involved, certainly it is no
worse to take by force and keep the
spoil than to scatter it to the equal loss
of the original owner. By keeping the
islands the United States could assure
to them a good government, a bless
ing they have never experienced. Aside
from the value of the Philippines as a
strategic possession, they would be of
utility as affording a field for the youth
of America. The English lad goes to
Asia or Africa. He finds a new outlet
for his vigor. The American lad stays
at home, cultivates the old farm, or
learns a trade at which he accom
plishes nothing beyond the grinding of
his own nose. I am in favor of en
larging his horizon. While it is true
that this country is far from developed,
it is also true that monopoly has such
a grasp upon its resources that a man
with no capital but his hands and his
ambition often finds nothing open to
him but a life of unrequited toil and an
ultimate grave. I believe in giving the
young man a chance. The savages of
the Philippines are worth no more con
sideration than the beasts of the jun
gle. The Spaniards there do not even
merit so much. The time has come for
this great people to reach beyond its
own bounds and accept that which fate
has thrust upon it. I hope to see the
United States with so many colonies
that the sun shall never set on its flag.
This condition would hurt none, and it
would benefit many. Among these col
onies the Philippines will be first and
Cuba will follow. The sooner these
facts shall be recognized the better, for
they are to be the inevitable develop
ments of the near future.
There is a general absence of ten
dency to criticise the President in the
present trying times. If he did find
some weak timber afloat on the politi
cal tide and gathered it in for the con
struction of a Cabinet, he did it before
the signs of war had grown alarming.
Personally I never had any confidence
in Alger, while Long seems to have
been designed by nature for the safe
conduct of a sewing circle. Yet it must
be admitted that Mr. McKinley knows
both of these gentlemen better than it
is the privilege of the country to know
them. I think it, however, no wrong
to fail to see merit in some of the re
cent Presidential appointments, always
bearing in mind that Mr. McKinley is
laboring under the strain of a vast re
sponsibility and that applications back
ed by strong influence are pouring
upon him. There does not seem to me
good reason why the sons of Blame,
Harrison, Hayes, Foraker and other
sprigs totally without military experi
ence or a record of personal worth,
should have been given places. In
deed, some of these young men have in
civil life stamped themselves as below
an average intelligence. And I think
that, so long as civilians were being
called to army duty, for McKinley to
have named Bryan for a position of
trust would have been a gracious
course. At leaust the Nebraskan would
have excited the enthusiastic confi
dence of the men whom he would have
led. But, according to report, no an
swer was made to Bryan's offer, and
his reward was to be called a dema
gogue by papers not accepting his
| financial views. By this the papers be
came the demagogues. Now Bryan has
enlisted as a private, and will for this
act be called more names. I have no
doubt that he will be a good Bojdier,
and fail to see wherein his silver
I scheme cuts any figure. I honor him
j for having enlisted, and hope that even
if he go as a private in the ranks ha
will come back with shoulder straps.
• » • ■
Dorothy Mauer of Omaha visited the
Fine Arts building of the exposition
and with an ax demolished every Cupid
she could reach, her mural nature hav
ing been roused to frenzy by cunt- m
plation of the nakedness of them. Prob
ably Dorothy thinks she has a<
plished much for the cause of i
eqosness, but I do not see what sh
done except show herself essentially
nasty. The interior of a county jail,
where there are neither axes i
pids, would be the proper piace i
* * *
X the energy devoted by thr
eminent to the manufacture of red
could be diverted to the mak;
shirts and shoes th^e soldiers w
have a greater supply of these i.
saries than could be utilized.
EVERYWHERE THE SAME.
Folks hez plum quit talkln'
'Jsuut whon hit's gwine ter rain
An' everything t-xceptin'
This blasted war with Spain.
Can't hardly eat no breakfast—
Can t hardly .«leep at night —
For wonderin' what'U happen
■When them two squadrons fight
W» want to hear from Sampson,
Whar he's sailln' round—
Can't sre why he's tto back'ard
'Bout grabbin' ov the town.
They hain't no use expectin'
Folks to v-.^k much now—
Hit's ten blamed inter*? tin*
To talk about this row.
—Atlanta JournaJ.
THE HAND THAT FEEDS.
Only <?r.o nation in the world can war
with us and escape destruction. That
nation is Russia, and Russia is not keen
for that sort of sport at present. The
lack of wheat is doing more damage to
Spain to-day than the lack of ammuni
tion. You can hire thousands of men to
go out and face death from a bullet, but
no man will die of hunger without dis
playing considerable pique. Just at pres
ent you could get a whole regiment of
soldiers for a quarter of Kansas wheat
in Italy. That is one reason, among
many, why the "combination of Euro
pean powers" has dose nothing of late,
and why France hurries to explain that
she is "strictly neutral" and why the
German Emperor has reconsidered his
hauphty intentions. They are not quar
reling with their bread and* butter.—Chi
cago Journal.
SHORT SERMONS.
A man should always realize that hi»
neighbors are just as good as he is until
he finds out to the contrary, at least.
The greatest wrestler in the world is
truth, and it never gfvea up tiil it wins.
There are many people who can stand
adversity better than they can stand pros-
I perity.
Life is a short thing after all when w-e
! stop to figure up the number of our old
I friends who are no more.
Girls.' as a rule, will put in more time
i on a 10-cent novel than they would on all
the Sunday-school lessons for the year.
The best men are those who attend to
their own business and never meddle with
a ; neighbor's unless invited. — Denver
Times.
.1■ ♦ ■
Cal. glace fruit 50c per 1b at Townsend's.*
„ ■■ . .. — ■ » .
. Special information supplied daily to
business houses and public men by the
Press Clipping Bureau (Allen's); 510 Mont
gomery street. Telephone Main 1042.- r V-
■ ♦ »
- "Johnny— Johnny.' didn't T ask you once
to stop whistling at the" table?"
■-. "Yes'm." r '■.'■■
.■-"Well,. do you. want me to ask you
again?" . ■ ' . ■
"No'm. I don't want you to make no
bad breaks."
"Bad breaks! What do you mean,
Johnny?" "-.-.-' • - V**>r
"Well'm, you said it was very impolite
to ask for things twice at table."—
more News.
■ ♦ .
Excursion to the Yellowstone Park.
A personally conducted excursion will leave
this city July 12 for the Yellowstone Park, via
the "Shasta Route" and Northern Pacific Rail
way. Tourist* will be accommodated in flrst
class Pullman cars; tickets will be sold. In
cluding berths, meals and trip through the
Park. Send for circular giving rate and itiner
ary to T. K. STATKLP^R, General Agent
Northern Pacific Railway. C3S Market St.. S. F.
■ ♦ ■
Excursion to Grand Canyon of the
Colorado. ♦-.
A select' party of educators and scientists
will leave San Francisco M n-l;iy. June 6, for
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, in charge
of Professor Kmory tmith of Palo Alto. Very
low rates have been made and a pleasant and
profitable trip is assured. Full particulars at
Santa Fe Office, 644 Market street.
» -^. «
Cut Rates via Santa Fe Route.
On and after June .'•. until further notice,
second-class rates will be as follows: Kansas
City and Omaha, $31; St. Louis, $37; Chicago,
$32 CO. Through palace and tourist sleeping:
cars every day. 1 Full particulars at Santa F©
Ticket Office, 614 Market st.
■ ♦ ■
Northern Pacific Railway.
Cut rates to all points Rast. Call on T. K.
Stateler. General Agent. t".:!S Market St., S. F.
. ■«. .
ACKER'S ENGLISH UEMEDT IS BEYOND"
question the greatest of all modern remedies.
It will cure a cough or cold immediately pr
money back. At No Percentage Pharmacy.
■ m » .
Family Economy.— Uncle (to the chil
dren, who have just had a dose of cod
liver oil all around)— do you like
cod liver oil? . ' :
Children— Oh, no; but mamma gives us
5 cents for every spoonful. ;.
— And then you buy something
nice? ' ,
Children— No; mamma puts it Into the
savings bank.
Uncle — And then you buy something: by
and-by ?
Children — No; mamma buys more cod
liver oil with it!— Fliegende Blatter.
ADVEBTISEM-ENTS.
StUDEBAKER
CLEARING
SALE!
THIRTY DAYS, beginning May 10th,
GREATEST SALE OF VEHICLES ever
made on the Pacific Coast.
LANDAUS AND BROUGHAMS,
VICTORIAS AND PHAETONS,
TRAPS AND BREAKS.
All of the Studebaker reliable make, of-
fered regardless of cost.
We shall sell the stuck of one of our
Western warehouses (now being closed),
consisting of MEDIUM GRADE
CARRIAGES, BUGGIES, PHAETONS,
SPRING WAGONS, ROAD WAGONS,
Suitable for CITY or COUNTRY USE
In this stock are vehicles at $50 to $75.
This great sale is made necessary by the
consolidation of two large stocks.
On every vehicle will appear, in plain
figures, the regular and the special price,
showing the great reductions made.
We Invite inspection during this sale
from all interested in honestly mads
work, no matter whether you expect to
buy or not. Come and see us.
STUDEBAKERIROS. MFG, CO.,
Market and Tenth Sts.
L. F. WEA.VJEB, Manager.