The San Francisco call. [volume], May 31, 1898, Page 6, Image 6

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

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6
TUESDAY MAY 31, 1898
JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor.
Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager.
PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts.. S. P.
Telephone Main 1868.
EDITORIAL ROOMS 217 to 221 Stevenson Street
Telephone Main 1874.
THE CAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is
served by carriers In trjls city and surrounding towns
for 15 cents a week- By mall $6 per year; per month
65 cents. _________
THE WEEKLY CALL.^ __^ On * *••*• b ' ma "' $150
OAKLAND OFFICE »08 Broadway
MEW YORK OFFICE Room ISB. World Building
DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative.
WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE Riftftt Honee ;
C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent.
CHICAGO OFFICE Morquetto Building ;
C. GEORGE KROGNEBS, Advertising, Representative.
BRANCH OFFICES— S27 Montgomery street, corner Clay,
open until 9:30 o'clock- ZB7 Hayes street, open until
9:30 o'clock- 621 McAllister street open until 9:30
o'clock- 615 Larkln street, open until 9:30 o'clock
1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock- 2291 Market
street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock- 2518
Mission street, open until 9 o'clock- 106 Eleventh
street, open until 9 o'clock- '505 Polk street, open |
until 9:30 o'clock- NW. corner Twenty-second ana
Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock-
AMUSEMENTS.
Columbia—" The New Dominion "
California— Hopkins Trans-oceanic Star Specialty Co.
Alcaiar— "The Master of Ceremonie*
Baldwin— Benefit for the Bod Cross Society, Thursday after-
noon.
Morosco's— "The Bottom of the Sea "
Tlvoll— "The Poster."
urpheum— Vaudeville.
•11)0 Chutes -Zoo, Vaudeville, and "Visions of Art" '
oiympia— Corner Mason and Eddy streets, SpeolaUlea.
tutro Baths — i-wi mining,
EJ Campo— Music dancing, boating, fishlnir. every Sunday.
AUCTION SALES.
By Frank W. Butterfield - This day, May 81. Furniture, at
BT9 California pireot, ai 11 o'clock.
By Kiliip Si, Co.— Thursday, Juno 2, Horses, at San Mateo Stoc*
Farm, at U) o'clock.
COMPLIMENTS TO R. P. SCHWERIN.
AS R. P. Schwerin is general manager of the
Pacific Mail, and thus becomes a semi-public
character; as he never neglects an opportunity
to make himself obnoxious, necessity arises tor call
ing him down from the lofty perch upon which he
has ensconsed himself and making him understand
that he is of the earth, earthy. Schwerin is a trifling
obstacle in the progress of anything which has a ten
dency to move, but, like the gnat in the eye, or the
fly in the ointment, he may be annoying.
The Schwerin grievance seems to be that fault has
been found with his company because the City oi
Peking, a ship under its control, was sent to sea
laden with the brave boys of the First California, and
that absolutely no provision had been made for their
comfort, although the company which Schwerin so
ably represents is being paid by the Government for
having done this. He regards the soldiers, volunteers
going to the aid of Dewey, as a man with ordinary
instincts might regard a lot of cattle. The Call ob
jected, and Schwerin the mighty, Schwerin the su
preme, Schwerin the self-satisfied, decreed in his bogus
wisdom that no representative of this paper should be
allowed on a dock controlled by him. In addition
to his other attributes hereinbefore mentioned
Schwerin seems to be a jay. Does he think his feeble
efforts will keep the news from being printed? Can
it be that an idea has percolated his dull intelligence
that a swaggering ass is a thing to be feared?
Schwerin is a mistake. This conclusion was reached
when he permitted the Colima to go to sea with a
deck load which carried her to the bottom. On that
occasion also it is remembered that he acquired a dis
like for reporters and ordered that they be kept from
the dock. Nevertheless the story of the Colima was
told. Nevertheless shall the story of the Peking be
told. Schwerin merely over-estimates himself. He
thinks to awe people, and makes them tired. Once
this man was in the navy. He left it and the navy re
joiced. All who had associated with him were glad to
be rid of him. He had manifested the inclination of
a tyrant without the ability to carry out his purposes.
A place with the Pacific Mail gave him power, which
he has abused. A natural bully, a man without heart
or conscience, he winces under exposure and tries to
wreak a pitiful vengeance by excluding from the
dock those who have assisted in showing the manner
of man he is. Schwerin should resign. His field is
on a flatboat. Among gentlemen and officers he has
no place.
A THIRD CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
WHY should not Chief Lees issue a call for vol
unteers? He needs some for his own use. The
exigency of the times cries aloud that he be
furnished with a drum corps. To be sure he rides in
unwonted splendor now at the head of every proces
sion, but the prancing steed he bestrides has to step
to the sound of borrowed music. This fact is an
actual grief to the Chief. He wants his own drum
corps; he yearns for an individual martial strain.
There are thousands of brave volunteers in the city.
Some have no uniforms. If they did have the uni
forms would be plain blue and with never a glitter of
gold braid. Yet the volunteers have music till you
can't rest, and the Chief, a symphony in radiance,
can't muster a fife and drum. It's too bad.
Information has leaked out that one policeman on
the force can play the fife. He suspects that his serv
ices are in demand, and is doing what is known in
police circles as laying low. He is certain that if
caught he will be dragged to the flanks of the Chief's
snorting bay and made to bust into melody whether
he feel like it or not. His one hope of escape is that
nobody among the Chief's valiant patrolmen may be
able to beat a drum. Detectives are on his track, and
if he get into the middle of the street in broad daylight
and there shrill a tune perhaps he will be caught.
Then he could be handcuffed to a lamppost while the
detectives skirmished for a drummer.
These circumstances make plain the necessity for
volunteers enough to make a drum corps as a trailer
for the Chief. They would be where the beams of his
gilded glory would fall upon them. It Is embarrassing
to contemplate that players may have to be caught
and made to play under forced draft.
From all accounts it would appear that the nerves
of Captain Sigsbee did not receive anything like a
fatal shock when the Maine went down. He acts
much as a man whose courage had been healthfully
stimulated by experience.
Red Cross ladies proved Sunday that all soldiers
look alike to them. The regulars were welcomed as
heartily and fed as well as the volunteers. And per
haps they appreciated this attention even more.
To term a correspondent a "special commissioner"
is simply a piece of hilly affectation, i
JUDGE MAGUIRE AND THE MILITIA
AND NAVY
WE have given full space to Judge Maguire's
vituperative resentment on being called to ac
count for his characterization of the taking of
Spanish prizes as "piracy." His afterthought drives
him to shelter behind the subjunctive "if." He has
now learned that there are prize courts, and that the
condemnation of a sea prize is a judicial process, in
which all rights are guarded by international law.
He may yet learn that pirates have no prize courts.
They take unarmed ships at sea, rob and then scuttle
them, to sink with their crews.
If he is hurt by his own language, which is all that
we used against him, may it teach him moderation in
speech.
He denies proposing to "cut the Gordian knot with
pools of blood." His speech was so reported and
printed and was not denied until now he says that
he declared "there were those who proposed to cut
the Gordian knot and wipe out injustice in a carnival
of blood." Between cutting a knot with a pool of
blood and wiping it out in a carnival of blood, there
is only the difference in the quantity of blood used,
after all.
The Judge is in the habit of attributing opposition j
to his ambition and criticism of his loose and violent
language to "the railroad." This habit increases one's ;
regret tflat the railroad deserves so many of the blows
it gets, since it furnishes an excuse for hiding one !
abuse behind zeal against another. So hides the j
Judge. His long letter leaves his "piracy" remark j
just where it was before. It was a remark in line \
with his secret thought and his public utterances, pro- j
jected from his associations and in harmony with the
kind of men who manage his campaigns, promote his j
ambitions and are selected by him for public trusts.
His weekly organ here is the San Francisco Star.
October 8, 1892, the Star, jn an editorial under the
caption "If This Be Treason, Make the Most of It,"
said:
<<***** t h e m iiiti a o f Pennsylvania de
serve no more mercy than so many rattlesnakes, as it
is no crime to give them their deserts at any time and
in any place or manner, so that nobody be hurt but
them. Mercy to them is cruelty to. humanity. They
have ceased to be human otherwise than in form, and
have no rights which at any time man or woman is
bound to respect." Within three months after that
article Judge Maguire selected the editor of the Star,
who wrote it, as his candidate for Superintendent of
the United States Mint in this city, and when Mr.
Cleveland refused to appoint him Maguire began
abusing the President and kept it up to the close of
his term. Indorsing the author Maguire indorsed the
utterance. The identical regiment of Pennsylvania
militia which Maguire's organ denounced as "rattle
snakes," and desired killed "at any time and In any
place or manner," is in San Francisco now, in camp at
the Bay District track. Our people can go and look
at what manner of men Maguire's organ regards as
"rattlesnakes." Perhaps the Judge's manager and
candidate for the Mint might like to go out and try
killing some of them "in any manner!"
Judge Maguire's letter in its manner is an index to
his intellectual methods and his mental stature. He
conceives that we hold him up to be seen by himself
because he "was born on a farm." We confess the in
felicity of not knowing that he was born on a farm,
but we admit it since he takes pains to advertise it.
He has been so constantly an office-seeker and office
holder that it was natural to suppose that he was not
born at all, but just nominated for an office and raised
on a salary.
Not only is he given to violent and reckless lan
guage like his piracy tirade and his indorsement of his
organ's rattlesnake article on the Pennsylvania militia,
but his thought and sympathies run to violence.
The last Congress passed a bill to restrict immigra
tion, which Mr. Cleveland vetoed. Judge Maguire's
daily organ, the San Francisco Examiner, abused
Cleveland for the veto and denounced Senator White
for voting against the bill, but in illustration of what
the Judge considers model journalism, the Examiner
did not inform its readers that Maguire also opposed
the bill and spoke against it.
His daily organ said of this immigration bill:
"Where the opposition to the restriction of immi
gration finds its strength is in the steamship com
panies, the coal barons and the great employers of
labor in other lines."
Yet Maguire opposed it, and in a speech in the
House, January 27, 1897, printed on page 1494, Con
gressional Record, Fifty-fourth Congress, second
session, he said:
"Gentlemen urge the passage of this bill as a step
in the direction of excluding Anarchists, Socialists
and Nihilists from this country. Assuming that it
would be right and desirable, though I do not admit
that it would be either right or desirable to exclude
these classes, or any of them, from this country; yet
the present bill does not tend to their exclusion. They
are generally educated men, many of them holding
university degrees, whose offending consists of resist
ance to tyranny, which in the conditions under which
they live is obedience to God. Who are the Nihilists?
They are the Democrats of Russia, who are struggling
against almost hopeless odds to establish the natural
and inalienable rights of man in that country as
against the tyrannous and false pretense of divine
right on the part of the Czar."
Therein Maguire indorses and defines Nihilism and
anarchy. Mickhail Bakounin, the Nihilist leader, who
allied that principle to anarchy in The International,
defined it as "universal destruction," and presented
himself as "The Apostle of Universal Destruction '"
Nihilists and Anarchists are "Democrats," accordii. L
to Maguire, and are acting equally in obedience to
God when they assassinate the Czar who emancipated
the serfs, and the President of the French republic,
Carnot, who represented the humanizing of govern
ment and expansion of the rights of man.
Maguire does not believe in excluding these self
avowed apostles of universal destruction from this
country, and hails them as "Democrats." He knows,
as do all men, that they aim to destroy all govern
ment and have bomb and knife and poison as ready for
the President of the United States as for the Czar.
The American navy represents Republican order
and law. It is natural, therefore, that the defender of
the apostles of universal destruction should see
"piracy" in their taking of Spanish prizes. The regi
ment of Pennsylvania militia now in camp here stood
under arms in its own State for law and order, for
the rights of person and property. It is quite natural,
therefore, that Maguire should indorse the editor who
denounced them as "rattlesnakes" and said that to
kill them "in any manner" would be no crime.
Since Judge Maguire has entered upon explanations
of his record we will continue to give him opportunity.
He is a public man and seeks to continue in public
life, and the public is interested in his views.
Children and grandchildren may each have the
sword presented to Admiral Dewey, and yet the
museum of the future will be' full of it.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1898.
THE LEAGUE CLUBS.
WITH the assembling of the convention of Re
publican League clubs in this city to-day the
campaign of the coming elections will virtually
begin. It is the first important political gathering of
the year and will have a potent effect in rousing Re
publican enthusiasm and inducing the members of the
rank and file to organize for the struggle and the vic
tory before them.
The Republican League is comparatively a new
comer into the field of political work, but in past
campaigns has amply demonstrated its usefulness to
the party. Leaders of the highest eminence have
borne witness to its worth and have encouraged the
continuance and expansion of its organization.
Through it the clubs of different localities are united
as a State association, and that in turn is brought into
close relations with organizations in other States, so
that the whole is a national union of organized Re
publicans of great power and influence.
The characteristic of the league which gives it an
especial claim upon the loyalty of Republicans is its
strict devotion to party principles and complete sepa
ration from the interests of particular candidates. It
supports no aspirant for nomination to any office, but
after the nominations have been made it supports all
with the ardent zeal of stalwart Republicanism. This
frees it from any possible weakening through dissen
sions brought about by rivalries between contending
factions of ambitious leaders, and makes it strong in
trie unity of all for the great policies for which the
Republican party stands in our governmental system.
At the convention which assembles to-day there are
expected to be upward of iooo delegates representing
all sections of the State and reflecting the sentiment
of the party as a whole. The work it will be called
upon to perform is important. It will have to arrange
for making a vigorous campaign, for organizing clubs
in every county, for rousing the energies of all Re
publicans and for allying the league clubs of the State
in close sympathy and touch with the national organi
zation.
With a disorganized Democracy and a Populism
gone wild there appears a sure and certain victory for
the Republican party in the coming election. This ap
pearance may, however, prove deceitful. It will be
safest at any rate for the Republicans of California to
rely for success upon their own strength rather than
upon the weakness and demoralization of their foes.
The issue involved in the Congressional contests
will be of great magnitude and of vital interest to our
national welfare. It is therefore gratifying to have
the Republican ranks set in order at this early date
for the campaign. The convention wttT have the close
attention of the party, and its work will be to start the
forward march toward victory for the administration
which is now upholding the welfare of the people at
home and advancing the banner of the nation in a
foreign war.
THE DEMOCRATIC DEAL
i I IOR the first time in its history the local Dernoc
j racy has been placed under the exclusive control
* of an appointed organization. The Democratic
State Committee has often, in the interest of "har
mony," interfered in San Francisco politics, but such
action has always been taken with great caution. The
city's patronage is a standing temptation to the State
; bosses, but it has never tempted them to go any fur
ther than the appointment of a committee lor the pur
pose of conducting a fair primary election. With the
result of such an election the State authorities have
considered their obligation discharged. In short, the
Democratic principle has always been "let the people
rule," and interference has never been justified on any
other ground than that the rule of the people was
endangered.
On the present occasion, however, the State bosses
have absolutely wrested the party organization from
the warring factions and placed in charge a committee
| of their own selection. It is not to the point that the
members of this committee are mostly good citizens
and life-long Democrats; it is well known that men
of their character often neglect their civic duties, and
quite as frequently, through inattention, become the
willing instruments in politics of cunning politicians.
! The programme outlined for them is the main thing.
This programme is at pnee un-Democratic and amaz
ing. It is said that the committee will, under the
leadership of those who appointed them, select dele
i gates to the State convention and appoint a county
] committee to conduct the local campaign. The justi
fication for this is alleged to be the presence in this
> city of irreconcilable factions.
If this be true — if the local Democrats have become
incapable of self-government and must whenever they
split call in an appointed committee of "high joints"
to exercise their functions— the effect on the munici
pal and State campaigns cannot fail to be disastrous.
Surely if the party cannot govern itself it is unfit to
govern either city or State. How. can even the com
mittee of one hundred, composed though it is of the
flower of the unwashed, ask the people to trust a
party with the conduct of public affairs, which is
afraid to call a primary election for the selection of
delegations to its own conventions?
Probably the course adopted by the State bosses in
this matter will result in the utter rout of the Democ
racy this year. The Republicans sometimes submit
to autocratic methods in party management, but the
Democrats never can be persuaded to do so. The very
life and strength of Democracy is bossism, and with
out popular party government bossism in the machine
must perish.
There is of course a job behind the action of the
democratic State Committee in this matter. Later on
Ie public will discover the details and ascertain the
name of the beneficiary. In the mean time it is well
to consider the availability of Republican candidates
for office. The people — even Democratic people — will
never trust the single-taxers. Populists, agrarians,
bosses and schemers of the Democratic State Com
mittee to run this city and the commonwealth. Prep
arations should be made to sweep them all from
power. Their struggle to obtain control of the party
machine may be rendered futile by the nomination of
a first-class Republican ticket.
Presentation by an individual of an admiral's flag to
Dewey, as advertised to take place, will be a coarse
and disgusting impertinence. The individual in ques
tion misses no opportunity to put himself on display,
and here is one too good to be overlooked. The same
spirit actuates the offer as inspired an offer from the
same source of $50,000 reward for the discovery of
the wretch who sunk the Maine. It is to be assumed
that the Government will supply Admiral Dewey with
the flag befitting his rank. Still, if a presentation were
to be made by some representative body of men,
proud of the patriotism and valor of the admiral, it
would be a gracious act. Under the circumstances
the best thing the recipient of the flag can do is to
drop the gift In the waters of Manila. No honor can
attach to the accepting of it, but the act would surely
be blazoned to the world with the name of Dewey in
small type and that of Hearst in billboard sire.
THE ROADS OF CUBA.
The fact that General Roy Stone, presi
dent of the National League for Good
Roads, and United States Director of
Road Inquiry, has been ordered by this
Government to Cuba, to construct roads
there for our army. Is one of the moat
etr'king events In the history of the agi
tation for good roads.
General Stone has, during the past two
years, been engaged In building "object
lesson" roads in some of the Eastern
States, under the direction of the Gov
ernmental department at Washington. He
has had under his control a complete out
nt of road building machinery belong
ing to the Government. The purpose of
these "object lesson" roade is to Instruct
people in the neighborhoods In which they
are built how to construct and maintain
a scientific and perfect modern road.
Now In time of war, when the demand
for good road3 Is the greatest, this Gov
ernment has shown its appreciation of
their value and necessity by drawing
upon the best road-building talent and
sending the man who has been for years
at the head of the good roads movement,
doing at the same time actual road bui.u
ing. General Stone is an engineer of
ability and an army officer. Being a mili
tary man, he understands the exigencies
of the situation in Cuba.
It is reported that all the road-buh— ng
machinery belonging to the Agricultural
Department is to be sent to Cuba with
General Stone, and that he will build
roads, with the aid of troops, over the
marshes and swamps of Cuba and
through the otherwise impenetrable for
ests, over which our army will march on
its way to Havana.
In the days of Caesar, the Roman sol
diers were employed in building roads;
but this was in time of peace; when the
soldiers were not otherwise engaged,
they were put at work building roads that
would last forever, and preparing the
country for future military movements.
But it remains for the inventive genius
of American citizens and for Yankee in
genuity to hit upon the idea of construct
ing the roads in actual warfare, through
the enemy's country, over which our sol
diers shall march to storm their cita-
And great need there is that we should
do bo in Cuba. The island is about 730
miles long. Its width varies from about
ninety miles at the eastern end, to about
twenty miles in the vicinity of Havana,
which lies on the northern side of the
western end. Its area is 28,000,000 acres
(or about 46,000 square miles— a little
larger than all of New England), of
which 17,000,000 acres, 60 per cent, is un
cleared forest, much of which is practical
ly impenetrable. The configuration of the
remaining 40 per cent, or sa>' 17.000 square
miles, consists of varied and distinct types
of relief. There are high mountains, low
hills, plateaus, level plains, valleys,
marshes and swamps. About one-fourth
of the total area is mountainous, while
a very large portion Is swampy, breeding
the deadly miasm, more to be feared
than the bullets and sabers of the enemy.
So accustomed have we become to the
mysteries of African jungles and to tales
of the researches of Livingstones and
Stanleys that we think nothing of them.
The average reader will be astonished to
know that so near our own firesides as
the island of Cuba, there lies another re
gion of darkness, a veritable "dark con
tinent," which the foot of man has never
yet trod. Yet such is the fact.
We write and think of Cuba as the
"Pearl of the Antilles. "clad in a voluptu
ous floral mantle, smothered with flowers
and exhaling the sweet perfumes of the
tropics. Humboldt has said of Cuba, "We
might believe the entire island was orig
inally a forest of palms, wild limes and
orange trees."
But there Is another side to all thia, and
COLLECTED IN
THE CORRIDORS.
J. H. Martin of Los Angeles Is at the
Baldwin.
I. A. RobJe, a well-known resident of
Sacramento, is registered at the Cali
fornia.
W. W. Middlecoff, a prominent attorney
i of Stockton, is one of the arrivals at the
; Grand.
Morgan Hill and wife of Morgan Hill,
! Santa Clara County, are guests at the
j Palace.
Captain F. R. Rufer, U. 8. A., and Cap
tain P. F. Straub, U. 8. A., are at the
j Occidental.
Edward P. Phelps of Chlco and M. W.
Muller of Fresno are registered at the
I California.
C. H. Holmes of Sacramento and T.
! Alexander of New York registered at the
I Baldwin yesterday.
Paul H. Blades, editor of the Los An
i geles Record, is at the Occidental, accom
! panied by his wife.
Among the guests at the Palace are
Captain Morini and wife. Miss Hlnckley
i and Master E. Witherby of Irvington.
F. Beaudry, wife and niece, of Weaver
| ville. Trinity County, who have been vls
i iting Paris, are among the guests at the
; Palace,
Clio L. L.loyd, manager of the Santa
Barbara Morning Press, and William
Niles, a breeder of fancy stock in Los
Angeles, are staying at the Occidental.
Colonel Charles L.. Jewett, Judge advo
cate of the Department of the Pacific, is
a guest at the Palace. He will probably
be assigned to duty on General Merritts
staff.
"■OOOOOOOOO The first-night
's SHF ALWAYS ° ers who attended
stlc ALWHio the openlng per .
° DRESSED U formance of Rob
° im R| AfK ° crt Mantell in "A
o 11N tSLA<_N. Q gecret warrant"
0000000000 at the Columbia
may remember
having observed a lady in one of the
proscenium boxes who appeared to be in
tensely interested in the romantic actor,
and while he was delivering his most im
passioned passages she appeared to be
oblivions to all surroundings, and finally
she manifested her undisguised admira
tion by throwing a beautiful bouquet of
American beauties at the feet of the his
trionic artist. The roses were gracefully
gathered by the recipient, who bowed hie
acknowledgments with tender glances to
the fair occupant of the box.
The next night the same little scene
was reproduced in all its details, with the
exception that it was not the same lady,
though she bore such a strong resem
blance to the other that even Mantell
himself was deceived, and when he re
tired behind the scenes with the usual
tender glances to the dispenser of floral
favors he was heard to remark, "By
George, she is a stunner. Such a lovely
face, and two nights she has sent me
flowers. She is evidently in love with
yours truly," and Mantell's chest ex
panded at the pleasa-nt thought.
Then it was that a dark scheme was
planned by the stage hands to "Jolly" the
self-opinionated actor, and on the next
night a lady, dressed entirely in black and
heavily veiled, occupied the box and
watched every ir.ove the artist made. She
seemed to hang on his words and was
well-nigh falling out of the box in her
exaggerated attention. When the climax
came the lady threw a single red rose at
the object of her admiration, which rose
was eagerly gathered up. This panto
mime went on for three or four nights.
The lady was always dressed in black,
and no one, not even Mantell himself,
could discover her identity. Presently
the managers took a hand in the affair
and found out that it was a put-up job by
the stage attaches and the iady was re
fused admittance to the theater. It all
leaked out, and Mantell has been unmer
cifully twitted about the lady in black
who fell in love with him, a favorite mode
of torture being to sing in his presence:
"She could look so innocent and cute;
She had charms which no one could dis
pute;
But the color of her dress kept Mantell
on the guess;
And she's always dressed in black."
Sheriff Frank T. Johnson of Sacramen
to, Edouardo de la Cuesta, the Santa Bar
bara cattle-raiser, and Superior Judge E.
C. Hart of Sacramento are staying at the
Grand.
Among the arrivals at the Lick are S.
T. Black of Sacramento, State Suoerln
that Is tho stern reality. While the flow- !
ers and the limes and the oranges, the
sweet perfumes and the sugar cane are
there, we are powerless with our armies
before the jungles of the Cuban interior
and the dangers of the rocky coast. The
coast line measures, without Its mean
deriiigs, over 2000 miles, while, with all its
embayments and islets, it measures over I
6000 miles. Before the road-building of 1
the interior is undertaken the coast line j
must first be passed. In many places it is i
nothing but a narrow bench of rock, |
standing twenty feet above the sea be- j
tween high bluffs aiid the water. On th-3
north, the cliffs run In a horizontal lln
from Matanzus 500 feet high down to 1
feet in the west.
The east coapt Is abrupt and rugged,
series of rocky terraces. West of Guan
tanamo to Cape Cruz, the mountains o
Sierra Maestra rise behind the terrace
From Cape Cruz to San Antonio the coas
is low and marshy, excepting a bri
stretch between Trinidad and Cienfuego
Along the middle coast line, on both th
north and south sides of the island o
Cuba, are dangerous obstacles to naviga
tlOii, coral reefs and mangrove islet
forming uninhabited barriers to the main
land.
Hence, the great difficulty of landln
troops in Cuba, either for road-building o
for warfare, with all the safe harbors an
landing places guarded by the Spaniard
Of the interior there are many par
of which very little it known. It ha
never been sufficiently surveyed to give
accurate maps of either the nature of the
soil or the topography. The Spanish
Government has, from time to time, sent
commissions to make reconnoissances,
who have repeatedly reported that the
lack of habitation, the impenetrability of
the forests and insurmountable Cordil
leras have prevented the successful con
summation of these expeditions. Such ob
servations do extend east to the seven
tieth meridian, about 120 miles from the
eastern end, which includes Santiago, and
but fragmentary reports have been pub
lished of such investigations as have been
Roads In Cuba are more celebrated for
their scarcity than for anything else.
Good highways are short and they are
few and far between. There Is a road
now extending from Havana to Pinar del
Rio called the King's highway (Oamlno
el Rey). It belongs to a class of roads of
which a few wore tonstrueted centuries
ago, leading from Havana and from a
few interior cities to their entrepots. Be
yond this the Government has con
structed no roads leading into the coun
try, so that Inland communication is
much impeded and in most of ihs island
impossible.
Had Spain pursued a dlfferenl policy
with regard to road-building In Cuba she
might not have been involved In the
present war. It was the lack of military
roads, with the consequent impossibility
of rapid movements of troops, that has
made possible the Cuban revolution, ter
minating in the "resent war. With good
military roads Spnin could have termi
nated the revolution long ago. The re
sult of her neglect in road-building will
now be the loss of the entire territory.
Vastly different is the policy pursued by
England in the Inland of Jamaica. Al
though only one-tenth the size of Cuba
this island possesses over 2000 miles of
splendid highways and enjoys a prosper
ity which without good roads is lmpos
]£urther reports of General Stone's work
in Culm will be awaited with interest.
The problem of how to build roads In ac
tual war and at the same time to trans
port over them the troops who are to do
the fighting at the front is a question
that will call for the highest degree of
skill and the most expeditious applica
tion of all the instrumentalities at his
command.
CHARLES FREEMAN JOHNSON,
Acting Secretary National League for
Good Roads.
tendent of Instruction; Richard T. Cohen.
Recorder of Sacramento, and J. C. Wray,
a Los Angeles capitalist.
Captain Edward Murphy of the quar
termaster's department, United States
volunteers, and Ensigns D. F. Sellers and
"W. H. Sieger, who have been ordered to
the Philadelphia, are at the Palace.
Charles Erickson of Martinez, a railroad
contractor; J. R. Hebbron of Salinss, ex
member of the State Board of Equaliza
tion, and George Johnson, a stockralser
of Pleasanton, accompanied by his wife
and child, are among the arrivals at the
Grand.
Fred Dodd, proprietor of the Hughes
Hotel, Fresno; Benjamin P. Barker, a
vineyardlst of Livermore: A. C. Blair, a
business man of Los Angeles, and W. A.
Lord and wife of Sacramento, are at the
Baldwin.
Editor C. W. "Williams of the San Jose
News came up to this city for a little
holiday yesterday and to honor the mem
ory of the nation's dead. He reports that
the outlook for crops In the Santa Clara
Valley were never better. Prunes are
looking exceptionally well.
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES.
Russia Is about to build a giant torpedo
boat at St. Petersburg. It is alleged to
be of 1500 tons, or about four times the
displacement of the largest torpedo boat
destroyers.
Gunboats of medium size and speed, but j
with great coal endurance, are coming i
into favor In European navies. France Is j
I building one at Brest, named the Zelle, |
! which will be 187 feet three inches In |
j length, twenty-six feet five inches beam, j
and with engines of 900 horse power will !
steam thirteen knots. Her coal supply is j
sufficient for a run of 2700 miles at a ten- j
knot speed.
"El Bolitario" (the 6ne only) Is what j
the Spaniards commonly call the Pelayo, ,
as Spain has only one battleship.
The tax-ridden people of Germany will ;
be made to pay a little over $118,000,000!
during the next seven years toward build- |
! ing up the navy. This is for shipbuild- :
ing, armament and torpedoes, and the '
total expenditures are estimated at $199,- j
450.000 for the septennial period. The
shipbuilding programme Is distributed as
follows:
Increase of the fleet $39,C98.470
Replacing old vessels 51,642.270
Gunboats 1,174.800
Torpedo boats 10,108,380
Total shipbuilding $102,623,920
Considering the fact that tha entire
German navy Is of comparatively recent
origin the Item of $51,642,270 to replace old j
vessels would indicate that the admiralty
must think that the greater part of the
navy now existing is of little account.
The British battleships Hannibal and
Illustrious were placed in commission May
10. The latter goes to China to relieve ]
the Barfleur. The Hannibal was begun |
I at Pembroke dockyard May 1. ISM, and j
; the Illustrious at Chatham March 11, 1595, '
i making a good record for tin; taller jfard, i
| but still much short ot the Majestic, built ;
j and commissioned within two years.
The old broadside Ironclad Resistance,
built In 1562, has been uyiized in the Brit
ish navy for a number of years as a tar
get by large and small guns. As her side
protection was only four and one-half
inches of Iron, the tests with modern
; guns must have been very unsatisfactory
and barren of results of practical value, j
j The old hulk hns been shot through from !
i end to end and from side to side with shot |
and shell from guns ranging in calibers
from 9.2 inch down to machine guns. The I
ship has been sunk and raised several j
: times to undergo this naval war vivisec- ;
tlon. Dummy sailors have been slaugh- ;
tered by the dozen, and exploding shell 3 I
In the Interior of the ship have made sad ■
havoc with decks and fittings. The old
i craft is now so battered as to be scarce
ly worth temporary repairs to lit her for
continued assaults by shot and shell.
The British cruiser Terrible Is s: !1 un
dergoing trials, and Indications point to
a feeling of disappointment over the
Belleville boilers on account of the quan
tity of fuel they consume. On May 9
the ship completed her trials under dif
ferent revolutions of her propellers, com
prising 25, 40. 70, 86 and 104. With flre
nndor twenty of her forty-eight boilers,
carry 217 pounds of steam, the horse
power averaged 5054 during alxty hours
and the speed 12.8 knots, The coal con
sumption for all purposes was at the rate
of 2.3 per horse power per hour or at the
rate of 125 tons per day steaming 807
knots. As the bunker capacity of the
Terrible Is 3000 tons this supply would
take the ship only 7360 miles, which Is
rather expensive steaming for a low
speed.
(pared with the armor plate mann
ers in England, the Carnegie and
?hem works In Pennsylvania are
• slow in their output. There are
notable firms In Great Britain mak
ing armor plates, gun-forgings. projec
tiles and other similar war material,
namely, Cannmell & Co.. with a yearly
capacity of 8000 to 10,000 tons of armor
plate; John Brown & Co., 10,000 tons, and
Vlckers & Co., with 8500 tons. These three
firmu can, in the course of twelve to fif
teen months, supply the arm- i for nine
battleships of the heaviest type, aggre
gating about 27.000 tons, whereas the Car
negie and the Bethlehem works only agree
to deliver jointly 600 tons per month, and
deliveries to begin six months after sign-
Ing of contract.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
POET LAUREATE — D. R.. Angels
, Camp. Cal. Alfred Austin is the poet
' laureate of England.
PATENTED ARTICLES— E., City. Pat
ented articles must bear some kind of no
tice that they are patented and the dato
of patent.
GRANT IN SAN FRANCISCO— A. C.
R., San Jose, Cal. Ex-President U. S.
Grant, while on his tour of the world,
arrived in San Francisco from China on
the 20th of September, 1879.
THE SHENANDOAH— R. M., City. The
ship Shenandoah left this port for Europe
on the 2d of last January. She carried
j 103.717 centals of wheat and 1725 centals
i of barley, the whole valued at 179,500. The
I net tonnage of the Bhlp Is 3154.
TWO SHIPS— H. D., City. The steamer
Kaiser Wilfrfelm der Grosse is 649 feet
long, 66 beam and 39 depth. Her gross
tonnage is 13,800 and her horse-power 27,
000. The Lucania is 620 feet long, 65.3
beam and 43 depth. Her gross tonnage ia
12,950 and her horse-power 30,000.
SPANISH NAMES— M. V. 8., Westmin
ster, Orange County, Cal. "Balsa chica"
is Spanish and means little lake or pool;
"la mirada," also Spanish, means tran
sient view, and "las lomas," also Span
ish, means rising gro-.nd on a plain, lit
tle hills or hillocks.
MACHINISTS— M., City. For informa
tion about machinists to be sent to Ma
nila to work on Bhjps there personal ap
plication must be made to the Bureau of
Employment at Mare Island. The ap
plicant must file his application, and If
there is need for his services he will be
notified.
TO ENLIST— F. S., Oakland, Cal. If
you desire to enlist in the service of Uncle
Sam and serve your country during the
war with Spain you should present your
self to the recruiting officer at the Pre
sidio, and If you are qualified, physical
ly and mentally, you will be accepted. If
rejected you cannot enter the service as
an Individual.
THE JOHN JAY— T.. Alameda, Cal.
There cannot have been any historical
event connecting Benjamin Franklin with
the ship John Jay, broken up in the Oak
land estuary several years ago, for the
reason that Franklin flied in 1790, and the
vessel named waa not built until 1839, at
Staten Island.
PENSIONS— C. Alameda. Cal. By the
act of Congress passed January 27, 1890,
a woman who has married a veteran of
the civil war since the close of the war
is not entitled to draw pension after the
death of her husband, unless it is proven
that death resulted from wounds received
or disease contracted in the discharge of
duty while in the service.
BOOKS— M. V. 8., Westminster. Orange
County, Cal. The best military books in
the Untted States from which to study
tactics, etc., are the several tactics of the
I'nited States army. Cook books vary
with the taste of the individual desiring
to us« the 6ame. Any first-class book
dealer will furnish a list of the books of
this character that are on sale.
GERMAN MILITARY SERVICE— X..
Mountain View, Cal. If a German In time
of peace leaves his native country with
out having performed military duty, goes
to the United States, becomes a citizen
thereof and subsequently returns to his
native country, he may remain there un
molested for a period not exceeding four
months. If be remains beyond that time
Germany can claim his military service.
WAR— D. R., Angels Camp, and J. H.
C. C, City. The message of President
McKlnley announced that war existed
between the United States and Spain is
dated April 25, and it sets forth that war
existed since the 21st of the month. Tha
reason for the war is the refusal of Spain
to discontinue its inhuman warfare in
Cuba and withdraw its land and naval
forces from the island. There have been
as yet no land battles, that is nothing
that can be designated as a battle.
— ♦ — ♦•—•• — •
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. •
The young widow who obtained a li
cense for a third matrimonial venture
took the precaution of finding out where
divorces were granted. Evidently she
does not regard marriage as a permanent
blockade.
■ ♦ ■
Excursion to Grand Canyon of the
Colorado.
A select party of educators and scientists
will leave San Francisco Monday, June 8. for
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, In charge
of Professor Emory Smith 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 Bates via Santa Fe Route.
On and after June 5. until further notice,
second-class rates will be as follows: Kansas
City and Omaha. $31; St. L*>uis, $37; Chtoago,
$32 50. Through palace and tourist sleeping
cars every day. Full particulars at Santa Fa
Ticket Office. 644 Market St.
Northern Pacific Railway.
Cut rates to all points East. Call on T. K.
Btateler, General Agrent. 83S Market St., S. F.
Anoostttba Bitters are endorsed by all the
leading physicians and caemists for purity and
wholeaomenesa. Get the genuine.— Dr Siege rt's
EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER.
Use Acker's English Remedy In any case of
coughs colds or croup. Should It fall to glv«
immediate relief money refunded. At No Per
centage Pharmacy.
"The street sprinkler," says a Vermont
paper "has started, and looks as gay as
a voung girl In yellow paint, with black
stripes on her ribs." Young girls in Ver
mont apparently indulge in queer artistic
fancies.
k V; ADVERTISEMENTS.
The Royal is the highest grade baking powder
known. Actual tests show it goes one-
third further than any other brand.
mm
POWDER
Absolutely Pure
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