The San Francisco call. [volume], January 28, 1903, Image 6

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

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
When a fellow has the wool pulled over
his eyes It naturally makes him feel
sheepish. -• -J ;
Special information supplied dally to
business houses and public men by ths
Press Clipping Bureau (Allen's). 235 Cali
fornia street. Telephone Main 1012. •
Unio is bragging about a rainbow seen on a bright
sunshiny day .without a cloud in the sWy, but per
haps it was a Democrat .who started the story, -r
The Merchants' Association wishes to give the
city a safety station, to be placed in the middle of
Market street. While the association is in a gjving
mood it might provide a series of lectures on -"How
to Attend to Your Own Business When Crossing a
Crowded Thoroughfare." '• J\ ':['' ,'
: Townsend's California glace fruit and
candies. 50c a pound. In artistic fire-etched
boxes. A nice present for Eastern friends
639 Market St.. Palace Hotel building. •
Ex. strong hoarhound candy. Townsend's.*
BERLIN, Jan. 27.— The title and rank
of Envoy Extraordinary, and Minister
Plenipotentiary has been conferred upon
Baron Speck von Sternberg. who succeed*
Dr. von Holleben as the representative
cf Germany at Washington.
Von Sternberg Now Ambassador.
The movement started by the committee is now
under good headway and we should keep it going.
We should even provide means for a still larger work
during the coming year. What has been done has
demonstrated the value of the service rendered to
every section of the State by the co-operative energy
of the various associations represented by the cora-
AS the subscriptions to the work of the Califor
nia Promotion Committee expire in March
there should be no delay in renewing them.
It is evident that the men engaged in the active ad
ministration of the affairs of the committee will be
seriously handicapped ifuhey are left uncertain as to
the amount of money which will be forthcoming after
the present subscriptions expire. Ample assurance
should be given of the continuance of contributions
required for the work and the assurance should be
prompt.
KEEP It MOVING.
Hawaii is up in arms against certain laws which
the legislators at Washington are proposing for her.
For a youngster in the American Union the island
Territory talks too much. She should be heard
less and we will try to see Her more.
The stories of bribery which are coming from
Washington almost lead one to believe that he is
reading somebody's reminiscences of bygone events
in Sacramento. It seems almost incredible that even
the temerity of a lobbyist would be great enough to
touch the immaculate robe's of a national legislator—
unless he knew his man.
Dr. Stiles of the United States Marine Hospital
recently lectured to the New York Medical Society
orr the "hook worm disease," or the so-called "lazi
ness'germ." He says the disease is confined to peo
ple who in their daily life come into contact with the
earth, and is more prevalent in summer than in win
ter. If that statement be correct the hook Worm
does not fill the bill. There is a disease of laziness
in cities as well as among farmers, and it works just
about as thoroughly in winter as in summer. If it be
a hook worm that affects the country, perhaps it is
a bait worm that affects the city. .
After citing opinions on the origin of
the Semites, Dr. Fishberg advanced the
theory that they were differentiated from
other races in Africa and not in Asia, as
was generally helievcd to be the case, and
reviewed the physical characteristics of
ancient and modern Semites.
ment Before the American
Ethnological Society.
NEW YORK, Jan. 27.-At a joint meet
ing of the American Ethnological Society
and the New York Academy of Sciences
Dr. Maurice Fishburg, a well-known an
thropologist, delivered an address, In
which he made the declaration that there
was no such thing as a Hebrew race, and
that Hebrews were not descended from
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, hut were in
reality Armenians.
"The Aryans," he said,' "were, up to
quite recently, considered to be a race on
account of their linguistic affinities, al
though in the light of modern anthro
pological researches we know that there
is no such thing as an Aryan race."
Dr. Maurice Fishberg Mnkea State-
ANTHROPOLOGIST .DECLARES
THERE IS NO HEBREW RACE
BERLIN, Jan. 27.— Professor Mommsen.
whose flowing white locks are conspicu
ous at all the scientific gatherings in
Bc-rlin, has lost almost all of his hair.
He climbed on a ladder to the topmost
book shelf of his library to get a volume
and held a candle too near his head, with
the result that his hair caught fire. The
professor succeeded in throwing the
skirts of his study gown over his head
and smothered the flames. His face was
considerably scorched.
Mommsen Loses Sis Locks.
And so it goes on from rising to sleep
ing; from cradle to grave; from home to
business; from business to profits; from
profits to progress — what is it you use
or do that has not become your habituat
ed, help, your acknowledged necessity—
unless first it was brought home to you
or yours by judicious advert. sing?' And"
your own business, your own product — do
you think these are exceptions to the
universal rule?
But meanwhile you've reached your of
fice, and as you ¦work all day Ion?, direct
ing the activities of yuur typewriters,
bookkeepers, olerks— is there any article
or device in use, from the chair you whirl
about on to the patent flUng cases, from
the ink well to the copy press, from the
light inflecting window to the incandes
cent lamp shade, that you've not ordered
or vour people have not bought because it
was skillfully and persistently brought to
your attention by Judlciors advertising?
At breakfast you may prefer coffee, co
cor. or tea; you may have your prefer
ences, too, among the cereals and the
relishes. By what names do you call
them? Meanwhile you are going through
your morning paper, and what happens?
You ride down town ona trolley car. and
what continues to happen? The things
you are wearing, the food you have eaten;
do they not commend you for your good
Judgment in selecting them by the re
newed appeals they are now making on
consciousness from the advertisements--
> v yu feel friendly with everything you're
in contact with. Why?
EVERYTHING IS ADVERTISED.
And then as you dress, whose make of
underwear and hosiery do you slip into?
What brand of shirts, collars and cuffs
and neckwear do you successively adurn
your manly figure with? Are any of
them ever advertised? Indeed, do you
wear an earthly one of them all that Is
not advertised? If your trousers, vest,
coat and shoes— some of us put on the
latter long pricr to this stage of the
game — are of the ready-to-wear sort, has
the situation as yet changed in the ltast?
WHAT CLOTHING SUGGESTS
Judicious and persistent advertising is
ret only a convenient device for some
business men, it is an essential factor in
production and distribution. It is here
proposed to consider but a single aspect
of the question and that without theoriz
ing or argument. Lot me venture to guess
at .wme of thG thoughts that enter your
mind at various stages of your daily
routine of llf 3. During your toilet in
the morning what soaps do you use?
What razor, what strop? And which
ever you use, what brand"? bob into your
mind at this very moment as you read
these lints? la it a sort you've not be
come familiar with through advertising?
By Welcome TJ. Kirby.
1 Advertisement Solicitor and Writer.
THE RAINBOW— S., Napa. Cal. A
rainbow occurs when the sun or moon
light, too far above the horizon, throw.*
its beams upon a sheet of falling rain
drops on the opposite side of the heavens.
Thus, a ray of light from the sun strikes
a. raindrop gbliquely, part of it is reflected
at the surface of the drop, the rest-pass
ing into the drop is refracted; on the oth
er side cf the drop part of the ray passes
through and the rest is again reflected en
passing from the drop, on the same sMj
that tt entered, a second refraction oc
curs. These successive reflections and re
fraction? separate the ray of white light
into its component colored rays, and a.s
the angles of incidence and emergence
vary for each color the eye of a specta
tor perceives them as distinct bands. Now,
every drop in a sheet of falling water
which has equal obliquity to the specta
tor's eye will send to it rays ot the same
color. But the only-drops which can ful
fill these conditions of like obliquity of
reflected rays are those which define the
bese of a cons whose apex is the eye and
j the center of whose base is in a ri£ht
line passing through the sun and the eye
of the spectator. A ralrbow can only t>e
; seen when a spectator stands between it
and the sun; Its center must always be
directly opposite the sun, moving with
the sun's .motion, falling if the sun ia
rising:, and rising if the sun is declining.
At or near sunset, when the sun and the
observer are on the same horizontal
plane, the bow will be seen to form a
complete semicircle: when the sun is
higher in the sky. a smaller arch is seen:
the entire circle could" only be visible to
a spectator on the top of a very hish ami
narrow mountain peak, which elevated hi.<
plane much above that of the sun's rays,
but did not cut off their light. A coin
r!ete circle may also sometimes be seer,
in a rainbow formed by the sunlight on
the spray arising from cataracts. When
the sheet of falling drops is large and
the sunlight very bright, the double rain
bow is seen. Then the sun is obscured by
line rain or fog, the rainbow proper ia
replaced by a bow formed by the reflec
tion and Interferences of light from the^f
fine particles of water. This bow is. or
course, without the color. A lunar rain
bow is also colorless.
SENATOR RALSTON when questioned about
the Hash test bill introduced by him pointed out
that the bili itself shows it was introduced "'by
zoiiucst." He then went on to explain that he knows
very little about the use of oil as feel, and added:
•'It would not surprise me if, before we get through
with this, the bill would be changed so that the
authors would not know it."
When first directing public notice to the measure
The Call stated that it had been introduced by re
quest, so that nothing further need be stated on that
point. The suggestion of Senator Ralston that it j
nay be amended is, however, not satisfactory. If '
the Senator deem the bill a good one he should !
stand by it and support it as best he can. If, on the j
other hand, he believes he has been made the victim i
of misrepresentation, he should withdraw the bill at j
uiicc and have no more to do with it.
The Call has no intention to impugn the motives of
any one connected with the sudden movement in the
State Legislature to raise the flash test of petroleum
products used as fuel to 150 degrees. It suffices to show |
that t!ie movement is bad, no matter what may be the
motives that inspire its advocates. Should the flash test
be fixed at either 150 or 140 degrees the oil producers
of California would be rendered at once subject to the
Standard Oil Company. The oil fuel supply would
pass under control of the most grasping monopoly
in the country, and California consumers of oil would
have to contribute largely to future philanthropies
and benefactions- perpetrated by the Standard Oil j
magnates.
The felly of the movement is self-evident. The
consumption of petroleum products as fuel has been
going on in San Francisco for upward of fifteen years.
It has been used in factories, on locomotives and on
steamboats. It has been consumed in large quanti
ties by big factories £nd in small quantities by lesser
o;tablishmcnts. It has been put to about every con
ceivable test of practical operation, and no disasters
have resulted. It is then clear that it is just as safe
SlS a fuel as any other in use. Experts have given
testimony confirming the results 'of this wide, varied
and long continued experience in the business world.
Why, then, this sudden effort to raise the flash test
to a point that will drive the small producers out of
the market and give the Standard Oil Company a
monopoly?
I
It will be noted that so long as the output of oil
fuel was comparatively small there was no symptom
cn^he part of either local or State legislative bodies
to interfere with the industry. Now, however, that
the supply has become sufficiently abundant to awaken
manufacturing enterprises throughout the State there
is a simultaneous action here and at Sacramento to
cinch the producer and the consumer by the adop
tion of a flash test which will benefit no one except
a single interest.
It is not a fight of the oil producers only. The
manufacturing interests and prospects of the State
arc, concerned in it. We have been backward in
manufacturing solely because of the lack of cheap
fuel. We have now an, abundant supply of fuel in our
«.wn State, 50 that we do not have to import it from
foreign countries, or .even from other parts of the
Union. Every dollar expended for such fuel remains
i:i Cal:fornia«and helps to pay California wages and
¦tirnulate California trade. Just at this time, how
ever, comes this unexpected attack on the industry,
ond we arc threatened that our fuel supply will be
tumed over to a monopoly by the action of our own
Legislature.
Senator Ralston should not take the trouble to
.-¦mend his bill introduced by request. The best
thirg he can do is to withdraw it and throw it in the
waste basket. Should he fail to do so the Senate
should kill it at the first opportunity. The thing is
not worth amending.
Senator Hoar has emphatically expressed the
opinion that President Theodore Roosevelt, in com
mon courtesy, should keep' his hands off in matters
of legislation until the National Legislature has had
its s*ing. The Senator might have added that there
are several other things now happening in Washing
ton that the President would like to but cannot drop.
London phj'sicians 2re not so enthusiastic over Dr.
Lorenz as were those of this country. One of them
says we shall rot know the worth of the Lorenz cures
until some years have passed and it is seen how they
itand the test of time
THE FLASH TEST BILL.
ADVERTISING
A BIG FACTOR
IN BUSINESS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27.— The following
Californians registered at the hotels to
day: At the New Willard— Mrs. M. Lock
wood, Miss Pollock, W. B. Bradford and
wife and Mr. and Mrs. W. Scott Jr. of
San Francisco.
Californians in "Washington.
NEW YORK, Jan. 27.— The following
Calif ornlan? are in New York: From Los
Angeles— Mrs. Boutwell. at the Westmin
ster; T. .Burke, at the Manhattan, ana
J. T. Menefee, at the Grand Union.
Dr. J. Clark of Gilroy is at the Grand.
J. M. Williams, a cattle man of New
man, Is among the arrivals at the Lick.
Former Lieutenant Governor Jeter is
up from Santa Cruz and registered at the
Palace. •
Charles E. Taxton. the -well-known
stockbroker, is confined to his rooms at
the Palace Hotel with an attack of the
gout.
R. Allison, a mining man who makes
his headquarters at the City of Mexico,
is at the Grand, accompanied by his
wife.
F. G. Whitney, manager of tue West
ern department, and A. Lagergren. in
spector of agencies for the Cunard
Steamship Company, are at the Palace.
Former Congressman Edward S. Bragg
of Wisconsin arrived at the Occidental
yesterday from Wisconsin. He is en
route to the Orient, accdmnanled by his
wife. They will sail on the Gaelic.
General Passenger Agent Charles F.
Fee of the Northern Pacific Railroad is
expected to arrive in the city to-day.
His headquarters will be at the Palace.
He was a former newspaper man and
is considered one of the cleverest of the
Western traffic men.
Frank H. Owen, editor of the Winters
Express, left,- last evening for St. Louis,
accompanied by his wife. Mr. Owen is a
Callfornian representative of the State
Press Association to the spring meeting
of the executive committee of the Na
tional Kditoria! Association.
Californians in New York.
PERSONAL MENTION.
GILBERT VAX ZANDT IN 1S63,
AND AS HE APPEARS TO
DAY.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28, 1903
JOHN D. SPEECKELS, Proprietor.
/ddress fill Communications to W. S. LEfIKE, Manager
TELEPHONE.
Ask for THE CALL. The Operator Will Connect
You Vi :**'. the Department You Wish.
f " OLICATIOX OFFIC1J. . ..Mtrkft and Third, S. P.
CDITOniAL nOOMS 217 to 221 StevensoM St.
Delivered I»y Carrier*, 15 Cents Per Week.
Stngrle Coplm, S Cemtm.
Trrmi by Stall. Including Poitaget
r /TT>T CALL (Including Sunday), one year $6.00
DA1LT CALL (including Euudsy), 8 months 8.00
I'AILY CALL {including Sunday). S months 1.50
DAILY CALL-By Bingl- Month 65c
FCXDAY CALL. On« Tear l.M
WEEKLY CALL, Oae Tear l.Ot
All PaitmtKcn are authorized to receive
•wbscrlptfona.
Cunple copies will be forwarded wbea requested.
Mail eebsertb^rs In orderlne ctaacge of address chonld be
r&mrtilar to dv« both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS la order
to insure a prompt and ccrrect compliance frith their request.
diKLAM) OFFICE 1113 Broadway
C. GEORGE KROGXESS.
1 ttf r tr Fertifa itrtrtiEicg, Kirqtitte Building, CUtigo.
«Locr Distance Telephone "Central !(».")
NEW TORK REPRESENTATIVE:
ITErnnx U. SMITH SO Tribune Handing
NEW TORE CORRESPONDENT:
C C CAHLTOX Herald Square
NEW TORK NEWS STANDS:
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano. 11 Union Square;
Hurray Hill Hotel; Fifth-avenue Hotel and Hoffman House.
CHICAGO NHWS STANDS:
6herman House: P. O. News Co.; Great Northern Hotel;
JTemoxst House; Auditorium Hotel: Palmer Hcuae.
WASHIXGTO\ CD. C> OFFICE 14O6 O St.. 7S. W.
S1OKTOX 12. CRAVE, Correspondent.
BttAXCH OFFICES— £27 Moctcoaerr. corner of Clar. open
cstll »:30 o'clock. 300 Heyca. open cnt!l 8:30 o'clock. M3
McAllister, open until f>:30 o"clcck. Gi3 Larkin. op»n until
I-E'J c' click. IM1 Mlssloc, cpea until 10 o'clock. 2281
Market, rcmer Sixteenth, cpea until 9 o'clock. 1098 Va
iene:a. cpea until 8 o" clock. 106 Eleventh, opea until 9
o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky, open
until a o'clock. 2200 Fiiltnore. cpen until 9 p. m.
PULLED CANDY— S. N., City. The rea
son that taffy made from sugar or mo
lasses becomes white by pulling la that
the exposure to the air and friction evap
orates the syrup, which contains moat o*
the coloring matter, and facilitates oxi
dization of the carbon in the sugar, which
is always white and contains eleveu
atoms of oxygen to twelve atoms of car-
J>on and eleven atoms of hydrogen. The
syrup drained from the same sugar in
the refining process not only contain.-)
more or less coloring matter, but haa ¦
smaller proportion of oxygen to , the
amount of carbon. Still another reu
son why sugar is whitened by pulling tl
Is that this operation, like the crushing
process when applied to rock candy, on.«
of- the purest forms of sugar, destroj^
or Impairs Its power of absorbing light
and causes it to reflect all the elementary
colors in each ray, which, of course, re
sults in white light.
THE honor of having been the young
est regularly enrolled soldier of the
Civil War is claimed by Gilbert
Van Zandt of Kansas City. Van
Zandt was 10 years old when he enlisted
as a drummer boy August 6, 1S62, In Com
pany D, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteers,
in the little village of Port William.
Clinton County, Ohio. His discharge at
the close of the war describes him as a
"soldier 13 years old and four feet high."
He was born at Port William, Ohio. De
cember 20, 1S31. He is a member of the
Farragut-Thomas Post No. 8, Depart
ment of Missouri, G. A. R.
While it is true that here and there a Southern
Hotspur tries to blow life into the dead embers of
hatred and strife, he gets little sympathy, as does the
Northern man engaged in the same ungracious task.
They were all Americans, all brave men, all devoted
to ideas and ready to die for them. May our country
always have their like, ready for sacrifice and mar
tyrdom.
Colonel Watterson, Confederate veteran, in like
spirit responded to the memory of Abraham Lin
coln, who was declared by his old foeman "not for an
age, but for all time." At the close ail*' the great
company, blue and grdy, rose in ascription to "the
silent brigade," the million Americans who fell in
that mighty strife.
¦ That union of hearts is now here and will not pass
away. Its latest emphasis was given in the meeting
on the 26th inst. of the Camp of Confederate Vet
erans in New York. The opening toast was to Prcsi-«
dent Roosevelt, "a prince- among the rulers of the
world, but the servant of a free people," which was
received with an enthusiasm which did not subside
to the end. Charles Francis Adams of Massachu
setts, a veteran of the Union army, responded to the
toast to the memory of General' Robert E. Lee, and
declared that his statue should be erected in the na
tional capital by common contribution of the blue
and the gray in recognition of brilliant military
achievement, lofty character, honof and humanity in
war. .and devotion and dignity in defeat.
- Looking back over the years to the exceeding bit
terness that is farthest away it is evident that the be
ginning of kindlier and better sentiments between the
North and South began when Horace Greeley went
on the bond of Jefferson Davis to deliver hini from
the irksome and humiliating imprisonment in For
tress Monroe. Though the South accepted that act sul
jpnly, and the North showered abuse upon Greelcy
for it, it came to be understood as an expression of
profound patriotism. Mr. Greeley, who was a phil
osopher, saw clearly that the Union must be one of
hearts, to be real, and not a bond of force binding
the unwilling together.
Ei NGLAND was long torn by civil dissensions.
The strife between York and Lancaster, red
[ dened with blood the right little, tight little
island. Then ensued the uprising led by Cromwell,
that ended in the Lord Protectorate and the Com
monwealth. Cruelty, savage courage, . soldierly
qualities and leadership characterized all of these
commotions. Revenge survived after men were dead,
and in the potent passion of the time graves were
violated to expose the heads of the dead, or to hang
their bones in chains, to receive the execrations of
their enemies. /. '
But the civil wars and their passions and divisions
are long gone by, and for more than a century and
a half tile descendants of Cavalier and Roundhead, and
the descendants of the still more remote leaders in the
wars of the Roses, have learned that those years of
strife and strategy, after all, developed the qualities
of endurance, patience, discipline and leadership to
such an extent that these have come down to the
present day as an endowment of character to which
England owes her place in the world. So the act
ors in those old wars are to-day held in honor, and
history puts them on a pedestal to receive the respect
of all the people, as the common ancestors of the
England of the present.
In this more modern age intelligence is more gen
eral and the minds- of men are better trained. So it
has come to pass' that within a half century the actual
participants in our Civil War of 1861 have come to
recognize the struggle and the actors in it, on both
sides, as expressive of common qualities of courage,
initiative, sacrifice and stubborn devotion to an ideal
that make tip the American cltaratrter. In the first
years after the close of our great war there seemed
but little hope that the generation which participated
in it would reach such broad ground. Wounds were
fresh. Political differences, supervening upon the
w\ar itself, were so bitter and sectional prejudices long
existing were so hot that the best men on both sides
despaired of ever reaching common ground. But
it has been found at last.
LET US HAVE PEACE.
ATLANTIC CABLE— J. M.. Grass Val
ley, Cal. The company that undertook
to lay the cable across the Atlantic Ocean
in/ 1865 was known as the Atlantic Tele
graph Company. The late Cyrus W. Field
was the leading spirit, and furnished raor3
than one-fourth of the capital required.
The enterprise of 1S65 was a failure, but
the fame company continued in the work,
and en July 27, 1866. established subma
rine telegraphic communication between
the two continents.
NOVA SCOTIA— Reader. City. What i*
now known as Nova Scotia was dis
covered by Cabot In 1497; visited by Ver
razzani in 1524 and named Acadla. It was
settled in 1622 by the Scotch under Sir
William Alexander in the reign of Jamt-3
the First of England, from whom it re
ceived the name of Nova Scotia, meaning
New Scotland.
Colorado has at last settled her Senatorial troubles
and is at peace with herself. She has put away her
guns and her warlike demonstrations and is laughing
probably with the rest of us over her bluff and
buncombe to rend herself -over a little thing like the
election of a United States Senator. *
LETTERS— L. D., Port Costa, CaL City
or drop letters in localities where there*
is no free delivery are carried through
the postofflce for 1 cent; but in localities
where free delivery is established the
postage on such letters Is 2 cents, it the
envelope be sealed or unsealed.
CENSUS- J. H: G.,«Oakland. Cal. The
population of the United States in 1S6O
was, according to census figures. 31.443.
321; in 1570. 38,558.371; in 1SS0, 50.155.783; in
1MW. 62.662,250. and in 1300, 7C.303.3S7.
COLORADO'S GOVERXOR-W. City.
Joseph H. Peabody. Republican, was, at
the election last November, elected Gov
ernor of Colorado.
Is the teacher to pay it out of his own pocket, or
is he to ask the parents or guardians of the children
to pay it? If the latter, witness the pro-rating re
quired. The County Superintendent, as the bill
stands, will have to pay the first transportation charge
out of his own pocket, and then will have to pro
rate it to the teachers of the county according to the
number of books in their respective requisitions.
Then the teacher will have to pay both charges and
pro-rate them to the parents in proportion to the
number of books used by the children each. Then
if they refuse to pay how is the money to be collected
of them? All of this will absorb the attention of the
teacher to the detriment of the school, and will be
a part of the gross damage to the schools which will
be inflicted by the bill.
Before the County Superintendent can get posses
sion of the books to distribute them/to the schools
the freight must be raid, but the bill does not say
out of what fund, and the law at present does not
create nor authorize a fund for such purpose. When
the County Superintendent gets possession of the
books they are to be distributed to the teachers
of his county, and here again the bill provides for
payment of this second transportation charge, but
does not say by whom. Nor does it say whether the
first transportation charge is to be added to the sec
ond, and both be paid when the books reach their
final destination. The school cannot proceed until
the teacher gets the books, and the books cannot be
had until the transportation charge is paid.
The bill is in need of a schoolmaster. It provides
that when a County Superintendent makes a requisi
tion for the textbooks needed in his county for the
ensuing school year the State Superintendent shall
forward the same to the County Superintendent's of
fice free of all charge other than transportation
charges, and that the County Superintendent shall
then forward them to the several schools free of* all
charge except transportation charges. From this it
is seen that the State is not to pay freight on the
books, but that it is to be paid by somebody, the bill
does not say by whom. : •
The clause quoted is a sample of the looseness with
which the bill is drawn; "the said pupil" is a clause
without antecedent. Nor is there any explanation of
what "the said pupil" means, though it is left to in
ference that it means a pupil guilty of losing or de
stroying a book. Such act of a pupil is practically
penalized by .the bill, which stamps the school sys
tem with a mixture of pauperism and penal offense.
A book is destroyed when the binding gives away
or a page is lost out of it. With these books passing
fsom hand to hand, class to class 2nd school to
school, as they are to pass, who shall fix the guilt of
first loosening the binding so that a page drops out?
The bill provides that the consequences of the acts
and use of many shall finally fall upon one who is
unfortunate enough to receive a book that is ready to
fall into pieces. Upon such questions teachers are
expected to pass judgment and collect penal finest
It is an abhorrent feature of the measure, which >vili
add most unpleasantly to the burdens which teach^
ers already bear.
a volume that the taxpayers will demand that less
books be supplied, and there will be a recourse to
fewer books and those of less'mcrit. The destruction
of the free books will be rapid. The pupils, having
no sense of ownership in them, will be careless- in
handling them, and instead of a book owned by the
family, going down through the hands of all the
children, well cared for, a part of the family library
and finally to be tenderly cherished by the parents,
these free books will be short-lived and a constant
resupply will be necessary.
It is true that the Emmons bill provides that:
"The State School Superintendent shall place a valu
ation upon each book in the State school series,
which valuation shall be plainly marked or stamped
upon each book issued under the provisions of this
act. In case any of the said books are lost or de
stroyed during the school year for which the same
were issued the parent of said pupil, or guardian, shall
pay to the principal of said school the sum at which
said book is valued, as evidenced by said stamp or
mark, and said principal shall transmit all moneys
so received to the County Superintendent of Schools,
and the said County Superintendent of Schools shall
transmit said money to the State Superintendent of
Schools for the benefit of the State school fund."
Now is there a school principal or teacher who
wants to assume this duty of keeping tab on books
and collecting fines from the parents or guardians of
pupils? Suppose they deny responsibility and re
fuse to. pay the fine, how is it to be collected? If the
claim be prosecuted in the courts by the processes
for collection of a debt every parent or guardian has
a right to demand a jury to pass upon the facts, and
the schools will soon be litigated into destructive
unpopularity, and teachers who attempt to enforce
this provision of the law will have a storm howling
about them continually-.
THE response to The Call's position against free
textbooks has been prompt and favorable to
our views.
The plan has no footing in any view that may be
taken of it. It is retrogressive in the extreme. What
the schools need is more and better schoolhouses
and more and better and better paid teachers, to in
crease their efficiency. Free books will in no way
better the situation, but will make it distinctly worse.
It will so add to the cost of the system as to cause
unwise retrenchment in accommodations and in the
teaching force.
Nor is this all. The cost will finally reach such
YOUNGEST SURVIVOR
OF THE CIVIL WAR
SOME ANSWERS
TO QUERIES BY
CALL READERS
mittee, and consequently there can be no further
doubts as to the efficiency of the movement. Those
who were sanguine last year can now justify their
faith by the proof of things accomplished, and those
who were then more ' or/less incredulous of good can
now rejoice that their fears were groundless. Thus
those who were either hopeful or doubtful last year
can now with full confidence increase their subscrip
tions and help to make the work more successful still.
It is the intention of the committee to publish" a list
of all subscribers and' circulate it as an evidence of
the public spirit of our citizens, showing to the world
how large a' number of our men of means and enter
prise are willing' to co-operate for the general good
and contribute to promote it. It is to be hoped the
list will be a large one. Since the ball has been
started rolling every man should put his shoulder to
the wheel and keep it moving.
FREE TEXTBOOKS.
THE SAN FBANCISCO - CALL, ¦ WEDNESDAY, . JAKUAKY 28, 1903.
. Outlim's New Year extra ralnre cIm w*
cream and cake. -^903 Larkm itij til. kant lav
6
The Sunday Call's
New Literary Policy
|T HE STT2TDAY CALL has secured the special righta for the
11 Pacific Coast of "A Girl "WTio "Wrote," by Alan Dale, the £reat
New York dramatic critic, and will publish this splendid novel
complete in three issues of its Magazine Section— February 1, 8 and
15 inclusive. Also bear in mind that other remarkable literary
features are to follow in rapid succession. Immediately after the
completion of "A Girl Who Wrote," The Sunday Call will publish
that sensational problem story, "The Leopard's Spots," by Thomas
DLzon Jr.; then will appear in rapid succession "The Gentleman
From Indiana," by Booth Tarkington; "Tainted Gold," by Mrs. C. N.
Williamson; "The Turnpike House," by Fergus Hume; 'The Miss-
issippi Bubble," by Emerson Hough; "Tne Thirteenth District," by
Brand Whitlock, etc., etc. In addition to these novels ther« will be
published in each issue of The Sunday Call a short story selected
from the work of the best writers of the day; for example such
stories as: "The Golden Ford," by William Wallace Phillip*; "Bob-
bert's Merry Christmas," by Josephine Dodge Daskam; "The Tel-
low Mail Story," by Frank H. Spearman; "The God of His Fathers,"
, by Jack London; "The Little God and Dickey," by Josephine Dodg«
Daskam; "A Woman and Her Bonds," by Edward Leferre, etc
¦ y
Read the Colonel
Kate Papers