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WEEK’S NEWS FROM NEIGHBORING CITIES Hf OVHME OF M EIENIS on he men; sloe Condensed Deane of He Week’s Happenings Cowing Events of Interest from My Haees-WiMo* Rapid Seaming To Cut Lard Rate SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19—A re duction of 20 cents per 100 pounds on lard lard substitutes from Los An geles to San Francisco, Oakland and Emeryville will be made shortly by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. Land Withdrawn SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—The en tire land grant that San Francisco re quests from the United States govern ment for use in the Hetch-Hetchy water supply project has now been withdrawn by President Wilson and taken from the lists of open territory. Injunction Suit Filed LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19.—Suit for an injunction to prevent the collection of assessments for construction work in the San Gabriel flood portection dis trict has been filed in the superior court by Charles H. Lippincott and other property owners. The suit is against the county. Polyglot Deputy Wanted LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19.—Who speaks French, Spanish and Portu guese and wnats to be a deputy sheriff? The county civil service com mission is looking for a man with such qualifications, and will hold an exam ination for the position Oct. 27. The position will pay SIOO a month. Sues for Bullion Value SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—The In dependiente Mining company of Ca margo, Mexico, has filed suit in the United States district court here to recover $36,809 from Maldonado & Go., of San Francisco, for silver and gold bullion which it is alleged was shipped to the defendant company several months ago and sold under the market price to that amount. Yucaipa Highway Promised REDLANDS, Oct, 19. Highway Commissioner G. S. Hinckley has promised to have the road open from Redlands to Yucaipa for the annual Yucaipa apple show early in Novem ber. A concrete highway is being built and will be completed in about three weeks to a connecting point with another road that will give a good highway to the valley for the show. Alfalfa Hay Price Increases POMONA, Oct. 19. —Climbing stead ily during the past two weeks, alfalfa hay has jumped from $lO to sl6 per ton ,and every indication is that it will continue to advance until the next spring crops are placed upon the mar ket. Oat hay is also quoted at sl6, while barley hay has gone up to sls. Los Angeles buyers evidently received an early hunch that the price of hay would go up, for they hurried into the Chino district, where they bought heavily. It is reported that the San Joaquin valley crops are short this year, and the south is being relied upon to make up the deficiency. WENT TO CHINA TO MARRY 881 JSrkSnl KM, >X ; •’ vX Miss Ida Miller Taylor, daughter of and Mrs. G. M. Taylor of New flochelle, N. Y., recently journeyed to China to be married, and in the Pro- Cathedral at Shanghai she became the wife of Rev. Francis J. M. Cotter, formerly of New York. For their hon eymoon trip they went up the Yangtse river to Ruling, where they will spend the summer studying the Chinese lan guage. In the autumn they will re turn to Wuchang, where Mr. Cotter is In charge of SL Michael’s church. CALIFORNIA'S KEEL LAID; / TO COST $15,000,000 NEW YORK, Oct. 19. —An innova tion in naval construction was inaugu rated at the New York navy yard with the laying of the keel of the super dreadnaught' California, the first bat tleship in the world to be equipped with electric machinery for her own propulsion. The California will cost about $15,- 000,000, and will displace 32,000 tons. She will carry twelve 14-inch rifles mounted in four three-gun turrets. The two other battleships of this class will be the Idaho and the Missis sippi, work on which has not yet been commenced. The California’s electric driving sys tem has been tested by the use of a similar method on board the collier Jupiter. She can be started, stopped, backed and maneuvered by one man from the bridge. $9,000,000 AUTOS SENT ENGLAND IN NINETY DAYS LONDON, Oct. 18. —During June, July and August there were imported from America more than 5,500 motor cars, complete, valued in excess of $5,000,000, while in addition there were 500 chassis valued at $1,000,000, and tires, tubes and other parts valued at $3,000,000. These figures were given in the com mons. SLAVS SMASH GERMANS, TAKE 2,000 PRISONERS PETROGRAD, Oct. 18. —The Rus sians have broken through the Ger man front on the Strypia river in Ga licia, capturing 60 officers, 2,000 men, four cannon and ten machine guns, ac cording to official announcement. The Russian offensive is continuing, the Teutons retreating behind the Strypia. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAIAS ELEMENTS OF PROSPERITY MONTHLY LETTER OF PROMINENT BANKERS GIVES FACTS All Crops and By-Products Have Made Great Records During the Past Season—Population Stead ily Increasing LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19. —That Southern California has all the ele ments of prosperity, and that already a building revival in Los Angeles has begun that will stir the real estate market to further activities, is the opinion expressed by prominent' bank officials in the monthly financial letter of the Farmers and Merchants Na tional bank. In part, it says: “Speaking for Southern California, it can truly be said that she has many elements of prosperity. Her tourist trade has been enormous. Her orange crop has realized prices better than the average. The bean crop now be ing threshed is worth millions of dol lars. The walnut yield will be large. Her sugar beet crop is heavy, and is mostly harvested and the sugar sold. Hay and grain yields were large. The deciduous fruit crop was so great that much of it went to waste for lack of canning facilities. Cattle, hogs and alfalfa sold for less money than in the years past, but alfalfa is now steadily advancing, and there is a considerable supply on hand. Her oil industry is in good condition. Her population of permanent residents constantly in creases. Subdivision and settlement of large tracts of land continue. Each season adds to the variety and abun dance of her soil productions. The market for these products is constant ly being enlarged. The Panama canal has opened the way to her, to increased commercial activities. When the next upward movement of the country be gins, this portion of the state will be prepared to share in it. “Los Angeles is already a great and prosperous city. She new has a popu lation of fully 550,000. She will grow and improve and become more influ ential and still wealthier as the years roll by. From a strictly residental city she has become great commer cially and is developing a wonderful line of manufacturing activity. The slow-down she has undergone was necessary. Poeple were going too fast. They were overbuilding. They must now wait —not long, a year or two only—for increased population to fill all buildings already constructed. Los Angeles has gone through this slowing-down process several times in the past forty years. She has emerged front each depression of the past with renewed vigor and activity. Her fu ture is assured. If we want to make this country attractive to foreign capi tal,* we must reduce our rate of taxa tion and not have constant govern ment interference with and regulation of business.” WOMEN CAST FIRST BALLOT IN NORWAY CHRISTIANA, Oct. 18. —Norwegian women flocked to the polls at the gen eral election for the first time in his tory. The number of electors was in creased by approximately 10,000. Edi tors predict that the Socialist party will be strengthened by the vote. The government has proposed a grain monopoly, old age pensions, and strin gent anti-liquor laws which will close ly approach prohibition. UNITED KINGDOM MAY RAISE WIRE RATES LONDON, Oct. 18. —Along with the rise in the price of nearly everything else, the telegraph rate in the United Kingdom will probably soon be raised. It Is reported that the postal authori ties —the telegraph lines are govern ment-controlled in Great Britain —are considering increasing from 12 to 18 cents the rate for sending a twelve word message, address and signature to be counted as words as heretofore. The 12-cent rate has been in force thirty years. SHOAL STATE ELECTION TO BEHELD OCTOBER 26 ELEVEN PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND RE FERENDUM MEASURES TO BE VOTED ON NEXT TUESDAY Direct Primary, Form of Ballot, Extention of Judges Term, Rural Credit, Amendment to Present Tax System and Exemption of Churches Used for Social Purposes From Taxation Are Most Important Items SACRAMENTO, Oct. 19. Eleven proposed constitutional amendments and referendum measures are on the ballot to be voted on at the special state election, Tuesday, Oct. 26. Nine of them are amendments proposed by the legislature, and two are referen dums on acts of the legislature. Interest in the election centers in the first proposition on tire ballot, which is a referendum on the legisla tive act extending the direct primary law to non-partisanship in the election of governor. The act amends the long direct primary law in many minor de tails, but the central feature is that it specifies that only candidates for Unit ed States senator, congressmen, party committeemen, delegates to national conventions and presidential electors shall have party designations on the ballot. Ballot Change Planned The second proposition on the ballot is a referendum on a related act' of the legislature, dealing with the form of the ballot. It cuts the length of the ballot about half, and it supplements the first proposition by omitting party designations from all candidates for purely state offices. Extension of the terms of superior judges from six years to twelve years is the effect of the third proposition. It leaves judges still subject to the recall. The contention of its friends is that it will tend to remove judges from the field of politics, since the long term will leave them free from the ne cessity of going into elections so fre quently, while the recall will keep them responsive to the welfare of the peo ple. No Opposition Here Proposition four apparently has no opponents. It provides that judges appointed to fill unexpired terms shall hold office to the first of January fol lowing the election at which a suc cessor is chosen. The object of the amendment is to correct the defect in the present law, which makes such ap pointed terms end at election day, the result of which has been that attor neys have occasionally been elected for the “short term” by the process of having a few friends write in their names. Rural credit is the mooted subject of the fifth proposition. The amend ment authorizes the state to provide a system of land colonization, develop ing water and preparing the land for INTERCESSION DAY IN LONDON Remarkable* scone in front of St. Paul’s cathedral, London, while the mshop of London was conducting Intercession day services from the steps of the cathedral. Services and prayers for victory took place on this day throughout the British empire. SKY DREADNAUGHT IS U. S. INVENTION CHICAGO, Oct. 19. —A sky dread naught of biplane type, the basic prin ciple of which is stability, is the inven tion of a young Chicago engineer, T. Charles Russell, president of the Na tional Electric company. This machine is based on an entirely new principle of air mechanics, which Russell claims defies any and all ad verse air conditions. He says it will not turn over or tip out its pilot* or machinery, but make a gradual de scent to earth. A factory to manufacture the young Chicagoan’s invention has been rented in* Boston, and within a few weeks’ time wifi be in full operation. A contract with a foreign power, said to be Great Britain, has been signed with Earle T. Ovington, a Boston avi ator, to furnish the entire output of the plant to that nation until the close of the war. INVENTION ELIMINATES TOWERS FOR WIRELESS SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19—A wire less telegraphy invention eliminating the construction of the present tower ing steel structures for sending and receiving by simply projecting a wire along the ground for a short distance was announced by R. B. Wolverton, United States radio inspector. The invention was made in collab oration with Palmer B. Hewlitt of Hol lis, Cal. According to its discoverers, the new method has proved eminently success ful in receiving messages from Hono lulu, Sayville and Arlington, Va. settlers; to establish a system, of rural credits, to issue bonds secured by first mortgages on farms, and to establish a trust fund for participation in the rural credit operations. The law has the two main features, first of loans on long time and low interest to farmers, secured by first mortgages on their land, and, second, the development of arid tracts by the state through con servation and development of water and the subdivision and sale of these lands to settlers on easy terms. Interest Law Included Proposition six is an amendment giving the legislature power by act, or the people by initiative measure, to change the present limitations con cerning the deposit of public moneys. Proposition seven, concerning the initiative and referendum, provides that no law creating a bonded indebt edness and initiated by petition shall become a law without the assent of two-thirds of the electors voting. It also enables the legislature to protect initiative and referendum petitions from fraud. The eighth proposition is a constitu tional amendment extending the right of the state or county or city to con demn property for public use in the future, in addition to property required for immediate use. As the constitu tion nojv stands, the state, county or city is strictly limited in condemna tion proceedings to exact immediate requirements, and no provision can be made for growth and development, however certain it may be that addi tional land will be required within a short time and that it will then have to be condemned at advanced prices. Its purpose is to save for the people the profits that now accrue to specu lators. ' The ninth proposition is an amend ment of the tax system, placing the tax system in the hands of a commis sion that is to supersede the state board of equalization, after January, 1919. It provides for equalization be tween property taxed on gross re ceipts and other property taxed on physical valuation. Proposition ten exempts property used by churches for social purposes in the line of their religious work from taxation. The last measure on the ballot is de signed to give to counties adopting charters greater power o£, self-govern ment. ITALY PLACES ORDER FOR 50,000 BLANKETS BOSTON, Oct. 19. —The American Wioolen company has taken an addi tional contract from the Italian gov ernment for 500,000 blankets. This makes a total of 1,050,000 blan kets from that government taken by the big woolen company. The full blanket capacity of the company Is now taken into midwinter. American Woolen’s war orders now aggregate close to $12,000,000. For the first time since 1900 the prospects are that American Woolen’s capacity pro duction of cloth will be approached. FREIGHT RATE CUT ON GOODS TO WEST SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—Reduc tions in west-bound freight rates for shipments in less than carload lots from the Atlatic coast to intermediate points, made to meet steamer competi tion through the Panama canal, are ef fective over the lines of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. A great many cities and towns are affected by the cuts. The new tariff covers a multi plicity of household and other goods. GERMAN POTATO CROP LARGEST IN HISTORY LONDON, Oct. 18. —The Germon po tato crop, estimated at 60,000,000 tons, is the largest in the history of the country, says a Berne dispatch to the Post today. The supply is so abundant that Germany has withdrawn the pro hibition against exporting potatoes to Switzerland. 1 DR. R. L. WILBUR IS NAMED STANFORD HEAD STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Oct. 19. —The appointment of Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur as president of Stanford uni versity was announced Saturday. He will succeed President John Casper Branner on Jan. 1. Actual appointment was made Oct. 12. He has been head of the Stanford medical department since 1910; was graduated from Stanford in 1896; took his medical degree in 1899, and re mained identified, with the faculty since. He is forty years old, the youngest of Stanford’s three presidents. He served as president of the Amer ican Academy of Medicine in 1912-13, and is a member of prominent San Francisco clubs. His home is at Palo Alto, near the university. NAPLES IS DAZZLED BY ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS NAPLES, Oct. 18.—The activity of Mount Vesuvius has increased in vio lence. The phenomena is especially noticeable at night through the glare from the streams of lava that are issu ing from the craters. The activity of the volcano is accompanied by deep rumblings, and shocks of earthquake are being felt in the neighboring vil lages. SUFFRAGE WINS FINAL BATTLE IN ILLINOIS CHICAGO, Oct. 19. —Woman suf frage wins again in Illinois. The su preme court in Springfield denied the motion of Attorneys Levy Mayer, Al fred S. Austrian and Benjamin P. Al schuler, said to represent the “wets,” for leave to file a brief in the “Macomb case” attacking the suffrage act. This, it is believed, settles for all time the constitutionality of the act. IMPROVEMENTS IN SOUTH COST ONE-FOURTH BILLION RAILROAD COMMISSION AUTHOR IZES MANY NEW ENTERPRISES Total of $248,000,000 Has Been Author ized for New Construction Alone— Figures Contained in Report Covering Past Z/ 2 Years SACRAMENTO, Oct. 19.—A quarter of a billion of dollars for new improve ments and new enterprises in Califor nia has been authorized by the state railroad commission since it assumed jurisdiction over stocks and bonds in March, 1912. These figures are contained in a re port covering briefly the work of the commission for a period of approxi mately three and one-half years. The report, which has been sent to Gov ernor Johnson, states that during the period, stocks, bonds, notes and cer tificates have been authorized by the commission for the public utilities of the state amounting to $466,000,000. Os this sum* $175,000,000 has been author ized and used to pay maturing debts. The enormous total of $248,000,000 has been authorized for new construc tion, additional development of exist ing utilities and new ventures. Os this amount $25,000,000 was to be ex pended outside of the state. About $42,000,000 has been used for miscel laneous purposes. Under the regulation of the commis sion there have been launched or car ried forward almost from their incep tion, sixteen new railroad enterprises, thirteen new gas and electric compa nies, six new telephone companies, a new $5,000,000 oil pipeline, more than a score of new water companies, and the only independent ferry on San Francisco bay. Power companies have initiated or carried forward projects embracing 100,000 additional horse power for California, and there now are being constructed in the state more than 70p miles of new railway lines. In addition, the report shows, the older and established utilities of the state have gone forward with vast construction projects of extensions and betterments. The authority for new improve ments and new enterprises in the three and one-half year period has been distributed as follows: Steam railroads, including $25,000,- 000 for expenditures outside of Cali fornia, $102,800,000. Electric railroads, $32,500,000. Gas and electric companies, SBO,- 000,000. Water companies, $18,500,000. Telephone and telegraph compa nies, $2,500,000. Warehouses, $1,600,000. Pipelines, $10,000,000. U. OF C. MAIL PUPILS NOW NUMBER 23,000 BERKELEY, Cal., Oct. 19—Twenty -three thousand persons are enrolled in the correspondence courses of the University of California, according to figures issued by the department of university extension. This is about four times the number of students in attendance at the university. Os the 23,000, 2,750 are enrolled in academic courses, and 18,821 are regis tered in agricultural extension courses. Among these latter “mail order” stu dents are mail carriers, college profes sors, farm managers, truck farmers, convicts, dressmakers and stenogra phers. S. P. ASKS $12,500,000 DAMAGES FROM MEXICOI SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—The Southern Pacific Railroad company of Mexico, according to a reported state ment made by Epes Randolph, presi dent, will present a bill of damages of $12,500,000 to the first stabilized Mexi can government He also said that when satisfactory political conditions obtain in Mexico the company will spend millions to extend its railroad, now connecting Nogales with Guadalajara, 350 miles southwards to Mexico City. CONDENSATION OF CURRENT EVENTS non m mk sens #f BOTHJHSMfS Dispatches Picturing Developments from the Oat. side World Stripped of Unnecessary Details ari Presented b Brief ” 1 ■ \ Rains Twenty Inches in Two Weeks NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 19—Nearly twenty inches of rain fell in New Or leans in the last two weeks, causing the abandonment of many buildings and residences. Submarines at Honolulu HONOLULU, Oct. 18.—The Ameri can submarine flotilla, convoyed by the cruiser Maryland, arrived here Satur day. The submarines sailed from San Francisco under their own power. Panama Purchases Free WASHINGTON, Oct. 19—The SIOO customs exemption permitted to Amer icans returning from abroad has been extended to cover personal belongings which Americans may buy while pass ing through the Panama canal zone. Lost in Own Wheat Field GROTON, S. D., Oct. 19.—George Harris was led back to his family after being lost in his own wheat field. He went into the field to take a look, and couldn’t get out. Searchers found him wandering in the grain higher than his head. New Hungarian Loan Nov. 1 BUDAPEST (via London), Oct. 18. —The third Hungarian revenue loan will be opened Nov. 1, and will be offered in sums ranging from 50 to 10,000 crowns (a crown is worth about 20 cents), tax free, at 6 per cent in terest, payable every six months. Austria Confiscates Rubber ZURICH, Oct. 18. —The Austrian ministry of war is reported to have confiscated the entire supply of pneu matic and other rubber tires in Aus tria. The owners are required to de liver them up within twenty-four hours under penalty of a year’s imprison ment. British Losses 1,000 Daily LONDON, Oct. 18. —British casual ties reported since Oct. 1 amount to more than 21,000. The week-end casu alty list gives 200 officers and 4,300 men. This brings up the total casual ties published in the London papers since the first of the month to 931 offi cers and 20,351 men. Dill Supply Short NEENAH, Wis., Oct. 19. —Residents of this section who make it a custom to preserve a large quantity of pickles every fall are doing so under difficul ties because of the shortage of dill, which is the main ingredient used in the process. The dill plants have been destroyed by insects. Honey Sent to War Zone TORONTO, Oct. 18. —The Bee asso ciation of the county of Brant is donat ing half a ton of honey from its mem bers to the Canadian troops at the front. This is a peculiarly appropriate gift, because honey, unlike preserved fruits, does not readily spoil. It may granulate if kept in the light, but that does not make it either unpalatable or unnutritious. CAMILLE S'AINT-SAENS Camille Saint-Saens, the famous French composer and the first dele gate of the Franco-Amerioan commis sion for the Development of Political, Economic, Literary and Artistic Rela tions, photographed as he landed in New York. The composer, who is eighty years old, looks forward with uncommon pleasure to revisiting the United States. He will be entertained extensively by the French societies in the many cities he expects to visit during the three months of his stay here.