The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 24, 1895, Page 15

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 1895. 15 MEADOW LAEKS. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Oh, (Listen to the meadow lay sing.) sweet! ¥ that T am! across the field that Sweet, swe O subtle by and blue, hat fold the 1ds ye knew? pon es of care and s sorrowful? Oh, life s0 g the no- ! O happy world that Is? 0ss the field my mateling pipe 1, sweet, swee sof meadow lark. v rural land- He is rather plainly rs on his yvellow breast is little throa h to entertain wherewit w the me: ow much lor :p the waters ite singer, Ina Cool- | lark. | Heisa | | bird in the orchard, its harmlessness in | every way, it is one of our sweetest and most joyous of singers.” | From Haywards, too, comes another pro- | test, from Charles P. Nettleton, the writer. | : “The meadow lark not a singer? | He says: | Why the manis a fool! It is notn { for me to testify to the contrary ows. Over on the Caris child k sa 4 s Obispo County, 3000 feet ard the most glorious in life from a - | song my meadow lar] 2 But Mr. Nettleton, too, has a poet’s na- ture, and may not be a competent witness. the matter. Here is something from John Muir: ‘‘Better far, would beto & for tirewood gets of so our divine mid- for food. * * * The Let us hear what a scientist_has to say in | shot. The damage done to growing crops by | larks is, as a rule, very slight. Now, touching this very point comes a letter from one of the best known agricul- | turists in this State, A. T. Hatch. Mr. | Hatch writes: ‘“‘Some claim that the larks pull up our grain by the’ roots and thus damage our crops. This claim is not true in any cases where the covering of earth is sufficient to protect the seed against drouth. For in- stance, I received one pound of seed wheat from the Patent Office. Planted each grain six inches,from another in rows sixteen inches apart. In no instance more than one grain in one place. Shortly after the first appearance of growth I found the growth gone and a little hole where each grain had been planted. Every sign of | Frowth gone. I was very angry with the arks, vet I forgave them at harvest time as I gathered sixty-five pounds of wheat | from the one pound planted. The wheat stooled better than if the birds had not | touched it, thereby increasing the crop.” There is no'more familiar name to Cali- fornians than that of Mrs. Buckingham, the gifted and successful orchardist of Vacaville. Mrs. Buckingham writes: “Iam fully in sympathy with the effort | that is being made for the protection of the meadow lark. Ten years ago I prohibited the killing of these iirds on my property. Besides being the most charming song- sters we have, they destroy many insects, and are, I am convinced, a protection to our fruit. I trust the laws protecting them will be passed and rigidly enforced. Dr. Cooper, in his work on ‘‘The Ornitho- logy of California,” published in the State Geological Burvey, says of the meadow ng them by creating public eir favor will have to go on and I hope I may still do both a scientist and_who has made a_ special orn ds his tes- n of the fie Joa- who 15 a poet and a farmer, vould shoot the man who shot ON THE TABLE OF THE EPICURE. 1 months, all the little bills of- fare 11 not be lawful to ntil the next sea- one protesting voice has been in heard against the vandalism that, protecting ir other songsters, Jeft the lark to the mer of the hunt- ers. The CaLy of the 15th inst. printed an editorial on the subject. That editorial promptly brought out the wing letter: Your t rous bird, and probabi eulturist. t that the bird has an induce its inclusic mpted from slaugk his “Ornithology of meadow lark in the thrush f and to_prevent some lawyer from r int it would be well 1o give the bird name, followed by the | words, lark.” It is too late to do anything just now for the protection of the bird, save by awaken- ing such public sentiment against such | slaughter as to make their appear: our markets a shock to the sensibilities of every man and woman. If our house- kecpers and caterers will refuse to buy them dealers will not purchase them of the hunters, and thus a few may be saved. We should, however, lose no time in cre- ating this sentiment, or, at the rate the birds are now being destroyed, there ‘will be none in the State for the next Legis! ture to protect. There are two indi ments brought against the meadow lark. First, it is alleged that he is not a song- bird. X Second, that he déstroys the grain crop. Does the meadow lark sing? We have seen what Ina Coolbrith heard him sing, but Miss Coolbrith is a poet. She may have heard only the sweet trilling spring- song of her own poet’s spirit and fancied | the singer to be the little bird yonder in the wheat field. So, being a poet, she may not be 2 competent witness. & But here is the testimony of a musician, .and of a musician, too, whom most of us know. Mrs. Ivy Wandesford Kersey writes from Haywards, giving her experience in the matter. Mrs. Kersey has made a sci- entific study of the song of the meadow lark. As a result of this study she has a collection of thirty-five different songs which the meadow lark has sung to her, and which she has written down, note for note. She says: < “After w. g down about thirty-five songs I concluded I was only at the begin- ning of my work, and then circumstances put an end to my observations for a time. The song of the lark is contained exactly in the octave. Some are delicately em- bellished by ‘grace notes’ and some are simplicity itself. The same bird will vary its song within a few minutes and practice ona new note like the most ambitious prima donna; before making another change. Apart from the usefulness of the st valuable bird we | e the attention of a lark on my place. I need them more than they need the few blades of grass they eat. They wake meup in the morning with their pretty songsand they keep the b and worms away from my baby trees. And Charles Edward Markham speaks of the bird as “that divine songster, the sweetest in our State.” But now for the second indictment which larks: “They feed chiefly on insects, | P seeds and grain, but do no damage in the fields, while they destroy many noxious | insects. | There is no bird in California so genu- inely useful to the agriculturistas the lark, erhaps, the o Nor is there any 1 that can be more readily gotten rid of. Ther of them,and the chances are always against their rapid multiplication. Nature has not been kind | to them in the protective sense. She prob- ably never imagined that so useful a crea- | ture would need protection other than what man would gladly give him. Their claws are so arranged that they cannot readily perch on trees, but must walk and rest on the ground. There they build | their nests, and these often fall a prey to | | small predaceous beasts, sparrow hawks— | | even dogs. They are slow, laborious fly- | ers, usnally the easiest shot,.on the wing, | that even a tyro could wish for. As they | do not fly in flocks they are not shot, but | netted, for market. At dusk, when the | little singers have settled down for the | night, the hunters go over the fields with | | drag nets and gather them in by scores, to | e Teisurely killed and prepared for mar- | | ket ‘ As this is the breeding season, the eggs | | and young birds left behind perish, and at | | the present rate it will not be .more than | half a dozen years before the lark has van- | ished from our fields. This should not be. ‘\\'hile there are otner song birds in the State, the lark is the only one that sings | the year round. Others sing only in the | | mating season, but tne larks sing all the | | time, save when moulting, and even the | | female has a pretty song. She will perch | | upon a near-by fence or a flat stone and | | sing away for dear life to her mate in the | | nest, for the birds take turns relieving each | | other in parental duty. Sometimes, how- ever; instead of singing to him she seems to be scolding him. There is a decidedly petulant and querulous chirp to her note at these times that always makes one feel | ! sure that the patient little cock is “catch- | ing it.” He never replies in the same tone. Indeed, he does not seem to have that particular note at all. Possibly the | female lark may be a bit of a shrew, but if s0 she must have other charms that atone for this fault, for the larks are notedly among the most loving and devoted of | | ornithological couples. T PUSSY GETS THE BONES. TS / { TEHR R | if it has any foundation in fact is a serious | one. | . The Oakdale Leader reports that meadow larks have badly damaged a large tract of wheat in {hat vicinity, owned by J. W. Tafloch. | They bore down into the soil with their bills and get the kernels of wheat. Larks very sel- dom fly in flocks, and are so quick and nervovs in their movements that very seldom is an o, portunity presented to kill more than one ria we take our place among the States as a people who have eaten up our one charac- teristic songbird ? Cannot some one of our many organiza- tions of clever women pause in their breathless pursuit of culture long enough to help us save the little meadowfark from the spit and the frying-pan? I Are we going to let them perish? Shall | portionately | us of our na | exercise might be cited. | necessary to protect the brain. | tended partly to envelop the thorax. If I were a young man just graduated from a medical college I would begin my career with a determination to find a remedy for baldness, for I would know that if I should succeed I would be as famous as Pasteur. This would be on the assumption of the evil of baldness and the beneficence of its cure. Being only a layman I am not sure that it is an evil, but being a layman who for some years past has realized that sooner or later he will probably become entirely bald, 2nd seeing how absurd bald-headed men appear and the many discomforts which they suffer from their condition, I choose to regard baldness in my case as an ev It is not consoling to me to reflect that the Prince of Wales has spent an enormous fortune in trying all the remedies that have ever been concocted by quacks, recom- mended by grandams or prescribed by ans. He remains hopelessly, ludi- sly bald. 2 Before entering upon a common-sense, non-technical discussion of the treatment of the hairand Ip, I shall’glance at some peculiar thing: 1ey are best set out con- spicuously, thus > The lower animals, whether wild or do- mesticated, are free from baldness. The lower races of men are practically exempt from i urs among the higher races ally confined to men. in any of the higher races is commoner among the most highly devel- oped members of the race than among the lowest. 4 There appears to be a smaller proportion of baldheaded men among lunatics and criminals than among well-balanced and orderly citizen Baldness seems to be as common, pro- mong men of correct lives as re dissipated. s are drawn from my per- , which, for scientific pur- poses, may be inadequate and unreliable, but it is well that every one of them be pondered and tes d nevertheless. As ing them to be correct, we ma strange questions. For instanc We may suppose that nature, as s evolves us higher and_ higher, is ridding wral head-covering for suffi- cient reasons. But if so, why is it that men, and not women, are so affected? Is it possible to imagine one line of evolution for men and another for women born of the same circumstances and conditions? This opens up a vast and complex ques- among those who These postu sonal observat! | tion and brings us upon a battlefield in which laymen need not yet beararms. But still it is an important question. Again, if it 1s nature’s purpose that we | should have hair on the head, is it right that we should combat baldness? The physicians and the theologians may fight that out if they will. For my part I want hair on my head. It is easy enough to say that nature, dis- gusted with the fact that we ignore the manifest purposes for which she covered our heads with hair, is depriving us of it because we no lo he intended we should. In can easily say tk ists, she has rid usof many other things which in a lower state we used and which we lost after abandoning the use. For in- stance, we are covered all over with hair that is now short and useless, but that once served us in place of clothes came what it is when we grew vain and took to clothes. Similarly, in our tree- climbing state we had a tail, which we carry about now under the name of coccyx; it is a prolongation of the spine, now wholly imbedded in the flesh, and though jointed in_infancy becomes ossified throughout in later years. Other instances of our possession of rudimentary organs, appendages and functions showing atrophy or nearly total extinction from lack of ‘Whatever the controversy on this subject it is univer- sally admitted that a change of environ- ment and conditions effects material changes in allliving things, from the lowest to the highest; and this is an important phase of our case. Clearly nature furnished us with hair on the head for these reasons: The brain is the central and controlling force of the or- ganism, and being of an _exceedingly deli- cate and complex structure, it needs all ossible protection. Thus, to protect it rom blows and punctures it is inclosed in a wonderfully efficient hollow globe of bone; but it needs protection from heat and cold also, and hair is the best con- ceivable. But this hair grows much longer than is Some of the vital organs, particularly the heart and the lungs, are fixed in the upper part of the body, and for their protection against violence we see the ribs, as ingeniously contrived in their way as is the skull in its. But they also need protection from heat and cold. Itseems a reasonably safe as- sumption that the hair of the head was in- This may be far-fetched, and a number of ob- stacles ut once suggest themselves. As { they are not strictly pertinent, we may dismiss them. I have known doctors to recommend the shaving of the head or the close cropping of the hair to arrest ‘“falling” and baldness and induce a thicker growth. In my opin- ion nothing more irrational or illogical could be imagined. It seems to me to,be carrying to an extreme one of the very causes which induce baldness. Of course, a distinction must be made between the comparatively sudden shedding of the hair, which is. due to some illness that affects the whole system and which ceases when health is recovered, and that true baldness, which is slow in advancement and permanent when established. It is only with true baldness that I am dealing. Let us glance rapidly at the way in which hair grows, for that will put us on firmer ground. First, there is a nerve run- ning to a little artery in the scalp. This artery, supplemented by the capillaries, brings to the follicle (the sac in which the Toot of the hair is planted) a blood supply, from which the follicle takes what it needs. This substance it compacts and adds to the inner end of the hair, which is thus pushed steadily ont as it grows by accumulation at the root. When the nerve degenerates or the artery becomes atro- phied or the follicle relaxes its function the hair ceases to grow and then disap- pears, Itisa very complex operation. Now, the energies of all these minute ac- tivities are very delicate and sensitive. They need an exact balance between stim- ulus and protection, or they will perish. | This exactness of balance is established bf' nature. If' we cut the hair close or shave the scalp it is evident that these sensitive functions are deprived of the very protection with which they have furnished themselves, and that their activity and even life aré threatened. The conclusion from this is that shaving the head is the very thing which we might expect to induce baldness. It is true that this result does not follow from shaving the face; but that objection has no weight in view of the fact that there is no tendency to baldness of the face, and that the various other causes which go to induce baldness of the head do not exist in the case of the face. These will be noted presently. 1t is observed that baldness is rareamong women. Does the fact that women do not cut off their hair suggest nothing? For that matter, aside from the much thicker natural covering which they give their scalps is the consideration that hair contains a great deal of static electricity. ‘What relation may exist between this fact and a healthy growth of the hair might be an important thing to consider. It might have a bearing, 0o, on the question already suggested as to whether men and women are really evolving on diverging lines, and might tend to answer it in the negative. Itis clear, then, that men are violating nature in cutting the hair; that by so do- ing they are weakening the desire of nature to continue its production, and that they are constantly doing a physical injury to the exceedingly susceptible agencies which nature employs in the service. This, how- ever, seems in itself not to be sufficient to induce baldness, though its value as an aid to that end cannot be questioned. We have other agencies at work. _ Apparently the most important of these is the hat, This sacrilegious creation serves (provided the head is covered with hair) no useful purpose whatever. If it is said that it at least keeps the sun from blistering the face, I will answer that the face would not blister if it was used to the sun. The small hats that women wear do not protect their faces, and their skin is more delicate than men’s. Nothing is more evident than that hair is the best protection that the head can have; and as the hair was intended to be worn without any protection, it is equally evident that unless it is fully exposed to the air and sunshine, it cannot be expected to be healthy. Thus we have someylight on the fact that the most scholarly and orderly men are inciined to baldness—the sun never has a chance to shine on their un- | covered heads. ‘We might take a hint from the hats which women wear; these | give comparatively free access to both air and sunshine. Let it be kept always in mind that air and sunshine are the greatest tonics in the world, and then we may per- haps understand why women and savages are not inclined to baldness. And can no hint be taken from the fact that baldness comes on the top of the head—the very part covered by the hat? How Nature Intended the Hair Should Grow. A vague idea that something is wrong in the matter of the hat is inferred from vari- ous devices which are employed to secure ventilation. These devices are good so far as they go, but they are absurdly inade- quate. T take sunlight to be equally as vital to the health of the hair (and that means the health of the scalp), and hats ruthlessly exclude it altogether. To my mind the hat is as pernicious as it isun- necessary. It has not only crowded aside nature’s purpose in the matter of a cover- ing, but has assailed the means which she employed to make that service operative. It not'only convinces her of the useless- ness of her effort, and to that extent tends to make her cease it, but adds violence to the discouragement. It is a rare thing that a natural purpose is thus doubly as- sailed, and it would be surprising if the assault did not succeed. As a woman’s hair is her glory, she takes better care of it than a man does of his. She not only refrains from murdering it with shears, but she XrefAuently combs and cleansit. I have already mentioned the presence of electricity in the hair. Comb- mF and brushing release it, and likely this release has a wholesome effect on the pro- cesses of growth. Whatever doctors may say about the great value of cleanliness, 1t is possible that comhm;rand brushing are far more important. The pulling which these processes involve is a sort of massage, and massage is an exceedingly good thing. The sleekest horse is the one that is best groomed. s Possibly, perfect cleanliness is advisable, but somehow I cannot keep the savage and his uncleanliness and bis abundant hair out of mind. The doctors will say a great deal about bacilli, which infest the hair, Some Sensible Hats. thrive on it, and even burrow down into the follicle and steal the essences intended for the production of hair and the things which go with it. These little beasts have dreadfully hard Latin names, which they ought to be very proud of. The only way to get rid of thém is by the use of some germicide. Here is the prescription which one of the ablest physicians in San Francisco has given me: Wash the hair once a week with tar soap, giving the scalp at the same time a very vigorous massage; wash out the soap thoroughly in clear water; wipe the hair as dry as possible, then rub into the scalp a solution of one part of corrosive sublimate to one thousand parts of water; then soften the hair with castor oil cut with aicohol; use the brush ou the scalp freely every day. Wash the brush and comb once in a while with the corrosive sublimate solution. By this grocess. the scalp and hair are’ cleaned, all bacilli are killed, and the healthy action of the arteries and capil- laries is induced. It would be superfluous to say that immediately after a visit to a barber-shop the beard should be subjected to this vigorous treatment. All the various skin and scalp diseases contracted there are the work of bacilli. These suggestions and speculations might be extended, but so long as men will be so foolish as to cut their hair and wear hats the case seems hopeless. Neverthe- less, if I were a young and ambitious th:ician, I would give the energies of my ife to the investigation at least of doing what human ingenuity may to assist nature in overcoming the artificial evils which we have so wantonly thrust upon ourselves. ‘The forms of quackery that have grown out of them are of infinite variety and more or less dangerous. If, as a layman, I were asked for a pre- ventive of bakiness I would “i never wear a hat and never cut the hair, the other con- ditions will take care of themselves. It may be remarked that the time to begin not wearing a hat is in infancy. If I were asked to suggest a remedy for encroachin; baldness, wxghont changing the unnatural treatment to which we subject; pur heads, I would recommend frequent massage of the scalp and a mild stimulant, applied at infrequent intervals to encourage the blood circulation. It would be hopeless to urge that the crowns of hats be made of fine wire gauze or a pliant open-meshed web of fine twine, but that is lEe best suggestion of all. For those who have not even rudimentary hair left on their polls the only competent physician is the one somewhat humorously called the Grim Destroyer. ‘W. C. MorrOW. WERE FORCED T0 WITHDRAW OKELL, DONNELL & C0. LEAVE THE INSURANCE COMPACT SUD- DENLY. UNION MANAGERS WANT TO SUS- PEND RATEsS AND FIGHT COMPETITORS. Okell, Donnell & Co., agents of the ;’atriotlc, Franklin and Westchester fire Insurance conmipanies on the Pacific coast, withdrew from the Board of Fire Under- writers of the Pacific yesterday, and sur- prised their associates. Each defection from the compact is ‘watched with unfeigned concern by the Insurance managers, who cannot but fore- see init an approaching dissolution of the union and its consequent war in rates. As there are nine comvanies now out of the compact, matters have assumed a serious aspect. The combine to maintain rates is met with opposition from the Phcenix, Home, Continental, Northwestern National, West- chester, Franklin, Patriotic and Williams- burg City, nearly all ot which are promi- ne nt companies writing insurance liberally ail over the coast. At least two other gen- eral agents are expected to resign trom the compact any day this week, and then it will be only a mere matter of time before the union dissolve _ Okell, Donnell & Co. are conservative insurance men, who would ,not take such steps as withdrawal from the union with- out very good cause. Mr. Donnell said his firm’s action was taken in the interest of the eompanies he represents. “We have always kept faith with the or- ganization,” said he, “and been loyal in our support to the compact. But all busi- ness has come to be carried on regardless of rules, and we concluded it would be simply suicide to continue under restraint of a pledge to the compact to maintain rates.” The city agents of the Prussian National Company have ceased to send a represent- ative to meetings of the ‘““local board,” composed of city agents and counter-men. For more than a week past the compact has been discussing a motion to suspend rates in San Francisco, sb that a free fight can be made against the new board con- cerns, and by that means hasten a settle- ment among all managers on_the burning question of rates. Owing to differences of opinion on the subject no action has been taken so far. However, there is no doubt whatever that the Joard companies are cutting against each other, which fact is vouched for by men of standing in and out of the compact. WILL SUE VEE_I_RIFFWWHELAN MRS. MARTIN IS ANXIOUS TO RE- GAIN POSSESSION OF HER b PROPERTY. SHE SAYS THE GOODS AND CHATTELS WEeRE Exempr FrOM EXECUTION. Mrs. Isabella Martin will demonstrate that her reputationss a fighter to the last breath is not undeserved unless Sheriff Whelan complies with certain demands she made upon him yesterday. She has decided not to allow the officer of the law to retain possession of the goods and chattels seized by Deputy Tracy on Thursday evening, without a legal battle, and has hired an attorney to look after her interests. By his advice she sent the Sheriff the following document yesterday : In the case of J.J.Rauer vs. Mrs. Isabella Martin. To Richard I. Whelan, Sheriff of the city and county of San Francisco: You are hereby notified to forthwith return 102215 Van Ness avenue, San Francisco, the persnnnl‘froperu' taken theretrom by you on the 21st day of March, 1895, under an execution issued in the above-entitled action. Said property at the time of said seizure by you was necessary household furniture and 1s | also clatmed by Henry K. Hoffman. The value of the use ot said property is $50 per day, and we will hold you responsible for the value thereof, to wit, 81500 and $50 per day for detention, and also exemplary damages for removing the same from the premises. . MARTIN and ISABELLA J. MARTIN, Guardian of Henry K. Hoffman. Sheriff Whelan laughs at the threats of suit, saying. that he only acted on the or- ders of the courtin which the judgment against Mrs. Martin was obtained, and also that the goods seized were not of the kind the law exempted from execution. His deputy took possession of a couple of fancy chairsand tables, a few pictures and stat- uettes, aud such other bric-a-brac as they found about the rooms. | It is probable that Mrs. Martin will go unmolested as far as her personal liberty is concerned unless peremptory orders are issued to the Fheris to take her into cus- tody. He has been advised by his attorney that the law does not permit him to arrest females in cases like the one in question. J. J. Rauer, on the other hand, claims that the law is clear, and will try to induce Justice Kerrigan to cite the Sheriff for contempt unless his previous orders are carried out. gEg et WILL PETITION FOR McNULTY. The Daughters of the Good Shepherd Visit San Quentin. A number of ladies belonging to the Daughters of the Good Shepherd went to San Quentin yesterday to see McNulty, as it is the intention of the society to circu- late petitions this week praying for his lib- eration. The convict was interviewed by Mrs. S. M. Theall, the president, and several of her aids-de-camp, and from the account he gave of himself is was evident that his en- forced retirement is not entirely devoid of excitement. McNulty is in the hospital, and he has charge of the murder Fred- ericks, “and he acts’very wildly,” said McNultv. “Sometimes he raves all hight long and has to be kept most of the time in a strait-jacket.” e convict showed a feverish desire to know whether Fred- ericks had been finally condemned, but the Daughters of the Good Shepherd evaded answering his guestion. Several of the ladies were allowed to visit the women’s quarters, and were very much surprised to see nbig doll, dressed with great care and elegance, sitting on a chair in one of the rooms. “It was made by Hor See, a Chinese woman,” said the matron. “When Mrs. Worthington and her baby went away the women missed the child so terriby that Hor See made that rag doll as a sort of substitute to comfort herself with. I never saw anything like the way every woman in the place idolized the baby while it was here, and now it has gfinfi asort of gloom has fallen over them all. Among those who accompanied the Daughters of the Good Shepherd yesterday were: Mrs. O. Gray, Mrs. Grisett, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. T. M. Thrasher, Carroll Thrasher, Mrs. Marie Colmer, Miss J. Banks, T. Sullivan, Miss A. Murray. . It isas easy to call back a stone thrown from the hand as to call back the word that is spoken.—Menander, SPEEDY CURE TREATNENT v Warm baths with CUTICURA gentle applicatiens of CUTIOURA (Ointment), the great skin cure, and miild doses of CUTICURA RESOLVEN?, the new blood puriiler. Potter D= & Chemical Comp, Sola Propretor, Boston, U, S, A