The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 3, 1895, Page 6

£ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1895. CHARLES M. SHORTRIDGE, Editor and Proprietor. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: DAILY CALL—$6 per year bymail; by carrier, 15 per week. SUNDAY CALL—#$1.50 per year. ‘WEEKLY CALL—#1.50 per year. The Eastern office of the SAN FRANCISCO CALL (Daily and Weekly), Pacific States Adver- tising Burcau, Rhinelander buflding, Rose and Duane streets, New York. FRIDAY _MAY 3, 1805 Rose festivals everywhere. The whole State is in bloom. Every flower has a show in these days. There is more blue than gold at Berkeley. Progress costs money, but it never fails to pay. The flower show claims attention and deserves it. More money and less theory is the real need of the ¢ Bonding the City will give good root to the flower of progress. If beef goes much higher vegetarianism will become a popular fad. England has concluded that the Nica- ragua grape is sour anyhow. The more the money combat deepens the more it comes to the surface. Santa Rosa is making her floral garniture with wide sleeves and considerable bustle. It is difficult for visitors to San Jose’s floral show to decide which is prettier, the flowers or the girls. T Don’t make the mistake of estimating the prosperity of the country by the re- turns of the income The lively demand for real estate in and about Stockton shows what every city that secures the Valley road will experience. The women of Washington City are try- ing to have it declared a misdemeanor for anybody to spit on the floor of a streetcar. While nature is turning Kansas inside out with a cyclone it is sending silver showers and golden sunshine to Cali- fornia. The vprofits of fruit-growing in California will be larger than they have been in years past, and this will be the best adv: ment that the State can have. s the best time on record to adver- Tnia, for the State never before h to show in the way of home and local development. Stockton’s postponement of her jollifica- tion meeti till next Saturday night will only make the cork pop the louder from the accumula i stéeam behind it. The poor condition of Democracy is strikingly illustrated by the fact that the party cannot find a man who will consent to accept its nomination for Governorin New Jersey. This tise Cali had so m enterpri: While holding open our pockets to catch the gold which fell from the clouds on May day, we could reconcile ourselves to the disappointment over the failure of the day’s festi A reduction of charges in overland freight rates on fruit means an increase of the State’s wealth not only from profits on fruit-growing, but also from the in- creased value of Jand. Everybody can learn what good paving is when the Merchants’ Association makes its exhibit of paving material, and it is hoped that the show will not be injured by the introduction of cobblestones. The enterprising property-owners along Folsom street are determined to rid them- selves of the basalt-block pavement and greatly enhance the value of their real estate by laying down a bituminous road- way. The Ezaminer continues to argue at the spigot and ignore the bung by reiterating the gain of §1,000,000 on tin plate, but pay- ing no attention to the loss of $100,000,000 on staple products under the Wilson tariff. The lads and lassies of the State Uni- versity who embarked in such journalism as a college paper represents are now learn- ing the bitter lesson that satire may hurt as well as amuse, and that not all ridicule is fun. B et The Portland Oregonian reports the ex- istence of a number of hotels in that city where beds and meals can be had for 10 cents each, and claims that living has be- come so cheap that beggars are almost un- heard of. All California unites with Mrs. Stan- ford in her wish that the Government will bring to an early issue its suit against the Stanford estate, as important interests affecting the great university are involved in the action. That the London ZTimes has begun a series of articles on American art is cited in the East as a proof thatour art is becom- ing notable, but from this distance it ap- pears more notable as an evidence that the Times is waking up. The prevailing recent fashion of shoot- ing train-robbers may be only another of those new fads for which Americans are noted, but the chances are that before it has become unfashionable train-robbing will have fallen into desuetude. It did not require Hoke Smith’s assur- ance for us to know that President Cleve- land will oppose the free coinage of silver, but when he assertsthat the next President will entertain similar views he is keeping his open eye on England and his shut one on the West. In former years the Southern Pacific spent annually hundreds of thousands of dollars in efforts to induce immigration to California, but only until now is it be- ginning to understand that the best ad- vertising it can do is to make such freight charges as will permit of a profit on Cali- fornia industries. The Boston Herald has found a man in that city whose income in 1894 was $113,- 100, but who will have to pay an income tax of only $32, owing to the fact that his income is derived almost wholly from real estate or Government bonds. The case is interesting because it emphasizes the in- justice of the law and proves it to be less of a tax on property than a penalty on business energy and sagacity, A BONDED DEBT. The City of San Francisco has arrived at a turning point in her municipal history and reached a crisis in her civic career. She is called upon to take her choice be- tween moving forward to a progressive and prosperous future by the adoption of a new financial policy, or remaining mud- bound amid the ruts and sloughs into which she has been led by the silurian fiscal policy of her past. It seems impossible that San Francisco shouid hesitate for a single day over the problem as to which course she should pursue. With the Half-million Club ask- ing eagerly for that assistance which shall enable it to double the present population of the City; with the Manufacturers’ As- sociation seeking earnestly for that er- couragement which shall aid it in the de- velopment of local industries; with the people of the great interior valleys looking anxiously to the metropolis of the State for a sign of the inception of a new era, it does not seem conceivable that San Fran- cisco will longer be content to lie back supinely, satisfied with stagnation, doing and attempting nothing for her citizens, nothing for her industries, nothing for herself, nothing for the State. The time has come for action. If this City would respond to the hopes and de- sires of its generous and ambitious penple and become a Greater San Francisco it must adopt the measures and policies by which other cities have gained increase and grown great. Shemust cast away the silly fetich of a dollar limit and cease to*have spasms at the idea of a bonded debt. She must begin to display the activities which her silurians have religiously instructed her to avoid, and to indulge in the stimu- lants from which she has been hitherto taught by her tight-fisted and small-souled tax-shirkers to abstain. In a sentence she must enter upon an epoch of municipal improvement to be made and paid for by drafts upon the future in the form of muni- cipal bonds. The legal power of the City of San Fran- cisco to incur an indebtedness for public improvements to be evidenced by serial bonds is ample and explicit. Und~r the consolidation act and its various amend- ments in the form of special statutes passed prior to 1879 the City had not the power to issue bonds for such purposes. The new constitution, however, pointed out the way in which city charters might be broadened in this respect by the passage of general Ia The Legislature in 1837 and again in 1889 enacted such laws and thereby enabled cities to issue bonds for needed improve- ments after securing the sanction of their citizens therefor. Under these general laws other cities in California have proceeded to issue bonds for civic improvements. They have found no difficulty in‘ disposing of such bonds. They have experi- enced in splendid streets, in perfected tems of sewerage, in ornate and ele- t public structures the benefit of mak- ing timely municipal progress. They have realized an even greater advantage than that accruing directly from the possession of good streets, sewers and public struc- tures in the impulse to all private forms of industrial enterprise which the public energy awakened. They found an imme- diate advance in property values and in- crease in the population. They received returns of a most practical kind from their widening reputation as progressive communities, and have dicovered that capital was pleased to come and to remain where other capital was being actively and fruitfully employed. This is the universal experience of cities which resolve that a bonded indebtedness for public improvements is a blessing and not a curse. It may be the experience of San Francisco if she will ouly reach out and seize the opportunity with which the folly of her past silurian policy has brought her face to face. AN IMPORTANT OONCESSION. The Southern Pacific mpany has an- nounced that it will make a reduction averaging 40 per cent on local freight charges for fresh fruit hauled from the place of production to points on the main line for overland transportation. Coming immediately upon the heels of its previous announcement thai it would put on ventilator cars and thus do away with the cost of $125 a carload for refrigeration, and that in addition it would organize a five-day service from Sacramento to Chi- cago, it constitutes the most important piece of news that Californians have heard since the announcement of an intention to build the Valley railroad. This concession was made in response to the earnest letter addressed by prominent fruit-growers to the Southern Pacific last February. They showed that unless the company should make some concessions the fruit industry of the State was a fail- ure and ruin unavoidable. The signers declared that one reason for the great prosperity of Southern California was the fact that the Santa Fe road gave shippers off the main line tbe advantdge of a through-rate charge on local shipments to main-line points. The Soutbern Pacific declined to grant all the requests made by these gentlemen. It refused to fix ten tons as the limit for a carload of cherries; de- clined, in the case of mixed carloads, to charge the regular rate on each article composing the load, and adhered to its rule to charge the highest rate for the whole, and refused to make an emergency rate of 75 cents on raisins for this season. But even the concession which it has made is sufficient to rehabilitate the fruit in- dustry of California. The appearance of P. D. Armour in the field with a competing line of reirigerator cars is another important element. As was announced in the CaLy of April 3 his rates are as follows: Ninety dollars from Sacramento to the Missouri River, $130to Middle Atlantic and Lower Gulf points, $140 to Boston and New Orleans, and §115 to the Middle States and Texas. In addi- tion there are extra local charges of from $10 to $15 from various production centers in California to points on the main line. As in certain parts of the State—particu- larly the San Joaquin Valley—the heat of summer is so great that ventilator cars will not take the place of refrigerator cars, there will always be a demand for the lat- ter, and hence the cost of their service is a very important consideration. The reduc- tion of $35 made by Armour on the charge heretofore levied, taken with the promised reduction of about 40 per cent in local charges, will make a very great difference even to those shippers who are compelled to use refrigerater cars. In addition to all these facts is the in- telligent work which the growers have been doing ia-the East in the way of ex- tending the facilities for marketing their fruits. The old loose plan of throwing one trainload aiter another into Chicago and thus gorging the market has been com- pletely changed, and in its place has been organized a system of careful distribution throughout all the centers of consum ption. Thus the area of consumption has been greatly increased, and it will be extended on the same lines as the necessity arises. Hence, so far as the fruit crop of this season is concerned, there is a reasonable certainty of making a handsome profit out of it. This not only will enable the growers to give material assistance in de- veloping the State, but will be an en- couragement to Eastern people to remove to California. At the same time the whole affair has demonstrated in the most forcible manner the power over the State’s prosperity which is wielded by the South- ern Pacific Company and indicates point- edly the lines upon which the groundwork of California’s development must belaid. A @00D TEXT. In an interview with a member of the CarL staff at the Palace on Wednesday, W. C. Patterson, president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, said: “Qur trip from Los Angeles was most in- teresting and I am sure will be productive of much good. The text from which I would preach is that we should have more of these intersectional jaunts. The com- mingling of the people from the various portions of the State would be most bene- ficial. We would come to know each other better and be more likely to co-operate in the promotion of the welfare of the State at large.” Mr. Patterson could not have selected a text in which the people are more inter- ested than the one he has chosen. A bet- ter understanding throughout the State of the merits and diverse advantages of all sections, together with a cordial co-opera- tion on all sides to promote the general welfare, is just now the dominant aspira- tion of all patriotic and progressive Cali- fornians. Nor can it be doubted that ex- cursions similar to the one undertaken by the Half-million Club will help to bring this about. When such an excursion ar- rives in any community the people there take an interest in it. They furnish its members with information on all sorts of industrial subjects, and in this way the excursionists acquire, along with their pleasure, a large amount of knowledge of practical value to their own localities. What Mr. Pattersor and his associates will learn from their visit to San Francisco is for them to tell when they go home. ‘What our people haye learned from Los Angeles is easily stated. That city stands as a proof of what well-directed energy, sagacious enterprise and thorough-going co-operation among men can do to trans- form a small town into a great city, even though it have no extraordinary natural advantages. The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce could largely increase its use- fulness by undertaking with an equal vigor some of the work done by the Los Angeles Chamber. It could materially assist in ad- vertising not San Francisco only, but all the rich region round about, and in this way could most effectively build up the City by building up the country tributary to it. It isin the highest degree creditable to Los Angeles that her leaders and her press have never forgotten the duty of a metropo- lis to the country from which it draws its exports and upon which it relies for cus- tomers. She has never failed to advertise the counties back of her as often as she ad- vertised herself. Her papers have never hesitated to give the small towns of the south the benefit of abundant notices in their columns whenever they have shown any enterprise or desire for advancement. The Chamber of Commerce of the city has been as eager to promote immigration to any portion of Southern California as to the city itself. Thisis the lesson which San Francisco can learn of Los Angeles. The CArLL proposes to do its share of the work of advancing the welfare of the interior, and having already begun it, is justified therefore in calling upon the other forces of the metropolis to do likewise. A COMING INNOVATION. According to a recent report, several types of horseless carriages, propelled by different kinds of power, have been con- structed in France and have proven so val- uable in active use they are becoming the rage of the day in Paris. These vehicles are said to be swift, noiseless, convenient and economical. They have every advan- tage over a carriage drawn by horses that a bicycle has over a saddle horse, and the prediction is made that in a comparatively few years the carriage horse will be almost unknown in countries where there are good roads. For the use of carriages of this kind, smooth, well-paved and well-kept roads are essential. We cannot look for the use of this economy in America therefore until we have had extensive road improvement, though there are of course some sections of California where they could be used to ad- vamtage now. Horses are so cheap with us, however, that there will be little incli- nation to abandon their use solely on the grounds of economy. There is a pleasure and a gratification to be derived from driv- ing or riding a good horse that men will not willingly give up for the sake of a cheap machine; and as this pleasure is held in high esteem in all parts of America our people are not likely to look with favor on the horseless carriage even in localities where we have good roads. It is certain, however, that sooner or later economy will hav®its way. Men who do not adopt it will be crowded out in the struggle for existence. If steam, electricity or compressed air can drive a wagon oyer a good road without rails, at a cheaper rate than horses, the people who do not adopt it will be at a disadvantage in competing with their neighbors and will have to abandon the contest. It would appear therefore that the carriage horse will eventually be a mere article of luxury kept by the rich for amusement rather than use. It is some satisfaction to know that the innovation cannot be made in California until we have roads as good as those in France. That fact not only post- pones the evil to a distant time but assures us of a compensation when it comes, THE FERRY FOUNDATIONS. If the rumors which have come from the Grand Jury room are reliable, the case of the ferry foundations stands thus: The experts from the State University have testified that although the cement used was the kind called for in the specifications, it was not as thoroughly mixed with the crushed rock in the making of thecon- crete as it should h#ve been, but that as provision was made for a bearing strain greatly in excess of that to be imposed by the superstructure, the foundations as con- structed are much more than sufficiently strong to support the building, and hence are safe. . This is good news, if trne. The matter of adjusting the compensation of those concerned with the construction of the foundations, so as to make it conform with their deserts, is one with which the Harbor Commission has to deal. The rumors in- dicate that there has been no conflict with the penal laws, and hence that no indict- ments will be returned. Until a formal report shall have been made, however, both by the Grand Jury and the experts appointed by the Harbor Commission, there will be no clear understanding of the situation. The stirring up the matter will not have been in vain if it shall serve to warn all those charged with public construction that the old days of laxity and swindling are at an end in San Francisco. This will serve as a warning to contractors, archi- tects, superintendents of construction and public boards and committees of all kinds having to do with public construction, whether it be the laying of sewers and vavements or the building of houses for public use. CLARA FOLTZ IN SALT LAKE. During & recent visit to Salt Lake City on her way to Boston, Mrs. Clara Shortridge Foltz was an interested visitor at the Utah Constitu- tional Convention. The Salt Lake Herald pub- lished an interview with Mrs. Foltz under the heading of “The Modern Portia,” in which she expressed her views on the convention and on equal suffrage as follows: “I enjoyed my visit to the convention this morning. There are some very bright men and some orators in that body. At the time of my visit they were discussing the question of allowing women to vote on the adoption of the constitution. My opinion, as a lew-giver, was asked, and I felt constrained to say that I do not consider such & course legal. While I want to gee my sex in the enjoyment of all its rights and privileges,and the sooner the better —the woman and the lawyer do not always agree, and in the latter capacity I would say that permitting the women of this Territory to vote on the adoption of the constitutien would be as reasonable as permitting the convicts in yonder penitentiary to decide by their vote Whether or not they should have their liberty. “We are hopeful of a triumph for the cause of equal suffrage in California when the question is submitted two years hence. Lack of money or lack of workers is all we need fear. “I have great faith in and great admiration for the ‘new woman.’ Hers is a strong per- sonality, instinct with the progressive spirit, and never looking back upon the blunders and tragedies of the past. The mew woman will be a comrade to her husband. Nine-tenths of the women are not their busbands’ comrades. If they were, do- mestic infelicities would be conspicuous by their absence. The ‘new womean’ crowned with the honors of citizenship is a grand sym- boiic figure ushering in a better day for the world. She will never be & mother of crimi- nals or inbeciles, the ‘new woman. I have often thought that if the pris- ons, the almshouses, the asylums for the in- sane and homes for the feeble-minded, could be thrown open and their inmates be seen in mournful procession, what an indictment that would be against the old woman! And what would she plead in answer to that awful charge? “Yes, I am hopeful of universal suffrage and that before the most ardent expect it to be an accomplished fact. I think, however, that women should talk less about their rights and more about their duties. Every woman should be deeply interested in the affairs of the muni- cipality, which is really a great household. She should be perfectly familiar with the needs of that household and should bring her intelli- gence to bear upon a solution of its problems.” AROUND THE CORRIDORS. Several of the Half-million Club excursion- ists were speaking of their trip and Colonel Mark McDonald of Santa Rosa was mentioned. “That reminds me of Mark’s trip to Fresno during that boom they had down south several years ago,” said Will Ashe of Merced. “Mark went down to Fresno to look around and see if it was worth while taking & ride on the wave of prosperity. The first day he was there Ful- ton Berry of the Grand Central Hotel drove the colonel about to the principal places in the neighborhood and was entertaining him roy- ally. In the evening, just as they were finish- ing as fine & dinner as the hotel could proviae, music was heard outside. ‘They are serenad- ing you, colonel,’ said Berry. ‘Theywould like to hear a few words from you, I am sure. Come along and I will introduce you.’ “Arm in arm they marched upstairs and out on the hotel balcony, Mark, the while, think- ing of some good things to say of the people and of the climate of Fresno, but there, in- stead of the town band and enthusiastic ad- mirers of the distinguished visitor, was the Salvation Army. Mark went home to Santa Rosa the next day to wait for the boom to get up that way.” PERSONAL. F. T. Baldwin of Stockton is at the Palace. Dr. W. 8 Taylor of Livermore isat the Palace. Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Chandler of Elmira are at the Lick. Dr. A. E. Osborne of Eldridge is a guest at the Grand. Rev. Samuel Hirst of Vallejo is stopping at the Grand. J. W. Barbour of Hanford arrived at the Lick yesterday. Captain W. Whitney of Eureka is a guest at the Grand. Ex-Judge John D. Bicknell of Los Angeles is at the Palace. Lyndall Miller, a real-estate dealer of Stock- ton, is at the Grand. A. P, Stanton, a vineyardist of Santa Cruz, is stopping at the Grand. J. M. Renck of the Stockton Mafl registered at the California yesterday. W. M. Gibson, a Stockton attorney, registered at the Grand yesterday. State Senator A. J. McCone of Virginia City 1s registered at the Occidental. Henry Varley, the noted London evangelist, is stopping at the Brooklyn Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Lankershim of Los Angeles registered at the California yesterday. R.P. Lathrop, a merchant of Hollister, was among yesterday’s arrivals at the Grand. 8. Remmelsburg, a merchant of Celusa, was among yesterday’s arrivals at the California. William A. Carlson, the Mayor of San Diego, arrived in this City yesterday and is stopping at the Grand. Joseph C. Bibley, the silver advocate, from Scranton, Pa., joined General Warner at the Palace yesterday. Calvert Wilson, ex-United States District At- torney of Arizona, a prominent lawyer of Tucson, is at the Occidental. Robert H. Martin, manager of the Inter- national Bank of Guatemala, is in this City on his way to England with his family. They are registered at the Occidental. SUPPOSED TO BE HUMOROUS. Japan to China—Heads I win, taels you lose. —Boston Globe. Man was made to mourn, but he has fixed things so that his wife has taken the job off his hands.—Texas Siftings. “Yes,” said the tree, “I suppose I'm ready, as faras my trunk goes; but I've decided not to leave until spring.”’—Life. It was a Denver girl who excused her habit of winking by saying that she had a manin her eye.—Harper's Bazar. Will the coming womean be weepless like unto the cold, cold man, or will she still retain that priceless characteristic 7—Boston Courier. A sign has been discovered in an old taflor’s shop in Pompeii, reading: “Creases ironed in your togas while you wait.” — Minneapolis Times, Because an engagement of marriage is often spoken of as a match, that doesn’t signify that there is any fire or brimstone about it.—Texas Siftings. Nell—If you reelly like 8 young man, what would you do if some day he should kiss you suddenly against your will ? Belle—He couldn’t.—Somerville Journal. He (who has just been refused)—Of course I know I am not worthy of you. She (who edits a paper)—Pardon me! Your rejection does not necessarily imply that you are lacking in merit.—Truth. “Don’t you think this publication assumes a good deal in labeling its humorous department ‘Original Jokes'?” “‘Not at all. It doesn’t assume to say with whom the jokes were original.”—Washington Star. Many a man spends three or four hours a day grooming his body and as many minutes grooming his mind. But the chances are the Iatter appendage isn’t worth any more time than that.—Minueapolis Journal. “Married!” sighed the elderly friend. “Married, and with no provision for the fu- ture.” “No,” smilingly chirped the young bride, “there are no provisions for the future in the Eouse. He just detests canned goods.”—In- dianapolis Journal. UP TO DATE IDEAS. The construction of a dwelling that shall be always at a comfortable temperature— warmer than the outer air in winter and colder in summer—has long been & dream of the hygienist. Themain trouble has been that the heat is introduced from within, so thut the outer walls are always cold in winter and hot in summer. A Frenchman, M. Ceron, claims to have solved the problem completely by making the frame of his house serve as heater or refrigerator, according to season. He builds it of iron tubing, through which water cir- culates constantly—warm water in winter and cold water in summer, so that he mey be said to dwell within a radiator or refrigerator, ac- cording to circumstances. His house, which has been actually constructed at Chamouni, is deseribed in La Nature, from whicha trans- lation has been made for the Literary Digest. The building is made of a metallic tubular frame,forming a double envelope. All the floors, ceilingsand wallsintercommunicate; the walls are of wood, made of planks nailed on beams thatare joined to the tubing by iron collars. Water circulates freely through this system of tubing, first in the interior network of ceilings THE TUBULAR HOUSE. and planks, thenin the exterior inclosure. In summer spring water from the mountains is forced through under pressure: it cools the | interior walls, becomes warm little by little, and then passes into the exterior part where the temperature rises still more, intercepting in the process the outer heat. In winter the water passes at first through a heating coil; then following the path just indi- cated, it gives up its heat first to the inner then to the outer wall. The speed of circulation is so regulated thatthe water issues from the house with a temperature equal to or less than that of its entry; the heat is thus entirely util- ized. The only heat lost or rather unavailable in the process is that necessary to do the work of moving the water. M. Caron has, in fact, devised a great low temperature heater, with a very large heating surface — about 300 square yards. When this 1s at work the water enters at 3.5 centigrade, is heated to 65 deg. or 70 deg., and leaves at 4 deg.; its constructor and proprietor declares that he is perfectly warmed, which seems very probable. in this curious construction the following ad- vantages, besides those that arise from keeping cool in summer and warm in winter: In the first place, the speed of construction is remark- able. The tubular house was begun oun July 7, and was habitable on September 15 following. In the second place, this iron skeleton may be put together by unskilled workmen, by reason of the flexibility of its parts. Finally, the house is & unit, insensible to storms, blasts of wind, settlings of the earth, and concussion; it is & calorific cage, perfectly fitted together, and of remarkable elasticity. The system may be | recommended to countries subject to earth- guakes—for example, to unfortunate Sicily, where volcanic action has caused continually terrible disasters. The whole house has a volume of 5000 cubic yards and weighs 120 tons. M. Caron has avoided danger from fire, even though expos- ing himself to that of flood. In an extreme case he merely turns on a faucet and lets his house get wet through, esteeming this a less evil than having it burned to the ground; and, in truth, his opinion is quite defensible. ‘Whatever may be the term of life of the tubu- lar house at Chamouni, its inventor has had the rire merit, both as engineer and as hygien- ist, of introducing a new idea, and of reso- lutely putting it into exeeution. We wish him all the degrees of heat and cold that he may de- sire, and as be has given usa new and practical prineciple and method of construction, we wish him also the highest sanction of every attempt of this kind—that is to say, rivels and imita- tors. PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT. General Booth is planning to send a colony 0f 10,000 persons to Canada. Mien Gey Ching, attacheof the Chinese em- bassy at Washington, rides a bicycle, Louis Kossuth called the Sermon on the Mount the people’s constitution. Maude Howe Elliott says Salvini once told her that he was always illand unnerved the day after playing Othello. Ian Maclaren is the literary lion of London. He writes delightiul short stories, each of which is as meaty as the average 400-page novel. George Du Murrier may sail for this country He fs under strong temptation irom asyndicate to follow in Trilby’s large but beautiful foot- prints. The Earl of Arundel, heir to the Dukedom of Norfolk, the oldest, proudest and richest peer- age in England, is deaf, dumb, blind and an imbecile. One ot the sons of the Ameer of Afghanistan will arrive 1n London early in May, attended by & very large suite. He will have & home es- pecially engaged for him. The Messrs. Sarasin, the two Swiss explorers, who have been in Borneo for some years, have found certain islands that have never before been visited by Europeans. Herr Dr. Vogel, for many years editor-in- chief of the Kolnische-Zeitung, the famous Cologne Gazette, died the other day in Cologne. He was one of the most influential men in the city. Prince Bismarck has received more than a million congratulatory letters and postal cards and nearly 11,000 telegrams. It is to be hoped that he will answer them en bloc through the papers. George Augustus Sala is greatly interested in dress, considered from the historic standpoint, and has to-day the largest collection of pattern- books and fashion plates of any man in Eng- land. Fernand de Rodays and Antonin Perivier, editors of the Paris Figaro, recently gave an elaborate entertainment in the great hall of the newspaper building in honor of the young King of Servia. General Martinez Campos, who has been sent over from Spain to subdue the Cuban insurrec- tion, is 61 years old. He has been an officer for mearly forty years,and during half that time the first soldier of Spain. On the 20th of May fifty years will have elapsed since Sir John Franklin left Green- hithe on hisill-fated expedition toward the north pole. Commemorative meetings will be held in London and Edinburgh on that date. Edward Burne-Jones, the well-known English artist, acquired his art without a teacher. His pictures are nearly all restricted in color to curiously varied tones of purple and ruddy bronze, of which Burne-Jones is particularly fond. Governor William C. Oates of Alabama is one of the few distinguished men of this country ‘who has always fought for what he got. Heis widely known as a fighter, shams diplomacy and adogged tenacity that commands the admiration of all who know him. General Raiasel Reyes, who commanded the Government troops who put down the insur- rection in Colombie, is & man of action, with a keen, dark face, a love of adventure and a wealth of experience in revolutions. A regi- ment of Indians, attracted by his magnetism, served with him in the rebellion of 1885. Prince William of Hesse recently risked his life to save a woman from drowning. The women had intended to commit suicide and had plunged into the river Woog at Darmstadt. The Prince, & man of 50, was walking along the bank at the time and at once jumped in and brought the woman to the shore. When she had been placed in safe hands he hurried to town and found her husband. | and twelve months b{ the ha AUSTRALIAN LAND BOOMS, Rev. Henry Varley Explains the Harm That Has Been Done to Trade. RUINOUS BANKING PROFITS, Business Men Whose Very Furnl- tnre Is Owned by the Banks. The Rev. Henry Varley, the well-known English evangelist who arrived frgm Syd- ney a few weeks ago, gave co_nsu_iernble thought and attention to investigating the cause of the financial depression which he met on every hand in Australia. The fol- lowing is what he gives as the result of his investigations: The conditions as I have seen them in Me!- bourne are verydepressing, nor do I see any- thing indicative of coming revival. The heri- tages of bankruptcy, insolvency and total loss of property in the éxperience of thousands are simply deplorable. I never knew a community s0 completely given up to believea huge finan- cial lie as_during the accursed land boom of 1887-88. Never in my career did I feel it nec. essary to denounce anything in_such words of burning indignation s that latest “South Sea bubble,” as an illustration of the madness in vogue. Thefe is near Princes Bridge, in Mel- bourne, a piece of ground, and the Es- tates Bank in 1883 bought this land at @ cost 0f £65,000. Within two months a syndi- cate was formed, and the same land was sold 10 them for £105,000. Six weeks later another company purcliased the land at £155 000, and two months later another syndicate bought it at£160,000. Six mowths covered the time of the four purchases. The Estates Bank andany number of the speculators are now utterly ruined. Tbelieve that to-day the stmelend is unsalable and £20,000 would be regarded as & high price for the same. It seems bardly possi- ble to realize that a number of shrewd, level- headed men should have bolstered up this “land boom mania.” In eighteen months ground was sold for building purposes in and around Melbourne to accommodate a city of 7,000,000 of inhabitants. ‘How well I remember the now defunct Daily Telegraph issuing a supplement showing_the enormous increase of ‘“marvellous” " Mel- bourne's finances, “For one single month the clearing-houses of the city showed a grand total of £80,000,000.” Such was the towering height of the great house of cards which soon toppled over, involving as it has done tens of thou- sands of Melbourne’s citizens in hopeless ruin. In my judgment whilst some twenty-five prominént commercial men in Melbourne de- serve the severest censure for their part in this He asserts, also, that he has found | huge fraud, the banks of Melbourne were and continue to be the chief sinners in this *‘land- gambling mania.” As this is a serious state- ment to make I will seek to substantiate my view, ahd if my criticism should lead to a timely discussion and to a_drastic and radical change of bank policy in the colonies my state- ment will not have been made in vain. There can be no question that when banking institutions were first formed they were notde- signed to be what they now mainly are—mere money-making centers. They were intended 10 be centers for the custody of representative values, as also houses of safety for deposited capital and mediums of commerciai exchange, in order to provide and simplify the currency necessary and common to the whole trading community. The banks were not established to be trading institutions. They do not deal in commodity or articles of manufacture. They were insti- tuted for the holding of representative values in order to facilitate easy circulation. Money- making profits save in & mere minimum de- gree formed no part of the fundamental prin- ciples of the normal banking institution. The English_funds yielding 3 to 3}4 per cent and the smal: percentageswhich have pertained to the Bank of England fairly represent the outsetting intention of legitimate baking busi- ness. This soundness of policy has been de- parted from and money has been and is traded with for mere profit until it is not too much to say that legitimate commerce has been handi- capped and crippled by the large profits which have been made out of money, that is out of niere representative values, rectly that 50“ put a high price on money you are bound to cripple legitimate commerce. Now,to get & high price for meney represents what has been joint stock bank policy throughout the world during the past thirty years,and especially has this been the case in the Australian colonies. The inflated balance sheets issued every six roup of joint stock banks in Melbourne en noiorious for unjust profits. Not content \h\)!h 5 per cent per annum profit & file of the AIgus news- puper could show profits ranging anvwhere rom 15 10 30 per cent per annum. This may De called prosperity, but it is the very opposite. It represents the oppression- of commerce. These inflated balance sheets mean, and have always meant, excessive rates for discounted bills, overdrafts, and moneys loaned by the Dbanks upon every description of property. Itis & common thing to hear these joint stock banks spoken of as “first-class pawn- brokers.” In order to make money outrival the profits of the other banks money has been lent on growing crops, on the coming wooi- clips, the rising buildings, the land intlations or, indeed, upon anything which gaye promise of these unjust gains. Overdrafts have been anywhere from 8 to 12 and even 14 per cent. Iecell all these unjust and oppressive rates, joint stock bank extortion, possible to the banking institutions simply and only because they were the custodians of representative or money values. The land boom in Melbourne could not have lasted one-third the time it dia but for the greed and selfishness of the joint stock banks. At that time (1877-8) they held enormous su: of money, largely received from Eng- 1and and Scotland. There was no legitimate outlet for the use of the capital then in their ssession. Unless some market was either ound or fashioned the inflated, not to say false, balance sheets of the years just preceding could not be maintained. So seandalous was the departure from legiti- mate banking business that large sums of money were actually pressed upon numbers of men in good position in Melbourne. It was thus that thousands were induced to speculate and enter into the vortex of the destructive land boom. The banks promised to honor the checks thusexpended and give or increase the necessary overdrafts. ENOTmOUS Sums were thus furnished by the banks and the boom raged and burned like a prairie fire. Of course the senseless gambling in land could not last. Toward the end of 1878 a hasty conference was called on the part of the joint stock bank managers and directors. Supplies were in- stantly stopped and all available securities de- manded and obtained. The joint stock bank screw was ruthlessly :rplied and beneath the modern juggernaut of ‘“responsibility to the Melbourne banks” thousands of victims were mercilessly inviolated and crushed. This is 10 overdrawn picture. In large num- bers of cases the mansions and houses in Mel- bourne and the suburbs are now to be found among the assets ot the joint stock banks. The furniture in the houses, the very beds the resi- dents lie on are the property of the banks, Large numbers of the people are permitted by the sufferance of the banks to indwell their own houses, and they could be turned,out or sold up at a fortnight’s notice; so also, a large Q{o&nrunn of the business now carried on fn Melbourne. This represents joint stock bank nomineeism. The bank’s representatives may be seen again and again, as a new specimen, in Melbourne’s business houses, viz., the joint stock bank shopwalker. Into’ the huge mael- strom of the proprietor’s indebtedness, to the bank profits, business, home, furniture, time— all Lias gone and keeps on going. A more pitiable commercial spectacle was never witnessed. Yes, sir, the joint stock banks of Melbourne by their unjust money- making policy in the past have, for the present decade, practically ruined Melbourne. It is not the reconstruction of the banks which 1s needed, but the disgorging of their extortion- ate gains, and the closing of at least one-half of the splendid institutions which have handi- capped legitimate commerce by making an avaricious profit out of the representative val- ues in their custody, but which values by right belong to the people who have unwisely sui- fered this huge bank money-making business to sep the very life of legitimate commerce. When will men see and hold fast the obvious doctrine that “when money, the representa- tive value in which ordinary commerce lives and moves, is traflicked in for bank share rices and shareholders’ profits, its free circu- tion must be impeded and legitimate busi- ness, as an inevitable result. heavily handi- capped.” Here in truth is the bimetlfiic ‘Drob- lem, the veritable crux ot the present strained Y e week. befors 1e nly the weel ore leaving Australia a business man said to me in Mfilboume: iy have £1100 locked up in one of the “‘recon- structed” banks. It was there in my current account, and they closed their doors. I went a short time since and asked the manager if 1 could draw upon my account. The answer was characteristic. “No; you cannot touch :::ze ]::"!"wm let you have an overdraftat8 Iknow nothing more peinful asa contrast than the palatial appearance of the joint stock banks of Melbourne as seen to-day and the financial and social ruin which they, by their extortion and merciless oppression, have so largely contributed to. They have sown to A!;!egw nd. The reaping of the whirlwind for them is not, far off. el SR S SPIRIT OF THE PRESS, Safety to business, as well as safety to Amer« jcan institutions, lies in the unshackled, un. trammeled rule of the people. Preserve tha rights of the Individual ard the country can be safely trusted in the hands of a free people, Trample on individual rights and the Republic is threatened.—Pendleton Oregonian. The CaArL is urging the construction of a boulevard from San Francisco to San Jose. It is a good suggestion and is proving an effective aid to the ‘‘good roads” movement. The bicy. cle is the pathfinder for “good roads” and the press and capitalists can make the movement go.—Watsonville Pajaronian. The “poll tax” is a relic of barbarism. Every citizen should be not only exempt from tax tion, but have & reasonable amount of pro erty exempt also. Let the speculative wealt of the country bear the burden of taxation | stead of the producing classes asat present.— Tulare Citizen. Petty jealousy among local business men keeps many a town from progressing as it should. Many small merchants cannot riss above their feelings of spite and dislike, even when the interests of the community, and c sequently, theirown, are at stake—San Leandro sStandard. =1f the Monroe doetrine does not soon be- come the law of all American nations it will not be the fault of Britain. Her arrogance offers a strong inducement for the formation of a pan-American League to enforce that doc- trine and make it law.—Stockton Independent. The Sacramento Grand Jury, after two or three weeks’ consideration, has abandoned the idea of investigating the charges of bribery and cbrruption made against Senator Dunn, Visions of capitol removal may have loomed up before the eyes of the G.J.—Santa Cruz Record. Counties should be granted more governing power. If the regulation of salaries and kin. dred matters were left to the people who are most interested they would be adjusted mors equitably and satisfactorily than by the Legis- lature.—Dixon Tribune. Good roadbeds and good grades will chan the whole life of the American people. ing else will do more to cheapen the cost of living in the cities. Nothing else will do so much to make life in the country desirableand enjoyable.—Blue Lake Advocate. The State and County taxes of the Stanford University should be remitted. No educational institution in the country should be taxed. All should be free.—Gilroy Advocate. California’s mineral resources are far from being all developed. Discoveries are being steadily mace all over the State.—Mendocino Beacon. The people of Humboldt County are de- manding a railroad asa result of the CALL's suggestion that they ought to have one.—Eureka Nerve. The CALL states that San Francisco can now call Los Angeles a sister city. This makes us & country cousin—Pasadena News. Buy a home. Possess a spotof God’s foot- stool you can call your own; and improve it.— Woodland Mail. A Sagacious Dog. Dandy is the name of a remarkably clever dog that resides at 1019 Seventeenth street. He is owned by & nightwatchman, and on Wednesday evenin er the family had re- tired Dandy was lo in the kitchen. During the night a-restless desire seems to have pos- sessed the dog to get into the fresh air. The window suggested itself to the canine mind as a convenient place of exit. To facilitate his getting at liberty Dandy chewed off the wooden crosspieces of the window, pushed out the glass with his paw and fo escaped. The strange part of the story is that not one piece of glass was broken. The Late Father Brady’s Will. To the Editor of the Call—SIk: The late Rev. E. B. Brady, C. 8. P, rector of St. Mary’s Church, California street, held in trust for the heirs the estate of his deceased brother, Dr. John Brady of Lake County. This property Father Brady disposed of by will in accordance with the terms expressed in his brother’s will. EV. H. H. WyMaN, C. 8. P., P Acting Rector of St. Mary’s Church. BacoN Printing Company, 508 Clay street. * —————— GEo. W. MONTEITH, law offices, Crocker bldg.* e 'VERMONT,maple sugar, 15¢ 1b, Townsend’s.* —— e PALACE sea baths, 715 Filbert street, now open for summer swimming season. % ————— ‘WE guarantee our ports and sherries to be pure. Mohns & Kaltenbach, 29 Market street.” FINE eye-glasses, 15¢., 8114 Fourth street, nr. barber. Sundays, 736 Market, Kast’s shoestore* e e—— Prince Henry of Battenberg has been cruis- ing in the Mediterranean in his yacht, the Shella. He enjoys yachting, but greatly misses his mother-in-law. THAT Tired Feeling which is 5o common and so overpowering is entirely driven off by Hood's Sar- saperilla, the best spring medicine and only true blood purifier. It gives new life and energy. it St damds “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup’” Has been used over fifty years by millions of mothe ers for their children while Tecthing with perfect success. It soothes the child, softeus the gums, al- lays Pain, cures Wind Colic, regulates the Bowels and is the best remedy for Diarrhceas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists in every part of the world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup. 25c a bottle. ———— Lafe Pence of Colorado issaid to have sug- gested to General John B. Gordon the idea of going on the lecture platform. The Georgian ‘was telling some war stories to a company of gentlemen in Washington last year, Mr. Pence being of the company. The narration de- lighted the Colorado Congressman, who de- clared that if these stories could be strung to- gether they would prove a source of revenue, Senator Gordon said he would consider the matter, and the result was his successful ap- pearance as a lecturer. PERFECT GEMS. THOSE LOVELY DINNER SETS. ", Selling for a Mere Song. DINNER SETS COMPLETE. Pure White Set complete. Rich Brown Decorated Set comple Dainty Harvest Decorated Set complete Decorated Gold Enamel and Wild Flower Set complete... Gola Tiuminated Decorated Set complete, exquisite. ... 825 Decorated Toilet Set.. 163 Decorated Toilet Set, extra large size.......... 265 Newest and Richest Shapes, designs and decorations. Don’t fail to see them., Gems of beauty. A Revelation in Prices--New Features. —AT— (sreat American Tporting Tea Co.’s STORES. 52 Market Street 140 Sixth Street 1419 Polk Street 521 Montgomery Ave. 2008 Fillmore Street 3006 Sixteenth Street 617 Kearny Street 965 Market Streét 333 Hayes Street 218 Third Street 104 Second Street 146 Ninth Street 2510 Mission Street 3259 Mission Street 917 Broadway 131 San Pablo Avenue 616 E. Twelfth Street Park Street and Ala- meda Avenue [ San Francisco 4 { Oakland } Klameda MU BRSSnEs T n v