The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 4, 1895, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1895 CHARLES M. SHORTRIDGE, Editor and Proprietor. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: DAILY CALL—46 per year by mall; by carrier, 15¢ A4 ek The Lastern office of the SAN FRANCISCO CALL (Daily and Weekly), Pacific States Adver- tising Burean, Rbinelander building, Rose and Duane streets, New York. THE SUMMER MONTHS. Are you going to the country on & vacation? It #0, it is no trouble for us to forward THE CALL to your address. Do not let it miss you for youn will . Orders given to the carrier, or left 8t 710 Market street, will receive 1895 The Water Carnival is growing. Cupid is the most agreeable of liars, Hill is not the mountain that he used to be. San Francisco furnishes her own mystery stories. A sharp tongue is a poor substitute for a dull wit, Time is money provided you don’t spend it for trifles. Resting is sometimes the most profitable employment. An elastic leg is generally accompanied by a soft head. Emily Faithfull remained true to her name to the end. The dreadful murder theorist will again begin to wag his ears. The Whitney boom has been a dead frost on the third-term talk Brilliant prospects do not always shine when you get to them. England will adopt bimetallism when Grover gets a third term. The progressive man 1 traveler never loses his grip. One of these days there will be a bicycle tollroad across the continent. In enterprise as in geography, where the East leaves off the West begins. “Everybody who is anybody” will go a-feteing to Santa Cruz next week. The skies of California are too happy to shed tears during the fruit-growing season. e the careful ing the streetcars and the murderers ther, life has its end in view on every side. Democracy may drop the tariff from the political discussion, but how about the de- The right way may be the harder at first, but it becomes steadily easier as we near the end. As a general rule man never suffers ex- ept when he is a victim of one of his own experiments. Although every Democratic leader has now spoken on the money issue, nothing has been said. There are people so good at excuses they commit offenses simply for the chance of making them. Scme men never give their old trousers away until the trousers get so old they give the man a babe? AT T The prospects for a revival of mining are as bright as the gold which awaits the en- terprise to produce it. People who have the guessing faculty developed can exercise it on the Jarrington case. The graduate who has been taught how to reform the world is now wondering how he is to make & living. If the New Woman does nothing more than to stop drinking by men she will have worked the greatest revolution of the age. s It is rather premature for statesmen to put themselves in the hands of their {riends, but a good many of them are do- ing it. The most brilliant of the illuminations of the Santa Cruz Water Carnival will be the enterprise and enthusiasm of the people. —_— It does not require a dreamer to foresee the time when the United States shall be able to direct the commerce and finances of the world. : It would be the most natural thing in the world for the decadence of the Com- stock to be followed by the development of California mines. The bicycle is steadily reducing the value of horses and streetcar shares and increas- ing the value of human beings by making them more healthy. A sure way to convince a doubter of the growth and progress of the City is to take him around the outer districts and let him see what is golng on. Judging from Eastern reports the next war in this country wiil be a fight between bicycle men and the general public for the possession of the highways. There will be no adulteration of the sweets which the members of the Grocers’ Protective Association will enjoy at Shell Mound Park next Wednegday. If Harlan receives the Populist nomina- tion for the Presidency he will have a hard task standing on their platform and sitting on the bench at the same time. Factories reopen, commerce revives, ‘wages increase and all things manifest the confidence of the peovle in the return of the Republican party to power. —_——— It is reported that the fish taken by Brit- ish fishermen last year and sent to market weighed about half the estimated weight of all the people in the British islands. The witness who killed himself to keep from testifying in the Matthews case may have overlooked the possibilities of a severe cross-examination in a higher court. About the only use that can be fouud for mysterious murders is that they enable us to pick out those members of the com- munity who can think of nothing else. Whitney’s suggestion that the money problem should be postponed for afew years and that the tariff is no longer an issue, raises the dread suspicion tbat the Democrats will make the next campaign on Grover’s foreign policy. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. John E. Russell of Massachusetts has published a small pamphlet on the Monroe doctrine, intended as a defense of the foreign policy of the Cleveland adminis- tration so far as it relates to the affairs of this hemisphere. The main argument is that the great doctrine ‘“‘is a declaration of one administration only and has never been indorsed by Congress.” Therefore, according to Mr. Russell, the Government of the United States has only a ‘“‘senti- ment” to act upon in any effort to enforce the doctrine as a matter of diplomacy, and sentiments are too vague to have weight in determining conclusions of international law. There is not enough in this argument to excuse, much less to justify, the weakness of the Cleveland administration in matters of recent occurrence in Central America, but there is enough in it to call attention to the need of some clear and definite ex- pression of what the policy of this country will be in all controversies that may arise between any American State and a Euro- pean power. Considering the hold the Monroe doctrine has upon the minds and the hearts of the American people, it is somewhat strange that Congress has not long before this given it the indorsement of a resolution declaring the intents and purposes of our Government in respect to it, and certainly it is time the omission should be remedied. Some time ago Senator Lodge of Mas- sachusetts declared his intention to intro- duce such a resolution at the next session of Congress, and we may reasonably expect, therefore, to have the ‘‘sentiment’” put at last into a form that will serve for the in- struction of all future administrations. Some resolution of the kind will be un- doubtedly adopted, but the form will in all probability lead to a great debate. Con- gress being in the hands of a Republican majority and under the leadership of men whose Americanism is in hearty accord with “manifest destiny’” will be sure to express the resclution in language too vigorous and too far-reaching for the Cleveland cuckoos to approve. Hence will come the discussion that will be at once an education and an inspiration to the people. Of the final result we need not have any fear, and no possible mug- wump administration in the future will ever have an opportunity to plead in ex- cuse for weakness that the Monroe doc- trine is only a sentiment. WHERE PROFITS ARE LARGE. The article descriptive of the Pajaro Valley published in yesterday’s CALL makes a remarkable showing. This valley opens widely upon Monterey Bay, and hence has a situation and climate very different from the rich valleys inclosed in the mountains of the Coast Range. Its topographical situation is somewhat like that of the Salinas Valley, but by reason of the fact that it is nearer the ocean and lies directly in the trend of the trade winds, it is very much cooler and moister than the Salinas. One of the difficulties in the way of set- tling California has been the high price of farming land. Thus, if an intending set- tler learns that he can buy as rich land at $10 an acre in Kansas as,in California at $75 or $100 an acre, his igncrance of all the other conditions will tempt him to settle in Kansas. There he grows corn and is fortunate if he makes any profit at all, for he is producing a staple article, is in com- petition with all the other corn-producing States, and is in a position utterly differ- ent from that of the California grower. ‘While it is true that some of the land in California is held at too high a price, let us glance at what has peen actually ac- complished in the Pajaro Valley. The Carv's descriptive article contained the following: “The profits derived from the culture of small fruits when prices are even fair are very large. George H. Brewington, the pioneer strawberry-grower of the valley, says the average yield of strawberries is about sixty chests to the acre, each chest weighing on an average eighty pounds. The average cost of production is $2 per chest. Prices per chest have varied from $3 to $6 during the pastfew years, Mr. Brewington bought twenty-five acres eight years ago, for which he paid $100 per acre. This land was graded and prepared for berries at an average cost of $25 per acre. After preparation the expense of plants is considerable, as it requires 18,000 at a cost of $2 50 per thousand. Mr. Brewington also planted Newton pippin and bellefleur apple trees on the same tract. The returns from the berries in five years paid for the land, as well as all expenses for both the ranch and family. Aiter the trees ‘came into bearing berry culture was discon- tinued and the strength of the soilgiven up entirely to the trees. The net proceeds from the trees has so increased that the 25-acre tract, bought for $2500, is now worth $1000 per acre.” This illustrates the difference between farming in Kansas and farming in many parts of California. Still more striking is the case of a quarter of an acre in straw- berries near Watsonville, which yielded $175 last year. This income from a piece of land about the size of a town lot is as large as the amount expended by millions of families in Europe for a whole year’s living. It has been somewhat unfortunate for this wonderful valley that the removal of the sugar bounty has forced the Western Beet-Sugar Factory to reduce from 11,000 to 4000 the number of acres of sugar-beets which it had been formerly buying from the growers of the valley. The company pays $4 a ton for beets showing 14 per cent sugar and 50 cents additional for beets showing a higher percentage. As the prices thus run from $4 to $6 a ton, and from fifteen to thirty tons are pro- duced to the acre, a very generous profit to the grower is apparent. The opening by the Southern Pacific of its southern overland passenger line by way of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Santa Margarita will bring the marvels of the Pajaro Valley under more general ob- servation. Strangers may then see for themselves what a country is whose com- bination of soil and climate enable the harvesting of two or three crops a year, and the making of profits that have never been equaled in other parts of the United States. ANSWERS TO OOIN. The multiplication of books in answer to “Coin’s Financial School” is becoming a public nuisance. Writers of them in all parts of the East from Minnesota to Louis- iana seem to be thicker than spring poets. The books come forth from the pressin shoals. Itis no longer possible to number them. They assume the existence of an innumerable multitude of readers each eager and scrambling for a chance to pay two bits to see “‘Coin” demolished, and if the demand is at all equal to the supply. then indeed may we claim that the Ameri- can people are the most insatiate and om- nivorous devourers of books on record. It would be folly to treat these books as literature of finance and an almost equal folly to treat them as politics. They are stump oratory expressed in pamphlets with illustrations for gestures. It may be said of them as of the ten virgins in the Bible, that five are wise and five are foolish. ‘Whoso reads them is liable to find the lamp of knowledge burning on one page suddenly extinguished in the darkness of ignorance on the next. Fact and fiction, anecdote and argument, folly and philoso- phy, invective, jibes, jeers and balderdash with tables of statistics piled mountains high or spread out like the vast deserts of Sahara, are in them inextricably mingled. They constitute a veritable jungle of reason and unreason through which the intellect finds no path, while over the dismal mazes hangs the black cloud of partisan preju- dice darting fierce lightnings of rage that threaten every moment to hurry the whole country into chaos and confusion worse confounded. Fortunate it is for the Californians that they dwell so far from the hot East, where this racketing battle of the standards is waged with such a multiplicity of pamph- lets. Imagite the feelings of a just man of impartial mind, who, baving read “Coin’s Financial School,” is now con- vinced that as a matter of fair play he must read the answers to it. Such a man will have to bid farewell to his summer holidays and even to his necessary work. It is, i fact, doubtful if he can find time to eat or to sleep as he pursuesthe arduous task of reading the answers as fast as they pour forth from the tireless press. Some of them must be skipped, but which to skip is a question that will sorely perplgx everybody who does not possess a brain vigorous enough by one supreme effort to skip them all. 1t is, of course, possible this early begin- ning of a pamphlet campaign on the money question may have its use, for in the ma- jestic destiny of the American people all things are possible, but to those who judge affairs solely in the light of reasonable probabilities very little good can be ex- pected of it. The Congress which assem- bles next winter will make no attempt to change the present standard, for it would be useless while Cleveland is President. Not until 189 can anything be done to determine the course which the country shall pursue. We may as well wait, there- fore, for the opening of that year before we get hot in the collar and begin to perspire over the subject. In the meantime the wisest thing for the average man to do is to enjoy the quiet of the off year, read the Carrand rest in full confidence that Re- publican statesmanship will settle this issue, as it has done others, in & manner wiser than the pamphleteers dream of. A THRILLING THEORY. The St.Louis Republic has an extraor- dinary genius who, in aealing with ter- restrial phenomena, puts to blush Flam- marion, the brilliant romancer of astron- omy. The Republic’s inspired scientist declares that the decadence of the Califor- nia earthquake and the advent of the cyclone that devastates the Western and Nortbwestern States is explainable on this ground: REarthquakes have an electrical origin, and the connecting lines of iron rails which constitute the overland rail- roads have transferred this electrical energy from California to the region east of the Rockies, and there it is employing itself in the form of the electrical storms known as cyclones. Nothing more brilliant than this has been conceived since the time when Ches- ter Hull, a San Francisco journalist, per- petrated his celebrated “earthquake hoax” on a New York paper. Hull made that pa- per believe and announce that an infallible preventive of earthquakes had been found in planting rows of encalyptus trees per- pendicular to the coast line and stretching twenty miles apart from the coast to the axis of the Sierra. His full statement of the case was one of the most excruciatingly scientific treatises ever penned. Hull was also the inspiration of the Cardiff Giant hoax, with which the public is more familiar. But the genius of the Republic is not in- dulging in hoaxes. He appearsto be honest in thinking that earthquakes and cyclones have an electrical origin; that by some mysterious means electricity changes its function by, transmission, worrying the ground at one place and the air at another, and that cyclones did not occur at a time when there was no population to observe and record them. ' It is true that earthguakes seem prac- tically to have abandoned California, but cannot the genius of the Republic permit his wide-winged imagination a further and more grandly soaring tlight than so com- mon-place an analysis of the transmission and transformation of electrical energy ? For that seems inadequate to the loftiness of his aspiration. He might have made use of a theory advanced by a very large and intelligent part of the people, to the effect that thought is a dynamic force and that it acts as energy at a distance remote from its source. He might have expanded the ordinary application of the theory and shown that one of the following reasons for the phenomena which he has observed might be the right one: First, that earth- quakes have practically ceased because we willed that they should cease; second, that the mental condition of repose and peace which Californians enjoy as the result of a pleasant environment has acted upon the forces which produced subterranean turbu- lence, and, on the principle of Pythagoras’ theory of the *‘‘ music of the spheres,”” # subdued them and transformed them potentially into beneficent agencies; third, that, con- versely, the cyclones of the Mississippi basin are a transformed expression of the dissatisfaction, unhappiness and inward turbulence of the people of that region. The imagination stands appalled .in the presence of the speculations which the genius of the Republic has suggested. But it is well that such writers exist. Even though they lift us but for a momentabove the hardness and meanness with which we fill our lives, in that one moment we lay a hand upon the fleeting rainbow and hear the laughter of the sunshine. The clown would be less amusing did he not paint his face, and we have gained something if we can prevent the length of a donkey’s ears from making us ignore the genuine sad- ness which lends a melancholy tone to his braying. THE VALLEY ROAD. Thirty-five Miles of Rail on the ‘Water Bound for This Port. “There is nothing unusual in connection with the road,” said Secretary Mackay of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad yester- day. “Everything is moving along satisfac- torily. To-morrow there will be a meeting of the board of directors to transact routine business. Hereafter the board will meet every Tuesday to hear reports of the prog- ress of the work.” “The men at work on the preliminary survey,” said Engineer Storey of the same company,” are pushine. They have now gggg the Tuolumne River and will push ahead. “As yet nothing has been done in re to the rails that vgere lost by the vre&“;% the vessel in the Straits of Magellan, but this loss will not materially interfere with the work; it will cause a little delay, that is all. There are at this time thirty-five miles of rail on the water on the way to this port, and in the future twenty miles of rail will leave the East for this port every month. As soon as the rails reach here the work of track-laying will be com- menced.” ) AROUND THE CORRIDORS. The Hon. James F. Connelly of New Jersey, upon whose head has fallen the portfolio of Consul to Japan, through the courtesy of his personal friend, Mr, Cleveland, is stopping at the Palace Hotel with his family. ‘No, I have never been to Japan,” said Mr. Connelly, “butI will probably be there four years, and from what I can hear of it I imagine it will suit me. Iresigned from the office of Collector of Internal Revenue of New Jersey owing to ill health, and much to my surprise received my eppointment to Japan the day following. What kind of a place is Japan? Have you ever been there?” The gentleman addressed happened to have passed two years in that country and so stated. “Well now, tell me. How is the weather?"” “Very hot in summer and cold in winter. Snows often.” “What? Is it possible that they have snow in Yokohama?* “Well, rather. A couple of feet at times. “THE WAR IS OVER,” SAID CONSUL CONNELLY. [Sketched from life for the “Call” by Nankivell.] The spring, however, is long and very delight- ful. Even the sutumn is not bad. Oh, you will like it.” “How are the domestics? Can I getcompe- tent and faithful servants?” “Yes, but you must watch them. They will steal most anything in the culinary line they can get their hands on.” “Is it possible!” exclaimed the new Consul, elevating his eyebrows and locking incred. ulously at his informant, “You bet it is possible. They do all the buy- ing and most all the eating. You will have to standit. Itis the custom.” “Well,” answered Mr. Connolly, sinking into & comfortable attitude, “custom is custom, and I suppose it must go. By the way, what kind of a place is Hiogo?” “One of the healthiest in the world. I believe there is no spot on the globe where the climatic conditions blend so perfectly as there,” “Good!” exclaimed the gentleman from New Jersey. “That’s the thing I have been leading up to. If the chimate i8 good and a man can retain his health I am satisfied.” He rubbed his hands with absolute delight and seemed greatly overjoyea at the prospect of & pleacant clime, even in the face of an army of pilfering servants. Presently the man from Japan asked the Consulif he had ever been in the Southern States. “Yes, I have. I tramped through them when I was & boy 15 years of age with the Northern army, and received a bullet wound in the ab- domen from which I have suffered ever since. That is one reason I am perticular about my health now in my old age.” “Do you think the North and the South will ever be united?” “My dear boy,” answered the Consul, laying his hand on the questioner’s shoulder, ““that is & question which is not worth discussion. The war is over. Allof themen who went to the front were sincere. We understand each other. When the last gun was fired the trouble was at anend. Do you understand me? We are all friends.” Mr. Connelly lenves thig afternoou on the China. One of his sons, 15 years of age, weighs 283 pounds and is nearly 6 feet tall, His father is a little dubious sabout the lad riding around in rickshaws, and says he will tell the Japanese that when they cerry him they do it at their own risk. When he went through Egypt & year ago there was not & donkey on the desert big enough to carry him half a mile. He is piling on flesh at the rate of fiity pounds & year, snd says it doesn’t annoy him one whit. Colonel K. B. Brown was in an unenviable frame of mind as he rested his feet against the empty stove in the What Cheer House last night. “I have just been reading, about that pert young actress, May Yohe, and her carrying-on in London,” said the colonel. *She is all the time talking toreporters about being a straight- out American, and said that her mother is an American Indian, and all that. Idon’t know as to her genealogy, but I can give hera pointer about one thing, that she doesn’t know how to talk the American languege, dead straight. Bhe had considerable to say about & play that is called ‘Hoss and Hoss, and a British reporter wanted to know what that meant, *“Hoss and Hoss,”’ said she. ‘Oh, that's a piece of American slang. It isthe Yankee equivalent to““A Roland for an Oliver.” When a fellow tells another that a trick hes been played on him, he says, “That's a hoss on you, old man.” “Now, 1 want tosay to Miss Yohe,” continued the colonel, “that she has secured only the secondary meaning of that expression. It comes originally from the good old Missouri game of ‘Old Sledge,’ where it is played by rubbers or horses, In Missouri they ecall it hosses. When a man loses a rubber then they say, ‘That’s & hoss on you.’ The application of this expression to jokes and pranks is very far- fetched, and according to my opinion isnot genuinely American.” SPIRIT OF THE PRESS. Many of the piano-players are now torturing their neighbors with the “Carnival of Venice.” —Santa Cruz Sentinel. The best evidence that business in Northern California is picking up is found in the im- proved appearance of aimost all the newspa. pers.—Marysville Appeal. Custom insists that the bicycle shall be called & wheel, and custom is boss of the situation. But & cab, & coach, a wagon or a Populist might with equal propriety be called a wheel, —Fresno Republican. Most towns in this partof the State are con- tent to let their surroundings, resources and possibilities advertise themselves. Buildinga town is like doing business; the more the town is talked of the faster it grows.—Oroville Mef- cury. All our coast towns are destined to be more orless built up with cottages owned by the wealthy, and the man who does not secure a lotin one of these towns while they are cheap is bl:gd to his own interests.—Los Angeles Whether you fight or work don’t make too much fuss about {t. The hen cackles after she has laid her eggs. The noise and sizzle of the locomotive are not force. All forces are silent. The heehaw of the mule may startle you, but 1t 18 not nearly so dangerous as hie hind legs. Bear in mind it is the empty wagon that rat- tles most when in motion.—Willows Journal. Should the Milford road be extended to San Diego or Los Angeles, nearly all of the tourists who now go to Southern Celifornia via Denver and Arizona would come through Salt Lake. A market wonld be found for our coal and iron. A shorter route for fruits would be available. New mining fields would be opened up. Our Utah Dixie would be in the Salt Lake market with early first-ciass vegetables and fruits. Speed the enterprise!—Salt Lake Herald. PERSONAL- A.T. Gallager of Alviso is registered at the Commercial, A. J. Bruner, an attorney of Sacramento, is &t the Grand, § Captain James Sennett of Santa Clara isat the Occidental. Dr. W. D. Rodgers of Watsonville is staying at the Occidental. E. H. Winship, a capitalist of Napa, is regis- tered at the Grand. J. D. Sproul, a leading attorney of Chico, is & guest at the Palace. Dr. R. F. Taylor of Napa was one of yester- day’s arrivals at the Grand. J. J. Hebbron, a leading cattleman of Salinas, is at the Occidental. Captain C. M. Kenniston of Stockton regis- tered yesterday at the Grand. George E. Faw, a prominent merchant of Gonzales, is at the Oceidental. James W. Bartlett, District Attorney of Trin- ity County, is a guest at the Lick. Captain J. K, Fraser of Lakeport is in the City stopping at the Commercial. Dr.J. P. E. Hentz of Monterey was one of yesterday’s arrivals at the Oceldental. V. 8. McClatehey of the SBacramento Bee registered yesterday at the California. Timothy Lee, ex-Chief of Police of Sacra- mento, registered yesterday at the Lick. A. C.Hopkinson, manager of the Stockton Pottery Works, came down yesterday and is staying at the Grand. E. D. McCabe, the Governor’s private secre- tary, came down from Sacramento last evening and registered at the Lick. George F. Beveridge, a prominent mine- owner, came in yesterday from Sonora, Mexico, and registered at the Palace. H. P. Heydemann, manager for Miller & Lux at the Santa Rita ranch, is visiting the City and is registered at the Brooklyn. J. F. Coupe, & leading wine-shipper of Santa Cruz and chairman of the committee on the press of the carnival, came up yesterday and registered at the Grand. John T. Sullivan, chairman of the committee on promotion of the Santa Cruz Venetian Water Carnival, came up yesterday to attend the final meeting of the San Francisco commit- tee and made his headquarters at the Grand. PEOPLE TALEED ABOUT. Twenty-five years ago James J. Hill, presi- ‘| dent of the Great Northern Railroad, wasa freight clerk on the steamboat docks of St. Paul., Minn,, at & salary of $40 a month. According to Dr. Kukula there are 119 uni- versities in the world with 157,513 students. Berlin, with 7771, is the largest, and Urbino, with 74, is the smallest. Mrs. Li Hung Chang has 1000 servants, 2000 coats, 1200 pair of trouserettes and 500 fur robes. Her feet are so small that she cannot walk and she dresses her hair in fifty different ways. A marble medallion portrait of John Couch Adams, the discoverer of Neptune, has just been set up in Westminster Abbey, close to the memorials of Isaac Newtcn, Darwin and Herschel. Scotland won the amateur golf match at St. Andrews this year, Leslie Balfour Melville de- feating in the finals John Ball of Liverpool, who has won the championship four times in the last ten years. On the invitation of Sir Donald Currie, the well-known ship-owner, Mr. and Mrs. Glad- stone will sail from London for Kiel on June 12 on the steamer Tantallon Castle to attend the opening of the North Sea canal. Arthur Balfour crosses and recrosses his legs with automatic regularity during a parliamen- tary debate, and Harcourt sits boit upright with folded arms, often nodding and smiling to his friends; Chamberlain exhibits surprise by dropping his eyeglass. James Eagen,a New York man, has made several ineffectual attempts to commit suicide by poison, the knife and hanging. Almostin despair he at last tried rum drinking, and this promises to accomplish what the other mate- rials failed to do. President Baldwin of the Christian Union in Boston has come to the defense of the youth of the present day who has been charged with more marked irreverence than any in the past. He says: “I believe that the men and the women and the youth of to-day have in their make-up even more real, heartfelt, sincere god- like reverence and respect than those of fifty vears ago. Then the so-called reverence was 100 often a reverence based upon compulsion.” Thomas C. Zimmerman, editor of the Read- ing Times, & brilliant dialect writer, has re- ceived the following well-deserved tribute to his abilities in this direction from Der Deutsche Correspondent, one of the leading Southern dailies: “Leland, the famous translator of Heinrich Heine's works, has every reason to look after his laurels, inasmuch &s there has come to the front in the person of Thomas C. Zimmerman, editor of the Reading Times, a notable writer as a translator from the Ger- man into the English. Zimmerman under- stands it almost better than does Leland how to clothe German thought in euphonious English.” SUPPOSED TO BE HUMOROUS. “Jt's strange how England hates to let go of anything,” said the man who worries. “Yes,” replied the man of violent prejudices, “the only thing that country seems willing to drop is the letter h.”—Washington Star. Miss Sweety—Yes, I can’t get married because ‘poor George is suffering from heart failure. Her friend—How terrible! “Yes! He tried twice to speak to pape, but his heart failed him.”—Syracuse Post. Van Tickler—Where did you become 80 inti- mate with Mr. Flicer ? De Dudley—On the Mississippl. We were thrown together during a steamboat explosion, —Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Ma, that baby across the street hasn't any teeth.” “Of course not, Tommy. You didn’t have any when you was that small.” “But that baby’s pa is a dentist”"—Fun. Maude—Do you know Mr. Jinks fainted last evening at the dance, and would have fallen if I hadn’t canght him in my arms? Ethel (slight.y jealous)—Yes; he told me that he’d been suffering from the effects of the grip.—Scribner’s. Wiggles—I have just one cigar here. You haven’t any objections, have you? Waggles—Not if I smoke it.—Somerville Journal. Doting Mother—Tell me, professor, i8 my son a deep student? Professor (dryly)—None deeper, ma'am; he's always at the bottom.—Judge. “There’s too darn much fystem in this school business,” growled Temmy. “Just be- cause I snickered a little th: monitor turned me over to the teacher, the teacher turned me over to the principal and the principal turned me over to paw.” . “Was that all?” “No. Paw turned me over his knee.”—Indi- anapolis Journal. Razzle—O1d Soek, despite his habits, appears to be a well-preserved man. Dazzle—Yes. You know since he lost his money he has been kept in brandy by his friends.—Life. Lady (visiting arsenal)~What rifle is least used? Eoldier—The Minie, mum. “And the most?’ “The Maxim, mum.”—Detroit Tribune. THE unequaled strength of the Royal, as certified by the highest baking-powder an- thorities, makes it the cheapest to use, even at a higher price than others. GIVE ASPHALT A CHANCE That Is What Engineer Mc- Cullough Says Should Be Done. The Merchants’' Assoclation Would Glve It an Equal Trial With Bituminous Rock. Ernest McCullough, consulting engineer of the Merchants’ Association, says he is not prepared to admit that asphalt pave- ments are superior to bifuminous rock covering for streets. He makes an inter- esting comparison of the two pavements: “‘Asphalt is a variety of bitumen and is obtained in many parts of the world,” said he. “In the valley of the Rhone, in France and Switzerland, and in parts of Italy, Sicily, Spain and Hanover, there are large beds of sandstone thoroughly impregnated with bitumen, and from these beds most of the asphalt paving used in Europe is ob- tained. On account of the fineness of the stone streets paved with it are rather slip- pery in wet, weather. “In Trinidad is a large lake of asphalt, which is mined in_its natural state, and after refining, to drive out the impurities, it is shipped to other countries and mixed with sand and carbonate of lime, to make an artificial pavement similar to that made by the natural bituminous sandstone of urope. This aspbalt pavement is not so slippery as the formmer, as the sand mixed with it is coarser than the natural sand- stone. Pavements of Trinidad asphalt are very popular in Eastern cities. “California is the only State in the Union in which asphalt exists in large quantities, but it is nearly all in an impure state, being mixed with sand, mica, loam and other earthy materials. This impure asphalt is commercially known as bitu- minous rock, and is what we are used to seeing laid on our streets. The only objec- tion to it is that it is a paving material mixed in nature’s laboratory,and,therefore, is not uniform. The same quarry may yield good and bad rock. The getting out of good rock is a matter of judgment, and even the best men are not always correct in their opinion of the quality of the rock before it is laid. ‘‘Some_poor rock has been laid on the streets of San Francisco, and the specifica- tions at present under consideration will not help matters, but will rather tend to make them worse. Theclause calling for the rock to belaid in its natural state on the street where it is to be laid is the most objectionable for many reasons, the prin- ci?al one being that it precludes careful selection and the rejection of poor rock. After acontractor has hauled his rock to the street where it is to be laid, he is apt to try to work in all the material, even if it is not allgood. The'‘treatment’so many object to is sometimes necessary. Bitumin- ous rock is even less slippery than the arti- ficial asphalt pavement as a rule, and may be laid on steeper grades. “The bituminous rock being a natural product and therefore of uneven composi- tion, it is extremely difficult to draw up specifications which will result in uni- formly good work. It is a case where the integrity of the contractor must be taken into account. With the present low prices for such work it is impossible for a firm to exercise the proper selection of material and make any money. It must all go in and instead of zetting & good job with good material an average job must be taken with average material. Asphalt pavements being artificially mixed, it is possible to draw up specifications which will insure the same standard of work on 2ll streets. It should therefore be more generally used in Californi: Much of our California asphalt is refined and sent East to adulte- rate Trinidad asphalt. In fact, it has achieved such a reputation there that many cities use asphalt from both California and Trinidad, with no odds to either. “It seems an anomaly that in this State so little is thought of asphalt pavements and that bituminous rock is so greatly preferred. In San Francisco no specifica- tions are in existence for asphalt paving and only bituminous rock isg-ruv:ded for. 1t seems fair play would demand that asphalt be given a show. It isfor this rea- son that the Merchants’ Association will endeavor to have specifications adopted for asphalt pavements and put them on an equal footing with bituminous rock. “Iam not prepared to say which ma- terial is best. Both have their good quali- ties and both are therefore entitled to con- sideration. Frankly, if I had charge of a piece of paving and had to choose between asphalt and_a good q\lal‘iltfy;i of bituminous rock the influence my selection.’ A FLOWER SOCIAL. The Howard-Street Methodist Church to Inaugurate a New Kind of Entertainment. The ladies of the Howard-street Metho- dist Episcopal Church will give a novel en- tertainment next Friday night. It is called a “flower social,” and is said to be something new in the way of church enter- tainments, The following excellent programme has been arranged : Recitation, Fred Head; vocal duet, R. W, Smith and C. H. Pierce; reading (selected), Miss Frank Hewlett; vocal duet, Mrs. Libby and Mrs. Freeman; recitation, A. J. Morrison; iano solo. M. de Witt; recitation, Miss H. rierley; vocal duet, Mr. and Mrs. Heaton; recitation, Miss A. McCulough. The members of this congregation are taking a lively interest in_all church mat- ters just now, and they will no doubt turn out in force to see just what kind of an en- tertainment a flower social i RED SIGNAL LAMPS. They Have Been Improved and Now Can Be Distinguished at Night. Some time ago the CALL drew attention to the fact that the street lamps on which red glass tops had been placed for the pur- pose of indicating the location of the nearest fire-alarm signal-stations did not answer the %urpose for which they were erected, for the reason that they could not be distinguished at a distance of balf a block from any other street lamp. It was suggested at that time that the flame shoula be raised. This suggestion has been acted upon in a number of instances, and now those red lamps can be seen at a distance of six or seven blocks. These lamps should be kept lighted on what is known as corporation moonlight nights. Three nights in the month these lamps are not lit, and during that time are value- less as fire-signals. —————— GROCERS’ PICNIC, San Rafael, June 5. » ——————— price alone wo Bacox Printing Company, 508 Clay strest. * —————— GEO. W. MONTEITH, law offices, Crocker bldg> ——————— The oldest ruins on the Western Conti- nent are believed to be those of Copan, They were deserted long before the con. quest and their origin forgotten. —————— Pineapple and cherries, 50c 1b, Townsend’s.* — e WE guarantee our ports and sherries to be pure. Mohns & Kaltenbach, 29 Market street.* ——————— The Housatonic, in Connecticut, was fi&llefl by the Indians Wussiadenei, the stream beyond the mountains,” —————— THE wonderful cures of scrofula, salt rheum and other dreadtul diseases of the blood prove the great curative, blood-purifying powers of Hood's Sarsapa- rilla. Its effect is often magical. —————— THE most efficacious stimulant to excite the appetite are Dr. Siegert's Angostura Bitters. Be- ware of counterfelts. e “BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES" relieve Throat Irritations caused by Cold or use of the voice. The genuine sold only in boxes. ————— No home is complete without PARKER'S GINGER Tox1c, needed for every weakness. PARKER'S HAIE BALSAX Is life to the haiz, DRY GOODS. (ITYZPARIS GREAT INDUCEMENTS —IN THE— WASHGOODS DEPARTMENT ! DUCKS—LAWNS—DIMITIES—PIQUES GINGHAMS—PERCALES—BATISTE —AT— 10c, 12%0_ and1bc. SPEGIAL! BEST QUALITY GENUINE SCOTCH CHEVIOT AND MADRAS— Regular price, g T(S, BE SWIVELED SILES! Regular price, 60c, gular price: o crose ar 406 ALL OTHER FINE NOVEL WASH G00DS HAVE BEEN REDUCED IN PRICE. (Genmize AH-W(E French Challies TO BE SACRIFICED. ZLearED ovr AT 256 = All New 2000 Yards at 206 aind P = Flecant 2500 Yards at 30@ Dcseign! B.VERDIER & 0, 5. E. Cor. Geary St and Grant Ave., S, B, VILLE“PARI BRANCH HOUSE, 223 SOUTH BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES. ST A TENMEINT OF THE CONDITION AND AFFAIES OF TEZ Commereial Union Insurance Company F LONDON, ENGLAND, ON THE 31ST DAY of December, A. D. 1894, and for the year end- ing on that day, as made to the Insurance Com missioner of the State of California, pursuant to the provisions of sections 610 and 611 0f the Polit- ical Code, condensed as per blank furnished by the commissioner. CAPITAL. Amount of capital stock, pald up in cash. -$ 1,250,000 00 ASSETS. Real estate owned by compan 2,166,641 46 Loans on bond and mortzage. . T'346,687 74 Casli market value of all stocks and bonds owned by company......... 5,034,911 00 Amount of loans secured by pledge of bonds, stocks and other market- able securities as collateral . 21825087 Cash in company’s offi : Cash in banks. ........ e . 1,780,068 16 Interest due and accrued on all stocks and loans. z 2,748 22 Interest due and 347470 . 1,335,296 50 o for fire and marine risks. 7 66,778 75 Total assets, life department 8,437,817 20 Sundry offices for guarantees and reinsurance on losses already paid. Rents and interest due. Stamps on hand. Total assets $19,879,082 00 LIABILITIES. Losses adjusted and unpaid ; losses) in process of adjustment or in suspense; losses resisted, includ- ing expenses ........ 3 Gfoss premiums on fire risks run- ning one year or less, §.... rein- surance 50 per cent; gross pre- 1,879,575 00 miums on fire risk ruuntng|’ more than one y rei surance pro rats Gross preminms on land_navigation risks, 8 743,526 00 ] re- insurance 100 per cent: gross: 905,000 00 remiums on marine time risks, | reinsurance 50 per cent. ty under life department..... 8,437,617 20 Cash dividends remaining unpaid 1,990 68 All other demands against the com: P S T 2,343,481 98 Total liabilities. . s INCOME, Net cash actually received for fire premiums ......... 58 . $5,480, Net cash actually received for ma- b rine premiums...... 1,142,706 18 Received for interest on .§14,311,189 83 333,210 86 partment ...... 1,215,981 Received for transfer fces. 2 e 3%5 23 ‘Total income. . -$ 8,172,852 08 EXPENDITURES. Net amount paid for fire losses (in- cluding ... losses of previous vears)_. von s iages 1ot sl SN0 B Nt amount paid” for marin lossen 000247 04 (including §.... losses of previous . 68615127 311,587 46 2 Pald for salaries, he: o charges for_officers, clerks. etc. rnm for State, National and 1,581,181 10 ocal taxes; all’ other payments and expenditures........... Total expenditure of life depa: ment. St 556,207 41 Total expenditures. 7,437,352 83 MARINE. Losses incurred during theyean..............53,394,368 00 $664,301 00 RISKS AND PREMIUMS. |_FIEE RISKS. | PREMIUMS. Net amount of riks| written auring the R 1$1,095,302,890 37,325, e i ot daks $1,995,302,890 87,325,385 32 expired during the, 1,414,855,792| 5,402,795 20 879,785,674 3,869.010 34 T December 31, 1894 IMARINE RISKS| PREMIUMS. Net amount of risks written during the | ear. . |8 362,848,475 $1,665,710 00 expired during the | ar | 850,257,490/ 1,649,870 00 Net amount in force| I 80,128,950/ 944,665 00 ‘mber 31,1894 | JOHN % i SH' MAI:S’. Sficmmrl;{ TROTTER, Chairman. ubscri of April, 1896..“ sworn to before me this 19th day G. F. WARREN, Notary Public. PACIFIC COAST BRANCH OFFICE 301 California Street. C. F. MULLINS, Manager. > -4