The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 18, 1895, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1895. CHARLES AKEELER. | KEPARTED.. . __ | BY MERCURY. 1 There are men and women' in California who enjoy themselves in bookish recrea- tions. They assemble once in a while and talk of the subjécts in which they and the rest of the cultured world are most inter- | ested. Their words have been caught by the messenger of their sphere, and the sub- stance will from time to time be repro- duced forthe entertainment of the readers of THE CALL. | DRAMATIS PERS Dobatells Tna Coolbrith | ‘The.Artist ... William Keith Heterodoxia Mrs. Edna Snell Poulson 3 falcolm h sdwin Markham Xen Greer Harri Mrs. K! | r | 5 Miss Adeltne Knapp | Mrs. Lovell White, Miss Edith While, Mr. Lonis Janes. Chiel prese their last meeting the holiday- | At makers were- the guests of Mrs. Lov- | ell - White' “and Louis Janes in the| redwoods at- Mill Valley, and besides these our circle was joyfully widened to re- ceive Miss Edith White, who was sojourn- ing among the rediwoods in search of in- spiration for her facile brush. We were very happy, for the morning had brought the neis t Donatella, whose illness had | cast a.shadow over all our hearts, could be regarded as out of danger. | It was a glorious day. Beside a little | brook in a sunlit .open we sat us down within hearing of the siivery voice of a_| chattering waterfall. The affable cld trees closed in about us, interposing their trunks and drooping.their graceful branches to | keep out a!l comers. There was a delicious iragrance in theair, a healing balsamin | the breath of the redwoods. The little | fishes in the tiny brook swam fearlessly | within reach of our hands and looked up into our faces as we talked. | “Who knows,” Heterodoxia said, watch- | ing them, “what literary and artistic | heresies we may be inculcating in their | innocent minds? See that one run. Iam sure he was alarmed at Runnymede’s wild | arraignments of realism.” Runnymede, . from his perch upon a | little hillock, “watched the swimmers amiably. ‘“No,” said he, ‘‘they are not alarmed. Those fishes are idealists. They are shocked and scandalized at the sight of that ancient bone yonder in the water. They recognize it as a false note in the beautiful picture that surrounds-them. They are running away from it.” The Chiel—Suppose aur realistic painter were to make a picture of this little stream and its wooded banks, would he deem it necessary to keep that big bone in evi-| dence? Heterodoxia—Not unless he wished to | suggest something grewsome. It.might | typify the ugliness that is a part of all | beauty. Runnymede—I do not think the repre- gentation of the ugly, the repellant or re- volting, save as a means to producing con- trast, comes within the domain of art. Second Babe-in-the-Wopods—That ques- tion of the domain of art, of whatis and what is not, legitimate material for art, is a broad ome. I doubt if any two of us could agree in setting its limit. What is your idea regarding it, Heterodoxia? Heterodoxia—I think before answering I would first wish to know what you mean by art. Do you limit the word to any par- ticular form of artistic expression? The Chiel—Isn’t it understood that in these discussions we use the word in its comprehensive sense? Second Babé—Art is mind objectified, in & permanent, symmetrical form, that shall froduce sensations of pain or pleasure. see Runnymede looks critical. Let us hear what his criticism is. Runnymede—Your definition is_a bad one. You-elaborate it too much. We are discussing art and you give us a scholastic definition of art that is not artistic, and which covers a whole process of logic with which art has nothing to do. The Chiel—It is like all definitions, a de- lusion and. a snare. He who attempts a definition of art is like a man who diggeth a pif for his enemy and falleth therein him- self. Despits its elaboration, moreover, the Second .Babe’s definition is hardly ample enough'to cover the subject. Second Babe—I think the only word that, requires amplification is the word symmetrical. ‘I mean by that balanced, unified, limited, ordered. The true work of art must be all of these things. Mrs. Lovell White—I agree with our Babe-in-the-Woods, and would say that, broadly speaking, the domain of art is the soul of man plus the universe in which he dwells. Through his senses "the artist reaches out and bringing a material object within the grasp of mind, transfuses it in that fire until it comes forth in. another form; which we call art. The Chiel—It seems to me that when all’s said and done, art is the individual inter- retation of life, in the language which Eelongs to the individual. I wonder if our Artist, here, would yenture upon a defini- tion of art? The Artist—Who? I? Never! Icouldn’t do Idon’t know what art is. It's a hurdy-gurdy. It's fits and starts. The artist is merely something that an idea siezes hold upon when it wants to get itself.born. 3 The Chiel—But are there not limits to the realm of what we understand as art? The Artist—Certsinly. The artist is the limitation. Sometimes he isn’t big enough to hold and fuse the idea, and it gets away from him. ‘Sometimes - his skill and tech- nique aren’t equal to the demands upon it. His limitations limit the expression, but of art itself all creation is the domain. Alihe can see, 2ll he can feel, all he can imagine belong to it. - “Heterodoxia—I think art should limit itself to the expression of that which exists in the world, in nature or in humanity, plus the spirituality of the artist. The idealization should be along the lines of nature. Literary art should concern itself with the drama of life rather than with philosophizing about life. It is.not the province of art to teach directly., Second Babe—No. It should not be di- dactical. Heterodoxia—TIt should teach only by inference. If the conduct of iife, or its philosophy is taught, it must not be ap- parent. If the novelist starts out with the purpose of giving instruction he is swept out of therealm of art. He becomes so enamorcd of his own moral creed that he | what he sees he produces a work of art. | a trut not bother his head with the study of the humanity that God has created. Kenneth Malcolm — I agree that art should not be didactic, but in every true artistic creation the artist must have a conscious moral purpose. If we are to draw our analogies from nature and life, | then we must make our art a study of the various phenomena of our social, racial and physical existence. We have ail the phenomena of life to select from, but selec- tion must be made. We cannot flinga heterogeneous mass of experiences, even though each is a part of life, upon canvas, or into literature, and call it art. I think it is this instinct of right selection that constitutes what we call genius. Edith White—Isn’t the aim of art to ex- press that which is interesting ? An artist sees an old brass kettle and a few onions pon a table, and not because he ues ss or likes onions does he paint t, but because the harmo: f color inter- ests him. If he succeeds in expressinlg t is not art’s mission to instruct or reform, though many great works of art have done both. It is not art’s mission alone to 1 for disagreeable things have been written and nainted that were yet artistic, but whether Ylus:mv. or unpleasant} all must possess the element of interest. Kenneth Malcolm—The true artist is | under no necessity of resorting to didactic methods, but neither can he help it when | insists, as The Artist has put it, in getting itself born through him. Millet painted a picture of a man trimming a tree. Justa man trimming a tree, but so much of the terrible tragedy, the read itself into every line of that common- place figure, engaged in a commonplace occupation, that the directors of the Dres- den Gallery refused to let it be hung, be- cause they said *‘It would stir up discon- tent among the people.” Heterodoxia — True realism teaches greater lessons than didacticism ever can. The realist is the most humble of artists. He finds all that God has created so_good that he limits his endeavor to recording it. The unlovely, the vulgar, the sordid have their place art, are the materials of art, as well as the dignified and the noble. But they should only be the background nst which character is outlined and developed. Zangwill, in his “‘Children of the Ghetto,” paints us pictures of poverty of the most sordid, destructive, hateful and unpicturesque sort, but he humanizes it all, gives us at the same time a sense of the ideals, the loyalty to race, the pious devotion, the real religious earnestness of | most truculent of his | characters that brings us into a more in- | | telligent human sympathy with tne whole the meanest and Jewish people. The Artist—Ah, yvou've got it there. It! is the human touch that is the life of all | our art. Nature herself teaches us noth- | ing until we humanize her. Talk about | Corot and Hayden and all the rest of them going out and creating pictures by sketch- ing from nature, It cannot be done. You can paint from nature. You can paint rocks and streams and trees and sky. You can make them so exact that your work | will be just like a colored photograph. There will be no more satistaction in it. To make a picture that will speak to the soul of man you must put something more into it than is in the rocks and trees. You have got to put feeling intoit. There is no feeling in nature. And all this talk | about_art being the imitation of nature! Why it is all bosh. 1said thattoa scientist once, and he said tome: *“Do you really think that you can improve on what God has made?” Think of tnat! Wasn’t that a terrible thing for an intelligent man to say? It isn’t a question of improving on nature. It is a question of humanizing it; of making people see and love nature, understand nature. That's what God made artists for. The Chiel—It is in the power thus to humanize the materials of his art that the greatness of the artist lies. It seems to me that evervthing in life—all the thoughts, the feelings and experiences of which a human being is capable—are materials for art; all that we get out of life, all that we read into it. Ethics and didactics are a part of life, and are, therefore, a legitimate part of art. They have their place. There is no limitation in art. Whatever your soul sees that is honest and true, that har- monizes with or comments on the drama of life, is susceptible of artistic treatment. Only, whatever we essay we must make plain. If we cannot do that we must let it alone. Kenneth Malcolm—I do not believe that the artist ever had an idea that he could not make plain. If he fails to be under- stood it is because he has not himself understood what he wants to do. What we call genius is something more than the instinct of selection. It is the instinct that knows. Like the scientist who con- structed a perfect skeleton from seeinga single bone of an unknown animal, a single look, a gesture, a flash of light in a dark place, will enable creative genius to build the whole character, a whole train of circumstances. For instance, Henry James tells of an English novelist, 8 woman of genius, who in one of her stories drew a realistic picture of the nature and way of life of the French Protestant youth. She was congratulated upon the truth of her picture, and asked where she had had such evident admirable opporlunii{ for study- ing this class of society. er reply was that once, in Paris, ascending a staircase, she passed an open door where in the apartment of a pastor some of the young Protestants were sitting at table round a finished meal. The glimpse made a picture. It lasted only a moment, but it was enough for her toreceive the impression and evolve the type. She guessed the whole from the part, and created the whole round of the life of those students from that glimpse. Second Babe-in-the-Woods — A great question in my mind is, Has art a right to be, simply for art’s sake, regardless of what the consequences of the artistic pro- duction may be? . The Chiel—I think not. We cannothave, in life, a disregard for consequences, and yet preserve the unities of life, nor do I think that art can disregard consequences without disaster and final disintegration. Second Babe—So it seems to me. It must end in self-destruction. Art. if it means anything, means a balance—an equilibrium. There is no such balance in immorality—I use the word in its general sense. True art must be in accordance with the laws of nature. The Chiel—Those who talk about there being no morality in art lose sight of the fact that there may be art in morality. Runnymede—You are wandering from the subject. The office of art is to present. The business of art is to impress. The purpose of art is to elevate. There is no work of art that ever lived that has not some_ purpose. The theory that a work of art should be simply a passing, fAnciful idea in the creator's mind is absurd. 1t should tell a story of human life; it should catch the attention of the read- er and impress him with the thought of the writer, the painter or the musician. If the artist has not a purpose in his art what is he here for? Whether the purpose be moral or immoral is not the question at all. If the purpose be simply to present devotes himself to stuffing out the pale and ghostly phantoms of his own creation who proclaim this creed, and does that which is immoral he may yet be still an artist, but he shovld not be receive d, ‘What he produces is out of harmony and l(bxon‘ht against Parrott & Co. scream- | ing paradox of this human life of ours, | unlwortny. The evil in art is not pardon- able. Heterodoxia—Will you define what is evil in art? Runnymede—Where art undertakes to destroy what moral beauty there is in the world it is guilty of crime, and should be destroyed. hen it travesties virtue it does evil. Whenever it'degrades what we have conceived to be beautiful, art isin that sense a criminal. First Babe-in-the-Woods—I agree with Runnymede that the evil in art is not pardonable. In painting art should con- cern itself with what is beautiful to the eye, or moving to the soul. The domain of art, however, varies with the life and tastes of a people. Beau&y of form a pealed to the Greeks, sacred history to the earlz Ttalians, the ideal in religion to Michael Angelo, the mythological and his- torical to later artists. Modern pictorial art has reached no height, because of its servile imitation of nature, an error which means stagnation, unless the artist uses his skill to_express some vital idea. But skill must be a means, never an end. The Artist—That is it. There has got to be skill, just as there has got to be knowl- edge of nature. You must base yourself upon nature—must study nature until you know her thoroughly. Then you can tell the world what she means; but it is ouly her meaning, not her outline and color- ing, that is of any value to the world. Heterodoxia—Iin other words, the ideal in art must, after all, be based upon real- ism. The realities are, after all, the ar- tist’s true materials? The Artist—I think so. We must Fnow the realities, else our idealities will be out of drawing. Second gBabe-m-the»Wood It is true that art must deal with re: es, but the highest realities are idealities. Nnthins is worth dealing with that is not real—an by real I mean something entirely differ- ent from the mere material forms of life. For instance, these rocks about us are not so real as genuine fine thought. The real is anything that is vitally true. Artis the catching and making permanent the vital truths. Anything thatis Jow and sordid and common is not of permanent truth. Runnymede—Isn't poverty true and permanent? Second Babe—I donot think itis. We generally judge of the reality of things by their permanence. We say, for instance, that the sunset is not so real a thing as the mountain peneath it. That is because | the sunset is not so permanent as the | mountain. Just so the rainbow is less real than the ram 1tself, because you can gather the latter up. But the most permanent of { allthings is mind, and the tangible, visible | expressions of mind are more real than |any form of matter. So realism, in | the sense that deals only with things that | are worthy of permanence, is the only true subject-matter for art. The Chiel—The only reality that any- thing has is the reality with which mind invests it. Why, the people that some | novelists have created are more real to me than most of the people I know. I meet them on the street, on the boat, wherever I go. eterodoxia—Yes, the people Thackeray, Victor Hugo and Dickens introduced me to years ago are more real than the people I met yesterday. The fog on the bay this morning seemed less real than the fogs I have seen in some of Turner’s pictures. The Chiel—I can unaerstand that. The Artist showed me, the other day, a painting he bad made, that was more really a forest | than any wood I ever walked in. And yet it was like no forest I ever saw or dreamed of. But it was the very soul of the forest, aglow with the “light that was never on sea or land,” and deep with suggestions of shaded “‘cells for the passionate pleasure of prayer.” It made me feel as though that were t_e only woods I ever knew any- thing about. The Artist (giving the Chiel a gentle shake)—That was skill. That was realism, Chiel. And yet—it was idealism. It sounds like affectation to say that I did not paint that picture, but I almost don't know whether I did or not. It is just one of the things that got itself born through me, and I am thankful for it. Heterodoxia—But for your long study of nature, however, fvour years of dealing with realities until you got into the very heart of their meanings, ana mastered the technique of their expression, you could not have done it. Inspiration is not every- thing. There is the science to be acquired. Runnymede—Science has nothing to do with art. Second Babe-in-the-Woods — Science is an art. Runnymede—No. Science has no place inart. Itis applied to art. It uses the arts, butart does not use science in any ex- cept the material sense, as when it takes the pigments and the brush and applies them as ap artihcer does. Second Babe—Then you consider science simply as a means? Runnymede (after some consideration)— es. Second Babe — We must distinguish, when we speak of science, between the methods of science and the materials of science. You think, do you not, that the subject-matter of science is suitable for presentation ? Runnymede—Certainly. Mrs. White—Runnymede’s declaration that science has nothing to do with art reminds me of a remark made concerning his pupils by a great London art teacher. In a moment of depression he said: “They come to me with so much feeling, and so very little drawing.” The science of num- bers underlies the universe itseif, and all art has its scientitic side. Art must have a_substantial basis on which to build. Having this, the artist rises superiorto the artisan and demonstrates his creative ower. He develops a sublimated self, which has the gift to seize upon the finer, more sEiritual qualities of things and, pre- sent them tothe worid underthe cachet oi_his individual genius. Kenneth Malcolm—The laws of every art are the science of that art. It is an ever present factor in the wide domain which art claims as its own, and cannot be 1gnored in any consideration of the sub- ect. Edith White—Science is literally knowl- edge. Scientists inquire for the sake of knowing, artists for the sake of produc- ing. I should say science underlies all art. Drawing is based upon the science of mathematics. So is music. The technical art of every art is concerned with science. n fact there could be no art without first actual knowledge, which, strictly speak- infi. is science. eterodoxia—You are away off the sub- ject. * Runnymede (with a The point is well taken. ness of its expression, but well taken. The Chiel—I think—(a pause, during which the Chiel meditates and finally says again)—I think—(another pause). The Scribe (waiting, pencil in hand)—I can only quote your Emerson, ‘“‘Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker upon the world.” The Chiel—Oh, I'm not let loose. under restraint, and the restraint just at this moment is taking on the semblance of an ap roachin; train. My thougnt is really a fear that ’tis time to go home. It was, indeed. The little fishes had all been reduced to a state of mild astonish- ment at the ceaseless rapidity with which the Olympians had bombarded each other with words across the brook. In the hush that followed the Chiel’s words the son, of the cataract could be distinctly heard, and it seemed as though the burden of its refrain ran: Art is nature made by man— To man, the inierpreter of God Crossing the bay, as the shadows length- ened, some one, lookin5 back at the reced- ing shore, quoted softly those exquisite lines from one of Donatella’s sweetest poems: Lo, I looked, And saw the silvery ripples of the brook, The fruit upon the hills, the waving trees, A mellow fields of harvest; saw the Gate Burn in the sunset; the thin thread of mist Creep white across the Sausalito hills, Till the day darkened down the ocean rim, The sunset purpie slipped from Tamalpals 4And bay and sky were bright with sudden stars. Froronnd bow regret the crude- 1 admit it is I'm Suing the Stockholders. The London and San Francisco Bank has be- flm suit against W.F. Beck, W.G.Cohen, R. 5 Bimyson and other stockholders of the Capi- tol Packing Company to enforce their liabilit; {0r overdraits amounting to $73,000. A suit relating to the same transaction has Black Dress Goods. At Hale’s Only, Such Bargains as These. BLACK FIGURED ALPACA, 38 QKO Yard inches, new designs, silky finish only.......... i BLACK MOHAIR FIGURED ENG- LISH NOVELTY, in_ entirely new designs, width 42 inches, Just received and added to sale to- morTow as a fiyer a B i BLACK MOHAIR FIGURED SUIT- INGS, English make, 45 inches, entirely new and extremely D , very special Colored Dress Goods. At Hale’s Only, Such Bargains as These. FINE FRENCH AND GERMAN NOVELTY SUITINGS, _they were 90c, $1, §1 25, 150 and $175, a continuation Monday of the siaughter of these beautiful fabrics at. = (Many of above 1 1ast over Monday. Come ear] week.) ALI-WOOL CHEVIOTS, 36 inches wide, to close out the balance of this handsome line of checks and broken plaids we 88y 50° Yard 75° Yard 50°¢ Yard t in the For Ladies’ Wear At Hale’s Only, Such Bargains as These. LADIES’ MUSLIN DRAWERS, heavy muslin, 6 tocks, and fin- ished with ruffle and tuck, open or closed, sale pric 2 Pair LADIES' MUSLIN DRAWERS, £00d heavy muslin, tucked, fine ()0 rulied embroidered edge, sale L LADIES’ CALICO W AISTS. small sizes only are lefi, light colors, O()C checks and stripes, sale price was 25¢, NOW.... ... Each LADIES' BLACK SATEEN WAIST, ruffied front, four sizes 5()C only, 3%, 84, 36 and 40, were 1 QL o . ac! Infants’ Bonnets. At Hale’s Only, Prices Like These Two. INFANTS' SILK BONNET, em- OIC broidered lace rucn on fop, new D) and perfect in every particular.... Kach INFANTS' EMBOSSEDSILK BON- Q10 NET, fine ruching ironi, lace ¢ ruch on top. Lach Linen Department. ‘Four Items Quoted, Forty on Sale HEMMED TURKEY RED COV- S, 2 yards long, oil-boiled fast EC color, cheap at a dollar, very spe- « cial at ... Each 34x34 BLEACHED NAPKINS, all .00 e e B07a: Grven: wery DS special indeed at.. Dozen 54-INCH CREAM DAMASK, notall =C linen, but a stout, reliable cloth, &) reduded to. Yard BLEACHED TURKISH TOWEL $] 21x42 Inches, thick and not 100t harsh, worth $175 .. e D .25 ozen Domestic Price Cuts. Where Else Anywhere Near as Low as These? 4z CHECK APRON GT brown or green, oni .............. Yard COTTON CHEVIOTS, fleecy on one 29 inches 1c a bargain 3 sure at.... BT YA RED FLANNELETTE, black fig- (] ures, you know the kind. formerly 1214¢, we sell at. .. Yard FLEECY FLANNELETTE, still a RC few dozen pleces of that elegan ks, 10c flannelette at. S Yad NEW TO-DAY—DRY GOODS. END oF THE SEA PRIGE-CUFSE= (INCORPORATED). 937, 939, 941 MARKET STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. COTTON DRESS GOODS, odd lots of 81-inch calico, Challle de Laines, 60 etc., former price 12%4c, special, very special . Yard HEAVY UNBLEACHED CA TON, 121/ grade, a few hundred yards left at. 70 Yard House Furnishings At Hale’s Only, Such Snaps as These. 45-INCH_BLEACHED PILLOW- 100 Yard 17:° CASING, the famous Lockwi brand, 15¢ value 81-INCH BLEACHED SHEETING the Lockwood, regular price 2214c¢, now. Yard WHITE CROCHET BED- SPREADS, 80x90, Marseiiles patterns, have sold hundreds of them at $1 25, and they were cheap at that, very special at..... 10-4 COTTON BLANKETS, white, very useful in nursery and sic! room, only. 98° Each .2, $12> SHAM LACE CUR- 1 yards by 46 inches —white or ecru—new and vel pretty patterns—usual price $1 75 —now. % CHENILLE PORTIERES—Heavy —wide dadoes and deep fringe— size 3 yards by 36 inches—value $ 925 $3—price.... Pair 84 CHENILLE COVERS—for large (3] .90 tables—a dozen patterns and color — effects—worth $2 50—selling at... Each Four Hosiery Specials. And there are others here just as good CHILDRE HOSE—narrow ribbed—heavy— Hermsdorf dve—sizes 6 to Y— BLACK COTTON 163° were 25c—now 3 pairs for 50c.... Pair MISSES' BLACK COTTON HOSE— narrow ribbed—extra fine quallty 950 sizes 6 to 9—good value at 35c— 0 ‘but now only. Pair LADIES' BLACK COTTON HOSE— ] QL0 good quality and seamless—ribbed 2 tops—double heels ana toes....... Pair | LADIES' TAN COTTON HOSE—8 | shades—Tiichelien ribbed—double ] C heels and toes—th were 25c— now, Pair Bazaar Specials. Just a few samples—Come and see the stock in this department. KIRE'S S0AP-3 larce scented ] ()C cakes in box—and only Box PLAYING CARDS—the 20c kind 910 elsewhere—glazed—round corners 142 HALE'S NOTEPAPER—24 sheets ] ()C with 24 square envelopes to mateh... %a iBox WHISK-BROOMS 6° 8 Each CHILDRE D SETS— hoe, rake and spade—15c, 20c, 25¢, 85c¢, 50c each. 74 Fancy Goods. DRESS SHIELDS—worth 15c¢.. SILK TAFFETA GLOVES—black, brown and tan. FULL FLOUNCING—48 inches wide—hemstitched, scalloped and embroidered—only HALF FLOUNCING as above—very fine qualit; . EMBRUID‘BRED EDGE—In colors EMBROIDERED EDGE—in colors aod white. New Silks. Just opened--the new patterns and color eifects excel those of any former season. SPECIA L-BLACK FIGURED SILKS, 20 and 23 inches wide, entirely new and exclusive de- signs, worth 75¢ and 90¢; special 60° 60° Yard 50 SPECIAL—A NEW LINE FANCY SILKS, 19 inches wide, fail color eftects, bought to sell at 75¢; special FANCY SILKS, new weaves, new designs, new colorings, 19 inches wide, large floral effect Yard STRIPED PEAU DE SOIE, In the 90° new shadow effects; a quality bought to sell at $1 Yard BLACK TAFFETA SILK, col- ored satin stripes, width 19 inches; price.... SIS 90° Yard GROS GRAIN FANCY sILKs,$1.on very heavy, newest design: d — colorings. Yard PLAID SATIN BARS, newest 184 @ .00 for ladies’ waists, width 20 — inches; price.. eeeee Yard New Dress Goods. Perhaps 300 pieces now ready for sale== the vanguard of the legions of Fall and Winter fabric that will soon make this more than ever your dress goods stores-= Rough Cheviots, ‘‘niggerhead” effects, boucles, curly bourettes, etc., etc. Prices are right. New Waists. A nice line for fall and winter wear just opened. Here are three items: FANCY DUCK WAISTS, heavy 70 quality, black ground with stripes, Each 85°¢ Each large sleeves, full back and front. LADIES' FANCY COTTON CLOTH WAISTS. heavy quality, checks and stripes, new pattern, large sleeves, full back and front....... LADIES COTTON CLOTH WAISTS, fancy checks and stripes, Velvet trimmed collars @] .00 and cufts, large sieeves, full back(d L — and £ront. ....... s Each ORDER BY MAIL, OR TELEPHONE SOUTH 665. BSOLUTELY THE' lowest prices on the Pacific Coast at all times, and espe= cially so at this time. Goods that actually cost us more than $1.00 a yard four meonths ago are being sold for 50c. « Why?” you ask; because they were bought to sell this season, and the Summer selling season draws fast to a close. Wecarry nogoods over. Two weeks more—the last two weeks of Au= gust—will witness the deepest price - cutting we have ever made on regularly bought goods. ¢ Good-by” prices in every depart= ment. Good-by to Sum- mer goods, and good-by quick. SMOKE FROM THE SOUND. The Sooty Pennant a Thou- sand Miles Long That Flaps From the Sea. That Smoke of Yesterday Was Strangely Spun Out Southward by the Winds. Some people noticed that it was very smoky about the City and bay yesterday, and some did not. The bluish haze that brooded everywhere, ing the islands in the bay, was mixed with fog and helped the damp winds from the ocean chill the sunshine, and to many the trouble was just fog. But it was real smoke that rode in on the winds, and it came from the ocean in damp southwest breezes. Coming from the southwest to the land the smoke might have come from Hawaiian vol- canoes, but it didn’t. That smoke started from Puget Sound, made a strategic flank movement out over the ocean and then charged on the bay by way of the Golden Gate. It traveled 1000 miles to get here, and ‘Weather Forecast Official Hammon was the only man in the City yesterday who knew all about it. Smoke may not be strictlv a meteorological phenomenon, but when there is enough of it it often gets mixed up with the weather and it becomes officially recognized as weather. It seems that two or three weeks ago the usual summer forest fires in the mountains of Washington got well going, and ever since then the winds have been gently spreading the smoke all over Washington and Oregon. For two weeks now “smk” has been written all over those two States on the daily weather bureau, along with the usua!l hieroglyphics, but the smoke did not get down into California. It has happened, however, that north winds have been blowing up there for days, and the smoke from {i egig smudges in the coast mountains has been carried di- rectly southward. This course carried it out to sea from where the coast line bends to the east. For days the north winds spun out a lengthening banner from the smoky mass by the sound and it was trailed over the sea for hundreds of miles. Day before yesterday a northwest wind, which followed the coast line, struck Point Reyes, and in this the at pennant of smoke floated near the California shore, This northwest wind struck the hills south of the Golden Gate, and was de- flected in through the gap as usual. So the northwest wind became a southwest wind about the City, and so it ripped an edge from the long pennant of smoke at sea and dragged it in to the bay. That is the peculiar way in which smoke from Puget Sound got to San Francisco yesterday. It isnot an unusual thing for smoke to travel that distance from wide- spread forest fires, for smoke from Minne- sota forests has n carried southward beyond St. Louis, but it is rarely that smoke from Washington dims_ the sun- shine of Central California, and it is not known that the winds, the sea and the hills ever before got it here by such an in- genious process of spinning. GRAND JURORS' EXPENSES, Only One Mileage Can Be Allowed for the Entire Term. M. P. Rose, District Attorney of Shasta County, sent a letter of inquiry to Attor- ‘been | ey-General Fitzgerald and the latter's | revly, buldg- being self-explanatory, is of interest to nearly every one in the State. It reads: In reply to your favor of the 22 ult. and_to vour guestion, first, “Are the members of a Grand Jury entitled to mileage for attending at one, two or three adjourned meetings, say two 'mouths apart? and (2) has your Board of Superyisors a legal right to purchase a toll ferry and maintain a free ferry across th cramento River?’ t—~I am of the opinion that under the ions of the fee bill approved March 28, 1895 (Stat., 1895, 267-273), members of & krand Jury are entitied to Teceive “for each mile ket attending court b in going only, per mile 15 cents,” and that only one mileage can be allowed a grand juror during the entire term of & grand jury, and thet no mileage can be allowed toany grand juror for attending adjourned meetings. Second—I am further of the opinion that there is no power vested by law in_the Board of Supervisors to purchase a foll ferry. The law gives the board authority to lay out, main- tain, control, erect and manage public' roads, turnpikes. ferries and bridges within the county, but it nowhere gives it the power or authority to purchase a toll ferry. In concluding his opinion the Attorney- General says “it is the evident intent of the Legislature not to confer upon Boards ?it&'upervisom the right to purchase the atter.” UNDER THE HORSES’ LEGS. Narrow Escape From Death of Miss Sharkey While Riding on Her Bicycle. Miss Sharkey, who lives at 218 Duncan street, was riding down Twenty-second street, and when she turned into Folsom street she ran againsta team that turned sharply from Folsom into Twenty-second. The driver pulled hard on the reins and the team reared up and before Miss Sharkey could stop her machine she was under the forelegs of the team. It was a critical moment and the driver and some by-standers held their breath as the horses’ forelegs came down upon the luckless young lady. There was a rush made to rescue her, but too late to avert the impending catastrophe. The machine was broken in gieceu and Miss Sharkey was thrown to the ground. When picked up it was found that the horses’ feet had not struck her, and beyond a severe shock to her nerves she had escaped injury. BUILDING AND LOAN SOCIETIES, An Interesting Opinion Rendered by At- . torney-General Fitzgerald. Attorney-General Fitzgerald has given an opinion relating to the Stockton Land Loan and B\;ilding Association which is of interest to all connected with such asso- ciations. The Board of Commissioners of Building and Loan Associations wrote to the Attorney-General asking these ques- tions: First, the legal status of the Stockton associa- tion mentioned and its shareholders; second, whether this association can issue shares of stock and whether the certificates issued by it are stock certificates or only certificates of membership; third, whether such association should be allowed to pioceed as neretofore or bie required to amend its articles of incorpora- tion. The Attorney-General’s answers are as follows: First—The fact that such association has, as shown by its annual report, 7474 shares of the ar value of $200 each does not alter or change he status of the incorporation, or the relation of shareholders to it, as it is_expressly provided by section 639 of the Civil Code that in- corporations of this character may be organ- with or without & capital stock. Second—Such association can issue stock cer- tificates, showing the number of shares sub- scribed for by the members, and such certifi- c?m nr;:to:}x certificates and not certificates of membership. . Third—I aml}unhe'r of the opinion that the said us&enflon, ‘fi. lhfwn h‘l its lsial‘ell o{{)}- corporation, practically conforms e ' V, division 1, of the Civil Code, an erefore there is no reason for requiring it to annul its articles of incorporation. BENEFITS OF BICYCLES The Good Effects of the Wheel Noticed in City and Suburb. Wayslide Inns Springing Up Along the Cyclists’ Route—Good Roads Are Wanted. As a revolutionary force in the social world the bicycle has had no equal in modern times. What it is doing is, in fact, to put the human race on wheels for the first time in its history. The propor- tion of people who are riding bicycles in nearly every community is astonishingly large. In many instances it may be said that nearly every able-bodied man, woman and child has a wheel, and is a regular rider. When we consider the increase in rapidity of locomotion which is attained, and the fact that it is self-supplied with such ease, it is not surprising that the changes required to meet the demands of the new order of thingsare so many and so radical as to amount virtually to mak- ing the world over again, so far as travel- ing is concerned. This 1s peculiarly the case in the great cities. In and about New York, forexam- ple, there are at present something like halfa million bicycle-riders. In the city itself, on pleasant holidays, they swarm like flies upon all the parkways and other thoroughfares having asphalt or macadam avement. It is very clear that sooner or ater they or the vehicles must give way, for both cannot find room to remain with safety. Indeed, there have been many fatal” accidents already, some of them shocking in the extreme. The dangers in- crease as the number of wheelmen multi- lies. In a collision with any kind of ve- icle drawn blyz a horse the bicycle-rider is certain to get the worst of it. His vehicle,in- stead of being in any way a protection, is a menace to his welfare the moment it comes in contact with any other movin, body. The fact that he cannot stand still for a moment is also an element of addi-. tional danger. These conditions make it an absolute necessity that in all communi- ties in which there are large numbers of wheeimen there should be separate road- ways set apart for their especial use. No city park should be laid out in future without its bicycle pathway, nor is it likely to be. The need of a separate roadway for horsepack riders has been recognized in all our great parks, yet in a roadway filled with carriages an equestrian is much safer from harm than a bicycle rider. At pres- ent the wheelmen outnumber the horse- men a hundred or more to one, and the need ot separate provision for them is consequently too obvious to be questioned. But it is not in the parks alone thatsuch accommodation is necessary. There has been much discussion in the New York ?ress for some months past about provid- ng a suitable roadway for bicycles from one end of the city to the other, so that riders may pass to and from their business on their wheels. It has been urged that the oovel;n:f with asphalt of a continuous or connected line of streets would supply this, but this is doubtful. The chances would be that heayy wagons and carriages of all kinds wonlt{ mf’ the same line of travel because of the superior roadbed, and that it would become too crowded to be either a safe or a speedy thoroughfare for bicycles. It is not impossible that in time we may .see in all our great cities lines of streets reserved for bicycles. This might be done were all the streets of the city paved equally well, and it is one of the most be- neficent effects of the bicycle that itis mak- ing the advent of this condition of our city streets certain in the near future. There are enthusiasts also who predict that in New York it will not be many years before a lightly built elevated structure: will be run through the streets on the water front for the exclusive use of wheelmen. If separate thoroughfares of any kind are set apart for this use, the result will be a considerable loss of income to the street transit companies. Itis a fact that many trolley lines running between Western cities and their suburbs have suffered seri- ous financial loss through the use of the bicycle, since thousands of%emn! travel to and fro between their offices and their homes on wheels. But while the transit companies have been injured in this way, the whole country has been the gainer b; means of the widespread demand for g roads which the advent of the bicycle has aroused. Many States, led by Massachu- setts and New Jersey, have taken up the subject seriously and systematically, and the next few years are certain to see great progress made in this direction. assachusetts in 1893 appropriated $300,~ 000 to be expended by a highway commis- sion in scientific road-building, and about forty sections of such roads are now under construction. New Jersey has spent many thousands of dollars in the same way, and its number of good roads is increasing year by year, each new one being the most ersuasive kind of argument for others. he recent Legislature of New York State recogmzed the needs of wheelmen more agecmcally by passing a bill authorizing the construction of a bicycle road way upon the top of the Croton agueduct, runnin, for forty miles through a beautiful part ol the country north of the city. An interesting effect of the new order of things is the revival which has been started in the old wayside tavern business. Within the next few years we are certain to see comfortable inns spring up along all the roads which are suitable for bicycle riding. The wheelman cannot carry much luggage, and is especially unable to find accommodation for food. His ability to travel easily fiity or seventy-five miles a day makes comfortable lodng places at night and comfortable eating places by day great desiderata along his pathway. There are old inns within a radius of fifty miles of New York City that have known scarcely more than acustomer a week for years which are now overrun with wheelmen and are adopting themselves rapidly to thenew situation. Good inns, like good roads, will add immeasurably to the attractiveness of .the country and will spread a love for country life among the dwellers in cities which will bein all ways a benefit to us as a people. Thep bicycle is, in fact, the agent of health and of a wider civilization. It will give stronger bodies to the rising generation than their fathers have had, and it will bring the city and the country into closer relations than have existed since the days of the stage-coach. What the summer boarder has been doing for the abandoned farms and deserted villages of New England the wheelman is doing for regions sur- rounding our great cities. He is distrib- . uting through them modern ideas and mod- ern ways of living, and is fructifying them with gentle distillations of city weaith. Above all, he is teaching their people that a sure way to prosperity lies before them in the beautifying of the country in which they live, and in the preservation of allits attractive nasural features. ———————— The Kurd Martens Will. Dr. Kurd Martens, the young German who recently shot himself in a Bush-street saloon. bequeached & $50 local estate to his wife. He is supposed to own property in Germany. ——————— A Family Jar. GREAT AMERICAN IMPORTING TEA CO/S Stores are selling MASON FRUIT JARS At greatly reduced prices. 1 dozen jars, pints, in box 1 dozen jars, quarts, in box. 1 dozen jars, half gallons, in box. Inspect our Improved Jelly Glasses, 35¢ per 500 600 80c dozeaa