The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 29, 1895, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, DAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1895 APRIL IN BERKELEY. There is an indescribable gladness | detected suddenly alighting npon what ap- among the fields and over the hills as the birds come crowding and hurrying back | from their winter sojourn in the south at | he genial invitation of spring. The warm mptings of their hearts urge them #o 1g, and the sacredTuttes of the > more engross their devoted little | It is at such times as this that we | v drawn to our feathezed npathetic feeling; for y ng the same life drama that we enact, with their heartburnings their unsatistied longings er loves, their watchfulness and care of the young? There is a beautiful | ty about this season of rew life, numberless falrcreatures are mating sh and tree. Loveis the ruling im- pulse of the hour, and patient care and devoted self-sacrifice prevail in nature’s realm. As April emerges in the procession of the seasons many changes are already in progress. The precious Anna’s hummer fashioned its tiny basket at least a month before, and is now busy rearing its two helpless young. The summer warbler in its raiment of gold came flitting about our trees in mid March, during which month, also, a number of our winter birds departed for their breeding ground in the north. The shy dwarf hermit thrush has stolen away like a fleeting shadow, and the king- iets have betaken themselves with all their light-heartedn to the pines of the north. But in their places have come the lark- finch and the swallows, the black-headed grosbeak and the warbling vireo. On_oneof these fair April days, when | the linnets are singing their loudest from | ihe treetops, and the greenbacked gold- finches, resplendent in their spring attire, are busy with their love-making, we may | observe on some fencepost by a country | road the larkfinch, contentedly singing | his Pumble ditty. He is a strikingly marked bird, with individual characteris- tics which enable the novice to distinguish | for its winni pears to be nothing more than a knob or excrescence on a branch. If you have the good fortune to have dis- covered an unfinished nest, you may ob- serve her methods of work. She settles | down upon it and rounds it with her breast. | Seemingly with difficulty the head israised | and the long, slender beak arranges here | and there a bit of licheu, bark or cobweb in its proper place on the outside. Thus she works until the compact little struc- ture of softest thistle down, covered on the | ‘Warbling Vireo. outside with small fragments of moss, lichen, bark and similar materials, is ready to receive the invariable two white e, In due course of time the most kelp young imaginable are hatched and tend by the unremitting care of the mot They soon grow so large that their dimin tive home can scarcely contain them until, at last, from the sheer physical necessity of overcrowded quarters, they are forced NEW TO-DAY—-DRY GOODS. Read this ad if you never read another. Silks. FRENCH JACQUARD SILK in changeable eflects und besutital 4 £0 colorings, very choice, 19-inch 9 wide. 40¢ and i Xard. STRIPE PEAU DE SOIE, 2l-inch wide, in the new shadow eifects, a g0o0d heavy quality, 40 exquisite colorings.... See ndo FANCY TAFFETA SILK, 19-inch wide, novelties in changeable effects, largest and newest assort- ment 0f patterns and colorings west of the Kockies. .. Yard GROS DE LAURDES, 21-inch silk, conventional designs, lace, effect; $€)«no in browns. garnets and eveninge) <& — shades. . S Yard See Show GROS DE LAURDES, 21-inch, black warp. colored fillinz, arabesque | and scroll des in nearly all colors, mostly dark. i | See Show Windows. GROS DE LAURDES SILK, 21-inch wide, light and medium fall colorings, - dainty effects, with flowers set in scroll, ribbon grass seton la ground, eic ..... Yard Seo Show Windows. EXTRA HEAVY TAEFETA SILK, (3700 iridiscent effects, 19-inch wide, gD L — bought to sell at $1 2 Yard Sce Show Windows, to essay o flicht. Wonderful, indeed, is the domestic life of these smallest of birds, | in whose minute frame is compacted so | much of intelligence and passion—so much | that we fondly claim as human. Upon some fine morning in e: . Looking among the delicate spring foliage we may soon detect a lithe, deli- | cate, active little bird in extremely sober | attire, gleaning among the trees for what- | ver insect life the new leaves harbor. 1t | is the Western warbling vireo, a slender | creature with fine sensibilities, I should | imagine, modest and r¢ g, uttering its | sweet warble as it flits among the | branches. Its cloak is of olive green and gray above and yellowish white below, with a faint, scarcely _perceptible line of | white over the eye. " Despite its dull colors | I am especially fona of this little vireo 0 2 Wi and gentle disposi- | tion. Our California variety is to be dis- Larkfinch. him with but little difficulty from his fel- lows of the sparrow family. Probably the first peculiarity to attract the observer about him is the unusual pattern of the head markings. A line of white extends from the bill down the back of the head, bounded on each side by a strip of chest- nut or blackish, which in turn is bordered with another white streak, just above the eye. A fine line of black is next below | this, while on the white throat isalsoa streak of black, less sharply defined, how- ever. Thus the entire head has_the effect of a succession of black and white streaks, which, together with an irregular black spot on the breast and a series of white edgings on the tivs of the dark tail feathers, make this otherwise plain grayish brown and dull white bird very easily recognized. “There is to me none of the fond associa- tions of former@ays about the larkfinch— none of the domestic kinship to warm the heart when it returns—but when I hear the high busy chatter of the swallows, and see them wheeling in clear-cut circles about the eaves where of old they have nested, an untold flood of memories and delights arise. Here they are—the barn and the cliff swallows—the same in this far land that a Wisconsin childhood had made dear to me. How swiftly and dex- terously they cleave the air with their Jong, sharp wings, wheeling and eddying about, seemingly in pure delight of the motion. [ have known estimable men and women in this workaday world of ours who had no clear conception of the difference between a swallow and a spar- row. Alas for you, my good friends; what a joy has been absent from your lives; what a lack in not being able to claim kin- ship with these masters of the air. I shall not detain you with a description which would fall so far short of the living image, but simply bid you go to the country when next the spring air gives assurance that the swallows have come and make their acquaintance about any farmhouse; and, by all means, learn to distingunish the barn swallow, with his long, forked tail, for he is so much of an aristocrat you can- not fail to appreciate him. The tiny rufous hummer does not mate Western Flycatcher. g0 early in the season as its resident cousin, Anna’s hummer, but by the 1st of April it is paired and at work upon the nest. Itis traly a marvel of a home, so delicate and downy, so deftly constructed and so per- fectly _oncealed. To detect the nest by a scrutiny of the bush or tree in which it is placed would be a hopeless task, so minute is its size and so perfectly does it blend with the branch upon which it is placed, but the anxiety of the birds when their bome is approached, or more frequently their daring resentment, reveals its pres- ence. Whenever the angry buzz of one of these intrepid mites is heard close at hand, it is safe to surmise that the nest is not far off. Even then itisnot easy to discover it, but with patience and quiet the owners may be sufficiently reassured to go about their business once more. Watch them tinguished from its Eastera counterpart by the most trivial distinctions only, being slightly smaller and paler in color, | The song i3 the same—a sweet, liquid | warble, which may be heard at any time | during the early months of summer. ‘Would that I could describe the host of birds that are on the move in this month of restlessness and activity. ‘The golden- crowned sparrows which have delayed as long as they dared have deserted us and left their near relatives and companions of the wintertime, the white crowns, in un- disputed possession of the shrubbery. The Oregon junco, or snowbird, has likewise gone north or into the mountains, and the Audubon’s warbler has followed it. From the southward has come the demure little Western flycatcher to spend the summer in | our canyons, and following it is the chip- | ping sparrow, the zay Bullock’s oriole and the lazuli bunting. How the season | changes! Some birds are hurrying to the | north, some are already busy with | Blackheaded Grosbeak. their nesting, while others are on their way from the south. The grass which covers the bare face of the hills is shimmering green. The flowers are blooming in bountiful profusion. The oc- casional frosts of the early part of the month have given place to a hot summer sun, and the rains have grown less and less frequent. We are at the gates of sum- mer, and as the month draws to a close the birds become more and more settled into the routine of domestic life. Court- ship, wedded life, the home, the young, the education of offspring and the part- ing—all in the space of two or three sum- mer months! Verily the birds, with their intense activity and ardent passions, lead faster lives than we, who watch them, can realize. Thus engaged in the preparations for house-building, let us leave them, trusting in another month to arrive at the heart of their domestic tribulations and felicities. STILL SWINGING THE AX. The Supervisors Have Resolved on Three More Dismissals. The majority of the Board of Supervisors have pitched on three more subordinate offices in the new City Hall to distribute among their friends. All of them are Police Court places. Prosecuting Attorney Dare of Police Court 3 has been asked to dismiss his as- sistant, Thomas Graham. Prosecuting At- torney Mogan of Police Court 2 has been advised to let out Warrant Clerk Seaman, and Prosecuting Attorney Forbes has been advised that it is time to dispense with the services of his assistant, Attorney Jackson. This means, of course, that the ap- pointees have been selected for the places about to be vaecated. According to the g:ogrlmme sketched out the changes will made at the meeting of the board next Monday, so that the favorites may get the benefit of the October salaries. These three changes have been on the books ever since the Solid Eight agreed to make a grab for the janitors, gardeners and clerical positions apd divide them among their friends. It was not till the last few days, however, that they could agree on a division of them. UsE BANK STOCK paper if you value your tiosely and the female will presently pe eyes. Mysell-Rollins Company, 22 Clay sireet, print and bind it any shape, D, | Price.. Dress Goods. NEW BLACK FQ( l&'L elles: of ihis finish the newest signs, ju H JACQUARD NOVELTY, || 4sINC AT | all wool finish, kot effects | in plain colors, full line. new and staple colors. . 45-INCH STRIPE NIGGERHEAD, new effecis in rough suiting, swell colors, combinations..... = This Week=-=-Special Selling of Linens. Mountains of flaxen whiteness, No jobber’s hand, no middleman’s profit between vou and producer. BLEACHED TABLE DAMASK— 54 in. wide, 40¢ vd 8 in., $1.00 vd 62 in. wide, 50¢ yd.. 2 0., § yd 65 in. wide, 60c yd $1.50 yd 68 in. wide, 75¢ yd 0 in., $2.00 yd 26-iuch NAPKINS to match, all linens above 75¢ a yard. DAMASK LINEN TEACLOTHS, (8025 sizes 6-4 ‘and 6-4, frinced and gPL— open work borders, 50 0........ Each UNBLEACHEDTABLE DAMASK, 750 from the best Irish makers, ) Drices 256 to. e Yard BLEACHED SATIN DAMASK dozen 22-inch napkins to match each pattern— X7 .£4.00, $5.00 and $6.00 per set 0 and ®7.00 per set and $7.75 per set MASK TOWELS, BLEACHED colored vorders; you are but one 8cp away from the loom that ma 16x34 in. 25¢ each 18x39 in.. 3150 each 20x41 In.- Suc each ¥ULL BLEACH 1UCK TOW- S, fine v, all linen, 140 19x40 inches, vaiue 20c, viice. cereerinees Each Bize 18x36 inches UNIO q‘,:l 25 TOWELS, close woven, heavy DL —— quality. Dozen Specials. A SPECIAL IN UNBLEACHED TURKISH TOWELS, 24x56 inches, heavy quality, extra size, 900 woven_ selvage, will not rav ~ ‘value $3 a dozen o Each TOWELING RPEC Check Glass vage. 22-inch in 10° Yard 8 Yard Special Lot Far Open Work Border Damask Towels, prices from 50c to $1.00 each, worth much more. AT Hosiery. Kinds for Every Wear and Con=- dition. Vaiues Beyond Question. INFANTS BLACK COTTON HOSE, made of fine Macco varn, exira QRC fine quality, high spliced heels, B) double toes. SR e (1 INEANTS' BLACK CASHMERE 050 HOSE, with double silk heels and D toes. Pair MISSES’ AND CHILDREN'S BLACK COTTON HOSE, fine quality, narrow ribbed, all black or unbleached foot, high spliced geeug double knee and toe, sizes L TR 25° 75 Pair BOYS BLACK COTTON HOSE, the heaviest siocking made, in two styies of rip—wide and_corduroy, - Q50 1o equal for wearing qualitics, ) sizes 610 10... G S MISSES’' AND BOYS’ BLACK COT- TON HOSE, made of fine Macco yarn, heavy quality, fine gauge, + all biack or unbleactied foot, high S31C spliced heel, double knee and toe, 3 alien Qo052 SIr R e ST ity Corsets. Kinds With Hosts of Friends. 75° Pair HALE'S KID-FITTING CORSET, fine black sateen, real hone, fancy silk-stitched (0p, extra long waist. HALE'S KID-FITTING CORSET, made of fine black sateen, longest walsted corset made, 6-hook, real bone, silk stitched, a medium $100 waist aL same price. Pair HALE'S KID-FITTING CORSET, made of heavy French anmen.$1.50 boned with horn, extra long waist, — silk stitched, high or low bust.... Pair ‘We carry all the popular makes of Corsets—R. & G., Thompson’s, Dr. Warner’s, P. D. Jackson and Ferris Waists, etc., ete. 3 INCORPORATED £ 037, 039, 941 Market Street, SAN FRANCISCO. R e s "HUSTLIN Hardly expresses what is going on here these beautiful Autumn days. - We have made thg profit percentage unusually small this Fall on new goods. Comparison will prove this to the public. -W.e are not keeping our new stock to look at—not waiting FOR THAT 1 PER CENT, but Hustling it out while the people want it. The very cream of fashionable Dry Goods at prices within easy reach of all. You Hustle now or some of the brightest bargains may be gone from you forever. New Silks, Housekeeping Linens, Hosiery, Etc. , ’ There’s money waiting you here this week Domestics. HEMMED SHEETS, ready for use, heavy quality, no dressing. Size 72x90'in .450 each Size 8180 in 50c each Size 90x90 in .01 55¢ each WHITE BEDSPREADS, Marseilles pattern, full size, 75x85 in., every- where $1, here. 78° STRIPE FLANNELETTE, medium 5° and dark colors. : e . Yard "STAPLE CHECKS, Apron Ging- 1c hams, green ahd brown checks 2 and mixed patterns.. Yard 88-In.WIDE GINGHAM,with border, |1e regular apron length, blues and 3 browns.. Yard NEW TENNIS FLANNELS for 10¢ wrappers, cashmere finish,napped and on one side, dark colors, extreme 121ac and modest patterns... .. Yard SILK STRIPE FLANNEL. 36 In. 50 wide, cream ground with smali stripes, used for shirts and waists Yard Fancy Goods. TUXEDO NET VEILING,very pret- ily dotted, 27 [n. wide, in brown, 90 white and biack, value 40c, spe- 0 cial.. < Yard CREAM COTTON LACE, VanDrke 90 ‘points, 2 to 814 in. wide, oni; Loy CASHMERE RIBBON, satin edge, all silk 22, black onl; 15° Yard TUXEDO NET VEILING, 14 in. wide, closely dotted, assorted col- 123° ors.. . Yard LADIES’ HAND CHIEFS, 3° white and colored border, great VR e R .. Each Special Values. (CONTINUED. PICTURE FRAMES, with painted glass fronts, 8x10 inches. 10° e Each LACE SHELF PAPER, in pretty c shades, 12 inches wide, 10 yards toroll....... T iehis o L NOTE-PAPER and ENVELOPES, ]0OC 24 each in box, antique linen, satin finish. ... S FANCY SCRIMS for curtains tidies and fancy work, cream and colored, 18 inches wide, latest de- sizns; prices, 15¢, 20e, 25¢ 35¢, 400 and. e 50° Yard PATTERN SQUARES for pillow- covers, tidies, etc., handsome de- signs. 'painted on fine quality sateen, something new, 3034-inch squares, 3 40° Each FANCY EMBROIDERED FELT, for lambrequins and shelves, 9, 10 and 15 inches wide, respec- ively, 45¢, 50¢ and. RS 65° Yard FANCY CREPE STLK for neckwear and fancy work, all colors; prices 85c, 45¢ and. 75° Yard NEW YARNS, WOOLS, POMPONS and other articles for fancy work Just received. TRILBY FRONTS made of plaited chiffon and Val. lace, all colors, very latest, 82 85 and..... #2 IT’S STIRRING TIMES in the Bazaar Department — new foods crowding the counters, celluloid POMPADOUR NOVELTY RUCH- l"G.o in black, very stylish, 5 and... art goods, books, games, tofs, ete. Don’t visit the store without|taking a peep into the Bazaar. Vb 7T, INCORPORATED ONE OF MRS, HUNTINGTON'S | PICTURES. The very artistic and natural picture, “An Intruder,” presented in to-day’s issue of Tug CALL, is a reproduction of a drawing of acelebrated painting now in possession of Mrs. C. P. Huntington in her New York | home, says the Ladies’ Home Journal. The original is the creation of Mme. Hen- ritte Ronner of Holland, who like Rosa | Bonheur has devoted a lifetime to | the portrayal of animal life. A cockatoo | has wandered from its perch in an adjoin- ing room toa se‘tee where a cat was watch- ing over her little family. The position of each animal, and the expression of fear on the face of the mother and that of wonder- ment expressed by the little ones, is, in the original picture, perfection itself. The cat, ever changeable and variable in con- tour, in expression and markings, is the most difficult of all animals for an artist to reproduce on canvas. Of the four hun- dred and fifty canvaseson the walls of the gallery at the Louvre, Paris, there are but three representations of cats, and this proportion holds good, so it is said, throughout the world of art. Madame Ronner, who seems possessed of natural talent to paint animals, has had a most successful career, and although now in her seventy-third year she is still at her easel. For many years past she has devoted her attention to cats and kittens exclusively. Another of the few artists who have had the patience to portray cats is Carl Kahler of local fame, who some years ago painted a large canvas representing a colony of cats owned by the late Mvs. Kate Johnson and kept at her country home near Santa Rosa. It is entitled “My Wife's Lovers,” and is now in the possession of Ernest Harquette of this City. On thiscanvas there are a great number of cats represent- ing all breeds and sizes, from the tiny, vivacious kitten at({)lay with a ball of yarn to the beautiful and dignified Maltese and the sedate Thomas cat who * has lon, ceased to give serenades on the back _vnrg fence. This painting has by critics been pronounced aYmost perfect. MME., RONNER’S OELEBRATED PIOTURE, HUNTINGTON. From Ladies’ Home Journal. “AN INTRUDER,” NOW IN POSSESSION OF MRS. O, P. GOSPEL OF GOOD ROADS, Whatthe State Bureau of High- ways Has Doneand Learned So Far. Some Strange Ways With Highways. Straw Roads and Honest Mountaineers. The Road Commissioners, who are in charge of the Bureaun of Highways, created by the last Legislature, have just started out on another tour of northern and cen- tral counties. They are guietly doing a highly important work in the State, and there is a bright promise that they will demonstrate the wisdom of the State law- makers in bringing California into line with the recent and widespréad movement for better highways. ‘When the Commissioners visit a county they do three principal things: hold a public meeting to preach the gospel of good roads, meet the Supervisors and learn the methods, etc., of road-building in the county and inspect the principal county roads. Incidentally, they do a great deal of talking, observing, gathering of statistics and eating of fine country din- ners. Just before Marsden Manson, chairman of the commission, left for Sacramento on Thursday he told in a general and very interesting way what the Commissioners had done and learned since the organiza. tion of the bureau, which has its head- quarters at the capital. The other Com- missioners are R. C. Irvine of Sacramento and J. D. Maude of Riverside. The law creating the bureau requires the Commis- sioners to visit and thoroughly investigate the road-building of every county in the State once a year. The Commissioners haye made two ex- tensive tours so far, visiting eighteen coun- ties and personally inspected 1500 miles of country roads. Thatis as far as to Ogden and back. The first trip was in the coun- ties of Yolo, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and San Joaquin. The second tri took in the counties of Sacramento, El Dorado, Alpine, Tuolumne, Amador, Merced, Mariposa, Stanislaus and Cala- veras, Full notes and many photographs have been taken, and the commission’s report to the next Legislature promises to be an interesting and extensive one. Mr. Mansen speaks of the work encouragingly. He says: So far wc have found that the amounts ex- ended by counties on hlghws%yelrly range rom $6100, in Alpine, to $1,100,000, in San Fraucisco. We have not made a specific in- vestigation of San Francisco highway affairs, but willdoso. We have found a greatvariety of conditions of roads, from the fine valle roads of Santa Clara County and the excel i:u mog{unfir‘l l:-om‘n olfAlp ne tol the tlmlost assable highways of many of the valle -ng foothill sections of the lngeflo\'. i It 1s & remarkable fact,that we found the best mountain road in_ Alpine County, wheih hasa population of about 550, an assessed yaluation of $256,000 and & road fund of only about $1100 a year. The people have to main- tain fifty-seven miles of road in a mountainous bject to a heavy snowfall, and the constantly traveled by lfi:ep and heavy logging teams, The secret is in the sterling integrity and the energy displayed by the Bupervisors. When one has a few hund to spend he sees worth of honest road: take o’fl his m‘n‘:nd ture of every dime. en the road fund is ex- hausted there is often another fund in the shape of subscriptions of honest hard work by the people. Santa Clara County has the best roads in the State, and it 18 & quarter of & gentury ahead of any other section of the State. It spends $90,000 & year. one-half in the building and refuh’ of roads, and the other half in economi. cally sprinkling 270 miles of graded and grav- eled roadway. The county officials are judi ciously constructing culverts and bridges of concrete and masonry, thereby doing away with expensive repairs. The most impassable roads have been found in both the foothill and valley portions of the great central valley of California. Through- out this vallef three conditions of soil prev: the great ,alluvial deposits of the streams, adobe and sand. The excessively sandy roads are often impassable in summer to heavily loaded teams. In place of doing anything in- telligently to make these roads better from year to year it is the habit, especially in parts of Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin coun- ties, to put straw over these roads to a depth of four or five inches about the time the wheat crop is moved. This lasts but a few weeks, and it is frequently done twice a year. It requires about fourteen tons to the mile at an expense of about $30. In Stanislaus County fort: miles of sand ase thus treated at an annual cost of about $45 a mile. The adobe roads are often practically impas- sable in winter. The sandy loams are about midway between the two. In many partsof these counties we found natural earthy road material mixed in exactly the right pro?lllon! for a good dirt road, but this material had not been “utilized on either the sandy oradobe roads. If within seven mniles of a piece of bad road there exists good natural road materialit is economy to haul it from there. Under adobe there is generally hard pan which makes fairly iood roads. Still, an engineer should not arahly eriticise a farmer for not being a good road engineer any more than an engineer should criticized for not veing a good farmer. The farmer is not generally prepared w‘lzleneflc the human raceIn the line of good roads. We have found in many parts of California that the roads were good because the natural material there was good. The occurrence and utilization in each county of the best road materials is one of our studies, and it is aston- 18] what a wealth of good road material there is in this State. Our asphalts, traps and basalts are the best on the globe. Our asphalts particularly are unequaled in the worll for abundance, variety and quality. They are a great deal better than the Trinidad asphalts. In a few counties which we visited there was 1ittle interest in the subject, but I think that the public of California is generally alive to | the necessity of good s, and thag the mass | of the people realize that one of the principal problems confronting the owner of every country home in the State is, How can I most cheaply take away from my home my products and get to it what I need? This becomes ap- parent when a Santa Clara tarmer can load thirty-four bales of hay on & wagon and with a single span of horses trot to market and trot back with an equivalent load, whereas in many counties two or three spans could not more than haul such a load. It is a rich and pros. pe:sfll community that can afford to use bad roads. 1 have closely observea everywhere the evi dences of prosperity. This Imnpenly is re- lated to the whole subject of transportation, at It is due to other n rich mountain counties I have seen protfemus farmers who raise a great variety of farm products. They produce nealry all the family needs and have poultry, butter, cattle, hogs, sheep, fruit and grain for sale. In v‘.ll?y cflllll'.l:ll tfig ‘hrmer !wm depend on a single crop and send to town for his mq ter and vegetables, s The contrast between these enerally very marked. One r rom force of efrcumstances nearly m- "cr!n zfiifi'a n'}‘i lul TO8) ro'nl. well-to-do an . The other {s often mort couraged and shiftless. e We all remember a breakfast w Placerville road one mnmln;. hl.‘d :l::h hundred-acre farm, of which thirty acres were highly cultivated and the rest were given to gain and grazing. Well, that breakfast! J‘EJ&:« cr:‘g:a;l“:hu pasun that had to [N from trées and vinos, the freshest of egee tront taken that mornin, chicken, bread, butter and v ireshest and purest, and all wholesome' and delightful. Money could not buy such a meal at the Palace Hofel, but everything but the salt, sugar and spices oame from the farm. The Commissioners are busy with the os, the new rock-crushing plant at Folsor:, which is to supply cheap rock for macadamizing to counties that want it. Mr. Manson said there haa been some delay through necessary red tape, but that they hoped to be turning out rock in November. The preliminary wmachinery for the quarry is on the ground, derricks are up and the quarry is bemng opened and exploited. Bids for the rock-crushing plant will be opened September 28. The plant will turn out 60 cubic yards of crushed rock per day, or more than all the plants about the bay combined. The en- tire plant will cost about $20,000. The counties within economical reach will pay for the rock its cost plus 10 per cent plus transportation. The low railroad rates range from three-quarters to 1 cent per ton per mile. Mr. Manson said: From our information we expect Sacramen County to take 50,000 cubicpynrda and Sl': Joaquin County 25,000 yards during the first year. The amount used per mile will depend by width to which lhpe mncad‘gx lupluid.on ‘no hundred cubic yards will make a strip o foot wide, one- mile long and seven inches deep. The most economical roadway that can which one-half is macadam and the other half a good dirt road. Thé macadam should be laid eight or nine feet wide. The macadam part would be most traveled in winter and the dirt portion in summer if the latter is well sprinkled. This alternation in use relieves both portions and reduces the cost of main- tenance. This style of country road is rec- ommended by .General Roy Stone, Commit- s§onlelr of Hidgl'iways of the Depllflm‘e!mol Ag- riculture, and I expect much of this style o ro%g to be blnilt }n ()Jllli!ornis. et e people of this State spend between £3,000,000 and $4,000,000 yearly on thelr highways, yet it cannot be controverted that we are deteriorating in roads. It cannot be controverted that the same amount, intellis gently, judiciously and homestly expended during & series of years, would give us the grandest system of roads in the world. Most of it is now blindly thrown away. The Commissioners hope to secure a system- atic remodeling of the road lawsas a principal thing. We want to inform the people of each gounty as to the best materials they have, economical and systematic methods of m - - tenance. We want to insugurate an era dur ing which our roads wtll grow better instead of worse. The correction of the bad road sys- tem, however, lies with the Without therr co-operation the best laws the bess methods can accomplish little. We must raise the standard of intelligence regarding roads. The bureau has issued two bulletins, and will issue more. One of the Commissione ers will attend the National road conven- tion at Atlanta. A DEVICE T0 IMPROVE THE ACTION OF VALvEs.—A device has been put on the market for the prevention of hammering and consequent injury to mainfeed check valves and the vibration of feed connec- tions. This arrangement is greatly appres ciated by engineers, as it permits of a full lift being given to a valve, and prevents the excessive strains on pumps and pipes, which are often so destructive. FURS! Special Styles —AND— Novelties —IN— CAPES Targest Assortment! Cheapest Place! 'ARMAND GAILLEAU 46-48 Geary Street, CORNER GRANT AVENUK, be built is one which is well drained and of , £