The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1895, Page 1

- Ohristmas Bdition, - [ NV < T Papes, YOLUME LXXIX.—NO. CISCO, WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 25, 1895 — FIFTY-TWO PAGES. PRICE FIVE CENTS. " TABLE OF CONTENTS Of Some of the Special Features of «The Call’s” Christmas Issue. California’s New Railroad and Beet-SBugar Industry, Claus Bpneckelsi s T Rl 1 A Sound Financial Basis,I. W. Hellman.................ieeveievinen cevnnenenennenes 1 The Better Street Work, Ernest McCullough. California in the War of the Rebellion, G. W. Granniss................ ceeseericanans 2 The Future of #rt in California, William Keith............... s scesesesaansioacns 2 San Joaquin Valley's Climatic Advantages, Major C. J. Berry..... SR SRR 2 +The Willows of xl'ie Alameda, a poem, F, L. Foster.. 3 Vision of Sir Francis Drake, a poem, Ina Coolbrith. . 3 Ch a poem, Mrs. L. Douglas Adam..............ccueuueen scsenre saepsmenaasn 3 The Wonderful Story, a poem, Rev. Frank L. EHggIng. ... soos e Eeshecor i SRR Golden Gate Park, John McLaren...... N e R L 4 A Pair of Dissolving Views, Marie Evelyn Lister...........cccceveennnnn.. cesievecen 4 Warned by the Wire, a ghost story, Louis Glass. 5 Luke Reynolds’ Ghost, a story, Rollin M. Daggett...........coeueerensneencncanannnns 5 The Shrinking Rope, a story, Oliver RODErts. .............c.ceunernenneeneenenneennnnn 5 An Editorial Wraith, a story, Hobart Clarkson...... SRS SR e g et b Converting a Skeptic, a ghost story, Sam Davis......... .ccccveeeenneeiinrnrennnnnnaes 5 The Strangling Arm, a ghost story, J. H. Matheson.........cceveeeueeeienennanenn.s 5 Bees in California, A. J. Cook. 6 The Dairymen's Union, Warren Dotton . ool . ... cooiviecieransioionninaaion . 6 California Olive Culture. Ellwood Ccoper.......... s - e e e D San Joaquin Valley Fruit, George F. WeekB..........c.ocevuinineiiniieeenes sennannees 6 The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, W. B. Storey Jr............... 7 The Scientific Aspect of Protection, Professor E.-A. R0SS......cceveeirerieininnnenns o A Legend of Monterey, a poem, Dan O’Connell.............ccoovviunnnnen cevenee Sl 8 The Writers of Long Ago, William Greer Harrison........... lenecoaatiiiTis e A Mystery of the Green Table, a story, Ernest C. Stock........... SR ARG The Whimsical Last Will of Peter Magee, a story, W. C. Morrow....... e 8 Astronomical Work in California, Professor E. S. Holden........ccecvvviviiiiiannnnn 9 Navigable Waterways of California, Senator George C. Perkins..... eeande seevesahes 9 California Horses and the Horse Show, Henry J. Crocker........... ersssatsecenennana 10 California Wheelmen, Frank H. Kerrigan........ccovviiunnennn bt S mbio e bme maiaims 10 QONHE ORI GnyCochrin. b ot s e S B e T 10 Eracic I GINIENE: W TRor ABoOkE =0 o Jo v S S s s S e T e B 10 Mayor Sutro’s Odd Correspondents, J. P. Reynolds.......cccovieiiiiiennnniieneenns 11 A Costly Philatelic Specimen, Lewis Seidenberg............ secasae % v sl e an nml s o 11 A Christmas in the Yokol, a story, Madge Morris.......ccoeeennneniieeqoniceconanann 12 Two Christmas Days, a story, L. Douglas Adam ... .....cc.cueeueeineniiernneannens . A Memory, verse, Bob Davis..............cceuueeunnnnn. s sl RS e 12 The Old Maesiro, o ppem, Peter Btualoy o ood.. i iocii it ivii it st osesabinonanas 12 The of the Century , Di Shadd. 13 A'Chiristmas Warning, 8'5t0ry, C. A. DUAley.c.ccouviecennsraoniosipiotosonesasanans 13| The Native Sons of the Golden West, Henry Lunstedt............ccoivvuiiininnann. 14 C: rms Hortacultuze, B- M Jelonn. .0 ..o . oo ot tea e st 14 One Happy Christmas, an etching, Ada Patterson............ ey iRl e ‘Women’s Work for Women, Mme. Louise Sorbier Do California. Women Thirst to Vote? Eleanor Holbrook Blinn. The Higher Education, Professor Martin Kell rnia’s Educational Advantages, Professor Davia Starr Jordan. . igious Education in California, Professor W. C. Sawyer.... The School Teachers of California, Philip M. Fisher rnia Normal Schools, Mrs. E. A, Wilson. uel T. Black Our Public School System, Samuel T. Black........ccoceeiiumeiininaincnnaieainnannns Corporal Hendy’s Theft, a story, Robert H. Davis Suthe: The Failure, a story, Howard V. land .. Father Junipero in Alta California, Luella Green Harton...........coeuuvuuuenn..... Science and the Farmer, Professor E. W. Hilgard Horticulture and Forestry, Charles Howard Shinn. Constructing War Vessels, Irving M. Scott fFire Insurance, Rolla V. Watt.............. {'he Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, W. C. Patterson.. Periculture in California, N. Levering f.and Values in Southern California, C. H. Phillips.......... =t cesieaseianye vesnes 22 Poultry-Raising in California, Jacob Kreger................c.ooiiiiiiinn... BLRRS 23 SRAPde UL BHBl L Blowartr. . . s S S T 23 Citrus Fruit South of Tehachapi, Frank A.Kimball..........ccooovviiiiiiiinnnn... 23 Did B oney Grabber's Story, G- MU Ryan ..o i e iide S i i 23 The Fruit Exchange, B. F. Stone. The Day of the Children’s Saint..... Is Santa Claus a Fake?, a children’s symposium. How Society Dines, a page of menus............... Stockton and San Joaquin County, W. W. Johnson................ Horticulture in the Santa Clara Valley, J. F. Thompson What Shall We Do With Our Boys, J. E. Collins..........ccoeuiiiinininnennna.a., = The Mineral Indastry of California, J. J. Crawfora. ..............cceveuvreerenns..nl 28 Reforms Advocated by the Miners' Association, Julian Sonntag..................... 29 The Land Values of California, Wendell Easton There Is Profit in Fruit, George D. Kellogg. The Banks of San Francisco. What the State Might Do for the Farmer, D. Edson Smith Suggested Prison Reforms, Dr. Allen Griffiths. ................. o, The Single Tax, Joseph Leggett.............ooveennnnnns SRR SRR The City and Country Eeal Estate Outlook The Long Valley Stage, a story, W- T Burke. ........ocooviiiiiiiainn, WL The Pigeon That Brought the Rain, a story, Frederick Dewey......... S seten, 36| Pioneer Journalism in Cahiornia, J. W. E. Townsend..................... PR e 36 The Conservation of the Forests, Henry W. Kruckeberg, culture and Olive Culture, Henry P. Hayne. Scientific Experiments in Agriculture, Arthur J. Pillsbury. The Beet-Sugar Industry. Richard Gird.................. Raisin Growing in the South, James Boyd, Land Titles of S8an Francisco, L. R. Ellert..... Figures That Do Not Lie, L. P. MCCATtBY....ueeeeerrennnnns s s S 34 The Lifting of the Fog, Lewis H. Eddy......... All the News of the World......coveeerieririnniiioinisnnenenaaie.. CLAUS SPRECKELS. It is my belief that a revolution in the matter of railway construction and travel is near at hand. I believe that with new and improved methods of construction, and with the use of new motor- power, transportation speed will be immensely increased. Electricity will take the place of steam and a single track will take the place of the present double rails, and whereas sixty miles an hour is now the very limit of speed, 150 miles an hour, and possibly more than that, will be at- tained with more safety and comfort to the trav- elers than is now assured them. It may be thought that such a prophecy is chimerical, but assuredly it is no more chimerical at this day than was the telegraph, the telephone or the steam railway in the days of their infancy. So much for the future. I have ventured it as the prophecy of a man who can remember when there were almost no railroads and no tele- graph and no telephone. Coming now to the present and the immediate future we find that Californians have their interest centered in one great railroad enterprise—the San Joaquin Valley line. This is distinctly and peculiarly a Cali- fornia enterprise, started by California capital, engineered and promoted by California brains and skill, built by California workmen of Cali- fornia material, and to be operated for the benefit of California producers and citizens. My investments in the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, and'I think those of most of the gen- tlemen associated with me in that enterprise, were prompted by two motives chiefly. These were the need of the State for further and com- peting transportation facilities and the belief that such investments would in the énd prove profit- able. These motives still hold good. They have been indorsed by the press and the public gener- ally, and now the San Joaquin Valley Railroad is an assured fact and all due speed is being made in its construction. When it is remembered - that all the work is being done by California capital, that it is con- suming, in so far as possible, only California ma- terial and products, and that it is employing only California labor, one realizes at a glance that this enterprise not ounly promises largely for the fu- ture but is performing abundantly for California in the present. This work of construction will be pushed rapidly as far south as Bakersfield. The final opening of the road to public traffic | will mark a new era for California producers,and the whole State will be immeasurably benefited. I ought hardly to close an article on a sub- ject of such vital importance to ‘the material in- terests of California, I feel, without improving the opportunity herein afforded to recur again to what I have already stated concerning the beet- sugar interests of this State. Too much stress can hardly be laid upon the importance of this industry and its growth to the general prosperity. It may be contended by persons not familiar with all the details of the industry and the bene- fits accruing from it that there is in its greater development profit only for the manufacturer. But this will not be the result. The producer and the employe must in the nature of things share with the manufacturer. As the sugar in- dustry will add to the tilled acreage of California so will it add to facilities of the farmer for the accumulation of wealth and demand an added number of employes. -The commercial irterests of the towns and cities must likewise be en- hanced, and the consumer share in the general result. The producers and manufacturers of this State by an association which is active in its efforts desire the patronage of home products and home manufactures. Now the beet-sugar indus- try is directly in line with this principle, and doubly so, in fact, because ‘it’ comprehends not FINANCIAL PROSPECTS. Written for «“The Call” by I Nevada W. Hellman, President of the Bank. There is every reason to believe, I think, that San Francisco and - the. State of Cali- fornia generally are at present upon what may be called a sound financial basis. I do not say this offhand or as a general proposition calculated to boom the State to the outside worid, but only after due consideration and a somewhat careful ex- amination into a!l the facts necessary to base such a statement upon and with the knowledge before me, too, that, having made the statement, I may reasonably be expected to support it. While it is true that there may have been but little money made by the people this year, it is also true that there is a bet- ter and stronger feeling in financial and business circles generally throughout the State than there was at the close of 1894. There is also a feeling of more certainty as to the future year, and business men confidently anticipate and are mak- ing preparations for a moderate but substantial increase. This is true of almost every line. It is also a fact that during the past year there has been but little or no speculation in- dulged in,and this, T take ir,is a good omen for the immediate future. Land and | products alike seem to have lost their speculative values to an extent, and there is no perceptible inflation of values. On the contrary, values at present are based upon, if not entirely up to, intrinsic worth. And when there is a noticeable increase in such values and based upon such condi- tions it is quite plain, I take it, that an era of sound prosperity is being ushered in. In the past year business has certainly been better than it was the year before, and what has helped it is the fact that money has been abundant and the rates of interest have declined, and the banks have been ready and willing to supply sufficient funds, upon good security, to good busi- ness houses and enterprises. Another significant indication is that the savings banks have all had as many deposits this year as they could safely take care of, and notwithstanding the | high rate of taxation in this City the rate | of interest to borrowers has not been in- creased. There is still one considerable drawback to San Francisco. It is that our manufac- turing interests have not increased as | rapidly as we could wish, or even as much | as has the gencral business prosperity. But even in this direction there is, I think, | amuch better feeling tban there was at | the close of 1894, and the prospects for the | future are, though not extravagantly, vet decidedly encouraging. Labor has also been in much better demand this yearthan it was last year and promises to be in still | greater demand in 1896. The San Fran- cisco street railway companies have made | a great many improvements and exten- | sions, having given employment to thou- sands of men and millions of dollars of capital, and yet there is still much to be done 1n the near future in this direction. The San Joaquin Valley Railroad. bas | given a great impetus to the interior. It has given employment to large numbers of men, and in many ways has benefited the entire State. And yet this is only the | beginning. The new Valley road is one of the important factors that can be relied upon to add to the prosperity of the State | in many ways for many years to come. It comes into the field as a competitor for the business of hauling California freight and passengers to and fro through the great San Joaquin Valley. It is pre- eminently an enterprise by, cf and for the California people. - Its success is already assured. More than twenty-five miles of roadbed has actually been laid, though the project is not quite a year old. Work is being pushed rapidly, and the day of doubting is passed. Large sums of money have been invested in real estate by our wealthy men, | especially by Claus Spreckels and others. This has helped a great deal to restore confidence in that direction. The handsome and substantial structures erected within the past year like the Union Trust Company's building and the Parrott block, the great new buildings projected, like THE CaLL building on Market street, giving employment to a great many laborers and skilled mechanics, have all had the most beneficial effect locally, and promise to be even more beneficial in thie future year. The greater employment of labor that these new enterprises have made possible bas naturally helped along the retail trade a great deal, and the merchants and store- keepers have enjoyed a better business than for some time before. In other lines the increase has been felt. The wine interests of the State did quite well last year. The price of dry and sweet wines is more than 25 per cent better to-day than it was before the combination which took place in that interest a little over a year ago. California wines are in- creusing their popularity in the Eastern States. The future of this industry is very promising. A great deal of gold is being produced in this State now. This has and is stillin- creasing our circulating medium to a very beneficial extent, which has been marked all over the State. The large production of oilin Los Angeles has also had its ef- fect. It has reduced the manufacturer's cost of fuel to amaterial extent, and prom- ises great benefit not only to that city, but to the entire section. Our principal in- dustry—grain—has not been very profita- ble this year, either to the farmers or shippers, but to some extent the crop has proven more beneficial than it was the vear previous, and that in itself is encour- aging. Our orchards have, however, done very well—much better than last year. Our fruit industry has brought a great deal of money into this State and has added nota little to the present feeling of security which prevails. In addition to the three beet-sugar factories already established in California, two large renneries are pro- jected and will in all probability be con- structed during the coming year—one of them in Los Angeles and the other in Oc- ange County. These, I take it, are pleas- ing indications for the future. The beet- sugar industry is in its infancy in Califor- nia, but it is growing very rapidly and promises to become one of the great prod- ucts of the Golden State. A great many acres of land will probably be planted in beets during the coming year. In Los Angeles and Orange counties the acreage devoted to this industry is considerable. Some of the lands along the coast are excellent for sugar-beet raising, and I think I can confidently bespeak a great in- crease in this line in the very near tuture. ‘We have enough good lana in this State suitable to sugar-beet culture to supply the entire United States with sugar, and when our farmers realize once the advisability and. profitableness of planting diversi- fied crops, instead of grain only, thoy will find, I believe, that in most instances sugar-beets can be raised in connection with grain, greatly to their own benefit and profit. There are many indications now that the farmers are awakening to the imporiance of this course, and in these indications one can see much hope for the farmers of California. When these con- ditions have been rezlized, or even partly so—as I believe they will be very soon— there will be a decided change for the bet- ter among the farmers and a return to them of a degree of prosperity they have not enjoyed for several years. A great deal more might be said to prove the statement made at the opening | of this article, and vet I doubt if anything further that I could say would serve to strengthen the case much. On every hand the observant man will find much to ¢n- courage him, much to strengthen his be- lief in the future of California, much to brighten the prospects of the coming year, much to encourage him to push on the good work that all must do for the future of California. And what has been said of California is |in a large measure true of the entire | country. Bankers asa rule are not given to optimistic views, but I think it can be safely said that the United States in gen- eral is entering upon an era of prosperity. There is a feeling of confidence in finan- cial circles all over the country, and I think there is no part of the country whose future is so bright as that of Cali- fornia. only the production of the raw material in Cali- fornia_but also the manufacture of the article ready “for ‘the matket and. for consumption. Should the industry grow, as I hope it will, to such an increase of acreage as to demand the ad- vent of more farmers into the State, then it will become an indirect adjunct to the Half-million Club in aiding the increase of the population of California, if not of San Francisco. : I am willing to add to my investments in this State by the establishment of beet-sugar manu- factories, in the hope of arousing the people of California to the due importance of this great sub- ject, as well as for personal profit. L W. HELLMAN. [Drawn by a “Call”’ artist from a plwtogr%’fl