The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1895, Page 23

"THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1895. 2 POULTRY RAISING, The Days When Eggs Sold for Nine Dollars a Dozen in California Are Gone. This State the Greatest Poultry Producer the World. The Improvement of the Stock Maintains Prices, in Written for THE CALL By JACOB KREGER. There is more poultry raised in Southern California than any other part of Uncle Sam’s domain that it has been my good fortune to see. The reasons of this are various. One is the average hen fruits well here provided she does not get the blind s both eyes or the mites eat | her up al Anotherreason is that many | men of small means come here, buy some | land, set out orchards, and then keep a‘ few cows and some poultry until tlmr to bear, and others have land r fruit; and small farming is not | ng success, for farm products at uimes. Poultry-raising well when egss were bringing | ) to 50 cents and hens from $8 to $9 dozen, but those prices are gone and | e forever. Our railroads are .,reau izers of farm products, so whenever | ™ in Kansas and Nebraska is selling for 25 cents or less per bushel we may look | f arp competition in the puultr\w products on this coast. What confront us | here are not theories but conditions; not | mere assertions but solid, stubborn facts. Now, what shali we do abount it? Sit down and howl about the hard times? Blame the administration at W ashington? | tart a new political party or join the | scialists? Nothing of the kind. Simply | go to work, imr-m\'e Qur sto nd improve our methods of caring for the same, and | continue on that line until we arrive | atthe point to where we get three eggs to where we get two now. Then we ill be able to accept the reduced prices, more than that, we will widen the field, for many poor people in the cities will be enabled to use our poultry products, which they could not afford if prices were h. There is abundent room for im- vement in the farm methods of caring our feathered pets. I have never reconciled to the style of seen in this country. The main object seems to be to give as little protection against cold and wind as possible. Some even go so far as to give none at all. They put up some poles five or six feet from the ground and the hens have to roost on them in summer and winter. ' Now, this may do for tur- keys, but for hens it is certainly not suit- able. I think they ought to have houses with good roofs, and at least three sides boarded up tight. The south side might be left open in order o gevall the sunshine I have no use for slats all around, where, during some of our blowing rains, not a square foot of space is leit dry, not to mention the cold winds during the for yet become poultry-houses generally se yet are the inscet | pests. e people allow them to multi- | iy at until they literally overrun the | premises. Last summer one of my neigh- | bors told me he had to keep his horses out- side because the chicken mites overrun the stable. Now just imagine a flock of poultry going to Toost in such & place. | How much rest will they get after a long | day of activity when annoyed all night by | these little bloodsuckers, ‘'who will then | seek their hiding places, only to emerge | again the next evening? The efforts of | the hens dusting themselves are of no avail, because these little fellows live in the cracks and crevices of the perches and sides of the house. Various remedies have been suggested, such as coal oil, creosote, carbolic acid and many others. My advice would be to take out the perches, convert them into stove-wood and then put up a system of perches entirely disconnected | with the sides of the house. Keep them clean and there will be no more trouble | with mites. I manage mine in this way. The house is 8x20, 6 feet high at the eaves. | I put four posts 1x4 in the ground, about 4 feet 6 inches high, notched or top to re-| ceive stringers, 1x4, 14 feet long, notched | every 14 inches to receive roosting poles, 134x2, 7 feet long, small side ap, the cor- ners taken off but not planed. Once a week I take them out, expoze to sun and air the greater part of the day, carefully | collect all the droppings and wheel off to the manure pile, whitewash the four posts, | then the stringers and roosting poles, re- placing each piece in its proper place. Twice a year I whitewash the inside of | house. Now, thereisno patent cn this. Any one who reads this can adopt that styl° and doubtless many can improve on it. In regard to the height of| perches I would say thai the above | is intended for leghorns. 1t I kept any of | the heavier breeds I would provide lower | perches. Imnever allow hens to lay in the | henhouse. Nest boxes are in the way | there and help to shelter vermin. In the | East, where it gets very cold in winter, it | is necessary at times to feed and water and | allow them to lay in the house, but not so | in California. The weather here is never o0 Inclement but what an able-bodied hen can go out and attend to al! of her duties, and then the house can easier be kept | clean, which is of great importance, for no | flock of poultry will ever do their best un- | less they have clean quarters, and then | they shiould be trained to use said quar- | ters. 1neverzllow a hen toroost on a tree, fence or anywhere else except the | henhouse, where I can close them up at | night and let out in the morning. Tuey should be let out early in the morn- ing. - I have seen people keep their hens shut up in the henhouse till 7 or 8 o’clock, even in summer time. Now, tus is downright cruelty to bave the poor things all budaled up together for two or three long hours trying to get out. Hungry and thirsty, the wesker ounes abused and trampled on, with innumerable quarrels and fights zmd the house badly fouled, how much better to turn them out about sunap, give them a light feed and let them | begin the day aright. There is always a right way and a wrong way, and the say- ing is, *‘Whatever is worth doing is worth doing right.” Now a word about nest eggs. Some people use rotten eggs. This is nasty, filthy and should never be thought of fora moment; others leave an egg. This is cbjecuomble becanse the same egy may be left for several days in succession and thus be unfit for human food; again, others sumply rob the nests. This is bad because it inclines tne hens to seek other places, and nest-hiding is prevalent enongh without being encouraged. I elways provide patent nest eggs and gather- the eggs each evening. Then I | owing perhaps to the beards. | capital invested, it is by far the most proi- | Diego, is pretty much of the same char- | acter (being generally light lignites) and | | striking evidence of this is to be found in | are abundant and of excellent quality in | but, as in Oregon, the only suitable fuel | a duty on their fuel, have paid in the last ! abundant supply of tonnage to carry the | know that each egg 1 offer for sale is A1, justas I would want it to be if I were pur- chasing. If every one would follow that rule we would get more for eur eggs, for most people buying eggs would be willing to pay a little more were they sure that every egg was good; but some people are careless, some are very careless, and with some it is hard to tell just where careless- ness ends and dishonesty begins. One of the most important probtems is that of feeding. It were easy enough to tell what is good, but here the question of economy comes in and complicates matters seriously. For instance, I 2im to feed my hens meat once or twice a week during the dryest part of the season. Now, I am well aware that porterhouse steak or tenderloin sausage would be good, but, alas! the cost is too much, so I bave to resort to crack- lings, which cost 2 cents per pound. It is so to some extent with grain. We all know that a No. 1 articls of wheat is good for hens, but it costs from 1 to 134 cents per pound. Whole barley is now 65 cents and corn, which most of us raise to sell, 1s now only 50 cents. Egyptian corn is between wheat and barley. Potatoes often goes down to 25 cents pessuck. Bran I consider an excellent feed, but the price in our local market is 1 cent per pa\md which is | rathér high. Thusit will be seen that of the staples wheat is highest and corn lowest. Now an all corndiet will not do, as | I know from experience it is too fattening Barley the hens do not seem to rehv]), Eeyptian corn I have not had much experience with. The hens and chicks seem very fond of it. | Intend to raise more of it after this when | potatoes are low and just after digging. When I have a surplus of littie tubers I feed them for breakfast. { wash, cut up, boil till soft, season with salt, then stir in | bran or unboiled cornmeal. At this time I feed about balf corn and the balance wheat, barley and Egyptian corn. I find pr)l'lll')' keeping pleasant work, and, considering the time occupied and the itable of anything I can do on a ranch. | HOW TO GET FUEL. | The Price of Coal Is Cheap, Which Means Much for the Manufacturing In- dustries of This State. | | ' | i By I. STEUART. | i Fuel for the people of this State is a sub- | ject of paramount importance, involving as it does the development of industries and, consequently, the attraction to the State of population, as well as occupation for the children of those mnow setm.d‘ here. Many industries that are absolutely necessary for the development of the| natural resources of the State have been heavily handicapped by high cost of the neeessary fuel. Among the most notable may be mentioned that of smelting and its kindred branches. The gold and silver ores of the State, as well as those of | neighboring States, could be treated here | toa much larger extent than they are now, and a fruitful source of revennue saved to the State, as well as in the field of labor. This is caused, in a great meas- | ure, by the high cost of smelting here, consequent on the price of suitable fuel. ‘While landable efforts are being made to | develop the coal fields of the State—espe- cially those in the immediate neighbor- | hood of San Francisco Bay, yet the factre- | mains that all the coal as yet discovered | in California, or rather, I may say, on the | Pacific Coast from Washington to San | Written for THE CALL utterly unfit for smelting purposes. A Oregon, where several attempts have been made to make pigiron from the ores that that country, but unfortunately the only suitable fuel obtainable to smelt with at any price approaching tlie reasonable is charcoal, which has finally become so scarce and high in price that the manufeac- turers were unable to make the pigiron at a price that would+enable them to compete with Eastern makers, who obtain the proper fuel at extremely low ratesand ship their products to this coast. The in- | evitable result of course has been the clos- ing down of the Oregon furnaces. Pre- cisely the same result occurred in an at- tempt to make pigiron in California at Clipper Gap, where iron ore is abundant, obtainable is charcoal, so under these con- ditions a successful prosecution of the busi- | ness was found impracticable, and after | considerable loss to the promoters was finally abandoned. The same remarks apply to the fuel used by the heavier industries of the State. For instance, the rolling-mills in our own neighborhood have always been compelled to import their fuel and, as an example of the magnitude of the burden imposed upon them by the Government in exacting decade upward of a gunarter of a million in duty, and have had to put their product in competition with Eastern mills, who have their fuel almost at their doors and at the very lowest rates. It will thus be seen that the great desid- eratum for the State is good and cheap fuel, and it is gratifying to know that the prospects in this direction were never more flattering than they are at present writing, as the prices of foreign coal— Australian and English—were never so low as they now rule, and with every pros- pect of a continuance of low prices. This a very comforting prospec: for the State cause it reans, in the first place, | farmers’ wheat to market at reasonable rates, and a plentiful supply of good and cheap fuel for the manufacturer. The gran er must always bear in mind that without the coalships coming from abroad to this port he would have to pay double rates for the transportation of his wheat to market. He must, therefore, keep his own interests in view and encour- age and attract in every possibie way ship- ping to this port. There isalso another encouraging feature to note about the coal trade of this port, and that is the steady increase in con- sumption, noiwithstanding all the bur- | dens and difficulties above referred to, | which is a pretty good indicdtion of the healthful struggle going on within the State, and the natural deduction, under these circumstances, is that under more favorable auspices the prosperity of the State would be assured and the prospects for the future be of the brightest. Zdaa = ON CITRUS FRUIT. Something About Oranges and Lemons in the Land South of the Tehachapi. Producers No Longer Fear Com- petition From the Medi= terranean Fruit in Any of the Markets of the World. Written for THE CALL By F. A. KIMBALL. It is quite unnecessary in the limited space devoted to this paper to discuss the origin or distribution of this family of fruits, but rather to make a starting point with the limited number of trees which had been planted prior to 1869 in the ter- ritory under consideration. From that date, slowly at first, the orange was distributed, and much more slowly the lemon, through Southern Cali- fornia. The influx of energetic and tireless hor- ticulturists soon demonstrated the pro- duciive character and profit to be derived from the orange, and large areas wero planted. Other than Pacific Coast mar- kets were demanded, and the Atlantic coast and intermediate country was in- vaded, and the California producer found himself confronted by competitors in the Mediterranean country, who from long ex- perience had perfected the art of selecting varieties, particularly of A the lemon, adapted to the geography and meteorology of different localities, methods of produc- tion, incluaing fertilization, culture, pick- ing, processing, packing, shipping and placing on the markets of the world, for the Mediterranean country had the world for its market. From the first day competition was en- tered upon we began to learn that our competitor will not abandon or surrender a foot of territory so long tributary to her till the absolute merit of our fruits drive them from the field; this fact we nmy as well concede first as h'=t The production of the orange developed so much more rapidiy than did that of the lemon, and the subject has been written up g0 many times, that this paper will be large part devoted to the lemon. The probable reason why the lemon was slighted at first was that it was understood in that it would be much more liable to injdry | | one will arrive, and says to himself, from frost than would the orange. Asan industry the productionof the lemon 1s in smfn'xc\ foritis butafewy were all p'oduged from seedlings or from s taken from seedlings. The fruit in texture of rind and pulp, its ent in quantity and proportion ; its size monstrous, from the fact tha; I. it was left to ripen on the trees. The cut rind was in most cases exceedingly bitter, | and as a rule the fiber of the puip was more or less bitter. With such conditions only one result could possibly be expected when the fruit was put on the market, beside the shapely, thin-skinned lemon of the Mediterranean country, which had been brought toa high tate of perfection during a long period of cultivation till its skin was ‘thin and smooth, its odor aromatic and its general condition, when put on the market, show- ing plainly that the process of curing had been brought to practical perfection. Such lemons were in demand at prices ranging from $3 to $10 a box—say about | 300 fruits—while at the same time and in the same market the California lemon had to be forced on the market at 50 cents to $1 a box. Of course, this difference was not all in the quality of the lemon when picked from the tree. A large factor was in the pro- cess of curing the fruit, by which much of the bitterness of rind and pulp could have been eliminated. Of this process, how- ever, nothing was then known, and grow- ers were driven to experimenting. Many growers became disgusted with the indus- try and dug up their trees. Other persons budded theirs to varieties known to be good, such as the Lisbon and Eurexa (a seedling sport originated in Los Angeles), and later on the Agnes (originated in Na- tional City), the Genoa, Villa France and others. To-day the curing of high-grade ]emons bas reached such perfection in Southern California that whatever the vprice the Mediterranean product may bring in any market where the California lemor, now produced and processed, has been 1intro- duced, it commands a price equal to that fruit, and in some instances higher prices have been realized. The area now planted in lemons in Southern California, together with the areas known to be adapted to lemon cul- ture, demonstrates the fact that Southern California can produce all the lemons re- quired on the American continent, with a wide margin for exvort to any point | where the cost of transportation is not pro- kibitory. Were all other things equal, the Cali- fornia lemon-growers would have an ad- vantage of about $5,000,000 over the foreign grower, for about that sum is paid in duties annually on imported lemons. The fact of the payment of this vast sum as duty on one article indicates the enormous value of the lemon industry to the State. The fertility of the soil of Southern Cali- fornia and its wonderful adaptability to the production of citrus fruits are full | compengations for the low price of labor and the small cost of freight from Mediterranean ports to points of final wholesale distribution—that is, Boston and New York. it is not expected in the old lemon- producing districts of Europe-thatalemon tree will fruit before the sixth or seventh year, and itdoes well if it yieldsthree boxes of fruit the tenth year. In Southern California the lemon tree is expected to pay expenses the third year, and the sixth year should yield from five to ten boxes of fruit, and it is not an un- common occurrence for trees ten years from planting to produce twenty-five or even thirty boxes of fruit during the year. Tt is not generally known that the lemon must be picked for size, that the maturity of the fruit is not taken inco account, but that when it attains a size of two and a half inches in diameter it must be picked, so that a ‘‘crop” of lemons 1s picked every month, thus making the lemon-orchard the most regular and continuous produc- tive property of the country. With all these natural advantages there are physical disadvantages which must not be lost sight of or ignored in the great distance from the point of consumption, the high rates of freight and the unsatis. factory methods of distribution. And right here is where the California fruit- grower, the citrus-fruit prower particu- larly, is vitaily interested in the construc- tion of the Nicaragua canal as an element of competition with the present means of transportation, i e., by rail. The present method of fruit shipment lthrnugh fruit exchanges, which now ob- | in California. tains at various points, is a vast improve- ment over former practice, when it was not unusual for about half a dozen per- sons at about the same time to receive ad- vices that a carload of citrus fruits would bring good prices at a certain point. Each of them, without nowing anything of the other’s intentions, loaded his car for that point. The resuit was that a number of carloads arrived at the same market at about the same time and, of course, the market was giutted, nobody wanted the fruit and, as a consequence, only a nominal price wasobtained, and the consignee made a sight drait on the shiv- per for a portion of and as has sometimes been the case for the entire freight charges. If our markets were made, as are the markets of the foreign growers, at the auc- tion-house, the proposition would be di ferent and very much simplified, for Bos- ton and New York are known as the two great centers of distribution for Mediter- ranean fruit, and to those points the bhuy- ers go. 5 Without concerted action even the auc- tion system places the grower at a disad- vantage, as a plethoric marketat one point vpromotes decline at another point, and, as decline begets decline, the grower has only to await remittances to learn the ex- tent of his sufferings. The transportation companies bave got their money, the auc- tion or commission house, as the case may be, reserves its money, and the re- mainder, if any there be, goes to the grower, or, as has often been the case, a gight draft is made for deficits. Now all thesé methods are faiiures or partial fail- ures. Tne whole lemon crop of the State should pass through end be distributed from one office, which should be located at the most convenient point for handling the business. A canvass should be made of a section of country—most directly tributary—which now absorbs a quantity of lemons at least equal to the quantity produced in the State and to the various points most con- venient for distribution. The lemons sheould be sent direct from the orchards, and in quantity sufficient to supply the market for a specified time, and the supply should not be at any time exhausted. Cold storage will keep the lemons as well in Ohio or Minnesota as they can be kept The retail dealer can draw his supplies as required—if one box, then one box; if tifty boxes, then that many— and in this way no more fruit is exposed than the trage dewands. Consequently, the loss from decay or desiccation 1s re- duced to the minimum. This is the or- dinary way the lemon has been handled, viz.: A carload arrives at a certain point. The dealer does not know when the next Ly will lay in a good stock”; ana he does so. Now, the lemons he has bought may have been picked two months or six months, and they may have been picked eight months, and are then in proper condition for immediate use, and, of course, will soon begin to break down, and it is fairly estimated that from the time the fruit is picked till it reaches the consumer’s hand the actual loss has been from 30 to 50 per cent, and all this loss must be accounted for, first, in the price paid for the fruit, should it go to a packing and shipping housze. This loss falls on the grower, next on the consumer, for he must pay the price demanded, which price is based on probable loss, und the dealer is mnot likely to make a mistake by which he will be the loser. Suppose the retailer fixes his price at 35 cents per dozen, based on a loss of 30 per ceut. Itis plainly evident that he would make a larger profit if he sold them at 25 cents, if no loss was to be made. This reduction in price would probably | double consumption, for a majority of persons would buy two dozen lemons at 25 cents per dozen, while they ‘would buy no more than one dozen at 35 or 40 cents per dozen. To reduce the loss from all causes be- tween the grower and the consumer to the lowest possible point is a consideration of tirst importance. This cannot be done by transporting them from the orchard to the curing-house loosely packed or carelessiy thrown into boxes, then transferred to curing-trays and packed away, to be again overhauled and tidse decayed rejected, and again packed away only to have this operation repeated from two to four times, each time adding to percentage of less in quantity and adding largely to expense ac- count. The time of transit may be five days and it may be fifteen, through varying de- grees of temperature and moisture, both of which are antagonistic to the condition the fruit has been in for months, and after nature has done its perfect work, it being plainly evident that when the seed has ripened it has done with the fruit, which is ready to break down and deliver its seed to Mother Earth. In this condition the lemon is delivered at the point of consumption. The ques- tion now arises: What price can the car- load buyer, who takes ali the chances of shipping and selling a fully matured fruit, pay to the lemon curer or packer? And when this question is answered an- other one logically occurs: What price can the grower expect from the curer or packer who has taken all the chances of the fruit having been carefully picked and handled, and of the probable loss by de- cay, together with the unavoidable ex- pense of handling? It seems perfectly clear that the lemon should be delivered from the orchard to the point of final distribution in the short- est time, and with the least possible hand- ling. Tkis done, and there seems to be no rea- son why the production of the lemon in Southern California should not afford an exceedingly profitable—as it is pleasant— employment for as many families as will occupy all the land peculiarly adapted to this culture, each family owning and culti- vating twenty acres, and during the time this transformation is going on the best | methods of cultivation, handling, pro- cessing and dlsmbutmg will have been discovered and adopted, lower rates of ht obtained, and Southern California will have driven the foreign lemon from the markets of the country. ‘With the most hospitable climate on earth, with no day too hot and no day too cold to work in comfort in sun or shade at the most exhaustive labor, if need be; with more sunny days to bring health to the sick and weaith to him who is entitled to it than is vouchsafed to any other people; with the most varied and prolific soils, whica not only produce the citrus fruits in the utmost perfection, bus which embrace also every fruit known to the temperate and a large portion of the fruits of the semi-tropic zones; with communities whose energies are practically unlimited and whose intelligence is not surpassed by any similar number of people in any State in the Union, and to which are con- stantly being added the brightest intel- lects of all countries—is it any wonder that we claim prominence for Southern Cali- fornia? Old Money Grubber’s Story. ‘Written for THE CALL by G. M. RYAN. Just imagine a corner of Montgomery and Cahfornia streets when a winter northwester sweeps around it—when men grab spasmodicaily at their hats and women make frantic efforts to hold thewr garniture in place. It was a Baturday evening, just before Christmas. People were in a hurry to get home, and good-naturedly jostled each other on the platforms of the crowded streetcars, and hung on to the straps asif it was fun. “Whew,” growled Old Money-Grubber (who of course had another name, not to be told here), grabbing one side of his “‘stovepipe” until it acquired a rakish angle over his left eye. “Cold enough, by jingo,” replied young Harry Burrill (who isn’t Burrill, either, but & young real-estate man whom many of you know), as he stopped a moment to talk with Old Money-Grubber ana pick some dust out of his eyes. Around the Safe Deposit Bank is any- thing but a pleasant “‘port in a storm” on such a aay, and just at that moment what seemed to be 2 small bundle of rags and newspapers fluttered toward our acquaint- ances, out of which came a piping voice, and the words, *‘Bulletin, Evening Post, Report,” ete.,, were faintly distinguish- able. The older man looked down at the shivering mite for a moment and then turned away in seeming anger, muttering something about “confounded girls.” Young Burrill looked down and into a pair of blue appealing eyes, and straight- way dived down into his pocket and puta coin in the small, dirty palm, although his pockets bulged out with all the even- ing papers, The old man seemed a little ashamed. He looked down the steps of the Safe De- posit and finally said, “Let us walk a bit.”” He turned intoea cigar-store, bought a box of the very cigars he detested and for- got to offer one to his companion. Now Old Money-Grubber had the reputa- tion of being a woman-hater, and Burrill knew about as much of it as Dame Rumor generally vouchsafes in such cases. He bad never been married, and some people attributed it to his miserly propensities, but few knew the truth. Henry Burrill was rather an old- fashioned young man, who at first sight might be set down by the unthinkingasa dude, or one of the ‘‘gilded youth’’ of San Francisco (which gilding or veneering covers, alas, so often, much—to put it mildly—toial depravity), but he was noth- ing of the sort, only a kindly fellow who had a well-developed heart where other people keep a kind of gizzard, if I might say s0. After leaving the old man he pondered for a while on his way to the — club, and came to the conclusion that the old man was unusually put out by something, and connected it in a vague sort of way with t elittle newspaper-girl. He thought, too, in a kindly way of the little waif whose eyes reminded him of pansies, and, in a brain teeming with business, club matters, etc., was registered a little mem- orandum to the effect that he would buy more pepers from that same little vendor. A week passed by and he religiously bought his papers, as he was wont, from the neat little woman who sits at the cor- ner of Montgomery and Post streets, and then went in quest of his smaller paper merchant, who by this time had ventured to greet hira with a smile of recognition, to which he cheerfully responded, marching off with a heap of superfluous papers. Coming toward the corner of California and Montgomery streets one evening he wasastonished to see Old Moneygrubber in close confab with the little paper-seller, and as he did so he thought some things, and, yes, actually blushed for his old friend (fancy a San Francisco youngster of 26 blushing!), but he did, for I saw him, and joined him the next moment as he turned up California street in an apparent hurry, and I wormed some of the things that he thought out of him; but I will let H. B. tell the rest of this story himself, as he knows more about it than I do. “The next time I met the old man,” said Burrill, “he seemed to be more cheer- ful, and I knew there was something pleas- ant in the wind. Iwas still more sur- prisea when he asked me to accompany him to his rooms on Golden Gate avenue that night, and I complied, feeling that the old man was in an unusually commu- nicative frame of mind. *‘He lived as most old bachelors do, only that his rooms were rather cheerless, being totally devoid of anything in the shape of orcament or the smallest trace of a woman’s handiwork—everything helping the conviction that the old man was in- deed a woman-hater to a radical degree. “From a cupboard he produced a de- canter of rare old wine—I smack my lips when I think of it—the vintage of which he jealously kept a secret, and a box of the most fragrant cigars I ever smoked. Look- ing over his shoulder I could see that one shelf was well filled with the same, and the lower part was stocked with a goodly array of plethoric-looking jugs. “Iam not much of a drinker, but T as-| sure” you I went home that night ina happy sort of lethargy and awoke next morning feeling about ten years younger, and found that my hat fitted me none the worse. “But T am going ahead of my story. We sat and sipped and smoked a long time, and then, under the influence of one or both, the old man gave voice, as it were, to a sort of reverie, as if he had forgotten my presence. “ ‘Thirty years ago,’” he sighed, ‘I drifted out here with the rest—the human flotsam and jetsam that floated toward this “land of promise,” where many & good man found a nameless grave, and mony a ras- cal acquired a fabulous fortune. I cap see them now,” he continued, ‘Anna, Sarah and little Bertha, all dead, I suppose.’ Here he sighed, and turned to me. “ ¢You remember the little girl who sells papers? She reminds me of her.” “ ‘Yes,' I answered, ‘a pretty child.’ “ ¢Aye, you may say so,’ replied the old man, as his thoughts evidently wandered away again. ‘Pretty! you would think so if you saw her. I wasa young man then, Harry, and she came with her brother and sisters to our little town in Nevada. “Well,” he added, after a pause, “I sup pose you can guess what is coming, Har-. ry. I fell in love with her, as, indeed, so did all the camp; but I had one rather formidable rival, and as luck would have it he was the superintendent of the mine where her brother and I worked. But his superior position did not appear to have much weight with Bertha, I had the sat- isfaction of knowing that she did not like him, thoueh he urged his suit with a dogged determination. *‘One day he found fault with my work and I knew he meant to pick a quarrel, but I made an effort to keep cool, and that seemed to anger him even more. I could see that he was determined to get rid of me in some way. “Soon after, to my utter astonishment, a story got around in the camp that I wasa married man, and I guessed he was the one that started it. This annoyed me more than anything be could have done, bacause I bad no way of contradicting it, and it seemed to gain credence with Ber- tha and her folks. I wish I had killed him before the devil ever put such a thought in his head.” Here the old man’s eyes glowed wildly for a moment and he struck the table a terrible blow, making the frail wine-glasses shiver themselves to atoms on the floor. ““When that sort of thing getsoutsna man in such a place, no matter if it isan infernal lie, it sticks toa man, and people can’t help regarding you with caution. I think 1 could have persuaded Bertha that it was not true, but her sisters became so alarmed that they fought shy of me after that and kept her away from me. “If there is a God, Harry,” said the old man, appealingly, ‘“do you think he ought to have allowed that man’s lie to make two lives miserable? ““Well, time went on and I could see that they had closed Bertha's heart against me, but I had at least the satisfaction of knowing that the superintendent was making but little headway in her affec- tions, though I found out that the sisters urged her to accept him. “I was settling down to a grim sort of despair, but still hoping that something would turn in my favor, when what might well be called a bombshell fell right at my feet. “On entering the little dining-room of our boarding-house one evening Isaw a woman in black sitting alone at one of the tables. **As strangers were rather scarce in the camp, we generally looked at one with some curiosity. Before taking my chair I looked over at her for a moment with what might be taken as a surprise. ““I can see them all now seated at the different tables, and, to my surprise, the superintendent was at the sare table with Bertha and her sisters, which was not usual. He was there, of course, as part of the programme, which I found out afterward. “Well, the moment that woman in black laid her eyes on me she looked toward the table where Bertha and the others were seated, and then rusned at me, flinging ber arms arovnd my neck in a hysterical fashion and calling .me her ‘dear hus- band. “You may fancy my rage and disgust. 1 flung her off, and the truth came to me like a flash of light. The rufian had put up this ‘job’ to complete my disgrace in Bertha's eyes. He must have paid this miserable woman and brought her from some of the towns to personate a wife that 1 never possessed. ““Well, to make a long storv short, he kept her around the camp long encugh to persecute me and make people believe that I was her husband, and, of course, a brute of the worst type, and then made a Good SBamaritan of himself by raising a subscription for her and sending her away. “It was too much for me, Harry. I had no more patience—I felt more like a devil | than a man. I fixed up my affairs and | took the first opportunity to shoot the | man who made 2 wreck of my life. Ishot | him dead, and then spent six miserable | years in prison. I would have been glad | to die, bui it did not come, and whenI| came out I found that Bertba and her sisters had gone away, no one knew | where. I have searched, and left no stone | unturned to find them, buv they disap- | peared as if the earth had swallowed them. “Then all my love seemed to have turned to bitter hate. I thought all women heartiess. I was fool enough to think that some of them would come to me during those wretched six years, but no one of them had faith enough 1n me to do so, although they never had any better proof of my guilt than the tricks of a bad man and a worthless woman. For a long time I felt like & man with a curse written on his face, and I knew it had reached my heart. Tbat little girl’s face made me feel less bitter,” he added, *‘but at first sight I hated her along with the rest. “The pain is not as keen as it was, Harry,”" be said after a pause. ‘‘Age dulls all things. I made heaps of money, but it never brought me any happiness. Some- thing tells me I shall see Bertha again, I feel that she is alive. I would give every cent I possess and begin the world again asa beggar if I could only find her, I thought I bated them all, but the little one somehow—"" He bid me good-night in a voice that sounded differently from the old tone, and I hurried away with a queer sensation that I think is the precursor of tears. The troubles of the young do not affect me as do those of old age. In youth *'sorrow itself is sweet”” and there is hope ahead; but this old man’s sorrow, for which there seemed little panacea except the grave, filled me with unutterable pity for him, for, old though he was, his love for that WOman Was as young as ever. You'll think I'm a “softy,” but by George the worst oi us have a soft side to our giz- zards at times. 1 lost sight of my old friend for nearly a week and was beginning to feel a little alarmed about him, when one morning I found a letter from him on my desk. He asked me to call at a number on Geary street on a certain evening, which I did, when lo and behold, the door was opened for me by the little newspaper vendor, now very bright and clean and exceedingly pretty. She received me with childish | warmth and excitement and led me to a room, and there, sure enough, sat my old friend Moneygrubber by the bedside of a very delicate-looking little woman, who I could see, in spite of the traces of sick- ness and poverty, was the Bertha of his dreams. 5 He had found her through our little paper-seller, who was her only child, and a happier or more contented-looking man I have never seen in the whole course of y life. Explanations were scarcely necessary. The loving looks from the mother to the child and then to me were more eloquent than any language under the sun. And now, don’t laugh at me (you would do it yourseif if you were there), I had to go to the window and affect a serious cough for about six minutes. There was not much said that evening, and the little waif, whose name is also Bertha, falling asleep in my arms, wasa signal for us to make a “move.” On the way home my old “bach,” who was now looking about twenty years younger, told me a sad tale of poor Bertha's life. She came to San Francisco and strangely enough did after all marry a scapegrace, who had a sure-enough wife in the East, and who came one day—a terrible day for poor Bertha—and she walked out into the world alone with her one wee baby. Then commenced the hard battle for Iife in the big city, which has such a small heart for the poor, and where few believed a story suca as hers. Then came sickness, and the wee news- paper merchant was the pillar of supporf., but & merciful providence stepped in in the “nick of time” to save both. “What a world it is!” Iam happy to hear of the denounement, Harry Burrill is happy from looking at old Money Grub- ber’s happiness, and old Money Grubberis happier than either of us; and there will soon be a wedding, as my old friend is fix- ing up a house in grand style on — street, and there is one newspaper mer- chant less on Montgomery street. And—well, yes, I may as well tell the truth—*“single blessedness’”’ is all well enough in its time and tide, but when old age comes along an old ‘‘bach’” misses much solid comfort, and his ‘“merry”’ Christmas is a hollow mockery. FRUIT EXCHANGE. The Commission Merchant Is the Friend of the Grower, and Looks to His Interest In Orchard and Market. Written for THE CALL By B. F. STONE. Owing to ber geographical position California of necessity has marketed her products generally through the commission houses, and taking into consideration the great distance of the consuming markets of the Eastern States, this without doubt has been and will be necessary, as Eastern buyers, generally speaking, cannot or will not take the time to come to California and make purchases of variousdried fruits, raisins or beans; therefore the middleman is a necessity. The formation of various exchanges at different times, particularly the combined exchanges in the Santa Clara Valley, has of necessity compelled their recognition as important factors in the handling of the dried products of the State, and as such they cannot be ignored by commission mer- chants or buyers. The average farmer without doubt pos- gesses ability to the same degree in his line asthe average commission merchant in his line, but the fact that the greater portion of the time is occupied in either preparing, pruning and . gathering the fruit for market or preparing the same for drying, places him at a disadvantage when the time arrivesfor marketing his product, and therefore the trained and experienced commission merchant, who devotes the entire year not only to the situation in California, but receives daily from all principal markets, either by wire or mail, advices as to the supply and demand for all California products, is certainly in a far better position to market the products | of the State than the grower who, of neces- sity, during the season is compelied to remain at home, and therefore we believe the interests cf the grower and tne State at large are better served through an hon- orable commission-house, and commis- sions paid for such services are wisely expended on the partof the grower and the grower will obtain a larger return for his products than if he endeavors to market them himself. The idea without doubt in incorporating the exchanges in the State was to ignore the local commission merchants, and sell the products delivered by the exchanges either directly to the buyers or through | Eastern commission merchants, but we believe that the experience generaMy has been that the interests of the grower would have been better served had they placed the business through the local commission merchants. The legitimate commission merchant or dealer who acts honestly and conscien- tiously on information received from all markets, both Eastern and foreign, and works in the interests of his constituents in California, occuples a position as secure as that of the wholesale dealer: Up to within the past two years the commission merchant or dealer in Califor- nia was also to a great extent 4 speculator, that is, he would buy from the grower and endeavor to place East, and as a conse- quence at the close of a season, say the 1st of December, he usually found himself with a heavy load of either dried fruits, raisins or prunes, on which he usually lost money, and this condition of affairs re- sulted in general consignments to all East- ern markets without regard to the wants of such markets, consequently the market that demanded one or two carloads of as- sorted fruit would receive from five to ten carloads. This we think had been very clearly shown in the manner of handling the raisin business of this State. It has been to a certain extent a natural conse- quence, owing to the fact that up to within four years the greater portion of the fruits, raisins, etc., were marketed from Septem- per 1 until December 1. The output, how- ever, is now so large that fair prices can be obtained by distributing shipments throughout at least nine months of the year, or in other words, the growers must of necessity hold at least 50 per cent of ‘their products until after the first of Jan- uary. The commission merchant has usually received all the blame for improper dry- ° ing, improper grading and a generally loose manner of growing, picking and boxing the fruits of the State; whereas it is the grower on whom rests the blame for a large proportion of the rejections that oceur each season, and without doubt the various exchanges have aided the growers greatly by circulars and instructions as to how to prepare their fruits and to ship more uniform grades, both as to size, color and general appearance, than in pre- ceding years. So far as honesty of purpose and general desire to handle the products of the gros ers of this State in an honorable and satis- factory manner to all concerned, we believe that the commission-houses of California will rank with those of other sections of the United States. We also believe that the experience of all commis- sion merchants, so far as inspections of fruits in this country are concerned, is simply this, that it is generally speaking unsafe to buy on growers’ samples, as a careful inspection many times leads to re- jections, and consequently the commission merchant is blamed. If growers would cease consigning under any circumstances to Eastern markets, buyers there would bave increased confidence, and the com- mission merchants certainly would be cautious as to consignments, having be- fore them past experiences, which usually have been disastrous. A Silen. Cab Call. £ One of the latest inventions in connec- tion with the electric light is a silent cab call. Several clubs and hotels 1n London have already been supplied with thisuse- ful commeodity. Twelampsare suspended outside the building, one red and .the other green, and by pressing a knob in the entrance-hall one or other of the lamps can be lit at will. The red light callsa four-wheeler and the green a hansom.