The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1895, Page 29

.THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1895.‘ THE REFORMS ADVOCATED BY THE MINERS’ ASSOCIATION. [he General Government Would Be Less Arbitrary in Its Attitude Toward the Mining Interests if There Were a Cabinet Department for This Industry. Written for THE CALL by JULIAN SONNTAG, Secretary Miners’ Association. The mining achievements of California | best interests of all the State, and thig during the yeer of 1805 present a most | must needs be so, however self-seeking cheering prospect for the future. Theout- | the objects of the association might be- put of gold has been greater than for years | come. before, and will probably reach as high as | But, as I have said, the mines of Califor- $14,000,000. ie outlook for California, | nia are already booming—though the im- from a mining standpoint, 1s most excel- | pounding dams are still a thing of the fu- lent. Indeed, I donot think it is unsafe | to predict that the coming year will be one | of the most profitable and productive ones | ton that this State has seen since the discovery of gold in 1849, | ture. Many old quartz and gravel mines are now being opened, some of which have not been worked for twenty years before. With the new macbinery that 1s being put in and the modern methods of mining The that hasmade the bestshow- | these properties will become dividend pay- in d output this year is Cala- | ers by the end of 1896. More particularly This county, which had never be- | in Sierra County are the gravel mines mak- ched the top notch of gold produc- | ing splendid headway. Their promise for ddenly sprung into first place | the future is exceedingly bright. atest gold-producing county of One great drawback to mining in' the Its total output in 1894 was | past year has been what may perhaps be which is an increase of 56 | called, without meaning offense to the particular individuals, the dog-in-the- manger attitude that the holders of small claims have maintained toward those will- vers fore re; tion, ba: as the g production of gold from 1880 to 1 sive, was $11,64 About four-fifths of the figure of ame from the grea It is quite imposs 1894 Utica mine at Angels. ble to esti e the total production in Calaveras County since 1848, asitis learned that Nevada County claims a record of having produced over $205,000,000 in gold alone; Sierra County about $185,000,000, and Amador County, according to good authority, over 00,000. ertheless no single mine in these counties ever had a record of yiel¢ much gold for either ngle year or a le month as the a mine, as the best ys that Utica mine has been turning out the It may be remembered that the famous Idaho mine, in Nevada County, made the vin its history—over $1,080,- a single year; that the Ply Consolidated mine in Amador County ve $1,093,548 in 1884 as the greatest prod- et n its history, and the Standard Con- solidated mine in Mono County a little 138,000 in 1881. Theaver gemonth- d of the Utica mine is equal to the t of all gold mines in Cripple Creek, ., which claims to have been produc- ing about $500,000 monthly. Last May the Utica mine is said to have made a clean- up of something like $900,000, which is con- sidered the largest product in its history. In fact it Las already broken the record of the Bodie Consolidated mine, which made the Jargest clean-up—$600,000 in the single month of July, For such facts Cala- veras County is justly proud, when it is considered that qua its infancy there. One of the great drawbacks that Califor- | nia miners have had to contend with anner in which the United ent .has dealt with the of this State. emptory in which the hydraulic were closed down thirteen or four- would have done credit to r 1g of the Czar of all the Over $50,000,000 worth of prop- was laid aside and rendered almo: useless aud valueless for the time being by the decisions of the Federal courts and by the laws now in force regarding hydraulic | nd because of these arbitrary vs and ruling shall never again, per- haps, see these d ‘mines in as full blast or as prosperous as in years gone by. The Caminetti law has given some relief, and the Miners’ Asscciation is now endeavor- the Caminetti measure still more effective - 5 i and give the bydYaulic miners a still | greater scope. We shall ask Congress to appropriate $1,000,000 {or the construction of impound- s dams. um of $250,000 has already appropriated by the State govern- Y but this amount is conditional upon the action of the General Government and can only be employed for this purpose in \junction with a Federzl appropriatie The new law proposed by the Miner: ssociation, and which will be urged for passage Ly Congress, reads as follows: AN ACT opriate money for the construction of to impound mining debris and o protect the navigable streams of California. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amer- jca in Congress assembled: ~ Section 1. That there is hereby apppopriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise spriated the sum of 1,030,000, which shall be immediately available aird shall ended under the dir on of the Secre- r var in accordance with the plan: fications and recommendations of the Ci nia Debris Commission appointed under the act of Congress entitled “An act to create the California Debris Commission and regulate hydraulic mining in the State of California,” approved March 1, 1893, for the purpose of construeting works for the restraining and im- pounding of mining debris upon the tribu- taries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin riv- ers in California and the branches of such tributaries. Sec. 2. Whenever any such works for the restraining and impounding of mining debris shall have been constructed out of such appro- priation, or shall have reached such a stage as, in‘the opinion of such commission, it shall be safe to use the same, it shell be lawful for such commission to make the order provided for in section 13 of said act, upon proceedings being first had and taken in accordance with the provisions of sections 9, 11 and 12 of said act, but in such cases the owners of the mines affected by said orders shall not be bound by the proviso to said section 13 of seid act, nor by the provisions contained in section 16 thereof. Sec. 3. The said commission shall also have the power to make the order provided for1n gection 13 of said act a8 to any mine or mines, whenever it shall appear to the satisfaction of eaid commission that no impounding works sre necessary other than the means already provided by nature to protect from material fnjury the navigable streams mentioned in said actand the land adjacent thereto, upon proceedings had in accordance with sections 9,10 and 12 of said act. 1f this law can be passed and the im- pounding dams speedily constructed Fhe mining interests of this State will be im- messurably benefited and an era of pros- perity will dawn for the entire State. The mmifig interests of California cannot, in my opinion, be divorced from the genen;:l interests of all the people. When there is prosperity at the mines there is prosperity elsewhere; when there is a state of depres- sion in mining interests the interests ofthe whole State are bofind to suffer more or less. I think fhisis a generally recognized e amount of about $500,000 monthly. | tz mining is only in | The per- | laws enacted whick will make | ing to purchase and develop the properties. i I have found that holders of small pros- pects that have not been worked for fifteen or twenty years have not been satisfied to | accept reasonable and moderate offers made by purchasers, but have held out for exorbitant sums, thus bindering many sales that would have resulted in the de- velopment of the mines and the conse- quent increase of general prosperity. Min- ing valuations have been too high, but I am glad to beable to state that things are coming down to a more reasonable basis and values are more and more coming to be based upon intrinsic worth. Now I should like to say a word for the | mining interests of the whole country and plead for a more general recognition of their bearing upon the progress of the entire Nation. The mining industry of the United States is one of the most impor- tant factor in the common weal, and it should be guarded and fostered by the General Government as thoroughly and as v as almost any other of the Na- great industries. In short, the mining interests should be represented in the National Cabinet. That is one of the objects of the Miners’ Association, to bring about the enactment of a measure whereby a Cabinet officer shall be appointed who is thoroughly acquointed with the | mining interests and thoroughly aware | of their needs. The Secretary of Mining should be a competent mining engineer by training. He could, and doubtless would, | be of immense service to the mining in- terests. More particularly would such an | ofticial be of service fo the California | miners, perhaps, since it would be his duty | to see that the miners received justice at | the bands of the General Government. Some years ago it was found necessary to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture. Iap- | prenend the mining interests will soon be able to claim the same degree of recogni- tion. It is known to-day that not only thou- | sands but tens of thousands of acres of mineral land have been patented as agri- cultural lands. could hardly prevail if there was a National department of mining, presided over by a capable Cabinet officer. Itisto be sincerely hoped that the con- troversy between the Southern Pacific Company and the Miners’ Association re- garding the patenting of mineral jands in this State will be speedily settled. I be- lieve that a settlement of this difficulty will add millions of dollars to the output of the State. Idaho and Montana during the past year have obtained such relief | from Congress, and it is to be hoped that our representatives in Coneress will be able todo as much for the mining interests of California. It isencouraging to know that the Anti-Debris Association will not oppose the law for the relief of the hydraulic miners. This is surely a wise course upon their part, as even present events will | abundantly prove. One has only to | travel through those sections of the coun- try of which the Anti-Debris oclation | has jurisdiction, and which it claims to protect, to rezlize the importance to thoes districts of fostering this marked 1evival of mining. One will find teams leaving daily .from Marysville and' Sacramento| | packed with provisions for the mining sec- tions of the State, and if one is atall ac- | quainted in Sacramento he will fina there | that nearly all the leading merchants are interested in some mining properties. Let me say in conclusion that, though | there have veen some uniavorable com- | mentsas to the workings of the Miners’ | Association, I can say conscientiously and | earnestly that their endeavors have been | bonest, and that through the medium of { the association much foreign and Eastern | capital has been brought to this State for {investment. While it is true that the Miners’ Association has not yet settled the mineral lands question and the hydraulic | mining question, yet in both matters prog- | ress has been made, and in the latter par- | ticularly much_good has been done. The | association is determined, through the ef- | forts of its executive committee ana its | officers, to work zealously in the future, as it has in the past, for the enbancement and the promotion of the mining interests of California. It is noteworthy, aiso, that more general interest is now being mani- | fested in the organization than for some | years before. et Santa Cruz Bituminous Rock. The mines of the City Street Improve- ment Company are situated near the coast city of Santa Cruz, from which point the rock is distributed in its natural state to San Francisco and all parts of the coast. Experts claim that while there are exten- sive deposits of bitumen in various por- tions of Southern California, this mine is one of the best, both on account of its ex- tent and the uniformly high grade of its rock. It possesses in a marked degree all the essential merits of bitumen yet brought to public notice, besides other advantages of great value peculiar to itself. The an- alysis of tie rock shows a2n admixture of law, so I bardly need to enter the plea that the Miners’ Association is not entirely a selfish organization. It has at heart the pure bituminous gum, ranging from 10 to 18 per cent of the mass, with a oure Such a state of affairs | quartz sand of the very finest and ! cleanest grain. This rock when melted and spread upon the street under the action of heated rollers gives a finished surface ‘of sandstone roughness, which combined with slight elasticity affords a sure footing for horses. The pavement is smooth but not slippery, elastic, imper- vious to water; becomes thoroughly in- durated after long usage, and with age in- creases its strength and powers of resist- ance to the assaults of traffic. The processes employed for the disin- tegration of the rock are both by means of superheated air and superheated steam. In these processes any traces of volatile oils and moistures are expelled, leaving nothing but the pure, bituminous gum as a bonding agent. Nochemical or mechan- ical combination of manufactured asphalt with sand, as artificially employed in most Eastern cities, where freight rates do not permit our native rock to enter, has ever been invented to equal the mixture which nature has so mysteriously and success- fully placed in these wonderful deposits. This company owns, without doubt, one of the most valuable bituminous rock de- posits on the coast. Itisoneof the pio- neer mines in the development of the bituminous-paving interests in California, from a small beginning of one block to a present area exceeding over a thousand blocks. Both J. W. McDonald and W. E. Denni- son, the secretary, expressed themseives a few days ago in favor of bituminous rock pavements of the very highest type of perfection. In the course of the discussion Mr. McDonald said *‘that the paving of the City is a question of paramount im- portance to every property-owner, busi- ness man and resident, because dependent upon this class of improvements are such conditions of private and public comfort jas can be satisfactorily obtained only when pavements are thoroughly and care- fully constructed and thereafter kept in good and sufficient repair.” California Bituminous Rock. The taxpayer who furnishes the sinews of war to carry on the Citv government is | interested more perhaps in the quality of our pavements than in any other subject. Smoota, clean streets vromote health, an increase of population and an advance in the value of property. The pavement of the future will un- doubtedly be laid of California bituminous rock, which seems to have been especially PROFIT IN FRUIT.| Oranges and Lemons Often Yield a Handsome Profit, and Olives, Cherries and Prunes and All Kinds of Deciduous Trees Pay Better Than Grain. Written for THE CALL By GEORGE D. KELLOGG. Is fruit-growing profitable? My answer to this question would be in the affirma- tive. I am not unmindful of the fact that with some it 18 of a lesser degree than with others. In the consideration of this sub- jeet I shall treat it as pertaining to fruit- growing in California, and also, locally, where I am more familiar and having my proof all coming under my own observa- tion, In order to maintain this industry a profitable one it will be necessary to make the gain per acre much greater than a grain farm in the East, for the reason that one man can cultivate many more acres of grain than he can of fruit; so, if one man could attend to eighty acres of grain and bring him a profit of $1000(?) perannum it will be necessary to handle a ten-acre fruit tract in a way to produce a net profit of $1000, also to make it appear to be a pref- erable industry, as eighty acres of grain is as pear within the reach of one man’s cul: tivation as is ten acres of fruit. Peaches being somewhat a staple erop in “Placer County I will consider the culture of that product first. Those who have carefully computed the cost of producing, packing and delivering & box of peaches ready for shipment at the fruit-shipping house agree that its cost is from 22 to 25 cents per box of 22 pounds. The cost being established we have only to get 2t the market price of the peach to de- termine its profit. The market price for merchantable stock for the sesson of 1895 ranged from 25 to 75 cents per box,according to the time of year, quality and packing, with a probable average of 3510 40 cents per box. In 1894 the market price in New- castle was just about the same. With from 500 to 800 boxes per acre, are we not enti- tled to affirm that they are a paying crop? Do not misunderstand me—there are houses in Newcastle that have paid those prepared in nature’s laboratory as a cover- ing for street pavements. The manner of | the glut of the season; the same is true of prices and maintained them, even through PANY, [Sketched by a |ONE OF THE MINES OF THE CONSOLIDATED BITUMINOUS ROCK COM- SANTA CRUZ. “ Call” artist.) laying this material on a concrete base is simple in the extreme. The mate- rial in its natural state is steamed in a covered kettle for twenty or thirty minutes, without any admixtures what- ever. When it becomes thoroughly disin- tegrated it is then spread upon the con- crete and rolled with hot rollers, weighing 700 to 1£00 pounds, to a smooth surface and finall | rcller weighing ten tons, when it is ready for traffic. Bituminousrock should not be | confounded with asphaltic mixtures. Where properly laid with good concrete base this natural product has borpe nine years’ heavy traftic without, as yet, show- ng any perceptibie loss in wearing body. The San Luis Obispo Bituminous Rock Compuny has offices at 253 South Broad- way, Los Angeles, Cal., and in the Phelan building, San Francisco. The officers of the company are: X£. C. Bassett of San Francisco, president; E. H. Lamme, vice- president; W. G. Hughes, secretary and | treasurer, the latter two gentlemen being i located in Los Angeles. The quarries the season of 1894, Any man that got less for his fruit in this market either season must have consigned his fruit, a method which if followed up is very liable to bring disaster to the consigner under present modes of operation. Take for another example a crop of cherries. [ know of nothing that yields | the net results equal to a good field of compressed closely by-a steam cherries. Aside from their being an early fruit and bringing early money, they have an added advantage that the vield on an ordinary cherry orchard is from ten to twenty boxes of fruit per tree, of ten pounds to the box and 108 trees to the acre. This would give us from 1080 to 2160 boxes of cherries to the acre. Striking an average we have about 1620 boxes to the acre. This at an average price of 50 cents at the fruithouse would bring a gross value of §810. If the cost of producing, picking, packing and deliver- ing a box should leave a profit of but 15 cents per box it gives a splendid margin in favor of the industry. Take a crop of Bartlett pears on suitable of this company are located in Sang,,und,and counting but four box:sto the ONE OF THE MINES OF THE SAN LUIS OBISFO ROCK COMPANY. rpuis Obispo County. The chemical analy- s1s of their rock by W. E. Judson, analyti- cal chemist, of Cleveland, Ohio, is as fol- lows: Silica 65.917, bitumen 16.255, iron sesquioxide alumina 8.405, calcium carb. 8.212, magnesia carb. 1.003, undetermined +208. The Consolidated Bituminous Rock Company, with offices in the Phelan build- ing, owns quarres in Santa Cruz anda San Luis Obispo counties. The chemical analysis of the bitumen by Professor Henry G. Hanks is as follows: Silica 57.81, bitumen 20.04, alumina 8.72, oxide of iron 7.92, carbonate of lime 4.75, water .76, magnesia trace, The officers of the company are: A. C. Bassett, president; J. H. Swift, vice-presi- dent; F. C. Lewis, secretary. The direct- ors are Timothy Hopkins and N, T. Smith. —_— “How many pieces of candy have you had, Waliie?’ “I don’t know, mammy. I tan’t tount tree, we have about 432 boxes to the acre; placing the cost of the box at double that of the peach, or at 46 to 50 cents, and find- ing an average price for Bartletts at the fruithouse to be 75 cents per box, we have a profit that would make a graingrower envious. I can cite the public to a single three acres of French prunes grown within a mile of Newcastle, the owner of which sold hes crop of dried prunes from said three acres for $i000 in the season of 1894, known as a disastrous year. Oranges and lemons are yielding a hand- some income in this locality to the pro- ducer, owing to the fact of our crops being -so much earlier than those grown in the larger orchards of Southern California, the higher prices for earlier fruits being obtained by the fact that our harvest of this fruit covers the three great National holidays of Thanksgiving, Ckristmas and New Year's. Olives also are grown and produce a made into pickles orolive oil. This indus- try is taking the attention of quite a num- berof ranchers. The fact that the olive can be grown successfully without irriga- tion makes some of our high hills, which at present are above irrigating ditches, specially adapted for their culture. A great deal of inquiry of late in reference to olive culture has been received in this por- tion of the State, indicating that the near future will develop an increased acreage of this desirable product. I might continue until I had enumerated all the varieties of fruit erown in Califor- nia, but these named are representative and among the staple fruits and must suffice. Possibly some one may rise up and as- sert that my calculations are not correct. I therefore desire to affirm that they are | verified by fact and that my calculations are conservative. I have madeno attempt to tell of special instances where enor- mous yields could be detailed ever so truthfully. Had I been soinclined I could | tell of years gone by of one cherry tree. It : is nearly four feet in diameter four feet from the ground, sixty feet nigh, and with a spread of branches sixty fe>t, and its | owner claimsit to have yielded 3000 pounds of cherries in a single year and its product to have receipted him $300. While this statement of a remarkable cherry tree might have been found correct, yet the | assertion would have been misleading from the fact that the same tree brings no such returns now. In the days when this | marvelous story couid have been recited with truth it was a time when faney prices | were to be obtained in the East, and was altogether a remarkable yield on a very notable tree. This story might be told by | the real estate boomer, but the victim who would be deceived by it would in time awaken to the reality that he never could attain any such success in the future, be- cause no such instances can be recited of | the present day. In evidence that there is profit in raising fruit, however, I have but*to state a fact that the average owners of ranches have succeeded in renting the same at the rate of from $35 to $50 per acre per annum for full-bearing orchardsin this locality. Many have come to this portion of the State with very limited means, but by pluck, energy and good management now have! improved ranches and are living in com- | fortable circumstances, with houses and barns equipped with modern conveniences. It is true that many mortgages are mat- ters of record, showing plainly that there stands indebtedness against the premises, but I affirm it as my belief thatin nearly | every case the money has been used in im- provements and for that which would tend to make life more pleasant in their estima- tion, and very few of them indeed are to be found who would be willing to accept the face of the mortgage against their estate. The profit per acre a few years ago was considerably larger than to-day, because prices were higher. There is no ques- tion in my mind but that the daysof fancy prices are past. Rates of transportation are still too high and ought to be reduced { in proportion to the decline of vprofiis. Fruit-raising and transportation have a mutual interest—the one is dependent upon the other. The man with his twenty acres of fruit has as much right to a fair profit on his investmentas the corporation which owns a railroad. The policy of the carrier should not be to make a rate of | “just what the traffic will bear,” orin other words bring it down just to the bare cost of producing. Let the rancher live and prosper, and you will find that pros- perity to him means more travel over the lines of the railroad—yea, it means the transportation of more goods, and still further an“influx of settlers and general prosperity for all concerned. As to the future, some new methods will have to be employed. More drying of fruit will be necessary, greater care in ship- ping and packing of fresh fruit for market, canneries will have to be started where they now are not, and more care taken in the marketing. By all these methods I have no fear of an overproduction of fruit. As | new markets are being constantly devel- oped, and will continue to be, with good, intelligent care and an economic way of living I believe that fruit-growing not only is now but will continue to be as profit- able as any class of farming and equal to that of any other line of legitimate busi- ness. Yours respectfully, OUR LAND VALUES. Good Real Estate Is Preferred Property—Fictitious and Inflated Values Are Fad- ing and Intrinsic Worth, at Good Prices, Is the Sound, General Basis. ‘Written for THE CALL By WENDELL EASTON. A very interesting question that prop- erty-holders throughout the State are ask- ing themselves at the present time is, “What is my proverty worth?” At an important turning point in the growth of the State, precipitated by the financial conditions prevailing throughout the country during the past two or three years, the State has practicaily taken on a new condition which has resulted in a material change in land values. While we use this phrase in a general sense the real fact is that we have not taken on any new value in the strictest sense, although selling prices have materially changed. I have always been of the opinion that land values were approximate, and while quotations should be based uvon actual earning values of property, still there are other conditions which prevail, of supply and de- mand, which also are factors in fixing realty prices. It is found when a financial pressure ob- tains that land is not so easily turned, as many people are of the same mind at the same time, and the supply exceeding the. demand has a very marked effect on the price that can be obtained. This in many cases, however, is a blessing in disguise, as a man who bases his responsibility upon land values has much the better standing in the community, and while he may not be able to realize at short notice it may be a blessing in stringent times that he may not be able to turn himself so promptly and possibly force himself to make a sacri- fice. Calfornia, a State of wonderful resources, has been a profitable field for adventurersin land operations, and misstatements have lived for awhile and many wrong acts have been perpetrated on unsuspecting peoplé, who felt if ther were buying a piece of land tbey had a tangible property. While 29 wonderfully profitable, still every portion of the State will not grow every class of fruit,and I am of the opinion that the financial conditions that have prevailed for two or three years are proving a bless- ing in disguise to the State at large, but must be disastrous to many landhoiders who are placed in an unfortunate position owing to the changing conditions of the past five years and previous to the present financial pressure. It has been clearly demonstrated that good land is the pre- ferred property, and that second or third class properties could not be marketed as readily as in times gone by. The State just now is creating a new value that lands which show an earning have a price and can be sold, but many ldnds are practically not marketable at the present time, owing to the fact that they are not in earning condition and it is not clearly demonstrated what they are most available for. An object lesson can be found in differ- ent parts of the State where a value is cer- tainly fixed and based upon actyal reve- nue; this is the case in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley—surrounding the Garden City we find lands that will earn a strong rate of interest planted in deciduous trees; we find in Vaca Valley and along Putah Creek, at Winters, also the same conditions and a fixed income on a value possibly of $500 an acre for improved land. In San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties along the princi- pal waterways we find river bottom land that would pay a fair rate on interest com- mencing with vacant land at $75 to $100 an acre, and from that to $300 an acre planted with deciduous or citrus trees that earn a very handsome annual revenue. South through the San Joaquin Valley in Mer- ced, Madera and Fresno and along the principal irrigation system we find land | that will pay a handsome revenue on $150 an acre improyed land, but will not pay a | is not so much a shrinkage of value as the leveling of values, and a new quotation of vprice is the natural result. whic, will be beneficial to productive and meritorious lands, and is a natural disadvantage to land of a contrary character. The result must be to discourage the rolders of large unoccupied areas of land, must create an inclination for the relinquishment of at least a portion of these vast hoidings, and in the end will be beneficiai to the State, as it will create, by decrees, an inclination to improve, and land nfust earn or it has no value. Certamnly an opportunity is ‘develaping which will be of benefit to the masses throughout the State, and the same ele- ments which are encouraging the im- provement of vacant land in the cities of the State are gradually extending into the interior, and a result will Le that a propor- tion of our surplus poouiation now in the cities will be seeking homes in the coun- try. To-day in several counties of the State land can be purchased by the new occupant simply agreeing to improve, and the time for the payvment of the principal amount of the purchase can be extended over a number of years, and that dependent upon the income from the land, to practically make the land pay for itself. Land that will gradually work out on this basis cer- tainly has a fixed value, and to my mind is the true value of our entire State. ‘When we consider that the State of Cal- ifornia could be surrounded with' a stone wall and the State could absolutely sus- tain itself without assistance from the outside, we begin to see the principality in which we are living and comprehend that our State has true value based upon merit. Without doubt we are responding to the crucial test which has been applied to qur values, and there are strong indicationsall along the line that land can be sold when it can demonstrate an earning capacity, | profit on all land in the State; neither can | the results obtained in -other portions of over sebben.” good revenue for the husbandman when a very large percentage of the Stateis and it is simply wonderfu! that gcod land is being sold to-day at good strong prices and demonstrates the fact that when we have the chaff blown away from the wheat we will arriveat the true basis of value of land in California—income. big return when quoted at $300 to $500an acre. The question of freight in this part of the State being entirely a raiiroad haul is be- coming quite an impdrtant factor. In | Southern California at Riverside, Red- lands and along the foothills through Po- mona, Duarte and to Pasadena, certain locations grow the citrus frdits to perfec- tion, and land is a financial succegs; full- bearing trees paying a good rate of interest on $500 an acre. This same condition pre- vails further south, being an extension of practically the same belt of country into the beautiful chain of valleys Ilying back from the ocean from ten to fifteen miles, in San Diego County, Escon- dido and El Cajon Valley, growing the citrus fruits to advantage, especially the | lemon, commanding the highest price in ! the market and competing with the im- ported lemons; but while these conditions do prevail in a number of these fertile spots, decidrous trees cannot be grown to EXPENSIVE SMOKING. There are several wealthy men in London who are reputed to spend over $2500 per year on cigars. This is considered very large over there, but several American mil- lionaires are said to exceed this. One of them has been reported as spending $10,000 annually on cigars. An English nobleman, who married an American woman, who brought a bag of money with her, has as- tounded London with his extravagance in cigars. He pays about $500 monthly for them, and always trades with one dealer, who posts a sign to that effect in order to attract customers. Several prominent Englishmen, among whom is said to be Labouchere, buy cigarettes imported from Turkey at a cost ot 10 cents each. One of them smokes and gives away 100 in a day, which is probably the record for expen- sive cigarette smoking. the vine nor the orange,and while the State is drifting into this condition it is be- ing demonstrated very clearly that the change is imminent, that values have been overestimated, in many cases based upon the State. The pressure in financial affairs has made this condition more apparent, and the result appears to be an immense shrinkage of value; but in my opinion it ORES! Gold, 'Silver and Lead Ores and Concenirates Purchased at 'Reduced Rates FOR TREATMENT. Refiners of Gold and Silver Ballion, Gold Dust, Etc. SELBY SELTING AND LEAD COMPANY, 416 MONTGOMERY STREET, SAN FRANGISCO. THE PELTON WATER WHEEL EMBRACING IN ITS VARIATIONS OF CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION THE PELTON SYSTEM OF POWER. VER 6000 NOW IN AGTUAL OPERATION. Unequaled in Efficiency and Adapted to All Conditions of Serviee. ELECTRIC TRANSHISSION ! Ev.ry transmission plant of note In the West is now driven by PELTON wheel practice. Catalogues furnished upon application. Address’' THE PELTON WATER WHEEL CO., 'TASTERN PRICES BEATEN Save Commission by Ordering Direct from SAN FRANGISGO PIONEER SCREEN WORKS! JOHN W. QUICK, Proprietor. Finest Work! Loweat prices! 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