The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1896, Page 6

THE S FRANCISCO CALL, FRiDAY DECEMBER 25, 1896. M FRIDAY. CHARLES M. SHORTRIDGE, Editor and Proprietor. SUBSCRIPTION RATES—Postage Free: Pally and Sundsy CALL, one week, by carrier. .90.18 Daily and Sunday CALL, 0ne year, by mall.... 6.00 Dally and Sunday CALL, six months, by mafl. 3.00 Dally and Sunday CALI, three months by mail 1.50 Dally and Sunday CLr, one month, by mall. .85 Sunday CaLy, one year, by mail.. 1.50 W EEELY CALL, Ohe year, by mail, 1.50 BUSINESS OFFICE: 710 Market Street, gan Francisco, Californta. Selepbone......... Maln—1868 EDITORIAL ROOMS: 517 Clay Street. Selephons....... ... Main—1874 BRANCH OFFICES: £27 Montgomery sireet, corner Clay: open untfl :70 o'clock. £59 Hayes street: open untfl 9:30 o'clock. 718 Larkin street: open until 9:30 o'clock. £W _corner Sixieenth and Mission streets; 221l 8 o'clock, 2815 Mission street; open nntil 9 0'clock: 367 ALib street; open until 9 0'cloci +Jukrkel sireet, open till 9 o’clock. open . OAKLAND OFFICB: 508 Broadway. EASTERN OFFICE: Booms 31 and 82, 34 Park Row, New York Clty. DAVID M. FOLTZ, Eastern Manager. THE CALL SPEAKS FOR ALL. P el L e e Nl Merry Christmas. Look out for the mistletoe, ‘We are a gifted people this morning. The gifts are good, but the givers are better. Rejoice that you live in a Christian country. Don’t forget to do sometking to cheer the friendless. It is the merry heart that makes the househola glad. Go to church, hear the music, and see the decorations. The prosperity of a gift lies in the ap- preciation of the recipient. Know all men by these presents that Santa Claus rules the earth, To-day we have the touch of nature that makes the whole world kin. Mistletoe privileges must not be allowed to fall into Innocuous desuetude. ‘We have to thank Congress for taking a rest itself and giving the country one. ‘We can beat the world on church decora- tions at Christmas, and what is more we do it. —_— San Francisco has a right to be proud of her church music, and it will be at its best to-day. McKinley will probably find his stock- ing this morning filled with ornaments for the Cabinet. The country expects nothing from Cleveland as a Christmas gift, and it won’t be disappointed. Send the OChristmas Carn to your Eastern friends, and let them see that you remember them. There is joy in the consciousness that good things are abundant, and the time to swear off 1s.a week away. This is the day when the married man has the best of life and the bachelor does kowtow for an invitation to dinner. Many a generous man and woman will realize to-day the fullness of the truth that it is better to give than to receive. Nowhere else in the world will so large a proportion of the community enjoy the best pleasures of the day as in California. It would have been a happier day for Uncle Sam if he had been able to give peace to Spain and independence to Cuba. The prospects of the world are brighter than they were a year ago and every promise of the future is nearer fulfillment. It is with pleasure we present you with Tae CALL this morning. May it help to speed the day for you in gladness and joy. Many a lonely bachelor will arise this morning to find nothing in his stocking but a hole and nothing to do but to darn it. There is hardly any kind of pessimism that cannot be cured 10r a day at least by & proper observance of the Christmas festival. PSR e Before we are called upon again to sing of peace on earth it may be realized in Cuba and Armenia as well as in our own country, Another evidence has been furnished to prove that New Jersey is not in the Union. Bhe began and ended a murder trial in six hours. et Those who do not get this morning as much as they expected should remember that in this world the highest merit never does receive all that it deserves. It seems to be the opinion of Washing- ton society that an inaugural ball is too much like football to be a dignified pro- ceeding for statesmen to engage in, It is asserted that less is known of the interior of the southern part of Florida than of the interior of Central A frica, and probably thereis less in it that is worth knowing. In mailing the Christmas CALL to your Eastern friends, bear in mind the home postage is 3 cents and the foreign postage bHeents, Don’t mail the paper with insuffi- cient postage. A wide extension of raral mail delivery is one of the good things we can count on from the next administration and there are many parts of California that may ex- pect to profit by it. The Cuban problem in one form or an- other has been before this country for fifty years, and it would seem that by this time the chestnut ought to be boiled down to a condition of easy digestion. On this day there are kindly feelings in the popular heart toward everybody. Even the rod we have been preparing for Grover we are now willing to convert into = fishing-roa and put it in his stocking. In no other State in the Union can Christmas be celebrated with such a wvariety of sports and pleasure as in Cali- fornia. We can have everything from toboggan slides to picnics and be merry anywhere from the fireside to the forest. A MERRY OHRISTMAS, To all the host of its readers THE CALL wishes a merry Christmas. It sends forth an edition of extra size, interest and beauty to add what 1t can to the gladness of every home to which it comes. It ex- presses more than the sentiment of itself alone. Never did it more truly ‘“‘speak for all” than it does this morning, when it comes to the people with words of cheer and joy, conveying all the thousand feel- ings of kindliness that are summed up for us in the salutation of the day—'‘Merry Christmas.” The world is better than it was when we celebrated this festival lastyear. Itisnot only richer and more prosperous, but its prospects of the coming of ‘‘peace on earth” are brighter than ever before. It is true that in the world beyond the borders of our country there still are cru- elties of war and outrages against hu- manity, but even over the lands where these dread deeds are being done there dawns with this day the hope of a near attainment of peace, and the establish- ment of that Jaw whose foundations are justice, and the keystone of whose arch is love. Europe looks mpon Armenia and we regard Cuba with a more resolute de- termination to put an end to the cruel oppressions which are crushing them. The songs of peace and love sung in our churches to-day will increase in us the fervor of our hostility to tyranny end wrong, and out of the joy of the festival there will come an addea strength to the popular sentiment in favor of using all the powers of the great civilized nations of the earth to redeem the world as far as possible from the barbarisms that now wage savage warfare againstevery interest of man. Itis no idle dream that we may yet ac- complish through the right exercise of our great power among the nations of the earth an influence which will be helpful to every people that needs help. It isnot for war, but for peace, that we have armed ourselves and made our strong Republic ready for the performance of every duty which her own destiny or the cause of hu- manity may impose upon her. We are nearer to a permanent peace this Christ- mas than last because we are bétter fitted to compel it, and in the might of our mili- tary and naval armaments, therefore, as well as in the beauty and holiness of our churches, we feel conscious that we have drawn nearer to all which we hope forin the celebration of our Christmas day. Turning from the bloodstained fields and ruined homes of Armenia and Cuba to regard the conditions of our own land, we find innumerable eviaences of approach- ing prosperity to all classes of our people. It has become with us a commonplace to say that we are about to enter upon a new era of prosperity. The dawn of that era has already begun to shed its brightening rays over the land, and all who look up- ward and forward are gladdened by the sight of them. Itis not material prosperity, however, in which we rejoice most to-day. This festival is a celebration of the heart. Its joys are those which emanate from pure and unselfish feelings. Its glainess is that which comes to us from the con- sciousness that along with this increasing wealth there comes also an increasing de- velopment of fraternal and kindly feeling between man and man. The close of the long struggle between labor and capital, the end of personal an- tagonisms among citizens, and the cessa- tion of prejudices and rivalries between the people of one region and those of another are still afar off. Nevertheless we are nearer to them than ever before in the world’s history. We are growing more and more to appreciate and value the trae spirit of the philosophy of Him whose pirthday we celebrate. 1t is to- ward thess things our deeper thoughts will tend to-day, and they wiil add much to the fervor and the earnestness with which we will greet our friends with the wish for **a merry Christmas, BARGAIN COUNTERS. Among the many ladies who throng the dry-goods stores where bargains are offered there are probably very few who have thought there is any more to be con- sidered in bargain-counter ethics than a moderate politeness to the shopgirls and complete abstention from shoplifting. The Social Reform Club of New York, however, has taken further considerations and held a meeting specially for the dis- cussion of “The Ethics of the Bargain Counter,” in which the problem for de- cision was the surprising one of whether such places should be patronized at all. As the ladies who occupy the pews be- neath the thunders of a fashionable pul- pit never do anything grossly wicked, of course their milder vices mustb: rebuked, and the famous Dr.-Parkhurst has pro- nounced judgment against patronizing bargain courters. Longcustom has made people quite case-hardened to warnings about the evil of theater-zoing and card- playing, but when it comes to being solemnly told by a beloved pastor that they are doing a moral wrong in buying goods where they are offered cheapest they would probably consider it merely a conundrum, and await the explanation with much curiosity, but no sense of guilt. At the Social Reform Club conferences it was argued against the bargain counter that the heavy competition it forces upon trade falls finally upon the humblest toil- ers. It was said the seeking of bargainsis but an indirect method of oppressing the poor. One of the speakers at the confer- ence wbo maintamed that bargain.counter trading is an eyil was a woman who had been a shirtmaker. She said she knew that bargains were paid for in the ena by the workpeople, and mentioned that women who made gowns got only 49 cents a dozen for them. 5 On the other side of the question it was pointed out that as a rule workpeople en- gaged in making cheap articles received better wages than those who produced an article whose higher price made its mar- ket more restricted, the permanency of jobs, as wellas better pay, being largeiy the result of skillfully supplying the wants of the public so cheaply that peo- ple of moderate mean's can become large and regular purchasers. On the whole, the defense of the bar- gain counter had the better argument. In bringing the poor into the question it should always be rememberea they are buyers as well as sellers, and in that way they reap their share of the general good that comes of putting merchandise within reach of small incomes. The discussion of the Social Reform Club bas not injured the bargain counter, but helped it. Sound ethics never gets far away from sound economics, A GLASGOW PROBLEM. The civilized world’s attention has been drawn anew to a consideration of the rela- tive merits of the principies of co-oper- ation and of conducting business by individual enterprise by the efforts now being made by a number of merchants 1n Glasgow to retard the development of co-operative stores. ' 3 These tradesmen becoming jealous of the growing business of such stores have organized a “Private Traders' Defense Association,” dnd invited the traders of all Scotland to join them in making war on the mutnal benefit establishments. Part of their plan, as reported, is to refuse to employ any one who is' connected *in the remotest Cegree” with the co-oper- ators. Il a boy’s parents are co-operators be will be discharged. Another part of their programme 1s to refuse to buy geods from those wholesale houses who sell to the co-operative stores. Steps will' be at once taken to test the legality of these measures, and we shall soon know what Scottish law says on the subject. The issue involved in the con- troversy is wider, however, than statute law. The people generally would pay little attention to the controversies of re- tail traders with wholesale houses on law points, but the matter of discharging em- pioyes who support co-operative stores comes closer home to the public, and has aroused considerable interest. Public opinion is said to be on the side of the co- operators, and dismissal from employ- ment of people whose only offense is that they choose to use their earningsin their own way is regarded as oppressive. Someof the threatened wholesale houses are reported to haye decided to stick to their co-operative customers and expect to transform the attempted injury to their business into a benefit. An important | factor in the conflict is the existence in Scot- land of a great co-operative wholesale so- ciety, manufacturing and importing goods and doing a business of geveral millions annually, of which most of the retail co- operative stores are members. This makes the co-operators largely independent and wiil enable them to procure goodas even if the individual wholesale dealers were forced into submission by the Traders’ Defense Association. The results of the fight will be watched with interest and the great question con- cerning the point at which co-operation and combination ceases to be a producer of general prosperity and happiness ma; be brought a little nearer solution. Itis beyond dispute that co-operation within certain limits is a plan productive of many benefits to mankind, but the advozates of individual enterprise also have strong arguments, and the problem of just how far the principle of co-operation can be ex- tended can only be fuily settled after much discussion and experiment. Glasgow has solved many social prob- lems with success and we shall now see if her people are equally wise in problems of business. OHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA. Christmas in England has been cele- brated by the best efforts of her genius in j every art from pcinting to poetry. Her greatest novelists have delighted to write | Christmas stories, her loftiest singers have sung Christmas songs, and her mas- | ter painters have vied with one another in producing pictures of Chrisimas cbeer | and revelry. As a result of all these ef- | forts the fame of Christmas time in Eng- land is worldwide, and wherever books are read men snd women are familiar with the sports, the games, the musie, the solemn services in the churches and all that goes to make up the joy of the season in that country. Christmas in California has not been made so famous as that in England. We have not yet produced the great poets, novelists and painters who are to make | our festival familiar to all the world. | Nevertheless it needs no gift of prophecy | to joretell the coming of the time when | Christmas in this land of ours will be as }widely known and more favorably re- | gerded than even that of the land of |'which Milton sung and Dickens wrote. Our climale at this season is far more pro- pitious to every form of enjoyment than that of England, and there is scarcely any conceivable method of celebrating | | State to better advantage than anywhere else on earth, The people of California appreciate the bounty which nature has bestowed mpon the Christmas season in their S8tate. They have drawn inspiration from the climate, and have become more joyous at Christ- mas time than the people of any other section of our country. As Mr. Haweis said: “Sound to the core is the way the 8an Franciscans celebrate Christmas.” Mr. Haweis spoke of this City because this was the place in which he saw Christ- mas celebrated, but his words would have been equally true had they applied to Californians of every district from the mountain8 to the sea. ‘When our holiday season has been fitly sung and described it will win the ad- miration of the world and attract to us travelers and treasure-seekers from all lands. There is scarcely any joy to which the human beart is attuned that cannot be found here, when once the influence of Christmas has turned the minds of Cal- fornians away from business and set them iree to indulge in all the activities of social life. The time is not far distant when our holiday season, beginning with Christmas and continuing to New Year's day, will be followed by a succession of carnivals and festivities of all kinds, from those of ice palaces to those of flower- gardens, which will last the whole wipter long and merge into the fetes of May. California, we may fairly claim, is des- tined to be the scene of the finest dalights of the human race. This much is made evident by the fervor with which its peo- ple are already beginning to celebratq fes- tivals of all kinds. It will be made mani- fest by the universality of the joy of the Cahfornians to-day. In no other com- mucity will the rejoicing be so common among all classes or so full of abounding vitality. The California Christmas will yet be renowned in song and story as the fullest happiness of humanity and the glory of the earth. INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. The report that the Embassadors at Constantinople of all the great powers have received instructions to act in con- cert in compelling the Government of the Bultan to put an end to the Armenian outrages and institute those reforms which will bring the Ottoman empire into some- thing like harmony with Europe is full of happy auguries for the peace of the world. Although not called ‘“international arbitration” such a concert of action among the great nations of Europe would virtuelly amount to that. By the pro- posed agreement the nations will have consented to submit all their interestsand their antagonisms in the Eastern problem to such arbitration as the carrying outof the aereement will entail. In the very nature of things each of the great nations must give way to the others in some respects, and no matter in what form such concessions are made they constitute what is essentially a submission to an inter- national court. ? If the experiment of submitting the Turkish question to the decision of & general council of the nations proves suc- cessful it is fairly certain that other ex- periments of the kind will be made when further issues arise between the nations, Itisin the order of history as of nature that nothing stands still. The idea of international arbitration has been Started the day that eannot be carried out in this | among the nations of Europe by this at- tempt to solve the problem of Turkey, and it is certain to grow from more so more as civilization increases. The example set by the United States and Great Britain in referring all disputes between them to international arbitration cannot fail to havea marked influence upon Europe. The people of those na- tions are already so discontented with the heavy taxes imposea upon them to keep up their immense armaments that they are on the verge of insurrection and re- bellion. The wiser statesmen of each na- tion see that these heavy burdens cannot be continued much longer and will hail with #ladness any programme that promises to put an end to the necessity for them. Thus the influences exerted by the exam- ple of this country and Great Britain will be augmented by local influences acting in each nation. Public sentiment favora- ble to such arbitration is aiready formed in every civilized country, and it needs only wise guidance to direct it to com- plete success in the settlement of nearly all questions that can possibly arise be- tween one nation and another. Whatever may come in the future, the people of this country will rejoice in the knowledge that it is now fairly certain the great powers will agree to put an end to the Armenian outrages and compel the Turkish Government to begin at once the work of reform. The outrages committed against the people of Armenia have been tolerated too long. They should have been stopped when they began. It is comforting to know, however, that we are nearing the end of them at last, and that before another Christmas dawns we shall not have fearful news from that country to mar the joy of our festival as we sing of *‘peace on earih, good will to men."” PERSONAL. N. P. Whitehouse of Boston is in town. F. M. Btateler of Alameda is registered at the Palace. H. C. Marmon of Indianapolis reached here yesterday. D. N. C. Morgan of Placerville arrived here yesterday. George D. Allman, a stage man of Cazadero, is at the Lick, 4 8. M. Martin of Chicago is on a visit here and is at the Lick. A. L. Burbank, a real estate dealer of San Jose, is in the City. J. P. Morton of the United States navy is in the City and at the Occidental. John T. Porter of Pajaro was among the ar- rivals from the south yesterday. F. R. Bishop. a business man of Louisville, Ky., Is among the arrivals at the Palace. J. R. Bane, one of the proprietors of the Oc- cidental Hotel at Santa Rosa, is in the City. C. J. Shepherd of Los Angeles is one of the latest arrivals here from that part of the State. Max Erckens, & wealthy business man of Aschen, Germany, was one of yesterday’s ar- rivals. J. F. Richardson, a wealthy gentleman of Omaha, isat the Palace, accompanied by Mrs. Richardson. g George E. Brown of Fresno, a ralser of live- stock and fruit, is alate arrival here. He is on & business trip. Edward Carlson of Angels Camp, and who owns interests in gold properties there, ar- rived bere yesterday. Assistant United States District Attorney W. P. James of Los Angeles arrived here yester- day and is at the Baldwin. M. C. Osborn of Santa Cruz and superinten- dent of the gas works in that lively little city is staying for a few days at the Grand Hotel. J. F. Brandon, who for some years has owned and conducted a store at Centerville, is enjoy- ing the holidays in San Francisco. He is at the Russ. B. M. Colwell, who owns mining interests in Nevada and who comes to California only oc- asionally,1s here to spend the holidays. He at the Russ. J. E. Bingham of Washington, D. C., and Miss Bingham arrived here yesterday and will remain several weeks. They are at present at the Occidental. John L. Latham, an old resident of Los An- geles who has acquired large wealth by invest- ments in real estate and business, is among the arrivals at the Occidental. Clarence Eddy, the distinguished American organist, whose home is at Chicagoand who has been giving entertainments at Los An- geles, Riverside and other places for a week past, returned here yesterday and is at the Palace. He will play the great organ ot St. Ig- natius Church three times to-day, during the several religious exercises. CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK NEW YORK, N. Y., Dec. 24—At the St. Cloud, J. P. Storm; Gilsey, J. H. Morse; Im- perial, Mrs, H. E. O'Neal; Murray Hill, W. E. Spratle; Metropole, Mrs, Cowles; Marlboro, T. P. Spitz. = HE GOI HIS ROYALTY. Atlanta Constitation. A certain author had the good fortune to have a volume of short stories accepted for publication by a New York firm. That was a little more than a year ago. The firm was to pay him & royalty of 10 per cent after the ex- penses of publication were deducted. When the book had been on the market & year the author wrote for a statement of sales. “I must haye a big check awaiting me,"” he said, “for the book received good notices, and musi have sold well everywhere.” ‘The publishers received his letter and made ;)m a statement, accompanied by the follow- ng: DEAR SIRY sales of your book of shor: stories, also check for amount due at 10 per cent _royaity. We think the work has done remarkably well, having paid ex- Penses of publication and advertising. Accept our check for 17 cents royalty, full amount due you. Respecttully, etc. The author stared at the fizures, then stag- gered out and asked a drug clerk if 17 cents would purchase enough laudanum to kill a man. PARAGRAPHS ABOUI PEOPLE. Robert Louis Stevenson’s grave in the Apia Mountains is said by a writer in the Sketck to be painfully neglected. Its almost ineccess- ible site may have something to do with that. Among the thousands of photographs brought back by Nansen is one of an attack- ing Polar bear, of which the exvlorer took three snap shois with his camera before he shot him with his gun. Colonel Frederick D, Grant has been visiting the old Grant homestead at East Windsor Hill, Conn. A portion of the house, which was occupied by an ancester of Colonel Grant, is nearly two centuries old. It was little Queen Wilhelmina of Holland who was overheard holding the terrible threat over the head of her most rebellious doll: “It you do not be good at once I will make you queen and then you will never have any one o play with.” Benator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts has presented an interesting relic to the First Church of Plymouth, Mass. It is & consider- able portion of the original threshold of the church in Delft Haven, Holland, in which the pilgrims held their last service before depart- ing for America. Quite in contrast with the materialistic temper of theage was that remark once made ‘We Inclose herewith statement of by Professor Agassiz when offered a higher | salary if he would remove to another position than the one he was so laboriously and faith- fully filling: “I cannot afford to waste my time making money.” ] A Great Succes: The Wasp's Christmas number, which s & h"m !;lnur u‘::nla' of Ban Francisco, her » park ans lden Gate, beautif: pr(nhd in roa. biue and ]om‘z'n the fl:le:’: rrx is the journalistic success of th t i being bought up by the thousands and sent to Kastern friends, who highly appreciate ings look like in winter. SR Letters From the People. MUNICIPALITY OF PARIS. Our Uwn City Government Fery Crude in Comparison. To the Editor of the San Francisco Call—SIR: A formidable barrier to progress in the de- velopment of a good and equitable system which will insure the comfort of the people and the seeurity of life and property in our American cities is the astonishing ignorance which prevails in every community of the vast achievements made in recent years in the management of municipal affairs in European cities, though our conceit is a great barrier, too. But I hope we are outgrowing our con- ceit and may displace our ignorance by can- did study of the methods in use in such cities 8s Glasgow and Paris, London and Berlin, where the problems which coniront us to-day were 0ld when San Francisco was a rude adobe pueblo. 4 “Municipal Government in Continental Eu- rope” 18 the title of a book of 503 octavo pages by Albert Shaw, published by the Century Company, New York, in 1895, which is des- tived to exert a widespread influence in mold- ing and developing the character of Amel'i,&iln citles. ‘‘Parts: The Typical Modern City,” is the title of the first chapter, whicn takés up 145 of the ample pages of this book. In the compess of a few newspaper paragraphs I can only point out some of the most uotable ob- i]:cu 1 such a broad field of inquiry in the ope that it may spur the public-spirited men and women of San Francisco who are now alive to the fact that municipal government is the viial problem before our country and demands a thorough and comprehensive solu- tlon to make a close study of this book. Mr. Shaw remarks in the preface, p. 6, that “Municipal Government, from Scotland to Hungary, is exalting the bacteriologist and the sanitary inspector, fostering the kinder- garten and the technical school, and lnqumnfi anxiously about the housing of the peogle. In other words, “municipsal government” in Europe is no longer asynonym for brute foree appiied to the repression of the lawless elements, but has become a humane influence for the elevation of the uniortunate under- stratum of society, and is growing more hu- mane as added years of experience more clearly demonstraie the wisdom and value of such & course in securing the best results both in the repression of crime and in eliminating the criminal element. It 18 probable that Paris leads all the cities of the world in the multitude of 1ts deft and delicate methods of appealing to the sympathies of the more fortu- nate and prosperous to use the agenciesof the city as a fostering providence to improve the coildition of the poor. Itis not possible to give even an outline here of the cam})lex but wonderfully efficient police system of Paris, deservedly famous the world over for its ability to detect crime and protect life and properiy; nor to set forth the marvelous work of the city in the manage- mentof the streets, the boulevards and the parks and the means of transit; nor to deal with the educational system, which embraces the kindergarten, the grammar and high schools, the technical and night schools, the colleges and art schools, the universities and the libraries, and I must confine mysell to some of the most notable results of these mul- titudinous agencies which go to make up the municipal government of Paris, But I may not pass unnoticed what Mr, Shaw regards as “the most essential factor in the municipal life of Paris,” which he says “‘is not the prefect who wieids the executive authority, nor the municipal council, with its power to control policies and to pass upon the details of & min- utely analyzed financial budget. There can be no comprehension, however iaint, of the governmentof Paris which does not take into account the superb permanent organization of the civil-service system.” *‘Prefects may come and go, ministries may change with the sea- sons and municipal councils may debate and harangue, but the splendid administrative machine moves steadily on,” “the real unity and continuity of the Paris municipality.” The school system of Paris, as Mr, Shaw ex- plains, “with its almost unrivaled aduaptation to the demands of real life, furnisbes a con- stant stream of suitavle applicants for places in the lower grades of the municipal eivil ser- viee,” and “the higher grades and branches of the public service draw upon the splendid series 01 municipal and national technical and professional schools, which train men for every special department of municipal activ- ity. Removals irom the service are not made upon atbitrary grounds and political consid- erations have nothing to do with municipal employment, while faithful continuance in the pubiic service is rewarded ultimately by retirement on life pensions.” One result is an almost ideal public service. With afew brief notes I must close at the very opening of my story. I note in passing that Paris has a police force of about 9000 men all of whom entered the service after svecial training and thorough competitive civil ser- vice examination, with thirty or forty candi- dates for every vacancy. Large revenues are derived from the water, lighting and strect transitservice. “*For ten years past the annual payment to the city by the gas company for its franchise privileges hasbeen albout 20,000,000 francs,” or $40,000,000 in ten years, and the price of gas to consumers is rigidly fixed by the city and is supplied at cost for puoiic iise. ‘What does Sau Franclsco think of that? Ipass the water service, the street service and the wonderiul sewer service to refer to the schools, premising that Paris covers 19,- 275 acres, about thirty square miles, within which is & population of 2,500,000. The rescue, maintenance and proper instruction of friendless children is pernaps the most re- markable function of the pubiic-school sys- tem, in which the State as well as the city par- ticipates. A special fund is proyided for this purpose, a tax of 10 per cent on the cost of all theater tickets snd the gross revenue of all places of amusement yielding a yearly income of three or four million francs and the munici- pal council appropriating anaverage of 20,000,- francs toward this fund. The physical and mental development of these friendiess chii- dren is the agech! eare of the municipality. “Education between the ages 6 and 14 has been absolutely compulsory in France since 1881, and also perfectly free, including books and all other materials.”” Moreover, there are about 200 free “maternal schools” in Paris with from fiity to sixty thousand little pupils in them under 6 vears of age. Inaddition to this there are ‘‘garderies” for small children whose parents are employed away from home during the day, some of which take charge of the children from morning till night. In the publie schools generaly the city provides Warm noon meais at school for poor children. ButIlay down a reluctant pen. Let us learn something of Paris. JO!EP? ASBURY JOHNSON. San Francisco, Dec. 20, 1896. THE LITTLE ARM CHAIR. Nobody sits in the litue arm chair: 1t stands In a corner dim; But & white-haired mother gazing there, And yearningly thinking of him. Sees through the dust of long ago The bloom of the boy's sweet face As he rocks so merrily to and fro With & laugh that cheers tho place. Sometimes he holds a book in his hand, Sometimes a pencil and slate; And the lesson is hard (o understand, The figures to calculate: But she sees the nod of the father’s head, So proud of his Iittle son, And she hears the words 50 often sald: “No fear of our little oue.” They were wonderful days, the dear, sweet days ‘When a child with sunuy halr ‘Was here to scold, to kiss and to praise, At her knee in the little chair. She lost him back In her busy years, When the great world caught the man, And he st sway past hopes and fesrs 'To his place in the battle’s van. But now and then in a wistful dream, Like a picture ot of date. She sees a head with a golden gleam Beut over a pencil and slate; And she lives again the happy day, ‘Toe day of her young life's spring, ‘Wheu the gmall arm chair jusc stood In that way, ‘The center of everythin, ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 0OLGA BRANDON—V. W, City. Olga Brandon isin the East at this time. BoATSWAIN—C, B. 8., City. The pay of a boat- Ewain on a revenue cutter is $50 per month. THE CoLUMBiA—R. B. M., City. The steamer Columbia was wrecked off Pigeon Point July 14, 1896, at 8 o'clock in the morning. To BAN Dieao—F. C., Oakland, Cal The fare from San Francisco to San Diego by rail is $20 and $17, and $15 and $12 by steamer. SMALLEST VESSEL—E. W, L., Suisun, Cal. This department has not been able to find any record of “the smallest vessel thas has ever sailed around the world.”” SUNDAY SEEVICE AT Spa—Subscriber, Oak- land, Cal. Asarule there is religious service on Sunday on board of all of the steamers that cross the Atlantic, such service being con- ducted by the master of the vessel. VISITING CARDS—Subscriber, Oakland, Cal. Itis not improper, and it is fashionable, to have the abbreviation “Mr.” before a gentle- man’s name on his visiting card. Such cards, like fashions, change every now and then. A PAPER OF 1776—W. D., Oakland, Cal. There is no market value foracopy of the Post published in 1776. Such papers are worth just whatever a person who would | delphia Bulletin. ‘wish to be sessed of one would be willing to give for B Fiis department cannot advise you as to who would be a probable purchaser, of the paper you have. BALLOON GAS—L., Haywards, Cal. The buoy- ancy of a balloon depenas on the weight of the gas with which it is inflated, compared with the weight of common air, bulk for bulk. Hydrogen is the lightest of all known sub- stances. A cubic foot of atmo-pherxxic ‘51;'7.:): temperature of 34 degrees weighs 527.0: troyp:ning, while & cubic foot of hydrégen is about fourteen and & half times lighter. Coal gas 1s about two and & half times lighter than air. If a balloon would contain 1000 pounds of atmospheric air at temperature of 34 de- grees p.l{mnen, but filied with coal gas, would weigh, all told, covering, gas and ap- pendages, 600 pounds, it would rise with a iorce equal to the difference of these two num- bers, or400 pounds. ROCKY MOUNTAINS—A. 8., City. The term Rocky Mountsins implies the mountain sys- tem of North America. The name is some- times appifed to the entire mountainous region in the western part of the continent ex- tending to the Pacific, but it is generally re- stricted to the series of ranges which extend from Mexico through the United States, north- northwest and through British America, ex- clusive of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Moun- tains, Coast Range and ranges of the Great Rasin. Among the chief ranges are the Ceeur d’Alene Mountains, Bitter Root Mountaivs, Salmon River Mountains, Big Horn, Black Hills, Crazy Mountains, Shoshone Mountains, Wasatch Mountains, Medicine Bow Range, Front Rauge, Sawatch Moun- tains and Elk Mountains. The l‘v‘{u‘m tra- verses Colorado, I1daho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico. The chief peaks are Blanca, given by one authority as having an altitude of 14,464 feet, while Mount of the Holy Crossis given as 14,167. These are located in Colo- rado. Another suthority gives the altitude of the last named as 17,000 snd the Big Horn Mountain in Wyoming as 15,000 feet, which would make these the two highest in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. Pikes Peak, Colorado, is 14,147; Longs Peak, 14,271; Grays Peak, Colorado, 14,341; Mount Haryard, Col- oraad, 14,375; ‘Uncompahgre Peak, Colorado, BoYS IN THE NAVY—A. 8., City. The follow- ing from a circular of the Secretary of the United States Navy is a full answer to the several questions asked: Boys between the ages of 14 and 17 years may, with the consent of their parents or guardians, be enlis.ed to serve in the navy untli they shall ar- rive at the age of 21 years. No minor under the ago of 14 years, no insane or intoxicated person and no deserter trom the naval or military service of the United States can be enlisted. Boys en- iisted for the naval service must be of robast frame, intelligent, of perfectly sound and_healthy constitution and free from any of the following physical defects: Greatly retarded develonmeut; feeble constitu- tion, inberited or acquired: permanently. impaired general heal(h, decided cachexia, diathesis or pre- disposition: weak or disordered Intellect; epilepsy. or other convulsions within five years; impsired vision. or cnronic disease of the organs of vision; grestauliness of hesring or ehronic disease 0f the ears: chronic nasal catarrh; ozmoa, polypl, or great enlargement of the tonsils; marked impedi- ‘ment of speech: decidea indications of liability pulmonary disease: chronic cardiac affections ernia or retention of testes in inguinal cavily circocele, hydrocele, stricture, fistula, or hemorr- holis; large varicose veins of lower imbs, scrotum orcord: chrouic ulcers; cutaneous and commun- icable diseases: uunatural curvature of the spine, torticoitis or other deformity: permanent disabil- ity of either of the excremities or articulations from any cause; defective teetn, the 10ss or exten- sive caries of four molar teeth, Physical examinations will be made by the med- fcal officer of the ship upon which a boy presents himseif for enlistmen'. Boys mus. have the fol- lowing heights and measurements; g i 2 =2 Se By £x £s | &35z 52 o Fui Age. iy i g2" B ig ig =558 e = E52% i 8 z e s & ‘a SSFe Fourteen years.|4 ft. 9 in. (70 pounds|26 iuches Fifteen years..|4 fc. 11 in.[80 pounds| 7 inches ‘Sixteen years..|5 ft. 1in. [0 pound:|28 inches They must be able to read and write. In special cases. where a boy shows general intelligence and is otberwise. gualified, he may be enlisted, not- Mithstanding his resding and writing are tmper- ect. Each boy presenting himself for enlistment must be accompanied by his father, or by his mother, In_case the father be deceased, or by his lega ly anpointed goardian in caso he has neitber fatuer nor moterliving, and the parent or guar- dian presenting the boy mus: sign the prescribed “consent, declaration and oath,” which forms part of the shipping ariicles, In cases where parents or guardians may, by reason of distance, infirmity or other causes, be unable to appear at the place ot enlistment, tuey will, on_written spplication to the commanding officer of either of the ships upon wholich enlistments are made, be furnished with the printed form of “Zonsent, declaration and oath, ” in duplicate, by executing which the enlist- menis wili be perfec.ed, should the boys be ac- cepted by the board of examining officers. No al- lowsnce will be made for traveling expeases, whether accepte | or not. All boys enlisting as apprentices must -volun- tarly_sign an aereement to serve in the navy uutil 21 years of age, which agreement must, be- fore being signed, be caresully read and explained 10 each boy by the recruiting officer. Apprentices are educated to fill the positions of seamen and petty officers. They canuot become commissioned officers. Boys who have been convicied ot crime canuot be enlisted. When first enlisted and rece ved on board ship apprentices will be furnished. iree of cost, with an oulfit of clothing not exceeding in valué the sum of §45. Boys wiil be eniisted as apprentices third clags, and receive $9 per month. Apprentices third class, who are qualified. after completing thelr tour of service in a crusiug training-ship, wili be advanced to apprentices second class at 815 per month. _Aporentices second class, who are quallfied, will be advanced 10 apprentices first class »t 821 per month after they shall have served one year in cruising ships of war. prentices receive one racion per day. Parents or ¢uardians are required to relinquish all claim to the services of apprentices, and appll- cations for their discharge during minority will not be favorably considered except under extraor- dinary circumstances. Boys enlisted to Serve until 21 years of age will not be permiited to allot any part of their pay to parents or guardiaus until ihey shall have been transferred Lo general crulsing ships. A pprentices will be transferred to fill vacaucies in sea-going vesseis as they become proficient and their ser- vices are required. Upon the expiration of the enlistment of an ap= Drentice he will, if recommended, receive an hon- orable discharge, and upon re-enlistment within three months from date of honorable discharge he will recerve three months’ extra pay of his rating when discharged, a continuous service ceriificate and an addition of one do'lar per month to his pay. Enlistmen:s of apprentices are made on_boaid of the following named ships: Consteliation, Coasters bor Isiand, near Newport, R.L: Vermont, navy-yard, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Wabash, Dpavy-yard, Bosion, Mass.;: Richmond. navy-yad. League Isiand, Pa., and the Independence, navy- yard, Mare Island, Cal, Apprentices aré under the immediate super- vision of the Eureau of Navigation. information regarding eulistments wiil be furnished by that oureau or by ihe commandlag officer of the above- named ships. Apprentices who are enlisted in the East will be ven a course of training at Coasters Harbor siand, nesr Newport. R. L, and those enlisted on the Pacific Coas at Mare Island, Californis, before being sent (o sea. An apprentice may be allowed to purchase his discharge from the service during the first efgh- teen months of enlistment, upon the writien re- quest of his parent or guardian. whi h reqaest must be made upon blanks which will be fur- nished, upon application, by the Burean of Navi- gatlon. Any wpprentice discnarged during his minority at the requ st of his parent or gusrdisn must refund any indebtedness to the Government and value of the outflt furnished him upon enlistment, in adaition 1o the cost of his discharge. NEWSPAPER PLEASANTRY. “Djd you all walk, Shakespoke, after strand- ing at Oshkosh?” 1 but the ghost.”—Detroit Free Press. Allap Jinks—There is 2 man who has a number of movements on foot for making money. Binks—Who is he? Jinks—1 don’t know his name, but he's a dancing-teacher.—New York Advertiser, “Give me a free translation of Ceur de Lion,” said the teacher. “A—lean dog,” vouchsafed Tommy.—Cincin- nati Commercial Tribune. 4 A small boy, who noticed for the first time the gold filling in his aunt’s teeth, exclaimeq 1o thedismay of all at the table: “Oh, Aunt Mary, I wish I had copper-toed teeth, like yours!'’—Harper’s Bazar. “Mamma,” said lttle Mary, “what does amen mean?"’ “It means that you join in with what has been said, dearie—that you appro believe it.” T e “‘Oh, yes, I know,” sald the little girl. *It's the opposite to nit!”’—Harper’s Bazaar. *Is there any general rule for writing Irish dialect?” asked the professor in the schi journalism. sy «‘There is,” replied the scholar, prom: “What Is 1t2" dhsidng “Whenever the letter 1’ appears in what you would write make it read ‘of’ and it’s Irish dialect.”—Chicago Post. 7 Young wife (wishing to please)—Now, dear, what dress would you advise me to wear for th;° eu;gut .t.hll evening? ud husband—Well, I think an accordi skirt, with a brass band around the waist l-:: plped sleeves might fit the occasion.—Phila- AN ATTRACTIVE WAIST. A waist of black novelty goods with dashes *| of blue of a rather bright shade is shown here, The vest top was of blue velvet overlaid with white lace.’ Revers of biack satin are edged ‘with ruffles of white lace, and & belt of black finished the waist. Another waist after the same model was of taffetas in the many-toned effects now shown; the vest was of heavy white lace over crea satin, the revers being of the silk edged with ace. A waist of blue serge had the vest of apple- green silk heavily braided in black in a design of conventional leaves and flowers. The revers were also of the green silk, but braided in Tows set on quite close. IMPROVED POSTAL SERVICE. St. Paul Pioneer Press. An improvement in the postal service, of greater advantage to the public than the pro- posed permission of private postal-cards, would be the introduction of a plan for giviug receipts, when desired, for ordinary mail mat- ter when deposited in the postoffices, on pay- ment of an additional fee of say 1 cent for each receipt. There are numerous occasions when 1t is desirable to retain some proof of a letter having been mailed, for legal purposes, and ‘persons dispatching letters to the postoffice by a messenger would often like a receipt in evi- dence that such letters were properly mailed. But the greatest demand for such receipts comes from book publishers and from city merchants, Who are muking an increasing use of the mails for the transmission of small parcels of not sufficient value to justify the pavment of a 10-cent registry fee. The cash mail-order departments of many stores do an enormous business of this character, and the bility to show a receipt for goods actually mailed, but claimed not to have been received by parties to whom sent, is the source of much annoyance. It notinfrequently happens that a merchant or publisher feels obliged to send £00ds a second time in order that no imputas tion may rest on his integrity. Bank receipts could be prepared and sold by the department, singly or in little books like those used by express companies, only smaller, aud the sender, being obliged to fill up the blank himself with a copy of the address on bis letter or package,all that would remain for the postoffice clerk to do would be to com- pare the receipt with the package and to stamp it with ihe ordinary dating stamp of the office. This plan would involve very little expense to the Government, no liability and no extra care in the handling of the mail. receipted for—all of which could be specified on the printed iorm —and it would be an_ improvement enerally appreciated, while at the same time t would be a source of much needed aadi- tional revenue. It would not materialiy affect the receipts of the registered meil department (especially if limited Government liability for registered packages is assumed as just proposed in the Postmaster-General's report), and no other reasonable objection to it can be raised. Senator Cullom of Illinois has already ex- Prslsed himself favorably to the plan, and a ittle effort on the part of those interested may secure its adoption, although some offi- cials in the Postoffice Department, for reasons unknown, decline to indorse ii. NEW TELEGRAFHIC INSTRUMENT. Baltimore Sun. The multiplex printing telegraph, invented by Professor Henry A. Rowland of Johns Hop- kins University, will soon be put upon the market, Dr. Rowland is at present perfecting the invention and expects in a short time to exhlbit the instrument. He has used a syn- chronous device in his invention and in the mechanical arrangement of the typewriter has used but eight signals, the letters being pro- duced by combinations. The current of elec- tricity transmitting the message can be re- layed, and in this matter the invention can be overated for great distances. When com- pleted, Dr. Rowland says, the new instrument will be as convenient aseasily operated as the ordinary telegraphic dispatching and ree celving apparatus. —_— FRENCH nougat & fruit glace. 903 Larkin, * —————— 4 1bs. famous broken candy, handsome bkts., 50c. Townsend’s, Palace building. > - — EPECIAL information daily to manufacturers, business houses and public men by the Prasy Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Montgomery. * ————— “Yes, I've been hunting for him all day, He seems very much engaged lately.” “He is; and both girls have found 1t out.”— Puck. e Phillips’ Kock Islana Xxcursions Leave San Francisco every Wednesday, via Rig Grande and Rock Island Railways. Through tourlst sleeping-cars to Chicago and Boston. Man. Ager and porters accompany thess excursfons to Boston. For tickets. sleeping-car accommodations and furtber information, address Olinton Jones, General Agent Hock Island Rallway, 80 Mony BOmArY street. San Franciseo “Mrs., Winslow’s Soothing Syrup" Has been used over fitty years by millions of mothers for their children white Teething with per- fect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain. cares Wind Colic, regulates the Bowels and 1s the best remedy for Diarrhcess, whether aris- ing from tee:hing or other causes. For sale by drug- glsts in every part of the worid. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrap. 25¢ a bottla S e i CorONADO.—Almosphere is perfactly dry, sofy and mild, being entirely free from the mists com= mon further north. Round-trip tickets, by steam- £hip, including fifteen days’ board at the Hotel del Coronado, $65: longer stay 32 50 per day. Apply 4 New Moutgomery st,, San Francisco, el AYER's Cherry Pectoral, i used according te directtons, Is & speedy cure for colds. Ask your drogglst for Ayer's Almanac. e . . Acting under authority granted by the South Carolina Legislature, General Hugh L. Farley is collecting, and will publish in per- manent form, the rolls of all the companies raised in that State for service in the Confed- erate army. . NEW TO-DAY. Your anxiety is for your delicate child; the child that in spite ofall your care- ful over-watching, keeps thin -and pale. Exercise seems to weaken her and food fails to nourish. That child needs Scott’s Emulsion with the Hypophosphites— not as'a medicine, but as a food containing all the clements of ' growth. It means rich blood, strong bones, healthy nerves, sound digestion.. . No child refuse Scott’s * Emulsion. Tt is pleasant.and palatable. . SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York .o (f