The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 18, 1897, Page 23

5 =~y H THE. SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 1897 __APRIL 15, 1807 CHARLES M. SHORTRIDUE, | Editor and Proprietor. SUBSCRIPTION RATES—Postage Free: Daily and Sunday CALL, one week, by carrier..§0.18 Daily snd Sunday CALL, one year, by mall..... 6.00 Ally and Sunday Cait, six months, by mail.. .00 mail 1.50 5 th, by mail.. .65 S . 150 Eunday CALL, on W EEKLY CalL, 150 BUSINESS OFFICE: | 710 Marke: Street, cisco, California. Fan Francisco, ! Telephone S Maln-1868 | EDITORIAL ROOMS: | 517 Clay Stree Telephone .. ...Main—1874 | BRANCH OFFICE | 527 Montgomery sireet, coraex C | 8:30 o'clock | | | 339 Hayes street; open until 9:80 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open until 8:30 o'clock. SW. corner Sixteenth and Mission streets, open until 9 O'clock. | 18 Mission street, open until 8 o'clock. | 167 Ninth street, open until 9 e'clock. 1505 Polk street; open until 9:80 o'clock. NW. cermer Tweuty-second and Kentucky eis; open till g o'clock. OAKLAND OFFICH 908 Broadway. EASTERN OFFIC] Rooms 31 snd 4 Park PAVID M. FOLTZ, ¥ ew York City. tern Manager. “THE CALL SPEAKS FOR ALL. Hail, er morning. Beauties, bonnets and bouquets rule the day | The woman question of the day: Is my bonnet on straight Spring has been in town for some time, but until to-day has never had social recognition. The fiesta of the week will bear the name | of Los Angeles, but all California will hsve a share in the frolic and profit by the | slory. According to some of our Eastern ex- changes a synaicate is trying to organize s fish trust, but it may be only another Jonsh story. The objections made by foreign nations to the Dingley tariff will notdisturb us so long as it puts an end to the depression of trade at home. if the first Kaiser William is to be known in German history as Witliam the Great, the present youngster will prob- ably attain distinction as William the Great Scott! Four more States—Massachusetts, Vir- ginia, Ohio #nd lowa—will hold elections this year, and the Democrats are hoping | to carry Virginia as an evidence they are not dead vet. Enrope would have had some chance of sctiliog the Greek crisis and preserving the | veace if she had a presiding officer like | Tom Reed to manage the diplomats and direct the concert. x The Spanish Government has a right to inauire of the powers why they do not help | Spain to hold Cuba as well as help Turkey | to hold Urete. There ou.ht tobe nofavor- | itism in such matters, If Gladstone continues his attacks on the Czar and the Kaiser, they will have either to fight England to get even or sue him for libel. There is no way for them to seek vindication by running for office, The movement in Washington to start work on the Federal huilding in this City will continue to make progress just so long as we continue to follow the trail and see that it doesn't sit down some- where, It is reported that in Chicago the Thomas orchestra has run behind $200,000] in four years, but the hand-organ men continue to come outahead of the game and the musical requirements of the city are satisfied. The campaigning in Cuba will soon be brought to an end by the rainy season and possibly will not begin again. There is & prospect that peace and independence will be in the isiand by the time sunny weather returns. Cleveland has been invited to speak on ‘‘Present Problems” at a banquet to be given by the Reform Ciub of New York and if we listen closely on that occasion we may hear the first rumblings of an- other third term movement headed this | way. It i= said that Rudyard Kipling is to re- ceive $5000 a montb to report the Cretan war for the London Times and as that is much more than Ingalls got to report the Carson fight it will be seen that literary men are still ahead of statesmen in news- paper work. Voting machines were tested at several of the recent city el=ctions in Michigan and are said to have worked well. It reported that in Adrian the count was 50 prompt that the judges were able to certify the result within fifteen minutes after the polls closed. The people of Cambridge, Mass., are talking of celebrating the tenth anniver- sdry of the banishment of liquor saloons from the town, but it is not ciear with what they will cheer themselves with dur- ing the celebration. It would never do to pour cold water on a proposition of that kind. The Senators should take notice of the fact that but Dittle public attention was peid to the tariff debate in the House. The country is tired of talk on the sub- ject, and no reputation can be made by speaking on it. “Senators who wish to ac- quire repute should move for immediate action. It is asserted that Missour! in 1896 paid over $600,000 to Supervisors for directing road work which in itself cost only about $490,000. In other States whose figures for similar work have not been published tiis is regarded as a good joke on Mis. sours, and the people are chuckling over it. Sarah Bernhardt is quoted assaying that she attributes the preservation of her health and youthful appearance to the fact that she drinks nothing except milk dituted with water, but there is a haunt. ing fear that she may have made the statement as- an advertisement for some milk-dealer. A correspondent of the Chicago News ss- serts that an imperial decree forbids the export from Japan of any inlerior art work which would be calculated to injure the demand for the finer work of the people, and consequently sll the cheap | training of the students for swift and | prompr and the student fire brigade both EASTER. The recurrence of a regular annual holiday always reminds us that the various events which have seemed to rise so imp year have not been very important after al ortantly around us during the intervening I, for none of them have in the least decree affected the even tenor of that respective holiday as it has revolved slowly in its orbit around a twelvemonth of worldly yicissitudes. No matter what may have happened to certain individual mortals or to certain individual nations, when any one of the regular yearly festivals occurs the people i r general are_just as ready to observe it as though nothing had intervened to divert them from the happy mood in which the preceding occurrence of it had left them. This Easter 1s but another suggestion arranged by Providence to man, that all his Woes are really not important to the general scheme of thingsiand that there is a great universal routine of events which is designed for the maintenance of is equilibrium | despite all his little gyratings and whims. governor on an engine—it holds the world ever ventures to ignore it ? Mankind, however, is glad of a holiday. | diate fature and expect its most-wonder | ful results. Science and mechanism will { enable man to conquer ice and snow and overcomeevery obstaclg in his way. The north pole has not been reached, but its secrets have been revealed. Most that geography holds of mystery is now to the south, and in, that direction, therefore, are the ‘eyes of ‘the bold' and adventurous directed. A C0AST ARTILLERY RESERVE. As work progresses on our comprehensive system of comst defenses the question of a force to man them s becoming more and more pressing, and at as early a day as possible pro- vision should be made for a coast artillery re- This system of-Christian holidays is like & | serve. Oi what use are all our costly guns level. What mortal or multitude or natjon + All men may not pause torealize the deep nfluence which we have ascribed to the holiday system, but all are conscious of some kind of advantage being derived from it. nature, of course. This is mostly of a transiently pleasurable Men, women and children in all the Christian countries are cheered by the festivities af such a holiday as Easter, even if they fail to realize any other significance in the occasion. They a re less conscious of being influenced—that isall. They are, in'point of fact, influenced quite as firmly as any one else. The specisl significance of Easter as everybody’'s mind as the day comes round. and apart from anything else. It is with t. TuE CALL begs to wish its readers an enjoy her understanding and pleasure. May the can be conjured from their association wit! do them good according to their faiths. war in the Levant. promise of **peace on earth,” war rages be far off. an anniversary is more or less present in That of itself bears an intluence separate he particular spirit of Easter upon it that ment of the day, each according to his or | Easter bells mean all to them that their hearts can respond to; may the Easter flowers wear such semblances in their sight as h the Great Past; may the Easter services Itis a sad fortune which brings to us on this day the news of the declaration of While throughout Christendom the churches are thrilling with music, teiling in triumphal notes of the resurrection of Him whose birth was a tween Moslem and Christian, and peace is Let us rejoice that in our land the blessing of the day is secure, and let us hope that ere another Easter dawns the whole world may be equally blessed. THE UNIVERSITY FIRE. building by fire at the State University but the time spent in sorrow for the loss should be brief compared to that which is given to the study of plans to make nearly impossible the recurrence of such a disas- ter. Perhaps if but a mere fraction of the clear, arduous and scientific thinking which has been used in the accumulation | of the treasures of knowledge destroyed so swiftly in Friday’s fire had been aevotea to the devising of ways and means of making those researches safe for future | reference a very great economy of mental industry would have thereby achieved. The damage is estimated at $20,000, but this is merely what can be calculated as purely commercial loss, and the value of the burned scientific records, which can- not be replaced, it is impossible to approxi- | mate, but it is not an unreasonable specu- | lation to suppose they would reach to ten- | fold the value of the building. A large part of the results of the ten years’ labor of a number of hignly trained minds was swept away in an hour, and it is far from | incredible that in those records may bave | been the possible foundations for further knowledge which by aiding agricultural | achievements would have benefited the | State far into the hundred thousands. Oune remedy for future dangers of this | xind is undoubtedly within reach by the provision of fire extinguishing mechanisms and arrangements and the persistent been | eflicient work in fire' fighting the instant the alarm is given. -Such a long and labo- riously accumulated treasure is surely worth a watchman, and if the alarm was | brave and instructed by repeated practice in the art of concerted action such victory of the flames as has just occurred would be well nigh impossible. THE 0ZAR AND THE KAISER. If Mr. Gladstone’s knowledge of Euro- pean affairs is as comprehensive as he evidently thinks it, then Europe at the | present time is dominated by Germany | and Russia, and all other nations are sub- | ordinate to the diplomacy of these pow- | ers. Mr. Gladstone, indeed, states the | case more strongly. He charges that | Germany and Russia taemselves are com- | vletely under the control of their rulers, and charges thaf the Czar and the Kaiser are the erbiters of the uations and directly responsible for' maintaining the Turkish empire, and, therefore, indirectly answer- able for the Armenian atrocities and the present complications in Crete and Greece. In a letter recently addressed to Damp- zes, the Macedonian leader, Mr. Gladstone says: You might, and all Hellenes might, count upon the sympathies of the people of | this country, and in most matters when you have the sympathies of this people you can | count upon the action of our Government; but it is not the people or the Government of | Great Britain who are directing the course of | Cretan and Greek questions. Under the present deplorable scheme all our Goveroment has to do is to plead for its opinions as if it were before a tribunal of those youth ful despots, the Emperors of Ger- | many and Russia, and to abide by and help | execute their final determinations. The language of this letter is not that of a diplomatist, hardly even that of a states- man, charged with the respousibilities of National affairs. It is rather that of an agitator preaching a new crusade. None the less will the letter have its weight and | influence, for it emanates from no ordi- nary man. Mr. Gladsione is still a great leader, and his leadership was never more apparent than at this time, because he is the only man in Earope holaing a front rank in statesmanship who speaks with a clear, resolute and decided voice on the issues that confront the nations. ‘When men are undecided, doubtful and | hesitating, almost any man whose mind is fully made up, who has convictions and not merely opinions, and who, further- more, bas the courage to assert them and the ability to maintain them with force and effect, is certain sooner or later to dominate the wavering and irresolute multitude ana shape their energies to the accomplishment of his will. It is thisfact which gives importance to Mr. Gladstone’s attitude at the present time. While others are hesitating he goes forward, and it 18 only a question 6f time when the waverers will follow his leadership and join in his crusade, The “‘youthful despots,”” as Mr. Glad- stone calls them, have in this old but still eloguent and forceful orator an antagon- ist in no way unworthy of their power. The throne is no longer superior to the forum, and the man who can speak to the whole civilized world is not unequally matched against men whose words com» mand armies. The Czar and the Kaiser may plot and plan in secret as they will, but 50 long as the people of Europe havea leader of the courage and eminence of Mr. Gladstone, the cause which they sup- port will probably prove the successful one when the final arbitrament is made whether the issue be determined by dip- lomacy or by the sword. The Humboldt Zimes chronicles the birth of a two-headed calf in that region. In and tawdry Japsnese bric-a-brac sold the race of cominginto the world this calf Bere is only an 1mitation made in this | beat all the other calves in Humboldt <QUBiEYs Pounty by a head, The very serious loss of the agricultural | | after the rainy season. | panies, and has failed even in | now advocating such an expedition. NEARING THE END. According to all reports, whether they | come from Madrid, Havana or the camp | Friday last is a matter for much regret, | Of the insurgents, the Cuban war is draw- | ingto aclose. The rainy season, which | will begin in a few days, will put an end | to active campaigning in tbe island, and | the Spantards will then have some months in which to reflect upon the situation and | consider well whether it be worth while to | continue a war in which they have gained | no successes in the past and which threat- ens to be even more disastrous in the future, Purlic sentiment in Madrid seems to be wholly opposed to a renewal cf the war News from that city is to the eifect that the Spanish Gov- ernment not daring to make an open ap- veal for additional troops to conduct the war has attempted to raise private com- that. A call for 6000 volunteers has been followed Dby an enlistment of oniy 200. The oppo- | sition newspapers of Spain have been.en- couraged to make open attacks upon the Government and to denounce the war as costly, cruel and wasteful. This in itself is an evidence that the Spanish people are weary of the strife and will no longer sup- port the Government in an effort to re-| new it. In addition to this demonstration of public sentiment agminst the war there are reports that the Government itself is inclined toward bringing it to an end. It is asserted that as soon as the rainy sea- son sets in, a large number of Spanish troopsin the island will be recalled to Spain. This can hardly mean anything else than an abandonment of the contest, for it is hardly likely thatin the present impoverished condition of the treasury the Spanish Government would under- take the cost of removing large bodies of troops from Cuba to Spain simply for the purpose of protecting their health during the summer season with the intention of returning them to the island when the | weather becomes favorable to new opera- tions in the field. Even if we make a large allowance for errors in these reports there will be enough left to afford reason for believing that the war is virtually at an end, and while Spain mey continue for some time longer to hold her fortified posts in the island, the occu- pation will be hardly more than that | which England continued fora time in the American colonies after the surrender of Cornwallis. The struggle is over. The Cubans have won. Whether the time be long or short before independence is recog- nized, there can be little doubt but what it will be estabiished in the end. THE ANTARCTIO REGIONS. The wide interest which has been re- vived all the world over in the Arctic re- gions by the recently published record ‘of the exploits of the explorer, Nansen, sug- gests speculations both as to the future of the north and sonth poler regions. Al though trips to che neighborhood of the north pole have been quite frequent in recent years the Antarctic country has been neglected for fifty years, and the un- explored and unknown area there is sevenfold as great as that of the land still | wrapped in mystery to the north of us. Nansen's wonderful success in the north will doubtless be a forerunner of similarly skilled and daring penetrations into the region round the southern pole. Indeed, one of the admirals of the British navy is He gives three reazons why this arduous and dangerous voyage should be undertaken. The definite determination of the declin: tion of the magnetic pull would be an im- mense advantage to navigation, both on account of safely and time saved in voy- ages, and this can be done only by fixing the position of the magnetic south pole by explorations far within the Antarotic circle. The science of meteorology will always be very largely imperiect until many observations have been taken in the Antarctic world. His third reason is that in times ot peace it 13 well to keep sailors trained in efforts involving high courage and endurance in order that heroism may not deteriorate for lack of exercise. But there are other thoughts suggested by reading Nansen's wonderfully interest- ing book. He so thoroughly proved his two theorles of Arctic navigation—thata great current flows regularly across the region bearing the whole expanse of ice floes with it and tbat a ship can be so strongly constructed as to resist the crusbing force of the floating ice masses— thatas a consequence of these positively calculable facts we may expect more and more frequent trips across that new world until familiarity and knowledge gained thereby takes away both the danger and the aread of travel there. Nansen found that the comforts and pleasures of life could be attained in the Arctic to so great a degree that it sur- prised even himself, who was so well ac- quainted with frigid realms. With the weather so far below zero that it was ter- rifying to look at a thermometer his men found they could enjoy long walks across the ice just for recreation, and that they had to throw aside their furs as too warm and go clad in woolen garments. The terrors of the north volar region being thus to a large extent dispelled, we can with more confidence and courage undertake the greater work of exploration toward the south. In that vast snd un- known portion of the globe adventure may look for its greatest glories in the imme- and forts without an adequate and at least partially trained force to man them in case of { war? The regular army men, if the cavalry and infantry are set to serve the guns, will never suflice 10 man the fourth part of our heavy guns and their auxiliaries, and yet no steps hiave been taken to form a reserve force. A reserve is an obvious expedient which nearly every nation has adopted in one form or another. By its means the change from & peace to a war footing is made in the least time, with the least friction and with a corre- sponding gain 1n efficiency. No nation has a simplzr military problem to solve than we. Coast defense evidently forms its principal element. Without waiting for the completion of our defenses, which will be 2 matter of years at best, some definite organ- ization should be decided upon at once and & start made toward vroviding an efficlent coast artillery reserve. Without this our defensive preparations will remain incomplete even aiter every gun is mounted. Whether this force should be a State or a National one is an open question. There are meny objections to putting these new duties on the Nation#l Guard, which already has its full share of work laid down. To do 50 would be to sacrifice to a large extent their efficiency as infantry or else put on the State the added | burden of new organizations. The expense of | keeping up the National Guard is already felt | #s & heavy drain on many of the States, and doubtless some of them, in the South espe- | cially, wovld be only too glad to shiit the bur- | den on the National Government if the way | were made clear. However, the Natioual de- fense must not be jeopardized by the fallure or inability of any State to keep the requisite body of men in training. Although we on the seaboard have more at stake in case of a naval attack, still the ques- tion of seacost defense is ecssentially ana truly a National one. The attendent enormous expense and the intricacies of the subject are | such thatit can pe dealt with satisfactorily | only by the General Government and by offi- cers who devote their entire time to it. Under | the State system a difference of methods and | organization would be certain and mfght re- sult seriously in cases where troops of two or more States unite in the defense or a harbor, s would be the case at several points on our coasts. In place of that unity of command, of training and organization so essential to sue- we would find differences and bickerings jeopardize our cause. A complete ‘harbor defense requires the hearty and active co-operation of both ports ither can act lone to the best aavantage. will always constitute & National force, and unity of action, if no other resson, requires all the elements of harbor defense, both personsl and materizl, to be under one direction and this can only be the { General Government. It will slways be an easy matter 10 get 4 suficient number of men io perform the manual labor connected with harbor defense. The really essential matter is the providing end training in advance of & sufficient body of ofiicers and gunners and also of men for the special services such as range-finding and torpedo-work. A practical and satisfactory solution seems to lie In the formation of localized reserves for esch harbor 1o be defended. This reserve would be composed of men specially enlisted and aiso of men of sufficient merit, who have served a term in the regular artillery, and are then transferred to the reserve for & term of years, with the privilege of re-enlistment therein. Reserve men would be required to live in the artillery district to which they be- long and to report at certain times each year to their proper organization for a short tour of duty. This would naturally be at the regular target practice season when the maximum of instruction could be given. For this they would receive a small montaly stipond and regular pay during the period called out. Besides giving an opportunity of securing the force of encineers, electricians, esc., which wili be essential, it provides a way of securing the services of men who have had the training of regular service. With the skort three years' veriod of enlistment, no sooner has a man become & good artilleryman than he takes his discharge, snd the Govern- ment not only loses his services but must train another in his place. Training in artii- lery matters thus goes on continuously, but there is still no increase in size of the trained force. The men on the reserve would be borne on the army rolls and in the course ot a few years we would have an adequaté body of tgained men ready to serve the gunsatamo- ment’s notice. This body would be homo- geneous, reliable and effective. This plan places the coast-defense organiza- tion where it belongs, with the National Goy- ernment. It would in effect double or treble the reguiar forces at a nominal eost and in war the organization stands ready and can be re- cruited up to any iimit desired. This general plan has the indorsement of so distinguished & National Guardsman as General Wingate, Any other organization than a National one will be unsatisfactory, not in accord with the military necessities of the case, and will give poor returns for the time and money expended. With the correct orgenization s the founda- tion the rest will follow easily and naturaily. WITH YOUR COFFEE rcus Aurelius in «Or Epictetus " “well, give me something of Corelli,"”— “hicago Library. Marie Tommy—Isn’t it funny. ma, how ignorant it makes a man when he gets to be & patriot? Ma—Why, Tommy, what gave you that idea? Tommy—Why, ma, didn't the lecturer say Iast nigat that the man who is a patriot should xnow no Nozth nor South nor East nor West —Richmond Dispatch. “How dreadfully stout tne general is get- ting!” “Yes; isn't it fortunete? Otherwise he wouldn't be able to wear all his medals!’— Punch. *“This sort of weather is a trifie hard on you, isn’t §1?" asked Mr. Northside of an ice-dealer. m not complaining,” replied the latter, I sell coal 100.”—Pittsburg Chronicie-Telegraph. The cheapest way to get a reputation for wit is to be elected to Congress. Everything goes there.—Buffalo Expr “Our loathsome contemporary.” says a re- cent issue of the Plunkville Bugle, “makes a few slurs about braying us in a mortar. We want to tell him right nere and now that we are fully capable of doing our own braying- in double column, on the first page, i1 neces sary.”"—Indianapolis Journal. “Belinds, bow do you treat s stupid man who admwires you?” “Really, 1 don’t know; when a man admires me I never do myself the injustice to consider him stupid.”’—Chicago Record. A PEACEMAKER. Syracuse Post. 8o far as it is possible for one man 1o be s peacemaker, President McKinley will have Peace, not only in the Repubiican family, but anall his relations with the - le. He i pursuing a very d:fferent ol £7 trom that of some cf his predecessors. He might be called the Great American Conciliutor, THE PASSING OF THE VETERANS Springfield Republican. Promotions are coming rapidly these days in the upper official circles of the regular srmy. What few veteransof the Civil War are left find the age ot retirement close at hand in the youngest cases. The army will soon be in the hands of officer Walks 0f poace. " Sviseun THE CONSULAR CORPS. Although many years haveolapsed since the late Lord Palmerston, speaking in his capacity as Secretary of State for For- eign Affairs, informed the British House of Commons that Consuls were *‘not gen- itlemen,” yet it may be questioned whether either the official or social status of those most estimable and most useful function- aries has been improved to any extent since that date. They are stiil treated as the sort of iilegitimate brethrea of the members of the regular diplomatic service, are despised as such by the very youngest of attaches, and are usually referred to as ‘“‘those d—d Consuls.”” In some mon- archical countries their very office is suffi- cient to debar them from presentation at court, it being held that the acceptance of a consulship is equivalent to a confession by a man that he is not hoffaehig (that is to say, not sufficient of a gentleman to consort with princes and nobles), while it is rare to find a Consul dining at the table even of his own Embassador or Envoy, save on state occasions and as an act of particular condescension. It is not the consular service of a y par- ticular country that I have in mind 1n writing thus, but the consular corps asa whole. It is a profession which during the last fifty years or so has grown to such a degree of importance to the welfare and prosperity of the nations to which it owes obedience that it has frequently been argued of late that it might be of political as well as economic advantage to abolish the diplomatic missions and to devote the money thus saved tothe development and extension of the consular service. The usefulness of Embassadors, of their secre- taries and of their attaches, except for ornamental purposes, is open to discus- sion, whereas there can be none es to the value of the Consuls, providing of course they do their duty. For Consuls are in- dispensable factors in the intercourse b tween all countries that are in commerci relations with one another. The great- ness, the prosperity, the power and the welfare of nations depend not so much upon the area of their territory or on the number of cruisers and soldiers as upon the extent of their trade and industry. By none can these be more developed and fostered than by their Consuls, and it may be pointed out that precisely those Embassadors have been regarded as the most capable aud successful who, trei passing, 0 to speak, upon the consular sphere, have endeavored to secure facili- ties and advantages for the commerce of their native land. Thus an Envoy who in- duces the Government to which he is ac- credited to abolish restrictions imposed upon the importation of the produce of bhis country unquestionably renders | a more valuable service to the latter than the Embassador ‘who, for instance, presents elo- quently worded notes to the Sultan urging the introduction of reforms in the internal ad- ministration of Turkey—notes which are never acted upon and which are merely filed away among the archives of the Sublime Porte. When Lord Palmerston made his sweeping assertion to the_effect that Consuls were “‘zot gentlemen,” he did not, of eourse, mean to ply that there were nogentlemen among Con- suls, for there are many men of birth and breeding among them. But what he evidently did mean to say was.that it was not indispen- sable thata Consul should be a gentleman, as isthe case with an officer of the army and the navy, with 8 member of the ber or of the diplomatic service. Moreover, it cannot be denied that so little care is taken in making the appointments to the consular service that ithasbecome endowed, so {ar as social status is concerned, with an exceedingly bad name. Probably the best organized and most eflicient consalar service in the world at the present moment is that of Germany. Yet even there the nobiliary and “gentilhomme” is conspic- uous by the paucity of its numbers, the vast majority of the members of the corps being, unlike the diplomatic profession, of bourgeois birth and recruited from the midale classes. Certain of the fattest of the offices of Consul General are held by important functionaries and titled dignitaries oi the Foreign Office at Berlin,whom it is desired to give a spell of service abroad for the sake of broadening their minds. But the ordinary consulships are filled by men who bear names that are plebeian and unknown, save in commercial circles, the few aristocrats among the number being ex-offi- cers of the army, who, haviog run through their money to such an extent as to render the retention of their commission impossible, bave made use of what influence they pos- sessed to secure Government employment, and above all a livelihood abroad. Yet, no matter how the German consular service is composed, it is singularly eflicient, and is kept with its nose to the grindstone by the constant demands thatare being made upon it from Berlin, Its officfals are expected to have their eyes open and to be op the watch for every mew opportunity of pushing German trade. They are Tequired to keep the mer- chants and manufacturers at home fully posted as to the changes in the economic con- dition of the country and districts in which they are stationed, and wherever practicable to induce local traders and manuiacturers to open up communications with the German markets. They adyise their countrymen as to the best way of presenting their wares, they secure contracts for them whenever possible and furnish them with all the points that they can need. Tn one word, they constitute themselves the mentors, the guides and the friends of the Ger- man trader and of the German producer— that, t00,in & thoroughly disinterested man- ner, without looking for any other reward than either promotion or, perhaps,a deco tion from the Emperor. It is thanks to them that German trade has developed to such an extent that it has now become the principal competitor of that of Great Britain all the world over, ousting the English from many of their best markets. Indeed, Gorman trade would probably be victorious all along the line were the quality of the produce aud man- ufacture offered equal to that of the British article or more worthy of the exertion made inits behalf by the hard-working, energetic Teuton Consuls. The English consular service presents a good dealof analogy to that of the United States, with this difference: that, whereas American Consuls hold their cffice merely for a term of four years and are then sent about their busi- ness just when they have had time to get ae- quainted with their duties, their Engiish col- league retains his position until he is retired on a pension on the ground of old age or in- firmity. But the method of selection is much the same in both instances. Men are pitch- forked into the service without any regard to their fitness. 3 . Here consulships are regarded by the Gov- ernment as a meaus for the payment of petty liabllities contracted during the course of & Presidential campaign, whereas on yonder side of the Atlantic consuiships are distrib- uted in & still more haphazard fashion. In many instances they are conferred upon men whose absence from home is preferred to heir presence. In former times—that is to say, in tho days when Thackeray wrote so cleverly of Becky Sharp and of the menner in which she induced Lord Stoyne to ges an Austrslisn governorship for her husband, Colonel Rawdon Crawley, colonial offices were svaflable for this purpose. Bui Great Britain’s dependencies beyond the sea have long since tut a stop to transactions of this kind, declining to be saddled with people who for one reason or another were not wanted at home, and the consequence 1s that the consu. lar service is now the only means left of pen- sioning off claimants and dependents of both sexes, of providing means of livelihood for stewards and often upper servants, as well as the sons of these worthies, for getting rid of convenient witnesses in perplexing lawsuits, and for keeping away from home poor or ruined relations. - This does not mean that all of ber Majesty’s Consuls are of the class indicated. There have ‘been some illustrious names among them, suc! n for, instance, those of Hay, of Richard Burton, of Rawlinson, of Lever, of Sandwich, ete. But what Iaesire to convey is that the appointment to consulships is conducted by Great Britain in identically tne same happy- go-lucky way as in this country, without the slightest regard to their fitness for the im- portant duties which they ought to fulfill. Indeed, one would almost be tempted to im- agine that neither the English nor the United States Government cared anything for the trade and industry of their respective coun- tries. Thus, the British Foreign Office, in- stead of selecting men who have some mer- cantile knowledge for the consulships in Rus- sia, invariably sclects military officers, whose duty, in the eyes of their Government, con- sists not in promoting trade or in openlng up new markets to British manufactures but in securing military information regarding the armaments and defenses of the Muscovite empire, and which are destined to supplement the data supplied to the War Department in London by the military attache of the em- bassy at St. Petersburg. Yet Russia, especially since the commencement of the present refgn, has become a magnificent and as yet relatively undeveloped field for foreign manufactures and industrial enterprises of every kind. Useless as are Consuls of this species to the mereantile interests of Great Britain, they are in every respect superior to the class of men that England employs for her consular service of the Levant. These are not even native-born Englishmen; and, for instance, Alfred Biliotti, the Consul in Crete to whom no small blame for the present condition of affairs in the island may be ascribed, is of Oriental parentage, was born at Makri, in Asia Minor, and has spent his entire existence in the East, seldom coming to England, save on a short visit. Biliotti is in every sense of the word a Levantine, and possessed of all the detects and shortcomings of that nonde- script race. At one time every consular pos: on the line of communication between Malta and Trebizond, extending therefrom again through Erzeroom to Tabreez and Teheran, was held by Levantines, most of them re- lated to one another, and who had com- menced their career as upper servents, in- terpreters and consular clerks. Thus, mot- withstanding the present crisis in Crete, the English eonsulate on the island does not com- prise a single native-born Englishmau in the whole personnel. As stated above, the Consul himself is a Levantine, the'Vice-Consul is a Spanish Jew and the remainder of the staff is composed of a perfect mosaic of nationalities. People such as these have neither the notions nor the principles of an English citizen. They look upon affairs in an sdtogether differ- ent light, and, having hosts of relatives who owe aliegiance to other Governments than that of England, they are naturally oficn influenced by personal considerations to pur- sue & line of conduct that is distinctiy disad- vantageous to the political and commercial interests of Great Britain. Columns of the most extraordinary stories could be written about these Levantine Consuls of England and of other Christian powers, the Consul-General at Alexandria of one of the South European Governments, for instance, being a Syrian Hebrew usurer, who having realized an immense fortune by loaning money atlarge Interest to the unfortunate Egyptian peasantry, has now purchased a title of count for himself at Rome. They do not even come from the better class of merchants of the Levant, but are recruited chiefly from those i1l- defined individuals, half meniul, half interpre- ter, who go by the name of dragomans. Every European in the Orient has his dragoman, who acts as a sort of general factotum, carries messages, manages the servants, makes the purchases, and in fact takes all the trouble off one’s hands. Yet, of course, no one would ever dream of having one of these dragomans sit down to the table with him. English diplomats and native born Britisn Consuls have their dragomans like the rest, and generally very clever ones. Indeed, the dragomans render themselves so indispensable that their em- ployers generally end by rewarding them with a clerksbip in the consulate. In course of time this clerkship develops into an acting vice- consulship, then into a permanent one; and finally it culminates in a full consulship. That has been the career of Raphael Borg, the Brit- ish Consul at Cairo; of Biliotti, the British Consul in Crete, and of dozens of others of the same stripe. Here in the United States England is for the nonce, if not efliciently, always respectably represented as far as her consular officers are concerned, although some of them are shaky about their aspirates, while a few years ago a man was appointed tolook after the commercial interests of Great Britain in & Southern State mainly because, having failed in business at home and having been refused a discharge by the bankruptey court, it was considered advis- able to get him out of the country. Another consulate Is held to the present day by & gallant gentleman whose fortunes in England previous 1o his appointment had iallen to 5o low an ebb that he had been compeiled to aceept the hum- ie position of warder in & penitentiary to keep himself and nis wife {rom starving. That, how- ever, the English Consuls in America fulfill their duties better than the majority of their colleagues elsewhere is shown to & certain ex- tentby the fact that although most of the Brit- ish missions of the Old World are now being furnished with commercial attaches ‘for the purpose of making reports of some practical use concerning the industry ana commerce of the country in which they are stationed, nothing has yet been heard about endowing Sir Jullan Pauncefote's embassy at Washing- ton with any such official. 1t has frequently been urgea in England that ‘he various Chambers of Commerce should be consulted by the Government in tne selec- tion of its consular representatives, and the same recommendation might be suggested in the case of the Unitea States. For it is the manufacturers and merchants who are more particularly interested than any others in the choice of a capable and efficent man. By so doing the President would place the mercan- tilecommunity under obligations to his sd- ministration. And when such a man has been found and appointed he ought to be permitted to hold his office as long as he fulfills his duties in a satisfactory manner, and be made to feel that his removal will only come to him in the event of neglect of duty or misconduct. It takes some little time 10 learn the mere routine of a Consul’s office, and still longer to become acquainted with the <tonomic pecu- Marities and the fndustrial as well as commer- clsl problems of the districts in which he is stationed. Some conscientious United States Consuls go to the trouble of endeavoring to acquire this knowledge, and have then to make way for their successors just at the very moment When they have at last succeeded in mastering the details, and when they wers beginning 1o be really useful to the country. Others do Dot think it worth while to put themselves to somuch trouble, knowing full well thatas soon as the administration to which they owe their appointment goes out of office they will have to vacate their consulship The result is that there is no inducement and no encour- agement to do anything eise but one’s bare duty in the most perfunctory manner—in fact, as little asone possibly can. American con- sulships indeed are looked upon by their holders to & great extent as a mere means of passing a few years abroad at the expense of the Goverament, and in the enjoyment of what they believe to be an ofiicial position with soclal opportunities. It is only when they reach the other side that they find out to their dismay and disgust that the status of a Consul is not that of an Embassador, of a secretary of legation, or even an attache, and that most people in the Old World are dis- posed 1o view a Consul much in the same manner 8s Lord Palmerston, that is, as “‘no gentleman.” EX-AT1ACHE. CONGRESSMAN LEWIS AND HIS CLO HES. Washinston Post. Mr. James Hamilton Lewis, the new member from Washington, was out in a new spring suli yesterday—a creation of lovely brown, with a Prince Albert coat that reached to his heels, with trousers that had the latast beil bottoms, and with spats and other accessori to match. Shiny beaver and yellow glove and a nobby cane completed the new mem- ver’s costume. But there is to be no mistake made about Jomes Hamilion Lewis Iu the langusge of v an, he would assay 95 per cent an‘e‘."’;‘ehr:l : s that Mr. Lewis is pretty near the pure stuff. He wemiouc to the. State of Washington from Georets, aud began work a8 & stevedore for 70 cents a day. He studied faw at night, and wilhin two years after he hed graduated he came to the Usited States Supreme Court and pocketed a $10,000 fee. He was elected to Congress hands ‘down, for there is no one more popular in hi: State, and if he dresses very much like a fashion-plate, itis because, as he himseli says, he has the right to wear the very best clothes that he can buy. P —— PERSONAL. arrived here yester- J. 8. Murray of Eurek: day Senator J. B. Gallagher of Nevada isin the 8. McClatchey of the Sacramento Bee is in wn. "0, MeLellan of Eureks is at the Cosmo- politan, William N. Woods of Minto, N. Dak., is in the City. . g J. Latour snd family of Seattle, Wash., are in the Cit W. H. Cooper of Santa Barbara is here for a brief stay. F. W. Burnett of Los Angeles is a recent rival here, The Stanford baseball team is registered at the Palace. Senator R. M. Bulla of Los Angeles is alate arrival here. A. Zuckerman, a business man of Montsns, is in the City. J. D. Bradley of Merced was among yester- day’s arrivals bere. W. M. Blaine of Firebaugh is among the late arrivals at the Russ. Dr. F. Walton Todd of Stockton has come down for a short stay. J. M. Collier of Fresno, who has lived there several years, is in town. M. T. Florsheim of Chicago is among the guests at the Cosmopolitan. J. Monanein, a business man of Spokane, is in the City. Heisat the Russ. Charles King, a leeding cattle buyer and ahtpper of Hanford, is at the Lick. J. B. Brooks of San Antonio, Tex., arrived here yesterday and is et the Lick. H. G. Rowland, a business man of Puyaliup, Wash., is among the arrivals at the Grand. D. Falconer, a general store owner of Cortez, Nev., is on a visit here and is at the Grand. Preston R. Davis of Santa Rosa, Surveyor of Sonoma County, is here on abrief business trip. i Among the arris S, R. Cowell, Mrs. Victoria, B. C. C. Bates, Mrs. Bates and Miss Mary J. Lock- hart, of Worcester, Mass., who have been at different places on the coast on a tour of pleas- ure, are at the Russ. R. P. Lathrop,vice-president of the Grangers' Bank, Hanford, and engaged in other enter- Drises, is at the Grand. He is a deleeate to the California State Bankers' Association, which meets at Los Angeles, and is on his way there. Alexander Begg of Victoria, B. C., for many years with the Hudson Bay Fur Company &t some of its most remote Canadian posts. and connected with a number of newspaper enter- prises, is at the Occidental. Mr. Begg was oue of the founders and owners of the Seattie Daily Telegraph and is now proprietor of the British Columbia Mining News of Victoria. He is here for a change of scene and a little rest, and will probably remain two wecks or thereabout. 's at the Occidental are W. well and Mies Beaver, of CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. LY., April 17.. ¥ YORK, At the Pla: Sampson, A. Wiibur, D. E. Sier; Impe- T. Derby; Belvidere—E. Livingston; Morton—J. H. pson; Astor—M. E. Gates, Mrs. F John W. Ferris, Miss Mary Ferris and Miss H. Ferris left the Plaza and sailed on the Werra for Genos. Leon Ber- queras sailed for Europe. Max Ludders ar- rived from Bremen on the Spree. . H. BLACK, paiter, 120 Eddy strest. e o CAL glace fruit 50c per Ib., at Townsend's, * . €rEcTAL information daily to manufdctumes. Dusiness houses and public men by the Press Clipping Burean (Allen’s), 510 Montgomery, “ b ol A LADY suffering from severe nervousness ate a quantity of California glace fruit and it completely cured her. Try tnem. Townsend’s, Palace Hotel building. * el 2 N i At a meeting in Philadelphia recently Mi Cummings of South Africa spoke of the schools founded by Andrew Murray- for the Boers and for the desceudants of the Huguenots, in which there are 800 pupils. One bundred have gone out as missionortes. Faster Time on the Santa Fe Route. Three and One-half D.ys to Chicago or St Louis—Four and One-half Davs to New York. Leaving Fan Francisco Mondays and Thursdays, at 5 P. 3., connection s made at Barstow with the famous Santa Fe limited train. Dining-car, buffet smoking-car, vestibuled Putlman, palace drawing- room, sleepers. ‘The handsomest train on earth— equipment and. appolntments faultiess. Daiiy through sleeping-cars, bo.h palace and tourisi, Oakland pier to Chicago. Tickets also s0:d via Ogden, Portland, Mojave, Los Angeles, Deming or Et Paso, to all points in the United States, Canada, Mexico or Europe. Ticket office 644 Marke street, Chronicle Sullding. Telephone Main 1831, — - Railroad Tickets to the East via Rio Grande Western and Denver and Rio Grande Railways, At lowest possible rates, with through Puliman buffet and tourist sleeplog car service every day. Personally conducied excursions leaving Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday. Only line permistinz stop-over at Salt Lake City on all clayses of tickets Detalled information and tickets furnished a: 14 Montgomery street, or 814 California st — As everybody 1s lable to derangements of the stomach and bowels, the Leed of Ayer's Pills is universal. They are the best cathartic. Bt e 1r afflicted with sore eyes use Dr. Isaac Thomp- sell it at 25 ceats. The Iliustrated American tells of the unfor- tanate experience of Mre. Bancroit, the wife of the historian, when attending an afternoon musicale in London. On the way she was at- tracted by a display of shawls in a Regent. street window, and stopping the cab went Into the shop and bought one, throwing it over her shoulders to wear to the social gath- erlng. The astonished guests at the musicale were edified by the sightof Mrs. Bancroft floating through the drawing-rooms with a placard on her back bearing the words “Very Cheap.” NEW TO-DAY. OUR Teas, Coffees, Spices Full of QUALITY. Operating 100 stores. That is why our stronghold is QUALITY. (ireat American Jmporting Tea (o MONEY SAVING STORES: 140 Sixth st. 325 Hayes st 965 Market st. 218 Third st. 146 Ninth st. 2008 Fillmore st, 617 Kearny st. 3005 Sixteenth st. 1419 Polk st. 2510 Mission st. 1344 Market st. 521 Montgomery ave, 3285 Mission st. OAKLAND. 1053 Washington st. 1510 Saventh st. 917 Broadway, 616 E. Twelith st. 131 San Pablo ave. ALAMEDA—1355 Park st. Market_St.. S. F.