The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 9, 1897, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 189 6 The @all THURSDAY ; SEPTEMBER o, 1807 HN D, SPRECKELS, Propriztor. JO Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE ve.....T10 Market streei, San Francisco Telephone Main 1863. EDITORIAL RCOMS 517 Clay street slephone Main 18 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) is served by carriers in this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week. By mail $6 per ver month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL....... .One year, by mail, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE........ccccciiiiitiacsnnacnscssnannns 908 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE. ...Rooms 31 and 32, 34 Park Row. BRANCH OFFICES Montgomery street, corner Clay; open until 9:30 o’cloc unul 9:3) o'c 615 Larkin str SW. corner §: 1th and Mission streets; S »u street; open until 9 o’clock. 1243 Mission street; open until 9 o’elcek. 1505 ot NW clock. 9:30 0’ corner Twenty-second | CALIFORNIA’S NATAL DAY. | e bear flag of the pioneers gave place to the starry banner of the great republic forty-seven years ago to-day California’s mareh of progress has astonished the world Before the gl ttering tale of Marshall’s gold discovery on Ameri- can River sped over land and sea this territory by the sundown shore was comparatively unkrown to the English speaking race. The goddess, Gold, waved her magic wand and the quiet, pas- acterized the days of the Spanish mis- sions became a thing of history. The rush of strong, bold, energetic men from the E.st i wrought an immediate and a mighty change. Tne mountains | vielded treasure enough to revolutionize the financial affairs of | A new civilization was pianted here, and grew The irrepressible American assumed Dorado. Cities sprang | to life and importance in the duration of a single moon, and speedily came the enroliment of California in the sisierhood of States. | toral life which bad cha the nations. with marvelous rapidity. control of the destinies of the new E Then the founders of the commonwealth awakened to the fact that, with all our vast mineral wealth, our fields of vege- table gold held promise just_as grand. The valleys became | dotted with farms, orchards, vineyards. The Golden Gate in- vited a royal commerce; the iron horse annihilatea weeks of tance between ihe Pacific and tue Atlantic; industries muiti- plied and trade ever expanded, until to-day the spirit oi the departed pioneer, luoking from the stars, beholds here the garden-spot of the earth—the terrestrial paradise. There is no soil so fertile as ours; no fruit so delicious and no clime so balmy; no so pictar- esque. Hera is the land of vine and olive, go!d and suashine. Schools and churches are on every hand, and prospe smiles One feature of this Admission day celebration is worthy of special note, and that is the completion of the Valley road from Stockton down the San Joaquin Valley to Visaiia. No longer is there railroad monopoly in the grain belt. California brains and Calitornia capital gave us that com- peting line. Itisone of the crowning triumphs of the day in our State, which has been hampered in its advan cement only through the non-existence ot railroad competition. That bar- rier will soon have disappeared, and California will then be recognized, according to her merit, as, in all respects, the most so large and fair; scenery upon a happy population, | ate in the whole magnificent Union. If the Southern Pacific had a soul, trom the innermost parts of that corpvoration just now would issue a soulful sigh. Sacra- wento has rebelled. The company tried a $30,000 shell-game on the people there, and instead ot submitting they begun shouting | “police.” Of course this is nothing less than treason, but it is of the variety that P. Henry gloried in, and without a doubt the Southern Pacific is welcome to make the most of it. Just as the general opinion that Chilcoot Pass is a place of terror is becoming fixed, appears a man who says he tramped over it for pleasure and got what he was after; that the grades are ea Jod, and complaints not based on any- y, the foo in thing but the biistered heel uf the tenderfoot. somebody has been trifling with thegverities. The only way to| be certain what the pass is like seems to b2 to walk over it. Phinly enough There is a pleasing spectacle over at Berkeley where a num- ber of students are huating for the teeth kicked through the cheek of an associate during a class rusi. It shows a frienaly spirit. After having heeled ten moiars from the jaw of a fellow pursuer of the higher education it is but fair to assist in harvest- ing them and encouraging their replanting. Without teeth. or even with store teeth, the stutent wou!d come to the rushes of other years ill equipped for battle. In the absence of sound teeth to be kicked out, the necessity for kicking out his jaw would be obvious, the process painful, and consequent rebuild- ing of the member a matter of extreme delicacy. Either the students must find those teeth or have their own removed, else will be fastened upon the present suff<rer a hopeless and unjust bandicap. REJOICING AT VISALIA. T is a doubiy glorious Admission day at Visalia. Her people are celebrating not only the admission of California to the Union, but the arrival of the first train over the Valiley road which admits them to such close touch and connection with the outer world as will enable them to bu:ld up their city and carry on their industries unhampered by the cinch of the Southern Pacific monopoly. It is a most useful ani important work the Valley road has done all along the line from Stockton southward. Started in 2 time of depression and disaster, it gave encouragement and well-founded hopes te the people of the San Joaquin, and carried prosperity with it as it movel swiftly and surely from po t to po in its progres:, To every county, to every town and almost to every farm along the route it gave an added value, but to none has iis coming been so beneficial as to the people of Visalia, who for years have been under the ban of the Southern Pacific and lacking in direct through route communi- caiion with the great markets of the worid. The battle in Visalia for progress and prosperity has been waged for years, vut at last it is over. Tue victory hes been Her people will to-day hear the whistle of the locomo- tive that sounds the pean of trinmph and commercial freedom. For her the new era begins. She is now in a position to reap the fuil advantages of ber situation in the center of one of the richest rural districts of California, and there can be no ques- tion but that the enterprise and the energy which enabled her business men to fight a winning battle against creat odds in the past will now under better circamstances accomplish results of such magnitude as will put the city in the rank of the foremost communities of the State. All California will sympathize with Visalia. The whole State has watched the rapid progress of the Valley road with hope and expectancy. There has been from the start a ‘justi- fiable State pride in the undertaking of so vast a work under such circumstances of competition and at a time of such hesita- tion of capitalists elsewhere to venture the investment of a single dollar. The Valley road began at the darkest period of industrial stagnation and fear, and it arrives at Visalia at the first dawn of prosperity. It will not end there. It will go on 1o carry ben- efits to other portions of the State, and before long will place San Francisco in direct communication with the great valley of the San Joaquin. It is truly a day for rejoicing. At Santa Rosa we celebrate the sentiment associated with Admission day. At Visalia we celebrate the emancipation of our indus- tries from the domination cf the monopoly. Both are good and good that we have both. won. The rebels in the Pnilippines neglect in a shamefully care- to read the newspapers. They might have learned any time in the last six months that they are pacified and bappy, yet in a most obtuse and ignorant fashion they go right on fighting. | GOOD RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED. HILE the action of the State Board of Equalization in maintaining the existing assessment of San Francisco, but at the same ti.ae reducing from 1o to 15 per cent the assessments on nearly all other important counties in the State, may not be wholly satisfactory to many taxpayers it neverthe- less amounts to a substantial victory for the county and will result in benefits with which we may well be gratified. It is true the reduction of the assessments in other counties amounting in the aggregate to about $9o,000,000 will entail an increas?d rate of taxation to raise the revenue required to maintain the State government. That in turn will involve a heavier burden of taxation on San Francisco than would have been necessary had the board retained the assessments of all counties as returned. If that were all there is to the problem, we would have nothing to rejoice over, but it is not all. There are other factors in it of no little importance, and all of them count heavily on our side. In the first place it is to be borne in mind that if San Fran- cisco had not strongly presented her case before the board there might have bzen a raise in the assessment of this county and still a reduction in other counties. We weuld then have been much worse off than we are, and to have secured our- | selves from action of that kind is an achievement well worth the efforts we put forth at Sacramento. , A second point in our favor is that it is much better for taxpavers generally to have a higher rate of taxation than to have had a higher assessment. This is due to the fact that in increase of the tax rate will fall equally on all kinds of property, while an increased assessment would have imposed the additional burden upon only a portion of property, as the assessments of money, mortgages and solvent credits are a fixed quantity and cannot be raised above their exact amount. Under the circumstances the poorer classes of taxpayers have been distinctly benefited by the course taken by the board, and the people as a whole have been much more fairly dealt with than would have been the case had our assessment been raised, as at one time seemed probable. A third benefit to us is that the county will not be so heavily taxed by the increa$ed rate of the levy asit would have been had the assessments of the other counties been main- tained and that of San Francisco been raised. According to estimates made by experts, taxes imposed upon San Francisco by the levy required on the assessment fixed will be $180,000 I for the coming fiscal year than it would have bzen had our | assessment been raised to the extent of 2o per cent and those of other counties maintained as they were. Finally, the county has gained much by the fact that the State Board of Equalization has recognized the fairness and accuracy of the assessment made in this county. For a long time past there has been a tendency to raise the assessment of San Francisco every year. A belief seems to have prevailed that our assessments are always too low and that it was necessary to raise them in order to do justice to others. This idea will have no weight in the future. The Board of Equalization has officially recog- nized the justice of our assessments, and hereafter there will be less danger of an increase than there has been in times past. Reviewing the situation, we repeat San Francisco can well be gratified with what has been accomplished. The policy | urged by THE CALL has resulted in distinct benefit for the county. Fair argument has won more than abuse could ever have done, and the officials of the county and the committee of taxpayers who went to Sacramento to protect th: interests of the people have the satisfaction of knowing their labor was not in vain and the results of their work are good. One contemporary engaged in Klondiking the public has itself been klondiked with a neatness and completeness that proclaims a stupidity eveh more dense than had been attributed to it. It happens to be a paperthatchortles loudly and disports in unseemly glee when this sort of thing happens to another journal, and therefore its grievance on this occasion possesses peculiar interest. Over in Oakland a man is undergoing his third trial for a murder. He probably views the experience as a pleasant break in the monotony of jail life and one not likely to do him any particular harm. People who oppose a Mission park do not oppose progress. They simply do not want progress diverted from the extermin- ation of the cobblestone and the antique and odoriferous sewer. SAN FRANCISCO’S OPPORTUNITY. S WE aim to make San Francisco a great convention city, we should take timely advantage of those opportunities which present themselves as stepping-stones to the at- tainment of that object. We must recognize the fact that we have in the field many rivals which, although they may not compare with the Pacific Coast metropolis in natural charms, may be unsurpassed in the matter of vim, vigor, enterprise and perseveranse. The capacity of the city of the Golden Gate to accommodate vast National and international gatherings was fully demon- strated at the late Christian Endeavor Convention, when nearly 40,000 visitors were provided for with ease in every respect. Our matchless climate and picturesque surroundings, and last, but not least, the proverbial California hospitality, served to delight our multitude of guests beyond their happiest anticipa- tions. The golden impressions they carried away of this favored land by the sundown shore will be of immeasurable benefit to us in the future. That one convention was a bhetter advertisement than all the descriptive pamphlets we might ship awav in a decade. We have excellent prospects of securing the Grand Army | encampment for 1899, but we have discovered thst it 1s neces- sary to begin work early if we desire to make the requisite showing in the fina' count for preference. ke Now comes the important suggestion from Bishop John Paul Newman that we try for the quadrennial convention of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which will be held in the spring of 1900, and which will be attended by 600 clergymen and laymen from all parts of the world, There are two com- petitors in the race—Washington City and Saratoga; but San Francisco is already in the position of a favorite on account of the prestige given 1t by the Christian Endeavor success. The emment Mcthodist divine declares thai the very name of Cali- fornia is a wonderful attraction, and, with all the romantic as- sociations attacneld to that magic word to conjure with, we suould not delay in presenting a list of our inducements, to- gether with means and special rates of transportation to the proper committee, which has taken no action yet as to the se- lection of a convention city. It is possible that President McKinley will be among the lay delegates, and the body of 600 members will be only a small fraction of the number of people who will flock hither through the inspiration of tbis remarkable assemblage of church leaders. From China, Japan, India, Mexico, South America, the members will come; from England and Canada; while every State in the Union will be represented. We can have this convention in 1900 if we go to work immediately to secure it. Itis worth our most strenuous efforts. The oppor- tunity at hand is a magnificent one. Let San Francisco take hold at once with ber accustomed enthusiasm and we shall win. As might have been expected, the !ullabaloo raised over Evangeiina Cisneros has only had the effect of injuring her cause. Erain had intended to pardon her, but was forced into the position of not being able to do so without being humili- ated. It may be assumed that Spain has a sufficient load of hu- miliation now to check any impulse to reach for more. bz e The news from the northern gold regions is not wholly satisfactory. When it is about strikes it is vague and shadowy. ‘When it concerns the prospects of suffering and starvation, however, it is explicit enough. The epidemic of yellow fever seems to be ragirg mostly in the Ezaminer office, where the air has long been loaded with saffron germs more or less deadiy. COLLEGE RUSHES, While the question of abolishing interclass rushing at the University of California is ngl- tating the Berkeley faculty and studeunts it might be well to give the public an idea of what & “well-conducted” college rush con- sists of. Ihave been an interested spectator at many college rushes and an actusl participant in one of the severest rushes taat ever took place iu New Haveu—that between the fresnmen and the juniors of the Sheffield scientific School of Yale College, The course at “Sheff”” Is three years, so there is no sophomore class. Soon after dark the two classes coilected in front of South Sheffield Hall. Of course the juniors, who had the experience of the previous year, were better prepared for the conflict. The freshmen who attended regular preparatory schools for Yale kvew something of whatto expect and had made preparations accord- ingly. Fortunately I happened 1o beuf tnis class. We wore football canvas jackets, tightly laced at the neck; our trousers were securely sewea to the waist of the juckets and tied around our ankles with a cord. On our heads we wore handkerchiefs knotted at the corners. Until the hour appointed for the rush to take place the scene wus one of unusual activity and confusion, but not of hostility. Seniors, juniors and freshmen jostled against one au- other and members of each class speculated as 1o the vietory. The seniors were clad in linen dusters, extending to their ankles, wore tall silk hats and carried canes. They were the managérs. It is their duty tosee that nothing unfeir oceurs to the members of either class, and especially to see that the freshmen are not imposed upon. Pugnacious juniors and fresh- wen are discountenanced by other members of the classes, and if the offenders persist in exhibiting their fighting qualities theyare immediately reported to a joint committee of Juniors and freshmen and barred from further participation. It not infrequently heppens that members of the faculty are silent specta- tors. The freshman class was formed ina solid phaianx in the middie of the street, ten stu- deuis abreest; the largest and strongest were placed on the flanks. We put upsuch a firm resistance that the juniors could mot swerve us. In this closely joined ranks we proceeded for & block, and the seniors declared the fresh- men the victors. The phalanx was broken and our line of march was on an unifre- quented street to a vacant block, where mid- dieweight, heavyweight and lightweight wresiling took place between members se- lected froia the junior and freshman classe On the start to the vacant block the freshmen were given the sidewalk and the juniors tried to push and crowd them off it. In this they were unsuccessful, for we reached our destination in full possession of the sidewalk. The “shirting” rush took placeon our home- ward march. The freshmen, as before, were given the sidewalk, and the juniors notonly attempted to take it from them, but tried to disrobe the poor unfortunates that feil into their hands; several o my ciass were left with nothing on but their shoes and stockings. The seniors then came to their rescue and gave them a long linen duster. We had the satisfaction, however, of sending three juniors to their homes clad in seniors’ dusters. When within a block of the Sheff building the rush stopped. During all this time—the rush in the street, on the sidewalk, wrestling matches and the *'shirt’” rush—not a fistic en- counter occurrea, although at times class en- thusissm ran high. You wili now understand what Imean by a “well-conducted” rush. Had the late rush at the University of California been properly conducted, the present question of the abol- ishment of what I consider to bs the best of coliege customs would not now be agitating the faculty and students of that university. _ YALE. PERSONAL. C. L. Adams of Visaila is at the Lick. Rev. M. O'Reilly of San Andreas is at the Grand. A. B. Rodman of Woodland is at’ the Ocel- dentel. Congressman Marion de Vries of Stockton is at the Grand. W. A. White, a Deputy Sheriff of Los Angeles, isat the Grand. D. S. Rosenbaum, the Stockton merchant, is registered at the Palace. D. D. Fagan, a merchant of Whatcom, Wash., is a late azrival at the Grand. E. Wilzinski, one of the leading merchants of Sonora, is at the Baldwin. ¥. H. McCullough of Los Gatos 1s at the Pal- accompanied by his wife. Dr. G. H. Worrall of Santa Clara is at the Grand, accompanied by his iamiiy. George Lingo, a cattle-raiser of Birds Land- ing, is making a short stay at the Grand. State Senator Frank L. Coombs of Napa, ex- Minister to Japan, is registered fit the Grana. William H. Carlson, ex-Mayor of San Diego, is at the California, registered from Los An- geles. G. McM. Ross, a mining man of Copperopo- 1is, is at the Occidental registered from Peta- luma. William Best, a cigar and tobacco manufac- turer of Chicago, returned yesterday to the Palace, F. Loui King of San Jose, discoverer of the Tombstone mine, is a late arrival at the Palace. Dr. A. E. Osborn, superintendent of the Home for the Feeble-minded at Glen Ellen, 1s at the Grand, R. A. Boggess, owner of quicksilver mines at Sulphur Creck, is among the late arrivals at the Occidental. Dr. B. F. Fox of Sacramentoregistered at the Baldwin. He is a member of the Califor- nia State Velerinary Medical Association. Among the late arrival at the Grand are State Senator and Mrs. Thomas Flint Jr. and Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Flint, all of San Juan. Among the arrivals at the Russ are A. B. Dalgity, & silmon-packer of Nushagak, Alaske, and A. J. Smith and Ivar Tronsen of Alaska. George H. Armstrong of New York and W. J. Kird of Cleveland, Ohio, on a tour of Cali- fornia, are stopping for a few days at the Baldwin, H. E. King of Natal, South Africa, and W. 8. Taylor of Kobe, Japan, traveling Zastward to- gether for pleasure, are guests fora fcw daygs at the Occidental, Among the arriva's at the Palace are Baron G. von Schroeder, Baron A. von Schroeder and their cousin, E. von Abercron, a'l relatives of Baron von Schroeder of San Rafael. They have just reiurned from a visitto Catalina Island. Arthur L. Pearce of London, owner of a larze number of mines on this coast, and John R. Mitchell of Colorado, a mining expert, are guests at the Palace. They areon their way 10 the mining districts of British Columbia, just north of Spokane, Wash., where both have mining property. H. E. Huntington, agent on this coast for his uncle, C. P. Huntington, president of the Southern Pacific, will leave here to-day for Mexico on a ten days’ tour of inspection, de- voted partly to the Soncra Reilway, owned by the Southern Pacific and running practically from Benson, Ariz, to Guaymas, Mexico, on the Guif of California. CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, N. Y., Sept. 8.—At tne Plaza, J. W. Robbins, Mr.and Mrs Little; Cadilinc, L. Bonestell: Hotland, J. D., Mr<. and Misses Hawiey, Miss Davenport; Grand Union, L. C. H. Warner; Sturtevant, M ss L. Bryne; Hoff- man, 8. B, Carleton, A. A. Andrews, 8. B. Par- son, E. Rosendorn, C. P. Waterhouse; Murray Hill, J. L. Daniels. left the Piaza to sail on the WHY NOT? New York Times. Hundreds and hundreds of men enlist in our navy only to arrive at the conclusion that they have thrown away three years of their lives, and as soon as they have served out their time they seek other employment. The author- ities complain thatlong-service men are scarce apoard our warships. And so they always will be, when it is a service without hope. ‘Not only in the studious time of peace, but even in the trylng time of war & sailor is always u sailor, and he can never be anything more than a carpenter or a boatswain. Surely there must be men slecping in hammocks who have the same capacity 1o become lieutenants as the soldier has. Wby not give them tne chance? H. A and Mrs. Baldwin | i l ~ MUSIC AND MUSICIANS, Since the recent epidemic for reviving Mozart’s operas crities have said again and again that to sing the master’s works had be- comen lost art. An American prima donna, Miss Margaret Reid, however, has just proved that a nineteenth century vocalist can stiil do justice to the florid vocal scores of Mozart. Her Zerlina, in ““Don Giovanni,” has perfectly charmed London audiences at Covent Garden. She sang the two immortal songs, “Batti, Baiti” and “Vedrai Carino” peautifuily. The London press, which rarely speaks of a second periormance. made an exception in herfavor, several of the papers mentioning her in the highest terms of praise. The Musical Courier asks whether it would not be advisable to have her over to this country to participate in musi- whence the flames first sprang. This is the third theater that has been burnt at Mascara since 1879. The opera-house of Frankfort, in Germany, is certainly very enterprising. During the summer season just closea it produced no less than eignteen operss which had never been seen in the city before. —_— WHO S21D THERE WAS TROUBLE. Providence Journal. “We be poor men,” say the trustees of Brown, “and Andrews Sah!bis botn ourfather and mother, and we love him much. For the up-keep of his reputaticn we are forced to pay cal performances, as the opera hiatus at Covent Garden will give better opportunities | than ever to American ariisis in this country. | Alfred de Lastolar, a famous French eritic, touches up this year's festival at the sacred | Wagnerian town of Bayreuth in the following style: “The audiences were more mixed than usual. Icannot believe that all these women end younz girls are really adepts in the re- ligion of Wagner. Fanatics Liave been pitterly deploring the frivolity of the 1897 pilgrimage. ‘Look how many opera glasses, they cry, ‘Why, we might be in a mere theater.’ A 'few minutes of waiting for the perform- ance to begin and suddenly derkness and si- lence reign supreme; the service is about to be solemnized. From the invisible orchestra come, as from the bowels of the earth, the strains of vioiins, the sounds grow in volume | toa magnificent overture, the curtain goes up, | and the first scene is dispiayed. Till now it is perfect, the singers have not yet sung. A wise man would take his hat and go, if the crowd was not so great that it is impossible to beata | retreat. The worst of Bayreuth is that they | sing here. This year they have given us ten-/ orsand barytones who would not be tolerated on any provincial staga in France. I can fm- agine 1.0 torture comparable to that which has been inflicted on us by the Amfortas, the Siegfrieds ana the Gunthers this year.” The following programme will be performed to-night at the concert to be given in Golden Gate Hall by Carl Waither (the Belgian violinist), Efiie Eiuine Hext (reader) and B. Kolb (the Bohemian pianist): Pianosolo, “Con- cirt Fantasie on Bohemian National Songs” (Nnpravaik), H. Holub; recital, selected, Effic ine Hext; violin solo, selected, Carl Walther; “The Curse Scene” (Augustus Daly), from *‘Leah, the Forsaken,” Effie Elmine Hext; violn solo, selected, | mazurka (Wieniawski), Carl Walther; piano solo, * Polonaise E flat major” (Mosz- kowsk1), B. Holub; monologue, »When Jack Comes Late” (Bergen), Effic Elaine Hext; violin solo, “'Souvenir of Haydn’ (Leonard), introducing variations on the “Hymn to the Emperor,” and a violin duet, unaccompanied, Carl Welther; statuesque posings in Greek costume, Miss Hext. Minister Rudini, soon after the accidentat the charity bazaar in Paris, issued & circular commanding the Prefects of ltalian cities to sce that rigid regulations were observel for securing the public aguinst a stampede in | case of fire. A comumission was also appointed to examine the condition of the theaters in Rome. According o the report this commis- sion has just made it s:ems that every theater in the Italian capital ought by rights to be clesed. The Costanzi is the oniy ome in | which the audience would have any chance in‘case of a fire. The celebrated municipal opera-house of Rome, the Argentina, is said by the commission o have wiolly inadequate | means of egress; so has the Valle, but the | Metastasio and the Rossini are declared (o be be in a worse condition, and the commission advises the prompt demolition of the Man- zoni, the Politeama and the Trastevere. Mancinelli's new opera, “Hero and Le- ander,” is heginning to make the tour of European opera-houses. The Theater Royal, Madnd, will mount it early in November with Darclee and De Marchi in the leading rcles, | and the Theater Rozal, Turin, will open the | winter season with it. The work has already been secured for Covent Garden next season. Mancinelli’s name 1s almost & household word to American opera-goers, owing to his connec- tion with the Metropolitan Opera-house, where he conducted the performances last winter and for several previous seasons. The cyelist is becoming ubiguitous. Even grand opera is naot henceforth to be sacred from :he wheel, The latest wheeling news is that Mass net is writing a eyelists’ chorus, to be suug in his new opera, “Saffo,” in which Calve will create the leading part. The mas- ter has been remonstrated with on the subjct, but ne is said (o have replied: “It may be a new departure in grand opera, but if will make a great effect.” Musical papers are pre- dicting that Hamiet may soon be promenad- ing the ramparts of the castle of Elsinore on l{ wheel. A Norway s about to have the opening cere- monies of a big new national opera-house at Christiania. It is said, however, that there are general complaints about the style of the building being ugly and heavy. A Danish poet on seeing the new opera-house is quoted as having exclaimed, ‘‘But this is not a theater—it’s a crematory!” A nine days’ wonder in European musical circles i the flight cf the French novelist and poet, J. Richepin, with the youag wife of Ganne, the composer. Richepin is 48 years of age and a grandiather. He abandoned his wife and children, but took with him in his fight his little grandchild. Verdi’s first opera, “The Countof San Boni- facio,” has been translated into both French and German, and will be performed in several opera-houses on the 13th of next meoath, when the master will celebrate his eighty- fifth birthday. The work is said to be very melodious, and it is expected that general in- terest will be revived in it Aiter closing the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro and sending his pupils away for a well-earned rest, the indefatigable Mascagui held & couference on the theme, ‘“‘Artisti di Canto” (Singers) for the “Dante Alighieri” Society, He is now preparing to go to Stock- holm to direct a series of concerts. The little opera-house of Mascara, ia Algiers, was recently reduced to ashes in spite ot deter- mined efforts to save it. As usual no one knew | are more than all our moneys. Why bas ‘every one looked npon us with the idea of disfavo lhere never was any commitiee appointed, never was any talk of asking the Sahib to re- ure, never was any trouble of any kind. We oor men and we know nothing.” This isall the information Rudyard Kipling says that ever could be obtained concerning & slight unpleasantness which once occurred near the sacred city of Benares. All summer long the press, pulpits and oracles of the United States have been kept busy discussing an alieged attack upoe the sacred right of free- dom of speech. It now turns out that 1t was allan eleemosynary sttempt to advertise a modest 10-cent magazine published on the | banks of the Hudson. and on the whole every | one must admit that it has admirably suc ceeded in the purpose for which it was de- | signed. WHEN LOVE GOES A-REAPING. When Love goes a-reaping Toe tares are in the wheat, Bat here ana thers flower He kisses and makes sweet. Shine, Jear, and shower You with 'Love shali meet ; But bitter (hough the flower, Iils lips shal leave it swest! Dark skies above. dear— Red thor! But one ki Sweetens a 1i: of strife: of Love, dear, " FpANK L. STANTON. A FOOLISH PROPO:ITION. To the Editor of the San Francisco Call—SIR: Your wise and timely editorial in THE CALL of September 3 entitled ‘*A Foolish Proposition” merits the careful attention of the framers of the proposed new charter if there is really any inteation on the vart of (hose gentlemen to | consider seriously the foolish proposition to incorporate a provision whereby men may be voted out of office. That proposition was one of the political de- | mands of the Peovle’s party of California until last year, when I succeeded in celling the at- tention of the Populist leaders to its impracti- cabi)ity and danger, and had it stricken from the Siate platiorm by a nearly unanimous vote. I wish here to briefly state some of the | reasons I urged against it at that time. Suppose A, B and C to be candidates for the same oflice. A and B each reccive 1000 votes. C receives 1100 votes and is elected. But there is & provision of law that a majority may vote a man out of office. A and B com- bine thelir 2000 votes, woich are a mejority of 900, aud C s voted out. This process may be repeated indefinitely, 8 species of political perpetual motion, keeping the people in a turmoil and giving them no service irom the officer chosen by them. The only person who conld held his office in a plurality district woulid be a hold-over or ad interim officer, and under such a syst:m the interim would be continuous. The vossibility of combining with a miner- ity party to voie out even a majority candi- date would soon lead iactions of his own party who had voted for him for party success 10 as- sist iz voting bim out with ‘a view 1o fac- tional supremacy within the party. When I first brought up this objection it was made & point of personal attack upon me as & Populist editor, that the objection indi- cated a want of confidence in the people. Not | s0. The sober second thought of the people is | always right. It is the hasty judgment oi the people that hangs innocent meln, not the or- derly procedure of law. | And it is the hasty judgment of men that istobe feared in this instance, where it is proposed to remove the balance-wheel of fixed | tenure of office during good behuvior until | the term expires and leave the officer at the | cy of any sudden prejudice that may | :“‘-"..';"mn belore they take the sober second tnought. The present method of removing men from office is ample and orderly. The proposed “imperative mandate” is disorderly and would lead to an anarchy of the most san- guinary type, where the whole strength o: factions and minorities would be put forth in repeated altempts, not to persuade otnhers to {heir way of thinking in order to carry out their ideas in government, but to vole men out of office. There are otner very ser 3 the proposition, as » matter o! praciice, whieh | 1 wiil not offer at this time. THeE CALL docs well to teke note of the matter, for the idea has a great fascination for nearly all discon- tented minds who have not seen the fallacy and the danger of it; and thousands of men are a-tively urgtug it at this time as a measure of political saivation from ‘“tyranny.” The tyranny of 4 mob1s more to be feared than the tyranny of law. There is no occasion for Americans to submit to either. MELVIN SNow, Editor Equity, Santa Barbara, Cal. N —_— WITH YOUR COFFEE. fous objections to | “What a lovely bouquet!” “Yes; I'm taking it to Mrs. Wells, as this is her birthday.” “But I thought you were not on very good terms with her now.” *Neither I am, but this is her fortieth birth da; nd she knows that I am the only one who knows it.”—Judy. “f am afraid.” said Maud, thoughtfully, “that Willie Wibbles will never come here again.” id he go away in a pet?” asked Mamie, “Well, some of him did. Just before he started my dear little dachshund bita pieez out of him.”—Washington Star. Tableton—They say those people who are rushing out to Klondike won’t geton an av- erage one square meal in fortnight. Boardmau—I didn’t know so many of our | Fremont, WADNG THE LAWS Bills Rendered -for Payment Which Look Rather Suspicious. However, the Board Did Not Adver- tise for Bids as Specified and May Be to Blame. There is a clause in the consolidation act regulating or defining the powers or duties of the Board of Education—pos- sibly heretofore overlooked—which may materially interfere with bills preser’l‘ted by contractors for last month's work. The act provides that ail work to be done which will cos the City the sum of $200 or over shall be advertised for and given to the lowest respon=ible bidder. Now the bills presented for yayment speak for themselves, and show that there 18 a way,and formerly clever way for some one, may be the contractors, to dodge under the order. During last month there was over $6000 amount of work done in repairing and refitting pub- lic schoolhouses, yet there has not been one bill turned in 10 the board calling for an amount over $200, or at least the records do not show it. Possibly the expense which would be attached to the City for advertising has prevented the order from being carried out, or, again, it mi-ht be possible that the honorable board was not cognizant of the law, but the fact exists that bills for work which will aggregately amount into the hundreds have been put in for pay- ment in pieces amounting to from $100 to $198, thus escaping the wrath of contrac- tors who may bave possibly been induced todo the work themselves, if advertised for, at even a lower rate than will be or has been heretofore paid. All these bills, coming to the attention of the board at the same time and in sucnh amounts, may be ciassed as coincidenoes, but it is evident ihe contractors are aware of the board’s ignorance concerning the law, and have consequently taken advan- tage thereof. On the 29th day of last July D. R. Perry, a contractor, bad a bill jor $195 before the board for payment for furnisting, as per agreement, labor and time in fitting the Horace Mann Grammar School with out- side steps, as well as doing some inside work thought necessary by the board. On August2 a bill for repairs on the same building amounting to $88 was added, and again $37 80 was due him for repairs on August Consequently work was done by Mr. Perry amounting to $320, but no bid was advertised. Bills have beer presented to the board for vpainting the interior and exterior of La Honda public school, but in slices of $125 and $175. The halls have been tinted in the Fremont and Lafayette schools, and the work was stated to be worth §$240, but the bills have been presented in smaller amounts, and again no bids have been cailed for. The bill presented by F. P. Cox for reslating the blackboards in the Redding and John Swett schools called for a toial of $261, but $65, $70 and $126 were the amounts put in sep- arately for payment. All these bills were dated August 21. MEN AND WOMEN. The son of the late John Millais, the former president of the Royal Academy, will snortly publish & life ot his father. Clement G. Morgan, who was the orator of the class of’90, Harvard, is an alderman of Cambridge. He issaid to bethe first colored man elecied tosuch a placein a Northern city. Queen Wilhelmina of Hollana flatly refuses to marry Prince Bernhard of Sae-Weim. whom her mother, the Queen Regent Emma, selected as the young Queen’s husband. The Tittle Queen declares she will remain single until 1899 (she was born in Auzust, 1880), and will then select her own huspand. Thomas Hussey, beliringer of Lelgh, in Lan- cashire, 85 years of age, 1ang the church bell in honor of Queen Victoria’s long reign. He had rung the mourning peal for George 1V, and also rang for the coronat'on and death of William IV ana for the accession, coronation, wedding and fifty-year jubilee of Queen Vice- torin, Prince Max of Saxony, after years of mis- sionary work in Whitechape!, has returned to Dresden. Hesays he awaits the deeision of his Bishop whether to return to Whitechapel, though the members of the royal family at Dresden are exerting tneir influence to with- draw him from such work and install him in some court religious position CALIFORNIA giace fruits, S g et SPECIAL information daily to manufacturers, business houses and public men by the Press Townsend's* Ciipping Bureau (Allen's), 510 Montgomery. * SrE sl fa Mills College Set Right—Fully Acored- ited. Through an error of the reporter Mills Col- lege was included among the schools discrede ited in English by the university. In correc- tion of this error the following official state- ment was sent to the colloge: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Office of the Recorder of the Facultiss § August 25, 1897 Newspaper statements to the eftect that the preparatory department of Mills Colleee hud en discreditea in English, subject 14, are certainly not founded either upon facts or upon the oflicial announcements of the university. Whilc it is true that English 14 does not anpear in the list of subjects in which your prepara- tory department 1s accredited, it is also true, &s shown by your application for acered;tin g, filed November 30, 1896, tua: you did not ot fer English 14, but 6ffered the regular alterna- t.ve, modern language 15. The Eng!ish work that you offered was 1uily aceredited. Re- BD.L‘CUIHI)‘, 31 JAMES SUTTON, Recorder of the Faculties, Sl R LOOKING FOR A GREEK PASS. Indianapotis Journal Besides being & dipiomat, the Sultan must be something of a wag, since no one who does not possess that quality would declare that lack of money to pay ior transporiation is the cause of his arm+ remaining in Thessaly, HuBER'S Orchestra has returned from Del Moute. Uiders received at Sherman, Clay & Co.'s. ONE FOOL CURED. Louisville Courler-Journal Relying on- Mr. Bryan's staiement that ‘wheat would be worth only 50 cents this year if the silverite candidate for President shoula be defeated, FArmer Sherman of Lapel, Ind., coutracted & year ago to sell his wheat at 68 cents. The loss is cnanging his polities. ———— e XEW TO-DAY. ———e Royal makes the food pure, ‘wholesome and delicious. boarding-house keepers had gone out there.— Yonkers Stateman. “Do not insist, my dear! I shan’t tell you what I am going to give you, for I want to sur- prise you on our wedding day.” “Tell me quick then, for the greatest surprise would be to see you keeping your word.”— Journal Amusant. “I suppose you were very much surprised *Well, everybody else was.”’—Pick-Me-Up, l Absolutely Pure "ROYAL BAKING POWDER €0., NEW YORK.