The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 11, 1897, Page 6

AN FRANCISCO CALL ATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1897 Séi’TE.’HBER 11, 1897 T SPRECKELS, Proprictor Address All Communications to W. S. LEAK E, Manager. reet, Ban Francisco | 517 Clay street 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 year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL......... ..One year, by mail, $1.50 A NEEDED REFORM. HE sectional controversies and contests which arise every Tyear over the action of the State Board of Equalizers in adjusting assessments among the counties of the State may be taken as sufficient evidence that something is wrong | with our system of performing that important work. Allowing as much as we please for the tendency of taxpayers to be dis- satisfied and to find fault with any assessment which may be laid upon their property, there remains the fact that where there is such general and continuous discontent there must be something to provoke it and prolong it. contents to some man or set of men on the board. Year after year some of the Equalizers are s=t up as targets for public criticism, and are made the victims of every form of verbal as- OAKLAND OFFICE...... eessans .908 Brosdway NEW YORK OFFICE Rooms 31 and 32, 34 Park Row. BRANCH OFFICES—! 9:30 o'clock Larkin street; op:n until 9 27 Montgomery strest, corner Clay; open until | open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 | ock. SW. corner Sixteeath and 2518 Mission street; open street; openuntil 9 o’clock. 1503 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second 9 o’clock. WHAT GRADE OF C(RIME? HE Eraminer yesterday was guilty of obtaining money by false pretenses, an act that ranks as a misdemeanor, or may at times rise to the dignity of a felon Tpe CaLL isready to admire enterprise even in a conter- porary i denied the pleasure of esteeming, but it is opposed to the sale of gold bricks, unless the bricks be genuine. The wextra” issued by the Ezaminer Friday morning was not enter- It was the visible token of a desire to impose on a public forced through recular issues of that paper to suffer There was no valid excuse for the yellow flakes of joui- nalism with which the City was bestrewed—the shower consti- tuted an Professing to give news on subjects concerning which interest i technically known as a “‘rehash” of information familiardays ago. The illustrations were old-stock cuts, eome of them already printed at least once, and having no pos- eib'e bearing on any late developments; simply such cuts as fently kept on hand to be used in what the master minds | fron journalism consider to be an emergency. To mem.n; 0 ble opportunity to deceive people is an emeigency. In this extra was an abundance of large type. A line reac- ing heroically across five columns announced, “Starvation Stalks at Dawson!”” That starvation is doing this is 2 melan- choly circumstance long predicted and repeatedly verified. The arrival of the Cleveland at a British Columbia port was made | the occasion for the extra, and yet the Cleveland, sailing but a | few hours aiter the National City, brought absolutely nothing concerning this pdint that had not been brought earlier. It simply confirmed reports so well authenticated that no shadow impertinence. t fever heat they cave what is accompa | | | | of doubt as to their somber accuracy had remezined. Butan extra means nickels. kels appeal to the master minds | hereinbefore mentioned. the story of starvation, the sume | story thatcan be read in any paper printed in the last week, set forth anew. The stranding of the Weare was detailed agpin without the addition of a shred of a fact. The loss of two blades of the Excelsior’s propeller was the one incident connected with Kiondike which appeared amjdst all this mess of words and office rubbish. Tha breaking of these blaiea would not, however, justify a wild, triple-headed | Other reported information in relation to that boat is vague and stale. It is said, for instance, to have a certain | amount of treasure aboard. Nobody confirms the tale. 1tis| only the estimate of people exercising their right to guess, and who bave been guessing for lo! these many days, as refarence | to files of any local paper will demonstrate. Apparently without the knowledze of the editor one item of actual news strayed in, but it was lost in the sea of slush, had nothing to do with the gold field and was not urged in mitigation of the offensive extra. Taken at its worst—which from a news standpoint is its best—this news was less startling than has lately turned up daily in some portion of the United States, without producing any extra affliction. 1t was so vague that the painful thought arose that another extra would be | nec:ssary to explain that the yarn was amputated from xhe" leg of an Andree pigeon, these birds being notoriously prone to | trifle with human faith. The measure of conlirmation vouchsafed one paragraph of the extra affords no shadow of excuse for the crime of obtain- ing money by fslse pretenses. If the Ezaminer desires to utterly lose the confidence of the pecple, already severely wrenched and never very secure, it could find no more effective way than the producticn of bogus extras, the hawking of chest- nuts. Readers of tne Mission-street y are accustomed to incidental confidence games, but not to seeing the whola estab- lishment resolve itself into one big game. When an episode at a theater is expanded into a *“pani 80 that accounts may oc- cupy the better part of a page, they have learned to conclude there was no panic and to look elsewhere for confirmation even of the episode. Yet to ger out an extra edition on a purely bunko basis is felt to be pressing the limit. Perhaps the young men who run the Ezaminer now have been given a large supply of rope in the hope that they may hang themselves. Laudable as the object, the method involves bardship to the delud ed and innocent outsider. alarum. Information is sent cver anew that Queen Victoria, during the late misunderstanding in this country, “saved the Union.”’ It was very kind of her, indeed, and suggests the statement of the small boy that pins had saved thousands of lives. It will be remembered that when the small boy was pressed for par- ticuiars he kindly cleared the matter by explaining that this had been done “by not swallowing them.” Shall Bquirrel Hollow, long tbe scene of the innocent gamboling of its frisky-tailed natives, be given-over to a lot of imported moukeys subject to the mange? An impression that it won't is steadily growing. Real éstate gentiemen so fortunate es to own the place will have to think of a new deal, or keep it. One way to overcome the motion of a streetcar is to let the car collide with another, and stop in fragments, A second way is to provide the car with brakes. The latter plan commenas itself, and it could be wished the Bouthern Pacific might over- come its prejudice against it. Each vessel from the north fails to bring any considerable amount of treasure, and in every instance explanation is made that the vessel next to follow will have the gold on board. For a time this was satisfactory, but careful scrutiny shows that it | succeeds in that obj: sault, from mean insinuations to open and outrageous charges of official misconduct. As the same attacks are made, how- ever, against each succeeding board, it is clear the blame must lie elsewhere than in its membership. The board changes, but the discontent remains, and if we are to allay the cause of the ill feeling we must apply another remedy than the oft-tried one of attacking the members. The real cause of the evil lies in the manner in which the board is constituted. As the system stands the law assumes that the various sections of the State are antagonistic to ons another, and provides for a member of the board to represent each section. As a consequence each Equalizer is regarded by his constituents as a representative elected to look after their interests. low assessments on the counties of his district, while putting high assessments on others. Each Equalizer, being thus ex- pected at least to work for local advantages rather than for the State at large, is commended or condemned in proportion as he t. As a consequence of this condition of affairs we have the perennial charge that some Equalizers are trying to cinch the city, whilz from the interior comes the equal charge that other Equaliz:rs are trying to cinch the country. No member of the board can wholly escap: these charges, and it is inevita- must be inclined to seek favor with the taxpayers in the dis- trict from which he was elected rather than from those of an- other district, who neither voted for him in the first instance nor could aid him in his re-election. The only remedy for the evil is to abolish equalization dis- tricts and have all members of the board elected from the State at large. As each member will then have a constituency as wide as the State itself there will be an end to sectional rival- ries and antagonisms as far as the board is concerned. special representative and to look with distrust upon all the others. Out of such a change there would come a better tone ing taxes. be made in our government, and the sooner it is made the better. A MATTER OF COMMON-SENSE. HE question whether or not it would be wise policy at the present time to establish at the Mission a founl-smelling zoological garden vested with many considerations which intimately concern the comfort and well being of the is in that a collection of wild animals at the place mentioned is necessary for the intellectual development of the vouth of this city; g that the propositions to sell land for such a park have no selfish interests behind them; granting also that the veople of the Mission are yearning for the establishing among them of an odorous ‘“‘monkey ranch,” which is far from being the fact, what shall be said regarding the business expediency of spending this year $400,000 of the people’s money for such a purpose? In other words, is not that sum altogether too much to pay for the zoological whistle? According to recent reports from Sacramento, the tax rate this year will approximate 50 cents on the $100 of valuation. The tate Board of Equalization, by reducing the assessment of thirty-six counties, has cut over $70,000,000 off the taxable prop- erty of the commonwealth, and has thus increased the rate, If the annual levy for State purposes does not exceed 50 cents we shall be fortunate. Locally, the rate for general purposes cannot fall much below $1 25, and if the Supervisors make full provision for the County Clerk, the shorthand reporters, the Street Department and the other municipal cffices for which it hus been the custom to make inadequate appropriations it will go above that fizure ty scveral cents. In any event, the tax levy for State ana city purposes cannot be less than $1 75 on the $100, and it may be more. It is not necessary to take a gloomy view of the financial condition of this cily to assert that at this time a tax rate of $1 75 will fully meet the most sanguine expectations of its tax- paying people. Every cent piled upon that sum will be an unnecessary burden on the industry, business and energy of the city. Property-owners and the mercantile community should not be asked to pay any more, and they will not pay any more without protest. In truthb, until they fully recover from the depressing effects of the recent commercial calm, they should not be asked to pay any more. The question then is, Sbould the tax-paying masses be re- quired at tbis time, in order to appease the avarice of a small number of real estate speculators, 1o contribute $400.000 for the purchase of a foul-smelling animal preserve at the Mission? What sane person cah answer this inquiry in the negative? What business man, possessed of a grain of common-sense, were he managing the affairs of the city, would contemplate such an expenditure under similar circumstances? Nor is thisall. Tf $400,000 is to be expended this yearin “improving” San Francisto, there are many other avenues in which it can be used with greater benefit o the people. The city at present owns about 151 miles of accepted streets. These thoroughfares have peen constructed by the property-owners and are now and for all time will be acharge upon the general treasury. During fifteen years past litile or no money has been spent upon them. There are hundreds of blocks which are in a bad’ state of repair and hundreds of other blocks which are upon the verge of roin. Haif a million aollars could be profit- ably devoted to theaccepted streets of thiscity at once. Indeed, unless double this sum is spent upon them within a very short time, the greater portion will be beyond repair. ¥rudence dic- tates that an appropriation be immediately made for main- is wearing thin in spots. Some of the miners who returned on the Cleveland talk confidently about the dust they have accumulated, but.the uni- formity with which they refrain from displaying it is remark- able. A sight of yellow nuggets would do much toward sus- taining a waning faith, Will somebody in possession of inside information please state what influence is aelaying the Hall of Justice? There is a pull being exercised and it has been a long and strong one, and a pull altogether malign. Rev. Mr. Bliss is going to unnecessary trouble to deny what the Ezaminer has sald about him. He should even be grateful that among all his troubles he does not number the approba- tion of that paper. One of the marvels of everyday life is that when two theat- rical people conciude to be divorced newsgatherers take it for granted that the whole world wants to hear about it. There is one difficulty in connection with the Floridan canal that is not receiving due attention. It would create an island, and then, of course, England would want the island. There is no denial of the existence of gold in the Klondike, but the persistence with which it stays there is going to be a long-drawn-out iragedy. If the Spanish naval attache at Washington has been spy- ing along the Florida coast the presumption is safe that he is no gentleman, = taining the bituminous rock that has been accepted and for re- moving and repairing the stone that is now well nigh worn out. . The accepted streets are not the only decaying municipal work which gives the frugal taxpayer concern. We have no sewer system. A few years azo a Republican Board of Super- visors created a Sewvage Commission and invested it with power to devise a drainage system adequate to the wants of the growing metropolis. A few mouths afterward a Democratic board came along and, in order to get the money appropriated where its taxeaters could absorb it, abolished the commission and turned its work over to the Street Department. Since then nothing has been done toward devisinz a sewerage system or even repairing the present apoiogy fora system. Yet this work will have to ba done some day, and the longer it is delayed the more it will cost. One hundred thousand dollars ought to be spent this year in getting ready for the advent of a great sewerage system. In view of the negessity for the expenditure of large sums in these two departments of pressing public work, how silly it is for a small coterie of real-estate speculators to try to make us think that unless we establish a monkey ranch at the Mission this year the planets will bolt their orbits and the world will come to an end. Truly, the promoters of the odorous zoo musy entertain a very low opinion of the intelligence of the people of San Francisco. But what shall be said of the newspapers that are helping their childish scheme along? Are they, too, under the impression that the taxpayers have gone mad and that all public sense has departed? It looks that way. It has been the custom to attribute the causes of these dis- | The member must do his best to have| ble that with the best intentions in the world to do justice he | The | people will cease to regard some particular Equalizer as their | of public opinion on this subject and a fairer system of equaliz- | his, therefore, is one of the changes that should | entire population of San Francisco. Granting for the moment | PERSONAL. C. H. Holmes, & dairyman of Kellogg, is at the Russ. E. J. Cahfl), a rancher of San Martin, is at the Grand, Rev. Haskett Smith of Pasadens is at the Occidental. Dr. Thomas G. McConkey of San Diego isat the Baldwin, Mrs. 8. Keller of Redlands, Csl, is atthe Cosmopolitan. B. F. Schilling of Lafayette, Ind., is at the Cosmopolitan. P. Barker and wife of San Jose areatthe Cosmopolitan, William Jackson Littel, U. 8 N., isa guestat the California. Dr. H. N. Winton of Haywards isa guestat the Occidental. J. Gearhart, a mine-owner of E! Dorado, isa guastat the Lick. Dan Sweeney, a railroad man from Omaha, is at the Oceidental, G. McM. Ross, & mining man from Petaluma, is at the Occlaental. R. H. Willey, an attorney of Monterey,isa late arrival at the Grand. Major J. H. Calef, U. & A., is at the Occident- alaccompanied by Mrs. Calef. Dr. George H. Jackson, a hotel man and farmer of Yuba City, is at the Grand. W. H. McMinu of Mission San Jose, a retired ermy officer, is registered at the Lick. A. Moncure, manager of the Hearst ranch at Palermo, arrived yesterday at the Occidental. G. W. Harvey, a real estate and insurance agent of Stockton, is among the guests at the Grand. Fred H. Beach, a hardware manufacturer of Batavia, Iil, is a recent arrival at the Occi- dental. W. W. Gillett, an orchardist of Palermo, is at the Oceldental accompanied by his wiie and family. Professor R. E. Allardice, head of the depart- mentof mathematics at Stacford, is at the Californta. W. A. Brewer, a teacher in Brewer's St Mat- thew’s Hall School at San Msteo, is visiting at the Occlden tal. J. 8. Craig, who has a copper mine near Yer- | rington, Nev., isat the Russ accompaniea by bis wite and daughter. Colonel W. S, Stone, a cattle-raiser and min- ing man of Yreka, is registered at the Russ with his wife and daughter. John Walton, a bankerof Hongkong, ar- rived at the Occidental yesterday from the East and wili soon sail for Cnina. W. L. Swain, an architect and builder of Marysville, is at the Grand with his wife on the way home from a two months’ vacation. E. B. Kruttschnitt of New Orleans, & brother of the general manager here of the Southeru i | Palace. D. C. McMillan, chief clerk at La Crosse, »of the Chicago, Burlington and North- rrived here yesterday for a W. H. Miles, City passenger agent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, { will leave here to-day for Chicago on & two weeks’ vacation trip. Henry T. Seott, president and treasurer of the Union Iron Works, was last Wednesday elected director of the Crocker-Woolworth Bank to fill the vacaney occasioned by the recent death of Colonel Charles F. Crocker. CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, N.Y., Sept. 10.—At the Con- tinental—J. 8. Dunnigan; Plaza—Mrs. Mary B. Williard; Sturtevact—W. A. Willlams, Mrs. H. Shields; Stuart—L. K.ein; Vendome—P. Lipset; Broadway—J. Hartman. The Siale | brought in Mrs. and Agnes Ehrenberg, Miss Hattie Ehrenberg, Mr. Loel and Miss Elize | Segemay. OUT OF THE WORLD. Ont of the world of wrack and wrong, Into the world of joy snd song: Out of the inna of strain and siress, Lito the land of happ ness, All of a summerday. *118 good to steal a quiet hour; *Tis good 10 feel the subtle power 0f wood and wave and quie ways, And the wo:drous spell of a maiden’s gaze, All of a summer day. For sorrow comes and death apace, And all the woes of & wanton race— From dar despair o deep dlsgrace— re crowded into the llitie space Of one brief summer duy. £0.0ut of the world of wrack and wrong® Come 10 the teautiful world of song, Where biosoms blow and streamlets flow; Forget that lite is full of wos ¥or one brief summer day. The Purltan. ! RAINIER OR TACOMA? 1 New York Sun. One might as safely flaunta red rag in the faco of a spirited bull ascail the great vol- canic peak, southeast of PugetSound, Mount Tacoms, when a Seattle man 1s near. On the other hand, if he refers to the distinguished summit as Mount Rainier, he is likely to be the vietim of personal violence if & Tacoma man is by. It is harrowing to be impaled on efther horn of the dilemma. Our advice to all visitors to Puget Sound isto do as the Romans do when in Rome. Snoutfor Mount Rainler in Seattle, hurrah for Mount Tacoma in Tacoma, and if you really cannot defer thus far tointense locnl prejudices, gaze on the great peak, when the clouds will let you, in rapt admiration, and keep your mouth shut. It is only fair tosay that our Board on Geo- graphical Names, coutrary to the prevailing usuge in the Royal and other geographical so- cletles, which declare in favor of retaining eboriginal names, has adopted the name of “Mount Rainier,” which ulso a;pears in many of the best atlases. All honest writers, how- ever, will recognize the fact that in daily, ordi- nary usage the mountain goes under two dis- tinct names. Our distinguished geologist and geographer, C. K. Gilbert, did his duty in this regard when he Wrote, Over a year ago: Vancouver, the navigator, who saw the peak from Puget Sound In 1793, named it in honor of Admiral Rainier of the Eritish navy. More re- cently Tacoma, one of the Lndlan names, has been revived, and current usage Is divided. Meanwhile the old mountain will remain one ol the most splendid summits in America, and the petty bickerings of rival communities over {8 name can never disturb the calmness of its majesty. GLADSTONE ON THE NOVELISTS. Towa State Register, Mr. Gladstone has said recently that the cen- tury has produced only two great novelists— 8ir Walter Scott and George Eliot. We accept the decision of the grand old man as nearly correct. We would have edged in Thackeray, but it doesn’t matter, Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot are so clearly foremost that we can have no great dispute with the ex-Pre- mier. If he had named more than two, Thack- eray would have come in for honorable meu- tion. and so would Dickens and Charlotte Bronte, but restricting himself to only two we do notsee how he could have omitted either Scott or Eliot. Dickens treated life as a car- icaturist, agentle caricaturist, but a caricatur- ist nevertheless. He was a great and enter- taining writer, but as a novelist he was not equal to either of the two named by Mr. Glad- stone. Tnackeray treated life frem a different standpoint. He was more severe on the foibles of mankind, but he also exagzerated human characters. Mr. Giadstone’s judgment is wou- derfully good, and we shall not be surprised to see ftbscome the judgment of the mext century. INCREASING HUM OF FACTORY WHEELS. Bufalo Express. Tt Is impossible to follow all the instances of the resumption of work by mills in various parts of the country just now. New Engiand in particular appears to be well favored by the weave of prosperity. From four importaut menufaciuring centers, including well, Mass., and Providence, R. I, come reports of the opening of factories which had been shut down for longer or shorter periods. There is s pleasing monotony aoout such news which is wflf‘ome to all but the professional pessi. mists, SOME THREATS THAT FAILED. CGneinnati Tribune. It is not observed that the countries which were making that terrific protest against our new tariff three months ago arc putting any of the implied threats.into execution. They know now what they knew then—that the bal- ance of trade was in their favor, and that they could not afford to ¢arry out any of their threats, | Pacific Company, arrived yesterday at the | L L R L R R L R L R A R L R A R R R LR R I !'a complete somerset in the air, THE CIVIL SERVICE. Editor San Francisco Call—SIR: The editorial that appeared in THE CALL on August 29 call- ing attention to the defects in the so-called civil-service law having evoked an expression of the views held by a protagonist thereof it is fitting that the antagonists of this farcical system shonld likewise express their views. THE CALL is correct in assuming a *flaw in the reform,” though it does not go far enough inexposing the fallacy of so-called civil-servica reform. Mr. O'Leary, who, I believe, is con- nected with the customs service, and therefore an interested advocate of Clevelandisiic civil service, has not presented any argument cal- culatea toimpress a thoughtful person with the efficacy of civil-service rules. The alleged academic test required to be | passed by applicants for appointment to posi- tions in the service of the Uniied States hes been generally urged as a favorable feature of civil service, but it is stated, and proof offered, thatappoiniees of the Cleveiand administra- tion appointed before Cleveland issued his so- called civil-service order guarantceing them life tenure of office, contrary to the spirit of the founders of our repubiican form of gov- ernment, are occupying positions in this City, who are totally illiterate. Why snould others be required to pass such an examination if the incumbents were not required to do 807 Itis totally foreien to the spirit of a republi- can form of government that a life tenure class should be permitted in official places. It is about time that we ceased toape the ideas of effete monarchies, wnich, of course, rely for stability upon the influential and vrivileged classes that compose their service on thelife tenure basis. Let usretura to the zood old republican ideas of our country’s iathers. and under which we progressed wiih- out difficulty before civil service was dreaméd ol the appointing power filling the Government service with those whom it desires to appoint, so long as they are responsible to the neads of the various departments and give ratisfag- tion in return. In a word, let the heads ot all offices appoint their subordinates at will, and | ho:d them respousible for the faitnful admin- istration of uffairs. The head o1 the office can U L LR L L R LR AL LR R R R R R L R R R L L R R T T IR E TO-MORROW'S «GALL," WILL CONTAIN A REPLY TO WILLIAM J. BRYAN BY THOMAS There caunot be any valid objection to | WONDERFUL OLFACTORY ORGAN. A Paris paper published & few days ego an account of s man who can see througn his nose. This extraordinary verson, it seems, was born blind, and by systematic training has been enabled to make his nasal organ take in some measure the place of his eyes. The story was read far and wide, and it is sate to say that the majority of readers gave little credence to it. Extraordinary things aredaily happening, but mostof them are conceivable, and hence credible, But bow is it possible for 2 man to see through his nose? Many ssked this question and 'wti!:d in ain for a satisfactory answer. If such per- :ous, says the New York Herald, will lock into an old book, which was printed at Nurem- berg in 1702, they will find a record of a case very similar to that recorded in the Paris journal. This book is entitled “Oculus .}rl:; ficialis Teledioptricus Sine Telescopium Est,’ and it is the work of the distinguished Ger- man scholar, Johann Zahn. Copies of it are very rare, ana the one which was consulted in the present instanc: was found in the Umver- sity of Bologna. The man who, according to Zahn, could see through his nose was a farmer. Whiie he was siill an infant he met with a serious accident, which resulted in the loss of his right eye. A few years later he fell from a cherry tres and lost his left eye. His nose and left cheek were terribly mangled at the same 1ime, and it Was a year before the wound was healed. When he was well enough to go out of doors the blind lad would sit in the garden and warm nimself in the sun. Now one day he fancied that he saw through his nose a dim ray of light. He was naturally puzzled, but next day he noticed the same un- accountable phenomenon. Week after week and montn after month he looked for this ray of light, and, strange to say, it not only never failed him, but as time passed it grew more consiant and more potent, until, at the end of five years, he was able to see all objects within a reasonable distance. Here, however, is s curious fact. He was abie to see all objects on the ground or in front of bim, but he could not see any objects above him. Zahn vouched for the truth of B. REED. = the Banks of the Platte. Don’t fail to read this great be made responsible for the educational quali- ications of his subordinates as well as their capability. Thus the selling of information relating 1o the questions asked or supposed to be asked by the examiners would be & thing of the past, and the people of the United States would be saving every yvesr $100,000 now vaid out fora lot of useless civil service offi- cials, who keep up a hue and cry for civil service reform that they may be benefited. £ M. GALVIN. mber 8, 1897, Sen Francisco, S WITH YOUR COFFEE. “Aren’t you sometimes tempted by the stories of sudden wealth which come arifting in from undeveloped countries 7'’ asked the young man. ‘‘Don’t you feel an impulse to go 10 Alasks and be a miner?” “No, suh,” was the emphatic reply. “Glory 1s better than riches. I'd rather stay in Ken- tucky and be & major, suh.”—Washington Star. y, Weary, there's a woman tryin’to get Congress to pass a law forcin’ every man to marry.” “I'll bet that's her only chance.””—Cleve- laud Plain Dealer. The bicycle stopped suddenly. The old man went over tne handie-bar and turned Then he sat down on the pavement—hard. “Now, you know how it feels to be whacked there,” said the boy. And with a merry laugh he disappeared around the corner.—Chicago Evening Post. Soxey—Why are those things what widows wear called ‘‘weeds?” Knoxey—Because they spring up and choke the grief.—Pittsburg News. Penelope—What did he send you for a wed- ding present? Pauline—Cut glass. Penelope—Ah, tableware, I suppose? Pauline—Noj; a necklace.—Truth, Mother—Edith, go and see whether the clock is going! Edith (coming back)—No, mamma, it is standing quite still, only its tail is wagginga little.—Enquire Within. Brown (reading programme)—Ten years are supposed to clapse between the tnird and fourth acts. Jones—Come out and have something. I can’timagine ten yearshaving elapsed during which I haven’t had a drink !—Puck. Young housckeepor—My good man, ean’t you find a more useful life than that of a tramop ? Tramp—We are useful, madam. Just think of the numbar of divorces we prevent by eat- ing young housekeepers’ ples.—Judge. Mrs. Mashem—My dog and I have been sit- ting for our photographs as “Beauty and the Beast.” Lord Loreus (a bit of a fancier)—Yes; he certainly 1s a beauty, ian’t he 7—Punch. PARISIANS AND PURE FOODS. New York Tribune. Paris has just established a scheme which is a boon and means of protection to the poorer classes. Any citizen who entertains doubt as le of food or drivk purchased from 8 Parisian tradesman may take it to the municipal laboratory and have it analyzed [ree of ccst. If it is found to be adulterated it is the management of the laboratory which undertakes the punishment of the offender withou y further trouble to the purchaser. The tradesman is liable to heavy fine, as well as imprisonment, and may be compel'ed by the police and by law 1o dis- play conspicuously lu his shop window or over his door & iarge placard bearing the words: “Convicted of adulteration.” ONCE A DOLLAR TO TRAVEL WITH. Mexican Herald. A guidebook to Spain, dated 1853, casually mentions that “‘a Mexican dollar is valued at four shillings four pence.” The recollection of those delightful days when a dollar was coin to travel with and made a royal tip for servant makes some of our oider eltizens pen- sive. The veterans of the Vara Cruz Railway will tell the curious questioner of the time when they sold their dollars at a neat pre- mium. Time has flown and the eagle on the d:xllur has also flown away with some of its value. THE BLACKEST (HAPTER. Atlanta Constitution. When the history of our convict lease sys- tem is written it will prove to be the blackest chapter in the history of Georgia. Itisa Pan- dora’s box out of which has swarmed a brood of evils—a brood teat is constantly multipis- ing and growing. The most prominent among these evils we find fraud, corruption, brutal- ity, butchery and a higb-handea violation of tbelaw. This net-work seems 10 be spread over the whole State, ‘The Brainy Maine Statesman Vigorously attacks the arguments of the orator from HIGH-PRIGED WHEAT AND LOW-PRIGED SILVER AND GENERAL PROSPERITY Are explained with Mr. Reed’s characteristic lucidity. TO-MORROW'S "CALL.” The causes of article in these statements and said that the distin guished physician, Heinrich Spezius, was also rexdy to make an aflidavit as to their truth, Skeptics may say that the man was sham- ming. but, as both eyeballs were lost, it is dif- | ficult to see how shamming was posdible. Ot course the man may have imaginea that he saw objects on the ground or in frontof him, but, according to Zahn, he was subjected to tests which proved to the satisiaction of all eve-witnesscs that he was not imposing on f+them, : There must be some explanation of this amazing phenomenon and if there is really in France now a person who can see through his nose he certainly deserves to be made the sub- ject of serious study. MEN AND WOMEN, Lars Kike, who dfed not longago in Norway, | was the last Norwegian veteran of the War of 1814 between Norway and Sweden. Dickens left $500,000 to his children, but all of bis descendants are said to be poor. Nota writer of first-class ability has appeared among them. Russell Sage said to a reporter afew days ago: “I'll give you a point; Mr. Gould once gave it to me—‘What's past is history; what may be is mystery. Alexander Plater (colored) died in Calvert County, Md., the other day, at the age of 103 years. Helived in Calvert County all his life and was a slave until the emancipation of his race. Emperor William’s imperial train cost $200,- 000 and took three years to construct. There are aliogether twelve cars, including two nur- sery carriages. All are elegantly fitted up and a bath 1s a part of each of the sleeping-cars. John Oifs, who used to be known as the “milkman Congressman,” is in Topeka, Kans., in poor health and straitened circum- stances. He lost all his money in the failure of a co-operative colony that he started some time ago in Colorado. There is an eminent physician in London who takes the position that the health of the people would be, on an average, better and the duration of human life longer, if there Wwere not a practicing physician in the world. In other words, he favors the idea often tersely expressed in tle words, “Physicians kill more people than they cure.” THE S M CAPTAIN HALL') CLEVER TRICK Duped the Members of the Santa Rosalia Bay Mining Company. By Giving Them a Fictitious Location of a Mine He Had Discovered. Barclay Henley and Other Prominent San Franciscans Largely Inter- ested in the Company. Quite a sensation was caused in mining circles on the 12th ult., when Captain A. W. Hall of East Oakland resigned from the Santa Rosalia Bay Mining Company. No reason was given by the captain at the time for the resignation, and the members of the company were at a loss to understand the meaning of his act. In the latter part ot 1895 Hall, while traveling overland by burro for the pur- pose of relocating a copper and silver mine that he had located 1n Mexico in 1890, accidentally discovered a gold mine in Lower California, in the vicinity of Palm Springs. The dirt, when assayed in this City, panned out 133.14 ounces to the ton. Hall immediately informed several busi- ness and professional! men of bis valuabe find, and the Sania Rosulia Bay Mining Company was corganized and incorpor- ated, and the following officers elected: Barclay Henley, president; C. B. Hender- son, secretary; Mr. Nolan, treasurer, and C. A. Macomber, general manager. Hull had i1nformed the company, of which he was a member, that the mine was in the vicinity of Santa Rosalia Bay, Lower California. A capital stock of $100,000 was issued, and Hall was given oune-third of it. His share was afterward reduced to one-fifth of the stock. Upon learning that bis share had been reduced Hall resigned. He organized another company of promi- nent men, both of this City and Oakland, for the purpnse of working the mine. The new company advanced sufficient money with which to fit out Hall’s twenty- ton schooner Grace for an ocean voyage. An abundaunce of supplies was put on board and a large amount of mining machinery. On Sunday morning, the 29th ult,, at daybreak, the Grace, under command of Hall, sailed for Lower Caliiornia, where Hall’s mine is located. The vessel was fitted up in Oakland Creek, and the work was so secretly and quietly done that the members of the original Santa Rosalia Bay Mining Com- pany were not cognizant of the fact that the Grace had sailed until so infermed by a CaLL reporter this morning. It now develops that Hall gave the ariginal company a fictitious location of his mineral claim, which is said to be about 900 miles from Santa Rosalia Bay. Hall wae seen just before he sailed and said: *1 have duped Macomber ana that crowd. Igave them a fictitiouslocation of my mine, because I knew in the first instance tkat they would never do any- thing toward working it. They had the matter in hand for three months and never did anything toward working the claim. “Furthermore, I understand that they state they do not know why I resigned. The reason was because they first in- formed me that the capital stock was to be $50,006 and gave me one-third of it. My share was then reduced to one-fifth, and when I learned that the stock was $100,000, which would give me only a tenth share, I severed my connection with the company. “They can never fit out a schooner in time to follow me and I’ve got along start on them. Anyway, they could never find the mine. 1 will sail at ioodtide in the morning.” Barclay Henley statea this morn- ing as follow. “I was inclined to doubt v from the very beginning, but as Mr. Macomber had so much con- fiaence in him [ joined the company. We had arrangements made to work Hall's mine on a very large scale, and when he resigned we resolved to find the claim from the location he gave us, but we did not until to-day know that we had been duped.” FRUIT tablets, all flavors. Townsend. —_————— BEST peanut taffy in the world. Townsend's.* S bl FINE eyeglasses, specs, 15¢ up. 35 Fourth st* ATt ma BTRANGERS, take home Townsend’s Californis Glace Fruits, 50c 1b., in elegant fire-etched boxes. Palace Hotel building, 627 Market st.* essbge s Bt SPECIAL information daily to manufacturers, business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Montgomery, * —————— THE Supreme Court has decided that The Star legal sdverusing columns are valid. Phone Main 358 for our prices. Business office, 429 Monigomery street. - Sl e WORLD’S END POSTPONED. Kansas City Journal. Professor Simon Newcomb In a recent ad- dress tried to create a sensation with the old scare about our runuing into Alpha Lyre. He estimated, and as an estimator Professor New- comb has no superior In this country, that we shall reach Alpha Lyre in about a million years, or perhaps a half million—reach Alpha L{rn, or, he added cautiously, the place where Alpha Lyr now is. That is a clause whjch less honest astronomers fail to put in. Geologists tell us that our solar system has been doing business for anywhere from ten million to & hundred million” years, and if we are going to hit Alpha Lyr® it seems as though we ought to have done it several mil. lion years ago. But Alpha Lyr® is something ofa vagrant itseif, and keeps moving on. S long as we have had this danger o1 a collision Ranging over us we felt worried, but if it is only the piace where tne star now is that we are to hit—why, let’s cheer up. The danger is no more real than the election of Bryan. —_— THE PROOF-READER’S VERSION. Philadaiphia Record. The old proof-reader was holding forth upon the question of typographical ercors and their occasional influence on posterity. “The word ‘boodlum’ is an instance of this,” he said, as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe. “Outin San Francisco twenty-five years ago there was notorious character named Muldoon, who was the ieader of & gang of young ruffians. They were & terror 10 the community, and about as 1ough a lot ot citizens as you could find on the coast. A reporter who had been assigned 10 & story in which they bhad figured, Bishop Talbot of Rochester and Canon Gore will spend the months pf September and Octo- ber in the United States, representing the Christian Social Union at the international convention of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, to be held in Buffalo. KEEP 100KIng young ana save your hair, Its color and beauty with PARKER'S HATR BALSAM. HINDEECORNS, the best cure for corns, 15 cts. ———————— VISITORS to the city should not fail to Inspect £ & G. Gump's gallery of paintings and different departments of art gocds, pictures, crockery and lassware, — - WHERE SHE WANTED TO GO. Kennebec Journal. One of Caritou’s bright four-year-old girls in answer to a question surprised and amused the hearers. The conversation smong the older people was in relation to heaven, and some one asked the litile miss if she did not want 10 go to heaven when she died. The young girl turned, looked at her father, and aid: No; 1do not want to go to neaven. I want to go where papa goes." NEW TO-DA Royal makes the food pure, ‘wholesome and delicious. undertook to coin a word designating the gang. He reversed the name of the leader and referred to them as ‘Noodlums.” The com- sitor mistook the ‘n’ for an *h’ and as hood- ums the word passed the proofreader. And now ‘hoodium’ is & recognized word, and will probably survive REBEL STRENGTH IN CUBA. Kansas City Star. It is some time since such news has been received from Cuba 2s is contained 1n the an. nouncement of the merch of the negro leader, Banderas, from one end of the island to the other with 12,000 men. This march reveals an army ‘and with ita commander, Quintin Banderas, a worihy successor of Antonio Maceo. The proclamation of Banderas speaks of his march as & triumph and of many acces- sions to his ranks by desertions from the Spanish regiment of Pizarro. Strength will Attract sueu%m. With armies in the place ot squads, and battles insiead of skirmishes, the cuuse of Cuban independence is wom, Absolutely Pure ROVAL BAXING POWDER CO., NEW YORK.