The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 14, 1897, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1SY7. Call OCTOBER 14. 1897 THURSDAY JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprictor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE......... v.....710 Market street, San Francisco Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS......... Biveingandisesmses Telephone Main 1874. 17 Clay street THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) is served by carriers in this city and surronunding towns for 15 cents a week. By mail $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. .One year, by mail, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE.......... teseesssssnenss. .. 908 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay; open until 9:30 o’clock. 339 Hayes street; open until 9:3) o'clock. 615 Larkin street; open until 9:30 o’clock. SW. corner Sixteenth and Mission streets; open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street; open until 9 o’clock. 1243 Mission street; open until 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street; open until 9:30 o’clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky sireets; open 1ill 9 o’ciock. ..Roowms 31 and 32, 34 Park Row. YELLOW JOURNALISM'S PRETENSE. ELLOW JOURNALISM having exhausted the possibilities Yol self-praise 1is endeavoring to enlist a chorus to sweli the adulation upon which it thrives. This is too much. The yellow journalist may sbriek the conviction of his own merits until black in the face, and spectators of the exhibition, finding it at firstamusing and then tiresome, have the privilege of with- arawing as from any other cheap show. But ifafter the journal- ist has blown out a lung the aid of the public be secured, then the spectator has no chance of reliet. The rot and rubbish charac- teristic of yellowdom will still be on display, and the vicarious howl of the Hearstling be still in the land. Now after all the boasting comes the news that the Journal had nothing to do with the jail-break, but discerning the radi- ance of fame attaching to the episode, ha-tened to lave itsell therein and gloat to see the sheen of its stolen splendor. Be- lief is not unwarranted in the story that the sawing of the bars was a private enterprise in which the Journal chose to bear no part, but of which it now chortles and gibbers as an achievement all its own. Baseness and deceit could not well further go. Yet such a course would be characteristic of the Journal. As to the Eraminer, proud of hyphenated con- nection with a sheet more impressively foul than it has suc- ceeded in being, it cuts no figure in the jail affair save that of a vitiful satellite, proud of a disgraceful association, and striving toequal the other end of the hyphen in all that is ev.l and un- true. But if the demand of a peculiar journalism, that it be recognized as great, and veliant, and good, and generous, is to be complied with, and a crown of honor placed upen the bulging brow of every Hearsiling, let 1ne facts first be made clear. What has yeilow journalism done? Rescued a girl from prison. Who saysso? Yellow journalism. Ah! What the public would have now is corroborative evidence— strong at that—strongenough to counterbalance this statement of the professional Hearstling. When, through his journals, Mr. Hearst gives assurance that a certain allegation is correct, it may be s=o, but before anybody believes it there must be | proof. Affidavits are wanted. These must not emanate from a Hearstling den either. Before prancing jubilantly in front of the figure of the haloed Hearst, thinking people would be glad to know a reason for prancing. After investigation they might even decline to prance. . Asto what yellow journalism has accomplished for Cuba the whole truth is in one word—nothing. As to that which it desired to accomplish for Cuba the answer is the same—noth, ing. it went into Cuban affairs, cold-bloodedly, selfishly, o tentatiously, with its real purposs of advertising itself shame lessly, apparent under the ragged cloak of bogus philanthropy, and now, having injured the cause of that struggling island by prodding Spain to new bitterness, it climbs a pole as the mon- key who painted himself red and with all that creature’s mol- esty; it simply uses another hue for embellishment. To the ingenuity of the twin faker there seems no end, to its brazenness no red-eming gleam of decency, in its assurance that all the people are fools ail the time never a flicker of doubt. Had it been sincere in what it claims to have accomnplished would it have been what 01e of its writers terms “*brass-band- ing” ever since? Would it have filled columns with fulsome praise wrung from miszuided enthusiasts who do not under- stand yellowaom? Would it have sent agents out to drum up a crowd to pat the backs of two dens full of Hearstlings? These things indicate that a yeliow journal is, before all else, a hy po- crite and a valgar pretender. Ary intelligent reader who had the unhappiness to see the Ezaminer of vesterday morning must have detected at once the absolute falsity of the reported Cabinet meeting. It had the President and his advisers pausing to extol yellow journalism, giving a purported account of the detailed conversation, the while the ship of state came to a standstill for lack of where- with to belly its sails. There are spots the reporters cannot be, and the private room in which a Cabinet is meeting is one of these. But hold. Perhaps yellow journalism will next claim that the President and Cabinetare a part of its regular staft, It makes claims equally preposterous. Considering everything, the facts as known, the facts as surmised, the total disregard for truth and dignity that is yel- lowdom’s strong point, there appears no reason why the public should join in tooting the Hearstling horn. Itis overtooted now. Perhaps the rumor that Justice Field is about to retire is entitled to respect. Certainly if we are to bold old age in rev- erence we must take off our hatstoit. The persistency with which Mr. Field is always about to retire is only equaled by the grim, implacable persistency with which he doesn’t do it, Just two weeks ago two men held up a train in Oregon, and now they are serving thirty-year sentences in the peniteatiary. Yerhaps there are people who would regard this as irdecent baste, but none will be found among the robbed passengers who hold this opinion. It Mr.-Sharkey chance to become tired of being called a faker he should remember that when as an honest sailor he scrubbed down decks for Uncle Sam nobedy thought of calling bim anything of the kind. Any one who has ever ridden in the elevator atthe Ap- praiser's building will be surprised at the information that that lumpvering and deliberate concern could fall fast enough to do damage. Promoters of prize-fights may after all bave a nobler mis- sion than appears at first glance. Another pugilist has just been killed in the rin A SECRET POLICE BOARD. HE Police Commissioners huve, for some time past, as- T umed the right of transacting much of their business in ecret session. Time and again affairs of grave municipal concern in which the great mass of the peoole are interested have been dealt with by the Commissioners in secrecy, and aetion affecting the property or the privileges of citizens has been taken under circumstances that prevented any knowledge of the reasons assigned for such action being made public. In facr, it is doubtini if the famous cabal of the Star Chamber ever bad a more contemypiuous disregard for the rights of the peop'e to know what their governing authorities are doing, or for public opinion than this same body known to our law as the Police Commission. There is no more reason for star-chamber proceedings on the part of the Pelice Commission than on that cf any other official body. All public business should be openly transacted. 1t is a right of the people to know what their officials are doing, and why they are doing it. Popular government requires this publicity on the part of official bodies, for only when their sessions are conducted openly can the voters form any correct +dea of the manner in which the duty is being performed. | members of that august tribunal. | its Mayor? Would it not bs well to keep a weather eye on Mr. | { | geles, where he atiended the conclave of OUR SPIRITED MONARCH. AYOR PHELAN’S opinion of the recent jail deliv- M ery in Cuba presents us with a view of the inner workings of his tempestaous mind, which is at once striking and interesting. He thinks the exploit of the yellow journals in breakinz into Wey- ler’s prison and liberating Senorita Cisneros is an ‘“‘excel- lent example to our lazy dignitaries at Washington.” In other words, the chief executive of San Francisco believes that jail- | breaking is a good substitute for the slow processes of diplom- acy, and should be resorted to whenever those processes fail to yield quick resuits in the administration-of what he probably calls justice. “ The people want decision and action in their officials,” says the Mayor; ““ they are given red tape. The Government should speedily verify and correct every abuse reported by the press; but invariably it prefers to wait. Justice delayed, how- ever, is justice denied. The State Department makes a de- mand for redress. The national honor or sense of humanity, as the case may be, is then presumably satisfied and the wrong is done. The victim becomes a martyr. This is too often the story of our diplomacy.” This utterance discovers to the world the leading trait in | Mr. Phelan’s character. He is hot-blooded. His youthful ardor is of the Warwick description. Were he a merchant his motto would be, “Quick sales and small profits.” He cannot wait. If he thinks an innocent person, by some unto- ward legal accident, has got into jail, his immediate impulse is to tear down the bastile and liberate him. If he sees a Board of Supervisors in power which the people should not have elected, his plan of operation is to call out the police and dis- perse the members to their several homes. He puts the word “‘decision” before the word “‘action,” but we imagine he con- siders action of paramount importance. Certainly, in the case of the “*Solid Eight,” his course was founded upon another maxim—namely, action without decision. The more we observe and familiarize ourselves with the wonderful mechanism of Mayor Phelan’s mind, the more we | become convinced that he was born too late. The Almighty should have created him a feudal baron or the governor of a | Roman province. This thing of setting a hot-blooded knight of the middle ages down in a prosaic city like San Francisco | and investing him with the jlimited authority of ‘Mayor is plainly a mistake of nature. No wonder his wild and un- tamed spirit finds vent in dispossessing Supervisors of their | offices and praising jail-breaking as a noble achievement. But | for the restraints of his environment he would long ago prob- ! ably have crizd havoc and let slip the dogs of war, even if the | cry should have been nothing more than a newspaper screech ! and the dogs of war mere household poodles. Communities, said Victor Hugo, are like.men—they some- times stop to scratch their heads and think. Is it not time for San Francisco to begin scratching its head and thinking about | FERSONAL. D. Killen of Los Augeles i tan. A. Sachs, a merchant of Fresno, is at the Lick. Robert T. Abernethy, U. 8. A., is at the Occl- dental. George F. Buck, a lawyer of Stockton, is at the Lick. W. W. Black, a merchant of Hollister, is at the Grand. J. J. Helbron, a stock-raiser of Salinas, is at the Grand. Dr. and Mrs. Stitt of Vacaville are guests at the Palace. F. Webb, a lawyer of Newman, is staying at the Baldwin. C. A. Mentoy, a merchant of Newhall, N. Y., isat the Palace. Mrs. A. G. Stoll of Sacramento arrived at the Baldwin yesterday. S. Boker and wife of San Diego are registered at the Cosmopolitan, Thomas T. Gomer, the mining man, returzed yesterday 10 the Lick, R. M. Johnson of Castle Crags, & Deputy Sherif, is at the Russ. T. Richardson, a well-to-do resident of Port- land, Or., is at the Lick. L. Hirshfcld, a Bakersfield merchant, is & late arrival at the Lick. C. H. Burden of Sonora, Tuolumne County, is at the Cosmopolitan, E. C. Atkinson of the Sacramento Business College is at the Palace. L. D. Landers, a hardware manufacturer of Bostou, is at the Grand. W. R. Carithers, a merchant of Sanuta Rosa, is registered at the Lick. F. A. Carrillo of Haileck, Nev.,is in town. He has a room at the Russ. F. 8. Wensinger, the dairyman, of Freestone, is registerec at the Occldental. H. P. McCleave, a capitalist of Petaluma, is making & short visit at the Russ. Dr. N. 1. Haight of Sacramento is at the Pal- ace, accompanied by Mrs. Haight. Ex-State Senator Joseph McCudden of Val- lejo is at the Baldwin for a few days. C. T. Barton, the Sacramento confectioner and candy manufacturer, is registered at the Grand. L. F. Brouner, who is engaged in the furni- ture business at Sacramento, is staying at the t the Cosmopoli- | Grana. L Larsen and L. Koren, both of Yellowstone, V., &re among the new arrivals at the Cos- mopolitan. L. A. Stizer, Assessor of Santa Clara County, isin town, from San Jose. His headquarters areat the Grand. Alired La Mott of Ukinh, who is interested in the fish hatcheries near that place, is a late ar- rival at tke Grand. R. B. Oullahan, a real estate and Insurance man of Stockton, here on his bridal trip, is registered at the Grand. Mr. and Mrs. Coarles Field Jr. of Fhiladel- phia aud their son, Charles Field the third, of Los Angeles, arrived yesterday at tho Cali- fornia. IlColonel J. S Young, N.G. C., proprietor of the Russ, returned yesterday from Los An- Phelan during the remainder of his term? He will yet have many opportunities to give his untamed spirit the rein. He might call out the militia to suppress the trouble between i Police Commissioner Gunst and Chief Lees. H:jmight con- | clude that the shortest way to reach the Governor’s office would | be to sink the Pollywog with Mr. Budd on board. He might | ; think a good way to reverse the late decision of the Supreme | Court in the Supervisorial case would bs to tar and feather the ‘ It is but a step from dis- | persing officials by forcs and upholding jail-breaking in Cuba to | these very things. Perhaps in his case it would be well for our citizens to | imitate the example of a certain royal combine which many | years ago is said to have controlled a willful and unruly Euro- ean monarch. Whenever the King showed signs of discon- | tent or became petulant the courtiers provided him with a nsw | toy or had somebody shot for his amusement. In dealing with | Mayor Phelan why would it not be a good idea to ask the Bohemian Club to appoint a special committee for diverting | his Honor’s mind and reducing by the usual methods the temperature of his overheated blood? consider it profitable to pay the bill. The taxpayers might | TWO PROBLEMS OF ANNEXATION. ONGRESSMEN LOUD AND MAGUIRE, in interviews C published in THE CALL yesterday, pointed out the two most important of the many serious objections to the annexation of Hawaii. They have been stated before, but they never can be repeated too often so long as annexation remains 2n issue in our polities, for each of them involves a danger too great for us lightly to accept merely for the gratification of a | caprice for territorial expansion. Mr. Loud presented one of these objections to the scheme of President Dola and his supporters in saying: “The im- portant question to my mind is the form of government we | could give the islands, And if the danger of giving the suf. frage to the kind of people there are in the Hawaiian Islands becomes manifest it shonld outweigh the $5,000,000 or $6,000,- 000 worth of annual commercial benefit we wouid get from annexation.” The other objection is that forcibly presented by Judge Maguire in his statement: *“One thing that influences me largely is the number of Chinese now in Hawaii—one-fourth as many as there are in the United States. They could not be kept out of the United States any more than they can be kept from traveling from one State or Territory to another. They will come here for the simple reason that they can get better wages here, and new importations of contract Jabor in Hawaii will take their places. These ir turn will follow their predecessors to our shores, and our laboring men will have the old probiem of cooly labor to contend with."” Here, then, is a scheme which involves a compiication both political and industrial. 'What will be the effect upon our poli- tics of the infusion into it of a class of voters such as those which torm the majority in Hawaii? What will be the effect upon the labor ot California of adding to the number of Chi- nese and Japanese already here the horde which is now en- camped on the islands and eager to come to Califorpia as soon as Hawaii is made a part of the United States? These questions cannot be set aside by the clamor that Great Britain or Japan will annex Hawaii if we do not. Nor can they be silenced by the nvisy uproar of the band-banging jingo crowd shouting for the annexation of the earth as a part of manifest destiny. We can safely keep England and Japan out of Hawaii bv keeping out of 1t ourselves, and it would be a sorry destiny to annex Hawaii at the cost of making California free to the coolies of the Orient. K Annexation would bring no profit to us that would make up for the injury to our politics and our labor, and those who propose to carry out the scheme for the enrichment of a few indiviauals will have to improve on Senator Morgan’s plan of annexation without consulling the natives by devising a means to perform it without consuiting the voters and the working. men of the United States. Delicate questions involving conjugal rights are raised by the divorce aciion whereby Mrs. McGinn has become Miss Smith. Her allegation that Ler husband had choked her with intent to make her expel a wad of gum in which her jaws founa exercise and her soul joy makes the case assume a wide per- sonal interest. Husbands unnumbered have felt an impulse to do the same thing. The success of Mrs. McGinn’s suit, how- ever, will teach them 1o check this impulse, which, followed out, would lead to alimony, after which the woman, her max- illary bones untrammeled, would fairly revel in gum. An announcement that a contemporary is to print articl on “How to Be a Successful Lawyer' is robbed of some of its importance by the fact that the men to write them include Grover Cleveland and Jobn J. Ingalls. Cleveland was never rated as a fairly good lawyer himsell, and Ingalis bad to quit the profession and go to reporting prize-fights or anything else to iurn an honest penny. Perhaps, however, these gentlemen may inculcate a useiul lesson by tr.ing the position of terrible examples, Knights Templar. J. M. Lathrop of Newman (lawyer), son of Rev. Dr. Lathrop of Oakland and brother of Professor Lathrop of Stanford, is making & short stay at the Lick. Professor 0. P. Jenkins, head of the depart- ment of physiology in Stanford University and lecturer at Cooper Medical College in thiseity, is a guest at the Palace. George E. Fow of Gonzales, recently returned from Honolulu. formerly engaged in the grain business and now interested in railroading, is among the late arrivals at the Ocecidental. William A. Farish, the Denver mining ex- pert, in company with J. C. Kemp Van Ee and W. R. Beall of London, representatives of an Engiish syndicate investing in Calitornia mines, are guests at the Palace. Indications point to a visit to this eity by C. P. Huntiuglon in tue neer future. His pri- ate office in the Southern Pacific building s just been retinted and fitted up, and yes- terdsy his nephew, H. E, Huntington, spent the day superintending renovations at the C. P. Huntington residence. The raliroad offi- cials know nothing, however, of their presi- dent’s contemplated visit, and H. E. Huuting- | ton merely remarks that C. P. Huntington will probably be out here next March. W. N. Price, agent of the Great Northern Railway in tnis city, reports that nis company has opened up four new extensions of branches this sesson—one in Minnesote, from Halsteaa to Crookston, thirty-four miles, and three iu the great wheat belt of North Dakota— one of iwenty-eight miles, from Hope to Aneta; another of sixteen miles, from Cavalier to Walkalla, and a third of fourteen miles, from Lingon to Hannah. The company has also reeently equipped its passenger coaches with wide or flush vestibules, J. K. Harrington, City Engineer of Santa Barvi arrived here yesterday from the south., He is staying at the Grand. Inaday or two he will probably visit Sacremento, pos- sibly on his wuy home. He has come here partly for plessure and partly to conclude ar- rangements with a local firm that bas & con- tract to supply Santa Barbara with several thousand feet of six-inch and eight-inch iron pive for that city’'s new municipal water sup- ply, taken directly from the heart of the neighboring mountain range by means of a tunnel. Mr. Herrington has been one of the most active workers in furthering the develop- ment of this novel and success!ul project. He says that the =ity will now raise its tax levy to the $2 limit in order to obtain the funds necessary to perfect its new water system, and will no longer wait for a bond issue, CALIFORNIANS IN WASHINGTON. WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 13.—G. W. Liger- Wood of San Francisco is at the St James; L. E. 0sgood of Los Augeles is at the Riggs House. e BeD IIME. Three litile giris are weary— Weary of books and of play; Sad is the world and dreary— SloW v the time slips away. Six littie reet are aching, Bowed is eaca little head; Yet they are up and shaxing When there is meniion of bed, Bravely tiey laugh and chatter, Jus: for a minute or twe, Tuen, whea they end their clatter, Sleep comes quiokly Lo woo. Blowly their eyes are ¢ 04Ing. Down ugain diops every head— Three littie maids are dozing. 4hough they're not ready for bed. That is their method ever— N ight after night {hey protest, Claimin they're sleepy never— Never in veed of res.. Nodiing and almos: dreamlug, Drowslly each kittie head Suill 1, forever scheming Merely (o keep ouc of ved, —English Magazine, —_— REFLECTIONS Or A BACHELOR. A girl can never tell a funny story and put the luugh in at the right place. Woman is not man’s equal, if she we: swear around more and act cranky. A man can never get to be very good iriends with a woman that reminds him of his wife. A girl can fix herseif upa ot likea man, but it will take her a long time to raise whiskers. 1f every man got the wife the Lord intended for him there would probab.y be just as much he'd kicking. It makes a woman awfully un! pry all day to find her husband has cut” outa piece in the paper before he went downtown. retatnd bbbl FRUIT THAT RIPENED TOO SOON. Winters Express. What a flash in the pan bas been the Super- visor fiascoin San Francisco. No doubt the board deserved removing, but that the legal advice the Mayor and other good citizens could obtain should be so radically different from the law as laid down by the Superior Court is remarkabie. It surely looks like a political scheme gone to sced. It certainly la gubernatorial fruit shes now. Wonder if Mr. Budd and a fow other conspirators didn’t work agame on the Mayor to kill him off before he really got in the way? It looks that way. Ellen Terry has a very simple recipe for the retention of youth and beauty. You must work till tired, sleep 1ill rested, have plenty of fresn air, -h? ina room, take a dally spouge bath and eat the simplest food. MUSIC AND MUSICIANS, Herr Otto Lohse has long been considered in Europe as one of the foremost conductors of the dsy, but in America he was littlé known until he came two years ago to New York with his wife, Mme. Klaffsky, who was under engagement to take leading parts at the Metropolitan Opers-house. Her sudden and untimely death prevented the fulfiliment of her engagements and caused great embarrass- ment (o the management,as It was found almost tmpossible to replace her satisiactorily. Herr Lohse decidea to remain in New York and made his first appearance in the leader’s chair at the Academy oi Music during Dam- rosch’s Wagner season & year ago last spring. Oa that occasion he proved himself to bea man possessing in a marked degree all the qualifications of a sticcessful lexder of a band. 1t was, therefore, with real satisfsction that Saens’ “Proserpine,” Godard’s “Dante,” “Le Roi @'Ys,” and Bruneau's “Le Reve” with great success. 3me. Emma Nevada is engaged to appear shortly at the Teatro Moderno, Madrid. Among. the operas in which she will sing “La Navar- raise’’ is mentioned. This opers has Dever yet been performed there. Leonora Jacksonm, violinist, has won the Menaelssohn stipendium at Berlin. It is 1500 marks, Lillian Blauvelt had a narrow escape in an accident lately. She was thrown sgainst the dashboard of & hansom and considerably | bruised. Wagner's early work, “The Fairies,” will be HERR OTTO LOHSE, a Great Conductor, and Husband of the Late Frau Klaffsky. music-lovers learned Herr Lohse’s aetermina- tion to make New York his permanent abid- ing-place. Jean de Reszke s constant bids fer Wag- neriau support are getting to be de- cidedly wearisome. Not a summer passes without the politic Pole permitting himself to be interviewed for the sake of teiling “his dear public” how Frau Cosims | is burning with anxiety 1o have him sing at | Bayreuth, and how he himself fecls that life | is to him & hollow mockery without an ap- pearance at the Wagnerian shrine. Still he nmever seems to take the fateful step, which he claims to regard as just the thing to set the crown of immortality on his brow. He looks sanctimonious, promises devoutly, and puts off the glorious moment from wonth to mouth | and year to year. Jean de Reszke is & “'power- | ful smart joliler,” but he will probably never sing at Bayreuth for glory whiie he can sing | elsewhere for dollars. Mme. Calve is anotner of the great artists who has taken it into her head that in order to continue successful as Carmen, Santuzza and such like Franco-Italian heroines, she must announce her intention of teking up Wagner and singing at Bayreuth. Now, if there ever wes & woman unsuited by voice | and temperament to undertake Wagnerian | roles it is Mme. Celve. She talks of Kundry, | in *Parsifal.” Nothing cou'd be more ab- surd, and Mme. Caive is too clever a woman not to be perfectly aware that her voeal Limit- ations are such as to precinde the possipility of her singing thispart. Mme, Calve is unique | in her line, and she needs no fictitious Bay- reuth support to maintain her hold on the public estimation. Brahms wrote on Mme. Strauss’ fan & few bars of the “Biue Danube,’” adding, “Not by Brahms, I regret to say,” ana Felix Mottl, the great Wagnerian conductor, says: “I prefer a Strauss waltz to a thousand of the erudite, es- timable works of our modern classicists, be- | cause music is an art which, for me, must ap- | peal to the feelings.” There are, orrather were, four Strausses—Johann, a Viennese com- poser, who wrote many good waliz:s and who dled in 1849, and bis three sons, Edouard, Jo- | hann and Josel. The latter composed waltzes | and an operetta and died 1 Russia, where he was much loved. Edouard isa composer and conductor ot the famous Strauss Orchestra in Vienna, which he brought to America in 1890, but Johanu is the famous “waliz king.” He visited this country in 1872, The Emperor of Russia has authorized the erection at Warsaw of a monument to Mickie- viez on the occasion of the one hundredth an- niversary of the celebrated Polish poet. M. Leon 1dzikowsk!, a music publisher at Kiev, | has opened a competition, with.a prize of 300 | rubles (1000 francs), for the best composition of a solemn march for the oceasion of inaugu- rating the monument. Only Pclish composers may teke partin thiscompetition. The march must be composed for piao, solo or duet, and must also be arranged for orchestra and sym- phony. Competitions must be in before Feb- ruary, 1898, They are working night and day at the | Opera, Paris, in order that Waguer’s “Meister- | singer” shall be ready before October 31. M. Gailhard is under deed of agreement to pay Mune. Wagner 30,000 franes if the opera is not produced before that date, and she has noti- fied him thatin case of delay she will exact the money. And only two or three years ago, when Wagner was, introduced into Paris, the police and soldiers had to charge a crowd, cry- ing, *'A basles Aliemands!” Other times other | manners! | On the strength of the advice of a number of eminent specialists Moriz Rosenthal, the pianist, will not come to America this season. Itis their opinion that his nealth must be firmly established before making another | trars-Atlantic voyage. Writing to his man- | ager he says: “With deepest regret, dear friend, I am forced to write to you that Iam not sufficiently strong as yet to undertakea protracted tournee this coming winter, as 1 have again been ill and am now suffering 1rom great nervousness and insomuia,” The Berliner Fremdenblatt speaks of a new profession for ladies, which ii recommends: “One of the most curious female occupations in the capital of the empire is that of ‘dummy musician’ (Geigenstatistinnen). The business of these young ladies 1s to appear in ladies’ orchestras and pretend to play their instru- | ments with grace and conviction by means of | & soaped bow, and to follow tne music on the | paper, beyond which they need know nothing aboutit. Atrthis ‘play’ they gain from 20 1o 25 marks a montl The French are a nation of soldlers, and in order to be so they must all render themselyes at the call ot duty, however inconvenient it mgy be. The Figaro says: “M. Clerment, the tenor of the Opera Comique, is doing his twenty-eight days’ servicz in the Twenty- eighth Infantry. Also M. Sylvestre, director of ithe Folles Dramatiques. May the discipline be light.” A French Count Gran aper announces the death of son-in-law to Wagner, but this is a® mistak=, as Wagner only had two chil- dren, Eva and Siegiried, both unmarried, Mme. Wagner's other daughters were by her first husband, Von Bulow. . At the Opera Comique “Sapho’ is making rapid advances. Besides daily rehearsals, Massenet every day coaches two or three of the artists. Mme. Calve will be prima donna. Mile. Cecile Simonnet is making her return to the Opera Comique, Paris, this season, in “Manon,” afterward in “Traviata” and “Mig- mon.” This excellent artist created Saint- | badly spoiled.” | produced this season at the Vienna Opera- house. A number of Hamburg artists propose to | erect & monument toJobaunes Brahms in that | city, which was the birthplace of the com- poser. “Djalma” is the titie of an operetts, in | three acts, by Andre Messager. A telegram from Hamburg to Paris sa: Very great success for ‘La Boheme,’ by Leon- cavailo. Innumerable encores.” The fund for the erection of a monument to Schumann at his native place, Zwicken, | amounts at present to ¥8000. At Munich the l;nuse in which Orlando di Lasso lived from 1532 to 1594 has been pulled | down to make room ior a new building. Stavenhagen, the pianist, who was heard In America some seasons ago, has been ap- pointed director at the Munich Opera-house. THE GOOD-LUCK RABBIT. Ef I ketch dat rabbit in de graveya'd grass When the moo: done hide his beam, Den. oh! my honey, i1 fin’ da: money Dat money what 1 see in my dream. Oh, Mister Rabbit in de graveya'd grass, You's mighty purty, But you run 100 fas’! Ef I ketch dat rabbit in de graveya'd grass When de coon done swim de stream, Den it's praise God, hotey, Fer I'il fin’ dat money Dat money what I see in my dream. On, Mister Rabbit In de graveya'd grass, You's mighty purty, But you run too fas’t —Knoxville Sentinel. FLASHES OF FUN, “Tell me, doctor,”” asked the ambitious young disciple of Galen eagerly, “what was the most dangerous case you ever had?” “In confidence, now that Iam sbout to re- tirée from practice,” answered the veteran physician frankly, “I will confess that it was my medicine case.”” Jabbers—I woke up last night and found a burglar in my room. Havers—Catch him? Jabbers—Certainly not. I'm not making a collection of burglats. Professor (clinching his argument)—It isa well-known fect (hat visible auimal life may be produced by the passage of electricity through the air. Student—Then I think this cheese must have been struck by lightning.—New York Journal. Mr. Chappie—Oh, Weginald, did yoush heah of the tewwible accident to Chollle this mawnin’? Mr. Sappie—No, deah boy; what was it? “He got weckless and lighted a stwong cigar and it upthet hith bwaine.”—Cincinnati Com- mercial Bulletin. Wheeler—Saw a thrilling thing to-day; run- away horse went tearing along the sidewalk out in the edge of town and nearly ran over & half dozen children before he was stopped. Walker—I guess the fool beast thought he was a bicycle.—Indianapolis Journal. “Mr. Badger, your oldest little boy seems “Yes, we can’t do a thing with bim, but he will come out all right. His younger brother will soon be big enough to lick him.”—Cni- cago Record. Ferry—Miss Morton told me that she thought you were quite a humorist. MEN AND WOMEN. Gustave le Rouge, a Parisian literary man proposes that the rich shail seud their ha worn clothiug to 8 *vestry of arts and letters in order that needy young artists and literary men may get them iree. The son of the late Sir John Millais, former president of tho Royal Acalemy, will treat Evglish art crities to a novelty in a biograpny of his fathier, to which all of Millais’ models are to contribute reminiscences. The late Senator George of Mississippl had the Southern accent in his speech to a marked degree. *'Son,” he would say to his commit- tee clerk, “ecain’t y’ shut th’ Qo’? ’Pears t' me, in reason, y’ coula ’f y'd try right hard.” The Prince of Wales at the last meeting of the Royal College of Physicians having been solemnly elecied a member of that august body, from now on has the right to commence medical practice in the United Kingdom without any interference on thie part of the Hargreaves—Really, 1— Ferry—At least I guess that was what she meant when she said you were such a funny little man.—Cincinnati Eaquirer. “Who is that dark little person over there in the corner who never says anything ? “That is Professor Muldrook, the teacher of languages.”’—Cleveland Leader. "CORN. Dempsey Waggy, a farmer of Maaison County, Ind., has raised corn this year from seeds which, he says, were taken out of a mound-builders’ tomb in Arkansas, estimated 10 be 2000 years old. The stalks of the corn are from 10 to 12 feet in height, according to a correspondent of the Chnicago Record, and are somewhat on the order of a tree, being as thick at the ground as a man’s wrist. Three feet from the ground Ihe{ shoot out three long palmlike leaves. The leeves are heavy and very solid, resembling a csctus leaf. Some of them are five feet long from tip to tip. These are the only leaves on the stalk. About two feet farther up are the ears of corn. Mauy stalks bear sixears, and none has fewer than four ears. At thisrateitis figured that the average yield to the acre would be about 250 bushels. Above the ears thestalk i continues three or four feet, and is topped with an elaborate tassel. The husks surround- ing the ears are heavy, and as the corn me. tures they break and curl back, revealing a firm, yellow-grained ear. The grains are solid and are excevtionally good for fecaing. MOUND-BUILDERS’ COST OF YELLOW FEVER. New York Heraud. Although the loss of life in the fever- stricken section of the South is most distress- ing, the cost of the contagion to business is assuming an aspect that causes even greater concern. It isestimated that in New Orleans elone the loss will be £25,000,000, while the ::;5 in otl:'er dlrecllollls :nd“llhl Ct)l; of main- ning the quarantine will run o 538,000,00?). People in more l‘n\v‘:us:c'l"u:elz tions may well extend their sympathy to the people of the scouige-stricken section, authorities. The granddaughter of the naturalist, john James Audubon, Miss Maria Audubon, has worked for twelve years in the translation of her grandfather's unpublished journals, which were written in French, tne letters be- ing so small that a magnifying glass was necessary to decipher many of them. Professor F. Brown, professor of physics in the Unjversity of Strasburg, is Dow in Washington, and said while talking recently of the probability of war between any of the great powers: “In my opinion war between these nations would meau the complete de- suruction of ihe defeated power.” Georges, the brave coachman who heroically aided in saving life at the burning of the Bazar de la-Charitie in Paris, has been de- corated with the cross cf the Legion of Honor ana has been given a position by the Govern- ment. He also received $20,000 from the family of his mistress, whom he had saved by carrying her from the burning bui ‘ A HALF-EAGLE N., City. No premium is offered for a $5 piece oi the year 1836. ANSWERS TO CORRESFONDENTS, NAME OF A PLACE—Marie, Oakland, Cal. It is probable that the letters given in your communication form the name ‘‘Eden Vale, Santa Clara Couanty, Cal. SAN QUENTIN—F. H. and J. W.,City. The oint on which the penitentiary in Marin Jounty is located 1s pronounced by English- speaking people as if vritien Kwenton. VIsIoN—A. A. Oakland, Cal. Brown or dark-colored eyes are weaker and more sus- ceptible to injury than gray or biue eyes. Lignt blue eyes are generally the most power- ful and next are the gray. The lighter the pupil the greater and longer continued is the degree of tension the eye can sustain. MASTER OF A VEsseL—McC., Santa Rosa, Cal. A young man who wishes to become, in time, master of a river or bay craft should devote some attention to works on navigation, then ship as a deckhand on such a craft and serve an appreniiceship, and, by practieal experi- ence, become learned in_ail that is requisite for the position he has an ambition to fill. AUTHOR WANTED—A correspondent wants to know where to find the poem which contains the following line: Who made thee master of thy Master’s bread? and also wants to know the name of tne suthor. Can any of the readers of this depart ment enlighten the correspondent? ELECTRIC RAILWAY—B. H., City. The first electric railway was built by Siemens & Halske of Berlin at the exhibition held in that city in 1879. The line was 2700 feet long, of two-foot gauge, and the car, which carried twenty pas- sengers, was moved by a current from a third rail placed in the center oi the track. Sbortly after thata line for actual traffic was built in the city of Berlin. ETIQUETTE AT THE THEATER—C., City. Whea agentleman accompanies a lady to a concert hall or a theater he should precede the laay up the aisle until the seats secured are reached, then turn, allow the ledy to take the inner seat and he the outside one. Un leaving the place of amusement, if the aisle is too narrow 10 admit of two passing out abreast, the gen- tleman should again precede the lady until the lobby is reached when he should turn and offer the lady his arm. ENGINEERING—Subscriber, Punta Arena, Cal. A voung man desiring to become a practical marine engineer will have to start in asan oiler on board of a steamer. He can read works that will be helpful to him, and in time he will acquire ail that there is to be known by practical experience about an engine and engine-room on board of a sieamer. The qualifications for an engineer on board of the line of stezmers named are the same &s on any other line af steamers. EYEBALLS—A. A. J, Oakland, Cal. The eye- ball is white because the blood-vessels which supply it are so very fine that they do not ad- mit the red corpuscles of the blood. The covering of the eyeball (the tunica sclerotica, So named for its hardness) 1s the largest and strongest coat of the eye and covers the whoie ball, except the parts occupied by the entrance of the optic merve behind end the cornea before. Itis formed of eectic fibers running in every direction and closely interwoven with eack other, and has but few blooa-vessels. POPULATION IN 1851—G. W. B, City. It is impossible to answer the question *“How many inhabitants were there in San Francisco in August, 1851?” for the reason that there is no record of such population, snd for the further reason that there was nota census by months. In 1850 there was a census of the city as well s of the State, and the next ons was taken in 1860, In 1851 the popnlation of San Franclsco was very uncertain. One week it was large. the following week it was coms paratively small, on account of the arrivals and deparuures. Thegr;enreu‘. answer that can e given is about 25,000, wit population oi 6000, st TAKING UP GOVERNMENT LAND—E. J. W., Oakland, Cal. A person who wishes to take up Government land should first make a se lection of territorfal limits in which he or she desices to locate, then visit the land office Dearest ihe point selected and there obtain iniormation as to lands open to pre-omption After the person nas obtained that 1nforma. tion he or she shouid view the land and then visit an attorney in good standing, who will draw up all the papers that are required. It is an error to suppose that & person can with- out any formality take up a piece of Governs ment land and hold it. There are many fore malities to be observed, but this department has not the space to enumerate them. AN EXPLODED PERSTITION. Boston Eveuing Transcript. Until recently it was believed that oxygen nhndered ‘v.he prfimglnsh of the organ vhos- orescent wit isengagem Shiuretied hydrozen, - S eemeRt of phos- e e CALIFORNIA glace fruits, S0c lb. Lownssnd'ss ——————— EPECIAL Information daiiy to manufacturers, business houses” and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Moutgomery, * —— Miss Mary F. Winston, who has just been elected 1o the chair of mathematics in the Agricultural College at Manhatian, Kaus., isa graduate of the University of Wisconsin, anq holds a aoctor’s degree irom the University of Gottingen, German Royal makes the food pure, wholesome and delicious, Absolutely Pure ROYAL BAKING POWDER GO\, NEW YORK.