The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 31, 1897, Page 30

30 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31 1897 MARINE SUPPLY OF A GREAT MERCANTILE BUSINESS. The furnishing of supplies for the mer- cantile marine that Las its Lome pori in San Francisco is a business of cousider- able importance. It keeps vast sums of money in circulation. It givessteady em- ployment to thousands. It is good not only for the merchant but for the manu- facturer, the farmer, the stockman, the mechanic and the laborer. The ships that pass in the night are, when in port, liberal | money spenders. No trip can be made across the ocean without subjecting the vessel making it to a degree of wear and tear which compels the owners to have re- pairs and refitting done and renewals made to fit it for further usefulness. Be- fore another voyuge can be commenced everything must be putin shape. Carpen- ters, calkers, painters and machinists are almost constantly at work on the vessels | atthe wharves. The sai!maker’s busy needle is never idle. The shipchandler has his hands always full attending to the wants ot his | customers. The men who sell nautical instruments and keep them in order are always surefof a commission. These are, however, but a few of those who are inter- ested in the active commerce of a great seaport. The furnishing of supplies for passengers and crews at the beginning of | every voyage is alone a business of sur- prising magnitade. To enumerate all the | articles required would fill many columns. Tons of groceries, eggs, meats, ice, fruits and vegetables are consumed annually on the high seas. The first-class passenger steamers are floating hotels and their owners arein the markets all the time as buyers of luxuries and necessities in the varied line of food products. | Itis then a great trade—this business | of supplying ihe mercanule marine. | Those engaged in it have learned by the | experience of years Low to look atier the | interests of their customers. Tuere is of | course close competition in every line. The merchants and firms who carry off the lion’s share of the trade have won suc- cess by maintaining the quality of their | wares, while not allowing rivals to under- bid them in prices. The San Francisco merchants who cater to the shipping and whose firms are mentioned in this article are all recog- nized as reliable men fuil of enterprise and leaders in their several lines. It would be difficult to give any accurate idea of the extent and volume of this trade. The Australian and Hawaiian | branch alone represents sufficient to keep many thousands o! people constant!y em- vloyed. Take the Oceanic Steamship Company, for instance, which keeps a fleet of steamers and sailing vessels con- stantiv un tne move between Australia, New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands and San ¥rancisco. The steamer Australia | plies between Honolulu and this port once a monti. Every two months the steamers Alameda and Mariposa make the round trip to Australia and back. Besides those | vessels the steamer Moana, belonging to | the Union Steamship Company, runs rom the Hawaian lslands to San Francisco | and is cousigned to the Oceanic Steamship | Company. From 200 to 300 persons, con- stituting passengers and crew, have to be | provisioned on board these steamers for every trip. Besides these steamers there is a fleet of fine sailing vessels operated by the 0. 8. C. | Their names are familiar to the public. Among them may be mentioned the bark Alden Besse, and brigantines W. G. Irwin, ‘W. H. Dimond and S. N. Casile sailing to Honolulu, the brizantines John D. Spreck- els and Consnelo and schooner Anna sailing to Mahukona and the barks Rod- erick Dhu, Santiago and Annie Johnson running to Hilo. All these vessels have splendid accommodations for passengers and the steady furnishing of them with | supplies alone calls for the expenditure of | considerable money. The oysters used on the Oceanic steam. ers are supplied by the firm of M. B. Moraghan, the pioneer importer, planter | and wholesale and retail dealer in all | kinds of fresh oysters, | The shipping business of this firm | covers extensiveiy most all the steam and | merchant-vessel ccmpanies. Their local trade inc udes all tne principal hotels, boarding-houses and restaurants, as well as tbe finer class of family trale. A fea- ture «f the business is the retailing of ovsiers at wholesale prices. The sales- rooms of this company, located 1n the Caiifornia Market, is one of the best known establishments in the city. In connection with the foregoing de- partment is an extensive restaurant where the freshest and best oysters in the | market are to be obtained, as well as all other dainty ana delicious viands which serve to make a complete meal in any line. The Moraghan oyster beds are located at Burlingame a cover an Milbrae, where tney extensive area of ground. | ana quant | orders up | the mining industry of our State, | urated in this Siate over forty | lentto a great extent. with the other mer- Ovsters are received daily. The ever increasing (rede of thisestnblishment has necessitate.l the enlargement of their salesroom and restaurant space in the CaliforniaMarket and new stallrooms have recently been brought into use to more combplctely auswer the wants of their cus- tomers, One of the mostimportant items, be it for steamships, manufac'uring purposes, botels, restsurants or the household, is the supply of fuel. 3 The best and cheapest as regards quality | ¥ is a thing that all practical | people con-~id er before purchasing or con- tracting for. The firm of J. C. Wilson & Co. (1ncor- | porated) dates 1s origin from tue co-part- nersnip formed some thirty vears ago by ihe late Captain J. C. Wilson and Joseph Macdonough. Though both of ‘hese gen- tiemen have passed away, the business bas continued a- heretofore. : The incorporatea tirm consists of J. C. Wilson (son of J. Wilson), president; James B. £min, vice-president and man. ager; John K. Smith, secreiary. and with Mrs.” Agnes Wilson (widow of Captain Wilson) and G. R. Lukens, constitute the board of directors, With offices «t 90 Battery street, tele- phone Muain 1864, and yards adjoining consisting of the open propesty at the | northeast corner of Vallejo and Battery | and at the southwest corner of Front and Green streets and with discharging berths at Green-street wharf, the firm 1< prepared to furnish coal for all purposes at the very lowest market rate-. Tney do not confine their stock to one | or two kinds of coal, bui on the contrary handle every known brand on the market. | They are ai ull times discharging one or | more vessels witu standard brands of steam, za< and coal for domestic use, and as a con-equence are prepared to fulfill | the shortest notice. The firm are c.ontractors with the differ- ent departmenis of the United States Government and State institutions. The; make a speciaity of all well-known brands of foundry coke and pig iron, as well as the finer grades of coke used! for metallur- gical purnoses, a mo-t important item to They also make a specialty of Pennsvl- vania anturacite, hanaling the well-known Walkesbarre egg coal, ‘or furnace use, and Welch anthracite, a smokeiess and popu- lar steam ccal with many of the large steam producers of this S:ate. They handie exc usively the well-known Co-operative Wallsend—the only co-opers ative coal on the market to-aay—famous for its gus and steam producing properties. The consumption of this coal on the Pacific Coast emanating from a trial ship- ment has assumed such proportions that now some 75,000 tons are shipped here an- nually. J. C. Wiison & Co. are large shippers to the interior of te Sta'e, supplving all the larger and more prominent guas companies, foundries, and in fact all branches of trade where fuei is a necessity. The aforesaid mentioned firm are in a position, nwing to the large number of teams and men employed by them, to de- | liver coal to any part of San Francisco at the very low:st rates and with promptness | and dizpaich, a most important thing to many of our housenolders. J. C. Wilson & Co. number amorg their customers most ot our prominent families, who have been suppiied by the firm since its inception, which serves to p ove that the treatment accorded them amply jusii- fies the ascertion that “*houesiy and merit win.” H There is seldom a trip made by a large ocean steamer but that on her return to ! POTL more Or less repairs are necessary 1o be made, and in this Line the vessels of | | | the Oceanic Steamship Company are sup- plied by the expert labor of William A. B ole, the we l-known shipbuilder, calker and sparmaker of this city. Probably nol firm in 'his line is beiter known and more } favorablv thought of among the shipping | community than this old establishmeni. Their business enterprises were inaug. | years ago, | under the firm name of Middlemas & | Boole, and t e present establishmeni, which succeeded the old firm, is the old- | est ahipbuilder and repairer in C:lifornia. | The trade of this company extends to ! all the representative sieamers and mer- | cnant vessels on tiis coast, and all the | | tugboats operating on the weters of our | bay. By wav of showing the impor- | tance of this institution in the com- | mercial world it might be stated that | such firms as J. D. Spreckels & Bros. Co., Pope & Talbui, Lynde & Hough, the Simpson Lumber Company, Rentorn & Holmes, Hansen & Co.anaJ. W. Adams & Co. are a few o1 tue representative nouses in tiis cily whose vessels they attend to. The ships Kencebec ana Com- modore and the bark Undaunted are rep- resented by this company. Mr. Boole is a man of enerey and en- terprise, and by the importance of th- business he has built up in tnis city nas chants of enterprise and energy, to build- ing up our community to the important i skill, | large. | books of azo by the late J. B. F. Davis. position we now occupy in the commer- cial world. = 3 One of the finest pieces of shipwork in the line of repairing ever accomplished on this coast is now b@ing executed by Mr. Boole on the ship Cyrus Walker, which andertaking requires the manipulation of the greatest care and precision of expert the pariiculars of which will be more fully stated in the columns of this paper at an early date. The poultry and game used on the Ocesnic steamship line is supplied by R chard Tiddy of the Spreckels Market. This department on a modern ocean steamer 1s probably the most important of tbe culinary wares. Only the finest quality of poultry and game ‘is used on ine Oceanic steamship boats, and great care 1s exercised in the selection of all ar- ticles of this sort. Besides supplying the poultry and game trade of the Oceanic steamers, he supplies -xclusively the Cafe Zinkand, the St Nicholas Hotel, the Stewara House, the Lennox House, the Longworth, the Ren- ton, the Biliimore, the Hotel Stewar! and Page & Falch, and, in fact, most all the other larxe hotels and restaurants, as well as controlling the first-class family trade of this city. 5 For the past sixteen years Mr, Tiddy has been catering to the public in San | Francisco in poultry and gzame, and the | selection of this merchant as the sole institution, but he has been associated in the insurance business for about fifteen years. Tue placing of the insurance of the Oceanic Steamship Company, which in- cludes all the steam and merchant ves- sels and tugboat« of the J. D. Spreckels & | Bros. Co., as well as all their other local interests, involves the insuring of many millions of dollars annually, and great care is exercised to distribute this insur- ance among local companies and agencies. The Standard Marine Insurance Company ot Liverpool, of which J. D. Spreckels & Bros. Co. are general agents, is managed by Davis & Sons, who'have done a profit- | able and highly satisfaciory business in this line. The firm of J. B. F. Davis & Co. also con- trol a large private ciientage besides the business herein referred to, and have #ained for themselves the distincuon of being one of the most conservative firms in thg placinz ot business for the protection of the assured, distribuiing it among only the very best companies and at the lowest possible rates. . Tne trouble so often aris- ingafter a loss, due to some technicality in the formation of the policy, is carefully avoided in the drawing up of the insur- ance papers, and any losses sustained by the assured are thereby promptly and | satisfactorily settled. The offices of the firm are located at 208 Sansome street. The controlling of the plied by the National Ice Company. There are many comparisons that could be drawn of the probable reasons why natural ice such as farnished by the Na. tional Ice Company is far superior to and more heaithful than the artificial compo- sition, but space will not permit of it here. Suffice to say, however, that juag- | ing from the enormous extent of the ice company’s business and the ever increas- ing trade the public tuliy appreciates the fact of its s-periority, and are using it pretty generally in preterence. The sails for the vesse!s of the Oceanic Steamship Company ars largely supplied by Simpson & Fisher, the well-known local sailmakers and manu‘acturers of bunting flags. The establishment of this | firm is one of the largest on the coast, and besides supplying the vessels of the Oceanic Steamship Company their trade reaches out most extensively among the shipping community. The famous Wood- brry & Druid sail-duck and twines are handied by Simpson & Fisher in this city. This firm needs no introduction to the hipping community. In this circle its members are well and favorably known. The principal members of, this nstitn- tion, John Stmpson and A. Bergman, are men of prominence iu local business cir- cles, and the extent to which their busi- ness has developed during the past dec- ade is due to their reliability and the su- periority of their workmanship. USTRALIA, One of the Principal Vessels Company. supplier of the Oceanic Steamship Com- | pany isa just credit due the enterprise | and progressive spirit as well as the re- | liability of one of San Francisco’s fore- most merchants. The supply of goods in this department | of the ocean liners in question ix very | The following is a list of an aver- | age order for one vessel taken from the Mr. Tiddy: Four hundred | pounds of turkev, 40 dozen of quail, 20 dozen of broilers and roosters, 10 dozen of pigeons, 10 dozen of teal ducks, 4¢iczen of tame geese, 4 dozen o! mallara ducks, 4 dozen of canvasback aucks, 8 dozen of squacs, 17 dozen of fowl, 6 dozen of rab- | is. The large establishment of Mr. Richard Tiddy in the Spreckels Market is fitted up with all the modern appliances in market | arrangements that science has revealed to | modern time-, | The insurunce vusiness of the Oceanic | Steam<h p Company is attended to by the | firm of J. B. F. Davis & Son, the well- | known general iusurance brokers of this | city. The firm i< one of the oldest estab- | lishments on thi- coast, having been in- augurated more than twenty-five years For the past seven vears Winfield S. Davis has managed the busine-s of this business of the nrms referred to in this article by Davis & Son speaks eminently | of their reiiability and bich standing as insurance brokers in business circles, and their customers. One of the more recent revelations in the art of scienc: is the storing of ail perishable viands on a long ocean voyage | by menns of :ce. 5 Tne National Ice Company. with head- | quarte:s in this city, ~upplies tue ice for | the steamers of the Oceanic Company. | The beer supply of the steamers is aisc | kept on ice and offers thereby a aelicious baverage to the travelers. The ice of the National Ice Company is harvested at Truckee, where the company in question has one of the most extensive | ice plants on the coast. The great superiority of natural ice over that which is artificially manufactured is too well known to require any lengthy comparison. It may not be generally known, however, that the natural article in this line keeps much longer than that which is manufactured. On every trip of the Oceanic steamers to | the Hawatian Islands a great supply of vegelables i« carried from this country, which are preserved throughout the jour- ney and at tkeir destination on ice sup- | | | | | is an evidence of the satisfaction given | | | i i | portant position this institution holds in | ably one of the best-known institutions | | cloth and insulated wire they have but | in their iine to the consiruction of the The business of the Oceanic Steamship Company, as well as that of many other | steam and merchant vessel companies, which is handled by Simpson & Fisher exclusively, is but an evidence of the im- our iocal manufactories. The wire rope, the wire cloth, and, in fact, all of the wirs goods usea by tke Oceanic Steamship Company en its great ocean liners are supplied by John A. Roebiing’s Sons Co. This firm is prob- in shipping circles in the United States. | As manufacturers of wire rope, wire few competitors on this coast, having lent more important great works of recent times in this conntry. It might not be generally known that we have in California in thisestablish- ment one of the principal branches of an institution many of whose works will go down in the annals of our country as wonders of the present century. The great Brooklyn-New York suspension bridge was buiit by the Roebling Son« Co. The telephone wire that connects New York with C ie1go is also the work of this firm. The telegraphic connections from San Francisco to New York are over the | ¢ity, and probably no other | this establ wire supplied by this b:g manufactory, | and the Atlantic’ cable was also manufac- tured by the Roebling’s Sons. = The manufactory of this great concern is at Trenton, N. J., with their princival branch offices and warehonses in New York, Chicago, Cleveland (Ohio), and this ci As supoliers of cable and electric rail- road wires they have an extensive trade, and probabiy have done morein the build- ing up of these railroads n the United States during the past:decade than any other establishment in their particular line. One of the departments of a large ocean steamer that has been greatly added to during the past aeca e is the electrical workings. To D. D. Wass, the well-known electrician of tkis cuy, is due the credit in the completeness of t e eiectrical work on the Oceanic Steamship Company’s ves- sels. The specialty of this establishment is electrical instaliations, supplies and re- pairs for marine plants. Besides the boats of the Oceanic Steam- ship Company, Mr. Wass furnishes the electrical supplies to Goodall, Perkins & Co., the Orezon Railway and Navigation Company, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Occidental and Orien- tal Steamship Company, aud attends to their regular repair work in this line, which latter department is a feature of hi< businesst Mr. Wass has been ider- tified in a marked dezree with the prog- ress of California. Ever a man of en- ergy, of enterprise, of brain-power, capable of large undertakings, he has been in the leading ranks of our intelligent workers, who, hand 1n hand and by har- monious action in their respective call- ings, have left for their descendants a great State as the best memorial of their | lives. The dairy produce and provisions of the Oceanic Steamship Company are provided by A. W. Fink, the well-known wholesale and retail merchant of this city. The goods used on the large ocean liners in question, and included under the h-ad of | vroduce and provisions, are varied and exiensive, embracing bulter, eggs, cheese, honey and olives. Mr. Fink is one of the foremost mer- chants in this city. For tweniy-six yedrs he has been a tenant of the Washington Market, and on the opening of the Spreckels Market about a year ago he established a branch agency in this market for the better convenience of his retail trade. The important position that this promi- neut merchant occupies in the commer: cial world might be better known by statine: that his trade is not confined to San Francisco or_California alone, but extends even to Hongkong and Yoko- hama, where he has some of the principal clubs and hotels on his list as cusiomers. The awarding of the contract for the supply of the Oceanic Steamship Com- pany to Mr. Fink serves as a recognition not alone as to his competency and re- liability, out as to the superior qualiiy of the goods he handles. During the stay of the Oceanic steamers in 1his port the supply ot meats to the vessels is furnished by James Boyes & Co. of the Golden Shore Market, w holesalers and retailers, 108 Clay street. Besides fur- rishing the meats of this company Boyes & Co. control the shipping trade of this firm bas a wider circle of friends and customers than bment among the sh pping communit The firni hax been in businessin this city over twenty-five years, and for ten years vast has been located in its present quar- ters on Clay street. Among the more prominent of shippers who are customers of ihis irm are the following: Renton- Holmes Company, Hobbs & Wall, tne Dunsmuir Comrany, J. J. Smith, J. J. Moore, William Boole and the Spreckels Company. 1In the supplying of the Eng- lish men-of-war and merchant vessels James Boyes & Co. handle this trade ex- clusivery. The supplying of the Oceanic Stesm- ship Company’s business in this line by Boyes & Co. is an evidence which speaks highly of the reliability and superiority of th- quality of the meats of this firm. A department in the outfitting of the Oceanic steamship vessels that probably lends more than any other to the artistic grace and eegance of the large ocean liners is the work done by the brass, cop- per and sheet metal workers. The credit in this regard on the vessels in question is due largely to the well-known local firm of De Lano Bros. The fine quality of goods, the superiority of workmanship aad the art of construction in this depari- ment on these Oceanic boats are surpassed by no other vessels in the world. Besides being suppliers of this company De Lano Bros. are outfitters for most of the prin- cipal ocean liners sailing from this city, as well as most all the sailing vesse.s of greater or less importance, anu the ferry and river steamers operating on the waters of the bay. They make a specia'ty of every description of marine work and do an extensive business also in the jobbing line. The firm, which is composed of F. M. and W. W. de Lano, is an institution that has been in business in this city for manv years, and the prin. cipals thereof are gentlemen whose rep tions as honest and reliable merch; as well as progressive and enterp citizens, are well known. » The sapply of suaps used by the Oceani Steamsbin Company is furnished by G, R. Lucy & Co., the well-known soap manu. facturer of this city. This establishment is one of the oldest institutions of its sorc in the State, having been 1n business in this city for the past thirty years. They manufacture all kinds of laundry and castile soaps and washing powder. The works of the company are located in the Potrero district at the corner of Alabama and Nebraska streets, where a large force of men is constantly employed. Besides supplying the trad~of the Oceanic steam- ships G. R. Lucy & Co. conduct .a large local and export trade. The reputation which the products ot G. R. Lucy & Co. bear for superior quality bas made this manufactory lamous throughout the country, as is shown by the extent of their business in the United States and their ever-increasing trade. The Victor soap powder is a preparation man ufactured by this firm and is particu- larly worthy of commendation by virtue of its superiority over all other articlesof 1ts sor:. e The success which this institution has attained as a local manufactory is due to the superiority of the articles they manu- facture, and the important place which they now occupy in local business circles is but an evidence of the progress and en- terprise of the members of the concern. The coffees, teas and spices used on the Oceanic steamers are furnished by the well-known wholesale firm of Leege & Haskins. The superiority of this lice of goods used on these large ocean lines often served as the theme of much tidious comment, and it has been pre generally conceded by the more asii connoisseurs that have traveled on the ves- sels in question that the teas and coffees ~erved on the Oceanic steamers are the finest to be obtained anywhere. £ This fact, of course, reflects great credit upon the progressive and enterprising spirit of our local house; and is only an- other evidence of the fact that we have in San Francisco some prominent merchants who are among the foremost of the coun- try. %esides handling teas, coffees and spices, they are extensive dealers on the coast in baking powder anud extracts, as well as foreign and domestic matches. Their trade is not confined to this city nor .0 the State alone; it extends most exten- sively throughout the country. & The foreign and domestic fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables and produce of the Oceanic Steamship Company are supplied by C. M. Foster & Co., the well-known wholesale and retail dealers in the Soreckels Market. For more than a decade C. M. Foster & Co. occupied stalls in the old Center Market, formerly at Grant avenue and Sutter streets, the members of which firm are the best-known merchants in their hine in this city. Besides this im- poriant trade and also the supply of most all the leading families in town, Fo-ter & Co. cater largely to the supplying of tie principal hotels and boarding-houses of San Francisco. The shipsmithing of the Oceanic Steam- hip Company is attended to largely by W. S. Phelps & Co., the well-known ship- ~miths of 13and 15 Drumm street. The business of most all the other local steam and eailing vessel companies in this line 1s conducted by the same firm. The firm of W. S. Phelps & Co. is prob- ably the oldest in businees in this city and have been located at their present address on Drumm street for the past forty-five years. One of the principal suppliers of the trade of the Oceanic Steamship Company and one of the oldest-vstablished firms inf{ this city is Charles J. Hendry’s Son & Co., formerly C. J. Hendry, shipchan-, dlery and naval stores, at 8 California street. The establishment is one off the leacing institutions of its sort in California and numbers among its cus- tomers the representative shir-owners of this coast. Cnarles J. Hendry's Son & Co. is one of the foremost houses in iis line in this State. One of the largest exporters of goods to the Hawaiian lsiands from this coast is the firm of Schweitzer & Co., the weil- known wholesalers of hosiery, glove., handkerchiefs and furnishing goods, as well as laces, embroideries, corsets, rib- bons and white zoods. This firm is one of the oldest on the Pacific Coast. They baye during the past decade done more, probably, tban any other local firm to bring a large quantity of the island trade to California. Brann & Prior, the well-known local firm ol sailmakers, occupy an imvortant position in ithe commercial world in the fitting out of vessels, and do business for the Oceanic Steamship Company in this line, as well as an extensive business for other large local ship-owners. The total iack of interest in the mining in- dustry of California on the part of tse railroad companies or of any effort or disposition to aid itis one of the important teatures of the min- 1ng situation in this State. The rival railroads running into Colorado and Utah have loug | scattered broadcast attractive adveriising literature, desigued to attract both capita.isis and prospectors to those regions, and they have in other ways aided in the rapid develop- ment of mining districts and miniug interests generally. | The Canadian Pacific and other railroad cr mpanies take a large and active part in the mining development of British Columbia. Here the railroad interest in mining is con- fined to the petenting of mineral lands within land grants The only railroad that is doing anything for mining, except for the line being bultto Randsburg, is the littie Sierra road, from Oakdale to Jamestown, which is going to boom & large section of the mother lode. This is brought to notice by the recent action of the Los Angeles Mining and Stock Exchange | =dopling resolutions on this subject. The resolutions recail the varied mineral weaith of the State, now yielding $26,000.000. which “justifies the railway corporations of Califor- nia lu taking a lively and active interest in advertising in the literature of their roads the rich mineral resources of this State, as has been done with marked success by other raii- way companies, especially those of Uiah and Colorado.” The resolutipns also find “that the railway companies can greaily increase the freight and passeager traflic of their lines by the con- struction of braneh lines to desert and moun- tain mining camps in both southern and northern paris of the State, whieh, when in operstion, would attract the capitalist, tour. ist and sportsivan to many wealth and heaith producing paris of California which are now pegiected and almost unknown; that other railway companies that have nol any better territory to operate in than our California railways now possess, by a systematic and attractive class of printed reading matter, beautifully filusirated by photo cuts of the scenery and mines in their districts, bave at- tracied capitul to these miniug camps ana made the efforts of the prospector and miuver a | success in 5o doing and increased their own business.”” The Copper River country, in Alaska, will be invaded vy a horde of prospectors in the Spring. Many expeditions have already started or are making ready to go soon, but in the spring it will share the rush with the Yukon. Itis terra incognita, and it is yet | attract've, because of a vague general belief in riches which are yet to be found. Nearly all expeditions head for the mouth of the river 1o follow the stream upward. The Alaska Mining Journal of Juneau gives the following pointers on the Copper River coun- tr ““We have no doubt that Copper River is a very rich mineral-bearing country, but, not unlike the whole of Alaska, it is sn exceed- ingly hard section of country to penctrate, and more especially is it so for those who are utter strangers here and have not had the actual experlence that is necessary to success- fully cope with the rigorous elements and ex- tremely rough condition of the country. And, again, there are no correct maps of the coun- try that in a measure would guide the strapger and no trails or definite routes estab- lished—it is a terra incognita in wnich the traveler’s only guide is the sun and the stars and his compass snd own wits. 2 “So far as known the only practicable route to reach the headwaters of Copper River is over the Dalton Trail to his interior post near the head of the Alsek River, thence striking across country (no trai!) to the head of the east fork. Over that route pack animals can be taken along, aud to experienced omes the journey could .be made with little difficulty during summer. Over that route the air-line distance of land travel from the head of Lynn Canal to head of east fork is approximately 240 miles, the country beyond the coast divide in the wmain being open and roliing, but rather swampy and many lakes, and some of the latter wiil require a boai or & raft to cross. ©0 make that journey it would be well for & person 10 land at the beaa of Lyun Canal in the early spring and sled his supplies up the Chilkat River and over the divide on the crusted snow. When all the outfic was over he could make & summer cache st the Dalion post, and with pack animals with light loads could prospect the country beyond or the hends of White, Copper and Tananah rivers with a degree of comfort and safety that could not otherwise be obtained. In thisconnection | we wish to :dd that the Mining Record will take great p'easure in furnishing information | tolegitimaie enterprises that will tend toward | the exploration and opening up ot Alaska and | her mineral resources. The present mining activity is illustrated by astatement by 8. J. Hendy, which is typical ot the reports by all established manutactur- ers and dealers in mining machineryin San Francisco. Mr. Her.dy says that the business in this line now being done is three times as great as a year ago. Seven-eighths of the num- ber of orders are for development machinery, | which is highly sigrificant of what is going on all over the Stite in the way os opening up mines. Smell stamp mills, hoists, boilers, en- gives, water wheels, etc., innunierable are be- ing shipped from the city constantly. The demand ior material for hydraulic plants | shows a very great increase. San Francisco capitalists have bought the old Blackleg drifs mine in Butte County which has been mined with varying but gen- eral success for forty years or so. It is pro- posed to sink a shift 315 feet through the lava capping to the ancient river channel and cor- nect ihe bottom of the shaft with a tunuel 2600 feet long, part of which is completed. It is proposed to then hydraulic the gravel out through the tunnel with water piped under pressure through the shaft. The Graves brothers are tunneling in on their pocket seam 1n the Blue Jay mine on Coffee Greek and it is reported that they have taken lately several hundred Aollars’ worth of nuggets from small pockets encountered. The Mountain Mines Company proposes to largely increase the force of men at ils great copper mines and smelter a1 Iron Mountain and Keswick, Shasta County. The hydraulic mines on the Klamath will soon be in operation again with the fall rains and next year will see many new nydraulic plants in operation. Eight-hour shifts are being employed at the Cherokee drift mine in Butte Connty for the first time in fifteen years. Aninclined tunnel is being run at the rate of 250 feet & month. A syndicate has bonded the Green Mountain mine and fifteen other claims, together with 8 60-stamp mill, in Plumas County, from G. P. Cornell & Co. Extensive development work bas been begun. Several years ago the mineral industry of this county was pructically dead, but the in- evitabie favorable reaction came and Tuol- umue is now one of the greatest ore producing districts in- the country. More mines are weekly being added to her alresdy long list, and thousands of dollars’ worth of mining machivery is coming i right along. Any prospector with & reasonably fair price of quartz vein within & raqius ot twenty miles of Sonora can cash it for & few thousand dollars, while rich is the man who can show & legiti- mate milling proposition that gives reasons- ble returns on rock run througn a mill. With the adventof winter and water mining will | operation capable of developing 2000 horse- | panies owning mines in both Amador and | receive an impetus in this county.—Sonora Democrat, A 10-stamp mili was put in operation at tne Magalia mine, in Butte County, ten days ago. The Blue Lakes Water Company at Mo- keiumne Hill, Cal, now has machinery in vower. Electric lights are run by this power | in severel towns in Amador County, and ar- | rangements are being made with several com- Calaveras counties for operation by electricity. Up to this time the Blue Lakes Water Com- pany has furnished water power for running some of these mines and now expects to be able to furnish them with a kind of power which will be cheuper and more effective. The company considers it is feasible to de- velop 10,000 horsepower at Mokelumne Hill by putiing 1n the necessary machinery, and that, shouid it be desired to do so, the power could be conveyed to Stockton, a distance of thiriy-nine miles. The gold receipts at the United States Mint rfor the first two weeks of Octover 2,725, which is more than double the rece!ts for the corresponding period of last year, £303.855. The gain is mainly due to rapid increase in the working of low grade ores in Colorado with stamp mills and chlorination and cyanide plants. There has been no increase in the number of smeiters. Leadville 1s producing a larger ore output than for several years past, about 1800 tons a day, and tnis with the “aowntown” mines still flooded and idle, as they have been sincs the strike. There is a prospect that the long- talked of scheme of pumping out these big mines and resuming operations will soon be carried out. A combination of the miners to do this was effected some time ago, &nd heavy and costly pumping machinery was brought to the ground. There was needed $25,000 additional, and it was subscribed, but a seri- ous hitch occurred through the refusal of one company to pay its share. An effurt is now being made to go auead with the enterprise without the recalcitrant company. The pro- ject means much to Leadville. At the quartzmines of Southeastern Alaska there are 640 stamps dropping. and there is a certeinty that the number will be increased by 200 before the end of 1898, as plans embrac- ing that number have bee: decided on. With the number of sales pending and the recent new interest in Alaska mines it is possible that the number will be largely increased. The Portland mize at Cripple Creek 1s keep- ing up fis montnly distribution of $30,000 in dividends, besides adding to the reserve funa. The dividends to date amount to $1,207,080. The Rio Tinto Copper Mining Company of England, which owns in Spain the greatest copper property in the world, is aiso the real owner of the most valuable group of mines in the East Kootenay district, British Columbia. The claims number fourteen in all, anlon several of them good development work has been done. Atone place there isa dump of silver-copper ore valued at $5000, and forty men are now at work. Next year a 6-drill air- compressor is to b put in, and preparations are already being made to receive it. The past year’s silver throughout the world approximated to 172.500,000 ounces, com- vered with 169,180,000 ounces ‘n 1895, 126,- 4095,000 ounces in 1890, 91,610,000 ounces in 1885, an! 74,795,000 ounces in 1880. The ! United States and Mexico sre the leading | producers. Bolivia comes third with a year's | return of 22,500,000 ounces; Australesia comes fourth with a yearly return of 16,200,- 000 ounces; then Germany with 6,100,000 ounces; Chile, 5 300,000 ounces; Spain, 3.600.000 ounces; Peru, 3,300.000 ounces; Cinads, 3,140,000 ounces; Austris-Hungary, 2,300,000 ouces; Japan. 2,250,000 ounces; Colombia, 1,750,000 ounces. An interesting case has just been decided by tne Supreme Court of New Mexico regard- ing the ri-hts of those who grub-stake mining | prospectors. Henry Lockhart of Albuquerqus had zruo-staked tue original locatofs of the Washington mine at Cocniti, which property, | when it jroved valuable, became the subject | of litigation between Lockhart and the loca- | tors whom he had grub-staked. It has been in the courts ior several years, the result finally belug in favor of Lockhart. During the first hali of the present year 9335 mining claims were ‘“patented” in Mexico. During the same monthsin 1893 the number of patents was only 241. In view of the rapid turning of attention to mining the beds of streams with dredges and the successiul experiments whica have al- ready been made in this State the following from the New Zealand Mines Record will in- terest many: “Dredging is becoming a very important factor in the produet of gold from this colony, and in Otago especiaily it has lately attracted & great dealof attention and led to the pegging out of a large number of claims in the vicinity of the Clutha, Kawarau and other rivers. The Roxburgh correspona- ent of the Otago Witness pub ishes a series of articles, extending over a period of nearly three months. on ““The Rise and Development of Dredging in Otago.” In concluding (on August 19) the writer siated tuat thers are fifty-seven dredges working in Otago, thirteen dredges building and seveniy-five dredgiag ciaims taken up with the view ot plaeing dredges upon them.” Atamily of Magicians The transmission from one generation to another in the same family of some pecutiar gift or faculiy has never been more strikingly exemplified than in the Herrmann family. Kor several generations, without break, the Herrmanns have been conspicuous and world-tamed as masters of the impenetrable mysteries which in modern times delight theater-goers, but which in ancient days were viewed with religious awe when practiced by the magi of tHe Persians. Possibly the best-known Herrmann in this country was Alexander Herrmann, called “Herrmann the Great,” who died cuddenly in his famous private car last December in Rochester, N. Y. The mainspring of the Herrmann house of magic was a German physican. ‘When not engaged in physicking his pa- tients back to health, he spent his time in devising weird illusions and concoc.ing curious tricks with which he delighted to astouish his friends. He ufterward took up his residence in Paris, where he de- | veloped a wonderful expertness; but this Herrmann never appeared in public. He was the father of no less than eight sons and an equal number of dauchters. Carl, the eldest son, possessed from childhood a talent for sleight-of-hand, and his name and fame as a magician was known throughout the world when death seized him, seven or eight years ago. Carl it was who made up his mind that his brother Alexander should also become a prestidigitateur. The opposition of the family to such a step was very great, the father positively aud emphatically refus- ing to consider it for a moment. To carry out his cherished design that Alexander should perpetuate his name in the field of legerdemain it is authoritatively stated that Carl literally kidnaped Alexander to Russia. He trained him for the end in view, and noted with delight his brother’s adaptability and extraordinary talent in sleight-of-hand. In St. Petersburg Alex- ander made his first public appearance, They traveled over the greater part of the world together and freq tly appeared before rovaliy itse!f. Ths two brothers came to America in 1861, and fifteen years later Alexander became a citizen of the United States, being naturalized in Bos- ton. Oarl and Alexander then started on a tour of the world, in the course of which they appeared 1000 ~onsecutive nightsin London. Alexander returned to America and from 1874 to 1883 toured the United States. He afterward visited South America, ac. companied by his youthful and beautiful wife, Mme. Adelaide, now herself a preati. digitatrice. Tkey played an engagement of twenty performances in Rio Janeiro, Dom Pedro, the Emperor, attended every per.ormance but one. So delighted wag the Emperor with Alexander and his wife that he decorated the former with a cross of Brazil and to Mme. Herrmann he pre- sent d a magnificent butterfly brooch for the Imair, the intrinsic value of which amounted to several thousand dollars, Ten thousand dollars would not be taken for it to-day by Mme. Herrmann, Like his broiher Carl, Alexander com- menced » few years ago to look about him for a successor. He realized that in all human probability he could not live many years, and the desire to leave a successor for the work he loved so well seized him. He went to Europe especially 10 see his nephew, Leon, and so strack was the great magician with Leon’s deftness and dexterity n accomphishing illusions that he at once declared him his succes- sor. Hence, when Alexander suddenly d last year, his mantle fell upon Leon. 4 | deputy mayor. The lady discharged her He is an almost exact counterpart of his dead uncle. He dresses in the same kind of clothes the latter made familiar to every mystery-loving person in the coun- try. He wears a mustache and goatee, and his general manner is similar to the other Herrmann. America this season will possess the only known prestidigitatrice in the world. She is Adelaide Herrmann, the widow of the late magician, and will appear in a full magical exhibition. Even in these days of feminine advancement the idea ¢ a female magician is something umqy and startling. It must be aamitied, how- ever, that Mme. Herrmann has niled a se- vere apprenticeshiv to her ari. Since her marriage to her deceased eminent hus- band she has, it may be said, lived in the very atmosphere of magic, and some of the best magical illusions which Herr- mann presented have been of her own de- vising. When Herrmann's following in- creased so that he had other assistants to take his wife’s place she steadily refused to lead the life of ease he had mapped out for her, but each evening stood behind thed® scenes and handed to him any piece of paraphernalia that he might desire in the particular act he was then performing. 8She never trusted any other person with this self-appointed task, and the magician grew so accustomed to her attention that he considered her presence part of the act and needed her to a thorough confidence in himself. It was to her that he attrib- uted the great success he attained from just sucn acts as this. Through this ob- servation Mme. Herrmann soon became as great an adept in the art of diablerie as the professor himself. Mme. Herrmann has successfully toured the world and appeared before every crowned head of Europe as well asthe principal dignitaries of state in North and South America. This season she does her late husband’s great bullet-caiching feat. It is made all the more startling by the fact thata woman isto be the target for the rifle balis. The ‘marksmen who do the shooting march on the stage first, followed by Mmae, Herrmann, who is dressed in white shirg and black knickernockers. The bulle are marked, the plate—one oi the eve:? day dinner variety—is handed aronnd . inspection, the guns are loaded and tfe marksmen take their places, “Are you ready? Firel” And Mme. Herrmann walks forward with the six bullets on the piate. A mayor in Italy, finding it nec ‘l to absent himself, € 1t necessa constituted his wile official duties 8o well that the Mayor on his return discovered thatno one wanted him back, ? | 3