The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 24, 1897, Page 6

6 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, I897. . DECEMBER ! FRIDAY " JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W, S. LEAKE, Manay 24, 1897 ger. PUBLICATION OFFICE .. Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1863, EDITORIAL ROOMS.. 2i7 to 221 Stevenson stree Telephone Main 1874, 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 gionth 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. One year, by matl, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE ...... ..908 Broadway esentative, DAVID ALLEN. 5 Room 188, World Building Eastern Re; NEW YORK OFFIC! WASHINGTON (D. C. OFFICE Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. . BRANCH OFFICES--527 Montgomery street, corner Clay; open until 9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street; open until 9:30 o'clock. 621 MoAllister street; open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street; open until 9:30 o'clock. SW. corner Sixteenth and Mission streets; open until 9o'clock. 258 Mission street; open until 9 o'clock. 143 Ninth street; open until9 o'clock, 1505 Polk street; open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky streets; open until 9 o'clock. —_— AMUSEMENTS. “The Jucklf Milk W Stark's V —Bost 2 cing to-day at Oakland. and Fell streets, Ladies' Football MUSIC FOR THEIR SOULS. ANSAS CITY musicians happy thought. K by playing to scheme will be useful. have hit upon a They would reform criminals them soulful melodies. The It will afford an opportunity to try new scores “on the dog,” and if the tune prove not deadly, and especially it tend to the elevation of the listeners, then will it be doubly blessed. But it is painful to think of possible results. Supposing some thoughtless enthusiast were to strike up “A Hot T ? Who then would be responsible for the riot sure to follow? A question arises as to whether the musicians are not undertaking too much. There are prisoners iz h a frame of mind that the only sound they would recognize as really musical would be that made by a rat-tail file in the act of eating through a bar. Shall such be doled out “All Coons Look Alike to Me” and hold their peace? Hardly. However, the Kansas City scheme is only in the initial stage and it is too soon to pronounce upon the absolute virtue of it. TWO LESSONS OF WARNING. AN JOSE and Los Angeles—beautiful cities S both and full of good people—are at this mo- ment furnishing the State with warning lessons of the pernicious effects of bad public administration upon the general welfare of the community. In each of these cities movements were under way for the accomplishment of objects of great municipal im- portance, and in each the movement was checked and defeated by the exposure of official misconduct. In San Jose a long cherished desire for city exten- sion seemed a short time ago to be in a fair way of fulfillment. An agitation upon the subject resulted in atakening a strong popular sentiment in its favor and committees were appointed to conduct a cam- paign of education tending to an early vote on the proposition. Just at the moment when all was most promising came the disclosures of the Grand Jury sequent uncovering of the many misdeeds I gang that dominates the city and to a large extent the county. In the face of these ex- posures it was impossible to carry forward the move- ment for city extension. The project had to be dropped and San Jose will remain hide bound in her narrow limits for another year at least by reason of the corruption of a few men in office. In Los Angeles the case is even worse. The people of that city had under consideration a proposition to vote bonds for the building of school houses, fire engine houses, and for re-funding the public debt at a lower rate of interest. The objects aimed at by the proposed bond issue are good. It is not denied that new buildings for the School and Fire depart- ments are needed, nor that the re-funding of the debt would be an act of genuine economy. Public sentiment favored the proposals and their adoption was well assured when the discovery was made of corruption in the School Board. Straightway the enthusiasm for municipal improvements ceased, and on election day all the bond propositions were de- feated. It is well known that the best army in the world will not fight with vigor under a general whom it does not trust. Something of the same need of right leadership is shown in the history of communities. The most progressive of citizens lose their ardor and their public spirit when their officials show them- selves unworthy of trust. Thus corruption or ineffi- ciency in office does more harm than appears on the surface. It not only wastes money collected by tax- ation, but it checks popular enterprise of all kinds, The moral of the iessons taught by San Jose and Los Angeles is too plain to be mistaken. Public prosper- ity and progress demand as conditions precedent purity in politics and honesty in office. There is nothing but talk, of a rather interior quality, in the rumor that Wolcotr = will re- sign from the Senate. Wolcott not only knows a good thing when he sees it, but he knows that a senatorship is a particularly good thing that he couldn’t gt in Colorado again in a thousand years. Wolcott likes to be spectacular, too, but a man with 3 vocabulary and an attitude can be this and hold on to his seat. N L News comes from Nevada that there is something akin to panic among the lynchers because of the re- ward offered for their capture. Now if anybody knows the lynchers well enough to be able to discern signs of distress among them there seems nothing in the way of his earning the reward. The conclusion is inevitable that some people are just as much afraid of the lynchers as the lynchers are of justice. T A Mrs. Spear’s appearance as a politician at least projects novelty into the situation. None but a woman would Have thought of appointing- a person to a place of trust because of the correct cut of his clothes or the fact that at a social function his man- ners had reached a stage of perfection at which the idea of cating pie with a knife becomes a thing to be recoiled from with horror. — Another man has attempted murder, selecting woman as his victim. In discussing the rights of the weaker sex that of not being murdered bas received far too little attention, and yet it is a thing con- cerning which there would be substantial agreement. A FRUITLESS APPEAL. N APPEAL to the policemen, school teachers / \ and firemen of this city by the advocates of the proposed Czar charter can, in the nature of things, avail them nothing. No person holding a position under the municipal government whose ten- ure is now secured by law will ever vote for a Board of Freeholders pledged to establish an autocratic Mayor. All employes of this city understand the full mieaning of such a change. They know that with a Czar in charge of the government no Civil Service Commission that could be devised would be able to protect them from the raids of the political machines. The present status of the Police, School and Fire departments is maintained by positive law. Candi- dates for the police force are put through a rigid examination, and, once accepted, they can be dis- missed only upon written charges aiter a public triak The tenure of the school teachers is maintained in the same way. The manner of appointment to the Fire Department is not so strict, but once a fireman enters upon the discharge of his duties he can be removed only for cause. No civil service rules have been necessary to main- tain this system, and it is doubtful whether any could maintain it. Time and again the political bosses have endeavored to break into the three departments mentioned, and time and again they have been de- feated in the contest. Under a permanent tenure not only have the Fire, Police and School departments been worked up to a high state of efficiency, but they have practically been takén out of politics. The schools would long ago have ceased vo scandalize the city had the Board of Education been appointive in- stead of elective. The charter proposed by the Citizens' Committee not only contemplates the continued election of a Board of Education, thus maintaining the School Department in politics, but it places the whole sub- ject of patronage in the hands of a Civil Service Com- mission to be appointed by the Mayor! In order to make a clean sweep of the municipal field after every clection, therefore, it would only be necessary under the proposed charter for the Mayor to appoint a commission sufficiently tractable to indorse his “rules.” The merest verbal juggle wouid enable him to establish a political machine more powerful than any we have ever known. The candidates for Freeholders who are opposed to one man power and who, if elected, will offer a charter calculated to preserve the present municipal system as far as possible, are as follows. The figures which precede their names are their numbers on the official ballot: REPUBLICANS. 13. GEORGE E. DOW, Dow Steam Pump Works. 17. JOSEPH D. GRANT, merchant, Murphy, Grant & Co. 24. REUBEN H. LLOYD, attorney. 33. GEORGE M. PERINE, contractor. 39. A, W. SCOTT, hay and grain denler, 42. proprietor GEORGE P. SQUIRES, attorney. DEMOCRATS., W. E. LUTZ, secretary building and loan associations. 26. JOHN McCARTHY, spice mer- chant. 35. W.M. PIERSON, attorney. 38. JOSEPH ROSENTHAL, attorney. 43. 44. C. B. STONE, manager breweries. PATRICK SWIFT, capitalist. POPIL STS, THOMAS V. CATOR, attorney. 18. W.N. GRISWOLD, physician. 22. THEODORE H. HATCH, commis. sion merchant. 7. No person interested in the substantial progress of the city should fail to support this ticket. If elected these gentlemen will frame a charter in which there will be no fads, experiments or follies, and which, consequently, will stand some chance of adoption. As the crying need of the city at this time is an or- ganic law under which a system of public improve- ments may be undertaken, a vote for these candi- dates is a vote for municipal progress. A vote for the Citizens’ Committee nominees, on the other hand, is a vote against any charter. No instrument they can frame under the policy to which they are pledged can be adopted. If the real name of the man known as Hoff is the almost unpronounceable thing he affirms, attor- neys should begin to practice on the genuine right away. To convict Hoff of murder and then have his counsel show that the culprit was Blanketyblank- hockhockhoff would probably give the Supreme Court the pain of granting a second trial and the counsel a chance to claim that as their client had once been in jeopardy to put him there again would be an outrage of his constitutional rights. But here arises another delicate point. Does the fact that a guilty man has been tried in a California court in any degree demonstrate that he has been in jeop- ardy? —_— The Hall of Justice has at last reached such a height that a man falling from it does so at some risk. While there is naturally sympathy for the man, there is some ground for encouragement in the new pos- sibility. At one time it appeared that the contractors for the work had taken it merely for the purpose of keeping it out of the hands of somebody else who might take a notion to surprise the community and set a distressing precedent by doing their task promptly and properly. “The inquest on murdered Mrs. Clute was begun yesterday, and with it came a thrill and a shudder.” So announced the Durrantese daily, and then pro- ceeded to give its readers two pages. The first was made up of thrill and the second of shudder, the pair bedewed with gore. It was a beautiful effort to live up to the traditional indecency of yellow journalism. Mr. Hoff, viewed from the standpoint of a Hearst- ling, may not be pretty to look at, but he is a blessing and 2 boon. There is in progress across the bay a murder trial so recking with uncleanness, such a condensation of shamelessness, that no detailed account of it can ap- pear. Yet a philosopher has arisen to wonder why the courtroom is crowded daily with respectable people. The philosopher is wasting his brain tissue over a problem which does not exist. He is a poor judge of people. S L Generosity has never been the strong point of the Southern Pacific policy, and the plan of denying to employes the right to an occasional free ride ex- cites more indignation than surprise. However, the new scheme has not yet been carried out to the' full- est extent. Conductors and other trainmen on duty will still be permitted to get on board without putting up cash. Chief Lees might with excellent reason and good taste turn his wrath against some of the criminals engaged in looting the community. True, these per- sons have not yet gone so far as to accuse the Chief of being in his dotage, but nevertheless their conduct is reprehensible. s - A LEPROUS PROVINCE. T HAS been the practice to belittle the danger of leprosy which will appear upon annexation of Hawaii. According to many advocates of annexa- tion, that simple change of sovereignty is to work such immediate modification of tropical conditions as to make plantation labor a summer holiday for Anglo-Saxons and is to make all white people im- muné to leprosy, which is now believed to affect 10 per cent of the people of the islands. Absorption into our political system will so increase the con- tacts had with the islands as to increase the risk of contagion by any endemic disease that may prevail there. Science does not share the cheerfulness with which annexationists put forward the opposite view. In the North American Review for November Dr. Prince A. Morrow thoughtfully considers annexation and leprosy. Of the islands he says: “Their maritime impor- tance to this country, the advantages which would follow annexation from a commercial standpoint, have been fully set forth, but the sanitary aspects of the scheme have received no attention. When it is considered that more than 10 per cent of the Hawaiians are affected by leprosy it becomes a serious question as to what will be the effect of the absorption of this tainted population upon the health interests of this country.” Dr. Morrow shows that for centuries leprosy had disappeared from civilized countries and its reap- pearance was like a resurrection. To-day it prevails over more than one-fourth the surface of the globe and has its chief seat and center in Hawaii. Since the establishment of the leper settlement in 1866 5300 cases have been sent there and over 4000 have died. To care for these lepers requires one-tenth of all the revenues of the Government. The disease is no re- specter of nationalities. Though supposed to have been introduced by the Chinese, and therefore called by the natives mai paka (the Chinese disease), it has spread to the natives of every country and every race that may be found in Hawaii. It is not limited to low life. either, but appears in every zone of society. In the first twenty years of Molokai only 1 per cent of the victims were Chinese and whites, while in 1806 the number of whites had risen to 5 per cent of the whole, and Dr. Mauritz, formerly resident physician at Molokai, on January 1, 1897, said: “Within the past year or two the disease is making considerable inroads among the whites.” It is believed that but a small number of the white cases are sent to Molokai, and these from the poorer classes, as it is suspected to be the practice of the authorities to let the wealthier whites escape from the islands and go elsewhere to die or seek treatment. In this way the bacillus leprae is being distributed from that center. Its incubation is for an uncertain period. It may be a few minutes or many years after it is taken into a healthy person from one tainted be- fore it appears. 3 Dr. Morrow says that in the event of annexation “it would be idle to think of confining leprosy to the islands, or rather excluding it from this country by quarantine.” It will find a congenial culture bed in that part of the United States which is warm and semi-tropical, where, he says, “it spreads. Its ad- vance is insidious, and before the health authorities awaken to a realization of the danyger it has made such headway that its further progress cannot be ar- rested. All these facts should be carefully considered and their importance from a sanitary point of view carefully weighed by our legislative authorities before deciding to annex Hawaii with its leprous popula- tion.” These are the conclusions of a disinterested man of science and they sound a warning which adds to the rising note of disapproval of annexation. flseldemcnl of the controversy over the best means of providing roadways to Yosemite has been taken by Congressman De Vries by the intro- duction of a bill providing for the appointment of a commission by the Secretary of War to make surveys and report upon them before December 1, 1808. By the terms of the bill the proposed commission is to consist of two members of the Engineer Corps of the United States army and a duly licensed and practicing engineer who shall be a member of the California Bureau of Highways. The commission is charged to make surveys of the existing toll roads, known as Oak Flat, Coulterville, Wawona and Tioga roads; and also to survey roads by the best possible grades from the valley to points in Merced, Stanis- laus, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. The com- n:ission is therefore expected to thoroughly study the whole subject and the report will furnish Congress with the data upon which to decide where the roads shall be constructed and the amount of the appro- priation necessary to defray the cost. The appointment of such a commission will not in any way delay the work of constructing the pro- posed roads, since it is clear the Government will not make an appropriation for them until an official sur- . THE YOSEMITE ROAD. PRELIMINARY step essential to the proper vey has been made and the report filed at Washing-- ton. The creation of the commission is therefore the first step toward the accomplishment of the long de- sired thoroughfares into the valley and merits the support of the entire California delegation in Con- gress. There can be no question that the roads ought to be provided by the General Government rather than by the State, for the Government owns nearly all the land through which they will run, no matter what route may be decided upon. It deals fairly with those who advocate the purchase of existing roads as well as with those who prefer that new roads should be built, and makes no discrimination as to what county or counties shall have a roadway. These disputed” points it leaves the Government to settle and provides, moreover, that the commission shall make a report upon all feasible routes and not upon those only which it believes to be most desirable. If the bill can be promptly enacted and the com- mission works with due diligence the report can be made by the date fixed, and when Congress meets next December our delegation at Washington will have the data upon which to urge an appropriation for the work. To that end, therefore, all our ener- gies should be directed at this juncture. Let us drop the controversy over the question between the old roads or new roads and push the fight for a Govern- ment commission now and a Government appropria- tion next year. If this is done it will be but a few years before access to Yosemite will be so easy and so free from vexatious charges that the beautiful val- ley will be a popular resort and the delight of its romantic loveliness will be within reach of all. e s —— ‘Estimates are made that by the close of another season one Klondike magnate will be in possession of $10,000,000 in gold. The expert who makes the estimate furnishes no affidavit with it, but there can be no doubt that he is a modest person. Ciphers are so plentiful, and he could have so casily tacked on a few more if his scheme had been to be impressive rather than accurate. & jnow be at least 200, there are only about one-fifth of that number. PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. FIRST PAPER. GREAT want exists in the California of to-day. It is a want that has never been supplied—except to the extent noted below. A generation has grown up in the villages and towns of theState thatis only partially conscious of its deprivation, because it has never had the pos- session. Priding. ourselves, and justly so, on the excellence of our common school system, we are neglecting the strongest instrumentality for connnu& ing education begun in the schoolroom. This urgent necessity lies in the nei. of the devélopment and direction of our public library system along lrfe line ott mzm ern methods, and also, what is hardly second in Impartance, the eultivation of warm and abiding interest in its progress on the part of the public. Outside of the clties and a few of the towns, probably less than forty places all told, there is, in the la xfi- majority of instances, no public library whatever; in others occasionally an nsz‘o,cc tion library may be found which is open one or two evenings in the week, or a V. T. U. reading-room, maintained under the most adverse circumstances with the Dpi of keeping the hoys from the streets. This poverty of resources for- the public o large is the strongest contrast to the liberaliky which _California _has always dis- played toward her elementary schools. For these the State is spending nearly six millions of dollars yearly. it: The rapidly expanding system of high schools—now fully 100 in number—lays its burden upon the communities supporting them, while the State University, the crown and pride of the State, is at last receiving sums’ more nearly according with its lm; perative needs than at any previous time in its history. Thus the aggregate cost o maintenance of the elementary, secondary and higher system of education amounts to nearly seven miilions of dollars per-annum. All this is well; it is the best possible investment that can be made for the future years of statehood. But California has overlooked in a large measure the importance of continuing the work of education of her adult population. Widely separated from sister States, she has not kept abreast of the wave of awakened library sentiment now sweeping over the progressive States in the East. She has not grasped the conception that the State shoul(_l endeavor to promote the education of every one of her citizens during his entire lifetime. The highest citizenship demands increasing intelligence and = the purest morality of its men and women. In addition to ever-present forces of daily life the {amfl.‘yfl She neighborhood, the church, the daily newspaper, the friction of life in one’s pursuits, there is required a knowledge of books, the companionship of minds of the present and the past, unfolding the lessons of history, the teachings of philosophy, the in- structions of science and the wisdom obtained in literature, poetry, biography and fiction. In this enlightened age no State has the right to neglect the richest or with- bold from the poorest of its citizens that knowledge which qualifies him for the best service he can render to his own community and through it to that larger sphere of which he is an integral part. Examining our local conditions we find that the general library law of California, enacted in 880, is excellent as far as it goes. Framed in accordance with the senti- ment of the period of its passage, it simply allows incorporated towns and cities to .establish and maintain free public libraries and reading-rooms by authorizing the levy of a maximum tax of 1 mill on the dollar. No encouragement is given to the weaker towns by an offer of State aid to start with; no promise of advisory assistance from an experienced board; no helps of latest information concerning the purchase of books and periodicals; nothing what- ever is provided but the sanction of the State to any interested community. Hence we find that public sentiment is weak and apathetic in this direction; the number of public libraries is increasing very slowly, and in this great State, where there should Available statis- tics are scanty—nothing later than 184—but from these we ascertain that there are over thirty counties in California, with a population of nearly 350,000, in which there are no free public libraries. Those in operation are located almost entirely within 100 miles of San Francisco and in Southern California. The total population of the State now denied access to such institutions (those residing outside of towns and cities which possess free Libraries) is more than 600,000, or probably more than half of its inhabitants. It is sometimes sald that the excellent district school library system of this State renders general libraries unnecessary. Such comments are usually hastily made and without due knowledge of the conditions attending the school libraries. In the first place, the school law requires that the library shall be kept in the schoolhouse, thus making it practically inaccessible to adults at all times. Secondly, the undoubted intent of the law is to provide reading for the various grades of school children, with but slight reference to the needs of their fathers and mothers. Surely in these days, when the press teems with bright, invigorating literature, written expressly for scholars of different ages, it is a perversion of trust to pur- chase out of the limited library fund (averaging only $30 per annum for each district, and diminished by payments for reference works, maps, charts and globes) many ot those publications which appeal supremely to those of riper years. An objection not infrequently raised in places where it is desired to start a library is worthy of passing notice. It is this: ‘““We had a library here once and it failed.” The irresistible inference is that ‘the climate was too enervating or too stimulating. The undoubted fact was that no provision was made for the steady, permanent support of the library by constant or occasional additions of new books. Without such aid every circulating library will, sooner or later, yleld up the ghost. Turning to the progress of library work in the Eastern States, it may first be noted that the special revival of interest in its behalf began with the organization of the American Library Association in 1876. Since that date many State associations and also smaller bodies have been instituted, with the result of quickening profes- sional and public interest to an immeasurable extent. Thus far the Library Association of Central California, composed of librarians of San Francisco and vicinity and book lovers in general, is the only organized body for this purpose in California. Its efforts have already been felt and will be increas- irgly manifested in the development of library science and the upbuilding of library interests within the limits of the State. In the evolution of Eastern library work all kinds of libraries have gained in large degree, but the public library has in its widened field its increase of organiza- tions and its enlarged usefulness made surpassing progress. Not rarely has it hap- pened that on the conversion of a membership library to a free public library the circulation has immediately doubled, and sovn expanded to four times the former use of its books and reading-rooms. This is not wholly due to the abolition of a small fee, but largely to the realiza- tion by the public of a feeling of ownership, the consgiousness that it was a duty which every one owed to the community to be loyal to their own. 3 Of all the progressive States Massachusetts has been the leader in this onward direction, having adopted in 18%0 a measure which is alike wise, liberal and far- reaching in its effects. Briefly, it created a commission of five persons, to serve without pay, to furnish advisory aid to all free public libraries, but in particular to establish a library, by the gift of $100 worth of books, in every town possessing none, which should comply with the requirements of the statute calling for an annual election of a library board, the perpetual custody of the books and an appropriation of a stipulated small sum of money each year, to be increased at the discretion of the town to any desired amount. By these generous provisions and careful supervision the most satisfactory re- sults have been achieved. Nearly ninety towns have established libraries, many yns adding $1000 at once to the gift of the State. The seven years labor of the com- sion shows that only seventeen of the 232 towns and cities in Massachusetts are now without a free public library, less than one and one-sixth per cent of the total population being at present beyvond its reach. Still further, private liberality has been stimulated to a wonderful extent; no year of the last five having passed without the presentation of sums aggregating from a quarter to half a million dollars for library purposes. This cause appeals to some of the finest instincts of humanity; people desire in their lifetime and when passing away, to perpetuate ennobling influences in the world, and, when to this powerful consideration can be added the remembrance of the family name as a memorial of father, mother, wife, children or the donor, it is not surprising that recent benefac- tions have turned with such warmth of interest in this direction. The mention of a few specimen bequests and gifts may prove now strong a hold the subject has obtained in the affections of New England people. The town of Gardner received a gift of $1000 for new books; Whitman received a bequest of $500; an artistic structure costing $75,000 and an endowment of $100,000 in memory of a daughter were conferred upon the town of Fairhaven: fo the city of Lynn came the sum of $100,000 for a library building as a memorial to a husband; to Eoston the gift of $50,000, the income to be devoted to the purchase of newspapers representing every large city in the world; a legacy of $30,000 to Springfield; $25,000 to North Attleborough for a library building in memory of parents; $500 to "Vnrwick. Whose income is to be appropriated to the purchase of agricultural and blographical works; $30.000 to Northborough for a building; $20,000 to Quincy for the same purpose; §25.000 for bullding in memory of a daughter to the town of Norwood; $125,000 to North Adams for building, etc. There are to-day 108 library buildings tn Massachusetts which have thus been dedicated to the welfare of the public through private gene- rosity. Given two things, to wit; State supervision and enlarged acquaintance with this modern philanthropy, and there is no reason why the proverbial strong interest of Californians in the welfare of their State should not find liberal expression in do- nations and through legacies. The Influence of salutary legislation is not confined to its N nelghboring States were prompt to adopt some of the features o‘fm::;kms;:;:én law, in part or in whole—New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut practical acting it as an entirety—save that Connecticut, in the s tributes $200, to the starting of any new library and also atd not exceeding $100 per annum. Corresponding public and private interest has been exhibited in all of these States since the passage of the law granting State aid. Indeed, the State of New Hampshire has distinguished itself, four vears after passing the étste aid law, by the most drastic legislation extant. In its law of 18% it requires every town In’ the State (all towns in New England are bodies corporate) not possessing a free pub. lic library to establish and maintain one by the collection of a mintmum annual ltJ ):j penalties awaiting officials neglectful of said duty. Provision is made for the : : emption of those towns not ripe for such advance efforts by the annual vote of "lx- expedient to establish”; otherwise the town comes immediately under the operau:- of the statute. Thus the Granite State has been foremost in exaltiné the free ubll“ library to its position on the same plane with the public school. The Librar: l’C % mission are satisfled with the workings of this law. Thus far nineteen townys hon? accepted its mandate and an equal number have voted “inexpedient to establi e One hundred and twenty-nine towns have previously accepted State aid of s o1 in establishing new libraries. The total number of free public libraries now i ey tion in the whole State is 200. The population of New Hampshire is 376000“ ox:iera- area is about equal to the county of Inyo in California. i In another issue mention will be made of some of the hence usetts ly en- pirit of finest liberality, con- features of the traveling library system, which has become so popular in New York and several of the Central States. EDUCATOR. _ FLASHES OF FUN. PERSONAL. Puson Missionary—What are you In Prskg emntpes RE;; Agnes Winzell of Altruria is at the Convict (bitterly)—Just for missing a " c ol ) s B. F. Markham, U. §. N,, s at the “Nonsense!"” : Baldwin. “No nonsense, sir. I missed a train to | ,_James D. Hill of Walnut Creek {s at Montreal.”—Harlem Life. "’; u"k'fl ot iy ames Hagerty of Sno is - An impecunious poet wrote to an edi- | mopolitan. et tor: “If you are a Christian you will ac- L. Gerlach, a b oot s S geiad utcher of Stockton, is at The editor replied: “I was, but have -recently backslided.”—Atlanta Constitu- | (ne erane: = JlXenzle of Napa is at tion. “They say kissing will cure dyspepsia.” “That may be; but dyspeptics always look so cross that nobody wants to kiss them.”—Chicago Record. Mrs. Asher—I think I'll give John a real surprise this Christmas. Mrs. Cinder—What? Mrs. Asher—A box of real good cigars. —Philadelphia North American. Police Sergeant—Are you ready for the rald on the gambling establishment? Roundsman—Yes. Notified the proprie- tor yesterday.—Harlem Life. —_——— Coughs and colds cured with Low's Horehound Cough Syrup; price 10c. 417 Sansome street. o J. D. Wadsworth, a merchant of Sani Rosa, is at the Russ. e George E. Goodman Jr., banker, is at the Palace. A. C. Billicke, d hotei-keeper of Los Angeles, is visiting at the Palace. Lieutenant and Mrs. Lucien Young of Mare Island are guests at the Palace. Simon Blum, a merchant from Marti- nez, is making a short visit at the Grand. Colonel J. N. Peyton, a railroad con- tractor of Seattle, is a guest at the Pal- ace. B. H. Upham of Martinez, proprietor of the Glorietta vineyard, is staying at the Lick. Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Holles, misslonaries on their way home from Singapore, ar- the Napa rived here yesterday as passengers in the steamship China, and registered at the Occidental. W. S. Barnum, a merchant of Bridge- water, is making a short stay at the Russ. J. Gill of Grass Valley is down for his health and is registered at the Cosmo- politan. ; 0. A. Lowe, a well-known resident of ‘Woodland, is among the late arrivals at the Grand. H. A. Jastro, a Government official in Bakersfield, is one of the recent arrivals at the Grand. R. Gracey of Merced is at the Lick. J. A. McLean, a contractor of Redding, is a guest at the Lick. Lieutenant J. B. Briggs Gelm, officers of the United States Navy are gwests at the Occidental. S. W. Young of the department of chemistry at Stanford University is mak- ing a short stay at the California. M. E. Andrews and wife of Oregon City, Or., accompanied by their son, L. B. An- drews, are staying at the Ci opolitan. C. M. Greenwaldt of the Russian Fur Company returned yesterday fro_m the Orient and is a guest at the Occidental. Miss Shallenberger, one of the teachers in the department of education in Sl;\r}< ford University, is staying at the Occi- dental. Major C. J. Berry, who has a large prune orchard near Visalia, arrived ac the Grand yesterday, accompanied by Mrs. Berry. William B. Jones of Boston, agent for the Raymond-Whitcomb excursions, ar- rived at the Palace yesterday, and will be stationed in this city during the win- ter. Professor Julius Goebel, head of the de- partment of German in Stanford Uni- versity, and Assistant Professor R. G. Rendtorff of the same department are guests at the California. Among the arrivals here yesterday on the record-breaking China was C. W. Richards of Cleveland, O., a mechanical expert who went to Japan last July for the purpose of putting up in Tokio the first nail works in Japan. He saw the plant completed and in running order before he left. The works have a capac- ity of 500 kegs a day. They also make their own kegs. Mr. Richards is stay- ing at the. Occidental. §ohn E. Edgerton, cashier of the Unit« ed States Assay Office at Helena, Mont., arrived here yesterday from the North- west and Spokane and registered at the Baldwin. He is making an official trip to compile statistics relative to his de- partment of the Government. Mr. Edger- ton is a young man, not many years an alumnus of Knox College at Galesburg, 1ll. Friday he will spend some time at the Mint. To-morrow he will start for Bbumestorvololt Bty aui Bite: CONVINCING COMPARISONS. Los Angeles Times. Here is a comparative exhibit of the quantity of advertising published by the three San Fran- cisco morning papers last Sunday, December 19, 1897, and by the Los Angeles Times on the same day: Los Angeles Times . San Francisco Call . San Francisco Exam| San Francisco Chronicle No waiting at Townsend's. Cal. glace fruit, plum puddingandcandy; allready.* Best Xmas plum pudding. Townsend’s.® ——————— Pop corn—loose, on_ strings, and balls. Townsend's, 627 Market, ———————— A handsome Christmas gift,a basket of Townsend's Cal. glace fruits; 50c th. * —_—— Ned—Your ghost story took well. Ted—Yes; they say it was spiritedly told.—Boston Courier. e Husband's Calcined Magnesia; four first premium medals awarded; more agreeable to the taste and smaller dose than other magnesia. For sale only in bottles with registered ~trademark’ la- bel. in Palace. ® s Special information supplied daily to manufacturers, business houses and pub- lic_men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Montgomery street, San Francisco. Telephone, Main 1042, . Semi e CHEAP HORSES. Since the prizes raced for on the turt are growing smaller every year I fail to see why any man should pay an exor- bitant price for an undeveloped horse. The Dwyer confederacy made its gold and fame by purchasing developed horses—three, four and five year olds— known to be sound and the best in their class. If a dangerous horse came out of a rival stable he became the proper- ty of Phil and Mike at any price. They swept the turf for years because they purchased the opposition. They bought Kingston because they shrewd perceived that he was destined to beat Hanover. A developed horse is cheap at any price, if he can beat all other horses. A two-year-old is dear at any rice at the close of the racing season. t is a poor gamble.—New York Press. ———————— “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup " Has been used over fifty years by millions of mothers for their children whi's Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Colic, reg- ulates the: Bowels and Is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists in every part of the world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. ‘Winslow's Soothing Syrup. #c a bottle, ———————— CORONADO.—Atmosphere is perfectly dry, soft and mild, belng entirely free from the mists common further north. Round-trip tick- ets, by steamship, including fifteen days’ board at the Hotel del Coronado, $65; longer stay, §2 50 per day. Apply 4 New Montgomery street, San Francisco, or A. W. Bailey, man- ager Hotel del Coronado, late of Hotel Coloe rado, Glenwood Springs, Colorado. . MISS BRADLEY IMPEACHED. Governor Bradley's daughter prefers champagne to whisky for the fluid in Wwhich to christen the battle-ship Ken- tucky. The young lady_cannot be a na- tive of Bourbondom. No autochthonous Blue-Grasser would consent to such an elevation of fizz above sour mash.—Chi- cago Inter Ocean. e — NEW TO-DAY. Coughs and colds need not be endured ; they can be cured, and that quickly. Many mixtures are tem- porary in effect, but Scott’s Emulsion of Cod-liver Oil with Hypophosphites is a permanent remedy. The oil feeds the blood and warms the body; the hypophosphites tone up the nerves; the glycerine soothes the inflamed throat and lungs. : The combindtion cures. This may prevent serious lung troubles. and $1.00: 50c. SCOTT & BOWNE, Chenmeeiste. Chemists, New York.