The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 30, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 1898. JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1568. EDITORIAL ROOMS .17 to 221 Stevenson strze Telephone Main 1874. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is cerved by carriers In this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week. By mall $6 per year, per month €5 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL... OAKLAND OFFICE .....c.coccocueniins Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building WASHINGTON D. C. OFFICE Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. “One vear. by mall. $1.53 ....908 Broadway ERANCH OFFICES--527 Montgomery street. eorner Clay: open untll 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 Misslon streets; open untll So'clock. 25i8 Misslon street; open until 9 o'clock 106 Eleventh st open until9 o'clock, 1505 Polk street cpen until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky streets; open until 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS. The From Paris. ourted Into Con abian Nights. “Brother for Brother.” Baldwin— Californ| Alcazar- Morosco Tivoll—"Brf Orpheum— “The - n-Hebrew Opera Company. Macdonough. Oakland—"The Man From Mexico," Friday. Febru 3 Olympia, cor. Mason and Eddy streets.—Kirchner's Ladtes’ Orchestra. The Chutes—Chiguita and Vauderille Mechanics’ Pavilion—Mining Fair and Klondike Exposition, ating Rink—Optical Nlusions. Concert Thursday evening. de Coursing Park, at 10:30 A. M. key Club, Ingleside Racetrack—Races to- Metropolitan Hal Coursing Pacific Coast J morrow. AUCTION SALES. . January 81, Real Estate, at 14 AST thy burden on the Lord; C thee. So quotes the Clark woman, a creature whose life has been exposed by process of law, who is as vile as degraded humanity has learned to be, who while parading as one sanctified has been living in unspeakable shamelessness, and who being caught clings to the canting phrases she had committed to memory. It is this particular phase of infamy which is irritating to the intelligence. The openly wicked may be guarded against. As a protection there is the police. The decently and frankly wanton may be reasoned with and perhaps brought to correct views of existence and proper methods of living. But what shall be done with the immeasurable moral outcast who, while being all that is despicable and foul, yet mouths praises for having been rescued from the paths of sin? The Mrs. Clarks and their kind con- stitute a problem for the solution of which nothing has been evolved from human experience. fl the railroad side of every public question de- clares that we were mistaken in saying the Railroad Commission possesses legislative, executive and judicial functions, and it cites us to the constitu- tion for proof that the commission is compelled to enforce its decreces ‘“through the medium of the courts.” The phrase quoted is used in section 22 of article XII of the constitution in connection with the judicial powers of the commission. It has nothing to do with the framing of passenger or freight schedules nor with their enforcement. The argument of the article reviewed by our con- temporary did not relate to the side issue which it has discussed, but it was directed to the fact that the Railroad Commission is a failure and ought to be abolished. We did not advocate wiping the commis- sion from the statute books entirely, because the principle upon which it is founded contains a germ of public utility. Besides, to abolish it entirely would return the power to regulate railroad abuses to the Legislature, where it was for many years a source of a great deal of political corruption. It was and is our idea that if the present body were converted into a railroad court and kept always open for the hearing and determination, according to the rules of law, of complaints against railroad corporations, it would in the course of time render the State a great deal of valuable service. In some of the States judi- cial processes have resulted not only in the correc- tion of railroad abuses, but in the virtual regulation of fares and freights. Notwithstanding the opinion of our contemporary that it would be inadvisable to remodel the Rail- he will sustain THE RAILROAD COMMISSION. N evening contemporary which usually takes road Commission, we think that body is no longerj of any usc It is true the courts have not denied it the jurisdiction to enact and enforce schedules of freights and fares, but they have qualified its powers in such a way as to effectually clip its wings. The courts have held that the commission must allow a railroad a reasonable rate of interest on its invest- ment before reducing its charges. This means that it must allow a dividend. Practically, therefore, the power to regulate is curtailed, for there is scarcely a railroad corporation in the country that is paying dividends on its watered capital. Some of them do not even pay interest on their bonded indebtedness. We can understand why the Southern Pacific does not want the Railroad Commission abolished. Its elimination would restore the power to regulate its charges to the Legislature, and that body every two years would levy blackmail upon it. As we recall the history of the commission it was established mainly because the Legislature had proved recreant to its trust in railroad matters. But why the corpora- tion objects to the establishment of a railroad court such aswe havesuggestedis not so clear. Is it possible that the corporation does not want a judicial tribunal to pass upon its acts—to deal out to it justice as justice is dealt out to ordinary people? Will our contemporary answer this question? Policeman Gardiner, who has just been sworn in, is a son of the man recently killed by an officer who labored under the impression that he was shooting at a burglar. It is almost safe to predict that Gar- diner will cultivate the habit of not shooting until he has a definite idea as to the way his gun is pointed. As to the changes contemplated at the pound, it may be said in general terms that they will not be satisfactory. Nothing will be recognized as approach- ing a state of perfection at that institution until ef- fective provision has been made for the impounding of a few Supervisors: g If Swiftwater Bill and his wife are to part, as in- timated by both of them, we hasten to extend such congratulations as may be due, these to be divided between the happy pair. THE TELLER RESOLUTION. S was expected, the Teller resolution passed f\ the Senate by an emphatic majority. It is a concurrent resolution, which if it pass the House requires the signature of the President to be- come obligatory upon the Government. There is no doubt that the President’s speech in New York on Thursday night was inspired by the certainty of its passage in the Senate. He felt the necessity for a counter declgration in support of the public credit, and made it so emphatic that securities were strengthened at once and the action of the Senate was amply discounted. The bond and security mar- ket was buoyant because of the Presidential assur- ance that the resolution would die in his hands. | The resolution itself, while following the general | direction of the Matthews resolution of 1878, takes | | on a different purpose entitely because of the entire | change in the situation. In 1878 silver was very | nearly at par with gold on a ratio of 16 to 1. Now | it is oscillating at an average of 50 per cent below | par. Under these circumstances the enforced exer- cise of the Government’s option to pay the national bonds in silver would no doubt seriously affect its | credit and at the same time destroy its capacity to maintain the parity of the two metals. Such an op-3 tion when the metals differed by a fraction ‘below or above 1 per cent could have been used wisely to re- store parity. But when attempted with a difference of 50 per cent it would simply increase disparity and weaken the public credit. The verbiage of the Teller resolution thrown into the present condition raises a more serious issue than the mere option to pay bonds in silver. It re- cites that the bonds of the Government are pnyablei in silver dollars of the coinage of the United States | [ to restore to its coinage such silver coins as a legal tender in payment of said bonds, principal and in- terest, is not in violation of the public faith nor in | derogation of the rights of the public creditor.” This is a square expression in favor of the free | coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. Counting the pairs the vote against this was only thirty-seven in the full Senate. While the country is led to feel, for the present, secure in the position of the President, the political effect of the Senate’s action is of the first conse- quence. It is notice to the fiatists that they have a majority in the Senate to the end of this admin- istration, and the effect no doubt intended by the free silver leaders is to redouble their efforts to elect the House to be chosen next November. They would then, for the first time since the issue was made, have control of both houses and have the ability to lay out the programme for 1900 in the | form of free silver bills. These would of course | meet the Presidential veto and the issue would be made up. The Congressional elections of this year, therefore, become more than ever the opening of } the next Presidential campaign. | There is no chance to secure a two-thirds majority in either House to override the Presidential veto, and the philosopher in politics may content himself with the certainty that a fiat House in the Fifty- sixth Congress, with a concurring Senate, will alarm all the business and industrial interests so thoroughly that they will rally again in 1900 as in 1806 and defeat | the programme now outlined. - But the wage payer and the wage earner will meantime be suffering be- | tween the upper and nether millstone. Therefore it | behooves the men who stand by financial stability and who want peace and prosperity to see to it that no fiat House is elected and that the two vears be- | fore the next Presidential election are given to the | | national increase in basket and in store. | l THE FIGHT FOR THE RIVERS. V the rush of other things we must not overlook | the fact that California has an important issue at stake in the various bills that have been intro- | provement of the Sacramento and San Joaquinl rivers. The proposed improvements will affect | either directly or indirectly almost every industry of the State to a greater or less degree, and the strug- gle to obtain them ought therefore to be shared by all who have the means, the energy or the influence to help in the contest. We must not leave our delegates in Congress to make the fight alone. This Congresss is going to | practice economy. There is a heavy deficiency, left over from the Democratic regime, to be made up in the treasury, and although the Dingley tariff now | promises to yield ample revenues for carrying on the Government and internal improvements, there will be serious objections to undertaking any new work until the deficiency has been straightened out and the ample revenue is at hand as well as in sight. Under these conditions the task of obtaining the | appropriations needed for our rivers will be a diffi- cult one. Comparatively few Eastern Congressmen understand the importance of the work. A veritable campaign of education will have to be carried on to convince them of the great benefits that will accrue | from a prompt completion of the desired improve- ments. That campaign should be undertaken and maintained by virtually the whole people of Cali- fornia, for if left solely to our delegates in Congress the Congressmen from other States will conclude it is’not a matter of much public interest nor of great public concern since the people at large and indus- trial and commercial organizations are not showing any ardor or cnergy in promoting it. California has failed to obtain her due share of appropriations for public improvements because she has had a double handicap at Washington. In the first place she has changed her Congressmen too often, and has lacked in the Capitol the service of experienced men with a large circle of friends among the members of both houses. In the second place she has never backed up her Congressmen with dele- gations from home as Eastern Congressmen are backed. ‘When anything is wanted from the Government for Boston, New York or Chicago a host of influen- tial men from chambers of commerce, boards of trade and labor organizations in those cities go to Washington and urge a favorable consideration of their claims. Thus with experienced Congressmen, strongly backed by forces at home, the Easterner wins appropriations for works of ‘comparatively little importance while California loses in issues of great moment. We must overcome these handicaps 5o far as we can, and the contest for river improvement is a good opportunity td make the effort. All the political energies of California should be exerted to win, and exerted promptly. — Senator Lindsay of Kentucky is not embarrassed by any doubt as to the course his constituents desire him to pursue. The unanimity and force with which they direct him to resign is so clear as to relieve his mind of any uncertainty, albeit it may leave it bur- dened with various other things almost as discom 1 forting. containing 412 grains of standard silver, “ and that B | duced into Congress making provision for the im--|- THE FAIR AND THE KLONDIKERS. N addition to its general interest as an exposition of mines and mining throughout the Pacific Coast, the fair now open at Mechanics’ Pavilion will be of special value to all who are preparing to enter the Yukon country as miners, or in any busi- ness whatever. In no other place can be seen such a collection of articles and supplies of all _ kinds adapted for the climate of Alaska, and this in itseli| would make the fair notable even if it lacked all other exhibits and attractions. Alaska is so completely unknown to the general public that mere verbal descriptions convey but a vague idea of what is needed by those who intend to enter its gold fields and remain there during a winter. Only by object lessons can the intending prospector learn accurately what he needs and what will be best suited for his comfort and his industry. In this respect, therefore, the opening of the mining fair is most timely and opportune. It supplies a real need of producers and consumers. It will save money and prove profitable to every intending visitor to Alaska who attentively studies the exhibits and posts himself on the quantity and quality of supplies he will require and on the place where he can obtain them on the best terms and in best condition. Public attention, however, should not confine itself | to the exhibit of Alaskan goods, nor even make that the chief object of study.. Déspite the excitement over the rich discoveries of gold in the frozen north, there are reasons for believing that California re- mains the best mining country on the globe. Here, at any rate, is the best field for the investment of capital in mining enterprises on a large scale. this State the production of gold has ceased to be a speculation and has become a legitimate industry. Never were California mining investments safer than at this time, and never were better inducements of- fered to men of wealth and enterprise to engage in them, . San Francisco can safely invite visitors from all parts of the Union to this fair, being well assured that all will find in it either entertainment or instruc- tion sufficient to repay them for the visit. No other exhibition of the year can compare with it in attrac- tiveness or in value to the business of the time. To those who are going to undertake the Alaskan ad- venture it is simply invaluable, while to capitalists who are seeking safe investments in mining enter- prises it exhibits in a completer form than ever be- | fore the vast mineral resources of the Golden West and the thousand appliances of science and mechan- ism by which the most rebellious ores are made to | yield up their treasures of the yellow metal. WALES AS A MODEL. ESPITE the revelations made in the Mor- daunt divorce case and. the baccarat scandal, D good citizen, and since he sets the fashion for so many Americans of means and manners, it will be well to direct attention to some of these good quali- | ties in the hope that he may be imitated in them as well as in others not so excellent or so serviceable to the general welfare. To begin with, the Prince is a strict supporter of | home industries. He does not go abroad for any- thing made at home, nor patronize foreign mer- chants when home merchants keep the same goods. He carries this principle to the degree of purchasing all the supplies for his Sandringham home from the shopkeepers cf that town instead sending to London for them, making it an absolute rule, we are told, that all orders about Sandringham shall be of given to residents of the place in preference to em- | ploying or bringing in outsiders. Secondly, the Prince pays his way. He accepts no free passes from either railroads or theaters.- His traveling expenses are heavy. He has to go up and down the country, laying foundation stones, opening public buildings, patronizing charity bazaars and at- tending festivals and ceremonials of one kind or an- other almost continually. On all occasions, how- ever, he pays his way and accepts nothing in the way of expenses either from the railways . over which he rides or from the committees that have in- vited his presence. Again, the Prince pays his taxes and pays them promptly without seeking a reduction. His resi- dence in London is not exempt as a royal palace, but is assessed as a private house, and he pays his parish taxes of $5000 a year like a good citizen and never attends mass meetings or signs remonstrances of protest against.local tax rates. The Prince, moreover, observes the Sabbath day and respects his mother. Once while in Paris he was invited by the President of the republic to at- tend a grand race at Longchamps on Sunday. It was to be an occasion of state and all the digni- taries of the capital were to be present. The Prince desired to go out of courtesy to his hosts and the French people, on the principle that when one is in Paris he should do as the Parisians do. He did not venture, however, to act on his own judgment, but sent a telegram to London and asked his good old royal mother what he should do. She told him to g0 to church, and he went to church. As a supporter of home industry, a patron of local merchants, an employer of neighborhood labor; as a citizen who pays his taxes and does not beg free passes; as a grown. man who follows the advice of his mother, the Prince is a fairly good model for the American millionaire. We regret to say, however, it is not in these things that he is followed. His biographer tells us it is in the matter of dréss that the Prince sets the fashion, “especially in America, where every trifling change in his costume is im- mediately reported and imitated.” Tt avails little to be a model if one’s clothes and foibles are copied all over the world and one’s virtues are left un- | noted save by the villagers of Sandringham. Public interest in the trial of the citizen arrested for the slaughter of certain cats will not be lacking. The point may seem small, and yet so many people have felt themselves torn by an ardent wish to kill a few of the howling felines that they would like to know how they stand in the eyes of the law. New York is hard to please. \When there is a ball there of a howlingly immoral variety people yell for the police. When a ball is expected to be very bad and turns out to be decent the people crowd the box-office trying to get their money back, and the papers make intimations of false pretenses. ‘The general sympathy with the Cuban cause will not cause a widespread grief over the death of Aran- guren. He will be remembered as an officer who ordered the execution of a friend who had come to him under a flag of truce, and, war or no war, nobody ever admired him for it. There can be no defense of the boys caught rob- bing nickel-in-the-slot telephones. Yet these ma- chines have been caught in the act of robbery many a time, and beyond the passing of deprecatory re- marks nothing has been done about it. In| the Prince of Wales, according to his latest | biographer, possesses many of the attributes of a | | condition of usefulness. i BRRRLURRRRNNS ‘When people see fit to find fault with my way of filling up allotted space, it | 1s not much to ask them to clothe their Poor thoughts in words not actually shocking. Welcome to totally disre- gard me, they ought to have respect for the parts of speech. There is rash- ness in criticizing the English used by contemporary writers of the daily press and so I refrain, admitting, however, that to do so is a hardship. But it may be permitted me in humility to suggest that the old rule prescribing the presence of a Bible and a Shake- speare lacks perfection in that it fails to include a spelling book and gram- mar. By this remark I avoid being personal, injure o pride, excite no re- sentment; nevertheless I manage to modestly insinuate that any lapses in the direction indicated, if found in this | column, will clearly be the fault of the | printer. | The circumstance that a young wo- man has gone daft from brooding over | what the critics said of her book seems at first glance an evidence of heartlessness on the part of the critics. | Let it be said that most of the critics | have been driven to drooling insanity by the books they have had to read, | and the seeming crime becomes only the saddening token, of misfortune. & FE e . ‘Whether or not Professor Schenk’s theory of controlling the sex of gener- ations yet unborn has any sound basis cannot yet be told. I hope fervently that it has not, that Schenk is merely the meddlesome crank he gives symp- toms of being, and that the people who | have purchased his right to relieve the “ Creator of responsibility have paid for a gold brick. The prejudice against girl babies is one of the most wide- spread of heathen fallacies prevailing among people partly civilized and prid- ing themselves upon being entirely so. We have never gone to the length of throwing the feminine infant to the crocodiles, providence having in its benign wisdom checked us by with- holding a supply of crocodiles. ir Schenk methods come in vogue they must in time produce such a social state that the girl will be at a premium such as her brother can mnever hope to touch. The brother develops to a He consumes cigarettes, is an ideal hoodlum, and in instances makes a satisfactory con- vict, his inferior sister not being in the competition. Anybody who can look upon the girls of California, fair, ath- letic, queenly, and then vote for con- stituting a Schenk a subcreator is a which, I am assured by friends, reaches the climax of emphasis. I can see no beauty in a scheme to make women so scarce that men must be depended on for every duty short of wetnursing. And some new Schenk may rise up in the fullnes3 of time to announce that by a patent system of his own devis- ing he can equip them for this delicate office. . The proposition the gentlemen in charge of the Miners’ Fair have made to the ministers strikes me as having many points of excellence. They would have the ministers close their churches at least.two Sundays while the fair is in progress, and not only give their parishioners a chance to attend, but at- tend themselves. The very fact that such a proposition has been made in good faith shows a broad and fraternal spirit. I do not see how the ministers can decline without confessing to narrowness and tacitly declaring that they do not wish to be fraternal. The preachers, accepting, woul® come into contget with men of affairs, but men who seldom go to church. They would acquire an influence among these by showing a recognition of the half-for- gotten truth that there are ways’of worshiping God outside the formal ser- mon and prayer. It seems to me the ministers could not find a better way to achieve popularity—not in the vul- gar sense known to sensationalists, but a genuine esteem—than to become the guests of the miners. The miners would feel hurt to have their hospitality viewed in any light save that in which it appears to them. They meet the ministers more than half way. One of their plans is to show the pastors just what a mining camp was like in ’49. Could not the pastors draw from this exhibition a lesson? Would not it send them back to their pulpits with new ideas of the progress of the church and be an inspiration? The minister needs keep in touch with a world which in some instances is growing away from him. Here, apparently, is an oppor- tunity. It may be there are preachers who will not only decline to attend, but will even object to having the fair open on the day they have come to re- gard as their own. Happily, such min- isters are few, and growing fewer. They are the spiritual srilurians, and people, growing better as they mentally expand, have left them behind. These ministers hang at the rear of the ad- vancing throng, and moan of wicked- ness which they have trained them- selves to imagine. California prefers the kind that keeps up with the pro- cession. I am mistaken if the ministers do_not take the miners at their word l.na the result be mutually profitable. R Probably it is with a pang of regret that the Examiner occasionally prints the truth. It tells of many things which never happen; and yet some things do happen of such importance that it canot ignore them. Its ordinary fabrication is recognized at a glance to be what is technically known as a “fake,” and this, I take it, is the pur- pose of that noble sheet. One of its gaudy lies can be detected as far as the eye can reach. Therefore, there is no reason for followimg it up with an bol of fraudulency. The afidavit has its proper place according to the yellow standard. Let a story be veracious, reasonable, credible, and over the Mis- sion-street Hearstlery there passes a shudder of apprehension. What if somebody should see and believe? To be caught telling the truth! Horrible thought! To meet an emergency like this, the affidavit mill .Is started, the truth is sworn to, and then there falls over it the comforting shadow of dis- trust, and happiness reigns once more. & e ‘When next the National Stock Grow- ers meet at Denver they will take along enough cowboys to round up the mul- titude. In a moment of weakness these generous souls proposed that a great barbecue be given and everybody in- _ ¢Vvited. They expected to have 15,000 bigger fool thdn I am, a statement | affidavit—the Examiner sign and sym-. fi&fi!383835888S!8ES&E@NBEH&RBSBBS&E&SB&E&g = WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS. ¥ 2 HENRY JAMES. s BURRRIVVRUIVILLELRN guests, prepared to care for 20,000 and were swooped down upon by 30,000 Alas! how could they know that the people of that carnivorous municipality go wild at the sight of fresh meat? How could it have been borne in upon them in advance that Denver becomes intoxicated at the prospect of a square meal and gets delirium tremens if the meal is to be free? When the horde attacked the barbecue they simply walked through it. In their enthusi- asm they did not pause to eat. No- body had time to eat. Did one get a slice of beef another snatched it, and in ensuing fights the flower of the city was bathed in the steaming marrow of the beasts slain to make a holiday. The dull thud of the ham bone as it pelted in the gaping countenance of the rash and hungry, the smash of a hunk of sirloin against the breasts of the brave was sickening. Strong policemen look- ed and then turned around, deeming it better to get swatted in the back than to have their bosoms mussed with gravy. Even the militia, accustomed to scenes of carnage, stole away on the dead run. A barbecue in Denver might be a success if the guests were but chained to posts first and fed by means of pitchforks. I fear that comely town is degenerate. It has always been re- garded as proper there to raid a Chi- nese procession graveyard-bound, and snatch the funeral baked meats, but I supposed this was due to racial preju- dice and the sheer joy of stealing, and at times when I have witnessed such affairs, being there in the capacity of soclety reporter, observed that the gen- tlemen engaged had the presence of mind to eat what they stole. They were enthusiastic, but not frenzied. I can imagine a barbecue to be more en- ticing than a solitary roast pig, and the people flocking thither licking their chops. But I cannot imagine why they refused to eat. Perhaps Denver is get- ting too refined. The absence of nap- kins from a function so dignified may have proved irritating. PR With all the respect to Dr. Hall he may merit, I wish to place on record a feeling of disregard for the jurymen who failed to convict him of murder. Not that I charge him with being guilty, for I do not know, but I would be perfectly willing to have some chaps convicted on general principles, and Hall is cne of these chaps. S rinet ey McPherson is a funny thing who lives at Santa H'-r?v:hllfihes a paper there whereln to hide the news, And to disport from time to time his own peculiar views. Oh, all know Dunc. McPherson well, so blithe and sweet he sings, So gayly dips in stinkpot loud the hurtling dart he slings, Or soars in meter like a bird equipped with busted wings. Mayhap he writes a jingle for to grace the daily Punk, May be he gives in halting prose the thoughts he hasn’'t thunk; In either case he makes it clear that he's what rhymes with Dunc., [T T Private Jones of the regular army deserves a medal. He is the young sol- dier who extinguished the sparks which were burning their way threugh a woolen bag containing fifty pounds of powder. He had every reason to be- lieve that his bravery would be fatal, vyet he recognized the scant possibility that he might save his comrades, and he did it, expecting no reward. Rarely is there such an exhibiticn of presence of mind, and no act could have been braver. . Not possessing scientific knowledge, I confess with shame an entire inability. to see any sense in grafting one insect upon another. It is a peculiar thing to do, of course, and novelty has charms. It is/true that when bugs are thus united till death do them part, their blending into a beauteous whole makes one bug where had been two bugs be- fore, certainly a theoretical improve- ment; yet the fact must not be disre- garded that the one bug is a whopper apt to have a double set of incisors. To equip a biting bug with twin heads or bestow upon the hornet the boon of a pair of tails may be scientific, but I should think science would rather be doing something else. Perhaps, how- ever, the hornet is not classed among insects. It may be a bird. The flea is an insect, beyond question, and even now is a thing of terror. Give the flea an extra set of legs and springs, an extra lot of augers, chisels and drills and would life be worth living? If the man of science can divorce his atten- tion from the creation of freaks a mo- ment I would like him to answer. There is an intimation that the experiments tend to open an endless field. If the mortal part of a bug can be amputated from himself and annexed to something else, there appears no reason why in the exuberance of investigation the sci- entist should not soon have the ele- phant wearing the camel’s hump, given in exchange for a trunk. And there does not flash on the startled intelli- gence reason why a scientist of a jo- cose disposition might not catch a friend asleep and cause to spring from his head a donkey’s ears, to be a last- ing joy. To get back to the starting place, I do not like bugs, but so far as the association is inevitable, I believe the old-fashioned bug would be my choice. The sclentist may bend his en- ergles to the manufacture of new- fangled ones, but I remain true to the Junebug of memory, the striped beetle of youth, the warm and enter- prising wasp of long ago. - Several prospectors among the crowds now going to the Klondike are in search of . a river of gold. In the ab- sence of anything befter such a river would be worth finding. Gold brought down in a tank steamer and drawn off into barrels would be a pleasant varia- tion. Some there are who regard these enthusiasts as over sanguine, but there is not one in the lot of scoffers who knows whether or not there is such a stream. The mere fact that they have never seen it is no evidence. Nobody ever picked up gold from-the foot of a rainbow, yet the existence of the metal there has not been disproved. Indeed, it seems not ur:’:&aonable that the rainbow gold co tutes the source of the river now being sought. Each suc- ceeding rainbow depositing its aurifer- ous accumulation, there would in time be a vast supply. As the bow is so con- structed that it must shed water, the probability that it would start a stream can be recognized, and this would na- turally wash away the gold, and there's your river. But if a transitory rainbow -ap do a thing like this, the capacity )f the aurora borealis, a more station- ary affair, can hardly be calculated. The gold must slide adown its perpen- dicular sides in vast quantity. The aurora, however, presumably springs from the northern sea, and has been doing it for.quite a while. The logical conclusion is that the water there- abouts must be a sea of gold. This is what the gentlemen should try to find. I would not- advise them to monkey with a mere river. The Clark creatures who have come to light at St. Helena intellectually and morally seem to be of the lowest type. I can see neither profit nor de- light in exploiting their foulness. An analysis of herself by herself does not appeal to me as a high order of enter- prise. But there is one characteristic of the man and woman which is worth taking up, because there have been of late so many instances similar. I re- fer to the maudlin professions of re- ligion, the disgusting familiarity with which they assume to be on friendly terms with Christ, to be “saved.” I would like to know what they have been ‘“‘saved” from, so as to be able to take steps to avoid being likewise snatched from the burning. There is a grave mistake made by good but en- thusiastic people when they visit such degenerates and treat them as among the redeemed. Think of calling upon George Clark, fresh from the murder of his brother, reeking of a deeper guilt, to lead in prayer; think of him clasp- ing his hands, kneeling and making avowal of his innocence. These dis- gusting episodes do more to harm the cause of religion and check a natural respect for evangelistic zeal than can be overcome by the thunder of the drums and the shouts of hallelujah. iR e In writing of the death of a scholar an intelligent correspondent called him a professor of “Bell's Letters.” This is beyond comment. I can only record here the desire that the spirit of the scholar, breaking loose from its present environment, shall come and roost evermore on the foot of the cor- respondent’s bed, making such life as shall remain to the sinner one long troubled dream. TLast week I found it necessary to write a paragraph concerning the fa- cility with which Arthur McEwen for- gets such friends as may no longer be of use to him, and.cited a few {llus- trations. The paragraph gave him full credit for ability, and I have seen no occasion for modifying it in the icast. McEwen's letter this week bears out my estimate. The latest friend whom he has deserted is Judge Maguire in extolment of whose vir- tues he has expended much ink. It is true that while here McEwen wrote something in disparagement of the Judge, but he wrote at the same time much more forcefully in his praise. The encomium was supposed to be heartfelt, and the contrary to be in response to the opportunity to make space rates, an anomalous course which McEwen is ever ready to defend. Yet in the present instance he is less at fault than would appear. He did nothing more than briefly insult his old friend, by insinuation more than by actual word. The graver fault was that of the paper which published the letter. This paper is under the disad- vantage of being misconducted editor- ially by a brainless blackguard, and naturally there is little to be expected of it. ‘The letter was so set forth in ~ large type as to create a false impres- sion relative to its character. It really contained much of interest, and the Maguire reference was only an item. I would be glad to see McEwen suc- ceed in the East and do not question that he is competent to do so. But he cannot expect to retain any reputation for sincerity if he continues to make his hero of one hour the villain of the next. When late T heard the trembling cello play, In every face I saw sad memories That from dark secret chambers where they lay Rose, and looked forth from melancholy eyes. So_every mournful thought found there a tone To match despondence; sorrow knew its mate; I fortune sighed, and mute despair made moan; And one deep chord gave answer, ‘“Late— too late."” Then ceased the quivering strain, and switt I retur; Unto its depth the secret of each heart; Each face took on its mask, where lately ‘burn A_spirit charmed to sight by music's art; But unto one who caught that inner flame No face of all can ever seem the same. he February Century. REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR. Women and cats are alike, because they both have soulful eyes. Femininity is.the ability to speak feel- ingly on any subject at all. A girl never takes much stock in a game that hasn’'t got some queer way of dressing for. The average man will stay up two hours later because he knows he has to fix the furnace before he goes to bed. The women can never have a very good time after they have got up a club, be- cause they are always wondering why the men laugh so at it. BLASTS FROM RAM'S HORN. The sweetest flower of the gospel is charity. A Foor picture is not helped by being put in a good light. In religious COntroYiersy ferocity Is not the only sign of fidelity. . For a.ycergl:ln class of minds, infldelity is_the hall-mark of genius. ‘He who casts stones at others makes of himself a target for their return. The confession of past folly may be only the profession of present wisdom. He who always complains of the clouds receives little of life’s sunshine, and de- v s5. u%;:n‘ethe X rays are so perfected as to reveal a man's thought, there will be a radical change in thinking. Cal. glace fruit 50c perib at Townsend's.® ——————————— E. H. Black, painter, 120 Eddy st. * AT R Guillet icecream. 95 Larkin. Tel. East198.% Special information supplied daily to business houses and onblia en. by, the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * ————— ‘When you see a man with a. curious gait he has grobnbly got it from walking around the house and trying not to ste on the dress patterns his wife has lai out on the floors.—New York Press. NEW TO-DAY. The luxury of a breakfast is in its Nice Hot Biscuit . rolls and muffins. Royal Baking Powder . makes them light, sweet and delicious.