The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 31, 1898, Page 4

THE SAN FRANOCISCO CALL, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1898. JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. “hddress All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts. S. F. | Telephone Main 1868. £ DITORIAL ROOMS..... 217 to 221 Stevenson strae Telephone Maln 1874, THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carrlers In this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents a week. By mail $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL One year, by mall, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE . ..908 Broadway Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE. Room 188, World Building WASHINGTON (D. C. OFFICE ... Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. ERANCH OFFICES--527 Montgomery street, eorner Clay: open until 9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street: open until 930 o'cloc’ 621 MoAllister street: open until 9:30 o'clock. €5 Larkin street; open until 9:30 o'clock SW. corner Sixteenth and Misslon streets: open until Zo'clock. 2518 Mission street; open untll 9 o'clock 106 Eleventh st.; open until9 o'clock, 1505 Polk street cpen until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second end Kentucky streets; open until 9 o’clock. e AMUSEMENTS. ‘Gir] from Par! ictor Durand. Morosco's—“Down in Dixie " Tivoli—“The Pearl of Pekin." Orpheum—Vaudeville. Macdonough. Oakland—*The Man From Mexico," Friday. February 4. Olympia, cor. Mason and Eddy streets.—Kirchner's Ladies’ | Orchestra. The Chutes—Chiquita and Vaudeville. Mechanics’ Pavilion—Mining Fair and Klondike Exposition, Lybeck Cycle Skating Rink—Optical Illusions. Metropolitan Hall—Concert Thursday evening. Pacific Coast Jockey Club, Ingleside Race track—Races to- day. —_— AUCTION SALES. By G.H. Ombsen, This day, January 81, Real Estate, at 14 Montgomery street, at 12 o'clock. By Chaa. Levy & Oo—This day, Jumacy 81, at 418 Sutter street, stock and Axtures, at 10:30 6 '¢loc By Willlam G. Layng & Co. —Thursdly‘ Feb. 3, Trotting MONOTONOUS PROSPERITY. Horses, at Oceldental Horse Exchange, 225 Tehama st. F there be such a condition as monotonous pros- l perity, it prevails in the United States to-day. With a better business than ever before known at this time of the year, the different markets, except on the Pacific Coast, are almost devoid of feature. Every week we hear the same story of fewer fail- ures, increased bank clearings, larger railroad earn- ings and a heavier movement of merchandise. There was a time, and not many months ago, when a gen- eral increase in business was the talk of the whole country; now it is commonplace and attracts no at- tention outside of financial circles, where the pulse of trade is always closely watched. The record of the past week, briefly summarized, is a gain of 33.9 per cent in the bank clearings over 1897, an increase of 11.2 per cent in railroad earn- ings as compared with the highest previous record, heavy exports of cereals, an improvement in the cot- ton trade, and 288 failures against 326 for the cor- responding week last year. The failures were the | | smallest for five years, and of the eighty cities and towns reéporting bank clearings, only l\\o——Lowell | and Kalamazoo—reported a decrease. The heaviest in- creases were 333.5 per cent at Seattle, 131 per cent at Tacoma, 280 per cent at Sioux Falls, 39.9 per cent at New York, 41 per cent at Pittsburg, etc, not to mention a number of extremely large gains among the less important towns. This phenomenal in- crease in the bank clearings tells the story of the trade revival in the United States. The increase at San Francisco was 37.3 per cent. The great staples showed no particular change dur- ing the week. The iron trade is still overcrowded with orders, and many furnaces are turning away work. The woolen trade is repovted very active, with an advance in some manufactured descriptions. Cotton, as said before, is looking up, though slight- ly. Boots and shoes hold the recent advance and manufacturers will not take orders for fall delivery at present prices. The canned goods trade is en- joying a first-class demand for Alaska and stocks are running low. Collections are generally satisfactory, except in the South, where.they are eomewhat back- ward, on account of the late depression in the cot- ton trade. Trade in the local market is more than good. Deal- ers in provisions estimate that their trade is from 23 per cent to 40 per cent better than at this time last year, and prices are very firm, with prospects for an advance at an early day. The feature of the week was a general advance in cereals, which included wheat, barley, oats, corn, rye, hay, feedstuffs of all descriptions, and several lines of millstuffs. A small corner in beans adds sauce to this interesting ex- hibit. The grain and hay farmers are in clover this year, and bid fair to remain there for some time to come. As for hay, it is likely to soar out of sight if the present dry weather continues much longer. It is already worth from $15 to $18 50 per ton, and is much more apt to go up than down, for the sup- ply is short all over the State. The other important staples, such as dried fruits, raisins, wool, hops and hides, are quiet, but most of them are firm and need but slight cause to advance them. The commercial situation in California never was better. . All it needs is a few showers to clinch it. If we get them we will raise a crop that will sell away up into the millions and give us money to burn. If we do not get them there are enough moist localities in the State to furnish all the supplies we need to carry us through, thanks to our wonder- fully diversified climate. ~So nobody need worry. The merchants report collections good and money plentiful at reasonable rates of interest. Capital is investing. freely in local enterprises, as evidenced by the large transactions in local stocks and bonds on the Bond Exchange. The coal trade is being put to its trumps to supply the demand for this fuel, and prices for several coast descriptions have advanced As for the demand for merchandise ror Alaskan ac- count, everybody knows how active that is. A glance at our crowded streets tells the story of the state of trade in San Francisco. Prosperity extends throughout the United States, from Maijne to California. e s Georgia legislators turned back the hands of the clock so as to make the records show that certain laws had been passed within the time prescribed. Now the law has been attacked on the ground that the flight of the hours is not properly regulated by a clock, and it seems to be pretty solid ground. No legislative body will ever succeed in jamming thirty-Y six hours into the space occupied by twenty-four any more than they can induce the sun to set in the east. Rockefeller says that God gives him his money. The explanation is timely. Nobody would have thought of this | possibility of his families meeting accidentally, this | episode to be followed by a dual assault from the THE PUBLIC POUND. HATEVER difference of opinion may exist Wwith regard to the charge brought against Supervisor Delany in connection with the reported intention of some of the Supervisors to take the pound out of the hands of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and appoint another poundmaster, there will be none with re- | gard to the proposed change itself. San Francisco has had experience with poundmasters selected to do politics, and will have no more of them. The charge that Supervisor Delany attempted to extort $500 from the society is involved in the con- troversy over the proposed return to the old way of administering the pound, but is not essential to it. Whether the accused official be guilty or innocent the fact will remain that when the pound was in the hands of a politician there were continual scandals and gross abuses in its management. Nothing of the kind is even so much as alleged against the man- agement by the society, and that in itself is a suffi- cient reason why the pound should be left as it is, and all propositions to make a change abandoned without further parley. In the old days of the political regime the pound was worked in the interests of the lowest class of politicians. It is notorious that in order to increase | the revenues of the office the poundmaster’s agents who were little better than hoodlums, did not hesi- tate to turn animals out of enclosures and then take them as estrays to the pound. Some of these agents even took horses away from small boys who were leading them through the streets, and the capturing of dogs was carried virtually to the extent of steal- ing. Offenses of these kinds were numerous, and complaints were frequent. In fact, it was just be- cause of these abuses grown to the degree of an in- tolerable nuisance that the pound was placed in the hands of its present managers. Tt is said that the objection on the part of the Su- pervisors ‘to the management of the pound of the society is that the officers of the society will not re- lease dogs or other impounded animals at the re- quest of a Supervisor. This deprivation of author- ity and power to confer a favor upon some heeler of the ward or other political influential citizen is doubtless harassing to the Supervisors, but the peo- ple can stand that much better than they could stand a return to the old system. They will not condone a revival of fraud and dog stealing in the conduct of the pound simply to enable a Supervisor to help a friend get a dog out of pound without paying the lawful fine. In fact, they will not pardon a restoration of the old political ma- chine of ward heelers and hoodlums in the manage- ment for any reason whatever. If the Supervisors are wise they will leave the pound where it is. MULTIPLYING THE MOURNERS. !\NOU!\CE!\IEI\T is made that a man who fl recently met death by fire in Portland left three wives to weep above the charred re- mains of him. Two of these wives had lived in adjoining blocks, and the deceased, prior to reach- ing a safe condition beyond human correction, had maintained a pair of establishments, supporting each with equal liberality and loving his homes with all the fervor of the thoroughly domesticated gentle- man. Yet there must have been times when this husband was subject to conflicting emotions. The two adjacent wives of his bosom, must have occurred to him, and made him reflect. A man’s affectionate nature may be permitted to expand considerably, but with overexpanse the coflapse can be regarded as in- evitable. Possibly the person under consideration was fortunate in acquiring a neat and rapid. dispatch by flame. He would have lived only to be roasted, and the process would have been tndefinitely pro- longed. The third wife lived in Montana. To learn that she was only one of a trio was doubtless a surprise, involving considerable grief and expenditure for mourning goods. Altogether this man’s habit of marrying tended to unsettle matters which should be regarded as stable. When a woman is led to the altar she has a perfect right to the assurance that so far as the man who leads her is concerned, an ex- ceptional favor has been bestowed, and that he is not promising every casual acquamtance to cling till death shall them part. Neither is it a square deal that one man by dying should be enabled to create a syndicated widowhood, shedding its tears from the ocean to the Rockies. There is no doubt that each widow believes herself to have been the chosen one, and therefore she assumes the duty of mourning. The three widows make a scene of woe, which, considered in its lachrymose totality, is a fearful thing to contemplate. It is not fair to the good man who can only leave one widow that the rapscallion who can leave a regiment of them will be more missed and have just as many times more flowers on his grave as he has widows beyond thc solitary legitimate one. . After the fight against the Los Angeles water mo- nopoly had been opened and carried far toward a successful conclusion, the Examiner sniffed the bat- tle and bethought it of possible foraging. Evidently its failure to have the company recognize its value as an ally has caused it to cast its lot with the other side. The other side being in the right, this cir- cumstance not only seems strange, but is unfortu- nate. We hope the public will not judge the case by the presence of the Examiner which, uninvited and more than unnecessary, projected itself into the situation. The case is good and just, and will sur- vive even this handicap. AR SRR, Several Chicago Judges have advueated the whip- ping of wife-beaters. The great difficulty, after the enactment of a law providing this, would be to con- vict. The wives so constituted that they submit to conjugal beatings have an inexplicable inclination when placed on the witness-stand to lie their as- sailants out of trouble; following which they are rewarded by another beating not wholly undeserved. One man contemplates a trip under the ice to the Klondike, but his chances of success will be gener- ally regarded as uncertain. There will be no diffi- culty in getting under the ice, for several have in- advertently accomplished this already, but when they have failed to reappear nobody supposes for a mo- ment that they have taken a short cut to the gold fields. o e The utility of the scheme of Spain’s war couneil to send Weyler to jail, and of the Government to immediately pardon him, is not impressive. It's too much like the experience enjoyed in the Police Court by a man with a pull. The trial of the man supposed to have murdered Mrs. Clute will soon be under way, and then the name of Vereneneckockockhoff will be upon every tongue THE ELECTION OF SENATORS. HENEVER a political question once pre- Wscnts itself to the American people, it is never wholly laid aside until finally settled, no mat- ter how engrossing may be the more pressing and urgent measures that arise in the meantime. Every new event than can possibly serve to direct attention to the original question is made use of for that pur- pose, and an agitation for settlement one way or an- | other is kept up spasmodically, but persistently, uncil | the settlement is effected. An illustration of this truth is to be found in the discussion of the proposed constitutional amendment providing for the election of United States Senators by popular vote. The issue has been only a minor one in politics, has never received strong support in either house of Congress, and yet it contin- vally recurs whenever anything happens which can | in any way be construed as an evidence that the existing system of election is defective or in any way unsatisfactory. It was to be expected that the violent contest in Ohio over the election of Senator Hanna with its accompanying charges of bribery and curruption, to- gether with the long struggle in Maryland, would lead to a renewal of the controversy on the subject, This is what has happened, and in the Eastern States the press is once more going over the old ground and discussing the advisability of the proposed amendment with as much earnestness as if it were | a new or dominating issue in the politics of the day. It is not at all probable that the amendment will be adopted at any time in the near future. Never- theless it is certain that the sentiment in favor of it is steadily growing in magnitude and increasing in intensity. Prior to the Ohio election many people believed that an amendment was not necessary. They argued that whenever the voters of a State desired to have a direct voice in a Senatorial contest, they could accomplish it by having the State conven- tions of the different parties indorse a particular can- | didate, thus making his election one of the issues of | with the fiery Senator from Alabama | playing with edged tools oft causes | the legislative campaign. i This belief has been dissipated by the fight made | against Senator Hanna by members of his own | party. It is now seen that pledges do not always | bind members of the Legislature when conditions | are such as to promise personal gain to those who | break them. Moreover it is noted that the mdorsc-x ment of candidates for the Senate complicates legis- | lative election in a way prejudicial to the best in- terests of a State, as voters are thereby compelled | to vote for legislative candidates not on their merits. but with regard to the wholly different merits of | the aspirants for the United States Senate. From the way things are going in all sections oi the Union it seems evident it is only a question of time when some serious scandal or complication arising out of the present system of electing Senators will precipitate a settlement of the issue. At present the amendment has few supporters in Congress, but | it is significant that most of the vounger Senators are in favor of it, and will be prompt to urge it as | soon as they see a chance for success. A PERMANENT MINING EXHIBIT URATOR WILCOMB of Golden Gatc‘ C Park Museum directs attention to the oppor- | tunity afforded by the Mining Fair to procure | for the Park Museum an interesting and valuable ex- | hibit of the gold ores of Caliic implements used in mining from ¢ a and also of the 1e days of 40 down to the present time. The suggestion is so good that | it deserves something more than mere approval. Il should be acted upon and carricd out to the fullest extent possible. The Mining Fair is but a temporary exhibition. In a few weeks it will pass away and its rich store oi‘ exhibits be scattered far and wide. Some effort | should be made to collect and retain the more \alu-: able and interesting among them in a permanent ex- | hibit, and in no place could that be better done than | in the Park Museum. The expositions held in Philadelphia and in Chi». cago have resulted in the establishment in those | cities of permanent museums of great value. These | museums are among the most noted in the United | States and are destined to rank among the most importdnt collections of art and industry in the| world. The example thus set should be followed | on this coast. Every exposition of importance held | in San Francisco should contribute its quota to the interesting store at the Park Museum and add to its | value as a place of entertainment and Instruction. Collections of any kind, whether of art, industry or | natural products, are valuable in proportion as they are comprehensive. Specimens of ores and of old- fashioned mining machinery which in themselves are but curios, acquire a high value when placed in a museum where they complete the chain of exhibits of their kind. For an individual owner to donate such things to the museum is, therefore, to nge- something of little value to himself, but of great | value to the public, and such donors prove them- selves to be animated by a high degree of genuine | public spirit. There are needed at the Park' Museum many ex- | hibits of the kind now displayed at the Mining Fair. | As the Curator points out, “While this msmuhnn‘ already has a fairly good showing of minerals, much i is lacking in that line, especially in choice representa- | tions of the gold productions.” He also notes that | it is desirable to obtain “a good collection of the | tools and implements that were used in the days of | ’'49, in mining in this State, such as old rockers, arastras, quartz mills, prospectors, gold pans and horns, and other articles of carly usage among the pioneer miners.” A permanent museum of our mineral resources and mining history, in connection with a general museum of art and industry, is certainly desirable; and the collection at the Park furnishes an excellent foundation on which to build. The museum is al- | rcady one of the most attractive resorts of the c|ty} and is visited by thousands of people every week, and whatever is done to increase its magnitude and comprehensiveness will be a public benefit of perma- nent and far-reaching value. the the Opposition seems to have arisen to the marriage of Ignatius Donnelly to his typewriter, but this will not be apt to discourage them. There has been op- position to the cryptogram owned and originated by the gentleman, but it has not hurt business a par- ticle. As a matter of fact, when two people have ar- rived at the age of discretion and not passed beyond it, and conclude to marry each other, the matter comes so near being théir own affair that for outsid- ers to do more than wish them joy is a piece of im- pertinence. —_— But for the frequent Chronicle escapes from the padded cell at police headquarters, few citizens would know of the existence of this useful Institution. The term “useful” is employed somewhat dmlbfingly, for while the padded cell must have a_ use, what it is, be- yond furnishing an opportunity to escape, is not a matter generally undcrstood. | risoned in order to be of value. ] v t | R W A O ] 11 15 ous mhich il Tepatanls witthix | deniably charm the hearts of the Uni- | | sheer rubbish as that written before? ‘unulng to immigrate thither, and, as | the intention on annexation to expel [-3-3-3-3:3:-F-3-F-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-1+] g IIIIHVIIJIIAL_THUUEHTS. s g BY A MODEST CRITIC. g “R=3-3-3-3:-3-3-3-3-3:3-3-3:3-3<3-1-} The late Grover Cleveland seems to have had much the best of the contest over a question of veracity. The only way, it seems, in which Mr. Morgan hoped to bolster up the falling ruins of the castle of his imagination was to as- severate that his antagonist had al- tered his opinions and that he might €ven now not be entirely opposed to the views he (the Senator) held dear at heart. But that defense is woefully weak. With all his shortcomings, his erratic outcroppings and his ambitious flights, the ex-President was noted for | his inexorableness. He formed his | opinions and put them on his prlvate} shelf where no one would ever disturb | them. And no one was ever known | seriously to attempt it. That this ad- ditional pain should have to be en- dured by the Alabaman warrior when he sees one of his pet schemes vanish- ing into thin air is cruel perhaps, but | wounds that are deeper than the one So mercilessly inflicted on Mr. Morgan by the man of corporations and of cor- | pulence. The statement made in this column that the Hawaiian Islands would be a constant source of weakness to us in the event of their annexation (with | clear proof of the accuracy thereof) provokes the Bulletin to timidly advo- cate the fortification of Pearl Harbor. | That paper, never having the courage | of conviction—seeing that it has no | convictions—touches all subjects in the | same mincing fashion. Since Mr. Fitch relinquished its editorial control it has | never been able to show the slightest | definite purpose. It maunders about‘ everything there is in the world, from | German politics to the advisability of | eating sausage, and from a bond issue to the sorting of rags for the making | of paper. In fact, it presents the spec- tacle of Mr. Robert Montgomery's con- ception of Satan, who, according to Macaulay, occupied himself by “gaing‘ to and fro and walking up and down | the earth” and was “something of a\ | twaddle, and far too liberal with good[ advice.” No notice would be taken here of what the Bulletin has said on the annexation question had that pa- per not unintentionally reminded me of an important point which has been overlooked by those who talk seriously of fortifying these islands. Perhaps it is the most vital side of the whole mat- ter. Estimates have been made, and apparently in good faith, as to the cost of properly fortifying Pearl Harbor. Of course, these estimates are the rough- est kind of guess work, but they have appeared nevertheless. Each writer has dismissed entirely from his mind the fact that fortresses must be gar- Pearl cannot be Harbor, with its heights, | made impregnable, no matter how per- | fect the fortifications, unless we are | willing to send a force equal to at least | a third part of our present standing army there. Guns (except in the mind of the Bulletin’s artilleryist) are not loaded, aimed, fired and sponged t\uto~‘ matically. Possibly it is in his mind (!) | that we shall keep the garrison at home | till war breaks out and then dlspatch, it, to be sent tc another world on its | way to our land of coolies and coal. | Our present fortifications demand | an increase in the standing army, so | the military authorities have decided, | and the plans already decided on for | additional land defenses will make | | further augmentation necessary in a year or two. Even this departure from | our well-established policy of keeping | the national military force down to as low a point as possible is meeting with | vehement opposition from the peace | party, and if we attempt to l’ortu'y: either of these islands the nation fis | certain to rebel when informed as to | the additional number of men that will have to be enlisted for necessary garri- | son duty. It is certain that General Miles would not countenancemoreforts | footing. The sight of fortresses with guns and without garrisons would un- | versal Peace Society associates, but to | man militant it would mean momen- tous danger to the nation owning them. A fallacy that a number of papers delight to indulge in is that after the annexation “of the Sandwich group white laborers will flock thither and enjoy untold prosperity. In the name of common sense, was there ever such ‘What inducement will there be to white men to go there after annexation that does not exist now? By no known | method, except an exclusion treaty, | can we prevent the Japanese from con- they are there in thousands now, and they are just as fruitful and maultiply in much the same manner as their | | white brethren, in what way it is pro- | posed to place white labor on a su- perior footing to the little brown men is not conceivable. Incidentally there are some natives on the islands. They | will probably choose to remain there too. To read what some of these papers | write (the Examiner is one of them) one might be led to belleve that it was all but white people from these islands. | It is at any rate promised that there shall be some special legislation for all but the whites, an idea laughably in- congruous with the statement that “all men are born free and equal” It is certain that Japan will seriously ob- ject to having her subjects unfairly treated in any way, and to disturb the peace with Japan for the privilege of saddling this nation with the debts of Dole and his rank clique is statesman- ship of the type to which yellow jour- nalism is able to rise. “Ho!! the schemes are glass—the very sun shines through them.” The parade on Jubilee Day brought vividly to mind a fact that stares one in the face every time the National Guard and the regulars are seen to- gether. It is plain that a training school for officers of the militia would be decidedly advantageous. The disci- pline of the guard would be materially improved thereby indubitably. It is not that a severer system should be intro- duced, but a better one; one that could and would be learned by more intimate association with the regular troops. The difference in giving words of com- mand, for example, is so broad that that one weakness alone greatly handi- caps the efficlency of the State forces. The manner of issuing orders—though to the civilian it may not seem of 3 much importance—has a great deal to| O. P. Grimes, a leading business man | court attorneys should be assisted by | his own resources is there even a re- | police had already declared him inno- | The law and the established rules of | practice are good as they are, and that | yellow poser in short order on this ac- | | turbing the status quo, but it again | despise. do with their prompt and effective exe- cution. One may be an excellent the- oretical tactician, & clever strategist, and yet as a commander weak. The se- lection of an officer, especially when done by ballot, does not endow him with the training necessary to make him efficient, and it is a pity that there are not more opportunities for the edu- cation of the National Guardsmen. It 18 not necessary that we should follow the example of England in this matter, but If we can improve on her system there is no reason why we should not. British volunteer officers have the priv- {lege of free training at the Wellington Barracks in London—the home of the Grenadier Guards—where they drill companies of that crack regiment reg- ularly while in training. The advan- tage is immense. They not only learn much technically, but the practical side of the education is worth a great deal. Good discipline a: 1 the methods pro- moting it are constantly before the eye, and the unvarying result is an increase in the efficiency of the men whom the trained officers commanc. If the Fed- eral Government could be induced to establish a school somewhat on this principle at the different headquarters of the army, there would be a wonder- ful improvement in the militia of each State without question, and Federal | troops would not so often have to be called on to do what the militia should accomplish. It was remarked some time ago that the Examiner excelled as a poser and not as a logician, its knowledge of the science of reasoning permitting it not to be able to distinguish a premise from a promise, a conclusion from a con- clave, nor a syllogism from a syllepsis. | It is again in evidence in support of that assertion. With astonishing vigor and {iteration it observes that we have a right to expect public servants to be able to competently perform the duties of the offices to which they are ap- pointed. That will not be denied, but as usual there is “a nigger in the wood- | pile.” What has stirred the poser up is a question of proffered assistance to | Police Court attorneys. They should be able to attend to all their duties,.he | exclaims, and tHen goes on to say that it is a dangerous practice to give them help, for the counsel called in to assist | may roughly handle one accused of crime. May it not be reasonably sup-| posed that the judges of these same police courts are competent to protect witnesses and defendants alike from unfair treatment? The fact is, this poser would like to have the law and the rules of practice altered on every occasion to suit his ends whenever he is a party to a suit. If one may not be allowed to employ special counsel in the prosecution of an offender, it might, with equal reason, be urged that no man should be allowed to pay an attorney to defend him; that he should take the legal adviser appointed by the court. Where it is evident that there is a case of moment, it is not only ex- pedient, but often necessary, that police special counsel. A single Instance, and one fresh in mind, will suffice. If the police court attorney had been left to mote possibility that Figel would now be on trial in the Superior Court? The | cent, and as the prosecuting attorney is dependent almost tntirely on the po- | lice for his evidence, this man, accused of murder, would have gone scot free. some disadvantage may accrue to the| count is not only no reason for dis- | demonstrates the prudence of permit- ting those who have been criminally injured to bring to light, even at their | own expense and inconvenience, every piece of evidence which will tend to the | | conviction of offenders. In an editorial that had no merit ex- cept its value as personal insult, the Bulletin, for what reason it possibly knows, comes to the defense of Arthur McEwen, who was justly criticized by a competent paragraphist because of his vagaries. Mr. McEwen’'s standing in the journalistic world is well known He is one of the pariahs of journalism. That the outer world may | know what that means I will define it: A journalistic pariah is one who uses the privileges that are his for the satis- faction of personal interests, the pub- lic weal being a secondary considera- tion; he is one who will write on two sides of a question at once if he can get pay for doing so. Arthur McEwen in an interview only a few years ago said that he considered the best paper the one that paid most for its space. That is a specimen of the breadth of intel- lect of this journalist. For myself, I did not notice any controversy between Ambrose Bierce and this pet of yellow journalism. Mr. Bierce showed plainly that McEwen was a “falsifier of letters and a forger of telegrams” and then threw him on the mud heap. What the little evening sheet may have to say, however, about McEwen or the writer who scored him is scarcely a matter for comment, no member of its staff being able to think in the same terms as either the critic or the criticized. That Mr. McEwen has abilities no one denies, and it has been shown over and over again that he prostitutes them. The fact that he is employed by Mr. Hearst is no proof of excep- tional talent though, for it is no secret that the holding of a responsible po- sition under the head and forefront of yellow journalism depends principally on the facility with which one ko- tows to the powers that be. Marked ability is ever a secondary considera- tion. COLLECTED IN THE CORRIDORS Rev. Samuel Hirst of Vallejo is at the Grand. ‘W. H. Maloney, the well-known horse- man and ex-Alderman of New York, left last night for the East to be present at the marriage of his daughter Ida to Jo- seph H. Stopani, a prominent young so- clety and business man of the metropolis. The ceremony will take place on Feb- ruary 17, and the young couple will come out to the coast on their honeymoon. E. M. Boggs, one of the most promi- nent merchants of Redlands, is at the Oc- cidental. F. 8. Wickersham, a big fruit grower of Fresno is at the Lick. D. P. Silverart, a returned Dawsonite, is registered at the Baldwin. United States Circuit Judge E. M. Ross of Los Angeles is at the Palace. W. A. Kelly, a wealthy mining man of Butte, Mont., is among those who regis- tered at the Grand yesterday. E. W. Waybright, a prominent lawyer and mining man of Denver, has come out to the coast on a business trip and is staying at the Palace. and politician of Seattle, is at the Bald- win. C. F. Brown, a popular resident of Hanford, is at the California with his wife; they are on a pleasure trip to the city. 0000000O0OOC o o o POSSIBLY o o TOOK THE o OOTHER ROUTE©® O great city, who o ©000000000C in his lifetime stood high in the councils of Tammany and whose name had become known from Maine to California through the promi- nence given it in the newspapers of the country. During the last illness of this distinguished manipulator of political schemes he was attended by an elderly maiden aunt, who nursed him with the greatest care during his suffering and A gentleman, lately arrived from New York, tells the follow- ing story on a politician of that who, when at last the inevitable took | U S———————— place, pinned the following notice, writ- | ten on a telegraph blank, on the door of the apartments which he had been oc- cupying in one of Gotham's most splen- did hotels: “March 26, 4:30 p. m. “John Doe, my beloved nephew, de- parted for heaven at the above hour. “MISS DOE.” A passing bellboy, having more humor than reverence in his composition, read the notice and procuring another blank pinned it underneath with this notice written on it: e o “John Doe not yet arrived; excneme'nt intense. ETER." Shortly after that boy was exerclsing his talents in hunting a job. W. F. Knox, a lumberman of Sacra- mento, is a guest at the Grand. S. S. Nathan, a leading business man of Sacramento, is at the Baldwin, with Mrs. Nathan, on a visit to the city. J. C. Gray, a large and wealthy mine- owner of Sutter County, is one of last night's arrivals at the Palace. Otis M. Knox, a wealthy socicty man ot Philadelphia, is at the Occidental, en route to Honolulu, where he is bound on a sight-seeing tour. NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. The keel for the Queen's yacht was laid at Portsmouth dockyard December 16. Its construction is not to be hurried, but the vessel will be completed early next year. The speed is to be 22 knots, with 11,000 horsepower driving twin screws. Bach engine has cylinders of %% inches, 441 inches, and the two low pressure 53 inches,with a common stroke of 39 inches. Steam of 300 pounds’ pressure will be sup- plied by 18 Belleville boilers with an ag- gregate heating surface of 12,000 square feet and 840 square feet of grate. The oldest navy-yard in the. world is the Matsusaki yard, named after - the owner, who established it at Ominati, Japan, 1960 years ago. The vessels built there became very popular among the warlike class, and the Empress Jingo had | a number of junks built there for her great expedition to Korea. The yard has been in constant use, and since 1874 has turned out many vessels, steam and sail, from foreign models. While it is no longer a navy-yard in the actual sense of the meaning, it is fully prepared te do modern navy building. During the last ten years it has built 19 steamers, 59 salling vessels and 232 junks. A school of naval architecture was started in the dis- trict in July, 1896, and bids fair to prove a success. The German battle-ship Koenig Wil- helm, to replace an old vessel by the same name, is being built by Krupp at the Germania yard, Kiel, and is to be ready by 1901. The length is 377 feet 4 inches, beam 67 teet, draught aft 25 feet S inches, and displacement 11,000 tons. The belt is of 11%-inch Harveyized steel, and her two turrets are of the same material 93 inches thick. The protective deck is three inches thick. The armament is light, as compared with American and British battle-ships, the main battery consisting of four 9.4-inch and eighteen 5.9-inch guns, all quick-firing. Her speed with 13,000 horsepower is calculated at eighteen knots, and the normal coal supply is T50 tons. The estimated cost, exclusive of armament, is 3368800 An alarming accident happened to the British belted cruiser Narcissus at Che- mulpo, Korea, on November 17 One of her drains became choked and burst, starting a skin plate and permitting. the water to rush in at an alarming rate. In less than three minutes there was a foot of water underneath the engine room floor, and before the pumps could ba started it had risen to six feet. Boats were cleared to abandon the apparently doomed ship, but the pumps finally began to decrease the rising flood and finally gained enough to enable temporary re- pairs of the leak to be made. U. 8. 8. Boston lay near by- and sent two officers on board the Narcissus to be of whatever assistance they could render. After a day and night of hard labor the leak was got under control sufficiently to risk the run to Japan, where she was docked at Kow- loon and repaired. The Russian naval estimates providing $9,030,483 for new ships is to be doubled, and building will be carried on more rapidly as a consequence. At St. Peters- burg an armored cruiser of the Rossia type is bullding, of 14,000 tons, to have triple screws, a horsepower. of 18,000 and a speed of twenty-one knots. At the same place two torpedo-boat destroyers, on the Sokol pattern, are being . con- structed. Their hulls are of nickel steel, and the engines will be of about 4400 horsepower. Two similar boats are being built at Aabo by contract, and at the Admiralty works at Ijora twenty-four boats of like kind are bufiding, besides a battleship of 12,674 tons «f the Orlabya type. At Nicolaleff, in the Black Sea, there is also great activity in navy build- ing, and three of the battleships, thres torpedo gunboats, three training shipsand one transport, all belonging to the Black Sea fleet, have been ordered to be ready, for service at short notice. Cal.glace fruit 50c perlb at Townsend's.® —_————— Special information supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * —_——— The Princess of Wales is not only very musical, but she also is the com- poser of several songs for the zither, which she has had printed for the bene- fit of her friends “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup ” Has heen used over fifty years by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes thie child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Collc, 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. 2c a bottle. —_—— CORONADO.—~Atmosphere is perfectly dry, soft and mild, being entirely free from the mists common further north. Round trip tickets, 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, mana- ger, Hotel del Coranado, late of Hotel Colo- rado, Glenwood Springs. Colorado. —_——— John Loughborough Pearson, who died the other day, was the most emi- nent ecclesiastical architect in Eng- land. His great work was the erection of the Cathedral at Truro. NEW TO-DAY. { ] | ! {