The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 19, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1898 19. 1898 SATURDA FEBRUARY JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE........Market and Third Sts. S. F. Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS.......... .2IT to 22| Stevenson strazt Telephone Main 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 montn €5 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL... QOAKLAND OFFICE e Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building One year, by mall, $1.52 .......908 Brocdway WASHINGTON (D, C. OFFICE ... Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES--527 Montgomery street. eorner Clay epen untll 9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street: open until §30 o'clock. 621 MoAllister street: open until 9:30 c'clock. 615 Larkin street; open until 9:30 o'clock SW. corner Sixteenth and Mission streets: open untli | tc'clock. 9518 Misslon street; open untll 9 o'clock 106 Eleventh st open until9 o'clock, cpen until 8:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second cnd Kentucky streets; open until 9 o'clock. eets—Speclalties. d Kiondike Exposition. cetrack—Races to-day. h's afternoon. oy T an AUCTION SALES. i This day, February 19, Turkish M . February 19, Saloon, at 1157 Sutter y 19, Horses. at Oakland s day, Februa Th February 24, Real Estate, at at 12 o'cloc! rsdav, OUR SPECIAL NEWS SERVICE. excited condition of the public mind over the iction of the Maine at Havana the popular desire for news is intense. The people cannot wait for information to come to them in the ordinary routine cov i newspaper distribution, rapid as that has become of recent years. Men throng around the bulietin boards on the streets and each succeeding dispatch r g to the catastrophe is read and dis- cussed wit} abated ardor. > Call recognizes in this emergency the need of a ual and meets the de- ws service tt 1 with readiness. It supplies by its bulletin boards in this city and thronghout the State an un- ceasing stream of dispatches from all the principal cities of the coun giving reports of every event curs in connection with the great issue, thus the people posted on the situation and in close touch with all that is said or done in relation to it by our officials at Wasl| Not by bulletins only, however, has The Call met the demand nd better news service. It has arranged a more rapid distribution of the paper itself. the people of Sacramento, San Jose, Wyoodland and ngton a swifter On Friday morning it sent a special train to points along branch lines connecting with these routes. By these means The Call, with its full ac-| counts of the latest reports and phases of the situa- tion, reached the readers of those places in time to 1 were received. give them all the new ng befotre other San Fran- cis At Sacramento the earliest workers of the city were able to get The Call before the work of the day began, and the great mass of the people had the paper in time to read it at the breakfast t What these arrange- ments f the news and its distribution throughout the State is but another illustration of the determination of The Call lic the best newspaper service it has ad. The C cgs of the people on this 0 papers ble. as been accomplished by »r the promptest possible publication of all management recognizes the ear- issue and important be foremost in making known the news of all that oc By special bulletins, by special t. d by all other means which can be irs in regard to it employed in reaching the public, not only of the city, but of the interior, The Call will give the news, give it reliably and give it first P — When a telephone or a phonograph is invented the rext information invariably is that the contrivance | was in common use among the Chinese about 3000 years ago. The authenticity of such information is never questioned, because it isn’t there to question. Now a grand scheme is under way to fittingly cele- brate the semi-centennial of California’s admission. Comes forward the Evening Post and without de- posing says it told about this last July. Well, it pro- duces evidence that it told about something and that | that something happened to be something else is a matter of small import. The Post is in line: for helping-the celebration along, and if it find joy in nurturing the belief that it was the first to fore- shadow the event nobody will begrudge it. Nobody quarrels with the Chinese faith the telephone through which Confucius used to order coal or jaw the gas man. in There are two newspaper men of New York who are in the present emergency making monkeys of themselves. ~ We refrain from mentioning their names ‘because it is humane to treat even the:lower animals with kindness, and a monkey may be sensi- tive. The gentleman who rescued the Cisneros woman has got into type again. That anything he may send from near the seat of war will be regarded as a fake | goes without saying. Even were he to stumble upon the truth he would cast it aside as unworthy of con- sideration. With all respect to the administration, it is proper to state that the people of this country are interested in our relations with Spain. And while the people are not all diplomats, the fact is that they will foot the bills and do all necessary fighting. There will be widespread regret at the death of Frances Willard. She was a good woman, fixed in her beliefs and faithful to the last-to the duties she had prescribed for herseli and to interests for the promotion of which she was peculiarly fitted. SR o If the Vizcaya were to be governed by good taste she would defer her visit to this country. To pay her the honors due a friendly man-of-war will be a severe strain upon courtesy. Weyler is being quoted. There seems no particu- lar reason for it. He is not an especially interesting liar. e 1505 Polk strest | — | victims of an appalling catastrophe the inquest shall = The talk of settlement upon a monetary basis is A HHLF-CENB{R_Y_OF SHAME. ~HE present relations of the United States and T Spain have not been of sudden growth. The | wreck of the Maine but cleared away the clouds | and leit the hatred the Spanish feel for us exposed in “all its intensity: That this hatred should be mixed | with contempt is our fault. By patient endurance of i the brutal insolence of Spain for half a century we | have well earned the disregard she is ever ready to : express. It is not the part of a great nation to pick a quarrel with a weak one. Neither is it the part of a great nation to forbear without limit when' it is subjected to continued insult its property destroyed, < subjects murdered, its protests made a laughing | stock and its flag derided as being no protection. | | For half a century Spain has been permitted to do | with us she pleased. At last she has the idea that | we are cowards. How could she have any other? | She thinks she could whip us. What has there been | to convince. her to the contrary? America will never be secure in the respect of na- | tions until the respect has been earned. = When the | British flagflies above the deckof one of her Majesty’s | vessels that deck is as much British territory as the soil of Albion itself. No matter in what clime, none would presume to encroach. - Note the difference. An American ship is wrecked and takes hundreds down to death. The circumstances tend to show the wreck to have been the result, if not of Spain's treachery, at least of a feeling in consonance with her sentiments. Yet Spain stretches out a bloody hand | and tells us we may not investigate save as she shall direct and under her surveillance. Where does his- tory afford an example of insolence so monstrous? | There is but one dignified course. It is for the ;L'nited States to inform Spain that while there is | weeping in hundreds of American homes for the not be conducted by the suspects. From this course | there can be no retreat without bringing this country | under the scorn of every, civilized people. To no | other people would even the impertinence of Spain | dare to formulate a demand which can only be con- | sidered an affront the most gross. | sickening. Either Spain is innocent in this particu- i lar matter or she deserves to be swept from the seas, | stripped of her colonial possessions and driven back | to rot under the shadow of her decaying throne. | Honor is not to be bought for a price, and even to | consider the proffer of Spanish gold or worthless | Spanish promises would be not honor but deep and | | lasting disgrace. The time is near for the haughty | Don to be humbled. He must learn to be respectful | and human, that murder is a crime, an insult offen- | sive, and that people in this country do not take it ; as a friendly act when the mutilated bodies of their | dead are reviled as they are being laid to rest on an | | alien shore. | 3 Sooner or later there will be a wiping out of the! | old score. Americans are not interested in Cuba from | They remember the horrors‘ of the past, they recall the Lopez expedition and the | | | slaughters attending it, the Virginius and the wanton 1 | | selfish motives alone. | murder of American boys bound and trampled under | the hoofs of cavalry while the populace made merry. | These things are not to be forgotten. That they | have seemed to be forgotten has lulled the Spanish | into a sense of power to override America. It is| fitting that when the cruel masters of Cuba surrender | their swords that on bended knee they hand them to soldiers of the United States. |HANFORD ON THE CHINESE LAWS. | ‘:J trict Court of Washington, who not long ago decided that the wives and children of Chinese | holding certificates of admission to this country were entitled to come in by virtue of their relationship, | now modifies his ruling by expressing the opinion that the courts have no power whatever to determine | questions involving the right of any alien to enter the | { United States. He declares that under the statutes ;passed by Congress jurisdiction of the subject is | lodged in the administrative officers of the Federal | | Government, and that no alien refused admission by: | them is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus or any | | other writ by which he can call the courts to his aid. | It is hardly possible to agree with this view of the | law, for so long as the principle upouw which the writ ;, of habeas corpus reposes continues to exist—which is“ | likely to be until the end of time—any person de- | ; prived of his liberty in the United States may have | | an inquiry instituted into the cause of his restraint, | and, if no legal cause can be found, may be released. | It seems to us that if personal liberty is to be pre- | : served in this country it will be necessary to main- | tain the writ of habeas corpus. But with Judge Han- ‘ ford’s construction of the Chinese exclusion statutes it is less difficult to deal, since his view is evidently based upon a desire to promote the business interests | of the importers of Mongolian contract labor. It is not and never was the intention of Congress fto confer upon the officials of the Treasury Depart- | ment the absolute power of ruling on Chinese ad- | mission certificates. The intervention of the courts was counted on in all the legislation, and the best evidence that such is the case is found in the fact that | the courts have always interfered to expound the law when proper cases involving the statutes have been brought before them. Moreover, we can conceive of no greater misfor- tune to the country than the relegation of the au- | thority to admit Chinese coolies entirely to the offi- cials of the Treasury Department. On several occa- sions the people of the Pacific Coast have found that those officials are not to be trusted. A banquet at the house of the Chinese Minister or a present of a fragrant box of tea has on occasions completely tevolutionized the rulings of the department on Mon- golian questions. A change of administration has also frequently produced an entire change in the status of the restriction and exclusion laws. It is to be hoped, therefore, that Judge Hanford’s view of the situation will not prevail. It may annoy the Federal Judges to be compellcd'(o pass upon | Chinese habeas corpus cases, but it is their duty to do so, and the people expect them to constantly op- | pose an insurmountable barrier to the admission of all Chinese who are not legally certificated. This work cannot be done by the executive arm of the Government because it has no way of rgcording and giving effect to its interpretations of the law. In- stead of seeking reasons for evading his responsibili- ties, Judge Hanford should stand up occasionally and decide a case against the contract labor dealers. UDGE HANFORD of the United States Dis- Mrs. Lillian Peters rises in her wrath to pronounce Pleasanton “jay.” Of course the town is not grati- fied by the lady's verdict, and yet even greater au- thorities have put even greater towns on the' jay list without producing any permanently disastrous ef- | fects; and perhaps Mrs. Peters will feel better now. TAXATION LIMITS. HE Mission Street Boodler thinks the limit on Ttaxation favored by The Call is altogether too inflexible. It is easy enough,” says the Boodler, “to criticize this provision (of the proposed charter) and to say that the Freeholders should tie the limit at the other end also by limiting the basis of taxation, but it is not so easy to establish a sys- tem that will restrain extravagance and stilleprovide for the natural growth of the city.” We can readily understand the position of the Boodler in this matter. That sheet makes very little money holding up city officials or passing appropria- tion bills. A large part of its income is derived from corporation “advertising” contracts. The Boodler abuses a corporation until it “advertises.” Then it executes a contract by which it agrees in considera- tion of a stipulated sum per month to publish a large quantity of silence every day about the corpora- tion and its affairs. This was the way it got $1000 a month out of the Southern Pacific Company for twenty-two months. Probably it would still be “ad- vertising” for that corporation had it not grown ar- rogant and struck for a raise. Naturally .the Boodler wants the town to grow. The larger it becomes the more corporations there will be to “advertise.” We are, therefore, left in no doubt as to its purpose in criticizing our idea of limit- ing taxation in this city. What the Boodler wants is a large town with plenty of “advertising” corpora- tions in it. In such a town its profits could not fail to be enormous. It can think of no better way to make a large town than to keep taxes up and provide the practical politicians who promote its business with plenty of money. Notwithstanding the disposition of the Boodler to ridicule a limit on taxation which would force the tax eaters to economize in salaries and ex- penses, however, we shall stick to our opinion that the only way to prevent municipal extravagance in San Francisco will be to| fix a maximum assessment roll and a maximum levy. | It will never do to rely on the moderarion of the As- sessor. On one occasion the late Alexander Bad- lam, when Assessor, added $80,000,000 to the roll in a single year. True, the assessments were afterward | declared invalid, but the incident illustrates what may | be done by an Assessor when there is a demand for more money. We have seen under practically the same rate of taxation during a period of ten years the expenses of the municipality increase from $4,000,000 to nearly $6,000,000 without the construction of a single main sewer, the improvement of a single accepted street or the enlargement or reconstruction of a single public building. The Boodler may want the city to continue to “grow” in this way, but we are free to say we be- lieve most intelligent citizens are weary of such | progress. CELEBRATING OUR GOLDEN WEDDING. % HE sympathetic response made to The Call’si ‘l—‘suggestion for a semi-centennial exposition in this city at once invests the project with the ele- ments of success. It is not against it that it will be the year of the national campaign. Indeed, that is | one reason why it should be undertaken and will be a | factor in its success. The National Centennial in | Philadelphia was begun and ended in a Presidential campaign. Both candidates appeared there. The popular awakening which always accompanies a na- tional campaign aided the exposition. 5 The Columbian Exposition at Chicago was opened in the midst of the campaign of 18g2. If we are | ready with our semi-centennial we can easily secure here the presence of both Presidential candidates, ac- companied by a great host of their followers and | countrymen. It is well now to consider some of the striking fea- tures that can be made peculiar to such a celebration. In our rainless summer we can do what cannot be done elsewhere. lowa has exhibited her corn palace, constructed entirely of that cereal, and her coal palace | | at Ottumwa, built out of the coal of the Muchikinock i mines. Here we can build a palace of California olive | oil. We can have a chateau wholly of raisins and one of prunes. In the hands of artists we can produce a map of the State made out of the heads of wheat. | | We can reproduce a winery entirely of wine, using the i different colors for the effects of light and shade, and within.we can have the vintage in actual operation and can refresh the throngs with gourds full of the fresh jqice of the grape. We can build a quartz mill entirely of gold-bearing quartz and operate its stamps and show the actual clean up of amalgam and retort it for the spectators to see. We can carry on actual manufactures. We can set up a shipyard in large miniature and build a model ship on ifs ways. We can build a silk factory of our own cocoons and in it can wind and weave the fiber. We can put in a track and show our California horses in all their forms. We can do more. Under cover we can build a dairy palace of cheese and butter and in it make them bath by the latest processes. We can build a mill of wool and in it card and spin the fleece and weave it into fabrics. We can build a great aquarium. divide it into salt and fresh water compartments, and show our great variety of food fishes swimming in their native element. In it we can exhibit the great jew fish, the mighty tunny, sturgeon, sea bass, striped bass, salmon and all the rest. In the center of this palace of fishes, in an ample pool, we can gather a company of sealions for exhibition at close range. In fact there is hardly an end to the interesting fea- tures illustrating our materialities, made peculiar to us and easily possible by our climatic conditions. Such an exposition would be forever unique in the world’s industrial annals. Other places may build high towers, produce mechanical effects and illustrate the merely ornamental, but never elsewhere will there be a rival to this which will so show all our materiali- ties as at the same time to permanently certify to.all the earth the clemency and individuality of our cli- mate. Only the other day in New York the New York Journal, through one of its ablest hired men, raised an outcry against Bryan. Ever since then it has been trying to explain that it .did not mean it, and is placing Bryan under the disadvantage of its ‘ardent support. As a matter of fact its effort to boom a Mr.. Van Wyck, understood to be part of the stage property oi Croker, fell so flat as to astonish even its meager intelligence. Perhaps the nerve of the Post in sticking to its first hasty conclusions concerning the wrecking of the Maine is;to be admired. Certainly it is not every paper. that would so loftily refuse to be hampered leeososs0000000000000 GORGIONI'S POLONAISE. @OO‘OO@O@QOO@QQQOOIO ‘When Julius Germaine left the office of the Shouter he was swearing aud- ibly. The virulence and variety of his oaths seemed hardly to relieve his ex- asperation, however, for running against the Police Court reporter at the foot of the stairs, Germaine launched forth anew into a turbulent sea of pro- fanity in which the city editor’s name tossed and tumbled by the angry waves of his eloquence, ducked and staggered and sailed on, only to be overtaken and buffeted again and again. ““Oh, that!li all be takem for granted,” sald the Police Court reporter, easily. “Skip the introduction, and tell your story. What's it all about?"” “Well,.he has sent me out to do a classical concert.” “No!” exclaimed the reporter, his fat, pimpled face glowing with malevolent Joy. “Oh, yes, he has,” sneered Germaine. “Matinee musicale—Signor Rizzoforte. You know, clawhammers— women— flowers—grand piano—lot of hypocrites, who don’t know what they’re applaud- ing—pretend to like it—don't-—not a— all right, I won’t. But, Rizzoforte, im- @ @ RS ® ® agine it! Lots of hair, oily, banging beast—ugh!” . “It is tough,” said Dobson, sympa- thetically. “Tough! Tough!” shrieked Ger- maine. “Dobson, I tell you I know as much about music as—as the office cat, or the new press, or—or as a society dude who sucks his cane and ogles the women at the matinee musicale. Mat- inee musicale!” he snarled. He was late. Boggs had forgot all about the Rizzoforte concert till it was half over; and Germaine's encounter with Dobson had delayed him further. He lounged into the foyer just in time for the last number, thankful for this, but irritated anew by the airs of the ushers. His late entrance was a sac- rilege in the estimation of these claw- hammered votaries of the musical deity, whose name the little mannikins breathed in a sort of sacred ecstasy. Germaine waited at the door, gnaw- ing his lip and smothering his dissat- isfaction, while his eye wandered from the hushed, darkened, crowded hall to the stage above. There came a short pause, during which the audience remained breath- less, reverential, and then burst into frantic applause. Then the music be- gan again. Leaning back, with his head and shoulders against the heavy curtains, Germaine discovered to his amazement that all his fury, his intense disgust, ERatna sl tathoms that catic’s his irritation, had left him. His nerves seemed to suck in the soft, lulling sweetness of the melody that came now from the piano, and his whole body was | bathed in reposeful ease. .He closed bis | eyes and gave himself up to the feeling of mental helplessness. He let himself be soothed and salved and comforted. He felt every 11l slipping from him, and his weary soul swam in a sensuous, slow-moving sea, while his brain, drugged with sweetness, slept. ‘When Germaine got back to the office, it occurred to him that he had forgot- ten to note the player’s personality. This was a decided loss of material. He had hoped to dilate upon this topic, in default of real criticism. But he set doggedly to work, holding on desper- ately to his programme—so much Greek to him. He dismissed each of the earlier numbers, which, of course, he had not heard, with a stereotyped mention, and then, with a grateful sense of being permitted finally to use his brain, he launched into a panegyricof theclosing number. All that delicious feeling of lotus-eating ease, that dolce far niente of mind and body, came back to him as he wrote; and, scorning longer to steer by his memories of musical criticism, as exhibited in the daily press, boldly he struck into an enthusiastically eulo- gistic strain. As to the name of the thing, he consulted the programme. Of course, he had never before heard of Gorgioni's “Polonaise,” and he had a vague idea that that should not have been the name of that sweet, wondrous melody that had bewitched him. But he finished with a resounding, fervid sentence, turned in his copy, and then went home to bed. Germaine noted with a pang the next day that none of the morning papers, except the Shouter, mentioned Gorgi- oni’s “Polonaise.” He re-read his own account. It was not a criticism of the concert; it was merely a hyperbolical panegyric on Gorgioni's “Polonaise” as played by Rizzoforte. It was just his luck. He had made the Shouter ridicu- lous. He was too sore, too blue, to stand chaffing or lecturing. He was prepared to fight Dobson or any and everyone else who should mention things musical to him, and he longed for an opportu- nity to beat the city editor to a pulp, and then resign. But Germaine, like many another sore egotist, found that the world had moved since yesterday. There was a big murder story on, and the whole of- fice was in a thrill of excited anticipa- tion of a scoop. He was caught up in the whirl of news-gathering, and be- came so interested in the great story that he forgot all about Gorgioni’'s “Polonaise” and his own flasco. The following day was a repetition of its predeeessor. The men on the Shouter breathed not nor ate nor slept; they only worked. Germaine came rushing into the city editor's room with an important bit of news bearing upon the story. By this time there was but one story to the Shouter's reporters. Hurriedly giving his notes to Dobson, he turned to rush out again. “Oh, Germaine—wait!” calfed Boggs. “See_here, you can't go out again on this. I want you to do a concert.” Germaine stood speéchless. Then, looking up, words of remonstrance oh his lips, he caught Dobson’'s twinkling eye, and like a maddened bull he charged. But Dobson was marvelous- ly quick for so big a man. He es- caped, leaving Germaine to face the ‘music—his detall. “I don’t know any more about music than I do about crocheting,” said Ger- maine, between his set teeth, as he reached for his hat. ‘““There’s Dobson. ‘Why don’'t you send him? His sister plays the mandolin—or the guitar. Blamed if I know which it is!" “Oh, you're too modest,” laughed Boggs. “What is it you want—taffy? All right. Rizzoforte’s agent was in -this morning.. You ought to have wit- nessed his joy over your notice by facts. None of the meek and lowly editors whose chief desire seems to be to be kicked has yet suggested that we extend an apology to Spain for permitting the Maine to roil the waters of Havana Bay. ‘Wednesday; he-said there wasn't a musical critic in town except you.” Germaine stared.’ gasped. : “No doubt. .Half a column or three- quarters, say. ;Let it run easy.” . Germaine crawled down stairs; He “He's drunk,” he was too disgusted to think; so desper- ate that evem to swear was no com- fort. “” As he boarded a car he saw Dobson sail by iIn a hack, and heard a shout— “We're on his track”—as the horse clattered on. When he reached the concert hall his face had settled into deep lines of disgust and weariness. He was on time, this time, and he sat drearily through the programme, listening to a sounding cataract of symphonies and fugues and concertos, one s6 like the other to his ears that the “Shouter’'s” musical critic ceased to consult his programme, and lay back and longed for death. | As the evening wore on, once more Germaine took up the unintelligible card that had been of so little use to him. At.the end he caught a name that interested him. Gorgioni’s Polonaise. At least, he should . hear again that beautiful melody. X Patiently he waited, now, and at last the number was reached. Germaine breathed a biissful sigh of anticipation. But the heavenly strains he longed for came not. Instead, a confused cackle of sound came from the pianist's fingers, an intricately classical, unintel- ligible jumble of notes, with odd ac- centuation, meaningless pauses, and, to poor Germaine, utterly destitute of plan or harmony. 3 “The beast!” Germaine muttered. He could have thrashed the great Rizzoforte for changing his pro- gramme. In deep disgust, as soon as he could, he made his way to the door. He turned here, maliciously pleased to note that the pianist’s last number had not been well received. People were evidently unfamiliar with this horrible thing. They knew not the end had come till Rizzoforte left the piano and walked from the stage. Then they burst into ashamed, belated applause. Germaine grinned sardonically. But, in response to the prolonged hand- clapping, the pianistireturned. In Germaine's perturbed mind a con- fusion of subdued oaths rumbled. But as his ear caught the first strains from the piano his face changed wonderfully. He had made a mistake, of course; had confused the second movement or some such technicality of a piece with the next number, or something—it didn’t matter what. For now all was bliss again, and Germaine leaned back and listened and joyed in melody. Ah, if he’d always play things like that one might spend the night listening! Germaine left the hall and started downtown. Despite his shrinking dis- taste at writing up the concert, a sort of laissez-aller had taken possession of him. The lulling charm of that ex- quisite polonaise had once again taken possession of him; its rolling sweetness was a sort of buffer which stood be- tween his drugged nerves and anything in the outer world which might have irritated them. He sat down and wrote, finding, to his surprise, that it was easier this time. As his pencil spun its way along a sort of sardonic triumph lit up the critic’s face. It sounded like good stuff, after all, though only heaven and Ger- ig- norance of his topic. As he read it over he discovered that it was mainly Gorgioni’s polonaise over again, but even this did not much perturb him. When Germaine came into the office early the next afternoon he was told that Boggs wanted him. In the city editor’s office he was in- troduced to Algernon Johnson, the great Rizzoforte's press agent. For a moment an awful fear of detection came over Germaine, but a glance at Boggs’' face—that Boggs, who never | yet had failed to stand by his men— brought confidence. Mr. Algernon Johnson had called to thank Mr. Germaine, personally. He was amazed, yes, amazed to find in this far western city a critic so appre- ciative, so superior, so discerning, so delightfully aware of what was best in music.. Rizzoforte himself, who never read his papers, had remarked upon the strangeness of the“Shouter’s” critic being so enthusiastic over Gor- gioni's polonaise, a composition which is so far above the comprehension of the mere dilettante that few. audiences can really enjoy it. Yet this marvelous polonaise was so great a favorite with the great Rizzoforte, and he, himself, was so thorough an artist that—occa- sionally against his manager’'s advice it must be admitted, here in confidence, of course—he insisted upon its being placed upon almost every programme, that its repetition might finally edu- cate the ignorant masses up to appre- clation of its beauties. Mr. Johnson,.in conclusion. had only to congratulate the “Shouter” upon its good fortune in possessing so eminent a critic, and to assure Mr. Germaine of his profound esteem and his entire willingness to be of service to him at any time. Boggs burst into a roar of laughter as the door closed upon the agent. “Your face, man,” he explained to the mystified Germaine. i“Well,” the critic answered slowly, “I am puzzled.” “What's this thing he talks so much about? Did you really enjoy it? Who gave you the tip to boom What's-his- name's polonaise? What's a polonaise, anyway? I thought it was something women wore. Say, old man, after this you're booked, you know. No more ex- | cuses. You'll just take charge of the music—I'll make it all right with the business office. You'll expect a good salary, being so eminent, you know. Oh, never mind your modesty. Just keep track of concerts and things your- self. I'm glad to wash my hands of the stuff. It's always been a nuisance.” Having had musical greatness thrust upon him, there was nothing left for Germaine but to live up to his role. ‘By degrees he became expert in writing musical criticism. In time he grew ut- terly shameless in his pretense to criti- cal virtuosity and became an authority whom none questioned. He never men- tioned Rizzoforte’s name without ring- ing in a heartfelt bit about Gorgioni’s Polonaise, and when the great pianist left town he sent the Shouter’s critic a Burne-Jones portrait of himself, in the corner of which he had written the first few bars of the beloved Polonaise, above his signature. A copy of this portrait wag printed in the Shouter. The Pacific Lyre made Germaine an offer to take charge of its columns, and delegations from the elite of the Western musical world made pilgrimages to the Shouter’s of- fice as to a shrine, where so holy a relic was kept. Germaine’s salary was raised and raised again. e W e ) . Years passed. Germaine’s name and position were established.. He had smothered the last murmur of his out- raged conscience beneath the Othello- pillow of gratified vanity. There came a time when the local Press Club was in difficuities. That time came often. A concert had been arranged and the various members of the club had done all that busy men | could do to make the affair a success. Germaine’lent to the occasion the dig- nity and grace of his presence; also his portrait of Rizzoforte, before which crowds stood gazing in reverential awe. Germaine, too, lingered near the por- trait, not that he was in spirit one of the worshipers at the musical shrine, but that admirers might whisperingly point him out as the famous critic who possessed the portrait and the great Rizzoforte’s friendship. While he posed here, ostentatiously unconsclous, pres- ently from the next room came strains of music. Germaine started. That familiar, loved melody—it could be nothing but Gorgioni’s Polonaise. Sac- rilege! Desecration! Frowning por- tentuously, the great critic turned to enter the next room, when the quite g;xdible words of a man near by stayed m. It was Bauvin, the violinist, whdse handsome dark head was close to' the blonde curls of a girl, a pupil of his, Wwhose childish face was lighted by love and awe. “Yes, Rizzoforte did play it,” Bau- vin was saying. “You're right about that. Nevertheless, it's cheap, a piece of show-off, musical fireworks, in short. It always catches the crowd, though. Listen to the applause.” “Ah, Germaine. Miss Lovelsby, M. Jules Germaine, the ‘Shouter’s’ critic, you know. We were speaking, Ger- maine, of that little barcarolle of Heuer’s. Of course you remember Riz- zoforte’s playing it repeatedly as an en- core. I never could see, myself, why he chose anything so meretricious. 1 understand that he had a great con- tempt for musical taste out here. How it must have disgusted him to have to play such stuff! - But, of course, you know more about his feelings than any one else in town.” \ Germaine stammered something. Bauvin's knowledge of music was be- yond suspicion. ~ What could be tha meaning of this? He dared not ask, but his bewildered musings were cut short by Miss Lovelsby's voice, “Tra-la-la-la-la-la,” = hummed clear soprano softly. “No,” corrected Bauvin, a trifle pe- dantically. “It's ‘Tra-la—la-la—la- la’—you take it too slowly.” And stepping up to the portrait, pointing to the notes written in tha corner, Bauvin whistled softly and slowly. 3 “That’s it,” Bauvin turned at length, “That’s about the tempo Rizzoforte ap- proved, isn’t it, Germaine? Oh, how the man did play! You must read Ger- maine on the way Rizzoforte played Gorgioni’'s Polonaise, Miss Lovelsby. It will give you an insight into the spirit of the composition that nothing else can.” At another time, Germaine would have listened to this praise with the slightly bored, deprecating manner he had learned to assume when his praises were sung. Just now, however, he felt bewildered, dizzy. His fame, his mod- est fortune had been built upon that famous critique of Gorgioni's Polo- naise, when, in truth, he now discov- ered it wasn't a critique of the old mas- terpiece at all. In his desperate ignor- ance, on the night of Rizzoforte's first concert, which inaugurated Germaine's career as a musical critic, the unhappy reporter had heard only the encore which the disdainful artist had thrown as a sop to his audience. And all Ger- maine's eloquence, all his repeated, hyperbolical paean of praise had been offered up for Heuer's Barcarolle, which Buavin had stigmatized as ‘‘meretricious.” Germaine went home. He was too miserable, too disheartened to endure more. Of course, he had been aware of his own ignorance, but he had yield- ed to the charm of being great for so long that he had forgotten how little he really was. FRET STt SHOEY P R His early departure was an 0ppor- tunity for Germaine’s enemies to de- clare that in his desire to have the pub- lic note the eccentricities-of his genius,. the famous critic was becoming posi- tively unbearable, personally; though no one could deny his eminence in his profession. MIRIAM MICHELSON. f the Peanut taffy, best in world.Townsend's.* e Townsend’s Cal. Glace Fruits, nutritious and healthy, 50c . 627 Palace Hotel. * —_— The most nutritious food for Alaska is Townsend's California Glace Fruits, will keep in any climate, 50c Ib. 627 Palace. * — e Special information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the | Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. ¢ —_——e——————— She—I hate to see a man blowing his own horn. He—Well, if you were a cornet player I guess you'd hate more to see him blow- | ing yonrs.—Yonkers Statesman. Time Reduced to Chicago. 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