The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 21, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1898. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. eSS eSS SRS E SRR e PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS.... 2I7 to 221 Stevenson straet Telephone Main 1874. YHE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY Is served by carriers In this city and surrounding towns for I5 cents a week. By mall $6 per year. per month €5 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. OAKLAND OFFICE Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE.... Room 188, World Bullding WASHINGTON (D. C. OFFICE . Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. One year, by mall, $1.53 ..908 Broadway BRANCH OFFICES--527 Montgomery street. eorner Clay open until 9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street: open untll £330 o'clock. 621 MoAllister street: open untll 9:30 c'clock. 615 Larkin street: open until 9:30 o'clock €W. corner Sixteenth and Mission streets; open untll ¢ o'clock. 9518 Mission street: open until 9 o'clock iC6 Eleventh st open untll9 o'clock, 1505 Polk straet cpen until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second end Kentucky streets; open until 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS. { Troubadours. Shall We Forgive Her.” Charley’s Aunt 's—*“The Last Stroke.” Admiral ay afternoon. 2ddy streets—Specialties. nd Vauderille. ining Fair and Klondike Exposition. es at Ingleside to-da; Mechanies' Pavilion— By Easton & Eldrid, at 625 Sutter street at a By Frank W. Butterfield - This day, February2l. Groceries, | a;33) Fourth street, at 11 o clock | By Frank W. Butterfield—This day, February 21, Turkish street, at 2 P. M. This day, February 21, Stationery, at 713 Sut- Rugs, at 116 su B, ter street, at 11 0 < By Madison & Burke—Thursday March 3, Real Estate, at 626 A CLOUDLESS COMMERCIAL SKY. : moment. s, except on the | checked the upward course of business, New York Stock Exchange, where, of course, it un- settled speculation, as was to have been anticipated. All the prominent staples show a hardening tendency ‘ and it is mentioned as a noteworthy fact that com- | pared with a week ago not a single one shows a de- | cline, while some have advanced. Conspicuous in | this latter exhibit is the iron and steel trade, of which | it is reported that in the Central West go per cent of | the pigiron furnaces are in full blast. All over the | country there is a marked increase in the demand for | drygoods and groceries, which indicates the arrival of the spring call for goods. In the South the de- mand for cotton, sugar and rice is steadily growing, and collections in this section are becoming easier | in consequence. The failures last week were 269, against 325 for the same week last year. The bank | clearings of the country increased 52.3 per cent over | 1897, and no important city showed a decrease of any consequence. Wheat and its dependent cereals, metals, notably steel billets, copper, lead and tin, and 2 long line of merchandise articles are higher in price than a week ago, and the prospects for a further | advance are good. Exports of cereals continue to§ increase. The shipments of wheat, including flour, | for the week were 3,032,744 bushels, as against 2,120,- “ 000 bushels last year, 3,149,000 bushels in 1896 and | 1,808,000 bushels in 1895. The bulk of this increase } is chargeable to-large flour exports. | It is interesting to note the utter failure of thei Maine incident to affect our internal or foreign trade. | We go right on buying and selling and manufactur- | ing as if it had never occurred. On ’Change, as well | as on the street, but little is heard about it from the " business point of view. The lesson conveyed by this | apparent indifference is in the highest degree lauda- | tory of the temper of the American people, the per- manence and stability of their form of Government and their unshakable confidence in the nation to take | care of itself at all times and under all circumstances against the whole world, if necessary. In almost any other country a similar occurrence would produce an immediate depression of business; the United States it has not yet caused even a ripple on the| smooth commercial stream. A people of such a tem- | per and such confidence in their power and readiness to uphold their national honor are unconquerable. Of such mettle are made the nations which endure when others decay and pass into oblivion. The local markets are characterized by strength as a rule. Wheat rules firm. Barley is steadily ad- vancing, owing to the deficiency in rainfall, and hay | has again gone up. Beans are beingbought up inlarge quantities by speculators, and prices are gradually advancing. Provisions are still more active than OMMERCIAL reports from the East all say that favorable conditions dominate trade at the Not even the Maine disaster has | | | in ever before at this time of the year, and whenever a | change occurs it is in the direction of higher prices. Hogs are getting scarce, and there was a marked ad- vance on Saturday. Mutton is also tending upward. Beef is steady at the good prices. Hides and leather are as firm as ever, and every few days a further small rise in quotations is noted. Dried fruits and raisins are still neglected at unchanged prices. In merchan- dise there is less call for coal owing to the warmer weather, more activity in coffee, a sharp demand for mining machinery and hardware, a weaker feeling in quicksilver owing to its diminished use in-the differ- ent industries, and an advance in coal oil, gasoline and naphtha. Merchandise dealers report a first- rate movement in almost all lines. Collections are average and credits are easier than for several years, there being less disposition to curtail accommodation to customers. The latter condition is one of the re- snlts of better times. The above points cover the main features of trade at present. It will be seen that there is no decrease in the tide of prosperity now in full flow all over the country, nor from current indications is there any particular reason to fear that the tide will ebb in the near future. Lady Murray proposes to establish a Home of Rest for Needy Journalists in England. It is not clear how she can manage to get it filled. The jour- nalist as known in this country is never needy, and regards rest as a hardship to be avoided. e Because the police occasionally make unwarranted arrests and get corrected for it is no reason why they should neglect to gather in the burglar and robber. At last the annexationists announce that they have abandoned hope. This is the first evidence of sound IN MEMORIAM. N memory of the brave men who went down with l the Maine in that fearful catastrophe at Havana the State and the people of California will fly their flags at half-mast to-day. This public manifestation of sorrow will not be a perfunctory ceremony. Rarely has any widespread community been more uni- versally or more profoundly affected than ours has been over this dread calamity, which, whether caused by accident or by treachery, is one of the most startling that ever befell a nation in time of peace. It is no idle sorrow that stirs the American people in this tragedy. Deep as the feeling of grief itself is the stern resolution of the nation that the cause of the disaster shall be sought out with the most scrutin- izing care and avenged if vengeance be called for. Out of the incident will come a new departure in the course of our dealings with Spain. A great people aroused by so fierce a shock as this will not hesitate and wait indefinitely until a procrastinating diplo- macy can put the issue by. "All our controversies with Spain have been suddenly and startlingly forced to the front by the explosion that wrecked the Maine, and it is now the universal judgment of the people that some settlement of them should be reached with- out further dallying or delay. The United States has shown a most considerate regard for the weakness and internal troubles of Spain. Her offenses against the United States have | been palliated and condoned again and again. No administration has sent to her an ultimatum short, sharp and decisive like that which called Great | Britain to an abrupt halt in her aggressions on | Venezuela. What we would not tolerate in the greatest naval power on the globe we have permitted | to Spain. We have shown this long patience because of the weakness of the opponent, but to continue it | would be to show weakness on our part by practicing a patience that had ceased to be a virtue. Spain has been given ample time to settle the troubles in Cuba either by granting the demands of the patriots or by establishing peace through the | force of her arms. Nothing, however, has been ac- | complished. The Spanish rulers have neither had the wisdom to submit wisely to that which they could not overcome nor the strength to master that to which | they are unwilling to submit. Lacking the states- manship required to recognize the inevitable and the | military skill necessary to compel obedience, they | have kept this American island in a continuous dis- | turbance for years and threaten to destroy its civili- zation altogether if something is not done to pre- vent. These facts have been known for years, and the American people have regarded them with impa- tience. The catastrophe at Havana has merely roused to swifter action a public sentiment long since formed. The Maine, therefore, has not gone to wreck in vain, nor have her sailors perished without rendering service to their country. They have roused | patriotic resolution to the point of action, and the flags at hali-mast to-day will attest not only a public sorrow for the dead, but a national resolve to adopt toward Spain and Cuba a policy that will be more in accord with the true greatness of the republic than has been that of the past. THE PROFITS OF AN EXPOSITION. | ~ ORDIAL voices of approval have come from (-/ all parts of the Great West in response to the | suggestion of The Call that the year 1900 be | marked on this coast by an exposition in San Fran- | cisco of the first magnitude. So many officials of | high rank, including the Governors of several States, | and so many leaders of great industries have in- | dorsed the proposal and given promise of aid that the | movement may be said to be virtually under way, and | the duty of the time is to keep it moving and get the project as speedily as possible into definite form and | shape. Last year an Austrian statistician made public a | careful study of the results of all important exposi- tions that had been held up to that time in Europe and America. The figures cited in the study showed that with but one exception all expositions of suffi- cient merit and importance to attract general atten- tion had proven successful from every point of view, and even the one excepted was successful when con- sidered as a means of instructing the people in arts and industry and developing foreign commerce. The conclusion drawn from this comprehensive study of the subject was that all well managed ex- positions are good business ventures. They awaker the energies of the people, stimulate industry, spread abroad a knowledge of the advancement made in the | arts of civilization, arouse emulation and encourage trade and commerce in a thousand ways. The effect of novelty in exciting the mind and increasing the activity of the intellect is well known, and no ex- position which draws exhibits from a wide area of territory ever fails to furnish to each visitor some novelty of sufficient interest to awaken in him a de- sire for improvement and advancement. An increase of desire causes an increase of con- sumption, and that in turn increases production to | meet the demand. When money circulates the mill wheels go round. If San Francisco can draw to the | Pacific Coast a considerable number of people to see a grand exposition of the resources and industries of the region she will to that extent benefit the whole segion, for with a greater knowledge of the products [ of the coast and of the advantages offered here for home seekers and investors there will surely come a greater demand for them and a consequent profit to all. In an interview commending the proposed expo- | sition W. H. Mills stated that California had ex- pended about $700,000 to make an exhibit at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, but that $5,000,- 000 would be a low estimate of the amount spent by Californians in visiting the fair. Thus the sum we paid out to see the fair was nearly ten times greater than that required to make our exhibit at it. It is therefore an economy to hold expositions at home instead of visiting those abroad. As Mr. Mills has said, “If an attractive exposition were projected and proved a financial failure it would not cost this com- monwealth anything like the sums which will be expended in attending expositions elsewhere.” Upon whatsoever ground considered the proposed enterprise is one that commends itself to the judg- ment of progressive business men. As has been pointed out by M. H. de Young, the very fact that within fifty years from the date of its occupation by Americans California has been made to produce an income of $250,000,000 in one year is one to which we may with pride call the attention of the entire country. In this superb record the whole of the Great West has a share, and it is well assured that if San Francisco and California go forward promptly with the enterprise the other States of this rapidly In | much interest it has been found advisable to give the growing region of the Union will unite with her to make it a genuine triumph and share with her the judgment they have displayed yet. 4 | profits arising from it. FOLLOWING THE CALL. S was foreseen and announced yesterday, the enterprise of The Call in running special trains to deliver the news in response to the demand of popular excitement over the destruction of the Maine has forced our morning contemporaries in this city to follow our example. Thus even that portion of the public that does not read The Call has benefited by its zeal in the service of journalism and gets the news more promptly because of the lead The Call has given to its rivals. It goes without saying our contemporaries will loudly boast of their enterprise in this matter, nor can they be wholly condemned for so doing, since it requires unwonted energy on their part to keep up with The Call's leadership. They have in this in- stance acted with some vigor, being only two days later than The Call in providing the special service of trains to carry the news to the eager readers throughout the State. This is a subject of just con- gratulation on the part of the public, for as all per- sons cannot be expected to read The Call it is grati- fying that the other morning papers of the city have been roused up to circulate their editions more rapidly in all parts of the State. In the meantime The Call goes ahead with its own task of providing California with the best and promptest newspaper service the State has ever had. It sends out special trains not for the purpose of ad- vertising itself, nor for the purpose of engaging in journalistic rivalry, but in response to a legitimate demand of the people for that kind of service at this time. The situation of our Government in relation to Spain is critical. No one can as yet foresee the out- come. Every patriot necessarily feels an intense in- terest in the crisis, and all who desire to have an in- telligent comprehension of national affairs are eager to learn as speedily as possible each item of news, each succeeding event and every additional piece of information concerning this momentous issue. To supply that information is the duty of a newspaper, and The Call, by its bulletins, and its special trains to Monterey, San Jose, Marysville, Sacramento, Woodland, Ukiah, Fresno and all intermediate points, is performing a service which the people have a right to expect of it and which they may count on, not only in this emergency, but in every other that may arise. Whenever there is need for special trains or special bulletins to keep the public posted on the de- velopment of events which rightly engage the atten- tion of the people to so great an extent, The Call will furnish them. We get the news first, we get it the most accurately, and it is our determination that the readers of The Call shall have the same advan- tage and receive it before the readers of any other paper on the coast. A MACARONI COMBINE. ASTERN papers announce that several of the large macaroni manufacturers of the country are arranging to consolidate that industry on lines similar to those adopted by other large manu- facturing combinations. It is not to be a “trust” in restraint of trade, but an association for the pro- Such is the statement of one ofi motion of industry. the chief promoters. The effort to bring about the combination is said to have been started last November by a number of Western manufacturers of macaroni, but at present | the center of the movement is New York, and the steps there taken to effect the object have excited so public a good deal of information concerning the in- [:Beg=g=§-§c3-3-3-3-3:3-3-3-3:3:3:1.] § (NDIVIDUAL * THOUGHTS, § g BY A MOEE;I' CRITIC. g [*3=3=3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3.3-3.3.3-3-1+] The calamity in Havana harbor has awakened a somewhat dormant public opinion touching Cuba. With it I have no sympathy. If there were no cause for interference in Cuban affairs before the bewailable disaster to the Maine there is none now. It is to-day quite impossible to say, and the probabilities are that we shall never accurately know, just what caused the loss to the nation of a warship and hundreds of valuable lives. At the same time the opportunity to express “opinion” has naturally been grasped by the various stuffed admirals, vice-admirals, cap- tains and commanders that decorate newspaper offices. Happily this paper has no such clown. Such a volume of unintelligence on any one subject has surely never got so great publicity in 80 short a time. The piece de resistance possibly has been supplied by the Bul- letin, whose anility is daily more con- spicuous—no matter what is on the tapis. This is its opening editorial sen- tence: “The fact that the battleship Maine was blown up in the harbor of Havana will cause many people to sur- mise, if not believe, if there was not some design in what may have been a disaster.” The loss of the Maine was a very distinct disaster; one that makes a mark,and a mark which may (though itdls hoped not) be dyed an indelible red. It is improbable that the ship was damaged either by what is commonly (but somewhat erroneously) termed an anchored torpedo, or a submarine mine. From many considerations this state- ment is made. To begin with, ships are not anchored where torpedoes (to use that term and save confusion) are laid, for two very good reasons. The first is that the dropping of the anchor might explode a single mine and possibly ren- der useless many others; the second (or far greater importance to the safety of the harbor) is that in weighing anchor the probability of fouling the initial moorings of a whole field of torpedoes is'too great to be risked. I cannot be- lieve that the Maine was moored at a buoy; Captain Sigsbee is far too ex- ferienced to accept anything but his own anchor in a foreign port, and it seems incredible that he should have been assigned to an anchorage over an elaborate submarine defense which the Maine's anchor might easily—and inad- vertently—have rendered useless. How- ever, admitting that the ship was pur- posely placed over a field of mines, she was in ten or twelve fathoms of water, and was probably riding to fifty or sixty fathoms of cable. This would give the hull a range of at least five hun- dred feet, and the firing of a single anchored torpedo for her destruction would be the merest kind of guesswork. Evidently no field was fired. While she may have been torpedoed from the shore, the talk of a bomb placed near the forward magazines has no weight— absolutely none—when the probabilities are calmly considered. That, any one conversant with the structure and the care of magazines would know. One of the most important points for determination is ‘“Was the Maine in | anchorage that was commonly used?” If she was there were no anchored tor- pedoes there; if not, the possibilities are there were. It may be noted in passing that this matter is very care- fully watched by foreign powers in all harbors. Where anchorage is regular- ly forbidden or impracticable the ma- dustry and its prospects. According to statements made in an interview by | one of the leading promoters of the scheme, the | American people consume about 10,000,000 pounds] of macaroni every year. About half of this is either | made by Italians in this country or is imported al- most exclusively for the Italian trade. It is asserted that the Italian residents of the country consume virtually all of this class of macaroni, whether made here or imported, as it does not suit the American taste at all. Of the remaining 5,000,000 pounds of macaroni consumed in the United States upward of 75 per cent is manufactured here and the rest imported from France. The Italian product does not compete with the American article, but the French does, as it is of a similar quality and is equally agreeable to Amer- ican taste. The duty on the imported goods barely covers the difference in the price of labor between | France and the United States, and as a consequence | profits are small. Hence the need of combination. The new proposal is interesting mainly as another evidence of the universal drift toward combinations wherever combinations are possible. According to the promoters it will tend to decrease rather than increase the price of macaroni, as it will enable the industry to be carried on more economically. There is, however, one danger point in the proposition as stated by its advocates. The combination as designed is to include only the larger manufacturers. This sounds suspiciously like a movement toward a freeze- out of the small men, and if the suspicion should prove true the combination will not be regarded with favor by the general public Thoughtfully an evening paper calls attention to the fact that the Maine went into Havana harbor with decks cleared for action and that the Vizcaya entered New York harbor with the sound of music and dan- cing. Well, each knew where it was going. The Maine was promptly destroyed. The Vizcaya was met with every courtesy and surrounded at once by the protection of army, navy and police. Will the friends of Spain kindly call attention to something else? The Mission outcry against the establishment of a monkey ranch in its midst is loud enough so the advocates of the scheme can’t misunderstand it. Apparently this is not a good year for monkeys. Probably the Supervisors were not surprised at the Grand Jury’s information that prize-fights are illegal. The Supervisors have a faculty of not caring whether things are legal or not. 5 e The doctors who announce that they have dis- covered a cure for pneumonia better be careful. They may belong to some medical society and be inviting expulsion. AMERICANS ARE BORN STRATEGISTS. ‘With reference to the declaration of Representative McClellan of New York, son of “Little Mac,” that the army is entirely unprepared for war and that not a single plan of campaign is in existence, the Philadel- phia Record reassures the nation as follows: “Has the Representative forgotten that Americans are born strategists, and that at the first hostile shot the newspapers of the country would fairly reek with war maps? In the Civil War it was the editors who planned the ‘On to Richmond’ campaign and the press has developed wonderfully in both military and naval tactics since then.” rine warfarer says ‘“Look out for mines here.” The rule is not accurate, but it is ever worth bearing in mind that ground used regularly for anchorage is practically never used as a torpedo field. The disaster to the Maine, coincident with the well expressed ill feeling of the Spanish people toward this nation, seems to have eliminated from some minds the little reasoning power they had. Spontaneous combustion in the bunkers or either of the magazines is, of course, a possible explanation of im- mediate cause, and the crossing of electric wires through wearing of insu- lation another. Yet Captain Zalinski, who owes the United States much, opes | his mouth to observe that we have “done away with” spontaneous com- bustion. Possibly we have, but when we accomplished this feat we, too, did away with all the properties of all chemicals. ‘Weeks to come, when what remains of the Maine is raised, we may know more about the matter than we do now, but even that is dubitable. High ex- plosives seem to delight in gnarlingand twisting things with which they come in contact into fantastic shapes, and with so little apparent method that ex- perts often despair of controlling with any degree of certainty any of the ac- tions of these death-dealers. 'Mongst the crowd of seers Wwho know all about this terrible tragedy comes Mr. Julian Hawthorne, who sees fit to tell us what was the active agent in the destruction of the Maine. Mr. Hawthorne's opinion is entitled to no consideration in the world. He is not an authority on that point—or any other that I wot of. Not only has he no knowledge of explosives, but he is an individual who sees nothing even when he is pald to observe. He should be confined in a corner with insistence until-he is ‘“heard to cease.” This, however, does not detract from his fit- ness to represent the yellow journal to which he is now attached. The latest heard of him before this last effusion was when he was “commissioned” to report on the famine in India. He then came back, having falled to even grasp the root of all the suffering. Lack of transportation facilities is the onegreat trouble in all that country’s famines. That is as apparent to a discerning mind as is the Brooklyn bridge to an immigrant entering New York. This is practically a bar and (for the infor- mation of the Examiner-Journal and its commissioner) it will be a bar for centuries to come to the effectual relief of those who suffer most acutely from India’s periodic seasons of distress. Mr. Hawthorne has explained that he got more information from missionaries than from any other source. That is believable, for he brought back none at all worth the having. Excepting one sect, the Christian missionaries in In- dia know less of the country than does any other class of men—or women. Mr. Hawthorne had, his intention of com- paring the conditions in India and Cuba announced, but if his ideas of Cuba are as superficial as those he has of India (I do not see the Journal and so I do not know) they are utterly worthless. ‘Words strung together in pleasing co- herence do mnot necessarily convey truth, or even information. Mr. Haw- thorne’s conception of India (and by inference of Cuba) is like the child's idea of fairyland. He hears and be- lieves the stories of the elfins from a nurse in whose imaginings the little creatures alone exist. But the child rarely repeats what he has heard as gober truth, wherein he shows much more sense than does Mr. Julian Haw- thorne. The Examiner-Journal is wel- come to its commissioner and every one of like type. Apropos of this writer, Consul-Gen- eral Lee seems to have interfered with the Spanish authorities under a mis- apprehension of the character of the steam launch that took Mr. Hawthorne to Cuba, and, supposedly, brought him back. The boat, it appears from dis- patches, was entered as a yacht and thereupon seized, which was qutie right. No vessel used for the personal gain of the owner or charterer in any way has the right to the privileges accord- ed unvaryingly and exclusively to yachts. That the Buccaneer was not then a yacht is self-evident, but there seems to be no trouble in swearing that she is when occasion suits. The Secretary of the Treasury should ex- plain to General Lee what is, and what is not, a yacht. The Chronicle comes to the defense of Captain Mahan by saying that the gentleman in question did not mean what he said when he used the lan- guage attributed to him in these col- umns last week. By what supernatural power the contemporary knows this is quite undeterminable. but T have been, hitherto, accustomed to believe that what was said was what was meant. Captain Mahan’s words (if correctly reported) are: “This will inevitably involve its (Hawail’'s) possession by a foreign power, * * * against which preoccupation by the United States is in my judgment the only security.” That is plain enough language for a wayfaring man, and I desire to repeat emphatically that it is not “inevitable” that the Hawaiian Islands shall be- come the possession of any foreign power against our express will. The Chronicle in prescriptive style mixes what it has to say with a waste-bas- ketful of stuff anent the sugar trust. As a controversialist has pointed out there is “the virgin lead of pure ignor- ance.” Opinion expressed here is not honestly held because it differs from that of an antagonist! If published in the North American Review pre- sumably it might be held to have been written in good faith! Minds that cannot rise above that sort of substi- tute for argument are weak of the weak. A day or two later this short sighted contemporary scored the Rochester (N. Y.) Herald for pointing to the ne- cessity of increasing the navy in the event of the annexation of the land of coffee yet to be grown. We are ser- iously told that our present navy now effectually patrols over 5200 miles of coast line. What extravagant state- ment will emanate from this incapable brain next is a good subject for guess work, but most of us are too busy to be able to join in the, doubtless, delec- table sport. The navy of to-day, un- fortunately, is not half nor nearly half equal to the task, and to further ham- per it by a policy that will compel a big detachment to regularly be in at- tendance on a half-dozen practically valueless little islands is a blunder hopelessly. ‘When a newspaper makes the mis- take of asserting in some novel way | that the Sandwich Islands will be of strategical value to us—that is, if we commit the unpardonable folly of an- nexing them, the Bulletin stores the | averment away in safety, and in a week | or ten days, having furbished and bur- | nished it up so brightly that it mirrors | its own {irrationality, the dream is re- published. This is from the hoary journal (reference is being made to the ability of warships to coal at sea): “A few American fast cruisers with a safe | port at the islands would run in Japan- | ese coal tenders as fast as they might | appear.” The Bulletin, I was aware, | had a marvelously competent artil- | lerist, but an admiral was scarcely to have been expected to be found on its | staff. T re would, of course, be no | trouble about running in Japan’s col- | liers “whenever they appeared,” but | the Mikado would endeavor to make | as certain as possfble that they did not “appear” to gladden the admiral’s gaze. | May I be permitted to know in what direction this simpleton would have the | fleet steered In order to intercept the | ships of Japan with certainty? A plan | of action which keeps ships less than | a couple of thousand miles from the | vicinage of the treasure and territory which they have been called into ex- istence to protect is suggested to the admiral. With our fleet here we might reasonably expect to be able to make it interesting for the coal-laden ships of Japan, but to send a squadron on a still hunt for them in the trifiing body of water knawn as the Pacific Ocean would be a discouraging task to the various commanders, who are all aware that there is such a thing as curvature of the earth. Doubtless the Bulletin's admiral belleves the earth to be flat! | ‘With his “few fast cruisers” he might be chasing rainbows off Lower Califor- nia while Japanese entities were calm- ly steaming hitherward via the Aleu- tian Islands. Possibly this is part of his mode of warfare. It is novel enough, but Admiral Beardslee might consider it a trifle reckless. In seriousness this ancient journal should mend its ways, or Mr. Pickering will surely turn in his grave, come to the earth and smite the whole staff for playing the cheerful idiot. § Is the new ferry building the private property of the Southern Pacific Rail- road Company or is it the property of the State? A few days ago a promi- nent member of the executive staff of the monopoly had the good fortune to be obliged to accept a call to a sempi- ternal non-existence, whereupon his happiness was herdlded by the raising of the national flag at half-mast over the new water-front structure. Mr. Colnon seems to be in water that is un- pleasingly hot at_this moment, but it that if the Board of Harbor Commis- sioners and the Southern Paclfic of Kentucky are in fact one at heart on all points, it is unwise to publicly an- nounce the fact. Nothing is farther from my mind than the ‘keeping of a flower from a dead man's grave,” but this, the first sign of the assumption of proprietorship of the State’s union de- pot, should have been very promptly nipped in the bud. The flag would be as much in place if hoisted on the State Capitol every time a pauper died. The flagpole and the flag should be re- served for State and national uses alone. AMERICAN SPIRIT AROUSED. To the Editor of the San Francisce Call—Dear Sir: Your editorial in Friday’s issue of The Call, under the caption oi “The Ship and Nation,” and that o to-day (Sgturday), entitled “A Half Cens tury of Shame,” I have read with much interest, and am free to state that T feel just as you do relative to the insults suffered by this great nation at the hands of Spain. We have already borne toa much of Spanish insolence. But, notwith« standing the strongly suspicious circum- stances surrounding the destruction of the Maine, the people of this country were desirous of awaiting an investiga- tion into the terrible affair before taking any action involving the nation’s peace. But another insult, it seems to your humble correspondent, has been hurled at us—if the report Is true that Captain Sigsbee, with his local board, was pre- vented by Spanish guards from going aboard his own vessel, as stated in the World's dispatch from Havana, dated the 18th inst. Now, sir, I begin to feel as though it were time for Americans to speak out. - It seems to your humble correspondent that there should have been an American guard thrown around the remains of tha ill-fated Maine, and no persons permitted to go on board but those authorized by the United States of America until a satisfactory Investigation should have been made by this Government. It certainly appears, if this last news be true, that the Spanish authorities have now taken possession of the property of the United States! My only surprise is that the American pennant is permitted to float from the masthead of thewrecked ship. Perhaps it is permitted to remain there, however, as a mark for Spanish insult. I hope, sir, you will continue to express American sentiments in ‘Lae Call, because some such inspiration is needed badly to spur up officials. The peopls are aroused, and becoming impatient with the conduct of those high in authority. Many of our people begin to think that something else besides fear of the Span- ish power actuates our officials in this matter. Holders of Spanish bonds or would-be speculators in Cuban bonds, with the American goose as security, are perhaps the potential power behind the throne, exerting an influence greater than Spanish guns or Spanish arrogance. But the more one thinks of these subjects the more exasperated he must become, if a spark of patriotism exists in his make- up. How long—how long, O Lord, will these things be? Respectfully, & JOHN J. BURKE. Feb. 19, 1898, Concord, Cal. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. DRUGSTORES—A. C. 8., City. There city of San Francisco at this time. THE NEWARK COURSE—F. W. J, Oakland. The Newark coursing grounas are owned by John Duggan and Thomas Corman. COAL—G. L. F., Vallejo, Cal. The list of thosé who exhibitéd coal at'the Mid- winter Fair does not appear in the offi- cial account of that fair. THE DURRANT TRIAL-J. B. C, Lambert Point, Va. All the testimony taken upon the trial of W. H. T. Durrant for murder has not been published in any orm. THE BEST RATER—A. 8., City. Isaac Murphy was by far the best rater of the ace of racing horses. ‘‘Snapper” Gar- rison was considered the better man in judging for a finish, but in the matter of the pace he was, in the language of the day, “not in it.” ORGANS—S., Oakland. Reed organs are affected by the change of atmospnere and require tuning. As to the remedy for a reed that is not i{n proper condition a general answer cannot be given, for what should be done can be determined only when examined by a competent par- son. BANCROFT'S EULOGY—S., Sacra- mento. The eulogy pronounced in the House of Representatives by Geor%&Ban- croft on the 12th of February, 1866, on Abraham Lincoln is published in full in the Congressional Globe. It does not con- tain any quotation from a speech by Lord Russell to the effect that ‘‘the assassi- nation was the finishing stroke to repub- licanism or republican governments.” Genulne eyeglasses, specs, 15c up.33 4th.® ket oA Y Bl Just what you want for Klondike, “Crys- tallized Ginger,” 25c Ib. 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. * PSR e R R A Southern Congressman in the course of a debate on one phase of the financial question the other day very earnestly re- marked that “the United States must teach the world that while she was once an infant she {s now a fullgrown man.” How long has she been a fullgrown man? —Chicago Times-Herald. ““Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used over fifty years by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Colic, reg- ulates the Bowels and Is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists In every part of the world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup. 2c a bottle, —_—— CORONADO.—Atmosphere s 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, $6: longer stay, $2 50 per day. Apply 4 New Montgomery street, San Francisco, or A. W. Bailey, man- ager, Hotel del Coronado, late of Hotel Colo- rado, Glenwood Springs, Colorado. —_—————— Don't forget Waller Bros. Gift Day, Feb. 36, 1898. 33 Grant avenue, corner Geary street. —————— The difference between a man and a woman is that a woman likes to see hand-painted plates on the tea table and a man never thinks of the plate. but al- walya of what is on it.—Somerville Jour- nal fresh and pf jn theclimate of the Yukon. ADVERTISEMENTS. ROYAL is the only Baking Powder that will Kkeep full strength P is impossible to forhear hinting to himy’ are about two hundred drugstores in the“