The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 15, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MARCH 15, The TUESDAY ....MARCH 15, 1808 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. ! Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICAT’ION OFFICE. .Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS.. ..217 to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1§74, THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carrlers In this city and surrounding towns for I5 cents a week. By mall $6 per year; per montb | 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL.... OAKLAND OFFICE... Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE.... Room 188, World Building | ‘WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 339 Hayes street, open untli | 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAllister street. open untll 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 2991 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street, open untli 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh | street, open until 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open | until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and | Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock. | e e | AMUSEMENTS. .One year, by mall, $1.50 .....908 Broadway Baldwin—* Mysterious Mr Bugl Columbia—Primrose and West's Minstrels. California—* Town Topies."” Alcazar—The District Attorn Moroeco's—“The English Ros Tivoli—"The Geisha' Orpheum—Vaudeville. Metropolitan Temple—Lecture on Phrenology- Golden Gate Hall—"Cupid in Californ{a,” to-morrow night. | Y. M. C. A. Auditorium—Vioiin Recital to-morrow night. Olympia, corner Mason and Eddy streets—Speciaities. The Chutes—Chiquita and Vaudeville. California Jockey Club, Oakland—Races to-day. | quate defense of what we have already. ‘WAR AND ANNEXATION. and "hope out of the prospect of a war with Spain. In such event they say our possession of the islands for military purposes is of first import- ance. But why? If we take them we must defend them. The seli-examination into our defensive con- ditions which has been forced by the Maine incident and its consequences has found us lacking in ade- We lack ships, guns, powder and trained men. To get them means a large expenditure. The $50,000,000 appro- priated by Congress is to the extent of $20,000,000 in expenditure already, and the whole sum will not even put us on a proper peace footing, to say nothing of a preparation for war. As we have often pointed out, we are supported | "I“ HE annexationists have pretended to take heart | by both Captain Mahan and General Schofield in saying that to provide a naval squadron and land fortifications to defend Hawaii against the weakest | of the sea powers will cost as much as all the rest of our national defenses. England’s weakness now is in her distant colonies. That same weakness is what is destroying Spain. The latter power could defend herself against a European coalition for less than her expenditures -in the appar- ently futile effort to retain Cuba and the Philippines. Peace is the normal condition of this country; war | is the abnormal. Our continental position and pos- sessions are invulnerable, when we are ordinarily prudent. Hawaii brings to us weakness and not strength. In every diplomatic crisis the islands will be our sore and undefended toe, stuck out to be tramped on. They inevitably involve us in those foreign complications which it is our highest policy to avoid. Our right interest in them is wholly in their independence and neutrality. The talk of war with Spain all arises in the demand | among us that Cuba be given autonomy, and what | infuriating logic it is to insist that to compel Spain to give the Cubans autonomy we must take it away from the Hawaiians. If the same argument were made about Mexico, for instance, how absurd would it appear and how lacking in justification! Again, the appearance of dissensions in the present Government of Hawaii is given as a fresh reason why the treaty should be ratified. .We have had in- ternal dissensions in this country. How would we have looked upon a joint declaration by the rest of the world that they gave the nations the right to interfere in our affairs, destroy our autonomy and cut us up between them, like a carcass hacked for hounds. In brief, the prospect of war with Spain or any other power is an added reason why we should insist that Hawaii is to be the neutral and independent Switzerland of the seas. Let her people and their leaders adjust to themselves a Government suited to their moral and physical conditions, to the peculiar needs of their leading industries and their labor sys- tem. They will then never know the affliction of external war, and may develop on such lines as are projected from their individual genius and their capacity to maintain civil institutions. A AMERICAN EXPOSITIONS. CCORDING to the latest reports from Omaha thirty-five States have now organized and taken steps to provide exhibits at the exposi- tion to be opened this summer. Several of these exhibits are to be aided by iiberal appropriations made by the State Legislatures. This is notably the | case with respect to the exhibits of States which be- long to the same section of the Union as Nebraska. The people of those commonwealths recognize that AUCTION SALES. By Frank W. Butterfild This day, March 15, Furniture, at 425 O'Farrell street, at 11 o'clock. By Easton, Eldri.ge & Co.—Wednesday, March 16, Horses, | Wagons, efc.. Ot 41 Battery sireet, at 12 o'clock. THE EFFICACY OF ‘“‘RIOTS.” T the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland on /:\ Sunday the Rev. Robert F. Coyle made a point in connection with the late “demonstration” over fixing water rates in that city which merits more than a passing glance. The learned doctor consid- | ered the attempt of the people to make it warm for | the Councilmen who sold them to the water combine | as exceedingly reprehensible, and he declared that | the very persons who became riotously indignant over the passage of the water order were responsible | for electing the Council. In other words, he con- | sidered it a case of the people placing a lot of bood- lers in office and then grumbling because they were corrupt. Perhaps the view taken of the affair by Dr. Coyle cannot be controverted. He seems to have analyzed the situation exactly. The people of Oakland did elect the boodlers, and it is in evidence that they | rioted when they found they had been sold to the | water combine. But, in our opinion, the learned gentleman in fixing responsibility upon the people of Oakland did not descend to first principles. If the people are not to riot in cases like this what are they | to do? Nobody knew the boodlers before election or understood their game. They all represented themselves to be honest men, and each and every | one promised, if elected, to do his duty. The people | of Oakland undoubtedly voted for them upon the strength of these representations. The “riotous conduct” which Dr. Coyle so serious- ly reprehends, therefore, proceeded from anger, not | from a desire to escape responsibility. Having been | deceived, the people of Oakland adopted a boisterous | method of manifesting themselv What else could | they do? Should they sit down quietly and say, “Dear, dear, dear, how dreadful! Next time we will elect honest men.” How are the people to know honest men when they see them? Take “Stringless” Woodward for example. He has been protesting his honesty ever since the “wah,” and there was a gene- ral belief that he would be ahove temptation. Yet no sooner is he appointed Councilman than he goes over, body, bag and breeches, to the water combine. ‘What would Dr. Coyle have the people do with pompous old frauds like this Grand Army pretender? Send them to a reformatory? Of course, riots are always bad. Their effect on communities is destructive of social order and sub- versive of law. But they are the only things, except over-ripe eggs, which make any impression upon | iegislative boodlers. If Councilmen, Supervisors and legislators who sell their constituents to corpora- tions could be rotten-egged or mobbed every time they are caught at the work, in time, perhaps, they might be educated up to the danger of deceiving the people. Eggs are to be preferred to riots, but we are not disposed to quarrel with the people of Oakland over the methods they adopted of manifesting their dislike in the cases of these Councilmen. They might have considered eggs too mild for “Stringless” Woodward and his pals. Of course the man who shot a friend for attempt- ing to play footpad was promptly acquitted. A citi- zen who shoots a footpad hardly does the community a greater service than the citizen who removes the sort of joker who conceives that to pretend to be a $ootpad is funny. Robert G. Ingersoll says that had the Maine be- Jonged to England, France, Germany or Russia, Morro Castle would have been reduced by bombard- ment before now, which, being true, argues that this is not particularly a jingo nation. The theory of hypnotism, sometimes gibed at by the practical, would seem to embody the only plea the Harbor Commissioners can advance for the manner in which they have allowed contractors to make puppets of them. It would please the people of this country to have the battle-ship Towa sent to Havana. There is no probability that the Spanish would blow it up, and it might awe them to a condition of politeness. ‘When two policemen engage in a public -brawl which lands them both in jail, the supposition that at least one of them should have his star taken away would seem to bave a substantial basis. ~ Probably it is an error to say that Spain believes in the theory of an inside explosion.. She is merely asserting that she believes it, which is quite a differ- ent matter. L E e If Spain ever shall undertake to drive the United States from the seas a proper spirit of reciprocity would drive Spain off the earth. Sl e g A word of explanation as to why a Chilean ship ever happened to be named “O’'Higgins” would not be devoid of interest. The Cuban with an impulse to play traitor would make a poor insurance risk. the exposition is in its nature an interstate affair, which will attract attention to the whole of that re- gion of the Missouri Valley, and are resolved to have their portion of it presented as fav: rably as any other. The fact that thirty-five States are to be repre- sented at the exposition by organized State effort is an evidence of the value which the Eastern people have learned to place upon such exhibits. Although nearly every year sees an interstate exposition held in some part of the East, the people, so far from tiring of them, seem to grow more and more inter- ested. This can be due to but one fact. Experience must have proved that such undertakings are bene- ficial to all who take part in them. On no other hypothesis can we account for the large displays made in Atlanta so soon after Chicago; then at Nash- ville and now at Omaha. What has been found beneficial in the East cannot prove otherwise in the West. If expositions are so profitable that two of them can be held in the same section of the Union in such swift succession as that which brought the fair at Nashville to follow the one at Atlanta, it is fair to assume that an exposition of the Golden West to follow the one at Omaha would prove as profitable as any of them, and possibly by reason of the greater novelty of the exhibits more profitable. The one danger to be guarded against is that of delay in beginning preparations. The only ambitious undertaking in the way of an exposition on this coast was that of the Midwinter Fair, and in that en- terprise everything had to be done in haste. A nota- ble success was accomplished under the circum- stances, but nothing like what would have been achieved if two years of time had been allowed the managers in arranging the scope of the fair and the exhibitors in preparing to make a display of their goods. A prompt start gives advantage in many ways. We should have eur enterprise so far advanced as to be able to make such a showing of money subscribed can obtain an, appropriation for assistance in the work. San Francisco at any rate should set to work Governor Budd assembles the delegates from this city will be expected to take the lead. If they do not have lost the exposition. SPANISH PRIVATEERS. l are of the opinion that in case of war the United States would suffer more than Spain. Their argu- privateering, and, as the United States has more ships to lose than Spain, the chances of war would the Spaniards cannot be doubted, since it is only a short time ago Senor Mendez de Vigo, Spanish ment that as Spain did not sign the treaty of Paris in 1856 she therefore has a right without violating can commerce. A war of privateering, however, would not be so think. We might and probably would lose some of our ships and suffer a considerable loss in the busi- by the time Congress assembles next winter that we early. When the interstate convention invited by those of some other city will, and San Francisco will T is reported from Madrid that Spanish officials ment is that the war would be conducted mainly by be against us. That this view is widely held among Embassador at Berlin, made the significant state- treaty obligations to strike a terrible blow at Ameri- wholly one-sided as the Spanish officials seem to ness done by our commercial marine in case of war, + but the loss would be but a gadfly sting to the nation 1898. as a whole. Moreover, due account would be kept of every American ship destroyed, of every dollar of excessive insurance imposed on our commerce by reason of danger of Spanish privateers, and at the closing of the war Spain would have to pay the bill. It is net likely, moreover, that the loss which pri- vateers could inflict upon us would be great. The piimy days of privateering are over. No neutral nation would harbor a privateer or furnish it with munitions of war. It would have to find its base of supplies in some Spanish port, and our navy would soon make the entrance to those ports very danger- ous to any privateer that might venture to try it. It hardly needed these warning utterances from Spanish officials to put us on guard against priva- | teers if war should come. That method of warfare was to be expected of the Spaniords. It is charac- teristic of the nation to fight in that manner. Even in the war for national defense against Napoleon they left him in possession of the field, the cities and the open country, and maintained their contest wholly by guerrilla bands hiding in the fastnesses of the mountains and venturing forth only when they had an opportunity to cut off a French force that had rashly moved away from the main army. Guerrillas on land afe naturally privateers by sea. 1f we fight Spain we must fight on those lines. There will be no big battles either by land or sea, unless we can get the Spanish in a corner some way. We must therefore prepare to meet an assault of privateers upon our merchantmen rather than of warships against warships, afd fortunately we will be able to do this without a greater loss than Spain can be made to pay after the war is over. N office under more adverse circumstances than McKinley. The campaign which preceded his election was one of more than ordinary bitterness, and threatened to engender antagonisms which would outlast the term of his Presidency. The business of the country, which had been bad for four years, was still stagnant. The revenues were deficient, and a drain of gold from the treasury was imminent. His political opponents had belittled him as “Mark | Hanna’s man,” had denounced him as the “agent of | trusts” and had shown every evidence of an intention | to harass his administration and assail his personal | character incessantly so long as he remained in office. | He has just completed the first year of his term and already he has won the confidence of the whole peo- | ple as completely as he had won that of his party be- fore he was nominated. Although his party had con- trol of but one house of Congress, the Senate having a free silver majority and being opposed to his finan- | McKINLEY’S FIRST YEAR. O President since the time of Lincoln entered cial policy, he has succeeded in bringing about the | enactment of a tariff which has restored industry, re- | vived trade and provided the treasury once morc! with an income equal to the needs of the country. dissension in the ranks of his own patty, and has even succeeded in inducing the generally obstructive Democratic and Populist minority in the House to act with discretion. His appointments to office have given satisfaction to the people. His speeches and nis messages to Congress have had the effect of al- laying apprehensions and encouraging the business | interests of the country to enter with confidence upon | new enterprises, and, in short, all the acts of his offi- cial life have been of & nature to silence demagogues, put an end to agitations and restore the republic to its normal condition of harmony and well-ordered prosperity. 4 The President is now reaping the reward of his statesmanship, his tact and his patriotism. He enjoys the fullest confidence of Congress and the country. His political opponents thave ceased to vilify him. The mugwumps have ceased to sneer at him. No one now disputes his pre-eminence in the administra- tion or denies that he is better fitted for his high | office than any man who has occupied it for a long time. ‘ Whatever may come in the future, it will not be denied that the first year of McKinley’s term has been one of brilliant administrative success. He has | demonstrated his ability to conduct with wisdom the complex affairs of home politics, and is now trusted implicitly in the management of every detail of the | crisis with Spain. This is a notable victory to have been won in a single year under such circumstances. | The people have reason to be gratified that they have such a President at this juncture. It is a potent factor | on our side in the controversy with Spain since it | unites the people for action as they could never have | been united under the Presidency of a less tactful and resourceful man. —_—— A man named Freeman came to town with a little money, out of which he was promptly bunkoed. He went to the rescue of the confidence operator, who rewarded him by bunkoing him a second time. Mr. Freeman does not seem to be one of the ordinary suckers who are born every minute. He was evi- dently born twice a minute. Congressman Smith, who is now engaged in sub- jugating the Spanish at space rates, portrays the va- liant manner in which, armed only with an umbrella and a consciousness of patriotism, he put five Cas- tilian soldiers to flight. The incident ought to be a lesson. Let the army be equipped with umbrellas. There comes from Cuba no rumor of threat to ex- pel the Senators and Congressmen parading down there as correspondents, and yet their impertinence ought to be rebuked in some way. MODERN ARTILLERY. The German artillery has been remodeled and the French have nearly equipped themselves with new guns. The German change cost $50,000,000. Their gun is three inches and the French three and five- eighths. The rFench is a quick-firing breech-loader and shoots ten shots a minute. Two of these guns -are equal to a battery of six of the kind with which our army is now armed. The rapid fire necessitates two ammunition wagons with each gun and greatly increases both the cost of the gun and the difficulty of keeping it supplied in the field. The new French guns cost $10,000 a gun, with 1000 rounds a gun. The sooner our ordnance department begins on a quick- firing gun the better. The change antiquates our artillery and leaves it where the armament of half our fleet 18 to-day—hopelessly cut of date.—Philadel- phia Press. ————— PROOF OF PROSPERITY. ‘When the managers of the Louisville and Nash- ville Railrcad cut the wages of trainmen and switch- men in 1893 they promised to restore them when the earnings were equal to those of 1892. That period has arrived, and the wages will be restored, vet there are those like Mr. Bryan who insist that busi- ness has not perceptibly improved since he was nom- inated in 1896.—Indianapolis Journal. HOW BUSINESS GROWS. ‘When the clearings of the banks in seventy-seven cities were 51 per cent larger in the february just closed than in February, 1897, and 73 per cent above the February of 1894, no intelligent man who cares for his reputation will make himselt conspicuous in | Journal He has harmonized factions, removed all causes of | 3¢ g. THE PROBLEM OF IRRIGATION N CALIFORNIA. o 060K 106 306 0 06 206 06 06 06 108 108 108 10 206 206 200 300 0% 06 000300 06 OF P A QO O A R California seems now to be standing at the portals of an unusually dry season. The situation forces consideration of the need for firrigation development over large areas of the State. Great as Is this need, we-are confrouted with the fact that unless a general public interest In the solution of the great problem Is aroused no solution will be found and no progress made. Irrigation development by private capi- tal has practically reached fits lmit. There are very few localities where new propositions can be found warranting its investment. The only solution of the problem is through State and national ac- tion. California is big enough to bring about either or both if her people could be aroused to their fmportance, and to a full realization of the fact that the irriga- tion district system is a delusion and a disastrous and hopeless failure, and that its continuance merely makes certain the stagnation of irrigation development. Enough water never can be had for the frrigation of the Sacramento and San Joa- quin valleys except through the construc- tion of storage reservoirs in theSierra Ne- vada Mountains. Yet San Francisco must look to the settlement of these great val- leys for her future growth, and it be- hooves her to give attention to their de- velopment. 1f Congress would act upon the recom- mendations of Captain Hiram M. Chit- tenden of the United States Corps of En- gineérs, in his recent report submitted as the result of his labors and investigations under the “Congressional appropriation made for the location and survey of res- ervolr sites in Colorado and Wyoming, a policy would be adopted by the Federal Government which would bring about the construction of the storage reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains necessary to furnish enough water for the irriga- tion of the great interior valleys of this State. Beyond and separate from the project of Federal storage reservdirs solely to conserve flood waters is the movement looking to the reclamation of the arid public lands through the construction by the Federal Government itself of the ir- rigation works necessary for their recla- mation. The Irrigation Congress has de- clared in favor of this, Governor Myron H. McCord of Arizona strongly urges it in his last annual report, and the move- ment is fast gaining strength. California has an enormous interest in it. There are millions of acres of arid public lands in this State which never can and never will be reclaimed in any other way. The arid public domain in San Diego, Riverside, an Bernardino and Los Angeles counties s a vast empire in itself, a desolate des- ert now, but capable if irrigated of sus- taining a teeming population. California should lead in an active or- ganization and agitation to push the adoption of this policy by the Federal Government. Every paper in the State— every political party—every California Senator and Congressman—every cham- ber of commerce or organization of any | kind having for its purpose the promotion of general prosperity, should be vigorous- ly and actively advocating the adoption of this broad policy by the Federal Gov- ernment. No general public interest has been as ret awakened in reference to these pro- s for Federal reservoirs and irrigation works, which are of such far-reaching importance to ine State of California. A start h: n made, however, by the re: tion at San Diego of an a sociation lled “The Irrigation Prop: ganda,” having for its object the awaken- ing of public interest in this great and vi- tal subject, and branches of this organi- zation will soon be rormed in other places. They should be organized in every town and city in California and include every one who actively desires to promote . its progress and permanent prosperity. If for no other reason, such an organi- zatlon should be formed to fight the gii- gantic_steal now incubating for ceding unconditionally to the States all that re- mains of the arid public domain—includ- ing the whole 100,000,000 acres of lands sus- ceptible of reclamation by irrigation. To cede these lands unconditionally to the States would result in their passing in a few years, through the corruption of State Legislatures, into the hands of speculators and range owners, and_ the hope of prosperity for the whole West which now lies in their reclamation by the Federal Government and their sale in small subdivisions to actual settlers and home builders would be gone for genera- tions—perhaps forever, for once dedicated to the cowboy and the cattle range in pri- vate ownership, their reclamation and settlement would probably never be ac- complished. The Phoenix irrigation congress de- clared for a principle as to State cession whicn the whole American people should unite to uphold: “Resolved, That we favor the cession of the public lands of the nation to the re- spectlve States or Territories only upon conditions so strict that they will insure the settlement of such lands by actual settlers in small tracts and absolutely prevent thelr monopoly in large bodies under private ownership.” To cede them absolutely would be a crime against the people of the mnation. But while public attention is diverted by the possibility of a foreign war the pro- moters of this monstrous robbery of the people, hidden under the guise of State cession, are active, the House Committee on Public Lands has just reported favor- ably the Shafroth bill, and the steal may go through in this Congress if the people do not wake up and prevent it. In addition to Federal storage reser- voirs and irrigation works, we must have some plan devised to take the place of the irrigation district system and to re- lieve the conditions of disaster that exist wherever there is such a district, and put California_in line for an onward move- ment in the development of her mineral resources which will follow the subdi- vision and settlement of her arid lands, which is impossible without irrigation. There can be no doubt that a State ir- rigation system could be devised which would do away with all the defects of the present district system, and under whicfi the disasters In the districts could be relieved. The way to get such a State system devised is for every one inter- este@ in the problem to get to work at its solution. ‘“In multitude of counsel there is safety.”” A remedy can be found under a State system for every defect of the district system, and ‘every objec- tion to such a State system can be ob- viated. But all possible objections should be foreseen and guarded against in ad- vance. Why then can not all who are interested in this great subject discuss its solution through the press and see whether a State system cannot be devised which can be substituted for the district system, and bring about an adjustment of confllcting interests which will end all iti- ation, save the lands of all land-owners rom confiscation, save the bondholders from loss to the extent that the bonds represent actual value received by the district, and inaugurate an era of devel- opment by irrigation in place of the ex- isting conditions of stagnation. To start thought and draw discussion the following brief outline is submitted for consideration in a general way, and as a basis for the suggestion of objec- tions, of a_plan for the solution of the irrigation district problem in California: (a) The State to fssue bonds for the longest term possible, in an amount suf. ficient to compromise the auls!mdlnfi in- debtedness of only such districts as have partially constructed feasible irrigation systems, and to thereby acquire and own, and complete such systems. . (b) The basis of compromise in each of such districts to be the actual value of what the district received for the bonds issued; a limit to be fixed in each district in the constitutional amendment which would have to be adopted. For instance, in the Modesto, Turlock and Escondido districts, 7 per cent; in the Tulare and Central ' districts, 5 per cent. This amount to be paid to the bondholders in cash by the State on its acquiring the ownership of the system. (c) The area capable of being irrigated by each system to be established by a competent State engineer, and a_ State water right to be issued on the lands tak- en under the system at a rate per acre sufficient to eventually reimburse the State for its entire investment, Xrlnclpnl and interest, and give to the land owners the longest time gosslble to pay for this Water right which would bring the pay- ments in time to meet the State bonds on maturity. (d) Under this system each land owner could, if he so desired, at any time pay up in full for his water right, and own both his land and the right to the water necessary for its irrigation clear of en- cumbrance. His share of the whole cost of construction could be aggregated, which is impossible under the district system, the ranks of the howlers of calamity.—Indianapolis L (e) The necessary annual expenses of anosstian and maintenanca under this \ b= b= State system would be met by an annual rate to be paid by the holders of water rights just as the shareholders meet such disbursements in_co-operative water com- | panies like the Santa Ana Valley Water Company. (f) No towns to be included under the reorganized systems, nor any lands against the will of the owner, but there is no doubt that under existing systems more lands would desire inclusion than | the system would irrigate, because the burdens would be apportioned to the ben- efits, and the State could raise the money | on such long time and Iow interest that | these burdens could be easily borne by the | landowners. As this groposefl State system Is con- sidered, objections will be suggested which can 'be overcome in the adjust- ment of the details of the system. The proposition has been reughly outlined in order to draw forth these objections so they can be considered and obviated in advance of the preparation of any pro- posed constitutional amendment. BSuch an amendment would have to be submitted to the next Legislature, to carry out the plan proposed. The district system can never be recon- structed or amended so as to operate suc- cessfully. If the present debts should be scaled down and time for gfl)’ment ex- tended in those districts where proposi- tions for refunding are now being agitat- ed,as In Modesto and Tulare, it would only be a short time before the present condi- tions of discontent and litigation would be renewed. The district system is inher- | ently defective, and these conditions grow out of the defects of the system, rather than the mere existence of the debt. All| these defects can be eliminated under the roposed State system. Under the dis- rict system it is impossible to obviate them. GEORGE' MAXWELL. IF ONLY. It only to-day were to-morrow, And yesterday followed to-day, My sadness would sink into sorrow, My vanity vanish away; My epirit would cease from its roaming, Nor flutter away like a bird In the shadowy shade of the gloaming, The magicai moan of a word. Alas! with the light of the morning To-morrow has flown to its rest, With feverieh petulance scorning The hallowed delights of the blest. I yearn, with a cynical mocking, To grapple with infinite calm, *Mid aeons of silence unlocking The tones of a jubilant psalm. If_only the world were a vision, f only ti moon were a myth, If_only the star of derision Would turn from its kin to its kith. If only to-day were to-morrow, And yesterday followed to-day, My soul would eternity borrow, And solemnly vanish away! —London Punch. COLLECTED IN THE CORRIDORS. J. F. Peck, the Merced lawyer, is at the Lick. Joseph Holland, the actor, Baldwin. T. Hill Mansfleld of New York is a guest at the Lick. F. 8. Morris of Portland, Or., Is a guest at the Palace. B. A. Lacy and wife of Dubuque, Ia., are at the Occidental. F. 1. Fuller of Portland, Or., tered at the Occidental. H. H. Konold of New Haven is at the Occidental with his wife. B. W. Smith, a Salinas caplitalist, is at the Palace with his wife. Dr. A. M. Gardner of Napa is at the California with his wife. R. T. Badger and wife of Salt Lake City are staying at the Palace. C. 8. Foster, the Santa Cruz capitalist, is staying at the California. Lieutenant W. W. Harrison, U. 8. N., s registered at the Occidental. ‘William Knabe of Baltimore is one of last night’s arrivals at the Palace. Dr. W. J. Nelson, the well-known Bos- ton specialist, is a guest at the Grand. Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Russel of Burling- ton, Vt., are among yesterday's arrivals at the Palace. 0000000000 is at the is regis- The other day, o O when the high o0 A HACKMAN’S o wind was send- ingclouds of dust : LAMENTABLE g and loose articles KE. of wearing ap- SETR O parel a-whirling 000000O0O0O0O0 along the streets, the man who drives the Occidental Hotel hack was standing behind his new vehi- cle, sheltering himself from the rude blasts that shrieked around the corner, when he espied a hat rolling past him covered with dust and in imminent dan- ger of utter destruction from the wheels of passing buggies and wagons. The hat was a soft felt one and had the appear- ance of belonging to some fellow of means who, in his gratitude at its recov- ery, would not let a matter of a little money stand in the way of his duly ex- pressing his sense of obligation to the in- dividual who should recover it for him. Consequently, the jehu at once left his place of vantage and started on a wild chase after the precfous bit of headgear. The pursuit led him several times across the street and around two or three cor- ners and nearly- involved him in trouble with several strangers of testy tempera- ments who, in his headlong course he bumped into and nearly sent off their feet. Finally, after considerable trouble, he succeeded In catching it, and, wheezing and panting from the unusual exertion, he turned around to present it to its own- er, whose heavy breathing he had heard just behind him, as he followed on his chase. But as soon as he straightened up and looked into, not the face of the swell he had expected to see, but Into the face of a very ordinary-looking Chinaman, who, with outstretched hands stood wait- ing for his headgear, the happy smile of triumph gave place to a scowl of disgust, and, his Celtic blood getting the best of him, he dashed the sombrero on the pavemernt and returned to his bhack a crushed and broken man. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Peters of Valiejo came down to the city yesterday and are staying at the Occidental. Judge J. H. Acklen of Nashville, Tenn., is one of those who arrived from the East yesterday and went to tne Palace. State Senator J. M. Gleaves of Redding has retugned from his trip to Washington, D. C., and is registered at the Grand. James Howard Bridge of the Overland Monthly has returned to the city and is at the California. He Is accompanied by his wife. L. G. Nesmith, cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of San Jose, 1s a guest at the California. Mrs. Nesmith accompanies her husband. C. Cerrieti, son of the former Ttallan Consul at this city, and himself & famous mining expert, with headquarters in Lon- don, is at the Grand. 0. J. Kron, president of the Kron Tan- ning Company, and Mrs. Kron arrived yesterday from the Orient, where they had been on a holiday tour. F. Phiscator is at the Grand, where he arrived last night from his home in Mich- igan en route to the Klondike, where he has several very valuable claims. Mr. and Mrs. Albert C. Burrage and party of Boston are registered at the Pal- ace. Mr. Burrage is the famous Boston lawyer who recelved some years ago an immense fee from Rockefeller, the ofl magnate, which is generally supposed to be the largest single fee that one attorney ever individually received from & single client for his services. CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, March 14.—Arthur Letts of Los Angeles Is at the Marlborough. Isidor Jacobs of San Francsico is In Paris. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. THE MINING FAIR—M. F. S., Napa, Cal. The California Mining Fair closed on the 5th of March. NO PREMIUM—E. L., San Jose, Cal. There is no premium offered on $5 pieces f{ssued subsequent to 1834. BANKS OF HOLLAND—A. 8. F. Y. City. To obtain a list of the banks of Holland write to the United States Con- sul at Amsterdam, BA THE PIONEERS' ND—M. F. S, Napa, Cal. It was Blum’'s Band that pre- ceded the Society of California Pioneers on the 24th of January last on the occa- sion of the Jubilee parade. VICTORIA PAPERS—R. T. M., Chero- kee, Cal. The papers published in Vic- toria, B. C., are the Colonist and Times, daily and weekly; Commercial Journal, commercial, and Province, literary. CAPITAL PU !SfiMENT—S. A. D, Milliford, Lassen County, Cal (‘,a;:ilall ishment is prohibited by law in Col- 2\"“‘;&‘]}). Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Portugal, Brazil and Holland. WEIGHERS—X and Z, City. The County Clerks of the several counties of California are ex-officio inspectors of welghts and measures for their respectiv counties. The Political Code, 561 to 567, prescribes the duties of the inspectors. A VEIN—S., Forest Hill, Cal. The ques- tlons asked are such as would have to be submitted to an attorney in good standing for his opinion, but this depart- ment finds that a patent vests the pat- entee with the common law right of own- ership from the center of the earth up- ward to the sky, and the additional right to follow a vein or lode upon its dips within his side lines under the surface of adjoining territory (United States Re- vised Statutes, section 2322: Iron Co. vs. Elgin Co., 118 U. S. Reports, p. 128), pro- vided he has the apex or lode within his claim and subject to the same right in behalf of others similarly situated. In other words, the patentee has no greater rights, privileges or immunities than has & ocator on the question of extralateral Tights. In either event he may invade other territory, er have his swn invaded When the cireumstances warrant. Whether both are held by location or patent or one Is patented and the other Is held by location is immaterial (Colorado_Central Ve Turck, 50 Federal Reports, %), but the vein cannot be followed into the iands of an adjoining proprietor who holds an Qlder title under a patent for agricul- tural lands (Amador vs. Spring Hill, 3 F. R., 669, nor where the claim igain the form of an isosceles triangie ca !na lode or vein be followed through the Uids lines (Montana vs. Clark, 42 F. R.. 62), These conclusions are from ‘A Disserta’ tlon Upon American Mining Law,” by A. H. Ricketts. CALIFORNTANS IN WASHINGTON. WASHINGTON, March 14—G. D. Sut- ton of San Francisco, Normandie; A. Hectekerman, San Francisco, Raleigh. Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib 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. * et Dr. August Potthast, late librarian of the German Relchstag, dled recently at the age of 74 years. He was the author of the “Bibliotheca Historica Medii Aevi,” one of the first and most useful guides to the scientific study of the history of the Middle Ages. ANGOSTURA BrrTERS—Prepared by DR. SIEG- ERT for his private use, have become famous as the best appetizing tonic. Acceptno other. —_——e———————— FOR RELIEVING THROAT DISEASES, COUGHS AND 'HOARSENESS, use * Brown's Bronchial Troches.” 50ld only in boxes. Avoid imitations. —_—ee——— Governor Renfrew of Oklahoma got his start in the world by exhibiting a petri- fied child.in Arkansas. That was twenty years ago. A few days since he recog- nized the child in Guthrie, where it was being exhibited as a petrified woman. Of course, it had grown during that time. \ ADVEBTISEMENTS: Joseph Ladue, the famous trapper and miner, and the present owner of Dawson City, and for many years the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, gives a hint to persons going to Alaska, and pays great compliment to a well-known article. He writes:— ““I have always used the Royal Baking Powder in Alaska and Northwest Territory, as no other gave equal satisfaction in that harsh climate. I also found my customers always insisted on having that brand.” Feb. 18th, 1898. gt 2 &