The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 27, 1898, Page 6

THE SA FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 1898 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE..:...Murke! and Third Sts., 8. . Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS........... 217 to 221 Stevenson Street 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 mall $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. -One year, by mallML50 | OAKLAND OFFICE... “eseses....908 Broadway Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN, NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE. C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery straet, corner Clay, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open untli 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAllister street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Misslon street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open until 9 o'clock. 1305 Polk street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock. e AMUSEMENTS. Riggs House Baldwin—Martean-Lachume Concert. Columbfa—*1492 " Alcazar—*Uncle Dudley.” Morosco’s—*The Upper Hand.” Tivoli—" The Widow O'Brien." Orpheum—Vaudeville ater—Lecture by F. Marton Crawford, Monday —Races 0-morrow AUCTION SALES. By M. German—Tuesday. March 29, Hardware. at 1011 Broad- | way, Oakland, at 11 0 elock. By G. H. Umbsen—Monday, April 4, Real Estate, at 14 Mont- o'clock. VILEGE ABUSED. OFFICIAL PRI —3 ROM Atlanta there comes by wire an interest- ing story. It relates that the son of the Mayor | terminated a trifling dispute by killing the op- Of course a Mayor has privileges, s in a measure be shared by one so close posing debater. and these ma akin as a son. whether a point is not being unduly stretched in this ir There are places in which the Mayor him- self, attempting to homicidally reduce his constitu- | eéncy, would be subject to disapproval and even to rcbuke. In Atlanta a different rule seems to prevail. A second paragraph in the story that later this same impulsive young man approached a negro, asked him for a match, and, meeting with refusal, No explanation is given of why the If the colored citizen | was so careless as not to have a match of course he deserved a lesson, yet the consensus of opinion will indubitably be that death was too severe a penalty. It will be thought by some that the son of lhe‘ ayor, having slain one, ought to have been satis- | fied for the day at least without making it two. To | others will occur the notion that the plan of disarm- | ing a murderer, locking him up and even in extreme | cases suspending him from a limb has a pleasing de- terrent effect. Unfortunately the dispatchfailed to state how the later shooting affected the nerves of the community, or if the fatal son picked off a few more beiore twilight. However, Atlanta is a long way frem here. They have their own way of doing busi- | ness down there and perhaps it is none of our con- | Yet a question naturally arises as to ance. kiiled the negro. request was not complied with. . cein. | MR. REA’S DEMURRER. | CCORDING to a telegram from San Jose the | fl attorneys for James W. Rea in the slander | suit brought against him by ex-Councilman | J. P. Jarman have filed a demurrer in which they ask to have the complaint dismissed on the ground that it does not state a case of slander. In this demurrer Mr. Rea virtually takes the ground that when he al- leged that Jarman accepted $400 for his vote as Councilman he did not slander him. Or, to put it in another way, he does not regard it as wrong for a San Jose Councilman to accept bribes. It is a curious commentary on the effect of politics on morals to consider that in invoking this view of | the law to save himself from the penalty of his criti- cisms of Jarman Mr. Rea has eagerly adopted the high ground that it is no slander to charge a Coun- cilman with accepting $400 for his vote. The posi- tion taken by the Garden City politician gives us a clear insight into the cause of his political troubles. Mr. Rea is evidently rapidly reaching a stage in his existence when he can no longer discern the differ- ence between right and wrong. It is assumed, of course, that Mr. Rea’s lawyers would never have filed this demurrer without his con- sent. If they have adopted this defense in opposi- tion to his wishes two courses only are open to him. He must either get another quartet of lawyers and re- pudiate the work of his present quartet, or confess that he slandered Jarman and pay the damages. 1i he sticks to his demurrer it is quite evident that his moral faculties have gone into eclipse. A man who does not think it wrong for a Councilman to | accept $400 for his vote is certainly in a bad way. It | is but a step from bribery of the character charged by Rea to burglary, pocket-picking and highway rob- bery. Does Mr. Rea think it wrong to stop stages? | Would he consider it reprehensible to pick Mr. Jar- man’s pocket? What does he think on the stibject of midnight burglary? Has association with politicians at San Jose so blunted his perceptions that he con- siders it less culpable to accept a bribe of $400 than to accept one for $4000? Would he regard it as “wrong” to sell to both sides of a steam roller con- troversy and vote for neither? What are his views with respect to boodlers who will not stay bought? All this is important in view of the moral standard disclosed by Mr. Rea’s demurrer. The stories that $40,000,000 will be brought out of Dawson this spring make pleasant reading. But in a region where cordwood sells at $60 and lots of it is needed this sum is less imposing than it looks to people in civilization. Besides, these millions are largely theoretical, and it must be remembered that some of the ablest liars—except those in the vicinity of Key West—are now on duty in the Klondike. Friday two boy burglars w;re sentenced to the penitentiary and a girl burglar arrested. The old controversy as to the relative superiority of the sexes does not seem to be being cleared up very fast. Tt is stated that Armour and Leiter are at peace, but so were the lion and the lamb at one stage of the game. 4 | presence of Australia, Japan, China, the Straits Set- | plished in which everybody had a part. | early feel the impulse toward its needful part. | parations should begin in time in order that the THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL. AYOI‘! PHELADN, in behalf of San Francisco, /\/\ has taken the first step to concrete the propo- sition that California celebrate imposingly her semi-centennial. The committee appointed by the Mayor is strong and able, and when it has con- sulted and is ready to propose in outline the plan on which the exposition shall be laid, the State will appear with a liberal and unanimous backing. In the | event to follow California ‘will appear as the hostess of her sister States and of nations as well which con- tribute to our commerce and are seeking and offering markets. It will be our duty to especially solicit the | tlements, Korea, Cochin China, Siam, India and the growing governments of Africa. We will do this just as on a like occasion on our Atlantic coast the managers would seek to attract Europe. We will also offer an opportunity to increas'é'/our acquaintance and strengthen our trade with the na- tions of Central and South America. In the kaleidoscopic variety which all this will bring to an exposition we can offer attractions to sightseers and benefits to trade that will be matchless. The good to | our own people cannot be estimated. The sense of | having done great things by community of effort is a far-reaching benefit to any commonwealth. A few individuals and a few combinations may be pointed | to now as having wrought mightily in the materiali- ties of California. What is needed is the feeling that something of growing significance has been accom- It will re- sult in stronger common ties, in a better community spirit and a more general prosperity and a higher degree of civic pride. Let it be remembered that should we let this an- REDRESS OR WAR. HILE the report of the Naval Board of In- ‘ uniry has not been fully announced, enough information has been given to the press to disclose the salient features of the findings. The board reports that the destruction of the Maine was due to an external explosion, probably caused by a powerful submarine mine, but does not attempt to fix the responsibility for firing the mine. This state- ment has been given out on such authority that it may be accepted as true, and it is not likely that much, further knowledge will be acquired even when the whole document is sent to Congress and made public. It will be seen that the report confirms in every respect the news published by The Call concerning the disaster. Our correspondents at Havana weeks ago furnished evidence that the explosion was from the outside, and that it was of such force as could have been given only by a mine and not by a mere floating torpedo which some irresponsible scoundrel might have floated against the side of the ship. The peace-at-any-price papers that have attempted to discredit the reports of The Call are therefore re- futed by the official report and are now compelled to publish the facts which The Call and its ally, the New York Herald, made known to the people as rapidly as each step in the investigation of the disaster took place. The fact that the Naval Board does not fix the re- sponsibility of the explosion upon Spanish officials is a matter of minor importance. It was not ex- pected that any conclusion on that point would be reached. The board had no power to summon wit- nesses on that branch of the inquiry. Spain only can do that, and unless she discovers and punishes the niversary opportunity pass unnoted no other will | Occur that so appeals to public spirit until generations | have gone. Many are yet with us who recall the | thrill of proud anticipation and the heart surges of | hope that were theirs when the news came that Cali- farnia was a State, a member of the Union. Men are vet with us who bore arms in the Mexican War | which preceded and secured our title to this land, and | their memory of Molino del Rey, Resaca de Ila Palma and the storming of Chapultepec will radiate in lustrous celebration of all that their arms ac- | complished. California has gilded the highways of the con- tinent with the glitter from her mines. She has poured from her cornucopia bread and fruit and wine and oil, the refreshment of far peoples, and has fostered by her majestic natural scenery the world's enthusiasm for all that is grand and beautiful in mountain, forest, valley and plain. Her light must not be hid under a bushel, and in 1900 she will set it upon a hill to be seen of the | world. It is not too early to consider the site ample enough to make a wide setting for the coming ex- | position. It should be soon decided upon and se- cured. The Legislature should liberally supply such means as are needed to do generously the State's share of the work, and individual generosity should Pre- housing of the great affair may be built and gar- nished and made ready. B of the State by the dry winter a determined effort is being made to induce the Government | to relax the quarantine regulations which prevent the | shipping of cattle from California to other localities. These efforts are in some respects the outcome of ne- cessity, for in many districts the cattle will perish un- less arrangements are made for removing them to better pasturage. Thus the movers in the project are animated by the keenest self-interest and can be relied upon to work with zeal and energy to accom- | plish the alteration of the quarantine laws. 1f the efforts are crowned with a sufficient degrccj of success to bring about a permanent reform in the quarantine we shall have derived from the drought | Y reason of the injury done the grazing lands | a considerable benefit so far as the cattle industry | is concerned. The regulations restricting the ship- ping of cattle from this State have long been a burden | upon those engaged in the industry and have se-i riously interfered with the profits of the business and | its extension and increase in the districts that are | suitable to it. No one can object to just regulations for the pro- | tection of any of the great industries of the country. 1 Californians certainly have no objections to make | on that score. We impose stringent restrictions upon fruit trees imported into the State, and we recog- nize not only the right but the duty of other States and of the National Government to provide similar | laws for. the protection of industrial interests gener- ally. A support of just regulations, however, does not imply a willingness to submit to unjust ones, and the ; It draws an in- | cattle quarantine is clearly unjust. dictment not against cattle which an inspection has proven to be afflicted with disease, but against all the cattle in a wide area of country. There may be dis- eased cattle in California, but there certainly are thousands not diseased, and it is an unfair law which treats the good as if they were bad and makes no distinction between them. The cattle quarantine regulations were adopted at | a time when there was something like a panic in the country on the subject. The wildest stories of dis- eased cattle were in circulation, and a good many people stopped eating beef for fear of instant death lurking in every steak. A reconsideration of the law would be timely, and it is to be hoped it will be ob- tained. Fortunately the outlook is promising. It is reported that Secretary Wilson has been impressed with the needs of the situation in California and is willing the quarantine line shall be drawn so far south as to permit the removal of cattle from this State to Nevada, provided the Nevada authorities are willing. Perhaps if the fight is kept up the whole | subject may be reopened and the law revised and made just in its terms. The issue is certainly of suffi- cient importance to make it worth while pushing the contest with vigor. e e A young man who only two years ago became heir to a princely fortune is now walking the streets of this city penniless. Perhaps he is not to blame. There is an old adage which makes clear that he and his money were bound to be parted without delay. : Sl The son of a Chicago millionaire has had a row with his father and gone to work as a reporter at $12 a week. Now the lad can be a millionaire on his own hook. All he will have to do will be to save $10 each week for 100,000 weeks. s This coast must not worry too much about the de- parture of the Oregon. It still has the Marion and the naval reserve. | the limit of its usefulness. T | have been received there since September. wretches guilty of the crime her Government will be held responsible by us and by the world for all the consequences of that act of outrage and treachery. Diplomacy under these circumstances has reached Now is the time for an ultimatum. The people of the United States will not bear with patience any haggling and wrangling over | the question of direct responsibility. They will not submit to evasions, equivocations, postponements | and delays over a controversy that appeals equally to national honor, to justice and to humanity. The ar- gument has been exhausted. There must be redress or war. THE KLONDIKE M@IL SERVICE. HE history of the mail service in the Klondike country this winter may be written as briefly as Sterne’s famous chapter on snakes in Ireland. There are no snakes in Ireland. There is no mail service to the Klondike. Thousands of letters have ibeen written to the adventurous men and women who went to the Upper Yukon region in the rush of last fall and summer, but with the exception of a possible few that may have been carried in by private parties none have been received by those for whom they were intendéd. This condition of affairs reflects discredit upon the postal authorities of either the United States or Can- ada, and possibly upon both. It will be remembered that last fall it was announced that arrangements had been made between the two Governments by which | mails would be carried from Alaskan ports to Dawson at least once a month. These arrangements are evi- dently still under consideration by diplomatists, for they have not been entrusted as yet to anybody whose service is expected to result in anything more than talk. According to the reports from Dawson no mails Yet it is clear there is a way by which mails could have been | carried. Men have come across the passes bringing letters from newspaper correspondents, and a con- siderable number of men have gone into the region by the same route. Where individual daring can go surely governmental energy ought to be able to find a way, and it would have found a way if there had been a well-directed effort to do so. To persons who have grown up in civilized coun- tries a mail service is one of the necessities of life. Governments have assumed to themselves the ex - clusive right to perform this service, and.thereby have taken upon themselves the responsibility of all evil that comes by reason of a failure to do so. The postal authorities at Washington will not be held blameless of the breakdown in the promised mail fa- cilities to the northern gold regions. They could have provided for the delivery of letters at least had they tried, but they have done nothing. It is not clear what has become of all the letters | mailed in the United States for Dawson. The Gov- | ernment has accepted them at its offices and has re- | ceived pay for delivering them, but has failed to do | so, and that is about all that is known of them by the general public. The subject is one that might be well made the occasion of a Congressional inquiry. | That two of the most.enterprising nations on the globe have failed in so simple a task as that of carry- ing letters from Juneau to Dawson for months is something in the nature of a disgrace to both, and the representatives of the people should demand an explanation from the officials on whom the respon- sibility rests. | | | | An English paper is of opinion that this country is goading Spain on to war. Really, now? What ship has been blown up in an American harbor? | What act more hostile than the sending of ships laden with food has been performed? What Spaniards have been assailed in the streets of our cities? What stain of innocent Castilian blood mars the pages of American history? Where are our off- sets for the Virginius and the Black Eagle? When have we used our power to create a reign of death and famine? What American De Lome has been sent to the court of Madrid? What of thousands of dollars spent in patrolling our coast so that Spain in its shameless brutality should not be disturbed? And why should an English paper desirous of ex- pressing an opinion not hire somebody to do its thinking? In discussing the railway problem as presented to California an evening paper exclaims forcefully “Ods-bodikens.” We were hardly prepared to go so far, but perhaps it is all right. Still there is a probability that good old “Adzooks” is nearer the popular heart, while “S'death” has never in an emer- gency been known to fail. Spain is said to be angry at the prospect that the report concerning the Maine is to be submitted to Congress. Perhaps Spain had an idea that the facts in that report were being gathered for the purpose of being attached to a brick and dropped into Havana harbor. It may be necessary yet to invade Cuba with a basket of provisions in one hand and a rifle in the other. The world has grown weary of the spectacle of starvation there. RN SEESRREENENERRENRRNRNRNRRRNRS WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS. & e E 8 From Arroyo Grande somebody sends me a poem, asking for an expression of opinion as to its merits. I do not know why so delicate a task should have béen thrust upon me, and must decline to accept the responsibility. T neither write poetry nor claim to be a judge of it. If I were to say that the feet of the Arroyo Grande product seemed to me not to be mates, doubtless I would incur the wrath of a lady whose poetry may not be perfect, but whose esteem may pe worth having. Therefore, she will, I know, permit me | to be non-committal. Besides, human estimates are apt to savor of error. I ’Would hate to say the effort was lack- |ing in any essential feature, and then | find myself guilty of having disparaged Elhe work of a Miltoness. Please hold | the poem until the return of the half- | eared Joaquin Miller. There is one point which has puzzled many worthy people. Why is it that in a city having the benefit of schools there is a habit of using the verb “bring” when the evident intent is to convey the meaning usually borne in upon the intelligence by the verb “take”? I am grieved to learn that teachers employed to instruct the young are guilty of this crime, and their certificates are not annulled. It is of course impossible to tell with accuracy where the suicides who are also homicides go, but I hope it is not to heaven. There is no pleasant way | of punishing the crminal who himself | inflicts the penalty which represents | the extreme of the law. The only check | to be thouglit of is one hedging the act | about with a sentiment of the utmost fdetestatlom I would deny to this type | of criminal the privilege of Christian | burial. It would not do to inter him at the cross roads, as of old, with a | stake driven through his carcass, for | this would tend to depreciate real es- | tate in the vicinity of the cross roads, | and discourage the moonlight ramble. | But the cadaver ought to be turned | over to science and carved by chortling students who smoke cigarettes the | while, and at last be sent to the gar- | bage crematory. | el | Inall the foolish talk about the Maine 1 disaster there has been none more silly than that charging Weyler with the | crime. Of course the man is a mur- |derer, and deserves, as nearly as can be computed, to hang 400,000 times over. But a commander in |charge of a city open to attack (has a right to provide it with ade- | quate defenses. Whenever the United ‘1 States shall get ready to plant its har- bors with torpedoes it will undoubtedly do The crime of setting off the tor- | pedo, if such a thing was done, must be ' ascribed to somebody other than Wey- ler. If the guilty can be caught he should be executed. If there seems to | be occasion later for executing Weyler, | plenty of grounds can be found for do- ing so, and therefore the plan of con- necting him with the Maine disaster is | a waste of time. When the Examiner states that only twenty per cent of the murders com- | mitted tn Burope and America are dis- | covered, T cannot help but wonder how {n knows. If it is possessed of second | sight to the extent this information yould seem to indicate, it ought to clap on an extra pair of glasses and see with | a particularity such as would enable it i to give details. | Probably the public, too busy to take | interest in the schools its children at- | tend, has not observed closely the row | which culminated in dismissal of Prin- | cipal Kilpatrick. For one, I neglected to follow it, but noting that the princi- | pal had achieved the disesteem of such | Directors as Waller, Drucker and Ra- gan, cannot avoid the conclusion that in all likelihood he is a good man. | It is a little early to charge with cowardice the policemen who were with Lieutenant Burke when he was shot. | Comparatively few people have had the experience of facing a gun in the hands of a desperate man, or possess more than theoretical knowledge how such a situation would inspire them to | act. Perhaps the critics would have run as fast and as far as the police- !men. Anyhow the department dem- onstrated that it has good sprinters in plenty, and that they only need to be instructed as to the proper direction in which to sprint to become terrors to evil. But regardless of the ques- tion of courage, the community has distinct grievance. It has been de- prived of a faithful guardian, one cen- cerning whose probity, kindliness and grit no issue had ever risen, The man who committed the murder was pnot killed. Here was a duty neglected. He should have been filled so full of lead that he could only have been cre- mated at a smelter. For years he had led a useless and vicious life, his hand against every neighbor. There was no doubt that he was deliberate in the assassination of Burke, that he intend- ed the slaughter of others. Yet armed officers permitted him to stand in the open and take the pistol dropped by the relaxing fingers of his victim. Let it not be charged that the observers were scared. Perhaps they were sim- ultaneously stricken with paralysis. | Now, because this creature was hauled away in the patrol instead of the dead wagon, a trial will be necessary, and justice will in all likelihood be swindled again. It will probably be proved through the potency of the old reprobate’s gold that he has reached the stage of insanity which carries with it the blessed privilege of going on the | warpath at will. It is for this reason I am sorry he was not killed. In- sanity in instances where it is only a chronic state of meanness is not a good defense. If given my way I would abolish the plea altogether, ana hang anybody who wantonly slew a fellow man. If he happened to .be crazy the process would not be objec- tionable to him, and if merely playing crazy, the more objectionable the bet- ter. In either case the homicidal tendency would be checked. I have never observed that a man slain by a lunatic was any less dead than one carried off by the agency of a uncloud- ed intelligence. An individual has written a letter, discreetly signing it “Verbum Sap,” in which he asks that the infidel work ap- pearing in this column be suppressed. He also charges me with denying the moral lawand responsibility to God. To despise a coward Is the privilege of de- cency, to resent an affront is natural, to expose falsehood, to rebuke malice, may sometimes be a duty. Therefore I cannat.as T would like to do, pass this 5 By HENRY JAMES. | auansfiss-smnaaussséfl BRVRIVRYYIIVRIINIS B3 F-3 anonymous traducer by as a thing un- | clean. He must be considered as one of an ignoble class. Upon the untruthful | meddler who, disguised and hidden, in- dites calumny with intent to injure an- other, it is as seemly to place the heel | as upon the neck of the hissing serpent. His tongue may be as busy as his pen, and I do not propose to submit to slan- der through the medium of either. To | my individual beliefs there can attach | no importance, and yet it is not pleas- ing that they should be misrepresented by a hypocrite. A single epithet would deseribe him, but the use of this would be neither polite nor convincing. I do not know what Sap means by “infidel.” His shallow mind cannot realize that there are those who believe implicitly in a Supreme God, and for Him have a reverence so profound that it irritates | and depressés to observe a lot of pur- veyors of petitions directed on high but never reaching the ceiling, thanking the Infinite that they are doing His will, tendering counsel as to how the world should be run, trying to impress upon the Creator the advisability of saving the souls He made. There are human beings who do not like to see people dead to every impulse of charity, bending knee in the house of prayer. They object to thg bigots who declare all must live according to their plan or go to hell, while the plan may be so narrow, the personalities of its advo- cates so repellent as to place a pre- mium on the chance of going in any di- rection they are not. I am content to believe the power which launched into measureless space this whirling globe | is able to guide its flight, nor needs | the assistance of the gnats with which it swarms. Now and then I have attacked creeds which in no manner conform to divine teaching nor. excite humane emotion. It has befallen me to help, as I might, tear the cloak from some clerical sinner, who, speak- ing out of the midst of depravity and guile, has alike insulted the Deity he made hideous mock of worshiping, and the misguided persons who have lis- tened only to be betrayed. If memory serves I have made remarks concern- ing ReV. C. O. Brown, Parson Davies, Rector Walk and other pulpit freaks. I imagine such classification would em- brace my unknown friend, Sappy. ~In fancy it is easy to see him, the dim light from a home-made halo suffusing his face as he raises a voice of grat- itude that it has been permitted him to be not as other men. His good- ness is bogus, his nature sour, his mentality shallow and dull. It is such as he who form stumbling blocks in the path of those who, with a prompt- ing to step onward and upward, are baffled at seeing the way apparently crowded by a Pharasaical rabble pro- claiming themselves alone to be worthy the boon of salvation. No word sus- taining them comes down to us from that wonderful Nazarine whose benign and gentle character they would drag in the dust by pretending to fashion cheir own after it. As to other points advanced by Mr. Sappy I de- cline to treat them. It is impossible for me to get down to the plane of idiocy where they are. I do deny,| however, that a canting apostle of self-righteousness is the best exponent of a moral-law or any other.. No sen= sible reader will understand me as railing against any form of good. It is counterfeit piety for which I have endeavored to express disregard, and doing so before now have caused Sap to run. There are good men in the church and good men out of it. I honor their principles and their deeds. ‘Whether we agree in doctrinal details makes not even enough difference to cause argument. So good-by, V. S. Please try to lead a better life. . Senator Thurston of Nebraska has never had my warm admiration. He had seemed to me more a favorite of fortune than a man of ability. It is. true that his gift of eloquence has long been recognized, and as a railroad at- torney he had acquired reputation and money. But training in the legal de- partment of a subsidized road is not best calculated to fit a statesman for the duty of representing the people it had often been his official duty to op- press. But for Thurston’s recent speech in the Senate he can be forgiven much. It was patriotic, timely; an appeal to humanity and national honor, a vivid picture of Spanish cruelty, and withal a tender tribute to a loved one he had just laid to rest. It can almost be for- gotten that he had no business to go to Cuba under the yellow flag, so well he rose above the hampering clog of such association. It struck me as pecu- liar that the most bitter attack upon Thurston should have come from a rail- road organ of this city and been based upon his former connection with a busi- ness of which that paper is still a com- ponent part. A sneeze in the Fost | means that the Scuthern Pacific has lifted the lid of its snuffbox. The Thur- ston speech illuminated some points rfl. ready clear. It lent emphasis to th demand of conscience that the war in Cuba be stopped at once, and that this must be dcne by the United States. In the grasp of President McKinley rests the fate of thousands of innocent peo- ple without his aid doomed to be mur- dered by slow torture. Why should he withhold his hand? I can see no rea- son. I think that any course but an announcemeént to Spain that she must retire from the island by her laid desc- late and bathed in blood would be a crowning disgrace to the great nation which has called McKinley to the exec- utive chair. Let the threatening flotila be turned back or sent to the bottom. Let ships laden with food be sent to cheer the place of famine, and if neces- sary a gun go with every loaf. War promptly made weuld be short. War made after Spain had been allowed to complete her preparations would be ten-fold worse. And I firmly believe there is no way now for ‘“peace with honor.” There has been some discussion as to the character of the late Frances Willard, and admirers have termed her an ideal woman. With all respect for her and the work to which she devoted much of her life, I think it entirely fair to say that she was nothing of the kind. © There is a wide difference be- tween a type and an ideal. Miss Wil- lard doubtless accomplished much good, but she was never magnetic nor lova- ble. On the contrary, she was what has been mildly called “self-centered.” If she accepted certaln principles as correct for herself there must always remain a question whether her belief that humanity should be governed by the same principles was founded on a nice sense of justice, or a due consid- eration of popular rights. That sha was wholly conscientious need not be doubted. Far from my purpose is it to say aught of her in malice or dis- paragement. Probably she did mnot look upon herself as an ideal. In the minds of men the ideal woman must ever be one bringing up the picture of the devoted wife and mother. A wo- man may be all things else that is good and pure; she may be a great re- former, an organizer without peer, a fountain of eloquence, a warrior as Joan of Are, but in the common heart the ideal woman already has a place and it is not to be taken by anybody who, outside the domestic circle, courts the attention of the world. It is in the home that woman exercises the tender and unselfish offices which make her life and memory blessed. “The Vice of Gambling” constituted the theme of a recent pulpit discourse. Without doubt many excellent things were said, for the subject is one con- ducive to such flow of denunciatory elo- quence as a speaker may possess. Yet there seems to me difficulty in the way of defining the bound between gam- bling, which is wicked, and speculation, which is legitimate, and upon which a Rockefeller feels at liberty to call down the favor of providence. Almost any- thing in which an investment is made is a gamble. A man buys real estate on the chance that it may rise in value. He gets his life insured, the company betting he will live for years, and he basing the prospect of beating the com- pany on the circumstance that life is uncertain. The illustration could be continued indefinitely. In gambling as practiced in the poolrooms, in slat ma- chines and lotteries there is an evil so distinct that it cannot be disguised, but if the high-toned gambling of an Ar- mour or a Leiter is not morally on the same plane, I would like to know the reason why. ADVANCING PRICES. Minneapolis Tribune. Recent statistics show that 80 out of 110 commodities in general use, chiefly agricultural, have risen in price within the last year, although there hasn’t been a general shortage and in spite of the downward tendency of the price of silver. If this means anything, then, it means that the consumers have increased their purchasing power by reason of having a wider distribution of employment and better wages. ——— THEY WILL RETIRE. Denver Post. ‘Where will those world-famed fighters, Fitzsimmons, Corbett, McCoy et al. be when the call to arms is sounded? —_————————— E. H. Black, painter, 120 Eddy st * —_— e —————— Choice present Eastern friends, Town- send’s Cal. Glace Fruits 50c Ib Jap bskts.® —_——e—————— Special information supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. ————————— CASTLES IN SPAIN. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Spain is in better shape for an auction than for war. ————————— Drs. Bush & Son have removed to 208 Kearny st., Adams Building, rooms 310, 309, 308. Dent- istry in all its branches. Teeth without plates especially. Telephone Red 13%6. ADVERTISEMENTS. 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