The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 31, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1898. 6 : ‘THE ** INCIDENT THURSDAY....-oovorereonn... MARCH:SS, 1898} fopic b JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Propristor. § Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. | PUBLICATION OFFICE......Market and Third Sts. S. F. | Telephone Main 1968, i EDITORIAL ROOMS......... 217 to 221 Stevenson Strest | Telephone Main 1874. THE 6AN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND S8UNDAY) Is served by carriers In this city and surrounding towns | for I5 cents a week. By mall $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. One year, by mail, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE... +ee....908 Broadway | Eastern Representative, DAVID ALLEN. NEW YORK OFFICE --Room 188, World Building WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES—627 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until 9:30 c'clock. 621 McAlllster street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 6I5 Larkin street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Misslon street, open uptil 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open untll 9 o'clock. 2518 Misslon street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS, Gay Decetver. Columbia Naval Cadet” Alcazar—*The Mummy." Morosco's—*Ten Nights 1n & Barroom.” Tivoli—* The Widow O'Brien." Orpheum—Vaudeville. The Chutes—The Zoo, Vaudeville and Lion Hunt. Olympta, corner Mason and Eddy streets—Speciaities. Emporfum—Delorme's Sunlight Picture, * Interieur Perme.” Pactiflc Coast Jookey Club, Inglestde Track—Races t0-day. de AUCTION SALES. By G. H. Umbsén—Monday, April 4, Real Estate, at 14 Mont- gomery &treet, at 13 o'clock. THAT BRITISH ALLIANCE. N American is impressed by the spectacle of /fl Mr. Davitt and other Irish members of the British Parlianrent discussing a British al- liance with the United States in a tone of decp-! seated hostility to.the Government of whose law- | making body they are members. Their advice to this | country against an actual or implied alliance is some- i | | | what gratuitous, since there is no evidence that the United States is seeking either war or alliance with any European power. The policy of this on since 1820 has aimed at a combination, at first commercial and finally mar- | tial, with the nations of Central and South America. As a rule alliances have not projected along the line of common race, language or institutions. Eng- land has been at the head of two European alliances. Spaniard, Russian, Austrian, Dutch, German and Italian have joined under her leadership, and in the great combinations against Louis XIV and Bona- parte neither common sympathies of race nor insti- tutions have cut any figure at all. Russian autocracy was as eager to seek the help- of England on sea and land, as if that country were also an absolute instead of a parliamentary govern- | ment. Zones and hemispheres have interests in common. It is possible that the slowly crystallizing community of interests among the nations of the Western Hemisphere will end finally in the presenta- | tion of a united front from the Dominion line to the | Straits of Magellan on all questions wherein the in- terests of the New World and the Old may clash. | England would have a remote sympathy and a cer- tain right in such union by virtue of her Canadian | domain, but, as from a partnership in such alliance | she would gain more than she would give, her entry | could not be by her own will. There is no desire among Americans for the misfortune and downfall of Great Britain. As a colonizing nation she has carried civilization by fleet and sword, and the other | European nations cannot claim a quality of mercy in{ external policy superior to hers. This country is desirous of avoiding European complications. We have nothing to gain by them. If we were put in straits by war our alliances would be negotiated with our Western neighbors. If they are wise they will respond. The bar to such response would be a fear of our becoming so strong that we might enter upon a policy of absorption which would | destroy their autonomy, and it would be the policy | of Europe to incite that fear and play upon their | jgalousy. As long as we are able to inspire confi- dence in our sense of justice and in our determina- tion to respect our own constitution we may count upon the friendship of our American neighbors. While it is not our business to strengthen Eng- | land, it is also our duty to give no encouragement | to her enemies. The issues of peace and war are be- | tween her and them, and concern us as individuals | only, as a nation not at all. 3 The position of Davitt and the Irish members o Parliament is takén in revenge for seven centuries of history, in which England has absorbed the auton- omy of Ireland on the plea that possession of that | island is necessary to her destiny and her defense. Wherever in the world it is necessary for any pur-| pose to impeach England the Irish indictment of her policy is read. It is a warning to the United States to avoid that form of arrogance which assumes that strong nations may of right usurp the sovereignty of the weak in order to their own defense. Our proposition to annex Hawaii is getting dan- gerously near to that policy which is the great stain on England’s escutcheon, and in all times of trouble her weakness and her worry. Once the dispatch of a Spanish flotilla of torpedo boats was scheduled to be regarded as an act of hos- tility. The flotilla was dispatched, and information went forth that the dispatch of a second flotilla would never be endured. The second one started without delay, and the circumstance has been borne up under with a fortitude most admirable. But of course Spain will not be permitted to start any more flotillas—un- less she happen to feel like it. It will be useless to try to check the Kansas im- petus toward the higher education now. After a single term in an Eastern seminary Sallie Jane Smith of that State emerged as S. Jeannye Smythe. Still, Sallie must be an unusual girl. A person of ordin- ary intelligence would hardly have received this pol- | ish in less than a whole year. Writing from Dawson a miner says the gold up there is enough to set tenderfeet crazy. He is un- doubtedly right, and this has nothing to do with the amount of gold either. The vaguest rumor is suffi- cient to start a stampede of people, who, unless they | can plead lunacy, have absolutely no excuse. There seems to be no adequate punishment pre- scribed for the man who tore out his horse’s tongue. Hanging would be too good for him, and even this is interdicted, | This is an unnatural and monstrous conclusion. | just as any other criminal is sent into exile. | course of retribution should be marked throughout | cident.” [ law authorizes the head of that department to em- OF THE MAINE. PON the graves of American seamen in Cuba the tribute of a national grief withers under a Within sound of the signal guns of Spain, beneath the very shadow of her flag, the bones of the gallant Maine sink daily deeper into the slime of Havana harbor. Yet Americans are told that the wrecking of this ship was an “incident.” | They do not accept the verdict. They know it was treachery without parallel; wholesale murder without pretext. They resent the imputation that any na- tion—least of all that nation whose history is made up of broken pledges, of rapine, of brutality unspeak- able—shall be able thus to add a new chapter to its infamy and go unpunished and unrebuked. It was the diabolic destruction of the Maine which inflamed the United States with a2 wrath so righteous as to-be almost holy. It was the news that this craft { had been sent to the bottom of a friendly harbor it had visited on a mission of peace which | caused Congress to make an appropriation for war | and the country to applaud Congress. But have the statesmen at Washington forgotten the Maine? Do they no longer remember that the sailor lads sent to death represented the dignity of a great people? There is talk now of a “free Cuba,” and we have it borne in upon us by every message from the Capitol that the passing of the Maine was an “incident.” The passing of the Maine was a tragedy, an appeal to patriotism, a call to arms. The truth cannot be veiled by the talk of Cuba’s wrongs, however great and grievous these wrongs may be. Civilization viewed. with horror the outrages in Armenia, but it did not interfere. For years the con- dition of affairs in Cuba has been known and de- plored, but the United States could find no excuse for intervention such as the comity of nations would have upheld. It was for the Cubans to work out their own salvation. But the Maine was destroyed, and at once a new and mighty factor was brought into the situation. The honor of America had been trailed in the mire, and, inexplicable as may seem the fact, it is trailed in the mire still. While an investigation conducted with care and dignity has established as truth the suspicion of Spain’s guilt, the verdict is thrown aside as of no moment and the tones of Sen- atorial eloquence quiver and quaver with tears for wretched Cuba. Why not some oratory on behalf of the land which built the Maine and sent her proudly forth béaring its colors? If Cuba is freed it will be: as a punishment for a specific wrong—the wanton killing of American citi- zens. If the stars and stripes fly above Morro Castle it will be because the power centered there betrayed | a sacred trust. If Spain be driven from the West, the last colonies wrested away, the act must be ascribed to an outburst of the latent barbarism of Castile cul- minating in the slaughter of innocent and free-born men. Such is the charge of America against Spain. No effort of diplomacy, no cunningly contrived speech, no expressions of sympathy can make us for- | get it. It is impossible to understand why any one should wish to make us forget it, except Spain, jubi- | lant at having had the privilege of blowing up a lot | of “Yankees” and now the privilege of approving the verdict or setting it aside. We believe in the most complete reparation for the loss of the Maine. We would have the Spanish for this crime banished from the Western Hemisphere, But the with the utmost frankness. Let it be known to Spain and to the world that American honor, injured and | maligned, finds no balm in gold, no virtue in prom- | ises, and deprives Spain of her possessions not for | gain, not for the sake of the Cubans, not on a general plea for humanity, but in token that Americans in Spanish territory, with the American flag waving | over them, are not to be butchered. The Maine will float no more, but many a brave ship still carries the | colors she bore. It is in memory of the Maine, it is for the rest of the navy, the honor of American citi- | zenship, the safety of Americans everywhere, that the | peoplanow look to Washington for action quick, de- | cisive, final. Cuba may benefit, but Cuba is the “in- MUNICIPAL ECONOMY. O our mind it is vain to assert that any system To( finance which can be adopted in this city, by charter or otherwise, will effectually prevent deficits in the local treasury. The sources of muni- cipal shortages are found, not in the organic law of the town, but in the character and disposition of the officials who disburse the accumulations of the tax- payers. Stringent laws and regulations can never entirely prevent waste and extravagance in local government. There is no way to secure an econ- omical municipal administration except to elect men of ability and character to office. This is a fact so patent that it seems a useless con- sumption of space to discuss those provisions of the charter now being published in The Call which pro- vide for a change of system. Under the consolida- tion act most expenditures are fixed by law. This is the difficulty with the County Clerk’s office. The ploy a specified number of deputies and to pay them certain salaries. No one is empowered to vary this programme, and when the Supervisors appropriate $76,000 for the County Clerk and that official ex- pends $130,000, the amount authorized by law, the difference constitutes a deficit. The new charter abolishes the general fund, sub- stitutes for it “appropriations’” by the Supervisors, and limits every official to an expenditure of one- twelfth part each month of his appropriation. On top of this there is a legal limit to taxation. This undoubtedly abolishes the old system of grouping most appropriations into one fund, but how will it prevent deficits if the Supervisors shall continue to make large appropriations and enact deficient tax levies? The real cause of deficits has heretofore been the failure of the Board of Supervisors, in obedience to platform pledges, to raise a sufficient sum of money by taxation to satisfy its own demands and the legat demands of its co-ordinate departments. How will this be remedied by limiting taxation and substituting a number of funds for one fund? Municipal deficits may be prevented by electing as Supervisors plain men of business. There were no deficits from 1883 to 1887, because the Supervisors were determined there should be none. There are deficits now simply because the Supervisors are care- less and extravagant. Tax-eating is the science of getting money out of the public treasury with or without rendering service—preferably the latter. No system that ~an be adopted will invade this science until appropriations are made and tax levies fixed by men who sincerely desire to put an end to it. The proposed charter may set up a better method af d's- bursing the city’s money than now prevails, bat that method will not of itself produce economi- cal government. . Honest, painstaking officials will always be a necessary prerequisite of any close sys- tem cf finance, 3 ek THE FIGHT FOR PURE FOOD. 2 HE announcement that the Board of Health is Tpreparing to take more vigorous steps than ever to prevent the sale of impure milk in the city will be gratifying to all who are aware of the danger which lurks in such impurities. The danger is all the greater because milk is so largely used as the food of very young children whose systems have not yet grown strong enough to resist the effects of anything deleterious in what they eat. The efforts made some time ago by the board to protect the public from milk adulterations and honest dairymen from the competition of dishonest dealers resulted in much good. Rarely if ever has the board performed a work which was more useful to the general mass of citizens or was received with more popular approval. That experiment in en- forcing the law was completely successful in its main results, and from it may be drawn auguries of bene- fits to be accomplished by the new movement. A crusade against the milk adulterators, however, is not the only work the people expect of the Board of Health. It is well remembered that the board has brought to light the fact that a large proportion of the fruit preserves sold in the city is adulterated. A new crusade in the direction of suppressing that evil would be as welcome as the one promised against the unscrupulous dairymen. In short, the fight for pure food should be kept up vigorously all along the line, and if the board is unable to maintain a continual watch it should make attacks on fraudu- lent dealers so frequently that they will find it cheaper in the long run to be honest than to attempt to either defy or evade the law. The issue is one of growing importance, because the advance of science is every year providing the un- scrupulous with new means of adulterating food so cunningly that the average man cannot distinguish the good from the bad. Vigilance on the part of the | law should increase with the increased activity of the adulterators. Perhaps in the end a national law will be required to deal with the subject properly, but in the meantime municipalities can look out for them- Let the Board of Health go forward with It will have abundant selves. courage against the wrong. support from the people. GREAT BRITAIN AND HER FOES. D ESPITE the attempts of Lord Salisbury and his colleagues of the Ministry to reassure the British people in the crisis that confronts the empire, such confidence as may remain among them is weakening day by day. Every report from the Orient shows that the Germans and the Russians are steadily persisting in their demands upon China, and every report from Africa notes another advance of the French toward districts that have been claimed by the British. Whether or not there is a formal alliance between the-three great powers of the Continent, it is apparent from the course of events that they are acting in harmony if not in concert, and that the in- terests of Great Britain are subject to the aggressions of all. In this situation there is clearly lacking in Great Britain any well defined policy of action on the part of either of the great political organizations. The Liberals criticize Salisbury for naction, but they do not advance any programme of action to which they are willing to pledge themselves if restored to power. Parliament without a dissenting voice voted an enormous sum for the maintenance and extension of the naval force of the empire, but not a man in Par- liament had a suggestion to offer as to how that force should be exerted in the present emeegency. It is a well-known fact that the temper of a na- tion is largely determined by the temper of its offi- cial leaders. With a strong man at the head of affairs a nation is strong. With a weak man it is vacillating. This truth helps us to an understanding of the Euro- pean situation. Russia and Germany are ruled by vigorous young men, one of whom is known to be the most ambitious, ‘proud and dominating ruler of his time. These men, while perhaps not seeking war, are not afraid of it. England is under the influence of an old Queen whose sole desire is to live her re- maining years in peace. Her Prime Minister is old, broken and in feeble health. He also prefers peace to war. It is not strange that under such contrasted leadership there should be vigor in the councils of Russia and Germany, while in Great Britain there is doubt, hesitation and delay. With a Queen so desirous of peace as Victoria, and under a Primeé Minister so inclined to prefer dip- lomacy to war as Salisbury, the prospect of an actual outbreak over the situation in either China or Africa is slight. It must be borne in mind, however, that the British are a high-spirited, aggressive race, and they will not always be ruled as they are to-day. It is written in the stars that sooner or later Great Britain must fight for her empire, and the force of circum- stances may be such as to compel her to undertake it now. There is such a thing as twisting the lion’s tail too much, even when the beast has been overfed and desires to slee! There has grown up a habit of abusing Alfred Austin because he does not often write poetry which can be recognized as such, but he should be given due credit when he does thump his Iyre and rattle out a little genuine melody. His latest effort was not per- fect, but it glowed with a kindly sentiment and went for the most part with a swing and fire. Neither is the thought of an ultimate alliance between the two English-speaking countries wholly foolish.. It is time for a law prescribing life imprisonment for the person who throws vitriol or any chemical having similar effect with intent to mutilate another. This crime has just been perpetrated at San Jose by a woman. Indeed the offender ordinarily is 2 woman, so it is a sense of gallantry which would send the offender to prison rather than to the gallows. SEiiram iy Last evening’s papers announced that the chances for peace were considered good. The man into whose face another man has expectorated copiously can always be sure of peace by going away from there, but some strange people are so constituted that at such a crisis they would naturally be hankering for a mixup and a total absence of harmony. A Spanish sailor ashore at Newport News re- marked that Americans were all cowards and afraid fo fight Spain. There is no doubt he was in error, and yet there has been so notable an effort on the part of diplomacy to create the impression the sailor incautiously voiced that he can hardly be blamed for more than undue rashness. Reports from Germany state that American inter- ference in Cuba would be regarded as impertinent. So is German interference in a matter concerning Spain and the United States. For the Chronicle to criticize/Correspondent Creel- man at every opportunity is not in the best taste. It has not been forgotten that the Chronicle had a Hornbrooke. : | little of either, and as a reply to a CRUISERS, MINES AND TORPEDOES. Some Interesting Information on Subjects That Deeply Concern the Public, but Are Not Gen- erally Understood. BY WwiLLIAM The loss of the Maine and the strained relations with Spain (for other reasons) seem to have awakened a lively general interest in torpedoes and vessels of war. People generally know single letter this column is published, but the information given will doubt- less satisfy most of those who wish enlightenment on these subjects. - In what follows technical terms are alto- gether avoided as far as at all possible, the object being to instruct the general reader—not the expert. The letter to | which this may be called a reply fol- lows: The Manager Call—Sir: As 1 know nothing of torpedoes, the use of a torpedo catcher, how a torpedo is ejected, what a cnuiser is as distinguished from a fight- ing ship, or much else about such mat- ters, I shall esteem it a favor, etc. To begin with, it is necessary to know what a torpedo is. The term used to be applied to any submarine agent that had destructive power, but to-day a torpedo is exclusively something pro- pelled at an object for its destruction. Submarine defense is divided into four distinct classes, viz.: (1) Ground mines. (2) Buoyant self-acting mines. (3) Controlled buoyant mines, and (4) torpedoes. (1) A ground mine is constructed by placing a sultable amount of explosives of high power—properly protected—in position at the bottom of a harbor or river. They are usually somewhat sunk in thé sand or mud, but rarely in hard rock. Their principal advantages are that they permit the use of heavy charges of explosives without the cor- responding difficulty of mooring, and that their position is easily determined and can always be relied on. The num- ber of these'mines which it is possible to place is limited, for they can only be used in shallow water. They are in- variably electrically connected with a shore station from which they are fired at will. 2. The buoyant, self-acting mines may be fired either by simple mechan- ism or by an electrical device. They usually consist of a metal case shaped much like an inflated balloon which is partially filled with dynamite or gun- cotton. On.the top of the case there protrude a half dozen or so small tubes of a foot or more in length, and a ship passing and striking either of these lit- tle tubes violently would break a glass inner tube which by simple chemical action in the purely mechanical class releases a heavy weight which, falling on the explosive in the bottom of the case, acts as a detonator and fires the mine. The electrical automatic mine is constructed in much the same way, but the explosion is caused by the breaking of an electrical current when either of the tubes at the top of the case come into violent contact with an- other body. Of course, this class of mine depends entirely for its usefulness on the enemy’s ship striking one of the firing tubes. 3. The term controlled buoyant mines is applied to those which can be fired only by electricity from the shore. They do not differ much from the automatic mines, and a combination of both has proved successful. These controlled mines are usually laid in groups, and whenever possible and practicable the electrical connections are made so that one or any number may be fired at once. The detonation is of course a very simple matter. This form of sub- marine defense, though, is extremely expensive, which prevents its more ex- tended use. These mines, as well as the automatie, are moored by a chain or wire cable to a heavy anchor, and by an ingenious device it is possible to keep them at any depth below the sur- face which’ may be deemed advisable. Here it is interesting to note that it is unsafe to moor one mine nearer to an- other than at least six times the radius of its striking distance. That is to say, if a mine would work destruction a hundred feet from where it is anchored there must be at least 600 feet between it and its next door neighbor, and 800 feet would be better. 4. For lack of space only one variety of torpedo—the automobile—can be de- scribed. But it is practically the only torpedo now in use. These little en- gines of war are really small vessels in themselves. Shaped much like a cigar, they have a couple of propellers, rud- ders and half a dozen watertight com- partments. The nose or percussion end holds the cap, then comes the compart- ment devoted to explosives. There is an air reservoir, a balance “chamber (where the mechanism for keeping the machine on an even keel is); there is the engine compartment and the buoy- ancy chamber. The delicacy and accu- racy of the mechanism of these instru- ments of destruction are amazing. Not only can they be aimed and fired with almost the accuracy of a gun, but they can be made to stop and come to the surface at any desired distance from the ship firing them, and recent experi- ments tend to show that it will be pos- sible in the near future to even zig-zag their course with accuracy. A torpedo is ejected by placing it in a tube some- thing like a large grooved pipe. The amount f energy required to launch it is very small, and the moment it touches the water its engines (worked usually by compressed air, but some- times electrically) start automatically. The speed can be regulated in any de- sired way, but twenty knots are not at all unusual. If the torpedo misses its mark it will continue till its air pres- sure is exhausted and then rise to the surface. A Whitehead automobile usually runs about ten feet below the surface of the water, but that, too, is a matter easily regulated. The term “torpedo catcher” is a mis- nomer. It would seem to imply that there are vessels built for the purpose of locating and destroying torpedoes. Indeed the Examiner is evidently of that opinion, for in an article on things naval which was given due prominence it says the name of the torpedo catcher “indicates its mission,” which it cer- tainly does not. But that is not start- ling, for in the same article the Maine was spoken of as a second-class cruiser, when, of course, she was a second-class battleship, and a plan of naval action was mapped out which would make the tears from a yellow canine stream down his cheeks from laughter. “Torpedo catcher” is a corruption of torpedo-boat catcher, the first name given to the larger torpedo-boats. Soon after the advent of the torpedo-boat it became ‘evident that means had to be devised C. BOYNES. for the destruction of these little ter- rors. The success of the larger speci- mens for that purpose has called inte existence the class of vessels known as “torpedo-boat destroyers’’—commoniy calied simply destroyers. The specd of a first-class destroyer is about 30 knots an hour. She is slightly protected, sometimes has as many as six torpedo tubes (the old style torpedo-boat had but one) and carries quite a consider- able battery of rapid-firing guns. The coal carrying capacity of the destrover can never be great as at present con- structed. These little vessels are very poor targets. They sit deeply in the water and their speed is so great that it is practically impossible to hit them, except by the grace of Mr. Irving Scott’s “lucky shot.” How true this is will be seen from the fact that when steaming thirty knots an hour the de- stroyer is making over a thousand yards a minute. In action their prin- cipal mission s to destroy torpedo- boats, to protect battle-ships from them and incidentally to torpedo the larger ships of the enemy if possible. The difference between a battle- ship and a cruiser i{s best shown by comparing a type of each; but the uses for which each is intended are briefly these: The battle-ship is for fensive purposes only. She is intended for fighting alone and is consequently as heavily armed and armored as possible. The cruiser, as thesname implies, is in- tended for a variety of cruising pur- poses; to act as convoy to transports or commercial vessels, to patrol sea space to blockade ports, to destroy the enemy’s commerce, and among other things, to do her share of the fighting when called into action. Cruisers are of two types, armored and unarmored, both of which are necessary to a com- plete navy. Recently, however, more unarmored cruilsers have been bullt than those of the fully protected type. | The speed attained by first-class mod- | ern cruisers i{s equal to that of the fastest ocean greyhounds and supasses nearly all merchant vessels. They havs greater coal endurance than battle- ships, and are in a word eminently fit- ted for cruising. A coast defense ves- sel is little more than a floating bat- tery, and except In great emergency they are intended to stay close to land. They are all heavily armed, and, like the battle-ship, well armored. In fact, they carry as large guns as their size will permit, usually in turrets. For comparison of a cruiser with a battle-ship scarcely a better example | could be chosen than the Olympia (she is a first-class unarmored cruiser) and the Oregon (a first-class battle-ship). Both these vessels were built here. They differ but six feet in length, yet the breadth (or beam) of the battle- ship is 69 feet and that of the cruiser but 53 feet. The displacement of the battle-ship is 10288 tons, and the | cruiser’s but 5870—little more than half. | The speed of the battle-ship is about 15 | knots per hour, while the cruiser can make nearly 22. In the matter of armament the difference is this: The battle-ship carries four _thirteen-inch breech-loading rifled guns, eight eight- inch and four six-inch of the same type, with a complement of smaller arms. The cruiser’s heaviest ordnance, however, is a battery of four eight-inch guns of the same type, supplemented | by ten of five-inch bore. The equip- | ment of lighter guns compares well with the battleship. But, as will be | seen by what appears above, the uses | for which the vessels are intended | widely diverge. It is a moot question | among naval experts whether the day for the heaviest type of battle-ships is not rapidly passing away. At any rate the inerease in the number of torpedo boats and destroyers in the past few years has been very noticeable. IN THE SOLDIERS’ DEFENSE. | To the Editor of The Call: The Chronicle has asserted editoriaily that no | one, except he is given to drinking or | weakmindedness, would join the army as an enlisted man at $13 per month. Now this may have been written in good faith and all that, but it certainly does not re- | flect credit on the 25,000 men composing | the army of the United States, nor is it likely to stimulate the recruiting business. No one wants to be considered a poor, weak-minded inebriate because he joins | the army. It seems to me that men who uphold the dignity and honor of our na- | tion should be extolled as noble martyrs | instead of being stigmatized as idiots and drunkards. As a matter of fact the average of intelligence and temperance in | the United States army is equal if not superior to any military body in the world. The Chronicle seems to forget the importance of the-soldier. Does not our very existence hang on the valor and bravery of the “boys in blue”? ‘What of it if his pay is small? Is that not all the more reason why we should encourage and praise him? Does that de- tract from his fighting qualities? At a time like this, when every nerve is- strained to increase our strength, when our hearts are beating In sympathy for the poor persecuted Cuban and every atriotic American s anxious for the ray, it is bad policy to write pessimistic editorials reflecting on the efficiency of our national defense. JACK DIAMOND. T!lxsogsl’mld!o, San Francisco, March 28, A WORD FOR THE PRESIDENT. Editor The Call: Before the country passes judgment on the President’'s atti- tude respecting Spanish affairs, is it not the part of fdirness to ‘wait until he has fully developed his policy? The Presi- dent is a gentlemanly man, without a strain of the bully in his character, and his every act thus far indicates that suaviter in modo, fortiter in re, is an instinet with him. Suppose, therefore, his recent message is the glove on the iron hand—that it is a polite request to Spain to make reparation, and that, keeping the. Maine question distinct from his Cuban policy, he intends in a day or two to send a message to Congress urging the recog- nition of Cuban independence, and th: then, having given Spain ample time in which to make reparation for the destruc- tion of the Maine (If the recognition ot the independence of Cuba does not in the meantime lead to a declaration of war by Spain), he intends to send the Spanish Government an ultimatum on the Maine question. Would not such a course put the country in a more favorable light to the world than though he had at the out- set recommended a policy that could in any manner be construed into an attempg at dragooning Spain? C. W. FOSTER. ———e————— ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. SANTA CLARA—Inq., Mayfield. Santa Clara is in the jurisdiction of the United States Land Office located at San Fran- cisco. SILVER BI‘LLIJ *I:‘. W., Oakland. From the report of the Secretary of tha United States issued December 381, 1897, it appears that the value of the silver bul- lion was $102,284,735 4. TERRITORIES OF CANADA—W. E., City. If a prospector starts from Vict ria, B. C., and crosses American territo- ry to reach the Canadian Northwest Ter- ritory with an outfit, all such articles as are not exempt by law must pay duty unless the same w: previously bonded. TO THE WRECK—F. C., City. A pe- destrian wishing to walk to the wreck of the ship New York from San Francisco would have to go alang the county road to San Mateo, and from that place fol- low the road that leads by the Spring Valley dam at Crystal Springs and on to Halfmoon Bay. If not desiring to take S0 long a walk the individual can ride to San Mateo. SUPPORTING PARENTS—Ing., City. Section 206 of the Civil Code says: “It i3 the duty of the father, the mother and the children of any poor person who is unable ‘to maintain himself (or herself) by work, to maintain such person to the extent. of their ability. The promise of an adult child to pay for the necessaries previously furnished such person is bind- ing. THE CRABB EXPEDITION—W. A, City. Henry A. Crabb of Stockton, who married a native of Sonora, Mexico, upon the suggestion of relatives of his wife, orgapized a company of 100 men to g0 to Sonora and capture it. They went to San Pedro in January, 1857, and then marched to the Sonora line, where they were met by men representing Governor Gandar: ana after a- fight, during which twe five of Crabb’s men were killed, he rendered. Subsequently Crabb and fi eight of his men were executed by the au- thorities of Sonora. Those who sent for him did not offer him any assistance. S e LIFE INSURANCE AND WAR. If every male adult in the country car- ried a life insurance policy which lapsed by its terms if the holder went to war, it iS easy to see that an outbreak of hostil- ities would cause a world of trouble in more directions than one. The situation is not_quite so threatening in the present case, but never before did so large a pro portion of the population of military age carry life insurance as now, and probably most of these insurance contracts are written on a peace or non-combatant ba- sis. Onme of the big New York companies, however, has stated that its policy hold- ers may enlist for the possible war in the assurafice that their policies will be paid if they are killed, but new insurance wiil be fixed at a higher rate in cases where the applicant intends to join the army. Another of the big New York companies announces that itS policy restrictions re- specting a military life will be waived o payment of an additional premium of 5 to fl; per cent.—Springfield (Mass.) Repub- can. ——————— BLASTS FROM RAM'S HORN. ‘Wrongs never grow strong enough to right themselves. Suspicion is a robber who conceals a drawn dagger under his cloak. There is no pathway through life that does not have some roses in it. Greatness can never be rightly meas- ured by the age in which it lives, Men who are honest for policy’s sake are generally dishonest at heart. It is doubtful if any man is ever so good or so bad as others take him to be. Beware of the man who makes a spe-. clalty of advertising his own humility. To be thoughtful for the.comfort of others is the surest way to promote our own. Put a great man in a little world and he will manage somehow to make it big- er. glr we could only see our own faults as plainly as we can see those of others, how many of us would want to put out our eyes? ——————— Choice present Eastern friends, Town- send’s Cal. Glace Fruits §0c Ib Jap bskts.* —— Special f:iformation supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery sireet. Telephone Main 1042. * i pddee THE DIPLOMATIC WAY. The French Embassador to Great' Brit- ain is a good diplomat. When Queen Vic~ toria expressed to him the hope that noth- ing would arise to interfere with her visit to the Riviera, he is said to have replied: “It would be a misfortune for France, madame.” A sweeter way of saying nothing_ could not be imagined.—Indlan- apolis News. —_— e “BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES” will quickly relleve Bronchitis, Asthma, Catarrh and Throat Diseases. Sold oniy in boxes. ———— NOTHING contributes more to digestion than the use of DR. SIEGERT'S ANGOSTURA BITTERS See that you get the genuine. —_———— POINTER FOR “DIVINE RIGHTERS.” Prominent Eurcoeans who have de- clared that a republican form of govern- ment is a failuire will no doubt be sur- prised to note, by the plans for securing pleasant inauguration weather, that the country looks forward to electing presi- dents as usual.—Washington Star. 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