The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 5, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL.‘ TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1898. JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Propri etor. to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. i’UBLlCATlON OFFICE...... Market and Third Sts., S. F- Telephone Main 1868. EDITORIAL ROOMS ..217 to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874, Address All Communications THE SAN FRANCISCO C for 15 cents a week. By mall $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL OAKLAND OFFICE.. NEW YORK OFFICE .Rcom 188, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative, ..... .....908 Broadway WASHINGTON (D. C.) OF S . .Riggs House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OF C. GEORGE KROG? =SS, Advertising Representative. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open u 030 o'clock. 621 McAllister street, open until o'clock. €15 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o’clock. 1941 Misslon street, open until 10 o'clock. 229! Market street, corner Sixteenth, open untll 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana Kentucky strects, open untll 9 o’'clock. e e AMUSEMENTS. Aores in New York."” Rooker—This day' April5, Horses, st721 Howard SENATOR PERKINS TAKES THE AMER- ICAN VIEW. Senator Perkins delivered yes- iorsed by the people of Califor- hey had already, so far as possi- es on record as upholding the The Senator said frankly ne was an act of war, and 1 the he expressed. nking of the Ma g over as an incident this country 1e accessory to an unexampled crime. 1ot have been more directly told. ted that the destruction of the e legitimate pretext for hos- struggle was strictly between the wayw ght have appealed to human- power to interfere. But by treach- ory affords no precedent, Spain She gave us the right to make Such it is destined to be. The ot be thrust aside. Its bleaching bones nner in which they were sent to the bot- harbor constitute the great issue. Our 11 for red; It is cheering to see nian Senator grasping the situation and not 1bout expressing his views, even though conflict with that peculiar idea which holds of the Maine to have been a thing to be-forgotten, and the pangs of Cuba the only appeal to:our intervention and our force of arms. as our the le notopen, however ns m r own. ress. THE MASONIC FESTIVAL. I 2 ROM the progress that has been made in pre- ] assurances are given that it will be .one of the most successful entertainments of the d ever held in the State. A warm interest is nterprise by the entire Masonic fra- t the commonwealth, and there will ill or taste in promoting it. ival is to raise funds for the stitution of educatior. and ben- be an important addition to the dations of the State, it is de- 1 th. help of the people gene- of the organization having it in red as a festival merely, to the object for which it is desig- cordial co-operation, for it will add joy of the May in San Francisco and en wt people and our visitors an opportunity genuine delight. California is much estivals of this kind. They are held all over e- State and at all asons of the year, and consti- t features of our social life. and almost every town and village has more to gladden the lives of its people and attract visitors during the springtime and early sum- Common as they are, however, they never be- ale or unprofitable. We can never have them. It will neither hurt us at home nor our repute abroad to make California a land of an uninterrupted succession of festivals. te and soil that furnish flowers for ar round, and we have a people ating the advantages which nature towed. It is right that we should make pleasure to add to our accom- plishments in the works of benevolence to which we sre called. For that reason we can all of us look for- ward with g ation to the Masonic festival as to an. opportunity to have a week .f revelry ourselves and to 2id in promoting through a great organization ~ “the welfare of widows and orphans for all time to --# come. 1e sa @ne or tes all the tapable of apprec se of this source of has atifica According to an evening paper the Maine Board of * Inquiry did not fix responsibility for the loss of that ship. This depends somewhat upon the degree of in- télligence exercised in contemplation of the verdict. To a man with brains it would appear that a ship an- * chored by Spanish orders over a Spanish mine by the explosion of which it was blown to flinders could with justice be reckoned against Spanish account. Insurance companies have refused to pay the in- | surance of a man who was so completely blown to bits in an explosion that ng fragments could be found. Of course their theory is that he went up somewhat as if in a ct t of fire, and that it did not hurt him any. There have been theories both more logical and more honest. It is cheering to observe that the ministers are rank enough to say from their pulpits that the time for Spain to get a licking seems to be here. These gentlemen are not purely theorists. More than one ‘of them have carried army muskets, and they act as though they would do it again if necessary. Several Senators who had never been suspected of " having spines are acting as though their reputation for bonelessness had been founded on an imperfect diagnosis. Even yet it is natural to fear a collapse. LL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is | served by carrlers in this city and surrounding towns | One year, by mall, $1.50 | Marquette Building | 11 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until | 9:30 | [y OUR INTERESTS IN CHINA. HILE the Spanish controversy occupies the W first place in our attention at this time and will rightly engage all of our national energies until atonement has been made for the wreck of the Maine, it must not be overlooked that in all proba- bility the larger destinies of our people will be more affected in the long run by what is being done in China than by anything likely to occur in the West | Indies. | Cuba is but a small island, Spain is a decadent kingdom, and but little can be expected from either of them in the future; but China is a vast kingdom, whose trade is growing by leaps and bounds, whose power of consuming American goods is almost inex- haustible, and whose commerce is inseparably bound up with the development of the Pacific Coast. The American people have been too long neglectful of the present value and future possibilities of the Chinese trade. The nations of Europe have been wiser. They have seen that the accession of 400,000,- 000 of people to the markets of the civilized world | means the expansion of commerce on an enormous sczle, and several of them are now almost at war with one another in their eagerness to obtain points of vantage for trade with the great empire. There is reason to fear that if either Germany or Russia gains supremacy in the ports of that country restrictions will be placed upon our trade with the people and our interests seriously compromised. Our Consuls in China have given us fair warning of the danger that threatens, as well as of the splendid possibilities for trade if we are vigilant and energetic in promoting it. Consular Reports for March con- tains a report from Consul Fowler of Chefu giving an account of our trade with that province of China, which is now the scene of German occupation, and much of it is of particular interest to California. The Consul states there is a growing demand there for butter, cheese, milk, canned vegetables, meats of all | kinds, imitation gold watches, clocks, sewing ma- chines, wines, beer, whisky, flour, oil and cotton goods. It will be seen that of this list California could furnish almost all, and for many of them there is now an urgent need for a larger market than the | State possesses. It is, however, in the wheat and flour trade that the largest field is open. Consul Johnson of Amoy re- | ports that with an increase in the price of silver | “China would afford an almost unlimited market for | American wheat.” This is borne out by reports from all who have made a study of the situation in the i QOrient. The Chinese are becoming a race of wheat- ‘ea(crs, and it will be largely our own fault if they | obtain the wheat from Russia instead of from this country. In the very nature of things the expansion of Cali- fornia commerce must be westward rather than east- ward. Heavy freight rates impose a tax upon our trade beyond the mountains, but to the West we have the open, unmonopolized ocean for a highway. In the Eastern States we have to meet rivals in all kinds of manufactured goods, and in most kinds of orchard and farm produce, but in China we have a natural ad- vantage over all competitors. Europe is now holding that market by reason of subsidized ships and mili- tary aggression, but it can be made ours if the Gov- ernment at Washington will take steps to promote | American shipping as it does American manufactures | and guard our interests in the Orient as it ought to | guard them everywhere. THE FLOOD SEASON IN THE EAST. 5 Y the fearful disaster which swept away a | village along the banks of the Ohio in Illinois the Eastern people are made aware that their spring has returned, the snows are melting, the frozen rivers have changed from ice to living waters, and the tornado and blizzard season has given place to that of freshets and floods. It is but a short time ago that we in California were called upon to sympathize with the dwelle-s in | a portion of the East swept by a blizzard that after freezing several States in its onward rush wound up | by doing damage to the amount of $2,000,000 in the single city of Boston, and now we must prepare for our annual commiseration of all who live anywhere near the Mississippi, the Missouri or the Ohio. We hardly have time to enjoy our Pacific Coast happiness | because we are so frequentl; called upon to be sorry for dolorous disasters beyond the Rockies. It might be wondered why there is not every year a large exodus of people from the blizzard-blasted, flood-devastated East to this land of perennial sun- shine and mildness, were it not so well known that men of all minds choose the ills they have rather than fly to others they know not of. The average Easterner is persuaded that California is very close to Hades, that earthquakes are frequent, and that every hot spring boils up_with brimstone fumes from the pits of Tartarus. He prefers to take his chances with | roaring winds and raging rivers to coming to a land | which he believes to be at all times in danger of being swallowed up in the abysses of the earth. | Our recent temblor, which served the excel- | lent purpose of testing our tall buildings and | proving their security, ~while shaking down Government structure ¢or two and giving an assurance of another appropriation from | the national treasury to put money into circula- tion here, has been exaggerated in the East to some- thing terrible. Yet more destruction was done to property and more lives swept away by the rampage of the Ohio along the Illinois line on Sunday than by all Californian earthquakes put together. The earth- | quake, in fact, is a bugaboo, but the blizzard and the | flood are dire realities. a us From the region where pursuit of the train robbers | is in progress arrive from time to time cheering re- | ports that the bandits are surrounded. It is a custom of the sleuth to “surround” his game, creep warily up | to it and find that it is not there. In this matter of | being caught the game declines to play a passive part. | It is interested more in getting away than the posses could possibly be in not letting it get away. When there was an open season for Evans and Sontag, it will be remembered that the pair were “surrounded” so often that the daily. account which failed to in- | clude this particular was considered incomplet.. | AR | It is not too much to say with the utr-ost confi- | dence that, if the Spanish diplomats who are calcu- | lating on a rebellion in the Southern States to assist | them are not a lot of fools, the symptoms they mani- | fest are misleading. i Mrs. William Schuld goes to the trouble of explain- [ ing that while she has six times attempted to commit | suicide she will never, never do it again. The tendency to beg of the lady not to be discouraged is too strong to be repressed. e e P Xk 2 Constitutional provisions are said to be in the way of the ruler of Spain disposing of Cuba. It will be borne in mind, however, that this country does not feel particularly bound by the Spanish constitution. s DISHONESTY IN STREET WORK. ITIZENS who pay taxes have a right to de- mand that their money shall not be wasted. It is their intrinsic right also to suppose that the officials given authority to expend money collected from property-holders shall be reasonably honest. If this money, instead of being devoted to public im-l provements, is parceled out among contractors who give no adequate return, or sticks to the fingers of _SUPCF"iSOl‘S- surely they have the privilege of mak- ing protest. For several days The Call has been engaged in showing that the money presumably devoted to pav- ing is not honestly expended. It has shown that favored contractors have been permitted to begin work without haying bid for it, and that the work has not been properly performed. Alamo Square serves as an illustration. Here the work was done without any bids having been called for. Naturally the contractor found difficulty in collecting. - Then at this late hour, with the work, such as it was, com- pleted, bids were called for. As a matter of course no new contractor could come in and make a bid which would involve the tearing up of the work al- ready in place and compete with the original con- tractor. Nevertheless, one bid was lower than that of the Street Committee’s favorite. This would never do; it would lead to exposure. So the lower bid, by some hocus-pocus, was knocked out. On a portion of Third street a contract has been let to Flinn & Treacy, in which they are to be al- lowed more for paving than is to be allowed for a portion of Market street; yet in the former case there is a lot of bitumen which is generously thrown in by the city, and the concreting is already done. On Market street the contract includes the concrete, and the contractors furnish all of their own material. Why this difference? The answer can come only from the Street Committee of the Supervisors. This com- mittee has full charge of such improvements. The Superintendent of Streets is merely an executive offi- cer carrying out its instructions. Where there is crooked work of the sort of which these examples are samples, this committee is responsible. Members of the committee have chosen to ignore their obliga- tions to be honest. The proof has in part been pub- lished. There is more of it to come. While general curiosity has been excited, there is one body em- powered to put questions and demand answers. Ref- erence is had to the Grand Jury. There san be no excuse for the flagrant violation of the trust imposed upon this particular committee of the Supervisors. Yet whatever they may say will receive all the atten- tion it deserves. The Street Committee of the Super- visors is as rotten as some of the pavement put down by its orders. No statement could well be more em- phatic. The public desires to know if there is not some remedy for this state of affairs, if swindling is to be tolerated because done under the color of law, or if plain violation of the statutes cannot be checked when the violaters have been exposed. A CHANGE IN JURY DRAWING. HE change in the method of drawing juries T suggested by Code Commissioner Shanahan in a recent interview should receive full considera- tion at the hands of bench and bar. The plan he pro- poses is to place the names upon the jury lists en- tirely in the hands of the Superior Judges, each name being represented in the clerk’s box by a number. When, in impaneling a jury, a number is drawn, the court itself is to identify and announce the name. Mr. Shanahan and his fellow-Commissioners think this system will effectually prevent the manipulation of the jury lists. Somebody must be trusted with the names of jurors, and it is the opinion of the Code Commission that no better persons can be found than the Judges of the courts. It is not difficult to concur in this theory. Judges are generally men of sound education. They are well versed in the art of reasoning, and they understand the importance to litigants and themselves of having legal disputes fairly tried and adjudicated according to the rules of law. As a general thing they are high- minded men and desire to see the law honestly ad- ministered. If the jury lists are to be intrusted to anybody, therefore, it is quite probable that the Su- perior Judges will be their safest custodians. A great deal of the complaint that is made con- cerning jury manipulation is due to the fact that the | names of jurors are drawn by county clerks or their deputies. These officials are usually politicians, and whether they are honest or not there is always a suspicion that they will, either through neglect or | design, permit unscrupulous lawyers to tamper with | the jury lists. Probably in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred there is no foundation for the charge that juries are fixed. It is the habit of disappointed liti- gants to charge not only juries, but Judges, with cor- ruption. No matter how unjust causes may be liti- gants are, as a rule, unable to perceive that they are in the wrong. Nevertheless, this is a powerful reason for adopting the reform suggested by Code Commissioner Shana- han. If the jury lists are placed in the hands of the | Judges, and the clerk is permitted only to draw num- bers, it will be difficult for anybody to manipulate a jury through the County Clerk’s office. At all events, the suggested ghange should receive thorough con- sideration at the hands of bench and bar. Whatever the lawyers and Judges decide upon will probably be adopted by the Legislatur MARKET-STREET IMPROVEMENTS. CORRESPONDENT, who commends the fl course of The Call in opposing any extensive expenditures for repaving Market street until sewers and other underground works along the street have been provided, directs attention to an im- provement which should be made at once without waiting for the more elaborate undertaking. This is the elevation of the eastern end of Market street to the official grade, making it correspond with the side- walks along that portion of the thoroughfare. Our correspondent points out that as the sidewalks are on the grade fixed by the city, while the roadbed has been left at its former level, the walks are about two feet higher than the road. This is not only an inconvenience to pedestrians, but in some respects is positively dangerous, as the street is brought-up to ‘the level of the walks by a very sharp angle, and in wet weather the basalt blocks are slippery. As the eastern end of Market street is the point at | which the great tide of travel comes into the city, it | is manifest that the work of improving the thorough- | fare should begin there. Moreover, our correspondent is right in saying that an improvement consisting solely in the elevation of the roadbed to the official grade need not be made to wait for a complete and comprehensive work of sewering and paving. If any one should be injured by reason of tHe steep decline from the level of the walks to that of the street RN RN RN NN RERRRRLIRRIRIRRRERRSS 8 S 8 Having solved the long locked mystery of the interior of the “Dark Continent,” the exploration of Central Asia has be- come the principal object of interest for geographers. The medial part of the Asiatic continent embraces immense tracts of yet unknown country, very difficult of access, the study of which offers the greatest interest from every point of view. Between Siberia and India on the one part of the Trans-Caspian steppes and the sandy deserts of Western China on the other, the vast region stands like a colossal fortress whose ramparts are formed by the highest mountain chains of the world. On the south is the enor- mous “relief” of Thibet stretching be- tween the high flanks of the Himalayas the Karakorum and the Kuen-Luen Mountains. To the north along the southern frontier of Siberia the Thian- Shan range stretches its mighty heights to a length three times greater than that of the Alps. On the west, in Afghanistan, is the impassable Hindoo Koosh range. | All these find themselves united in the mountainous mass of the ‘“Pamirs,” which geographers havé justly denominated “The Roof of the World.” No other defi- nition could be so representative and so suggestive. In all this zone the numberless peaks rise to extravagant heights. The average altitude of Thibet Is over 14,000 feet, while many peaks in and about it rise to double that height, Yamisankar and others on the south going 1000 feet higher still. This huge complex system of moun- tains separates the most powerful empires of the world, Russia, China and the Anglo-Indian. The natural routes from Russian Turkestan to China are over the passes of the Thian-Shan, while on the crests of the “Pamirs” and the Hindoo Koosh must be fought the coming duel between England and Russia. A knowl- edge of this region is therefore of the highest importance to statesmen as well as geographers and naturalists, and every step in its exploration must be viewed with interest by the general public. On this account the very important ex- SVEN HEDIN IN THE HEART OF ASIA. L L P P T T T P e £ kel 8 pedition over the “Pamirs” and throush Thibet, recently accomplished by Dr. Sven Hedin, the Swedish naturalist, has | attracted great attention in European circles. Dr. Hedin's journey lasted some three years and a half, during which long peri- od his routes covered a large part of Cen- | tral Asia, crossed and recrossed them- | selves on the Pamirs and the Hindoo | Koosh, as well as on the sandy deserts of Chinese Turkestan, and then on through Thibet to Peking, whence he turned back to the northwest and reached Europe again by way of Irkutsk and the Trans- Siberfan Railroad. Choosing Russian Turkestan for his| point of departure, the explorer reached the foot of the Pamirs by way of Tas- kend early in 1803. This region, fifteen years ago, by Mahometan fanaticism, was Closed entirely to Europeans. but since | then the Russians, with their Trans-Cas- plan Railroad and their marvelous way of dealing with these most refractory | people, have brought them well under the | influences of European clvilization. As a| proof of this, among other things, Dr. “ Hedin has a photograph of a dervish tell- ing the news to a group of his fellow | Mussulmans against the wall of a mosque. It is well known that the law of Mahomet forbids its adherents from having their features reproduced in any way. Dr. He- din has numbers of such photographs, showing that tne religlous sensibilities of these natives are becoming less acute. The assault of the “Pamirs” was begun on the 23d of February, 18%4. This quad- rilateral mountain mass is surrounded by mighty crests, some of whose peaks, as that of Mustag-Ata, reach a height of 25,000 feet and more. Polar winter relgns in these elevated regions until late spring, and the cold was Intense, 28 degrees C. below zero on April 1. This was not the greatest obstacle, how- ever. The ‘Mal de Montagne” (mountain sickness) was terrible. The rarefaction of the air made traveling painfully diffi- cult, often impossible. Suffocation, nau- sea and vomiting, with intense headaches, rendered the men incapable of exertion, while the horses, not less sensitive to the variations of atmospheric pressure, often fell under their charges. This extraordinary region has few in- habitants. The forms of the women in a group photographed in front of one of their habitations do not remind one of | the Venus de Milo. From the Pamirs, Hedin went through | the Tarim basin and the Takla-Makan | resert to Lab Nor, the phenomenal lake | which, filling with the sand driven by the wind, the principal formative agent in this country, shifts its position from time to time over a range of 100 miles from north to south. The Takla-Makan is a vast sandy soll- tude more desolate than the Sahara and without oases or springs. No European ever before attempted its passage. Re- tarded by sand storms in crossing it the water supply gave out and two of his men perished from thirst. while Dr. Hedin himself was only saved from a like death by his energy and will power. Dr. Hedin afterward traversed the mountain deserts of Thibet, lving for months at an altitude of 13,000 feet. He replaced his horses with camels, which with wonderful endurance drew his tar- antass, a primitlve traveling carriage, over the moving sands as well as the mountain steeps with little or no food or water for days at a time. Reaching Peking on February 3, 18¢7,and resting for some time, Dr. Hedin again turned to the interior, and crossing the Mongolian deserts via Ourga and Kiachta arrived later in the year at Irkutsk, and returned with more comfort than he had known for a long time to Sweden. COLLECTED IN THE CORRIDORS. at the Grand. at the California. L. P. Wardle of Virginla City, Nev., is registered at the Grand. Karl F. Miller of Oro Blanco, Arizona, is a guest at the Palace. J. J. Hebbron, a cattleman of Salinas, is*registered at the Grand. £ J. H. Biddle, a large fruit grower of San Jose, is a guest at the Grand. A. P. Crose, a large business man of Los Angeles, is at the Baldwin. H. King McHaig of New York is at the Palace, accompanied by his wife and son. George F. Burnas and wife arrived in the city vesterday from Utica, N. Y., and went to the Palace. Prosecuting Attorney Reynolds left for Los Angeles to-day to attend a meeting of the normal school directors. W. Young of Adelaide, Australia, ar- rived at the Palace vesterday from the East. He is on his way home. Dr. James McLane, one of New York's prominent physicians, is at the Palace, where he arrived yesterday, accompanied by his wife. H. R. Bernard, ex-secretary of the Tone Industrial School, arrived in the city yes- terday from Sacramento and registered at the Grand. J. J. Flynn will be the new storekeeper and purchasing agent of the State Har- bor Commission, vice H. ‘W. Peterson, who has resigned. Cyrus Curtis, ‘publisher of the Ladies" Home Journal of Philadelphia, is at the Palace on a pleasure trip throughout the different cities of the Pacific Coast. At the Occidental are registered W. E. Cook, J. S. Cook, A. Martin and G. Nor- s of Klamathon. The entire party are visiting the city for pleasure and recera- tion. 0000000000 o (] o HOW THE o 0 “GRIZZLY MINE” 0 O TURNED OUT. © © C. P. Huntington o 0000000000 yesterday, that gentleman told the following rather good story concerning a little mining venture of his own which took place many years ago. !“In all my business career,” sald Mr. Huntington, “I have never had anything to do with mines or mining stock, and the only property of that character I have ever possessed has been forced upon me in payment of debts by men who had nothing else to offer in the way of set- tlement. “I remember many vears ago T became, in this manner, the owner of a valuable bit of mining property called the ‘Griz- zley Flat Mine.’” As soon as it came into my possession I looked around for a pur- chaser, and soon found one in the person of the head of a new company which had been organized for the purpose of de- veloping Jjust such property. I offered the mine to this gentleman for the mod- est sum of $10,000. He refused to consider In a general conversation con- cerning the Klon- dike gold flelds, which occurred in the office of some one might be made to pay a heavy sum in damages, and it would therefore be an economy to raise the roadbed to the proper grade at once with- out waiting for injuries and damage suits. it. Then I came down to $5000. He said he had decided not to buy it at all. ‘Yés {:u will,' I sald, ‘when I tell you you can ve it for $500.° ‘I would price,’ ‘The D. W. Evans, a mill man of Eureka, is | E. C. Merritt of Santa Rosa is a guest | e it that muu( is yours,’ I replied, and the sale was made. “The company of which the gentleman was the head put up a mill and all the other necessary adjuncts of a first-class plant and started to work the property under the name of the Grizzly Flat Min- ing and Milling Company. I lost sight of the venture for several years, until one day, meeting the purchaser of my property on the streets, I asked him how his property had come out. ‘It came out splendidly,’ replied he. ‘We sunk all the money we could scrape together in put- ting up the necessary works for develop- ing it and after working it for a couple of months and getting nothing but expec- tations, a cloud burst came along and carried the entire plant so far out we have never seen it since.’ ™ W. D. Shea of New York is at the Pal- ace. B. F. Randolph, U. Occldental. B. Crustafsan of Spreckels i{s a guest at the Occidental. John F. Carrere of Los Angeles is stay- ing at the California. J. B. Peaks, a hotel man of Santa Cruz, is a guest at the Palace. E. Meyhen has come down from Chico and {s staying at the Grand. State Senator Thomas Flint of Juan is a guest at the Palace. F. W. Groth of Sacramento is at the Baldwin accompanied by his wife. D. H. Arnold of Colusa is one of last night's arrivals at the Occidental. D. D. Witbeck, a capitalist of Sacra- mento, is registered at the Grand. M. M. Miller, a fruit man of Fresno, Is one of the late arrivals at the California. Governor L. V. Stephens of Missouri, who has been visiting the coast, left the Palace last night to return to his home. Thomas Baker, wife and family, of 8. A, Is at the San Utlca, N. Y., and Mr. and Mrs. F. Sulll- ith of New York, are among thosa :vn)?os:flved in the city yesterday and registered at the Palace. Edward Chambers, general freight agent of the Santa Fe at Los Angeles, and W. A. Bissell, assistant general freight and traffic manager, who have been attending the meeting of the Trans- continental Freight Bureau at Del Monté and San Jose, are at the Palace, wher. they will remaln for a few days befor: returning to their respective homes. Collis P. Huntington. president of the Southern Pacific, is In the city, having come to attend the meetngs of the d!- rectors of the road of which he is presi- dent, which occurs on the 7th of this month, and also the meeting of the Cen- tral Pacific directors, which is f(‘he(lulfd for the 12th. Mr. Huntington will remain on the coast apout four or siX “‘epks; g!‘\- ing over the line as far north as Port- land, and will probably visit and inspect the work on the coast division at Surf. — - CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, April 4.—S. G. Buckbee of San Francisco is at the Manhattan. An- drew Bogart of San Francisco Is in Paris. o Sesmienldat e GRAB A GUN He who hesitates is lost— Grab a gun! Do not stop to count the cost— Grab a gun! The handwriting &ll can read, Cuba’s children die for feed— It is time for Spain to bleed— Grab a run! Do not fear to dare and die— Grab a gun! Do not pause to question why— Grab a gun! Hear the cry otl omu-d laun:‘uol Asking justice, long delayed; God is with us, who's afrald? rab a gun! Bid adleu to those you love— Grab a gun! Put your trust in Him above— Grab a gun! Bid your throbbing heart be stilk Let your hand obey your will, Keep your nerve and shoot to KiF Grab a gun! Children starve on Cuban sofl— Grab a gun! Shackled are the hands of tofl— Grab a gun! For the ones who cry for bread, Let the ses with blood run red— Grab a gu —Bixby, &* n! in Lincoln Journal ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. STORIES—Constant Reader, City. It you desire to know who is the author of the stories referred to call on_the city editor and he will possibly enlighten you. SIXTEEN TO ONE—A. . Oakland. The meaning of 16 to 1, as applled to silver, is the coining by the Government of a sllver dollar containing by weigh$ sixteen times as much bullion as a gold dollar, and making both coins legal ten= der at equal value. BETS—P. D., City. As your letter of in- quiry does not state the proposition fully it is impossible to give an answer. It is not the province of this department to guess what the correspondents want. Questions should be clearly set forth and contain all that is desired to be known. NINETY-EIGHT—M. O. K., City. The version of “Who Fears to Speak of Ninety-Elght?” published in The Call was the correct one. *But a true man, like you, man, will fill your glass with us” is good English and good grammar, but “True men, like you, men, will fill your glass with us” Is not good grammar. FRACTIONAL CURRENCY. — M. K. E., City. Dealers in coin and notes do not offer a premium for fractional cur- rency unless the same be new and crisp. For a five-cent note of the first issue, with perforated edge like a postage stamp, 25 cents is offered, and for one with straight-cut edges, with bust of Clark, 10 cents is offered, and for the same with red back the sum of 20 cents is offered. TO GERMANY—City. As you came to the United States a minor, and was still a minor at the time your father became a citizen of the United States, the fact that he became such a citizen made you a citizen as well. Being such, you are permitted by the courtesy of the German Government to.visit any part of Germany and remain there.four menihs. 1f you remain there for a longer period than that you are llable to be compelled to enter the army and perform the military duty which Germany demands of all its subjects. THE MIXED CHRISTENING. Chicago News. As the warship Kentucky started for the sea last Thursday a number of Ken- tuckians near by smashed a dozen bottles of old bourbon against the vessel's side. thus indicating their disapproval of Miss Bradley's christening with water. But these impetuous Southerners recked not the consequences, for now they do not dare go home, well knowing that no man will be tolerated in Kentucky who dares mix whisky with water. Mig..c as well blow froth from a glass of beer in Mil- waukee and expect to keep on living there in peace. ALL HEROES NOT WAR MADE. Chicago Inter Ocean. There is a maxim, “It is sweet to die for one's country.” It is still better to live for it, and bless it by good works in every fleld to which you are called. There are heroes in the home as well as on the battle-ueid, and they should alwavs be in harmony. Heroes can never be expected upon the battle-fields when there are not heroes and heroines in the homes of the ‘Lue one creates the other. land. Finest eyeglasses, 15c up. 33 Fourth., ® % A cholce present, Townsend's California Glace Fruits, 5ic Ib, in fire-etched boxes. * —_—————— Spectal f:formation supplied daily to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * —_——— NOTES ABOUT NOTABLES. Vice Admiral Makarow of the Russian navy is on his way to this country to look into American ice-breaking ferryboats. The Russians want to keep some of their harbors open in the winter. = “ BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES" will quiekly relfeve Bronchitis, Asthma, Catarrh and Throay Diseases. Sold oniy in boxes. ————— DR. STEGERT'S ANGOSTORA BITTERS is in dorsed by physicians and chemists for purity Don't be defrauded by accepting a substitute. —_————————— Willlam F. Norton, the eccentric mfl- lionaire, who owns the Auditorium The- ater in Louisville, Ky., and who manages it under the name of Daniel Quilp, cleared 7 cents a bushel on 1,000,000 bush- els of wheat during the last jump in prices. ADVERTISEMENTS. Supplies that will keep— Concentrated Strength— Absolute requisites for the Alaskan journey. Royal Baking Powder will keep, while others will not, and gives the most leavening gas to the pound, thus economizing in weight.