The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 24, 1898, Page 7

THE SAN F¥FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 1898 OHN D. SPRECKELS, Propnetor. | J Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE ......Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 168, ‘EDITORIAL ROOMS. 217 to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1§74. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carrlers in this city and surrounding towns | for 15 cents a week. By malil $6 per year; per month | 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL OAKLAND OFFICE.. NEW YORK OFFICE..... Room 188, World Building | DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE. Rigge House C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGC OFFICE. ... % -Marquette Building C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. One year, by mall, $1.50 | .908 Broadway | BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, | open until 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until | 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAlllster street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'closk. 2518 | Misslon street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh | street, open until 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana Kentucky streets, open untll 9 o'clock. ires of Miss Brown." aker:. The Dia “Sinbad mm, Tuesday, April 26. evening, Apri. a se Frida; , Spectalties. | | | rsing Ps | irsing Park. | Races t0-morrow. \ing, every Sunday, Ingleside AUCTION SALES. Monduy, April ) Rhein & Co. Turkish Rugs, at 105 | | or Thursday, April 23, Real Estate, at 636 AS TO INDECENT JOURNALISM. 1er has long been indecent. Only of | as it become so proud of its infamy as to | ention to it by rocket and bomb. Only | since the war with Spain has it employed a band to | play its Rogue's March to the nickel of the incredu- lous It is with no envy The Call declares the | Examiner a disgr: e profession of journalism. | No such feeling would be possible, for this paper has | for receiving and presenting news irom But The Call takes pride in printing the 1 when it prints rumors will label them as such and'let them go for what they may be worth. It is not always possible at this distance from the scene | patrons. | because nis name was Moreno. | childish than all this sound and fury. ! stands to-day, judged by her conduct, Don Quixote EN old enough to remember our Civil War THE POWER OF A SILENT PEOPLE. /\/\ recall the grim silence that fell upon the North when serious work came in sight. True, there were tears without sobs, silent salutes and a feeling that could not find expression in noise, but must be uttered in action. When Americans are profoundly impressed the grizzled souls of the Roundheads thump in their ribs and they waste no breath in shouting. When the troops leit this city the school children, to whom it was a spectacle, made | noisy demonstration, but their elders, with thoughtful faces, gave the approval of Anglo-Saxon silence, and | in set faces and hands clinched let the onlooker read the rising of a determination to lift the burden of re- sponsibility and carry it to the end. In great contrast is the noisy roar of Spain. From Madrid to the provinces heads are hot and throats hoarse with shouting. The mob attacks effigies and emblems with a venomous vigor that might better be reserved for the contacts of war. The Spanish Minister took his passports, retired from Washington and crossed the frontier with none other than the polite attention which traveling gen- tlemen in this country get f.om other traveling gen- tlemen, and in the quiet enjoyment of the luxury and pleasure which American railways furnish their The American Minister left Madrid' and roceeded to the frontier through a shower of stones | and was compelled to leave his berth to defend from capture his secretary, who was about to be arrested Nothing ‘can be more As Spain should be at the head of her armies, with a wash- | basin on his head for the helmet of Mambrino and his lance in tilt at a row of windmills, while his faith- ful squire, Sancho Panza, chews garlic by his side and carries love-letters to the Lady del Toboso. Spain lives and shouts in the past, tries to fatten her lean ribs on glories that have faded. America lives in the future and keeps step in the long march toward it, breaks silence only with the word of com- mand, the roar of guns and the shriek of flying shells. It is not an agreeable task to discharge the duty we have assumed. It is no less than the destruction of a power that has outlived its defensive energies and retains only the spirit of misgovernment and the power of bad example. Spain is like a man who has failed in all legitimate lines and, refusing to accept fate with philosophy, become predatory, violent and lawle: The law has to put its hand upon him and subject him to those restraints which are required by the good order of the community. This task has fal- len to us, and we enter upon it in the spirit which be- comes a people commissioned to'end the pretensions of a decayed personality among the nations. As we read the signs now set in the American hori- zon our people feel their strength, know their duty and will hasten its performance, and then the plow will turn the furrow again, men will go back to mill and shop, and Europe will have the way pointed out to her to shut her eyes to the balance of power and to consider only the balance of justice in dealing with | Turkey, that problem which protects wickedness, | promotes slaughter, disfigures frontiers and practices murder. THE TREASURY AND THE CHARTER. it appear that Treasurer Widber would not now f conflict to weigh cach word. It is possible to dis- | tinguish between the palpable fake and the arum]} news. | The Examiner yesterday published a series of | things it was pleased to term “extras.” Aside irom! the information contained in regular editions of all | morning papers, these “extras” declared that the | Iowa had been fired on from Morro Castle. The in- formation was false, and the Examiner was aware of | tion which is accompanying the advocacy of that the fact. It said in large type that the Paris had been | measure. Nothing can be more absurd ~than the | taken. It said this knowing it to be a lie. It de- | claim that the system of accounts proposed by the clared the American flag to be flying over Hawaii. | new charter will prevent defalcations in the Treasury. This was a fiction, based on nothing. It set forth the | No system can guard against negligence. If an eye capture of the “Bilbao,” meaning the Pedro, the cir- | is not kept upon the Treasurer under the new charter, cumstance having already been detailed. It an- | as the most casual reader of the instrument may as- nounced the taking of the Shenandoah—a mere ru- | certain, he can embezzle the money of the taxpayers mor which had been made in and again, and each | with as much impunity as Widber has embezzled it time denied. And these were the pretexts on which it assumed to issue an “‘extra.” There is such a thing as enterprise a thipg as there is such In its anxiety to ach the Examiner s drifted naturally into theit. It has even imported from New York a man trained under Hearst to bilk the public. The importation has his confidence game in full and noisy blast, but suckers are few. Soapy Smith worked the town while on his way to the Klondike. The Hearstlings, scattering their bogus nobody but their employer. They will swear the “extras” into their circulation ,and he will believe them, being what is known as a “good thing.” “extras” about, will deceive But as to fooling the people, they have reached the limit. Yesterday the I had been an important naval engagement rockets would be fired from its building. There was no im- portant naval engagement, but the rockets were fired. Cannot- the police, headed by that valiant foe of crime, Captain Lees, reach these bunko men? o v e ee——— There is nothing particular to fear from the pres- ence of Spanish spies in the South. to Spain any news not first gathered and published by the yellow correspondents they will be obliged to be up early in the morning. Indeed the correspond- ents are bound to scoop them, for the news they send is frequently derived from a wealth of imagination such as a practical spy would wholly lack. Announcement that Sherman intends to leave the Cabinet is made again. If correct, it may be said that his intentions, as a gentleman’s should be, are hon- orable. With all regard for the distinguished ser- vices of Sherman, there can be no reasonable doubt that the conditions of the present require a younger man at the post of active diplomacy. There was once a habit of designating a specimen of decay as “rotten as a dead fish.” Times have changed. It will be necessary to substitute the Board of School Directors for the fish, or the statement will lack of desired emphasis. REDe S An evening paper goes so far_as to threaten to drive the Spanish ont of Spain. This may be taken as an infimation that it intends to send a consignment of its justly celebrated “extras” abroad. —_— When the Spanish bombard San Francisco it is hoped they will bear in mind that several Cogswell fountains are still permitted to stand. If they will knock these out much could be forgiven. It is said that the mission of the Spaniards who went to talk armistice to the Cubans was a complete failure. However, it must be regarded as fairly suc- cessful. The Spaniards were not shot. Any Indian who outbreaks just now should be shot on the spot, with particular reference to the spot being a vital one. Blanco is said to have donned kis full uniform. It is too bad Sampson’s squadron cannot be warned and turn back before too late. eve enterprise | miner announced that if during the day there | 1f they can send | [ be a defaulter if the new charter were in force { is in strict accordance with the campaign of obfusca- under the cansolidation act. As a matter of fact, however, the Treasury espion- age now provided by law is superior to that found in the proposed charter. The monthly count of money | by the Mayor, Auditor and Superior Judge is abol- | ished by the new instrument, and in its stead the charter makers have substituted a system of state- ments. The Treasurer is required to make a monthly statement of cash in his hands, and all officials who | deal with him are required to do likewise. If these | do not balance the Auditor is directed to prick up his ears. The “joint custody safe,” it is true, brings the Auditor into more intimate relations with the Trea- | surer, but all this practically amounts to is to compel the Auditor to open and close the Treasurer’s safe every day. The new charter, in fact, says in terms that the Auditor “shall have no control over them (the funds) except to open and close the safe in con- junction with the Treasurer, when requested to do so in his official capacity, and shall not be held re- sponsible on his official bond for any shortage which may occur in the Treasury.” This is weaker than the present law. Both the Mayor and Auditor are now responsible for overlooking deficits in the Treasury. The consolidation act provides that once a month the Mayor, Auditor and Superior Judge shall “see” and count the money in the Treasury. Had this been done in the case of Widber that individual would not nrow be in jail. No system of checks or accounts can be substituted for ocular evidence in supervising the Treasurer’s books. If the new charter had been in force Widber's defalcation would not have been discovered so long as a sufficient amount of coin re- mained in the vault to pay current expenses. Surely the Auditor would never discover a deficit by merely opening and closing the “joint custody safe.” The | fact, therefore, that the proposed charter abolishes the monthly count of the Mayor, Auditor and Su- perior Judge is a good reason for opposing it, even if special provision were not made by section 3 of chap- ter 3 of article IV for keeping money in bags with tags upon them. Under Treasurer Widber's system this would facilitate embezzlement. Lead pipe and wagon washers under the new charter would do un- limited duty in.these bags for coin. THE VOLUNTEER ARMY. Y its terms the volunteer army act is designed to B be not an emergency measure merely, but a part of the permanent legislation of the coun- try. Its object is to provide not only for this, but for any future contingency in which the United States Government will have need of a larger and stronger military force than that of the regular army. As such it is a new step in the evolution of the nation, and in its consequences may prove to be one of the most important that has been taken in recent years. By the new law the National Government will deal directly with the people in raising any army it de- sires, and will not have to act through the medium of the States, as in former years. In bygone wars the L need of same such power was strongly felt. In 1812 HE efforts of a morning contemporary to make 'mind, devoid of prejudice and stating the conduct of the campaign for the defense of the northern frontier was' seriously handicapped by the refusal of the Governors of several of the New Eng- land States to send any troops outside their borders. This so far weakened our strength that we were not only unable to successfully invade Canada, but ac- tually suffered the capture of Detroit. The evil of the situation was recognized at that time, but the State sovereignty spirit was too strong in all parts of the Union to permit of a remedy. Even as late as 1861 the call for volunteers had to be made through the State Governors, and, as is well known, the Governors of several of the States refused to re- spond, just as had been done fiity years before. The Civil War, however, settled the issue of State sov- ereignty, both as a legal principle and as a popular sentiment. There would be no failure on the part of any Governor to furnish volunteers for the present war, but none the less Congress does not wait upon them to do so. The volunteer armies of the present and the future will be provided for by Congress and called for by the President. They will be armies of the nation, and not a combination of State troops acting together. It is to be noted, however, that the new law does not wholly eliminate the States and their governments from consideration. It provides that when a volun- teer army is called for the men received into the service shall be taken as far as practicable from the several States and Territories in proportion to their population. Tt is further provided that all company and regimental officers shall be appointed by the Gov- ernors of the States in which such organizations are raised. These provisions are survivals of the old Federal spirit and will help to make the new law ac- ceptable to the people, if any help should be needed. It remains to be seen by actual test of war how the divided authority in the appointment of officers will work. If any friction should result it is easy to fore- see that an amendment would soon be made taking away the appointing power from the Governors and placing the whole volunteer force, like the regular army, under the exclusive control of the national authorities. Nor would there be any widespread op- position among the people. We have made a nation in fact, and the laws will sooner or later have to fit the fact. HARBOR COMMISSIONERS REBUKED. HE full decision of Judge Belcher in the case of TSnmuel C. Irving vs. the Harbor Commission- ers is published in another column. Every word of it is worth reading. By it the commission is re- buked in terms most scathing. Yet there is in the re- buke no sign of aught but the product of a judicial the simple facts. It is seldom that the mere rendering of a decision involves the excoriation of any party to an action. It is possible that both parties may have been in- spired by the belief that the contention set up would be sustained by the law. If the Harbor Commissioners entertained any such idea it has been rudely dispelled. If President Colnon had a thought that he was re- garded as an angel of light a great flood of intelli-E gence has been poured in upon him. So complete is the statement from the bench, such an absolute overthrow of the contentions set up by the Harbor Commissioners, that an extended epitome of it would be useless when the article appears in its entirety. In brief, it is shown that the Commission- ers rejected bids for the simple purpose of giving their pets a chance, and the court does not mince the truth—on the contrary, setting it forth in plain terms. It is shown that the advice 6f Special Counsel Strat- ton was not only wrong, but that the special counsel had in law no warrant for his existence. It is shown that the Commissioners rejected bids as “too high,” and having eliminated the bidders objectionable to themselves, accepted bids as high as the original. Judge Belcher declares that the grossest favoritism is apparent. The rejection of the bids, among which was. that of the plaintiff, is described as being en- tirely without warrant in law, as being arbitrary, capricious and in bad faith. These conclusions do not surprise. Yet it is gratifying to have them set forth with such clarity, and from a source which can- not be accused of bias. The character of the Board of Harbor Commis- sioners begins to be plainer. The Call, in its capacity of a public journal, has endeavored to make it clear. Doubtless the Belcher decision will be of material assistance to the Grand Jury. One who is faithless in little things will be equally faithless in great things. A body capable of cheating the State in the paraffin- ing of a lot of piles would not hesitate to cheat it in the construction of a depot worth many thousands. I —— REPUBLICAN LEAGUE CONVENTION. Y authority of the National Republican League B convention of 1897, and under the direction of the California State League, a convention of delegates from all Republican clubs in California has been called to meet in this city for the purpose of dis- cussing plans and making preparations for the work of the coming campaign. The work to be performed is an important one, and Republican organizations throughout the State should make preparations to take part in it. : The terms of the call open a way for representation for all genuine Republican club organizations of the State. It provides that each Republican club in Cali- fornia, including those of the American Republican College League, shall be entitled to one delegate at large and one delegate additional for every twenty- five members upon its rolls. Organizations of Re- publican Veterans are especially invited to participate. No club shall be entitled to representation in the State League convention unless it has been organ- ized and in existence at least ten days prior to the date of the convention. No person shall be counted for representation in more than one club. Under these terms the convention will be large enough to be thoroughly representative of the Re- publicanism of the State, and the work accomplished by it will be felt in the campaign which is rapidly ap- proaching. Every young and active Republican should associate himself with some club and help to increase the representation which his section of the party will have at the convention. The campaign this year is to be one of critical im- portance. There are to be elected'a Governor, mem- bers of Congress and members of the Legislature, who in turn will elect a United States Senator. It is not going to be an easy victory for Republican- ism, for the Democrats have now the governorship, and with their Populist allies have four out of the seven members of Congress. To win a sweeping vic- tory there will be needed hard work and prompt work. The clubs have done and are doing great things in the way of perfecting the organization needed to accomplish success on election day, and all Republicans should cordially co-operate with them in the effort to make the coming convention one of the most inspiring and effective political gatherings in the history of the commonwealth, RN RNRERRARRARR BRI INER 5 WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS. - 2 By HENRY JAMES. o gsussaususssgaa:&ssuasassuauuaaausa: A friend suggests that I try to engi- neer this modest department for one week without abusing anybody. I fear from this that he has a misconception of the motives which underlie the be- nign criticism he terms “abuse.”” I do not write harshly from any love of say- ing aught in malice or to wound. But there is not always necessity for ex- tolling virtue, it is known to be good, whereas it is a plain duty to exp@se the ill which assumes the garb of vir- tue and parades annoyingly. s oeiti The poetry received this week will never reach the public if I can help it. I say this out of regard for the pub- lic, which is having trouble enough. et There could not well have been a thing more shameless than the New York Journal’s offer to a minister to write up the ‘“Tenderloin,” save the preacher’s acceptance. A minister who would leave his regular calling to wan- der among scenes of debauchery al- ready known to exist, repeatedly ex- ploited, and revelations concerning which could serve no purpose of de- cency, stamps himself by that act as grossly perverted, vile of instinct and fitted to be a denizen of the haunts of sin instead of a paid spectator. Ac- cording to contemporaries of the Jour- nal the minister who thus thrust him- self into temptation found there con- genial company at his natural level. He did not work a reformation, but he is now a subject for reform. Hearst is probably proud of this feat. He can delegate somebody to.write up the minister, and thus his continual per- formance show proceed without inter- ruption. But I do not think the fall of this minister a notable episode. It was not attended by an impressive plunk. He had such a short distance to fall. s e Not having any knowledge of naval affairs I can discuss them with the same freedom now being employed by a lot of correspondents who are in the same fix. The difference is that they do not seem to have grasped the truth patent enough to everybody else. They cherish a delusion that their informa- tion is complete, their conclusions flaw- less. I concede that my information may be all wrong, and my conclusions knocked into a cocked hat at the first engagement. It does not seem to me that the fear of torpedo-boats sinking our battle-ships rests on any basis of fact or reason. It is true that these little boats under certain conditions can do serious damage, but conditions in a sudden fight are not made to order. Provided the water be calm, the battle- ship’s searchlamp thoughtfully extin- guished to save the wear on the elec- tric wire, the crew asleep, the lookout below playing craps, the torpedo-boat will be a formidable enemy. But untl/ the torpedc-boat shall acquire the knack of keeping afloat when there is a breeze, and can get itself enveloped in invisible paint, its principal part in the tragedies of war will be in taking a short course to the bottom of the deep blue sea. This belief is far from offi- cial, and it is subject to amendment. I can amend it when necessary. This for the benefit of friends who might try to do it for me. Of course every composing-room is governed by a certain set of rules, but when in time of war I write “God of battles” there is going to be a capital G or trouble. . . It is a strange circumstance that the arrest of Treasurer Widber should be the occasion of expressions of sym- pathy for him. There never before came under my observation a case of larceny so mean and low. Widber had been chosen to a position of trust, at- tached to which there is an income suf- ficient to permit a life of reasonable luxury, an income several times greater than most men ever hope to attain. Yet he turned thief because the instinet was in him. He betrayed the public and his friends because to do so was more natural than for him to be honest. The affair is worse than merely criminal. It is disgusting and repellant. There is an instinctive re- spect for the courage of the bandit, but disregard for the sneak thief is com- plete. Widber did not have even the intelligence to so use his booty as to make it yield a scant return in pleas- ures of themselves decent. He sought compenionship from which a scalawag with some vague shadow of remaining self-respect would have shrunk as de- basing and distasteful. He bet on the races without having the thrill of see- ing the horses run. Now he complains that friends have deserted him. It is to be fervently hoped that Widber's punishment shall be speedy and ade- quate. He deserves a life sentence for the crime itself, and forty years extra for having the nerve to reproach those to whom he proved traitor. = s s California would feel a thrill of pride to see Governor Budd go to the front. If with his fire helmet, a hand grenade, a speaking trumpet and an ax the ex- ecutive did not succeed in cooling the seething blood of Spain, then, indeed, would the world know the affair to be serious. Standing on the Florida coast with the trumpet alone, he would be able to give the troops at Havana an impression of impending calamity and failing to take to the woods, their fates would be on their own heads. He would cross over and brandishing his ax herd them into Morro Castls, where he would lay the law down to them. The only disadvantage under these circumstances would arise from the fact that the speaking trumpet has been but indifferently trained in Span- ish, though when it spouts English walls totter and strong men turn pale. But were the Dons discreet enough to fly to the hills they would be tolera. bly safe. The trails there are under- stood not to be adapted to the use of the buckboard. o e The love of country is as instinctive as the love of home. Probably those of us whose minds do not go back clearly to a time when peace had van- ished, and the land was riven with strife, have not realized until now how much of this feeling is in each {indi- vidual, how we revere the flag, how affection would go out to the soldiers marching away to defend it. It had not been my privilege to witness the departure of the artillery, but I looked upon the infantry filing by toward war, ‘Each man of those grave-faced sol- diers seemed more than a friend. On the instant he became a brother. _ 4 Women tried to cheer him, and their| Take any car line. voices broke in tears. They sought to speak a final message to him, and could only press a flower into his hand. They wished him godspeed and could not say it. And yet they had been strangers, moving in different walks of life. At last they stood on a common plane. The shadow of the stars and stripes was over all; in every mind, one | thought. There could not have been a | sight more beautiful than the scene on | Van Ness avenue as the First filed by. | Children were there, thousands of them. They did not laugh as children are wont, but seemed to realize the solemnity of the event. It was not| music and brightness wholly. There | was an undertone of sorrow, and the | little ones, not able to understand, vet | took their tone from it. Along the| avenue was a double line of color. Ban- | ners were waving in countless hands, | ribbons decorated the old and young, | while flowers were in such profusion | that the air was perfume. The infantry ‘; approached with steady tramp, tramp, | tramp, there was the sound of drums, and over the dual lines of color rolled | a wave of life and motion as across a | field a mimic billow is driven by the | breeze. Even the babes stood on tip- | toe and trebled their enthusiasm, greet- ing the scldiers with smiles, gazing at them, almost wondering and looking after them as long as the troop, like one great living thing, could be seen undulating down the thoroughfare. There was then a mist before more than the eyes of the children. What- ever the future may bring to these sol- diers, the memory of their last hours in this city by the western sea must be with them to take from hardship and even from death a measure of bitter- ness. From an alien shore it must be they will send back to San Francisco | a kindly thought, for when the people | turned out to say to them, “God bless you,” it was more than a farewell; it was a benediction and a prayer. So have the boys in blue been treated in every place. If some poet inspired by the spirit of patriotism which possesses this great land were to give form m‘ the sentiments causing the present pulsebeats of emotion he would sing a sweeter and mightier song of war than has ever thrilled the human heart. s e It is not a pleasing task to call at- tention to a brutal and untimely dis- play made recently by the Examiner. One night during the week the build- ing in which that sheet is fabricated was wreathed in red fire, bombs ex- | ploded from the roof and rockets | whizzed into the sky, while a banfd | played livelv airs. There was every sign of jubilation. The pretext was | that war had become certain. The real reason was that the scarlet woman of Journalism had once more bedecked herself with gauds and obtruded upon | decency. As the painted creature of the street thrusts herself into notice, so | does her journalistic prototype, each unabashed in the presence of rebuke. | The certainty of war is nothing over which to rejoice. ~War is at best a | dread calamity. It means.that men will take up arms and bear them to death. It means suffering, mutilation, broken hearts, sorrows that never heal. It means that homes will be given over | to desolation, that poverty will come | into the house of plenty. War may be necessary to uphold the national honor, but whatever its cause, and | whatever its outcome, the better na- | ture shrinks from it, and pity gives | way to tears. Only a heartless and | sordid concern, dead to the impulse | now stirring the minds of the.people, would take advantage of the oppor- tunity to paint its character red against the black shadow of an ap- proaching tragedy, and with sounding bombs attract notice to its own degra- dation. s las e The hope that the war with Spain will be an “incident” culminating in complete surrender of the Dons does not seem to have a foundation so far as lay observers have been able to dis- cover. There is no doubt the Spanish are convinced that the only purpose of this country in interfering with Cuba is to take the island and keep it. It is natural for them to think it. They are not subject to the same emotions as may arouse a civilized people. Their own career has been one of bloody conquest and bloody efforts to retain that which violence had won. They have never acted on a humane im- pulse, never having experienced one. But they will fight as long as they have aught to fight with or for, The Latin temperament does not readily submit. It is the temperament which impels the dying soldier to bite at the heel of the triumphant enemy who steps across him. There seems noth- ing unreasonable in supposing the Spanish shrewd enough to keep out of the way as long as possible, and while | behaved prisoners. take desperate chance of approaching some of our seaports. If they do this they court certain death, but so strong is the war feeling in Spain that the army might as well die in futile fight as to go home beaten, there to be de- spised and plunged straightway into a domestic struggle as bitter as any with a foreign roe._ Several persons have asked why I do not notice a certain anonymous assalil- ant who is achieving great delight by his weakly attacks upon me. The rea- son is plain. While controversy with a gentleman of intelligence may be seemly and mutually beneficial, I have no time nor words to waste on a fool. S Even the San Quentin convicts want to enlist. It is not surprising that they should, and while a longing for liberty may be a principal motive, it is talt_ to suppose that many a convict retains an interest in the country whose laws he has transgressed. It does not seem to me, however, that convicts as sol- diers would be regarded as fitting com- rades by others in the ranks. Such an emergency might arise as to make their services necessary, but it has not arisen yet, and there are no indications of it. However, there is a parole sys- tem In this State which permits the release on certain conditions of well- It might be proper to extend the operation of this some- what, A man who is willing to shoul- der a musket and take his chances in Cuba could be of greater service in this way than while eating his head off in the penitentiary. P . The first and only good act of the School Board so far as the public has been permitted to know was in grant- ing holidays to the pupils on the days the soldiers started away. In token that this white spot in their records is appreciated I hope the penitentiary terms likely to be meted out among them will be somewhat short of life. BL A One of the rumors which had the honor to be conspicuously printed Sat- urday morning was of a running fight between a gunboat and a monitor, the latter being in the capacity of a pur- suer. Each craft had a “bone in fits teeth.” I hope the correspondent who sent the story will get a bone in his throat and quit the business. The mon- itor is not constructed so as to chase a gunboat. As well might a wheelbar- row set out in wild and thrilling ef- fort to overtake a bicycle. The moni- tor has uses, but it does not enter speed contests. . - Compliments to the evening papers and a humble suggestion that if they were to use smaller type they would have room for more lies. The stories they print now are for the most part ridiculous. They take a rumor which has about it nothing of probability and flare it up as truth. The result is that people are *losing confidence in the evening papers, a circumstance sad to contemplate. . I read with regret that Editor Orth Stein of Atlanta, who was recently as- saulted by Judge Berry, is recovering. The pleasure of Berry's acquaintance is not mine, but the pang of knowing Stein has left an indelible scar. If Berry had good cause for making the assault, a matter concerning which there can be no reascnable doubt, there can be no justification for his having made it in a manner so mild that the assaulted could, by any craft of the doctor, get over it. Stein is everything that is bad and nothing that is good. He has been guilty of stealing a shirt and guilty of shooting a man in the back. Yet he hds never been in jail long at . a time and he has never been hanged. It happens that he is as bril- liant as unscrupulous, and ¥et I have expected for years to hear that he had received a life sentence or been sent to the gallows. One fate or the other awaits him, unless some valiant Judge Berry shall intervene with a club. FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE. One of the extraordinary features of the present war prospect has been the remarkable flow of gold to this country. Since the blowing up of the Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, when war became really imminent, the gold imports have reached the enormous sum of $61,- 575,000. This, too, in spite of the Govern- ment purchases of ships and war material abroad, which were paid for in gold.— Philadelphia Times. ——————— BRUSHING UP ON GEOGRAPHY. There is a great class in geography just at the present time. It consists of the American people. They are making a specialty of the West Indies and giving attention to some other localities. What- ever the evils consequent ugfln the present difficulties, there will e more geographical knowledge in the country than ever before.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. ————— E. H. Black, painter, 120 Eddy st. * —_———— Treat your friends to Townsend's Cal. glace fruits, 50c 1b in fire-etched boxes. * B g — “ Giving up business; fine eyeglasses; specs; 33 Fourth (also Sundays); former- ly Kast shop. e —_———— Bpecial information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 ont- American ships guard Cuban waters gomery street. Telephone Main 1u42. [PUCSTR USSP USSR ADVERTISEMENTS. PEPPER PODS! ‘We do not expect great things these times. ‘What makes our business a big success is that we keep the things people use all the time and sell them at prices folks want to pay and can pay readily. The things quoted below are a fair sample of the many thousand bargains we are offering every day in the week, except Sunday. or two. Come while they last. Many of the closing lots will go out in a day SHOES=CLOSING. Sizes 214, 3, 3%, Ladles’ Fine Low Shoes. Sizes 4 to 8, Ladies’ Cloth Buskin: Sizes 2, 3, 4, §, Big Boys' $2 Oxfords. Sizes § to T, Men's $2 50 Oxford Sizes 5 to 6%, Bo; Sizes 5 to 10, Men' Sizes 1 to 1%, Girls’ Canvas Shoes. Sizes 13, 1, Girls' Fine Kia Button... Size 4, Ladies’ $2 K14 Shoes, samples. Stzes 2143 to 7, Ladies' Button Shoes Slzes 2%, 3, Ladies' §2 50 Shoes, plain. Sizes 1, 1%, Girls' $150 Tan Shoe: Sizes 1 to 4, Infants' Fancy Shoe: Trade orders solicited on above. FOR KLONDIKE. A Klondike Portable House, 12x16, now. $25 A Portable Boat, $10 elsewhere, now A Folding Rocker, $12 50 kind, now. Yukon Trail Sleds, were $5, now.. EETETRPRPR =3 $7 50 OTHER BARGAINS. Hamburger Mettwurst, Berlin Mettwurst, Sliced Tongue, Cold Sliced Ham, Truffle Sausage, Clubhouse Sausage, Smoked Pork Sausage, Roast Pork, logna Sausage. e FISH. moked Salmon, Scaled Herring, Smoked Halibut, Mackerel, > Smoked Finnan Haddies Codfish, Shredded, CHEESE. Sierra_Cream, Swiss, Clubhouse, Limbiirger, Eastern Cream, 3Mild Californta, Miscellaneous. Honey {n Comb, Butter and Eggs, Strained Honey, Home-made Pies, Silk Underwear for Ladies or Gentlemen, Honey Bread, Saratoga Chips, Health Bread, Ripe Olives, Fine Candy, Finest Crackers. You'll find our place convenient, c glad to see you and to serve you. order in the morning, or telephone it clate your trade and will leave nothin part at least. SMITH'S CASH STOR lean, light, comfortable and everybody If you fear a crowd in the evening leave , and all will be ready. We appre- & undone to secure it and keep it, or a E, 25-27 Market street, near the ferry. £3