The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 18, 1898, Page 6

6 7 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1898. WEDNESDAY. .MAY 18, 1808 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Propretor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager, PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third Sts., S. F. Teleph: Malin 1868 EDITORIAL ROOMS..........21T to 221 Stevensen Street Telephone Main 1874. ' THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) s | served by carrlers In this city and surrounding towns for IS cents a week. By mall $6 per year: per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL One year, by mall, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE +esee...908 Broadway | NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE...............Rigge House C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. CIIICAGO OFFICE Marquette Building " C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Adyertising Representative. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until | 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAllister street, open until 9:30 | o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open until 9:30 o'clock. | 1941 Mission street, vpen until 10 o'clock. 2991 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 | Misston 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 ana Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock. —_— e — AMUSEMENTS. Baldwin—“In Old Japan " Baldwin Thoater—Matinee to-morrow afternoon, in aid of the Masonic Wicows*-and Orpnans' Home. Columbia—+The Face in the Moonlight * California—*Moths " Aleazar—-Young Mrs. Winthrop * Moroseo's—“The Corner Grocery.” Tivoli—"Ship Ahoy.” Orpheum— Vaudeville Native Sons’ Hall, Mason street—Lecture Thursday night. | Olay Hall—Paloma Schramm, benefit to the Red , Friday afternoon. ’ Puvilion—Dog Show, The Chutes—Zoo, Vaudeville, and “Visions of Art.” | Olympia—Corner Mason and Eddy streets, Specialties. Central Park—Dog and Pony Show. Sutro Baths—Swimming, California JockeyOlb, Oakland—Races this day. Ei Campo—Musie. dancing, boating, fishing, every Sundav, THE LATE JUDGE CAMPBELL. /[\ Judge Campbell “ { sincere tribute to his worth. A unique figure in the | community, he had become a power; and as this | power extended into the homes of the lowly it was | far more for good than for evil. Judge Campbell's manner of conducting his court | was 50 unusual, the relations he bore toward chronic | offenders so without precedent, as to create the hasty | impression that a farce was being enacted. In sober | truth Campbell was a just man as well as humane. | | Under the apparent levity there was the working of a | logical mind. With certain forms of crime he had | no patience. The workman, indiscreetly intoxicated, | never found him a terror to face, but was sure of words of kindly counsel, perhaps a chiding. It was thus the Judge won friends and kept them. ‘ In private life Judge Campbell was genial, and the humblest could address him without fear of rebuff. | The same feeling which on the bench induced him to adjust family quarrels, to urge a bickering husband and wife to “kiss and make up,” was characteristic of | him always. His heart was easily touched. The poor " never vainly asked him for aid. So the poor regarded | him as their great and good friend, and long will they | BOVE the bier of the late those who during his life had occasion to criti- cize him, perhaps with hatshness, can pay a remember him. | THE LATE RAINS. HE tardy rains coming at an unwonted season Tha\'c done considerable damage to the hay and the cherry crop, but for all that the good re- | sulting has far outweighed the evil. All parts of the State have been badly in need of rains, and so serious was the damage threatened by the prolonged drought | that every shower is welcomed as a general benefit. The effect of the rain has been most notable in the fruit districts. Orchardists who a week ago were facing the probability that their crops would drop from the trees from lack of moisture are now san- guine of a fairly good output. The benefit to those who have planted trees this season, or whose orchards | are but one or two years old, is even greater, for the drought threatened them with a loss of every newly planted tree. This danger is now virtually a thing of the past. The showers have been sufficient in most localities to give the young plantations a good start, and if proper care and cultivation be now given they | have a reasonable assurance of outliving the summer | and its inevitable dry season. Reports from the various fruit counties are to the | effect that the output of fruit for the year will be much better than at one time was feared. There will not be enough to overstock the market, but there promises | to be plenty to yield the orchardist a profitable return for the capital invested in his orchard and the labor he has put on it. The State will receive a considerable revenue, and as a consequence all lines of business will be improved. Now that one good rain has come at this late sea- | son we can with some reason indulge the hope of more. The prospects are good for further showers before the prevailing weather conditions change into those which accompany the settlement into the dry season. Every one that comes will improve the inter- ests of the State. Every drop that falls will be money in the pocket of the orchardist, the farmer and the | stockraiser. We may have after all, therefore, a good season and find our full share of the prosperity which the outcome of the year promises to the nation at large. i B E— Society girls are said to be trying to organize a regiment of dudes to send to the front. Everybody will wish them success the most complete. Of course the Spaniard once subdued will be in need of train- ing in the niceties of etiquette. Yet the girls run some risks. Have they forgotten the Malay beauties with which the Philippines abound? They think their | beautiful beaux will be back in time for the routs of next winter, when, in fact, the danger that they may not wish to come back is little short of appalling. —— The establishment of a press censorship would not be viewed with disfavor. There is not alone dissatis- faction that the plans of the navy are betrayed to Spain, but the lies told by some of the saffron fellows have become tiresome. According to late reports the first boats out of the St. Michael region will bring $25,000,000. This is cheering news, but before fully accepting it human in- credulity craves a sight of the gold. ! What a dreary stretch of monotony the war in At- lantic waters would be if the dispatch boats of the yellow faker did not occasionally give the enemy a scare. Polo y Bernabe gives every outward indication of being a spy. It is time for neutral Canada to give him what is known in this country as the grand bounce. 1 TAXATION UNDER THE CHARTER NSWERING the allegation that the proposed new charter sets up a limit on taxation under which sufficient money cannot be raised to conduct the government which it establishes, amd that, therefore, it will be necessary to apply to the State Board of Equalization for an increase in the assess- ment aiter levy, the organ of Mayor Phelan says: “The financial affairs of the city under the new char- ter will be settled in June—some months before the State Board of Equalization takes up the San Fran- cisco assessment. The amount of money to be raised in this city will be limited by the Assessor’s figures.” 1f this were true it would be a complete reply to the allegation to which the organ refers. But it is far from the fact, as are most statements put forth in support of the financial system of the charter. In- deed, it is doubtful whether the method of levying taxes set up by the instrument is not void for uncer- tainty, or unconstitutional on the ground that it con- templates taxation without a hearing. It is a first principle that the government cannot take a man’s property by taxation without giving him a chance to question the justice of the assessment. Section 2 of chapter 4, article IV, of the charter enacts that “the Assessor shall assess all taxable prop- erty within the city and county at the time and in the manner prescribed by the general laws of the State.” The provisions of these general laws may be sum- marized as follows: I. Between the first Mondays of March and July the Assessor must make up an assessment roll of all taxable property. (Section 3628, Political Code.) 2. On or before the first Monday of July in each year the Assessor must complete the assessment book and attach his affidavit thereto, delivering it thereafter to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors. (Sections 3652 and 3634.) 3. The Board of Supervisors must meet to equalize assessments, but it must not continue in session later | than the third Monday in July. (Section 3672.) 4. Upon the completion of equalization the roll must be turned over to the Auditor, who must add up the valuations. (Section 3727.). 5. Before the second Monday of August the Aud- itor must prepare from the assessment book duplicate statements. (Section 3728.) 6. The Board of Supervisors must meet on the third Monday in September and fix the rate of county taxes, designating the number of cents on each $100 valuation. (Section 3714.) These sections form a complete system for levying county taxes. They are in force in this.city at the present time. Section 11 of chapter 1, article IIT of the charter says that “on or before the last Monday of June in each year the Supervisors shall levy the amount of taxes for city and county purposes re- | quired to be levied upon all property not exempt from taxation.” The general law says that the Assessor need not turn the assessment books over for equaliza- tion until the first Monday in July, and the Super- visors must equalize until the third Monday in July. Until equalization is finished the board cannot know the assessed valuation of real and personal property in the city. How, then, can it fix the rate of taxation on or before the last Monday-in- June so as to com- ply with the limit of $1 on each $100 of valuation? Probably in the event of the adoption of the charter and the discovery that its taxation system will not work no permanent damage would be done. As soon as the Supreme Court disposed of the charter provi- sions the general laws would come to the rescue and taxation would be resumed. But what would happen in the meantime? The city would certainly be with- out an income from taxation for one year. A year at least would be consumed in discovering that a levy made without equalization is invalid. These facts make plain other facts disclosed in con- | nection with the proposed charter. It is quite evident that on financial subjects the Freeholders did not know what they were doing. SPAIN TO BE BENEFITED. T is highly probable that Spain may experience a [needed resurrection as the result of the crushing defeat she must undergo at our hands. The renewal of vigor by nations and races is not impossible and has frequent illustrations in history. Prussia became the leader of the German states under Frederick the Great. The German people under his leadership expanded their power and influence in all directions, but the effort had an exhausting effect and a weakening reaction prepared them for the mon- strous humiliations put upon them by Napoleon. He hacked German geography until it was beyond recog- nition. An observer, immersed in the scene of this throttling of a race, could see no sign of its regenera- tion. The people seemed spent and finished. The great Frederick’s successor was a weakling. Such military capacity as remained was utilized by the Cor- sican, and such vigor as survived was converted to his uses against the prostrate nationality which he walked upon. From Germany at the beginning of this century to the Germany of to-day is a far cry, but the change that appears might well have occupied two centuries instead of one. Popular education, the athletic train- ing promoted by Father Jahn and carried by “the Turners” wherever German immigrants have gone, have wrought the intellectual and physical regenera- tion of a people. It is probable that without being embossed with the hard hoof of France and smitten in the teeth by the fist of her neighbor across the Rhine, German manhood and patriotism might have slumbered and national decay have become perma- nent. Spain has no future in her present paths. They lead | to the grave. She is to lose all her exterior posses- sions, and with them the temptations that have cor- rupted her public men. All of her illusions are to be destroyed. She is to be taught that Phillip IT and Charles V are dead, and their works have followed them. The Cid is no more, and no hand among her people is strong enough to raise the sword of Mu- darra. She has been following dead leaders for a hundred years. What she needs now is living leaders who can go where her people are raging and striking each other and spending themselves in self-destruction and make them sit down in the dust and ashes of humiliation and enter upon self-examination. She needs leaders who will secularize education, tolerate religious differences and rebuild a nation upon action and not upon declamation. If these results issue out of the war the United States will have been the agent of the new birth of Spain by the only meaps that can be used on a nation suffering the diseases that afflicted her. ‘We are not fighting an equal enemy; we are con- ducting an insane nation to the lunatic asylum for treatment. We don’t want especially to hurt her, but she is beside herself and must not be permitted to hurt us. If we get her to the asylum without killing her in self-defense, we pray that she may be cured and come forth the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella again, clothed and in her right mind. J Something serious should happen to the corre- spgndent and the journal whose ability and circulation have been devoted to spreading false information as to the location of the Spanish fleet.” In time of war people have been hanged and papers mobbed for a less offense. ROOSEVELT'S ROUGH RIDERS. F all the troops that have been mustered from among the American people for this war the one which holds the most conspicuous place on the national stage and engages the largest part of general attention is unquestionably that which is known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders, It has had fame thrust upon it before it has struck a blow, and will go to the field with such a blare of trumpets as that which on the mimic stage heralds the coming of some royal dignitary. This of course is one of the caprices of fame and is due to time, place and circumstance. Roosevelt is one of the Americans who knows how to keep the public interested in himself. When Police Commis- sioner in New York he appeared larger in the public eye and the press than the Mayor of the city or even the Governor of the State. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy he completely overshadowed Secretary Long, cut as large a figure in the administration as a Cabinet officer, and, to some people, seemed hardly less important than the President himself. Such a man operating in New York, having con- nections with clubs and the high social order of the Knickerbockers, necessarily confers fame upon any- thing in the way of an organization which he per- sonally conducts. Even a Roosevelt cotillon would make a nine days’ talk. In this case, however, he has added to the attractiveness of his personal command by the character of the troop he has formed. Rough riders we have in plenty. Cowboys and plainsmen of all kinds are not uncommon in the West. But rough riders headed by a Fifth avenue resident and composed largely of dandies from the clubs, polo players, college athletes and young mil- lionaires who got their millions by inheritance and not by toil, is a sight sufficiently unusual to be spec- tacular. The combination of the dainty darlings of Bradley Martin ballrooms with the uncombed terrors of cattle ranges appeals to the imagination, and the American heart rises in admiration at the sight. Nor is the thing itself unworthy of admiration. The essential equality of manhood in the United States has an impressive manifestation in this association for service in war of men from the clubs of the metrop- olis with men from the wilds of the mountains and plains. It is democratic and American in every re- spect. No other nation could organize such a troop or harmonize such diverse elements of its people for the common work of patriotism. This feature of the troop helps to make it popular and will no doubt help to make it effective. It represents the whole country and the most diverse classes of its society, and there- fore stands as a splendid embodiment of ths unity of our people. The only danger is that praise in this respect for the Rough Riders may lead to injustice to other troops. In every regiment that goes out from Cali- fornia, and probably in all from other States, there will be the same mingling of the rich with the poor, the college graduate with the cowboy type. These will represent America as truly as the New York combination. Full justice should be done to them, and all praise and admiration should not be given to the New Yorkers. Perhaps before the war is over some of them may be even more distinguished than the company which just now is the cynosure of East- ern eyes and the admiration of the metropolitan press. A TEXT FROM THE CHARTER. Tto which your attention is invited this morning is found in section 33, article XVI, under the general heading “Miscellaneous,” It reads as fol- lows and is interestin’ readin’. “No deputy, clerk or othe employe of the city and county shall be paid for a greater length of time than that covered by his actual service.” This means much. It means that the fireman dis- abled at his post of duty shall suffer the loss of his pay while his bones mend or his burns heal. If he is ordered into a place of danger he will go not merely at the risk of life and limb, but at the risk of having his income cut off and his family suffer. It does not strike us that this is the proper inducement to hold out to the members of the Fire Department. Natur- ally it will check their usefulness by abating their ar- dor. A man might well hesitate to place himself in jeopardy when an injury would be not alone to him- self, but to those dependent upon him for bread. The policeman is in the same boat. The outcome of such hazards as he assumes must, by the terms of the charter, be borne by himself alone. Let him receive a wound from the pistol of a burglar, or a fracture by an effort to stop a runaway, and this benign charter says his pay shall stop. Both firemen and policemen have now the privilege of a vacation. This is accorded them not as a favor, but because a faithful servant is entitled to rest; such a rest is a part of the reward of his toil. Under the new charter there will be no vacations. The fireman or policeman who feels the need of a breath of country air may go and get it at his own expense. The city cannot, it would appear, afford to pay him. Perhaps the school teachers will find the text of interest. They are accustomed to having vacations on pay. Their salaries go right on during periods in which the schools are not in session. There is to be no more of this under the charter framed for the ben- efit of somebody else. The result must be cutting down of yearly incomes, not under the present ar- rangement princely. Perhaps it was in view of this circumstance the Freeholders decided that the schools were costing more than their worth, and proposed to cut down the fund devoted to the payment of salarfes. When a text is of itself so clear there is no need of extensive elucidation. The meaning of the one under consideration is as plain as possible. It cannot be twisted to mean something else. It specifically adds to the burden of all public servants. If any of the ladies or gentlemen directly concerned are pleased with it their reasons are certainly unselfish, and they must regard themselves as at present underworked and everpaid. HE particular passage of the proposed charter Without official confirmation from Washington no- body will believe that General Merritt refused to go to the Philippines. The general is an old soldier and a good one, not apt to be guilty of insubordination. Probably the correspondent has once more erred—an operation toward which he seems to have a strong leaning. A sensitive Alabaman killed four men because they had twitted him with cowardice. Possibly this did not prove anything relative to the main question, but it demonstrated that the epithet is objectionable, and to be hurled only with discretion. SR It is said that the new Cabinet of Spain will favor a more active war policy. Perhaps this means that the system of hiding will give way to a more manly fash- ion of coming out in the open and getting licked. Alaskans are anxious to fight the Spaniards, but they would have to be sent to the tropics in cold storage or they would never stand the trip. Possibly the rain was sent to keep the Oregon sol- diers from feeling neglected and getting homesick. COLLECTED IN THE CORRIDORS H. D. C. Barnhart of Santa Cruz Is at the Lick. Sam N. Rucker of San Jose is registered at the Palace, John E. Budd of Stockton is a guest at the California. Assemblyman A. Anderson of Suisun is among the arrivals at the Palace. Judge William J. Leake of Richmond, Va., Is a guest at the Occidental. Bugene H. Barrow, a wealthy mine- owner of Sonora,”is registered at the Lick. : Joseph D. Blddle, the wealthy wheat raiser and banker of Hanford, is at the Grand. R. S. Satterlee of New York is in this city on a pleasure trip, and is registered at the Baldwin. Mrs. Major McLaughlin and her daugh- ter Agnes have returned from an Eastern trip, and are at the Palace. 0000000000 Thetruthof the O old adage, “One o ONE TOUCH o touch of nature o OF © makes the whole © NATURE, o World kin” was < 2 exemplified in the corridors_of the 0000000000 gygyin Hotel on Sunday afternoon. The gentlemen who hostelry were much interested in the antics of a little lad of 6 years, who was dressed in the latest and swellest boy fashion, including the diminutive box coat which does g0 much to make youngsters attractive these days. He evidently was the son of a rich father who lavished everything on his favorite child. Presently there appeared on the scene another lad, of about the same age, plainly but neatly dressed, and apparently not so well favored of fortune as the other. The newcomer had a bundle of “extras” in his little arms, which he en- deavored to sell by plaintively erying, “All about the war!” Luck was not with him, however, and he was about to de- part when he spied the other lad, who had been intently watching the young mer- open-mouthed admiration at the splendor of the other’s raiment. Then the follow- ing conversation took place: “Do you sell papers?’ The newsvendor replied: “Well, I try to sell dem, but dese ‘geezers’ won't buy any. I started out wid ten, and I only sold two, and it looks as if I was going to get stuck on de rest.” first iad, filled with an ambitious desire to be a merchant like the other, said, “Let mé see if I can sell them,” and with that he took the papers and was soon importuning the men who had been watching the little act to invest in his wares. In five minutes he had sold them all, and he presented his protege with $1 40 as the proceeds of the sales, for the scene had stirred the generous impulses of the onlookers, who willingly paid more than the regulation nickel, and the in- creased sum was the result. The little Samaritan, feeling that he had done a good deed, tripped gayly upstairs, while | the other, gazing at his rapidly retreating | figure, said: “Gee! I wish dat fellow would go In partners wid me. We would'nt do a t'ing—not a t'ing!"” Grasp- ing the money tightly in his hand, he said, ““I guess I'll call it a day,” and van- ished as the other had done. C. A. Fitzgerald, proprietor of a number of dividend-paying mines in this State, County. Robert Jamieson, proprietor of the Vic- torfa Theater and the Vancouver Opera House, 1s registered at the Baldwin from Victoria, B. C. Ferris Hartman is at the Baldwin with his manager, George Bowles. They have been touring the southern part of the State with “The Purser” Company. Miss Helen Wilder of Honolulu, who has been at the Occidental for a week, has gone to Portland, in company with Miss } Johnson. The ladies will visit friends and return in ten or twelve days. At the California are registered Judge Milton E. Elliott of Astoria, Or.; W. D. Duke, a cattleman of Navajo Springs, Ariz.; Willlam Burbank of Los Angeles | and Mason Thomson of New York. General E. 8. Otis, U. 8. A., who has| come here to command the first division | of the Philippine expedition, arrived from | Denver on the overland and immediately | went to the Occidental. With him were Major F. Moore, Captain J. S. Mallory, Captain John L. Stbon and Adjutant Gen- eral Fred W. Sloden. NEVER OR NOW. Listen, young heroes! Your country is calling! Time strikes the hour for the brave and the true! Now, while the foremost are fighting and fall- ing, Fill up the ranks that have opened for you! Stay not for questions while freedom stands spin 5! Walt mot Hlt Honor lies wrapped in his pall! Brief the lips' meeting be, swift the hands’ clasping; ““Oft fer the wars!”" is enough for them all. Never or now! cries the blood of a nation, Poured on the turf where the red rose should bloom Now is the day and the hour of salvation— Never or now! peals the trumpet of doom! —Oliver Wendell Holmes. THE NEW CHARTER AND THE CITY HOSPITAL. No part of city government has been and still is more scandalous than the management of the City and County Hos- pital, and it will be Interesting to ob- serve what methods are proposed in the new charter to secure a better adminis- tration in the new hospital which is about to be erected. Section 3, page 120, decrees that “The Board of Health shall have management and control of the city and county hos- pitals, almshouses, ambulance service, municipal hospitals, receiving hospitals, ete.,” and with the exceptions provided in article II, chapter III, shall have ex- clusive control and disposition of all ex- penditures necessary in the institutions under its immediate control.” This exception takes away from the Board of Health the power to contract for goods, merchandise, stores, supplies, as well as for all subsistence, supplies, drugs and other necsssm’r articles for hospitals and other public institutions. Mm{’ here we may ask what sort of man- agement and control will be left the Board of Health? They are not permit- ted to buy the bedding or other necessar: supplies; they cannot command the kin and quality of food; they cannot buy the drugs they require; they must ask leave to purchase new instruments, new ap- pliances, and they are made dependent on the Board of = Supervisors even for bandages and dishcloths. Now this is ex- actly the same division of authority which has given the Clt{ and County Hospital its dreadful reputation. It was under contracts made by the Supervisors that the bedding was foul and insuffi- cient; that the flour was musty and the oatmeal sour; that the meat was tainted and uneatable; the beef and mutton were charged for when poultry was supplied which never reached the patients; that wine, whisky and even jewelry were de- livered in the place of groceries, and only last year it was reported to the Grand Jury that common drugs were charged five times their market value. For Kears the hospital has been regarded by the poor as the home of misery and death, and scores have left it because they had not enough to eat. Moreover, g‘l?ervuon are bound to take the lowest as if cheapness was of advantage to the sick. Gentlemen endowed with immense pat- ronage and discretionary power cannot be trusted, -while Supervisors are given the power to interfere on the most impor- tant questions of administration and to make their own terms with the con- tractors as they do now. The same scandals will continue to pre- vail, and the poor patients and the tax- payers will be the chief fiu%grml. —_——— The King of Sweden is the tallest i e Euro- habitually enjoy the luxury of the com- | fortable leather-cushioned chairs In that | chant, who, on his part, now gazed in | Then the | is at the Baldwin from Quartz, Tuolumne | MR. HUNTINGTON BEFORE THE RAILROAD COMMISSION. To the Editor of the San Francisco Call: I spent last week in listening to the interrogation of Collis P. Hunting- ton by the Railroad Commissioners. With sly humor the United States Su- preme Court had ordered the commis- sion to ascertain, as a preliminary to fixing rates, what the railroads consti- tuting the Southern Pacific system cost and what they are worth now; and though the court might just as well have required the commission to ascer- taln what it cost to accomplish the in- dependence of the United States, and what it is worth in dollars and cents after a century of freedom, still Messrs. | La Rue, Hinton and Clark took the mandate of the court seriously and probed Mr. Huntington with questions which neither he nor any one else could answer, and it never occurred to their; dull minds that they had been sent on a fool’s errand to demonstrate the ab- surdity of the body to which they be- | | long. They even indulged in a gallery- play of assuming that the witness was | | fencing with their questions to conceal | the truth, and jibed at him just as | Cotton Mather jibed at the Salem wit- | nesses for refusing to explain their re- | 1ations with the devil. It is silly investigations of this kind which make California such a laugh- ing-stock in the East. The story of the building of: the Pacific railroad long ago ceased tp be a mystery requiring investigation. Nearly forty years ago | it was necessary for the interest and safety of California that it should be connected with the East by rail; but neither the subsidy voted by Congress | nor the land grant supplied money | enough for the purpose. To construct the eastern end of the road, Uakes Ames and Thomas C. Durant flung themselves into the arms of the Credit Mobilier, and became financial wrecks | wrapped in a black cloud of oblequy: the building of the western end de- | volved on Collis P. Huntington. He | put his own money into the enterprise | and induced his associates to put theirs. But their combined resources were only a drop in the bucket. He went round | hat in hand to men of nieans, begging vainly for assistance in the work. Of | the office of every rich man in Sacra- | mento, San Francisco, New York and | Boston, the doorstep was worn smooth | by his tireless tread. The patience of every ear was exhausted by his per- sistent appeals. But he could make no converts; there came a time when he| could get no listeners. Men of means had one invariable reply, ‘““The risk is too great and the profit, if any, too re- mote.” | Tired, but not discomfited, he realized : that if the work was to be done he must | do it himself. He must lift unaided | the stone which the builders rejectea. People would neither buy the bonds nor subscribe to the stock of the Central | Pacific. An idea broke on him. Per- | haps they would take an interest in a | construction company. So the Con- tract and Finance Company arose. and was followed by the Western Develop- ment Company. But capitalists were as shy of them as they had been of the | railroad corporation. The risks were | too great, and the profits too remote. | Thus, not because Mr. Huntington so desired, but because he could not help | himself, the members of the building | corporation and the members of the | railroad corporation were and remained | the same individuals. They could in- duce no one to share their risks, and their situation was not improved. There was one chance left. If bonds | and stock were offered to capitalists in | sufficient amounts and at sufficiently | low prices, morey might possibly be | | got. It was figured out that offers of $40,000 a mile in bonds, supplemented by an equal amount of stock, might | perhaps unloose the purse strings of some who were rich and avaricious. And they did. The securities were sold at a large discount. But they were sold, sparsely and slowly. The road had been running about ten years be- fore the Contract and Finance Com- pany paid off the last of the floating debt it had incurred to carry them. It had peddled its bonds and stock in Bos- ton and New York at all manner of prices, and had borrowed money on them where it could not sell. It is not | likely that either the Contract and Fi- | nance Company, or the parties with| whom it dealt, remembered, twelve months after their transactions, the ex- act terms of each, but now, thirty years afterward, Mr. La Rue seriously asks Mr. Huntington what the bonds real- ized, and Mr. Hinton, with a saa air and a weary rocking of his head, whines that the ends of justice are de- feated because the president of the Southern Pacific does not state at a | blow, from his own recollections, how much money the Contract and Finance Company receiyed for securities which took nearly twWenty years to marker. | Yet Mr. La Rue bears the reputation of | being an intelligent citizen, and ws have Mr. Hinton's own assurance that he is a man of virtue. Further designing that the Railroad Commission shall make itself ridicu- lcus, the court required it to ascertain what the various properties constitut- ing the Southern Pacific are worth now. ?’he only parallel on record is the questién of the old schoolmaster who insisted that his pupils_should state the size of a piece of chalk. Rallroad properties fluctuate in value from year to year and from month to month, with the vicissitudes of business and the prospects of traffic. They are worth more when crops are good than when they are lean. Their value is less in a season of drought than in a season of copious rainfall; in a year when trade is dull, than in a year when it is brisk; at a period when traffic is divid- ed by competition than at a period when the receipts are pooled. Yet the Supreme Court required the Commis- sion to elicit from Mr. Huntington an arbitrary and definite appraisement of the various roads which constitute the Southern Pacific system, and the Com- | missioners affected indignation when he confessed his inability to do so. The patience with which the old gentleman played the part for which he was cast in this fool play was really admirable. Some vague conjectures as to values may be derived from his admissions that of the $150,000,000 of stock in the Southern Pacific, $120,000,000 have been issued, and that shares are selling for 12 to 13 cents on the dollar; also, that the $50,000,000 capital of the Southern Pacific Rallroad of California is repre- sented by shares which are locked up in a trust, and have no present market value at all. But how a knowledge of these approXimations could help the commission to raise or lower rates of freight it would puzzle a conjurer to determine. The head and front of Mr. Hunting- ton’s offending is that he has made money, which is gall and wormwood to the demagogue and the impecunious. Of course he has made money. Men like Vanderbilt and Huntington always make money, whatever enterprises they undertake. Shrewd, thrifty, far-sight- ed, indefatigable, thev were certain to grow rich whether they constructed railroads, or built st®amers, or dug canals, or erected rows of houses or dealt In real estate or merchandise. Such men, of course, are rare, very rare. It is quite possible that, thirty years ago, no other man but Collis P. Huntington could have constructed the Pacific raflroad in the face the enormous difficulties of the task and the prodigious obstacles he had to over- come. Dogged resolution and indomit- able perseverance are exceptional. If Mr. Huntington had not reaped a re- ward for labor pursued for so many years with such unremitting persist- ence, his case would have been a re- markable exception to the rule of life. But now, as'in the days of Seneca, it is | | the practice of the multitude to bark at eminent men, as little dogs bark at strangers. JOHN BONNER. —————————— . ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. VICE-PRESIDENT—A. O. S, City. Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President, took the oath of office before the oath was ad- ministered to Abraham Lincoln as Presi- dent at Washington March 4, 1561 TORPEDO DESTROYERS—R. and T., City. Torpedo destroyers are swift mov- ing vessels, capable of making from twenty-five to thirty knots an hour, used to chase and sink boats that are used for elther planting or sending torpedoes. PATENTS—J. S. 8., City. If you desire to ascertain if a certain article has been patented in the United States patent of- fice, you can ascertain that fact by look- ing over the patent office reports in the reference room of tne free library of this city. You can also obtain that informa- tion from any patent-securing attorney. AT DAWSON CITY—Fannie, Bloom- field, Cal. The shortest days at Dawson City are eight hours of daylight. The sun is visible for about an hour on those days. The city is not in total darkness for the twenty-four hours of the day. At Fort Yukon, 400 miles further north, the sun is not visible for several days, still there is daylight for several hours. EXPLOSION IN WEST BERKELEY— J. A. L., City. The powder works near Highland station, West, Berkeley, oc- curred July 9, 1882, The first shock was felt at 9:21 a. m., the second at the third, which was the heavies Five persons were killed. 4 glass was_shattered in San Fran i ten miles distant, by the force of the ex- plosion. ELECTION BOARD—A Reader, Hay- wards, Cal. There is nothing in the law that says that a man who has been nomi- nated for a county office shall not serve as an officer of an election board. The rule, however, has been that if a candi- date has been chosen to serve on the board he would sénd in his déclination of the appointment. WATER RATES — Enquirer, Colusa, Cal. Thedaw of this State on the subject of water rates says that “such rates shall be fixed at a regular or special session of the Board of Supervisors or other legis- lative body held during the month of Feb- ruary of each year, and shall take effect on the first day of July thereafter, and shall continue in full force and effect for the term of one yvear, awd no longer.” It is held that this means that once fixed the rates cannot be changed during the vear thereafter. LEAVING THE STATE—Subscriber, City. The law of California says that ‘“‘persons belonging to the military forc while attending to military duty are e empt from arrest on civil process.”” This is repeated in the section of the Political Code, under the head of National Guard. If it had been intended to cover the Na- tional Guard only the section would hav read: “Persons belonging to the Na- tional Guard” Instead of ‘“to the military forces.” It follows from this that as a debtor who attempts to leave the State can be arrested only ‘on civil process, an officer or gany one else of the military forces cannot be arrested. Then, further, it is doubtful if a court would isgue a warrant for the arrest of an of- ficer leaving the State under orders from the War Department. The fact that he was leaving the Btate under orders to perform military duty would not be con- strued into an attempt to leave the State {{)orr!the purpose of defrauding his cred- CONTRABANDS OF WAR—A. S, Cherokee. Cal. Tt is not a departure from neutrality to furnish to either of two na- tions at war supplies which do not fall within the description of contraband of war—that is, arms and munitions of war, and things out of which munitions of war are made. A neutral country may carry on ordinary trade with either bel- ligerent, except when prevented by block- ade, but ships that carry on trade in the ordinary line of commerce must not have on board articles that are contraband of | war, nor must a coterminous land fron- tier be crossed by such commodities. By law and practice of nations, it s for th admiralty courts of the capturing power to decide what is and what is not contra- band of war. At varfous times discus- sions have arisen whether corn, hay or coal can ever be included in the list of ar- ticles of contraband of war. They are obviously articles of peaceful commerce, but they are also essential to the main- tenance of an army and sometimes a supply would give one belligerent a great advantage over the other, especially as to coal in the present age of war steamers. —_——— ‘The new moldings for picture frames in the new finishes, Flemish and Old Dutch with {vory ornaments, Japanese gray, Persian green and English oaks, seal browns, bone ebony, natural cherry, ma- hogany and fine mat gilts, are exactly suited to good taste. We have them ail at reasonable prices. Sanborn, Vail & Co., 741 Market street. . — el Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend's.® —_—— Spectal information ssupplied dally to business houses and public men by th Press Clipping Bureay (Allen’s). 510 Monte gomery streef Telephone Main 1042 ¢ —_—————— An’ he jest can't march with that leg of his, Kase it's all stove up with the rheumatiz, An’ his place is here, whar the homestead is, For to light the fire in the mornin’! —_————— “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used over fifty vears by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Collc, reg- ulates the Bowels and is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists in every part of the world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup. 25c a bottle. CORONADO—Atmosphere 1s perfectly dry, soft and mild, being entirely free from the mists common further north. Round trip tick- ets, by steamship, Including fifteen days' board at the Hotel del Coronado, $55: longer = $250 per day. Apply 4 New Montgomery st., 8. F., or A, W. Bailey, mgr. Hotel del Corona- do, late of Htl Colorado, Glenwood Spes, Colo. —_———————— THOSE who are worn out, rheumatic and feebls shonld use PARKER'S GINGER TONIC, PARKER'S HATR BArsax will save your halr. e My old man, he can’t go to sea; He ain’t no satlor, an’ he'll never be; His place is home with the boys an’ me, For to light the fire in the mornin’! ADVERTISEMENTS. Half an Hour’s RIDE UPON A4 “Bevel-Boar Chainless Bicycle Will convince you that it is the easiest-running, most noiseless and perfect Bicycle made. Test it at our expense. Pope Mfg. Co.,Makers 844 Post St., San Francisco. 1970 Page St., Cyclery. WM. CLARK, 102 Telegraph Ave., Olk'llnl.