The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 22, 1898, Page 5

THE SAN FRANCISEO CALL, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1898 SULPHUROUS FUMES DEVASTATE | SHASTA COUNTY The Mountain C : Roasts Ore opper Company in the Open at Keswick. Poisonous Vapor Destroys Forests and Ruins Orchards—Ranchers in Despair. S0z -1t 1s only a cal formula, lookin “harmless in print; By.man’s agency up ble world it me chief. This compound, is capable of destroying tree and shrub, every living domes in its way. “bloom nor fruit of its dread influence, the forest, which once « side with beautiful e 1gly withered ir These things the to find out and s daily. go a great English 1 of inexhaustible | n of a mine which with but indifferent g Mountain. The P ¢ rich, it contained Y fron, but the former pro- r appliances, with m ious company, 1 ev appliance logy. soon a little town | less capital not know a n a p! pretty ace | ovaen fence of the sm yunced, m, the private wic may stands who chooses walk e to the entrance is a long line wooden shanties, each of which is p mill of the lowest description Though it is not yet high noon, be -unshaved . men lounge about the side- and stagger in and out of the holding, after the manner of en men, loud and aimless discus- s upon nothing in particular. The run day and night, consequent- /. there are always a number of men duty, and the saloons are never empty. Occasionally, to vary the mo- notony of everlasting beer, there is a free fight, and the one doctor, who lives in. the only decent hotel the place posse just_over the way, is called upon to patch a broken head, or to sew up an ugly jagged wound caused by a .bottle. Shooting cases are rare. The bottle or the knife is the favorite sveapon. The pop, pop, pop of a shoot- gallery indicates the only form of available, while , where the com- pany’s fence rises to double its usual height, is a large wooden building, in ich the scarlet woman holds sway. The midday sun shines with overpow- ering heat on the unsheltered place. | Fhere is not a flower or a green thing | [t : n the firs on the hill- side withered brown tassels | seen; ng the in.despair. No form of vegetation can £Trow in such an accursed spot. Only | man, impelled by need or greed, strives | to drag on a miserable existence there. | Though the air clear, there is a | noticeable smell of sulphur everywhere, -Just as if some one had struck a match under your nose. The residents don’t notice it. “This is nothing,” said a dried-up looking man, as he tllted his chatr back on the veranda, “It's a | dry day. Wait till we get some wet | i, weather and then you will see the | “fumes settle down on the town like a -pall, and almost choke the life out of you.” I..I-declined the invitation, for even oni a--clear hot day there was quite as _miuch sulphur about as was pleasant. The hill slopes sharply down from the | town Into a deep canyon, and here ‘méstling round the banks of what was | once a clear mountain stream, rise huge sheds and tall iron chimneys. The stream has long since disappeared:| Viscid pools of ugly looking yellow and | gray slime have taken its piace, but it | is worth noticing that the gully drains into the Sacramento. When the rainy | season sets in, and a flood of water rushes down the canyon, all this refuse | must be washed down into the river, | polluting the beautiful stream and de. | stroying the fish for many miles. ° From the tall chimneys of the smelter clouds of blue vapor pour forth day and | keeps the gold and the | a thick layer of firewood put down. | great pile of ore is dumped on top of But this i{s hot the worst of it. up on the opposite hi ed only with the stems of de: S another cloud of smoke. This i night. mitive process of open-air are produced those sulphur- ous fumes which are rapidly blighting the whole countryside. Any one who has been in the manufacturing States of the East or in England has seen what is generally termed a ‘‘black country.” A place of barren desolation, of s gre night ¢ heaps and ore dumps, where no n thing grows, and where day and the furnaces and factory chim- pour forth their poisonous smoke. ROASTING ORE 1'.21“[)‘, the miserable wrecks one sees | | about the beer saloons bear eloquent | testimony to the fact. Nearly every | man with whom I spoke told me that | he was only waiting until he had saved | enough money to get away. - For the credit of the State, it should be men- | tioned that'there are very few Cali- | fornians engaged in this degrading la- | bor. Our men are above this kind of | work, and are to be found only in the ranks of the skilled artisan. | Travel around the country anywhere within a radius of ten or twelve miles and you will find ample evidence of the destructive effect of these fumes. The fir trees on the slopes are Wwith- | ered and brown, even the oaks, which | have stood the visitation longest, arei giving way. The manzanita bushes and the chaparral of the undergrowth are dried up, and it only requires the slightest spark to start a destructive bush fire. Consequently during this dry weather fires are of daily occur- rence. It may be the carelessness of a camper, who leaves the embers un- covered; it may be the design of a prospector, who wishes to lay bare the | ledges and render his search for the | precious metal easy. But whatever | the reason, the spark to start a fire is | rarely wanting, and the hills around Shasta are rapidly being denuded of | their timber. Naturally the residents of this old established mining town, which is only some three miles from the smelters, re extremely indignant, though, for reas which can readily be under- stood, they are very cautious in giving expression to their indignation. They will talk freely enough in confidence, but they Invariably extort a promise that their name shall not appear in good many people from the | in Shasta; there are local | interests to be considered, cares to declare himself one and no | the pronounced enemy of such a great corporation. “I will give Shasta just ten vears to become as barren as Kes- | wick,” said one resident, “that is, if a | bush’ fire does not destroy it before.” There is more sickness in the town | than was ever known before,” says an- | other. “People get carried off by | | some mysterious complaint, and we can only attribute it to the fumes.” | Between Shasta and Iron Mountain there was formerly a prosperous ranch kept by a man named Welsh. He had a fine orchard and supplied Shastawith all the fruit it required. But as socn | as the smelters started his whole crop | was destroyed, even the fruit which | had already ripened on the trees was found uneatable, being strongly im- | | pregnated with sulphur fumes. He had | | to abandon the ranch and brought an | action against the company for dam- | wood. It is no wonder that the resi- dents despair; unless the gvil is checked there is nothing before the country but barren desolation, over- hung by a cloud of sulphurous smoke. The matter has not altogether es- caped the attention of the Government, for some time ago H. C. Cullom, brother of the Senator, was sent here to inquire into the condition of affairs. His report was decidedly adverse to'the smelters, and in consequence an injunc- tion to restrain the company from its death-dealing operations was applied for in the Federal courts. But some- how or other the matter has got hung up, and while lawyers are still wrang- ling over tedious questions of jurisdic- tion the poisoning of the countryside goes on unchecked. - In some mysterious way it has become remarkably difficult to procure witnesses who will testify to the evil effects wrought by the fumes, and it is quite evident that the corpo- ration is going to make a strong fight for the privilege of devastating one of the most fertile portions of California. If the State benefited to any extent by these operations we might possibly consider whether it was worth while to give up a certain area of land to the destructive smelters. But, as far as I can gather, California gains but little by having this industry settled in her midst. The capital employed is wholly foreign, and the dividends earned—no one knows how large they are—necessarily go abroad. Most of the stores required by the company are imported. It spends as little as possi- ble in the land whence it derives its wealth. Even the refining of the ores is not done here, for the matte is sent to the company's works at New- ark, N. I, for treatment. What re- turn, then, does California receive for the damage done to her forests and orchards? The corporation can only point to the town of Keswick, the offspring of the smelters—and I have already sald enough about its character to convince any impartial observer that the State would be much better off without any town of the kind. Also the corpora- | tion gives employment to several hun- dred vagrant laborers, who never would be missed if they left us for ever. In return for these concesslons the company takes all that is of value in the Iron Mountain ore and exports it, leaving only the poisonous element behind. The solution of the problem is easy. If the smelters are to continue work- ing at Keswick they should be com- pelled to absorb their own fumes. Chemical science has made the task possible. It is a pure matter of ex- pense. asked Mr. Freeland, the smelting superintendent, why some steps were not taken to condense the I ages. The corporation, following its | \sual policy, bought him out, and noth- | fumes and prevent their widespread ing more was heard of the matter. distribution over the country. His | Another still more pitiful instance | answer was evasive. It could be [ occurred just outside Shasta. Two |done,” he replied, “but only at prohibi- old residents, Messrs. Stolberg and |tive expense. ~That is to say, the Mauser, cultivated an orchard there for | many years. But the trees grew old, | the fruit trade was no longer profitable, | | so they decided that almonds would scheme Is not commercially practica- ble. If we had to condense our fumes it would not pay us to smelt the ore at all.” IN THE OPEN AIR. This is what Keswick looks like to-day and in ten years' time, if something is not done, the greater part of Shasta County will present a similar appear- ance, To understand the reasons for this we must look into the process em- ployed by the Mountain Copper Com- brought from the mine ne of railway and in the first instance is dumped down on the hillside. Its main constituents are copper and iron sulphid by a private a small percentage of gold and silver. Before smelting the ore the sulphur must be extracted by roasting. Re- gardless of the welfare of the country or the health of the residents round about, the company h adopted the simplest and cheapest method of doing this. The ore is just burned in the open air and SCz in enormous quantities set free to devastate the land. Sulphur- ous acid, it may be remarked, is of no use to the company, it has no com- m alue and nnot be turned into dividends. Consequently while it ver the cop- per and the iron for the enrichment of i shareholders in England it gener- sly presents the poisonous residue to California. The bargain is rather too one-silsd to be fair. A spot is selected on the hillside and A this, making a mound some six feet high and of any length desired. When the fire is once properly started the ore will go on burning itself, smold- ering away for a month or more. Flow- ers of sulphur, hideous travestles of nature’s fairer work, form on the sur- | face, the fumes which rise are almost suffocating. One cannot stay in the neighborhood. Of course the men work- ing there get somewhat used to the air. though none of them can endure the oc- cupation for long. There are any num- ber of these polsonous fires scattered about “the hillside, and as the works put through from five hundred to seven | hundred tons of ore per day some idea may be formed of the amount of sul- phurous acid given off. Down below the finer portion of the ore is treated in a Ropp calcining furnace, but the result is much the same, for the fumes all escape into the open air through | chimneys. There are from 1000 to 1200 men em- ployed at the works, yet it is a sig- nificant fact that few of them remain at the occupation continuously. The foremen, the mechanics, the better paid class of skilled workmen, may marry and settle down in one of the company'’s little cottages, but the great bulk of the labor is of the vagrant type. Men of all nationtlities, Dagos and Dutchmen, Irishmen and Cornish- men, drop in here, and as long as a man is stror~ enough for the trying labor he is rarely refused employment. Workmen of this class are never too plentiful, and the company is glad to secure whom it can, at a wage of about $2 50 a day. But hard labor under as well as | ‘be the thing. They dug up their old | trees and put in almonds, and for a time all went Well. The trees were just | beginning to bear, and the prospect of | large quantities of salable nuts cheered | the old men’s hearts. Just then the smelter came along, and with the first | fumes their hopes vanished. The al- mond trees, from which so much was expected, withered as soon as the dead- |1y blight fell upon them, and the old men were ruined. Though the busy town of Redding is | some seven miles from the works it feels the effects of the fumes even more | markedly than Shasta. Redding is a | strictly commercial place; its citizens derive profit in many ways from the | smelters and the men who work them. | So they don't like to say too much, | but they admit that on a wet day, if | the wind happens to be in the right djrection, the shrubs and flowers In | their gardens shrivel up under the | poisonous fumes. The sulphur even at- ; tacks the paint on their houses, fruit growing in the neighborhood has been abandoned, and more than one neg- lected and deserted ranch gives mute | P\‘(;ien(‘e to the destructive effects otl S0z, ‘Whether the small amount of busi- | ness brought them by the smelters is | sufficient compensation for the destruc- ; | | | | | | { tion of their orchards and farms is the question now agitating the citizens.of Shasta County. Outside the storekeep- ing element there is only one answer. The agricultural development of Shasta has been rather backward, owing to the fact that most of its residents were absorbed in mining pursuits. But dur- ing the last few years, when prospect- ing ceased to be profitable, a new era began. Many small ranches were cleared and planted, orchards were al- ready beginning to bloom, and a great expansion in the legitimate trade of the district was looked for. Shasta has abundance of rich land which will well | repay culture, and it was expected that | the fruit-growing industry would find | a home there, covering the land with verdant orchards. This forward move- ment was already under way when came the smelters, and the future of Shasta vanished under the blight of the sulphurous fumes. The county rejoices in a magnificent climate, having neither the excessive cold of the mountains nor the wither- ing heat of the valleys. Pretty well | everything in the way of fruit and | vegetables could be grown profitably, | and there is abundance of timber in the | ranges, sugar pine, yellow pine, spruce | and fir, which might in time be brought to market. At present this lumber is | | too far from the railway, is too inacces- sible, to be worked profitably, but when the more easily reached forests have | been used up its value will be enor- | mous. That is, if there is any left after | the fumes from the smelter have put, in | their work. A tree once touched by this | poisonous breath not only closes its leaves and dies, but its very trunk de- cays under the foul influence, and the ‘such conditions soon saps a man’s vi- | wood becomes useless, even for fire- | hand, If this is so, and the matter is by no means certain, then California would be much better off without any smelt- ers of the kind. But probably, if legal pressure were brought to bear, the company might find that there were means available for condensing the fumes without ruinous outlay. Per- haps the dividends paid to the English shareholders might be a trifle less, but still, if the thing had to be done, it would be done. That it will not. be done, except under absolute compulsion, is equally certain. If the law courts fail to grant an injunction, then the pressure of public opinion must be brought to bear, and legislation en- acted which will force the company to abandon its assumed right to devastate one of the falrest portions of the State. J. F. ROSE-SOLEY. BEATS OUT THE BRAINS OF HIS TWO BABES Revolting Murder Committed by a Supposed Insane Resicent of Paris. Special Cable to The Call and the New York Herald. Copyrighted, 18%, by James Gor- don Bennett. PARIS, Aug. 21.—A murder under most sensational and revolting circum- stances has been committed by a man named De Blauder, living in a small apartment in the Rue Gutenburg. He took his two littie girls, Jeanne, aged four, and Germaine, aged scarcely three, into a moat of the Paris fortifl- cations, tled handkerchiefs tightly around their necks, and then seizing them by the legs battered their heads against the ground. When they ap- peared dead he took to flight. The diabolical act appears so utterly purposeless that it can be attributed only to temporary insanity, probably due to heavy drinking, aggravated by the hot weather. INCREASED MORTALITY DUE TO THE HEAT Number of Deaths in Paris Average Upward of Two Hundred a Day. Spectal Cable to The Call and the New York Herald. Copyrighted, 189, by James Gor- don Bennett. PARIS, Aug. 2L.—The thermometer is not the only thing that has risen this week. The death list also is higher than usual. For the past few days the figures have been between 200 and 220 a day. This is much greater than the average. Yesterday, for example, there were 212 funerals. As may be imagined, infants have formed the bulk of these deceases. Indeed, about half have been children. The heat has, in fact, been terrible. We are not ac- customed to hot waves of this inten- sity and relief does not seem close at CHINESE PROBLEM MUST BE SOLVED Asiatic Competition in Hawaii. EVILS OF CONTRACT LABOR COOLIES REMAIN WHEN THEIR TERMS EXPIRE. Engage in Other Ventures to the Discomfiture of Whites Instead of Returning to Their Native Land. BY HORACE WRIGHT. Bpectal COX’P!SDO’I'A;!I;(‘Q of The Call. HONOLULU, Aug. 10.—One day last month there appeared in The Call an elaborate interview with Representa- tive and Congressional Commissioner Robert R. Hitt, in which Mr. Hitt was reported as having said in reference to the Chinese problem: ““This is a most difficult problem, but I trust not an insoluble one. My un- derstanding is that most of the China- men and Japanese are there under con- tract, and that they will steadily tend to go back to their homes when the contracts expire.” How very little even Intelligent Con- gressmen know on this subject may be illustrated very briefly. There were at the last census (1896)—and the num- ber for the present is dally reducing) 10,941 unskilled Chinese laborers in the country, of which number in December, 1896, there were employed on the sugar plantations 5289; 1915 as day laborers and 4374 contract laborers. In Decem- ber, 18! there were 8114 employed, out of which number 6398, the largest num- ber ever engaged as such, were con- tract laborers. As no Chinese were im- ported since that date the number of contract laborers has been materially reduced, and in the ordinary course of | events, and unless advantage is taken | of Minister Cooper’s bill of the last | sesslon to introduce other large | batches, thelr three-year contracts will | rapidly expire. The other ten thou- sand (roughly speaking) Chinese are | divided, like other allens, among other pursuits, especlally raising rice, fruits, vegetables, pigs, ducks and fowl and fishing, and in all the mechanical trades. They are also deserting their contracts In large numbers to join the coffee planters. It is not so much the number of the | Chinese coolie laborers that we dread | now as the possibility of being swamp- ed with more who, in course of time, will follow the example of their pre-| decessors and overcrowd the cities and compete, as they are even now most disastrously doing, with mechanics, | artisans and tradesmen. We would be | willing to concede to the sugar, rice| and coffee industries well regulated | coolie labor If it is conclusively proved | that respectable white labor cannot be obtained at reasonable rates of wages, but the people feel that no honest ef- fort has been made to solve this prob- lem, owing to the cost of importing competent labor and the necessity, as the planters claim, of paying wages which insure to them commensurate profits. All will admit that no coun- | try has ever expended so much money | on labor experiments as has Hawall in proportion to her wealth and pop- ulation. Whether Congress will solve the knotty problem remains to be seen. Another interesting matter for the Congressional Commissioners to con- sider will be the status of the Hawal- ian Chinese. Seven hundred and over have been naturalized, for under the old laws no alien could marry a Ha- waiian woman without first becoming a citizen of the country, and recently no less than 1600 Chinese children have been registered in_the Chinese Bureau | of the Forelgn Office as having been born in Hawaii, and curiously enough the eldest of four of these children was born thirty-seven years ago. The first recorded Chinese naturalization was in 1845. The view that the Chinese in Hawaii take of themselves may be foregathered from a memorial which they will pre- | sent to the Com—issioners and in which | they thus speak of themselves in ad- | vocating an impartial consideration of | their future status under the American | flag: They will assert that under the laws of Hawall they have, notwith- standing the fact that there never have existed treaty relations between the | empire of China and Hawali, fully and | freely enjoyed the same rights and privileges in regard to person and prop- erty as the citizens or subjects of the most favored nations having treaty re- lations with Hawail, with the exception that they have not openly enjoyed the privilege of political representation in the conduct of the affairs of the coun- try; they have been admitted to citi- zenship by naturalization; they have intermarried with the natives of the country and have had children born to them in the land; they have expended large sums of money and much labor in the reclamation of waste and bar- ren lands and have done much to fos- ter and insure the commercial and in- dustrial resources of the Hawaiian Islands; they have learned your lan- guage, and many have adopted your civilization, religion and dress; their children have been educated in your churches, schools and colleges; they have established and aided in establish- ing Christian churches, schools, hos- pitals, Young Men’s Christian Associa- tions and other kindred socleties; they have watched over their own sick and poor and contributed generously to the wants of other nationalities, and aided in all public enterprises for the henefit of Hawaii Nel; they have contributed very largely to the revenues of the country and their progressive influence, from knowledge gained here, has been beneficially felt in their own land. To them is largely due the prosperity of Hawaii to-day through their labor de- veloping the sugar and rice plantations, the fruit farms and vegetable gardens and the great shipping business and commercial relations with the Orient of which they were the pioneers. To them Hawaii has become endeared as their adopted home by the kindness and fair treatment of many years, and their long sojourn here has been marked with amity and the absence of all discord- ant influences. In commercial and so- cial life they have been respected and esteemed, and as obeyers of the law they have been the equals of any other nationality. Some men are always out when their country calls. (GUNS ART WARE AND ANTIQUE FURNITURE. THE P. ROSSI CO., @rtistic Furniture and Art Ware Importers, 117 SUTTER STREET. ARTIFICIAL LIMBS. MENZO0 SPRING Proprietor. Send, for meas- ure blanks. U. 8. sion, 9 Geary st.. 8. F. AR’T[STIC‘ FURNITURE. FINK & SCHINDLE Bank, Office and Saloon , Fittings, 1308 Market st. Telephone South 267. AUCTIONEERS. tgomery St. Live Stock KILLIP & C0- " 32a Feanciveo. BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY. WM. SCHOENING, & Biaf'sy s 28> roadway stres BELTING. Manufacturer of Belting and L‘ P' nEGEN! Lace Leather, 105-107 Mis- sion St., cor. Spear. Telephone Main 562. BICYCLES. *98 Model Cleveland Bicycles and Ladies” $35. Second-hand Wheels. $10 and LEAVITT & BILL, 303 Larkin street. BOILER MAKERS. EUREKA BOILER WORKS W. J. BRADY. Proprietor. Special Attention Paid to Repairs and Ship Work. Office and Works—113-115 MISSION STREET Telephone Main 5045. BOOKS AND STATIONERY. 342 to 350 Geary Street, Above Powell, Periodicals, Books and Stationery. COAL. COKE AND PIG IRON. J. C. WILSON & CO., 900 BATTERY STREET. Telephone Maln 1864. mis- | fell for 360, $65 and 3$75. Crescents, in Men's | OF INTEREST TO BUYERS. Purchasers’ Guide to Respomsible Merchants, Manufacturers, Brokers, Im- porters, Wholesale Traders, Jobbers, Insurance and Real Estate Agents. CATALOGUES AND PRICE LISTS MAILED ON APPLICATION. In Corresponding With Any of the Following Firms Please Mention “‘The Call” | | | | THESAN FRANCISCO NEWS COMPANY, | E- € HUGHES IRON FOUNDERS. Western Foundry, Morton & Hedley, Pre . 234 Fremontg. Castings of Ev’e op? scription Made to Order. Tel. Black [505. JEWELERS. |W. K. VANDERSLICE CO. LD AND SILVER SMITHS, 136 Sutter st., ‘an Francisco. Telephone Main 917, MANUFACTURERS. GOLDEN GATE WOOLEN MFG. CO. Manufacture blankets, Cassimeres, Tweeds and Flannels, 535 Market sf n_Francisco, Cal. ods for sale at all 1 dry goods stores. MARINE INSEJRANCS. SWISS MARINE INSURANCE COMPANIES. Combtped Clpsl;ll. $4,000,000. Z & CO., Agents, 3 _ 301 Caitfornia st MATTRESSES AND IRON BEDS. THE BERNHARD Mattzess co.. 62 Mission st. Telephone Main 1674 OPTICAL GOODS. BERTELING OPTICAL COMPANY, Scientific Opticians and Manufacturers of Optical Goods, 14 and 16 Kearny street. PAPER DEALERS. WILLAMETTE PULE AND PAPER cO., PIANOS. 722 Montgomery Street. The Oldest Firm and Larwest Stock. PIANO and MUSIC STORE, KOHLER & CHASE, 2 and 30 O'Farrell St. A corps of expert tuners and repairers. _PRINTING, PRINTER, » 511 Sansome street. SEWING MACHINES. “DDMES"G" Pre-eminently the machine for family use. 1021 Market. nr. 6th. REAL ESTATE. G. H. UMBSEN & CO., REAL ESTATE. RENT COLLECTORS. General Auctioneers. 14 Montgomery st. COPPERSMITH. Joseph Fox, Supt. C. W. Smith, Ship Plumbing, and Ship Work a Specialty, 16 Washington St. Telephone, DENTIST. DR- C- W. RICHARDS, & "tk DRU(;GISTS (WHOLESALE). HEDINGTON&G 3 Secondand Steven- son Sts. Tel. Main 4 FIRE INSURANCE. EDWARD BROWN & SON, 407-409 Montgomery st. Capitai Represented. L.over $14,000,000 SE._comer Kearnr: | THE HICKS-JUDD CO- SOAP. STATIONER AND PRINTER. TelemnblcpAR TRIDGE 32853 Codes. fornia St, Printers, Book- » binders, 23 First st TARTAR WORKS. ALIFORNIA TARTAR WORKS, G. De LATOUR, Manager. Office 218 Front Street, San Francisco. WAGONS AND TRUCKS. HENRY B. SCHINDLER, manufacturer of Ehipping Butchers, 108 iy Clay. Tel Main 1ML JAS. BOYES & (0. FURS. Furrier, all work guaranteed, 5% Kearny st., upstairs. AD. KOCOU 4 HARDWARE. pALACE Hardware Co.,Importers & Dealers in Hardware, 603 Market. Tel. Main 752. HARNESS AND VEHICLES. LEIBCLD HARNESS CO., 211 Larkin st., & F. Wholesale and Retail Manufacturers of all kinds of Harness and dealers in Buggies, Carts, ete. If you want bargains call or writa HUNTERS’ EQUIPMENTS. Hunters' Equipments, Tackle, Athletic Goods, etc. for catalogue. GEO. W. SHREVE, 739 Market street. FLOUR. buggles, ete.; repairing done Im Flour Mills. J. Martenstein & Co. styl it 1 for good NATIONAL £ cor. ‘Bactery and Pacific ses. e e FRESH AND SALT MEATS. | WALLPAPER. WALLPAPER—Wholesale and retall: send for samples, stating about quality and color, to JAS. DUFFY CO., $23-330 Howard st., S. F. WAREHOUSEMEN. THE HASLETT WAREHOUSE CO., Forwarding Agents and Public Welghers. General Storage. Free and Graln Warehouses. General office, 210 California st. Tel. Main 1814 WATCHES, ETC. T. LUNDY, R S8 Weadiee inew, elry and 43d st United States Branch. STATEMENT —OF THE— —OF THE— BRITISH-AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY F TORONTO, CANADA, ON THE 31ST day of December, A. D. 1897, and for the as made to the In- the State of Cali- o year ending on that day, surance Commissioner of 1 610 and 611 of the Politieal Code, condensed as per blank furnished by the Commissioner. ASSETS. Pald for State, national and I Total expenditures .... Net amount of risks ex- pired during the year..| 82,046,685 1,122,149 67 et amount in force De- N cember 31, 1897. .| 94,343,145] 1,127,951 04 ornia, pursuant to the provisions of sectlons | | | | United States Branch. STATEMENT —OF THE— CONDITION AND AFFAIRS | CONDITION AND AFFAIRS —OF THE— WESTERN ASSURANCE COMPANY F TORONTO, CANADA, ON THE NST day of December, A. D. 1897, year ending on that day, as made to the In- surance Commissioner of the State of Calf fornia, pursuant to the provisions of sectior 610 and 611 of the Political Code, condensed as | per blank furnished by the Commissioner. ASSETS. Loans on bonds and mortgages...... 325, Cash market yalue of all stocks &0 oo cs.a03 0 | Cash market value of e Cbon s ¥ P - ¥i1652 69 | _bonds owned by company. - 1,165,526 88 ash in Danks........... i g Cash in company’s office. 128 95 Interest due and “accried on all | o | Cosh in Tanks stocks and loans. , 627 Eremiums in due course o recglletctklon oi0p 14 Excmtums b dne-conrse of: coliection vable, not matured, taken 3 ; B or fireand marine risks.. aE1spol § = Xox s Sndan e, ciske 34,600 07 a5E . ..$1205,355 3 Total assets E ..-31,720,432 14 LIABILITIES. : . Losses adjusted and unpaid 57 Losses adjusted and unpaid. <. W32 68| Tocces in process of n?uu e Losses in process of adjustment oF o | ‘In suspense T pswma in suspense . + (e384 | Losses resisted, . Bme Losses resisted, including expenses.. 10, Groes Dremiuia o fire riEka HiL Gross premiums on fire LR ning one year or less, $1,031,157 ning one year > ® ” reinsurance r cenf . reinsurance 50 per cent . M | A, on fife” Fiska fin- et Gross premiums on fire Tisks run- ning more than one year, $60,769 ‘hing more than one year, #0618 06 o | Teinsurance pro rata - < B TR TR reinsurance pro rata. Sy Gross premiums on marine and in- Gross premiums on marine and in- land navigation risks; reinsurance Tand mavigation risks; reinsurance ... | 0 per cent 51,490 75 " | Gross premiums on marine time f.667 86 | _rieks: Teinsurance 50 per cent....... 9,29 13 . Commissions and brokerage due and ARG 70,138 42| to become due.. et 503,522 47 Total mmm“mcou}: LR m‘“y“r‘e‘iz‘:i i Net cash actually received for fire Net cash act premiums $1,457,300 01 682,378 37 Net cash actuaily received for ma- B rine premiums ... = 268,125 33 158,691 65 | Received for interest on bonds and Recelved for interest an ‘mort , v o Le0o0 on bonds, stocks, loans and from Received for Interes all other sources. ceeee 3486141 | Ton ponds, oo | all other sources Total income . 41,075,681 48 e EXPEN Total income $1,770,418 4 Net amount paid for fire losses....... $486,904 37 EXPEN % Net amount paid for marine losses.. 115,683 01 | Net amount pald for fire losses.. $748,737 60 Pald_or allowed for commission or Net amount paid for marine losse: 224,166 20 P:r;kerrlceu s Sl . 194,284 06 P:idkor allowed for ission or or salaries, rokerage .. charges for officers, clerks, etc 41,193 66 | pajd. for salar charges for officers, clerks, etc. Pald for State, natonal and I Fire. rine. Total expenditures Losses incurred during, 2 The YEAT . roeeeereere. $40L419 96 $120,320 12 | Tosces incurred during r 3772, 3225, isks and Premiums. |Fire Risks. [Premiums, | o Yoo 444 9 AN Risks and Premiums. |Fire Risks.[Premiums. Net amount of risks| written during the year| $95,100,144/$1,154,275 47 | Net samount of risl ks| ‘written during the year| $142,650,216 $1,693,879 59 Net amount of risks ex- 126,721,108] 1,710,710 14 pired during the vear.. Net amount in force De-| 141,514,735| 1,691,926 59 cember 31, 1897... day of January, 1898 H. D. GAMBLE, Notary Public. CASTORIA For Infants and Children, m s oy Ml . wnne, DAVIS & WATSON, General Agents, day of January, - A. R. Marine Risks and Premiums. | Risks. |Premiums. Marine Risks and Premiums. | Risks. |Premiums. Net _amount of risks written during the year| $24,097,786/ $205,5% 35 | Net amount of risks Net amount of risks ex- written during the year| $45,289,822| $352,307 80 pired during the vear..| 24,460,012 196,354 4 | Net amount of risks ex- Net amount in force D pired during the year..| 49,027,258) 386,128 10 cember 31, 1897..........| 2.111,053| 41,852 34 | Net amount in force De- cember 31, 1897..........| 4728.4%| 70,083 18 J. J. KENNY, Vice-President. P.H. SIMS, Secretary. J. J. KENNY, Vice-President. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th C. C. FOSTER, Secretary. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th 1898, CREELMAN, Notary Publie. DAVIS & WATSON, General Agents, 221 SANSOME STREET, BAN FRANCISCO, 221 SANSOME STREET, SAN FRANCISCO.