The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 22, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1898. @all AUGUST 22, 1898 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager, SUBLICATION OFFICE......Market and Third Sts., S. P. Telephone Main 1853, EDITORIAL ROOMS..........2I7 to 22| Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) is served by carrlers In this city and surrounding towns for 15 cents @ week. By mall $6 per year; per month 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL OAKLAND OFFICE NEW YORK OFFICE DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. ‘WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE... ..-Riggs Howse C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OFFICE.. Marquette Bulldlng C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. ...One year, by mall, $1.58 908 Broadway BRANCH OFFICES—52T Moptgomery street, corner Clay, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until 930 o'clook. 621 McAlilster street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open untll 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street. corner Sixteenth, open untll 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street, open until 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untl: 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, opem unti 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana - Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS, Columbia—*On Probation * Alcazar—The Merchant of Venice™ Moroeco's—Ordeal of Two Sisters Tivoli—“La Gioconda.” Orpheum—Vaudeville. The Chutes—Zoo, Vaudeville and Cannon, the 613-pound Man. Olympia—Corner Mason and Eddy streets, Speclalties. Mechanies' Pavilion—The Irish Fatr, Sutro’s Baths—Swimming. Central Park—The Baitle of Manilla.” Alhambra, Eddy and Jones sireets—Vaudeville. Opening Eaturday, September 3. Suspended Animation—Corner Market and Larkin streets? El Campo—Music, dancing,boating, fishing, every Sunday. State Fair ber 5. @NOTHER CYCLE OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY. HILE the war with Spain did not decrease Wbusiness in any way, its close has caused a de- 4 cided increase in many directions. This in- crease cannot be traced to any sudden development of trade with our new possessions, for it is too soon to look for any such expansion, though it will come later on. It seems to be purely local, if such a cir- cumscribed term can be applied to a country as vast as the United States. Indeed, the conclusion of the war may have nothing to do with it after all, for it may be simply the awakening of the usual fall trade, which is expected to be lively this year.” But whatever it proceeds from there is certainly a marked increase in the volume of business throughout the country. The improvement is remarkably general and char- acterizes a large variety of products. The West and South continue to lead the other sections of the coun- try, as for some time past, the East showing only a moderate gain. The Northwest is a little slow with collections, but this condition is expected to disappear when the movement of the spring wheat crop begins. The distributive trade of the country west of the Alle- ghanies is widening everywhere, and the leading staples are going out of first hands with gratifying fluency. The individual items of improvement are a steady increase in the country’s bank clearings, those for the past week being 11.6 per cent over those for the same week last year. The failures were 195, against 221. Railroad earnings continue to increase, and as the movement of crops to market is not especially heavy at the moment, the gain is ascribed to free shipments of manufactured products to the agricultural districts. An immense business is reported in iron and steel, with advanced prices for many descriptions. Indeed, business in this line is so active that the general run of works cannot fill all their orders. The electrical concerns are also far behind in their engagements. All the western centers report a large influx of buy- ers, with a brisk demand for hats and caps, boots and shoes and dry goods. The inquiry: for wool and woolen goods is only moderately active, but these lines have been lagging for some time. The improve- ment in cotton mentioned several weeks ago con- tinues, but trade is.not especially lively. The wheat shipments from the Atlantic Coast show a falling off, being 3,796,000 bushels, against 5.317,000 for the corresponding week in 1807. Hides and leather are also quiet, and prices have ruled rather weak than otherwise. The most pronounced awakening, however, is in Wall street. Here it comes pretty close to a boom. The public have re-entered the market, and the buying last week was almost reckless. In fact, we are told that it was so sharp that the professionals almost lost con- trol of the market. Railroad shares led in point of preference, though the demand for sterling bonds continued good. The general sentiment in Wall street is that the demand for investment has come to stay, and that there will be an active market for some time to come. The only condition now visible which would be apt to check the buying desire is the possible sus- pension of peace negotiations through the haggling and quibbling of Spain, a condition which is even at this day menaced by that stubborn and disappointed Government. At present, however, everything is lovely in Wall street. In the weekly commercial reports California is specified as the one particularly quiet State in the Union. This, of course, is due to the decreased yield . of fruit and cereals on account of the deficient rain- | fall last winter; but considering that we have enough of Both to eat ourselves and considerable to sell be- - sides, we are not in such a bad way after all. The fact is, California has been such an enormous producer in -the past that when a year of decreased production " comes along the contrast is sharp. We shall prob- ably have 100,000 tons of wheat for export this year, - and are already sending canned and dried fruits to Europe, though we cannot satisfy her calls upon us this season. There is not a single line of produce short enough this year to work a hardship on any- body, and what we have produced is bringing un- usually fine prices, except cereals, though even they are selling at quotations away above the cost of pro- fluczion. It would be a strange year indeed which caught California without anything to sell, and it is ‘hardly probable that such a year will ever be wit- nessed. It is generally the other way. As for the rest, business is not at all bad here, even . though the State is specified as “quiet.” abundance of money at the normal rates of interest, the merchants report themselves satisfied with the condition of trade, and the farmers are doing bet- ter on the whole than for a number of years back. Collections are average, failures are few and small and no complaints are heard from any quarter. Judged by the arrogance of the Spanish at Manila - they put up the white flag before they had been ‘whipped half enough. There's many a slip between the signing of a peace protocol and the perfecting of a peace. We have | ] THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE. "l‘“ HE convention which is to meet in a few hours has upon it the responsibility of naming not only the next Governor of California, but the leader | who will take his party into a victorious action that will give to it public power and authority for the next [ four years. Past experiments have somewhat shown ‘1 to this coming convention the way in which it should | walk. Attempts to put leadership in the hands of men | who have in the past failed in their party fealty have f usually brought disaster. Just now all the people are | looking for stability, strength and consistency in a | State administration, and there is in men an instinct | which teaches them that these are not to be found | in any one subject to political hysterics, or one erratic | and uncertain in his party allegiance. The Republican party is rich in men qualified for this great office, and with a record that entitles them to the confidence of the party and the people. It is not necessary to go outside of this list and select any one whose sole experience in public life has been gained by bolting the party and elevating himself by its defeat, or who has been silent in its great crises. Within the eligible are many who will not seek the nomination and who would regard its acceptance as a personal sacrifice too great to be justified by any but the gravest emergency. At this moment the candidate who easily leads as the preference of delegates from all parts of the State | is Mr. Henry T. Gage. It is significant, too, that he is the choice of most of those who might be his com- petitors if they chose, but who abstain in the pres- | ence of his merits of address, culture, genius and i record. | All free societies are directed by their best elements. When these in a party indicate their choice it is safe I to accept it as reasonably sure to command the popu- | lar approbation. The best elements in the Republican party are those who seek the best conditions for all men, that life may be crowned with the happiest re- ‘ sults for every citizen. These elements stand, first of | all, for the rights and dignity of labor, from whose | ranks the strong and wholesome brains and bodies, | the richest possession of the State, are derived. These best elements in the Republican party, mindful of their | own origin, know that the first political duty is to | keep affluent the fountain whence they came. There- fore the men in the ranks of the party who so highly guide its destiny seek a candidate and leader who can lead a successful fight for power that is to be used in the interest of the great masses whose prosperity and happiness are the impulse of the State’s progress and greatnes: That these elements in the party, men too strong to | be governed by any but themselves, in whose pres- ence no boss issues a command, have after mature reflection cast their influence for Mr. Gage, goes far, | not only to indicate his nomination, but to give as- | surance that his campaign will be a march to victory if he be the choice of the convention. The Call has no candidate. It questioned the candi- | dacy of Mr. Gage in order that its strong points and weak points might be found. The resulting examina- | tion has cleared many questions, the mere raising of | which brought to him the vindication of political friend and foe. His candidacy has been put by this examination upon a plane to which that of any other must be } raised to put its merits in competition. This is un- | derstood by the wise men who are in the interest of | other candidates, and they elevate their favorites to i his level, since it has proved impossible to pull him | down. tary of State. This is a rich country, but it would be better to vote more money for river improvements ghan for dinner-giving and grand receptions at Wash- ington. ONE HOLE IN THE PLATFORM. HILE the Democratic platform is marked by several singular gaps, due to omissions for which apologies will have to be made during the campaign, there is none more singular than the neglect to offer sympathy to the soldier and sailor, and to express condolence for those whose sons or brothers have given up their lives for the country. At this time the impulses of patriotism are particu- larly acute. Qur troops are Teturning victorious | from distant shores. The flag of the Union floats over territory where its presence had hardly been known. But where it waves it casts its shadow across the graves of our patriot dead; it falls upon those who suffer on beds of pain and turn longing eyes back to a land they are never more to see. Yet the Democracy of California in convention assembled for- got these brave boys, living and dead, forgot the stricken at home. Never was there a convention marked by so vin- dictive a spirit of greed. The speeches were bitter, the character of the proceedings sullen and the ad- dresses all shaped upon some personal ambition. There was not a broad and statesmanlike utterance. Yet in the compilation of a platform there should have been attention paid to the sentiment of the coun- try. It seems that for an hour asperities might have been laid aside and an open and ‘manly meed of praise awarded to the young blood of the land. But no. The convention could not rise above the | petty bickering for preferment. Selfish aspirations | could not for an instant be allayed. The platform was made in heedlessness of humane issues, and by that assemblage which had failed to recognize the | “Star-Spangled Banner” adopted with no thought be- | form. The hole in the platform is a large one. Somebody CLEARING SKIES. R ETURNING peace has brought with it clear- receive from Europe dispatches announcing | the hostility of Governments and peoples against us. are to the effect that public sentiment has changed and that our victory is accepted as an event tending During the early days of the war reports from abroad teemed with statements of German antago- { yond the fact that to adopt something was a necessary | will fall through it. ing skies in every direction. We no longer On the contrary, all reports from the great capitals to the welfare of all. nism to the United States. So repeatedly were such | statements put forward that a suspicion arose that some power was at work striving to create hostility between ourselves and the Germans. Whether the suspicion was well founded or not it is gratifying to note that the irritating reports have ceased and that we are now receiving from Germany as well as from other European countries evidences of satisfaction in the results of the war. In the foreign news of yesterday considerable space was given to friendly expressions on the part of lead- ing newspapers in Germany. The Cologne Gazette highly praised our naval forces at Manila, declared that under our control the businéss and industries of the Philippines would rapidly revive, and added: “Now that the star-spangled banner waves all danger to German commercial interests is past.” The Ber- 1f he be the nominee the party will be united upon the candidacy of a man who never triéd to divide it, | gainst whom no one holds a grudge generated by defeat caused by bolting and kicking at a local ticket, and in that union goes an invitation to the large con- tingent of independent voters to seek the best good of the State by supporting a man who is the choice of | the best men in his own party. OFFICIAL DIGNITY AT WASHINGTON. HE retirement of Mr. Day from the office of Secretary of State on the express ground that he is not rich enough to maintain the social prestige of the position, affords a striking illustration | of the extent to which Washington society has drifted away from the Republican simplicity of its early days. It is likely it will also give rise to a movement toward increasing the salaries of members of the Cabinet. It was clearly the intention of the founders of our Government that the highest offices should be not only within the reach of the poorest citizen, but that they should carry with them salaries large enough to | admit of their acceptance by men who had no private fortunes. The fathers of the Republic, however, ex- pected Washington society to continue on a plane of Republican simplicity of manners and living. It was not foreseen by them that social leaders at the capital would ape the customs of London and Paris and that State officials would be required to live like princes. A member of the Cabinet receives $8000 a year. The law does not require him to maintain anything in the way of social state. He may live at a hotel or in a modest flat if he chooses. Neither does the sentiment of the country at large require him to keep a man- sion, a carriage and a retinue of servants. It asks of him no elaborate dinners and no grand receptions. In fact it does not require of a Cabinet Minister as much in the way of hospitality as of the Governor of a State. Clearly, therefore, there is nothing in the conditions of the office that necessarily entail a lavish way of living, and if there is a demand for that sort of thing the demand is a factitious one created solely by Washington society itself. It is to be regretted that any American should feel imself debarred from the service of the nation by the lack of a private fortune. It will be a bad day for this country when, by reason of our social customs, none but the rich can afford to hold high offices at Wash- ington. That fact is recognized at the capital itself, and it is for this reason some papers there are now busily engaged in creating a sentiment favorable to an increase of salaries. Their idea is that since our society has advanced to the style of living at imperial | capitals the salaries paid by the Government should also be imperial. | The members of the British Cabinet receive $25,000 a year. They maintain stately homes in London and entertain ‘bn a grand scale. Washington people would like that style adopted by us. It would enliven Wash- ington winters and help Washington trade. Inci- dentally it would boom Washington real sestate by | making the city a desirable place of residence for the rich as the social center of the nation. | There are, however, serious objections to the plan | proposed. A raise in salaries under prevailing con- ditions would simply mean a raise in the general style | of Washington living, and ere long there would be | a demand for another raise. Even with a salary of | $25,000 a year no man without a private fortune can | maintain the position of a Cabinet Minister in Lon- don. Social prestige is like an open poker game— | there is no limit to the amount of the raise. | Any man who has the moral courage to defy the | demands of a luxurious society dominated by idlers | can live at Washington, perform all the duties of a Cabinet officer and save money on $8000 a year; and liner Tageblatt was equally complimentary in its | comments and commended Admiral Dewey on the | tact with which he had preserved friendly and correct | relations with the German squadron at Manila during the continuance of the strife. | These statements undoubtedly express the abiding sentiments of the German people. They are of more value than the sensational reports of hostile expres- sion so frequently sent out during the last three | months. The skies in fact have cleared and we are | beginning to see more accurately the attitudes of the | various nations toward us. Moreover, the foreign | Governments and peoples are beginning to see us more clearly and to have a better understanding of our purposes and our power to enforce them. Peace has brought with it a restoration of our friendly re- lations with the great nations of the world, and it is evident if we have made any enemies outside of Spain by this war, they are not very influential or else are keeping discreetly silent. e —————r | p ical contests this fall will be mainly directed toward the efforts of the Republicans to win THE FALL ELECTIONS. a sufficient number of Senatorial seats to give them a safe working majority in the Senate when the next Congress assembles. The fight for the control of | the House can-hardly be called interesting since it | seems a foregone conclusion that the Republicans will easily retain a majority in that body. Nothing but | gross blundering on the part of Republicans in mak- | ing Congressional nominations can give the Demo- crats any chance of success, and such blundering is not likely to be committed. As the Senate stands to-day it consists of 44 straight Republicans, 3 Silver Republicans, 2 who are classed in the political nomenclature of the day as “straight | silverites,” one Independent, 5 Populists and 34 Dem- | ocrats, making a total of 89; there being one va- cancy in the representation from Oregon. The terms of thirty Senators expire next March. Maryland has already selected a Republican to succeed Gorman, and it is accounted as reasonably sure they will win seats now held by Democrats in Wisconsin, New Jer- sey, West Virginia, California and New York. Success in the fight for Senatorships would give the Republican party complete control of Congress and enable the enactment of legislation in the direc- tion of currency reform and the adoption of other great measures of Republican policy. The adminis- tration has been largely hampered in its work thus far by the fact that the balance of power in the Senate is held by a small clique of Populists and so-called Silver Republicans, who stand in the way of the ac- complishment of any systematic monetary legislation on a sound basis. e The importance of this phase of the contest is everywhere recognized, and the contest for members of the legislative ticket in States where Senators are to be chosen will be keen. In California this issue of the elections will not be overlooked. Whatever may be the result elsewhere California must send a stanch Republican to succeed White in the United States Senate. UBLIC interest in the national side of the polit- If all the stories of the mismanagement on board the transports are true, there is nothing surprising in the number of desertions except that it is so small. Apparently the people of Porto Rico are so glad to get from under Spanish rule that they may necessitate the calling out of the police. General Shafter is to be congratulated that yellow journalism still attacks him. He can be certain of | a man who lacks that quality ought not to be Secre- i ulnmzte popularity. NEWS OF THE MINES. The discovery that the one restraining dam at the narrows on the Yuba River will consume approximately all of the $600,00 so long available for dams and may possibly even require an additional appropriation will necessarily stir the California Miners' Association and the California delegation to Congress to still greater efforts to secure new appropria- tions. The depth to bedrock at the nar- rows will make this dam cost nearly double what it would cost if bedrock were | near the surface, it appearing from the incompleted investigations ot the Federal engineers that in places the foundation for the 160 foot dam must be bullt up from a depth of 80 or 9 reet. is the most important of those in view as possibilities, and as it will have a great secondary value for its water power, it is likely that all money and effort will be concentrated on it until it was completed. Dams on other streams must, apparently. awalt further legislation. It is a relief, however, to hear the promise from Major Heuer that the commission will probably be able to report definitely by the time Congress convenes. Gold dredgers are a new thing to the mining industry of California, but they are now multiplying rapidly and will in the future cut a large feature in the gold production of the State. They are and will become in a greater degree an eco- nomical method of working gravel depos- its in low lying ground, as. well as in rivers, and it is weil to progress. Regarding one among a num- ber of fields of present operation the Oro- ville Register says: “For years it has been known that the gravel deposits south of Oroville and near the banks of the Feather were rich in £old, yet owing to the enormous quantity of earth to be handlea the mines have not been worked on an extensive Scale. With- in the past year, however, & number of comparies have been nrospecting these gravel beds and somg months ago it was Tealized that the opiy feasible method was to work them by dredgers. One boat was constructed, and that it has paid is evident from the length of time that it has been operated. Since this boat show- ed that dredgers would pay other compa- nies have become interested, and as a re- sult fifteen shafts have been sunk on one section and more than that on another on the east side of the river, while on the west side about 110 shafts have been sunk. Not more than fifteen or twenty were able to reach bedrock on account of the flow of water. The cost has _gveraged from $125 to $250 for each shaft. The English Syndicate or Banner Mine Company are putting a large force of men fo work on the ditch which Is to convey the water from the Jones reservoir near town to the Banner mine. The reservoir is tapped by a tunnel 2200 feet in length. From there it empties into the Cannon Treservoir, thence to the mine for the pur- pose of having water power with wl ich to run the mill and hoisting works by electricity instead of steam as heretofore. It is Mr. Evans’ intention to have every- thing complete and in running order Dy the 1st é’ny of January, 1893.—Oroville Register. California has temporarily lost a few prospectors and a little mining capital oy the Alaska craze, but that it will eventu- ally benefit largely through the drawing of the world’s atténtion and mining Ea%l- tal to the Pacific Coast region cannot be doubted. A straw flying in this dirsction s the following from the Grass Valley Telegraph: ‘‘Charles Stepp, accompanied by Antone Stander and wife and A. Goetz, are in town looking at some quartz prop- erties. The whole pute'[ recently returned from the Klondike. Messrs. Stepp and Goetz were_on business for a European syndicate. Mr. Stander is one of the dix- coverers of the rich claims in the frozen north and still has Interests there.” The Mountain mine at Sierra City has been sold to New York parties. The pur- chasers are now on the way out to start up the mine. Expert Tibbetts' story of the salting of the samples a few weeks ago seems to have had the opposite effect intended.—Slerra County Enterprise. An Enterprise corre!s)xOndPn‘ of the Oro- ville Register gives the following notes from that part of Butte County: *“H. P. Stow, it is stated, has purchased the Shakespeare ledge, and will extend the big tunnel, which is now in 2000 feet, to a total of 4000 feet. Work, it is stated, will begin about October 1. As the tunnel cost nearly $12 a foot, it thus means an ex- pendl{ure of about $25,000 for the extension of this tunnel alone. Forbestown is for- tunate in having a genfleman who has means to develop valuable properties in this manner. When the tunnel is extend- ed under the Shakespeare the face will be about 2400 feet under the croppings. ‘ine Denver mine has leased the chlorination works of the Shakespeare mine, and will work 160 tons of sulphurets, which are valued at $125 a ton. James Pullen has resumed work in the Mount Ida mine, and four men are employed in the Red Point mine. The Bank of England Consolidated, C. C. Antrim _superintendent, has sixteen men employed, and is making an upraise on the ledge. A number of new bulldings have lately been erected on_this mine. A contract has been let for a 500-foot tunnel on the Big Betsy ledge itself, and four men have %egun work on the same.” Chestnut & Co., who lately purchased the old Commodore quartz mine on Bark- house Creek, Klamath River, are making preparations for ngenlng this mine on an extensive scale. The company has started a tunnel to tap the ledge, in order to run out the quartz by cars, and also a tunnel to secure water for the batteries and ma- chinery.—Yreka Journal. Farly heavy rains will brighten up busi- ness in Redding by sending into the hills hundreds of prospectors with pick and an and rocker. For several seasons work n the dry diggings and gulch places has been almost suspended. Where thousands of dollars usually pass,into circulation during a rainy season, the past few vears have seen the pan and rocker dust output sink into comparative insignifi- Oance. West and southwest of Redding {s a territory that in 0rdlnar¥ seasons never fails to respond liberally to the surface scratchings of men accustomed to locating the most likely hiding places of the yellow metal. Across the river, in the O1d Diggings district, is another pro- Huetive section. Since Chinese have never been allowed to rake the district With a fine tooth comb there is plenty of ground from which the old-timers can dig up enough dust, when water is abun- dant, to come into town and lay In a win- As this dam | keep track of thelr | ter's supply of provisions.—Redding Free Tess. It comes to us that a forty-foot vein has been tapped in the mine near Bells Hill. The shaft is down twenty-five feet and it will be sunk fifty more, then drift- ing will be done to reach the walls. The ore carries gold and su'nhurets. Indica- tions are that the property will be the largest milling proposition in the State.— Sonora Banner. Work on the electric plant for the Grif: fith mine I8 being pusied with consider- able energy. The dynamo s to be set uj at Ladles Valley, where about a thousals feet of fall can be obtained from the Park canal on the north side of the river. Part of the present consignment is pipe | for the proposed water power.—El Do- rado Republican, The mine on James Burns’ ranch has met the expectations of the company and they are taking out rich ore. The vein is| eleven feet wide.—Sonora Banner. At the Potazuba mine. near Sutter, they have encountered a four foot ledge at the 100 foot level of §100 a ton rock, which they intend to have milled right away. The Dispatch is informed that 100 tons will be put through the mill as a first test. The deal entered into last fall by which the Amador Queen No. 2 mine was | to become the property of Chicago capi- | talists has been consummated, dnd tgle American Improvement Company is in charge. A good deal of money will soon be expended in the practical development of this mine.—Amador Dispatch. The Keystone Company has shut down twenty stamps on account of the short- age of water. This has involved the dis- charge of thirty-five men. The Keystone uses water from the Blue Lakes Compa- ny. The Kennedy mill has shut down, and a number of men have been dis- charged, on account of shortage of water. Steam power will be put in immediately. —Amador Ledger. The Bonanza mine, famous throughout the world as the greatest pocket property ever discovered, is again showing Itself a mineralized phenomenon, but this time in an entirely different manner. The main incline shaft is now down 1800 feet and the vein, from eighteen inches to three feet wide, has developed into a true free- ml]ll:xg Proposition.—Sonora Union-Dem- ocrat. It is probable that the Sell will be un- able to resume operations until the rainy season sets in. It depends on electric power for all purposes, and, owing to the shortage of water with which to operate the dynamos, the electric company was forced to curtail its service, the Sell be- ing among the unfortunate ones.—Sonora Union-Democrat. Thirty-seven men are now employed at the Reddik mine, just north of town. The roperty gives every indication of prov- ng one of the best drift propositions that Nevada ity has had.—Nevada City ‘Transcript. Lewellyn & Porter are putting up a large cyanide process at Garlock to work tailings. It is estimated there are 10.000 tons of tailings there at the differ- ent mills, and probably $100,000 will be taken out of them. The capacity of the works will be equal to sixty tons per day. The Eureka mill people have their cyan- ide building completed and all the wood work in S)lac?. and now only wait the arrival of the iron tank, which is ex- pected to-night. On its arrival they can be ready to operate in three or four days. The capacity of the plant is ten tons per day.—Randsburg Miner. C. H. Claubes has returned from White River, where he has been during the past month engaged in working his min- ing claim. Mr. Claubes reports consid- erable activity in mining in the White River district, and says that a two- stamp mill is now being in, and in a short time another one of ten-stamp ca- pacity will be erected by a San Fran- cisco syndicate. Several new claims will also be opened up and worked in the near future.—corterville Enterprise. On one day this week in San Diego twenty-two mining locations were re- corded. Among them were four by Ste- phen W. Dorsey.—Los Angeles Mining Review. It is worthy of remark that the activity and advance of the market for copner has produced its natural effect upon the work of developing existing copper producing pr%perlles and in opening pp new mines and districts where copper deposits of a paying character are found. The uses for copper in the arts, and particularly in connection with electrical progress, are growing at too great a rate to admit of any doubt as to consumption keeping pace with whatever gain in production the near future has in store—Bradstreet’s. The Kootenay country mines, British Columbia, from the Rocky Mountains to the Yale district, produced ten years ago $26,000; five years later the product in- creased to $100,000; last year the output reached $7,000,000. The sale of the famous old Virtue mine in Oregon is announced. It has been at intervals a wonderful producer. The Vir- tue was once the property of George W. Grayson, the San Francisco millionaire, partner of J. B. Hag§1n of Anaconda cop- per fame. He owned it for twenty—elzgt l?"fax‘;ém&;fln;!oodll’lr‘l}:lg that time it yielded m $3,000,000. e property is ei eent DEDAkCe Gl s T o e The growth of Butte is somethin velous. Buildines are every hand. mar- ey e being erecded on es are producin wondertully. The pay roll ot ‘nearly & million dollars per month s veing main- tained, and the money is percolating through the channels of business, making a ppy and prosperous co: yo— Western Mining World. ag. new mining camp called Colton been _ started - in__ Southern e near Death Valley. It was discovered only a few weeks ago but already over 100 men are on the ground. One ledge has been traced for a distance of over 3100 feet | that gives assays of $40 per ton in gold and is eight feet thick. An old workin~ has been found mot far from this camp with a shaft on the ledge from which the ore averages %0 per ton in_free gold be- sides rich concentrates. Many of the Erosp'ctors think this is the long lost p:flg;;cgctr:[;‘\:i . Some_ promising turquolse ve been fo: —&“‘:"9{&%{“;“““ und near the camp. e of inereased productior from Cripple Creek and other ‘;5‘53}2 camps in the State is fully supported ny the statistics of the United States branch mint at Denver. During the month of July the receipts at this institution amounted to over $2.000,000, which is the best on recard, and about 40 per cent bet- ter than the receipts during the same period in the previous year.—Mining In- NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. The new 9.2-inch improved breechload- ing gun, of which the British Admiralty has ordered a lot from Vickers & Co., cost $30,000 each. Japan is fitting its new warships with highly improved torpedoes, vastly superior to those in the British or any other navy. The new torpedoes, of which fifty are being made, are twenty-four inches In diameter and are calculated to go at a speed of thirty-five knots for a distance of 2000 yards. Ninety-five vessels of all descriptions are in course of construction for the Japanese navy, and include six battle- Ships, one armored cruiser, nine second- class protected cruisers, five third-class cruisers, ten third-class coast-defense ves- sels, seventeen gunboats, four dispatch vessels, elght torpedo-boat destroyers and thirty-two torpedo-boats. Three battle-ships of 13,000 tons are to be buflt for the navy of Italy. They will be 410 feet in length and 74 feet 6 inches beam, to have a speed of twenty knots and to be completed within five years. They are all to be bullt at Government dockyards—one named Principeosa Ellena at Castellamara; another, Benedito Brin, at Spezla and the third, Ammiraglio Rachia, at Venice. Two first-class ar- mored cruisers of 7000 tons and twenty- three knots speed are also contemplated. The Itallan Government has permitted Orlando Bros., Leghorn, to sell the Voresa, armored cruiser of 6840 tons, to the Argentine Republic. Two similar cruisers built for Italy were disposed of in a like manner, and the sale of the third one is allowed with the proviso that the builders shall replace the ship with an- other within eighteen months, the new ship to be fitted with water-tube bollers and to develop 500 additional horsepower over that now bulilt. Another instance illustrating the utter want of efficiency in the management of Spanish warships is told of the battle-ship Pelayo while that ship was off Port Sald taking in coal. Only one winch was at work, with the result that coal was taken aboard at the rate of 3% tons per hour. In contradistinction to this is the record of the battle-ship Victorious and the Grafton, both of the British navy, which coaled at sea on the China station. The first named took coal at the rate of 111 tons an hour. and the latt Lot er 76 tons in the The British navy proj inmanzaas gramme {s thus Elg)e CLAsSSES. 8|2 |E 2l |= Battleships - i econd-class cruisers 5 2 Third-class cruisers. L0l Gunboats ol | No torpedo-boat destroy: - yers, torpedo- boats or any other vessels are mcg’uded in this summary. The four battle-shi launched and rapidly fitting tort ‘sza ;‘:: of the Canopus class, 12,90 tons. Of the five under construction two are of the Canopus class and tnree of 15,000 each of the Formidable type. The seven battle- ships to be built will be ofs the Formidable class, to the number of three, and four somewhat smaller but with greater speed than any battle-ship yet built in the Brit- ish navy. l;':‘rl;:!fzzllcy ofj the British Admiralty in cing and extending the placing of | ‘water-tube boilers in the navy Is meeg!lnz with a fierce opposition by the Scotch or old tank-boiler builders. Mr. Allan, who | voices the disgruntled boiler-builders in Parliament, calls attention to the fact that the Admiralty does not dare %0 fll': the entire battery of water-tube boflers on the Sharpshooter, Powerful, Terrible, Diadem and Europe, the objection, as Biven out, being excessive vibration in the three first named vessels and too great a heat in the stokeholds of the Diadem and Europe. He points out that there is no similar trouble experienced in the large armor-clads, and lays the blame on the new boilers. The facts, as they will undoubtedly be officially given out, after the inquiry regarding the Ter- rible's. inability to steam at eighteen knots, appear to be that the trouble lies In the engines and the hulls. The former develop too great power for the hulls, as constructed, to stand, and this is an old complaint in the British navy. As for the excessive heat In the stokeholds of the Diadem and Europa, that is a matter of ventilation, which can be improved, and 1s not the fault of the boilers, for it has been practically demonstrated that the firerooms with the new bollers are not as hot as with the old-style boilers. AROUND THE CORRIDORS. W. A. Mackinder of St. Helena is at the California. F. M. Helm and wife of Los Angeles are guests at the Grand. A. B. Keith and T. A, Grigg, M. D,, of Butte are at the California. Dr. W. H. Flanagan of Grants Pass is at the Baldwin for a shcrt stay. E. S. de Golyer, an expert mining man of Los Angeles, will be at the Palace for a few days. Willlam Nicholls Jr., a banker of Dutch Flat, is registered at the Grand, accom- panied by his son. Mrs. L. H. Shearman of Lima, Peru, has taken apartments at the Occidental with her two children. Roy Beckwith and Andrew Slerra, twa mining men of Sonora, Tuolumne County, are making the Lick their headquarters. Z. T. George, a merchant of Los An- geles, and J. K. O’Brien, a Marysville business man, are staying at the Bald- win. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehouse, who, with their daughter, are making a tour of the United States, are registered at the Grand from England. A. T. Hastings, a Merced attorney; G. 8. Bloss, an Atwater real estate man, and M. M. Parsons, a Fresno rancher, are lo- cated at the Lick. Wilbur A. Hendryx, M. D., an eminent physician of Los Angeles, and A. G. Hub- bard and family of Redlands are among the guests at the Palace. B . Edwards and family of Santa Bgrebo;;‘:, i[erbert Richardson and wife of Baltimore, Md., and James R. Tapscott and wife of Yreka are some of the arri- vals at the Occidenta ANSWERS TO COBFE‘.SPONDENT& R. P., City. A let- ter intended for Bret Harte Shoulvd bae ;d- dressed in care of A. P. Watt, 1A\ol,i a- ternoster Square, London, England. £ you THE LETTERS—E. 7., City. I will read the advertisement of the firm named you will see that the illuminated Jetters stand for the business name of the house. THE NAVIES—T. N. F., City. An answer to the question, “Which are the largest navies, in their order?” was published in The Call's ~Answers to Correspondents August 18, A YORK SHILLING—A. 8., Sunol Glenn, Cal. Without a description 0‘5 thaa iption on the York shilling you have, g‘nsé:rtge date, 1t 1s impossible to give the information asked for. SIGSBEE—B. M. City. Captain Sigsbea was on board of the Maine and in com= mand of her at the time of the explosion. His testimony on that point before tha court of inquiry was: “At the time of the explosion 1 was writing at my port cabin table, after side. I was dressed. REMOVING A RING—E. F., City. To remove a ring from a finger on which it has been worn for a lgng time is con- sidered by many people a8 sure to be followed by disaster to the person so re- moving it, particularly if the ring was put on with a wish. OCHLOCRACY—S., City. Ochlocracy is government or power in the hands of the multitude. The term was first used by Polybius, the Greek historian, about B. C. 210-128. 1In 1282 there was such a govern- ment in Florence, and Athens had a lika government. The Parls commune of 1571 is an example of what ochlocracy is. TWIN SHAFT DISASTER—J. B. M., City. After a protracted search of tha published accounts of the disaster in the Twin Shafts, at Pittston, Pa, June 28, 1896, this department is unable to find that any of the bodies of those who wera buried in that shaft were brought to the surface. You would have to write to the authorities of that place for the informa- tibn desired. A SCREW PROPELLER—J. J., Hay- wards, Cal. The information that you de- sire is such that only a practical ship- builder can give you. In relation to speed, diameter and pitch of a screw, you will find that, which is given in full, in “The Mechanics’ and Engineers’ Pocket Book” by Haswell. You will also have to consult some work on steam engines and steam navigation. RAILROAD TIME—M. J., City. This corespondent asks, “What is the greatest speed attained by a railroad?” but as he does not name the distance it is presumed that a mile is _meant. The fastest mils was made In 32 seconds by engine 99, drawing four heavy cars, of the Empirs State express, train weighing 460,000 pounds, between _Crittenden_and Wende, N. Y., over the New York Central, May 10, 1863, That was equal to 112% miles an héur. C. Hogan was the engineer. BRET HARTE—B. MILITARY SCHOOL—C. C. V., Oro- ville, Cal. There is no military school in the United States the graduates of which recelve commissions in the United States army except the one at West Point. There are universities and military acad- emies in various parts of the Union in which the students receive a military in- struction from a United States officer, de- tailed in time of peace, for that purpose, but such students upon graduating are not commissioned in the army. SCREW STEAMER—G. W. L., San Jose, Cal. The first mention of a vessel being propelled by a screw is that in 1504 Colonel John Stevens met with discourag- ing success In experimenting with a high pressure engine, a_sectional boiler and a single screw. He tried twin screws on a steamboat on the Hudson in 1514. The first naval screw steamer was the Ar- chimides, built in 1840 for the British navy. In 1847 Captain R. B. Forbes took out the first transatlantic screw steamer, the Massachusetts. A UNITED STATES BILLION—An Old Subscriber, City. This correspondent writes: *I notice this morning that you say that one million of millions make a billion. I would like to know if that is correct. 1 have always been under the impression that ten hundred millions made a billion, and I think wuat you are in error, and that it is written thusly, 1,000,000,000. Had An Old Subscriber carefully stud- jed the answer given he would have noted that the answer was as to what an Eng- lish billion and a Spanish billion are. The answer_is strictly correct, and had his knowledge of billions been more extended he would have known that in England and the greater part of Continental Eu- Tope a billion is a million of millions {1'500,000,000,000), and not ten hundred mil- lions, as he sSuggests. In the United States and in France it is one thousand millions (1,000,000,000). This is another in- stance where the writer should remember, before making a complanit, “‘Be sure that you are right, then go ahead.” Cal. glace fruit 50c per 1b at Townsend’s.® B Special information supplied daily to business houses and public men by ths Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont« gomery street. Telephone Main 1042, * —_———— "Is.:"l:( Slims a little slow as a business man? “‘A little slow?" He still has a big dis- lay of skates in his show window.”"— etroit Free Press. First and Second Class rates again reduced via the Santa Fe route. Call at the new ticket office, 623 Market. ———— “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used over fifty years by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Coilc, 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. 2c a bottle. ——— HOTEL DEL CORONADO—Take advantage of the round-trip tickets, Now only §0 by steamship, including fifteen days’ board at ho- tel; longer stay 32 60 per day. Apply at 4 New Montgomery street, San