The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 26, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRAN CO CALL, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1898 Che il 1808 SATURDAY 7 " JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietos. _Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLIEATION OFFICE .Market and Third Sts., S F. Telephone Main 1868 EDITORIAL ROOMS..........2i7 to 22! Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874 Lote e ' THE AN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carrlers In this city and surrounding towns for i5 cents a week. By mall $6 per year: per monty 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL... CAKLAND OFFICE.... ceeaens NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (B. C.) OFFICE ..e.-Rigge House C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OFFICE Marquette Bullding C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Represcntative. One year, by mail. $1.50 | ...908 Broadway BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open until | 930 o'clock. 62! McAllister street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 941 Mission street, open untll 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Bission street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open until 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, opes untll 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-secend end Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'cleck, Sight of St. Paul udeville. deville and the Zoo. Ed.; Streets, Specialtles, Sunday. & Park—Coursing. wimming. leside Track—Races To-day. Park—Baseball. Pavilion—Charity Bazaar, Thursday, Decem- in December. AUCTION SALES. N k W. Butterfield—This day, at 11 o'clock, Furni- 2 California street. By Wm. G. Layng—Tuesday, November 29, at 11 o'clock, Horses, at 721 Howard street. B absorbs popular attention, and the great Bald- win Hotel fire becomes g fading memory, it isbut “ right and proper that due recognition should be given | to the efficiency with which the Fire Department did its work of fighting the flames, and the heroic cour- | age and discipline with which the members fronted the dangers that threatened them and performed their difficult duties. By reason of the number of wooden buildings which exist in all parts of the city, even in the busi- | ness centers, San Francisco is much in need of a Fire | Department of more than ordinary strength and| "effectiveness. The danger of fire is greater with us | i_[:ax} with most large cities, and the mechanical ap- | pliances for meeting it are not better than elsewhere. | Tt is upon the firemen themselves, therefore, that we | depend for most of our security from disastrous con- | flagrations and our enjoyment of comparatively low rates of insurance. Fortunately we have abundant proofs that the Fire Department is equal to the arduous service required of it. At every dangerous fire evidences are afforded | of the excellence of the department as a whole, and the high standard of the men who compose it. The | Baldwin fire, by reason of its great extent, the large number of persons whose lives were exposed to de- struction within its burning walls, and the f;\cilit)“ with which it might have spread to adjoining build- ings, put the department to an extreme test, and the result proved anew the skill of its officers, the cour- age of its men and its efficiency as a corps. There are many buildings in the city which, if not outright firetraps, are still dangerously subject to fire, and, what is worse, other structures equally dangerous are now in process of construction. It is upon the | Fire Department we must continue to rely for the | protection of the city from the consequences of offi- cial carelessness in granting permits for unsafe build- i negligence in supervising construction. ing so, the community is to be congratulated on the high standard the department has attained. The wor'k accomplished in the checking of the great | fire and confining it to the hotel was a really notablel triumph and reflects credit upon all who took part in | st to last. s OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT. EFORE the rush of Christmas trade and festivity it from fi 'Law seems to have its peculiarities. Here is the S#ate Supreme Court of Missouri ruling that express g.ompanics must pay their share of the war tax levied /by Congress. On the other hand is J. J. Valentine, who says the express companies do not have to do any such thing. Now, assuredly, the law means one thing or the other, and, being of Federal origin, it means the same in California as in Missouri. We advise Mr. Valentine to let the Missouri court know that it is mistaken. The water-front caterer who nearly killed an old man for the offense of offering 5 cents to pay for 10 . cents’ worth of refreshments should be grateful. He escaped hanging, which was really more than he would have escaped if judged according to his actual merit. One of the prize-fighters engaged in the recent swindle permitted the public to be temporarily cheered by the report that he had committed suicide. As a matter of fact there is no particular prospect that he will ever commit anything half so commend- able. Apparently the latest tragedy on the yacht Chispa i< to be fergotten, The man who was shot refuses to " appear against the man who did the shooting. Some representative of the public ought to press the case. At least there is the grievance against the shooter that he did not take careful aim. —_— Sharkey’s manager denies certain reports damaging to his own reputation as well as to that of the precious plug ugly by the sweat of whose jaw he thrives. Really, if anybody had any reason for believing a prize-fight promoter this might be regarded as im- portant. Wisconsin has treated us well. In its delegation there may be found the beauty of the Badger State and its best brand of beer. Seonz The twelve jurors locked in the Baldwin at the time of the fire came to instant agreement to get out as soon as they could. Fitzsimmons is said to be disgusted with the fight. It is no presumption to remark that there are others. SRSy The Baldwin fire brought out the fact, sometimes lost sight of, that there are many heroes in the world. —_— Mr. Baldwin used to have the title “Lucky.” This ¥aa before the fire A LURID JUDICIAL OPINION. N their search for a court willing to uphold them l in refusing to pay their war taxes, the express com- panies of the country have at last found Judge Lacombe, who presides over a United States tribunal in New York State. This eminent jurist has found that the war revenue act authorizes carriers and shippers to bargain as to who shall pay taxes imposed upon the receipts issued by the former, and he can see no reason, such being the case, why the express companies should not make the shippers disgorge as a condition precedent to the transportation of their wares. We have before us a transcript of an opinion given by Judge Lacombe in a recent case defended by the United States Express Company. It shows that his reasoning is as clear as mud. He decides the case not on its merits as presented to him, but in order that an appeal to a higher court may be taken. “The delay which would be incurred by taking the case under ad- visement on briefs,” he says, “and holding it for weeks, perhaps, in order to study the case and write an opinion which, in the orderly sequence, would be the first of three, would simply work a delay and ac- complish no good purpose, especially in view of the fact that it is mainly a question of the interpretation of an act according to its intent, which is always a matter of uncertainty and sometimes leads to the most startling results, as in the case of the Holy Trinity.” Even laymen will perceive that this is an eminently judicial reason for writing an elaborate opinion in which a lot of tax-shirking corporations are upheld in evading their war burdens. Other courts are bound to pass upon the questions involved; hence there is no occasion for the Lacombe jurist to illuminate the subject with his reasoning, and he naturally decides in favor of the express companies, who, doubtless, in tax-shirking enjoy his profound sympathy. , In other words, in the absence of express language in the statute to the contrary, he has reached the con- clusion (we quote), “that the act has not prohibited the carrier from requiring the party tendering the goods to pay the carrier the increased cost which the act of Congress has made the particular act of trans- portation cost of the carrier.” This is not the question at all. No one denies that the act has failed to forbid the carrier exacting the additional cost from the shipper. all the cases so far has been that the statute requires the carrier to issue and stamp the receipt. As well might the express companies demand payment for the paper on which the receipt is printed as for the stamp which makes it legal. Not a word has been said about rates by any of the hali-dozen Judges who have examined the statute and construed it against Judge Lacombe's reasoning. The only point involved | who shall pay for the stamp? The statute says as plainly as words can that the carrier shall pay for | it, and it fines him $50 if he issue a receipt without a | stamp upon it. Eventually we do not doubt the courts of last re- sort will decide that the express companies must pay | for these stamps. In the meantime, however, there is being forced upon the people many thousands of dol- lars in taxes which they should not be compelled to pay. It is in evidence that the chief offender in this | icinity, Wells, Fargo & Co., is not only unpatriot-‘ ically shirking its war taxes, but that it is discriminat- ing against its small customers. It stamps.the pack- | ages of big shippers and pays for those used on the | newspapers. The action of these corporations in evading their war taxes while every other person is cheerfully pay- ing is unjustifiable and unpatriotic. _ Their conduct amounts to treason. It shows that though enjoying the nation’s bounty they would not scruple to with- hold the sinews of war were its life at stake. There | is one punishment the people may administer which | will speedily bring them to time. No one should | patronize them. We do not know but withholding | support from them will ultimately become a patriotic | duty. POSTOFEEQE;EFFAIRS. IKE all other official reports which in any way | 1—‘ that of the First / a summary of which has just been given to the press, makes a highly gratifying showing. It attests the general prosperity of the people by revealing an in- crease in the extent to which the postoffice has been used in all departments of its service. According to the statements of the report the gen- eral business of the department shows an increase | over that of the previous year of more than $6,000,000. During the year there were issued 27,798,078 domestic | money orders, as against 25,160,055 in the previous ! year. The amount of money carried by the orders of the present year was $101,354,121, against $174,482,676 last year. There were 23358 new money order offices established to meet the growing demands of the peo- ple, and, in short, in all branches of the work of the department the prevailing prosperity of the time has made itself felt. The recommendations made for the improvement of the service are numerous. The most important of these are that clerks in postoffices be classified and placed upon a fixed scale of salaries by a system simi- lar to that now used with respect to letter carriers; the consolidation of postoffices, by which small offices contiguous to a large one shall be abolished and sta- tions and substations provided in place thereof; and a repeal of the law requiring the use of the present form of money order and the authorization of a postal check payable to bearer. The latter recommendation is one which has long been under discussion and has been genecrally ap- proved. The proposed postal check will be in many respects much more convenient for general use than the present postal order and equally safe. Moreover, it will provide the country with an addition to its circulating medium, and to that extent be helpful to all classes of business. Briefly stated, the proposed postal checks are to be a form of paper currency issued in various denomi- nations from 5 cents to $5. On each check a space will be provided for writing the name and address of the person to whom the note is to be payable, the name of the sender and the signature of the recipient. These notes will circulate as currency, but whenever | names will be filled in, a stamp attached, and the note will then be payable only to the person for whom in- tended. The check can be deposited at a bank or collected at any postoffice like a postal order. Its advantage over the present system is that of simplicity in sending money in amounts of less than §s. The stamp required on the check is to defray the cost to the Government in carrying the order. As at present outlined the plan is to require a 1-cent stamp for sums of $1 or less and 2 cents from that sum up to $5. It is probable a bill providing for the system will be submitted to Congress this winter, as there is a strong support for ‘the movement, and it is believed the proposed checks will fill a desired service in our financial system. . T — There is an Indiana lawyer who insists upon argu- ing a certain important case in rhyme. . He has simply i chosen a new method of putting his feet in his mouth. The contention in | reflect the business conditions of the country, | sistant Postmaster General, | . it is desired to send one in payment of a bill the | THE WORK OF THE SESSION. ONGRESSMAN CANNON of Illinois, who C has recently reached Washington, is reported to have stated that his committee will at once ! begin work on the deficiency appropriation bill in or- der to have it ready to report as soon as Congress meets. Despite these earnest efforts to expedite mat- ters, Mr. Cannon thinks Congress will not be able to finish the work before it and that currency reform will not be undertaken. The appropriation bill will have to be large. “We cannot expect,” says Mr. Cannon, “the volunteers to remain in the service on garrison duty in the Philip- pines and the West Indies, and we will have to pro- vide a regular army of at least 100,000 men. The ap- propriations for the coming session will approximate $500,000,000, and as those for the last session were about $800,000,000, the total appropriations will far exceed a billion dollars.” Mr. Cannon talks hopefully of the prospects of the Nicaragua canal project. He is quoted as saying: “The canal will be constructed, and it will be domi- nated by this Government. As the negotiations ap- pear to be slightly mixed, I do not propose to discuss the merits of the various plans proposed or of the different syndicates, and I am not prepared to say what will be done, but recent events have demon- strated that the construction of such a waterway will be begun in the near future.” The sanguine tone of that statement is encourag- ing, although it will be noted nothing definite is pledged either as to the plan of construction or as to the time when the work will be commenced. It would appear that the question might be taken up at this session. It is clearly impossible to enact a currency reform bill until after the 4th of March, when the Re- publicans will control the Senate as well as the House. This, therefore, affords a good opportunity for work- ing upon non-partisan measures, and the most im- portant of that class now before the country is un- doubtedly the Nicaragua canal bill. Mr. Cannon is further quoted as saying nothing will be undertaken at the coming session in the way of legislation for the establishment of permanent gov- ernments for the colonies freed from Spanish rule. “Porto Rico and Cuba,” he said, “will remain under military control for at least a year, until we can find out what kind of a government is required and deter- mine if the people of those islands are capable of gov- erning themselves.” The high position of Mr. Cannon in Congress and his leadership in the House give weight to these state- ments. We may, therefore, look forward to a com- paratively quiet session. Nothing will occur to dis- turb trade and industry or to arouse political excite- ments. This is a gratifying outlook. A winter de- voted to business and prosperity will be as satisfactory as anything which this Congress with its free silver Senate could give us, and the country will be well pleased with it. o et r— THE INCREASE OF GOLD. OST gratifying in every respect are the M statistics of gold output and coinage and the financial information given in the annual re- port of George F. Roberts, director of the Mint. The increase both of the gold coinage and the gold output for the year has been notable, and not less so has been the advance toward the adoption of the gold standard of value by all the great commercial nations of the globe. The report says the gold coinage of the world in 1808 was the largest recorded, amounting in value to $437,710,342, against $103,809,517 in 1806. Of the former sum $146,622,104 was recoinage, and approxi- mately $291,007,148, a net addition to the stock of gold coins. The principal coinage was by the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Austria- Hungary, France and Japan. The extraordinary coinage of the year is accounted for by the prepara- tions of Russia, Austria-Hungary and Japan for their monetary reforms. - In the case of Russia particularly, | gold, which has been accumulating for years, much of | it in bars, was passed through the mints to prepare it for circulation. Nor do the gratifying features of the report end | with this summary of what has been accomplished. The further information is added that great as was | the world’s production of gold in 1898, amounting to | the value of $237,504,800, and exceeding that of 1896 by $34,822,500, it is, judging by the returns already at \hand, certain that the product of 1808 will be still ’ greater. The returns from South Africa for ten { months show that at ‘the present rate of production |its yield will exceed the yield of 1897 by $21,852,000. The returns from Australia indicate that its product in 1808 will exceed the product of 1897 by $10,335,000. ! The increased product from Canada in 1808 is esti- mated at $8,500,000. The increase in the United States can hardly fall below $3.000,000. The total of these estimates is $45,687,000, which, added to the figures of 1807, would indicate a world’s prod- luct in 1898 of $283,192,800. The product of 1891 — $130,000,000—will be more than doubled, and the com- | bined value of the gold and silver product ten years | ago exceeded by gold alone. } Tt is to be noted that the increase of gold has been | going on at an increasing rate of progression for a | long time. The figures given in the report before us show that stocks of gold in sight in European banks and Government treasuries from December, 1802, to | December, 1897, increased about $550,000,000, or over 46 per cent. The stock of gold in the United States increased in the five years $85,457,000. The increase | in the gold holdings of the banks of Australia, Can- ‘vada and South America was about $15,000,000. i With such a stream of gold flowing into the chan- | nels of trade it is not to be wondered that all enter- ! prising and progressive peoples are hastening to adopt the gold standard of value, thus putting their industries and commercial enterprises upon an equal- gi(y with those of the great nations. The free silver | movement has made its last struggle in finance and ’in politics. This is to be a golden world so far as | money is concerned,at any rate, and every prospect points to the conclusion that there will be gold | enough for all. | T ——— S —— Rr——— | Copious shedding of tears may not always be fruit- | less, but it has never been known to restore to life | a girl who had been beaten to death. Charged with the murder of his own daughter, Mr. Brandes might as well remember this and shut off his lachrymal flow. —_— A woman whose husband had the habit of beating her has had the misfortune to die of the bruises the brute inflicted. - Surviving women should withhold their sympathy. There are subjects upon which it might be bestowed to better advantage. | Some of the curious people who stretch their necks about the ruins of the Baldwin Hotel will never ac- quire sense by any less decisive method than a section of wall right in the elongated neck, and even then it would be too late for them to profit by. Times are changing. A politician has been named for office and has declared that he would not have it. And this does not refer to Major McLaughlin, either. AROUND THE CORRIDORS. L. A, Richards, a Grayson lumberman, is at the Russ. Dr. W. P. Inglish of Vacaville is stop- ping at the Lick. Ex-Mayor B. U. Stelnman of Sacra- mento is at the Palace. Fred E. Wadsworth, a prominent Yreka financier, is at the Grand. Ex-State Senator Thomas Flint Jr. of San Juan is at the Palace. N. T. Murphy, a prominent Arizona merchant, is at the Palace. J. 8. R. Arguello, an extensive San Jose ranchman, is at the Palace. Professor Hamilton Wallace of Btock- ton is stopping at the Lick. Professor W. R. Dudley of Stanford is registered at the California. F. S. Wensinger, a well-known Freestone ranchman, is at the Occidental. Police Commissioner Tobin returned yes- terday from a trip to New York. George R. Stewart, a prominent Crows Landing cattleman, is at the Grand. 0. Y. Woodward, an extensive Sacra- mento River'cattleman is at the Grand. F. K. Murphey, a distinguished Lon- doner, has apartments at the Palace. ‘W. F. Peterson, a prominent Sacramento candy manufacturer, is at the Grand. Xavier de Pichon, a prominent Liver- more vineyardist, is a guest at the Grand. ‘W. P. Thomas, a prominent attorney- politician of Ukiah, is a guest at the Grand. E. E. Earle, a well-known Sacramento merchant, is a late arrival at the Cali- fornia. J.-H. Call, a prominent Los Angeles at- torney, is making his headquarters at the Occidental. Chief Walter S. Moore of the Los An- geles Fire Department and his daughters are in the city. J. J. Hebron of Salinas, manager of the Pacific Improvement Company's cattle ranches, is at the Grand. G. A. Kaiser, a prominent Illinois capi- talist, accompanied by bis wife and daughter, is at the Palace. Lieutenant Commander Jeffe F. Moser, U. 8. N., is down from Mare Island and registered at the Occidental. George Alfred Gohen of Cincinnati, who has come to take editorial management of the Evening Report, is registered at the California. Charles Gorham is coming down from Marysville in a day or two to accept the position of assistant coiner in the United States Mint in this city. A party, composed of Bishop 1. Moore and Thomas Laughlin of Honolulu and John Meagher of New South Wales, has apartments at the Occidental. John J. Hannan, special correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, accompanies the ‘Wisconsin christening party for the pur- pose of attending to-day’s launching. At the regular weekly meeting of The Child Study Club at the Occldental yes- terday Mrs. May L. Cheney of the Uni- versity of California read a paper on “Literature for Children.” Ler i asias | CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, Nov. 2.—M. Casey and family, Miss Patricia Cosgrove and Miss Katherine Diilon of San Francisco are at | the Fifth Avenue. Charles Stepp of San | Francisco is at the Hoffman. A. Kimball of San Francisco and R. 8. Robins of Uak- land are at the Cosmopolitan. josgel FPAE I AR CALIFORNIANS IN WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, Nov. 25.—E. W. Pren- tice of San Francisco is at the Arlington. William Drown of San Francisco is at the Metropolitan, — e GOOD NEWSPAPER WORK. The handling of the story of the Bald- win fire by The Call on Wednesday morn- ing was one of the finest pieces of news- paper work ever done in San Francisco. When the fire broke out that paper was | already on the press. The editorlal and reportorial staff were just preparing to go to their homes, the night's work being completed. At the first alarm the entire force was detailed to the scene of the ca- tastrophe, and so skillfully did they handle their work that the story published in The Call was not only far superfor to any | printed in the other morning papers, but it | was also much better than any contained | in the evening papers. The latter had an entire day in which tc work up their mat- ter. The Call story was handled in con- siderably less time than an hour, and oc- cupied an entire page.—Santa Rosa Press- Democrat. — e——————— MOONSHINE IN CITY LIGHTING. “Tell me this ,” said the man frc- _hi- cago to the New Yorker, “who pays for lighting your streets when it is done? ‘Who is the man or corporation who holds the Columbus avenue job? I live just off that thoroughfare, not far from Central Park. One reason I ask is that I think an old friend of mine who died seven vears ago has returned to business and secured a contract in New York. “‘His name was Baldwin. He was a colonel in the Civil War, When Carter Harrison the elder was first elected Mayor he appointed Baldwin Gas Inspector, and as long as Carter was Mayor the colonel had the job. He was a faithful servant. He used to do his own inspecting on horse- back. Many a night he played the soll- tary horseman act in Chicago, riding all night to see that the streets were prop- erly lighted or darkened, as he desired. For there were times when it was quitt as important to turn off the gas as it was to turn it on at other times. One of the colonel’s imperative orders was that no gas was to be burned in the street lamps when there was moonlight. If the moon came up after, say, 10 o'clock, the street ‘glims’ were to be doused, or whenever it | came up, no matter what the hour might | be. And when the moon was in its first | auarter the lamp-lighters used to watch it until it went down and then they lighted up. “There never was a man who had the phases of the moon down as fine as Colo- nel Baldwin. Cloudy weather cut no fig- ure with him. The clouds might be thick enough to plow in, but as long as Colonel Baldwin knew the moon was up and at- tending to business the streets were kept dark. For, the colonel used to say, the moonshine was liable to break through any minute, Chicago saved money under old Carter Harrison's administration, out of the moon as she was run by Colonel Baldwin. “‘But if the colonel has come back and has a contract in New York, he has re- versed himself. I find when I go home fn | the morning, when the moon is at its| brightest, that the arc liehts in Colum- bus avenue are doing their best work. But when there is no moon, and particu- larly when the clouds are thick and black, nary an arc light, nor any other kind, can you find. a New York man has ‘the contract, he doesn't understand his business. If there {s any moonshine in his contract he ought to stand in with the moon the same as old Colonel Bald- win did, in the interest of the treasury and for the beneflt of the populace.”’— New York Sun. ——————— KICK-OFF BY A LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. Lord Russell of Killowen, the Lord Chief Justice, attended the County At.letic Grofund, Herne Hill, for the purpose of erforming the opening function of the sondon Irlsh Rugby Football Club (Ham- mersmith being the opponents There was a very large attendance. rd Rus- sell of Killowen was met by G. Rowland Hill, honorary secretary of the Rugby Union, who introduced his lordship. Russell briefly acknowledged the compli- ment and then proceeded kicked off the ball amid cheers.—London Chronicle. e — CHURCHES WITH CLOAK ROOMS. Reference was recently made to a cler- gyman who was having a cloak room pro- vided for his church, as being ‘‘up to date.” It is interesting, however, to know that he is not the only example of an up- to-date parson. Thé Rev. Charles M. Gale in his appeal for funds for the per- manent_church of St. Savior's, West St. Leonards, states that the plans embody t.rfi&n‘ementl for cloak rooms, ete. “'He considerg it altogether behind the Lord | o the field and | Scotch boy, as natlonulflg times that a_church should be about the only public building where one seems to | be expected to sit inconveniently in damp or wet clothes, and where no provision is made for natural indisposition or for the infirmities of age.—London Mall. e PR BIRTHDAY GIFTS TO HIS WIFE. A birthday dinner that breaks all rec- ords so far as Denver is concerned, was given at the Palace Hotel there recently. The cash represented alone foots up.to nearly $100,000, and the prospects em- bodied In a few deeds to a weaithy mine in Boulder County brings the gifts up to half a million. The host was the millionaire capitalist of Cincinnati, Ohio, Herman E. Blalr. The magnificent gifts were made to his wife, Mrs. Cornelia Blair, one of the so- cial leaders of the big eity on the Ohlo River. Among the guests around the ta- ble were Judge Miller Outcalt of Cincin- nat, law_partner of Senator Foraker, and Colonel W. A. Thompson of the Boston Lyric Company. Ginasea were lifted in a toast to Mrs. Blair, when something glittered in a vel- vet box as Mrs. Blalr was presented with a $700 marquise ring. But that was not all. “For pin money,” explained the mil- lionaire, as he handed his wife a bundle of papers. On top was a check payable to Mrs. Blair, and bearing the figures $10,000. The package contained deeds to the Little Alice mine, a property valued at $500,000, and probably more.—Chicago Tribune. PHANTOMS ALL. Camo, all you sailors of the southern waters, You apparitions of the Spanish main, Who dyed the jeweled depths blocd-red with slaughters, You things of crime and gain! Come, caravel and pinnace, on Wwhose daring 5 Rose the low purple of a new world's shore; Come from your dreams of desperate sea- faring And sun your sails once more. Build up again your stately height, storm-harried Santa Maria, crusted with salt stains; Come quick, you black and treacherous craft that carried Columbus home in chains! And flout of all your angry flames and ashes, Proud with a pride that only home- ward yearned, Swim darkly up and gatfier from your ashes Your ships that Cortes burned! Come, prows, whence climbing Into light deific Undazzled Balboa planted o’er the plain, The lonely piain of the unguessed Pacific, The standard of great Spain. In Carllbbenn coves, dark vanished ves- sels, Lurking and hiding thrice a hundred years, Figure again your mad and merry wrestles, Beaks of the buccaneers! Come, you that bore through boughs of dripping_blossom, Oregon with his headsman and his priest, Where Limousin with treasure in his bosom Dreamed, and in dreaming ceased. Barks at whose name to-day the nursling | shivers, Come, with the bubble-rafts where men swept down. Along the foam and fall of mighty rivers To sack the isthmiam town! Through dusky bayous known in old ro- mances In one great furtive squadron move, you 08! That took to death and drowning those free-lances. The Brethren of the Coast! Come, Drake, come, Hawkins, to your sad employer, Come, L'Olonnois and Davila, again, Come, you great ships of Montbar the De- stroyer, Of Morgan and his men! | Dlppllng and slipping under shadowy high- ands, Dashing in haste the swifter fate to meet, Come from your wrecks on haunted keys ¢ and islands, Cervera’s vallant fleet! Galleons, and merchantmen, and sloops of | stor; O silent escort, follow in full train This passing phantom of an anclent glory, The Navy of Old Spain! —HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD in The Criterion. ————————— A BALL AT BALMORAL, 1860. “Nobdy was in mourning, as it was a birthday, the Queen in white, with a floating sash of royal Stuart tartan from her shoulders; about half the men in | kilts. The Queen made a circle, and then we went into the pallroom, where about a hundred and fifty of the tenants, ser-| vants, etc., with their wives and their daughters, were assembled. Reels then began, which were danced with great en- ergy, and also jigs—very droll. Prince Arthur danced like mad, and Princess Alice was ‘weel ta’en out’ by the game- keeper. I stood in a corner talking with the Duke of Argyll, etc. At last the Prince came around and conversed verx courteously for ten minutes. He na heard I had been in Germany lately, so we soon got into the heart of German and Austrian questions. “All this lasted two hours, and then the Queen withdrew into the supper room, where there were sandwiches and cham- pagne. She went around agaln, and talk- ed to Lord Melville, behind whom I was standing, and then made me a Vvery gra- cious bow, but without saying anytaing to myself.”—Memoirs of Henry Reeve. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A FIVE-CENT PIECE—E. A. H., City. A 5-cent piece of 1837 does not command a premlum. BANK IN LIQUIDATION—M. M., City. The California Savings and Loan Soclety | suspended September 28, 18%4. BIRTHDAY GIF1—B. T., City. A per- son sending a bunch of flowers as a birth- day gift should send it accompanied by the sender's card, with a short congratu- latory message thereon. COLONEL SMITH—B. T., City. Colonel James F. Bmith, commanding the First California Regiment of Volunteers, was engaged In the practice of law in this city when he tendered his services tc the United States in the war with Spain. LIFE OF A NOTE—P. O. B., Visalia, Cal. A promissory note outlaws after six vears in Colorado. In California it out- aws in four years if executed within the State, and in two years if executed outside of the State. BANK COMMISSIONERS—M. M., City. The Bank Commissloners of the State of California are appointed by the Governor for a term of four years. The pay of each F the Inres Commissloners 16 J60 & year and that of the clerk of the board is ULSTER COUNTY GAZETTE-M. C. B., Berkeley, Cal. The copy of the Ulster County Gazette, January 4, 1800, which you have is one of a million fac-similes of an or|gina.l. They were published in New York in 1863, and sold for 25 cents a copy. It has no value. COST OF WARS—C. T. S., Red Bluff, Cal. The Revolutionary War cost the United States $135,193,763; the war of 1812, $107,159,003; the Mexican War, $100,000,000; and the War of the Rebellion, $§,189,922,- 900. This does not include the amount of pensions paid in connection with each war. NATIONALITY—J. C. P., City. “A boy born of a Scotch father and of a mother born in California of Irish parentage” is a Californian, or in other words, a native of the United States. He could not be a is fixed by the lace in which the individual is born, but f the father had never been a citizen of the United States. the boy, when he reached the age of 21, could elect whether he would be a citizen of the United States or adopt the citizenship of his father. CITIZENSHIP—J. C. P, City. A man cannot be a citizen of two countries at one and the same time. He could not as an Américan citizen go to Scotland, re- main {n that country long enough to exer- cise the rights of an elector and then re- turn to the United States, and without be- coming a citizen anew, assume the rights of an elector. In such a case by becom- ing a resident of Seotland and exereisi the Fights of a citizen there he renoync his United States citizenship and when he returned to the United States he was as much an alien, in law, as any other for- eigner just landed. AN IMPRESSION-B. 8. C., Cordelia, Cal. The best, impression of a human hand to be obtained for the purpose of palmistry is- to have it photographed, normal size. That will reproduce. exactly all the lines and enable the reader to form a correct opinion, according to the rules of that science. INDIAN TREATIES—Subscriber, Elk, Cal. By an act of February 16, 1863, all treaties made and entered into by the Sisseton, Wapeton, Medawakoneon and ‘Wapekuta bands of Sloux or Dakota‘In- dians were declared abrogated and an- nulled so far ag any of sucn treaties pur- ported to impose any future obli the United States, for having 1 provoked aggression and a most s war upon the United States, and mas- sacred men, women and _children in the State of Minnesota in 1882 OFFICIAL FIGURES—P. W. T., Sacra- mento and others in City. This depart- ment has not the space to publ the names of the Assemblymen elected at the late election nor the vote cast for eact candidate in a stated Congressional di trict. The official figures will be ready in a few days, and then the names and fig- ures will be given in the news department of the San Franetsco Call. without such figures this department, if it had the ;Dflce. could not give the figures asked or. GAS—E. C. B., Lockford, San Joaquin County, Cal. The answer recently given in this department was furnished by an expert on acetylene gas. Another ex- pert, this one on coal gas, writes to say “that gas is measured by the cubic foot of 1728 cubic inches and is compressed when measured by the weight of a column of water from four to two and a half inches high. This small compression amounts to a trifle only, but is in faver of the customer. The ordinary gas meter will measure acetylene gas and can_be urchased from several firms in San Francisco.” kel COPPER COINS—Mrs. M., Oakland, Cal. A large copper cent of 1814 sells for 40 cents, and one of 1846 for 5 cents. A copper coin having on the obverse a horse's head above a plow, the date un- derneath the plow and the words Nova Caesarea, and on the reverse a shield with the motto, '« Pluribus Unum,” is a coin that was issued in New. Jersey in 1786, 1787 and 1788. For a coin of the date of 1786, having on it the plow without coul- ter, from 20 to 50 cents is offered; for one of the same date with the date under the beam of the plow from $15 to $25 is of- fered, and for one of 1788 with the horse’s head 'to_the left from 30 cents to $1 1s of- fered. The coins must be in fair or good condition. LIFE-SAVING SERVICE—F. Y., Point San Lufs, Cal. Appointments in the life- saving service are obtained after an ex- amination under the civil service rules, if the applicant passes successfully. The application must be made upon a blank furnished by the Commission, which may be obtained from the superintendent of any life-saving district or the keeper of any life-saving station, The applicant must be a citizen of the United States, not under 18 nor over 45 years of age; not less than 5 feet 6 inches in height; not less than 132 nor more than 200 pounds in welght; must reside in the district in which he seeks employment, and not more than five miles inland from ocean, bay or sound shore, and must be able to read and write the English language. Applicants should write or apply in '}l:rsnn to the su- perintendent or keeper of the nearest life- saving station for application blanks and information about the method of grading papers and filling vacancies. The salaries are: Superintendent, $1800; keepers, $500, and surimen, $60 per month when em- ployed. ROBIN ADATR — A correspondent of this department furnishes the following concerning the authorship of ‘“Robin Adair,” the well-known song: ‘Robert Adair was born in Ireland in 1715, was | educated as a surgeon, and practiced in Dublin, but leaving there went to Eng- land. While on a road near Holyhead an accident occurred which led to his be- ing called ‘‘the fortunate Irishman.” The carriage of & lady of fashion was over- turned. Adair went to the '8 askist- ance and at her request accompanied her to London, where she paid him a fee of one hundred guineas and invited him to call at her house. There he met Lady Caroline Keppel, second daughter of the second earl of Albemarle, and sister of the celebrated Admiral Keppel. She fell in love with Adair at first sight, but rela- tives and friends were set against him. They did all they could to break up tne match, even sending LM{ Keppel aw: 80 they could not meet. It was a useless task, for she fell into a decline, and when this was noticed all Upgosltlon ‘was with- drawn and she married Adair, bore him three children and was happy with her husband until her death. It is said that while at Bath she wrote the words of the song which she set to an old air she ad- mired. _Adair became the favorite of George 111 and he was made inspector of the military hospitals, surgeon general King's surgeon general and surgeon of the Chelsea Hospital. He did not marry again and died in 1790. His only son, Hon, Robert Adair, K. C. B., died at the age of 92 years. —_——— Cal. glace fruii 50c per Ib at Townsend’s.® ——————————— Onyx tables, lamps, globes and shades; best stock; best values at Sanborn & Vail's. . ——————————— Special information supplied daily te business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. * —————e—————— “I see,” said the Cumminsville Sage, “that there are three varieties of dogs that never bark; but I never had the luck to sleep next door to one of them; never yet.”—Cincinnati Enquirer. > —_————————— Dr. Stegert's Angostura Bitters, the great South American tonie, imparts a deliclous fla- vor; cures Dyspepsia, Diarrhoea, Fever & Ague. —_————————— For dyspepsia, colic and exhaustion, no remedy {lke PARKER'S GINGER TONIC. PaRkER's HATR BALSAM s life to thehalr. —_————————— Customer—Do you think this medicine will have the desired effect? Druggist—Oh, yes; I'll guarantee it"to work like a charm. Customer—But I have no faith in charms. Druggist—Neither have I—Chicago News. ADVERTISEMENTS. JUST AS NATURALL As pansies turn toward the sun do lovers of fine laundry work send their bundles here. They have tried us and have never found our work wanting. No “saw-edges” to provoke anger, no torn-out buttonholes to cause annoy- ance. ‘What we've achieved with them is easy to do for you. The United States Laundry, office’ 1004 Market street Telephone South 420. NEW WESTERN HOTEL, BARNY AND WASHINGTON STS.—RE- modeled and renovated. KING, WARD & CO. European plan. Rooms ilc to 3150 day; 5 to $3 week; $8 to $30 month. Free baths; hot and cold water every room; fire grates in' every room; elevator runs all night.