The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 29, 1898, Page 6

VOVEMBER 29, 1808 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Propretor. e Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE......Market and Third Sts. S. P. | Telephone Main 186 EDITORIAL ROOMS... 217 to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1574, | THE 6AN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is | served by carrlers In this clty and surrounding towns | for IS cents a week. By mall $6 per year; per montb 65 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. OAKLAND OFFICE. _One year. by mall, $1.50 ..908 Broadway WAR SPIRIT DECLINING. HE reorganization of the National Guard by the Trefilling of its regiments is reported by the officers to go slowly because of the decline of military enthusiasm. This does not imply any lack of the defensive and offensive spirit which springs to the country’srescue in | a crisis. That spirit has been shown by our people in the Revolution, the Mexican and Civil warsand in the late contest with Spain. But it shows that Americans do not care much for soldiering for its own sake. The decline of that form of enthusiasm is also largely due to the rigors of service in the tropics. After all is sz2id about official neglect and lack of sanitary equip- ment, the fact remains that no official zeal and ef- ficiency and no perfection of hospital and medical equipment can arrest the ravages of the tropical cli- NEW YORK OFFICE. DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (. C.) OFFICE... .....Rigge Houss | C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. | CHICAGO OFFiCE <evee..Marquette Building \ C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Represcntative. Room 188, World Buildiag | BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open unttl | 930 o'clock. 621 McAlilster street. open until 9:30 | o'clock. 616 Larkin street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. | 94 Mission street, open untll 10 o'clock. 2991 Market | street. corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 25i18 Misslon street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventd | street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, opea untll 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty- Kentucky strests, n until 9 o'cleck. ] AMUSEMENTS , vaudeville and the zoo. Olympia—C Sutro’s Bat Rosenthal—( Oakland Race Mechanics’ Pavilion—Charity ack—Races to-day. Bazaar, Decem= Thursday, AUCTION SALE: s day at 11 o'clock, furniture, By Frank W. Butterfleld—T! 8t 604 Geary stre at 721 By Wm. . Layng—This day at 11 o'clock, horses, Howard street | By Killip & C>.—This evening, at 7:3 o'clock, thoroughbred | yearlings, a! ner Van N avenue and Market street. v Watk! December 1, at 11 o'clock, livery stable, at 1620 E THE NEW POSTOFFICE. ONGRESSMAN LOUD struck a responsive chord in the breast of San Francisco when he | announced upon his arrival at Washington that | he intended to ascertain why work is not procceding} more rapidly upon the Postoffice building at the cor- | That structure is | ner of Seveath and Mission streets. | | not in Mr. Loud's district, but the people of the Fourth Congressional will appreciate anything he may | do for them. They have lang been represented in | Congress by a gentleman who does not bother about | such little thirigs as postoffices. Unless Mr. Loud or somebody else stirs up the | quartered there mate among troops not fitted by racial resistance for life under a vertical sun. Visitors to Hawaii who have briefly sojourned there at the most favorable season have written volumes about the Paradise of the Pacific. But our troops under the most favorable con- ditions have found it the reverse of a para- dise. They have been subject to forms of sickness which, while amenable to treatment in the temperate zone, are as fatal and irresistible as bullets in the tropics. A still sadder story comes from Manila, and Cuba ranks in the reports as a pest island. The worst feature of it is that a tropical climate, if it spare life, leaves a constitution broken beyond repair. All this information is not to be had in published re- ports nor in the news columns of the press. It comes in the sad letters written home by the men who suffer. The prospect of a great army needed to garrison these tropical posts, and certainly in the Philippines to conquest the natives, who will fight®against further colonial subjection, deters men from enlistment in the regulars and from entering a National Guard which may at any moment be again called to arms, not to fight Spain but the people whom we delivered from Spanish rule. These signs must be wisely studied by our public men. They are indications of the popular will and feeling which cannot be ignored. They enforce the | lesson which The Call has kept before its readers from the beginning. That lesson has seemed at times to be forgotten by commercial bodies, which seem to think that we can compel trade by guns and the sword. It is true that we can conquest the ten millions of Filipinos, as we can the Cubans, for our Government has the great power of conscription, by which it can make an army of eight or ten millions of men. But it will be a sad day when the republic forces its citizens into the ranks of an army of conquest to overrun an unwilling people. We cannot surrender the conviction that the path out of the situation to true greatness lies in securing | such coaling and naval stations as will serve our pur- pose and the bestowal of sovereignty upon the people we have delivered from Spain, the payment of the cost and retirement to our own borders. Then the money and energy which will be required to carry out Treasury Department in the matter of this building, | 2" imperial military policy can be devoted to our own probably the present generation of San I’rancistnns‘ will never live to see it constructed. Work upon the | Temple of Justice at Kearny and Washington streets | is proceeding with lightning-like speed compared with that upon. the' new Postoffice, and yet the former has been snailish in its slowness. The Postoffice lot was purchased by the Gove ment in 1893. Nearly four years were consumed in “inspecting” .it. * A number of expeditions were sent from Washington with instructions to ascertain | whether or not the stories of the owners of rival sites that theré was a bog under the lot were true; and then the War Department engineers tackled the proposi- | tion. :Several carloads of earth were sent East to be | “analyzed” and the lot was drilled full of artesian | wells with a view of unearthing the bog. Finally work was commenced upon the foundation. After a year of delay; during which -a contractor has been convicted of working his men more than eight hours | a day, the walls for the superstructure have been com- | pleted. It seems to ‘us that five years is quite a long time | to consume: in the preliminary work of “inspecting” | the site'and building the foundation of the Postoffice. It strikes us also that it is about time somcbody; stirred the Treasury Department up to greater activ- ity. Congressman Loud can render the people of this | city no more efficient service than in demanding to | know the causes of delay and in requesting that fur- | ther procrastination be dispensed with. The Post- | office ought to be finished before the end of the | century, but unless somebody takes hold of it and | makes:the Government move, the twentieth century | will" expire before a letter is mailed at the new loca- | tion. | Orie hundred years will not suffice to settle all the | disputes that will arise over the building if the treas- : ury officials are left to themselves. They have occu- pied five years in disposing of a rumor about a hog‘: under the lot, and do-not yet seem to be satisfied that | it was a joke. | T harkey the. other night were not designed to | harm.” They were exchanged by an understand- ing as definitely arranged as the details of a horse trade. . The-men knew that the purse was to be divided equally between themselves after the club had secured a share.- Neither had any object in inflicting bruises on the other. "Indeed, to have done so would have | marredtheir pleasant relations and jolted the honor | which:prevails.among thieves. The public, a collective | sucker, had been: selected as the victim. It always had | responded to the chance to be bled by thc‘mock} fighter. | However, the baby blows given and taken have had | the effect of knocking pugilism out at least for a time. | The public does not like to be taken in by methods | so palpable: It wants its gold bricks artistically | gilded. . This is not a lofty view. If pugilists really fought they would flourish; but as frauds who will not fight they arouse antagonism. Perhaps’ it is a reflection upon morals and intelli- gence, but it is true that the brutality of pugilism wortld not kill it.. The fact that it was breeding a class of thugs, supporting a lot of vagrants, sustaining gamblers and drawing youth into bad society and reckless habits would all be passed over. But the pugilist. has taken to open swindling and to laughing at his dupes. There is a limit to human endurance. Alas and alas! the pugilist may ultimately have to go te work or starye. PUGILISM KNOCKED OUT. | HE make-believe blows struck by Corbett and | | | Corbett says he is crushed by the charges of con- nivance in the crookedness which netted him $15,000. However, his talking apparatus escaped uninjured, and the size of the purse will tend to heal his bruises. At this price per crush Corbett may be considered a standing candidate for: crushing. It may be well to state that while President Craig has gone East he has not taken the Chamber of Com- merce with him, O peaceful development, and the world will fear and respect us to a degree that can never be caused by any feats of arms we may achieve as a military republic. THE MINISTERING ANGEL. UT of the fearful tragedy of the wreck of the T. C. Walker there have come several proofs of heroism that lighten the gloom of the calamity. The promptness with which the crew and the passen- gers recovered from the shock of the explosion and hastened to the relief of the victims showed that the higher instincts of humanity were not confined to one or two but were shared by nearly all. whom chance kad gathered into company for the trip. There was a conspicuous fortitude shown by Cap- tain John Tulan, who, though imprisoned in his state- room and so badly scalded by the steam that when rescued pieces of his flesh came off with his clothing, bore the pain without a groan and carried his agony Leroically until death relieved him. Not less heroic | was that poor Italian who, though burned severely, re- fused to give his name, saying his wife might be alarmed, and he wished to be the first to break the news to her. In this catastrophe, however, asin so many others, the chief praise for fortitude and for helpfulness belongs to woman. To the burned and scalded sufferers of the explosion the coming of Mrs. Frances Robinson of this city, one of the passengers on the steamer, was that of a veritable ministering angel. Skilled in the care of the sick, she knew what to do for the victims, and she did it with a promptness that made it doubly efficacious. This brave woman, roused from her sleep by the explosion and hearing the cries of the injured, hastened from her stateroom into the night without stopping to even put on her slippers. In her night- robe and in bare feet she went to the scene of the wreck and at once took charge of the work of relief. Under her directions flour and oil were obtained and bandages applied to the burned flesh of the agonized sufferers, their pains eased as much as possible and in many cases their lives saved. Mrs. Robinson did not work alone. She was cor- dially and bravely assisted by other women among the passengers. With swift hands and loving hearts of gentle helpfulness they worked, binding up the fearful burns while the cold morning winds swept around them unheeded. It was another illustration amid the wreck of that awful catastrophe of the old story of | woman’s service, embodied in the immortal words: “When pain and anguish wring the brow, a minister- ing angel thou.” F five years are to be prolific of expositions. They are to cover every variety of industrial activity and many of them are to be conducted on a scale of great magnitude. Moreover, all the larger | ones expect liberal appropriations from the General Government. Without counting the exposition movements i'n | smaller cities, the projects now under way include a Commercial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1899, a | Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1900, a Uni- | versal Exposition in New York in 1901, a Cincinnati | Exposition in 1902 and a World’s Fair at St. Louis ‘;in 1903. It will be seen that all of these projects have their home in the Eastern section of the country. There is but one of them west of the Mississippi and none west of the Missouri. The promoters will co-operate with one another in getting appropriations from the General Government, and there can be no doubt that each will be munificently assisted. While thése expositions are going on the West will help to pay the bills, help to make the exhibits and help to patronize the expositions when opened. To the people of the East, however, nearly all the bene- fits will accrue. We shall have, it is true, an oppor- tunity at each to make a display of our resources and AN ERA OF EXPOSITIONS. OR the people of the Eastern States the next 3 Lour industries, but beyond that our gain will be little. Ja bigger man than Otis. . FRANCISCO CALL, | of the year a good many wrecks occurred among the TUESDAY, N Of course, the East is not to be blamed for this seeming unfairness to the West. It is not their fau!t if we also do not get-an appropriation for an exposi- tion. The Government is as willing to help us as it is to help New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis. If we desire an exposition and an appropriation we have only to follow the example of Eastern cities and ob- tain them by working for them. It is not to the credit of the great West that her cities and her States are so comparatively stagnant in respect to such enterprises while the East is so active and progressive. In the five vears’ cycle of exposi- tions there should be at least one great event of the kind on the Pacific Coast. The new era of prosperity dawns as brightly for us as for the East, and in the glow of its radiance our light should shine as brightly as that of the older States. It rests with San Francisco to determine whether the Pacific Coast shall have a great exposition or not. No other city on the coast is large or rich enough to undertake one of a magnitude approaching that of the more splendid expositions to be held in the East. Nor do we lack reasons for venturing upon such an enterprise within the next few years. The develop- ment of Pacific Ocean commerce is in itself suf- ficiently notable to render it worth while for us to invite the countries of Asia, of Australasia and of South America to an exposition at a city which is destined to be the metropolis of that commerce. THE WRECK OF THE WALKER. WITH the wreck of the T. C. Walker it appears we are confronted with another of those direful catastrophes that are set down as accidents for which no one is to blame. From statenients made by those who are in a position to know most about the matter, it would seem that everything was all right with the boiler, and the explosion was either pure cussedness on the part of the steam or the direct work of the devil. The average man who does not believe in special diabolisms or in the perversity of inanimate forces will hardly be able to rid his mind of the conviction that the disaster was the result of human carelessness. Either the boiler was too weak to carry the normal pressure of steam required to propel the boat or else the pressure was made abnormally high. We are as- sured, however, that neither of these things was a factor in the case. The boilers, we are told, were comparatively new, and had been recently tested and approved by the Government Inspectors and regis- tered for a pressure of 170 pounds. We are further told that at the time the accident occurred the gauge registered a pressure of but 150 pounds. The solution of the problem will have to be left to official inquiry, but public opinion should demand | that the inquiry be careful and exhaustive. Most accidents to modern machinery, when scientifically investigated, are found to be the results of negligence on the part of operatives or parsimony on the part of proprietors. Either the machine was badly run or it was a bad machine. The fixing of responsibility in cases of such acci- dents tends to prevent their occurrence in future. An important duty- is, therefore, imposed upon officials charged with the investigation. During the early part vessels fitted out for the Alaskan trade, but a more rigitl investigation into one or two such disasters stopped that form of criminal recklessness. A similar vigor of investigation into this accident might have an equally good result on the river shipping. Tsibly may be mentioned again—that all-the-year- round racing is a lure and a menace to public morals. Incidentally, it is absolutely destructive of the integrity of a sport in which breeding and skill once had a chance. Now it is a gambling game; nothing more. The man who ventures money on the outcome of a contest merely guesses as to which horse has been slated to win. It is the moral aspect of the question, however, | which appeals, much as we may regret to see a sport once reputable made into the means whereby the public is fleeced. So great is the temptation afforded by the constant presence of the chance to bet that many are unable to resist. They read of fabulous win- nings and are fired by the fallacious notion that for- tune may smile on them. They give their hard-earned money to the bookmaker. He thrives. They want to get even, and if the dollars are lacking they borrow, beg or steal. Women become infatuated with the idle dream of riches, and for the sake ‘of playing neglect their homes, waste the funds supplied by unsuspect- ing husbands and jeopardize their own reputations. Often they become involved in open disgrace, for sooner or later comes exposure, while more than one domestic tragedy may be traced directly to the passion for gaming, awakened and nurtured by the ever-pres- ent opportunity. One of the duties of the Legislature will be to reg- ulate racing, to limit the season and to crush the pool- room, which is the iniquitous adjunct of an iniquitous scheme for bunkoing the public. CHECK THE RACING. HE fact hasbeen mentioned heretofore—and pos- An evening paper states gravely that it had already exposed the crookedness of the ferry depot job and that the present showing of experts is in the nature of a chestnut. The important features of this declaration are—first, that it is not true and, second, that if it were true nobody would have known it. What facilities has the Bulletin for exposing anything? To see it is a | calamity, to read it an accident and to believe it an evidence of paresis. —_ < The man Brandes, accused of the murder of his own daughter, is said to devote much of his time to prayer; but if his idea is to save himself discomfort he would better direct his time to gathering funds for some lawyer whose devotion to the high calling of defeating the law is beyond question. —_ Naturally enough, the Supreme Court granted a new trial to a convicted man upon the showing that the trial Judge had not been present throughout the proceedings. People are prone to think that a felon has too many privileges, but they do not wish to see him deprived of any rights. Carlists declare they will rise against Spain upon the signing of a treaty of peace with the United States. Such a statement might have been alarming ac one time, but as a bluff decrepit for usage it has lost its power to strike terror. e e A San Rafael man has been fined $10 for an attempt to kill his wife and daughter. At this rate he can afford to make the effort as often as the notion may seize him. e Sharkey’s manager intimates kindly that Corbett may have another chance at his man. But where are the idiots who would pay the gate money? According to one foreign paper, the notorious Esterhazy has sailed for this country. Let us hope for the best. Papers sometimes err. Aguinaldo still seems to cling to the idea that he is Oh sinks, Grains and trays, 150 wood, coal, vegetable metal OVEMBER 29, 1898 ~A RAILROAD IN LAKE COUNTY. Editor of The Call: Very much has been said and written ty. Comparisons have been made with the most attractive an of Lake Coun- d extensively patronized pleasure resorts in other sections of our country, as well as in Eu- rope. Her endless variety of mineral waters laden with health-restoring properties constitute a real sanltarl_ fresh from the Pacific Ocean seventy-five miles Her balmy atmosphere, away, rolling over the mountain forests of pine and redwood, springs perpetually gushing forth um. is tempered to the most delicate touch of tHe sensitive invalid, imparting new courage, vigor and life. Her glorious sunshine, unobstructed by the fogs that'pre- vail in many places on the Pacific Coast, is met by the continued evapo- ration of the waters of Clear Lake, supplying elightful inhalation, bracing up the wasting needed humidity for easy and diseased bodies of those in search of the atmosphere with the health. The beautiful landscapes spread around Clear Lake present scenes of at- traction to the eyes that admire beauties in nature, unsurpassed perhaps by any section of our whole country. Much more could be said without exhausting the theme or even squint- ing at exaggeration—in fact, others have elaborated in a marked degree, and yet the half has never been told. In our admiration of visible objects we are liable to pass by and over- look the source or foundation whence cometh all which every successful enterprise is established, viz., soil that needs no irrigation. wealth and upon the rich, productive Around Clear Lake there are thousands of acres of land fully equal and much of it superior to the lands in oth ized for the production of sugar beets. er parts of the State now being util- The powers of production in these lands have been tested only to a limited extent, but where preparation and proper culture have been applied the re- sults have greatly exceeded all reasonable anticipation. All the cereals, vegetables of all kinds and alfalfa are grown to wonder- ful perfection, and yet not a tenth of the capacity of the soil is used, be- cause no market is obtainable except a local one and that exceedingly lim- ited. Lake County has no system of irrigation; does not need any; never has a fallure of crops. This year, while many southern counties failed to raise anything, Lake County harvested an abundant crop. In many of the val- leys artesian water is found in ample supply at depths of from eighty to 100 feet. The fruit product even now amounts to hundreds of tons, many orchards Just beginning and others soon to come into bearing will increase the vol- ume many fold. to a market obtain anything for their ancing the profits, even with those. why those mineral springs, the waters The inquiry may be suggested as Only those who are able to haul their products in wagons surplus, ofttimes the expense gverbal- to of which possess such wonderful cur- ative properties, are not overcrowded with health-seekers; why the rich soil, capable of yielding such lavish products, is not taxed to its utmost capaci- ty, and, above all, why the pure, refreshing, health-giving atmosphere Lake County is not sought by the thousands who live and beds of sorrow, dying by inches in the of languish upon foggy, malarial sections, while relief— immediate rellef—and perhaps permanent cures are to be found so near by. ‘We answer: There is no railroad into Lake County. tion should be extended to Clear Lake the patronage of the entire county If railroad connec- in every department of business and productive enterprise is virtually assured. An immense passenger traffic could be means of reaching the lake, worked up by a convenient and rapid whence only a few miles will take the visitor to Highland Springs, Bartlett Springs, Seigler Springs or any of the pleas- ure resorts desired, and those places would be largelv patronized the whole year through. Upon the beautiful, placid waters of Clear Lake would appear a great variety of sail and steam craft for the amusement and pleasure of the mul- titude who would resort thither for recreation from the large cities. The inquiry is also suggested, Is the building of a railroad into Lake County to Clear Lake practicable? ble engineers it is. feasible route ‘We answer upon the authority of capa- The shortest, most direct, is from Hopland Station on the line of the San Francisco least expensive and most and North Pacific Railroad, via Highland Springs to Lakeport on the lake. From Hopland to the foot of the mountains is about five miles, com- paratively level, not difficult or expensive to build a roadbed. Through the mountains to Highland Springs is about twelve miles; no serious barriers to encounter; some deep cutting and filling will be neces- sary, but railroads have been built in midable obstructions. The distance from Highland Springs to Lakeport is about eight miles, over a valley as easy for constructing a roadbed as the California through much more for- same distance through Sacramento Valley. It will be noted that the entire distance is estimated at twenty-five miles for a railroad line, whereas the present traveled road direct from Hop- land to Lakeport is estimated at eighteen miles. A number of men of large experience and business sagacity have expressed the opinion that this pro- ject is one ot t best openings to invest idle capital to be found anywhere; that the building of the railroad would develop the latent resources of the county, inspire the people with increased energy and multiply the enter- prises already established so that it dend. Lakeport, Nov. 26, 1889. would in a short time pay a fine divi- WILLIAM J. BIGGERSTAFF. CANCELS THE CONTRACT FOR CITY GARBAGE Crematory Gompany Withdraws. SUPERVISORS IN MANY DEALS FIRE DEPARTMENT DEMANDS BETTER WATER SERVICE. | | | | Shea & Shea Figure the Cost of Fur- | nishing the New Hall of Justice at Some $80,000. Three cleverly conceived but poorly exe- cuted jobs of ample proportions stuck their heads up at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors yesterday, and af- ter nodding pleasantly at Captain Delany | and one or two other acquaintances on the board disappeared again beneath the surface to appear probably at another time. The garbage contract, which provided that the city should pay the running ex- penses and & reasonable profit to the crematory company for Incinerating the refuse gathered from private houses, was first on parade, but it was called down in its first blush by a vigorous letter from the crematory company, which said that owing to the unkind criticism that the newspapers had heaped upon the proposition and the mistaken idea of the contract that seemed to prevail among the citizens whom it was designed to benefit, the company could do nothing but withdraw and, for the present, refuse to enter into any contract whatsoever for burning the city’'s gar- bage. i When the matter evetually came up for consideration Supervisor Lack- mann moved that the advertisement of the contract be stopped and the instru- ment be returned to the crematory com- pany. His motion found a second in Britt, and as Mayor Phelan put the motion, the board voted to indefinitely postpone fur- ther action. Another gilt-edged *“‘graft” in the shape .of a resolution to pay $17,000 for the prop- erty through which it is proposed to open Lyon street to the water front was on the file of new business when it was brought into the chambers, but the dis- covery was made that there were not enough votes to push it through and it was taken off the file before it had got before the board. The property on the Lyon street exten- slon was appralsed at $3000 as its present maximum valuation. The appraisers were Thomas Magee, A. L. Baldwin and G. H. Umbsen, three of the foremost real estate operators in the city. Yesterday's resolution provided that the sum of $17,- 000 be paid for it, and F. T. Duhring was named as the agent for the property- owners. The furnishing of the new Hall of Jus- tice bids fair to be as prolific of profit as anything that has engaged the atten- tion of the board during the latter half of its existence, particularly if the esti- mate of Shea & Shea, the architects, which was submitted yesterday, shall be reported favorably by the Committee on Public Buildings. The Shea estimate aggregates $80,000, the expenditure of which is divided as follows: Furniture, $40,000; combination gas and electric fixtures, $18,000; Bertillon system of identification photographic appliances, $8000; telephone system and electric light | apparatus, marble switch-board, indica- tors, etc., connecting and furnishing the electric light system in the bullding, $6500; ventilating screens to all windows and transoms, kitchen ran; e ash ht?xu, boxes, 3175 kitchen utensils, $500; vault doors 1 s throughout, and metallic shelving, $1000: racks, water filters for entire building, $3000. There was no itemized list of the furni- | ture that was bid for to the extent of | $40,000 nor of the photographic appliances designed for the experimentation of Chief | Lees that is billed at $8000. These things the board did not take time to discuss, E’Il( referred the estimate to the commit- ee. Two important communications _from the Fire Commissioriers were read and referred to the Fire Committee. The first | was inspired by the Baldwin fire and the second was brought out by the same | catastrophe. Number 1 read as follows: The Honorable Board of Supervis- | ors: The Board of Fire Commission- ers respectfully desire to call your | attention to the fact that during the | progress of the fire at the Baldwin Hotel on the morning of the 23d inst. all that portion of the city which re- ceives its water supply from the Col- lege Hill reservoir was without wa- ter. Complaints have been made at this office from citizens in the neigh- | borhood of Ellis and Hyde streets, McAllister and Webster, Fifteenth and Noe and Chinatown south of | | Jackson street. These facts disclose a most serious state of affairs that imperatively de- mands immediate attention, and some proper remedy should be applied without delay. Respectfully, The Board of Fire Commissioners. The second stated that on rainy or foggy nights it is almost impossible for the de- partment to get its apparatus over the slippery pavement to the scene of any fire that may be on, and requested the board to consider a plan to lay in the cen- ter of all streets of an 8 per cent grade or over a fourteen-foot strip of basalt blocks and on streets of less than 8 per cent grade a strip of bitumen. Such an im- provement, the letter stated, would pre- vent the feet of the fire horses slipping on the wet bitumen and would greatly factli- tate the work of the department. By a vote of seven to two the Natural Tce Comrany was granted permission to erect poles and maintain wires for an electric system along Ninth street to Di- vision street and along that street to the block bounded by Division, Rhode Island, Alameda and Kansas streets. Captain Delany’s gambling ordinance came up again in somewhat changed at- tire. It no longer discriminated against freeze out in favor of the slot machines, but stopped gambling for gain altogether. It was referred to the Judiciary Commit- tee, but Chairman Smith would not stand for it, and demanded that it be given into the hands of the Police Committee. Mayor Phelan finally settled the matter by stay- ing with his ‘original decision and the or- dinance will have to find death at the hands of the judiciary. —_—— STREET IMPROVEMENTS. The following is & complete list of street improvements passed by the Board of Su- pervisors at yesterday's session: RESOLUTION ORDERING STREET WORK. Greenwich, Broderi pGreen ck to Baker—Curbing and Greenwich, Baker to Lyon—Same. ndiana, Eighteenth to Mariposa—] De Long avenue, Fredesck o Bsoli‘)?:rl!yevt,::: mination of De Long avenue—Paving with base alt blocks five fect each side of the genter 1ine and that the remaining portion of ®aid road. way be paved with bituminous rock. i fu-:sofLu'nox OF INTENTION. rossing of Wall = e o Ol valler and Stelner—Artificial rossing of Halght and Pi Vallefo.' Stockton to- Bowell-Sanae" CEXTENSIONS OF TIME GRANTED. urch, Thirteenth to Her — - ler, §0 days on paving, eto. o L o Ful Market, Valencia t aclarket, Valencla to'Church—To F. Head, % 8. Market, Church to Sanchez—Same. gms:ng 0: (L}lflll&ke! and Chureh—ESmm sing of olden Gate avenu To J. J. Dowling, % days on pavine. . 00 ED‘:PENSIDNB OF TIME RECOMMENDED. mbard, Polk to Van N Warren & Malley, %0 days on paving. ete -~ T(l:“E“IFIVEDI:fle“ K Ql;n 135 feet south of P— ."F. Dennison, ot days on grading and RESOLUTION OF FULL ACCEPTANCE. Leavenworth, Green to Unlon—Basalt and ‘bitumen. mnonvenwmh. Filbert to Greenwich—Bitu- en. maones, Jackson to Pacific—Basalt and bitu- n. RECOMMENDED FOR FULL ACCEPTANCE. Filbert, Octayia to Laguna—Bitumen. Eighteenth, Noe to Sanchez—Same. Dearborn place, Seventeenth to southerly termination—Same. Ashbury, Fell to Haves—Same. Locust, Franklin for a distance of westerly—Bitumen. _ PRIVATE CONTRACTS. Alebams, Twenty-third to Twentyr 137:8 feet jots: ock, to City Street ny. - berty, Valencia to Guerrero=Paving with bituminous' Tock, to, J. Ji Dowling e Haro, Twenty-third to & point 400 feet northerly—Grading, to:Manuel J.. Pires. [ENDED, BY SUPERINT. RECOMMENDER:. STREETS. Crossing of Army and Alabema—Storm water with grating ‘and culvert. I derickc Eddy to Bllls—Cutbs, paving with bituminous rock, and artificial stone sidewalks. Eighteenth and Church—Paving, Eighteenth, Dolores to.Church—Curbs - and paving with bituminous rock. Crossing of Eighteenth .andDolores—Paving with bituminous rock. Frederick, Cole to Stanyan—Curbs and. pav- ing with bituminous rock. : Crossing of Ellls and Broderick — Faving with bituminous rock. Oak, Baker to Stanyan—Artificial stone side- walks. I street south, . Fifteenth to Sixteenth ave- nues south—Grading, redwood curbs, rock gut- terways and macadamizing both roadway and sidewalks. Scott, Sacramento to ~Clay—Artificial sidewaiks. Crossing of Pacific and Jones—Artificial stone sidewalk. Nineteenth, Folsom . to Harrison—Granite curbe and paving with bituminous rock. Beulah, Cole to Stanyan—Granité curbs and paving with bituminous rock. PROPOSALS RECOMMENDED . READVER- TISED. DENT. stona Serpentine place, lower terrace to: Temple street—Sewer, ete. AUTHORIZATION OF AN EXPENDITURE FOR STREET EXTENSION. Lyon, Greén and other streets that now ter- minate in the Miranda Grant—$17,000 for the purchase of certain land: PROPOSALS ORDERED REJECTED. Treat avenue, Army to Precita avenue— Grading. PETITIONS REFERRED TO STREET COM- MITTEE. Intersection of Berkshire and. Butnside ave- nue—John Pforr, for lowering grade. Elghteenth, Uranus to - -Ashbury—Daniel O'Day, for permission to use red rock in mac- adamizing. Crocker street—Property-owners, for.erection of_gas lamps. Morton, Kearny to Grant avenue—Paeifi Paving Company, for release of contract for bituminizing. Berkshire street—John Pforr, for grading in front of private lands. Towa, Twenty-third to Twenty-fourth—Prop= erty-owners, for hydrants. Jessle, Thirteenth to Fourteenth—Property- owners, for paving. Crossing of_Sixteenth avenue south and J street south—Property-owners for the lowering of the grade. Corner of Twenty-fourth and Alabama—Lena W. Knickerbocker, for repairing of gutter and abatement of stagnant pool nuisance. Tenth avenue, M to N—Fred Leffler, for con- struction of 12-inch pipe sewer by private con- tract. Scott, Greenwich to * Lombard—Warren & Malley, for grading by private contract, TESTS REFERRED TO STREET .COM- = MITTEE. Northerly line of Filbert, Larkin: to Polk— . G. Hooker, against sidewalks. C(‘mssmg of Harrison and Beale—Property- owners, against change of grade. Crossing of Harrison and Main—Same. Crossing of Beale and Bryant—Same. Vulcan lane, Valléjo street north—Property- owners, against paving. 4 Crossing of Esmeralda avenus and Lundy's Lane—Property-owners, against grading. Laguna, Broadway to Vallejo—Property-own= ers, against artificlay stone sidewalks. EPORT OF STREET COMMITTEE: ON eI TERS SUBMITTED AT PRE- VIOUS SESSION. From the Gum Tree Tract along the course of the small creek, between Berkshire and Wilder, through-private property, a distance of about six hundred feet, ‘to the'culvert under the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company—In favor of referring construction of an outlet sewer to drain the Fairmount Tract, Castro street Addition and Joost and ide avenues, to City Engineer. h, Powell to Hyde—In favor of repaving as soon as as funds of the Street Department will permit. Lyon, Green and other streets that now ter- ac- for minate in the Miranda Grant—In favor of cepting the offer made by ¥. T. Duhring, the disposal of necessary land for $17,000. Liberty, Valencia to Guerrero—In favor paving by private contraet. Linden avenue, Buchanan to.Webster—In fa- vor of the protest against paving. Arlington, Charles to Rose—In faver sewering. Merchant, Montgomery to Sansome—In favor of_repairing. North, Twenty-first to Twenty- vor 6f the protest against gradl Cumberland, Guerrero to Dolores—In favor of postponing work of paving for a period of six months. De Haro, Twenty-third to a point 400 feet northerly—In favor of the petition for grading by_private contract. Other petitions and protests reported on ad- versely or filed. AROUND THE o CORRIDORS. F. A. Robinson of Shanghal is at the Palace. Mrs. H. M. Mott-Smith of Honolulu is a guest at the Occidental. J. D. Murdock and wife of Los Angeles have taken apartments at the Russ. E. A. Vance, the Eureka lumber mer- chant and hotel owner, is at the Grand. Mrs. A. W. Simpson and daughter of Stockton are guests at the Occidental. Rev. Eugene Sheehy of Limerick, Ire- land, registered at the Palace yesterday morning. J. A. Strong, capitalist of Sierra Val- ley, is at the Russ, and is accompanied by his family. . M. J. Kinney, who is largely Interest- ed In the fish canneries at Astoria, Ore- gon, is registered at the Lick. Congressman Marion de Vries of Stock- ton and J. Baumgarten of the Riverside Press are two of the arrivals at the Cali- fornia. Fred E. Wadsworth, cashier of the Bank of Yreka; J. P. Ormstott, a Yuba rancher, and N. A. Bradley, a mining man of Hollister, are at the Grand. Mrs. C. A. Robertson, Mrs. D. C. Little and child, W. J. and D. Clarke Robert- son, of Toronto, are guests at the Cali- fornia. They are én route té the Orient. A. Brown of Milton, the newly elected member of the State Board of Equaliza- tion, and F. J. Brandon of San Jose, ex- secretary of the Senate, are registered at the Lick. ‘Willlam Niles, the fancy stock breeder of Los Angeles, and Jeff F. Moser, com- mander of the United States steamer Albatross, are among the arrivals at the Occidental. Frank C. Bowman of 8t. Louis, who lost all his effects in the Baldwin fire, is now located at'the California. His wife and child, who escaped uninjured, are with him. W. H. Hammond and A. G. Wishon, prominent citizens of Visalia; ‘- J. Craig and wife of Highland Springs and H. G. Turner, a grain merchant of Modesto, are regfstered at the Grand. : t United States Senator William .- ‘M. Stewart of Nevada is.making a flying vigit to this city on pleasure bént, and is at the Palace. His granddauglter ac- companies him. They will return to-day. James McNeill of Santa Cruz; JohnFen- nell, who owns extensive ranches in Te- hama County; H. H. Knapp, the banker, of Napa; and W. B. Pless, who has been located at Victoria, B. C., for two years, are same of the guests at the Palace. At the Lick are registered J. C. Bull Jr., the contractor,.of Arcata, with his daughter and granddaughter; George Newman and Adolph Solomon, El Paso merchants, and the Rev. P. Hassett, a Catholic clergyman of Watsonville. —_—————————— of of econd—In fa- Cal. glace fru.. 50c per Ib at Townsend's.® — e——— Special information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1048 * — e Leather Goods Notice. Holiday goods are coming in and new things are opened up every day. We stamp your narknebln kgom letters free of charge on pocketbooks, letter and. card cases, bill books, diaries, lap tablets, trav- eling sets, music rolls, valises, handbags and _chatelaines. The only cheap line of i‘md trunks in the city. Sanborn, Vail Co., 741 Market street. SRt f A tutor who tooted the flute, Tried to teach two young tooters to tootj Said the two to the tutor, ““Is it harder to toot or To tutor two tooters to toot?” —Life. : * ‘When going away take a bottle of the genu- ine fmported Dr. Sfegert's Angostura Bitters. Neutralizes impurities in water. % ACKER'S ENGLISH REMEDY the greatest of all ! BEYOND 't will cure a cough or cold hnmoflu.uly'?: back. At no Percentage