The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 4, 1898, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1898. @all ..e....DECEMBER 4, 1898 JOHN D. Sl_"’RECK.ELS. Propnetor. Address All Communicatiohs to W.<S. LEAKE, Manager. ;FMICATION OFFICE......Market and Third Sts, S. P Telephone Main 1868. ITORIAL ROOMS... .27 to 921 Stevenson Strest e . Telephone Main 1574 THE AN FRANCISCO CALL (DAILY AND SUNDAY) Is served by carriérs In this city and surrounding towns for I5 cents a week. By mall $6 per year; per month €5 cents. THE WEEKLY CALL. . by mall, $1.50 OAKLAND OFFICE... .908 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (B, C.) OFFICE......... €. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OFFICE.. <s.....Marquette Bullding C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Repreeentative. BRANCN OFFICES—527 Montgomery street. corner Clay, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open untif 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAllister street. open unth $:30 e'clock. 6I8 Larkin street. open untll 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open untll 10 o'clock. 2991 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. I5i8 Hisslon street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk 'street, epen untll 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-secend eas Kentucky streets, open until 9 o'cleck. Boy Wanted Just for Fun.' yest Manhattan.” ‘he Crust of Society.” ‘audeville, srrilla man, vaudeville and the z00. 5 and Eddy streets, specialtles. wimming. Charity Bazaar. Club Entertainment, Thursday After- laseball. Park—Coursing. n'- Clay Hall-Plano Recital Friday Evening, De- ace Track—Races To-Morrow. SALES. Ip & Co.—Tuesday evening, December 6, at 7:30 d Yeariings, at corner Market street and THE ROTTEN SCHOOL BO@RD. /C\ employ counsel to collect the salaries School Department for the months of October,\No- vember and Décember. There was a full assemblage School Superintendent Webster of teachers present. presided, and a was appointed to hunt up a lawyer and set him to work. This is the culmination of the boodling operations | of the odorous Board of Education now in charge of the School Department of this city. The board has P ¢ . . ure expended the money of the school fund in purchasing | ¥ useless furniture and material in violation of the one- twelith act, and has left nothing with which to dis- charge the obligations owing the teachers. It is a case of rank corruption and mismanagement, and the result shows to what extent boodling politicians will go when they abandon their self-respect and all re- gard for the good opinion of their neighbors and friends. We doubt whether the political annals of San Francisco will yield a more debasing figure than | this boodling Board of Education presents to view. The “tough old board” of 1887 was an aggregation of angels compared to it. Now that the school-teachers are holding mass- meetings and employing attorneys to collect their salaries, and now that the contractors of the depart- ment are about to have their demands held up by in- junctions and writs of mandate, it is pertinent to in- quire as to the whereabouts of the Grand Jury. It is scarcely possible that that body would find difficulty in indicting the School Board ring. Crime upon crime has been committed by its members in full view of the public. School Director Waller has been ac- cuséd of bribery by sworn affidavit, and Burns, Gal- | lagher and the rest have almost been convicted of malfeasance in office. Why cannot the Grand Jury take sonme effective action against these men? Does the law afford no remedy for-their conduct? Mobs are bad things, and it would be a disgrace to the city if the school-teachers were to visit the homes of the members of this ring~armed with ropes. Yet who can truthfully say that men who drag the public schools in the mud of politics as these men have dragged these of this city do not deserve hanging? A man who will betray ‘the sacred trust of education “is:worse than a thief. He is a debased and debasing : wretch for whom death in any form is almost too good: " The effects of the work of this band of boodling School- Directors will not be effaced for years. The School Department will suffer from the contagion of their touch for' generations, and thousands of chil- dren: will" feel the influence of the corruption they have spread throughout their lives. But what is the remedy? The Grand Jury neglects to indict, the Dis- trict Attorney has joined the army and is not attend- ing to business, the press is quiescent-and the people " are indifferent. None but the school-teachers are worrying. Is this a case of mental calm preceding the . 'moral storm? :Or have we abandoned our govern- ment entirely to boodle? 5 3 | mranam emem—ewY Ex-Minister Hannis Taylor may be partly right in the view he takes of the relations between this coun- try and Spain, but he ought not to go so far as to speak of that country as an old and good friend. Ever since the Virginius affair at least there has been a coolness. An old and good friend would never have tried to strengthen the claim by butchering our men. : - gt Nothing could well be funnier than the spectacle : ‘of Correspondent. Creelman gravely assuring the . world of- the truth of certain statements of his em- ployer. Creelman is one of the few men able to make readers believe the sun will rise in the west. All he wotld have to do to produce this result would be to announce that it was to rise in the east. The murderer of the President of Uruguay has been acquitted because he acted under the stimulus of “political effervescence.” No exact definition of this valuable commodity accompanies the informa- tion, but it is probably sold over a bar. San Francisco teachers do not often take to the warpath, but they are there now, and Directors will manifest sound judgment by taking to the woods while they yet have scalps. X There is nothing surprising that there should be a scandal on the local turf. The entire scheme of racing as now conducted here month after month is in itself a scandal. ERAE Central American republics have broken apart. In other words, the tails of the several cats tied over a cicthes-line could stand the strain no longer. « 3 T a mass meeting of school-teachers held in | Golden Gate Hall yesterday it was resolved to | i the | X | ticipate in their robbery, makes a story that could be committee of prominent educators | | | | | | | moral tone on the other. THE PACIFIC BANK EXPOSE. HE CALL has completed its revelation of the Tme(nads by which the Pacific and People’s Sav- ings banks were wrecked. The disclosure was due first to the peonle who were despoiled by a wonderful conspiracy, which had on one side financiering and official sharpers, and on the other morally weak and venal young men, who had no moral comprehension of their duty as trustees of their depositors. In the second place it was due to the banking and financial institutions of this State, which suffered in repute from the fall of these looted banks. A case of equal interest has seldom occurred in real life. Fiction deals with the wreck of banks and the collapse of great financial enterprises and their at- tendant tragedies. But it is probable that among the properties of the story writers there has been no ma- terial as dramatic as that furnished by the facts in this local case, as they have appeared in our columns in the language and letters of the parties themselves. The great purpose we had in view was the finding of a way to a measure of restitution to the people who had been robbed. In furtherance of this we nncov- ered property, conveyed and sequestered in fraud, which will finally add largely to the dividends which depositors will receive out of the liquidation of the two banks. Indeed it is not impossible that, joined to the very excellent management of the assets which the conspirators were not able to conceal or carry off, these properties discovered by The Call may pay out par to the creditors and make them whole on the principal at least of their deposits. Above all is the lesson taught to all fiduciary trus- tees, that infidelity to their trust cannot be always covered, up, that all newspapers cannot be paid for looking the other way, and criminality and reckless- | ness must some day come to light, and property won by conspiracy cannot pass through any complexity of conveyance which will purge its possession of the vitiating fraud in which it was first acquired. In doing this work we had to deal with names which retained public respect, but not a word has been printed in proof that was not writ by the actors themselves, or of each other. We have created noth- ing. The case was made by the parties to it. Theirs was the greed on one side, and the vaulting ambi- tion, the weak-pated susceptibility to flattery and low The marvelous intrigue, reaching from the “sweat room” of a bank clear out to the cactus plains of Arizona, extending into poli- tics, literature, movements for temperance and moral reform; invading the public school system, and touching with tar two State offices provided for the protection of those who trust banks, and not to par- staged with advantage. Over it all is the cloud of sorrow and distress that came over thousands of people whase savings were iost, whose hope and trust were turned to terror and despair, and whose voices at one time joined in a cry for summary vengeance upon the *guilty. From many sources have come to us thanks and gratitude. Out of the ranks of those whose expo- was necessary to justice have issued some threats and many cries for mercy, for protection against their own written evidence of their many offenses. In these have been the tragic elements of the task we have accomplished. As in the case of all crimes, the guilty can appeal in the name of the innocent, who must suffer more than the toughened natures which have been thickened and dulled by the experience of criminal adventure. The air has been cleared. The actors are face to face with the public. The sufferers for the first time have knowledge of the ways and means taken to rob them. The law has had pointed out to it the devious path down which the guilty packed their plunder to dump it in what they thought was secret safety. Our duty is done and our task is accomplished. I:Ri\'er the sound of many voices is heard with clamorous iteration shouting to one another, “Stand aside.” Though all use the same words, fetv use them with the same meaning. There are no har- monies in the tones, and one who listens will soon perceive the new cry is but the howl of another set of faction fights. Croker leads off with the shout, “Stand aside, Mr. STAND ASIDE DEMOCRATS. }}OM the gloomy Democratic camp far up Salt ‘Bryan.” John Brisben Walker shouts, “Stand aside, Croker.” Mr. Bailey cries, “Stand aside, you jungoes.” A whole host of little fellows retort, “Stand aside, Mr. Bailey.” Every man jack of the outfit wishes every one else to stand aside. No one makes any attempt to harmonize the factions. Each is ani- mated by but one desire—that of making all the rest | get out of his way and stay out. There is nothing surprising or unusual in this tur- moil. Winning or losing, the Democrats of this gen- cration must have their factions and their fights, When they win they fight over the spoils. When they lose they have no other way of getting despondency out of their hearts than by flying at each other and fighting it out. This time they have a great deal of blue gloom to dissipate. They have been sorely afflicted with those painful feelings which produce in men and beasts a desire to be alone, and their strug- gle now is not so much for victory as for solitude. It is to be hoped that this time the fight will be to a finish. The whole country would be benefited if Bryan, Bailey, Croker and all the other lords of mis- rule would stand aside. There is needed now a free way for the great, broad polieies of action that the people voted for in the last two elections, and the free traders, silver cranks and fiatists of all kinds would confer a favor if they would crowd one another out of the field and keep out. A UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT. MONG the people of New England the chief fl topic of discussion is not the currency, no- annexation, nor any matter of national poli- tics whatever. Concerning all of these they are more or less indifferent. All the ardor of their minds and the energies of their tongues and pens are given to disputations over the qualities required to make up the character and the culture of an ideal president of a modern university. Three New England universities—Yale, “Brown and Amherst—are now looking for a president. The idea of holding a primary election to choose delegates to a convention to nominate ane seems to have oc- curred to none of them. It looks as if the trustees of each institution desired to make the selection with- out consulting the people, but if such was their de- sire it has by this time vanished into what Shake- speare once called “airy air.” The people of New Englond are not voting on this issue, for they have no right to vote on it, but they are talking as if they had a right to talk, and no two are talking alike. Almost as many kinds of ideal utiversity presidents have been described in the press of that section by editors or by correspondents as there are able-bodied men in the six States. Never- theless, it appears not one of the ideals fits any living man and very few dead ones. ¥ | One idea calls for a profound theologian who ékel a warm interest in athletics, another requires a vigor- ous business man of scholarly culture, a third de- mands a man whose attainments are recognized by scientists all round the world and sufficiently ortho- dox to enjoy the confidence of the parents of Ameri- can youth. There are some who wish a man like Roosevelt, but not Roosevelt himself. Others would have one like Seth Low, but not Seth Low himself. When the mentor of the youthful Rasselas was ex- plaining to him the high qualities ‘which a2 man must possess in order to be a poet, the Prince cut him short with the very apt exclamation: “Enough. Say no more. You have convinced me no man can be a poet.” Some such answer as that will the trustees of Yale, Brown and Amherst have to make to the mul- titude of clamorous advisers concerning the proper qualities of a university president. ““Enough; there can be no such thing as a man fitted to be a univer- sity president.” 4 We do things better on this side of the Rockies. The University of California is, like Yale, Brown and Ambherst, looking for a president, yet no one in this State is demanding the impossible. All that we ask of the trustees is to choose a man who will build up the various colleges and the football team, inspire the students by his presence and the State by his in- fluence with a true ardor for learning, and by his scholarship, his financial skill, his oratorical ability and his administrative energy make our university the greatest in the world @ PARCELS POST. ANY times has it happened 'in/ recent history /\/\ that the existence of a petty but irritating evil has caused men in seeking a remedy to adopt a reform so wide sweeping and so beneficial as to con- stitute something like a landmark in their social de- velopment. Something of the kind will probably oc- cur in this country as a result of the greed of the ex- press companies in compelling their patrons to pay the comparatively small tax imposed upon the com- panies by the Government under the war revenue act. The meanness of the companies has been felt as an irritation throughout the nation, and as a consequence there has developed a widespread demand for the es- tablishment by our Government of a parcels post system similar to that maintained by the progressive nations of Europe. A strong argument on the subject is presented in the current number of the Merchants' Association Review by E. P. Hemenway of Winchester, Mass. Mr. Hemenway points out that under the existing law the weight of parcels carried by post in the United States is limited to four pounds and the charges are 1 cent per ounce, 16 cents a pound, or 64 cents for the full weight parcel. In countries where a proper parcels post is main- tained the advantages of the people are much greater. § In Great Britain the maximum weight is 11 pounds, and the cost 36 cents, or about 3 1-3 cents pet pound, for any distance in the kingdom. In Germany th: maximum weight of parcel is 11 pounds, which costs 614 cents, or about three-fifths of a cent per pound, for ten miles or less, and only twice as much, ot 124 | cents—I 1-5 cents per pound—for any distance in the empire. In addition to the parcels post systems of the va- rious nations there exists an international parcels post which has been successful from the start. It includes nearly all the civilized countries of the globe except our own. We have, however, parcels post conventions with some comparatively small nations outside of Europe, and Mr. Hemeénway notes it as a curious fact that within our own borders we are held to a four-pound weight and 16-cent rate, while we can send the same matter through the same postoffice out cf and to distances as far beyond our borders, to some fifteen foreign ports, in eleven-pound parcels and at a 12-cent per pound rate; or the weight limit is in- creased two and three-fourth times, while the rate is decreased 23sper cent. Recent reports from Washington announce that Congressmen are being petitioned from all parts of the Union to establish an effective parcels post sys- tem here, and there can be no doubt a strong support will be given to the measure. It is a reform that should have been enacted long ago, and in, forcing the issue to a speedy settlement by their unpatriotic greed and tax-shirking the express companies have really prepared the way for the accomplishment of a great public good. THE CUBAN “QUESTION.” F reports contained in dispatches from Havana are l to be relied upon, the settlement of the Cuban ‘“question” is going to be more troublesome than that which the Pegce Congress has lately settled in connection with tife Philippines. A late cable from Havana states that General Por- tuondo, President of the Cuban Assembly, has ex- | pressed the opinion that unless the United States grants Cuba independence the insurgents will again take to the woods and fight for liberty. According | to this gentleman the soldiers will never consent to have the taunt cast in their faces that they got rid of the yoke of Spain only to subject themselves to the “yoke” of the.United States. % The fact seems to be that the insurgents regard Cuba as their particular prey. They fought the Span- iards for the purpose of getting a chance to handle the taxes of the islands, and they are not disposed to submit their privileges to either the control or supervision of the United States. This is a very serious matter, and in time we have not the slightest doubt it will result in a great deal of trouble for this country. To turn the lives and property of the people in Cuba over to the insurgents cannot be thought of. They are little more than bandits, who would introduce a govefnment more unequal and unjust than that which the United States has just suppressed. 4 But exactly what figure we will cut in fighting the insurgents after having liberated them cannot now be described with any certainty. The war was under- taken on the theory that it was the duty of the United States to put an end to Spanish rule in Cuba. If it shall now be concluded that it is necessary to put an end to Cuban rule, the jingoes may be called upon for one of their best “arguments.” That the insurgents will ever submit to the control of the United States in their looting operations, however, we do not believe. General Portuondo admits that Mr. McKinley would make short work of the Cubans, but he declares that they will die-fighting. ——— Something should be done to check the City Hall practice of selling warrants to half a dozen brokers. Not that there is felt a particularly keen sympathy for the brokers, but so much crookedness at the municipal building and so little punishment has be- come actually tiresome. | When Shafter reaches San Francisco He may be certain of a hearty fvelcome, but the paper which for- merly displayed his picture over its door will be cold and distant. This is said to prepare Shafter for a shock. . & 4 ® @ & No man can tell how his opinions will be received bv the public. There: fore, one who writes personal opinion and attaches his name to it is treated to a series of surprises. Sometimes the most innocent paragraph evokes a ver- itable storm of disapproval. In that case it is well to pass the matter over, and then in a day or two it is forgotten. On the other hand I have had the pleas- ure of being commended for having taken a position on matters so trivial there was no reason to suppose any- body would care ocne way or the other. Last week, for instance, there was a line devoted to the hobbling and abor- tive term ’varsity, and, to my sur- prise, several people have taken the trouble to express agreement. That 'varsity is an outrage no person with an ear needs to be told in print. It is at best an absurdity, for university cannot by anv rule recognized of san- ity be abbreviated and twisted into such a meaningless, idiotic, jarring bit of jargon. If a man were to speak of a univarsity he would justly be set down as an ignoramus. It is my blessed priv- ilege to thus set him down after he has beheaded the visible' evidence of his foolishness. . A correspondent level of head calls attention to the fact that the season ap-~ proaches when the paretic writes “Xmas,” Of course there is no excuse for this symbolic lunacy, yet I rather hate to say so for Bierce has yearly and proper spasms about the same thing. To so desiznate the anniversary of the birth at Bethlehem is a token of im- measurable laziness, ignorance, and to the devout must have the appedrance of blasphemy. There is, however, no utility in protest. The lazy will not be stirred to an extra stroke of the pen, the ignorant we have always with us, outnumbering the poor, and the unholy wretch who wantonly commits the crime of Xmasing has no conscience to which to appeal. aL i . From Mendocino County comes a let- ter written in such apparent good faith that I am glad to answer it. The writer of the letter calls attention to an ac- count of the crime of Rosser, who, while drunk, killed an inoffensive citi- zen, a good man, a kindly and indus- trious provider. He then adverts to an editorial in this paper concerning the wine industry. The editorial set forth the advantage of the use of wine at dinner. Evidently the intent of the Mendocino gentleman was to point out an inconsistency. I must confess to in- ability to see a connection between the crime of a drunken soldier and the great industry of wine-growing. If people were to drink more wine at din- ner and less coffee, if they were to quit tanning their interiors and racking their nerves with tea, substituting the Jjuice of the grape, I think they would be better mentally and physically and certainly not the worse morally. If the grape is the destroyer of virtue, the primal mistake concerning it cannot be ascribed to man, who neither created it nor so constituted the hills of Califor- nia that vineyards flourish there, draw- ing abundant sustenance from soil in which nothing else would thrive. If because some abuse the bounty of na- ture, people who have ' more sense must refuse to accept it, this would be a hungry and thirsty world. PR S There has been laid upon my desk a copy of “The Invalid’s Visitor,” with a request that a notice be given it. There could not be a duty imposed to which response could be made with more sincere pleasure. The Visitor is not literary, and makes no pretense to being so. But in every line it breathes 80 sweet a faith, so patient an endur- ance, that in contemplation one would be hardened indeed who felt no thrill of admiration. I would not say pity, for no pity is asked. The Visitor is the medium by which invalids denied the ;joy of mingling with the world, shut’ in from the sun, communicate with each other. The letters they ex- change are full of brightness and hope—surely a Iesson to those who have health and who still repine, and to the sufferers themselves a message of cheer. People who, bed ridden year after year, can praise the Lord for goodness and mercy, are of different fiber from most of us. Pain has refin- ed them. Nobody would have inclina- tion to quarrel with their theology. In heroism and in true nobility they con- stitute an example.tor us all. * . Brandes, who rest un- naturally environing a of ‘v ving murdered objected to being pho- tographed for the enriching of the rogues’ gallery. While as to their guilt I entertain an opinion such as would unfit me for jury duty, so far as the photography is concerned they ' have my full sympathy. In fact the officers had no right to take the pictures. In doing 8o they ignored the presumption of innocence. They have no knowledge that the two are guilty. If Brandes and his wife shall be cor '~ted there will remain ample time in which to pose them in front of the camera. If acquit- ted, there will be no occasion for posing them. To place a rogue's picture in the rqgues’ gallery is right enough, but in all justice there must first be per- formed the duty of proving the roguery. Y ‘While to deride newspaper English is considered laudable there are about it some singular beauties. For instance, an evening journal published in this city lately recorded that Clara McDon- ald met Chris Markham in a saloon and touched him for $10. It might have said that she had swiped his roll, picked his pocket, robbed him. But no. It set forth that she had touched him for $10. Nothing could have been more expres- sive. Mr. and Mrs. der the shadow couple accused their daughter, A IR ) In a long article from William B. Curtis I am taken to task for not know- ing anything about phrenology. With the expressions of the gentleman I have no fault to find. They are extremelv courteous and doubtless sincere. Never- theless I cling to the opinion that phre- nology is no more a science than prayar is a remedy for cholera. I will confess to basing my belief largely on ob- servation and not ascribe it to de- pendence upon Fowler or any of his school, Mr, Curtis "should bear in mind that the remarks of last week were devoted to the study and in- terpretation of bumps. If the modcrn students of phrenology have given to it a new meaning those remarks do not apply. When I was a lad the phre- Spain has as persistent a habit of yiclding as Patti | used to have of making farewells. St e o AL nologist was a nomadic person who felt ‘bumps for 50 cents and made a chart of them for $1. That he was a fraud was - 0000000000000 0PPP0PPP00PIPOVIOCIOCOIOS®POGEOTS® WITH ENTIRE FRANKNESS By HENRY JAMES. v O R RO R R R RO R A R R R R RO R R ORCROR RO ¥ ) OO0 apparent. Perhaps Mr. Curtis has ad- vanced beyond this and if so I con- gratulate him. His warning for me to write less concerning topics of which I know nothing shall be heeded, for if I know nothing about phrenology as- suredly I care far less. But it strikes an observer as strange that the pnre- nologist who makes a business of guid- ing other people into the paths for which nature has designed them should him- self usually be out at the elbows and spend time in disguising with blacking the sections of socks which project themselves through his shoes. How- ever, that there is not room for the communication of Mr. Curtis is a mat- ter of regret. ( s eht ] My attention is calied to the use by Mr. Bierce of bad grammar. This is a matter which ought.to be called to the attention of Bierce himself if to that of anybody. He says he is an authority and an opportunity to prove it would deubtless be welcorhed by hini. e e An inquiry as to whether the term ‘“good grammarian” is correct opens a wide field for discussion, In my judg- ment the term is permissible. If to style a man a grammarian is to imply that his verdict is to be regarded as in- fallible, undoubtedly this is too much to be ascribed to any human being. As well contend that there is no ground for using the term “good historian.” The recorder of history may be guilty of error, some of his data being not found- ed on fact, and yet he is an historian. To be a grammarian is not to be per- fect, nor 4 final authority, any more than to be an historian is to be be- vyond the reach of doubt or subject to correction. There are good historians and bad, and there are good gram- marians and very bad. (o S The other night a street preacher at- tempted to talk at the corner of Market and Fourth streets. I have noticed the man often. He is ignorant, uncouth and has not so much as the magnetism of a clam. He is sincer& This is evi- dent in his impassioned harangue, his wild gesticulation. It is evident through the fact that there is nothing in preach- ing for him save the ease which may visit his conscience. Once he took a collection, resulting in 156 cents. An observing loafer reproached him with being on the street for gain. “My friend,” said the preacher, ‘‘come into the nearest restaurant and I will gladly spend 10 cents on you.” So I cannot believe that the acquisition of wealth is the object of the itinerant. Never- theless the crowd on Market and Fourth would not let him speak. It swayed up’against him, trod upon the hat he had placed on the pavement, Jeered, hooted, jostled. In fact it was as ill-mannered a collection of hoodlums as I ever saw. Where were the police? They were at the next corner trying to prevent Lucky Baldwin from com- mitting murder with the ruins of his hotel. The preacher had to quit, and as he left the place he was pursued by a gang of ruffians, with too little sense to know themselves offensive, and too little character to have been concerned anyhow. It was a shameful episode. This is the close of the nineteenth cen- tury. e The latest tragedy hereabouts has been the murder of a husband by his young wife. There appears to have sprung up an idea that a woman suf- fering from a sense of wrong has a right to arm herself and slay the par- ticlpant in her troubles. It is a falla- cious notion, and the time seems to be here for correcting it. Mrs. Mantel has stained her hands with blood. It may not have been an excellent quality of blood, but te shed it was no part of her duty. She has created for herself a shadow which will be over her while life lasts and brought to her family a needless sorrow. In the first place, a girl having a good home and parents who love her, in consenting to marry secretly a man of whose worth and honor she has no assurance, of whose inability to provide for her she must be aware, who to do all this hag to sneak from the domestic shelter and as- sume an habitual disguise, pretending to be that which she is not, has in her a form of weakness which easily turns to vice. Had this girl been misled into an unhappy and.undesirable alliance and, discovering the truth, told her father and mother about it, they doubt- less would have shielded her to the ut- most, the law would have come to her relief; there would have been no scan- dal, no open shame, no murder. The bride who terminates her honeymoon by a couple of bullets fired into the per- son of the groom may be never so pretty, and weep with a touching copi- ousness, but she ought to be punished Jjust the same. If acquitted amidst the plaudits of the throng she might try the same game with No, 2 later, or some other addle-pate observing that to be a heroine one must engage in slaughter may be prompted to employ the scheme. ‘When a wife has to arm herself before seeking an interview with her husband it is far better that she dispense with the interview or use a long-distance telephone. Or better yet, let her send her message by her father. T s . James Meadors is on his way to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth to serve a term of ten years. For a man who should be in the Condemned cell at San Quentin awaiting his turn on the gallows Meadors certainly has no reason to repine. He is the private of the Eighth California who deliber- ately and with the utmost malice mur- dered a tent mate, the bloody crime not having been his first of the kind. These facts were known in advance of the civil trial and fully brought out on that august occasion, and yet the prisoner was acquitted on a plea of self-defense unsustained by a single fact. Military Justice seems to be of a duierent va- riety. It could not hang Meadors, but it did the best in.its power by finding him guilty of conduct prejudicial to discipline. The striking part of the verdict is that it is a direct arraign- ment of the jury and of the laxness which makes murder a safe occupation. *, 8 . It seems to me there is muéh non- sense, a large part of it irreverent, talked about the part God has had in the conquering of Spain. If the Supreme Power is to be held as looking after the petty details of life as we know them, then must it be held responsible for the evil as well as for the good. If God desired the Philippines to pass from the possession of Spain, being of limitless power, he could have brought it about without bloodshed and without prelim- inary centuries of oppression. As a matter of fact. human beings overesti- mate themselves. In the scheme of the universe this globe is as important as a drop of water, and,ourselves as im- portant as the tiny organisms occupy- ing the crystal globule. It is sacrilege to proclaim that God is directing mun- dane affairs as a general directs an army, for if this were true such s!-/ fairs would be run better. If there are, as the creeds —set forth contending forces of good and evil, the latter must have to do with the direc’fon of events, for the devil himself could not dun- trive injustice more radical nor brutal- ity more pronounced than'is to be read in the history of nations, religions a=4 individuals as has been recorl since men began to keen records, and is daily being added to the sorry tale of life. The fly struggling helplessly in the clutch of a gummed sheet of paper is no more helpless thin the man strug- gling in the cl-tch of whatever circum- stance may environ him. The fly buzzes; the man groans. Both die, and one leaves as great a gap as the other. It is folly, I think, to attempt to scru- tinize and analv : the purpose of the Infinite. That the Creator of the Uni- verse is competent to direct the mo- tions of the planets, to cause suns to blaze for a space and then expire, faith asks no question. That it is an impertinence to ascribe to the Infinite the petty motives which govern the finite mind, to measure the immeasura- ble with the yard-stick of commerce, is so palpable as to need no sustaining argument. The vast scheme of which we catch a vague and yet a wondrous inkling is beyond comprehension. To pretend to have solved it is an ab- surdity, to attempt to read and inter- pret the emotions of the Almighty is nonsense or blasphemy. There is no need to worry about anything or to as- cribe mortal greed to divine impulse. A friend told me the other day that in 400 years there would be twenty people to every square mile. Perhaps he said square Inch; T have no memory for fig- ures. “Don’t let that trouble you,” I responded, with intent to cheer him. “God madeé the world, and when it gets so full that people have to stand on each other’s feet perhaps he will send it to smash and use the material for another and a better one.” CRET It is impossible not to feel a degree of sympathy for Becker, the forger, al- though this does not go to the extent of wishing him less than a life sen- tence. Becker was one of a gang, each as gullty as himself, and one by one these precious rascals have deserted him in the hope of saving their own worthless hides. I would give each one of them a life sentence, too. This thing of turning loose a lot of scoun- drels now firmly in the grasp of the law does not conform to any lofty con- ception of justice, and on the pur- chased t#stimony of such scum I would not conviét a yellow dog of stealing a- bone. It is a strange commentary upon the morals of the metropolis that since the gambling rooms of “Honest” John Kel- ly have been raided aitempts are be- ing made to explain why it was done. Some ascribe it to a sense of displeas- ure anent Kelly’'s decision in the Cor- bett and Sharkey peace pow-wow, oth- ers to polities. The s .ple fact that Kelly has defled the law and that the men hired to enforce the law may have considered themselves in the perform- ance of a duty does not seem tg have occurred to a single New York intelli- gence. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A DAY IN IST3J. G. §., City. The 6th of October, 1573, fell on a Monday. A CURE-J. P. W., City. The matter should be laid before a specialist. Adver- tisements of such can be found in the San Francisco Call. GLORY QUAYLE—L. E. L., City. The surname of the heroine in Hall Caine's novel, “The Christian,” is pronounced as if written “quail.” THE WOMAN’'S RAILROAD-D. J. H., ‘Wheatland, Cal. At latest accounts the project known as the woman’s railroad was still' in litigation. THE BOATHOUSE—A. 8, City. If you have any complaint against the manage- ment of the boathouse in the park you should lodge your complaint with the Board of Park Commissioners. TRICYCLES—H., Sebastopol, Cal. Tri- cycles are not used by mail carriers in San Francisco. Such vehicles can be used only to advantage in places where the streets are without heavy grades. THE O'CONNELL MONUMENT—Erin, City. The foundation of the monument to Danlel O’Connell was laid in the city of Dublin, Ireland, August 8, 1864, and the statue was unvelled August 15, 1882, A CONFEDERATE GREENBACK—- Scottish-American, City. A Confederate greenback of 1864 has no monetary value. As a curiosity it is worth just what any. one desiring to be possessed of it would be willing to pay for it. 5 THAT LIGHT—H. G. H., Pacific Grove, Cal. This department has not any other. . information about the particular light asked about than what appeared in the San Francisco Call some time ago. The light has not been placed on the San Francisco market. “ALL BETS OFF”—Subscriber, Colusa, Cal. It makes no difference how ‘“raw the decision of a referee” may be if he declares “all bets off” it carries with it every kind of bet on the event, unless the par{{es at the time of the bet should agree that the bet should hold irrespect- ive of the decision of the referee. STICKY FLYPAPER—E. G. 8., Liver- more, Cal. One way to make sticky fly- paper is to melt some rosin and add thereto, while soft, sufficient sweet oil, lard or lamp oil to make it, when cold, of the consistency of honey. It is spread on writing paper and placed in a con- venlent place where it will quickly at- tract flies and ants. - THE FIRST S1EAMBOAT—C. H. F., Jackson, Amador County, Cal. So far as this department has been able to discover, the first steamer tnat cros: d the Atlan- tic was the Savannah, which made a voy-. age from Savannah, Ga., where she was built, to Liverpool in_.o19, the time being twenty-two days. It sailed under the American flag. ENLISTMENT—F. V. City. A volun- teer who enlisted for two years or the war with Spain must remain in the ser- vice beyond the two years should the war with that country not be terminated within that period of enlistment. If the war_ terminates before the expiration of the two years theenlisted man can at any time that peage is declared demand to be mustered out. . LEGAL TENDER—A Taxpayer, City. One cent pieces are a legal tender in any. amount not exceeding 25 cents. If you- have presented to you a tax bill for elev- en cents and dyou tender in payment a 10- cent piece and a copper cent the Tax Cols lector s bound to receive the tender, and- he has no right to compel you to pay 15 . cents. If you should tender him 15 cents he would be bound to return you 4 cents, A nice present to send your friends. Townsend's California glace fruits, 50c m, in Japanese baskets. 821 Market street. % (% ————— 4 Special information supplied dally to :’rmn.::'n houses and '(‘:'1'\“ men by the " ess. ping Bureau len’s), 510 Mont- gomery nl:ue‘. Telephone lu)fl mn.‘ ¥ ———e e Yeast—There's a lady planist at the mu- se! ‘wh ays with D AL er F my baby does that: —!onkmm. r’smm&n."'