The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 7, 1899, Page 6

THE SAN F RANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1899. FEBRUARY 7, 1899 VJDHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. N e S ns to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. FICE......Market and Third Sts., S. F. elephone Main 1868 ROOMS Telephone Main 1874 EDITORIAL uding Postage: Call), one year y Call), 6 mort y Call), 3 mon DO 0 .....65¢ 1 | postmasters are authc recelve subscriptiond. . ... Bample coples will be forwarded when requested. OAKLAND OFFICE 3 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE foom 1SS, World Building DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE ..Riggs House C. €. CARLTON, Correspondznt. CHICAGO OFFICE ...Marquette Building ¢. GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay, cpen untll 9:30 o'clock. 387 Hayes street, open ‘until 9:30 o'clock. 621 McAllister street, open untll 9:30 o'clock. . 615 Larkin street, open untll 9:3G o'clock. 1941 Misslon street, open until 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixieenth, open untll 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh streét, open until 9@ o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana tucky streets. open untll 9 o'clock. AMU —*“The School for Scanda California—'‘Why Smith Left Home." Peaceful Valley."” Alcaz the “Lady of Lions.” ipia — Cos Mason and Ellis streets, Specialties. entral Park—The Steeplechase. Temple—Plano Recital Wednesday evening, fetropolitan ' Pavilion—Six-Day Cycle Race, Commencing Mon- 13 THE ALLEGED PAVING FRAUD. N . 1 /\ gate the charges pmerreq by the Real Estate Owners’ Association against the contractors who are engaged in laying a bituminous rock pave- nient.on Market street, between Sixth and Van Ness The allegations are that basalt blocks in the rways have been laid upon four inches of sand four inches of concrete underneath, that dway is being placed upon five instead of nine oncrete and that the concrete itself in both one-half the required strength. | yciation, it is stated, examined the it. progressed and he reports that the con- ¢ uting: seventy-five cubic feet of rock and one barrel of cement, which is about 1 to 21, | | f1te8 about s ‘charges are true an example ought to be tors. San Francisco is spending | y upon the repaving of Market 1e ‘purpose being to provide the people with bject lesson in smooth pavements, which will e them when the time comes that it is good v to reconstruct all of the accepted streets and 1 laid on concrete is the best pavement roduced: But if fraud is permitted in | long before we get to the point where a i improvements will be inaugurated be hogwallow and bitumen pave- | race. { rstand the spirit which governs contractor. He has no interest in g to get it down in just as.slipshod e and charge the highest price. ic spirit among corporations and ged in making public improvements | Therefore, while no reflection | pon this class of business men, it must | 2 y always bear watching. | Phelan may very properly subject these to thorough analysis. If he finds that the tors have been cheating and that a pavement | 1 h yields them more profit than they / entitled to, he ought to make an ex- Street contractors in San Francisco he contra i ihat . bitun Wi, 1 e have never heard of one who profited by Market street is so conspicuous a case that it may well be erected into a precedent. essons JLONEL WILLIAM C. SMITH, First Tennes- gee, died of apoplexy at the head of his com- COLONEL 7SMITH OF TENNESSEE. C mand on the firing line, February 5. OTIS. Such was the brief telegram which came from Ma- nila to announce the death of as loyal a patriot and as royal a gentleman as ever fought for principle or gave hand in friendship. Colonel Smith was a soldier. In the days long gone he had battled for the Confed- eracy, and he had not laid down his arms until the leaders of the Southern cause had given up hope. How nearly right or how nearly wrong he may have been matters nothing now. It is enough to remember that when the country needed him he was ready for the call. He left his home, his lucrative business, and went to fight for the commonweal, making light of the burden of years, thinking only of the honor of the land. Of all the volunteer officers who passed through this city, probably not another won so many friends. A person of dignity, gallant, modest, courage beaming from his eye, the best homes gladly welcomed him as a guest, and more than one veteran wearing the sign of the G. A. R. broke bread with him gladly. For old things had passed away, over all there waved one flag, and among its noble defenders was this son of the South—this chivalrous, gentle, broad-minded man, type of citizenship of which the North and the South may be proud. There will be mourning in Tennessee over this citi- zen, who freely gave his life, and there will be mourn- ing in California, where he came as a stranger, and whence he departed respected and beloved. o e ra— It is bad form for the Examiner to lament over hav- ing been beaten on the news from Manila. It is not our habit to boast about these things. We simply print the news, print all of it, and if the mourning competitors yowl they have at least the privilege of _suspending and dropping the foolish bluff. e e This city is having so many foolish shooting scrapes as to suggest that unless a2 man has sense enough to keep his gun in his pocket he should not be allowed to carry one. ’ Aguinaldo will have to be chucked in'o a cell now ocgupied. by some one of his prisoners. This would give -him a lesson ;nd be kinder. than shooting him. AP 4y (Circtumstances suggest that the welcome to the Cali- | duct of affairs in the Philippines to be absolutely base- | port 2 good many coolies into the islands before the | of fornia boys will be delayed, but it will be sincere.: 217 to 221 Stevenson Street | THE THIRD BATTLE OF MANILA. HE action begun Sunday morning by an attack T on our outposts at Manila there under our flag. The glory of American | arms has been well sustzined in each, and there is ;‘no difference of opinion at home upon the credit | due to our fighters on land and sea. Such differences are reserved for expression upon the issues of policy, which involve our own Government and imply changes in its structure and functions. It is now | evident that acquisition of the Philippines must be by conquest. Spain sells us a quitclaim, but we must ite our title in fee simple in the blood of the peo- ple. A great deal of crude comment ha$ followed this expected action at arms, much of it genérated-in the enthusiasm which ever follows a fight. It is the same feeling which has sustained every British* Ministry , that has put on the armor of aggression, and added to the glory of British arms in zones distant ffom the Anglo-Saxon center. From the time we first set foot on Luzon there has been no doubt that we could whip | any force the Filipinos might bring against us in a | set battle; and it was certain from the first that we could occupy as much of the islands as Spain had | occupied, by using the same means which asserted and maintained the occupancy which she quitclaims for twenty millions. The Call said that we could con- quest the Philippines, and, saying that, meant that by no other means could we assert our sovereignty over them. The third battle of Manila has confirmed this. It may cost us as much as the conquest of India, for w the Malay will fight like the Sikh and Mahratta. The | real issue for our people to consider is not the con- {*quest, but its consequences. To hold these Asiatics | we must maintain a perpetual military occupation. The experience of every nation that has dealt with them is that any relaxation of military vigilance means ‘a massacre. We talk in high strain about educating the Malays and mixed rac They need and prize if | as little as did the sons of Rob Roy. We+have also | hieard some taik of their physical assimilation with us. | The tropical races take to themselves the blood of | the non-tropical races, only to eliminate it by assimi- lation. . The Aryans were a white race. They descended | upon India from the Northwest and deployed upon | the hot plains of that peninsula with this same view | of assimilating the dark races they found there. In AYOR PHELAN should thoroughly investi- | the old Sanskrit ritual is a prayer of the Aryans, in | which they thanked God that He was preserving the whiteness of their skin. But that color, which was their race mark, disappeared such long ages ago that its only record is in that prayer of thanks preserved in a language that was dead before the tongue spoken | in Babylon was born. The tropical and Asiatic races of the Philippines will per Ii there is to be any human life there at all, its breath must be in their ribs and its soul in their bodies We have met them precisely as did their Spanish | 3 masters, and our relations will not much differ from what they have known under Spain. Their political and physical assimilation with us is impossible, and this opening battle in the tragedy of their conquest only casts a deeper shadow upon our situation. In such matters an opportunity once passed | returns no more. When we descended from the lofty position on which we began war with Spain we | plunged into trouble of which no eye can now see | the end. Had we stood fast by our professions, had we not turned them into pretenses, had we followed the treaty of Paris with an immediate assurance to the Filipinos that we were buying their freedom of Spain and that she was not selling them for cash m} a new master, the way would have been made plain to 2n adjustment by which we would have recouped the | money cost of their deliverance and made them free. As far as mortal ken can penetrate this opportunity is | gone and will not return. It presented an honorable and creditable way out of a delicate and dangerous sit- uation. But we did not follow it, because the voice of reason was drowned by the thunder of the war drum, and the instincts of freedom and peace were supplanted by the lust of conquest and thirst for battle. It remains for those who have been responsible for our present situation to find a way out of it as honorable as would have been the refusal to enter it at all. The domestic situation is unchanged. The perils of | imperialism are perils still and become more threaten- | ing as the certainty of conquest increases. We have become sudtenly sensitive of the opinions of other nations, which judge us by their standard, a standard which we have heretofore treated with indifference or repudiated altogether. We are the new boy at school, compelled by the public opinion of his class to whip his fag. We can do that easily, but can we as casily endure what follows? GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES. ITH the report of the outbreak of hostilities at Manila there comes from Washington, what has now grown to be something like a stereo- typed statement, that our Government is suspicious of { German interference. The dispatches of yesterday stated: “Though reassured by representations made, | by the Berlin Government that it completely recog- nizes American sovereignty over the archipelago, the authorities have not forgotten the attitude of Ger- many during the war, and there is reason to believe the warships of that power will be watched with more anxiety than those of any other nation.” There must surely be some reason for these re- peated efforts to arouse distrust in this country against the Germans, but it is not easy to discover what the reason is.. That the German press at the outbreak of the war declared sympathy with Spain is unquestionably true, but the German Government preserved a strict neutrality, and for some time past there have been repeated evidences given of a friendly feeling on the part of the German people toward the United States, and an earnest desire to cultivate closer relations with us. it i : Recent dispatches from Bérlin state that for the purpose of promoting commercial relations with the United States a company has been organized in that city to lay a direct cable to conmect the two countries. A capital of 20,000,000 matks has been subscribed and the success of the enterprise seems well assured. ‘That project in itself is a fair proof the Germans are not contemplating any act of hostility to the United States by reason of anything which has occurred or is likely to occur in any part of the world. It is to be noted moreover that German comments on the recent disturbances at Samoa have not been of an unfriendly or prejudiced character. The Ger- man Government has, of course, maintained that its representative at Apia is not responsible for the con- troversy with the American and the British repre- sentatives, but that, of course, was to be expected. No nation will disclaim the acts of its representatives abroad until a thorough investigation shall have shown them to be unjust or unauthorized. 3 In the meantime Embassador White has declared the recurring rumors of German hostility to our con- less. He has recently stated: “So far from quarreling is the third battle | | the channels of political preferment, by electing to the | | prominent. | four but a hundred and twenty legislators at this late day over our Pacific possessions, they are now more and more inclined to work with us in the extension of commerce and civilization.” Germany is bound to the United States by many | ties, some of a sentimental, some of a business nature. There is hardly a family in Germany that has not | seme relative or friend living in this country; hardly a large commercial house that has not business rela- tions with us. Hostility to the United States on the part of the Germans would be hostility to their own | kin and their own interests. With such bonds between the two nations it is not likely the peace will be | broken, nor is it probable that the Government at | Washington has any suspicion of German interference | at Manila or elsewhere. THE PROFLIGATE CANDIDACY. HE crocodiles of Egypt and the alligators of T America are impervious to ordinary weapons. They are types of the corruptionists who are 1 sweating in their desperate effort to unite the rotten | elements of politics in order to force the election of | Dan Burns to the Senate of the United States. These | men are equally destitute of honor and of shame. | They are without national patriotism or State pride. Their armor of infamy is impenetrable. It is said | that a crocodile occasionally can shed tears, but no sentiment can faze their stolidity. They are without | real intelligence. They know that their chief pos- iscsses no qualification and every disqualification for | the office to which he has the Arctic coolness to | aspire, but that knowledge is only derived from his analogy to themselves. They have no conception and no desire or ability to acquire a conception of what good citizenship means. The interests of Cali- fornia, the welfare of the country, only excite their derision and their contempt. They are indifferent | even ‘to appearances before the million and a half | ¢f our own people, the eighty millions of the Union Iand the seven or eight hundred millions of civilized mankind. The great Republican party to them is not | a living organization, with a national soul and a na- | tional history, but a Juggernaut car of the poorest construction, fitted exclusively to the railroad track, its axles greased with unclean drippings, and its motive power a combination of venality and cunning. These men are traitors to the divided sovereignty that preserves the equilibrium of our institutions and to the reserved sovereignty of the people. They are traitors to truth, to honor and to decency. Their | function in life is to maintain “the cohesive power of | public plunder.” Obstinately bent on the accomplish- ment, by any means, of their foul and most unnatural purpose, they absolutely glory in the hope that they may caricature and degrade the State before the Union and before the world. For weeks they have held the joint legislative convention in their loathsome grip. Will they ulti- mately succeed? That is the question to be answered the ninety-four legislators who control the situa- tion. These gentlemen have before them a pointed object lession from the State of Indiana. There the political machine was burst into shreds and the best precedents in American history and the concen- trated instructions of the American people followed and obeyed. The Indiana Legislature rebuked the rising arrogance of wealth, turned from its proper use into Federal Senate a young man who, like both of our martyred Presidents, emerged from poverty and | from obscurity and by labor, by perseverance and‘ by integrity, made for himself a shining fame and reached the elevation of American statesmanship. Such a record and such a recognition constitute a | splendid vindication of the liiting power of Ameri- can institutions. The example and the warning are definite and Will they be heeded? Let not ninety- respond. | The Call opposed Dan Burns because his election would be a triumph for evil and a reproach | to the State. In a lesser degree, but with firmness, | it has opposed Ulysses S. Grant Jr., because he has violated the ethics of candidacy and his only manifest claim is hereditary distinction. ' It has in- sisted upon no candidate of its own. It has protested for the public good. It now repeats the inexorable and loud demand of the people for the prompt election of a Republican, a statesman and a gentle- man. — r bill has been seemingly shelved. Weeks ago the announcement was made that the committee having it in charge was prepared to report it, and yet nothing has been done about it, nor has any definite time been fixed for its consideration. The delay is the more difficult to understand because the measure is one of some urgency. Since Hawaii has been annexed it is assuredly the duty of Congress to provide a form of government for its people, and bring the administration of the islands into conformity with that of the rest of the United States. The present condition is one of uncertainty and cannot fail to be prejudicial to the business in- terests of the Hawaiians and to some extent of all who have commercial relations with them. In a recent interview on the subject Chairman Knox, who has charge of the bill, stated, among the reasons why the measure is one of urgency, that there has been a large influx of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii since the annexation law was enacted, and that some 10,000 contract labor Japanese will be brought into Hawaii, and then into the United States. For this reason the extension of the United States immigration restriction to Hawaii is held to be of first importance. That statement is one of considerable interest to California. If Hawaii, under the present government, is being filled up with coolie laborers who will here- after come to the United States, it is certainly high time to set aside the existing government and put American law into effect. It is to be hoped the ad- vocates of the importation of cheap labor are not at bottom the cause of the unexplained delay in taking up the measure. It appears the chief objection made to the bill in committee was based upon a provision which con- fers upon the Hawaiian Supreme Court the power to pass upon election cases and the qualification of mem- bers of the Legislature. That is a radical departure from the method which prevails throughout the United States, where legislative bodies- are made judges of the qualifications of their own members. Such an objection, however, on the part of a minority of the committee, does not offer a sufficient reason for holding the bill back. The issues involved in the delay are likely to prove of more than ordinary importance. Only four weeks remain for this Congress to do its work, and it has many important bills before it. With a little scheming has THE HAWAIIAN BILL. OR some unaccountable’ reason the Hawaiian a delay of about a year. would be possible for the cheap labor people to im- In that space of time, it American restriction laws are put into force. the next Congress to deal with. That would mean | ed LATEST BANK FAILURE. |RAILROAD Evan J. Coleman, First President of the Bank LUSES A S”H Commission, Calls for Reform. Editor Cali: The failure of the Union Savings Bank of San Jose so soon after | its examination and indorsement by the Bank Commissioners again calls into guestion the usefulness of this important commission. For many years after its inception in 1878 the Bank Commission did good work and enjoyed ‘the public confi- dence. - It was a great mistake, in my opin- ion, to incumber the Bank Commission with the care of banks in liquidation. The proper duty of bank examiners is, so far as vigilance will do it, to prevent banks from failing, instead of using their time and talents in looking after those that have failed. They should be doctors, not under- takers. Since the supervision of failed banks and other duties outside of the real objects of their office were imposed upon them, the usefulness and prestige of the Bank Commissioners have been steadily on the wane. Indeed, since the scandalous failures of the Pacific, People’s Home and other banks, six vears ago, after favorable reports from the Commissioners, the opinion has been growing that the commission does more harm than good. Much of the biame for the inefficien- cy of the Bank Commission rests upon the appointing power. There have been too many changes in the person- nel of the commission. Think of it. Nineteen new and inexperienced Com- missioners in twenty-one years! The defiling hands of politicians should never have been laid upon this office. Ability and integrity should be the only qualifications for members of this board, and no changes unless ‘“‘for cause.” The Bank Commission, with super- visory power over institutions handling $275,000,000, of which nearly $200,000,000 belongs to depositors, is the most deli- cate and important office in the State. It was intended for a higher and no- bler fate than that of a “four years’ home” for the Governor's impecunious political friends. At least one of the Commissioners should always be a resident of San Francisco, whose banks subject to their supervision handle $181,000,000 of depositors’ and stockholders’ money. The last eight appointees have been residents of Oakland, Marysville, Pasa- dena, Salinas, Los Angeles (two), Gey- serville and San Jose. Is it surprising that the press and public of late years speak of the commission as use- less and one that should be abolished? Herewith I hand you a copy of a let- ter written by me to Governor Budd four years ago, which deals with this subject in extenso, and its publication at this time can do no harm and may lead to amendments to the Jaw during the present session of the Legislature that will put new life and vim into this once useful and respected commission. Yours respectfully, EVAN J. COLEMAN. San Francisco, Feb. 4, 1899. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 1895. James H. Budd, Governor—Dear In view of the fact that a bill is be- Hon. Sir: fore the Legislature to double the travel- | ing fund of the Bank Commissioners and make other changes in the bank commis- sion act, the following facts, figures and uu‘igestlona may be of some value: Vhen the first Board of Bank Commis- sioners was inaugurated, in 1878, the total number of banks in the State under its Jurisdiction was 84, with $100,000,000 of de- osits and $152,000,000 of resources. Its rst year's examinations revealed the in- solvency of five savings banks (with $11,- 500,000 of deposits) and the impairment of capital of eight other banks, he efficiency and usefulness of that board has never been questioned, from the fact that no banks (except those ciosed by its orders) failed during its four years tern& of office or for many years after- ward, The labors of the Bank Commissioners have more than doubled since the office was created—the deposits in savings banks alone having grown from $52,000,000 in 1882 to $136,000,000 in 1893. The supervision of banks in liquidation was in 1 added to the duties of the Commissioners. This is a very onerous duty, as it takes more time to supervise the affairs of one insolvent bank and to settle the differences between depositors and stockholders than to examine twenty solvent banks. For the past five years (since the great increase in the number of banks in all parts of the State) it has been a physical impossibility for ~three men, uowever capable and diligent, to do thoroughly the work required of this commission. The occurrence of so many disastrous failures during the last board’s term (1890-94), after “clean bills of health” from the Commis- sloners, has almost destroyed the public confidence heretofore enjoyed by this im- portant commission. Bank examiners are not infallible, but perfunctory work on their part is worse than none at all. A comparison between the work devolv= ing upon the first board (1878) and that of 1893 offers a partial excuse for the ap- arent incompetency of the latter. The Eonrd of 1878 made yearly examinations of only 84 banks, with $152,000,000 in resources. The board of 1893 was required (in adai- tion to supervising failed banks) to visit and examine 233 banks) of which 206 were outside of San Francisco) with $275,000,000 in resources. The time consumed in traveling is a very large item, and is one of the principal reasons for an increase in the number of Commissioners here- [atter recommended. The change every four years in the per- sonnel of the commission (there have been fifteen new men since its creation) is a heavy handicap to its efficiency. Ex- perienced bank examiners can do better work than new ones, and in half the time. In view of the foregoing, the following changes in the bank commission act are suggested: 1. increase the number of Commission- ers from three to five. 2. Provide that not more than three shall be members of the same political party and that the three present Com- missioners shall be allowed to serve out their terms of office. This is to prevent the frequent changes for political reasons only, and will always keep at least two experienced men in the board. 3. Provide that two of the Commission- ers shall be residents of San Francisco, whose twenty-six banks have $§181,000, of reserves, as against $87,000,000 held by 204 banks in other parts of the State. Local knowledge of fmperty values and of the financial standing of borrowers is all important for effective bank examina- tions. For similar reasons it might be well to have one of the Commissioners a resident of Los Angeles to loek after the banks of Southern California. 4. The absurd provision that one of the Commissioners shall be an ‘“expert of ac- counts” (which has never been complied with) should be substituted by providing that one shall have practical knowledge of the values of country lands. 5. The secretary should be a competent accountant (with a salary of per month) and empowered to assist the Co missioners in bank examinations when- ever deemed necessary by them. 6. Provide that the annual assessment to meet the expenses of the Bank Com- mission be levied hereafter on the basis of the resources of the banks instead of the deposits, as heretofore. ° Bank supervision benefits stockholders as well as depositors, and they should, therefore, bear their share of the burden. Heretofore the savings banks have had to carry more than a fair share of the load, “zfle‘:““s only were assessed and capital not at all. 6. Increase the traveling fund of the Commissioners from 0 per year. 7. Make the allowance for fuel, sta- tionery, etc., $500 per year, instead of $300 as now, with the distinct understanding that this :nclndedn lnl.ill tp:mung of bl‘&)n' reports, ete., and tha 8 expense does not fall on the State Printing Office as If the foregoing amendments are adopt- the total annual expense of the Bank Commission will be $23,800 instead of $15,- 300 as at present. The total resources of all the active banks in the State under the jurisdiction the Bank Commission on January 1, 1895, which will be the basis for next July's assessment, aggregated nearly the Hawaiian Government bill could be set aside for | heretofore. 1'$268,400,000, which was distributed as fol- lows: 59 savings bank: $141,476,500 | 171 commerclal 126,817,500 | 230 banks........ .. $268, 394,000 To meet the annual expense of the Bank Commission in 1897 ($13.400), required a pro rata assessment of 16% cents on each $1000 of deposits. ; To raise the increased amount (§23,800) on the new basis (resource: stead of de- | posits) will require an assessment of less | than 9 cents on each $1000 of resources. | The voluminous annual reports issued | by the Bank Commissioners at heavy ex- ense to the State Printing Office should e discontinued. Their report for 1834 contained 582 pages of matter of little value even to bankers, while that of the | Coniptroller of the Currency (with 3756 national banks under his jurisdiction) had only 420 pages. 1f other State boards and commissions | are indulging in similar extravagance it | is not surprising that there is such a | | deficit in the State Printer’s office. Inspired by no selfish motive, but simply | a desire that the prestige of the Bank Commissioners may be recovered, the foregoing is hereby submitted. Yours respectfully, EVAN J. COLEMAN. AROUND THE CORRIDORS. Dr. H. N. Winton and wife of Haywards | are at the Occidental. | Dr. G. B. Cole, a well-known physician of Medford, Or., is at the Russ. Lewis R. Kirby, a banker of San Diego, registered at the Lick yesterday. J. B. Sturdevant, a prominent merchant of Santa Rosa, is a guest at the Russ. D. L. Casselman and wife of Chicago are among the guests at the California. Thomas H. Thompson, the extensive vineyardist of Tulare, is registered at the Lick. J. C. Ferguson, who is connected with the Fresno Expositor, is located at the Grand. General Agent L. M. Fletcher of the Missouri Pacific road left for Sacramento yesterday. J. A. Gill, traveling passenger agent of the Vanderbilt lines, returned yesterday from Sacramento, after a very pleasant visit. J. R. Toole, an attorney of Helena, Mont., who has come to this city to plead a case in the Circuit Court, is at the Occidental. B. F. Leete of Reno, who is largely in- terested in valuable salt deposits near that place, will be at the California for a few days. H. 8. Allen, a Sonora mining man; L. A. Spitzer, County Assessor of San Jose, and Fred E. Wadsworth, the Yreka banker, are registered at the Grand. Among ‘the arrivals at the Palace are John C. Lewis, a Portland merchant; Charles Untermayer, a wool dealer of New York, and Sam R. Stern, a mining man of Spokane, Wash. Vice President George B. Harrls of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road left last night for Portland with his family and party in a private car. They have had an enjoyable time here during their short stay. ‘W. B. Jerome, general Western passen- ger agent of the New York Central Rail- road, with headquarters at Chicago, is at the Palace, accompanied by his wife. After visiting Los Angeles and San Diego he will return home, which will be in about three weeks. J. H. Friedlander and John Galen How- ard, ®wo of the architects who are to take part in the final competition in con- nection with the Phebe Hearst archi- tectural plan for the University of Cal- ifornia, are here from New York. They have paid a visit to the grounds of the university at Berkeley, and are very much enthused with the site on which the new buildings are to be erected. They declare it to be the finest in the United States. They have also visited the points of interest in the city for the purpose of being able to intelligently submit plans for the sanitary and artistic improve- ment of San Francisco, which plans are to be presented to the city by Mrs. Phebe Hearst. Mr. Howard is accom- panied by Charles Butler. —_————— CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, Feb. 6.—A. B. C. Dohrmann and Russell J. Wilson of San Francisco are at the Holland. Joseph L. King and wife of San Francisco are at the Nether- land. Dr. N. Condon of San Francisco is at the Gilsey. E. B. Babcock of San Francisco and Dr. A. Smythe of Sacra- mento are at the Cosmopolitan. 1 ———— CALIFORNIANS IN WASHINGTON ‘WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.—S. W. Fox of Riverside is at Willard's Hotel. Henry T. Oxnard left for New York to-night. ‘W. F. Allenton of Honolulu is at the Ar- lington Hotel. ————— TO IMPROVE OUTSIDE STREETS The Mission Federated Improvement Club Advocates a Lins of Progress. The large area of the city lying south- west of Twenty-fifth street and the county line, it is claimed, has been great- Iy neglected during the entire history of the city so far as appropriations Zor streets and other purposes are concerned. To prevent a continuance of this condi- tion of things the section mentioned is now represented by a federated club em- bodying the entire southwestern portion of the city. This club embodies the following clubs Sy Semk cub-m ® o ar ul L B Thomas O'Nelll, A, §. Lillio. " "™ Fairmount and Glen Park Club—Joseph Heck, Joseph Tuohey, Chris Stader. West of Castro Street Club—W. J. Nixon, Major B. McKinne, Captain R. W. A ana castro & unnyside_an ‘astro Street Addition Club—l B. Hill, Antone Dismayen. Sunnyside Progressive Club—John Bar- rett, Willlam B. Peel, W. B. Hicks. Ocean View Property Owners’ Club—A. T, Roberts, H. E. Griffiths, J. Blancharad. The delegates of this federation are de- termined to have the district represented by them improved. - The first and more important questions{ that will at once be brought to the at- tention of the Supervisors are the con- struction of outlet sewers and a sewer- age system for Fairmount, Sunnyside, districts; the opening of streets to con- nect Mission street and San Jose avenue, the extension of a boulevard throvgh Glen Park to connect with Golden Gate Park, the paving of San Jose avenue and Chenery street and better street car fa- cilities for Falrmount, Sunnyside and QOcean View.* Strong _ opposition will __be entered against the action of the Market Street Rallroad meu:mutxl in taking the side- walks on Bosworth street from the peo- gle and converting the entire street sur- ace into a roadbed for its double track ;:rt‘ necl}e‘ftnc efis on d“f e‘er‘zwlyfi'acumred se on the roa sion Hill (o Glen Park, 718 O e 8 soon as the streets are i sufficiently, the club will c:m:n }t’;m{lazg :;%gzl:n a re&uc;;i torhllghu!. sewers, ouses and engine- - tection against fire. e e e e e Hit With a Monkey Wrench. A warrant was sworn out in Judge Treadwell's court yesterday for the ar- rest of “John Doe” Urakami, a Japanese, on the charge of assault to murder. Feb- ruary 2 he had a dispute with K. Shim- umura, a fellow countryman, in the kitch- en of a Japanese restaurant at 509 Dupont street, and hit him on the head with a monkey wrench. Shimumura was taken to the Japanese Health Institute on Cali~ fornia street and is now in a critical con- | decided a case against the Southern P Ocean View, Holly Park and Excelsior | 530 OF IMPORTANCE tnvolves Vast Land Interests. COULD NOT GIVE - TITLE DESERT BETWEEN MOJAVE AND NEEDLES IN DISPUTE. {This Is Said to Be but the Fore- runner of Suits Aggregating Ealf a Million Dollars. Justice of the Peace Thomas F. Dunn cific Railroad Company yesterday whi is sald to be but the forerunner of a se of suits involving over half a million dol- lars. Louis Lipman sued recover $226 90 paid the railroad company for a | quarter-section of land lying between Mo- jave and The Needles, within the main line grant of the Southern Pacific Com- pany, under act of Congress of July 27, 1866. The company had no patent for the {1and in controversy and had never estab- lished its title to the land, hence the de- | cision in favor of the plaintiff for the | amounts he had paid as principal and in- terest. No deed was ever delivered to the plaintiff for the land, and it was upon | the provisions of a contract requiring th: that he based his rights to recover. In deciding the case Justice Dunn de- | cided two questions. First, has it been finally determin that patent shall not issue? He say: The land in controversy here tween Mojave and The Needles, an in_the main line grant of the S cific Company, under the ‘act of of July 2, 186, and is not land by the defendant as a_branch 1 the act of Congress of March 3, 15 In the case of Schwartz vs. Southern Pa- cific Railroad Company, decided on Septe: ber 16, 189, by his Honor, Judge Sea it was held that under the cases of U vs. 8. P. Co., 14 U. S. 510, an P. ve. U. 8., 168 U. S. 1, it had not been final determined that patent shall not issue to defendant for land within the main lire grant under the act of July, 1365. In the case of U. S. vs. 5. P. R. R. Co. et al., 86 Fed. Rep. 91, decided April 1898, wherein the particular land in contro- versy here was litigated, it was held by the Circuit Judge that patent shall mot issue to defendant herein for this land. This case is now on its way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and th latter tribunal will dire status of this property. 1 shall hoid that it has not been finally determined that patent.shall not -issue to defendant for the land in controversy this action. i Has the defendant used ordinary-diligerice to procure a patent? From the testin ‘witness for the def: ny ‘of Jerome Madden & dant, it appears that there was no attempt at selection of this land, or to make any listing thereof o the iand office, under the act of July 27, 1865, prior to the 3ist of August, 188i; in other words, that, within a few days, was six years after the execution contract hereinbefore mentioned before & steps were taken as to the acquiring' of a patent to the land. The reason assigned for the failure to make selection prior to said Jast mentioned date was that the Secre tary of the Interior had not approved, until September, 1897, of the report filed on De- cember 2, 1384, made by the commissioners appointed’ by the President to report upon the road, as constructed: T am of the. opinion that the. defendant failed to use ordipary diligence to_procurs a patent for the land in controvers considering the fact that the plain not o Into poscesston of the prc his rights under the contract, so far as the use of timber and making of permanent im- Pprovements were concerned, were restrict- ed, and Inasmuch as the’ defendant has fiever established its title to the land, I am also of the opinion that the plaintiff is en- titled to recover the amounts paid as in- terest, as well as the amount paid upon the principal. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges Hawley, Gilbert, Ross and Mor- row sat as the United States Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, and handed down several decisions. One affecting C:;llfo;- as the case of J. H. Tibbol and oth- xe‘:-‘;‘,wseamon on the barkentine Marion, who filed a libel for their wages. The rkentine was sold, but there was not Sbli;mdent of the proceeds left to pay their claims, so they libeled a consignment of Salmon in a warehouse, which they claimed owed C. E. Whitney & Co., the owners of the vessel, for freight. The jower court decided in favor of the sall- ors, and the Circuit Court affirmed the decision. E’I‘he decision of the lower court in favor f the city of San Diego in the suit of the Consolidated Water Company against the clty was affirmed. —_—————————— A Drowned Man. The body of a man was found yesterday floating in the bay at the foot of Second- street wharf. An election certificate of registration of Edward Lynch of 81 Jes- sie street was found on the body. —————————— Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsends.® —_—————————— fiicers of Society of Old Friends will lngtalled to-morrow (Wednesday) nlght.bg P Special information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. . Telephone Main 1048. ¢ — Husband’s Calcined Magnesfa; four first premium medals awarded; more agreeable to the taste and smaller dose than other magnesia. For sale only in bottles with registered trade mark label. . —_————————— James Tyson, the richest man in Aus- tralia, started in life on a salary of %30 per annum. A short time ago he took up £250,000 of treasury bills to assist the Government. —_—————————— DRINK A STEEPING OF MOKI TEA BE- fore retiring at night, and see how soundly you will sleep and how joyously you will awake in the morning. 1t supplies food for the blood while you sieep, produces a clear and begutiful complexion, cures constipation and sick headache. At Owl Drug Co. Dr. Siegert's Angostura Bitters is indorsed by physicians and chemists for purity. Don't accept any substitute. A Parisian stat’-tician announces th: there have been thirty-nine changes o Cabinets during the twenty-eight years of the life of the French republic, involving Ministers. A