The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 13, 1899, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY MARCH 13, 189 MONDAY. 13, 1899 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. “rddross All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. ;’L BLIC:\TIEN UF#lCF .Mc;rkel and Third Sts., 5. F. Telephone Main 1868, T DITORIAL ROOMS 217 to 221 Stevenson Street Tele] n 1874, 5 CENTS PER WEEK. | DELIVERED BY CARRIERS, Single Coples, 5 cents. Terms by Mall, Inclu Postage: DAILY CALL (inciuding Sunday Cail), one year. DAILY Alng Sunday Call), 6 months & Sunday Call), 3 months. AlL Sample copies wiil be forwarded when requested. 908 Broadway OAKLAND OFFICE... £ NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building THE FIELD OF BLOOD. ITH voices of righteous indignation the pastors of the city yesterday united in denouncing the Ingleside gamblers and the far reaching evil they maintain at the race course. With the fervor of men who feel the responsibility resting upon them as guardians of the moral welfare of the community, they upheld the action of the Supervisors in taking | steps to put an end to the evil, and urged all good citizens to support the officials in the work of reform. The - pastors know how great has been the evil wrought by the race course, with its “hordes of pool- | sellers tempting not only men but young boys and | even women to enter upon the swift and sure, road to ‘ruin. They have watched the dreary record in- | | of Dan Burns disclosed, which was ratified by him- self on January 2, 1899. For nine weeks, in the face of unanimous public sentiment among representative and patriotic citizens within and without the Repub- | lican party, this malignant purpose to substitute a corporation tool and a disgraced and incompetent politician for a Federal Senator has been obstinately pressed, and “rule or ruin” has been the alternative presented "by the railroad throtugh its Democratic leader, aided surreptitiously by the Examiner, to the Republican majority in the Legislature. The existence of this situation in itself is shameful. But so far, in the face of such pressure as has been tegrity of the Republican party has been maintained. Twenty-seven legislators, including members who for years have fatheréd and advocated vicious and cinch- ing legislatidn, hdve denied the representative princi- crease in the number of ruined lives, wrecked homes and disgraced families. They have therefore spoken | upon the subject with the genuine eloquence of earn- | est feeling. They stand forth as the champions of | DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. | WASHINGTON (D. C.) GFFICE Wellington Hotel C. C. CARLTON, Correspondent. Lo | CHICAGO OFFICE Marquette Building | C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. | | BRANCH OFFICES—S27 Montgomery street, corner Clay, cpen until 9:30 o'c S lock. 387 Hayaes street, open until ock. 62! McAliister street, open until 9:30 I5 Larkin street, open until 930 o'clock. | iS41 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 229! Market street, corner Sixteenth, open untli 9 o'clock. 2513 Mission street, open untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh ctrect, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk strect. open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second ana | Kentucky streets. open until 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS. edora.’” ¢ Poache: al Highwayr 1eville v, the Hero of Man Sllis Opera (¢ “Faust.” . in —Vaudeville every afternoon eat AUGTION | BADER . & i 1 March, at treet. . March 23, at 12 m., Real | 1, J | | > of the most gratifying signs of the times of | e is the general advance of wages in certain | The cotton workers, metal'| d coal miners are now receiving from 5 to ore wages than a week ago, most of the at the higher figure. This tells.the of industrial prosperity better than anyth'mg: Another good sign is the marked activity of the York dry goods market, which is reported ng to such an extent that most lines of cottons hind in their orders owing to the | condition of the mills. * As for the iron and | ide, it is still characterized by a feverish defl fiicient supplies, further advances in quota- | an increase in the number of old furnaces | tted up for operation. This trade has made des during the past year or two and now e world. Lumber, too, continues in fine con- | , the demand is active in most localities and prices are firm on acccunt of the well-cleaned-up con- lition of the market. The state of trade in general throughout the country is shown by the increase of 49.5 per cent in the weekly bank clearings over the same week in 1898, and the decline in the number of from 248 in 1898 to 182 in.1899. The leading tast and West, report an active spring trade, especially in dry goods, boots and shoes and clothing. Though business in Wall street fell off somewhat there was a stronger tone, though it was- generally | ribed to bullish manipulation. The only unfavor- le feature- of the week was the continued demor- | ation of the wool market, which is still hampered by immense stocks all over the country. Wheat was ker in spite of crop damage reports and a con- | on of the large export demand, as there was a 1. lines. else. New i aversolc steel t mand, in tions being gantic tint disposition to discount the expected Government re- rt of large stocks still in the hands of the farmers | The 1eport has since been issued and it gives the amount still in farmers’ hands at 198,000,000 bus ;,f or about 29.2 per cent of last year's crop. This is not | a bad showing, however; as we have passed almost | three-quarters of the crop year and have used up.al- most three-quarters of the yield. The supplies of corn are also normal and about what they generally are at this time of the year. So there is nothing discour- | aging in the statistical position of the cereal market. A striking feature of the week in’this State was the suspension of the county bank of San Luis Obispo, not through any want of funds but because the di- rectors did not care to go through another dry season, | which seemed imminent. This action seems rather | premature to an outsider, as the same dispatch which | announced the closing of the bank stated that a rain in a few days would set the county all right, and the conditions of late have been rather in favor of rain than against it. A procedure of this sort is apt to have an unfavorable effect on business and should not be taken until the apprehended condition has passed from the mist of contingency into the broad daylight of seitled fact. There is time to cross a bridge when it is reached. The State, except in a few southern and centrdl localities, is not suffering from lack of rai though it is uselegs to deny that it is needed almost everywhere. Light rains, however, have been coming in from the ocean of late, and if they continue we will get cur crops all right. Every few days a dispatch comes through from the East informing us that business in California is stag- rant on account of dry weather. There .is nothing like going away from home to get the news. If there 15 any stagnation in general trade in San Franzisco it has not yet reared its grisly head. Real estate is dull, but i* has been so for several years. Merchan- dising, however, is going along just as usual, our local bank. clearings exhibit no commercial depression, failures continue few and small, collections are up to the average, and there is plenty of money in sight for solvent borrowers at the established rates of interest. The crops in the northern part of the State are all right and the southern portion will make a fair show- ing with the usual spring showers.. Any expectation of crop failure at the moment, therefore, is simply discounting a shadowy future whick we may never see. One good rain will effectually lay the menacing specter which has been scaring timid folk for some weel In any event the crops of the State at large look a hundred-per cent better than they did at this time last year, when we made a pretty fair showing, all things considered. Those who are in daily touch with the mercantile element hear no serious com- plaints of dull trade nor many apprehensions as to the future. And surely the merchants ought to know how business stands. T R I e Jack Chinn has been indicted down in Kentucky. There is a feeling of disgust there because he threéat- ened to shoot and didn't. Porto Rico is howling for liberty, and the people | field of blood.” of the island would not know what to do with it if they had it the ho s of the altar, and plead to the | strength of humanity to act in accord with divine law ne as well and save weaker humanity from the curse of the evil | which threatens it. It wa out full time for the pastors of the city to speak sue is one of morality and falls clearly The i | within the scope of the duty to their profession and The Call is glad to welcome such ause it has so much at heart and | It can commend to their people. strong allies to the c: for which it has labored so lon they have said in their zeal for the right, because aj {in its work of chronicling the daily occurrences of the city it has had occasion to lay before its readers .a terrible array of crimes ranging from embezzlement | to suicide resulting from the effects and the influ- ences of what one of the pastors so aptly called “the | The Supervisers having now entered upon the work | of freeing the city of the fea . should not turn back nor stay their hands until the task is fully ac- riul curs complished. The better portion of the press is with them, the labor organizations are with them, the mer- chants are with them, mothers are with them and the clergy are with them. Indeed every force in the com- munity which makes for good is on their side. Doubtless the gamblers of the track and their patrons can rally a host sufficient in numbers and loud enough in talk to seem strong. Doubtless they can raise considerable sums of money and get cunning advocates to fight for the continuance of the nefarious trade which has proven so profitable to them. Such strength as they can muster, however, is as nothing to that which is against them. Business sagacity, which desires to guard employes against temptation to dis- honesty, is in this instance united in sentiment with the red affections of the home, which seeks the servation of family honor. { It is no slight issue that is presented to the Super- | The most vital interests of the people are at lives as well as money pre visors. stake. are involved. menace and the curse of “the field of blood.” Hearts, homes and San Francisco must be saved from the BURNS @aND THE RAILROAD. ‘ c | ORPORATIONS, like men, usually work for | their own interests, and although it is frequently | thought that on account of their advantages they | anthropists, but act upon selfish motives. In this | State, however, the group of corporations now epito- | mized by the Southern Pacific Company seems to | have been possessed by an evil and a malicious spirit, which has inspired it to antagonize the people even | when the antagonism was unprofitable. Its contempt | for public opinion and its virulent love of power have | been manifested to a degree that has caused amaze- | ment at home and abroad. The Central Pacific Rail- road had hardly been completed through the munifi- cent endowment of the Federal Government, by the | State and by municipalities before the words “all the | traffic will bear” expressed its undeviating policy. Part of the ordinary railroad business becamie -the culti- vation, by the establishment of opposition towns, of | inimical relations with thriving communities in the | San Joaquin and Sacrdmento valleys. Wherever there | was a railroad station it was used as a custom house, | from which a tariff, which discriminated between lo- calities and even between individuals ‘and that was frequently prohibitory, was enforced. The absence or the suppression of competition for twenty-eight | years or thereabouts and the unrelenting greed and selfishness of this singularly favored monopoly drew into its treasury a very large proportion of the net earnings of the State, and thrbugh its concentration of pur[;osc, its close relations with every form of busi- ness and of industry, the skilled intelligence it com- manded and its stern and unbending discipline, its power over politics, society, legislation and, as many believed, even the administration of the’law, grew to be almost unlimited and intolerable. This unnatural position, impossible except under our isolated condition, was not obtained without steady and uncompromising resistance, and in a grow- ing American commonwealth, reaching out in all di- rections for connections with the civilized and even with the uncivilized world, it could not be permanent- 1y held. The railroad was always opposed, not within its legitimate sphere but in its aggressive cupidity and in its insolent dogmatism, and sometimes it was beaten. At last-a point was reached where two facts seemed to concdr; first, that all practical questions be- tween the railroad and the people were settled and closed, and, second, that its brand upon a political organization insured defeat. Our citizens of any -rec- ognized party are not sand-lotters nor proletarians. They have no prejudice against the railroad, no wish to confiscate its property nor to deprive it of just compensation for services rendered, but an earnest desire to protect its substantial interests and for the permanent restoration of that harmony which would never have been broken but for its unjust exactions | and its despotic methods. When the campaign of 1808 began it appeared that the time was ripe for the complete assertion of conservative and yet progressive Americanism through the Republican party, combin- ing in its support the best elements of our population, and for the seizure and use of unexampled opportuni- ties, with a broad and acute comprehension of their significance and with a united determination in this eventful period to place California where she belongs, in the vanguard of the Union. 2 It was at this precise time that the railroad, under Democrafic leadership, accomplished its deepest treachery to the Republican party and to the State. It proclaimed broadcast its absolute and irrevocable withdrawal from interference with politics. Its decla- rations were accepted and acted upon in good faith, and the banner of national Republicanism was carried to a triumphant success. Hardly was the election over, however, when the railroad pledges were boldly repudiated, the determination to send its agent to 1thirigton avowed and the unprecedented candidacy | consummation of this crowning ple and violated their obligations to their constituents, while fiity-eight legislators, however divided in their preferences, so far have refused to bow their knees to Baal and to become parties to the conspiracy, of which Dan Butns is the figurehead, to turn California over to the Democracy in 190oo. It is upon these gen- tlemen that the people must depend to prevent the railroad outrage. Even though consciously worthy and fit, if Dan Burns had possessed a scintilla of statesmanship or political manhood he would long ago have realized that the clection of any particular man to a Federal Senatorship | can never be a necessity to a million and a half of Americans, who are in possession franchise and, with no backing except from a detésted monopoly, he would have yielded to the popular will and have sacrificed his personal ambition for the sake of the party and for "the common good. But from him no disinterestedness, no appreciation of the truth, no allegiance except to himself and to the corrupt power that dominates him need be anticipated. Al- though unqualified and disqualified, although rejected | by the solid mass of Republicans, he will stick and hang, and he and his emissaries will continue to bawl that the’ great’ State of “California has only one man who has a lien upon the Senatorship and that his name is Burns. Reliance must therefore still be placed upon the fifty-eight legislators who have so far saved the day and who, if they defeat the railroad project, even though the seat of Senator White remain vacant for | two years, will intrench the political organization to | which they belong in public confidence and esteem by proving that it can maintain its own integrity and ful- fill its own obligations against any corrupt and selfish combination that corporate presumption and political antagonism can devise. Senator Perkins is respect- able in intellect, in attainments, in experience, in indus. try and in character, but the election of Dan.Burns would redice him to the position of a detective for his State, while locally the Republican party would be anathema maranatha. This outcome of the dead- lock can only be prevented either by adjournment without a choice, or, more effectually, by the prompt clection of a Republican, a statesman and a gentleman. THE SEASON OF GRAND OPERA. P galaxy of music and song, San Francisco has the most cordial welcome in her heart. She will manifest it OR the grand opera company, for its brilliant stars, for the nebulous lesser lights of chorus and again and again during the season by the clapping of | hands, by rapturous recalls, by gifts of flowers and, indeed, by every form of delighted approval the con- ventionalities of our civilization permits. The fashion of great capitals and imperial courts ;_acquirc too much power and too much influence; they ! has made attendance upon grand opera a high social | are not commonly abused because they are not phil- | function which all people of pretensions have to at: tend, whether they like it or ¢an afford it or not. Turthermore, there is always in every community a considerable class who have a dominating desire to | see and to hear whatever is most talked of, and that class is always ready to pay a high price for novelties of any kind whether they be prize-fighters, artists or stute dignitaries. i Both the social swells and the curiosity seekers will | be well represented at every performance of the opera, but they will not be sufficiently strong to give the tone to the audiences or materially affect the spirit with which the music and its gifted interpreters will be re- ccived. San Francisco is essentially a musical city, cosmopolitan in its culture and its taste in that di- rection, capable of drawing frome its population a host of devotees to the French, the German, the Italian, or even the Russian school of music, but all united in a genuine appreciation of whatsoever is high 2na noble in the art. The liberal support which will be given to the grand opera even at the high prices fixed for. chairs, stalls and boxes cannot be regarded other than as an evi- dence that the people have a profound. longing for what is truly graceful, sweet and marked with the dignity of lofty endeavor. Schiller has told us “wit wars with beauty everlastingly.” Its lambent flame of niockery, varying from pleasant jest to offensive sneer, blazes continually around every. texfiple_ where beauty is enshrined, but never succeeds in déstroy- ing it. Men in their mistaken conceptions of their own nature may say they like fun and frolic and farces and something that makes them laugh better than they likke the fair ideals great artists fashion for us, but when the test comes and a noble form of beauty ap- peals to them they yield a ready homage to its power. So now when the brilliant stars of the opera sing for us the sweetest strains of music to which mortal ears are attuned all of us who ‘have the opportunity will turn aside gladly from coarser joys and live for a season in the delight of their entrancing art. According to a Pittsburg paper ‘an Alderman of Chicago has fined a resident of that city $25 for lying. The statement has every air of improbability. Ia the first place an Alderman has no authority for doing such a thing, and in the second place lie would not recognize a lie as an offense. It must be remembered that Chicago is the center of the embalmed beef in- dustry. A naval officer has declined promotion because he did not think he had ‘earned it. While there is sup- posed to be nothing new under the sun, occasionally some citizen does manage to establish a precedent. - . Perhaps one reason everybody refuses to pull chest- nuts out of the fire for Burns is that they have scrutinized the coals and ascertained that there is nothing there _but the chance of getting burned. An Eastern authority declares that the boldest oper- ators on Wall stréet keep half drunk all the time. We are inclined to question this. Russell Sage has al- ways been pictured as a model of sobriety. i g Admiral Dewey should come home if he feels like it. There are enough “special commissioners” of yel- low sheets in Manila now to run his job. Porto Rico's'glad acclaim over the arrival of the Americans seems to have been delivered through the Porto Rican hat. g France has fired a correspondent for failing to’ main- tain reserve, but had he maintained it his paper would have fired him. i rarely brought to bear in a similar emergency, the in- of the elective | orchestra that surround them, for all parts of the | The California Miners’ Assoclation promises to experience a sort of sec- ond birth this year. Southern Califor- nia will soon organize a new brigade for its reinforcement, if signs do not fail, and several counties north of Tehachapi are likely to organize and join for the first time. The movement to extend the organization and make this strong and efféctive association a State society in fact is being vigorous- 1y pushed by Secretary E. H. Benja- min, whose recent correspondence with leading mining men of the South prom- | ises success there. | One of the leaders in the movement down there is O. S. Bresse of the Min- ing and Metallurgical Journal, who re- cently wrote: ‘Through persistent in- terviews with leading mining men I have discovered a surprising ignorance as to the purposes of the association. ‘When these purposes are properly ex- plained they take hold of the propo 1= | tion *with considerable enthusiasm. With the advances made by your or- | ganization there is no reason now why | there should not be an organization ir: | every county of Southern California.’ | The idea of one organization with | headquarters in Los Angeles is also a«_i- | vanced. A preliminary meeting will | soon be held and when the Legislature adjourns President Neff and Secretary | Benjamin will make an organizing trip | through the Southern region. In Tuol- umne County many lezaing mine own- ers and superintendents are interested | in organization which will soen be ef- | fected. The plan is being urged there | of letting every miner employed know | that he is expected to join the county organization at a cost of $1 a year. CALIFORNIA ANTIMONY, ITS BOOM H AND PECULIAR MARKET. The price of antimony has recently ad- vanced, partly in sympathy with the gen- eral rise in the metal market, and th and a wider and more lively interest in the metat among prospectors and miners | promises an increase in the California | product. Last yvear but forty tons were | produced in the State, while in former years the amount has been 130 tons. The metal cuts a small figure in the mineral industry of the State, but there are a | stnd n}uny interesting things to be known about it. One thing not generally, known is that owing to the metallurgical difficulties of | working antimony ores none of the big | custom smelters anywhere produce anti- mony or want anything to do with ores in | which it is an ‘element. Penalties are | charged for its presence. There are but ven_ antimony smelters in the world; and the special plants and processes r | quired are used for nothing else. One is in San Francisco, two are in London and there is one each in Japan, France, Aus- tria_ard New York. The San Francisco smelter is one of San Francisco's unob- served industries. It is a little institution at Ninth dnd Division streets, operating secret processes and working twenty-four hours a d. with 12 men divided Into two shifts. During 1868 this smelter produced 300 tons of the commercial metal, the ore coming from Nevada. Utah, Idaho and elsewhere on the coast, California con- tributing but forty tons. This product represents the working of about 600 tons of ore. The ore is stibnite, or sulphide of antimony. Stibnite is found in many | counties of the State, but especially in an eight-mile mineral belt in San Benito County, where it is associated ‘with cin- | nabar, and in Kern County. A good many antimony claims have been located, and there are many listed antimony mines in the State, but only two or thrée are pro- ducing, and that fitfully. Many others are being clung to, exploited and offered for sale, but the peculiarities of antimony mining keep the mine owners from doing much besides wondering why they can't make a little money. Chemically pure antimony is worth $3 & pound. or’ 4 ton, but in its commer- cial forms its price ranges from 5 to cents. The common form of metallic ¢ timony has risen here from $§.085 to $.0¢ ince December. The price is made by the Pacific Coast monopoly, the Chap- man Smelting Works Company, which regulates its figures by New York and London prices. The Japanese product is the only thorn in its side, and when a shipment from Japan is risked prices are | cut and it is announced that no Japan antimony will be allowed to net anybody a dollar over here. Some time aga ten tons were imported from Japan for sale, and it was sold last Friday at $.07. The Chapman company ucceeded three years | ago to the plant and business of the com. | pany now operating in New | number of interesting things were toid about the business the other day by C. York. A Solomon Jr., the head of the Pacific Coast concern, | . “The product of the coast is yet small,” he said. “It supplies the coast demand and leaves some for shipment East. San Francisco consumes about sixty tons a year. It is used by machine shops for Babbitt metal, for chilled shot, by type founders and stereotypers and for the work of type setting machine We ship- ped a carload -of sixteen tons to St. Louis the other day, and have sent several car- loads there in the past few months. Cali- fornia could and will produce a great deal more, but there is so much about the business that the miners don’t under- stand. There are plenty of antimony mines in the State, but only a few wiil pay to work, because the ore is not rich enough. We refuse to buy ore that ear- ries less than 40 per cent antimony. Pure stibnite carries 71.4 of -antimony and 28.6 of sulphur. Other metals are always in the ore, and working is a costly pro- cess. Only forty pounds of ore are used at a charge, and it goes through the fire three times. Our commercially pure roduct gives. this anal Antimony, .47, arsenic, .132; lead, .042; copper, .015, and iron, .23, together with some other impurities. The smelting processes used are secret, and, of course, not patented. The metallurgical methods of refining an- timony are well known, but by following the beoks the cost would be from $1 to $1 50 a pound. The improvements are kept as business secrets. We use.the Hallett process used by one of the London smelt- ers, and the Cookson process is used in New York and by the other London firm, the two:American firms having secured puplls of thé originators of the pro- cesses. “One feature of the business is that the antimony miners are always kicking and thinking that they are beilg robbed. They can’t understand some things. They expect returns on the assay value of thelr ores, as with other ores, but some of the antimony is always lost, and antimonvy ores are always paid for by ‘quality and roduce’ only. Another mystery to them s that they get nothing for the gold and silver in their ores.' All the ore we get carries gold and silver, but it is .disre- garded and thrown away. The ore will carry from $2 to $20 a ton in gold and from five to fifty ounces of silver, but it would cost from $200 to $300 a ton to get it out. I have recelved so many kicks about this that I wrote recently to Vivian, Younger & Bond of London to learn theif practice, and here you see they say: ‘We could not make any payment for gold and silver contents, for you.are doubtless aware that the problem ‘of separating thre prec- fous metals fram antimony is one of the most difficult problems of the day and the inventor of any cheap proce: for doing this would soon make a fortune.’ Not very long ago I offered ore carrying 200 ounces of silver and 40 per cent anti- money to a big Denver smelting company and they would not give anything for it. You see, an assay may give a prospector a wrong idea of the value of his claim. The assay may show G0 per cent anti- money and $75 a ton in gold and silver, and he thinks hé has a rith find. He gets paid for 5 to 8 pér cent less anti- mony than the assay shows and nothing for his gold and silver and he durses the smelter. 3 3 i “A California Bhlpgfl' gets ‘about $12 less for his ore than he could get in New York, but this Is the railroad charge to New York. The Kern County ore we et averages 50 per cent of antimony. 'he miner would receive $%0 a ton f.o.b, at San Francisco. If he is twenty miles from a railroad it will net him, say, $23 at the mine, which is better than the aver- age gold mine. There are many large deposits running from 15 to 25 per cent, but it does not pay now to work such ore. There is a good market for the ore and roany claims need development more than they do a promoter.” That is the California antimony situa- tion and these are the terms and condl- tions offered by the Pacific Coast leading mine now monopoly.. The ro- ducing 18 about twenty miles from Mo- dave. with an elghty-foot shaft, some - NEWS OF THE MINES. ift: d.100 tons_of ore on the dump, gvrhiclsu ?;:e owner will not sell just now. OBSERVATIONS ON SOME DESERT it MINING DISTRI:T;. S . F. Newell, expert for the Selbys, remr:ed from' a three weeks' tour of the Randsburg and adjacent mining districts, where he sized the situation up. o g “I found Randsburg very duiet. e says. *The boom is all over and now”ls quietly “flourishing on what is actually being done in the mines. There is no hotel there since the last fire and the streets are quiet. The Yellow Aster mine is the big thing of-the camp, _producing from $30,000 .to $60,000 a month. It ha just started its new thirty-stamp mill an no longer ships to Barstow. There are other good mines and a number of small properties are being worked in a gmall way by owners without capital, “Phe principal talk and the ‘main at- tention of prospectors is directed to the Argus and slate ranges just west of the Panamint district. In the Argus range *John Rosenfeld & Sons are running a good mine, milling the low grade and shipping ore that runs $50-a ton or more. The Slate Range Mining Sumpflny is operating in that range, and there is a 1 of prospectinig and developing | in the Rademacher district 1 ie situation quiet, with good op- portunities that need capital. 'The dis- trict is undeveloped. There are some good showings of ore, but it is base and cannot be milled to advantage. There areagreat many claims located, andsome | good mines will result some day. One hears a gflofl deal about the Panamint country, but it is so far from anywhere, | with _hiy at $60 a ton and freight at $20 and $25, that only high-grade ores can be handled and shipped. A great develop- ment would follow a railroad through that mining region. “There is a good deal of life around Moj: ‘Mojave Mountain, four miles away, 50 men are working on prospects. One, the Karma mine, has a 60-foot shaft in a ten-foot ledge and shows ore averag- i 5 to $30. There are a number of promising prospects, and as the district | is only a few months okl there undoubt- edly LS“I be some good mines developed. | There® are two custom mills and a cyanide plant at Mojave, and one mine recently shipped 60 tons of $50 ofe to San Francisco. About 100 tons a month are coming here from Mojave.” ion of the Legis- is The results of the se: | lature as far as the mining indust | concerned will be chiefly two things—the appropriation for a Paris exhibit in which the miners will receive fair recognition, | and the amendment to the State law of | location doing away with the preliminary | notice. The requirement of $0 worth of work within sixty days will remain, ac- cording to the present agreement and un- | derstanding, but instead of having to post | anad record at the county seat a prelimin- | ary notice of location and having to file | a second notice sixty days later, but one notiee will be required, but this’ must be recorded with the County Recorder as now. The State Mining Bureau, which re- viewed the ferry building some weeks ago, will be ready to open its newly arranged museum to the public in about a week. Curator Durden finds the museum space cramped, and man{ of the 15,000 speci- mens will have to be stored elsewhere. A further interest in the Ivanhoe mine, near Plymouth, Amador County, has been sold_to H. V. Brown of Balt’ Lake City for $100.000. -An_English company is negotiating for | the Eagle Bird mine at Maybert, Nevada Count The California Borax Company has be- gun shipping from their properties north- |.east of Randsburg. | A milé of Cottonwood Creek, in_ Sis- kiyou County, has been bonded by ‘a Denver company, that plans putting in a aredger. NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. The Austrian first-class torpedo-boat Kigyo has been launched. from the Yar- row yard. She is 152 feet 6 inches in length and 15 feet 3 inches beam, and is similar in all respects to the Cobra and two other boats. which have proved un- qualifiedly successful. The shipwright apprenticeship in the British dockyards is not likely to prove a success owing to the discrimination made by the admiralty between ship- wrights and engine-room artificers. The latter begin with a pay of 5 shillings 6§ pence a day and ranks with petty officers, while the shipwright apprentice is al- lowed only 4 shillings and ranks with stokers, The new Turbinia of 220 feet length and 830 tons displacement is in an advanced stage of construction at Elswick, and it is expected to have her ready for trial by the middle of April. The new Turbinia has eight propellers on four shafts, in- stead of the original Turbinia’'s three shafts and nine propellers and her “going astern’” arrangements are far in advance of the pioneer boat. The No. 1 dock of the Yokohama Dock’ Company Is nearly completed and when the cofferdam has been removed will be ready for use.. It is 483 feet 7 inches in length on the blocks, 550 feet 6 inches from entrance to head, the entrance of 93 feet 6 inches wide at the top and 75 feet 5 inches at the bottom, At spring tide there is 28 feet 10 inches of water over the blocks and at low water 21 feet 3 inches. The active list of the line officers in the German navy, which has recently beéen increased, now consists of the following number in each grade corresponding to those in the United States navy: One admiral, five vice admirals, thirteen rear admirals, sixty captains, one hundred and thirty-one commanders, two hundred and thirty-four lieutenant commanders, three hundred and eighty-two lieutenants and| two hundred and seventy-four lieutenants of the junior grade. A fourth-class cruiser named Gazelle is being built at the Germania yard (Krupp's), Kiel, for the German navy. Two similar " ships. have been contracted for, one at the Germania yard and the other at the Weser yard, Bremen. These ves- sels will have unusually fine lines, for, with a length of 328 feet, 3§ fect 7 inches beam and a draught of 15 feet 9 inches they will displace only 2808 tons. The en- gines are to develop 6000 horsepower and give a speed of 10.5 knots. Their arma- ment consists of 10 4.1-inch quick-firing guns, 14 1%-pounders and 4 machine guns. They are to bé completed in two and a half years, and will cost $837,500 each, or at the rate of $236 60 per ton displacement. Of the twelve ships in the British navy which passed through their steam trials last year, only one—the battle-ship Illus- trious—was fitted with cylindrical boilers, The others had water-tube boilers. Seven of the large cruisers had Bellevue bollers, | in which the coaj consumption: ranged from 1% pounds per unit of horsepower to as low as'155 pounds. In the four smaller cruisers of the Pelorus class as many types of other water-tube boilers were used, and while they all developed the contract power, there was quite - a difference in the coal consumption of the four types. The Blechynden used 2.46| pounds, the Thornycroft 2.4, the Rae boiler 1.9 and in that fitted in the cruiser bullt by Earies the consum: e ption was 2.1 Three court-martials were eld month on British naval officers, with s‘enrslf ous results to the accused parties. Lieu- tenant G. W. Mason of the Galatea was charged with being absent Wwithout leave, and, muking no defense, was sentenced forfeit one year's seniority and o be dis. fil“le(d llrom his ship. Fleet Engineer J- onk, also of the Galatea, wa. i | with having falsified the wine tecer ot oo ine account: the wardroom. He admitte P ! 2 d havi errors, but denled intention of fr::fi m'?fxe court, however, found him gullty oo c}(mrged and adjudged him to be deprxv“: ze ud‘llsrlhelumri“);fl“ fleet engineer ang to ssed his ship, L l:urénermu:ter by A x:lldle:ez:é:l}:‘:tfl n&d + & was found guilty on two s of :_c::]nd“nln:xlu conduct unhgcomm(c::rg:c:: entleman and wa, P i Was cashiered from The two battleships : Ps to b Thames Iron Works, l..msdeottxmmfulit i British navy will be 405 feet fn 1eu en feet 8 inches beam and displace ®ors 0 7 ifiches maximum thickness, tapering to 8 inches at theiends. The arbettes will be 11 inches, i ti’nches and the gun shiclds steel, will be 4 with side plating ¢ propelling Tilcm": ry be two sets of four inverted cylin- ::ll-l triple-expansion engines u;‘eacg{ pr - peller, with cylinders of 33%, 1o, 8 and §3 nches and a stroke of 48 inches. 1v:. & are to be:twenty-four Beileville boilrs with, 1375 squire feet grate surface a heating surface of 28,360 square feet in boflers and 14,900, square feet in the e omizers. John Penn & Sons !3'. Greenw and Deptford have undertaken th tract for the machinery, which Is to velop -18,000 horsepower and give a sp. .4 of 18 knots. be further protecte inches thick. The h |ARCUND THE CORRIDORS F. G. Berry of Fresno is a guest at Palace. Albert Laws, U. 8. A., Palace. C. C. Coe of Chicago Occidental. - g . 0. J. Smith of Nevada is register: the Palace. ; J. Churchill and wife of Yreka ar the Occidental. : H. Hirshfield, a merchant from Bak field, is at the Lick. : Dr. C. A. Ruggles of Stockton is r¢ tered at the Grand. James W. Abbott of Salt Lake City guest at the Grand. g Attorney L. J. Maddox of Mod . staying at the Grand. } George L. Alexander and Wife of Port. land are at the California. Jessie Bartiett Davis of the “Eoston. jans" arrived at the Palace yester Mre. Mary Judhe 1 is staying a is a guest at and her a Kathryne -of Salt Lake City are Palace. D. W. Semple, editor of the Nugget, which is p_uhlished at City, Is a guest at the Lick. J. R. Fairchild and family are the guests at the California. M chiid is a prominent citizen of New York ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. SMITH AND WEST—L. K. “Mysterjous” Billy Smith and v West fought in Bridgeport, Conn., alout two months ago. FITZSIMMONS-SHARKEY—O. Vallejo, Cal. The latest fight bet Fltzsljmmons and Sharkey was for tw rounds or over. HOTEL—Subscriber, City. The hot inquired about is owned by the South Pacific Railroad Company. That pany -will furnish all information desirc PRIGONERS AT SAN QUENTIN— T. N. W. C., Lowell Hill, Cal. On the of February, 1509, there were in the penc- tentiary at San Quentin 1293 prisoners, ot which 376 were born in California. NATURALIZATION FEE—R. D, City In the State of California there rge In the Superior Court to any for ::lganegrvwho deslrgs to obtain his first second papers, but a fee is exacted application is made to any of the Federa courts. X A 8 A CENTURY—R. D., City. A century commences with the first year th and runs from one to 100 inclusive, ¢ secutively. - This department is not aw: that- “any nation commences to rec a_century from §0. to 150, or, say fro 1750 to 1850.” LANGUAGE OF STAMPS—Mazie and Ethel, City. In Answers to Correspond- ents in The Call of the 28th of January of this year you will find the language of stamps as explained to another corre- spondent under the heading of “Stamp irtation.” STATE FLOWER—W. K., Vallejo, Cal. In a number of States, by vote of the ublic_school children, certain flowers ave been adopted as the State flower, but the Legislature of Michigan is the only one that has adopted a State flower. The flower of that State is the apnle blossom. - ED LEONARD-L., C The pugilistic record for the years 1880 to 1895, inclusive, do not disclose the name of Ed Leonard as a prize-fighter. If there ever was a man by that name who figured in the prize-ring in that period he has been over- looked by the record-makers. THE MAINE-T. C., Oakland, Cal. The testimony taken upon the-inquiry as to the cause of.the destruction of the Maine in the harbor of Havana does not s that any officer of that vessel was at time of the explosion in conversation with Blanco, the Captain General of the island. PUBLIC LANDS—8. K., City. A per- son desiring information about public lands, agricultural or mineral, should ke application at the land office of the gg!flct in which he lives. A resid { this city should apply to the United States Land office on Commercial street, between Kearny and Montgomery. ATLANTIC CABLE—F. L. and J. H, City. The first cable across the Atlantic that carried a message between the United States and Enfiland ‘was laid from the American frigate Niagaraand the Eng- lish line of battle ship Agamemnon. That cable worked from August 6 to August 11, 1857, and then became silent. In 136§ the cable which has since worked suc- cessfully was lald from-the Great East- ern. CAT OUT OF THE BAG—M. H., City. As to the origin of “letting the cat out of the bag” it is =said to have been once a favorite trick among country folk in England to substitute a cat for one of the young pigs, when the latter were carried in bags to market. These buss in old times were known as pokes. If an individual was foolish enough to buy a pig in a ke—that is, to purchase the animal without looking at it, the trick was successful; but the individual opened the sack to satisfy himself the worth of his desired purchase, p would be sure to jump out, hence the cat was let out of the bag. PICNIC—M. H., City. Picnic is ruption of pique mique. In France i nique signifies an entertainment at w each person confributes to the scv supply of the table. 1la France it as in _the United States, confined ¢ out of door entertainment. In paper there was published about the Pique Nique .de St. H hich the follpwing is a t The list of subscribers at fifte a head will be closed at 4 o'clock. ble at 8 o'clock.” €al. glace fruit 50c per I at Town CE e P e Look-out for $1 Fourth st., near 5 cent barber. Best eyeglasses, specs, 10c to e Special information supplied dai business houses and public men Ly Press Clipping Bureau (Allen's), 010 M gomery street. Telephcne Main 1042 Mrs. Elizabeth Skeats, who recer died in London at the age of 87 prided herself on being the mother olicemen. She was pensioned by ueen in 1889, and her Majesty p: ally interested herself in Mrs. Ske welfare. Yo California Limited, Santa Fe Route. Leaves Sundays, Tu and Fridays. Elegant service. V sleegiers, observation cars, Harvey Cars through from California to Chicag out change. Get full particulars at c otfice, 628 Market st ———— “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing 'Sy Has been used for fifty years by mil mothers for their children while Teethins /(0 perfect success. It soothes the chill the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Coll ulates the Bowels and is the best ren: ! Diarthoeas, whether arising from t other causes. For sale by Druggis part of the world. Be sure and ask | Winslow's Soothing Syrup. 2c a ! ry —_—————— HOTBL DEL CORONADO—Take aiie! of the round-trip tickets. Now only steamship, including fitteen days' bosrd O 14,000-tons on a mean dr aught inches. The armor belt, 'ot gs:‘;r:;lex‘eg hotel; longer stay, $3 per day. Apply at + N Montgomery st., San Francisco. ) b