The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 19, 1899, Page 6

) THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1899. JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. ess All Communications to W. . LEAKE,/}f:nager. ! 'PLBLXCATI(}\ OFFICE .Market and Third Sts., S. F. Telephone Main 1863, ROOMS 217 to 231 Stevenson Street | Telephone Main 1874. 15 CENTS PER WEEK. EDITORIAL ne Year.. One Year.. are suthorlzed to recs rded when requested. OAKLAND GFFICE.... 908 Broadway NEW YORK OFFICE Room 188, World Building | DAVID ALLEN, Advertising Representative. | WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE.........Wellington Hotel | C. €. CARLTON, Correspondent. CHICAGO OFFICE Marquette Building C.GEORGE KROGNESS, Advertising Representative. BRANCH OFFICES—52T Montgomery street, corner Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. - 387 Hayes street, open until 0:30 c'clock. 621 McAllister street, open untll 9:20 c'clock. 615 Larkin street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open until 10 o'clock. 2291 Market street, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 2618 Misslon street, cpen untll 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open untll 9 o'clock. 1505 Polk street, open until 9:30 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second anq Kemtucky streets. open untll 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS. itals this Afternoon. eville every afternoon ts, Spectalties. | reet, near Eighth—Bat- | resort. Amusements every pular bay AUCTION SALES. at 10:30 a. m. and 2:30 p. and § p. m., at 39 at 11 o'clock, Furniture, at OUR LEGISLATURE REBUKED. pposed, and not without truth, that > a little broader and most other the contrast between ive representatives often The late Senatorial deadlock in two or three other the truth of this more strongly illus- 1 bill and by the act which ct to-day requiring certain articles in news- But some recent legislation in 1 cted widespread attention rtless be generally adopted marks the Legislatures that . times and such a body as has lately ship to which e ideas than But is , of to be signed are rence between ned the atures of statesm e referred otive of the signature bill, beyond atification of personal vindictiven ess disclosures affecting corrupt poli- eve this victory the supporters e been almost willing to relieve usual and Te ences of unjustifiable libels. hey prefer te consequences to the publica- falsely imagined would deter or presenting them. The of the first State in which civil and re- artered upon t continent red to them anticipatory rebuke. 1896, in the State of Maryland, in order n .of interests, the ot irom the sev such person was an the free eficial to the public went into effect: it enacted by the General Assembly of the that no person engaged in, con- h or employed on a newspaper or journal 1led to disclose in any legal proceed- re any committee of the Legisla- elsewhere, the source of any news or infor- ion procured or obtained by him for and pub- hed in the newspaper on and in which he is en- 1 communicatic information following } wit 1 or employed.” The tremendous conflict in the latter half of the I h and at the beginning of the nineteenth ry "”“‘“‘"3 the crown and the press in England, great trials, in which the forensic elo- such men as 3 tosh faced and beat the thira nd his Ministers on their own ground, ended firm establishment of the right of free publi- ect only to punishment, civil and crimi- aged, connectec sever: of power ini in the . for malicious libels. From that succession of victories over monarchical tyranny the English- speaking world have exercised the unrestricted rights ing comment upon public matters and upor of unspa uals who, by their relations to the Government or society, were fairly brought within the range of i rutiny, In Great Britain the uniform ten- recent Parliamentary action has been not ige but to extend the liberty of the press. iberality. which is the highest security for hon- esty and for decency, has been carried so far that a British publisher, innocently led into the circulation of a libel, by a prompt apology can reduce damages ' In the United States the press in constitutional enactments ent doctrine that “the greater the truth greater the libel” has been abrogated. while in of to a nominal sum. has been entrenched 1d the anc criminal prosecutions for libel not only is jury trial assured, as in other criminal cases, but the pos- sibility of injustice through a modern Jeffreys or imitator of the Star Chamber is averted by the pro- ion that the jury gre the judges of both the law and the fact. 'he Maryland American statute carries the tendencies of ilization to their logical result by ex- tending the rule of privilege to the sources of news- The California statute is an at- | tempted retrogression to the despotism of the middle ages, engineered by influences which closely resemble the foraging barons of that darkened epoch. e s e per ipformation. As Croker has given up his proposed trip to Europe md announces that he intends to spend the summer camping on the trail of Senator Platt, the coming season in New York is likely to.be one of the hottest 3 e S “Grab all in sight,” says Mr. Huntington, “is my motto and adv also my practice.” T A e, and he might have added, “It is | zation have been moved to their action by the tone which prevails at this time in the utterances of a GOVERNMENT IN BUSINESS. policy. leged, and using these in a steady appeal to prejudice and passion, but without suggesting either an expe- dient or a radical remedy. In this the Examiner was | true to its inoculation with the theory and prac- tice of Populism, which lead to an attack upon all existing conditions and the threat to destroy them, but without proposing anything better to take their place. The plain mind, reasoning from premises that are within the common horizon and common expe- rience, comes finally to reject any policy that is | merely destructive, and so Populism has been taken | up, examined, on occasions tried in various States and is finally rejected. Not meeting with expected | success in its programme of mere destruction, the Examiner has at last reached a constructive propo- | sition, which it exploits under the name of “Public QOwnership Through Public Thrift.” The terms are unscientific and misleading, but this is the chronic defect with those who argue for acute changes from unscientific standpoint. Public thrift, in its common acceptation, mean. the general thrift arising in individual effort and industry. What is meant by the aminer is properly expressed in ‘Government ownership by Government thrift.” The Examiner really understands it in this way, for in its edito indorsement of the plan it uses only the word “Government” instead of “Public.” Its plan is for the Government, by taxation of the people, to secure a surplus of $100,000,000, invest it in productive prope and reinvest the profits in like The statement of the plan is somewhat gue, but it is mathematically reduced to the con- clusion that the primary investment is to be only $100,000,000, and the profit to be 4 per cent com- pounded. With this start it is arithmetically demon- strated that in 100 years the Government will be in possession of $108,49 6.800. But the plan does not end with this investment by the Federal Govern- States, counties and cities are to go into the New York and Chicago are to in- vest $10,000.000 each, and in 100 years are to have $10,849,585,689 each. As it is apparent that the plan treats wealth and population as equivalents, the city population of the country, investing in proportion to New York and Chicago, will own at the end of 100 years twice as much as the Federal Government, or $216,091,713,780. The counties and States follow, an ment. same business. | and by the same standard and rate of investment will be the owners in the same period of a sum equal to that in of the Federal Government. Therefore the grand total of wealth owned by the United States at the end of a century of Government ownership by Government thrift will be $433,083, possession | 427.560—four hundred and thirty-three billion nine and eighty-three million four hundred and | hundred twenty-se thousand five hundred and sixty dollars. As we have said, the Examiner's statement of the plan is vague, for it says editorially that “at the rate of $100,000,000 a year,” while its mathematical investment demonstration is confined $100,000,000. The whole idea is a fantasy, based primarily upon the presumption of fixity of conditions that are by nature unstable. For instance, the interest rate is non-fixable, the of profit still more changeable and has declined more evenly than in- terest. The fa of these mathematical speculations i shown in the Thurman act, which dealt with a very at policy and issue. It suspended the payment interest by the Pacific railw: on their debt to to one and rate is the Government and substituted therefor a sinking fund, payable out of surplus earnings. The operation of this act was to cover a limited term of years, but before the time had hali expired Senator Thurman himself confessed its failure, because he had based 1 mathematical the rate for freight and passenger business charged at the time he framed the bill. Upon that basis the sinking fund fixed per cent would meet the principal e debt at maturity. s calculations upon invested at ¢ and interest of beyond Gover plete failure. Now, byt one thing is needed to show the fallacy of the aminer idea and reduce it to an uninterest- ing speculation. The total of the United States, the entire value of all property, is put by Mulhall, in round numbers, at $80,000,000,000. If all this wealth were to steadily carn 4 per cent com- pounded, in 100 years it would equal $4,038,305,480,000 —four trillion thirty-eight three hundred and million four hundred and eighty thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars—a sum of course inconceivable and impossible. The additions to wealth, in the strict care and at- tention given to it in private hands, are so continually offset by shrinkages, relocations and loss, that no prudence ‘ca that the net gain in any century is held far below 4 per cent. But the Examiner plan includes not only Govern- ment investment, but Government thrift. It con- ceives the necessity for the Government to be rich, to hold in its ownership, indeed, the entire wealth of the country. Thrift is not a possible function of government on our scheme. Strong monarchical and bureaucratic governments may seize the trade in intoxicants and narcotics, or the business of carrying freight and passengers, and get a profit out of them at the public expense by high charges, for it is the fact that on European railways in Government ownership the cost of travel and transportation is far higher than here, while the wages paid to trainmen are far lower. If the countries quoted by the Examiner paid Ameri- can railroad wages and charged American rates, the lack of Government thrift would appear in a return of far less than 4 per cent, and in most cases a deficit would replace profit. Finally, the Examiner plan is simply the ownership by the Government of all profit-producing business and making the use of the facilities it controls, a means of taxation. This runs easily from ownership of telegraphs, telephones, street and steam railways, riines and quarries, to the field of production of the food necessaries of life. Of course it is state’ communism, a condition in which everybody will work for the Government and all profit will go into the public treasury. Thence where? Will it from time to time be parceled out, and by whom? wealth billion ninety-five n avoid, A GERMAN PROTEST. CTTON taken by certain citizens of Chicago of German birth to organize a national associa- tion of German-Americans with the object of opposing anything in the way of the suggested Anglo-American alliance is perhaps natural under the circumstances, and yet is wholly unnecessary and can be of no benefit either to Germans or to | Americans. It is clear the promoters of the proposed organi- HE Examiner has been feeling around, in a sort of intellectual darkness, for a public and party For some time it cried out aimlessly against trusts, picking out their evils, actual and al- of | But, for causes | ent control, the freight and passen- | ger rates declined so rapidly that the plan was a com- | large proportion of the American press. The impe- rialist organs, favoring expansion and annexation, have suddenly developed a great admiration for Great Britain, and with more or less directness have advo- cated, if not a formal alliance, at least some sort of concerted action with her in foreign affairs. Furthermore, the recent actions of the German rep- resentatives in Samoa, and the vexatious restrictions placed upon the sale of American food products in Germany, have given rise to a good deal of severe criticism in this country by the press bf all parties. Germans in America reading daily this talk of an understanding with Great Britain, and the comments upon the Samoan crisis, and the general course of the Kaiser's Government, have naturally enough come to the conclusion that efforts are being seriously made to commit the United States to a course antagonistic to the interests of Germany, and their love for their fatherland moves them to protest. Their conclusions, however, are wholly erroneous. The people of the United States are thinking only of the interests of the United States. It happens just at this juncture that our interests coincide with those of Great Britain, and not with those of Germany. It was not very long ago, however, that we were talking of war with Great Britain over the Venezuelan ques- tion much more loudly than we are now talking of | strife with the Kaiser. What has happened once may happen again, and before the year is over we may have another conflict of interests with the British, and then the Anglo-American alliance talkers will either shut up like a clam or begin talking the other way. The policy of the American people is, in short, that of every other people. We are friendly to those who | help us and antagonistic to those who oppose us. We | have no entangling alliances with any European | power and are not going to form any. Where our | foreign interests are at stake all citizens, whether for- eign or native born, are expected to support our Gov- ernment. There is no more reason why there should be a German-American organization to oppose this or that foreign policy than a French-American, a Spanish-American or a British-American organiza- tion for a like purpose. America is hoeing her own row, and there is no reason why any class of her peo- ple should form political organizations other than such as are open to all citizens, without respect to race, birthplace, creed, color or previous condition of servitude. N interesting question which should have been | | which it was intended should be forced GAS RATES 10 BE REDUCED VOLUNTARILY Company Offic{als to Act To-day. INVESTIGATION IS DEFERRED A REDUCTION TO $150 IS EX- PECTED. Moses A. Gunst, Commissioner of Po- lice, Is Granted Six Months’ Leave of Absence by the Board. The officials of the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company have accepted the inevitable. Conscious of the fact that the Supervisors purposed reducing the price of gas, the corporation has decided to take the initiative in the matter. Its directorate will meet to-day and as a mere matter of policy’ will name a rate | upon the company. This was the infor- mation imparted to the Supervisors at a meeting yesterday. The board, after acting in a vacillating manner for some weeks past on the ques- tion of gas rates, apparently decided upon $1 50 per thousand feet as the price to be charged hereafter. The minority mem- bers of the board wanted that body to | | stand by its action fixing $1 10 as the rate, but in the face of a solid majority this seemed impossible. The valiant minority (composed of Supervisors Perrault, Lack- | mann, Byington, Deasy and Heyer) then | | the treasury issued by Superior Judge CITY TREASURER MAY GO T0 JAIL FOR CONTEMPT Trouble Over Fees of Stenographers. | WOULD IGNORE THE AUDITIR THE SUPREME COURT WILL BE ASKED TO DECIDE. Officials Protest Against Shorthand Reporters Being Exempted From Safeguards Thrown Around Funds. Treasurer Truman and Auditor Wells have decided to ask the Supreme Court to decide as to whether or not the sten- ographers of the Superfor Court can draw their salaries on court orders with- | out having the same audited before pre- | sentation to the Treasurer for payment. | In order to bring the matter to an ’ssue Treasurer Truman will probably be sent to jail to-day on a charge of contempt of | court for refusing to pay a demand on Cook in favor of his official stenographer. | 1f this action is taken by Judge Cook the | Treasurer will secure his release from custody on bonds and will immediately | appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The court stenographers are the only persons in the employ of the municipality who claim exemption from the general rule as to the procedure necessary for the payment of salary demands. All other | made a_ brave stand for a compromise rate of $1 35. This did not appeal to the majority; hence the inclination of the meimbers to agree upon $1 50 became more and more apparent. The officials of the gas company must obviously meet that| figure at their meeting to-day, or the | threatened investigation as to the cost of production and delivery of gas will be continued. The outcome of this will be ! that the board will then arbitrarily fix a rate. It is not expected this action will | be necessary. THE TAX-SHIRKER'S BURDEN. considered shortly after the enactment of the fl war revenue law and the refusal of the ex- press companies of the United States to pay their taxes is, How are the people who are now bearing | the Government burdens of these corporations going to recoup themselves? According to estimates the | people of the Pacific Coast are paying between $8000 | and $10,000 a month to the Government which should be paid by Wells, Fargo & Co. This money is being disbursed entirely under pro- | test. Whenever a person offers a package to Wells, Fargo & Co. for shipment that corporation issues a | receipt and informs the shipper that he must stick a | one cent revenue stamp upon it. The only alternative for the shipper is to comply or take his package else- | where, which is usually an exl)enéi\'e operation, both | | as to time and transportation charges, since no other | corporation in this vicinity is engaged in the busi- | ness of shipping small packages by rail. The opera-| tion is of the bulldozing order. You may either pay | the express company's war taxes or you may trans- | port your package yourself, which in these days of long distances and bad roads is a very painful pro- | | ceeding. | | So far as we know there is no possibility of the’ people ever getting this money back. Every dcr]lm-i | which they pay to the Government in liquidation of | the war taxes of the express companies is lost to them ‘ forever. The wildest dreamer who ever considered | the subject has not suggested that in case the ex- | press companies are ultimately defeated in the liti- gation which has been instituted against them they will return to shippers the value of the stamps placed | by them upon the receipts and bills of lading issued | under the law. There is a legal maxim which says that for every | wrong there is a remedy, but unless somebody can invent a retroactive statute which will apply to this { case there is here an outrage for which no redress | can be obtained. If public opinion were as strong in | this country as in England Wells, Fargo & Co. would | | either be compelled to pay their war taxes or abandon ! their business. The people would not patronize a corporation which indulged in this form of treason. I President Valentine were actually engaged in the business .of shipping arms and munitions of war to Aguinaldo he could not more effectually obstruct the Government in its war policy. He is refusing de- liberately to bear his share of the necessary expense | of carrying on military operations abroad, and to that extent he is giving aid and comfort to a foreign enemy. There is but one penalty for the course adopted by this corporation. Impartial history ultimately sets down the men who indulge in it as a lot of un- | patriotic, penurious, hair-splitting, soulless Peck- sniffs. | It is reported that the American Commissioners to the Peace Conference will be given unlimited liberty of discussion, but no power to act, and as the Com- missioners of other nations will probably have about equal authority, the meeting of the dignitaries will hardly be much more useful than a picnic. When the Samoan Commissign divides the islands we shall see just how many live savages we are to get to make up for the loss of Lieutenant Lansdale, and | then we can form an estimate of the profits of im- perialism. —_— The Beef Inquiry Commission might as well em- balm its report and bury it. The country has read the evidence and returned a verdict acquitting Gen- eral Miles of the charge of talking too much or too strongly. As The Call never libels anybody yxe law requiring | i all libelous matter to be signed does not affect us. | All the same, the Governor who signed such a law | ought to feel sheepish for the rest of his natural life. | D L The whirligig of time is sure to bring about his revenges, and Chief Lees may yet have the satisfac- tion of arresting Mose Gunst before he has went and reformed. | The only signature that will stand to attest th enactment of the Morehouse law is that of Gage, and that is enough to kill it President David Starr Jordan says the ideal college professor should be the best man in the community. Why isn’t he? Well, anyhow, we trust General Lawton made a good job distributing the circulars. abs: | fra | committee members was pr |AROUND THE | tician of Eureka, are among the arrivals The meeting which had adjourned from the previous day was held in the assem- bly’ Toom of the board. When Mayor Phelan called the members to order there were but two absentees—Supervisors At- tridge and Collins. His Honor the Mayor announced that the proper procedure would be for the board to resolve itself into a committee of the whole and elect a presiding officer. Upon motion, Super- visor Kalben, chairman of the Street Light Committee, was called to preside. | The object of the meeting—that of inves- tigating the gas question and fixing rates for the city and for private consumers— | was outlined briefly. i Thomas B. Bishop, chief of counsel for | the Ban Francisco Gas and Electric Com- pany, appeared for the first time before the Inquisitorial body for the corporation. He stepped forward and in a conversa- tional voice informed the Supervisors that the directorate of the gas company would meet to-day and would then discuss a voluntary reduction of rates. He inti- mated that there was a question as to the power vested in the board to arbitrarily | fix the rates to be charged for gas. The board, he said, would oblige the people he represents if it would adjourn until Thursday and give them time to act in the premises. He sald such action would tend to save controversy, even should the right of the board to act be finally determined in its favor. | The request for postponement was granted without further debate. Thera | was a difference of opinion as to when the | hearing should be resumed. Mayor Phe- lan suggested the sooner it was disposed | of the better for all parties h\lerested.‘ The next meeting contemplates merely the hearing of a report, and should take but a short time. This was volunteered to offset an objection raised by Super-| visor Afgeltinger that the Street Com- | mittee would be in session all that day. | After a brief discussion the committee | | named to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock as the time for continuing the hearing. At the opening of the deliberations Su- | pervisor Perrault asked permission to in- troduce a resolution granting Moses A, Gunst, Commissioner of Police, leave of nce from the State for six months, m the 23d inst, Supervisor Aigeltinger protested agalnst action by the board on | the ground that the matter should prop- | erly be considered first by the Committee on Health and Police. A magority of the ent. Super- | visor Lackmann spoke in favor of grant- | ing the request,his assoclates speaking in the same strain. Mayor Phelan, who presided, suggested that this be received as the report of the committee. This course was pursued, and the board then voted in favor of granting the desired leave of absence. CORRIDORS. H. M. Yerington of Carson City, Nev., is registered at the Palace with his wife. i John T. Rountree, a business man of | Denver, is at the Occidental with his fam- fly. Hugo Richards, a mining man of Pres- cott, Ariz., Is at the Palace, accombanied by his wife. i D. Rosgnbaum, a merchant of Ogden, is a guest at the Russ and is accom- panied by his wife. Dr. G. D. Marvin and wife of Eureka have engaged apartments at the Grand during a brief stay in this city. T. McDonald, a Redding business man, | and F. Gross, a storekeeper of Susan- ville, are two of the arrivals at the Russ. C. Hidemann, who owns large sugar | plantations in Hawali, is registered at | the Occidengal with hisi wife from Hono- lulu. J. 8. Coleman, an Insurance man of Portland, Or., is here on a visit with his | wife and daughter and registered at the | California. Judge J. W. Davis of Tulare, G. Ken- nedy, a Livermore merchant, and T. H. Selvage, a prominent attorney and poli- at the Grand. Baron A. Richthofen of Potsdam ar- rived at the Palace last evening. The Baron is a lleutenant in the German army and will leave on the next steamer | for Tokio, where he will assume charge | of the German Legation to Japan. i Prince Lichnowsky, a prince of the royal blood of Germany and attached to the German Embassy at Vienna, arrived from Hongkong on Monday on the Coptic. He will leave to-day for the Yosemite | Valley, and after a four days’ stay there will leave for New York, where he will take the Kaiser Wilhelm her Grosse for Liverpool, en route to Berlin. Brigadier General Thomas H. Barber of New York left yesterday with his family for a two weeks' trip through Yosemite Valley. This is General Barber's first trip to this coast since last June, when he came out in command} of the New York volunteers, en route to Manila. The general and his command got as far as Honolulu, when they were ordered back to New York City. Upon his return to that city he was promoted from the col- onelcy of his regiment to be brigadier general of volunteers. The party has spent the past two weeks in touring the State and doing Del Monte. ——————— CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, April 18.—Fred Rockwell of San Francisco is at the Netherland; W. C. Jones of San Francisco is at the Bartholdl; Miss M. Bender of San Fran- cisco is at the Majestic | by the’ Auditor. This decision was commu- | stenographers demands must pass through the hands of and be signed by the Auditor before they can be honored by the Treasurer. In the| case of stenographers a different mode | of procedure has been followed in the past. They receive $10 for each day they | are in atténdance at court, and 15 and 20 | cents per folio for transcripts of testi- mony taken by them. At the end of each | week, or oftener if desired, the Judge of | the court in which the work has he(‘ni done_signs an official order commanding the Treasurer to pay to the stenographer | whatever amount may be due for his ser- | vices. It is alleged that as this order for | money s an official order of the court| the Treasurer has no legal right to with- | hold payment so long as there is any | funds in his possession with which it may | be satisfied. | In this way seven stenographers draw | out of the treasury each year a sum of | money ageregating about 350,000. The Auditor is entirely ignored in the trans- tion, and as the orders do mnot pass through his hands he is always in ignor- ance of the exact amount of money left | in the general fund and against which | there are thousands of other demands | which he must audit. Some time ago Auditor Wells and Treas- urer Truman held a conference, the re- | sult of which was that the Treasurer an- | nounced that he would not in future honor orders of court for stenographers’ | salaries unless they were first passed upon nicated to the stenographers, with the re- sult that some of them announced their intention of testing the matter. Steps to | his end were taken when the Treasurer | refused to pay the order presented by the stenographers in Judge Cook's court. Judge Cook immediately issued an or- der citing the Treasurer to appear before him to-day to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt in ignoring | an_order of court. The Auditor and Treasurer held a con sultation with their legal advisers yes terday, and it was decided to take "the matter to the Supreme Court in the event that Judge Cook sees fit to commit the | Treasurer to jail for contemp | “This action is to be taken,” said Aud- | itor Wells yesterday, “in the interest of | the people. It is not right or just that the | should be made a priv-,| ileged class and be allowed to draw upon the people’s money without a proper | check to prevent possible fraud. They | draw pay out of all proportion to the| value of thelr services, and it has eve been asserted that the Judges are in part- | nership with them. The practice now in vogue seriously hampers the affairs of the office nd in a degree jeopardizes inter of every creditor of the city The following letter received yesterday | by the Board of Supervisors is pertinent | in view of the controversy now being | waged: he | SAN FRANCISCO, April To the Honorable Board of Supervis Gentlemen: Have watched with some interest the workin of the shorthand combination in | the courts here, and have solicited work from | the reporters, but am Informed they are noth- | ing but subordinates drawing half pay and‘ could not afford to hire a competent reporter. | The rates charged the cliy und county are | 15_and 20 cents per follo and $10 per diem. I hereby notify your honorable body that I will report and transcribe any of the cases in_the courts for 10 cents per folfo. Have had ten years' experience as stenog- rapher. Yours respectfully, : K, GALLAGHER. 18 S. 1827 Howard street, THE DROUGHT SUFFERERS Governor Gage could not see his way clear to sign the bill paying Claus Spreckels the money he advanced the State for the benefit of drought suffer- ers, though a precedent was established when the State paid back to Charles Crocker the money he advanced to pay the expenses of the State's prisons. The State, through its Governor, accepted the money from Claus Spreckels, and it should pay its debts without regards to technicalities. Mr. Spreckels has re- fused the notes given by farmers for hay and has ordered their return to the drawers. He was not selling hay. Claus Spreckels is a big-hearted, broad- gauged man. There are no drawback strings to his charitable acts. He is a Californian of whom Californians are proud.—Pajaronian. ————— ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A TRANSPORT-A. 8., City. The trans- | port Australia is the same vessel that at | one time was on the Honolulu run. INCUBATORS—H. M., Tiburon, Cal. This department does not advertise any business, firms or inventions, consequent- B'anaax; {Jt‘gl\'eb _\;Ou lh‘(::) desired informa- s to incubators. irect your inquis to a dealer in such. 7 iigphd JOSEPH H. CHOATE—Howard, City. The late Rufus Choate, one of the famous lawyers of the United States, was the un- -wy juesaad e ‘algoyd "H ydesof jo a[d bassador Extraordinary —and lenipo- tsetr;(liélry to Great Britain from the United s. SOLDIERS WHO DIED—H. M., Tibu- ron, Cal. “There is in the War Depart- ment at Washington, D. C., a complete record of “the death of soldiers during the war with Spain and the cause in each case.”” The number of deaths from all causes amount in the aggregate to about 6000. CONFESSION—Subscriber, City. Would advise you to go to any dealer in Catholic books and secure a copy of the *“Mission | Book of the Redemptionists,” which will give you all the information you may de- sire on the subject of confessions in the Catholie Church. THE BEST PAPER—-H. B, City. It your neighbor takes the paper you name and he declares that there is “no other paper like it he s correct in his asser- tlon, for it {s the only paper that stands unequaled for sensatlonalism, pure and simple, untruthfulness, lack of sincerity and principles, and if you tell him that “The Call {s the hest paper” you can stand by your assertion. | save that EBB TIDE WAS WRONG TIDE FOR THE CHILKAT Eleven Men Were Drowned Rashly. DANGEROUS RISK WAS TAKEN RUSHING FOR SCHEDULE TIME CAUSED A WRECK. Eureka In- Rigid Investigation of the Disaster Begun by the spectors of Steam Vessels. A tragic story of the sea was rehearsed yesterday before the United States In- spectors of Steam Vessels during the in- vestigation into the loss of the coasting steamer Chilkat on the Humboldt bar onm the 4th inst. s The steamer left Eureka on the ebb tide and the sea was choppy, but two ri- val steamers had already gone out and the captain did not wait for the safer flood tide because he was anxious to make up time, such being the orders of the owners of the boat. The boat went up against the bar in a choppy sea. Just as she had got well into the breakers & heavy wave broke over the bows. The steamer quivered and staggered, like a strong man reeling before the blows of an adversary, then recovering, lunged forward into the swelling billows. The next moment a huge wave topped with foam rolled down upon her, throwing her upon her side and breaking her back upon | the shallow bar. A panic fell upon the passengers and crew as they were jarred off their feet by the sho and a rush was made for the lifeboats and the life preservers. What happened after that was not clearly remembered by the living. All was con- fusion, the one thought in the breasts of all being self-preservation, at which time the selfishness of the human being is equaled only by that of the four-footed mammal. The "living could remember only obscurely what had happened to themselves; what had ha1p ened to the dead they did not and could not know. The second great wave that struck the bow of the steamer proved her undoing. She shivered and keeled over on the bar, spilling her passengers and such of her freight as was movable. Eleven human beings went down in the boiling waters, and when the life had gone out of them were washed ashore with the rest of tha debris of the wreck. The witnesses called yesterday were* unanimously of the opinion that seamen considered the bar dangerous at ebb tide, and that if the steamer had started on flood tide there would not have been a wreck and loss of life. The reason given for the sailing of the vessel at this peril- ous stage of the water was that the North Fork and the Pomona had just left port and that the captain of the Chilkat w anxious to make his schedule time, which he would not have been able to do had he walited for the flood tide. Peter J. Johnson, first officer, told the inspectors that the cargo was light, being composed of butter and shingles, Eu a butter not being strong enough to wreclk a vessel. The steamer was seaworthy, sHe was a little weak about the “fo’k’sl.” He admitted, in answer to a question by Captains Bolles and Bulger, that it was safer to go out of port on the flood tide rather than on the ebb. Willilam Grief, fireman on the Chilkat, aid, “We were alwa ed to go out on the ebb tide, because we considered it dangerous.” C. Lightner, first engineer, was of the opinion that the steamer should have gone over the bar on the flood tide. The investigation was continued until the arrival of the Weeott with more wit- nesses. Just an English Suit. In the action of > -va Helen Gertruda O'Neill Murphy aga Bertram Samuel Joseph Finnistone O'Nefll Murph brought to recover on a judgment, the de- fendant has been given ten days' time in which to plead to the complaint. Tha judgment on which - the actlon was rought is for £1450 and 14 shillings costs, and was entered on November 11, 1898, in the Queen's Bench Division of tha High Court of Justice of the Suprema 7 Court of Judicature of England. — e Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend’s.® — e Specfal information supplied daily business houses and public men by Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s gomery street. to n by the 510 Mont- Telephone Main 1042. * Named at Last. “Named your boy after yourself, Mr. Barrows?’ “‘No, Mrs. Thomson, we have named him James affer a prolonged fam= ily row.”—Tit-Bits. — “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been uged for fifty years by millions of mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Collo, reg- uiates the Bowels and s the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For sale by Druggists in every part of the world. 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