The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 27, 1899, Page 30

SUNDAY There 18 not th st doubt among the e uncommonly n in 1810 and no the misslon of Guadalupe, Roman Cathollc is a record of the aflan, a Sabob: was the father first was born seventh child, an Temescal came of deaths in th daughters_used n 1799, while little s no record ters have n from home, and have n Wwhat 1 now San Diego ( APPLAUSE RUN BY MACHINERY. A Vienna journal describes a curious contrivance which will render the claque in theaters superfluous, and substitute for it a machine performing the same duties. The inventor, Herr Zimmermann, has as- leather sacks filled with alr, when brought violently together, v like that produced He placed pairs make a noise preci by the clapping of ha of leather sacks in hidden places through- out a theater and then connected them by wires, so that they could be set 3 on a button belng r in_the wings con- trols the apparatus gallery, the pit or the stalls at will. Zimmermann claims that this invention s [} theaters in Paris but for obvious reasons de- in which house it has been found most popular. use In several SE-MUL-LAH, NING-L10 AND TEMESCAL, THE CENTEN from their white a few years ago, when they were pe: ed to go and ride in the procession Diego in commemoration of the two hun dred and fiftieth anniversary of the di lives in a mild, equ sole diet has t able climate, T s i ars. They have lived out-of-door white family in comfortable circumstances consumes at its meals in the course of a few years these old women have never tasted. Tobacco and a decoction of water and mescal are their only luxuries. They NOTHER San F been recc neisco giri has E Y M comes Mis! ago M about the had discc ymbir Monsieur and execu- It seldom is expression and direct from - an crities, ) will one day the greate prima After le Francisco Miss Mi- ime of her native sionally know m here she went and studied four s under rchese. The great teacher w: stic about her American pupil, and secured for her an engagement at the Grand Opera House in Paris. She madc her debut in Hamlet and was an In- stantaneous success. After that she went to Monte Carlo, where she became & pop- THE ORIGIN OF LAUGHTER ‘Why we laugh is a question that has al- ways puzzled those who are accustomed to think-deeply. The laugh, which is now 80 closely assoclated with good humor and kindly feeling, originally expressed the exact reverse. It was the crow of tri- umph over a fallen foe. Such is {ts na- ture still among savages, and {ts unex- pected manifestations are occasionally very startling. Dancing on the body of a prostrate enemy is, in fact, to them hilar- fous fun. Any new device for torment is a clever jest. The Inflicting of a ghastly wound as some poor wretch runs the gauntlet makes them yell with glee. The things that shock or horrify or disgust the civilized man_ are about the only things worth laughing at from a savage's point of view. Wifh the exception, therefore, of rough practical jokes, which may possibly wrinkle his stolld features with a mo- mentary grin, the barbarian has no appr clation of clvilized humor. Ewven the knowledge that he himself is to be the next victim does not spoil the fun of a gru(jl spectacle for a barbarian thorough- red Some Siamese who had been engaged in a revolt,were captured redhanded and sentenced to military execution. A com- imny of soldiers had been drawn up with oaded muskets, before whom the doomed men were led out in squads ot five or six to be shot, while those who were waiting their turn stood by, under guard, looking on. When the first volley was fired the victims, torn by the storm of bullets, leaped into the alr with violent contor- tions and fell dead. And this to the poor wretches whoee turn It was next to go through the same experfence seemed so fine a show and 8o excruciatingly funny that they were fairly convulsed witl laughter. Such is the humor of the uncivilized, and such doubtless were the beginnings of mirth the world over. Strange as it may seem, there are many hints of this bar- barous origin in the fun of the most highly civilized. ANOTHER SAN FRANCISCO GIRL A GREAT EUROPEAN SUCCESS. ular idol, and for a long time managers were unable to get her to appear at any other place. When Queen Wilhelmina was crowned at Amsterdam Miss Franci: o was select- ed to sing at the coronation ceremony. She did so, and made such an impression on the young Queen that she invited her to visit her at The Hague. She then accepted an engagement, now just concluded, of nine months at Am- sterdam. When her opening opera was be- ing selected Miss Francisco pleaded to be allowed to appear in “Hamlet,” her favor- ite opera. As ‘““Hamlet” had always been a failure in that city it required a great deal of arguing before she received the permission. With what success the opera was glven will allow John Brugman, the famous critic of the Amsterdam Tele- graph, to tell. ‘A great success was the debut of Miss Fannie Franc Ophelia in ‘Hamlet.’ We can only congratulate the manage- ment in the happy choice it made in en- gaging this singer. Besides a beautiful voice, this lady possesses technique that rs every tune at its best. The in- tonation is exceedirgly good and her tem perament makes her play very attractive. As a curiosity, we state that although Miss Francisco is a,born American, and not of Dutch nationality, her pronuncia- tion of our language as faultle The volume of her voice is indeed extraordin- ary for a colorateur singer. After the mad scene the audience grew so excited with enthusiasm that they could not wait with their applause until the music had ceased. After the fourth act Miss Fran- cisco was showered with floral offerings, accompanied with endless thundering ap- plause.” A CURIOUS SEA SERPENT. Many persons have professed to have seen sea serpents, and while the general bellef is that there are no such creatures it 1s quite likely that those who claim to have seen them did see things which they honestly and very naturally believed to be sea serpents. A striking example of the manner in which persons may be de- celved in this matter has just been given by Dr. R. Du Bois-Raymond in a paper, in which he describes his experiences on board of the Serapis in October, 1890, It was rather a foggy morning, and the water was as smooth as glass. The vessel was going through the Magellan Straits, and the hours sed monotonously, suddenly the passengers noticed an traordinary object in the water seme di tance away. At once the cry arose that it could be nothing but a sea serpent, and, indeed, there seemed to be excellent grounds for this statement, since the object was cer- tainly allve, and as it moved through the water presented all the appearance of an immense snake. That it had a huge head was clear to every one, and that it was possessed of an enormous body was mani- fest from the manner in which it splashed the water on all sides. A powerful telescope was procured and the uncanny object was studied through it. Then its true character was at once revealed. Instead of being a sea serpent it was simply a herd of sea lions. The animals were clustered close together, and as they gamboled and moved through the water they certainly presented the appearance of a long and bulky snake. If they had been at a greater di i would have been difficult to disco they really were, and it is not imp that the passengers would forever have remained convinced that the; actually seen the wonderful sea serpent. —_——————— It may never be too late to mend, but a wise mother begins early on her small boy’s trousers. have never bothered their heads an hour over what they should wear and how to de for it. ' ic eaten the whole Ir to work and make a These 0id women ra for over half a cent the cloth: has sev ages of 70 an gre anc s seve children, but 11 terest One of sons is > sponga Mexico. were ery His mother full-blooded M 1i of the Ir ul-lah ters, is s who live near e been the about seven ye attack of th e ame of her filling her own pipe & She seldom anc words of Spa of her extreme age tention to the passir t maxe her_span of life the more al. She walks sometimes a half mile or so about the i , and_will pose at zay time so that a kodak fiend may get her picture. Ning-lio is the jolliest of the three sis- ters. She has been the mother of fifteen or sixteen chi exactly herself, p _long . answers with vexation when questions in- volving dates or numbers are d. She is a good worker even in her ninety-ninth year. She gets in her annual crop of mesquite beans and hunt brush for kindling a fire to cook with out habitation of cornstalks and b: the historian of the f: teresting bits of inform days of the Franciscan missions in South- ern California ve been had from her. The late Helen Hunt Jackson, when writ- 15 ing “Ramona,” had chats with old Ning- lio, who was about vears old at the time; but an Indiar had to be used. Ning-lio is as woman 8¢ 7. She will walk 0 and beg "“for smoking in her pipe from a ranchman, and she can scold a person soundly who abt the mangy dog that always accompanies her. 1 ns at San Die they see no reason why these old sisters may not live r. They are all in good health and there is nothing that comes into their lives to shorten their Jong career on this earth. They are deeply wrinkled and their flesh is hard and tough. They sleep half the time and their digestion seems perfect. HOW TO SRY COOD MORNING, “How can you?” That's Swedish. “How do you are? That's Dutch. “How do you stand?’ That's Italian. “Go with God, senor.” That's Spanish, “How do you live on?” That's Rus. sian. “How do you perspire?” That's Egyp- tian. “How do you have yourself?” That's A:!lll)!:‘r:‘r:k God, how are you?” - Thats “ v yourself?” 3 B oo o yail dot” Thate Engu::; American. ouBe under the guard of God.” Thats caten your Hieer *Phate niare You