The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 4, 1899, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1899. AR ...DECEMBER 4, 1809 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address Al Communications to W. S. LEAKE, M PLBLICATION OFF) .Market and Third, S. F. Telephone Main 1 EDITORIAL ROOMS. .. ...217 to 221 Stevenson St. Telephone Main 1874, Delivered by « Ter DAILY ¢ DAILY « ding Sunday), ¢ month DALY CAL o nx Sunday), 3 month DAILY CALL—MBy Single Month. . SUADAY CALL One Year.. . WEEKLY CALL One Yenar. . . 1.00 All postmasters are authorized to receive subacriptions. Sumple coples will be forwarded when requested | .D0S Broadway KROGNESS, OAKLAND OFF €. GE ORGE Manager Forelgn Advertising, Marguette Build- ing, Chicago. { NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT: C. C. CARLTON...ouun «sss.Herald Square AW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: LUKRENS JR +..20 Tribune Bull PERRY LUKENS JR..... CHICAGO NEWS STANDS: use; I News t Great North- ont House; H Sherman stel; ern NEW YORK NEWS STANDS Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; Square: Murray i1l Hotel WASHINGTON (D. C.) J. FICE. . We! Correspondent. L. ENG BRANCH OF 9:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes ) o’clock. 630 McAllister | 0 o'clock. 615 Larkin | 1 930 o'clock. 1941 Mission 10 o'clock. 2261 Market th, open until 9 o'clock. open til 9 o'clock. ® o'clock. Kentucky wh.* my to the King.” ' Saturday evening. | His Majesty.” Earth.” Theater—Vaudeville every afterncon and ner Mason and Ellis streets—Specialties. echinse and Coney lsland. 1 a Battle of Manlla Bay, Market street, near Eigh B an-Clay Hall-Concert Tuesday evening, December &. [ pera - House L ert Thurs@ay afternoon, Decem- ar? Assoctation, Ean Mateo County—Races. AUCTION SALES. erback—Monday, . at 1 December, 4, at 3 and 8| Sutter street. This day, at re. McAllister wtreet, y, December §, at 11 o'clock, CHANGING COM MERCIAL CONDITIONS. of the United States showed a nge last week. Of the eighty-four { towns reporting bank clearings over ¢ exhibited a falling off in trade compared | me week in 1898, In the preceding week of these same eighty-four cities and towns h shows the suddenness and vio- Pittsburg, the center 5 dustry, which has heretofore | ¥ { 100 per cent and even more, de- | r cent, and the only other cities of | a gain were Cleveland and | ng the tables in a most vigor- t must not be forgotten that to by the ad-| nges in respect to the memory | 1t, and considerable of the loss only two y hi ¢ of the change. Even business owever, that the enormous kening off. While raw the iron works around Pittsburg | ainst this, however, a is reported at a number | till a good demand for woolens, c re is § 1 ere en no rise sufficient to meet the parity v material. Provisions are lower on account Te ts of hogs and wheat continues its ¢ other staples show no change eck ast week, November made a | failures, which amounted to t $R.110,000 during the same week st year, $11.610,000 in 1897 and over $12,000,000 in \lany lines reported a larger volume ber, and it was only last week was remarked. tion remains about the same. The ! has again been obliged to raise its | liscount to keep gold from leaving the coun- | is now 6 per cent. It has risen steadily per cent. In New York the market has ewhat by the Government purchase of | n bf money from the West and the «of 2 $6,000,000 surplus by the banks, in- it which has been the rule of late. It n New York, however, that while a seri- tary stringency is not to be expected, pres- s do not point to any real ease in money le time to come. The tightness is purely nd confined to Wall street, however, as e been plenty of funds for commercial pur- t along. The bondholders are still sluggish cir bonds to the Government, and thus far 1 $20,000,000 of the $25,000,000 asked by the Department have been turned in. This siowness shows two things: First, that there is no financial stringency in trade, and second that the bondholders know a good thing when they see it. In this city conditions remain about the same. Business is apparently as active as usual at this time of the year, but from now on until the middle of January it will probably fall off, as it does everywhere. Some lines are already quieter, notably dried fruits, pro- visions and grain, the latter being affected by the steady decline in wheat. The volume of business is still far ahead of the average, h~wever, so no com- plaints are heard from any quarter. The season is remarkably propitious, as the State has had a general wetting, enough to worry along on for sixty days without inconvenience. In fact, dry weather is now needed by the farmers, as in many sections they are unable to plow and sow. Agricultural conditions are vastly better than at this time last year and a good sea- son is confidently anticipated in consequence. to ve less Treasury The Call's home study circle in French ought to suggest itseli to our worthy commissioners to the Paris Exposition as an opportunity to learn some- thing. CES—527 Montgomery street, cor- | . . 5 = > ¥ | viding for a modification of the rules was made by S READY FOR WORK. “IROM the promptness with which the members rof both parties in Congress succeeded in per- forming the caucus work preliminary to the | organization of the House, good omens can be drawn | of the outlook for business during the session. Both parties, it is evident, are to start fairly free from fac- tion fights, and we may consequently expect the re- sults that flow from harmony. In selecting Richardson of Tennessee for their | leader the Democrats have acted more wisely than | was expected and have done about the best they | could under the circumstances. He has been in the | House a long time, and while he is not a strong de- bater, nor is in any way an aggressive fighter, he is | thoroughly familiar with the rules of the House and | with the members of it. | eloquent, have the merit of being comparatively short. His speeches, while not It has been said of him by Washington correspond- ents, who have watched his course for years, that while he is not irresistibly genial nor a “mixer,” he knows the House better and is better known by it than any other Democrat. It is to that fact probably he owes his election. Certainly a man of his experi- ence will be a safer and a better leader for the minority than was the erratic Bailey of Texas, or than the elo- quent Sulzer, Tammany’s candidate, would have been had the New Yorkers succeeded in carrying the caucus for him. In the Republican caucus it was a foregone conclu- sion that Henderson would be named for the Speaker- ship and accordingly there is no surprise over the | fact that his nomination was given by acclamation. The feature of the caucus was the collapse of the agitation to bring about a change in the rules by which the House is to be governed. A motion pro- Hepburn of Iowa and was supported by Reeves of Illinois, but so strong was the opposition to it that after some debate the motion was withdrawn and a resolution carried declaring it to be the sense of the caucus that the Reed rules should be adopted by the | House. One of the causes which impelled the caucus to sus- tain the rules is the slender majority by which the | Republicans will have control of the House. The election of 1806 had the singular effect of increasing Republican strength in the Senate and decreasing it the House. Instead of the majority of fifty which Reed had at his back in the last Congress, Henderson will have hardly more than ten over the combined Democrats and Populists. It would there- fore be manifestly inexpedient to deprive the Speaker of any power at this time, for he will need all that can be given him to enable him to carry through the important measures which are to come before Con- gress. It is to be noted moreover that the Reed rules, while depriving members of the House of many of in | their old-time privileges of speaking and filibustering, has been much more crushing upon the lobby. The sible committee and the lobbyist has no longer the influence he had in the old days when he could get his work done by almost any member. It is known there will be a strong lobby in Washington this win- the currency and banking bill. That knowledge also had much to do in determining Republicans to keep to the rules, which have proven effective in the past against the machinations of that class of people. Judging then by the results of the caucusing the outlook for the session is good. We shall probably | have a business Congress and one as free from merely | partisan action as can be expected in a year of a Presidential election. European powers, it is said, will demand from the | United States an open door to the Philippines. Uncle Sam no doubt will not have the slightest objection to allow them to go in, but under existing conditions they must discover for mselves how they are going to get out. er who replied to a scorching The Oakland mir arraignment of himself by a polite refusal to enter into the | a controversy evidently does church militant. THE END OF THE KHALIFA. not belong to OMETHING of the sublime is to be found in the story that comes to us of the death of the Khalifa in the deserts of the Soudan. Undis- mayed by the fearful slaughter at Omdurman, unter- | rified by the fate which had struck down the Mahdi, | trusting still in Islam, he went forth to battle against the British, to oppose valor against discipline, faith against Maxim guns and religion against civilization. What trust in his God and his dreams, what soar- ing death-deiying spirit flamed within him as he | marched out to battle, we know not and shall never know, for of his race there are no poets to express the aspirations of kings and of people in words so luminous that none can mistake their meaning. To men of our race and of our religion, he will be ever only a fanatic barbarian, a fool and a savage, who went the way of madmen and perished like one. Nevertheless there is an eclement in the death of | the old leader that appeals to the deeper sentiments of | men even in our age of scoffing materialism. He fought with all the skill and wariness of which he ! and his Emirs were the possessors, so long as the-e | was a chance for desert strategy to achieve anything. | Those resources failing, he trusted to valor and to strength, and with sword and spear attempted to rush ithe British lines through a death-dealing hail of bul- lets and shells and cannon balls. When daring w: | found to be as futile as caution, and the end was at | hand, the old chief disdained to fly. We are told | he spread a sheepskin on the ground and with his | Emirs around him sat down in front of the British | fire and awaited the end. At the close of the fight he | was found shot through head and heart and arms and legs, literally riddled with bullets, and his Emirs lay ’dead around him and his body guard, as faithful as | himself, were dead in front of him. So closes a religious force which has dominated the | Soudan for upward of twenty years. A force which, owing its origin to the fervor of an obscure man, the original Mahdi, at one time threatened to over- run all Northern and Central Africa and did seriously menace Egypt, thus involving Europe in the strife and causing those movements on the part of the | British that have carried Kitchener to the heart of | the Soudan, excited Cecil Rhodes’ ambition to con- | struct a railway from the Cape and Cairo, and thus | indirectly led to the war in the Transvaal. | In the sweep of that far-reaching wave of religious | zeal many remarkable men have been raised high enough for the world to see them and to note their characters well. None of them, however, met death | in a more dramatic or more appropriate manner than the old Khalifa, with whom the wave subsides and ‘lhe story closes. The final scene is a theme for a greit artist of poetic powers. What a personification | of faith in the unseen there is in this attitude of the | old man and his princes and his guards, sitting quietly Idmontheundndthc desert waiting for death to business of the House is now in the hands of a respon- | ter to fight the Nicaragua bill, the shipping bill and | come since Islam had no power in heaven to shield its followers against the guns of the Christians and | the tramplings of their cavalry. THE PARK PANHANDLE. EFORE the growing popular sentiment in favor | of progress and improvement every vestige of objection to the proposed extension of the park system ought to die down into the deadness of a mere silurianism and have no more part in the active life of the city than the old objections made years ago to the purpose of establishing Golden Gate Park itseli. The Panhandle is in truth a natural development of the park, a necessary adjunct to it, connecting it with the great avenues of the city, and one of the improve- ments most requisite to the work of municipal progress. The cost of the extension will be so small when compared with the benefits derived from it that it ought not to weigh with any citizen who understands the difference between economy and parsimony. It is moreover to be borne in mind that we have just closed one year of prosperity and are now upon the eve of another which has every promise of being more prosperous than the last. In the very nature of things real estate will soon take another upward movement and we shall never again have an oppor- tunity to purchase the lands required for the various features of the proposed extensions upon anything like such easy terms. If therefore San Francisco is ever to have the Mission Park, the Panhandle and the boulevard connecting the Park with the Presidio, this is the time to act. That a large majority of the property-owners, tax- payers and workingmen of the city are in favor of the improvements is beyond question. The only danger lies in the fact that to carry the measure it will have to receive a two-thirds vote, and many progressive citizens being sanguine of the outcome of the elec- tion may stay away, while the objectors will be sure to go to the polls to enjoy another opportunity of in- dulging their pet delight—that of kicking at every project of municipal improvement. To obtain the money for the improvements bonds are to be issued bearing 3 1-2 per cent interest. Every dollar of the amount will be expended in the city, and, of course, will set to work earning profits or interest for those into whose hands it passes. In private hands it will, of course, earn more than the municipality has to pay for it, so that while the city will be paying 31-2 per cent interest, the money having gone into circulation will be earning in business and adding to | the general wealth of the community anywhere from 7 per cent up, and the interest charges will therefore be in no sense a loss. As for the benefits sure to result from providing such grand approaches to the Park from the center of the city at the intersection of Market street and V; Ness avenue, from the Mission and from the Presidio, | they are so apparent that argument concerning them | is hardly necessary. No community in America or in | Europe has ever regretted money expended for park | purposes. The very men who objected to such pur- chasés have in the end been proud of the parks aiter they were opened and adorned. All the progressive cities of the Union—New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and others—have been wisely lavish | in providing parks and boulevards and in no instance | has there been a complaint of having too many parks. San Francisco must keep up with other cities. She stands as the representative American metropolis on the Pacific and it will not do to lag behind those on the Atlantic. —— THE BRITISH CENSORSHIP. ENERAL BULLER'’S military censorship over G all reports concerning the progress of the war in South Africa has been frankly asserted. It has never been pretended that comprehensive in- formation regarding the battles or the plans of cam- paign has been permitted to the public. It appears, however, from recent statements in the Westminster Gazette that the censorship has been applied to mat- ters of politics as well as of war, and that the people of Cape Colony have well founded complaints to make of the tyranny with which it is enforced. | The Gazette quotes from a letter written by a man | whom it declares to be “of unimpeachable loyalty” | and for whose knowledge of the subject it vouches, a | strong arraignment of the manner in which the Dutch people of the colony have been treated. The letter is an appeal to the justice of the better class of the British people to guard the rights of the Dutch in Cape Colony. Among other things the writer says: “Just look at our position. One hundred and cighty-five meetings were held throughout the colony protesting against war, and yet these were abso- lutely ignored by the Governor, while every little league meeting had its resolutions cabled over to. the Secretary of State for the Colonies as the expression of public opinion here. Now we are not even al- lowed to cable our opinions. Then it is continually hinted that, when the Free State and Transvaal are conquered, we shall find our liberties curtailed and matters so arranged that the newcomers to South Africa will have the balance of political powers placed in their hands. The Dutch people have behaved splendidly through all this trying time, but once let the opinion become general that their liberties will be taken away from them and such a spirit will be aroused that it will be the beginning of the end. Now is the time for all true friends of South Africa to exert all their influence on prominent politicians in England to get them really to understand the true position of affairs out here. We have done all in our power as a Government and people to preserve the peace of South Africa. That having been swept away, we are using all our influence to keep the war from spread- ing into the colony, and you can imagine how diffi- cult this is, with this colony used as the base of operations against the republics.” Y This arraignment is the most serious that has been brought against General Buller and the Ministry |that supports him. A censorship over reports of | military proceedings, while it may be ill-advised, is not in itself unjust and can be readily excused, but | why should the censors deny to the people of Cape | Colony the right of cabling their opinions to London? The Cape is far removed from the seat of war and the opinions of the people are not rightly subject to | military law. It is well known that if the Dutch people in Cape ! Colony should determine to make common cause with | their kinsmen of the Transvaal and Orange Free | State, the difficulties of the British would be vastly increased. In fact, a general uprising would make a war of conquest so costly that even the most ardent ' of British imperialists might well shrink from at- | tempting to prosecute it. That fact gives a deep | significance to the censorship which Buller has | established over political opinions as well as over war rews. It may have been designed to prevent the dissemination of disloyal sentiments among the | Dutch, but it may also have the effect of causing the very thing it was intended to prevent. — In all your talking do not forget to talk of the ad- | vantages of the proposed park extension and thus | confirm your friends in a determination to vote for it. [MINING BUREAU MIRED. GAGE AS A GEOLOGIST. PARALYZED BY POLITICS. A LAW BY BLACKSMITHS. The miners of the State will be delight- ed to learn that the State Mining Bu- Teau 1s fn an inchoate and dirty political mess as the result of a boid but fool patronage-grabbing play by & few poli- tclans with Governor Gage apparently playing the role of chief bandit. This Important State institution, from which the mining Interests rightly expect much, | is paral ed gy and has be en for months, as ts most Important functions go, as the result of an attack by the spoils- | men. The bureau has suffered more or less from the curse of practical politics before, but now it seems completely mired in this familiar slough. Callfornia now has two State Mining Bureaus at loggerheads with each other. One—the old one—is mired at the ferry bullding with just enough moaey to keep open and In quiet operation the fine 1au- seum, llbrary, assay lahoratory and bu- reau of Information with which it Is equipped by law and in fact, but with no money to go out into the hills and des- erts with the miners who need ita aid The other is a new one, run by Governor g:o‘re‘. fancy free, with $20,00 and all out- Then there comes into view in the rear the Interesting development that this new Sumtry Bt babte feat and hat fia robably illegal an at its m.«gwm ge taken away from it by the courts whenever anybody makes a legal assauit on {t, as somebody is likely to Jo before 1t acquires a very long history. And while viewing these troubled insti- tutional twins one may hear the polifi- cal pulls fairly creaking as the mess ETows more involved. This situation has been developed hy the recent delayed action of Governor Gage in appeinting Stephen Bowers and W. L. Watts of Los Angeles as field ex- perts In accordance with the provisions of the last appropriation bill supplying funds for the State Mining Bureau. It's just that bill that has made the trouble. In the last Legislature the rep- resentation of the mmln(! industry and it influence, through the California Min rs Assoclation and otherwise, was strong and there was no objection to contlaulng the $25,000 a year for the nugpon of the bureau. But some people thought Lhat it would never do to let the patronage fiet away from the Governor and .iis po- tical friends into the hands »f the Dem- ocratic State Mineralogist and the board of trustees, where it properly belonged. Report credits mainly Assemblyman Valentine of Los Angeles, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, with the scheme to get away with the guronlu. The general appropriation i1l as Introduced by Valentine and passrd provided 350,000 for the two flscal years “‘for the support of the State Mining Bu- reau,” but Included a ‘“provided,” etc., to the effect that $20,000 of this sum shoull be spent In scientific and practical exam- Inations of the mining districts of the State, Including the mother lode and oil regions, this work to be done by compe- tent experts, “‘to be appointed and their salary fixed by the Governor.” Comfe(em sclentific and practicai fleld work Is what the mining interests &ant. The thing looked all right from a m'le l'l¥ to people not interested In whn got the jobs and who didn't go near enoush to smell it or see the bugs in it. The Governor generously favored the miners with his approval of the measure and then the year began to age and when July 1 came the miners waited for the fellows with geological hammers and notebooks, Late In November, after tive months of the fiscal year had gone ard the blessed snows and rains had come (o mountain and foothill, the Governor gave to the miners Messrs. Bowers and Watts of Los Angeles. This is the start of the expenditure of that $20,000. There has been no announce ment of how many fleld experts are to be appointed, or what they will be pald or what they are to do. The section of the appropriation bill at issue regulates nei- ther the number or salaries of the ‘‘ex- perts.” The Governor may apparently appoint one man at $20,000 a year or a hundred to work for a few weeks. When these appointments came along the duality of the Mining Bureau showed up. State Mineralogist Cooper took the stand that the Governor's employes and thelr work was none of his business. He reasoned that as the law gave their ap- pointment and compensation into the Gov- ernor's hands they were responsible to the Governor alone. As executive officer of the Mining Bureau he would not be re- sponsible for the work of men over whom he had no control. uir. Cooper simply de- clines to know or care anything about Mr. Bowers or Mr. Watts or anybody else that Governor Gage makes a fleld expert. A nurse in the Stockton Insane Asylum may as well send a salary or expense bill to him or report for instructions. ‘“Who in the dickens is Bowers? He doesn't belong to the Mining Bureau,” {s the State Min- eralogist’s consistent attitude. essrs. Bowers and Watts must re- E::l for orders to Gage, who, as a mem- of the Board of Examiners, must audit their bills. 8o the State Mineralo- gist can’t go out and study rocks. So Gov- ernor Gage is at the head of an indepen- dent institution that he can do as he likes with. He Is the creator, director and board of trustees of the Geological and Industrial Survey California. He says to Bowers, ‘‘Come!"” and he cometh, and to Watts, “Do this,” and he doeth it. So Gage has the outside and Cooper the in- side. Bo the situation would be funny if it were not so sad. But people interested, including legal authorities, after examining the situation carefully, declare without hesitation that the portion of the appropriation bill set- ting aside this gubernatorial perquisite is unconstitutional and void, and that it would be so declared by any court before ‘whom a suitor asked that the State Board of Examiners be restrained from passing the bills of the Governor's mining bureau. The provision is called another plece of legislative blacksmithing. It is pointed out that the State Mining Bureau exists and is regulated by the act of March 23, 1893, by which it was reor- nized. This organic act, which was rawn by Charles G. ale, Ross E. Browne and John Hays Hammond, pro- vides for a of five trustees, which “shall have control of all properties and funds of said bureau.” Agaln it says that the trustees ‘‘shall manage and control all the finances of sald mining bureau,” and that the fund ‘“‘out of which all the ex- penses of sald bureau shall be paid shall consist of * * * such moneys as shall from time to time be appropriated by the Legislature for the use of sald bursau.” e State Mineralogist *‘shall perform the dutles of his office -under the control direction and supervision of the Board of " ‘“The sald State Mineralogist ghall have the right to appoint competent assistants and qualified speclalists when necessary in the execution of his plans and to fix their compensation,” but sub- ject to the approval of the Board of Trus- tees, and such appointments ‘‘shall not become e;fletuva unless s0 confirmed and approved.” s statute thus clearly defines the manner of control of all funds appropri- ated for the lupgort of the bureau and the manner in which assistants shall be appointed. The appro) tion bill x:. a “An act le appropriation bK entitled making _an appropriation for the support of the State government of the State of California for the fifty-first and fifty- second fiscal years.” The Mining Bureau act was not repealed or amended and still provided the government of the bu- reau for which monc{ Was l.fpl'l) riated. The appropriation bill gave “for the su rt of the State Mining Bureau for J.’; 'ty-first and fifty-second fiscal years ' But this was followed by a “pro- vided” clause, which in effect amended the act of March 23, 1833, by providing a different way of appointing assistants and ltlhxmc their salaries, and so far nullifying at act. The constitution regulat of amending laws, requiri the manner act shall embrace but one -n:;h.i:c‘n “fll: shall be embraced in its title”; pro\"'ldle in fts ttle ‘shall sl ey = doe i ety act was not so lmenged. and mn': l;.‘:?u‘l‘dl in a Hence the Governor n.."?.i"%'}%?"& ':ILIZ Bureau experts and fix their compensation. Perhaps an priation bill could legally "orn.nmmmanal Guard and provide that every private should be appointed the Governo futer, el by o o B hundred thousand m—‘fi"'"' o Ty use In boarding out crazy folks and pay- ing his doctors, and then perhaps it could not. State Mineralogist Cooper disclaims any Intentlon of fighting the Governor on these grounds and the Trustees are keep- ing mum, but the interesting tangle will llkely become entertaining soon in va- rious ways. It is held that with the “‘pro- vided” knocked out of the law, the whole appropriation would go to the regular bureau. This is the interesting and doubt- ful tangle that ‘“politics” has got the Mining Bureau into. As things stand the State Mineralo- gist and trustees have control of but $15,- 000 a year. This Is asserted to be only enough to keep the doors open and main- tain the present inside force. When Mr. Cooper took the office he made no re- movals, and that makes his present fix more irritating. The bureau by another act was allowed $7500 worth of State printing besides the $50,000. The Governor will not get a whack at that for print- ing reports of his experts without a fight. Mr. Cooper proposes to use it in publish- ing bulletins, maps, county mining regis- ters, etc., whenever he can get the State P;l,nl.r !lm‘:d. 1 + th any people are grinning at the spec- tacle of Seavernor G:He. M. E, Ph.B. and Doctor of Political Pap, as State Geolo- st, and are wondering what sort of a fist e will make of it and how he likes it as far as he has got. But, perhaps, lhar are only jealous, and perhaps he s wiil make a record in the scientific world. Others can’t help thinking that if needed sclentific work In this fleld is to be done it should be directed by the men and the Isl:!llllullon set to do this work for the ate. Friends of the bureau regret to see it so completely made a political junkshop and are afraid that it will Injure it in u(bHc opinfon and make it suffer in the uture. It 1s fmportant that able men be sent into the California mlninf fleld at the time of so great an awakening in the min- lnf industry, and when so much_ helpful sclentific and practical work needs to be done, but yet the personality of the fleld men appointed seems of less importance than the principle and method which have brought the Mining Bureau to its present low estate. There is already a howl golng up through the State, and it will soon be louder. A sample one is wafted down from San Andreas. The Calaveras Citl- zen makes this roar: “‘Governor Gage has apointed one Stephen Bowers, editor of the Volce, a Prohibition party organ of Los Angeles, as Examiner of Mines, an office created by the last Legislature. * * * No min- ing legislation then accomplished created more comment, and prominent miners have been pulling wires and exerting in- fluences toward ving the biggest men among them selected by the execu- tive to do the work. ®* * ¢ There were competent mining men galore in both the northern and southern mines who were recommended and who would have been satisfactory to a ma- jority of those interested. e position is an important one and should have been glven to a man acknowledgedly at the head of mining affairs—one whose merits would have been instantly recognized all over the State. ““When Bowers’' appointment was an- nounced the mining men of Central and Northern California were dazed, and on recovery grew indignant. Not only was fitness ignored, but sectional or geograph- ical courtesies were utterly violated. he spontaneous question @mong mining men was, ‘Who In Hades is Bowers? And echo answereth not. Little {s now ex- pected from a measure authorizing the expenditure of $20,000, and from which n||lnln, men generally had great expecta- tions. A Needles dispatch to the Los Angeles Times says: “A rainfall of nearly .75 of an inch at Needles last week and a much heavier fall in the adjacent mountains and on the desert has added Impetus to prospecting. < Many old-time prospectors have been waiting for rains in the moun- tains, so that they could venture into otherwise waterless reglons in search of mineral. More interest is being shown in mining and prospecting than for some vears. It is estimated that a much larger number of prospectors will be in the mountains this fall than ever known be- fore. Capital is also being attracted this way and information is being asked for from many and distant points regarding the mining and mineral outlook in the Colorado River \'allbg." The Vermont Marble Company is In- vestigating marble quarries in Mono County, which surely has a future in the production of fine marbles. This is the busy season in the line of assessment work. Only a month remalns in which to do assessment work required to be done by the end of 188. Of course a great many clalms will be simply re- located right after the first of the year if nobody else locates them first, an un- just right bestowed by the present Fed- eral mining law. Some rich developments have been made in the Big Bonanza mine, south of An- gels Camp, which have caused the stock to take a jump from 50 cents per share to $250, says the Calaveras Prospect, Sinking is_going on and the shaft has reached a depth of 200 feet. At this point some rock was encountered, some of which will go as high as $1300 to the ton. The blqh:new uxnm(?mlll at the Arbona mine in olumne County has been put in operation after some difficulties with the water supply. A rich strike of elght feet of high-grade ore has been made in the Ford mine of Calaveras County. The Utica is now running wholly by electric power and other developments and improvements are vigorously under way. The Pennsylvania of Nevada County has yielded another monthly 20-cent dlvfdend amounting to $10,000. The quartz mill of the Gray Eagle mine in Sterrt County is about completed, There are 4000 tons of ore on the dump. Dan . Cole and F. R. Wehe have hr‘u'm l‘h-s‘nld Aléle U‘p n‘nd Brush Creek mines of Slerra County for $550, s o, liens amounting to §1000. e reparing to ex- The ‘rle who are tansively. dredse Freks Arere Siskiyou County have, after much searching for information, estimated that wo.ooo.&n in vlnldcelfhxo‘ld'hw‘alfllnkfn ll;uthzl'lhll creek a e tributaries in its basin digtance of twelve miles. Miong % | ich new s es In the wonderful Crip- rle Creek district of Colorado hnv:-‘ r(n:' u’ ts rate of groducllnn probably $20,000.000 a year. The Isabella recently shipped | fifty tons of ore that yielded $16),000 | O. DENNY., AROUND THE CORRIDORS A. B. Wyckoft of Seattle Is st | at the Palace. e Judge A. P. Catlin of Sacramento s staying at the Lick. C. M. Coglan of the State Hoard of Equalization is at the Lick, " M. Cunningham, a wealthy wool man of Los Angeles, is registored at the Lick. Henry Fuhrman, & prominent merchant :’tvmmo. is at the Lick while in the James MecCormick, & wealthy mining m’:..n of Sonora, Is & guest at the Califor- n E. W. Murphy, one of the leading busi- ness men of Los Angeles, 1s a it at Occldental. bR o A. C. Luck, & prominent mine owner of Austin, Nev., is among the recent arrivals at the Grand. L. A. Mares, a wealthy frult-grower of Fresno, was one of the arrivals at the Palace last night. W. A. Gett, an influential politician and well-known attorney of Sacramento, is registered at the Lick. Dr. J. 8. Kloeber, one of the leading medical men of Seattle, is at the Palace, accompanied by his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lyman have come down from their home in Sacramento and are staying at the Grand. "C.'Y‘. Perley, a well-known land owner esto, s making the city a visit. He Is at the Grand. LS g Lieutenant A. H. Merrill, U. 8. N, is at the Palace, where he arrived last night on a visit of pleasure to the city. e Governor to| Thomas Lane, son of C. D. Lane, the capitalist and mine owner, who has re- cently had such good fortune in the Cape Nome diggings, is at the Grand. He ar- rived yesterday from Mexico, where he has been for some time past. e — CALIFORNIANS IN WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, Dec. 3.—Senator Per- kins and his two younger daughters ar- rived to-night and the Portland. NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. The navy budget of Holland for 13%6-1%0 foots up to $6,621,010, of which $2538505 s for ship construction and §2,584,040 for pay and pensions. iz s The French torpedo gunboat La Helire, recently bullt at Cherbourg dockyard, has passed through a twenty-four hours’ con- tinuous trial, during which she avera twenty knots, the engines developing horsepcwer. The four hours’ forced draught trial had to be abandoned owing to hot bearings. The vessel Is calculated to make twenty-three knots with horsepower. Hallebarde, French torpedo gunboat of 300 tons, bullt by Normand, Havre, re ized a mean speed of 22 knots during five 000 hours under natural draught, and 2 knots under forced draught during one hour's run. As the boat is thirty feet shorter and thirty-five tons greater dis- placement than boats of similar type in England, the performance appears highly satisfactory. The British third-class cruiser Barham of 1530 tons, built in 1888, has had her old boflers replaced with Thornycroft water tube bollers. At the three hours’ trial she developed horsepower and & speed of 1824 knots This vessel when first built was a source of great disappointment fto the Admiralty. She was calculated to steam 19% knots under forced draught; after four trials and considerable altera- tions she passed through the cight hours’ trial February 17, 1501, with a mean speed of 17.348 knots on 314 horsepower. Bras sy's Annual credits the ship with 0 horsepower and 18.6 knots speed The Turkish Navy Department has re- covered a considerable amount of the treasure sunk off Smyrna (n the battle of 1770. The Russian admiral's ship Tshesme and other ships were sunk in waters 9 to 120 fathoms in depth, and the Greek divers hired to recover moneys g other valuables lost have had a hard task, which, however, they have received handsome wum of $54,000 thus far. divers located the Russian ship and took out 12,000 golden ducats, 20000 golden double ducats and a vast quantity of other gold and silver coins, besides jew- elry. Future operations will be carried out on the sunken Turkish ships. Holland is preparing to bulld a coast de- fense vessel of 4%0 tons at Rotterdam. Its dimensions are: Length, 322 feet; breadth, 54 feet; draught, 17 feet § inches. The engines of 5300 horsepower are to give a speed of 16 knots, and with 650 tons of coal a radius of action of 6000 knots at ten-knot speed is calculated. The ship will have a six-inch all-around armor belt, two turrets of ten inches and a pro- tective deck of two and a half inches. JThe battery Is composed of two 9.4-inch, car- ried singly in turrets; four 5.9 inch quick- firers; four 12 pounders and eight 14 pounders. The torpedo arrangement in- cludes two submerged broadside and one above water torpedo tubes, The system in sheathing ships in the Russian navy s that introduced by Grantham and differs greatly from that of White, which is used in the British and American navies. Grantham's is far more expensive and complicated in that it em- braces two thicknesses of wood lald on vertically for the inner layer and covered borizontally by the outer layer, and it also provides for longitudinal steel string- ers. T White system is that of one thickness of planking with a heavy coat- ing of paint or marine glue on the metal skin, the planking being securely fasten- ed and tightly calked. The advantage with this latter system Is its simplicity and insignificant cost, besides the ability to effect local repairs without stripping off large surfaces of sheathing. I the Russian Admiralty sticks to Grantham's system, giving as reasons: First, its in- finttesimal cost; second, that the In- creased weight of § per cent diminishes the speed only 1 per cent; third, that if properly done it entirely secures the steel or iron skin against damp or rust, fourth, that the longitudinal stringers to the general solidity of the hull. Cal. glace fruit 50¢ per Ib at Townsend's.® ——e————— Note—S§1 Fourth st best eyeglasses, specs, 10c to 40c. —_—————— e barber, grocer; B Special iInformation supplied dafly to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’'s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042, —_——— A London bathhouse last summer paid $125 a week for a million gallons of fil- tered Thames water. “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used for fitty years by millions of mothers for thelr children while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays pain, cures Wind Colie, regu- lates the Bowels and is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other causes. For by druggists in every part of the world. Be sure Winslow's Soothing Syru —_—— Tourist Excursions. Personally conducted touriet excursions, via Santa Fe Route, with latest vestibuled, gas | upholstered sleeping cars, through from C: fornia to Boston every Wednesday, St Paul every Sunday and Friday, to ery Sunday, ard to Chicago a ermediate points every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Call at ticket office, €25 Market street for full particulars. ———— HOTEL DEL CORONADO-Take advantage of the round-trip tickets. Now only 380 by steamship, Including fifteen days’ board at ho tel; longer stay, §3 00 per duy. Apply at 4 New Montgomery street, San Francisco —_— e — The California Limited On the Santa Fe Route. Connecting train leaves at m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. One day to see Los Angeles and beautitul Pasadena if desired. Al meals served In Marvey's dining cars Floest equipped train and best track of any line to the ¥ast. Get full particulars and handsome folder At ticket office. €33 Market street. —_————— Commisstoner Willilam A. Jones, after careful study, announces that a full- :\lood Indian has never developed Insan- ty. S —— ADVERTISEMENTS. Can’t Stand Gold any children can’t stand cold weather. The sharp winds pierce them, and the keen air hurts them. They have cold after cold, lose flesh, and spring-time finds them thin and delicate, w.ill make such boys and girls hearty and strong. The body is better nourished, and they are better pro- tected. The blood becomes richer,and that makes them warmer,