The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 7, 1900, Page 7

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1900. ADVERTISEMENTS. e s ey e s~ R s P A $ $ i OF NATIVE SONS’ HALL A. W, P20 44+ P20 4RI 900 0000000000000 0P 020 000 0Q D e e e l“:lm) "N‘l}fll‘ EXTR‘ In order to accommodate the demand for seats an addi tional performance of *The 0/d Homestead will be given Sunday night Becond 4 Last Week. Matines Saturday. DENMAN THOMPSON Appearing as Uncle Josh in The 0ld Homestead. FAREWELL—SUNDAY NIGHT—FAREWELL Beginning NEXT MONDAY NIGHT CHARLES FROHMAN Presents WILLIAM GILLETTE'S BECAU R o oL R *TIVOLIx ‘*HOOT MON, THEY CANNA RESIST ME!" 60th PERFORMANCE TO-NIGHT | Of the Superb Comic Opera, The Idol’s Eye. MATINEE SATURDAY at 2 EVENINGS at 8. POPULAR PRICES—25c and 50c. TELEPHONE—Bush 9. ALCAZAR THEATER. *SIST LAUGHING. EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK. 15¢, 25¢ REERREEP 856, 50c. SEATS. MATINEES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. Next Weck - - - - DIPLONACY. | GRAND OPERA-HOUSE. TELEPHONE MAIN 522 EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY AND SUN- DAY MATINEES 4 GLORIOUS ENTERTAINMENT. TOPIC OF THE T TMMEN Ot Rice's Famous Musical Becentriclty, THE GIRL FROMPARIS USUAL PRICES. | Good reserved seat in orchestra Saturday and | Sunday matinees, 25c. Branch Ticket Office, Emporfum. Y ST., | on | OLYMPIA %33 THE ONLY FREE VAUDEVILLE SHOW IN | THE CITY. THE | The World-Famous —— OUHAMA —— First appearance on the Pacific Coast. TRIXEDA The Besence of Beauty and Versatility. MLLE. THELMA In Poses Plastique of Great Magnificence. BLANCHE LE CLAIRE SLOAN. Clever Sister. | AND A H BIG ATTRACTIONS. ADMISSION ADMISSION FREE. MAT: EVERY SUNDAY. IGHT - - EVERY FRIDAY. -VMECHAN ICS’ PAVILION. THIE AFTERNOON AT 2:3, THIS EV NG AT 8 O'CLOCK. NORRIS & ROWL'S BIG TRAINED ANIMAL SHOWS. SEE FRISCO, the sm.[al”' Shetland in the Worl: | SPP THE ANIMAL FIRE DEPARTMENT. 6EE THE EXCITING RACES. ERING THE CHILDREN THIS AFTERNOON. | A CLBAN, MORAL EXHIBITION. PRICES—ADULTS, 2e. PRICES—CHILDEEN, 10c. AUCTION SALE Gump Collection OF EUROFPEAN PAINTINGS Will Continue Every Evening During This Week at 8 0'Cloc AND Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Afternoons at 2 0’Clock, day, March 14, mission, Bherman, 2 L ad b4 & + * - *® | | i i i k } 414 MASON STREET LOUDERBACK, Auctloneer. § I.F | i ree TicketsE TO THE Orpheum! BUY YOUR Lenox and Ivory Soap SAVE FR YOUR WRAPPERS AND GeT B TICKET! TO THE ORPHEUM. The Johnson-Locke Mercantile Co., 204 FRONT STREET, £ SAN FRANCISCO, Will Exchange for Lenox and Ivory g Soap Wrappers FREE TICKETS TO THE ORPHEUM UNE THE FOLLOWING CONDI- TI If You Want a Send.....25 Wrappers of LENOX Or.......12 Wrappers of IVORY Or eclse mend 15 Wrappers of LENOX SOAP and § Wrappers of IVORY SOAP If You Want a 50c Reserved Seat Send.....5 Wrappers of LENOX SOAP Or........%4 Wrappers ot IVORY SOA Or else send 25 Wrappers of LENO: AP and 12 Wrappers of IVORY SOA Reserved Seat P X T MATINEE TO-DAY, W P: . 25 TDNESDAY, March T. at; Balcony, 10c; Chil- [ The THE SMEDLEY SKETCH CLUBI Troupe of Moorish Acroba Ten in Number. ANNA WHITNEY; NEWHOUSE & WARD; THE FRANKS TRIO; PAULINE MORAN; TROVOLLO; THE DANCING PASSPARTS. THE A MERICAN BIOGRAPH ! DO NOT MISS THE — ——NEW BOER WAR VIEWS. i POPULAH JK 02 lbe wovse Imperial C dU -T ATTENDED 1978 LAST PLOPLE NIGHT ! THE BIGGEST SENSATION IN YEARS. Darkest Russia Interpreted by a Peerless Company and Staged With Most Elaborate Detail Heart Story Deftly Woven With Clean, Bright, Wholesome Comedy. March 15, Magnificent Spectacular Production of “THE BROWNIES IN FAIRYLAND, 00—CHILDREN ON THE STA( CALIFORNIA THEATER. THE MUSICAL EVENT OF THE SEASON. THIS AND EXT WEEK. GRAND OPERATIC CONCERTS C N THE WAGNER OPERAS AND MUSIC DRAMAS. Under the direction of C. L. Graff. To-Morrow (Thursday) Afternoon at 2:15 “THE +LYING DUTCHMAN.” MME. GADSKI MR. DAVID BISPHAM MR. WALTER DAMROS FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH sth, Double Biil, “LOHENGRIN"—"DIE MEISTERSINGER.” REPERTOIRE NEXT AND LAST WEEK. EVEN AT §:15 RHEINGOLD' I WALKUR 1 Monday, March 12th ala Performance, ie to Be A n- General Admission, $1. NOW ON SALE AT THE BOX OFFICE. SHERMAN, CLAY & C0.’S HALL. SPCOND EXPLANATORY RECITAL AT THE PIANO BY MR. WALTER DAMROSCH. .. the... WAGNBR OPERAS AND MUSIC DRAMAS. THIS AFTERNOON at 3 Saturday, March 10, 'S March 12, “GOTTERDAMM: “PARSIFAL 17, ““TRISTAN AND ISOLDE. i NORE BAD LUCK FOR HANCOCKS STEAM LAUNCH Turned With the Tide and Went on the Blades of the Ship’s Screw. PO SR Italian Cruiser Calabria Has Been Ordered to Japan—Insurance In- creased on Annie Thomas. Changes of Captains. iy T The new launch built by the Union Iron Works for the United States transport | Hancock is playing in hard luck. The | | fates seem to be against the small craft, | | @nd it will be many a day, if ever, befora | | she again plies her calling on the bay of | San Francisco. Monday night she got foul | | of the Hancock's screw, and the 10les that were punched in her side by the blades caused her to fill and sink. A watchman was asleep in the launch, nd as soon as he discovered the mishap | e called for assistance. The launch was ot around to the ship's davits and an at- moe was too much for the hoisting gear, however, and as the launch broke ay she almost tore the davits out of | the ship. The men on deck threw a rope | to the watchman and he managed to claru- ber up the Hancock's side. In a few min- utes the launch went down stern first, and although a half-dozen boats were out | grappling for her yesterday no trace cf | her could be found. | When the Hancock was being over- | hauled and made into a model transpast | the new launch was added to her outflt. Like the Honcock, she was the finest | thing of her kind afloat, and all the other | transports envied Captain Struve his fine launch. A few days ago while lying at the | | Folsom street float one of the tubes in the launch’s boiler blew out and several | men were scalded. The necessary repairs were made and the launch was again in service, but only for a couple of days, and | hen came this last mishap. Afier the | day’s work was done the launch was made | fast to the transport and allowed to drift | | astern. When the tide turned and the | ship began to swing the boat came around under the transport’s stern and in a very short space of time she stove holes in hec- self on the propeller blades and went down. The destination of the Itallan man-of- war Calabria has been changed. Instead of coming to San Francisco she is going to Japan and from there to China. The ITtalian Consul received a telegraphic order | yesterday to forward all mail for the | cruiser fo Yokohama. Expected trouble | in the Orient over the Chinese question | has called the Calabria to Japan, so the | Italian colony will not get its expect>d h ship Annie Thomas is now from Cardiff for Acapuleo, 70 per cent was offered to vessel and cargo. The only and yesterday | reinsure the | thing against the risk is the fact that the | ship has a coal cargo. If she has not been | | afire then there is no reason why th2 Thomas should rot show up all right. She is a notoriously slow ship, and again rerything is against her making time in | the Guif of Panama. The schooner Sophie Sutherland, owned here,is now out seventy days from El Triumfo for this port, but | no anxiety is felt over her non-arrival; g0 shipping men reason that the 70 per cent on the Annie Thomas is a good gam- | ble. Captain A. 1. Lowell, who resigned from the lighthouse service some months ago, will take command of Timothy Hopk'ns’ yacht El Primero. Captain Morehouse | has taken command of the bark Diamund | Head, vice Captain Ward, who will go| East to bring out one of the new vessels | of the Willlams-Dimond fleet. Captain | Davis, formerly of the ship Tacoma, has gone to Puget Sound to take command of | the May Flint, and Captain Hanson has ttaken command of the steamer Noyo. The British ship Blythswood, which put into Valparaiso in distress while on her way from Oregon to Cape Town, was more serfously damaged than was at first thought. A dispatch to the Merchants’ Exchange says her bulwarks were par- tially carried away, her lifeboats dam- a EJ, her sails split and her cargo shifted. She will repair and proceed. The steamer Orizaba reports that Blunts Reef whistling buoy has disappeared. ¥ —e TRIO OF ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY WAGONS A Woman and a Man Knocked Down and Injured and a Teamster Has His Skull Fractured. Mrs. Charles Paulson, who lives at Point Bonita lighthouse, Marin County, was crossing Market street at Sixth yesterday afternoon when she was struck and knocked down by a delivery wagon be- longing to Jellich & Roolick, provision dealers, 213 Sixth street. She was picked up and carried to a drugstore near by, where it was found that she was badly injured. The driver will be arrested. Harry Kenlo, 489 Bryant street, was crossing Third and Harrison streets when he was knocked down by an express wagon driven by Lem Sing, a Chinese. He was taken to the Recelving Hospital to have cuts and bruises on his body and face attended to. Lem Sing was arrested on a charge of battery. Arthur J. Walker, a teamster for Gray Brothers, was tirlving a load of sand along Market street, and at Eighth street he tell from his seat to the ground. He was picked up in an unconscious condition and taken to the Recelving Hospital. It is supposed that his skull was fractured. He is an old pensioner. REV. MR. LANE SUED FOR ABSOLUTE DIVORCE His Wife Says He Abandoned Her in Oregon—Decrees Granted and Suits Filed. Rev. C. M. Lane, at one time pastor of an Episcopal church in the Mission, has been sued for divorce by his wife, Lulu Lane, for desertion and faflure to pro- vide. Mrs. Lane, who resides at 213 Valen- serted her at Albany, Or., January 11. 1599. 0, husband at Sacramento on Jnnuarvh s at 9%; that he mistreated her from t date and finally abandoned her. Decrees of divorce have been granted Carrfe H. Whittler from James E. Whit- tier on the ground of habitual {ntemper- ance, and Albert J. Geromal from Annie N. Geromai on the ground of desertion. Catherine Conroy has sued Daniel ‘A Conroy for a_divorce, alleging desertion as cause of action. —_———————— Ladies’ vesting top shoes worth $350 for $150 a pair at the sale of shoes, 717 Mar- ket street. . ————————— Rev. B. Fay Mills to Lecture. A meeting of representative citizens was held yesterday afternoon in the offices of Dr. S. F. Long, 135 Geary street, for the urpose of forming an association which xv?vll‘;pbe known as l!;w Sunday Lecture As- soclation. The object of the association is to secure the continuous services of Dr. B. Fay Mills for a course of lectures to be dclivered in Metropolitan Temple every Sunday afternoon. he lectures, while of a rellgious nature, will be strictly non-sectarian in character. ‘he first lecture, it is expected, will be delivered next Sunday afternoon. The following of- ficers have been elected to preside over of the society: Presiden ident, Mrs. M. iray; secretary, George B. All ——ee————— “Keith's” finest of street hats at Keith's opening next Friday and Saturday. * — Cut Her Wrist From Spite. Mrs. Maggie Leslie, 33 Fifth street, was taken to the Receiving Hospital early yesterday morning suffering from a deep incised wound in her left wrist. She said her husband, who was ill and cranky, made her get out of bed, and she was so angry that she seized a razor and drew it across her wrist. Dr. Dorr stitched and dressed the wound and she was sent home. ° ) [ 8 ® L4 0 I 000 Will commence the Mo ever held i 00 00 0000 00000000000 000000 75 LADIES’ TAILOR-MA 75 LADIES’ TAILOR-MA LARGEST SAN FRA Wednesday, March 7, 1900, J. O’'BRIEN & CO. of LADIES’ TAILOR-MADE SUITS 100 LADIES’ TAILOR-MADE SUITS, black and colored, new styles, former price $15—marked down t0...eeven.n black and colored, new styles, former price $20—marked down t0......c0.. black and colored, new styles, former price $30—marked down t0e.eeoiesn. J. O’'BRIEN & CO. 1146 Market Street, Bet. Mason and Taylor. CLOAK AND SUIT HOUSE IN ® 1.—.—.»*.—Q—O—-.—.‘-.—'—.—.—.—.—.—.-.—.—.— ceoeoce0 e 000000000000 SPECIAL PURCHASE. o 950 SIS [ 00 st Extraordinary Sale n this city. in $7.50 $10.00 $15,00 § DE SUITS, in DE SUITS, in ’ NCISCO. $ 0-0-0 RACING! RACING! RACING! 1900—CALIFORNIA JOOKEY CLUB—1800 February 26 to March 10, Inclusive. OAKLAND RACE TRACK. Racing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- day, Friday and’ Saturday. Rain or shine. ¥ive or more races each Races start at 2:15 p. m. sharp. Ferry-boats leave 8an Francisco at 12 m. ana 12:30, 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30 and 3 p. m., conneeting with trains stopping at the entrance to the track. Last two cars on train reserved for la- dies and their escorts; no smoking. Buy your ferry tickets to Shell Mound. All trains via Oakland mole connect with San Pablo a electric cars at Broadway, Oak. Seventh and §1; reserved seats, §1 50. Clay & Co, CHUTES AND Z00. 5 Ao Gordon Sisters, Major Mite, Jos Crotty, Lulaine and Darrell, Del Zartos, Bennett Sisters, Black Bartons, Moving Piotures of the Afri- “AMATEUR NIGHT THURSDAY. Cakewalk Contest Saturday Night! Seats by Phone—Park 23. AND ASTHMAC::: 7 HAY FEVER t, i- | L4 0090000000000 0000 MPERIOUS N DISGRACE WITH TURF FOLLOWERS The Burns Handicap Winner Ran Unplaced in a Race at Oakland. s Sea Bass, Favorite for the Two-Year- 0ld Scramble, Injured at the Post—Potente a Mud Runner. e Imperious, the fortunate winner of the great Burns handicap, started in a seven furlong free handicap at Oakland yester- day, finishing outside of the money, being beaten by Potente, Pompino and Good Hope. He closed equal favorite in the betting with Potente and never looked dangerous. The latter horse picked up 122 pounds, winning In a gallop by three lengths from Pompino, in 1:28, a remark- ably fine performance, and it is to be re- freltel] the Racine gelding did not start in last Saturday's big race. Although the track was very muddy and rain fell at intervals, four favorites splashed in ahead of thelr fields. A sald fate befell Sea Bass, favorite for the. two-year-old scrambie. The half. sister to Recreation was bumped into an injured in the shoulder during a false breakaway, the accident compelling he: to be left at lhefl?o t. The winner turne up in Mamie ldreth, a 15 to 1 shot which downed Irate and Mrs. Brunell very cleverly the last sixteenth, The erratic San Tomas started in the opening five and a half furlong scramble in the name of Fred Edwards, opening a 2 to 1 favorite over the field. His price went to 5, when it was swiped to 16 to 5, | tism. Buchanan got San Tomas away Mrs. Lane states that she married her | well and the colt proved a wonder in the dergo another and more far-reaching rev- | mud, running like a ghost. He tried to | bolt in the stretch, just scaling the outside fence, and then won easily from the fa- | vorite. Morelia, against which 25 to 1 to show was laid, ran third. | 'Barney Schreiber's fast mare Miss Mar- | ion made her reappearance in the sprint ‘whl(‘h followed, over the Futurity course, | ruling a pronounced choice in the ring. Leading almost from the start, she was | hard ridden at the end to beat the 20 to 1 outsider El Mido. It did not look very rosy for the back- ers of Essence during the early stages of | the seven furlong run. The Burns & Wat- | erhouse entry could not keep up, but stood | a lot of riding, and ridden out earned the | verdict from Tekla by a couple of lengths. Matt Hogan, after chasing out in front with Choteau, died away to nothing. { Eddie Ross landed the mile and a fur- | long run with Malay. Dr. Rowell’s horse | had not shown much form of late, but his | well-known liking for mud made him an equal favorite with Tappan. Morse, | astride the 20 to 1 outsider Uarda, came | dangerously close to stealing a march on | the field. ~Getting away in the lead .it | took the hardest sort of riding on the | part of Ross to overtake and beat her a | neck on the wire. Castake ran third. | To-Day’s Entries. First race—Flive furlongs; maiden three-year- olds; selling. 811 Lew Zara. -+ Dreadnau 02| 880 Tanobe . 18 Carolla ... Young Morello. 117 810 St. Germain.....104 ... Garbo | 671 Leipzig . 104 866 Edgardo 04} ... P 811 Hiram Johnson.114 78 Willlam F. Sacond race—One mile; four-year-olds and up; | selling 1 Naples . 87 Almoner . 514 Fiero : 41 Durward . . Howard M 8§57 Muscalado 651 Padre Jose Third race—Four furlongs; maiden two-year- purse i Sublime . §70 Parsifal 108 Bernato El Karn. 4105 | 883 Forbes G Follow Me 108 §70 Imponente 738 Gaylon Brown..105 ... Loyal S.. 5 2 Loneliness 0 Spindle ... Fourth race—One mile and a sixteenth; four- | year-olds and up; selling. 4 §77 Topmast 09 874 Judge Wofford..105 | (85T) Twinkler 102 884 Morinel | 884 Captive . $85 Cormorant Fifth race—Six furlongs; three-year-olds and | up; selling. 108 69 Dolore 5 §34 Lavator . Sixth race—One mile; four-year-olds and up; selling. 761 Sylvan Lass..... 97| 850 Wild Het... 869 Duke of York 11.103| #43 Grand _Sachem. £62 Jael .. 01| $42 Chas. Le Bel 850 Pongo . 842 Senora Caesar 742 Wilmeter . Selections for To-Day. First race—Leipzig, Tanobe, Lew Zara. Second race—Almoner, Fiero, Tallac. Third race—Spindle, Sublime, Parsifal, Fourth race—Twinkler, Topmast, Cormorant. Fifth race—Lavator, Clarando, Jim Brownell. Sixth race—Grand Sachem, Jael, Duke of York. 06| 825 Terrene .. For Racing Chart see Page Eleven. ATE AND ATE AND YARNED AND YARNED Fly-Casters Bivap Many New Tales Over the Banquet Board During Their Bimonthly Dinner. About fifty members of the San Fran- cisco Fly Casting Club met at dinner last | | fish stories and discussed an elaborate | repast. It was the bimonthly banquet of the well-known organization and the downpour and other attractions did not | keep the members from attending. An excellent orchestra furnish popu- lar music during the evening and the men who search the streams for festive. trout and other speckled beauties raised their | voices in song. Between courses the jolly devotees of Izaak Walton swapped fish storfes, and_although some of the tales told would have made Munchausen look like a selling-plater the narrator’'s verac- ity was never questioned as his neighbor at the table had one to tell that was equally strong. Attorney Alexander T. Vogelsang tried to make C. H. Young be- Heve that he had enjoyed great fishing in the Dead Se: Doc™ Watt impressed on his auditors that in years past he won many_trophies in drop-line tournaments; President W. D. Mansfield said he thought he could cast a fly over the Spreckels building if the wind favored him, and other members were prepared with simi- | lar assertions. The .Bostonian Quartet, composed of Messrs. Kelly, Wendell, Klink. Fraser and Manager Lambert, was heard in tunetul selections. Seated at the banquet board were: E. T. Allen, W. F. Bogart, H. Battu, Dr. Von Hoffmann, John Butler, W. A. Cooper, A. R. Crowell, J. H. De Witt. G. C. Edwards, A. B. Finch, P. W. Watson, Clark Wise, F. M. Haight, R. Isenbruck, Charles Klein, A. E. vett, H. F. Muller, W. D. Mansfield, A. Muller, W. A. L. Miler, Jean Peltier, Charles Miller, F. H. Reed, F. E. Daverkosen, H. E. Skinner, Louis Levy, C. F. Stone, A. T, Vogelsang, James Watt, Boswell Ken- | nife, H. C. Wyman, George Walker, C. G. Young and Michael J. Geary. ————————— Self respect is on good terms with Old Government Whisky. ———————— Fred Bell Cuts Capers. Fred Bell, son of the late Thomas Bell, millionaire, went into a Chinese store at 630 Jackson street Monday night and an- nouncing that he was a deputy license collector and had called to examiney\the books of the firm, he demanded that they be turned over to him. His request was refused, and he began to throw things around 'and make himself generally disa- greeable until the police arrived and glnced him under arrest on a charge of isturbing the peace. He spent the night in the City Prison and yesterday morning the . Oppresslon, Suflocation, Neuralgl, et cured by ESPIC’S CIGARETTES, or POWDER Paris, J. BSPIO; Now York, E. FOUGERA & 0O. SOLD BT AlLL DRUGGISTS appeared before Judge Cabaniss. He ex- grenled his regret for his conduct, and as e had been in prison all night the Judge dismissed the case after giving him a se- vere lecture. It is not long since that he ted on Fillm street whi was_arrest n ore le dancing the can-can with two colored ‘women. | appa night in a downtown rotisserfe and told | VI.THE LITERATUREOF PERSIA. BY PROF. PZL'L ELMER MORBE. L In studying Persian literature it is nec- essary first of all to have some under- standing of the important historical [rchanges through which the people of Iran passed. Three strongly marked periods middle, and IIT, the new. In the first period we have records in two distinct though closely related languages—the Avestan, which will be the particular sub- ject of this paper, and the old Persian contained in cuneiform inscriptions on stone extending from a few years after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 539 B. C. to the conquest of Alexander. the age of Alexander, when Greek influ- ence became predominant in Asia Minor, until the Sassanian dynasty came to the | throne, in the third century, after Christ, there is a complete blank in Persian rec- | | ords. With the Sassanian Kings the old Magian priests regained their influence, | and the Zoroastrian religion became all powerful in the state. The sacred books | in the ancient Avestan language became he Bible of the land. But In the mean- while the language of the country had suffered great changes, and the religious commentaries, corresponding to the Pa- tristic literature of the Christians, were now composed in the Pahlavi, a tongue which is related to old Persian much as Italian is related to Latin. This body of cla street, alleges that her husband de- | Mountebank enjoying the honors of favor- | Pahlavi commentaries forms the middle period. But Persfan was doomed to un- | elution. In the seventh century the coun- try was subdued by the Arabs, and hence- | | forth Mohammedanism became the re- | ligion of the land. A number of the Per- | stans escaped as colonists and settled in | India, where their descendants, the Par- | | sees, 'still live and maintain the anclent | Zoroastrian faith. Among them are pre- | served the sacred Avesta and the later | Pahlavi although their spoken lan- | guage has altered considerably since the | days of the Sassanids. | _Meanwhile with the Arab conquest | | Persia itself entered upon a new era. The language developed into modern Persian and was modified by a large infusion of Arabic words. The modern Persian lit- erature may be said to have begun abou the year 1000 A. D., with the Shah Nameh, | the “great epic of Firdusi. Intrinsically and considered as pure literature modern Persian, including such names as Firdusi, Saadi, Omar Khayyam, Hafiz and others, ranks easily first among Oriental litera- tures. The Persian inscriptions and the Pahlavi books we must, for lack of space, ass over unnoticed. To-day let us turn | for a moment to the Avesta, which con- tains the ancient religion of Zoroaster. Of the two kindred people united under | Cyrus into one great empire the Medes | are the oldest in civilization, and it was | among them that the strange and little | uncerstood religion of the Maglans de- sloped. The Magians themselves were ently a tribe of priestly inheritance, very much like the Levites among the Jews. .They were the learned men of the East, familiar to us from the Bible, and if for a time, under the sway of Persian and | Greek rulers, their authority was some- what diminished, they at last came to their own under the Sassanian dynasty. It is not easy to determine what was the | original form of the Magian religion, be- cause in the form in which it has come down to us it was profoundly modified by the influence of one dominant reformer. In general, however, it must have been largely akin to the ‘polytheistic faith of the Hindu Vedas, for, in fact, the Hindu and Iranian religions ‘were sisters derived from a common mother. But in the seventh century B. C. there arose in Media a man of profound re- ligious instinct, a great prophet, who wrought a revolution in the popular faith. From that day to-this the religion of the Magians is called Zoroastrianism, after his name. A few years ago it was com- mon to speak of Zoroaster as a mers | myth; just as Buddha and Christ were | | myths {o a certain school of skeptics. But reflection and Investigation have modified this view, and to-day Zoroaster is recog- nized as a distinct historic personaiity. We even know something of his life. We know how, like other reformers, he be- came dissatisfied with the grossness of the natlenal faith and for years lived apart in search of the truth. We know that he be- an his mission of preaching at the age of , and e name of the Prince (Vlshtasj}a) who finally accepted his doc- trine and became for iran what Constan- tine was for Christendom. We even know | that the proghel was thrice married (strange as this may seem) and that he left children. The doctrine of Zoroaster is contained in the so-called Avesta, the only relic of the Avestan language, which, as we seen, was closely akin to anclent Pers! The 'Avesta is a collection of rel‘glous laws, myths, litanies and hymns, now eas- ily accessible in translation, and notwith- standing an occasional note of true spirit- uality must be regarded on the whole'as one of the dreariest and least Interesting <i be world's Bibles. It requires an ex- tracrdirary effors of im?gnation to under- stand how so much chiidish folly and a true religlous spirit could be combined. Essentially the faith of Zoroaster is a pro- nounced dualism. On the one side stood Ormazd and the angels of light; on the other side are ranged Ahriman and the princes of darkness. Into this ceaseless struggle man is thrown and must bear his part in the conflict. His duty is to pre- serve his purity intact; uncleanness is the great sin. So it was that death was looked upon as uncleanness, and the most char- acteristic rite was then, and is still amon, the Parisees, the custom of exposing dea | bodies to be ‘devoured by the fowls of th2 | air, so that neither earth nor water nor | fire should be made impure by decay. To us the most interesting fact in connection with Zoroastrianism is its inflitration inte Christianity through Manichaeism and its | | | we know t. may be observed: I, the ancient; II, the | From | | Never had such verse GOLDEN AGES OF LITERATURE. Copyright, 1900, by Seymour Eaton. influence In this way on so many of the European heresies of the middle ages. 1L The great and merited fame of Fitzger- ald's Rubaiyat has made one of the Ber- sian poets a true English classic, and though this version of Omar is so free as to be a paraphrase rather than a transla- tion, yet the voluptuous and semi-mysti- cal beauty of Fitagerald's lines is not a bad representation of the Persian lyrics. It would be interesting to study at large the other famous lyric poets—Haflz, At- tar, Saadi and the rest—but to-day we must concentrate our attention rather upon the great epic writer whose work pregedas and outshines them all We have seen how Persian literature is divided into three distinct periods, and how the third or modern period begins | about the year 1000 A. D. with the work of Firdust.” Let us look for a moment at the life of this famous author. Firdusi was born in a small village near Tus, in the year 840 of our era. Already a poet | of the name of Dekiki had undertaken to weave the old Persian traditions Into a continuous narrative, but had left his work unfinished. Inspired by this exam- ple, the young Firdusi set himself to re- cover the ancient legends of his land. Much he found written in books, much he took down from the oral traditions among the people, for the people of Iran had not forgotten the glorious deeds of their ancestors, and, indeed, to this day these traditions are handed down by memory from father to son. This great body of legends the poet wrought into a long narrative of some 60,000 couplets. Having got this vast work well under way, he set out for the court. There is a curlous story of an adventure on the road. In a garden near the capital he happened to come upon three court poets drinking wine and amusing_themselves with extemporizing verse. Thinking to have sport with the stranger, they asked him to cap a stanza for them. Choosing a most_difficult rhyme, they each pro- nounced a line, whereupon, to_ t amazement, the newcomer add which contained a historical allusion quite unknown to them. As a reward, they in- troduced him to the court, where Firdusi soon won_the favor of Shah Mahmud. his been hea and all at first were glad to do him honor. In the end, however, jealousy and malice found him. He was accused of slighting the Mohammedan faith for the aneient religlon of his fathers; he was cheated )£ his promised payment, and, In disgust, having added a few lines of bitter satire against the shah at the end of his com- pleted poem, he fled from the court and id himself in his native town. Here he died a poor man, but tradition declares that the shah repented at last and that the messenger bearing his bounty entered the gate of the town at the very mo- ment when the poet’s body was being car- ried out to his last resting place. epic of Firdusi, “The Shah Na- meh, or Book of Kings,” is well described by ifs name. It is a continuous narrative of Persian history from Gayumers, the fabulous first man and King of the race, down to the Invasion of the Arabs in the seventh centu A great number of epi- sodes are woven into the thread, and in- deed the poem is bewildering by its very richness of materfal. In plan it is thus quite_different from the epics of Greecs and India and Germany, each of which is made to center about one historic event. Yet, If the “Shah Nameh" lacks the unity of the “Iliad” or the “Ramayana,” it has another kind of unity of its own. We have seen that the old religion of Iran was strongly dualistic, and this dual- ism is the central and harmenizing motive of Firdusl’s poem. Here again we see the everlasting conflict of light and darkness, of truth and falsehoo waging on_the earth. History and mythology have been inextricably confused. The old mythi- cal powers of light are now the Persian people themselves, while the princes of darkness are the aborigines and Tura- nians with whom Iran was continually at war. This religious background lends a certaln moral earnestness to the poem, and is one of its most pleasing features. Firdusi has changed the faith of his fath- ers into history and woven it into the very texture of his plot; the doctrine of Mo- hammed, of which he was nominally a follower, he has for the most part avoid- ed, saving himself by giving a certain deistic tone to the work. At bottom fate is the power that Firdusi really worships— fate that mocks human affairs and ralses up the mighty only in the end to toss them | into the dust. At the close of each epoch ont to add some such sad moral as this. “Look ye! Who could tain a glory like to this man's? He hath shown to men how riches are won, but he hath not enjoyed riches. The world is but a passing dream: neither happiness of events he is nor sorrow endures.” And again: “O world, cease to raise us up only to gather us as a harvest at the end! If thou wish- est that we vanish away, why, then, raise us up? Thou exaltest & man above the firmament, and straightway hurlest him under the obscure earth.” gt o B COURSES OF INSTRUCTION. Spring Term, 1800. Mondays—American Political Par- ties. Tuesdays — Twenty Lessons in French Conversation and Recent Sci- | entific Discoveries. Wednesdays and Thursdays — Golden Ages of Literature. Fridays — Photography for Ama«~ teurs. Saturdays — Biographieal Studies for Girls. These courses will continue until June 7, 1900. Examinations will be held at their close as a basis for the granting of certificates. [ RATE FOR LIGHTS WILL BE MODIFIED Supervisors’ Committee and Mayor Phelan Decide on a Maximum Flat Rate With No Discount. The Supervisors’ Artificial Lights Com- mittee met yesterday In conference with | Mayor Phelan and the representatives of | several light companies for the purpose of | considering certain modifications in the electric light rates adopted as a result of | the recent investigation. It was decided to fix a maximum flat rate for electric are | lights, instead of the high rate subject to | discount as heretofore adopted, ani to | permit the discount to apply only to In- candescent lights. No definite conclusion was arrived at, though the committes rather favored an increase from $1 75 to $1 95 on electric lamps lit until midnight. President Crockett of the San Francisco | Company made a plea that the rate of 11 cents for incandescent lights in the out- side districts be raised to 15 cents, which, he claimed, was the maximum rate in other large citles. Manager E. J. Martin | of the Harbor and Western Power “om- y said that the $1 75 rate for electric f';"np. until 12 o'clock in the downtown 1 districts was a competitive one; that in Oakland, where there was no competition, the rate is $2 75, and in Stockton §2350. He argued that the 12 o’clock light cost more | than $1 75, and that the rate should be s> | fixed as to comprehend every system e cept the direct Edison system. The mat ter of depreciation, he said, had not becen taken into account, nor the loss in the dis- tribution of current in the outlying dis- tricts. A. M. Hunt of the Independent u,m and Power Company stated that if the San Francisco Company had proper trans- formers it would not sustain so great a loss in distribution, and that if the 1l-cent rate was adopted it would force the com- pany to secure a better system to reduce the waste to a minimum. &. G..‘?dun:mrhh..ysl of the “n;:al “om pany s company charged in some cases $1 50 for 12 o’clock lights, and made money at that rate. committee will meet again for the ich Th ee will YR ates, which wil be resubmited ot next Monday's meeting of the board in the form of an amendment. —_——— Coroner’s Inquests. Coroner Cole held several inquests yes- terday and verdicts were rendered as fol- lows: Adrian Villaneuva, electrician, 301 Mont- mery avenue, March 5, asphyxiation by lluminating gas: suicide. C. A. Wyant, painter, 192 Seventh street, March 3, fracture of skull; accidental. Ml;mlo Ellis, 512 Bush, March 4, pneu- monia. Teeth filled: : with pure gold We carefully treat your teeth and fill or crown them WITHOUT PAIN! DR. HIGGINS, 927 Market Straet, EMMA SPRECKELS BUILDING.