The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 19, 1901, Page 6

6 Che +Salsee Call. 7}"R71‘DA7{'7 ..APRIL 19, 1901 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. " hddress 411 Communieations t» W. 8, LEAKE, Manager. ’AtAGEK‘S OPI"l(‘E’ . .Tl:gle/!]l(l!./e/!'::l!/&flfi“ PUBLICATION OFFICE Market and Third, S, F. Telephone Press 201. EDITORIAL ROOMS. ....217 to 221 Stevenson St. Telephone Press 202. Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Coples, 5 Cents. Terms by Mail. Including Postage: YAILY CALL (including Sunday), cne yea: 600 DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 6 mont! L. 3.00 DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 3 months. 150 DAILY CALL—By Single Month, ,‘: WEEKLY CALL, One Year.. All postmasters are authorized to receive subseriptions. Sample coples will be forwarded when requested. Mafl subscribers in ordering change of address should be particular to-give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order to insure a prompt and correct compliance with their request. OAKLAND OFFICE . . . ...1118 Broadwgy C. GEORGE KROGNESS, Manager Foreign Advertising, Marquette Building, Chicago. (Long Distance Telephone “Central 2615.”") NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: C. C. CARLTON. +++.Herald Square NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH 30 Tribune Building NEW YORK NEWS STANDS: ‘Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano, 2l Union Square: Murray Hill Hotel. CHICAGO NEWS STANDS: Fherman House; P. 0. NewsgCo.; Great Northern Hotel: Fremont House; Auditorium Hotel WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE MORTON E. CRANE, C BRANCH OFFICES—:2T Montgomery, corner of Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. McAllister, open until 9:30 o'clock. 930 o'clock. corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. urtil § o’clock 200 Hayes, open until 9:30 o'clock. 33 615 Larkin, open until 1541 Mission, open until 19 o’clock. 2261 Market, 1086 Valencla, open 106 Eleventh, open until $ o'clock. NW. cor- cond_and Kentucky, open until 9 AMUSEMENTS. ‘More Than Queen. “The County Fair. ulius Caesar.” Tivoli—“The Idol's Eye.” Orpheum—Vaudeville. Alcazar—*"Oh Susannah.” Grand Opera-house—""East Lynne. Olympia, corner Mason and Eddy streets—Specialties. Chutes, Zoo and Theater—Vaudeville every afternoon and evening. Fischer's—Vandeville. Mechanics’ Pavilion—Art Exhibition. Recreation Park—Baseball Metropolitan Temple—Lectures Monday, April 22, afternoon | end_cvening. Tanforan Park—Races. AUCTION SALES. & Co—Monday, April 22, at 2:30 o'clock, ts' Furnishings, at 1722% Market street. ey T0 SUBSCRIBERS LEAVING TOWN FOR THE SUMMER. Call subscribers contemplating a change of residence during the summer months can have their paper forwarded by mail to their mnew ®ddresses by notifying The Call Business Office. This paper will also be on sale at all summer resorts and is represented by a local agent im all tow: the coast. OPPOSING CARNEGIE LIBRARIES. HE New York Sun is opposed to the acceptance T(-i Carnegie’s great gift for public libraries in that city. It regards the cost of sites and main- tenance as too much tor the city to bear, and thinks that libraries do not contribute much to public intel- ligence, anyway. This is a surprising attitude to be taken by an American newspaper. Public libraries have been from the earliest times considered a valuable means of seli- education. It is notorious that in the sections of this country where there are the most public libraries there is the least illiterzcy. With the public schools administered according to their original purpose all young people are furnished the key to further kncwledge, which they may ac- quire by the use of books. That was exactly Car- negie's case. He received the rudiments of an edu- ucation and acquired the rest by seli-exertion. He Lias said that his greatest difficulty was in getting such beoks as he required for study. By great privation and sacrifice these were secured, and in them he found the way to a career that has astonished the commer- cial world. He then made up his mind that, if he ac- quired wealth, he would put within reach of youth the books which he had to obtain by enduring physical privation. In his case we find )l the elements that make for the public library. It opens to ambitious and ab- stemious youth the whole field of seli-education. 1t is the open university tc all who will enter. A well selected public library will equip a man for a trade, a profession, a scientific or industrial specialty. Where a free library is there is the door to higher education. It is amazing that the Sun, which so illuminates its radius, fails in that great light to see this. The pub- lic library is the extension of the public school. It is the projection of all scholastic opportunity. Carne- gi¢’s gift to New York City is the addition of nearly $6,000,000 and eighty public libraries to the public { school system. It economizes the administration of the schools by doing away with the necessity for school libraries, which at the best would fall far short of the advantages furnished by him. It is the duty of the metropolis to set a wise and useful example to other cities, and New York would izii in this duty if it refused to accept the gift offerel to its children. ' But the Sun insists that there is already too much reading, and that it diverts attention from more s2- ricus things. This is an argument for abolition of the printing press and desiruction of books already accu- mvlated. AAccording to the Sun’s views the destroyers of libraries and not their collectors are the real bene- factors of mankind. Its heroes would be the men who burned the Alexandrian library, and not Ptolemy Soter, who gathered and housed it. ~ We cannot believe that such a reactionary view will be accepted by New Yerk or indorsed by the coun- trymen of Mr. Carne London papers report that at the taking of the re- cent census an effort was made to have the police rornd up and count all the vagrants in the city, but as the vagrants were not informed of the object of the round-up they hid out where the police coid not find them, and as a consequence the census will show less “n 400 vagrants for the whole city. About the best thing China can do would be to put that big indemnity demaznded of her before the pow- ers in a lump sum. By the time they finish fighting over the division of it she would probably be strong enough to take it away from the survivors. i THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1901. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP‘. UPERVISOR REED somewhat mistakes the 'S attitude of The Cz!l upon the question of muni- cipal ownership .of public service industries. The proponents of that policy kave held the front of the stage and have done all the educating of public opinion on the subject. The opponents are, natu- rally, the present owners of those industries, who are temporarily intrenched behind franchises that have various perio'ds to run. Between the two are the tax- paying and ratepaying people, who are finally to de- cide the issue, and with whom is the publit opinion which is to influence the decision. As far as The Call is concerned it feels no other in- terest than Originates in a desire to enlighten pub- lic opinion. It cannot be said that the advocates of public ownership have been nicely scrupulous nor exact in their statemept of facts. They have widely published that the profits of municipal ownership of street railways and waler supply pay all the cost of government in Glasgow and relieve the people en- tirely of taxation. This statement was made by Mayor Phelan, doubtless upon authority of that pub- lication. Nothing can go farther tg influence publiz opinion favorably to the proposition. But upon in- quiry we found the statement to be untrue. We found that in addition to all the revenue derived from her public service industries the people of Glasgow are taxed a trifle higher than the rate in San Francisco and Oakland. Therefore, if the people of this city were induced to adopt public ownership in the belief that they would be free from taxation they would act urder a deception, and in the reaction which woul follow might abandon ‘he policy of public ownership, as the people of Philadelphia did in respect to the lighting of that city. Again, we deprecate a policy of spoliation intendei to destroy the capital invested in’ public service in- dustries, which is too often the motive of its advo- cates. In that connection we have pointed out that in Europe wherever public ownership is adopted the existing plants have been taken over at a valuation that does not despoil the stockholders and destroy their capital.. The destruction of capital is not a sound public policy. “To oppose it is not opposing public ownership, but is removing from that policy the spirit of revenge and reprisal which is, unfortunately, too apparent in its advocates. Mr. Reed makes the argument of greater cheapness of a public water supply, quoting the statistics gath- cted by the Merchants’ Association of New York. The average cost in the United States for water per family is $21 55 per annum for the public supply, and $30 82 for the private cr corporate supply, a differ- ence in favor of public ownership of two cents and five mills per day. ~ A further examination of the subject will in most instances trace this difference in cost to the con- sumer to a difference in the cost of the supply which is reflected in the quality of the water. Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Eoston are the leading lz-ge cities of the country which have a water supply under public ownership. In each of them the supply is of very poor quality, and for a considerable part of each year non-potable and dan- gerous to health. A standing notice is seen daily in | the Chicago papers ning consumers not to use the city water. This is an official notice, and is con- | tinuous throughout the year. The districts where" the water is fatal, where it may be used if boiled, | where it may be used with caution and where it is safe, are numbered, and the people are put on their guard. In Washington City the United States owns the water supply, and it is probably the worst water, chemically and physically, that is to be found in the country. The Philadelphia supply is but little behind in vileness, and that of New York is so dangerous that only those use it who have to. In New York a large number of people make a profitable business cf supplying pure water from a large spring that flows near the Harlem mere, which is sold at ten cents a pail. In Boston the spring water wagons peddle pure water just as milk is peddled in cities. If these water plants were in corporate ownership the people, through the authority of Government control, would compel the filtering and purifying of the water, as is done wherever the suvply needs it. Making the water vniformly fit and safe for use adds to its cost and may account for a large part of the two and a half cents a day which it costs in ex- cess of the unfiltered and unfit public supply. To point out these things is not opposition to public ownership, but it 'is the giving of proper information, which the people should have. In order to have a complete view the vital statis- tics of cities should be considered. Zymotic diseases are influenced by water supply, and if they are more prevalent and more fatal in the public ownership cities where an unfit supply is furnished it will be readily seen that in the cost of sickness the small mat- ter of two and a hglf cents a day is wiped out. The ownership of water, light and railway plants is a business proposition, whether public or private, and the public should give it the same careful fore- thought that is expected from a private investor. It may appear absurd for the Democrats to be <o eagerly searching for a Presidential candidate three years ahead of time, iut it must be remembered the task is something like looking for a needle in a hay- stack, and time is necescary. ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION OUR expeditions, one each from England, l: Scotland, Germahy and Sweden, are to start this year for a combined attempt t6 explore the vast unknown regions oi the south polar circle. The expeditions are to be fitted out separately and will act separately, but arrangements have been made to as- sign each a particular field for operations, so fhat their efforts will not conflict nor the work of one be in any way a duplication of the work of anothier. To that extent, then, it may be said they will co-operate, and consequently much may be expected of the resuits of their explorations. 3 It is estimated that the extent of unexplored land within the Antarctic sezs is not less than 10,000,500 square miles, more than twice as large an area as.the whole of Australia. Here and there certain points have been traveled over by explorers, but the extent of land covered by them is so small in ¢omparison with the immense range of the Antarctic continent that virtually the region is completely unknown. It is for the purpose of acquiring a fuller knowledge of the region that the four expeditions have been or- ganized. According 10 z recently published pro- gramme the continent for the purposés of the ex- ploration is to be divided into sections. The British Government expedition will deal with by far the lar- gest area, viz., that to the south of Australia and New Zealand, with its land base on Victoria Land. The Scottish expedition will operate to the s::mth_ east of Cape Horn to the western side of Grahams Land. The German Government expedition will worl in the area between Australia and the Cape, with headquarters at Kerguelen Islandaand the Swedish expedition on the mainland and islands directly to the south of Cape Horn. The Antarctic will thus be at- | tocked from every point, the various landing parties vach proceeding from their bases and pushing into the unknown toward mon center. The Ggrman and the English expeditions will give especial attentign to magnetic work, while the Scoi- tish expedition, it is said, will concentrate its atten- tion almost wholly upon oceanographical exploration. It is to be conducted under control of W. S. Bruce, who has already made four voyages to the Arctic and one to the Antarctic, and is therefore experienced in the work he has undertaken, Of all the expeditions that of Germany is said to be the only one that has been fully equipped by the Gov- ernment. The others are to rely to a considerabls extent upon funds furnished by voluntary contribu- tions, and it appears that all of them are thus far hampered by a lack of funds. It is expected, how- ever, that all will be well supplied before the time comes for them to start. The German ship will sail in August, and the Scotch and Swedish in Septem- ber, and the English Government vessel will leave Melbourne in November. From these combined explorations we may expect many of the secrets of the great southern continent to be revealed, and doubtless from the revelations science will know how to derive a profit that will repay thz cost and the labor to attzin it. Pole-searching is not now the dangerous adventure it was in the days of Sir John Franklin, and, moreover, it is not being conducted for the same purposes. Franklin and the men of his time were looking for a passage for com- merce. The explorers of to-day are looking only for facts to widen the boundaries of scienge. Con- sequently, while the old explorers were foredoomed tc failure, the new may be reasonably expected to suc- ceed. A PRIMA DONNA’S RIGHTS. /\/\ADAME MELBA has just given the people of Boston a leston in the etiquette of the stage. She has upheld the rights of a prima donna against an enthusiastic but ill advised attempt to ignore them, and Boston will know better next time. It appears that while singing in that city Edouard de Reszke reached the twenty-fifth anniversary of his debut on the operatic stage, and his friends and ad- mirers thought it would be a fine thing to celebrate the event. Among other forms of celebration they airanged to present him with such a mass of bouquets 2s would make the stage of the Boston Theater look like a Californian rose festival. The programme was to have the flowers passed up from the auditorium across the footlights at the close of scene 1 of the third act. De Reszke was aware of the programme and by way of making it easy for Mme. Melba he suggested that she come to the stage with him to re- ceive the offering. The Madame peremptorily re- fused. The story of what took place behind the scenes is | thus told in one of our Eastern exchanges: Melba wouldn’t have it. She got after De Reszke like this: “I will not allow it. I will not go on the stage with a man and see him receive flowers when there are none for me. If you wish to accept the flowers over the footlights you must go alone, for I certainly shall not accompany you.” In the meantime the audience was ap- plauding and at the same time Madame Melba was pro- testing. *There is no other star here above me, and I will not submit to the indignity.” And she had her way. M. de Reszke shrugged his shoulders and said, “Very well; have the flowers sent around to the stage.” Madame relented just enough to suggest a morsel of consideration. Said she, “If you want to receive the dowers over the footlights why don’t you postpone the affair and celebrate some evening when I am not sing- ing?” But De Reszke simply smiled. And so the audi- ence did not know very much about its being the anni- versary of De Reszke's quarter century run on the grand opera stage. It will be noted that no ene on the stage interfered in the controversy or offered any ‘advice in the way of conciliation. From the impresario and the stage manager down fo the ballet girls and the supernu- meraries all kept quict and went right along, each one attending strictly to his own business. It is evi- dent, therefore, that the whole troupe has learned wisdom from experience. They are not like the fools who rush in where angels fear to tread and who try to reconcile contending parties. They are wise in tl?eir generation, and rccognizing thit the affair was one of high operatic etiquette they left it for Mme. Melba to settle by the exercise of her sovereign prima dcnna powers. " 2 From the conduct of the experienced men and women who were on the stage of the Boston Theater that night the public can learn a profitable lesson if it have sense enough to do so. The moral of the lesson is to avoid interfering in other folks’ quarrels. Let no one undertake to pronounce judgment for or against the prima donna, or even suggest a basis for compromise. It is enough to know that when the queen singer is on the siage no one else is to receive flowers unless they are sent in by the back door. Mme. Melba's victory should forever prevent any further controversy on the subject. Among other troubles Russia has a treasury scan- dal of large proportions. It is stated that in the ac- counts of the Imperial Control Department there have been discovered inaccuracies extending from 1893 to 1808 with indications that clearly point to fraud. The sum missing is in the neighborhood of $22,500,000, and constitutes the largest defalcation in Russian his- tory. It would appear from this that even when sleeping in a steel safe the Czar ismot secure. He may wzke up some morning and find himself stolen. Tie Germans are having a nice little argument cver the right of a newspaper to publish reports of a speech by the Emperor when the Emperor objects to the publication. Herr Richter, one of the leading members of the Reichstag, maintains that a speech by the Kaiser is public property, and says the subject was fully discussed by the committee on copyright ze- form and decided as he has stated. If that be so tke Kaiser has but one recovrse left—that of keeping his mouth shut. W‘ashington, corrsspondents report there are rea- scns for believing a new treaty is being arranged be- tween our Government and that of Great Britain with regard to the Nicaragia canal, and should it be so the Senate will have another opportunity to show whether it would rather construct the canal or twist the lion's tail. . 1t is reported that Admiral Schley has about made up his mind to retire, sc the prospect of getting rid of the Schley-Sampson controversy is at last bright erough to be pleasing. i —_— J. Pierpont Morgan emphatically declares he has gone to Europe for “rest,” but whether he means a rest for himself or to get the rest of the earth is not clear. ' A Paris paper says President Kruger is coming to this country as a guest of Tammany Hall, so we may yet hear of him as an Alderman. - PAPERS ON CURRENT TOPICS. PREPARED BY EXPERTS AND SPECIALISTS FOR THE SAN FrANcIsco CALL. Picturesque and R ST RPN o Interesting History of the Fire Laddies of the Olden Days of the American Unicon. By Alice Morse Earle. AUTHOR OF “COLONIAL DAYS IN OLD NEW YORK,” “STAGE COACH AND TAVERN DAYS,” ETC. —_— COPYRIGHT, 1%0L IX.—EARLY FIRE PROTECTION. There was scant fire insurance a century ago. In Philadelphia was “The Philadel. phia Contributorship for the Insurance of Houses by Loss by Fire,” which is sup- posed to have ‘been founded by Franklin, and which still exists. The rate was 20 shiilings on £100, the policy running for seven years. The premium was in the na- ture of a loan, returned at the end of the term without interest. No house with shade trees near it would be insured. A label was tagged to the Insured house. A rival insurance company was started and took the distinguishing tag or label of a tree to affix to the house, sincd it insured tree-embowered houses. For many years these two Philadelphia fire insurance companies were the only ones. It is not known that by 179 a single building in Boston was insured against fire. There existed a primitive sort of mutual insurance, which was another ex- ample of the general helpfulness, the neighborliness which everywhere existed. 1t was a recognition of the principle thai the loss which is sharp to a single person falls lightly on many. A ecitizen whose house or shop had been destroyed would send out a paper qr publish a notice call- ing attention to his misfortune and ask- ing the assistance of his fellow-townsmen on the ground that God’s hand might next visit them/and they would need the help he now implored. These petitions were not necessarily from those in desti- tute circumstances and it may be assumed that liberal response was given. There were also friendly societies which carried out these methods. The Massachusetts Mutual, the first company in Massachu- setts, was established with the century; it had some curious rules. If a policy holder allowed his pump to get out of order and remain so after his attention had been called to it he had to pay a fine of $2. He was also fined if his chimney caught fire. The first fire insurance law- suit in the United States was brought against this company in 1807, Caring for the Firg Buckets. Fire rules were rigid enoulh everywhere. There was a fine of £1 for disobeying any order of the fire warden. If the house- holder could not display to the warden his fire buckets hanging in _good order in their proper place he was fined. In New York if the constable fetched home the fire buckets to the owner after the fire he got 6 shillings aplece for his pains. This was deemed excessive and it was more than hinted that the constable them in order to claim the reward. Us- ually the buckets were left in a pile or set up on fence posts and owners and thelr servants came to claim them the fol- lowing day. Sometimes they were lost by being put carelessly into the river to be filled and left to sink to the bottom. So they were not a cheap accessory to the household. The Old Volunteer Firemen. The old volunteer firemen of the first half of the nineteenth century were a pic- turesque and ipspiring group. All classes of soclety, from the wealthy merchant to the humblest workman, served under the volunteer's heavy hat. Men left their homes to risk their lives for the preserva- tion of the homes of others, and they did it unasked, and as simply as if they were walking to church. The fire laddies of the first salaried companies were made immortal by Chanfrau on the stage and through_innumerable caricatures in the press. ‘‘Mose” in his red shirt, with black broadcloth trousers tucked into boottops, and his distinguishing *‘soap locks” hang- ing down his shaven cheeks, was a real character. It is told that in New York in 1820 there were 500 alarms of fire, so the companies were never idle. The fights, contests of skill, rivalries of love and “washouts” of the different companies were episodes of American life, and the engineer with his trumpet was a hero. The orgies of the firemen’s annual mus- ters grew to be obnoxious to many law- abiding citizens, and when my father, in a position of authority, refused to counte- ° PERSONAL MENTION. D=, Nat Green of Watsonville is at the Grand. Colonel T. M. McGregor is at the Occl- dental. William “Colller of Riverside is at the Palace. W. P. Thomas is registered at the Grand from Ukiah. £, S. Lippitt, an attorney of Petaluma, is =t the Lick. Brigadier General James M. Bell is at the Occidental. Clay M. Greens is registered at the Grand from New York. John F. Campion and Willlam Lawrence of Denver are at the Palace. George A. Belcher, assistant cashier of the Bank of Eureka, is at the Grand. David Starr Jordan, president of Stan- ford University, is at the Occidental. : R. Wehe, District Attorney o Slxe‘:?:l l{Cmmty, is registered at the Lick frcm Downieville. Dr. W. E. Poole of Yreka left for his home last evening. He has been spending the winter in the city. / B. M. Lelong, secretary of the State Board of Hortleulture, is registered at the Grand from Sacramento. —_————————— CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK. NEW YORK, April 18—Tne following Californians are in New York: From San Francisco—A. Classen and wife, at the Astor; A. Mantuer, at the Cadillac; J. F. Boure and J. R. Tobias, at the Grand Union; Dr. Medlander, at the Cadillac. From Los Angeles—N. W. Myrick, at the Victoria. From San Jose—W. Hunter, at the St. Denis. Scot’s Pride of National Ancestry. A capital story illustrating the Scot’s pride of national ancestry is exhumed by “p, H. P in the Rochester Post-Ex- press: A party of tourists was inspecting the exteriof of Royal Castle, in Fifeshire, and was told by the conductor that here Cromwgll's grandmother lived and died, and t here also his mother was born. «“Nonsense, man!” cried a carping ob- jecter. “You Scotchmen try to hang your- selves on to all the celebrated men who ever lived. I suppose that you'll be tell- ing us that Pontius Pilate was Scotch st “Nae, me, sirr,’ responded the dignified old guide; “we no claim ta cal- jant for a Scot, but a’ to saam he was pe porn in Scotland.” - And he then gravely proceeded to quote from Marshall's “His- tory of Fifeshire,” wherein it is stated that Pontius Pilate’s progenitor, sent on a mission to King Metaelanus of Scot- land, brought with him his spouse, and it was ‘while they sojourned at a place now called Forti: 1. in the northwest of Perthshire, that Pontius was born. The objector was silenced, but perhaps the most pregnant utterance in the contro- versy was that of a gardener who had listened, open-mouthed. ‘*Hech! Jock,” is mate as the twain resumed work, a’ Scotland’s a graun kin- tra!”—Buffalo Commercial. . RATES at Hotel del Corcnado, | $60 for rouna trip, including 15 days at hotel Pacific Coast S. 8. Co., 4 Néw Montgomery st. o Beach, Cal., effective atter April 15, | nng made tards soy LWenLy-Seven ponts nance these musters until certain restric- tions were enforced he was threatened Wwith personal assault and a general riot seemed inevitable. When Fire Engines Came Into Use. When fire engines came into more 30 - eral use still more attention was paid to the formation of fire companies. Small wages were paid, fire drills were held, certificates of conduct were given. A cer- tain number manned the rope and each had duties assigned. When the fire was over and the éngine was again in the en- gine house a roll was called and all ab- Sentees were fined. . The newspapers had constantly from persons who had lost property by fire cards of thanks to all who had hel] them in their time of need. Thus in in a Hartford newspaper Enoch Perkins prgsented his cordial thanks to the engi- neers, fire wardens and members of tile fire soclety for their assistance at the fire at his dwelling place. About Spontaneous Combustion. Public spirit was also shown in warn- ing against the causes of fire. Spontane- ous combustion was a great theme. A modern reader of the Aurora of Feb- ruary, 1801, would be surprised to see so much of its few columns taken u) br one item. There had been a fire in Philadel- hia in a tallow chandler’s, and he pub- ished an elaborate explanation of the cause. A workman had melted up, to recast, some old candles :gat in some ng had lost their shape and become fuse together. He strained out the old wicks from these melted candles and cast thém aside, and these wicks became fired in some mysterious manner akin to spon- tanecus combustion. The chandler pub- lished this relation. aiso the long and wordy affidavit of half a dozen workmen, candle-makers, who affirmed that they had seen fire generated from a similar catse, and that they gave their testi- mony’simply out of kindly interest in the world at large, to warn others against similar loss by fire from a similar cause. The Fire Plugs of Early Times. There will occasionally be seen in the streets of Easterncities the words “Fire Plug” cut into a wall or post. Until a year or two ago (and Feresumo it is there still) the inscription “Fire Plug, 26 Feet,” was cut in the granite wall of the burial round in Washington street, opposite utland street, Boston. These fire piugs are primitive relics of the old wooden aqueduct days when the water supply came through a row of willow logs laid on either side of the wall from Jamaica Pond into_the heart of Boston. At the point marked by this inscription there was a sort of tank formed of oak boards that would hold about three hogsheads of water, and in it a small wooden plug was set. At an alarm of fire the plug was drawn and the fire engine took—what water it could get. The words “26 feet” indicated the force of the water. There were in all twenty of these fire plugs in | Boston. The word “hydrant” has in gen- eral supplanted the word *‘plug,” though I am told the latter is still used in some of our citfes. ' A Great Fire in New York. The fire of the Merchants’ Exchange in 1835 was a great crisis in the develop- ment of the city of New York. The water supply of the city had been meager and miserable to an incredible degree. There were wells, but even horses refused to drink the water from them; the water was full of filth; there was a tea-water pump which supplied drinking water, then carried by carts all over the town. There was a very scant aqueduct system by which a poor supply of brackish water was pumped up from wells and carried by hollow logs through a few streets. Alter this disastrous fire the Croton water sys- tem was evolved and perfected. It was opened with a street parade, a formal din- ner, a ball and a concert, at which an anthem was sung having such verses as these: ‘Water leaps, as if delighted, ‘While her conquered foes retire. Pale contagion flies, affrighted, With the baffled demon, Fire. © ANSWERS TO QUERIES. TO CORRESPONDENTS—Answers to queries sent to this department are sent in as soon as obtained and they appear in print in the order that they are turned in, as space will permit. Questions are easily ‘cked, but answers are not easily obtained !n every Instance, so if correspondents do not see the answer two or three days after they send in the query they should not feel disappointed. FEEBLE-MINDED—Subseriber, City. There is no home in San Francisco or in the State for feeble-minded a; . There are séveral homes for aged beopie: THE CAR SHOPS—C. R., San Mateo, Cal. To obtain information as to how to get o:e as :n apprentice into one of the cag shops of a railroad com; £h8 Superintendent of the Shop in. which 1t is desired to place the individual. SHOULDERS—G. H., City. The best way to develop the shoulders is to use will power. Make up your mind to walk erect. If there is no natural physical de- fect the shoulders will in a sh as they ought to be. st SAN FRANCISCO BLOCKS-S., City. The length of the block on Market street, between Third and Fourth, is 825 feet; on Fulton street, between Laguna and Bu- chanan, is 412:6 feet, and on Octavia ;lr%et, between Grove and Hayes, is 275 eet. . FULL DRESS SUIT—A Performer, City. A marn who appears on the stage or else- where in a full dress suit, either swallow- tail or Tuxedo, should wear what fashion calls for. He should not wear a silk shirt with such a_suit. e regulation calls for a white linen bosom shirt. THE CHURCH MURDERS—Inquirer, City. No one knows the exact time Blanche Lamont and Minnie Willlams were murdered in the church on Bartlett street in April, 18%. The body of Minnie Wi Hams was discovered on the 13th of that month and that of Blanche Lamont on the following day. It was believed, however, that they were murdered on the 10tn. CORPSE IN THE HOUSE-R. F, San Andreas, Cal. If the owner of a hovee permits the corpse of one who was a friend to remain in the house until tne tuneral, the owner should defer to the wishes of the family of the deceased as to who should visit. = By _allowing the bod; to remain there the owner of the hoodl for the time being turns the premises 03” to the family or relatives of the dqceue.ei_r SQUARE OF A CIRCLE-. To_fnid hé sauste Birface & L city. cirele the following rule is given: "sq“ a the radius (hait of the diameter) ang rrmig at by 3.14159; fo; - 397 Is mearly the s:{e'l:.mif"““hflpm to find the area of a circle whose us, is eight feet. the radius is foyr ld‘lmm eter souared is 16 feet; then 16 times 3a4150 10 Trches i ‘area would® Lameter is cignt inches. be 30265 square CASINO—N. N, Cif ) . N., City. Un K ginning of the game it hl“' i u“:z potnts shall be counted. as they are maqe by each player the order of ‘counting is :»:r;s. sn}n(d‘e;vabl's af:;'mf' little casino ana on the last play A had Bad) s twenty-six and made spades, easino, two aces, a.nabg verttle casino and aces he would t, he would gg gg-”l;“'h“'m eh‘n:‘:tha first count GOSSIP FROM LONDON’S WORLD OF LETTERS. The spring publishing season is now be- sinning in earnest. This year there Is some talk of extending the season well into the summer. Mr. Heinemann has again chosen August for the publication of Hall Caine’s new novel. Dull as things have been, dull as has been the outlook, booksellers are now anticipating a brisk market till at least the end of June. “We want Americans over to wake us up,” re- marked a West End bookseller the other day. Americans seely to be large bodk buyers when they come to London.” One feature of the sedson is the enor- mous output of sixpenny reprints of popu- lar novels. Publishers have been selling these paper-covered editions literally by hundreds of thousands. Messrs. Cassell, for instance, have calculated that thirteen of their sixpenny editions have sold a million and a quarter copies. The secret of their success, of course, is that tha popularity of each book has previously been tested in the more expensive form. Among the new bocks which have re- cently run into second editions are Chur- ton_ Colling’ _ “Ephemera Critica.” Lady Hodgson’s “Slege of Kumasi,” Frank Bui- len’s “Sack of Shavings” and Barry Pain’s “Another Englishwoman’s Love Letters. ‘An American novel wkich is having an unusual run in this country, where it i3 being published both by Fisher Unwin and Grant Richards, is Irving Bacheller's Eben Holden,” Unwin's alone having reached the third edition of the book. Messrs. Methuen's most successful novel of the year is Miss Findlater’s “A Narrow Way,” which will shortly reach its third edition, Mrs. Croker’s “State Secret” and Mrs. Dudeny’s “The Tiird Floor,” also pubu:dhe% ’gy the Messrs. Methuen, are in Second editions. Considerable prominence has been llvlnl in some London papers to a circumstantia! statement of the existence in the Publia Record office of a certain sealed bag, sup- sed to contain love letters of Queen Kiizabeth, Which presumably are of such | a compromising nature that the rag in uestion can only be opered by joint con- gent of the sovereign, the Lon{v (.Jhumdlor and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The statement evidently was made in good faith, but the Athenaeum. commenting on the subject, says: ‘“‘Those who are curl ous in such matters wiil perhaps feel in~ clined to_speculate on the possible con- nection of this legend with the title of the medieval “Baga de Secretis’ and with the famous casket of letters and miscellane- ous collection of state papers known as King Willlam III's chest, which has late- Iy been described in the hew Home Office calendar, published in the Rolls series. Even so, tge association of the ‘sovereigr for such purpose with the two dignitariss referred to seems to savor somewhat of Gilbertian humor. The story no doubt is of foreign origin.” After spending six morths in exploring Christmas Isiand_Sir John Murray has just returned to England, Sir John is & distinguished writer as well as expl e hd was appointed editor in 1882 of tho :‘ost extensive sclentific work ever pub- lished—the scientific results of the Chal- lenger expedition, wirich ihe British Gov- ernment sent out to inves‘igate the physi- cal and biological conditiens of the Atlan- tic and Southern Pacific oceans. The re- port embraces nearly fifty large volumes and is said to have cost the Governmeat abqut £100,000 ($500,000) A CHANCE TO SMILE. “T love the very ground she automobiles on,” was the_way the up-to-date young man put it.—Yonkers Statesman. Patience—Did you say her aunt uses & brogue. Patrice—No:; I said she used _an ear trumpet.—Yonkers Statesman. Patience—I notlc:d your face light up when Will began talking to you. Patrice—Yes; I suppose the gas had something to do with it.—Yonkers States- man. She—Don't you think Painter is clever with the brush? He—Yes; I've noticed that the heels of his shoes always seem to be as well pol- ished as the rest of them.—YonKkers States- man. "I suppase you have to beg your daugh- ter to Bot her to play the piano?" said tha vistor. “No: on the contrary, we have to beg her to quit,” sald the father.—Yonkers Statesman. Bm!—Whgg a dog wags his tall, what is it a si of? Jm—‘nw hy, it's a sign that he’s glad. “Glad of what?” “Glad that he's got a tail to wag.'"— Yonkers Statesman. Church—I see some of the theaters are reducing their prices? Gotham—Yes: it looks as if a fellow would be able pretty soon to see a 25-cent show in New York for only 50 cents.— Yonkers Statesman. “Didn’t I hear your husband quarreling with you this morning?” said the woman in the next flat. .“Yes; he didn’t like my first biscuits.” “Well, some people would rather fight than eat.”—Yonkers Statesman. “Charlie,” said a visitor to a bright little 5-year-old, “are you going to be a dentist like your father and pull people’s teeth when you grow up?” “No, sir,” replied Charlle, “T'm going to be a lawyer like Uncle George and pull people’s legs.”—Chicago News. Mr. _ Selfmade—Remember, chil when I was a boy 1 often went to hun and seldom had a square meal. Little Tommy (who is tired of hearing about it)—Well, that just shows how are since you've much_better off you known us.—Life. wurch—You I‘I Styles is up-to-date? g"&m.m—wa should mx;r say he is. Do you remember that Prince Albert coat he’s worn for so many seasons? “Distinctly.” “Well, he calls it a King Edward now.” —Yonkers Statesman. Choice candies, Townsend’s, Palace Hotel* ——— Cal. glace fruit 50c per Ib at Townsend's.* —_———— Ex.strong hoarhound candy. Townsend’s.® . Ice cream chocolates, Boston mints, ala- cuma. Townsend’s, 639 Market street. ¢ e Townsend’s California glace fruits, 50c a b gonnd, in fire-etched boxes or Jap bas- e ts. 639 Market, Palace Hotel building. * —_———— bsnmp.qu ):nform-flon supplied dailys to ouses and public men the Press Cli; Buruup(‘A.flen’l). 510 it~ gomery street. Telephone Main 1042. “You see he was in the Belgian hare raising business and he falled. " “No; but that isn’t all. He aj Yolnted me receiver, and everybody's cn.fi ing me a hare receiver.”—Yonkers Statesman. ADVERTISEMENTS. FOR OLD AG To the old, as to babies, the even balance oi healtk is more important than arything else in the world. The possible health, in age, is zot high and strong; it is only even. There is no ond, but death, to the trouble that comes of its loss. Itought to be watched like a baby’s. Scott’s emulsion of cod-liver oil for very old and very young —in different ways—is the food to secure this even health, We'll send you 2 liitle to try, if you like. SCOTT & BOWNE, 403 Pearl streety dew York