The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 30, 1901, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL. something less than th years ago, one of Southern Cal- ifornia’s thrifty pioneers intro- duced, as a feature of his etum, a strange specles of «rna- mental grass from the America, he little @féamed the ted his novel importat tant pampas of ecade after the planting of that had proved to be n industry without a f while it itiful to become tion’s most exalted emblems. In its geheral aspect the plant unlike any other botanical speci- indigengus the continent. In sense favored by soil and climatic its development seemed all o WhatWe (ontribuie - to Roualtu. E United Stetes contributes a vast sum of money regularly to the sup- port of foreign sovereigns, Ti money is not paid as tribute, but in the form of interest upon many millions of dollars invested by these po It is generally supposed t royal personages own real est York. As a matter of fa consist of railroad and industrial and United States bonds. Queen Victoria is believed to have de- rived an income of $700.90 annually from her American investments. She has been credited with owning a large the Bowling Green buiiding, though as a matter of fact her money was nearly all invested in stocks. Her h. ings included American Sugar, Ameri Steel and Wire, Tennessee Coal and Iron and one or two rallroad stocks unknown. King Edward, when Prince of Wales, enjoyed a considerable income from Am- erican railroad holdings. The property bas since been transferred to his George. The Emperor of Germany has holdings in the Union and Southern Pacific, II- linois Central and Atchison Rallroad bonds. His wife has, besides, about a half-million in American railroad hold- ings, and it is believed that several other members of the royal family are interest- ed to considerable amounts. The Czar of all the Russias is sald to be the best informed of all European sov- ereigns on Amefican rallroad interests. The Czar's investments are \'eryfon- servative. the iniqueness, bes t was destined one of was 1ly to every conditions, entates at eral te in New stoc! generally interest in a son their holdings | uld be desired, and at the e ted the appes L graceful cluster of ribbon-like le: shoot ward from a common ce droopin 1ef ance the first vear it pr at the end of the ained the did lozen feet in he as circumferer st remarkable feature of this ict of the Argentine wilds consisted lendid snow-white appearing sixth 1 sixth year proportions o sht hy plu vhich about the vear, ally d the < plant in a del Though exquisitely b ipon, these stately shafts oABlishDeath by Drowning. | . | 7\ ROWNING shouid be an ..ccident | | ); of the past if the latest theory fyl- | v | fills the claims of its supoc Acetylene gas the mystertous | agent of rescue. The principle i _he sud- den liberation in an elastic receotacle of | a gas which has a strong upward drawing force sufficient to raise the object to which it is attached to the surface of the | water and to keep it there. Equally simple is the application of the |-principle. Attach to your person receptacle containing in two chambers a substance Enown acetylid and water. is a tiny separate | 15 caletum The union of these | two immediately generates acet which held by an elastic tached to the meta! receptacle. | This aistilled pocket will make its w to the top of the water in &p ny | number of obstacles, and is mc than a whole crew of life savers, This little gas generator may be used to protect boats, rafts and buoys as human bodles. ne gas, is vocket at- | reliable ~s well The inventors of the new system, Messrs. L. Matignon & C of Paris, make a special point of this, view of the great saving of property which it will make possible. In i(he cuse | of either of these small affairs or of large | vessels the generator may be set in cpera- tion by an electric wire in c dent. The absolute lack of complicate | machinery and the fact that not a soc- ond of time need be lost make the ace! lene system esnecially practicable. Even the raising and floating of -essels already sunk is said to be likewise within the powers of actylene used in consider- able quantities. in fragile ard when handled ets would dissolve almo:t readily us thistle dowa . from earliest appearance of the plumes the i determined, if to de- vise some process whereby their preserva- ed. After much finally Howev: possible experiment plished, with the re demand for the per tablished, So universally wa that the owner of the plant ttempt the cultivation a more pretentious scale, end made a considerable im- the from its native manifested resolved upon of its speci and to t tion of grass h. Thus the pampas Industry came to be established in Southern California, and 50 remunerative did it prove, that within the space of a few years numerous plan- tations, representing vast areas of valu- able lands, became devoted to the new commodity. In laying out a pampas plantation the young grass roots are set out in regular parallel rows, the same order being observed as in the planting of an ordinary orchard, excepting that much greater space is allotted to each plant. Once thoroughly started, but lit- tle encouragement is essential to the growth of the grass, its extreme hardi- the driven snow of winter, the white crested waves of the sea—all these are similar but inadequate comparisons. And such a scene is the more appre- elable because of its rarity, for it is only . through negligence that a field of pampas ness rendering it almost totally imper- vious to drouth. Interference from weeds or other vegetatlon is likewise unheard of, by reason of the superior absorbing qualities of the pampas root. About the fourth year the yield of plumes begins, and from this period onward the planta- tion becomes a source of revenue. There is nothing of a corresponding character in horticulture, or for that mat- ter in all nature, that will quite equal in stately magnificence—in unblemished pur- ity and grace—the imposing spectacle of a pampas field in full plume! Beautiful as are the cotton flelds of the South— @ - industry is ever allowed to unsheath its plumes, the latter, as a rule being gathered while still incased in their plumes. It is only by this premature method of harvesting that the durability of the product is in- sured. The gathering of a pampas crop is an exceedingly novel procedure and necessi- tates great activity and watchfulness on the part of the harvesters. The pluck- ing of the plumes is usually accomplished by men and boys who carry the product by the arm-load to the husking booths, where the plumes are stripped off by women. At this stage the plumes some- - BLEACHING CURING 7HE PLUMES what resemble immature corn tassels, their prevalent color being a dingy gray. They are next carried to the drying grounds near at hand, where they are lald out in long symmetrical rows and allowed to remain exposed to the sunshine until thoro ly bleached and cured. The plumes are now of a beautiful fluffy whiteness, and it only remains to gather them up and pack them in cases for ship- ment. The best market for pampas plumes is fn Germany, and accordingly a large per- centage of the annual yleld is shipped to that country. The prices realized from the product vary somewhat with each year, but the yleld is invariably enor- mous, which usually Insures the grower satisfactory As with all other producers the pampas planters can cite some truly phenomenal profits enjoyed by their industry at various intervals in the past.” As, for example, some years since a certain small producer who had two and a half acres set to pampas grass sold his annual crop for $1750, making his land yield him at the rate of $700 the acre. While pampas grass is cultivated mfore or less throughout the entire district of Southern California by far the most at- tention is given to the industry in the county of Santa Barbara, where the plant was first introduced. Of recent vears a serious impediment to the in- dustry has developed, the circumvention of which is yet to be accomplished. This difficulty Hes in the fact that many of the most extensive pampas plantations have exhausted their productiveness, while so compactly have the roots of the aged plants become imbedded in the soil that their removal would mean the wrecking, from surface to hardpan. of the entire area covered. In cases where the moving of such specimens is impera- tive it is frequently found necessary to first undermine the plant and then de- molish it with a heavy blast of dynamite. But even in such .instances there remains a great, unsightly cavity which must be filled in with soil secured elsewhere. Thus it will be seen that unless some means is devised whereby the wornout plantations can be redcemed by reasonable methods the damage to lands resulting from the ill seriously conflict with the profits derived therefrom. That some remedy may speedily be discovered vill be devoutly hoped by all who have ever beheld this beautiful California product. In addition to its popularity abroad, the pampas plume enters extensively in- to decorative art here in America. Espe- cially is it sought for at Christmas-tide, its snowy appearance rendering it singu- larly appropriate to this jovous occaslon. At the floral carnivals annually observ- ed in Southern California it invariably excites the keenest admiration, allke on the part of visitors and residents, the most marvelous creations in the way of ornamental designs being effected through its medium. But one of the most graceful tributes ever bestowed on the stately pampas plume was its adoption two years ago as the decorative emblem of the Repub- lican National Convention. On the occa- sion of the Presidential nominations of that year and the one following, thou- sands of these splendid white plumes were waved.by the multitude in attend- ance as a token of future victory, peace and prosperity. It Is a matter of no small wonderment that, notwithstanding the immense areas devoted to pampas grass culture in Cali- tornia, not a single plume was Included among other American products at the recent Paris Exposition. This omission was rendered the more noticeable from the fact that cn varlous occasions when the representatives of other nations dis- played the American flag as a mark of respect to our country, there, likewise, was exhibited as a recognized emblem of Americanism, the peerless pampas pfume. JOSE DE OLIVARES. returns. According to the latest report of the United States Commissioner of Educati>n the average salary for supervising and teaching in public schools is in Bosto, $1,065 77; in Chicago, #8%2 03; San Fran- cisco, $879 27; Cincinnati, 3363 31; Denver, $34 42; New York, 3812 05: Washington, $754 96; Pittsburg, $703 72; Philadelphia, $698.02. —_— e While there Is a strong movement in Ireland for the revival of the ancient lan- guage, it is different In ‘Wales. A poll taken at Cardiff on the question whethar children in the board schools should be taught the Welsh language has resulteq in a majority of 670 votes against ft.