The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 26, 1901, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1901 ) The MONDAY......... JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. ....AUGUST 26, 1901 . LEAKE, Manager. .Telephone Press 201 Address All Communiestions to MANAGER'S OFFICE PUBLICATION OFFICE...Market and Third, S. F. Telephone Press 201. EDITORIAL ROOMS. .217 to 221 Stevemnson St. Telephone Press 202. Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Copies. 5 Cents. Terms by Mail, Including Postage: DAILY CALL (including Sunday), one year. DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 6 months. DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 3 months DAILY CALL—By Single Month. SUNDAY CALL One Year.. WEEKLY CALL One Year. mraun® Sample coples will be forwarded when requested. Mall subscribers in ondering change of address should be particular to give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order to insure & prompt and correct compliance with their request. OAKLAND OFFICE. ++..1118 Broadway €. GEORGE KROGNESS. Nasager Foreign Advertising, Marquette Building. Chioag>. (Long DfStance Telephone “‘Central 2619.”) NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT: C. €. CARLTON -...Herald Square NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH. .30 Tribune Building NEW YORK NEWS STANDS: ‘Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano, 31 Unlon Square; Murray Hill Hotel. BRANCH OFFICES—:27 Montgomery. corner of Clay. open until $:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open until 3:30 o'clock. 633 McAllister, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin, open untif #:30 o'clock. 1941 Miseion, open until 10 o'clock. 2261 Market, | corner Sixteenth, open until 8 o'clock. 109 Valencia, open untfl 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh, open until § o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky, open until 9 o'clock. 2200 Fillmore, open until $. a. m. Columbia—‘"Wheels Within Wheels." Alcazar—"“Romeo and Juliet.” Grand Opera-house—"Lord and Lady Central—“The Two Orphans.” Tivoli—*Il Trovatore.” Olympia, corner Mason and Eddy streets—Spectalties. Chutes, Zoo and Theater—Vaudeville every afternoon and evening Fischer's—Vaudeville Sutro Baths—Swimmi Ringling Bros.’ Circus—Folsom and Sixteenth streets, next onday State Fair and Exposition, Sacramento—September 2 to 14. A 10 SUBSCRIBERS LEAVING TOWN FOR THE SUMMER. Cal! subscribers contemplating a change of | residesce during the summer months can have their ®ddresses by notifying The Call Business Ofice. This pager will also be on le at all summer resorts and is represented by a local agent im Il towss on the coast. . TRADE STILL ROSY. HE end of the long period of prosperity has not I yet appeared on the commercial horizon. All business advices report the same large distribu- | tion of merchandise, the same firmness in prices and the same confidence which have prevailed with interruption for several years. Even the .West and Southwest, which have been lately known as the “drought-stricken” sections, are reporting busi- ness better and the condition siderably improved. Some points report the jobbing trade even better than a year ago. The South is re- porting business better and the cotton market firmer, though the latter is « negative improvement, being largely due to damage to the crop. The East re- ports the distrib e trade fully up to this time in 1900. A large wheat crop in the Northwest gives advices from that region a rosy tinge. As for the Pacific Coast, reports from this section could hardly be better. The leading staples are all firm as a rule. Raw wool is buoyant, with manufacturers buying and the clip pretty well cleaned out of first hands. Woolen goods sympathize, and the mills are fully employed on fall orders, while liberal engagements are being booked for the spring trade. Cotton fabrics steady, though the first-hand market is not active. The iron and steel trades, notwithstanding the strike, are reported in good shape, and at some points, no- tably Chiczgo, the jobbers are said to have more or- ders than they can fill. Lumber is firm, and stocks are kept down to moderate proportions by a steady building demand. Leather is firm, and exceptional activity is reported among the boot and shoe facto- ries, the latter bidding fair to continue for some months yet. A good feature of this trade is that very small summer stocks will be carried over. Wheat has eased off during the week, largely in sympathy with a weaker corn market, though the exports from the United States have been very large. An improved cxport demand for ccrn is springing up, owing to decreasing shipments to Europe from the Argentine. All thesc favorable conditions affect the country’s bank clearings, which showed a gain of 34.7 per cent last week over the corresponding week last year, Min- neapolis and St. Paul being the only important cities to report = decrease. The failures were more numer- ous than last year, being 205, against 171, but they were small and without especial significance. Wall street continued dull and featureless, trading being narrow and mainly confined to the professionals, as the public are not much in the market at present. There is no pressure to sell, however, and in fact offerings of good securities are light, while there is a steady demamd for sound dividend-paying stocks and bonds. Operators have generally abandoned the bear side of the market and are “going long,” especially on railroad shares, as the damage to the crops in the West and Southwest has been discounted and the railroads continue to report large earnings. In our local markets conditions remain unchanged. The leading feature i< the sharp and continuous de- mand for many lines of fruits and vegetables to sup- ply the shortage in the West and Southwest. The demand for potatoes has been enormous, while that for dried fruits has been the largest for years, and shows no signs of lessening. This is a great year Yor California products of almost all descriptions, and trade is feeling the beneficial effects thereof. Wine and wine grapes are cpening the new season at high prices, with a first-class demand. Pro: ns rule firm, and the movement is sufficient to keep stocks down to « moderate point. Wherever one turns he finds the same reports of an active demand for most kinds of merchandise, with prices firm, credits ex- cellent and collections easy, except in certain city districts, where the strike, by throwing many workers out of employment, has more or less affected the re- tail trade. But on the whole the city is doing its usual bnsiness. the late crops con- are paper forwarded by mail to their mew | A LOST OPPORTUNITY. NCE more an Ottoman war cloud, after rap- O idly forming and darkening over Europe, threatening to ipvolve many nations, has dis- sipated into a thin mist and passed away. The Sultan has yielded to the pressure of France, has consented that the French qudy company may exercise its rights under the original concession without further opposition from the Turkish authorities, and has, moreover, renewed his promise to pay the French claims. What mist could be thinner than that? Europe is to be congratulated upon the peaceable solution of what threatened to be a very perplexing problem. The situation is such that a war between France and Turkey could hardly have progressed far without bringing on the interference of other powers, for the war might result in the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, and when that event takes place there are several lions and some jackals that wish to share in the spoils. Russia’s keen interest in Turkey is well known. She has regarded Constantinople as her legitimate prey vears past, in fact ever since the days of Peter the Great. Of late Germany has taken a large interest in Turkish affairs. Her capitalists, her bank- ers and her merchants own extensive railways in Tur- key and virtually control the trade of the country. They have recently obtained a concession for a railway to connect the present system in Asia Minor with the Persian Gulf. Germany, therefore, could not { have stood aloof had there been anything like a dan- ger of a disruption of the empire of the Sultans. Aus- tria and Great Britain also have interests there, and would of course have been ready mrfight for them. All these dangers have for the present passed away, and no doubt the satisfaction of the statesmen of the nations is great. It is to be noted, however, that in | this case there has been lost another golden oppor- tunity to give employment to the dignitaries of the High Court of Arbitration. Why did not France, the representative of light and civilization, instead of threatening the Sultan with war, summon him into court and ask for judgment against him? It is to be feared the nations are going to treat the High Court with contempt. Up to this time it has done nothing more important than to meet at The Hague, organize and dine sumptuously. The dinner was no doubt good, for The Hague chefs are reputed to be excellent; but was the great peace tribunal called into existence with so much ceremony by the majestic powers of the world merely to discuss a soup and decide upon the merits of an entree? The Czar owes it to his fame to have at least some sort of a case brought before the cou-t. If he cannot bring in one from the outside he should make one out of his own various disputes. The world wishes | the High Court to do business. There is a desire | to see it in solemn session and in operation. If it do not soon accomplish something to gain the respect of mankind St. Lounis may be tempted to bring it over {as an annex to her exposition and put it in the mid- for many way. The steamer Celtic, which recently crossed the At- lantic on her maiden voyage, is said*to have been constructed not for speed but for comfort. The quar- ters for steerage passengers are as commodious as {those which were provided for cabin passengers twenty-five vears ago. Her owners went upon the | theory that most travelers are not in a hurry to cross | the ocean, so long as they are having a good time on | the way, and it is quite likely they are correct. | ANOTHER FAMINE IN SIGHT. something in the way of a regular alternation B of famine years. When there are good sea- | sons in the one there are bad seasons in the other. In- | dia has just gone through-a period of direful famine, and now that she is recovering there come reports that over large parts of Russia there is likely to be this year a distress that will be almost as serious. Advices from Moscow are to the effect that nearly { one-third of all the provinces of European Russia have been officially dcclared to have produced an in- sufficient crop of cereals. In only two provinces out | of seventy have there been really good harvests. The 'repon goes on to say: “The official ‘insufficient’ {means utter starvation. The famine-stricken area exceeds half a million square miles, twice the area | of France and about the same area as that of the great famine in 1891. The population numbers 43,000,000. The hopes founded on the reports of two months ago have varished. The havoc has been wrought by the intense heat and entire absence -of rain when needed. Afterward there were torrential downpours and hailstorms. The appearance of in- numerable pests is completing the destruction. As the harvest is now in progress, these are final re- port: ! It will be seen that the severity of this extraor- dinary summer which blighted the fields of our East- ern States was as nothing in comparison to that which has been experienced by the Russian farmer. Moreover, in the United States there were such abundant harvests in the States that were not af- fected by the hot wave, and the means of transporta- tion are so abundant, that in this country there was no suggestion of famine or even of temporary dis- tress among any considerable number of people. The Russians, however, are said to face a condition which will mean starvation for thousands. Tt is true the Siberian wheat crop is reported good, but it will be difficult to get the grain to the people of the stricken provinces at prices they can afford to pay, and the consequence is the Russian Government will have to enter upon a system of wholesale relief. It is the lack of transportation which makes the situation so appalling. Russia is so large a country that there are always some portions of Mer territory that have good crops. It has, however, happened in the past that while the provinces near the sea have had wheat to ship to other lands, thousands of people in the interior were dying for lack of the food that was being sent out of the country. With such reports coming from Russia it is pleas- ing to learn that the Indian situation is much im- proved. Just before Parliament adjourned Lord George Hamilton, Secretary for India, presented the financial statement of that portion of the empire, and in doing so stated that in spite of three years of fam- ine and acute depression in the three agricultural staples, tea, indigo and cotton, he was able to pre- sent the most favorable balance-sheet since India came under the crown. The relief expenditures for three years totaled £15.000,000, but the same period showed a surplus of £6,377,000. The season’s rains, though below normal, have been sufficient for agri- cuitural purposes. Th= crop outlook is fair, and there is a prospect of a material reduction in the relief ex- penditure. § g There seems no reason to doubt that there is produced every year an ample supply of food for the whole human race if only it could be properly and | economically distributed. Means to that end are ETWEEN Russia and India there seems to be being rapidly provided. The British Government has sent an expert to this country to study our railways for the purpose of devising a system of light railways to be constructed on an extensive scale in India, and the work is to be begun at an early date. The Rus- sians will of course improve their railways and canals as rapidly as they can with their limited means, and so the famine areas of the world are being di- minished. Since the British have long pretended to believe that Dewet is crazy they will probably not be sur- prised if he pays no attention to Kitchener's procld- mation calling upon him to come in and surrender before the .middle of next month O American, was born twenty-seven years be- fore the close of the eighteenth century, lived and prospered through the nineteenth and is still vig- orous. Recently, by way of celebrating its 128th birthday, it published the story of its career, together with a fac-simile of the first issue, which appeared August 20, 1773. The paper at its beginning took to itself the title, “Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser.” The salutatory does not announce that the paper was started to fill a long-felt want, but the editor did say that he made the venture by reason of “encourage- ment” received from “many gentlemen.” He sets forth with the emphasis of italics the difficulties that confronted him. In the first place it was not easy to obtain “a proper assortment of printing materials and an adequate number of subscribers to defray the charge of printing.” In the next place it was diffi- cult to get news, for, as he said: “It is impracticable to print such a paper as would suit this part of the country without establishing a Rider from Baltimore to Philadelphia to set out from the last-mentioned pleace early on Monday morning and arrive here on Tuesday evening.” Not being able at the time to provide for that expeditious news service, he started his paper with a promise to his patrons that he would IN THE DAYS OF OLD. UR esteemed contemporary, the Baltimore | supply them with live news ahead of the King's post as soon as he received a support that justified the expense. As for the policy of the paper, it is announced: “I shall always publish with pleasure whatever is sent me in favour of Liberty and the Rights of Mankind, provided the Language be decent and compatible with good government, but I-am resolved that my Paper shall be Free and of No Party.” Finally he says: “Having entered upon a very arduous and expensive undertaking, I must now earnestly entreat the imme- diate assistance of every subscriber in advancing the entrance money, agreeable to contract.” Evidently the “entrance money” was forthcoming,. for the race was started and the paper has been in it and up with the leaders ever since. There must have been lots of local news in and around Baitimore in the stirrfing times of 1773, but the editor did not pay much attention to it. It is true he gave space to the item: “A few weeks ago a large rattlesnake was killed on a gentleman’s planta- tion in the neighborhood of this town, in the belly of which was found three middle-size rabbits. The snake had ten rattles and was supposed to be about 13 years old.” It is to be noted, however, that the incident occurred some weeks before it was published, and be- sides it was a snake story, so it.can hardly be taken as an evidence that the editor cared anything about local news or was trying to run a sensational sheet. The rest of his paper is taken up with essays, pleasing anecdotes, a few advertisements and a long address from the Bishop of C. to the Earl of Bellamont on the sin of dueling. The most interesting feature of the paper is an an- nouncement by George Washington of Mount Ver- non that he had patented 20,000 acres of land on the Ohio and the Great Kanawha and was prepared to subdivide it and let it in tracts to suit tenants. Wash- ington was a good real estate boomer, for he did not hesitate to pay for space enough to describe the lands and say: “It is needless to premise that none can ex- cel them in luxuriance of soil or convenience of situ- ation, all of them lying upon the banks of either the Ohio or Kanawha, and abounding with fine fish and wild fowl of various kinds, as also in most excellent meadows.” Altogether, the first issue of the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser was an interesting one, even if it did have very little in the way of live news except the snake story and an advertisement an- nouncing: “Ten pounds reward—Ran away on the 6th of July last from the subscriber, an Irish servant man named Owen McCarty, about 45 years old. * ¥ % He was a soldier in some part of America about the time of Braddock’s defeat and can give a good description of the country.” Here's hoping that Owen McCarty was never caught, but that he lived to be a soldier in 1776 as a free man. As for the Bal!imorg American, we can only congratulate it on its vigorous old age, and say with sincerity that we have been so well satisfied with its first issue we trust the people of Maryland will never see the last. — The Virginia constitutional convention has under consideration a clause providing that when a divorce is granted for cruelty or for any other act which is a violation of law it shall be the duty of the proper authorities to_prosecute the alleged offender in a criminal court. It is believed the clause would have the effect of putting an end to a good deal of false swearing in the way of getting divorces. o The Czar is to have a talk with the Kaiser, and later on Le is to go to France, and if he manages to get home again leaving everything serene behind him his courtiers will tell him he is the greatest diplo- matist of the age. It is probable, however, he will never say a word about that Peace Congress that he thought so much of at one time. —_— The rank and file of Tammany are said to be fu- rious over Croker’s lordly ways and residence in England, but all the same it is safe betting they will vote the Tammany ticket as usual. A fury against a boss does not imply any particular desire for good government. * The title “Progressive’ Democracy” has been taken by a combination which if given its full name would be called a “Demo-Populistic-Silverado-Republicano- Bryanite aggregation,” and its emblem would, be a donkey posing as a bird, ~ The city authorities of Buenos Ayres have decided that all the street corners shall be rounded so that there will be no longer any sharp turns, and the idea is so sensible that it is not strange no one ever thought of it before. After a long repose the Populists of Iowa have popped up again, but no one knows who pressed the ‘button. | 3 R “ F SWIMS BEST OF ALL RUSSIA’S NEW WOMEN IN ENGLAND| SUBMARINE TO . LADY CONSTANCE MACKENZIE, WHO EXCELS AMONG THE ATH- LETIC WOMEN,OF KING EDWARD'S COUNTRY AS A SWIMMER, HOLDING THE TITLE OF CHAMPION FOR THREE YEARS. OR three vears in succession Lady Constance Mackenzie has carried off the Ladies’ Challenge Shield of the London Bath Club, a feat which rivets her claim to the title of the champion swimmer among the women of Great Britain. Her cousin, Miss Chaplin, was second in the last contest, which took place recently in London. Lady Constance is a very fine gymnast, as — well as swimmer, and it would, according to the Tatler, “be hard to find a pret- tier sight than when, dressed in her green swimming maillot and tartan waist ribbon, she passes along the line of swinging rings which are suspended above the water”” of the Bath Club’s tanks. of the late Lord Cromartie. L e e e e o e e e e e Lady Constance Mackenzie is a daughter PEOPLE OF CHICAGO PAY ‘ HIGHER PRICES FOR THEIR FOOD Cost of Meats, Vegetables, Fruits and Dairy Products Much Greater Than a Year Ago. —, VEGETABLES. August, 1%01. Potatoes........ $115 a bushel. a bushel. California potatoes... $135 a bushel. a bushel. Sweet corn. .65 cents a sack. a sack. Peas. 3150 a sack.. a sack. Beets. $150 a hundred. a hundred. | Radishes. $150 a hundred. a hundred. 1 Canteloupes. & a basket. String beans. a sack. | Lettuce. $2 a barrel. a barrel. Cabbage. . $8 a hundred.. . .81 a hundred. Carrots $150 a hundred. 25 cents a hundred. Onions $125 a sack.. .35 cents a sack. Tomatoes. 3230 a bushel. 65 cents a bushel. Cucumbers. .4 cents a dozen. Cucumber pickles. $1 a bushel .35 cents a bushel. Parsley $165 a barrel .25 cents a barrel. H . MEATS. - ! Beef ribs 15% cents a pound. 1% cents a pound. | Beef loin. 16 cents a pound. 2 cents a pound. Dressed chickens. .9 cents a pound.. .15 cents a pound..... August, 1900. cents a pound. | ...... 9% cents a pound. BUTTER, EGGS AND CHEESE. Egas. Butter. Brick cheese. ..16 cents a dozen.. 21 cents a pound. .11 cents a pound. 13 cents a dozen, - cents a pound. FRUITS. Apples Peaches. Blackberries Grapes Plums 65 a box. Oranges. a box Bananas Prunes. . PERSONAL MENTION. Dr. C. B. Cooper of Honolulu is at the Occidental. H. H. Forney, a Sacramento attorney, is a guest at the Grand. R. H. Herron, an oil dealer of Los An- geles, is at the Palace. J. W. Bowen, a business man of Los Angeles, is registered at the Occidental. L. Grothwell, a real estate dealer of Stockton, is at the California for a brief stay. Dr. H. L. Samuels and wife of Winne- mucca, Nevada, are among the arrivals at the Grand. Thomas B. McGovern, a prominent busi- ness man of New York, and head of the Salmon Packers' trust, is at the Califor- nia. Haley Fiske is at the head of the pleas- ure party which is touring the Pacific Coast. The party hails from New York and is located at the Palace. It includes: Mrs. Fiske, Miss Fiske, George B. Wood- ward, Bennett Woodward, A. S. Knight, M. D., and A. T. C. Fiske. —————————— SHOPPING IN LONDON. The following placard is exposed in an Oxford-street store, London: AMERICANS WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE. That This Place 1S NOT A MUSEUM. i . 1T 18 A SHOP. Its appearance led to investigations by the newspapers, which are filled with amusing comments on what is called the “gall” of American shoppers, who, it is alleged, spend hours in the great stores examining and pricing everything, but buying nothing. It is charged that the valuable time of high-priced salesmen is thus wasted, and that many of the Bond-street and Regent- street stores have lost much of their best English custom because of the unprofit- able exactions of American women. Some of the stories told in the papers read like old jokes from American jour- nals. The “‘spool of cotton” and “‘postage stamp” yarns are dug up and given as actual happenings in Oxford street. American shoppers, however, have a ‘warm champion in ‘“Dagonet’’ (George R. Sims), who In the Referee says the fault is that the British shopkeepers are not educated to American methods. With tact, he says, they could do more busi- ness with an American in half an hour than with an Englishman in half a year. The truth might partly be found in the fact that the big stores are not getting as much American money as in previous sea- sons. Visitors from the United States seem to have grown wise as to the exor- bitant tacties of the swell London shop- keepers, and refuse to be swindled. .6 cents a pound @ vl e @ | .81 a barrel. .15 cents a basket. .85 cents a box. $350 a box. -$1 a bunch. cents a pound. A CHANCE TO SMILE. Mrs. A.—Are you troubled much in your neighborhood with borrowing? Mrs. B. (innocently)—Yes, a good deal. | My neighbors don't seem to have any- | thing I want.—Montreal Star. Mr. Sugar N. Sand (grocer)—Teas? Yes, ma’am. What kind do you prefer—black | or green. Mrs. Stanford Hoyle—I'll take a pound | of pink tea. I hear that’s the most stylish | now.—Chicago Times. Poor Bertie—*“No, boys, Bertle can't come out this afternoon.” “Is he sick?” . “No, he isn’t sick. His sister, who goe: to the Woman's College, borrowed !m:f clothes to wear at a play, and he has to | stay home.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer. Minnie—So you are reall y going to marry Fred? Did he tell you you ‘were the only woman he ever loved? i Esther—No; he told me that T was the only woman he never told tha ~] ton Transeript. ifeiior Towne—Sponger’s in high feather Just now. { Browne—What about? Towne—Over the thought that he's got ;o;ne particular friends residing in But- alo. svl;r::‘n'e—g da:‘lf't ;ee any occasion for er's joy they're reall; - lar.—Philadelphia Press. sibaor Harris—I saw Bulger just now. He ,he [was so glad that he was out of de:::: ast. u?‘arren—()\lt of debt! Why, he owes me 5. Harris—He probably meant that he was out of debts that he had got to s ton Transcript. e “And on what ground do application for divorce?” of his new client. ‘“Exertion, sah.” ‘“You mean desertion, T Suppose. wife has left you, doubtless.” “No, sah, she hasn't left me, sah.” “Then You can't ask for a dlvor the ground of desertion.” g Fiinson “I said exertion, sah. Dat's de g perzackly. She done exert herseip oc‘::g tinually to make me mizzable, sah. Put it on de ground ob exertion, sah.”"—p Free Press. W you hue' your asked the lawyer Your ‘“‘Maria Jane,” sald a fond mothy ;nlhe; x:omlnx to her daughter, "dldfi;);rr‘: lel Johnson kiss you on b the steps last “No, mamma, he did not.”” If the g 3 o parent had said “lips” instead of "s:ep-"g it weuld have troubled Marfa Jane ply.—Tit Bits. 1o e e S CORONADO TENT CITY, Coronado Beach, Cal., will be the popular fort, entertainment and health, splendid cafe was a wonder, mmm;nux;:e.m BE A MARVEL A French torpedo-boat, named Mistral, made a successful trial August 1. attain- ing a speed of 28.10 knots. She is of 133 tons displacement and 4200 horsepower, 13 tons less tonnage but 1200 greater ho power than six boats in the United Stat navy calculated to make 26 knots. A floating pontoon dock has Just been built by Stephenson & Co. at Hepb on-Tyne for the Spanish Government 1,1 has been towed to Port Mahon, Minor It is capable of lifting a ship weig 13,000 tons and is 450 feet in length a: will admit a breadth of beam of It was originaily intended for the na. arsenal at Olongapo in the Philippines. . - 1 ‘The French naval budget for 1901-02 pro- vides for an increase of 387 line officers and midshipmen. A new rank, that of lieutenant commander, is established with 150 in that grade. Lieutenants increased from 754 to 10 and ensigns a midshipmen from 599 to 9. The to will be 2105, against 1738 last year. The engineer corps is also increased from 327 to 494, -A submarine boat is under construction at Cronstadt. It is said to be on the plan: of Licutenant Kolbassieff, built under direction of Naval Constructor Koutel: koff. Great secrecy is observed and the statements made in Russian papers con- cerning the wonderful performance antici- pated are mere guesswork, It being a serted that the boat is to make a spe of thirty-six to forty-five miles an hour. 7 et 8 The Montapet water-tube boiler is the latest type of steam generators tried France. At a private test the rapidic was shown by which the boiler tubes could be removed and replaced. After a four hours’ trial the fires were drawn and the boller emptied, when the selected tube was withdrawn and a new one inserted. The time occupied was about forty min- utes, although the practical work of placement required was less than t minutes. Aftsr the boiler was cold thirty- two tubes were taken out in one hour and twenty minutes and were found straight and in good condition. Austria is building three coast defense ships of 8300 tons, one of which, the Ar- pad, is to be launched September I at Trieste. They will carry batterles of three 9.4-inch, twelve 6-inch quick-firers and twenty-fcur smaller rapid-firing guns. Their armor protection Is of 8.6- inch Harveyized steel and a protective deck 23 inches thick. The horsepower is 11,90, to give a speed of 181 knots, and the coal capacity of 800 tons is sufficient for 3600 miles at 10 knots. The second ship of this class and type is named the Haps- burg, and will be launched before the end of the year, while the third, not yec named, has just been begun. The firm of Vickers’ Sons & Maxim at j Barrow-in-Furness has come to the front as one of the most important ship yards in the world. In 1897, when the yard passed into the hands of the present firm, the number of men employed was 5400; there are now 10600, and the weekly wages amount to $82,500. The navy work on hand comprises two battleships, /threa | first class protected cruisers and five sub- marine beats, and several merchant steamers are also being built. In the gun- mounting department mountings for six battleships and twelve cruisers, fitted with 12-inch, 9.2-inch and 6-inch twin mounts, are being made, besides twenty- nine sets of mounts for the 9.2-inch guns at Dover. The value of work in hand is approximately $22,500,000. o Sy An Interesting trial with liquid fuel was made recently on board the Dutch tore pedo-boat Ophir with a view of testing Holden's system of oil-burning. A trial was first made with coal, which gave a speed of 24%; knots over a long course. Then the oil burners were started in addi- tion to the coal, the consumption of which latter remained constant, and with the ofl and coal together the speed rose to 2% knots. The coal burned, throughout the trial was at the rate of 2800 pounds per hour and the quantity of oil used was 700 pounds per hour. The Ophir has two bollers of equal size, and a further trial was made at slow speed, using one boiler with oil, when a speed of 14 knots was attained with a consumption of-500 pounds of oil per hour. The liquid fuel used was Borneo oil. o Ry A writer in the Berliner Tageblatt points out the great advantage which the Italian navy possesses in speed, especially in t"e battleships Sardegna and Margherita class, over the majority of the ships of foreign navies. The average speed of Italian ships is 20 knots, against that of 18 knots for German ships. This allows the Italian vessels, even If inferfor in armament, to choose between fighting and retiring. The eritic praises in the highest terms the inventive and constructive genlus of the officers of the Italian navy, and he also points out the weak spots, which are, briefly, slowness in building, want of cruising reasonably long perfods under steam and ships lying too long In port. The necessity for practicing econ- | omy is the cause for the two latter draw- backs, through which officers and crew get too little actual navigation and insuf- ficlent gun practice. A BUTTERFLY FARM. An English entomologist, Willlam Wat- kins, was the first to raise butterfiies on a large scale. For a dozen years the estab- lishment which he founded for this pur- pose has furnished milllons and millions of insects to private collectors, and Mr. ‘Watkins himself has established at the Zoological Garden of London a very inter- esting entomologic station, where may be found the most beautiful butterflies of the entire world. The butterfly farm of Eastbourne, near the southern coast of England and in a place well sheltered from winds, covers an area of 4000 square metres. It is a ger- den filled with flowers and rare trees and surrounded by a very high trellis, and here flutter at liberty many thousands of butterflies of various species, From all the countries of the world the farm receives eggs. which are submitted to a special mode of incubation. Then the caterpillars, issuing from these eggs, re- ceive nourishment suitable to their evolu- tion. A certain number of the most per- fect insects are preserved as reproducers, while the others are asphyxiated and mounted. . Some of the rarer insects fetch enor- mous price: —_——————— PLATINUM IS SCARCE. The scarcity of platinum is beginning to cause some concern among the electrical manufacturers of the country. For about five years the price of this valuable metal has steadily risen, until to-day it is listed at a higher price than ever since its dis- covery, and every indication points to still higher prices. Platinum s now quoted at about $36 an ounce, about twice the quo- tation of gold, while five years ago it sold as low as $5 an ounce. Since the flooding of the platinum mines in the Transvaal, which occurred after the breaking out of the Boer war, manufacturers have had to rely on Siberia fcr their supply of the valuable metal. Some little hope was held out that platinum would be found in Alaska and other northern mining coun- trledu. but no such discoveries have been made. —_——— Choice candies. Townsend's, Palace Hotel® . Cal. glace fruit 30c per Ib at Townsend’s.” e e pipectal information supplied dally to usiness houses and public b Press Clippu ¥ gomery