The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 8, 1902, Page 4

Che— Ciune Gl MONDAY .....DECEMBER 8, 1902 JOHN D. SPRECEELS, Proprictor. stions to W. S LEAKE. Manager TELEPHONE. Ask for THE CALL. The Operator Will Connect You With the Department You Wish. PUBLICATION OFFICE. .. Market Third, S. F. EDITORIAL ROOMS. .217 to 221 Stevenson St. Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Coples, 5 Cen Terms by Mail, Including Postage: / ddress All Communic. DAILY CALL (including Sunday), one year... ..56.00 DAILY CALL (ncluding Sunday). § months. 3.0 DAILY CALL ¢including Sunday). 3 months 1.50 JAILY CALL—By Singie Month 65¢ SUNDAY CALL, One Year .18 VEEKLY CALL, One Year .. 1.00 All Postmasters are authorized te receive subscriptions. Sample coples will be forwarded when requested Mafl subscribers in ordering change of address shoull b perticuisr 1o give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS In order o insure 3 prompt and correct compliance with their request eesssses1i1B OAKLAND OFFICE. . Broadway €. GEORGE KROGNESS, Masager ¥sreige { évertising. Merguette Bullding, Chicage. Long Distance Telephone “‘Central 2619.°°) NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH. ORRESPONDENT: cesses.Herald Sq NEW Astoris Hotel NEWS STANDS A. Brentano, 31 Union Square: avenue Hotel and Hoffman House. STANDE Great Northern Hotel Palmer House Auditorium Hotel WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE. ..1406 G St., . W. MORTON E. CRANE. Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery, corner of Clay, open until 9:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open until 9:30 o'clock. 33 1 open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin. open Mission, open until 10 o'clock. 2261 open untll o'clock 1006 Va lock. 108 Eleventh, open until 9 r Twenty-second and Ken open 20 —— > TEE ANNUAL BREATHING SPELL IN TRADE. n trade, with hardly extended mention. This z ior nobody ex- Fillmore, open um 2 p serving of passing sum to be ex- month. It is 2ione to nan $30,000,000, as compared e over $47.000000 for the corresponding I Dividends have been estimated at t $30.000,000 and interest at $20,000000. The ment by a le corporation is the 10 per end of th rdard Oil Company, which iy $10.000,000. The next largest is $5.- e common < of the United States steel Corporation. Other large payments are $2.- by the Atchison, $1.093.000 by the New York, ven and Hartiord and nearly $1.500.000 by I d Gas Company. It has been feared these extremely heavy payments would cause a stringent ey market, but this apprehension has been realized. Money is fairly easy at rates somewhat above the normal, it is true, but this nd: n is much better than expected. Wall street was tranquil all the week. There were some sharp fluctuations, but none sufficient to cause any agitation. In our own stock market we were t ed 10 2 flurry in sugar stocks, due to the rapid e price of raw and refined sugars and n of the plantations, and a good many urus were made by local operators. Busi ess was heavy and large lines of shares changed 2nds during the week As far as generzl business is concerned there is new, except that colder weather throughout t and West has stimuiated distributive trade n winter goods, such as clothing, boots and shoes, etc. It is now seen that the mild fall, about which there was so much complaint, was really a blessing, enabied the Eastern country to tide over the i ne cavsed by the great coal strike and per- mitted the mines to cztch up with a portion oi their delayed output. The iron and steel trades are now reporting more or Jess irregularity in business, for wvhile mauy mil nore to - us far mo vance fine co andsome t are still working on back orders, some have closed thcm out and are now looking about for new busin ething which has not oc- urred jor several idently the phenomenal boom in iron a el is over and trade is settling <down to more normal and accustomed conditions. Farm products are generally well sustained, and, ndeed. a rise in dairy products advanced Dun’s index number for the whole United States to about 100.5, against 99.75 November 1. and 101.37 as the figure for December 1, 1901. Wool is firm, provisions are unsettied, sugar has zdvanced, coffee, rice and tea are quoted strong, and groceries, as a whole, are much above the normal of late years. The exports of wheat and flour from the country continue large, those last week amounting to 5,774,000 bushels. The bank clearings fell off to the insignificant gain of 1.8 per ent, with most of the large cities in the wrong column. The failures made a better showing, being 185, against 237 for the corresponding week last year. The feature of local trade last week was the scare over the possible loss of the Philippine transport business to San Francisco. It threw a lot of commer- cizl red pepper into the eyes of our business men and woke them up. If eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, it is equally the price of commercial ascend- ency, and we must keep our eyes open if we do not want to be cheated out of our birthright, for there are plenty of Jacobs walking up and down the earth ready to trick us. This port is the geographical and financial center of Pacific Coast trade, and we must keep that trade, even if we have to sit up nights to do it v e Automobile sporting is to have its technical terms and picturesque phrases as well as baseball and foot- ball; thus the Boston Globe in noting a recent con- test says the winning machine “left behind a streak of gasoline smell one mile long in one minute and two seconds, thus breaking the record.” Strenuous correspondents assert that Sir Thomas Lipton is hot foot after a seat in the House of Lords. His American friends sincerely hope that he will be better rewarded than he was in his chase after the America’s cup. THE SAN FRA THE DEATH OF REED, | HE day after his first inauguration, in 1885, | President Cleveland gave audience to Mr. Car- | lisle, the party leader in the House, to consult | upon the prospect of legislation. Having heard what | Carlisle had to say, the President answered: “But un- fortunately, under the rule and practice of the House, public business can be obstructed but not facilitated.” | This declaration was followed by a discussion of the | decline of the House under antiquated rules and the loss of its power as an instrumentality for effecting | business. Mr. Cleveland uttered the conviction of the |country as to the established inefficiency of the | House. One man could hinder, and two could pre- | vent, all business. When the creation of Oklahoma | was under discussion, Weaver, the greenback member | from Towa, held the House at a standstill for half a : | | this House, and I am going to be that one man.” ! The majority was powerless. The Speaker was a | nonentity. This state of things lasted five years, after its existence had been declared by President Cleve- land. Then came the session that lasted until late in | 1800, with Reed as Speaker. The Republican majority had declared for a new | protective tariff bill and the minority had responded, “The majority can pass nothing without our consent.” | At the beginning of the session that issue was the | sole subject of interest. Under existing rules the | minority could break a quorum by refusing to answer | rollcall, and by the use of the two privileged motions— 1to adjourn and to call the roll—could exhaust the | session without a.single act being passed To take away that power required a change in the rules, but | such change seemed impossible. It i known that a majority of the Republican members were opposed to any change of the rules because, looking forward | to the time when they would be a minority, they an emergency as no pariy had before i such as had not occurred in any par- liamentary body since the controversy between the Walpoie Minis encountered was found by the genius o Speaker. A rule was intro- should be ascertained by the ! presence in the chamber and not by the ible response of members to a rolicall. The Demo- crats laughed i i The roll was called to make consideration of the rule in order. The Democ- y sat silent and the vote failed Then began the parliamentary alternation of dilatory motions with the motion to ad,uu}n. which was voted down, and was immediately followed by a motion for a call of the House to ascertain the presence of a quo- rem. On that motion the Speaker rose and counted the members in their seats and announced a quorum present. It has been called usurpation, but it broke the chain that bound every House to the will of its minority. Republicans trembled at its boldness, some at what they regarded as its madness; but all, recog- nizing the courage of the leadership, fell into line. The new rule was adopted as the rule of the House, and for the first time in the history of that chamber its majority took charge oi its proceedings and as- sumed the responsibilities. The violent scenes which followed are history. The finale is not so clearly remembered. Reed's rules passed the McKinley tariff of October, 1890. A month later McKinley and his party were beaten and ap- parently went into eclipse. The Democracy had a quorum of the next House independently of Repub- licans and Populists, but made the shameiul recore of such general absenteeism as to compel Speaker Crisp to 2dopt the Reed rules, in the modified form of sharing the Speaker's power with a committee, The new parliamentary departure survives, while the strong man, who alone made it possible, lies dead in the national capital. Thomas B. Reed, who re- signed hiis seat in the House, and with it the Speaker- ship, has a unique place in American statesmanship and among the parliamentarians of the world. That place he fiils zlone and so completely that he will never be forgotten A native of Maine, he laid the keel of his fortunes n Californiz. While teaching school he studied for the legal profession and was admitted to the bar under a quiz conducted by Chief Justice Wallace. He was one of a2 company of young men applying for admis- sion. The Chief Justice asked each in turn of the con- stitutionality of the legal tender act. The others fiinched, answering in general that constitutional con- struction was such a profound matter that it was in- trusted by law to the ripe legal intellects of the Su- preme Court. When the question rcached Reed he answered in- stantly, “It is unquestionably constitutional, sir.” He was admitted, the Chief Justice saying, “A student who is so certain of his opinion on ag issue of such magnitude will adorn the profession.” That was long ago, and Reed was only a boy, but he was father to the man. His answer showed a bold spirit that did not hesitate to follow its convictions to the very edge of principles. The significance of his response may be judged when it is remembered that the Supreme Court of the United States decided the constitutionality of the legal tender act both ways, iand the Jast decision affirms Reed's opinion. That | boldness of conviction when he was a boy was with | him'through life. It stood him in good stead when he enfranchised the majority of the House by over- | throwing its rules, and again when he declared the | panic of 1893 to have an origin common with all re- | verses in the constitution of man and not in the | | rac scheme or incidents of government.' This high courage and initiative were joined in him | with a child's gentleness. His eye was that of a | woman—brown, beautiful and tender. His most sav- age critics in the stormy House which he emancipated | were his most loving and constant friends. No other | prominent man in stirring public events of the last f!wrr decades could have as many sincere mourners, for none had has many sincere friends. His political power passed by his own act. but that which goes | before power, and survives it—the love of men—was his to the end P has now reached a point where we may reason- ably expect the Legislature to undertake this winter to provide something in the way of a solution for the more important of them. Various associa- tions and organizations of influential men and women | have assisted the press in the campaign of education, and it is certain there will be a strong and well-di- rected support for any good measure proposed to that end. Of course, the chief obstacle in the way of procur- ing the adoption of a comprehensive system of pro- tecting the forests and conserving the waters of the State will be that of the cost. It always “the eternal want of pence that vexes public men.” Legis- lators desire to make a reputation for economy and A QUESTION OF COSTS. UBLIC interest in problems of forest protection | month, declaring: “Under the rules one man can run | and the Engiish House of Com- | 1£CO CALL, NDAY, 'cun rarely be induced tc vote a considerable sum un- less it be for what is technically known as “pork.” In the desired forest protection plan there is no barrel having pork for general distribution. The issue stands upon its own merits, and whatever money is | to be voted for it will be voted solely for the ‘ooq of the State. It is clearly evident that in protecting trees there can be no log rolling, for there will be no logs to roll. Such being the case it is worth while pointing out that almost any reasonable and effective system of protecting forests will be 2 money saving process to the State. However large the cost may seem, it will be far less than the cost of forest fires. An agent of the forestry division of the Depart- ment of Agricviture recently investigated the districts in Oregon and Washington that were burned over last September. In his report he says that in Wash- ington the losses foot up $8.857,000 and in Oregon §$3.910,000. Over 400,000 acres of timber land were | burned in three counties of Washington, the loss in | this section alone being $6,600000. In Oregon the | flames swept away timber covering 170,000 acres. That is the amount of the loss inflicted upon two ! oi our Pacific Coast States by forest fires during a single month. It is not even the whole of that month’s Icsses, for it was occasionedl by the big fires 'and takes mo account of smaller ones. Neither does it include the loss of timber not yet merchant- able, but which would have become so in a few years had it been spared. California’s loss has not been so heavy this year, but it has been heavy enough. Forest fires consume mil- lions oi money. the cost of letting things alone. President Castro, having subdued the Venezuelan | rebellion, is now looking down the guns of Great | power to obstruct to remain unimpaired. Britain and Germany, who want the money rightly due them. Perhaps Castro would prefer to play hide and seek with his hot-blooded revolutionary com- patriots. FARM AND CROP FIGURES. 1 OME days ago The Call directed attention to a ! S report made by a committee of the National ! Board of Trade to the effect that the farm sta- | tistics published by the Census Bureau are misleading. | It was stated at the time that it would be unfair to ! form a decided judgment on the subject until the re- {port had been published in full and an offi- cial reply had been made by the Census Bu- reau. Neither of those things has as yet been | done, but as some further information on the subject has been given out by the Depart- ! ment of Agriculture, and as Mr. Powers, chief agricultural statistician for the Census Bureau, has made an informal defense of the census reports, it is | worth while to revert to the controversy, for it relates | to matters of considerable importance to a large num- | ber of people. The information irom the Department of Agricul- llure shows wide variations between its crop reports !and those of the Census Bureau. As compiled and | tabulated by the Springfield Republican the two re- | ports for that year stand thus: \ Department of Crop of 18%¢. Agriculture. Census. ‘Wheat acreage 44,582,516 52,588,574 Production (bushels 547,303,486 658,534 252 Corn acreage. . 82,108567 $4.916,911 - 2,078.143933 2.666,440.279 It will be szen that the differences are large. There is thus forced upon the people the question which is port of the committee that the Census Bureau had in some cases given counties an area of farming land in excess of the entire area of the county, Mr. Powers is quoted as saying: “The census figures show 101 counties with farm lands reported ‘equal to or in excess of the surveyed land surface of such counties.” ‘For Ohio 19 per cent of the number of counties are shown to represent 100 per cent, or more than she entire surface in farm lands; in lowa, 17 per cent; Kansas, 12 per cent; Kentucky, 9 per cent; Mississippi, 9 per cent; Tennessee, 6 per cent; In- diana, 6 per cent,’ etc. With reference to the specific named only two of the quoted statements can be sub- stantiated as they stand in the report. Further, the COn"lmil!tt. in making its report, did not possess sta- tistics of ‘surveyed land’ for a single State. These as- sertions can be easily established, provided the com- mittee will give to the public the names and area of surveyed land of all the counties referred to by them. The statements of the committee with reference to the excess acreage in these seven States are more in ex- ’cess of the facts thaj) they allege the farm acreage in such States to be in excess of the true farm area.” In conclusion Mr. Powers said: “The so-called ex- cess acreage actually reported by the census is in har- mony with the facts, as a cursory examination of the same will demonstrate. In prosetuting its investiga- tions the committee never made one inquiry of the | chief statistician in charge with reference to the al- | leged errors here passed in review.” | Upon that statement we have a direct issue of fact | raised between the committee and the census officials, accompanied by a statement that the committee made its investigation with such partiality that it did not give the statisticians of the bureau a chance to be heard. We have thus a very awkward controversy to deal with. Tt will never do to have two co-ordinate | branches of the Government in such open conffict, and something must be done to bring them into har- mony. It is clear that either the census reports are unreliable or else the crop reports of the Agricultural Department are worthless and unsafe data upon which to base estimates of coming crops. A decision either | way will not be creditable to the Government. It will i go far to dissipate the popular confidence in govern- i mental reports of such matters. However, it will be l well for Congress to grapple with the subject and by a thorough public inquiry settle the qliestion one way or another. Governmental statistics ought to tally even, Not content with lLer reputation as a beer center, Milwaukee has developed a theologian who has taken to the pulpit to convince the city that there is no recognition in the Bible of a personal devil, and that the idea came not from the Bible but from Milton. The doctrine is a pleasing one and Milwaukee men are feeling much better over their beer than they ever felt before. —_— The good people of Hawaii seem determined at whatever gost to impress upon the world that they are aggressively and actively on the map. Ever since the island kingdom became an American Territory the place has been a hotbed of official scandal. As the casualties of the football games this season have not been more numerous than those of the deer huats in Maine, the old-time enthusiasts of the game are beginning to bewail its loss of vigor. DECEMBER 8 Therciore when we are counting : 1 the cost of protection, let us not forget to count also | | the nearer to complete accuracy. Referring to the re- | 1902, CRUISER PHILADELPHIA MAY BE SOLD OUT OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY i -‘l. HE cruiser Phiiadelphia is in a bad predicament and may be sold out of the navy. It is about two years 2go that $100,00) was expended upon the =hip In necessary repairs and now the i bureau of construction has estimated pair and modernize the vessel. adelphia was built by Cramps from plans purchzsed in England by Secretary Whit ney. The ship was launched Septembe 7, 1889, and wenat into commission July 28, |18%0. Her cost complete was $1,59,600 38, { of which $100,00 was for speed premiums. The hull and machinery cost was $1,440.- 75 & and the repdlrs up to July ). 19, 2 equal to . per cent of the first cost and at the rate of ¢ per cent per annum during her ten vears’ life in the mavy. The Philadelphia is not a handsome ship and her lofty side makes her a prominent target. The chief item in the proposed $500,00 repairs and alterations was in reducing her promi | nerce above water. The vessel is hardly | worth such an outlay and she may be clas. sified as one of those cruisers in our navy which Lieutenant Commander Niblack | asserts are “little better than junk.” & . | Chiet Constructor Bowles read a paper | betore the Society of Naval Architects {ia New York which, compared with that | of the general manager of the Union Iron | Works, presents some curious contradic- | tions. The chief constructor states that | the average time hitherto required to | bufld a battleship for our navy has been | four years and elght months, | from four years and one month to five years and eight months. He felicitates himself upon having been able, so far as | his bureau is concerned, to largely reduce hese delays in the ships to be built by |-rnnnn' the specifications In logical or- | der and having them made in all partic- | ulars definite and conclusive, instead of leaving many items of importance in- volving a large element of cost to the discretion of | ccnstructor, or | George W. |in building ships for the navy, states | that “one of the most recent specifica tions issued by the Navy Department re | quires that 253 of the most |items in the “as may be required.” construction should | be bullt as directed, which means that the | | ime the specifications were writien no |oue connected with the design for the | vessel could write down distinctly just | how that design was to be carried out.” | statements quoted above concerning the seven States | While the Navy Department is urging | the necessity of more officers it sees scmewhat strange that it permits volun- | tary nd resignations to go [en. No less t cight officers have either left the service or retired since ; July last, three of these being liéuten- ants. The latest retiremeénts are Cap- |tains F. M. Symonds and W. L. | who will become rear admirals on the re- | | tired list, with a pay of $4125 per annum. Commander G. C. Harms, on the re- | | tired list since June . 1599, has been ap- | pointed by the Board of Education, New York City, to take command of the school ship St. Mary's, at a yearly pay | 'o( $2000. His pay on the retired list | PERSONAL MENTION. D. M. Shropshire, a wine grower of Fresno, Is at the Palace. W. D. Buckley, a merchant of Stockton, is staving at the Grand W. D. Keyser, a stage line owner of | Hanford, fs at the Russ. A. D. King, a mining man of Hanford, is registered at the Palace. 5 Jams H. Jones, a merchant of Chico, is a guest at the California. G. E. Truman, a mining man of Siski- | you County, is located at the Ruse. Dr. A. Lambert of Vancouver, B. C., is at the Grand, accompanied by his wife. Bank Commissioner A. W. Barrett of Los Angeles Is registered at the Califor- nia with his wife. Dr. J. Sanger, who was the only Ameri- can in Manila at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, is at the Califor- nia. Dr. Sanger got out of Manila within an hour under the protection of the Eng- | lish Consul. His son-in-law, J. Remusat | of Shanghal, one of the thirty-five Com- | migsioners of Customs in China, accompa- | nies him. —— FINDS SNAKE IN BOX INSTEAD OF HIS MAIL Rancher of Proverb Hill Poisoned by Berpent in a Receptacle for Letters. MARYSVILLE; Dec. 7.—Alex Major of Proverb Hill is nursing a pofsoned arm and it may yet result in his death. Al the ranch gate on the county road Major has a box-shaped receptacle for letters and papers. last Saturday he thrust his hand | into the,box for mall, but quickly with- drew it and screamed. He had disturbed the slumber of a big snake. He hastened to the house to have the Injury looked after and sent his son with a gun to dis- patch the snake, but it had disappeared. —_——— Prunes ctuffed with apricots Townsend's * ———— hat it will require about $%0,00 to re- | b | The Phil-| The British dockyards, notably the De- | | | to rigidly enfroce the penaity clause In | tezial for the navy. the superintending naval | Dickie, in his paper on dela,s | important | Fleld, | 7 3 Y THE NAVY DEPART- | UNITED STATES CRUISER PHILADELPHIA WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE SOLD BY TH : il MENT. AS THE VESSEL HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS AS A MODERN FIGHTING MACHINE, AND | THEREFORE 18 NOT WORTH RECONSTRUCTING. ! ——e el The Admiralty has decided om the abolition of the old “wooden $1890. There are quite a number of mid- | die-aged officers who have engaged In | gradual : private business since thelr retifement wals as recelving acd training .mp;. from the navy, and while alleged to be |and in the course of & fow yeags the unfit for active duty afloat could be util- | Cambridge, Eritannia and other ships of | ized ashore and thus relieve the navy to | that class will be zbandoned. At Devon- | some extent of its shortage of officers. | port work Is rapidly procecding with the H o 4 | erection of barracks to suppiant the sta- tionary ships at that ¢ The British battleship Venerable, 15,000 tons and 15,0 horsepower. went in com- mission Noyember 12 and has been as- signed to the Mediterranean squadron. Five other bcttleships, identical with the Vererable, are already om 2nd an cpportunity will be afforded to test the sbips under like conditions and ascertain their relative merits A fleet composed of vesscls baving the same high The cost of the stationary training | siced i an ideal ome. which only Great ships in the British navy for 191 amount- | Brftain has thus far been able to assem- ed to $2,22,1% and supplied 400 boys to | ble. the service at an average cost of $575 fo each boy. The maintenance of the sea going training vessels was $£5280 and gave 1650 boys to the navy at an average | The | vonpoert, are making good records in the competition against private yards. The= Lattleship Montagu is being completed at 60,000 less cost that the original esti- | mate and on the battleships Bulwark and Implacable the decrease in expense will i be® neerly $45000. On the other hand, nearly all the contract built ships show | increased cost owing to Incompleted work, which has to be done by the Government. The Russian Minister of Finznce found the icebrcaker Ermack 100 ex sive to maintzin, and as the work cost of $525. period of service is six- vessel is largely in keeping nava teen months in the statiopary ships and | free from ice. he suggests that six months In the seagoing training ves- | turned oyer to the navy. The latter is sels. The British Admiralty has determined | thus getting another expense added its maintenance, which, with the absorp! | of the volunicer flegt. increases its contracts for ships, guns and other ma- | pense without onding efficiency On the battieships | The keel of the battleship Slava was and armored cruisers the penalty will ve | laid at the Baitic works, St. Petersburg. $3% a day for non-delivery on time and | November 1. She is the Afth ship of the #1060 a day over the period of ten weeks | same type and design. the others being allowed for steam trials and final accept- | the Alexander III. Borodino, Orel and !ance by the Government. The United | Kniaz Souvaroff. They are 135@ tons | Statez Navy Department has likewise be- | displacement, 16,000 horsepower and 15 | come impatient at the delay by shipbuild- | knots speed, carring batteries of four 12- ers and they will hereafter be held strict- | inch, tweive §-inch and twenty 12-pound- varying |ly to the contracts, which are much more | ers. They are improvements on the Po- Mmited than those for the British navy. | bieda. built two years ago, and very much There were only 217 trials by court- | resembie United States battleships of the | martial in the British mavy during 191 | Alabama type, the latter, however, car- |Put an analysis shows that the offenses | rying heavier batteries, but having less were all of a serious nature. Of these, | speed than the Russian ships. st:iking and attempting to strike a The “flying dragons,” experimented perfor officer numbered 132; theft and | with in the Russian navy for scouting at embeszlement. #; contempt to supericr | sea, are very simple affairs. They are cfticer, 73, but only 1§ for desertions. Of | composed of several kites which. bound | the 277 individuals tried only seven were | together, are capable, when in the atr, of acquitted. During the same period there | supporting the weight of a man They | were 104.457 summary punishments In the | are launched into space from the decks of tetal force of 10054 men. Ten years ag | torpedo boats, to which they remain at- | there were 113 courts-martial for strik- | tached by means of ropes. Thess kite ing and attempting to strike a superior | scouts have been sent up to great heights | oficer, which indicates a much less pro- | from which. by means of powerful portionate prevalence of this heinous of- | giasses, the scout can discern far off the tense at the present time, and the sum- | zpprcach or movement of hostile ships. mary punishments numbered 45.9% In a | The kites are forced upward by the me- | force of 3%,58. In the United States navy | tion of the torpedo boat to which they assaults on superior officers are rare, but | are attached, just as smaller kites are desertions are frequent. the latter being | manipulated by boys running -at tep the cause of more courts-martial than | speed, and Russian naval oficers are san- all the other offenses known In naval law | guine that they have hit upon a two-fold { rut together. important plan by which the great speed “ireproof furniture is to be supplied to | of torpedo boats may be utilized in mak- British wer veasels. It is urderstood to | ing the “flying dragons™ a success. This be made largely of asbestos and a trial | latter innovation in warfare at sea raises demonstrated its fireproof qualities. A | glso a question as to the designation of iarge pile was made of chairs. tables and | the man up In the air suspended by the | bureaus made from this new material and | kite. He is virtually a sky-pilot, insofar @ 47-inch shell was burst over this pile, | as from his lofty position he directs the but the flames made no impression. A ! movements of the vessel below, and also | similar test made with wooden furniture | cal's attention to approaching dangers. causcd a furious conflagration. The ad- | Hitherto the term of sky-pilot has beem vantages in these new articles are | applied to the chaplain on board ship, and important as, besides being noninflam- | Jack will have to invent some other mams mable, they will also be lighter and ef- | for the latter in order to prevent confu- fect a considcrable gain in weight for | sion when the order for “sky-pilot away cther purposcs. | Is issved from the quarterdeck. jcentury by a volume dealing with the LONDON WORLD | “rehitects ana decorators ot tne soviea: | Rudyard Kipih is going again | South’ Atrica. The :nbjefl“:: Mo mext OF LETTERS ook bas nct yet veen seciea on. vut is believed there is some probability of its PRI £ L being a collection of his poems. If o, Following the deluge of war books from English writers now comes a smail Boer flood. Kruger's memoirs are, as the | | | phrase goes, “to be obtained at all book- | C and Captain Marryat. :: sellers” and public libraries. General De- | had some practical knowledge of the sen wet's book, telling in many pages hh: ¢wn part in the campaign, will be ready | In a week. There is also a narrative byl the Rev. J. D. Ketsell, who was in the flel chaplain to Dewet and Mn.]-umwm into notice. but from what I gather English readers | rad has been, he professes do rot seem to be taking much to lh.l'wh‘ In Henry James. The older Boer books, naturally preferring to read | ;’,m' wmm the stories of the war from thelr own ! many of Mr. Conrad's side. As the Academy remarks in criti- | has glimpses, too, of other cizing the work of Boer authors, m;'fln strangely composite work may be able to shoot straight, but can- | Writer. not see straight. If auction room prices e It is not often a book of verse by a new | ::,’m.uvw-mb' Srah writer runs into a second edition. Gen-; that the works of Charles erally a sad remainder of volumes cum- | destined to be fotever un; ber the publishers’ shelves unill they find ! ture in recent sales is more their way Into the twopenny box or are | !Dan the prices pald for the converted into puip, and so become un- | Principes” of rare printed paper again. It Is therefore all | pe nie the more surprising to learn that one of | two years the “Tales From Shakespeare the most notable volumes o verse that;of 1807, until recently so accounted. HI gési? | 2 H . No A llon in a jungle will jJump twenty-five or thirty feet from a standing start, —_————— " Townsend's ' California glace Truit and et s e add & Market st., Paince Hotel buildi . ng. Special information supplied dally to houses and pul men oy the Clipping Bureau (Allen vl‘“” Caji- has have been published for a long time fetched £240, against the issue price of & “The Garden of Kama," by um’.:'.'l “The Essays of Ella,” 183, pubd- Hope,” which is the pen name of Mrs. | Mshed at nine shillings and sixpence, pre- M. H. Nicolson, now gone into a | *ented to John Clare, the Northampton- vocond edition. Since the first edition | Shire poet, made the record of &8 was issued a ago Mrs. Nicolson, | A§ainst four guineas for a copy in the with her husband, General M. H. Nicol- | Original state sold elght years ago. “The son, has been traveling in Moroeco. ‘Works™ of 1918, published at tweive shil- Lady Dilke is about to follow up her | lings, fetched £8. “The Famous Prince studies In French art of the elghteenth | Dorus,” dated 1511, issued at one shilling ¢ and sixpence, sold for £63; “Miss Lelces- ter’s School.” 188, for £35, and “Tales o" shillings, went for 10s. Yet another Domestic salesroom the other day., when the first ? -3¢ London _edition of “Rosamund Gray,” Foreign . ..8e dated 1T, 1n balf calt, 20l foe SSL This romance, whose scene .mmmrummn- lage of Widford. near the Blukesmoor, in ed should be n accord- Hertfordshire, referred to in his essays, ingly in order to insure "8 was published at two shillings and six- ‘zt:uunw dallv pence. The highest price ever pald in oy tination. London before scems ta have beem &3, §iven in 158, A i