The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 30, 1903, Page 4

Che Dok~ Call. MOND. veresieees.-MARCH 30, 1903 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Bropriefor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. Ask for THE CALL. T e Operator Will Connect You With the Departme-t You Wish. PUBLICATION OFFICE. ket and Third, S. EDITORIAL ROOMS. .. to 221 Stevenson St. Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Coples, 5 Ce: Terms by Mail, Including Postage: DAILY CALL (including Sunday), one year. $6.00 DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 8 months. 3.00 DAILY CALL (inciuding Sunday), 3 months 1.50 DAILY CALL—By Single Month. o5 SUNDAY CALL, One Year. :: WEEKLY CALL, One Year All postmasters are authorized to receive subscripti X Sample ecoples will be forwarded when requested. Mail subscribers in ordering change of address should be particular to give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order 1o insure & prompt and correct compliance with their request. OAKLAND OFFICE.... ++.1118 Broadway C. GEORGE KROGNESS, ¥ereger Foreign Advertising, Marguette Building, Chicags. (Long Distance Telephone *‘Central 2619.") NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH .+30 Trirune Bullding NEW YORK RRESPONDENT: €. CARLTON...... vese..Herald Square NEW YORK NEWS STANDS: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano, 31 Unfon Square; Murray Hill Hotel; Fiftb-avenue Hotel and Hoftman House. CHICAGO NEWS STANDS: Eherman House: P. O. News Co.; Great Northern Hotel; Trement House; Auditorium Hotel: Palmer House. WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE...1406 G St., N. W, MORTON E. CRANE, Correspondent. X BRANCH OFFICES—S527 Montgomery, corner of Clay, open upti: $:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open until 9:80 o'clock. 633 McAllister, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin, open until 9:30 o'clock. 1841 Mission, open until 10 c'clock. 2261 Market, corper Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. lencia, open until ® o'clock. 106 Eleventh. open until 9 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky, cpen unt!l § o'clock. 2200 Fillmore, open urtil § p. m. e was ¢ variety in trade last week, BONDS AND BUSINESS. and mercantile quarters. The HERE both apatky which has prevailed for several weeks n Wall street was broken during the closing days, on Friday a pronounced bear raid sent the whole ks down, though there was a rallying ten- ancia cy at the close of the day. The unexpected proposition of the Secretary of the Treasury to re- nd several issues of bonds by calling them m a 1eplacing them with other issues bear- mg. lower ates of interest occasioned some surprise, but if the proceeding was intended release a large amount of cash to relieve the market it was not successful. The opinion of experts was that the release of funds would be too 1l to cut much figure, especially as the offer. was . not particularly attractive to the bondholders, either arge or smail. Few men, unless they are in sore need of ready money, care to surrender securities ng as high as 4 per cent interest and take in ex- 1ge the same securities as low as 2 per cent, even though the Government signifies its willingness to divide the national profits in the transaction. This was practically what the proposal amounted to, and while thus far it has not actually fallen flat, it has not * aroused any enthusiastic support. In fact, the Harri- - man-Keene struggle for the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad overshadowed it. An interesting feature developed during the bear drive on the stock market. It was that the publi¢ declined to sell, even if the market did go down, and skeptical about the decline and dis- posed to hang on to their holdings. This disclosure led the financial experts to question the durability of the flurry, for as long as the public are able to hold on to their securities there will not be much chance fof ‘a sensational fluctuation, especially in the direc- a serious break. There were indications, that some large interests were realizing, as money tion of however, the selling became general on Friday afternoon, and * it was even rumored that one large bank, representing poweriul interest, was quietly letting go. Another roteworthy feature was that nobody cxplained the break. The market simply went down, and that was all there was to it The volume of legitimate business, as reflected by learings, fell off, the loss from 1903 being 3 per cent, seven of the dozen largest cities showing a de- crease, while the aggregate clearings themselves barely éxceeded $2,000,000,000. The week's failures numbered 514, against 205 last year. Commercial reports from e different sections indicated a general improve- in transportation, fuel supply, retail and jobbing trade and collections idicated that fuel troubles in the iron and stee] in- ry are about ovér. coal is easier, witih 2 tendency among speculators to unload. The iron and steel trades themselves con- tinue to send in good reports of expanding business, liberal orders for finiched products and still higher for some descriptions of both raw and tural goods: The minor metals are reported firm, with an advance in several kinds. The textiles, however, are not making as good a showing a< of late, woolens being reported dull, with cancellations of early orders, and many mills pre- viously booked for the whole season are now seeking véw business. Cotton goods are also easier, with jobbers growing less inclined to take hold of the market, especially as many New England mills are threatened with extensive strikes. Footwear factories, on the other hand, report trade good, with deliveries ather larger than usual at this time o the year. Lumber is reported zctive, with a large demand for building purposes, in spite of the labor demands, which hang like a threatening cloud over the market. The rzilroads, too, are reporting increased earnings, the gross gain in March being 12.8 per cent over 1902 and 22.9 per cent over 1901. Groceries and provisions continue in large consumptive demand, without much yariation in quotations, aside from the normal daily fluctuations. Conditions in California remain as for months. A continuous influx of highly desirable homeseekers from the Western States gives the streets of our cities and towns a new bustle and keeps the real estate agents busy showing properties. Money is plentiful, collections are good, crop prospects are fine and the situation is bright all around. T _ Andrew Carnegie is said to have been the only millionaire in New York who paid his personal prop- erty taxes without a protest, and now some people are saying he is :faz!‘vwhfle others assert he is trying to .avoid the disgrace of dym(ry:h Mean- time, Carnegie is out of town and probably is not aware the taxes have been paid. - the bank ¢ 5 ment prices stru . | the integrity of the public credit. 1008 Va- | An increased output of coke‘ Coke is still scarce and high, | THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, MARCH 30 FAME AND NOTORIETY. N all time there have been men who mistook I notoriety for fame. Such men seek occasions for getting in the public eye. They are advertisers. They pose in the focus of events. They seize upon every happening that attracts public attention to claim credit for it if it be of good consequence and to noisily take credit for doing to the death any- thing that has expired of its own lack of merit. They do not scruple by such means to rob others, tem- porarily, of the credit which is their due, and get thereby much notoriety and the applause of the care- less and thoughtless; but when history is written credit is readjusted and the nortoriety secker is left unmentioned. The Democratic party in 1806 went running a hot race to get an advertiser, a seeker for notoriety, and found him in Bryan. In our political history up to | that time there had been found no other such per- | sistent advertiser and notoriety seeker. He lived on assing applause and was a past master of the arts by which it may be secured. He sought notoriety at the | expense of the present reputation of better men and never hesitated to wound where desling the blow would secure the end so dear to his vanity and his | love of applause. In that way he drove out of his party every man whose sober mind and talents and‘> | experience were of value to it and then proceeded to abuse them all and singular for going out of a com- | pany in which brains had ceased to be influential. | The first and greatest of these exiles was Mr. | | Cleveland. He was President. He had a record of | three candidacies and two elections to that great | office. He was credited by the most just and thought- ful of his countrymen with the quality of rare judg- ment and courage and honesty in times of great dif- | ficulty and crises involving the supremacy of law and But the very ex- | hibition of these qualities was made the occasion for | abusing him by Mr. Bryan. .His motives were at- | tacked. His honesty was impeached. His honor de- ! nied, and the result was an eclipse of his reputation. The vigor of the notoriety seeker’s assault de- | ceived even the well meaning, who are averse to be- | lieving false witness against their neighbor. The ap- iparrnt number of Mr. Cleveland’s iriends declined, until their total roster was so small that it seemed | incapable of ever rescuing his reputation from ob- | loquy or clearing his fame from the cloud that ob-| | scured it. They were, indeed, enyeloped in the same | | eclipse, and Carlisle and Morton, Dickinson { and | Olney were ousted equally from public confidence | by the glib tongue of Mr. Bryan. - Hundreds of thou- ;san(k of Mr. Cleveland's countrymen were led to honestly believe that he escaped legal punishment of | the offenses charged zgainst him, to suffer the retri- bution of occupying an infamous place in history. Especially in the South, the stronghold of his party, | provisions. Mr. Cleveiand was execrated with that extreme bit- | terness which is the wormwood of all political uvler—‘; ance in that section. | He retired from office to private life. With hi vsual scruples relating to domestic privacy he sought | residence m a small town in his native State, underi ! the congenial and classic shades of a fine old uni- versity, took interest in its affairs, employed his pen | in every engaging composition upon subjects non- political, znd with natural modesty not only refrained | | from defending himself, but omitted attack upon his | enemies, except by an occasional ufterance in sup- | port of what he esteemed to be sound cml(tmltionalt | principles. With most refined delicacy he refused v utterance that would embarrass his successors in He had borne the burden and knew | | the Presidency. | its weigit and pressure and the proneness of the peo- | ple to misunderstand and misconstrue. Mr. Bryan | has for seven years enjoyed perfect freedom in at- | | tacking him, and at the end of that period his attacks| | have become more direct, personal and bitter. Suddenly, from every part of the country bursts a | blazing manifestation of repentance of the long in-| justice done to the patient and silent man. Wher- ever he appears respectful crowds assemble to salute | him. Jurists and leaders of the opposite party de- light in seeking opportunities to do him honor and | to utter his fame. From all over the South rise the | voices of leaders of public opinion in ascription to his greatness and his incomparable service to his| | country, and he enjoys the privilege, rarely given to public men, to live into the period of his fame's | restoration and the splendid re-equipment of his good | name. ‘ None of this is creditable to the Democratic party | and but serves to stamp its unfitness to govern the | country, since it has proved incapable of ruling its | own spirit, and was led to continue seven years in the perpetuation of libel against the greatest living exponent of its real principles. Fame is enduring. Notoriety is transient. But will Mr. Bryan ever know | this? \ In the midst of international complications, South American disturbances, the storm and stress of the color question and the anxieties of an approaching | continental tour, President Roosevelt, with indom- itable energy, has decided to assume new cares and responsibilities. He has determined to become a member of the Board of Trade of Oyster Bay. THE SULTAN OF SULU. ROMPTLY upon the arrival of an American P man of war at his port the Sultan of Sulu | gracefully accepted the changed situation in his part of the world, hoisted the stars and stripes, took the oath of allegiance and asked for a pension. Since | that day he has lived up to the level of a man who | knows a fact when he sees it. We have had trouble of many kinds with various sorts of Filipinos, but none with him. Whenever we have wanted him he has been “Johnny on the spot,” and whenever he has wanted anything from us, his name has been “Get there ElL.” It is pleasant to do business with such a man. He -does not feel sorry for himself as a victim of ruthless conquest. He makes no vain complaints and shows no signs of lessened pride. Indeed, he seems to feel himself a bigger man than ever, and it is not im- probable that he has told his wives in the confidences of the family circle that he has annexed the United States and that Uncle Sam’s ships were sent to Sulu to raise the flag as an act of obeisance to his Sultanic Highness. 4 Such being the cheerful disposition of our dis- tinguished fellow citizen, it is not surprising to learn that he plans to come to this country next year to show himself at the St. Louis Exposition. It is his intention to bring with him a choice collection of wives and a string of pearls which he proudly boasts to be the finest in the world. “Should unforeseen difficulties arise so that he cannot bring both the pearls and the wives, then he will leave the wives behind. That programme is in itself an evidence of his rare insight into the realities of life. Most men going abroad would prefer to take their wives rather than costly collections of precious gems, but the i Sultan is wiser than the mass. Heknows that if he had| sippi ! 5 ever so many wives he could not get pearls. with them, but having on exhibition the finest lot of pearls on earth. he can easily get a wife or two in any town he strikes. The American people will be glad to see the Sultan. They have heard much of him and -would like to look upon one so famous. Many would will- ingly stand in a line for a chance to shake his hand. His attitude has commended itself to the great host of his fellow citizens on this side of the water, and should the St. Louis authorities make any mistake in doing kowtow before him, he can put up a side tent near the fair grounds and start a show of his own. rr——eae A prominent commissary in the service of the United States Government is to be court-martialed on a charge' of having accepted commissions, in the form of provisions, from contractors. The accused officer seems to have forgotten one of the modern uses of a medium of exchange. Money will buy —— A COMING BATTLE. . —— ISPATCHES from Havana announce that the D ratification of the treaty of reciprocity. with the United States was obtained in the Cuban Senate only after positive assurances were given that President Roosevelt would call an extra session of Congress in the fall so that the issue could be finally dealt with before December 31, as required by amend- ments made to the treaty in the United States Sen- | ate. The report has been confirmed in Washington, and we may therefore count upon the extra session as an assured fact. When Congress meets there will be a battle over the reciprocity question, and it threatens to be a prolonged | one, provided the rules of the House do not force a vote on it without giving time for full debate.. Should that course be adopted by the leaders of the House the discussion will make up in intensity what it lacks in length, so that in either case the struggle will be a notable one. The increasing earnestness of the Republican opposi- tion to reciprocity treaties is evidenced by the force and vigor with which they"were recently. denounced byl the American Protective League. Time was, not long ago, when such matters were either ignored or passed over with but few words. Of late, however, the | menace of such treaties has become better under- stood, ‘and as they are being supported’ by strong influences, it has become imperative for stalwart pro- tectionists to speak in no uncertain terms. Fhe Cuban treaty forms a good enough ground on which to take a stand, and accordingly we may expect a decisive battle to be fought over it when it comes before the House. The resolutions of the Protective League cover the whole subject in these words: ‘“Resolved, That re- | ciprocity in competitive products by treaty is unsound | n principle, pernicious in practice and condemned by all experience. It is contrary alike to the principle of protection, to the fair treatment of domestic pro- ducers and to friendly relations with foreign coun- | tries. It is neither ethical nor economic, since it | secks to benefit some industries by the sacrifice. of others, which is the essence of injustice. As at pres- | ent advogated, reciprocity is a policy of fav,uri(ism.! It would tend to array industry against industry, and | section against section at home, and foment industrial retaliation and political antagonism abroad. Such a policy would open the door to the grossest favoritism in legislation, promiote ‘the’ growth of a corrupting lobby and increase the .power of debasing bossism. Such a policy has no justification in economics, states- manship, ethics or good politics. True American policy is protection of all the opportunities and pos- sibilities of the American market for American enter- prises, and fair, equal treatment for all other coun- tries, namely, the equal right to compete for Ameri- can business in the American market by the payment of the full equivalent of American wages. This alone is honest protection, good Republicanism and the true American policy.” That is the platform on which protectionists will stand when the time comes to decide whether or no our protective duties shall be set aside in the interest of Cuba. The treaty is open to every objection stated in the resolutigns. It sacrifices some American industries for the sake of benefiting others. It gives set of foreign producers advantages over others. It establishes the principle of favoritism both at home and abroad. It would unquestionably lead to antagonizing other sugar-producing countries, and might impel them to acts of retaliation, which in turn would force us to reply in kind. Thus we would be led into entanglements which would be annoying to say the least, and might prove hurtful to many in- terests. That some Republicans will be inclined t6 support the treaty seems ‘evident. The administration is for it and the advocates of the “Towa idea” may also sup- port it as a step in the direction of that “tariff re- form” of which they talk s6 ‘much and so vaguely. The party as a whole, however, will not be led astray. The strength of the Republican ‘party before the peo- ple lies in its unswerving support of the principle of protection to American industry, and as Senator Hanna has' said, “The best policy at this time is to stand pat.” " to one At a recent school election at Milford, New Jer- sey, Miss Sarah Cooper Hewett took so much in- terest in one of the candidates that she chartered a special train to bring voters to the town from a dis- tance, provided free lunch for all comers at a hotel near the polling place and made a personal canvass among the guests. Her candidate was elected, but it spoils the story to learn that the Jucky fellow is not a young man of marriageable conditions, but a mil- lionaire who had promised to give $25000 for the erection of a new schoolhouse if elected. New Mexico is striving to show by her stren- uous life her right to new honors and high digni- ties in the Union. Even in her social life the spirit burns. At a recent joyous dance in one of the towns of the Territory three men were murdered and a fourth was dangerously wounded. The Arizona Rough Riders intend to present 2 tame captive bear to President Roosevelt on his visit to them this summer. They evidently have forgotten that the chief executive has a liking only for the wild specimens of beardom and cares to capture them him- self. f Our Filipino friends have renewed, with some slight success, their efforts to murder American officers. These South Sea island subjects of Uncle Sam seem to feel that they are too numerous and want to quit -any active participation in the affairs of life. —_— L First and last the Govérnment has expended up- ward of $50,000,000 in efforts to restrain the Missis- River, a?d now the.xgjv.e'r ' showing the Gov- ernment how easily it can wash the whole sum down mthfilfloffié:kqui} e room for more.- 1903. LEGAL HOME OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY IN A SUBURB OF LOUI SVILLE P e HE contest between the Keene and the Harriman interests over the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the filing by the for- mer on March 12, at Louisville, Ky.. of the bill of complaint and appli- cation for an injunction, brings into prom- inence the fact that though not own- e +* 2 e S ran through the State, the request was freely granted. % S It took less than one month’s work on the part of the late Henry McHenry of Hartford to engineer the charter through the Legislature. Mr. McHenry .was as- sisted in the work of securing the char- ter by Colonel Thomas Bullitt of Louis- ville. According to Colonel Bullitt, the — AT TORNE gy N - s 2 WEAVER . ing a foot of property in Kentucky, the Southern Pacific Company still has its legal home in the State which gave It corporate existence. Out to the south of Loulsville near Jacob Park, lies the little suburb of Beechmont, a place of some 200 inhabi- tants and there, in the residence of | 3. B. Weaver, assistant secretary of the Southern Pacific Company, is the head- quarters of one of the greatest railroad corporations in the country. Mr. Weaver's house is a pleasant and substantial frame structure, surrounded with trees, and located near the lins of the Louisville Railway. Company, which | runs a car every half hour to Beechmont. One would hardly think to see the place that behind it was a background of finance and business which means $200,- 000,000 of capital, steamskip lines on both oceans, %16 miles of track with 1300 loco- motives, 1900 passenger cars and 36,000 freight cars. Yet the pleasant, quiet Weaver home in Beechmont is the head and front of every legal transaction or fight in which the great corporation engages and stands for more money, in law, than any other | building in the State of Kentucky. ‘When the Southern Pacific Railroad obtained its charter in Kentucky it es- tablished nominal offices in Louisville. The assistant secretary of those days was Mr. D. S. Krebs. a‘ that time au- ditor of the Chesapeake, * Ohio and Southwestern. His offices were at Sev- enth street and the river, and there hung an ostentatious Soutnern Pacific sign. After the Illinols Central 10ad purchased the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern road, about five years ago, J. B. Weaver, treasurer of the lat- ter road, became the assistant secretary of the Southern Pacific and at once trans- ferred the headquarters to Beechmont, his place of residence. Mr. Weaver is an attorney of Louisville, but keeps the busi- ness of the Southern Pacific entirely sepa- 1- LEGAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC AT BEECHMONT. e - times seems to his neignbors to be of a nominal type, he is a necessity, and no better demonstration of this fact can be had than the events of the . past week, when the great raliroad came home to have its wrongs righted. Kentucky became the headquarters of the Southern Pacific Railroad In 1884. The Legislature granted a charter on March 14 of that year. The late C. P, Huntington was the practical owner of all the roads, which, combined, formed the Southern Pacific system. At that time says the Courier-Journal, great corporations of all kind came to Kentucky for their charters, just as they now go to New Jersey or to Delaware. Kentucky Legislatures had gained _the reputation of giving the corporations ev- erything that was asked for. Hunting- ton at that time owned the Chesapeake and Ohio and the old Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern, and was a power in the politics of not cnly Kentucky but other States. Therefore when his repre- task of securing the charter was not a difficult one, -for, he says, ‘“Huntington got anything he wanted from the Legis- lature in those days.” At the time the charter was granted it was given out that it was desired to unify a number of smaller systems be- tween New Orleans and Portland, Or. To his friends Huntington said that it was the first step toward the completion of a vast transcontinental railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Chesapeake and Ohio was to be used from Newport News to Louisville; the Chesapeake and Ohio Southwestern and smaller lines con- trolled by Huntington were to rum the line to New Orleans. From there on the Southern Pacific system was to be used to the Western coast. The death of Hunt. ington prevented the earrying out of this plan, and the system which he had la- bored all his life to bring together fell apart in a few months. Since his death the Southern Pacific has been the source of comstant warfare be- tween the Keene and Harriman interests. E. H. Harriman, as chairman of the board of directors of the Unlon Pacific, saw the time of Huntingtons death a chance for the Union Pacific to secure a lease on the Central Pacific, and thus get an outlet at San Francisco. A majority of the Southern Pacific stock was bought in by Harriman and he elected a board of directors which was favorable to the in- terests of the Union Pacific. This board engineered a deal by which the Southe: Pacific was leased to the Union Paeifl for ninety-nine years. Since then the minority stockholders of the Southern Pacific have received no div. idends. Now, led by James R. Keene, who is ranking in the forefront of American financiers, and who is directing the con- test from his sickbed in the Waldorf- Astoria, the minority stockholders are making a fight against the Harriman con- trol of the road which promises to end in vietory. It was but a step in this fight which caused the flling of the in- rated in location from his practice of law. sentatives asked for a charter for a great junction suit in the Federal Court in ‘Whether or no his railroad business-at railroad system, not one mile of which Loulsville last week. L e e e e s S ™Y BRITAIN'S PROPOSED NEW DOCKYARD IN SCOTLAND IS CONSIDERED A MENACE BY THE GERMAN PRESS NEW dockyard is to be estab- lished on the estuary of the Forth, on the east coast of Scotland. It will be the base of North Sefl! operations and will protect Edinburgh, much as Sheerness, at the mouth of the Thames, protects London. There is evi- dently urgent need of such a naval sta- tion, as the only dockyard on the easi coast of England is Sheern Between Sheerness and St. Margarets Hope, at the mcuth of the Forth, there is a distance of about 0 miles, somewhat too long to be covered in one day's steaming, and the Admiralty at one time contemplated utilizing the Elswick establishment on the Tyne, 400 miles from Sheerness, as a raval station, but concluded that the ad- vantages of a more northern locality would answer the purposes better. The estuary of the Forth is about 450 miles distant from Wilhelmshafen, the nearest German base, and the German press re- gard the project of the new British naval base as a menace, which, however, is not likely to deter Parliament from carrying out the plan so obviously necessary for the country. The trials of the torpedo-boat destroyer Velox, fitted with turbine machinery, kave been disappointing as to speed and coal consumption. The intended speed of thirty knots fell considerably short, reaching only 27.07 during a one hour run and the consumption was 9.52 tons for that period, which would exhaust her coal supply of 80 tons in a little over eight hours in a distance of 220 miles. Under a twelve-hour cruising speed of 11 knots the trial gave better resuits, the average speed being 11.26 knots with 212 pounds of steam, 3514 revolutions and a coal con- sumption of %1 pounds per hour. ‘The British battleship Cornwallis, 14,000 tons, bullt and engined at the Thames Iron Works, concluded her 30 hours’ trial under four-fifth power on March 5, dur- ing which an average of 13,694 horsepower and 17.94 knots speed were developed, with a coal consumption of 2.09 pounds per cent of horsepower. The ship is calcu- lated to make 19 knots with 18,000 horse- power, which, if the recorded speed of 17.94 knots is correct, will be exceeded un- der full power. i ‘The British Channel squadron had an excéedingly rough experience during the gale of March 1, the battleships especial- ly. The Resolution lost her rudder, but its officers did not definitely know of it until the ship was anchored at Plymouth. The steering gear became disabled and, after being repaired it was noted that the chip paid no attention to the supposed operation of the rudder, and steering was then done by means of the two screws. The Collingwood shipped large quantities of water and is supposed to have sprung a leak and had to be docked in order to ascertain the locality and extent of the damage. : An_explosion occurred March 4 or one Portsmouth, after a trip to Spithead. . It Wwas ascertained that the explosion had been caused by the water washing down | the hatchway and working its way into the gasoline. Four men were. stightly | burned on the face and hands, but the | beat suffered no damage. This is the | second recorded accidental explosion of gasoline during the present year on board | the submarine boats. P _The initial trials of the French coast- defense ship Henry IV have developed many defects which it will take several months to remedy. The engines, bullt at the Government works at Indret, require extensive alterations and the boilers have proved unsatisfactory. This curiosity of naval arehitecture was begun July 15, 1597; launched August 23, 1899, and expect- ed to be completed during 190, is not like- Iy to be ready for commission within an- other year. The estimated cost of $3,813,- €27 has already been exceeded and the vessel Is sure to prove a fatlure. Jurien de la Gravier, a second-class pro- | tected cruiser of 3600 tons, has also dis- 1 appointed its designer. During a 24 hours’ | run under 10,500 horsepower, the average speed was 19 knots, but the full power trial fell short of the calculated speed by one-tenth of a knot, although the horse- power was 17461, an excess of 461 horse- power. - The anticipated speed was 23 knots and the failure to reach it Is said to be due to defective lines of the ship. R The German Emperor has made a pres- ent of his old steam yacht Hohenzollern to the Crown prince, in which to voyage around the world. This steamer, which must not be eonfounded with the new Ho- henzollern, buflt in 1892, is a side-wheeler of 1700 tons, 3000 horsepower and fifteen knots' speed and was bullt twenty-seven years ago. In addition to the running cost for coal, etc., the steamer carries fifteen officers and a crew of 150, all of whom are carried on the naval establishment pay roll. e The water-tight doors in three of the latest Russian battleships placed In com- mission have been found defective owing to their great weight. These doors, as well as those being made for ships under construction, are to be reduced in size from three feet to 2 and one-half feet. e, . Bids for a floating dock, to be located at Cavite, were opened at the Navy De- pl:;?ent on March 16. Three offers were ‘Mmade: | to Cavite, there The Maryland Steel Company, Balti- more, was apparently the lowest bidder at $1,085,000, the dock to be delivered at Sandy Point, Md., and the Government to have it towed to its destination in the Philippines. The United States Shipbuilding Com- pany’s bid of $1,443,000, included delivery at Cavite. Dutton. Company of New York, on the basis and conditions of the Maryland com- pany. The latter built the: floating dock ‘at Alglers, La., e for the Philippine dock, for which an ap- pl‘;}pll’hlh)n of $1,225.000 is available. e dock s to have a lifting capacit of 16,000 tons, a length of 500 aet m :g; feet draught and four feet keel blocks, and is to be ready for test within twenty- seven months from date of contract. The structure will be of steel, and it would seem to be quite practicable and profit- able to have the several parts shipped out to be assembled and launched, thus avoilding the risk and Sreat cost of towing the dock a distance of 15,000 miles. There is no denying of the fact that not- withstanding the alleged superior work- ing systems of American shipyards as compared with those of Great Britain, France and the rest of the world, the re- sults are not satisfactory as to expeditious delivery of naval vessels. As an offset, however, it is a fact that our record for delays through unsuccessful steam trials is much better than that of any other naval power, for none of the ships de- signed by the bureaus of construction and steam engineering have proved failures, as has been the case in the British, French and Russian navies. All our ships have practically exceeded the reguire- ments and If Congress and the Navy De- partment will only enforce a strict com- pliance with contract deliveries the build- ers will aiso be likely to be as expeditious with naval work as they are with that for the mercantile marine. e ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. AREA—G., City. ‘The area of France is 204,092 square miles; that of Texas is 265,- 780, and that of California 158,360. BOSTON TEA PARTY—R. M. R., Oak- land. Cal. The histories do not give “the names of all those who were members of the Boston tea party.” HOUSE OF AUSTRIA-W. I, Alameda, Cal. The present imperial family of Aus- tria, of which Franz Josef is the head, is descended from a German Count, Rudoiph von Habspurg. or Hapsburg, who was born in 1218 and was elected Kaiser of the Holy Empire in 1276, A RULE OF POKER—Subscriber, City. It is a rule of the game of poker that when all the hands are filled the player who is left to the age has the first “say.” and he must forthwith bet or retire from the play and forfeit what he has already put up. Such is the rule in States out- side of California. In this State the rule is that the player who “passes” can bet, if he so desires, after the other players have bet. —_—————— Ex. strong hoarhound ecandy. Townsend's.* ———— Townsend's California glace frult and mndleo.- ‘ue.pmd‘u‘:-m-uem box: nice present for Eastern friends. &9 Market st., Palace Hotel bullding. -« \ A satisfactory results Clipping (Allen’ of the submarine boats while entering |and will probably. be given the contract | fornia street. 'r,-l“:n':'f-u-"tr o