The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 6, 1903, Page 4

§ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1903 . ’ ——/"‘_’____———— Che ~False Call. APRIL 6, 1903 MONDAY Acéress All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manuf,r. TELEPHONE. Ask for THE CALL. The Operator ‘Will Connect You With the Departme t You Wish. ..Market and Third 217 to 221 Stevensom s. ’. St. FUBLICATION OFFICE LEDITORIAL ROOMS. .. B Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Weelk. Single Copies, 5 Cents. Mail, Including Postage: :g Sunday), one year DAILY CALL (¢ DAILY CALL « y DAILY CALL (including Sun DAILY CALL—By Single Month EUNDAY CALL, Ope Yeat. WEEKLY CALL, One Year All postmasters are authorized to receive wubscriptions. Sampie coples will be forwarded when requested. becribers in ordering change of address should be | zive both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order i insure & prompt and correct compliance with their request OAKLAND OFFICE. 1118 Broadway.. ve..Telephone Main 1083 BERKELEY OFFICE. 2148 Cemter Streef.........Telephone North 77 C. GEORGE KEOGNESS, Manager Foreign Adver- tising, Marquette Building, Chicago. (Long Distance Telephone “Central 2819.”") NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH........30 Tritune Building NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT: CARLTON...... Herald Square NEW YORK NEWS STANDS: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano, 31 Unfon Square; Merray Hill Hotel; Fifth-avenue Hotel and Hoffman House. S . conns CHICAGO NEWS STANDS: Eherman House; P. O. News Co.; Great Northern Hotel; Tremont House; Auditorfom Hi Pelmer House. WASHINGTON (D. C. 10 .1406 G MORTON E. CRANE, Correspondent. . M. W. | BRANCH OFFICES—S27 Montgomery, scrner of Cl unti! 9:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open until 9:30 o’clogk. r, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin, open untl | #:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission, open until 10 c'clock. 2261 | Masket, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 1088 Va. iencia. until 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh, open until 9 o corper Twenty-second and Kentucky, cpen open 633 CONDITION OF TRADE. abor situation is the only disturbing factor trade at the Threatened 1 over the country are doing continual ness by scaring capital from embark- rises which are largely dependent their development. This applies par- building operations, and builders all over | sending in the same complaints. 1on of trade is good. carcity of railroad cars, but it is not | t was last year, except in a few sections, | ads, disgusted with Jast year's experi- | new cars as iast as the different The roads themselves are moment. are em ont. « g a large business, the increase in gross earn- ch being 13 per cent over 1902 and 211 go1. Whether the current increase will general advance in the wages of es and the increased c of material as not yet been definitely ascertained, If such | 1 impression is that it will not. then t se, he railroads are not really earning n lasi year, in spite of the apparent gain. ard swept through the West during the lat of the week, prostrating telegraph lines and | ailroad trains, but in spite of this drawback | of the country showed a gain of 17.6| the corresponding week in 1902, with ngs of $2,310,000,000, and most of the ties showing a substantial increase in the trade. indicated an with retailers from all country over 1g jobbing and re business, rdering m jobbers in many places, and col-| ¢ ns were reported rather better, though they have slow anywhere, except in the South, | Lumber is quite active and the 1 for iron and steel keeps up, though pressure foreign iron upon the market has resulted in a cut ents to $1 per ton in this product. Coal has so been cut 50 cents per ton, but is still 40 cents bove last year’s price in the East, the deficiency 1 fuel strike in 1902 not having been fully shed as yet. The consumer is paying the final | tel strike, as usual. | I s are unsettled. The cotton | s deranged by strikes and the price of wool is gh arc chary about going too deeply to t ket. Néw business in woolens is light, | nd cancellations of orders, mentioned last week, con- | Footwear, on the contrary, is meeting with a | t buye: 1. good demand, and hides and leather are firm. Pro- | maintain their high level and livestock | less scarce all over the country. | During the month of March prices of commodities, cording to Dun’s index number, declined to 99.26, against 101.06 in February, this being about the usual | recession during the closing months of winter. There has been nothing especially interesting in Wall street during the past week. The usual gossip regarding this, that and the other stock has been set afloat, with the usual result; but there has been no striking movement of the whole list, one way or the | cther. Southern Pacific had a spasm on Friday, | owing to a report that J. Pierpont Morgan had ab- sorbed the Keene interest in the famous pool, but it turned out to be 2 roorback of the first class, en- gineered at exactly the right time by clever manipu- lators, and kept everybody concerned busy the rest of the day denying it. For several hours, however, it was a spectacular play of the highest order. Our local conditions remain as before. The recent rains have enhanced the already fine crop prospects, and barring the usual frosts and north winds to be expected here and there from now on, the State will make an excellent general showing next harvest. The season, however, like that of 1902, is several weeks backward. Stocks of almost all kinds of farm and orchard produce have run low, a condition which | promises good prices for the new products next fall. | This extends the feeling of confidence and renders the whole State cheerful and beautifully resigned to as much more prosperity as Providence elects to be- ! stow- upon it i visions st \ues more or New Yorkers are to have a chance of deciding at a general election whether the State shall issue bonds to the amount of $101,000000 for the purpose of | fitting the Erie Canal for the traffic of 1000-ton barges. and as the press of Pennsylvania and Masachusetts are advising them to vote against the proposition the | they sell their lands it is not for the purpose of buy- { ing similar lands, at the same price, in the same lo- | ple, who come to spy out the land. When they learn | that_here, with less and pleasanter labor, and on less | | land, in a climate that frees them from physical trial, | they can make more than upon the larger holdings ! they have sold, they will become our fellow-citizens, in values with the addition of transportation facili- | transportation facilities. population between now and the completion of the | | power. | necessary that all the instrumentalities of information | | vet Cleveland didn’t ask for an explanation. | beef so high that cabbages cannot find takers? OUR OPPORTUNITY. ONDITIONS affecting the rural populations ‘ st are very favorable to California. Farm | lands in the prairie States command the high- est price in the history of that section. The people who are selling them were already out of debt and find themselves possessed of much money. When cality, but in order that they may either retire from | active work, or migrate to a better climate to continue rural occupation in some form. For either purpose California presents the only best inducements. The trains hither, which give the low rates fixed by the railroads, are full of such peo- and in_every one who locates we will have the best | immigration agent the State can secure. One result is inevitable. This sort of immigration will increase the number of small holdings in the State and cause the cutting up of the large tracts which relate to the old policy of great holdings of soil that was not subjected to its noblest and most profitable use. In going among these relocaters it is found that the prospect of an isthmian canal is among their major reasons for transferring their productive power | to this coast. They foresee a great increase in values as a result of the completion of that waterway. They are entirely familiar with the effect of convenient rail transportation upon the value of the land they have sold. Many of them have held that land con- tinuously from the time they bought it for $1 per acre and sold it for $125 per acre, and the cause of | that advance is plain to them. They began its culti- ation remote from market, dependent upon wagon transportation, and have known the steady advance 25 ties, and are wise in seeking a relocation where values are sure to receive the same impulse from additional an accession to its This State is bound to re: canal that will practically work its industrial trans- formation and immeasurably jnultiply 'its productive To take advantage of this opportunity it is shall actively bestir themselves and be ceaseless in the spread eastward of accurate knowledge of all our ing population. resources and reasons for inyi Kaiser Wilhelm was certainly unduly sensitive over | what It will | be remembered that Dewey also said that no one but a young man should be elected to the Presidency, and Dewey said about the German navy. CAUSE AND EFFECT. i OWN in Texas speculative philosophers are discussing the uncommon low price of cab- D bages. The price, it seems, is low even in sections of the State where the vegetable is Iuscious and the appetites of the people most whole- most | Ordinary folks solve the prob- | some and abundant. i | | | lem to the satisiaction of their shallow intellects by saying the fall in price is due to the law of supply and demand, but deeper thinkers are not content with that superficial explanation. They seek to find out the wherefore of the why and discover the cause that has suddenly made the supply of Texas cabbage superior to the demands of the Texas appetite. Many and have been the theories sug- gested, but we learn that the disputants are now virtually agreed that the true light has been thrown on the dark places of the question by one John G.| Kennedy, who is spoken of as a local expert and a philosopher from way back. * Mr. Kennedy says the fall in the price of cabbage is due to the rise in the price of beef. various Casual readers may not perceive the logic of the| Kennedy reasoning, and we therefore explain. Long custom and old habit have brought the Texans into such a condition of mind and stomach that they can neither eat think of eating cabbage without corned beef. When corned beef is low and easy for the hungry man the demand for cabbage in Texas is sufficient to enable the noble vegetable to rise and soar in the money market, but when beef is too nor high for common use, then there is no demand for the vegetable. Thus in Texas as beef goes up pab- bage goes down, and the equilibrium of the universe is maintained by inviolable law. The reasoning is good and the learning prbiound, but it is to be regretted that the Texans stopped there, | A further analysis of the problem is needed. Having found the whereiore of the why, the Texans should now seek out the why of the wherefore. Why is Evi- dently the origin of the evil runs back to the diminu- tion in the number of range cattle, from which the beef supply has been principally drawn. That in| turn is due to the destruction of the forage on the grazing lands of the country. For that destruction Congress is responsible, since it has neglected to enact proper laws for the preservation of the forage. Congress, however, would have acted more wisely had there been fewer cabbage heads among the mem- bers.. Hence in its last analysis, cabbage looks like 30 cents in the market, because the voters elect 30-cent representatives, who look like cabbages in Congress. Let us have a Congress that will con- serve the great cattle ranges of the country, and Texans will have the satisfaction of dining on corned beef and cabbage instead of having to put in the time their hungrily pondering upon relations economic problem. as an The explorers of the south polar region have come back with the conclusion that it contains a continent as large as all Europe, so it seems there is lots of land still left out in the cold for any one who wishes to take it in, A during the season from the beginning of the Christmas holiday trade to the close of Jan- uary states that the statistics tend to show that never were there in France so many people who write books nor so few who read them. In fact, the complaint is made that the book trade is in a state of decadence and it is only here and there that an author can be found whose works are in sufficient demand to make them profitable to the writer and the publisher. During the season upward of 6000 new books were exposed for sale in the retail shops and on the stalls of Paris, but it is estimated that not above a dozen e BOOKS IN PARIS. RECENT review of the book trade in Paris prospects are that the scheme will be carried by a | have thus far been profitable. It is of course possible ndsome majority. that among the number there are one or two works | these inquiries: “r. | other States similar proposi; that will grow in public favor and have a larger sale in the second than in the first six months of their history, but it is not likely there will be enough of them to materially affect the percentage of success- ful to unsuccessful works. In Paris, therefore, au- thorship is either a luxury which only the rich can afford or else a folly which none but the brave at- tempt. Even when the statistics are confined to works de- signed to be popular and to meet the holiday demand the figures are hardly more encouraging. The annual publication of the French Publishers’ Club, “Le Cercle de la Librarie,” contains lists and brief descrip- tions of holiday books issued by eighty-three Paris publishing firms. The total number of these works exceeds four thousand. It is estimated by an expert that the average sale attained for these books will not be over three hundred copies. = A few exceptional works may mount up to fifty thousand, while other works of merit, produced, with taste and at consider- able cost, will not find as many as a hundred pur- chasers. % In the general decline of the public demand for new books it is gratifying to learn that the sale of sensational books has diminished to an even greater degree than that of the better class of books. The efforts of those writers who attempted to make a demand for their ‘works by publishing what the re- viewer calls “yellow novels and pink stories bound in meretriciously decorated paper covers” failed utterly, as the Parisian public refused to patronize the stuff. An interesting feature of the review is the statement that the holiday books of the year were notable for a lack of adventure and romance. Instead of stories of ferocious encounters, battles and adventures, with hairbreadth escapes and imminent dangers, the trade submitted to the public this year a series of books more or less descriptive, reflective and critical. While the reviewer commends the change in the style of stories offered to the public, it is quite probable it may have had something to do with the decline in the demand. Should another Alexander Dumas arise in Paris to write rousing romance there would probably be a revival of the old public interest. | ECCRI e St A SR It is noted that many of the immigrants who are now seeking homes in the West travel in Pullman That is a sign of American progress. From the Atlantic to Ohio the travel was in wagons; from Ohio to Kansas it was in immigrant cars; from Kansas to this point they come in Pullmans. When the time comes for migration from California the people will take wings and go to heaven. O scarcity of coal during the early part of last winter a number of Eastern cities were in- duced to seriously consider the advisability of estab- lishing municipal coalyards for the purpose of provid- cars. P —y— TESTS OF SOCIALISM. WING to the distress occasioned by the | ing an abundant supply of fuel for the community. The | Socialists, of course, cordially supported the proposi- tion, and in Massachusetts, where that party appears |to be very strong, immediate steps were taken to carry out the plan. Public coalyards were set up in some cities, and at once the issue was taken to the Supreme Court on a question of the constitutionality of the measure. . In dealing with the issue the court seems to have taken into consideration the growing tendency toward socialism in the State, for the decision given was not confined to the particular question submitted. The report that comes to us quotes the court as saying that the case called for “an analysis of the general conditions under which a city could gointo any kind of business that would compete with private busi- ness already established and furnishing an income to taxpayers.” 4! Of course, that means that the decision would be based upon a broad principle affecting every issue of the kind likely to arise, and accordingly it has been taken as a declaration of the tests to which all ex- periments in the way of carrying on business by municipalities should be subjected. The court held that every proposition to establish a municipal plant of any kind must be subjected to Is the thing a public necessity? 2. Can it be furnished in any other way than by municipal action? 3. Does it concern all the people of the city? 4. Does it require the use of the city streets or other city property to carry on the busi- ness?” Applying that test to the question of municipal the unconstitutionality of most of the schemes for extending the operation of municipal governments to the operation of business enterprises is apparent. Nevertheless the socialistic movement in Massachusetts has gone so far that a bill has been introduced into the Legislature authorizing the es- tablishment of municipal insurance companies. In ons have been advocated, and it is clear that there is a marked socialistic tendency running through the East generally. The danger resulting from the tendency toward such governmental experiments lies in the fact that coalyards, | they are rarely advocated as parts of a socialistic pro- gramme. Many persons are induced to favor some particular scheme of the kind who could not be brought to favor a general socialistic programme. It is therefore gratifying to have a court of high au- thority lay down a principle of action with respect to one and all of these schemes. The sooner the people understand the issue as a matter of principle the better, for if we go on in a haphazard way favor- ing this or that experiment because of some rare emergency like the coal scarcity we shall eventually find ourselves committed to state socialism by so many precedents that it will then be difficult to ap- ply the check anywhere. Whether the rules laid down by the Massachusetts court as a test of the constitutionality of municipal enterprises in that State will apply to similar ques- tions in other States is a matter for lawyers to dis- cuss and courts to decide. The rules, however, serve as an excellent basis for the judgment of the public upon any issue of the kind submitted to it. A municipality should engage in no business that does not concern all the people of the community nor in cne that would interfere with a business in which individuals earn a living and whigh can be carried on by individuals as well or better than by the city. S —— Senator Morgan’s suggestion that the next Demo- cratic platiorm be constructed out of planks that were used before the war was doubtless due to a belief that the country had forgotten what those planks were. It is remembered, however, that Democracy was as badly divided in 1860 as it-is now, so Morgan’s coun- sel can hardly be looked upon as the advice of a sage desirous of harmony znd willing to do almost any- thing to get it. B — It is stated that the police rakeoff in New York City amounts to $2,300,000 a year, but that sounds more like the work of a harrow than a rake. CONGRESSMAN COUSINS IS SEEKING KNOWLEDG — ONRESSMAN ROBERT G. COUS- INS of Iowa, a member of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, is at the Palace. The gentleman arrived from the south yesterday, and purposes before his departure for the East to inspect the various naval stations about the harbor. He was delegated for that purpose by the chairman of the com- mittee, Congressman Foss of Illinois, who expects to visit the coast on g similar mission in a few weeks. “I had hoped,” said he last evening, “to make a longer stay in San Francisco and a more thorough inspection of your forti- fications, but, unfortunately, my time has been limited and my trip will have to be shortened. To-morrow I will visit the naval training station on Goat Island, and will try to reach the fortifications on the other islands in the bay and at Fort Point before the end of the day. I ara deeply interested in the work of the dis- appearing guns, and would like to sce those recently installed at Fort Point op- erated. From here I expect to go north, but I am afraid I will not be able to visit the Bremerton yard.” Asked as to the disposition of the House committee as regards appropriations for the betterment of coast naval stations, Congressman Cousins sald that it would be very impartial. ‘“‘Heretofore,” said he, “certain members of the committee prob akly have been swayed in their judgment by the fact that thelr own Interests were affected. The present committee, how- ever, has been selected from among dele- gates who have no interests at stake. This happens to be my case, and from what I could learn it was one of the rea- sons that I was placed on the committee, The feeling throughout the country, as has been voiced by the President in his speeches, s for liberal appropriations for the navy, and the committee favors such appropriations. As you probably recall, the Secretary of the Navy was recently requested to make a report recommending such improvements as_he deems neces- sary for the Improvement of the depart- ment, and his suggestlons will have con- siderable weight in our decislons on the bills that will come before the next ses- sion.” ¢ This {s Congressman Cousins’ first trip to California, and he says he has bzen deeply impressed with the greatness of the West and the remarkable develop- ment it is undergoing. He has represent- ed JTowa In Congress since 1893, and while he has not made many’ speeches during that period those that he has delivered have been marked by their brillianey, and especlally the one made in 189 during the debate on the course of Embassador Bayard In England. He gained further prominence by his ten-minute address in Congress just after the blowing up of the battleship Maine, on which occasion he electrified his hearers and the nation. News of \;Vorld’s Navies. The new British battleship Russgll, 14,0)0. tons and 18,000 horsepower, placed 'in com- mission on February 23 last, has been withdrawn from the Mediterranean squadron to undergo repairs to her boil- ers, which are of the Belleville typs. At her eight hours full power trial last October the speed was 19.4 knots with 18,199 horsepower, an excess of .4 knots over the contract, but subsequent trials have demonstrated the unreliability of the vessel's steam generators. Delays tn delivery of contract-built ships for the British navy are by no means in- frequent and are a source of great em- barrassment to the Admiralty. The latest report of the Auditor General gives a list of delayed deliveries, among which are five destroyers overdue from fifty-four to eleven months, and on which penalties may be collected. The list embraces as tollows: a o - 5 z3 g 2 |58 = g el 3 & Bl NAME. ; | g; ? 8 I'g| B I s el 8 Bullfinch . 51 “"lfl.m Dove 258,485 | 30 | 115,875 Expres 000 | B4 | 12285 Success 21 The potential penalty is at the rate of $75 a day, Including Sundays. Besides the above named five destroyers a list of ten other boats of the same class and types are enumerated, on which final installments have been paid without the infliction of penalty. Of these the Re- cruit, due on delivery October 31, 189, was not finally settled for until May 1, 1901, or fifty-four months over the contract time.* The others range from twenty-four to twelve months in late delivery. Then there are two battleships, two armored cruisers, three sloops, four torpedo-boats and a number of steamboats, which were from twenty-eight to twelve months late, Accounts with contractors for hulls of one battleship and four armored cruisers are still unsettled and the ships overdue from two to three years, while the ma- chinery contract for eleven ships are like- wise unsettled, principally on account of the firms having become bankrupt. It ap- pears from this long list of retarded work that United States shipbuilders are no more dilatory than those of England, France and Russia, but the causes for de- lay in this country are not due to in- ability of the contractor, but rather to the leniency of the Government in exact- ing a reasonable compliance with terms of contracts. Sl ke The French armored cruiser Montcalm underwent a trial at sea of twenty-four hours duration, prior to her departure for the China station, and averaged eighteen knots during four hours and fifteen knots for the other. eighteen hours. The trial is said to have been satisfactory, although the maximum speed of twenty-one lLnots, with which the ships is officially credited, appears to be rather visionary and not likely to be reached under the most fa- vorable conditions. R g A novel type of propulsion is being ex- E OF OUR FO RTIFICATIONS MEMBER OF THE HOUSE CO IITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, WHO I8 IN THE CITY ON A TOUR OF INSPECTION STATIONS ABOUT THE HARBOR. perimented with in the Danish navy vessel Is a steam launch of six tons dis placement. It is fitted with a number propellers and a run of twenty-five mile developed a speed of fifteen knots, where- as, the ordinary steam, launch of eight tons, fitted with one propeller,: attaing a speed of only 9.9 knots.” The coul con- sumption at 95 knot speed was only 11 pounds per hour, against 22 pounds at 9.9 knots for the single-screw boat. The technical committee of the Rus- sian Admiralty contemplates the constric- tion of five battleships of 16,000 tons each, with a speed of eighteen knots, and main armaments of four I12-lnch and twelve $-inch gur They are to be laid down during the present year, and $9,200,000 is required as a beginning toward their con- struction. The Swedish coast-defense ship Tapper- heten, 3670 tons and 6000 horsepower, made 18.4 knots at her acceptance trial, an ex- cess of 1.9 knots over the cont She was built by contract at the Kokum= yard, Malmo, which has for many years turned out some of the best rk in the mercantile line of any shipyard in Scan- dinavia. There are several exacting clauses in the contracts for the new ships about to be built for the United States navy, the principal one being an endurance trial of twenty-four hours’ duration. This is in conformity with the practice in foreign navies, where the steam trials are more severe than in the United States navy. A twent¥-four hours’ run under four- fifths power establishes a record which Is that of the ship's actual capacity under service conditions, and is frequently re- quired. It is of more value than the four hours’ run under full power, which is de- ceptive on account of the exceptionable favorable conditions under which it is made, with hand-picked coal and a large force of expert firemen working under the stimulus of a bonus to force the speed up to the top notch regardless of conse- quences except temporary success. The trial speed 1s rarely reached after the ship has left the contractor’s hands, when ordinary coal is used and the engine and boller room force is reduced to its normal number and quality. The race of the squadron from Norfolk to Porto Rico a few months ago was of more value as a record than that of the four hours’ rum, ard, as was to be expected, showed a material reduction of speed. There are officers in the navy who are apprehensive that in the recently designed battleships and armored cruisers the im- portant factor of a safe draught of water has been ignored in the effort of produc- ing ships of greater gun power than trose of any other navy. The normal displace- ment and draught of the five new battle- ships is 16,000 tons and 24 feet § imches, which with full load will be increased to 17,770 tons and 26 feet 9 inches. The corre- OF VARIOUS NAVAL SYASSCESRATIAC. 55 SOOI * sponding data of the two armored cruis- ers is 14,50 tons displacement and 25 feet draught under normal conditions, and 15,950 tons full load on 27 feet -draugl The full load displacement is the only «n to be considered, and there are but few harbors in the United States which ships drawing twenty-seven feet can safely &n- ter or leave at any stage of tide. Porr- land, Boston, New York and Norfolk on the Atlantic Coast and San Francisco and Eremerton on the Pacific Coast are the only ones of importance where ships with twenty-seven feet draught may be reaso: ably to safe to enter or depart under oth er than exceptionally unfavorable circum stances, but there are dozens of harbers where the stage of tide must be cons'd- ered, and thus these ships are practically excluded from entering many a harbor near at hand when under stress of weath- er or in case of accident. Officers no doubt had this in mind when they advocated through the Senate Naval Committee the construction of battleships having “a maximum draught and ready for service at sea of not more than twenty-fous feet.” Their trial displacement was Hm- ited to 12,000 tons. The House, however, would not concede to this propesition, an: a compromise was made providing for the building of three ships ‘of 17,700 tons and two of about 14,000 tons, and the provise as to draught was eliminated. The maximum draught of the eight bat- tleships afloat varies from 25 feet for the Alabama to 27 fet 1% inches for the O gon, Indiana and Massachusetts. The laf ter ships were designed thirteen years ago, and their average weight of armor was about 2500 tons. The improvement made since then in the quality of armur would enable a reduction of about one- third weight without diminishing the pro- tection and reduce the draught to about 25 feet 4 inches. Vessels of the Oregon class when authorized to be built were designated as “seagoing coast line battle- ships of about 800 tons,” but the ships as built were increased to over 10,200 tons They were intended chiefly for coast de- fense, with sufficient coal carrying ca- pacity and seagoing qualities to steam 5000 miles under an economical speed. The latter object has only been attained in the Oregon, the endurance of which is given at 5500 miles, while the Massachusetts is credited with 4500 miles and the Indiana with only 3720 miles. Now we are to bulld ships of 16,000 tons to wage battle, it necessary, in any part of the world, in- dicating a decided change of naval policy, from defensive to offensive, the wisdom of which yet remains to be d N In providing the material for such an ob- ject it is the opinion of many naval of- ficers that a serious mistake is made in bullding ships of greater size than can safely enter our own harbors, and there is not likely to be much of a scramble for the command of these ships, with at- tending responsibility for 37,000,000 worth of property and the safety of upward of 800 lives. L e I e e e e e et ) PERSONAL MENTION. Dr. W. J. Bolton of Chico is at the Cali- fornia. Dr. W. J. Conan of Milwaukee is at the Palace. Dr. F. E. Williams of Los Angeles is at the Grand. C. J. Brookins, a merchant of Reno, is at the Grand. J. L. Barham, an attorney of Manton, is at the grand. Judge W. H. Hatton of Modesto is reg- istered at the Lick. E. A. Warner, a merchant of Chico, and wite, are at the Lick. A. W, Simpson, a lumberman of Stock- ton, is at the Occldental. A. C. Parke, purser of the steamer San Jose, is at the California. ‘W. C. Price, a mining man of Pasadena, is registered at the Grand. A. L. Nichols, a hardware merchant of Chico, is at the California. F. W. Potter of the woolen mills of Salem, Ore., is at the Russ. E. W. Hale, the Sacramento dry goods merchant, and wife are at the Palace. J. J. Rutledge, the Klondike millionaire, and his wife left this city yesterday for Paso Robles, where they will spend the next two weeks. They will leave for the Kiondike by the first steamer in June. E. Fitzgerald, former Mayor of Troy, N. Y., and one of the large brewers of that city, is at the Palace. Judge O. W. Powers of Salt Lake, one of Utah’s prominent Democratic leaders and orators, is registered at the Palace. H. C. Frick, the millionaire steel man of Pittsburg, is due here to-day. He is on his way to Santa Barbara to join his family. Brigadier General A. S. Kimball, U. S. A., retired, formerly chief quartermaster in New York, and wife are at the Ocei- dental. They are here to see their son off for Manila. The latter, Captain Kimball, urtil recently held the position of post quartermaster at the Presidio. —_———— Ex. strong hoarhound candy. Townsend's.* —————— A. A. Aal is a St. Louis merchant who uses but two letters in signing his name. ——— Townsend’s California glace fruft ana candies, 50c a pound, in artistic fire-et boxes. A nice present for Eastern tr!:u:;: 639 Market st., Palace Hotel bullding. « —_——— bspledll ,:nformlllon supplied dally to usiness houses and public men by the Press Clipping Bureau (Allen's) Calt- fornia street. Telephone Im)lbtll" . ANSWERS TO QUERIES BATTLESHIPS-F. 8., ‘apa, Cal. The United States now has twenty battleships, twelve In commission and eight buflding HAWAIIAN ISLANDS—J. C., City. For information relative to public lands in the Hawalian Islands address a communica- tion to the General Land - e Office, Washing TWO PARKS—W. s. D. F., Sacra- mento, Cal. Golden Gate Park In San Francisco is larger than Central Park in New York. The former contains 1004 acres and the last named $43 acres. MINT POSITIONS-S. O. T. C., City. For a position as night watchman at th- United States Branch Mint in this ci* appMcation should be made at the Mint. where all information concerning require- ments will be given. R A— ("ll'Nn"l'iD STATES MINTS—-Subscriber, ity. There are at this time i operation the®Tnited States parent Mint .?'pmm delphia and the branch Mint at San Fran- ¢isco and the one at New Orleans. The Mint in Carson, Nev., is now equipped as an assay office, as is alsé ti =i e he one at Den- v \