The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 25, 1903, Page 4

THE SA FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, MAY 25. 1903 ——______’___’___,_—____—————_— MAY 25, 1903 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprictor. Acdress All Communications to W. S, LEAKE. Manager. TELEPHONE. Ask for THE CALLT Th; Oi)erltor ‘Will Connect You With the Department You Wish. .Market and Third, S. F. 17 to 221 Stevenson St. PUBLICATION OFFICE. EDITORIAL ROOMS. Delivered by Carriers, 15 Cents Per Week. Single Copies, 5 Cen Terms by Mail, Including Postage: DAILY CALL (including Sunday), one year. $6.00 DAILY CALL (including Sunday), 6 months 3.00 DAILY CALL dncluding Sunday), 3 months. 1.50 DAILY CALL—By Single Month.....,. 65 SUNDAY CALL, One Year.. 1.50 WEEKLY CALL, One Year... 1.00 All Postmasters are authorized to recelve subscriptions. Sample coples will be forwarded when requested. subscribers in ordering change of address should be icular to give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order ure & prompt and correct compliance with their request. e OAKLAND OFFICE. 1118 Broadway...... Telephone Main 1083 \BERKELEY OFFICE. 2148 Center Street .Telephone North 77 C. GEORGE noeli;ss. mer Poreign Adver- tising, Warquette Building, Chicago. (Long Distance Telephone “‘Central 2619.”") NEW YORK STEPHEN B. SMITH. REPRESENTATIVE: .20 Tribune Building NEW YORK C. €. CARLTON. .. PONDENT: Herald Square NEW YORK NEWS STANDS Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; A. Brentano, 31 Unlon Square; Murray Hill Hotel; Fifth-avenue Hotel apd Hoffman House. CHICAGO €herman House: P. O. Tremont House; Auditorium Ho Northern Hote House. WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE. ..1406 G St., N. W. MORTON Correspondent. BRANCH OFFICES—327 Montgomery. unti] 9:30 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open unt!l 9:30 o'clock. 633 o'clock. 615 Larkin, open unti open until 10 o'clock. 2261 th, open until 9 o'clock. 109 Va- clock. 108 Eleventh corner cf Clay. open corner Sixteen 1 week C dimin s unseasonable weather ed prosperity of d b months be- i capital few ¢ being es aban- parts of carried xtreme, hen W to the rganization, an employers of 0 zation, ns throughout the 1 in these now forming cc to resist the demands of labc ial warfare will probal ns open indus result Ser to business will and it is s tory prospect thz of the ss in business in the United States i the iron and hed call for struct- affects ever: E ven ¢ reporting a dir the des ni sbbers are ordering less 1 pay werto discounted their material and labor, the wholes nt less are pt, houses which have Is now frequently asking extensions i the however, have reported past a large n over last year and the bank clear collections the in during lway earnings continue to sho bles and exhib- 3.8 per cent The 192 for the ek again turned the though slight, being only nding week last year, in 1902 k ures for the week were 191, against same wee st year, and included several large sus- | pensions chief one being that of the Ghicago house of Porter Brothers, with branches all over the northern of the country. Provisions are still hesitating, with a slow tendency downward. But| mant uring plants are generally fully employed, except where they have closed down on account of rouble In fact, the labor question is the ost important factor in trade to-day, and in a few become the paramount i in the com- the country d ner e itself is thus handicapped and halt- 1 situation all oyer the world is much brighter than for some time. The money markets Europe are perceptibiy easier and steadily working o good condition. The reduction of the Bank of England discount rate from 4 per cent to 3% per cent indicates easier money in London, and this around must have more or less effect on the money market | Even if it does no more than increase | of New York. confidence in the future it will accomplish a good It gave Wall street a more buoyant tone to. ward the close of the week, though there was a sharp deal break all along the line on Saturday, caused by a re- ported cut in the price of steel billets, with rumors hat the iron and steel companies were sending in reports of a falling off in the consumption. London lately appeased in the market as a buyer of Amer- ican securities The cold, backward spring, with its violent, drying winds, has affected both town and country business in California. It has benefited some lines and hurt others. It has cut down the gross output of fruits and cereals in the State, but prices have correspond- ingly strengthened, so the net result remains about the same. The climate oi the State is so varied that the weather which damages one section improves another, and we never have a season when we have not a good surplus of almost all our field and orchard products for domestic and foreign export. It simply a question of quantity. For thetrest business continues active all over the State. The banks report ample funds for solvent borrowers at normal rates of interest, and collections are up to the average. The export movement of this port is good, and the interior merchants are sending in excellent reports of their trade. Aside from the large fruit failure mentioned above the past week was devoid of especial feature. D —— is The Moors have chosen a new pretender, a pre- sage of more war, more suffering and more death. It is strange how some people of the world like that sort of thing after they become accustomed to it. | TALKING OF CLEVELAND. VER on the other side of the continent the O discussion of Cleveland as a Presidential can- didate goes on strenuously. There are some who warmly urge it, there are some who denounce it and there are some who study it impartially. Many | declare that their chief wish is a Democratic victory, | | and they would rather win, even with Cleveland, than |to be again defeated, while about as many others declare they would prefer defeat with another leader to victory with Cleveland. | Those who study the subject impartially say the Cleveland boom is due primarily to the desire of the conservative warhorses to return to power in alliance with the mugwumps as of old. Back of them stand the importers, who desire free trade, the big shipping companies that would profit by free trade, and the “high financiers,” who regard Roosevelt with more or less hostility. These interests represent in the aggre- gate a large amount of wealth and are directed by men | of consummate ability in politics as well as in busi- :ncss. Under their leadership conservative Democ- | racy and mugwumpery become quite a formidable f force, and as a consequence it is argued the Cleveland | boom is by no means an insignificant movement. The same impartial students go on to say that the importers, shipping companies and high financiers, | ipul(mg up a candidate of the personal and political | | strength of Cleveland, can carry New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The solid South can be re- | | lied upon to support the ticket, no matter who is | | nominated, so that the chances of electing Cleveland would be very good if any mugwump support could | | be added to the normal Democratic strength in Illi- | nois and Indiana | The publication of such estimates has aroused the Bryanites on the one hand and the irrepressible Henry | Watterson on the other. The Bryanites have virtu- ssued an ultimatum to the effect that if Cleve- land be nominated they will either put up a third Chey insist that it will | ket or support Roosevelt. { be impossible to draw up a platiorm on which both Bryan and Cleveland can stand. They assert that bimetallism is not a dead issue; that the money ques- | tion is still unsolved, and must be an important factor |in the next campaign; they challenge the Cleveland boomers to suggest a means either of evading it or of | fashigning a platiorm with regard to it on which! factions can stand without the stultification of { one of them The New York Sun makes light of the Bryan ulti- | It “Platforms do not make the issues | gn. The question of the standards wasen ue in 1896, not because of the platiorms but be- e of the people. It was settled by the result of | mpaign. It was a platiorm issue, but not a voter's issue, in 1900. It cut little figure in the second McKinley-Bryan campaign. Platiorm or no platform, | it will cut even less figure in the camp both | matum - a camyg that | ign of 1904.” | i the elimina- | | from the | Perhaps the Sun is right, but even th coming canvass, there remain other diff wap Henry with his usual vim and brilliancy tion of money question be conceded ties in the | Watterson states them | Aifter saying the | supporters of the ex-President assume that they can | York: that they can “buy New Jersey and icut”: that the additional votes needed “they | of Cleveland carry Ne Connec can flip from some of the many rotten boroughs of | Mountain range,” he adds: “In all this They are quite They wholly un- the Rocky reckon outside of sentiment oblivious to the force of prejudice derr: the force of the third-term tradition. Mr. Bryan and ‘his following should not put a counter ticket in the field—though they would—the the Even te Cleveland even in defections against Mr. would be as great as they were against Mr. Bry 1896. Mr. New York. | The Morgan could buy New Jer and Connec Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and perhaps would become not merely doubtful States, but almost cer- | n in | Cleveland could not carry syndicate not cut, ey Tennessee tainly Republican States. The proposal to nominate { Mr. Cleveland, in short and in fine, taking it seriousl Mexicanize the Democratic party, and through the Democratic party to submit to the voters the issue, in 1904, of Mexicanizing lhe% American republic.” | It will seen that Mr. Watterson's convictions are as firm as ever and his style has lost none of the dewy, stariit freshness that marked it when first it dawned in American journalism. “The Mexicaniza- tion of the American people” is a good phrase. It will doubtless do more to check the Cleveland boom | than forty of the ponderous platitudes of the Bryan- ites arguing for a consistent support of bimetallism. It is to be noted, however, that Watterson himself | is not without his feelings of alarm. He says: “The | milk in the Cleveland cocoanut is Pierpont Morgan, and when Pierpont Morgan puts his hand to a job, be it a railway merger, a ship combine, or a Presi- dential boom, it were well that prudent men took note | of it. At least none such will make light of it.” a proposal, first, to be A Chicago business man who has made an exten- sive tour through the South for business purposes says that the people of that section with whom he talked do not wish a change in the administration; and. as the same sentiment prevails in the North and the West, the country may be said to be unanimous. ANOTHER OBJECT LESSON. NOTHER object lesson of value to a consid- A eration of the question how far governments | should undertake the management of busi- | ness enterprises is furnished by late reports of the ‘nperalion of the British governmental telegraph sys- | tem. The experiment in that work has now been | carried on long enough to furnish results that may lhe accepted as fairly conclusive of the worth of the | system, and they are by no means encouraging to the | expectations of those who hope for great things | from governmental control and operation of public | utilities. | The British telegraph system was attached to the Postoffice Department in 1870, and it was then as- | serted by the advocates of the new departure that in | time the system would become self-sustaining, even if it did not yield a revenue to the public treasury. For two years the lines did, indeed, yield a profit sufficient to defray the entire interest on the money invested in their purchase, but since that time the expenditures have increased out of proportion to the income and there has been a yearly deficit. At the | close of last year the deficit had reached the sum of £950,740. A report on the subject says: “The growing deficit is due in large part to the increasing expenses, chiefly salaries, which outrun the revenue. The employes are making further demands, and with a prospect of success. The Parliamentary committee appointed several years ago to investigate the department and adjust salaries recommended an increase to the ex- tent of £500,000. The Postmaster General proposes to refer the demand for further additions to salaries ito a committee of business men, but the postoffice 15 | Alas l employes prefer to take their chances with a com- mittee of Parliament, apparently upon the theory that such a committee will be swayed by political consid- erations.” It will be seen that thé experience of Great Britain is in this respect very much the same as that of Aus- tralia with governmental control of railroads. In each case we see a large body of organized workers brought into close relations with the Government, demanding larger pay and less work. Government yields for the sake of votes, and in the one case as in the other the.result is a deficit. The excess of expenditures over income from the Government telegraph must of course be made up from revenues derived by general taxation. That means the mass of the people are to be taxed to sus- tain an unprofitable system of doing business. Were the lines in private hands they would not only be self-sustaining, but they would pay taxes and thus increase instead of diminish the revenues of the State. There is thus a double loss to the treasury, with no compensating benefit to the public. We have, there- fore, in this case another warning of the peril that lurks in every extension of governmental activity in the domain of business. A New York author is reported to be looking for a publisher who will agree to print and bind his book in cuch a way that it can be used either as a book, = paper-weight, a stove-lifter, a flatiron or a cat-de- stroyer. The title of the work has not been an- nounced, but it ought to be some kind of treatise on domestic economy. ot s e e PROMISE OF ALASKA. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT in his address at Seattle very properly included the development of Alaska among the forces which will tend to the promotion of the trade of Puget Sound, and, indeed, of the whole Pacific Coast. His words will be received with a good deal of gratification through- out the Greater West, for they give evidence that the President has a clear conception of the magnifi- cent possibilities of the vast territory to the north, and that he will cordially sympathize and co-operate with all efforts to obtain irom Congress the legisla- tion needed to promote its settlement and exploita- tion. In speaking of it he said: “The men of my age who are in this great audience will not be old men before they will see one of the greatest and most populous States in the whole Union in Alaska.” He then added: “I am glad to notice that our national legislature now seems desirous of providing at once for the needs of that great Territory. I predict that 2 will within the next century support as large a population as does the entire Scandinavian penin- <ula of Europe, the people of which, by their brains and energy, have left their mark on the face of Eu- rope. 1 predict that you and us will see Alaska, with her enormous resources of minera fisheries, her possibilities that almost exceed belief, produce as hardy and vigorous a race as any part of America.” To those who have given no heed to Alaska ex- cept as a gold-mining country those words may ap- pear as just so much oratorical exaggeration; but to those who have followed the official reports of the Governor of the Territory and others concerning the varied industries already in operation there, and the many enterprises now under way for the further de- velopment of the district, the statement of the Presi- dent will be accepted as a fair prediction of what seems to be well-nigh assured in the future. Alaska is far from being a barren country, nor is its climate altogether inhospitable to hardy men and women. Experiments in the cultivation of grains, grasses and several kinds of vegetables have yielded results which justify the expectation that the district can be nfade to produce ample food for a consider- able population and for such domestic animals as are needed to do the work of the country. Many of the adventurers who ‘went to the mining districts solely for the purpose of getting a fortune or a competency have found life there so much to their liking that not a few of them remain to make their homes there. Furthermore, it is already evident that Alaska is to be one of the great pleasure resorts of the world. The scenery is of a grandeur not surpassed anywhere and has a charm of its own not inferior | to that of the most picturesque places in the tem- perate or the tropic zones. Winter tourists have done much to build up Florida, and summer tourists and sportsmen will in the future carry a golden tribute to the favorite localities in Alaska. Railways now pro- jected and soon to be constructed will hasten the development of the interior and it is not at all un- likely there will thus be opened up wide regions even richer than the narrow strip of coast that has thus far been the chief scene of exploitation. In short, President Roosevelt has presented the prospects of Alaska in a striking but by no means an exaggerated way, and his support will doubtless materially aid the Alaskans in obtaining the legisla- tion they require. Thus in the near future we may see in that Territory a district sufficiently populous and wealthy to ask and receive the rights of state- hood, as the President has predicted. e e One of the curiosities of the time is the organiza- tion of a strong movement among the Chinese of New York to help the Jews in Russia. There is not much sympathy between the two races, but their common antipathy to Russia serves just as well as a brotherly love would do in this emergency. An ex-Mayor of Minneapolis, now infamous, must serve an imprisonment of six years in a penitentiary for corruption in office. And still they say there is not in the American people an inherent principle of morality which is inevitable in its application to wrongdoers, whoever they may be. It is rather curious that the Russian Government knew nothing of the slaughter of the Jews in Bes- sarabia until after reports had been published in Eng- land and the United States. Evidently the old say- ing that one must go from home to learn the news is no joke in Russia. As the light of inquiry penetrates into the dark places of the Postoffice Department of the nation it begins to look to a casual observer that many of the men who are employed by Uncle Sam might ren- der better service to the nation if they were taught the lock step. When President Roosevelt complimented our po- lice officers on their appearance and general efficiency he paid a tribute which was well deserved. We may criticize them occasionally, but after all we know they are, in purpose and action, a pretty good class of fellows. St. Louis has requested the twenty-five largest cities in the Union to make a municipal exhibit at her. exposition, and if each of them exhibits that for which its municipal government is most noted we may expect to see sights. R. DE ZAYAS ENRIQUE IS HERE TO ACCEPT CONSULAR OFFIC A E — MEXICAN NEW CONSUL GENERAL COME TO REPRESENT THE SOUTHERN A. K. CONEY, RECENTLY RECALLED. TO SAN FRANCISCO, WHO HAS REPUBLIC IN PLACE OF 2 2 DE ZAYAS ENRIQUE, Mexico's new Consul General to San Fran- cisco, is a guest at the Occi- I t- dental Hotel, having arrived herel a week ago from the southern republic. He is accompanied by his son, R. de| Zayas Enrique Jr., and is awaiting the | issuance of his exequator at Washington, which has been delayed owing to the Pres- ident's absence from the capital on his| western trip. | Senor Zayas succeeds M. del Paso as | local Consul General, the latter having re- | lieved A. K. Coney when he was recalled about two months ago. The new repre- | sentative from Mexico Is a gentleman of | letters and political distinction 1 hs own country, where for the past twelve years he has served in the lower house of the Mexican Congress as a Deputy a has en- joyed the confidence of President Diaz to such an extent as to have been sent on numerous private missions abroad during his political career. His literary abili has added to his prominence in the republi where he succeeded his father in the edi- torial management of the leading news- paper of Vera Cruz, his birth place. He has also written a number of succesful | plays and his poems have been accepted as among the best that have emanated from the minds of the poets of Mexi NOTRE DAME GRADUATES TO HOLD ANNIVERSARY Preparations for 7filn$orate Centen- nial Exercises Are Made by the Alumnae. Exercises in honor of the one-hun- dredth anniversary of the founding of the order of the Sisters of Notre Dame will be held at the college on Dolores street in this city on Sunday, September 20. The programme will be in charge of the mem- bers of the Alumnae Association and at a meeting of the officers yesterday it was decided to commence the celebration with a solemn high mass at 9 o'clock. At noon the members of the association will at- tend an elaborate banquet in the college dining hall and later a programme of music will be given by former pupils. Miss Clara Baker wili deliver the open- ing address and an original poem will be read by Miss Alice van Reynegom. Various committees were appointed, that on decoration including Mrs. C. B. Fenn (chairman), Miss Charlotte John- son, Miss Gertrude Lennon, Miss Regina Cleary, Miss Josephine O'Neil and Miss Margaret Donnelly. Miss Mary Giorgiani is chairman of the committee on music —————————— PERSONAL MENTION. Dr. Roy Austin of Omaha is at the Palace. Clay Peters, a Tonopah mining man, lsl at the Grand. B. C. Bentley, an oil man, is registered at the Grand. Dr. T. L. Hildreth of Cambridge is at the Palace. Professor Joseph Fandrey of Los An- geles is at the Lick. Thomas Langford, a merchant of Eu- reka, is at the Grand. Paul Galtes, a capitalist of Bakers- field, is at the Lick. T. E. Flemming, a mining man of To- nopah, is in the city. J. Park Channing, a mining man of New York, is at the Palace. The Rev. George Harding of New Orleans is at the Palace. Dr. H. 8. Tucker and wife of Chicago are stopping at the Palace. L. A. Hall, agent for Wells, Fargo & Co. at Bakersfield, is at the Lick. Ross C. Cline, representative of the Wa- bash line in Los Angeles, is at the Grand. A, F. Adams and H. R. Wyman, capital- ists of Boston, are registered at the Palace, . Don H. Porter, proprietor of the Ken- yon Hotel in Salt Lake City, is at the Occidental. 8. Tsu, a prominent Japanese merchant of Osaka, is at the Occidental, en route to the East on business. T. E. Dorr of Saginaw, Mich., who is interested in the Freshwater timber tract near Eureka, is at the Palace. ‘Wing Shew Haw arrived from Wash- ington yesterday and is at the Palace. He is en route to Honolulu to fill the position of English secfetary of the Chinese Con- sulate. Russell Colegrave of New York, United States Vice Consul to Canton, arrived from the East last evening, and is reg- istered at the Palace. He has been home on his vacation and is returning to the Orifent. Eastern Clergyman Is Desired. SAN JOSE, May 24.—The Rev. F. Ward Denys of Baltimore, Md., has been ex- tended a unanimous call by the vestry- men of Trinity Episcopal Church of this city. There has been a vacancy in Trin- ity Church since the Rev. Mr. Mockridge had his trouble a few months ago and re- The Rev. F. Ward Denys, who is rector of St. Mary's Church in Balti- more, has been in San Jose for several weeks, during which time he has preached at Trinity, * l Besides these literary efforts he has writ- ten a history of his country. One of the new Consul General's sons accompanies him in this city and another, Mareus, {8 to arrive here soon with the other members of the family. The sons have earned for themselves reputations in Mexico as portrait and landscape paint- | ers, both being pupils of the famous Span- ish’ painter, Ramonia Madrazo. In dis- cussing his new position yesterday, Senor Zayas sai This is first permanent mission abroad | and I cannot think of any point on the globe where T would more prefer to establish m: as & representative from Mexico than in Francisco. The United States, as the world knows, is the closest fr but no- where in your country have our people been re- ceived with more hospitality and than ip San Francisco. In fact, I re- ceived my appointment, my friends hurried to congratulate me and remarked that I had the choicest of the posts within the gift of our President. My short stay here has convinced me of the truth of the statements and I hope, as your people begin to know me better, they will realize the high degree of esteem in which 1 hold thm. Senor Zayas expects to enter upon his | duties in a few days and will issue his circular of notification to the members of | the consular service in this city as soon as his exequator has arrived from Wash- ington. CHURCH IS DESTROYED BY. FIRE AT EDENVALE Pretty Structure Erected by Mrs. Hayes Chynoweth Reduced to Ashes. SAN JOSE, Ma —The * church of Mrs. Mary E. Hayes Chynoweth, the philanthropist and founder of the Church of the True Life at Edenvale, six miles south of here, was destroyed by fire shortly after 10 o'clock this morning. A blaze as discovered in the rear of the building, where the furnace is located, by Major C. P. Braslan and wife, who were out riding in an automobile. The origin of the fire is a mystery, as there had been no fire in the building since Friday. The church was built by Mrs. Hayes Thynoweth in 1892. It was of wood on a foundation and cost $12000. The on the furnishings is about $3000, making a total loss of $15,000. The struc- ture was partly Insured. There was no | service at the FEdenvale church to-day, as Mrs. Hayes Chynoweth spoke in the Unitarian church of this city. Mrs. Chyn- | oweth is the mother of J. O. and E. A. | Hayes and Edenvale is the home of the Hayes family. —————————— OKLAHOMA HOMESTEADERS PROSECUTE A CATTLEMAN Secure Conviction of Frank Speer for Shooting at Them With Intent to Kill. GUTHRIE, O. T., May 24—On trial at Taloga, O. T., charged with shooting at homesteaders with iIntent to kill, Frank Speer, a prominent cattleman, has been convicted. The shooting was the culmi- nation of a feud of long standing between the cattlemen and farmers of Western Oklahoma. brothers; George Ivy, Willlam Murphy and Daniel Holcomb also have been in- dicted under the Federal laws for alleged conspiracy to prevent homesteaders from taking peaceful possession of their claims, After Frank Speer was convicted the Fed- eral cases were continued until next term. A homesteader, James McKinney, charged with shooting at cattlemen, was acquitted. The prominence of the cattle- men has made the case very important. —_———— UNION PACIFIC MACHINISTS ARE STILL OUT ON STRIKE Settlement Effected in New York ‘With the Boilermakers Does Not Affect Them. WASHINGTON, May 24—P. J. Conlan, first_vice president of the Machinists’ Na- tional Union, to-day received a number of telegrams inquiring ad to the terms of settlement of the labor troubles with the Union Pacific Railroad system. Conlan says that the strike settlement effected in New York included only the difficulties between the boiler-makers and their com- pany. Thelr machinists, he sald, had not reached any agreement with the Union Pacific and the machinists' strike there- fore was still on. e —— Townsend's Cal. glace fruits. 715 Mkt.* —_——————— Special information supplied dally to business houses and public men by the Press Clipping Buredu (Allen's), 230 Cal- iforna street. Telephone Main 1042. + ———————— ‘Townsend's California glace fruits candies, 50c a pound, in artistic flmlcm boxes. A nice present for Eastern friends, Moved from Palace Hotel building to 715 Market st., two doors above Call bullding* ————— Sidney Lee, at present h: known of English wrherlp:: S.Mlp. :m‘ is coming to America for the purpose of delivering a serles of lectures on “Great Englishmen of the Sixteenth Century.” He will also discuss Shakespeare ?n( “National Blography” during his stay. Frank, Jim and Merts Peer, | 'BRITISH TRY OUT BIG GUNS WITH CORDITE ~ — An unusually severe gun trial took placs last month on board the. British battleship Duncan, when the 12-inch guns were fired with progressively increased charges of The usual maximum charge of cordite. 244 pounds, 220 pounds was increased to and it is intended to further increase lh: charge to 256 pounds. Firing began wit! 1 lfhfiapiunds. advancing to 220 pounds, lh>9n to 232 pounds, and concluding with 4 pounds. The shell, weighing $0 pounds, is estimated to have reached a distance of fifteen miles. The gun crew declared that the concussion felt was no greater with the increased charge than with the lowest. An examination showed that nefther the gun nor mountings appeared to have suffered any damage, nor that any weakness of gun and turret Supports had developed from the severe strain. The armored cruiser Monmouth, 9500 tons, completed her full power trial :’ elght hours on Apr#l 30 and averaged 22.8 knots by log. It falls short by one-fifth of a knot of the calculated speed, but is somewhat better than the Kent, with 21.7 knots, and the Bedford, which attained | 22.7 knots. The horsepower has fxcezded | the contract and the deficiency In sp;}e-yl u | 1s attributed to faulty propelicrs, | trials with improved screws on the Kent | have made no appreciable difference. Ten | vessels of her class are under construc- | tion, nine of which have been launched | and will be completed for service before | 1904. | The battleship Exmouth, 14,000 tons. is to be placed in commission Jure 2. She is the last of six ships of the same type | 1ala down since March, 1559, to be com- pleted, the period of construction varying rom three to four years. The calculated speed of 19 knots has been exceeded by the Russell with 195 knots and the Exmouth 19.05 knots, but was not made by the other four ships, the Cornwallis and Duican be- { ing credited with 18.9 knots, Montagu 133 ! knots and Albemarle 18.6 knots. The lat | ter's trial made in heavy weather. | The admiralty has wisely decided upon a slight reduction in the speed of battleships and armored cruisers laid down since 1901 Under the new requirement, the Qucen and Prince of Wales, 15,000 tons, are to steam | 18 knots, and five battleships of the Com- | monwealth class, 16,35 tons, are to make 18.25 knots. In the armored crulser list six of the Devonshire type, 10,700 tons. have an increase of %0 tons over their predecessors of the Kent class and a re- duction in speed from 23 knots to 2295 knots. The Duke of Edinburgh and Black Prince of 1350 tons are to have a speed of 225 knots Nich Lean, believed to be England’s oldest navy sailor, was burled at Chat- ham May 2. He was 9 years of age and had served in the Crimean War. On leav- ing the service he joined the Coast Guard | at Landgate and Folkstone. The French torpedo boat destroyer Mousquet had her trial last month and developed a speed of 0.2 knots, an excess of 2.2 knots over the contract. The boat is one of twenty-three in course of con- struction, built on progressive improve ments over the Durandel, completed in 1900, and the Pique, built in 1%1. The Du- | randel is of 301 tons, 4500 horsepower and | about 27.5 knots; the Pique was increased to 319 tons, 5700 horsepower, but failed to reach the contract speed of 2% knots. In the Mousquet the displacement has been decreased to 308 tons and the horsepower | raised to 639, with a decided improv | ment in speed. The coal capacity is tons, sufficient for 2300 miles at 14 knots, and her armament is two torpedo tubes, one nine-pounder and six three-pounders | One drawback to the entire success of | this boat is the fact that owing to a | rather limited draught the vessel tumbled | about a good deal in a seaway, thus | greatly diminishing her steadiness for using torpedoes and guns with any de- | gree of accuracy, and to overcome this defect a deeper draught or bilge keels will | materially decrease the speed. | The sum of $6.250,000 has been allowed in the Russian naval expenditures for im- provements at Port Arthur. Work is be- ing vigorously pushed in deepening the | harbor, in which six dredgers, five steam | and twelve ordinary used barges are em- ployed. The inner harbor had, at last ac- count, been deepened sufficiently to per- mit the entrance and anchorage of three battleships and two cruisers at ome time The draught of the battleships was about twenty-seven feet. The new Russian armored cruiser Bayan was seriously damaged by stress of weather on her voyage from the Baltie | to the Mediterranean and was forced to go into drydock at La Seyne for repairs to hull ahd machinery. order relieving offi- cers from duty at branch hydrographic offices, except at New York and San Franci: and substituting civilians, does not meet with the approval of naval of- ficers and strong efforts will be made to have the order rescinded. There are a | the present time sixteen branch offices. | five of which are on the lakes, at which | two officers of the active list, nine retired officers and seven civilians are serving. | That some of these offices are of small | importance is evidenced from the fact | that messengers are In charge at Galves- ton and Port Townsend. The origin of branch hydrographic offices dates back to the early '$)'s. when Commodore Walker was chief of the Bureau of Navigation. There was then a scarcity of ships to give employment to officers and navy yards and svecial duty was resorted to as means of giving some sort of work to the overloaded list of officers of the line. The first three offices were established at New York, Boston and Philadelphia; other s ports were gradually added. and finally about two vears ago, Buffalo, Sauit Ste. Marie, Duluth and Cleveland completed the extension of the system. An incident occurred shortly after the branch office at New Orleans had been established which indicated the primary object of their existence. The officer on duty at New Orleans was on a visit to Washington and was asked by the assistant chief of the bureau if he did not require heip. Secretary Mood The officer laughingly replied that he found little to do himself. “That,” said the bureau official, “cuts no figure; we must endeavor to make the navy appear important.” An assistant was duly assigned, and thus for a number of years the branch hydrographic offices have given employ- ment to a number of officers. The condl- tions of the navy are much different now from those of 1883. There are not enough officers for sea service and shore duty is being curtailed without apparent injury to efficiency. The salaries paid to officers at the branch offices amounted in 1901-02 to about $40.000, - which, with contingent expense of $32,000, makes a total of $72.- 000. Some of the retired officers are, no doubt Dbetter qualified than civilian ex- perts, while others should be sent to their homes, and several offices can be closed with ne detriment to the service and a saving of expenses. The Niclausse firm, makers of the boil- ers which are alleged to have been unsat- isfactory in the battleship Maine, pro- tests against the concluston arrived at by the naval officers who examinéd the boil- ers. The bullders state that the accident to the tubes “is unforaunately rather fre- quent in navies which has commenced to use water-tube boilers, and whose staffs are still ignorant as to the practical man agement of the apparatus.” The letter Boes on to state that “our boilers have been in continuous service in the French navy for eleven years and in the Russian. Spanish, English, German and other na- vies for five or six years.” The Navy Department has rescinded the contract with the defunct Trigg Company at Richmond, Va., for the cruiser Galves- ton, and the vessel will be completed at the Norfolk navy yard. 1