The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 10, 1903, Page 4

THE SAN AUGUST 10, 1903 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprictor. 7 céress All Communications to W. S. LEAKE. Manager. o TELEPHONE. Ask for THE CALL. The Operator Will Connect You With the Department You Wish. Market and Third, S. F. .217 to 221 Stevemson St. PUBLICATION OFFICE. EDITORIAL ROOMS. Delivered by Carriers, 20 Cts. Per Week, 75 Cts. Per Month. Single Copies 5 Cents. Terms by Meil, Including Postage (Cash With Order): DAILY CALL (including Sunday), obe year... .$8.00 DAILY CALL Oncluding Sunday), € months. 4.00 DAILY CALL—By Siagle Month. . TBe FUNDAY CALL. One Year. . 250 WEEKLY CALL, One Year. . §8.80 Per Year Extra 4.15 Per Year Extra FOREIGN POSTAGE. 1.00 Per Year Extra ters are authorized to receive subscription Sample coples will be forwarded when requested. All Post) Mall subscribers in ordering change of acdress should be particular to give both NEW AND OLD ADDRESS in order o tnsure & prompt and correct compliance with thelr request. OAKLAND OFFICE. 1118 Broadway .Telephone Main 1083 BERKELEY OFFICE 2148 Cemter Street Telephone North 77 C. GEORGE KROGNESS, Manager Foreign Adver- tising, Marquette Building, Chicago. Qong Distance Teiephone *Central 2619.”) WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: MORTON E. CRANE........1408 G Street, N. W. | NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: STEPHEN B. SMITH........30 Tribune Buflding BERANCH OFFICES—327 Montgomery, corner of Clay, open until 9:80 o'clock. 300 Hayes, open untll 9:30 o'clock. 633 | McAllister, open until 9:30 o'clock. 615 Larkin, open until ©:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission, open until 10 o'clock. 2261 Market, corner Sixteenth, open until 9 o'clock. 1008 Va- lencis, cpen untii ® o'clock. 108 Eleventh, open until c'rlock. NW. corner Twenty-second and Kentucky, open ock. 2200 Filimore, open until ® p. m. entil § PRICES GRADUALLY SETTLING. CERTAIN tendency in business is developing wout the country. It began to show it- months ago, and its existence was at ted at, but it is only quite recently est and last week it became drift in trade is like the turn of 2 first and subsequently becoming s a general downward tendency in prices. n anywhere by those who are accus- things around them. Tak- ntry as a whole, or a community even, es are somewhat below thbse of a year or Higher-priced goeds selling more the medium grades are meeting with The 1at are goo ute story to those who re- e labels looked two or three ymical man, the close buyer, is 1e difference between now and remember any particular date when then he first noticed the change, for it has crept into trade t it has been unnoticed. But it has the same. It has now become evident ge wholesale trade, and we are briefly in- so gradually ti formed by one of the well-known commercial author- ities that “staple prices are drifting lower. Food ly tend lower.” g about this. Everybody it for several we were on the crest of a great v prosperity, to employ a phrase which has become f; to every American, and we all knew that some time or other business would quict down. ated prices could not last, and at it was not good for the com- they should. Profusion So is high living. But we Bread and water is a fine t, but we do not like it. of 1 ed A glance at the condition of the important staples | values better than penitential first place, whereas for some des would not, and indeed filling of orders, and often fiatly refused to accept any more new business, they ce their deliveries promptly and get ill, the trade is by no means dull, their order books filled for But the rush and fever are over. already mentioned, afe slowly set- Western packers less eager to hold up the m Buyers of cotton goods are holding off for more harmony between the quotations for the raw product and the manufactured goods. The woolen goods trade is reporting a quiet market, though there are plenty of buyers in the market and the raw wool is quoted firm and passing rapidly from grow- ers to mill purchasers Thq New England footwear factories are reporting a very good business in their line, though hides and leather have become weaker during the past month or so, and every few days a fraction is lopped off the quotations for hides. Lum- ber is still active in the West, but is quieter in the East, and a number of sections report a decline in prices. Financial considerations are said to be affecting building operations somewhat along the Atlantic coast. In fact, the East seems to be lagging behind the West in commercial activity, the latter section re- porting the demand for general merchandise good, with the movement practically as active as last year at this time. Increasing complaints of a scarcity of cars is a gratifying sign in this direction, while an increase of 14 per cent in railway earnings in July over the same month last year accentuates this condition. But the general reports from the farms are less fa- vorable, as prices for live stock are slowly shrinking, and the size of the crops has diminished somewhat of late. Prices of commodities of all descriptions declined 1.5 per cent in July, and have been declining almost imperceptibly for months. Still, jobbers as a rule re- port a good inquiry for fall merchandise, and there is no real dullness reported anywhere. The country’s bank clearings lost 38 per cent last week, as against the same week last year. The failures were 178, against 196 in 1002, but one of them was large. Liquidation still continues in Wall street, and though, as already mentioned, good stocks are nmow deemed low enough to buy, the public are not taking hold of them. In fact, speculation in everything is perceptibly quieter throughout thg country. Conditions in California remain about the same as bejore. Business is good, money is abundant, farm products are generally high and the export, whole- sale and retail branches of trade are reported in ex- cellent condition. We have no cause for complaint out on this coast now want to r their money. St and many mills months ahead Provisions, tiing, with the too, @all. in the shop win- | TO-MORROW’'S PRIMARIES. ONCERNING the importance of the primary ‘ elections of to-morrow it is hardly necessary | to say anything to intelligent citizens. It is well known that upon these elections depends the character of the coming administration of municipal offices. The selection to-morrow of good delegates to the various cenventions will assure the nomination of right men for the many offices that are to be filled; !and if such men be nominated, then on election day every voter will have the satisfaction of ample choice |in making up his ballot for municipal and county | officers. If, on the other hand, boss controlled dele- gates be chosen, then the convention will do the bid- ing of the bosses, and among the candidates nomi- nated the voter will have only a choice of evils. Public opinion at this time expects a substantial. if not a sweeping, victory for the candidates of the Republican party. A good nominating convention will go far toward making that expectation a cer- tainty, Consequently the main interest in the con- test to-morrow centers on the Republican primaries. It is to the rank and file of the Republican party that independent voters look for the selection of delegates to the nominating convention who will place a ticket in the field worthy of the support of public spirited men. That expectation should not be disappointed. Every loyal Republican should go to the primaries to-morrow resolved to vote for good men and for none other, in order to assure the double object of party success and public welfare. The one danger to be feared is that of political apathy on the part of a large percentage of the Re- i publican voters. It is a danger that is always im- | minent. Experience has shown again and again that the most serious evil in American municipal life is the disinclination of large numbers of workingmen, professional men and business men to perform their political duties. The danger is well known. It has been pointed out by the press, by students of our | politics, by pulpit orators and in the course of aca- demic addresses at our universities. It is well under- stood even by the apathetic themselves, and the issue of to-day is that of trying to overcome it and so bring out a full vote at the primaries to-morrow. In this particular case there are special reasons why | every taxpayer should be more than usually interested | and active in the contest. It is quite probable that in !the coming bond elections there will be voted large | sums of money for extraordinary purposes. The pos- sibility of having control of the expenditure of that money, and of directing the works of public improve- ment, will of course excite keenly the greed and the ambitions of the bosses and their gangs. The leaders of the spoilsmen are going to make every effort to procure the nomination of men who will in office be subservient to the spoils system. Their schemes can be baffled only by the activity of the great mass of good citizens, and accordingly every man who has a genuine patriotic desire for good government ought to make it a point to take part in the primaries this | vear and do his full duty toward the community. In the Republican camp the issue is plain. By the United Republican League there has been put into the field in every district a ticket of proposed dele- gates who deserve the support of their fellow citizens. The delegates proposed by the league are unpledged to any faction, or to any man, or set of men. are opposed in several instances by the candidates of notorious bosses. The defeat of any one of them would mean a loss to the convention of an indepen- dent, upright man, with the probable substitution in his place of a man who as a delegate would have no other aim than that of promoting the cause of the bosses and the success of the spoils politicians. Therefore there will come before the rank and file | of the Republican party to-morrow the clear and un- mistakable issue whether they will vote with the United Republican League in its efforts for good government, or will neglect a grave political and civic duty and leave the election to go by their de- fault to the bosses. ! ] 1 | Revelations which have been made during the last few days at the trial of Dillard, accused of forgery in connection with internal revenue affairs, indicate that the traffic in Chinese certificates of residence reached | mammoth proportions and netted the criminal oper- | ators fortunes. It is always consoling in such ex- | poses as these to know that Uncle Sam is implacable !in the prosecution of offenders against his laws and that precious few of the guilty escape. GHOSTLY SUMMONS. NUMBER of gentlemen recently assembled at A Denver announced themselves to the press as representatives of the two factions of the Populist party and proceeded to hold a convention {and discuss the situation. The outcome of the dis- cussion was, as might have been expected, the iachievem:n! of another merger; the contending fac- | tions harmonized and amalgamated. They then in | due form adopted a declaration of principles, ap- pointed a committee to attend to future business and | adjournéd. Just what is meant by this revival of the ancient and honorable order of Populists is not clear. The | committee is headed by William V. Allen, who was once a United States Senator and who doubtless has | a little ax to grind. Perhaps the other members of | the convention have an equal interest, or at least | | hope, in the expected resurrection of the defunct or- ganization. At any rate they speak bravely. In their platform they announce that there is no chance 1for “the enactment of our truth through either the | Democratic or the Republican parties,” and go on |to say: “The time is now at hand when the united | People’s party should - declare itself emphatically | opposed to any affiliation with either of those parties, | and unqualifiedly in favor of national political action.” The principles which make up “our truth” are thus set forth: “Our fundamental principles are known to | all Populists and are nowhere better stated than in | that immortal document enunciated at Omaha July | 4, 1898. However, for the benefit of the uninformed !we declare our unyielding adherence to the demands | for (a) a money, whether stamped on gold, silver or | paper, to be coined and issued exclusively by the Government and made a, full legal tender for all debts, both public and private; (b) a system of | transportation and the transmission of intelligence | only by the public and operated by the Government at the cost of service; (c) land for use rather than for speculation and abolition of alien ownership of lands; (d) American ships for American foreign commerce without a cent of subsidy, And as an open door for all economic reforms we urge the rule of ‘the people through .the optional referendum and initiative and the recall of derelict officials.” The reappearance of such a platform at this time will come to most Americans like a voice from the tombs, and there will be no little curiosity to see how many of the old-time stalwarts of the party will rise at the summons. When Owen Glendower boasted, “I can call spirits from the vasty deep,” Hotspur | Percy mockingly answered. “So can I, and so ean They | FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, T |any man—but will they come?” It is with a similar skepticism the public will wait to see what response is to be made by the spirits of bygone Populism to this new call of the job-chasers. e — | San Francisco is watching in pleasant anticipation the merry clash of authority and the loud crimination and recrimination of the various municipal depart- ments of the city. If the row continues it is reason- able to expect that taxpayers will learn much to their advantage. It is always something of an encourage- ment to learn what becomes of public money. { A NEGLECTED DUTY NE of the gratifying signs of the times is the increasing public interest in our foreign com- O merce, and particularly in that phase of it which affects the question of the enactment of legis- lation designed to promote our merchant marine on {the deep seas. It has now become quite evident to even the most casual observer that our export and import trade can no longer be safely or economically !left to the control of foreign shipowners. We must provide an American ocean gransportation for Ameri- can trade, or else we shall either have to pay an | enormously increased tribute to foreigners, or see our | foreign commerce stop where it is, making little or |no advance with the advancement of the nation in | other respects. The issue is not a new one. The promotion of American shipping has been under consideration a long time and the policy has been approved again land again by the Republican party in its national | platforms and by the people in their support of Presi- dential candidates pledged to such platforms. To men who are interested in transportation problems ! many of them have spoken of it as a matter of para- | mount importance. In an address delivered in 1900 before the National | Association of Merchants and Travelers at Chicago, | Mr. J. C. Stubbs pointed out in a striking way the | contrast between the care with which we have pro- | tected our industries on land and the carelessness with which we have neglected the needs of our ocean |industries. In the course of his address he said: | “Using the figures of Mr. Secretary Gage, manufac- turing industries have been nurtured by the Gov- | ernment’s protecting hand until they have increased since 1870: the cotton industry by 324 per cent, the silk industry by 1825 per cent, the rubber industry by 431 per cent, the iron industry by 607 per cent, the stee! industry by 12,893 per cent, while as a coal pro- | ducer we now rival Great Britain. During the same jperiod our foreign commerce has increased in a | greater ratio than our population. Exports of manu- ;(actures have quadrupled.and of agriculture have | trebled. From that pleasing picture one cannot but | turn with disappointment and chagrin to this one, | that between 1870 and 1809, the proportion of foreign ' commerce carried in American vessels fell from 33 per cent to 8.9 per cent, to less than hali what it was !in the first year of our national existence. Disagree- able as this result is, an examination into the his- | toric processes by which it has been accomplished will serve only to make it more displeasing, even to humiliating our national pride.” | We need not follow Mr. Stubbs in his review of the 3hismry of the decliné of oyr ocean shipping. Suffice | it to say that we have now reached a point where we | pay a vast yearly tribute to foreign shipowners and | still do not receive from them the full service which | we could obtain from an adequate merchant marine ;of our own. Our commercial rivals, Great Britain land Germany, carefully protect and promote their :ocean going ships. They are aware that a merchant ship not only carries goods to existing foreign mar- | kets, but serves at the same time to make new mar- | kets and to advertise the trade of the country whose flag it flies. By neglecting our ocean merchant | marine we are, therefore, not only paying heavy | tribute to our rivals, but are surrendering to them | many markets in which we might find consumers for | large quantities of American goods. The people have a right to expect Congress to take action at the coming regular session in the direc- | tion of promoting our merchant marine. Ample dis- | cussion has been held upon various plans proposed | to that end, and it is now time for some well con- | sidered policy to be adopted and provided for. We have heen paying tribute too long. Congress should keep the promise of the Philadelphia platform of 1900. Ecover our former place among the trade-carrying fleets of the world.” It is now announced, with all due formality of offi- cial report, that the Filipinos do not take kindly to the | coins which Uncle Sam has cast for them. Our money |is probably the least of things American to whicih the Filipino has set down his foot in absolute, un- compromising opposition. Since he doesn't like our | money and as it is of no use to us the Government might distribute it among others of our savage fellow citizens for clothing purposes. | The Supreme Court of California is now concen- trating its energies upon an effort to untie the des- | perate knot into which our astute legislators have | tied the divorce laws. It is to be hoped that the learned gentlemen will find their endeavor speedily concluded and complete in results. It must be horri- bly uncomfortable for a fellow not to know whether he is married to one wife or none or two. —_— | Andrew Carnegie has given to the town of Dun- fermline $2,500,000 to be devoted to the introduction of sweetness and light into the lives of the toilers of that town, which knows its fame as the birthplace of the steel king. If Andrew Carnegie will now tell us- what he means by sweetness and light in the life Arnold did after he invented the phrase. —_— The fourth estate has received in China what even the most conservative observers will consider to be a seripus obstruction to its progress. One of the Chinese editors of a reform newspaper in the Flowery Kingdom was lashed to shreds for four hours the other day and was. then strangled to death to end his torture. Such emphatic treatment as this has a tendency to moderate one’s enthusiasm for reform. —_— The new woman appears to be running amuck in her long sought environment of freedom. Hardly a day passes without a record of a crime committed by a woman in fields formerly held exclusive to the evil operations of man. Forgeries, embezzlements, defalcations and robberies perpetrated by women sig- nal the fact that man, even in his frailties, must face a usurper in the gentler sex run riot. ———— A hunter was mistaken near Ukiah the other day for a deer with the customary result. The poor fel- Iow. will be buried with the usual regrets. This “mistaken identity” season has thrown completely in the shadow the vogue of the deadly “unloaded gun.” If fatalities continue to happen perhaps it might be better for our hunters to use traps rather than guns. i the issue has long been one of high interest and by enacting “legislation which will enable us to re- | AUGUST 10. 1903, — BY DR. DAVID T. DAY, Chiet of Division of Mineral Resources, United States Geological Survey. N considering the condition of the pe- I it is necessary to fix the point of view by a few plain facts as to its present condition. United States produced $0894,5% barrels of petroleum, worth, delivered into the Ppipe lines, $69,610,348. This is the greatest is probably slightly greater than Russia's product during the same period and enormeusly greater than the entire pro- By far the greater part of this petro- léum came from old, well-known sources of supply, which yield the best varieties Wwhich, by the methods of refining in Vogue for many years, is made into {llum- inating dil, good, bad and indifferent, to crude. No other petroleum in the world vields nearly as much illuminating oil as American petroleum. is accomplished are old-fashioned and complex, but efficient for the purposes. Some olls, refined by European methods, troleum Industry of the United States During the calendar year 1%02 the product we have ever produced, and it duct of the rest of the world. of petroleum known in the world, and the extent of seventy-five per cent of the The methods by which this crude yield would yleld half as much illuminating ofl ! as they do, but it would be a far better quality than part of our product and not 50 good as our best. USE OF COAL AND OIL. Producing and refining petroleum con- stitutes the most interesting mineral in- dustry in the United States at the pres- ent time. It Is more interesting than the coal supply. Coal is merely a scurce of heat, whereas petroleum contributes to many industries. For some of these in- dustries it is absolutely essent!al that pe- troleum should be produced in large quantities and at a low price. Petroleum productfon has been . more sensational than usual during the last few years, al- ough its history has been filled with sensations since its discovery in consider- able quantity in 1859, Again, there is no industry in.the coun- try so beset with misconceptions as to its condition as the petroleum trade. Most of these arise from the ever present menace of a quick failure of the supply. Buch failures have been prophesied for nearly half a century and yet the pro- duct s greater than ever in this country, and, besides, it has been exceeded in some years by the enormous product of Russia. In industries like coal mining, and, in fact, in every mining industry except pe- troleum, we can see and measure the min- eral in the ground, whereas we can gauge the petroleum supply only by the tiny streams laboriously pumped from some mysterious source a thousand or more feet below the surface of the earth. For this reason petroleum exhaustion will continue to give more or less anxiety to the popular mind in spite of recent addi- tions of petroleum bearing territory in the United States, and especially in Alas- ka, significant new supplies in Roumania, Russia, Japan, India, South America and —most significant of all—China. It must be perfectly evident that this | anxiety as to petroleum exhaustion in the mind of the general public does not affect the petroleum trade, otherwise there would be quick and wide variations In the market price with the exhaustion of each pool and the discovery of each new district. PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICTS. At present popular anxiety as to the petroleum supply is due to disappointment concerning the Beaumont field in Texas. Fifteen months ago optimistic writers were predicting a petroleum deluge from Beaumont, and the expectation of enor- mous vields was heightened by the anx- fety of speculative Investors to market their oil at any price. This resulted in oil being sold as low as 3 cents per bar- rel, and yet that oil has increased over a hundred fold in value in the course of twelve months, as the supply has gone to a low ebb. Even the writer went into print to in- dulge in some pleasant anticipation of a long supply of oil in considerable abund- ance from the Beaumont reglon—an an- ticipation more optimistic than can be re- alized. Nevertheless, the general prob- abllity then expressed remains true to- day, that other fields in Texas will un- doubtedly yileld many times as much oil as has been found at Beaumont and, un- der conditions of conservative production, with more remunerative prices. It is Interesting to note that Texas pe- troleum has had no influence at any time on the general market price for crude oil over .the world. Its effect was simply local. The oli did not enter into com- petition with the general supply from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, from which States the steady supply is obtained. The condition in these States may be summed up as follows: The oil districts in Pennsylvania have proved longer lived than was anticipated. When, under conditions of large produc- tion, stocks of oil accumulated, many in- dividual pools in Pennsylvania were con- sidered exhausted, because the great sup- ply was gone, and it cost as much as it came to for pumping the oil. Following the resulting decrease in supply the price advanced sufficiently to reopen these old pools and the economy of pumping sev- eral wells with one engine allowed them to come to life again with moderate profit, Meanwhile the discovery of news pools bas been frequent and satisfactory. In fact, the ofl discoveries of Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia, together with the Ohlo supply, have more than offset the decline from abandoned pools. LARGE SUPPLY FOR YEARS. Managers of these oil pools are able, by the distribution of the wells they drill, to rather carefully determine what may be expected from each district and as fast as the signs of exhaustion make it neces- Wass sary additional energy is given to drilling in other promising territory until the shortage is made up. It is evident that Pennsylvania, Ohla and West Virginia can furnish a large supply of oil for years and it is further evident that the fields in the West, espe- cially in Kansas and Indian Territory, Wyoming and Colorado, will be drawn on more and more to supply the /Eastern shortage. But it costs more money to produce oll in the Western country, and especially to refine and distribute it. Therefore, the probable slow decline in the East means a gradual but sure increase in the price of crude oil, and while large discoveries of new ofl fields will undoubtedly be made, it is extremely questionable whether any of them will materially disturb this grad- vally rising tendency of the price of crude cil. At the present time the greatest interest | in ofl circles centers in Alaska, where, If | one wishes to indulge in reasonable prophecy, we may look for an ofl supply | very likely equal to that of Pennsylvania. | This .means much more for the Pacific Coast than it does to the oil trade. Enough oil has been found on the Pacific Coast to make its general use popular as a fuel supply. Its cost relative to coal has been well defined. It is safe to use oii in place of coal when | gallon equals the | Ten-cent | the price In cents per price of coal per ton in dollars. ofl equals ten-dollar coal. The various advantages and disadvan- tages attending the substitution of coal | by petroleum have come to be so well | known that it s purely a matter of small difference in cost between coal and oil | by which the amount of petroleum used will be regulated. dency is to use more ofl where other fuels have been used heretofore. GROWING USE OF OIL. This is the most significant development of the whole ofl industry. Oil is more popular than it used to be. Its two great uses, illumination and lubrication, are taking more and more oil, but in the meantime the minor uses are demanding | greater supplies, and the popularity of the by-products of petroleum is giving them a demand which will be satisfied with nothing else. One of the by-products, paraffin wax, follows very closely, however, the price of | rival products. Thus the recent increase in the price of parafin wax can be traced quite directly to wie increased price of tallow, due in turn to the manipulation of the beef trade. We can sum up the situation as to pe- troleum exhaustion, therefore, with an outlook for merely a slow increase in the price of the raw materials, due not so much to a lack of supply as to increased use of the products, but the industry will proceed with a steadiness which has char- ‘acterized few other lines of trade. This stability of the petroleum indus- try has been the most remarkable feature of our industrial deve.opmenc. The prices as made by the Standa.. Oil monopoly for petroleum products have been gov- erned by the keenest and most far-seeing consideration of supply and demand. This tribute to keen management and the bet- terment of the condition of the petroleum trade on the part of the oil monopoly must be kept in mind, as against the his- torical ruin wrought to rival refineries in the early days. The main point of interest to the trade in this regard Is that they know just what they can expect from the Standard Company, and that sensational discoveries of new territory will not be allowed by the monopoly to affect the oll trade to the slightest extent. We can look with the utmost complacency on the discovery of new flelds in Alaska or Texas or China or, on the other hand, upon the exhaustion of considerable fields in this country and elsewhere with the safe assurance that the oil trade will g0 on just as though nothing had hap- pened. CRITICISM OF METHODS. Another line of interest to the oil trade, and one of far greater significance, is the slow but Inevitable revolution in methods of using crude ofl. If the peculiar meth- ods maintained by the Standard Ofl Com- pany in the technical treatment of crude oil, in converting it into refined products, But the general ten-| { MINERAL EXPERT DISCUSSES SUPPLY OF OIL AND SCOUTS FEARS OF FAMINE —__—..l,_____—_—-——-—————_——'—_————k > * MINERAL EXPERT WHO DIS- CUSSES THE OIL SUPPLY QUESTION. L X could be placed clearly before the public it would be more remarkable than its treatment of competitors. The methods of refining oil which have been used since the discovery of petroleum, and are used | to-day, are rule-of-thumb methods, which are a reproach to the scientific and inven- tive reputation of the United States. It must be admitted that the Sandard Oil refineries have obtained from petro- leum the largest percentage possible of oil which can be burned in a lamp, and this has been done at the sacrifice of quality with the lowering of price. The doctrine of “letting well enough alone”™ has been carried to a dangerous extreme. But it must be understood that of all the oil de- posits of the world none can equal the oil of Pennsylvania for yielding fine illumin- ating ofl. If such poor methods as char- acterize the American plan were employed in Russia the resulting ofl would not be fit to burn in a lamp. The trade has been dominated by men far-sighted In business methods and poor in technical ability. But a change in these methods is being brought about by the necessity for better work in reflning the oil from Texas. As predicted by the writer a year ago, this oil would be re- fined profitably by means then to be dls- covered. The introduction of methods capable of refining Texas oil will enabie these methods to extend to the gemeral industry, and within a few years we may expect more rational refining methods. The great gain to be effected by such methods is the less wasteful use of our natural supply and the production of the largest quantity of the very best products which the crude oil will afford. Examples of what can be done in this way can be readily seen in the new methods of im- proving natural asphalt and petroleum asphaltic residues by heating with sul- phur or with air currents, and attention should also be directed to the innovations in refining oils by distillation with air currents at a low pressure. CAN CHECK EXPORTS. Again, the trade adopted new and ap- proved methods only when found neces- sary for refining the rank smelling sul- phur oils of Ohio and Indiana, and sim- ilar improvements may be looked for in order to increase the proportion of by- products as these latter rapidly increase in value. At present the common practice is to distill all the fine quality kerosene from crude ofl and to subject the rest to long. slow heating, by which the heavy ofls are cracked up into low grade kerosene, until three-fourths of the crude has gone into burning oils, but if this were the practice with all the olls produced in the United States, many of the high class lubricating oils would not be made at all and vase- line and other valuable by-products would not exist. Fortunately for the United States, a check can be placed at any time on the great quantity of valuable {lluminating oil which is exported from this country to Europe, and~this can be added to our home consumption with the increasing popularity of oil. In 1901 §17.375,844 gallons of kerosene, worth more than $52,000.000, went abroad in competition with Rus- sian oil, for while we produced only forty- two per cent of the world’s total of crude oil. we made sixty per cent of the kero- sene, and Russia produced less than half as much, her principal product being ofl for fuel purposes. L e o o e | L e B S AR R R R R MO SO R, ] of anybody he will do more than ever Matthew |- ANSWERS TO QUERIES. CLIFTON—A. 8, City. The population of Clifton, Arizona, according to the A. B, G. guide's list, is 2000 SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHS-Inquir- er, City. The number of submarine tele- graphs of the world aggregate 1751. NOT RECORDED-J. M. K, City. “Biddy" Bishop and Mose La Fontise have not gained sufficient reputation as fighters to be listed in the pugilistic rec- ords. COLORED BULBS—G. W., City. There is no preparation that may be placed on the outside of electric bulbs that “will permanently withstand the heat of the light and hold its color.” NAVAL POWERS—A. §., Oakland, Cal. The most important European naval powers at this time probably rank in the following order: Great Britain,” France, Russia, Germany, Italy. AND FITZSIMMONS—Sub- The height of Bob Fitasim- three-quarter inches; that of Jim Jeffries is ix feet and one-half inch. QUIET WEDDING—Subscriber, Oak- e e “n a trave at a ai A e = groom should not be married in a travel- ing suit. What he wears is a matter of individual taste. CARPENTERS—A. C. Any first-class employment office in this city will furnish the Information desired about carpenters in the citles named. PROHIBITION—Subscriber. The elec- tion on the question of prohibition in the State of Massachusetts In 1889 was in the month of April. It was on a proposed amendment to the constitution. The vote stood 8242 for and 131,062 against the proposed amendment. ——————— Booming the Flour City. The Minneapolis Times recently issued a “Greater Minneapolis Edition” which as a specimen of up-to-date F want. TSRS R R S T, .| “Bug Light.” PERSONAL MENTION. Albert Gallatin, a capitalist of Sacra- mento, i3 at the Palace. Rev. Joseph Willlam Jones and wife are guests at the California. J. & McSorley, a mining man of Ca veras, is at the California. General G. H. Burton, inspector general of the army, is at the Occidental. Dr. G. M. Bell and wife of Benton Har- bor, Mich., are registered at the Grand. P. C. Drescher, a merchant of Sacra- mento, and wife are stopping at the Cali- —_———— The smallest salary paid by the Gov- ernment of the United States to any pub- le servant is received by Charles Henry Gibbs, of Nantucket, R. I, keeper of the This lighthouse has been put out of commission because the shift- ing sands outside of Nantucket harbor have made it useless, but the Government allows Mr. Gibbs, an anclent mariner, to ltve in the place to protect the property, and pays him $1 a year, Look out for §1 Fourth (front grocer); best eyeglasses, specs, I5c