The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 30, 1903, Page 6

Matrimonial Economy. BEY CHARLES FREDERIC GOSS, D.D. “The Redemption of David Cor- hs and a Star,” etc.) (Copyriz by Joseph B. Bowies.) In & perfectly normal human expe- rience th profit and loss of marriage is | re a matter of calculation than | birds or the blcssom- | agine a rosebud sit- | re out whether it had i not! { | { (Aathor of 19 { | no_mgc is the mating When everything goes as it ought to the affections of, young hearts burst | som like lilies and, hand in | ¥ make their way to the mar- | riage altar without a doubt or ques- | tiorPas to what is sacrificed or gained . But in the strain of life there are 50 L < 2 WELL-KNOWN AUTHOR AND ! DIVINE WHO DISCUSSES MATRIMONY *+ > many abnormal experiences. Through poverty or the pressure of unusual re- sponsibilities or the accidents of soli- tude or preoccupation multitudes grow out of that divine period of impuilse and instinct into another of refiection and calculation before they fall in love. To them marriage becomes a question! They have reacdhed that unhappy stage where this heaven appointed relation- ship becomes a matter not of necessity but of choice. Nothing is more pitiful than its cold and impartial discussion. The dilemma “to marry or not to mar- ry” is a tragedy like that other one, “to be or not to be,” for marriage is as much & duty and a privilege as life itself. ‘What do we avold by staying single? 1 The risk of drawing a blank or catching & tartar! Certainly, if mar riage is not a complete lottery, it is in many senses a game of chance. Noth ing is more certain than that the reai, vital, essential principles of character ere a post-marital discovery. Enor mous risks are taken. But this is true of the acquirement of any great good in Mfe. People who do not take the| hasard of ‘a noble chance may gain trifies, but not immensities. 2 2. We avold the loss of personai ifbs} erty. The older we get lhe more we| prize the alluring sweetness o ontire| freedom from cntangling olliances. | 80 & half iimes,as heavy as water; ity Anything that hampers ‘he free phy[ of our own free wil! becomes intolerable | or irksome By staying singie we pre. ! serve our ifberty tc use ai! our énoney : ‘m the gratification o° our persomal’ tastes. The world is “uller and fuiler of ’ suxuries which ¢ i bliss ‘o eajoy. i wou stay single you cam spead Your; money ir ‘hei. acquisition witheut a. wualm a6 to whether you ough? xos ic| aivide ‘with astes of her owr. You eas also om:-| dloy yowr tivac fo swit yous fuclin jon. A fanly .ccessarily engrosses he noveted “ours > seilimpravemen’. 7 @iversion Bick babies are ax-| getherers who ‘¢ op Eime with dhe/| uthlessness - *he ancient collectors | » money ™ the Romun provinces, | What 1o “ve gain by geti'ng married” . The satisic. tion thatl we are abey-| ng # fundamentsi iew and siements | nstinci Js ¥* no! » so'ld comton Yy e || n line with natme 4 perform natura, | obligations, t« marck ith the wroces sion” {f there i+ an /ndes¢ribanle Jo o saying. 7 an' 2 man "~ % an & wors an ‘he s a sumiia® joy ‘n saying ”. wm » married man ! wm @ garried | woman' havc obeved @ primerdisl ww o help perpetuate the rass '.n..é ¥ veople the earth The enjoyment of ioves XNg sov’ nas wried rhe decpest experienda §f life ‘ha has not given and peceived fove! To Lo« human being and have mpeverd | sweet companionship that their check- jered careers have known (which no | procured) and they must feel that it is | 1s the beginning and summit of all civ- loved is like being & bird and never have flown! Who has not loved has not Iived! This is true in the same sense that it is true that who has not thought or felt or acted has not lived. The most wonderful and meaningful of all the phases of life has been untried and unknown by those who have not loved. 3. The comfort of friendship. Even in marriages that are not ideal, where the deepest love has never been developed, where there has been much living at | cross purposes and even unhappiness | and bitterness. there is liable to be an incalculable amount of sympathetic companionship. Mutual duties force even incompatible people into such inti- mate relationships that a spirit of com- raderie is developed. Let even an {ll- mated couple think of the hours of other possible relationship could have well to take the bitter for the sweet. S S 4. The benefit of ballast! It is of enormous importance to évery one to | have weights and burdens imposed | upon him in life. We get “flighty” without them, like balloons; we reel and pitch like ships; we throw our feet like trotting horses. What we need is | gravity! Something must hold us down! | 5. Incentive. This is the deepest need of life. As the years multiply the dan- ger of every living soul lies in the dis- covery of the vanity of existence! When we see how little the struggle amounts to, that fatal cry rises from broken hearts to trembling lips, “What's the use?” Weariness, lassitude, ennui; pes- simism—these are the fdes of all men and women who are not driven to their tasks by stern meeessity or impelled by some divine incéntive. But is there any other such inGentive as a wife and a brood of little ehfldren? How they | keep men up to their work! With the thought of these dear objects in their minds, how fathers march up to cannon mouths! How mothers dare the deadly foes and do the impossible deeds of life, impelled by the love of their families! Take that incentive out of the world and how long do you suppose all other incentives whatsoever would goad hu- | manity toward its goal? How long would the mere desire for fame or the love of money or the lust of power in- cite men and women to heroism and to | ceaseless endeavor? ‘Which scale pan rises? I say once more as I have sald so | often in the marriage service: “Mar- | riage is the ever blessed ordinance of | God.” 1 say with Goethe: *“Marriage | flization.” Testing of Germs. BY MA[m;M MeDOWELL, [Author of “‘Shop Talk on the Wonders of the Crafts."") (Copyright, 1908, by Joseph B. Bowles.) “The annual diamond smashing bee is due to open Christmas afternoon,” remarked the gem expert of a big jew- | elry store. “Somehow diamonds breed suspicion. Many of them are bought for Christmas gifts, and you would be surprised to learn how many good, | some of them fine stones are broken under a hammer because the recipient | of the present suspected that the sparkler was not a genuine dlamond. SEE g “The week following Christmas is my week for listening to hard luck stories from young men whose sweethearts | pulverized the diamonds Santa Claus gave them. It also is the week of all weeks in the year when I am called upon to pass judgment on garnets, cat’s-eyes, carbuncles, emeralds, pearls, sapphires, tourmalines. rhinestones, | quartz and cut glass and cave crystals. “I am called upon, howeéver, more fre- quently to tell the inquisitive lady what her precious stone is, whether it is a precious or semi-precious stone. There was & time when we sold only diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, gar- nets and sagphires, but now there.is a great demand for imineralogical gems, such as the tourmaline, zircon, star ruby, asteria, titanite, cat’s-eyes, etec. If a stone is hard cnough to scratch quartz, but is soft enough to be scratched by a topaz, I know it belongs to the group tabulated between quartz and topaz. If it scratches iopaz, but can be scratched by a sapphire, T know it s of a hardness between topaz and sapphire. Thus if & stone claimed to be a ruby is brought to me and 7 find it to be only as hard as topaz i know it 4s uot a ruby, but probably 2 spine! ruby, which is far from being 2 true ruby. If & piece of rock urystai will scratch it I would »ul % dowz as a common red garnet. “But seratching ie ai mncouth method of testing—scratching does nc stone any good. A better method is to weigh the stone under examination io get its specific gravity, Thus ‘opaz is three specific gravi i 4.5, Chrysoberyl's specific gravity ie 7.6: the specific grav- ity of aquamarine is but 7. and %0 om. { ‘We Inow the specifié gravity of every gem. We ascertair the specific gravity of a ston¢ by suspending it by & halr “rom ¢he beam »f & delicate feweler's balence, weighing it first 't the air and then % ~ater. The difference is the | weight of the waicr displaced by the determined. “But there {s = better way than that. | Wood, floats or water because bulk for | bulk. it is lightes =hile stone sinke De- | cause t s heavier ihan water. But a| e id carw He made by mixing different | substences Uogether which will float times 35 Aense as water and In such | Mquids Che Yighter gem stones wil' float. O¥er (nstance @ Mquld 2allec :ethy jenc flodide is.just *hree :n¢ thres. 7he iuspec: the State ser the best <vidence o +his i “he pro- | day- since :o hold twd sessions dail water and it 'duction of ‘he same fruit and field <rops ‘ron: ope end of ¢ will fdoa” Zourmeline, hosé specific gravity & 5% Bu* vhere aro gems Grhick, are Jight: ey jhasi surmal: ans Ohereforo (hex w1} floal i any : iougmaiine, Se we dilute the methy fene fodide by adding, drop by drop, ! ‘benzing, making g lquld loss hnu.; - . "M finten gaies, ene laes 7AQ Do 89 5 Bgona iq ol ghurling aRs Seroails seeral Bl M G We shud s @paa: gravity goxid highte®Mpan, geu - caufine |’ 1 uid whiek il qoar THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3 1903. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL Publication Office.......... ..Third and Market Streets, S. F. MONDAY CHEERING MERCANTILE REPORTS. HE markets of the country showed rather more tone T last week. Private and press advices from New York — stated that the feeling of pessimism and despondency so long prevailing in that city is passing away and is being gradually succeeded by confidence in the future. It is thought that liquidation has about run its course in Wall street and that whatever weakness the stock market may develop from now on will be merely incidental and tran- sitory. The good prices ruling for farm products, especially grain and cotton, inspire confidence, and even the industries, which have lately been the subjects of much complaint and foreboding, seem to be in rather better condition. The re- cent decline in quotations for crude iron is apparently help- ing the iron and steel market, though the improvement is irregular and slight. Structural goods, however, are meet- ing with a good demand and colder weather has perceptibly stimulated the movement in clothing, woolen goods and footwear. There is also a good holiday trade and present prospects are that the Christmas retail trade of the country will be large. Abundant crops, too, are having their effect, and imports instead of exports of gold from Europe are doing much to keep the money market easier than was thought probable some months ago, and there is nothing that inspires confidence like the knowledge that there is plenty of money to meet all necessities likely to rise. The situation is aptly expressed by Daniel F. Kellogg, financial editor of the New York Sun, who writes: “Three great factors differentiate the present business situation from times in past years with which parallels are now commonly drawn. They are, first, an absence of all troubles affecting the currency and the presence of a huge volume of money in the country, half of it in actual gold; second, the well- nigh total liquidation of the debts of the Western farming population and a* general condition' in the West of financial affluence and social contentment; third, a foreign trade bal- ance very heavily in our favor. All this does not spell 1893 or anything like it.” The statistical position of the country does not make a bad showing. True, the bank clearings continue to exhibit a decrease from corresponding periods in 1902, the loss last week being 18.3 per cent, but it must not be forgotten that last year at this time trade was abnormally and dangerously active, with prices high and the public buying everything in sight without much regard to cost. This was the state of affairs that caused apprehension among the level-headed financiers and merchants of the country. They feared the outcome of this cheerful disregard of money. The land seemed full of spend(hrihs‘. scattering funds right and left, building, speculating, expanding, pleasure seeking and trav- eling. Predictions of a panic began to be heard. Another 1893 was thought to be impending. But, thanks to the stern action of the great banking interests, which contracted their loans and promptly frowned upon plunging by their cus- tomers, the descent from the dizzy heights of extravagance to the safer plain of conservatism, tli readjustment to the more normal basis, has thus far been attended by little real disaster. Though sundry vast combinations have been vivi- sected to their grief and the country’s edification, that was merely the penalty of previous folly and recognized as such by the public at large. A year or two ago nobody thought of rigidly investi- gating new projects involving the absorption of millions of capital; now it is a difficult matter to float any new thing— not because money is scarce, for it is not, but because the public want to know where their money is going and who is to handle it. The proposition of passing one's spare cash over to half a dozen men and telling them to invest it as they see fit no longer prevails. The day of the gigantic trusts has been like the day of the alligator, which basks in the sun with his,cavernous mouth agape and when his tongue gets covered with mosquitoes and gnats snaps his jaws together and swallows a million of them at one mouthful and then lazily opens his jaws for another cargo. The trust is such an alligator and the people are the gnats, The failures for the week were 167, against 182 for the same week last year, but few of them were serious. The railroad earnings thus far in November are 5.2 per cent larger than during the same time in 1902. Money in New York is now somewhat higher than for the past few months, fluctuating around 5 and 6 per cent, but in 1902 at this time it was four or five times as high, scarce and feverish. There is no fever now and Europe is sending us large shipments of gold in payment for our grain and cotton. There is nothing new in the staples worthy of especial comment. The grain markets continue quiet and feature- less owing to excellent crops throughout the world. Provis- ions still droop at the Western packing points and the pack- ers are not supporting their markets. Lumber is in good demand for cxport, but the local inquiry in the East and West is reported lighter. An enormous quantity of cotton is waiting to be marketed and the Southern pianters are orofiting unprecedentedly through the high prices. The closc of mavigation for the winter is largely increasing the business oi the Western railroads, but complaints of car shortage are not often heard. Wholesale grocers aiong the | Atlantic seaboard report an excellent and contintous demand for groceries, especially the higher grades. All these conditions indicate a satisfactory state of busi- ness. Prices are still gradually settling to = lower basis, but the descent is so slow that no fingers are being seriously burned. If we get to the bottom for which we are bound without any more derangement than we have suffered thus far we will be just as well off and probably better than when everything was selling at eéxtravagant prices and we Amesi- cans were » set of cheerful spendthrifts, N The crisis hae been safely passed, Williams Jennings Bryan has arrived in London; he has spoken to our British brethren in banquet assembied and there is absolutely not o sign on the horizon to indicate that sur friendly relations with England have been disturbed. What a chatice we've woman who has alsc) stonc, and itx $pecific gravity is thus! missed by having Tharksgiving day oo sarly. e — THE STATE'S CLIMATE, T i3 fuite necessary to put constant emphasis upon the oneness of the ciimate of California, In the East the terms. North and South carry 2 definite idea of differ- ences ir climate and temperature in faver of the South, | stones. Some liauids are ihree or four . Here those terms are without significance. The climate of the State gorth and soutk is practically the same i ency. ite equability and its range its ciem- = temperature. Those the Statc @ tie othe: Outsiders, are 1ot o hiame ior ne' understanding that Ithere can be the sam- -limate over ir area tha: stretches nortl, o) south. Hongkong &+ wnly iy nearly 1000 :ailes i OVEMBER 30, 1903 mate of California does not present these extremes. It isa warm blanket that covers the State from end to end. The monthly report of the Weather Bureau for October, issued by Director McAdie, is just out and is full of very in- teresting information. It gives an elaborate table of daily temperatures at sixty-eight points in the State. The study of the mean lowest temperature for the month discloses facts that cannot be too widely advertised. The mean lowest temperature for the month was, at Los Angeles 53.7, at Oak- land 54.5, at Red Bluff 54.3, at Sacramento 52.5, at San Diego 56.0, at San Francisco 54.9, at Shasta 56.0. We have here Oakland, San Francisco and Shasta a perceptible shade higher in a mean minimum than Los Angeles, while Shasta, nearly 800 miles north of San Diego, shows about the same minimnm. Going to the mean maximum temperature for the month we find Los Angeles 78.9, while in Northern California Red ’Bluff had 80.6, Sacramento 70.8, Santa Rosa 79, Shasta 82, Tulare 87, Upper Lake 80, Visalia 87, Fresno'83.4 and Wil- lows 70.3. From this Eastern people will see clearly how little north and south have to do with climate and tempera- tures in California. When Shasta shows a higher maximum and minimum than Los Angeles and Southern California it is easily understood why we have the same production all cver the Sta‘e and that our climate knows no north and no scnth. e ] Schwab has been accused of a wicked attempt to bribe Nixon. There is nothing, however, in the revelations of the gigantic and shameless conspiracies of the shipbuilding trust to indicate that Mr. Nixon needs 2 guardian in his various affairs. He seems to have been very well able to take care to secure his share of the dubious profits of the concern. I reduction of the wages of cotton spinners and weavers of the Fall River mills in Massachusetts the special re- port o1 the Census Bureau on “Employes and Wages” just issued has an added significance. This compendium of the results of the 1900 census of 720 manufacturing institutions, which has been prepared by Professor Davis R., Dewey of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presents the tabulations of statistics upon thirty-four industries and 304 occupations connected with these. Wherever possible com- parisons have been made with the census reports upon the same manufacturing concerns for 18go. A classification of wage scales according to geographical sections is also ap- pended. The first striking deduction to be made from the compari- son of the statistics of 1800 and 1900 is that the specialization of skilled labor is yearly becoming more complex. The increased use of machinery, the employment of machines to do the work which was ten years ago the province of the hands, the growth of new industries attendant upon the ad- vances of scientific discoveries—all these conditions have de- veloped the remarkable segregation of skilled labor into minutely specialized branches of activity, As a corollary to this condition the fact that there is at present a larger field for unskilled labor than formerly existed is demonstrated by the statistics. The skilled mechanic, who ten years ago con- trolled the operations of one machine while his associates completed the production of the manufactured article by the work of their hands, has been forced to give way to six me- chanics whose engines now leave nothing to be fashioned by the fingers. The natural result of this leveling of the barriers between skilled mechanics and heretofore unskilled operatives has EMPLOYES AND WAGES. N view of the widespread interest attaching to the recent skilled mechanic of ten years ago is not now so efficient a factor in production, and consequently the rate of wages of the few has been cut down to meet the demands of the many who now claim an equality of skill. While in a given indus- try there may not be as high a maximum mark of wages as formerly the average rate of pay shows a considerable in- crease on account of the increased production and the larger staff of machine operatives necessitated. There are many conditions which prevent an exact de- termination of a possible general increase @f wages during the ten years past. The fluctuating purchasing power of the laborer’s wage under the conditions of locality and the vary- ing retail prices of the necessities of life render such a con- clusion null. Again until some common factor can be de- viced to subtend the conditions of wages in different pur- suits and under the many local influences controlling labor no exact comparison between the wage rate of 1890 and 1900 can be drawn, r———— A A The Sultan of Turkey after much diplomatic squirming has announced that the terms of Macedonian reform sug- gested by Austria and Russia are perfectly satisfactor: io him. " in fact he thinks ¢hat he could noi have suggested a better plan himself. is there another ma in the world whe can so successfully tempi fate for o deserved thrashing and then smilingly retire from the ficid oi prospective discom- fiture with hide whole and conscience rindicated? = —— Somewhere in San Francisco there is o thief _hat deserves the well wishes of a iong-suffering, patieni community. n the very heart of winter he pushed aside the petty .riumph of retail robbery, allowed the wings of his dishones! amovi- tion to spread to wholesaie peculation and rifled an umbrelle factory. Let umbrells thieves aceept him as 1 patron sain. and feave the rest of us alone. ! The club women of San Francisco have taken 2 stand, un- qualified and emphatic, against the problem play. This de- cision was to have been expected. The probiem play is ¢im ply & conglomeration ®f mastiness and insult and seems o have been designed in impudence with no other purnose than to test fiow far a tolerant public wil! endure an assanit upon fte sense of decency and delicacy. Z e The Police Commissioners, armed in their collective wis- dom of what is best for us, have decided that patioimer shal be equipped with lanterns when on night dutv. et ihe Comtnissioners accept a better suggestion. Provide nedes- trians whose affairs lead them of necessit unor the sticcis at night with lanterns and seeasionally by sccident “her ay | “Since 1876 rilitars sew!ce i nis beat. T ‘The lower house of the Hungariar iet ho:’ worle ar example of sanity shat is as veicome as , pected. When » propositior wa: find 2 policemar on . giver, *he ) Jic assembly dissoived: ot and scencs of disorder almos: sanguinaz: : | iz right - one ot [ts <essions 1 yea~ wom:| answes al Gieces: | purposes. saty 600 miles etk 6ff Sanils, yer Honghong “as wiites, [ ose. and jx fear ¢ his iile vauss seer new feids gnd mew 84 2ataiiaang saow, while Manile %as always tropicai ieat | ventrres, 1Let him met think 4ha: evil is unmixed with good. and moisturs. lesving New Verk in Gue sintes, with wnow E | Be may rome 05 she Uttited Strtes. thange nis weird ame irey 136 siles | G AL sEpin, Sikg Svelr do Mo duine Bisid be a0 pd: been to equalize the earning powers of the two classes. The | | | onccrning @he armamen? of Russia: Russia i hae Pheerm obligalosy fio; =l mew jrom Uhei Qwenty-firs) e Du$ 2% abowut ) ) ‘ i TALK AND Collector Outgeneraled. A well-known collector of bad debts dropped into the reporter's rooms at the City Hall the other day and re- quested permission to use the tele- phone. The permission was granted him and for five minutes only the roar of his voice could be heard. ‘When the collector got through he was red in the face and perspiring, and what he said when he left the tele- phone box and slammed the door was not what is commonly called polite language. “I've just got rid of the toughest case I have had In my twenty-five years’ experience as.a collector,” he explained to the newspaper men who were nmng, around wondering what had happened to disturb his usual serenity. “I'd go out of the business if I had many more like him. Just twelve years ago I was given the task of collecting from him $20 that he owed a downtown mer- chant. I chased him for two years without getting a cent, and then he came to me and wanted to know if he could not make arrangements to pay the bill in instaliments and rid himself of the annoyance he said I caused him. I was only too glad to accept his of- fer, and at his request prepared for his signature a paper which was an agreement to pay me weekly what he could until the account was settled. ,That paper came near driving me in-| sane, for regularly once a week, for 520 weeks, ten years, mind you, that fellow came into my office, paid me a nickel, got his receipt and walked out.” All That Glitters. A ploneer jeweler, noted for his col- lection-of precious stones, who recently moved his establishment from Post street to Market street, has about reached the conclusion that his move was an unwise one, and all because he | happened to select as his new location a building surrounded by others de- voted to the use of “jewelers,” so-| called, who sell the kind of jewels that are made to suit the fancy of those | who like finery but who have not the price of the genuine article. A few days ago this merchant had on exhibition in his window a hand- some diamond necklace. A tag in- formed the passers-by that it could be purchased for $685. It had been on ex- hibition about an hour when a woman | about 35 years of age, attired in an| up-to-date but rather loud costume, walked in and asked to be shown the| necklace. She held it up to the light, breathed on each of the stones, rubbed | the moisture off on her fur cape and then said, “I'll take it.” | She opened her purse, while the jew- eler was wrapping up the valuable ar- | ticle, and when he was about to hand | the package to her she placed on the showcase a $5 gold piece, a silver dol- | lar and 85 cents in small change. As-| tounded, the merchant took a fresh | hold upon the package, which the| woman had already grasped, pulled it from her hand and informed her tha!; the price was $685. “Six hundred and—" gasped the! woman. “Why, that's outrageous. The | jeweler next door has a necklace in his | window, every bit as good as this, for | $7.” | vliaieniiain | Metropolitan Wild West. | | The passersby at the intersection of | Market, Sixth and Taylor streets were | treated to a grand free exhibition of | bronco riding and buck-jumping yes- terday that put any Wild West show way into the shade. About 2 o’clock a | tough-looking cowboy, mounted on a | wild-eyed bronco pony, came along Market street, leading a pair of car-| riage horses by a long rope. When the | pony got to Sixth street he stopped, and suddenly whirling around wound | the long rope about the cowboy’s body, | thereby nearly dismounting him. The boy straightened things out and again tried to start the pony. It was no go. The stge verformance was repeated over a! over again. Then the cowboy | got mad. He yelled to a boy to hold the big horses. Then the fun began, to the amuse- ment of the great crowd that had col- | lected. The cowboy had no spurs, but he did have a lariat, with a big knot| in the end oi it. He got the pony into ihe middle of the street and he hi. him a iremendous whack under the belly. The vony ga~e a snort and made a fly- ing leap inio the air. This was the opening of (he fight. The pony san on his Lind legs, kicked and ‘hen gave the greaiest show ol buck-juinping ever seen or & crowded ‘horoughfare »f & grea! city. The iariat was ir constant action, an¢ the moroc action :he more jumping and kicking.! Boti: siider and beast were now wild with rage. Neither apparenily cared hom ‘e ran ‘nto. The boy belabored rme pony, whick ar madly among the spec.alors end against the cable cars, righiiening ‘e occupants out of theli wits, fivcking :dght an¢ lefi in wlY divectioas. Finaily, #rom hoth sides, shee™ xhaustior om uec wae deelared, the rought ip aud, cheered chly intorested: ool:. the miincipals (& (ac sirow dict appeared in ke distance. /And 3l “uls i vhie e @ the metEonoiic Paelic Coast, Rus: “The T.ond owil 870,000 young saei, -eaching every year! theis mnajor'ty “boud §19,000 are taken ons it 15 muex- | inte Qhe active arm:’ and flee¥, and the: Day respac uade v the iiet 2 ew |Gemaindes are inscribed i the pesesve. | Saws Ivevesv ‘Fhe ibwesi estimate of The peacs sttength o¥ “he Russian ariny puts the $he Diey| 5umber uf officers 43 2,000 and of the | *t *hat place vauk and flle #¥ goore thaw 1.000,000 wmer, the ftqtal “humber peins abour ;5:100,000. #% war the fotal strength i i Wolrs e ! approgimately 95,900 officers ond 4,500, men. “Tussia, #wing 40 its geographic:l witustion, éx2ivfzins four Astinct flcet: # fletillas, ca=i} w'th (i« own rganiza There ara 10 admirale. 28 vice ad- i 7 fead admirals, 102 cap- ‘oirmander |+ + ficers, 503 engineers, 702 medical and | civil officers and 162 naval yard officers There are eighteen battleships (with six building and six projected), four armored cruisers (several projected), nineteen cruisers (with eight building), seven torpedo gunboats, twenty-six de- stroyers (with twenty-seven building | and twelve projected), two submarines (fifty projected) and fifty-three tor- pedo-boats built or buillding. The total | number of officers and men in the Rus- sian navy is about 60,000.” | . . Jottings From St. Louis. In Idaho bees feed on alfalfa and produce a honey that is almost as transparent as glass. This feature will be shown in a unique honey exhibit in the Palace of Agriculture at the World's | Fair. In America it is known as a “dug- out.” In the Philippines, where this one came from, the natives call it a “bunca.” The one on exhibition now in the Philippine section at the World's Fair is hollowed out of an immense rosewood log, and it is " fifty-five feet long. The stuffed specimen of the second largest giraffe in the world will be ex- hibited at the World's Fair. It is now being prepared by the taxidermists of the National Museum at Washington. This giraffe will not only be high in stature, but will also be the most valu- able animal in the world. This is owing to the fact that the papier mache used in its construction is the ground-up pulp of thousands of $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. A complete shoe factory in operation, {llustrating the many improvements in the art of shoemaking and the latest machinery for all minor detall work will be shown in the Manufacturers’ building at the World's Fair. Skilled and rapid operators will have charge of the machines and the handling of the machines. Many novelties in the way of shoe machinery and shoes will also be on exhibition. Piquant Competition. Nobody can gainsay the fact that the French are at least original. The prize competitions lately lanclied with such sensational succer® "y the French newspapers have many interesting pre- cedents. There was once a journal, Le Croque-mort, which offered as a prize for competition a free plat of ground in a cemetery; but this grim proposal did not attract its readers. A more cheerful proposal was that of Le Bien- faisant, which offered free medical at- tendance and gratuitous drugs to its subscribers for the nominal considera- tion of 50 centimes a -—-onth. The most curious competition of all, however, was that of La Guillotine. This jour- nal, which was appropriately printed in red type, organized a prize competition of which the prize was a free seat at a first-floor windov. to witness an ex- ecution. Answers to Queries. SOLDIER—An Old Subscriber, City. Tinner’s solder for tin is composed of four parts of pewter, one part of tin and one part of bismuth. DE YOUNG—A reader of The Call, City. Charles de Young, at the time one of the proprietors of the Chronicle, was shot and killed April 23, 1880. NOVA SCOTIA PAPERS—Od Sub- scriber, Oakland, Cal. The papers pub- lished in Nova Scotia are: Arcadian | Recorder, Evening Mail, Echo, Herald, Patriot, Chronicle and Novd Scotian, Dalhousie Gazette, Forward, Maritime Homestead, Morning Chronicle, Pres- hyterian Witness, Royal Gazette and Wesleyan. FOOTBALIL—Subseriber, City. Foou ! was considered a very rough zame iong, long ago n England. James who veigned ‘rom 1603 Lo 1825, lorbade the heir apparen’ from playing il on sc- count of its roughness. This sovereigt of !n hig ‘“Basilikon Dorer” game as ‘“meeter ' ‘or lamiag rataer than meiing abi¢ players 2 The game weae orohidited 'r Seetizac During (he ceige of JTen aishenared hirase! el and other naio NIKKO- Mie Janaa es¢ name the swr | brighiness. 3" one the f%oly places in japes o1 e monr ining of the same nome about nime y five iles portis of Toic. U 7 ‘he ser of & temple of anidonity =nc ¢ & Buddhis Lounded i 7§ For hundreds o Fesort, mani uGes the Mikade anvvauy < of sounded tho e vhich Neid sway Yow Hig cemeing aje emeom o fhere are AW ay wen said@ o he om and otEeacuT ‘military 1603 to 1867. | ments there oné the most remarkavlc olaces of rhe cmpire O S o - o, b i candies, c . pol , o oatlete W otehed boxe.. \ Lico resen b T I fricnds. 715 Markoet st bo '« <. Hld%. Spect iaaien —yol—_u dally to a1 informe supoiid vub.\’gh .Aol'.")_csr.l‘lid vm(!:l‘. me:u-yr‘ i‘;‘ fornia (tfeer Telepaou. Au i@ ®