The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 11, 1904, Page 6

¢ g THE SAN FRANCISCO CALlL, ‘About Matchmakers. INTA VAN DE WATER 04, by 3 B. Bowles.) hmaker rushes in where to tread. And yet she is her lot/is not an ea pected by the world- by the young and unin- nd frequently ashamed of her- exists and continues to | | | | hammers are used by aton books, f a quarter that used bad Gypsy F h heart o boy He the tches but that from Later a well re- the tips akes her heroine made in h to light ther place, very that the two referred to dif- s not alter from both tw s may be th 1 e of commerce. tand why mpts to have a her daughter’s for granted that nen do—and I mother atte tling and loving wife and a n, that power the s of her to play tablish most con- To this marry a upon d split— support child, sur- de: larlin think ture will be are t the rock and ch r love only ! y ote alone does r grand, sweet song.” Tk i it is truth Th uth, and ow suit, the pret- child | | coffin-shaped hammers, stretching, fat-killing work. Tt really did him a power of good, and he told his friends about the old sledge anti-fat remedy—that is how I came to sell a couple dozen hammers to that number of well-known portly citizens. “Speaking of hammers, I suppose that before long the ring of the hand ham- mer will not be heard in machine shops. The pneumatic hammers, steam ham- mers and the ltke are displacing the chipping, riveting, sledge and mechan- ics’ hammer. It's a pity, too, for the hammer probably is the oldest of tools. T am told that the prehistoric mechanic just naturally took a water-worn stone in his hand, and there Was a hammer; that he next put the stone in the fork of ‘a branch, twisting grasses or tough, flexible twigs around it, and hed a bammer with a handle, the first man- made toel. Whoever invented the ham- mer invented the one tool which is common to all crafts, and yet which lends itself so happily to the peculiar needs of each craft that it ®assumes ) more forms and shapes than any other tool, except possibly the chisel. ‘It is really astonishing, the kinds of hammers there are and the manifold uses to which hammers are put. The hammer is certainly the most versatile | of tools. With his hammer alone the | #old and silver smith beats out beauti- ful vases and bowls and the blacksmith | shapes wrought iron and steel about as he wills. The smallest and daintiest | surgeons and | i dentiste: the heaviest are the huge | sledges emploved to break up pig iron, and the largest are clumsy mauls of the | sewer builders. “To my mind the aristocrat of the| hammer kind is the elegant chipping or | engineer’s hammer, with its slim, grace- | ful handie. It's worth going a considera- | able distance to see a man who knows | how to uge thishammer. It's & fine illus- tration of implicit seif-confidence. He clasps the handle near the end, swings | the hammer with a full-arm movement which brings it down on the cold chisel | with all the appy vigor of a strong | man, peeling ‘off the iron chips as| though the metal were soft pine. If he | were at all concerned as to the safety | of his knuckles no man could use the | chipping hammer with any degree of | force—he would simply tap the cold chisel with timid, noneffective blows—a *less performance. . i The oddest shaped hammers are| those used by the file and saw makers. Although machine-made files are tak- ing the vlace of the hand-made article | @ large extent, the filecutters of | Sheflield, England, continue to use their cutting the with a dexterity little ! short of the wonderful. The filecutter’s | teeth on files | hammer head is long andscoffin-shaped, | with the handle set not in the middle, | but far to one end. The handie is short and curyed, so that in striking the file- | cutter secures what might be called a | pulling blow, which not only raises the | tooth of the file, but gives it the hook- | | shaped burr which was the despair of | | tle love tans for making smoother cuts. ote of a happy | for it recuires years of experience to | kina | 8pot to regulate the tension, the spring, | or tempered saw blades. | :'md the twist hammer, which has the | han | € g how the forth- cor or and nurse are to - who kne ing f it a smile when one says that = nces are perilou rear t He jests at sci who 1 ound! W fore, pardon the | meother to make a “good match child if she some- times sets the child’s wishes, in- cites her to a « practical consid- eration of ma - that is to be de- ploréd, we m remember that her overzeal is due 1o a great love, and condone the error for the motive that actuates it We cannot say as much of the mar- ried woman who sces a nossible er gagement i m ge in every couple that she, or chanee, has thrown together. One is almost tempted 10 wonder if there is a match-making Mmicrobe that attacks such matrons. At all events, many of them seem un- able to resist the temptation or fever- ish desire to marry off all their friends. Upon their shoulders a great responsibility rests when their efforts are crowned with succes i said above. perfection of bliss is to be found in a happy union, the converse is aiso true. No greater misery is known than ths breught about by an unhappy mar- riage. To be tied for life (unicas ome rushes with an eagerness worthy of a better cause into the diverce court) we have 10 an uncopgenial mate, to live under the same roof, to at at the same table, to share the same ineome, to consider the tastes and distastes, to receive the reproaches, to obey the be- hest of such an one, to humor his or her whims—is a foretaste of that lo- cality from which the small boy de- clared the tips of matches were made. Verily such a match as this might-be made from beginning to_end in such a place Knowing all this, our matchmaker continwes upon her way, playing providence or fate {0 many a young couple who were better left apart. Or, if not better apart, ther will seldom appreciate the fact that they ‘were breught together by a well-meaning friend, and if she calls their attention to her efforts in their behalf they will resent her suggestion. The idea! Were they not meant from.all eternity for each other? Could she, or any one else, be iustrumental in bringing to- gether two persons whose affinity was a foregone conclusion? Verily, she has her reward! The S«mgfl of the Hammer. BY MALCOLM M DOWELL, (Author of “Shép Talk on the Wonders of the Crafts.”) (Copyri 1904, by Joseph B. Bowles) “Buy a fourteen-pound sledge ham- mer and swing it half an hour twice a day if you want to be classed with the latest brand of physical culture fad- said the heavy hardware mgn. e just sold two dozen heavy ham- mers to two dozen fat men, who hope to become twenty-four slender-waisted Apollos by pounding pigs of lead into foil with sledge hammers. The man whe started the new fad has a black- smith on his payroll, and yeu know there is nothing prettier than the sway and swing and balance of =a black- smith’s belper who is beating out an anvil chorus with a good steel sledge, That thought struck the ‘spelled’ the blacksmith's helper. About two -flnte.l‘tol hammer-swing. @o a quarter of an hour’s lively. muscle- the | | bave, in the past, usually recetved short | shrift and speedy déath, makers of, filecutting machines for ) The ‘peculiar shave of the ham- mer and handle also enables the work. man to give a strong blow without lift- ing the hdmmer far from the chisel and also allows him to give delicate Jit- “The ‘dog head,” used by sawmakers in straightening and giving tension to saw blades, has a strong family re- semblance to the filecutter’'s hammer. It is triangular-shaped: the rounded base of the triangle is used for the striking face. The handle sets into the mall end of the head and is straight. | w craftsmen show more skill In sing hammers than the sawmaker, train the workman to strike the right of a blow on exactly the right The ‘saw- maker also uses a cross-faced hammer, ;1:‘1" hegd set at an angle to the Soldiers of Fortune. In th® event of war breaking out be- tween Japan and Russia the former country is likely to witness the infiux of & large number of American and European soldiers of fortune, desirous of placing their swords at the disposal | of the Mikado. In fact, quite &4 num- ber of former officers from this country, from England, from Italy and from Germany have alreadv arrived at To- kio for the purpose of seeking serviee under the Japanese flag. It will be just ag well, under the circumstances, to have some definite understanding with the the Ruseian Government as o treatment to be accorded to Amer and Europeans who may fall into hands while fighting for the Japanese. | As a general rule, white men who are -aptuzed while bearing arms with Asiaties or with the more or less bar- barous races of Africa against Euro- pean and Christian Governments are | regarded as renegades, beyond the pale of civilization, with no rights“to treat- ment as ordinary prisoners of war, and | either by means of the gallows or of a firing party. But it is obviously impossible to place the Japanese on the same levai as, for instance, the Chinese, the Cen- tral Asian rulers, or the Filipino insur- gents. _The Japanese army is entitled to be looked upon as the force of a civ- ilized power, and the Americans.and Europeans fighting in its ranks cannot, with any degree of justice, be consid- | ered by the Russians i.. the same light | as the French regarded those lm-vlsnl adventurers who assisted the Black Flags to withstand for so many years the French occupation of Tonquin. The Japanese troops and all those fighting beneath their flag, no matter what their color or creed, are entitied to the fullest possible rights accorded by the usages of civilized nations to bona fide prisoners of war.—Marquis de Fontenoy. What Is Sky Blue? i i i The hlue color of the sky on a bright, clear day has been constantly noticed by the individual from child- hood. To the primitive lay mind the azure tint of the firmament is simply its natural color. But our daily ex- perience shows that the visible dome of the heavens is only an appearance, and scienge teaches us 1o inquire erit- ically into the mature of things. The | fowl. cause of this color viewed from a sci- [ occurred. The most natable was in San Jose, where a entific point has been almost as il- lusive as the fabled phi pher’s stone, which during the found research. same may be l:.ld.lfll.!lmlhrahr@! blue sea, which has elicited miration of dwellers on the man- and yet probably no great | the country associations of manufacturers are. being dis- | ers, after collecting large lines of cured meats for some | | $1.337,551,000. | and speculate in the first thing that happens to catch the ddle ages| cach in gold. The nuggets were in the crop and giz- was for centuries an object of pro-| zard. Those in t! ONDAY, JANUARY 11,.1904. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL Jmn.srmm.m.‘....‘.....mnmammflm,m : Publication Office.......... @ citieeieseeews...Third and Market Streets, S. F. MONDA <e...JANUARY 11, 1004 TRADE SOUND BUT UNSETTLED HE new year in trade is ushered in with condi- Ttions unsettled, uncertain and irregular. Cold and stormy weather has checked business in some sec- tions, impeded transportation in others, stimulated son:e lines of goods and depressed others. In the iron and steel idustry this irregularity is conspicuous. Numer- | ous reductions in wages went into effect January 1 and more are -contemplated, while the net earnings for the last quarter of 1903 were less than half thdse for the cprresponding quarter of 190z, and the opening of the new year showed a pronounced falling off in orders for néw business. Several sections, however, report more steadiness in the cruder forms, with a befter demand. gold finders. Being stout scratchers they go deep into the soil and are quick to see free gold and always swal- low it: They “are wide rangers and thorough explor- ers, Gold is frequently found also in geese that have access to duriferous streams. The story of the goose that laid the golden egg no doubt had its origin in fagt. 1f the original goose that founded that fairy tale could be located, no doubt gold would be found in the creek where she learned to swim as a green gosling, and in "turn led her downy brood forth upon the waters: But, after all, we must look to the turkey as the surest pocket for nuggets. He is easily mined. We can hydraulic his gravel deposits without violating Judge Sawyer’s injunction or bringing down the wrath of Gen- eral Green and the Anti-Debris Association. When . Rowe!l Rowelled. Here is one on Di. Hubert N. Row- ell, the genial medico of Alameda County, who is not unknown to fame in political circles across the bay. It was at a notable trial over a vear ago where an individual was being tried for the murder of a Berkeley | dentist. His attorney was pleading that the act was committed while his client was almost crazed by liquor, and Dr. Rowell was on the stand to testify to | the bibulous habits of. the prisoner at | the bar. | “When you were first called to at- | tend the prisoner for an asgravated | case of alcoholism,” quoth the ques- The net condition_of the industry, however, is by 004 this royal bird, done to a golden brown, comes upon | tioning attorney, “did he recognize means what it was at the beginning of 1903. The woolen trade is generally quoted steady, but man- wfacturers are proceeding cautiously and are buying: no more raw wool than is necessary to fill immediate wants. The cotton trade is kept in a condition of untest and uncertainty by the feverish fluctyations of prices on the exchanges, by the halting character of the foreign markets, the deficiency in the crop and last, but not least, by the kaleidoscopic aspect of the Russo-Japanese ' corpplication, which changes its hue every day. Lum- ber, like iron, is unsettled, cold weather and readjust- ment of wage scales contributing to render the future of the market more or less uncertain. In some parts of organized, with lower prices” predicted by the trade, while other sections report.a good export movement. Another important branch of trade exhibiting this un- rest and uncertainty is provisions. Chicago reports last week called particular attention to the fact that the pack- weeks, uniogded them upon outsiders and then sold | heavily themselves. In consequence of this course prices have been very variable of late, going up one day aud down the next, and the future of the market is uncertain. The high prices of 1902 and the early part of 1903 so checked the demand for meats that the prices for live- stock fell off sharply, the movement of the cured product also diminished and the outlook is regarded with dubious cyes by many in the business. In fact, look where we will we find an element of un- certainty permeating the whole trade situation. There is no apprehension of any pronounced depression in the near future and no financial stringency is feared, as the country was never more liberally supplied with money than at present, and the prosperity enjoyed by -the farm- ers during the past several years has placed the nation on a solid basis, with greatly reduced foreign ob]iga‘tions as an additional source of strepgth; but the readjustment of general trade from fexerish expansion to conservative contraction is so widespread and produces such widely varying conditions that accurate forecasts of the differ- ent markets are impossible. It is this feeling of uncertainty which is checking trade on the nation’s great stock exchange more than the threatened war, which has been largely discounted. It is the principal reason why stocks, which the great finan- ciers and banking interests are insistently assuring the public are now down to a safe purchasing basis as an investment proposition, do not respond by increased ‘ac- tivity and hardening ’quotations. The people have not yet made up their minds that everything is all right. Perhaps were it not for the Russo-Japanese complica- tion, which upsets torday the conditions it created yes- terday, the market ere this would have resumed its nor- mal activity; but this is mere conjecture. It is patent, however, that speculation in Wall street is at a low ebb compared with the past five years. Ac- cording to figures collated by the New York Herald the volume of new securities listed on the Stock Exchange in 1903 fell off more than $1,5835,000,000 as campared with 1901. In 1902 the aggregate listings on the exchange were | In 1901 they were $2,565,000,000. In 1903 they were only $980,027,000, the smutlest amount since 1897. Another striking feature in thic connection is the f:& that during 1903 the creation of mew sécurities showed more bonds than stocks, something that had not hap- pened before since 1898, the creation of bonds during the ! year being $550,747,000 and the treation of stocks $430,- 179,100. In other words the formation of new corpora- tions and combinations of capital were discouraged by the banks and surplus revenues were devoted to improv- ing and strengthening existing corporations rather than to creating new ones, as was the case in 1901 and 1902. There is no question that the American stock market | is on a much safer and sounder basis than at any time | for four or five years back; the jeeling in it is conserva- | tive, dealings are characterized by commendable caution | and the great abundance of money accessible to every- body is a squrce of satisfaction and confidence rather than. a tcmp?:lion-w rush into the stock market blindly ! ! eye. A feature of the past week was the decline in the bank clearings of 26.5 per cent, compared with the same week in 1903, with all the important cities except Kansas City and New Orleans showing a loss. Such a general de- crease has not happened for a long time. Even San Francisco, which for a year or so has been sending in most excellent clearing reports, has recently been ar- rayed among the cities showing a decrease. . though | there was an increase last week. The failures for the week were 262, against 336 in the corresponding week last year. With the exception of the dry weather which has pre- vailed this season conditions in California continue ex- cellent. A#l branches of trade are reported in good shape, money is abundant, crop prospects, except in the southern part of the State, are satisfactory and the farm- ers bid fair to realize good prices for their produce this year. Hence the feeling throughout the State is one of confidence, 4 CRAW MINING. MONG the regular news items furnished by this State on holiday occasions, such as Thanks- giving, Christmas and New Year's, is the finding of gold in the craw of turkeys and other free ranging During the recent holidays several suche cases lady bought several turkeys which assayed $1 50 to $2 he gizzard were abraded by the gravel which grinds the fowl’s food, and the gold dust resulting our table, let him be hailed as an honest miner, full jeweled in every hole. When the State Miners’ Associa- tion meets again let it order the adoption of the turkey as the bird of its banmer and buttoss. P Two of a band of “holy rollers” were tarred and feathered in an Oregon town a few nights ago to'the usual /accompaniment of intense excitement. The irate citizens have sinc'a; Jearned to their disgust that they wasted good tar and commercial feathers on two unim- pressionabic subjects. It requires a treatment some- what more drastic than this to divert the attention of a fanatic. Ridicule is a more powerful weapon. FOREST PROTECTION. HE State may control the use of private timber Tlands by applying the principles of the infunction against hydraulic mining—the legal principle that while a man’may use his own its use must not be injurious to another. The injunction against hydraulic mining is- sued because discharging the debris into streams filled their channels, destroyed their function as lines of drain- age,_and when that ceased made them the means of de- structively fooding the agricultural lands of the valley, the flood carrying with it slickens, which by overlaying the farm lands destroyed their fertility. If this principle deny the destructive use of miningi iands because it causes floods injurious to agriculture it applies also toThe injurious effect upon the normal run-off of streams useful for irrigation. As it is demonstrated that the forest is the conservator of water and that it acts to send the moisture in the rainy season into the ground, through which by percolation it reaches the natural drainz age channels slowly and serves to maintain their flow for | use in the season when ‘it is required for irrigation, and that when the forest is removed the storm waters go im- | mediately into the stréams, making them torrential and sepding the watgr away where it is lost to use, it is evi- dent that the forested mountains are natural water reser- voirs and that a man has no more right to destroy them than he has to destroy an artificial reservoir. The owners of forest lands are easily taught that their interests Jie in the proper harvesting of timber, so as to protect the oncoming crop and make timber production permanent. Already the redwood lumber men of Hum- boldt County have asked the services of the National Bu- reau of Forestry for instruction in the proper harvesting of ripe timber. \ When it is jegally determined that the private owner of mountain forests cannot strip the land, make it non-re- ceptive of moisture, make streams torrential during rains | and dry at other times, he will do just as the hydraylic piner has done--ask the State to help him use his prop- erty beneficiaily to himself and without injury to others. This will mean no abridgment of the economic use of timber, but the infinite extension of such use by making the ‘forests permanent., San Francisco was ‘recently visited by a timber capital- ist who was said to own half the forests of Northern Cali- fornia. He said he was not cutting now and did not care to begin for some time. If legal regulation intervene he will be benefited by the resulting permanency of his for- est land. Eastern lumber men have seen the evil of eradi- cating forests, and when they acquire forest land here are found @eady to co-operate with the Government in meas- ures to make the timber permanent. An act to regulate the use of private timber lands should be passed by the Legislature in order that it may go to the courts to get a judicial affirmance of the principle. The courts have re- cently decided that ground waters may not be diverted from the land owner who has applied them to irrigation. The removal of forests is the most sefious and complete diversion of ground waters, and the issue involved ought to be expressed by statute and brought as soon as possi- ble to the arbitrament of the courts. In their evident preparation for conflict Russia and Japan continue to be heavy purchasers «wf products in our markets. This is reason surely to congratulate our merchants, but we must never forget that in the war of the Revolution Catherine of Russia refused to lend troops to England, and in the war of the Rebellion, just as Britain was about to intervene, a Russian fleet of warships sailed opportunely into the harbor of New York. —— All the great naval powers of the world are concen- trating powerful forces in the theater of what may be the most terrible conflict 6f modern times, in the Far East. Jf war comes it will be upon the fighting sailors, not upon the diplomats and statesmen, that the peace of the world will depend. And it is difficult surely to con- ceive of a more delicate, fhore momentous duty than that which will be in the hands of these men of war. EAERE S NI After a very .deep and apparently peaceful sleep the authorities of Riverside County are agitating themselves to discover how and why the county lost something more than thirteen thousand doellars:in a peculiar man- ipulation of bonds nearly two years ago. While it is not always wise to sleep so long over matters of such im- port something, at least, is gained for future emer- gencies by waking at all. The United States, by an exercise of diplomacy high- ly to be commended, has solved at last the problem of establishing peace in Santo Domingo. Washington has created fighting zones in the pestiferous little republic, {and within these territorial inclosures all Dominicans who want to must fight. 1t is a wager, safe as an invest- ment,’ that the belligerents quarrel. can’t now be dragged into a| t you?” . | “Yes,” replied Rowell; “he called me | by name.” - | “When you went there the second time to attend him did he recognize you??! | Rowell seemed puzzled. He knit his brows and crossed his legs. “Well"” | ventured the doctor, “I cannot exactly | say that he recognized me.” “Did he greet you in any way?” “Yes, he spoke to me familiarly.” “Then he must have recognized you. Tell the court what he said.” “Well, he said, ‘Hello, you blanked old fool, are you back again?' " “May it please the court,” chirped the attorney for the defemse, “I claim that that was perfect recognition.” Mother J:n'e. J. C. Silva, who recently visited this city in his capacity as grand captain of the American Association of Mas- ters apd Pilots, enlivened his official ad- dresses with anecdotes. To illustrate one of his points he told the following: “In early days the people of Nan- tucket lived by a peculiar industry. They were not of agricultural inclina- tion and looked for their living to the sea, which swept their rock-ribbed coast. They were fisherfolk of a kind. Fished with lanterns, but not for fish. It was freight-laden ships they sought and they preferred their game scattered in portable pieces along the beach. “A lighted lantern tied to a cow’s tail was the usual lure. The lookouts of ships passing in the dark frequently mistook the moving illumination for a light on board some vessel and in try- in® to sail within hailing distance came to grief on the rocks. The residents of the island gathered the harvest as the breakess distributed the wreckage. “There was only one law on Nan- tucket in those days: ‘No survlyor from any wreck must be allowed to land. From this law there was no appeal and it was enforced without mercy. “A Nantucket boy happemed to be a member. of the crew of a vessel lured to destruction by one of these false lights. He swam ashore and was climb- ing a steep cliff when a woman's face appeared above him. The woman leaned over and in one hand brandished an ax. A light flashed up from a vpile of burning wreckage and looks of mu- tual recognition passed between the two. “The woman hesitated. Then raised the ax to strike. ““You know me, mother don’t you?” cried the sailor boy. “‘Yes, John. I know you. know the law!’” Cheating the Lazw. But you Her complaint in’ divorce was a vol- uminous document. It contained alle- gations enough to brand her husband as a man for whom the whipping post was especially designed. But she lacked proof of her husbamd's brutal- ity, and the Judge who heard the case ‘refused to grant her relief, and put the case over a week. In the meantime an amended complaint was filed. It con- tained, in addition to the original charges, the allegation that her hus- band had thrown a sack of potatoes on | her, thereby causing her great suffer- ing. s :! the second hearing she testifi according to the amended complaint Corrchorative evidence was furnished by a neighbor, who said she saw the potatoes thrown upon the abused wife. “Take vour decree,” said the court, and the two women walked out of the court, smiling and happy. In the corridor they hugged and kissed, and then fairly ran for the ele- vator. As they were lowered to the floor below, the witness whispered to the fair divorceez “Oh. dear, I was so afraid the Judge would ask me more about the potatoes. You would not have got your divorce if I had told him it was only two bite’ worth of Saratoga chips.” Beggars’ Games. B Joseph Bosley, for twenty-one years an officer in the London Mendacity Society, has done much to clear the streets of that great city of beggars. He recently gave a remarkable inter- view upon some of the mendicants’ tricks to a representative of the Daily London News. “1 suppase every one has heard of your exposure of ‘Soapy Fits," Mr. Bosley, the man who used to lie in the street and foam at the mouth by suck- ing a bit of seap?” queried the inter- viewer. “Yes, his name was Hurly, and he used to try the ‘shivery-shaky’ dodge and let himself down, making froth with the soap in his mouth. He is now in the workhouse. But there are two others who still work that trick— whenever they are-out,” Bosley added significantly. “There was another man who used to sham fits, and I found half a. horseshoe sewn in his cap. With 4his he used to make a dreadful noise by beating his head on the pavement when he lay down in the streets. People thought he must be nearly cracking his skull.” carry about had become incorporated in the tissues. and bones of the| The authorities of Portland, Or., have decided to fi the. inscription ‘Going under the A v i more s (4n gl g . e O . 5 € et 1 oy | S ames e S5 g Bl o | gainedin tribute offcially exacted from professional gam. |sce three or four white-haired, red- No prudent housewife in California ever permits the | blers. s to have given a thought of where mdmfinmu..n.,.._m. contents of crop and gizzard to be disposed of | from for the cution of the weak fi'mw‘,__ ml'm._l.lhnr they have been prospected for gold. Turkeys are great fools that are made the victims of men licensed to tempt. 1 but upright in his chair. man showed a sheep’s tongue in a bot- tle of spirit as his own? “No.wft!hut was another beggar. Somebedy joined the two stories to- gethér in a magazine. Then we have the cripple who shows the tremendous explosion on shipboard that blew his leg off, and another that works the patriotic dodge, and shows himself and other Englishmen taking & life- boat out of ‘Boulonge' harbor in a storm that the Frenchmen dare not face. The tricks are endiess. There is the man with a bottle of colored fluid who bumps against a lady and breaks it, and then gets a confederate to call out, “‘Why don’t you pay the poor man for his medicine - r Can Stop His Heart. The London Mail describes the re- markable feat of & Hindoo mahatma who is able to stop the action of his heart by an effort of the mind. The paper says: “In the presence of a Daily Mail rep- resentative and two other witnesses the Agamya Guru Paramahamsa stopped his heart for five seconds. It was in his bedroom in a Maidavale boarding- house one evening recently that the chief of the Hindoo mahatmas gave this wonderful demonstration of the power of his will. “ ‘Place your hand over my pulse—so,’ he said, his uncanny impressiveness being heightened by his yellow turban and Joose-fitting blue serge gown, which offered a strange coidtrast to the con- ventional studies of cat and dog life with which the apartment was deco- rated. In the corner a faithful disciple cooked native pancakes. “‘No one believes me until he has seen for himself, the Hindoo added, looking immeasurably superior to the people who scoff at what they consider the pretensions of an uneducated black. ‘Feel carefully and wait. “‘Can you feel it now?” No change was noticeable. One, two, three, four— the pulse was beating regularly. “Suddenly a strange light shone in the mahatma’s eyes. He was conquer- ing the action of his body by the sheer power of his will. The puise seemed weaker ahd more slow. “Then it stopped. There was no tap- ping, no motion. It was as though one was clutching the arm of a newly dead man. The mahatma’s eyes were half- closed and intense as he sat motionless Answvers to Queries. SALUTATION—Subscriber, City. In meeting a friend upon the street or in company, you should make a salutation quietly, but cordially and with dignity, always paying the highest respect to the person saluted. Always salute a lady by raising the hat and making a formal bow. In company, the head be- ing uncovered, the bow alone is neces- sary, but in either-case it should be a decided inclination of the head and body, not a mere nod. CALIFORNIA PRICES-R. A, City. In the early days of California, as your friend informed you, fabuloug prices were paid for goods in the mines. Franecis D. Clark, who wrote a history of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers, says in that book: “The | writer passed the winter of 1848-1849 on the Mokelumne River, California, about one mile below the hill, and the follow- ing are some of the prices paid for clothing, provisions, etc., in that locali- ty: Flour, $1 per pound; sugar, 3$2; cof- fae, $3; pepper in grain, $5; salt pork, $5 per pound; salt. $1; blankets, $50 per pair; flannel shirts, $25 each; eommon boots $100 an- common shoes 332 per pair; Mexican serapes (shawls), $100. The ¥ield of gold being liberal, these prices were cheerfully paid. As incred- ible as these prices may appear, this s nevertheless strictly true.” EXECUTOR—C., City. In the State of California when a person, absent from the State, is named as executor of a will, if there is anether executor who accepts and qualifies the .latter may have letters testamentary and ad- minister the estate untii the return of the absentee. Each person named as an executor must appear before the court in which the will is to be proba- téd in order to qualify. No person is qualified to serve as an executor who at the time the will is admitted to pro- bate is under the sge of majority or convicted of an infamous crime or ad- Judged by the court incompetent to ex- ecute the duties of the trust by reason of drunkenness, improvidence or want of understanding or integrity. When it appears by the terms of the Wwill that it was the intenion of the i tor to | commit the adninistration of his es- tate to any persin Xecutor sald per- son, although 2ot named in the will, is entitled to etters testamentary in like manner s6 if he had bee? named executor. Py T — Townsend's California glace fruits and . 3¢ a pound, in artistic fire- etched A nice present for Eastern friends. 715 Market st.. above Cail bidg. * i o wosis iAo Ramiiad The two principal German fortresses on the Biltic sea are at Konigsberg and Dansig: on the French frontier, Metz and Strasburg, and on the Bel- gian froatier, Cologne and_Coblenz. s TR S Specia/ information suppligd daily to 1 houses and public men by the Press ping Bureau (Allen’s), 230 Cali- fornia t. Telephone Main 1042 ¢ ——— reason why fat men are good is because good-natured men