The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 28, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO ,CALL., THURSDAY JANUARY 28, 1901 LIAM STAMPS CHERRY ex and big game hunter.) 4, by Joseph P. Bowles.) g hippopotamus is rather kind of sport. In some ‘regions mmon to excite any in- You can see them by the hun- d stretching their lazy length upon of mud Iving with their wat As you approach e u er water, remaining are too o bank heads above aiv or they will out of sight from thirty to forty min- utes. When they come up they give a ¥/ snort like a locomotive on a frosty morning, sinking again when they see you like a flash. When they pop their heads out of water that is the time for you to present your compliments. If your aim has been true the hippo- potamus will roll upon his back and quite an ungainly fashion. as kicked his last in all ity he will be sufficiently ac- odating to retire to the bottom whence you wiil have to fish him up, unless you have patience enough to wait until the huge carcass comes up of its own accord, which will in all likelihood be after the space of two hours. And now comes the feast. If your hippo is young the flesh will be tender and toothsome, equal to goat he meat, which is the African standard; but if D e shot an aged patriarch you wil d his flesh tough and hard as India rubber. The natives will, how- ever, dispose of every morsel of it for you with abundant thanks. They seem never to be able to get enough of ani- mal food, and the person who can add to the sup of that article in their cuisine is looked upon as a benefactor. tongue is very fine when e beast is young, and there is no sense in killing an old one. Once 1 went to examine an old, tough hippo that 1 had shot and found that =2 crocodile had been trying to make a meal of him. He had bitten off his ears and had commenced upon his tail, but the tail had resisted his effort. He had evidently given up in disgust after having broken off three of his teeth in the attempt. The young and the fe- males with young are always fat, the fat being found between the skin and In cold climates animals se- adipose or fat, but in equatorial Africa, where the climate is t, and food is to be found all the round tendency to secrete is entirely absent. The wild hog is thinner than his razor-backed cousin n Georgia. There seems to be some lack of proper adjustment in this, for nowhere in all the world is fat more in demand than in Africa. ns and giraffes are not found in Congo, but are numerous to the north and east. Occasionally a strag- gler gets down as far as the Mobangi, but that is a very uncommon occur- rence. Leopards, however, are fre- quently found, but they are difficult to reach. When I was at Rafai the peo- ple were terror-stricken because of the depredations of a man-eating leopard. During the time of my stay he had carried off two children—one a boy of 15, the- other a child which he had snatched away when lying asleep be- tween two women. He was a large animal and could leap a barrier of five feet, carrying a heavy goat. His tracks were large. 1 kept watch for him night after night, but he eluded my strictest vigilance. 1 was mortified to leave without getting him. I, howevér, first and last shot many leopards. Some of their skins I tried to preserve, but they wene destroyed by moths. Gorilla hunting is exciting sport, but shooting a gorilila is too much like shooting one’s grandfat:er. Looking upon his humanlike face you feel like a murderer. On the Sanga I killed sev- eral gorillas and chimpanzees. On the the fiesh tissue the lower Mobangi there are a few gorillas and chimpanzees, while on the upper river thev are unknown. The monkeys have their paths among the trees, as the elephant has his upon the ground. regular If they get out of their they become confused. e a monkey passing over if you watch closely you will hole tribe following him ovcr nb. He is not difficult to his paths are known. The monke: easy to find, as he never Leeps You can foliow his tracks by the swaying branches as they swing back. When he jumps on a branch he zces out to the very end of it, no matter how small it is or how much it may bend under his weight. He never Jets it go until he is within reach of snother branch, and he never jumps far. 1 Contrery to what T had been led to expect, 1 did not find snakes to be nu- merous or troublesome. Their scarcity is to be accounted for in part by the burning of the long grass by the na- tivee. After a fire you will see them among the embers. There is a small greenish-headed snake, which is very venomous, but it will not attack and it i= difficult to find except by the na- tives. It winds itself around the vines and looks like a part of them. I almost put my hand on one, when a native drew it away. This is the snake which i« used for poisoning arrows. The head of the snake is cut off, pulverized and mixed with palm oll, and into the com- pound the arrows -are dipped. " The python is often larger than the boa constrictor. Once when on the Sanga the natives came running info camp telling us that a snake had come Into beat their village and had swallowed a goat._ His spakeship was in a predfcament and sresented a comical appearance. The. goat, which had been crushed and swal- lowed, could be scarcely defined. Carry- ing such an undigested load, the snake kad lost its power of locomotion. He lay with head erect and with eyes flashing defiarce, but a well-directed shot caused him to stretch himself out at full length. And so the natives got back their goat, and they got besides an abundant supply of python steaks, which, by the way, is quite a delicacy, and if one did not know what it was it would be imposible for him to distin- guish it from the finest quality of fish. Railroad Competition. | BY BERENO S. PRATT. | [Editor Wall Street Journal. Author of ““The Werk of Wall Street.”) (Copyright, 1904, by Joseph P. Bowles.) The old adage, “Competition is the ! life of trade,” does not hold good in 1‘ modern business. The constant effort is to get rid of competition, or at least to reduce it so far as to prevent waste | and loss. It is true that it is said that | “commerce is war” and that success | in business can be attained only by | | military organization and ‘discipline. As war means destruction, this idea | seems to be opposed to the other one that the constant effort of business is to get rid of competition. But in | reality they are not in antagonism, for the object of the commercial war s to secure peace on the basis of the | elimination of competition. | This fact should be kept steadily in | view, for it lies at the very founda- tion of American railway develop- ment. The history of the railroads | has been that of a series of wars, the | object of which has been to get rid of | competition, and in large measure | they have had that result, each war having been attended by the acquisi tion of some conquered territory or by a forced treaty of peace securing | each system in the unmolested enjoy- ment of its own section. While the railroads have been steadily getting together, the public has been at work seeking to protect | its interests by restrictive legislation. For it must be remembered that the railroad company, while a private cor- poration, performs public service. It| obtains its charter and its franchises | from the public, it acquires its right | of way by condemnation proceedings | and it carries freight and passengers s a “‘common carrier.” The railroad | | is a “road.” It is a highway of steel | It cannot be operated as a private business. Its duties to the public are | even more imperative than its duties | to its stockholders. | | 1 am simply a cash register,” said ailroad president some months ago. | “By pressing a button I am supposed | to ring up a dividend every time. If| I do not I am no longer fit to be pres- But the railroad president’s duties | | are larger than those of earning divi- | dends for his stockholders. He is, | rightly speaking, a public officer, with important public responsibilities. | Every measure that has been taken | to prevent monopoly has seemed to | promete it, and to-day, in spite of all| | State and Federal commissions and court decisions and laws, the railroads | were never under such concentration of | control, and competition was never so much reduced in volume and intensity. Professor Emory R. Johnson, in his | | book on “American Railway Transpor- | | tation,” divides the railroads of the | | United States into nineteen different systems, whose mileage is over 80 per jcent of the entire 200,000. But as a | matter of fact these nineteen systems | are practically controlled by nine men, and these nine men may be said to represent virtually all that is left of | | railway competition, Moreover, between these nine men | there is, in most instances, an amicable understanding, and between some of | them a close community of interests. | This does not necessarily mean that | there is no competition. There is. | The agents of the different lines are still active in soliciting business, both freight and passenger, and there is | | reason to believe that in spite of laws to the contrary secret rebates are still | | made to large shippers. But excessiye | competition is prevented and its waste is saved. Rates are better regulated and more stabie, business is more equitably distributed and earnings are increased. Now it is easy to see that the elimi- nation or reduction of railroad competp tion has its public advantages. Unre- stricted, wasteful competition has cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars. Raiiroad wars have unsettled business and produced panics. Whole- sale cutting of rates has destroyed hun- | dreds of business firms, reduced the profits of railroad opc-ation so that dividends have been passed, and in many instances have not been paid, and the roads have gone through bank- ruptcy and reorganization. | _ On the other hand, restriction of com- petition has imparted stability to rates, | given confidence to business men, and | steadiness to the markets. It has re- sulted in consolidations and alliances which have produced a better public service by increasing the speed and safety of trains and applying more sci- entific methods in the transportation of freight. Yet the public has regarded with fear and suspicion every step of the evolu- tion toward the elimination of railroad { competition. The prevailing feeling seems to be that public safety is as- sured only by free competition, and that loss of liberty is too high a price to pay for the stability assured by railroad peace. So there have for years been two opposing forces at work constantly, one for and the other against monopoly. The railroads have struggled to free themselves from the demoralization and loss attending unregulated and fierce competition. The public has been insistent upon legislation to protect their interests against railroad com- bination. It is a noteworthy fact, however, that every legislative act and court decision directed against the railroads has thus far resulted only in hastening their consolidation into great systems and 'commnnltle! of interest. The immense concentration of control that has taken place in the past few years s the out- come, In large degree. of the trans- Missour! and trunk line decisions that prevented the railroads from pooling. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor « « o « « « « « « . Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager Publication Office ... .Third and Market Streets, S. F. THE CITIES AT ST. LOUIS. THURSDAY. HE merchants of Philadelphia held a meeting re- T cently, attended by the Mayor, to confer upon the manner and measure of that city’s exhibit at St. Louis. It was finally concluded to exhibit, as the greatest municipal achievement, a model of a proposed water filter. The meeting then discussed the proposition to send also the old Liberty bell. This was voted down. The statement was made that the bell iz the best advertisement that Philadelphia has, and that it brings thousands of visitors to the city every year. It was argued that if it is sent around the country people will see it and not go to its home for that purpose. So it is probable that the old bell will not see the St. Louis exposition. San Francisco may learn much from the intentions of other citie Kansas City, for instance, proposes to ex- hibit a model of the convergence of her railroads, with statements of their annual tonnage and passengers car- ried. A general survey of all the ideas expressed as to the specialties exhibited by different cities convinces us that San Francisco and California must, in every possi- ble way, put forward our climatic asset. This city needs to show moving pictures of Golden Gate Park in January, with all of its wealth of tropical foliage, and it must be made known that it is a scene in January. Another ex- cellent moving" picture would be the members of the Olympic Club swimming in the surf in January. Such things tell the story of climate more impressively than all the tables of temperature that can be printed. " The cities of Southern California should show their palm-lined streets, and the cities of Northern California not only their palms, but the fruit-laden orange trees on There should be November and Decem- ber views of the orange orchards of Northern Californ Everything that we produce from the soil has its origin in our climate and should be used to make impressive exhibit of that great physical fact. It affects all our ma- terialities. They converge in it and diverge from it. It is the central force. The more one reads of what Eastern cities will do the greater is the impression that we can show manu- factures, eviaences of the perfection of our public institu- tions and examples of all they can show. We can exhibit our mineral wealth, with the greatest variety of valuable metals and minerals found in any State in the Union. All of this is of the highest value, but in our climate we have a peculiar possession which we share with no other part of the world. We have dwelt insistently on this subject, because a vast majority of our people are content to remain in the State, and do not go outside of it. By habit they take It is as if they had diamonds for nursery playthings in their childhood and had grown up using them for jackstones, counters and pocket pieces. Under such circumstances they would take the brilliants as common things and a matter of course, and would not appreciate the value put upon them by others to whom they were not common. Our climate is our Kohinoor.., But we hav:‘ had it always and all the time and do not appreciate it as keenly as the stranger, to whom it is a thing rare and to be sought. In this connection we desire to remind our deciduous friends in Oakland that if they plant deciduous trees on their streets their city cannot become a winter exhibit of climate. The bare branches of their trees will class them with Winnipeg and Oshkosh. An Eastern man looking for a desirable place to live and enjoy the climate of California would turn Oakland down on such a picture alone. It will do no good to talk to him about the senti- ment that caused the use of the elms. He has known elms all his life. He wants now to go where the palm is and to rest him under the bamboo tree. The bare branches of elms are associated with the east wind that gives pneumonia to the pump on Boston Common, and distempers the codfish that shows the way the wind biows on the Massachusetts State House. You might as well try to attract him by the picture of a snow fnan or a cake of ice. He is cold and has a cough, and these things give him a spinal shiver. But the picture of a palm sets him dreaming of sunshine and fowers. Let us be sure and take advantage of these winter months by getting a line of pictures that set forth our climatic asset, for we have a monopoly of it private lawns. the climate as a matter of course. With characteristic vehemence and with that assur- ance which has not inaptly been termed political piracy, William Jennings Bryan has issued his ultimatum de- claring who must not, among Democrats, be nominated for the Presidency. The simple announcement that Mr. Bryan did not mention his own name is a®gument suffi- cient to demonstrate the value of his proclamation. At the same time it is diverting to Democrats. ——— THE CLAIMS OF INDIA. WING to the excitiig nature of events in South O Africa, the Balkans, Manchuria and other storm centers of the world, comparatively little atten- tion has been given in the United States to affairs in In- dia since famine and plague ceased to furnish sensational news. [t is therefore worth while to note that the coun- try is now so well off from a physical point of view that the leaders of her people can devote their energies toward the attainment of political reforms instead of having to expend them all in efforts to feed the famishing and to check the 'spread of pestilence. One of the notable institutions of India is the so-cailed “Indian National Congress,” which meets to discuss con- ditions of the people and to urge such changes in the laws and the government of the country as are deemed conducive to the general welfare. The congress is com- posed of natives and includes among its members men whose intellectual eminence is recognized throughout the civilized world. At its recent mceting in Madras it devoted itself al- most wholly: to political matters and adopted resolutions which have been well received in London. As a rule the objects aimed at by the congress are larger opportuni- ties for natives to take part in the government of the country. Nothing revolutionary or even radical is asked for, but it is evident the leaders of ‘India have made up their minds to insist upon having an importgnt part in the Government hereafter, By the efforts of the congress the right of natives to sit in the various “Legislative Councils” of the country has been conceded, and a good many representatives of the Indian peoples have seats in such bodies. The de- mand is now for the admission of natives to the “Execu- tive Council,” a position which has never yet been given to one of them, notwithstanding that India has been under the direct govermu.ient of the British crown for nearly half a century. = A Among governmental evils complained of are the main- tenance at the expense of the taxpayers of India of a ! much larger army than s :"d‘f‘ifr 50&1&3 o{agfi; ..JANUARY 28, 1904 nations for the Indian civil service in London, where very few native applicants for position can-ge to compete against British applicants; the oppressive methods re- sorted to to raise revenues, and finally the enforcement on India of land laws, which while good in Great Britain, where they are in accord with the traditions and the sen- timent of the people, are found to be unfair and injuriogs to the Indian natives, who do not understand them and cannot conform to them. The resolutions of course will have little effect upon the Indian Government unless supported by a strong party in Great Britain. Fortunately it is not at all im- probable that such support will be given. Some of the foremost men who have served the crown in India are in full accord with the claims and protests put forward by the congress, and when the issue arises in Parliament the Ministers may have tq concede a good deal of what has been so reasonably stated and so justly asked. By sloy degrees the Indians in fact are attaining a fair measure of self government under the crown, and the sooner it is granted the greater will be the glory of the | empire that has made such government among such a people politically possible. Sharkey, known to ill-fame even in the world of plug- uglies, is making for San Francisco to seek a refuge and a little easy money. He will probably receive both. In its patronage of pugs this city enjoys the unique dis- tinction among American cities of being the only place where the people delight to be fooled by everybody all the time. A ties contemplate removing the naval training school from Yerba Buena Island has given some of | our contemporaries fearful dreams of a conspiracy on the part of the officials of the navy to destroy San Francisco by withdrawing the business that gathers around the | training school, and keeping out of the channels of our | trade the money appropriated for the maintenance of the | school. Such dreams are nightmares. Yerba Buena is but an uncomfortable and insufficient place for a school of any kind. It is swept by every cold wind and drenched by every fog that blows in from the ocean. Boys coming from the interior to enter the school are exposed to a change of climatic conditions so severe that not a few of them are seriously affected by it. There is not sufficient | level ground on the island for the needs of the school, and, moreover, the seas immediately outside the Heads are nearly always too rough for boys who are but beginning | a novitiate in the service. There remains an even greater objection to the main- | YERBA BUENA ISLAND. REPORT from Washington that the naval authori- tenance of a naval training school or any government in- stitution on the island. Were the place well fitted in | every way for the school, it would none the less be a| folly to maintain it there; for the island is too valuable | for commerce to devote it to any other than commercial | purposes. | Yerba Buena should belong to the city and be used for | the convenience of the vast commerce that is to center | in our harbor. The more the Government makes use of | it the more difficult will it be for the city to get it out of | the hands of the Government. We ought, therefore, to hail with satisfaction the report that the Department of the Navy is inclined to remove the training school. | There may he differences of opinion as to what pnin[! should be selected for the permanent location, but there | ought to be none in this city nor in Oakland over the proposal to remove it from Yerba Buena. That island of | right belongs to San Francizco: it is needed for our com- merce and the sooner we get it the better. An Australian millionaire, otherwise peaceably inclined, says he intends to enter the yachting lists, lift the Amer- ica cup and present it to Canada. .We could stand every- thing involved except the threatened presentation to Can- ada. She doesn’t seem able to take care of herself, much less of anything that we prize highly enough to defend with spirit. K Arthur Lynch, who was rash enough to enter thci field against his country at the head of the Irish | Brigade during the Boer war, and who had been con- demned to life imprisonment upon the charge of treason. It seems that the wish, privately expressed by President | Roosevelt to Sir Thomas Lipton, had borne fruit in| this magnanimous act on the part of the King, and | Lynch is free to go “on license,” that is without pardon. | This manifestation of royal clemency on the part of the | King redounds to his credit and shows him to be 2 man fit to rule an cnlightened nation in these modern times. Not only will it win for him the general praise of the | world, but the order for release is calculated to do more to appease the people of Ireland than all the debates up- on conciliagion in Parliament which could be heard be- tween now and the next Christmas holidays. The typi- cal Irishman is as keen ‘o appreciate a kindness as he is | ready to fight against an injury. When the head of the nation against which he has been directing all of his passionate endeavors frees from punishment one of his own heroes who has sinned the great sin of nations, the stroke will undoubtedly come home to his heart. Had Colonel Lynch committed his treason two hun- dred and fifty years ago he would have been hanged as high as Haman and possibly his body would have been parceled out among the most turbulent districts of Ire- land for a lesson. It is a far cry from the speedy execu- tion of a William Wallace or a Monmouth to the libera- tion of one who fought igainst the flag of the country in whose legislative assembly he had once had a place. Such action shows that the medieval ideas ‘of crime and punishment have come under the softening influence of modern civilization and that the world is going forward. KING EDWARD’S MERCY. ING EDWARD has released from prison Colonel | e Some surprise has been expressed that three thi;ving' Porto Ricans accomplished the other day what the po- lice force has found it impossible to accomplish in years | of apparent endeavor. Uncle Sam’s resident protege:i | entered a Chinese gambling den without molestation or | difficulty. Their success should under no circumstances ! be construed as‘a reflection either upon the intelligence | or the shrewdness of our police. —— e A visiting representative and agent of Japan says thnt{ his Government will install at St. Louis a display of eighty thousand exhibits costing three million dollars. ' It is such demonstrations as this will be that are to raise Japan in the scale of dignity in the family of na- tions. No single nation in the world is now able per- inspire either respect or fear by its military es- : A g R, | the laugh, with interest, and his friends Judge Pratt’s Rebuke. It was in the early '60's, when San Francisco was emerging from a tent village into a city, that O. C. Pratt oc- cupied the old Fourth District Court bench. At that period silk hats, white boiled shirts and broadcloth coats, ex- cept when worn by clergymen, were in- deed a rarity. Judge Pratt, who was a Southerner of the Chesterfleld school, carried his ideas of etiquette to the bench with him to -the extent that he even wore kid gloves while presiding. There was a very important case on trial in his court, In which Charles B. Darwin and Colonel Dudley were the opposing counsels. Both of these law- yers were just the reverse of the Judge’s spotless dignity in their gen- eral make-up. In fact, they were slov- enly in the extreme. It was on a Mori- day morning when the scene occurred in which both gentlemen were made feel the stinging rebuke of Judge Pratt on acount of their untidiness. Punctually at 10 o’clock the court was opened, but neither of the lawyers had appeared until five minutes, even ten minutes, had passed. when the swing- ing doors opened and both men rushed into the court. They were about to apologize for their tardiness in explain- ing that the country stage upon which | they rode was delayed. Their appear- ance indicated the cause of their delay. Colonel Dudley wora a white, or rather a dirty linen duster, while Darwin was garbed in a rusty tweed suit. Neither had been shaved for a week and, in faet, they looked more like a pair of tramps than lawyers. Judge Pratt eyed them for a few sec- onds, then his wrath overcame him and he sa‘d: “Mr. Sheriff, adjourn this court until 2 p. m., at which time it is hoped that members of the bar having official business in the District Court will appear as if they had not been sud- denly released from a place where wild animals are confined. This court is grievously offended.” At 2 o'clock the needed change had taken place in the appearance of the two men. O’Connell When the late Dan O'Connell lived over in Marin County he was visited by one of bis friends from the Bohemian et Story. i Club, to whom he told an absolutely |new and good story, which had been gent to Dan by a friend in Ireland. { “Don’t tell this varn at the club,” Dan | admonished him, “because I want to use it at the next ‘round-table’ dinner.” These ‘“round-table” dinners were given by twenty-five select members of the Bohemian Club, who loved a good story, but would not tolerate the tell- ing of an ancient one. Dan’'s perfidous club mate not only violated the confi- dence which the jolly poet had placed in him by telling the story to the “knights of the round-table,” but also “put un a job" on the genial Daniel. In due time came the night of the din- ner, and when the fun was at its height there were loud cries for O'Connell. Dan rose in his place and in his mas- | terly way told his newest anecdote. But | when he had finlshed instead of the burst of applause which he had expect- | ed thers was absolute silence, and the | diners went calmly on with their eat- | ing. i Instantly Dan saw that he had been | | | ,” and in stentorian tones ex- claimed: “I see you d—d fools are so drunk you can’t get the pointvof that | yarn. I'll tell it again.” Then he got| “jobbed,” realized that it is hard to get ahead of | an Irishman. Subcriber’s Suggestion. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2. Editors of The Cail—Gentlemen: | Noticing your article in Sunday’s Call, “Plan to reproduce union ferry depot | at the St. Louis Exposition,” I have | this suggestion to make, that when the building is completed at St. Louis and is brilliantly illuminated with electrie | lights on the outside that in order to | make it appear more realistic to the | peaple who are familiar with the in- terior of the building I think«it would | be well to reproduce the smells of stale | fish, decayed vegetables, horse manure | and other vile smells through which ! the commuters have to pass whenever | they have to travel to or from the boat. | Mark Twain says that “the only way | tc make a San Franciscan feel at home while traveling is to have some one with a pair of bellows to blow sand | down his neck.” We think that if any of the com- muters should visit the exposition that they would feel much more at home it the suggestions above are carried out. Yours truly, AN OLD AND APPRECIATIVE SUB- SCRIBER. The Recurrent Day. T bear it when Autur With eves that are sad as mine Cast down on her withered ses That die in the cold sunshine. I bear it when Winter lingers, And I may cower. caressed By passionless, chill, white fingers To numbness against her breast. 1 bear it when blue skies darken H To black on my window=pane, d I lean on the sill and hearken The rush of the long Spring rain. Storm stresses can still th ‘And numbness can ease ::.Z'-'-:T:?" I think in the red returning Of rosge my heart will break. —Smart Set. In the Midst of Plenty. John Banvard, who afterward be- came fa.uous as the peiater of a great panorama of Mississippi scenery, set out in his boyhood, in the early thir- ties, to travel down the “Great Water” in a flatbcat with a number of com- panions. They built their boat on the ‘Wabash, and were to pay their way by exhibiting dioramic views in the cabin at landings. Unfortunately the candle- lights were not shining through t..e sycamores along the Wabash, and before the adventurers reached a set- tled region trcy ran out of provisions. In the woods they cou. find nothing but papaws, luscious at first, but quick- 1y cloying. < For two days, wrote the 16-year-old Banvard, we had nothing whatever to ‘eat but those awful papaws. The very j Clyde, and that, owing + sight or memory of one made me shud- der. Then, on a joyful, sunny after- noon. we approached Shawneetown, Illinois, on the Ohio River, where we were advertised to exhibit. As we came in we could see on the bank a crowd of people. Some carried chickens, some eggs, some yams, some potatoes, some “sidemeat” (bacon) and some corn- meal. Our dinner was in sight, for all those things were intended as payment for admission at the door, and all were “good.” Our stomachs hungered and mouths watered for the feast; but alas! we were too eager. Working our boat toward land, we ran upon a reef and stuck fast. Every effort to set us free failed. Darkness came on, and before our eyes our “house” disbanded and went home. carrying our supper with it. Discouraged and forlorn, we turned to our bag of papaws for what consola- tion we could find, then went to sleep. In the night we floated free, and at daylight were in the woods again, eight miles below those luseious provisions. That was one of the most awful trage- dies of my life. our | W holesome Rgspect. THe London Globe, in raking over its | old files, finds a story printed January 4, 1814, which shows that some of our Yankee privateers used to keep John Bull on the anxious seat occasionally. | The article reads: 1814—The town of Port Patrick was put into a consider- | able state of alarm on Sunday, the 14th, [1ast. A ship, in mold and rig resem- | bling the True-blooded Yankee, hov- | ered all day close off the harbor, with every appearance of an intention to destroy the town and shipping. So great was the alarm that the packet agent, | by the advice of Dr. McKenzie, one of | the owners, would not permit a vessel {to sail with the mail. Lieutenant | Rutherford, commanding the Dum- friesshire militia in the barracks, or- | dered them under arms. The sailors, | boatmen, robberymen and townsmen | armed themselves with marlinspikes, boathooks, spades, pitchforks, fowling 1MQ(‘M and every other weapon they | could procure, determined to oppose the landing of the Americans. At night the alarm did not subside. Lieutenant | Rutherford directed three of his men to take post on the quay, while he him- self remained all night under arms with the rest of his detachment. Much praise is due to this gallant officer for the zeal and activity he displayed upon the occasion, as also to the Collector of Customs, who dispatched an express to Greenock for a ship of war, and headed his townsmen. In the morning it was learned that the strange ship was not the True-blooded Yankee, but an armed merchantman, belonging to the to adverse | | winds, he had come to anchor in Leoch Ryan. Answers to Queries. TWO BUILDINGS—The highest point of the City Hall in San Francisco from the line of the sidewalk is 325 feet. ‘The highest point of the Claus Spreck- els building is 327 feet. CALIFORNIA GOLD — Subsecriber, City. According to the figures of Charles G. Yale, statistician of the Cali_.rnia State Mining Bureau, the product of gold in California from 1843 to 1702, inclusive, is $1,379,275,408. TRANSFER—Subscriber, Colfax, Cal. The liquid that is used to transfer rewspaper pictures to either white pa- per or glass or wood is nitric acid in water in the proportion of 1 to 3%, ac- | cording to the strength of the paper from which the picture is to be taken and whether it is ordinary news paper | or calendered paper. SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIALS— Subscriber City. The charter of the city and county of San Francisco on the subject of residence of officials says: “All deputies, clerks, assistants and other employes of the city and county must be citizens of the United States and must during their respective terms of office or employment actually reside in the city and county, and must have so resided for one year next preceding their appointment.” ELECTRIC RAILWAYS—Subscriber, City. The first appliance of electric power to a railway was by Thomas Davenport of Brandon, Vt., in 1835 In that year he built a circular track and ran a car upon it, thereby proving the possibility of using electricity as a motor. In 1851 Professor Page of the Smithsonian Institution of Washing- ton. D. C., equipped and movad by electricity a sixteen-horsepower loco- motive, which was run over the Baii- more and Washington Railroad at the rate -¢ 19 miles an hour. In 1887 T. J. Sprage offered«to and did equip twenty cars of the Union Passenger Railway of Richmond, Va. and these worked successfully. They may be said to be the practical pioneers of the now great system of electric cars in the United States. Between 1372 and 1887 there were many experiments with electricity as a motive power for street cars in many. Cars are now run at a speed by this power as high as 120 miles an ‘hour. - m.-u:::: mu'-mu'.amuu.. Special information E