The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 30, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL - - — - 1d *Biock System. DOWELT. 1904, Ly Joseph B 1es.) cal, mechanical pneu- gineers are ever at work to » American’s propensity to 3 s. They are constantly ning and improving automatic devices calculated to remove the temptation to take a chance by elim- inating the chance, particularly in the opération of railroads. They recognize the unqueéstionable fact that whenever a citizen of this| great and glorious country starts for somewhere he insists on getting there at the earliest possible moment and is perfectly willing to take the ¢hance of turning his life insurance policy into current by traveling a mile or ‘more a minute. They maintain, how- coin ever, that itis unnecessary for him to have to take chances in order to travel at maximum speed. They plan and think and do things on the propo- =ition that the man whose hand is on | the throttle lever in the engine cab must have no chance to take chances. So they continually scheming to use electricity, compressed air, sem- aphores, disks, interlocking machines, puzzle” switches, electric motors. storage batteries, colored lights and all kinds of safety appliances to ma it absolutely impossible for his loco- motive to run into anything or any- run into him. = why railroads are spending millions of dollars on automatic “block signals and interlocking switch and signal systems. The great improvements which have been made in such devices in the last few years indicate that before long it will be possible for an engine to run wild without a man oard and yet be au- ically d 1 occupied “block. One has but to take a night ride on the locomotive of a “limited” or fast mail, train to thoroughly understand that no man could be the engineer or fireman of that locometive who had in him the faintest trace of a streak of stopp before it enters yellow. The disconnected conversa- tion you hold with the engineman while his swaying. rocking and trem- bling locomotive is eating up seventy miles of opague night an hour will convince you that timidity is an ob- solete word to him: that feer is some- thing he forgot to bring when he left home ufterance to be taken in a Pickwick fan sense if he's behind time. Automatic signals are controlled by the trains which they guard. A rail- road which uses automatic signals is @ivided into divisions about three-quar- ters of a mile long, and such divisions are called “blocks”—hence “block sig- nals.” The lengths of these blocks are influenced by the curves or other ob- structions to an engineer's view in the 4rack, so there is no established length of track in a block. Electricity is the agent which not only transmits to the signal the fact that a train has entered or left the biock, but it also starts the mechanism - which actuates the signal. The signal stands at the entrance of a Dlock. A current of electricity continu- ally glows through the rails of the track. The track of one block is elec- jrically separated from the track of the abutting block. When the rails of the track are clear—that is, when no car wheels of any kind are on them—the electrical current flows through the rails of one side of the track to an electro-magnet in the signal, thence through the rails of the other side of the track to the battery, completing the circuit. The instant a pair of wheels connected by an axle enters the block the circuit is changed, for the current, instead of passing through the electro-magnet in the signal, crosses over from one rail to the other through the wheels and axles. Then several things happen. There is a hissing of escaping com- pressed air heard by one who is near the signal post and the drooping sema- phore rises and extends its arm over the track—an emphatic gesture which means “this block is occupied—stop in- stantly.” The signal mechanism consists of the electro-magnet, which controls a valve, a compressed air cylinder with its pis- ton head and piston rod, the latter connected with a lever which pushes up the rod that moves the semaphore. Compressed air is supplied from ,the buried pipe. which brings it ten or twenty miles from the air compressor. When the block is “clear,” that is when there is mo train, car or locomotive on it. the semaphore hangs down, pointing groundward. This tells the engineman that the track i€ clear. The semaphore is held in the “all clear” position by the compressed air. When a train en- ters the block and short circuits the current the armature of the de-ener- gized magnet is moved by a spring opening a valve which allows the com- pressed air to escape from the cylinder. Instantly the semaphore, by force of gravity, assumes the horizontal or stop position. It will be noticed that to hold the eignal at the “all clear” or “safe” posi- tion it is necessary to shove up the rod which moves the signal. As soon as this shoving force is released the weight of the rod and counter balance. acting on the short arm of the sema- phore, causes the blade to rise to the horizontal or “stop” pesition. Thus any fallure of the current, any leak in the pipe, any breaking of the actu- and that caution is an official | | ating mechanism of the signal allows the foree of gravity t~ come into play, brings the signal to “‘danger” and holds every train standing until some one discovers the break and repairs it. The system just sketched out is the electro-pneumatic system, and the sig- | nal is the semaphore. On a number of | roads, however, the disk;is the favorite | for automatic signals. It is worked entirely by the power of the electro- | { magnet, requiring no compressed air. The disk is made of silk, which is tautly | | stretched on a ring. The ring is bal- | anced on a pivot and all are contained | |in a strong case mbunted cn a post. | The case has gilass sides. When lhe} block is clear the electro-magnet lifts | the disk so that it is entirely hidden in | | the upper part of the case, and its ab- | sence, showing the white interior of | the case, signals “all clear.” An en- | tering train short circuits the current, the disks drop and, showing through the glass, give the “stop” signal. In another system the signals are worked by elec motors contained in boxes at the bottom of the posts. In near the posts, are storage bat- | teries, which supply the current to act- uate the motors, and the storage bat- s are charged by the dynamo in | the central plant—perhaps miles away. There are two sigrals for each block4 meunted on a single post; the top sig- nal is called the “home” signal, the bottom is called the “distant” signal. | When the signals are semaphores the | “distant” signal is fish-tailed; that is, defply notched at the outer end. The | electrical connections are such that | when a train enters a block the “home” | signal comes to the horizontal position, the “‘distant” signal remains ‘pointing | downward. This indicates that the block is occupied by a train, but that the next block ahead is clear. When | the train leaves the first block and en- | [ ters the second the “distant” signal of | the first block flies to the “stop” posi- | tion, as does the “home” signal of the | second block, and the “home” signal of | the first block falls to safety. This in-i dicates that the train has left the first | block, but is still in the second. When | the train leaves the second block both | | signals of the first block show that tie | track is all clear for two blocks. Mechenics of the Ear. BY W. R. C. LATSON, M. D r Health Culture Magazine, New York.) Joseph B. Bowles. Among the most remarkable curiosi- |ties of the human body is the ap- aratus by which the brain cognizes ound. This orkan is known as the r, but the ear is much more tha the external ,organ ordinarily so- called. In reality there are three ears | external ear, a middle ear, or and an interhal ear, on | —an tympanum, | each side. | Before proceeding further with a | | deseription of the sound recording ap- | | paratus it will be necessary to briefly | discuss sound. Sound may be rough- | ly defined as a series of movements in | the air or in some other medium, the | | movements being produced by some | rapidly vibrating body, such as a | membrane, rod or string. A drum- | | head, for instance, as it vibrates, im- | parts to the air a certain agitation—a series ofg waves. The concussion of | these waves against the auditory ap- | paratus constitutes sound. Sound | | waves—that is, air waves—may be |compared to waves of water. The sound waves may be regular and may strike the ear like the rhythmic break- |ing of waves upon the shore. The sound waves may, on the other. hand, | be irregular and break against the ear | like the chaotic beating of 4 stormy surf. In the former case the sound is | | music: in the latter case it is noise. | Sounds vary in three ways. They | have intensity, pitch and quality. In-! ilonsu_\- depends upon the amplitude of | the vibration—upon the height of the air wave. Pitch depends upon the length of the air wave. The Shorter ' the waves and the more of them that | pass a given point at one time, the higher the nitch. For instance, the | pitch of the note “middle C” is pro-| duced by an air wave of such length | that 256 strike the air in one second. | A wave of just one-half that length will cause 512 concussions in one sec- | ond and produce a pitch of one octave | higher. Now, the power of the human ear to respond to sound waves is limited | to about ten octaves, seven of which | are comprised in music. Any vibra- ! tions of the air which cause less than | thirty concussions per secand or more | than 40,000 per second are not ap-| preciated as sound by the average per- | son. The lowest note of a great organ | is often below the range of audibility. Many people cannot hear the bellow of a whale because the pitch is too low. On the other hand, the screech of the bat is héard only by fine ears because the pitch is too high, and be- | yond this are the notes of many in- sects which are quite out of the range of human audibility. That which is| silence to a man may be pandemonium to the differently tuned ear of the ani- mal. In fact, anatomical research | shows that to the animals about us | nature is full of sounds that we can- not hear. Now the external ear, with its com- plex folds terminating in the concha into. which the auditory canal opens, is merely a trumpet-like device for the purpose of collecting the air waves and conducting them to the sound re- | cording apparatus of the tympanum, lor middle ear. At the middie ear the sound waves impinge upon the mem- brana tympani, or “drum” of the ear, to which is attached the mechanism which transmutes these minute and rapid concussionsiof air into that state of consciousness known as sound. Flogging in Prison. Flogging is still allowed in English prisons as a punishment for mutiny or violence, but recently published statistics make it doubtful whether even in these extreme cases corporal punishment serves the purpose for which it is intended. It is shown that since the number of prison offenses for which flogging was allowed were reduced in 1898, the number of of- fenses against prison discipline have decreased from 147 to 131 per 1000 prisoners, while there has been an in- crease in the number of those offenses :ol:'whia the “cat” is still the pen- ! mining products I'Los ‘Angeles: County during the THE SA N FRANQCISCO CALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor . . . . . . .% . . Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager Publication Office .. Third and Market Streets, S. F. .JANUARY 30. 1004 SATURDAY. . IS THERE AN ISSUE? HE Democratic House leader is Mr. John Sharp T *Williams, a very able man. Because he has ability and can think, he is seeking to find an issue be- tween the two parties upon which a campaign can be made. He makes an authoritative statement in one of the February magazines, which we hope will be videly read, for it discloses an interesting, perhaps a perilous, condition in American politics. = He is evi- dently of the opinion that letting the water out of the trust stocks has taken the wind out of the trust issue. His conclusion is that there is ground for an issue in the tariff, but that free trade is a chimera. * Therefore, we ‘must have a tariff for revenue only. -It is popular in the South to advocate taking the excise taxes off whisky and tobacco. Indeed, Mr. Blaine and Mr. Ran-| dall agreed on that policy, and the South had many a | pang when it opposed Blaine, for he had nearly caplurcd} that section by a policy that would transfer taxes from @xcise to impests. 3 This would have put all the production of revenue upon the tariff. The South has long had that policy up | its sleeve, and every Democratic leader from the South who makes tarifi for revenue only an issue keeps an eye upon the possibility of satisfying the business in- terests of his section by so reforming the tariff as to make it even more protective than now. So we have Mr. Williams saying: “The tariff reformer who would do things r‘crklessly or too suddenly would run the risk of destroying the very.end which’ he had in con- templation by furnishing an object lesson which would not help but hurt him.” Still he advises the party to seek power on the issue of tariff reform. Now if such reform is to furnish an object lesson that will hurt those who do the reforming, is the object sought a public benefit? The implication is that the object lesson will injure the people, who alone can hurt a party by voting it out of power. It is true that he qualifies by naming reckless or sudden action as dangerous, but since the same object is sought, whether | the action be prompt or deliberate, the time schedule does not affect the result. If the protective feature of | the tariff is wrong, in morals and .politics, as Mr. Bryan | insists, it should be destroyed without delay, and the only object lesson would be beneficial to the destroyers. Mr. Williams is plainly under restraint from the pro- tection sentiment of the South. " In explanation of his position he continues: “I have always thought that there ought to be about every tariff a degree of flexibility, a maximum and minimum--a margin within which, by international trading and bartering, the friends of un- trammeled, or comparatively untrammeled, commerce could be rewarded for the admission of our farm and free, or nearly free, encouraged in their course and others encouraged to imitate it; and whereby also, incident to the rewarding of these, peoples pursuing an inimical course toward our commerce could be punished. They could not complain, because they‘ would not be punished directly, indeed punishment would | not be the end in view. They would be punished by their own act, and their punishment would be remitted by their own act.” While his statement is turgid, one gathers frem it that he wants a tariff for revenue only, so iramed as to rise and fall automatically with the imposts of the coun- tries with which we trade. It is a Democratic substitute for the McKinley plan of reciprocity. But reciprocity leaves either protection or revenue in our own control. The Williams plan would lose, us 'the control of either. In the administration of his plan the Secretary of the | Treasury would have to order customs officérs to reduce the duty on products from any country in proportion to its reduction.on ours. It is thinkable that under such a plan Congress might adjourn and go home leaving an automatic tariff in force to provide revenue, when the| nations with which we trade, desiring to get at our market, would let us into theirs free or so nearly free that our sclf—actin’; tariff would not yield enough revenue to pay the cost of an extra session to take its automatic flexibility out of it. Candidly, we put it to the country, is there enoug?\ in this idea of a tarif to make an issue and warrant a thoughtful citizen in voting for the party that proposes it? Beyond this Mr. Williams has no policy upon which to invite votes except that a Democratic interstate com- merce bill would give th: Interstate Commerce Com- mission the right to fix all railroad rates. That right can be given, but it can never be exercised, as no com- mission could ever be appointed capable of such a stu- pendous task. A close reading of Mr. Williams leaves the impression that, after all, his main reason for mak- ing a campaign at all is that his party is “out” and wants to get " In such a reason the people have no inter- est ‘whatever, in. The Grand Vizier of Persia is among us seeking, he says, inspiration from our institutions for the advan- tage of his interesting country. Somebody who loves his fellow-man should tell him that he will have to give the quie to many of his cherished establishments be- fore ours will do him or_his people any good. A SOUTHERN EMERGENCY. UTHENTIC advices, contained in the newspapers of Los Angeles, supply details concerning the ef- A fect of the drought on stock and dairy interests south of Tehachapi. Every passing day adds to the dis- tress of the situation. Some of the stock raisers are pre- paring to move their cattle by rai} from the ranges. Many herds will have to depend tpon imported feed to main- tain life. Sheep, so says the Los Angeles Times, are dy- ing by hundreds on San Clemente Island. In one week more than 1000 sheep perished there. The lease of the island is held by three men who have 22,000 sheep in pasturage. They fear that they will be losers to_the amount of $20,000. Hay and other fodder has been sent to the island by vessel. Some feed remains on San Clemente; it is too far from the water to be of much good to the emaciated sheep. ; Some figures are furnished that illustrate the situation with definiteness. Of the be{f consumed in Southern California about 25 per cent is raised and fattened in Arizona and killed in Los Angeles. About 50 per cent is bred in Arizona and is shipped to Southern California | all the localities near to Los Angeles Compton is | the State Mining Bureau, for distribution at the to graze. The remaining 25 per cent of the total beef| consumed in Southern California is bred and raised in the | southern counties. On account of the lack of early rains the 50 per cent of the beef supply that ordinarily comes from Arizona has not been shipped in this season, and there is, therefore, a rather small number of cattle in the south. y ? FEh R Twenty thousand tons of hay, according to one author- ity, may be nceded to feed the beef cattle and cows of b ) price for milk has been raised and if there is not more i rain there will be another advance in the market. Butter has reached the price of 7o cents per roll wholesale and 8o cents per roll retail. The dealers say the price of but- ter may go up to 8o cents wholesale and go cents per roll at retail. Reports have been received from the counties about Fos Angeles. There are about 1300 hiead of cattle about Pomona apart from those on the Chino ranch. Hard- ship will probably be experienced by eight to ten thou- sand sheep within a radius of fiiteen miles of Pomona. | In other districts there are several thousand head of cattle and feed is scarce in all directions and may be- come scarcer, . At Downey the conditions are better than at some other points, there being in the neighborhood fifteeen miles of ditches from which watér may be taken for irri- gating. The water in the San Gabriel Valley has been running lower than usugl at this time of the year. Of re- ported to be the best prepared. There barley: is being cut for hay. On the cattle and sheep ranges a large loss is probable. The cattle are crowding'back to the farthest canyons and higher hills. There are in Ventura County from ten thousand to twelve thousand cattle on the ranges and twenty thousand sheep. Sentiment is -growing in Washington, it is said, in | favor of the establishment of a protectorate over Santo Domingo. This idea of making Uncle Sam the police- man of the Western Hemisphere may be very pleasing to our vanity, but we must not forget that the role of peacemaker involves some serious rows and frequently dangerous entanglements. U OUR MINES AND MINERALS. NDER the title, “California Mines and Minerals,” | an attractive pamphlet, handsomely illustrated, has been compiled by Charles G. Yale, statistician of St. Recognizing that in multitude of things to be seen, heard and read at the great fair, the visitor will not have much time to give to any one subject, and will turn away impatiently from any offered document that appears verbose or heavy, this compilation has been compressed into the briefest pos- sible space. No attempt is made to deal exhaustively! with our mineral resources. Nothing has been given beyond a statement of results, and the consequence is the reader can see at a glance what the mineral indus- tries of the -State are yielding at this time. It is not likely the effect desired by the compiler will be lessened vy the terseness of statement he has been forced to adopt. The showing is sufficiently notable to impress the mind of every reader who has any interest at all in mineral industries, and thus lead him to seek further information. Enough, in fact, is made evident by the results of our mining operations to confirm Cali- fornia’s highest claim to pre-eminence as a mining State, and the statistics of the results are in this little pamph- let expressed, all compact, for the understanding of even the hastiest reader. A summary of the whole is thus given: “The total value of the metallic substances for 1902 was $22,060,327, which includes gold, silver, mineral paint, quicksilver, copper, lead, manganese, platinum and chrome. The total value of non-metallic substances was $3,706,368. These . substances include borax, coal, chrysoprase, mineral waters, salt, infusorial earth, gyp- sum, magnesite, pyrites, lithia mica, fuller’s earth, quartz crystals, mica, soda, tourmaline and turquoise. The total value of hydrocarbons and gases was $5,184,387, an increase of $1,651,678 The hydrocarbons and gases in- clude asphalt, bituminous rock, natural gas and petroleum. The number of barrels of oil produced was 14,356,910, valued at $4.602,189, as against 7,710,315 barrels in 1901, valued at $2,061,102. The total value of structural mate- rials was $4,100,023, an increase of $1,161,748 over the pre- vious year. These materials include brick and pottery clays, Portland cement, lime and limestone, macadam, rubble and congrete rock, paving blocks, marble, granite, sandstone, serpentine, slate and glass sand.” The record shows that forty-four mineral substances are exploited in the State, that the mineral valuation is upward ¢~ $35,000,000 and is increasing at an average rate of nearly $2,000,000 a year. It is to be added that Louis Exposition. this does not represent by any means the best that can be expected of our mining industry, there being rnumerous mineral claims that have not yet been prop- erly developed, so that there remain golden opportunities for new investments and new enterpris . The tragic end of the meteoric career of Whitaker Wright, gambler, speculator and confidence operator, will probably teach no lesson to the dangerous men who play ducks and drakes with other people’s money. There is in this suicide’s crash, however, a just and moral catas- trophe. He who ventures everything of his own and of his dupes in the unequal game of chance should be pre- pared to hazard his life on the outcome of his audacity. B By official decree gambling is forever barred from Panama. The new tepublicans evidently think they took- chances enough in life while filling their unhappy rols as a state of Colombia. Incidentally we may congratu- late ourselves that Panama will not be the nest to breed another lottery swindle upon the gullible elements of the American public. Representative Boutell declared a few days since that the record of the Republican party will be its platform in the coming campaign. He might have added also that the man who made this record for his party will be the standard-bearer -of that party in the struggle which inevitably will close in victory. Representative Cochran says that J. Pierpont Morgan is in the unenviable class of the pea and shell man, who thrives upon the credulity of the bucolic and the fool- ishly wise. This appears to be the first recorded definite suggestion that it is possible to insult a manipulator of the pea and shells. Ex-Secretary of State John W. Foster, unbosoming a long cherished opinion, says that Uncle Sam is the earth’s peacemaker. Mr. Foster May be right, but he should have added that we are getting into a maze of un- necessary and unwelcome trouble in trying to play the ungrateful role. £ . Statesmen high in the critical councils of Japan are authority for the statement that Korea will be the the- ater of the warlike operations of their nation. It might be well for them to have a care that in Korea the Mikado do not see the curtain fall onyhis ambitions of conti- nental empire i : 2 Fire Protection. — “These are soclable times back of the scenes when the performance is on,” remarked Stage Manager Ferris Hartman of the Tivoli. “The ladies of the chorus never received such gallant attentions during their working hours as has been thrust upon them nightly since the Chicago holocaust occurred.” “That speaks well for the courtesy of their masculine coworkers,” was suggested. ““Oh, there has been no notable en- hancement of their Chesterfieldian- ism,” sald Mr. Hartman. “They have no time for lah-de-dahing while the show is in operation. It's the visit- ors—our unbidden guests—TI allude to. There was a time when no male crea- ture could pass the stage doorkeeper unless he belonged to the house, but now it's different. Any man who can flash a badge may enter with im- punity, stay as long as he pleases and do pretty much as he desires. It is really affecting to see the deep solici- tude for the safety of theater perform- ers and audiences manifested by al- most every branch of the municipality. Every inch of the Tivoli stage has been inspected time and time again by members of the Board of Supervisors, members of the Board of Public Works, members of the Fire Commis- sion and members of every other old organization that has anything to do with the city government, and time and time again the stage has been pro- nounced as well protected from fire as it possibly could be. But still they come to obtain new information from the chorus ladies. They don't seek knowledge from me, probably because T'm rude.” “Have you had any trouble with them ?” “Once. A gentleman with a large and luminous cigar stuck in his face flashed his badge, entered and began to interview a lady of the chorus, when I mildly reminded him that smoking was not allowed on the stage. ‘Do you know who I am?' he angrily demanded, and flashed the badge. Without waiting to inspect the nickel-plated shield and not knowing whether he was Mayor Schmitz's seal- bearer or the driver of a scavenger wagon, I plucked the burning brand | from his mouth, chucked it into a fire bucket and replied, ‘No; but I know who I am.’ . He didn't strike me, but I don’t know what might have hap- pened if there had been no ladies present.” In-the Midst of Life. All is not quiet at the Selby powder works, up the bay. The Chinese have struck, not for higher wages, but for sure wages. They want their pay as often as they can get it. Their reasons are obvious to any one who runs. The other day the foreman of the coolies who work in the powder mill timidly entered the office of the resi- dent manager. He twisted his hat about in his hands for a minute and then spoke. “Missa malanga, Chinaman-he all big stlike.” The manager whirled about M his big chair and brought his most severe glance to bear upon the trembling chink. “Why, don't you fellows draw down your $20 every two weeks all right?"” “Ah, yes—yes das alla dam tlouble. Chinaman-he say, me gettie pay twlo week; maybe so me gefta blow up one4 two day beflo pay day. Say-me wukka one week fi day. Pay 'day he nearly come. Then blam—me blow al hell—no pay. “Missa malanga, Chinaman-he wanta pay evely week.” Ferry's Bad Odors. ALAMEDA, Cal., Jan. 28, 1904. BOARD OF HEALTH PLEASE NOTE. Editor San Francisco €all—Sir: 1 was delighted to see at last some pub- lic reference to the scandalous condi- tion of the ferry depot, as appeared in your issue this morning in the shape of a subscriber’s letter. I am a long suffering individual personally, but have been a- -zed at the apparent apathy on the part of the public who daily pass through the stench pervad- ing corridors at the ferry and endure the ordeal as though it were part of nature’s own ordainment. Many of these gentlemen are extremely partic- ular as to their own home and office appointments and would also make a lusty outery if such filthy conditions existed in the ordinary thoroughfares of this city or the one they live in across the bay. I say nothing of the ladies; but emphatically think it a double scand:l and shame that their natural protectors shouid not kick out, and viciously at that, against the rail- road company or the ferry guardians (whoever they are) that compel ladies to traverse such a chamber of horrors as the one now in question. I have noticed the shrinking and disgust of ladies who (not being able to use the upper stairway by the narrow gauge route) are forced to breathe the offal scented passageway to the boats, and can readily believe that the experience is not one conduci e to the improve- ment of a frail and relaxed physical condition. ' However, ycu have started the ball rolling, and /I trust SOMETHING WILL BE DONE SOON to remedy the abuse. It is a black eye to the city at present. The means of thoroughly cleaning the pavement and walls can- not be wanting. Water is plentiful; pumping power is not exorbitant; la- bor. judging by the numerous officials in livery and otherwise whom one sees +* the irresistible tendency of the minf! to construct a rhythm, and the “tick was supposed to seem different from the “tock,” simply because it came on the down beat. But Dr. Rosenbach of Ber after vainly consulting the clockmakers, set himself the problem to solve, and found that the action of the mechanism is such that the cogs of the escapement wheel do not strike the arms of the “anchor” in precisely the same way. “Tick” comes at the right, with the cog rising: “tock™ at the left with the cog descending. The result is that “tick” is more sharply accentuated (louder?) and of shorter duration, while “tock” Is higher in pitch. With this differentiation the source of the universally feit double rhythm is apparent. Yet it is none the less true that by an effort of the will the rhythm can be reversed, and the ageent put on either beat at will, and with a Ittle practice most people can hear the ticking of a triple rhythm.— Springfleld Republican. Somerwhat Soured. J. S. Gilbert, an American sojourning in Panama, Is not especially impressed with the advantages of that new re- public as an abiding place. At least he certainly did not indite the follow- ing lines for an immigration pamphlet: Beyond the Chagres River are paths—that lead to des 4 To the fever's Iy breezes, to malaria’s polsonous breath! Beyond the trople foliage where the alligator the devil—his original Beyond the Chagres River, 'tis sald, the story’s ola— Are paths that lead to viegin_ gold ‘tis my firm conviction, Whatever they tell, That beyond the Chagres River all pathe lead straight to hell! Obsolete W Many military critics have declared that the South African war demon- strates that the bayonet is an obsolete weapon, but Colonel C. B. Mayne, an English officer, who has for twenty years been known as an authority on infantry weapons, thinks otherwise. Even in South Africa, which he con- siders an exceptional case, he says that the British bayonets often kept the Boers from coming to close quarters and thus taking full advantage of their victories. Nor does he think long range firing likely to be the decisive factor— “it is the short range fighting. includ- ing the bayonet assault, that decides. However, he calls 800 yards “short range” it will be seen that with maga- zine guns and plenity of ammunition no bayonet is likely to be stained with blood. If the cold steel is retained it will be chiefly for its moral influence and for possible use in a night charge or against a foe that is short of cartridges. mountains of purest But tales apons. ‘Answers to Queries. CHAMBERLAIN—H. S, City. In 1880, when Gladstone was Premier, J. Chamberlain was a member of M Cabinet, holding the office of Presi- dent of the Board of Trade. TRANSPORTS—R. D., Oakland, Cal. The length of the transports Sherman and Sheridan is the same, 445.5 feet. The length of the hospi- tal ship Solace is 361.2 feet. ? CHARTER POSITIONS—J. M., City. The courts of this city will un- doubtedly soon be called upon to de- termine whether a person holding a position in San Franciseo under the city charter by appointment under civil service rules is a political ap- pointee or not. The 1l will publish whatever may be that line. MONEY—Sul . The latest figures as to memey im tion in the United States are up to October 1, 1503. The amount at that time was $2,404,617.069. At the same date in 1902 it was $2,275,686,651. Of the first named amount the proportion of gold, includ- ing bullion in the United States treas- ury, was $622,550,934. INSECTS—J. C., Paynes Creek, Gal Te obtain a proper method for the de- struction of insects that destroy an apple crop send a sample of the injursd arples to the State Horticultyral Bu reau, Sacramento, Cal, and address a letter of inquiry relative to spraying, etc. The same department will advis2 You as to reliable books on horticultue. JURORS—A. O. T. 8, City. The law of this State coptemplates that a man to serve on a jury in the State courts must be a citizen of the United States, not less than 21 years of age. If a man who “married in this coun- try, has resided here forty years, never was naturalized and never voted™ should be called on a jury he would be subject to challenge for the reason that he is not a citisen. by =3 PATENT-R. P., Marysville, Cal. Any person who has invented something that he desires to have paten make application at the '.m:':.c:: ‘Washington, D. C., for a patent, but if not acquainted with forms he is liable to the necessary