The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 20, 1904, Page 8

INST RUCTIVE J‘TUDID\Q‘ @ ————e ads’ Damages. Kailre BY EARL D. BERRY New York Times.] by Joseph B. Bowles.) rt railway statistician esti- mates that not less than $75,000,000 is annually by the railroad com- e United States to satisfy ersonal damages and fa- sugh the percentage of in- limb through railroad | ¢ lessened with- scope and work | nt on each road | In cases where | killed or injured and | and loss are inflicted | ding along the line of | portion of pecuniary demanded is now \ ever before. ing popular disposition to| road company pay” ror] joes has had its most re- | in the suits brought fork Central Railroad the terrible Park | ter in New York | | Former R rk Sun and and s material’ much | a little n ore than two years ago. llision in the tunnel | and Central station | were killed and others | e frightfully mangled. It was a| suburban commuters’ train, and som f the victims were persons of we: and promin: The railroad company was scored bitterly for mot having proper lights and signals in the | tunnel socia ence. and suits for personai damages | ranging from $5000 to $100,000 were wrought against the company. Judg- ments for mounts such as $45,- 900 were granted by and the company’s attor- 1l their efforts toward pri- tlements with the scores of Only a few weeks ago a | announcement was made | f these claims had been paid, including the judgments, and that the | aggregate sum in which the New York | Central had been muleted amounted to | about $3,000,000. It is a matter of fact that the company scarcely put in a de- venue disas the ill- fense as against the Park 3 ter claimants. Passengers on fated train received from $500 to $2000 for bruises and “shock,” and torn clothing was paid for on the most lib- eral scal est experience of the New ral is in marked contrast nt on the old d before the slow moving smash-up” incié nd Albany ro Two clumsy, result. en up k. with the usual severely sha red but there were no i morning after the ac- cident a farmer limped into the office of the general superintendent and said in a menacing tone: “Mr. § ent, 1 came to see what you to give me for shaking me up yester- day official sized his man | ed that he was damaged | more or less in both body and habili- | ment. He asked the farmer how much he thought he ought to have as | compensation for his injuries. The newer was 'Well, sir, I think it is| worth 50 cents, and 1 will settle for | that amount The superintendent handed out the | half dollar, guietly remarking that it was a large sum, but inasmuch as the farmer seemed to be an honest man the compa would pay it. Then as an addit dence of liberality the superint offered to give his caller u pass on the railroad as far as his home. “No you won't.” said the | farmer as he moved toward the door. | “As long as these old legs of mine last I won't go on your darned railroad any more.” Nowadays public sentiment ap- parently justifies the stiffest kind of. elaims for damages inflicted by a rail- road company. A serious railroad ac- cident arouses popular resentment, chiefly for the reason that modern in- vention has placed practically perfect | safety appliances at the disposal of the railroads. While the Interstate Com- merce Commission reports from year to year a diminution of the number of lives lost on railroads, the most har- rowing railway catastrophes occur periodically and almost in-every in-| stance investigation discloses as the cause reckiessness, disregard of rules or rank incompetence on the part of | some employe. Frequentiy safety ap- pliances fail to Work and it is ascer- ained that their proper care and in- spection have been neglected. The late Collis P. Huntington said to the writer of this article: company (the Southern Pacific) would | gladly pay $500,000 a year for an abso- | lute guarantee of the proper working | of all of the safety appliances on our system. Such a guarantee is an im. possibility, however, for no living agency can guard against the frailties of mankind. of men will duty. Although the proportion of fatal railway accidents is about evenly dis- tributed between Eastern and Western roads, it is the Eastern roads that pay the largest proportion of the $75,000,- 000 annualily in - ‘isfaction of personal da The enormous traffic that passes over the Pennsylvania system and the Vanderbilt lines keeps trains fiving to and from all points of the compass incessantly. Persons and an- imals are bound to get hurt, and the wonder is that the number of passen- gers killed is so infinitesimally small @s compared with the millions that are Sooner or later thé best ‘fall down’ in the line of | around the basin of the Great Lakes. | higher at Watertown, N. | are | dam an attempt to pass on the | | | Ohio, e carried. In recent vears the Pennsyl- vania and the Vanderbilt systems have paid about one-fourth of the claims collected under the head of personal damages. The claim depart- ment of each of these systems has grown steadily, until now each com- pany employs between 500 and 1000 agents, clerks and attorneys In sifting claims. If a farmer's cow gets on the track and is killed his claim comes up under the head of personal damages, and he is not satisfied unless he receives from the railroad company at least double | the market value of the beast. Chaun- cey M. Depew once remarked with /| mingled facetiousness and wisdom: “New York farmers, I imagine, must sow pasturage seed between our rail- road tracks, so that their antiquated live stock can seek an eternal rest in| the most profitablé manner. The New York Central road has paid about $1,000,000 for dead cows.” Great Lakes Tilting. BY G. FREDERICK WRIGHT, A. M., LL. D. {Author of ‘‘“The Ice Age North America,” “‘Asiatic Russ! Ete.) (Copyright, 1904, by Joseph B. Bowles.) Everywhere there are indications that the land has continued to rise more | rapidly at the north than at the south | The lake ridges bordering Lake On- tario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan all show this. These lake | ridges are old shore lines formed when the ice obstructed the drainage to the | northeast..and so were at the time uf‘ their formation level. But now they gradually rise, so that they are much | , than they | are at Syracuse, and (hr‘v are higher | at the northeast end of Lake Erie man they are at the southwest, and so as| you go north along the shorcs of Lake | Huron and Lake Michigan, and in the | Red River Valley along the old shore | lines of glacial Lake Agassiz, it is| found that there has been a warping | of the earth’s crust since their for- mation, which has left them much much higher to the north than they | are at the south. G. K. Gilbert of the United States | Geological Survey, after careful study of the facts, shows that this Geforma- | tion of the earth’s crust in the basin | of the Great Lakes is still going on, | | and is gradually tipping up the basin, tending to drown out the cities that at the southwest end of the lake, | and eventually to turn the whole drain- age over through the line of the Chi- cago drainage canal into the Missis- | sippi Valley. The rate of this change | of level at the northeast part of the basin he finds to be such that the wa- ter level at Chicago will rise from nine to ten inches in a century. This he | calculates from a study of the beach | marks that were established in Buffalo and other places a hundred years ago. He coneludes, -therefore, that, unless a | is erected to prevent it, Lake | Michigan will again begin to overflow into the Ilinois River in about 500 | vears; for the summit of the channel leading into the IHinois River is only about eight feet above the present mean level of the lake, and only four | or five feet above the high water level. | In 500 or 600 years, therefore, unless a dam is built, the water of the Great will begin to spill over into the | ippi River during its high! and in from 1000 to 1500 years | will be a continuous flow dur- | ing the mean stages of the water, while, about 2000 years as much will run the Illincis River as now runs over Niagara, and in 3500 years the rock bottom at the head of Niagara River will be so high that there will be no Niagara Falls for tourists to gaze | | | upom or for electric companies to util- | i for iight and transportation. The sin of Lake Erie will then drain into | the Mississippi Valley by way of the Chicago sanitary canal. Among other places where consid- erable changes in land levels have | taken place in recent times we may | mention the coast of New Jeruey.i which is, sinking at the rate of about | two feet a century. This is P\ldent’ | from, the advance of the water upon | the cbast line and from the burial of large trees in the New Jersey swamps, | hich formerly grew on dry land, but | re now sunk many feet below water | level. Dr. Robert Bell brings evi-| dence to prove that the land about | Hudson and James Bay is rising at the rate of from five to seven feet a century. The southern coast of Green- land is slowly sinking, while that of | Scandinavia is rising. Darwin has shown that the eastern coast of South | America has been rising since the gla- cial period. In 1822 100,000 square miles along more than 100 miles of the western coast was ‘permanently raised three or four feet by a single | earthquake shock. In 1819 the bed; of the Indus at its mouth was sunk | eighteen feet and the village and port of Sindree permanently submerged, while a portion of the delta of the| Indus fifty miles long and sixteen broad was elevated ten feet. About | 1812, following numerous earthquakes in the vicinity of New Madrid, on the west side of the Mississippi River, a| little below the junction with the| a stretch of country 300 mnes. long was so affected by earthquakes that numerous tracts were sunk down and others raised, so that many new lakes and islands were formed and the bed of the Mississippi much changed. All around the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea there are recent shore lines of partially con- solidated sand and gravel containing numerous shells such as now live in the Mediterranean. The whole re- gion, from -Cairo to Beirut must re- cently have been raised to the extent of 200 feet. In the interior of continents it is more difficult to find evidence of changes in land levels, because we have no fixed data from which to cal- culate. But in two or three places in New England scientific men affirm that there have been such relative changes in the heights of mountains that distant peaks which were once visible from certain points are now obscured by the elevation of interven- ing peaks. The engineers of some of the Pennsylvania railroads have be- come.convinced that the grades are in some places changing through gradual variations in earth levels. In due time the exact facts will be as- certained. | matically 'S THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1904 I THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL JOHN D. sPRECIELS, Pmpflztor s oo o s es e Address All Cnmmflmfiom to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager SAI‘URDA\ ....,...A..“...4...“.“...-...........‘“..“.......“...‘........,...A..‘..FEBRUARY 20, 1904 CLOVERDALE CITRUS FAIR. T desire that our Eastern readers make a note W that .on the 18th of February, 1go4, there was opened at Cloverdale, in Northern California, in latitude 39, the twelfth annual citrus fair held in that town. The oranges and other citrus fruits exhibited are grown in that vicinity, and are fresh gathered from the orchards in which they began to ripen last Novem- ber. It should be known that in this State ripe oranges remain on the trees for months. The mansions on the fruit plantations of Sutter County, in the same latitude as Cloverdale, are usually in the midst of groves of orange and lemon trees, and it is not unusual to see them in May with the ripe fruit on the trees that has been yellow since November. The family go to the trees every day for the fruit they use. The exhibit at Cloverdale shows the great abundance and proves the excellence of the citrus fruits grown there, and it stands as a witness to the climatic advan- tages of Northern California, a winterless land, where the oranges and lemons are untouched by frost and can be shown in the midst of the winter months. Mr. Lea, in his address opening the fair, said: “Cloverdale for eleven years has stood sponsor for Northern California. She has by this long series of fairs proclaimed to the world that her people have cast their lot in a pleasant place, and that this is the home of the lemon, the po- melo, the olive and the orange as well as the grape.” All this, nearly at latitude 40. Thgt is the latitude of | Philadelphia; Columbus, Ohio; Springfield, Illinois; In- dianapolis and Eastern points that are now suffering a temperature at zero, and below, with storms of sleet and snow and all of the incidents of a hard and bleak winter. In Asia it is but little south of Vladivostok and a little north of Port Arthur, where the salt sea is frozen. It is north of Sicily, the seat of citrus culture in Italy, and of Seville, where oranges are grown in Spain. It is, in fact, farther north than orange produc- tion anywhere in the world outside of California. Here it fs still south of the citrus zone, for the great orange orchards of Butte County are in a still higher latitude. Let our Eastern readers take the map and find Clover- dale, California, and its latitude and then read the ther- mometer at points on the same degree in their own country, and picture to themselves what is certified by this exhibit of citrus fruits, While they are tightly | housed against the bleak blasts of winter; with the streams frozen so that the ice has to be broken daily, for their animals to drink; with their houses banked up to keep the frost from destroying their winter stock of potatoes and apples, at Cloverdale the fields and plains and inclosing mountains are as green as in the Eastern June, the wild flowers are in bloom, oranges are ripe on trees that are already in bloom for the next crop, and the people are entertaining visitors who come to admire the great exhibit of citrus fruits and olives, garnished with the foliage of the palm and bamboo. They will appreciate how little latitude has to do with the climate of California. . Upon further inquiry they will find that Sonoma County, where all this exhibit is produced, is also a banner county in the production of wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, buckwheat, hay, live stock and all that the Eastern agriculturist is familiar with, and in addition to these grows the fig, pomegranate, grape, Japanese per- simmon, and a wide variety of orchard and field crops. This is the fact that is so hard to get into the heads of Eastern people. They are unable to see why we grow the staples which they produce, in the same soil and under the same sun that produce the semi-tropical fruits and the date palm. It would pay the railroads to advertise excursion rates from the zero land to the Cloverdale fair, every year, for we can imagine no more impressive lesson than can be taught by bringing East- ern people through the frost and snow, and introducing them to such an object lesson without taking them out of their latitude. The features of this fair should be preserved in photo- graphs for distribution and exhibit in Eastern cities. h should have attached a map of the United States, with Cloverdale’'s latitude projected to the Atlantic Coast. It may seem strange that atthis late day the climatic facts about California have to be propagated by such means, but it is true. The facts are so remark- able, so out of line with Eastern experience, that they are difficult to grasp. When they are fully realized we are persuaded that Northern California will receive such a large and desirable accession of population as will carry the State away up the line at the next census. Tt should be known, too, that Cloverdale is merely the exponent of Northern California. It is not a small and specially favored spot, except in the good judgment and enterprise of its people who make this exhibition. Cli- it is representative of conditions that extend castward across the State to the Sierras, embracing an area capable of supporting millions of rural people, under conditions that make work a pleasure and life a luxury. The ingenuous editor of a Berkeley college paper, charming in his youth, wishes to know if it is good form for a young gentleman to smoke cigarettes in the pres- ence of young ladies. Where in the world or anywhere else did this journalistic inquirer conceive his notion of ! a young gentleman or a young lady? AUDIENCE PANICS. IR HENRY IRVING, in his fore-curtain speech in a theater at Chicago, might have omitted his crit- icism of the city officers and strengthened his statement thereby. The awful loss of life in the Iro- quois The@ter was no doubt the result of panic in the audience. The panic was caused by fire. The audience sat an appreciable time after the fire started, and there was ample time for it to have escaped if it had moved promptly and in order. The valuable part of Sir Henry's discourse is that in reference to panics. Panic in an audience may be caused by explosion of a bomb, or by'a personal encounter in which firearms are used. There have been audience panics in which all the loss of life was caused by the jam at ‘exits. It may seem chimerical to talk about in- suring any audience against panic. When it is preventedy it has always been by the control of some one with pres- ence of mind to divert attention and exorcise fear long enough to get the audience to pass out promptly and in ordet.? Any theater in the United States can be emptied in seven minutes of an audience that fills every seat, if the ?;ple act sanely and promptl;- That is so brief a time that no fire can spread from the stage fast enough to overtake the rear of the l‘e(tuting column. But, if under such circumstances, a single person in the mass begin to crowd and force his way ahead panic starts at once, Such awful evma as the loss, iithe boqoois ‘Theater | d | may serve a useful purpose in the future, far beyond the improvement of fireproofing and apparatus in theaters, if all who seat themselves in any large audience will re- flect upon it and map out a course of conduct in event of an accident at the moment they take their seats. The press will do a life-saving service if it will from time to time familiarize its readers with the subject. Audiences in churches and theaters and halls cannot be put through a fire drill. But that drill in schoolhouses is a most de- sirable training of the young in panic-preventing tactics, provided they are made to fully understand its purpose. When grown up the cry of fire should cause them to in- stantly recur to the schoolroom drill of their childhood. It may be said with perfect truth that no packed audi- ence is absolutely safe from every cause of panic. It has many causes, and the only safety in an audience is in everybody preserving presence of mind and in none try- ing to take advantage of the rest by crowding upon and trampling others. Of course there is a grave duty upon public authorities in the matter —of fireproofing to re- move one cause, and in that of ample exits sufficient for the quick escape of all, no matter whether the possible panic be caused by fire or otherwise. If leading actors, like Sir Henry Irving, would improve their opportunity, when called before the curtain for a speech, to talk sen- sibly and caimly on the subject, the theater would be made a sort of training school against panics. Already evil signs of international complications are showing on the war-reddened horizon of the Far East. The Russians are embittered at the evident friendship of England to Japan, the Britishers are incensed at the palpable partiality of Germany to Russia, and France is watching the Lion with eyes none too peaceable. Uncle Sam has the opportunity of his life to serve all, offend none and profit by conditions he has not made and should not. seek to disturb. l of Europe seem to give authority to the statement, by far the most disquieting aspect of the war in the East is the attitude which Russia has assumed toward Great Britain in the Tibetan question. From St. Pe- tersburg and Berlin come dispatches averring that the Czar is ready to repulse English aggression in Tibet at the point of the bayonet if driven to this extreme neces- sity and that he has already obtained ascendency in the Forbidden Country of such a character as to make fur- ther advance against it on the part of the British nothing but an act of war. In short, if the tenor of these semi- official utterances from St. Petersburg be inspired by actual sentiment in the councils of the Czar it is evident that Adam Zad is more than willing to come to grapples with the lion. That being true, it is manifest that Russia’s scheme is nothing else than to precipitate a general war such as that of the Crimea, wherein all of the powers interested in the Far Eastern question will be dragged by the in- terests of their respective spheres of sovereignty. To invite war with England would be to put to the final arbitrament all of the tangled knot of diplomatic en- deavors woven about the East since China was opened to the powers.. Russia is well aware that if she threw down the gauntlet to England, Germany and certainly France would not bide the coalition between Edward’s empire and that of the Mikado which would follow. Al- most equally certain is she that the realignment of the powers along a general battle line in Asia would eventu- ally involve the interests of the United States and de- mand that our country take a part in the great quarrel. MUTTERINGS OF A TEMPEST. F authentic and persistent reports from the capitals At first glance it may sec~: the hewght of foolhardiness | that Russia. now suffering from the dagger thrusts of doughty little Japan, should invite another conflict, but beneath the stolid countenance of the Slav there is al- ways a cunning at work which lets no gleam through the eves until the time is ripe for the trap to be sprung. A general war in which one or more of the powers be- | sides herself and Japan were involved would be of in- calculable benefit to the empire of Nicholas. Russia is weak on the sea, far weaker than even the critics prophe- sied before Japan had the opportunity to do away with six of her vessels in two weeks’ war, but then Russia is not a sea power nor one fatally vulnerable to the supe- rior force of a naval armament. A general war, which would bring her into alliance with either France or Germany, or possibly both, would throw into her way armies and more armies to overrun Asia like the myrmidons at ancient Troy. Russia could be swept off the sea and yet she would have her thou- sands wvpon thousands of soldiers, augmented by the forces of her allies, to swamp the combined forces of Japan and England. TIn the final grapple lack of sea power would count for naught with Russig, since she has no colonies and none of her possessions are directly open to assault from the sea save those along the ice- bound Siberian coast. It would be the preponderance of armies which would decide the issue. Though the Czar's Government seems at present to be suffering heavily ffom the attacks of the Japs and shows a remarkable weakness, both in strategy and fighting ability, conservative students of world politics see in that nothing more than a repetition of the state of affairs at the opening of the Crimean war. Behind the Muscovite'’s . sluggishness and apparent clumsiness at the war game one must look to catch the first steely glint of a strife terrible as the wars of Napoleon which he may be conjuring up in that cold, calculating brain. b g 4 Under the spur of her own enterprise, energy and inherent strength Baltimore js rising from the ashes of her disaster. Her civic pride will make the business quarter of the city better and more beautiful that it was before the great fire. But even more significant of her splendid reliance is her choice to repair the injury by her own effort and her own capital. It speaks well for the fabulous wealth of our country that one of its cities can unaided recover under such a fearful handicap. Ominous are the signs of the resurrection of practical politics in our public schools. The Board of Edycation has discovered, after much crafty solicitation, that pro- bationary teacher- must be formally elected to the de- partment after they have spent their years of satisfac- tory preliminary service. We may expect soon to hear of the wholesale removal of probationary teachers and the appointment of political favorites. —. A milkman was fined a few days ago for mixing water with milk. In making an example of this offender what did the authorities mean to impress upon us? Perhaps ‘they wanted to indicate to us what they can do if they choose to perform their duty. What a curious incident it would have been if they had discovered a milkman that doesn’t mix water with milk b ! | | | | strings. — TALK OF Measuring Distance. when one of them asked, distance from Mukden thur?” some parts of California.” “What do you mean?’ asked the other. the interior on business,” said Smith- kins, “and formed the acquaintance of stopping at the same hotel. it from here to one day, mentioning a small town in the county, but not on the lire of the railroad. ‘Well, that depends,’ swered the agent, as he threw his ‘How far is ing near the stove are you? he cautiously asked. I as- investing. ‘Well, then, I don’t mind given him. ‘It's a good eight miles, but,” he concluded, ‘If you thought of buying and a half.’ " The Mythical Strad. Tom Ernst, a clarionet player in the Musicians’ Union, tells the following: “Of all nuisances, deliver me from the amateur violin collector. One of this specles used to pester me by al-| ways talking ‘shop,’ although he knew | I belonged to the ‘wood wind’ and made | no pretense to a knowledge of the His enthusiasm for his violins was go great that one day I retaliated. { I began by saying that a few days be- fore while in a carpenter shop I had found a cracked and worthless violin in a dirt heap, and thinking to amuse myself had bought it for 50 cents, taken it home and begun trying to play. I thought that would be enough to start him. It was. “In a few moments he asked care- lessly, ‘Is there any name in that vio- lin “‘Oh, yes,’ that the name can’t be deciphered. just an old second-hand instrument, you know. There’s a name inside like S-t-r or something; I didn’t notice it particularly.” “‘S-t-r what? he asked, becoming perceptibly interested. “‘Oh, just S-t-r-a— or some old name like that; anwered. said I, ‘but it is so old ly. ‘Is it Strad? I replied in a tantalizing way. “‘Well, is it Stradivarius?’ he finally blurted out. ““‘Yes, I believe that is the name,” I replied innocently. thing." “‘No, I suppose not,” he said. Then in a moment, ‘Say, I am willing to give you $5 for that instrument without see- ing it.’ “‘Oh, no, you." ““Well, I'll give you $10 for it,’ said he. “‘No, I answered, ‘T wouldn't take advantage of a friend.’ “‘Well, then,” he said, 1 said, ‘I wouldn't rob ‘Tl give you | 520 for it *As I had no violin and didn't know where his bidding would stop, I said simply, ‘No, no; I guess not. come attached to the instrument now and couldn't bear to part with it.” And | T'll bet that fellow is still guessing how he can secure my Stradivarius.” Narcissus. Along a_ woodland path Narcissus strolled; Narcissus, with a care-free artless- ness; A tender youth whom Nature, manifold, Had gr'l(‘ed with all her splendid love- lin A mlrrorod pool Jay framed in water- cress, And here Narcissus paused, looking in, Beheld himself, or could his gaze re- press Z From ravishing that image, limpid twin Of his own form. it seemed none half so fair had been. J and And whilst, with new-born passion, on the brink, I\arrlsaus paused to woo his own fond the Sweet E::ho. drifting by pool to drinl There found her love, and trembling all astart, She bade him answer—“Tell me wh thou art Here lingering where this mossy basin drips; ‘What lonely fancy holds thee thus/ apa; But‘ he. 3 Benl down and kissed the lucid pat- tern of his lips. —Stanford Sequeia. Deadly Cyanide. The deadly cyanide of potassium, which whisked the condemned Whit- aker Wright away from the prison gates, is the most terrible of all cor- rosive poisons. ‘According to a Lon- don paper an eminent specialist en- gaged in experiment was once so un- fortunate as nearly to become a victim to this very method of poiwnlng. “I had taken sufficient to glve me some indication of what death in such a maner would be,” he said. “If the poison be concentrated, so also is the agony, for it seems as though all the sufferings of one’s life were endured in the few seconds .during which it is possible to realize them. The out- standing sensation which I experienced was the rapidly increasing pressure upon my brain, as though a rope had been passed round my head and that at my forehead was a lever with which the cords were being tightened to bursting point. “Anything so terrible I had no con- ception of and I shudder to think of it now. Of all methods of death it is the most cruel. You take the peison. You drop as though you were shot. You are not shot. Were you shot, and well shot, you would be dead. You are neither shot nor da-d. !w are left in agony. Seconds becom years. You have not time to (an. A group of downtown merchants were | discussing the trouble in the Far East “What is lheI to Port Ar- “Your question ls a difficult one tal answer,” replied Smithkins, “if !hey‘ regulate distances there as they do in| “A few weeks ago I was called into a hustling real estate man who was | an- | cigar stump at a dog that was sleep- | in the office. ‘You're | not thinking of buying any land there, | sured him that I had no intention of | telling you,” he whispered, confidential- | ly, as he lighted a fresh cigar I had property there it would be only a mile | It's| 1 paid no attention to it,” I} “‘Yes, yes?” he asked, more excited- | ‘Oh, yes; I think so; I don't know,” | ‘But it's of no im- /| portance—the violin is not worth any- | T've be- | like Philomela when shel THE TOWN i 1 | J 2 1 asked him | | ¥ but you have time to endure, and the | torture that you endure is be)ond the power of words to express.” Fire in London Theaters. | | It is not generally known what a re- | markable record London theaters have in the matter of immunity from fire casualties. Sydney Brooks, in an ar- ticle in the current Harper's Weekly, | points out that since 1858 not a singie life has been lost in a London theater | through fire, with the single exception |of the death of a fireman who was | killed on duty during a blaze at the | Alhambra Music Hall, in 1882. It is, ‘he comments, “a wonderful, almost aa ‘ incredible record, and it appears hardly less miraculous if we push our in- ‘qulrles back tog the beginning of the | nineteenth century and survey the last | one hundred and four years. In 1807 twenty-three people were killed in the panic that followed a false alarm at the famous Sadler's Wells Theater; in | 1808 a fire broke out during a perform- |ance at the Covent Garden Opera- house; the audience escaped, but fifteen | or twenty people who tried to enter the building to put out the fire were killed; in 1858 another false alarm, this time at the Cobourg Theater, led to the deaths of sixteen people. So that since | 1800 less than sixty people have per- ished through fires at London theaters, | and for nearly the last fifty years the | record, with the exception noted above, | is absolutely clean of any sort of fatal- ity.” Making Things Clear. Americans who go abroad will be glad | to know at last what they have a right | to bring home with them without be- | ing*pestered to death by customs offi- cers. Secretary Shaw, who has brought an unusual amount of common sense with him into the Treasury Depart- ment, has issued a circular advising rans-Atlantic travelers, when they re- | turn from Europe, to put all dutiable articles near the tops of their trunks and to bring original receipted bills | for “articles necessary and decorative purchased abroad,” so as to save cus- toms officers and travelers both a good | deal of trouble. Mr. Shaw announces also, in accordance with a recent de- cision of the Circuit Court of Appeals, | that each passenger may bring into the | country for himself or any other per- | son articles purchased abroad to the | amount of $100, provided" they are not for sale. This includes, however, only | fifty cigars and 300 cigarettes. The senior member of a family may include | all the members thereof in his or hew | declaration. And now, if a little com- mon sense could be infused into the | conduct of the customs department, so | that there could be an exercise of fair discrimination and judgment in accept- ing the word of decent and respectable | travelers, much of the outery against a protective tariff, which originates on the steamship docks of New York City, would be heard no more.—Lesli Weekly. | Answers to Queries. ROWING RECORD—S. F. M., Oty. The record for rowing one mile, single sculls, is held by George Bubear. He made one mile straight away with the tide on the Thames River, England, in 4 min. 58 sec. April 23, 1594, DISTANCE—Subscriber, City. The distance from San Francisco to Hono- lulu by the great circle route is 2100 | miles, and by the same route from Honolulu to Yokohama, 3400. The dis- tance by the great circle route between San Francisco and Yokohama, net touching at Honolulu, is 4536 miles, ' DEEDS—Subscriber, City. In the United States a deed made in a for- eign country will be recognized if ae- knowledged before a Judge of a court of record, Mayor, chief magistrate of a city, town, borough or county, no- tary publie, diplomatic, consular or commercial agent of the United States resident and aceredited in the country where the acknowledgment is taken. ADAM'S FIRST WIFE—Subsecriber, San Jose, Cal. Lilith, properly the nightly one, is represented to be a fe- male night spirit that was believed to wander in the deserts and was rep- resented as making its permanent abode in Edom. According to Talmudic legend, she was Adam's first wife, be- fore Eve was given to him, but who for refractory conduct was transformed into a beautiful demon, whe lies in wait to destroy children that are not pro- tected by an amulet. AFRICA—Subseriber, City. The area | of territory under British contyol in Africa is 2,817,760 square miles; France, 1,232,454; Germany, 920,920; Italy, 278.- 500; Spain, 243.877; Portugal, 735.304; Turkey 798,738, and Congo independent states under the sovereignty of the King of the Belgians, 900.000. Total | area, 8,087,553 square miles. The total population of Africa is 117,10487\. The area of the United States, not includ- ing the new possessions of the Philip- pines, Porto Rico, Hawali, Tutuila and ‘Guam, which aggregate 150,599 square miles, is 3,616.484. information M houses and pul by the - Clipping Bureau (Alhn s). 230 Call- fornia street Telephone Main 1042 Townsend's California S oy A e e e