The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 17, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1904 -— - The Expert Accountant. RECKITT. Public Ac- Joseph B. Bowles.) sicn of the public account- ¢ of the modern meth- and also ch makes o produ 2 business, ition whic y line of trade and be stated that the stands in the same u accountant ail matters affecting the or- nd supervision of records nd costs that the architect n of a building. As e architect must be equally familiar construction of a cottage, a r a factory, so the public ac- nust heve an intimate knowl- we best forms of accounts in «s of business, and when en- pon a critic examination of t know where to expect to ak places where losses may not expected of the archi- should be a bricklayer or sither must the public ac- « ntant be cessarily expected to be ©. bookkeeper in so far as” the mere ping the records is concerned or th which he might add a or make a given 1 postings. Like the architect, ountant is a designer and stead of designing build- s and creates systems 4 costs, and from his of the needs of his client he medical practitioner. The latter, if he be the possessor of an extensive prac- tice, may poison a hundred or o pa- tients in the course of his career; but the former can, while merely confining his attention to the affairs of one un- der ng, readily accomplish the ruin | of tens of thousands in a much shorter period.” | vy between the qualified public accountant ‘znd the unqualified public accountant, | the Legisiatures of the States of New York, Pennsyivania, Iilinois, Mar California and Washington ha passed laws creating the title of certi- fied public accountant and granting same upon due examination. The laws are not restrictive in their character, es they do not prevent any person from practicing as a public accountant, ex- cept that only he who has duly passed | the examination can term himself “cer- {tified public accountant,” or use the | abbreviation “C. P. A.” after his name. In the State of Iilinois the University | of Ilinois is the body that is empow- ered to hold examinations and grant decrees; the qualifications being that | the applicant must be a citizen of the | United States or have declared his iu- tention of hecoming a citizen, and be over the age of 21; he must have re- | celved a high school education or its equivalent, and be a man of good moral character. He must also successfully s examinations on the following jects “Practical accounting,” | “theory of accounts,” “auditing” and | “commercial law.” | The students of law or medicine | must pass examinations successfully | | before they practice as lawyers or | | doctors, so that the public may be| | protected against those who are un- qualified, hence the value of placing the public accountant on the same footing is too obvious for further com- | | ment, except to state that the effect of | | this Jaw is to give to the certified pub- | |lic accountant a professional stand- ing which very properly should i in- | crease his responsibilities. i To the young man who may desire to prepare himself for this profession |a few words will be in place as to the | | qualifications which are not obtained | |by study, but which rather form a part of his character. It is, of course, { assumed that the candidate has a na | tural love of figures and that he is well | | versed in mathematics, and preferably | all the required information cources with the mini- unt of labor and brings it to- o concise and valuable state- jayman can under- preciate ny untry during the past few its increasing appreciation part of the public make it one should appeal to young men arally endowed with those tions which constitute a public tant and who are in doubt as to ine of work 10 enter upon. The ns of law and medicine are al- vercrowded, the investment of Il business is becoming fic capital in 2 Aaily more hazardous, so that the fact that so few college men enter the pro- fession public accountancy is un- ubtedly due to its being one of com- aratively recent date and because they .ve ignorant of the excellent opportu- | ties that this field of work opens up. The opportunities for success in this ession are, however, not due to ¢ less exercise of energy, applica nd study than in other profes- solely on account of ny c on the part of the for the highest class of service that an accountant can give, this de- mand being in excess of the present supply. Mediocre or second rate abil- stv will no more contribute toward success in this profession than in any other line of work, but what is claim- ed is that, to men of ability the chances of securing a comfortable in- come are more favorable than in other professions. Furthermore, his train- ing fits him te occupy most profit- able and responsible positions outside of the accountancy profession to a far greater extent than in other profes- sions. Having discussed briefly the oppor- tunities of the profession from a ma- terial standpoint. it may not be out of place to speak a few words as to the standing of a public accountant among his fellow men. Every young man of ambition wishes to feel, and rightly so, that he is entering upon a Lusiness or profession which stands high in the regard of his friends and associates. For the profession of ac- countanancy as it is to-day no apolo- gies are necessary. The relation which cxists between the public accountant ané his eclient is a personal one, in- yolving on the part of the former an jntimate knowledge of his client’s most private affairs. The public ac- countant must therefore have a repu- tation above reproach to be worthy of the confidences reposed in him. ¥urthermore, the work which an ac- countant is employed to perform re- quires a higher ofder of skill and ability than the man of mediogre at- tainments could cope with. Therefore both as regards personal character and brain capacity, only the best of each is good enough for the account- unt who would be successful. The meaning of the term public as a prefix to the name accountant has often puzzled those who have not had §ts cause explained, and a few words on this subject will further elucidate the duties of the public accountant. One of the most important functions of the accouniant and auditor is to cer- 1ify to the accuracy of statements rep- yesenting the financial conditions of business, both 2s to their present assets and liabilities and their past profits and losses. Whether these certificates be published or only used for private circulation the public ie deeply inter- ested; for upon the presantation of the fizures certified to the vaiue of the pusipess or of the capital stock of a corporation will largely depend. For- but ex rapid growth of this profession | |also in algebra and geometry as a training to his reasoning faculties. To | | these qualifications should be added a large fund of common sense, caution | and patience, while accuracy in his | calculations and modes of thought and, | reasoning are absolutely essential. | | The man who will accept as correct | | the figures as they appear on books of | | accounts because they contain no clerical error or who will too readily | accept explanations given without Ifurlher investigation will never suc- | ceed ae an auditor. It is necessary to know the reason of every step taken | and once satisfied that a given result | is the true one, the accountant should | have the courage to stand by it. 3 In addition to the study of text| books and those natural qualifications | | which have been referred to above, | | experience must be gained by actual | work in an accountant’s office. In no | other manner can any man prepare | himself for those duties and respon- sibilites which he will later be called upon to bear after he has duly quali- | fied as a certified public accountant. During this period of apprenticeship | in the profession, as it may be termed, | he will be called upon to perform a | considerable amount of routine work, | which at times may appear irksome, but which will give him a thorough foundation in the principles of ac- counting and auditing. In conclusion nothing better can be- quoted than the following paragraph out of Dicksee’s “Work on Auditing”: “Accountancy is a profession calling for a width and variety of knowledge to which no man has yet set a limit; the foremost accountants are not ashamed to say that. like Epami- nondas, they ‘learn something in addi- tion every day’; let us therefore see no shamg in following their example.” English Caricature. Mr. Gould. the English cartoonist, has thus defined his method: “To hit hard without giving offense. Directly a car- toon_ becomies abusive it fails in its effect. This is purely the English ideal. In America the people like strong per- sonal attack. An American caricatur- ist once expressed his surprise to me at the mildness of English caricature. He could not understand it until he came over here, when he soon found that the American style would not be tolerated. Our people do not like bur- lesque.” There is no doubt that this difference in taste is a phenomenon which goes right into the roots of na- tional character. It is worth the at- tention of psychologists and historians. Why is American caricature cruel, while English caricature is humane? Doubtless American caricature has been profoundly influenced by the Ger- man school, from Nast to Keppler, from Keppler to Opper. But we must dig deeper for the real expianatioy. Cruel caricature i a mark of politis imma- turity, of raw civilization. France, Germany and the United States are still in their political teens. We in England have outgrown caricature and other diseases of political infancy. It may be that we are senile; at any rate, we are polite. It is true that we are not yet so polite as the Chinese, but we are creeping up. Mr. Gould is the politest caricaturist who éver lived. His favorite victim is Mr. Chamberlain. He has caricatured Mr. Chamberlain at least a thousand times. Yet he and Mr. Chamberlain are good friends. Indeed, after the rd fought general election of 1895 Mr. Chamberlain wrote to him, saying that he had been as much amused as tunes may be lost or made by errors | anybody, and sent him his photograph, creeping Into such staiemeuts, or as|ipscribed, “From the real Chamberlain Lawrence R Dicksee, @ widely known {{o the talented creator of the ficti- chartered accountant of England, puts ['tious” Mr. Gould, not to be outdone, jt: “Auditing is much oo serious algent a set of his caricatures to Mr. matter to be trified with; the evil that ! can be wrought by an incompetent au- JOHN THE SAN FRA NCISCO CALL Publication Office D. SPRECKELS, Propriefor « « « « « « « s « « Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager ..Third and Market Streets, S. F. A CANADIAN MERGER. T is announced that the managers of the Narthern Se- I curities Company applied for and obtained a Cana- dian charter immediately after Govermor Van Sanmt began the Minnesota suit against the merger in 1902. It is stated that this Canadian charter covers operations in Canada and the United States. The Supreme Court, in passing upon the constitution- ality of the interstate commerce law, decided that Con- gress had the power to control interstate commerce by such a law. The constitution says: “The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations between the States and with Indian tribes.” When the interstate commerce law was before Con- gress it was objected to as an improper and excessive exercise of this power, inasmuch as it proposed that Congress should provide for the fixing or regulation of rates of transportation. Senator Bayard made a very able argument against the bill on that ground,,claiming that regulation did not mean interference with rates. He used the impossibility of regulating international rates of transportation as proof that such power did not reside in Congress, because the regulation must relate to the same things in all the particulars of interstate, in- ternational and tribal commerce. It was believed that his argument was a correct state- ment of constitutional principles, but the Supreme Count swept it away by including transportation among the in- cidents of commerce, and the most important of them all, and by challenging the opporents of the law to file a bill of the particulars in which Congress could act in regulating commerce if transportation were left out. With no power over transportation commerce is left at the mercy of corporations engaged in that business. They could so arrange rates as to entirely prohibit any feature of interstate commerce. It would be at once admitted that the Government would have power to in- terfere in such a case, and its interference must be di- rected to removal of the obstruction. As this obstruc- tion would be found in the rate of transportation its re- moval, of necessity, must be in the form of regulating rates. So the Senator’s view of the law evaporated in the application of the power of Congress to protect and regulate commerce between the States. These principles are applied by the court ih the merger decision. This application need not wait for an overt act, but is aimed at the power to commit such an act. The existence of such a power is an inchoate offense, which the courts will prevent by destroying the power to commit it. The court having invalidated the American charter, because it implies power to do something in violation of the law, will now be presented with a very interesting phase of the question if an attempt be made to use the prohibited power under 3 foreign charter. The Canadian ncorporation hag been secured seemingly with the idea that operation under it cannot be reached by an Ameri- cdn court! . In our view this is a vain theory. The municipal law of the United States has exclusive jurisdiction here. Any act that it forbids is legally preventable. To assume that an act forbidden by law when done udder an American charter cannot be forbidden when sheltered by a for- eign charter is to assume that the constitution itself can be set aside by such charter. This is equivalent to say- ing that our whole system of government is destructible by such process. If foreign municipal law take prece- dence over our own on our own soil our Government is without vigor or authority. How the issue may arise cannot now be foreseen. It may have to wait for An overt act referring to the foreign charter as its authority, or the roads merged by such charter may be denied the right of joint operation under it, and by the proper writ be compelled to replace their stocks in the possession of individual stockholders who can be forbidden to exchange them for the certificates of the foreign corporation, which may be outlawed as evi- dences of the ownership of the property. But however the issue may appear, it is plain that American municipal law will remain the supreme law of the land and incapable of substitution by any extraterritorial authority what- ever. Of course Messrs. Hill and Morgan dislike to surren- der a power which they grasped at such great cost. It is not forgotten that the Northern Pacific and Burlington stocks were secured by them at enormous prices, which they had to pay to secure majority control of the two roads necessary to make the merger and to make it ef- fective. i‘hey were advised by the ablest lawyers in the | country that an attack could only come from the State courts, and when Governor Van Sant ordered the Attor- ney General of Minnesota to begin an action in the courts of that State they saw an easy victory, and it came. But when President Roosevelt ordered an action in the Federal courts they faced a more difficult propo- sition. The people may be assured now that the re- sources of Federal law are not exhausted and will be found quite equal to any difficulty that is presented by the Canadian charter. e Religious circles in England are agog over the novelty of a woman in the pulpit. Our trans-Atlantic cousins would demonstrate a more advanced. condition of cul- ture if they displayed less excited concern in the matter, Is not woman essentially a preacher, and perhaps the best in the world? INFECTIOUS CITY TREES. —_— : CONTRACT has been awarded by the Saer: A mento County Horticultural Society for spraying the neglected and :-ale infested trees within the limits of the city of Sacramento.: The reason for this action is that parasites in the urban foliage are a menace to the horticultural interests in the country adjacent. Bitter experiences in the earlier days of horticulture in California have taught salutary lessons. Various forms of scales have attacked orange trees and the de- ciduous orchards. Vigorous measures have been taken to save the trees from destruction. Spraying plants have been devised. Large sums of money have been dis- bursed annually for prevention and for extermination. Beneficial insects have been imported from Australia and from European countries. The remedies have been ex- pensive, but have been proved to y: of large advantage, Incidegtal fo the introduction of scale destroyers and the study of their habits, knowledge of a useful sort has been acquired. Tt has been observed that the insects imported to destroy the hosts of predation have speedily increased in number from a few to millions. This Jast mentioned fact has eventually pointed out the desira- bility of paying attention to the condition of trees in ficial insect that has been imported into California has : an appetite for more than one particular sort of food. Without that sole desideratum it must starve. Therefore it follows that the limit to the multitudes of insect pest destroyers, in the war of bug against bug, is fixed abso- lutely by the quantity of the scales that supply an exclu- sive diet. Millions of beneficial insects that continue to exist, therefore, necessarily imply millions of dangerous scales. Place a colony of the imported insect friends of the horticulturist in any infested .orchard and they will soon expand the scope of their operations and seek new fields to conquer, as Alexander did. The scales as cer- tainly extend the areas of their baneful operations. Now it is clear that if the scales increase to millions in the country the incitements to fecundity in the imme- diate urban neighborhood are existent. The cities may become centers of infection by means of* neglected growths. Quarantine laws against the introduction of trees and fruits guard only the frontiers. California’s interior cities are situated in the heart of fruitful sections. Sacramento is pioneering the way. in the matter of cleansing its own trees. Other communities will find it to their advantage to look with the keen glance of science to their yards and streets in search of insect pests. The enduring thrift of the country surrounding them is the basis of their own lasting prosperity. Let all trees in interior cities that are the favorite habitat of scales be inspected and let other necessary action follow. After thirty-eight years’ experience on the sea of matri- mony Buffalo Bill is seeking a harbor of refuge in the divorce court. It is evident that the old Indian fighter, scout and showman has to run away from some things at least. B language and in some dictionaries is put down as vulgar. It was originally in use principally by small boys in th¢ days of the wagon road circus, when they rose early in the morning and went far out on the country road to see the show come in. There they took to the trees and the boy who first began to climb had the right to call on the others to boost him. He got the first look at the elephant. But whether the word is fellowshiped among the le- gitimate transitive verbs that are domesticated in the dictionary it is a good and expressive term and is just now the household word in Oakland. That city has’lost a number of good opportunities because no one would boost her, and the elephant has frequently passed with- out being seen. Such an opportunity occurred and was unused a few years ago when the city refused to buy, dirt cheap, 160 acres of land on the western border for a real park that would be first seen by all travelers on the BOOSTING OAKLAND. QOST is regarded as an interloping word in the railroad. That failure has cost the town dearly, since | first impressions determine the action of those upon whom they are made, and millions of people passing the front door of Oakland and finding it filthy and unbeau- tiful have had no further interest in'the city. . Now a new project is on foot, not as complete as tha which was unwisely rejected, but it is a beginning. It will sweep and garnish the city to a desirable extent and it should be adopted when the people have a chance to vote on it. To secure this an organization of boosters has been made with 2 grand high booster at the head. The members are pledged to boost the bonding propo- sition and to silence all knockers. The City Council seems to be a progressive body and to have the confi- dence of the boosters. Mr. Howard, chairman of the bond committee, addressing the assembled boosters, said: “It is not so much a big city that we want, but whatever the size let it be a good city. Good in all appointments and good in all departments of government.” Given a proper location the city that adheres to that idea and becomes a good city will also become a big city, for it is the kind that is sought by people who have any use for a city at all. But few cities in the world have as many natural ad- vantages as Oakland. Its development should be sym- metrical and general in just proportion and in all parts. If any part of the city have not all that it wants in the present issue of improvement bonds let it get in and boost and it will have its chance next time, which will come soon when the good effects of the current boost be- come apparent. The whole State is to be congratulated that at last Oakland is aware that the circus is coming and is deter- mined to get boosted up where she will see the elephant. L zens who have in charge the management of San o Francisco’s exhibit at the St. Louis exposition, has sent abroad appeals for the prompt payment of the funds pledged for the installation and maintenance of the display. At present the committee has received in cash from private sources something more than $12,000, the municipality has voted $15,000, while $50,000 is the minimum sum required for the erection of the San Fran- cisco building and the proper placing of the exhibits. Before, the first of nmext month the remaining $23,000 necessary to round out the sum must be pledged and in so far as possible in the hands of the committee. Every one who has the interests of the city at heart should take a personal interest in the collection of this fund for the expenses of our exhibit at the fair. This is a unique opportunity which San Francisco has—this privilege of having a building to house its separate dis- play. Situated upon the “model street” near the main entrance to the grounds, this duplicate of the ferry building, which is designed to lift its tower high above the surrounding structures, is to be one of the distinc- tive features c_)i the exhibition and a fitting exemplar of the city by the Golden Gate. : X Its halls will give prominent place to San Francisco exhibits, which would be obscured in the general outlay of a manufacture and liberal arts pavilion. Within its portals the curious sightsger of the East will be enabled to get a birdseye view of San Francisco in its every as- pect which could only be duplicated by a trip across the continent. The San Francisco building will be 2 more potent advertising medium than a ten years’ issue of broadsides and pamphlets. % Besides the material gains which will accrue from the presence of a striking exhibit at St. Louis civic pride ought to be a strong factor in bringing the collection of funds to a successful finish. When we had our own fair we were inspired to do our best by the fact that ou city harbored its own display; now that St. Louis has in- ited us to vie with our sister cities of the Union, it SAN FRANCISCO AT THE FAIR. M. KING, the secretary of the committee of citi- should : The Helping Hand. Mistah Jackson is a Pullman car porter who travels across the hot sands of Nevada in the pursuit of his vocation and a few honest dollars. Over in Nevada, where the wild wind blows and the lone coyote howls, the speedy atmosphere leaves behind it a trail of parched throats. Stations are few and far between and the stops so brief that the colored gentlemen on the cars get little chance to hit an oasis. Mistah Jackson, when he lays over in San Franecisco after a tiresome run, generally goes out to celebrate. The peculiar thing about Jackson is that on these times he becomes intensely melancholy. One night somehow or other Mistah Jackson was escorted to the Hall of Justice in a condition sim- ‘ilar to that of a wet sponge. The prison-keeper placed him in a cell lalong with another celebrity of the| same brand and left him to repose in the peaceful solitude of the “pen.” Jackson seemed to take his forced lodging much to heart and objected strenuously at being placed in the lat- ticed room. Prison-keeper Murphy was making the rounds about 3 a. m. and discov- ered the morose Jackson in the act of elevating himself from the floor by means of a handkerchief tied one end around his neck and the other to one of the cell bars. Assisting him to his elevated‘position was the other drunk, never a smile and with the philanthropic expression of a Car- negie on his face. In response to the prison guard’s question as to what he was trying to do, the other inebriate responded calmly that “the coon wanted to hang himself and he was helping him out.” Prison-keeper Mur- phy does not believe in the “helping hand” policy in such an instance and, lecturing the two inebriated gentle- men on “the evils of suicide as a means of occupation,” he departed with a smile. Diplomatic Prayers. The recent dry spell in the south brings to mind a good story told on Father Ubach, the venerable Spanish priest in San Diego, and vouched for by himself. The Indians of Southern California have a legend that there are alternat- ing periods of seven years of drought and seven years of plenty. In the middle of one of these dry seasons a delegation of Indians visited the fath- er and requested that the customary prayers for rain be offered. Father Ubach stepped out on his porch, look- | ed at the parched earth and the cloud- less sky, then at the weather vane on the church steeple and replied: “Not to-day, my friends, mnot to- day. When the wind is from the southeast then I wilf*pray for rain.” The Fisherman's Song. ‘Whole armfuls of the atmosphere You'd like to hold an’ hug, ‘When the fish is in the river An’ the bait is in the jug: ‘When you're off there, in the blossoms, Just half a mile from town, An’ the fishin’ pole is noddin’ An’ the cork’s a-goin’ down! You're at peace with ever’ mortal Beneath a sky o' blue, E ‘With the trees a-sayin’ “Howdy!"' As they wave their boughs to you. Care's a ripple on the river— In its crystal flood 'twill drown While the fishin’ pole is noddin’ An’ the cork’s a-goin’ down! —Atlanta Constitution. A Female Crusoe. Oft the coast of Newfoundland lies a small island known as the Isle of Demons, which holds within its rocky shores a romance as thrilling and a tragedy as real as any told in fiction. About 1540 Marguerite de Roberval, niece of the French Viceroy, fell in love with a young cavalier and prom- ised him her heart and hand. Her uncle, the Viceroy, considered ' the youth unworthy of his niece’s proud position and, angered hy her refusal to give up her lover, he passed a sen- tence of exile upon both of them. A vessel carried the couple to the Isle of Demons, leaving them there alone, with an old nurse who had attended the lady Marguerite from her child- hood, and who wished to share her exile. At first the banishment did not seem so dreadful a thing; the young man's strength stood between his wife and suffering, and for two years all went well. A child was born, and the pa- rents began to plan for the establish- ment of a colony which might thrive in this island home. Then came trou- ble, swift and terrible. Disease smote the little family, and the young wife and mother saw her husband, child ‘and faithful nurse all sicken and die. With her own hands she dug their graves and buried all that was dear to her. And then began a life alone—a life in which the mere ques- tion of existence became a problem hard indeed for a frail woman to solve. By means of the gun that had been her husband’s she kept herself pro- vided with food and with skins for her clothing. For two vears she lived a Robinson Crusoe life, this gently nurtured, highly bred girl. Once a boat filled with In- dians came near the shore, but the painful faces and flerce aspect of the savages frightened her, so that she hid instead of hailing them. She spent weeks of labor in making a crude ca- noe, but her hands were finskilled, and when she lauched her craft it would only tip over. How It Looks to .Abdul. * nection with Japan, is not only dis- tressed, but likewise dismayed, for he realizes that the war in Manchuria and Korea entails a temporary efface~ ment of Muscovite influence in the Balkans, which redounds to the ad- vantage of Austria, and while the Padishah dislikes the Russians, yet he hates and fears the Austrians far more bitterly, This is due to the fact that he realizes that the Czar and his peo- ple now desire above everything else the maintenance of the status quo in the Balkans, and are strongly averse to either the creation of an independ- ent Macedonia or the annexation of the latter to Bulgaria. Russia has found to her cost that transformation of the Christian prov- inces of the Sublime Porte into more or less independent states is not con- ducive to her politicial interests. Roumania, Servia and Bulgaria all owe their Hberation from Ottoman, thrall- dom to Russia, and in all three of these countries she is regarded to-day with sentiments of hostility, and ex- periences difficulty in making her in- fluence felt in their capitals. The Czar is not in sympathy with Macedonian nationalist aspiration. He does not want a Macedonia that Is independent or the predominant factor in a union be- tween her and Bulgaria. Nor dges he want an independent Armenia, and it was because he discovered that the vast property of the Armenian church in Russia was being employed to pro- mote the nationalist aspirations of the Armenians in favor of an independent Armenia in Turkey that he seized the entire estate in question, so as to as- sure himself that the revenue should only be employed for strictly educa- tional and ecclesiastical purposes and not for political and revolutionary propoganda. Rapid Reading. A Kansas City preacher has peinted out that it takes only sixty hours for an ordinary reader. to read the New Testament through. One hour's read- ing a day for two months will com- plete the Book of Life. A business man who did not believe these figures tried for himself and reported to the preacher that he had read the entire New Testament in forty hours. More important is the fact that a man may read the New Testament for sixty years and find ever new wisdom in it Answers to Queries. CHARLIE REED—H. A. F,, City. Chgrlie Reed, “just the plain come- dian,” died in Boston, November 19, 18 CANARY ISLANDS—G. B. T, City. There is' but one Consul from the United States at the Canary Islands. This one is Sol Berliner at Santa Crus de Teneriffe. FIVE HUNDRED — G., Pinole, Cal. This department cannot advise you as to how the game of flve hundred is played, according to Hoyle, for the reason that the game s not mentioned in Hoyle. FIRST CANNON—A. E. S, San Jose, Cal. The first cannon cast In America was at the foundry of Henry Leonard, Lynn, Mass,, in 1647. Cannon were also cast in Crr's foundry at Bridgewater, Mass., in 1648, SILK CULTURE—F. H., Sacramento, Cal. Among the latest works om silk culture are these by Chambola and by C. E. Banford, also “Silk Dyeing,” by G. H. Hunt, and “Silk of the Kine,” by L. McManus. Such books can be pro- cured through any first-class book- seller. MASONRY — M. R., City. In “Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Free- masonry,” to be seen in the reference room of the Free Public Library of San Francisco, you will find a long and in- teresting account of the reasons why the Freemasons of the United States do not affiliate with the Freemasons of France. RICH MEN — Subscriber, City. This department has not the space to publish the “list and residence of all the mil- lionaires of the United States and the most prominent rich men and women.” Such information can be obtained in “Who's Who in America,” which can be consulted in the Free Public Library of San Francisco. ST. LOUIS FAIR—S. S, City. At this date there is no estimate of the attendance of visitors to the ‘orld’s Fair at St. Louis. The fair established hotels of St. Louls number over 100 and have a capacity in ex- cess of 21,000 guests, while in the vi- cinity of the fair grounds hotels have