The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 20, 1904, Page 32

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 1904. i 3 A Remarkable Project. By MALCOLM McDOWELL, (Author of “Ehop Talk on Wonders of the Crafte.) Copyright, 1804, by Josepk B. Bowles.) New York and Chicago will be con- nected by an eight-inch pneumatic tube 1f present plans of capitalists and com- preseed air engineers are realized. The scheme is declared to be practical and the odd feature of the proposition is that the projectors are not looking to Uncle Sam for a subsidy or the United States malls as the principal source of revenue. It is figured out that the net income from the transmission of light packages between the terminals and intermediate stations will be sufficient to pay good dividends on the invest- ment. The success of the pneumatic tube systems for the transmission of mail matter in New York, Boston and Philadelphia and the dispatch of mes- sages in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Brussels is cited to prove the prac- ticability and actual economy of com- pressed air as a carrying agent. Chi cago is to be equipped with pneumatic tubes for the use of its postoffices, and pneumatic engineers look forward to an early day when all the large cities of the country will use the swift service to facilitate the distribution of mails and packages. The projectors of the New York-Chi- cago pneumatic tube tem are not figuring on any 100-mile-an-hour ser- vice. TI ¥ a speed of forty or hour will be sufficient to and claim there maintain an un- Aty miles meet business needs, will be no trouble tc interrupted service. Nor is it their pur- pose to run a bee line between the ter- minal cities so as to provide the short- est way for the steel carriers to travel through the cast-iron pipes. The scheme contemplates a route which will take in as many large cen- ters of population as possible without straying too far from a practical di- rect line. This route would follow the Hudson River and Erie canal to Buffa- lo, and parallel the Lake Shore road to Chicago. Every city of any consid- erable population ¢n the line would be an intermediate station, with relays and power plants at necessary points. At first blush it would seem that this proposition to fill an eight-inch pipe with air at a pressure of twenty-five pounds more or less to the square inch, the said pipe reaching from Chicago to salt water, was cne of those vision- ary schemes which pop up every week or so. But these are days of big things, and the building of a compressed air pipe line between Chicago and New York would be but the extension of a system already In operation. Pneu- matic engineers assert there is nothing mechanically or constructively against the propesition: it all comes down to the matter of money. Those who look wupon pneumatic tubes and the employment of com- pressed air to carry cylindrical boxes through pipes as something very mod- | ern will be surprised to learn that half a century ago a pneumatic tube was | put in cperation in London for dis- patching telegrams. It was only an inch and a quarter pipe, 700 feet long, but it worked so well that a few years later another tube two and a quarter | inches in diameter and over 3000 feet long was laid down. From this begin- ning sprang London’s present metwork of tubes, which covers the business part of the metropolis, connecting the general postoffice with all the subpost- offices. Berlin has over forty miles of pneumatic tubes, but all the pipes of the European system are of small diameter, none exceeding three inches. This limits them to the transmission of telegrams and message: In American cities small sized tubes have been used for man ars for carrying messages; newspapers have used them for the transmission of press telegrams. » @t But the first serious attempt to in- stall a pneumatic tube system for car- rying the mails was successfully made in Philadelphia in 1892, the tubes being | £ix and one-eight inches inside diame- ter. Boston and New York followed with eight-inch pipes. Thus the Post- office Department set the example, which is certain to be followed by the commercial world. * The boy who uses a putty blower illustrates the principle on which the | pneumatic tube system operates. The boy expels air with 2 puff—the air car- | ries with it the ball of putty. The air actually flows through the pneumatic tube. It is not “puffed” through how- ever, but is forced through the pipe. The tubular steel carrier, smaller than the inside diameter of the tube, is carried alcng by the air cur- rent untfl it reaches the point of deliv- ery. An air compressor forces the pipe and the same alr current brings the carrier back to its origir: starting point through the return tube. The tubes are cast-iron pipes, closely resembling water or gas pipes, but the shell is thicker and the quality of iron is better. Edch many | slightly | ! and provided with a hinged 1id, which | can be quickly and securely locked at !the other end. For an eight-inch tube the carrier is two feet long and seven ! inches in diameter, and weighs emnly} | about thirteen pounds. The steel shell | of the carrier never touches the pneu- | matic tube, for on each carrier are two | collars made of woven cotton cloth, : | tightly clamped between metal rings. | | These collars when new fit the pneu- | | matic tube snugly, but use wears them | down until sometimes they are a quar- | ter of an inch smaller than the diame- | ter of the tube. One would think that | | this would permit so much air to es- | cape past the collars that the carrier | would lose speed, but as a matter of | fact this affects their velocity but| | slightly. The collars are good for about 2000 miles of travel. Then they are re- newed. The empty carrier weighs | | about thirteen pounds, and its carrying | capacity is somewhat over 800 cubic | Inches. Apparently it makes no differ- | !ence so far as speed in transit is con- | cerned whether the carrier is empty or | full. The builders of pneumatic tube | systems claim that a carrier filled with | brick or lead will-shoot through the tubesas swiftly and certainly as one filled with feathers. P The company which installed the | pneumatic transmission service in Phil- adelphia had in mind the expansion of | the service tv adapt it to commercial uses. In order to determine the best size of tube for carrying miscellaneous | bundles and packages of retailed mer- | chandise a series of tests were made. | The ingenious method of measuring | bundles by passing them through hoops of iron was adopted. Men were sta- tioned in several large department stores where all packages and bundles for delivery were carried out. Every bundle was put through rings and it was ascertained that 81 per cent of all packages and bundles could be packed in a 12-inch carrier, about 10 per cent | less could go in a 10-inch carrier and | 60 per cent in an 8-inch carrfer. It was demonstrated that a large proportion of the bundles too large to be sent through a i2-inch tube could be re- | wrapped so as to permit their passage | through an S-inch tube. At each station of a pneumatic tube line, whether a terminal or an inter- mediate station, is an apparatus for sending and receiving carriers. The de- vice is so arranged and managed that! there is no break in the current of air while the carrier is being pushed into the main tube. A frame carries two sections of tubing. When at rest one section forms part of the main tube. | The carrier is thrust into the open tube, an air motor governed by a starting lever swings the frame until the sec- tion containing the carrier comes to po- sition, forming part of the main tube; the air immediately drives the carrier into the main tube and swiftly trans- ports it to the other terminal. When the carrier arrives at a station it shoots into a closed receiver, and, com- pressing the air, forms an air cushion so that it comes to rest without a shock. This closed receiver then tips do discharging the carrier, and then automatically returns to its original position ready to catch the following receiver. Carriers can be sent to intermediate stations, where an ingenius device au- tomatically switches from the main | line only such receivers as are Xeptlned | for that station. A small metal disk on | one end of a carrier determines whether the carrier will be switched aside from the main line. In the bottom of the re- ceiving tube, at the intermediate sta- | tion, are two needles. If the disk is wide enough to span the space be- tween the two needles an electrical connection is established, the switch lis opened and the carrier is dis- charged into the receiver of the inter- | mediate station. The spacing between | the needles varies for each switch so it | is only necessary to attach a disk of | the proper diameter to a carrier to send | it automatically to the desired station. | To prevent operators from choking the | tube by transmitting carriers too rap- | idly, a time lock is placed on the send- | ing apparatus allowing five, ten or fif- | teen seconds’ headway as may be de- | sired. Pneumatic tubes, in recent years, | have become important features in re- | i tail stores, taking the place of cash boys. They are used in the grain ele- | vators for lifting corn, wheat and oats, and in sawmills and furniture fac- | tories to carry off the sawdust and ' other refuse. They are common to newspaper offices, and thousands of | miles of railroad tracks are paralleled by the pipes which contain the com- | pressed air that operates the automatic | block signals. Their use is extending| | rapidiy and there seems to be little doubt that in a few years they will be used to carry not only mail and télegrams, but bulky packages to all| | parts of large cities. | | The Toothsome Cocoanut. | | The United States imports annually | about 20,000,000 cocoanuts, at a cost of some $800,000. Distributed in the form | of pies and other confections, says the | New York Sun, this supply contributes | much to the sum total of human hap- } piness. The cocoanut has various other im- portant commercial uges. The so-called | 'meat” yields an ofl for which the demand almost unlimited. The fib- rous husk yields a materfal known as “coir,” which is used for mats and mat- ting, for sacks, ropes and for mattress stuffing. Even the shell has its com- mercial uses. The oil is used for soap, candlies and glycerine. Chemical pro- cesses are now producing from it an entirely wholesome and nutritious sub- stitute for butter made from cow's | high out of the Tammany gutter. THE SAN FRANCISCO. .CAlLL JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor « . . « . .. ... Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager B ----veooveenee.. Thind and Market Streets, S. F. SUNDAY. ada S ..MARCH 20, 1904 COMPARING RECORDS. HE Colusa Snu, which is easily the leader of the country Democratic press of California, is prepar- ing itself and those whom it leads to fall in with the Hearst column. This is being done by insisting that Roosevelt is no better, by the record, than Hearst. ‘In a late issue the Sun says: “Neither of them is the right class of man for the high office. 1f these two should be the nominees it would require a vast amount of cheek in the kettle to call the pot black.” While that is a poor sort of politics it is probably the best that the Sun has in stock in view of what it evi- dently intends to do. The record of Theodore Rdosevelt has no secret chapters. It has been an open book, and we invite those who make the pot and kettle argument to examine it and make the obvious comparison. Theodore Roosevelt’s father was not a millionaire, but was a man in rather moderate circumstances. In his childhood the Presi- dent was handicapped by a weakly physique, but he mas- tered that disadvantage by the force of his will. He graduated at Harvard, and, dependent on his own re- sources, sought the West as a field for business and ad- | venture and did all the rugged work of a cattleman in Dakota. With his physical strength soundly built up he re- turned to New York and entered politics, and without the assistance of any machine was elected to the Legis- lature, where his voice and vote were given to clean poli- tics and the promotion of civic righteousness. Ap- pointed to the Civil Service Commission he discharged the cleansing dities of that position so faultlessly as to draw the wrath of the spoilsmen. He held that office far into Mr. Cleveland's second administration and was in entire accord with his civil service ideas. While Civil Service Commissioner he was appointed Police Commissioner of the city of New York, a posi- tion that commanded a vast variety of the highest in- terests. It was said when he accepted it that it meant his ruin, for no man could hold it and come out clean. He enforced the law and raised the police establishment Leaving that office for the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he was an efficient force in the preparations necessary for the Spanish war, and resigned to recruit a regiment with which he served during that short struggle. As a soldier he shirked no duty and avoided no dan- ger. He exposed himself to the risks of war and the perils of death, and the test of his conduct is the love and admiration of the men in his regiment. When that war was over he became the candidate of his party for the office of Governor of New York, and won in as hard a political battle as has ever been fought in an American State. As Governor he lived up to his principles of re- form and did not hesitate to oppose the Legislature of his own party when it showed signs of partaking of the political demoralization with which Tammany has in- fected the politics of that State. He promoted legislation to control trusts, to economize government and to secure the public welfare. Next he was clected to the Vice Presidency, and after the assassination of McKinley succeeded to that great office. In the Presidency he has manifested the same traits that characterized him in every position he has occupied from his youth up. Devoted to the interests of his country, he has been a man of action in every emer- gency. Corrupt elements in his party have felt the weight of his hand whenever the duties of his office re- quired that it be laid upon them. Endowed with moral and physical courage, he has shown both in every crisis and no act of cowardice or demagogy is on record to his discredit. t In the midst of all th is public activity he has exhibited constant intellectual activity and power. His work as an author has commanded respect at home and abroad. It has been. aimed in his various books to encourage the manhood and raise the ideals of his countrymen. His historical work, like his “Winning of the West,” is of distinct value, and is an important contribution to his- torical lore and literature. Some may object to his ex- pressions of opinion, but none can deny to them either honesty or courage. His books and his speeches are promotive of domestic purity and decency, rightness of public and private con- duct, brotherly love among men, helpfulness to those un- avoidably unfortunate, and patriotic devotion to country. Men who have had close contact with him in Washing- ton and who oppose him politically, like the Washing- | ton editor of the New Vork Post, make high ascription to his qualities as a man, an American and a President. His personal life has been clean and stainless. His pub- lic life has been frank, open and devoted, as he sees his duty, to the honor and glory of his country. Meanness and greed get no encouragement in the record he has made. Indecency gets no strength in his example. Class hatred has no impulse in his insistence upon the equality of all men before the law. The fire of partisan criticism has been centered upon him, from that black day in Buffalo when he took the oath of office over the dead body of his chief and prede- cessor to this moment. But it has not deflected him from his purpose to serve the people by giving his best and bravest in their interest, nor has it redyced the hopeful buoyancy of his spirits or put acerbity and re- venge into his conduct toward those who oppose him. i He has accepted it like a philosopher as the lot of those who serve the people, and thoughtful men have seen in it merely the involuntary admission of the value of his work to his country. ¥ This seems to us a fair traverse of the President’s re- cord and a just statement of the influence he has exerted upon the affairs of his country. It remains for the open or covert supporters of Mr. Hearst to Make the com- parison. Will they do it? The populace of /Sau Francisco and all the wiseacres of the weather are still speculating in wonderment at the windstorm that recently rattled our windows and blew down our fences. For us it was indeed a heavy blow, but let us reflect, estimate the damage and con- gratulate ourselves that what we considered a phenome- non would have been in many less favored places of the United States an ordin: wind hardly serious enough to give premonition of usual danger. ‘ CENTENNIAL OF THE CODE NAPOLEON. N March 21 France will celebrate the centennial of the institution of that famous codification of “ law known as the Code Napoleon. On that date | one hundred years ago the all-powerful First Consul, soon to assume the purple of empire, pressed the pa age of this work of his lawyers through the pliant Coun- il of State Mmmmu?'lwuu of the Legis- lature and promulgated it as the law for France and for all countries which should then be under the dominion of the French. Though the First Consul left the preparation of the code to Tronchet and the brilliant circle of legal lights associated with him, his tremendous power of dictator- ship was alone responsible for its final accomplishment and institution as the law of the land. For upon being made First Consul Napoleon immediately saw .that even with the centralization of the Government accomplished by the inauguration of the departmental and prefecture system of administration, the utterly chaotic condition of the judiciary resulting from the revolution and the swift changes of government following threatened to make his favorite centralized system merely a hollow shell. Perchance he builded better than he knew. With only-a few alterations demanded by the exigencies of the changes of government, the code remains to-day the law of France. Belgium, Holland, Italy, parts of | Switzerfand and most of the South and Central Ameri- can republics have used it for the foundation of their judicial system. Even our own State of Louisiana re- tains the vestiges of its former French government in the reflection of the code which is found in its laws. The Code Napoleon has indeed been a monument of the great conqueror more enduring than the Vendome coiumn. A signed by Lady.Dudley asks that the attention or | the Irish people in America be directed to a fund | which has been established for the maintenance of dis- trict nurses in the poorest parts of Ireland, to the end that they may give such assistance as their charity may prompt. ¢ The appeal says: “In many parts of Ireland, especially those known as the ‘congested districts,’ no provision | is made for nursing the sick poor in their own homes. The population is purely agricultural and acutely pover- ty stricken and the boards of guardians in these dis- tricts cannot supply even the ordinary maternity nurses. The people assist one another, the poor supporting the | destitute; but a rate in aid of the nursing fund cannot be levied in this district, for that would merely be tax- ing the already overburdened population in one dircv:-i tion to benefit them in another. Moreover, as there are | seldom any resident gentry or well-to-do inhabitants of the middle classes, it is equally impossible to obtain | voluntary contributions from local sources. During the past year sufficient money has been collected to estab- lish and endow eight ‘jubilee nurses. Four of these have been at work some little time; four more will be so shortly. But applications from districts equally poor | and necessitous are coming in constantly, and unless the | fund receives further assistance the answer sent to such applications must be unfavorable.” { Ireland is far away and we have many in our own land who need assistance, so that this appeal may seem to be shifting a British burden upon us; but still it comes in | the name of charity and compels attention even from the indifferent. American liberality has given freely to suf- fering humanity in all lands, and Ireland has special‘ claims upon us by reason of work done for the ad- vancement of America by her children. We therefore | give the appeal the publicity desired. that donations may be sent either to Lady Dudley or to the Bank of Ireland, marked “Lady Dudley Fund for | District Nurses.” IRELAND'S NEED. . i N appeal issued from the castle in Dublin and It is announced | | Justice one rainy day recently as to , torney, T. C. Van Ness. | Day after day, week in and week out, | —"something to keep out the flies.” Oc- | greatly and is always received with a ichuckle and a muttered ! a wife and five children. We had a nice | and Tacoma, the rivalry in other re- | thing else than ‘‘Mount Tacoma,” while -—_— -p e —— TOWN F AHE TALK OF AND, THE Another Diogenes. A discussicn started in the Hall of whether it was a crime to steal an umbrella, and Sergeant McDonald told a good story about the well lnown at- “Attorney Van Ness,” he said, “was interested in a case in Judge Rix's court and When he reacned the table in front of the bench he placed his umbrella on {t. He left the courtroom without the umbrella, but returned lat- er and, addressing the Judge, said: ‘I left my umbrella on this table, but it is not there now. I shall be here to- morrow merning and I shall expect the ! umbrella to be just where I left it, or | somebody will have to suffer the con- | sequences. i “Next morning when he entered the | courtroom and walked up to the table | the umbrella was there just where he had left it. Addressing the Judge so that those in the courtroom cculd hear him, he said: ‘This little _isode proves that it is not impossible to find honest men in this world. Just look, your Honor; there is my umbrella in the exact spot where I left it yesterday.'" “Keep Out the Flies.” out the flies, “Somethin’ to ‘gp mum; somethin’ to keep out the flies. sunshine or rain, the housewives in the Mission hear this cry from a little old man who owns a little carpenter shop on Castro street, near where the cars turn. He has been there for years, and during all that time he has done noth- ing but make screen-covered cupboards casionally he will take an order for a screen door. An order for a cupboard pleases him something about flies, “‘the pesky critters.” Recently a woman who ordered a cupboard from him sought to find out why he had such a hatred for files. For a time all she got from the old man was a mumbled “Keep ‘em out, the pesky critters—keep ‘em out.” She persisted in the inquiry, and after a minute or two the old man, with a savage look in his eyes, snapped out: ‘“Twenty years ago in Missouri I had In a town five miles from us there was a plague. The flies car- ried it to my little farm. Within a week wife and little ones died. Keep 'em ou4, | the pesky critters; keep 'em out.” little farm. Tacoma or Rainier. The Youth's Companion prints a story to the effect that notwithstanding the disparity jn size between Seattle spects between the two cities is as keen as_in their earlier days, when they were young “boom"” towns. \ A curious instance of this is seen in the names by which the towering mountain that lifts its tall peak to the southeast is known in the two places. In Tacoma it is treason to call It any- in Seattle it is “Mount Ranfer.” A traveler when about half way be- tween the two cities saw two boys fighting by the roadside. Before he could separate them one of the boys A Chinese reformer informed President Roosevelt | the other day that already there are enrolled in the | Chinese reform party 25,000,000 people. Even if we accept these figures without the grain of salt necessary | in connection with everything Chinese we must insist that no showing of measurable value has been made. | Even though every one of the 400,000,000 of the Celestial Empire were enrolled in the reform party they would have to give something more substantial than their words to prove that their intentions are honorable. T gold, and though mighty interests have taken the place formerly held by the hunt for gold there is hardly a Californian to-day that will not drop pruning hook and plow, hammer and plane, and go to mining on | the slightest provocation. There is a lure and fascina- | tion in taking primitive value, the standard of all values, | right out of the soil and sand and stones that is not the attribute of any other business or occupation of man. In the production of metals and minerals the State is doing quite well. Mr. Aubury, State Mineralogist, has just issued the weport of the State Mining Bureau on California mines and minerals. It gives the production | for the calendar year 1oz, as the statistics for 1903 are | not completed. The total value of metals and minerals produced that year was $35.060,105; of* which gold was $16,010,320. The next highest value was petroleum, $4,602,18. For the first time hydraulic cement figured with some importance, its value being $423,600. In all we produce 42 metals and minerals. The semi-precious stones appear in the list, for we marketed $11,600 worth of turquoise, the quantity being 510 pounds. The pro- duction of slates for architectural purposes has reached important proportions, and the chemical minerals, as | borax, soda, manganese and salt, add very considerably to the State’s wealth. CAL‘IFORNIA ‘MINERALS. HIS State had its first impulse in the discovery of It must not be understood that the low product of gold ' means that our mines are exhausted. The policy of the Federal Government which prevents the use of elec- tricity in #mining over a considerable part of the mother lode has reduced the gold output by many millions. If the people had‘"afcess to the hydraulic power that is so abundant inside the forest and park reserves the gold output would soon be doubled: The most profitable of our mines .are the great ledges of low-grade ores. When electric power is accessible these become profitable, but they cannot be worked by steam power on account of its excessive cost. : In mineral products Shasta County led with the lar- gest output. In gold Nevada led, with Calaveras a close second, and Mariposa, for the lack of electric power, is eleventh on the list, with only $631,478 product. She might easily approximate the head of the column if per- mitted to use power. % : The report gives the output by counties of each of the ‘minerals and metals, and contains a great deal of inter- esting and valuable information, showing that the days of gold have not disappeared, and that Californians do not abate their interest in the wealth that may be dug from the ground. : i e o5 ; that the example of Lodz should be got the other down, and after banging the victim’s face into the soft ground, sat panting but victorious astride of him. “What's the name o’ that mountain now?” the victor demanded, In exultant tones. “It's—-,” humbly replied the van- quished lad. The effort to free his mouth from the mud and grass which his opponent had rubbed into it made the answer unintelligible to the trav- eler; but the victor was satisfied and let him up. Significant Provision. According to the Jewish World, a very touching editorial appeared in a recent issue of the Hebrew Daily Haze- firah of Warsaw, Poland, where the editor, Mr. Sorolow, calls attention to the Talmudic law which requires every married man before going on the bat- tlefield to grant a conditional divorce to his wife, that she may remarry if he does not return within a reasonable time after the end of the war. The rabbis of Lodz have ®aused all ti.c Jewish soldiers that left that city for the seat of war to grant such di- vorces, and Editor |Sorolow suggests copied all over RusSia. Every married soldier, volunteer or reserve, registers with a rabbi his name, address, age, height, birthmarks, name of company and regiment he joins, and the rabbi keeps a record of same until the soldier returns from the ‘war. If & reasonable time after the close of the war elapses and the soldier does not return, he is counted among the lost and unidentified dead, and his wife +* lain, is sufficlent to prevent the produc- tlon of any play or the rendering of any song from the stage of the theaters and music halls of the United Kingdom. Good Manners. My ma, she says it ain’t po-lite To speak to people you ain't met— But _teacher scolds, an’ ain’t rightt When I can't speak th' alphuml The teacher say ‘at it's a shame At any little boy like me Can't call th’ letters all by name From A clear down to "at old Z Nen teacher sniff an’ say I'm slow, An’ nod her head an’' shake her frizs; Nen I get mad. an’ say I know, 1 guess, what perfeck manners is! Nen she make me get up again An’ start th’ alphumbet at A— An’ I go right along, an’ nen I can't uhmember after J. “Go on,” says teacher, “I de-clarel You ara th' worst this school's pro= uced ! Nen I say ‘at I know ‘em—there!l But 'at [ ain’t been interduced! An’ "at it ain’t po-lite to Or reco-nize them you ain’t met. Nen teacher laugh until she l?flfi. Out funny-like: “You'll kill me yet!™ —Chicago Tribune. Fair Warning. At one time Horace Greeley lived In a pleasant estate on the Hudson River. It was approached by a narrow lane from the street, says a writer in the Springtield Republican, and was four miles out from the City Hall on the Harlem road. * The ground from the house on one side sloped down to the river; on the other was a garden which bore fruit, accessible to boys. On Sunday, their day of freedom as well as Mr. Gree- ley’s, the boys sought the orchard. Mr. Greeley never saw or heard them. But Mrs. Greeley always saw them, and from her place on the piazza she would call to Mr. Greeley to put on his hat and “deal with them.” Mr. Greeley would never have dis- turbed them, but he always complied with his wife’s wish—in his own time and way. As he slowly reached for his hat, he shouted: “I'm coming after vou, boys!" Of course not many captures were made. Answers to Queries. DYING WORDS—A. O. S, City. “Throw up the window that I may once more see the magnificent scene of na- ture,” were the dving words of Ros- seau. SWIMMING RECORD—S.,, City. The best swimming record for one mile was made by R. Cavill, 21:11 2-5. Time and place not given in the published rec- ords. TO REVIVE FLOWERS—Esther, City. It is said that flowers that have drooped after being cut may be revived by cutting off one inch of the stems and placing the fresh cut stems in a cup of water heated to about 120 degrees. ROSE DIAMOND—D. C, City. Rose” diamond does not apply to the color of the gem, but to the manner of cutting the same. A rose diamond is faceted in the surface and flat in the back. It is nearly hemispherical and cut into twemy-ft\ura triangular planes or fa- cets. Rose diamonds are made of those stones too broad in proportion to their depth to be cut as brilliants. Stones that are thinner than rose diamonds are called table diamonds. COMET—A. 8., City. The great comet of 1861 was discovered by Teebutt at Sydney, Australia, May 13 of that year. On June 29 and 30 it was discovered in France and in England. It was Donati’'s comet, so named from the fact that it was discovered by Dr. Donati at Flor- ence, in June, 1838, that was credited with ‘having great influence in France on the vintage. It Is a fact that that year was a favorable season, and the products were advertised as “les vins de la comet.” This, like many other speculations on comets, has no scien- tific basis. ° BOTTLE IMP HOAX—Subscriber, Caliente, Cal. What is known as the obtains the divorce from that rabbi granting her the right to remarry. Nbo Offense Allotved. Kirg Edward, through his Lord Chamberlain in England, has availed himself of the sovereign prerogative to put a stop to the public singing of ali topical songs bearing upon the war and which tend to ridicule or to cast ob- loquy upon one or the other of the bei- ligerents. Of course the songs can be sung in private, but thanks to the Lord Chamberlain’s peremptory commands, they cannot be given on the stage of any theater or music hall, under the penalty of the forfeiture of the license of the place, and of all sorts of penal- ties in the way of fine and imprison- ment for. the singer, the composer and the management of the house. In most other European countries the censorship of the drama and of every- thing connected with the stage is ex- ercised by the Government. But in ‘England it has, at any rate for the last two hundred years, been the legal pre- rogative of the sovereign, who has In- variably exercised it through his Lord Chamberlain, the. latter in turn relying upon the judgment of an official of his department, who is known as the “reader of plays,” and whose verdict, unless set aside by the Lord Chamber- bottle imp hoax was one of the most brazen impositions ever practiced on the credulous English public. It was the result of a wager between the Duke of Montague and a friend. In discussing the amazing gullibility of the English he declared that if an im- postor were to advertise that he would jump into a quart bottle all London would go to see him do it. The wager was taken up and an advertisement ingerted in all the papers that the event would take place in the Hay- market Theater, January 18, 1479. The theater on that night was packed, and many thousands were turned from the door. The conjurer ap- peared on the stage and told the peo- ple that if they would pay double price he would jump into a pint instead of a quart bottle. He then made his exit through a rear door and carried oft the box receipts with him. The af- fair ended in a riot and the theater was almost wrecked. The Duke of Montague and his betting friend had to leave the city and remain‘away un- til it was forgotten. —_——— Townsend's California Glace fruits and choice candies, in artistic fire-etched ‘boxes. A nice present for Eastern friends. 715 Market street. above Call building. * e — business houses and . Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’: