The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 25, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN Fi{ANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1904 - a decrease of 00 compared with cent in comparison In the United e average strength of the e corps was 31,240 for . and the dai = only 1025 rt of the above by Deputy Inspectos D. Preston, R. N., contain- te from naval medical ‘offi- from 1793 to 1856, In ophthalmia was “cured” dical officer ordering the pa- » be flogged. Another superin- nt formed among the prifoners “society for the suppres- and nominated with only a saint ore that all convict ships should be fitted with “a trademill to work paddles sim- | flar to those of steam vessels and =o| to pr the ship in calms.” This “trader was to be worked by the phisoners . One of the most notable references is the following brief account of Admiral Neifon’s loss of an arm off Santa Cruz, his tr ment and his remarkably rapid recovery “Theseus, 1797, July 24 and Admiral Nelson—Compound fract- of the right arm by a musket ball sing through a little above the el- artery divided, the arm w tely amputated and medicin: ed. Rested pretty well and quite easy. Tea, soup, sago. Lemonade and tamarind drink. July 31—One the ligatures came away; looks well August 1—Continued getting well very fast; stump looked well; no bad symp- tom; sore reduced to size of a shilling. * inimed s Two British torpedo-boat destroyers, the Express and Arab, have been the cause of much trouble to their builders | an@ the Admiralty. built under contract of March 11, 1887, to be delivered by October 4, 18 Its contract speed was to be 33 knots, sub- The Express was ject to a penalty of $2500 for every one- quarter or fraction of one-quarter knot betwee; and 32 knots, and $5000 for every one-quarter knot bet 31 knots. veen 32 and The first trial took place in October, 1898, and between that time and June, 1901, the vessel was/funsuc- cessfylly tried thirty-seven times. It was Ahen decided to accept her at 31 knots and the final trial took place No- vember 14, 1901, the realized speed b2 ing 31.021 knots. The penalties for late | surgeon proposed in 1825 | EESEE Pl S ! Manligheter was launched last month at Malmoe. It is a sister ship to the Aeran, completed in 1802, and is of 3650 | | to 282 feet in length, 49.2 feet beam | and 16.4 feet draught. The armor belt is of Krupp steel, seven inches maxi- | mum thickness, tapering to 4.9 inches at | the ends, and the armament is com- posed of two 8:2-inch guns mounted in | ! ts of seven-inch thickness, six 5.9- ch turrets, one on eac! two firing abeam and for-| two abeam and aft. The sec- | battery consists of ten six-| , two one-pounders and two machine guns. The engines are calcu- | ted to develop 5900 horsepower, gi a speed of 165 knots, which, how- | ever, is likely to be exceeded, as the Aeran, intended to give 6000 horsepower | and sixteen knots, developed 6500 horse- | power and 17.3 knots speed on her trial. The cost of the Manligheten, exclusive | of armament; is $2,800,000. e R ward and ondar pound The personnel act of Congress in 1899 excluded all officers retired before that time from the benefits extended to fu- ture retiring officers. The law as passed provided that such officers as had served during the war of the rebellion | were, upon retirement, to be advanced one grade and receive the advanced pav. It was an unjust discrimination | against those retired before March, 1899, many of whom had been constant- | ly employed on dangerous service dur-| ing the four years of the war, while a large number of those retired since March, 1899, had seen but little active war service. At the time this law was passed $100,000 would have covered the | increase of pay to previously retired! 1 war veterans, and the casualties among ' this number has decreased the sum to | $70,000 at the present time. An effort is; being made to have this wrong righted, | the chief beneficiaries of which will be the widows, whose pensions, except in| special cases, are inadequate toward a | decent support. Troubles between the line and staff| corps in the United States navy have | broken out again, and the line is the| aggressor this time. During the early | part of the present session of Congress | a bill recommended for passage by the | Secretary of the Navy was introduced | which eliminated the 15 per cent less; pay for shore service than at sea. It had a very good chance of passing until | | a staff officer discovered- that a para graph in the bill, inserted by Captain | Lemly, the judge advocate general of the navy, applied the benefit sought for | to line officers alone. This discovery has naturally worked up the staff corps, and the bill will be killed unless modi- | fied so as to include all officers in the | navy. Trans-Siberian Travel. | The passenger over the trans-Sibe- \rian route may travel either by the Russian Government express or by the train of the International Sleep- ing Car Company. The latter is a pri- |vate corporation maintaining a ser- e on the Continent and across Si- beria and Manchuria, with terminals at Dalny, Vladivostok and even Pe- king, which, in its general excellence, | can be compared only with the best! American trains. The traveler in Eu- | rope finds that the first-class service on most trains means a small car on four or six wheels, with compartments resembling very closely the stage coach of our grandfathers. To be onfined in such close quarters for a long distance would be almost unbear- | @elivery footed up to $111,995 and $30,000 | 2ble. The ordinary type of the Amer- fine for reduced speed, both of which |ican Pullman would likewise become were reduced to $10,000 and have been | Wearisome after some days. paid by the contractor. In the opinion ©f continued packing and unpacking, | of naval experts at the Admiralty the |Of undressing in a sitting posture on vessel's machinery must have deterio- | 9R€'8 bed, or standing in the aisle One tires | rated considerable through the thirty- seven trials to obtain the required speed and the vessel was practically old when finally delivered. The Arab, which also failed to come up to the guaranteed speed, cost the contractors $15,000 in penalties. The premium system has just been introduced in the British Admiralty. It was started about two years ago at Carlisle under an agreement between the Federated Engineering Employers and the Amalgamated Society of En- gineers, and the system has been found ‘Wrapped about with the curtain, in a |space not much more commodious | than that afforded by a straitjacket. | The service at present consists of | #ix classes of trains. We may men- | tion first the “train de luxe Siberien,” | which will run once a week between | Warsaw and Dalny, via Moscow, and | will connect with the northern ex- press now running between London, Paris. Berlinland Warsaw. This train will offer the quickest service between all European points and the Far East. Passengers from London will be met at Ostend, on the Belgium side of the mutually satisfactory. Generally speak- ! ing it is a method by means of which | Bojlion hasnal B A repeetiniive |of the International Sleeping Car the workman receives pay for any time | Company familiar with all the prin- he may save on a job. A time rate is| i a) Janguages, who will escort them fixed for all work. such as punching,| upoard a special car of the train de riveting and calking. The new &ystem | j,ve service, which will convey them went into effect in the dockyards on ¢, warsaw, where change to the March 14 last. through train will be made without Since William IT became Emperor of | 1ogg of time. Passengers from Paris Germany in 1888 the navy has been in- )] pe likewise cared for by a through creased by seventy ships, of 384,538 tons | car to Warsaw. No change of cars displacement. Last year three battle- . wil] be necessary until Lake Baikal is =hips, one armored cruiser, three cruis- | reached. At this point passengers will ers and one gunboat of a collective | change to a train the exact counter- tonnage of 58477 were launched. part of the one they have just vacat- In 1902 five ships of 30,395 tons were ed and will occupy the same coupes launched, and during 1901 the Blltput}ln the new train. Porters supplied ! was six ships of 57,150 tons. by the company will make the change AN of baggage, including hand baggage, The Russian naval estimates for the | at no inconvenience, as it will necessi- JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Froprietor . THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL e e s oo +’e . Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manage: TR T S GRS S A e @ eeeeeseesssees...Third and Market Streets, & F. «eees....MARCH 25, 1904 e i POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY. FRIDAY. ANDIDATES for the Presidency usually defer the ‘ cxpense of publishing a biography until after they are nominated. We say “usually,” from motives of caution. Perhaps the statement could be mage posi- tively that they have always waited until after nomina- tion. But there are candidates and candidates, and never before has there been just such a candidate as Mr. Wil- liam Randolph Hearst, nor just such peculiar features as make up his can}paign for the nomination. Therefore, let us marvel not'that his candidacy has reached the‘bio- graphical stage nearly four months before the nominat- ing convention meets. We have been favored with a copy of his biography, perhaps autobiography is the more exact term, since the work contains those intimate and personal revelations which can only originate with himself. The title page is ornamented with a picture of the American eagle, who | seems to be making a desperate effort to sit up and look pleasant. Under the bird is a picture of Mr. Hearst, with a turn-down collar, necktie and air of inscrutability, and the titl( guarantees that the pamphlet contains S sketch of his life, describing his personality, his busi- ness capacity and his Democracy.” A perusal of the ensuing pages convinces us that the gentlemen who declaimed against him, at the recent meeting of the Democratic State Committee, had not read the little book, inasmuch as their descriptions dif- fered so radically from the disclosures it makes. He is described as in his fortieth .year, tall of stature, broad of shoulder and deep of chest. How can one overlook these qualifications for the Presidency! In descent he comes on the paternal side from South Carolina, and on the maternal from the Randolphs of Virginia. This car- ries him back to Pocahontas and makes him of royal blood, for his remote ancestor was King Powhattan, and raises the old feud between that royal person and the Smith family. Then occurs a gap between Powhattan and a pilgrimage to Harvard College, for the biography states that “he went to Harvard College.” There occurs a structural defect, for nothing is said about what he did when he “went” or that he ever came back. The imagination is left to leap and play in this break, and the tale jumps to a religious statement to the effect that he follows the faith of his fathers and was baptized in the Episcopal church. The writer seelms to have regarded this as needful of further evidence, and another leap is taken | from baptism to matrimony, and it is boldly proclaimed that he was married at Grace Church, New York, by Bishop Potter. It seems, then, to have occurred to the writer that there must be logically some reason’ given either for hav- ing the ceremony in such aristocratic surroundings, or for its performance by the Bishop, and an explanatory clause is interpolated to the effect that the Bishop “has been his friend from boyhood.” All that being happily disposed of, his career as the publisher of aggressive newspapers is pleaded and his “unflinching perve force” is weighed and measured. His virtues are circumnavi- gated and it is not forgotten to magnify them by the statement that they have been subjected to sore and fre- quent temptation. That they resisted is made plain, for “powerful influ- ences failed to move him.” The reader is then led by uneasy stages to the information that he risked his yacht and his life on the firing line at Santiago and was “in the thick of battle,” with his own hands captured a dozen prisoners, and magnanimously turned them over to the United States, instead of keeping them for his own use. Then the story declines to a more placid level, and de- clares that since his career of battle and of blood he has “never owned a yacht,” nor a stable, and “has never owned a horse since those his father gave him soon after he left college was sold.” This is excessively ambigu- ous. If we trust the pronominal adjective he was the donee of several horses. If on the other hand we rely on the verb he received only one horse. We regret this uncertainty. The main thing the people want to know about a Presidential candidate is, npt merely whether he is now indulging in the immorality of owning a horse, but whether he refused to be corrupted by several horses or resisted the blandishments of only one horse. It must be remembered that all these things have to be thrashed out in the campaign. Mr. Hearst puts his virtue on trial by horse-power, and the people will want to know whether it refused to budge when pulled by a team or a single horse. ‘While on the subject of yachts, horses and means of getting over the land and water, the biography partially exhausts it by lauding the skill of the candidate as a chauffeur. He enjoys automobiling “as a diversion, but has never taken part in a speed contest, as he considers it dangerous and foolish.” Here appears another of those annoying vacancies. It is necessary that a candidate de- clare himself on the bicycle as well as the automobile. He cannot expect to get through the canvass without disclosing his views on the bicycle. No friend of the plain people can sit inside of himself on that issue. After declaring with commendable positiveness that he demands that automobiles shall be sold cheap, so that they can be enjoyed by the poor, the narrative proceeds to an ineffectual attempt to describe his charms of man- ner. In speech he is quiet and convincing and avoids a waste of words. ' His concentration is affirmed to be | year beginning April 1 are considerably | tate merely the crossing of a platform. Jess than for 19¢3-4, being 113,622,426 Until the completion of the railway rubles, against 116,321,241 rubles. | around Lake Baikal, p:cssengers will ¥or shipbullding and repairs 42,- cross this very picturesque body of 435810 rubles were allowed a year water by steamer. Dalny, the South 2o, but for the present year the esti- - Manchurian terminal, will be reached mates were cut down to 38,743,446 ru.] without further change of cars, and bles. Recent disasters %0 a number of | the entire journey from London or costiy ships will materially increase the | Paris will require about fourteen and low estimates. a half days, and to Peking only a few The Russian cruiser Jembchug while | bours more. H completing at the Newski wharf broke| The train de luxe will consist of loose from her moorings and was car- | first-class cars only, and will be made ried nearly half a mile up the river by | UP of a baggage car, two sleeping the fce. It took & month's work of 569 CA'S @ dining car and a drawing room mwen to cut 2 canal through the jce and ¢47- The latter will contain two or bring the vessel back to its proper place. The Russian navy personnel was fixed two months ago at 22 vice ad- mirals, 35 rear admirals, 102 captains, 249 commanders, 900 leutenants, 777 sca cadets, 11 flag engineers, 140 senior engineers, 202 engineers and 175 assist- aut engineers. There are no regularly appointed paymasters in the Russian navy. three large ‘“‘cabins de luxe,” contain- | ing each a brass bedstead and a toilet !room, and will have in addition a . large general drawing-room, contain- | ing piano, library, writing desk, with, ' at the rear, an open end for observa- | tion purposes. There will also be in ! the train a bathroom, which will con- tain gymnasium paraphernalia. summer the cars will be cooled by | electric fans and in winter heated by steam, and the lighting will be by fashion by the second officer in com-| eloctricity. An extra charge is made wand, which may sccount to a large for this train, but it is calculated that degree for the frequent scandals, which, the fare from Paris to Dalny or Pe- however, are not always from corrupt| king will not exceed $280, including practices, but due to the unfamiliarity | the cost of sleeper, food and incidental of the average line officer in any navy | expenses. 1t was the intention to put with business methods. | A Swedish coast defense ship named' this train in service during the com- ing summer.—The Century for April. marvelous. He considers only one thing at a time and shoves out of his mind all things else and padlocks the gate of thought until he has digested that one subject. It is then released and the gates close ‘on another. From his intellectual Bastile nothing escapes until its bones are picked. In his public speeches he is not a dealer “in the flowers of poesy,” and refrains from appealing to prejudice and passion, It is intimated, however, that if he chose he could move the very stones to mutiny and rage. He admits that “his energy is stupendous” and takes the risk of informing his left hand of the conduct of the right by admitting that he is the most charitable person he ever met. The work closes with a quotation from ex-Vice President Stevenson that “Hearst is a name to conjure with wherever Democrats are gathered.” Yes indeedy! A RECIDIVIST. CONVICT at Folsom aided the prison authori- A ties during the prison break of last summer, at the risk of his life, and was properly pardoned by the Governor. Major Weinstock of Sacramento showed his consistency and the sincerity of his humane principles by giving the man employment in his business, where his surroundings were moral and he was treated with confidence. This was a commendable act on the i e T R AR SO SR S S AR S e part of the employer, and offered every opportunity to lead a right life to the man. But it was vain, for.he proves to be a recidivist, and has robbed the man who gave him the opportunity to live honestly. Such cases are sad, for they prove that there exists in some men a criminal instinct that is like an incurable disease. Its presence can only be known by experiment, and no one should be deterred from helping the next ex- convict to live honestly because the last one failed. We are sure that the philanthropic gentleman whose confi- dence has been betrayed will not refuse to help another on that account. As experiment only can detect the recidivist, the indeterminate sentence, especially for crimes against property, is a proper policy. Such sen- tence with the parole system protects the man who has yielded to temptation and has not in him the germ of chronic criminality, and it affords the means of sifting out the recidivists from those who will live honestly if granted the chance. o Penology is beginning to grow weaker on the subject of the use of prisons as reformatories. By law most of the State penitentiaries are forbidden to have industrigs in which convicts may learn a trade, and get the reform- atqry effects of occupation. Idleness is evil, in prison and out; and is the most_effectual bar to reform. Our prison population increases every year, and every year our prisons discharge upon the community thousands ot unreformed men. Each of these becomes a center of corruption of others, a missionary of crime, unless the community take charge of him and leave him no excuse for living by offenses’ against others. It is a serious question, with many appalling features, but few men think seriously of it, and” most of the efforts to meet it are merely theoretical, when some practical plan is needed. ( It is gratifying to note that plans, if not specifications, have been made for the beautification of San Francisco as a municipality. It is extremely difficult to suggest. another place where opportunity for such a campaign is richer or where the field is more desirable. We have the topography for one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Let us make it what it should be. R of the executive committee of the Carnegie trust for the universities of.Scotland show that the ef- fect of the practical operation of the policy inaugurated by the founder of the trust has been even more widely beneficial than was expected. It has led by a natural se- quence of events to an improvement of the whole sys- tem of Scottish education, and it is not unlikely the in- fluence will be felt even in England itself. The direct and immediate result of the grant of aid to university students was a large increase in the number of applicants. To guard against the possibility of an ex- cessive number the standard of qualification for admis- sion to the universities was raised. . That in turn has led to an advancement of the standards of instruction given in the high schools. Thus from one department of the system of public education to another the influences of the gift have been diffused until now almost every section of Scotland enjoys some benefit from them. The total income derived from the trust amounts in round numbers to $500,000, and of that amount upward of $250,000 is allotted for payment of university fees for de- serving students. Last year something like $220,000 of that sum was claimed and paid out, so that it is clear something must be done to check the demand. The trustees have decided to raise the standard of admission, especially in the medical schools, and it is expected a fur- ther elevation of the standard will be made in the near future, so that Scottish universities will ere long hold 1 very high rank so far as the standards of matriculation are concerned. Of the students directly benefited by the fund the re- port of the executive committee says: “The number of beneficiaries for the winter session 1903-04, under the system of paying students’ fees, is 3027, an increase of 160 over the number for the previous winter session. The cost was £30,510 15s, and as during the summer session of 1903 the payments for 1755 students had amounted to £13,569 12s 1d, the total for the two sgssions under this head has been £44,080 7s. The comnWtee record with pleasure that six students have during the year volun- tarily refunded the fees paid for them by the trust to the amount of £72 2s.” In addition to the aid given to students the universi- ties derive of course other benefits from the sums granted annually toward the maintenance of libraries, the construction of new buildings, the equipment of laboratories, the granting of scholarships and funds for original research. Of such grants during the past year it is said: “For library purposes each university has re- ceived £1000, and £2400 has been allowed for provisional assistance; but a large part of the grants offered for buildings and permanent equipment and for teaching endowments remains unclaimed. The committee, how- ever, expect that during the current year expenditure under these heads will be considerably increased. The grants already claimed for building and equipment amount to £7725. Among other sums paid ore £6200 toward teaching endowments and £1828 for five fel- lowships and fifteen scholarships, with grants of varying amount to fifty applicants. The outlay under this latter head for the academic year 1003-04 is estimated at £33524, of which the remainder will be paid this year. The trust has purchased for £10,00p the laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, on the understand- ing that the College of Physicians and the College of Surgeons continue their present respective annual con- tributions; two representatives of the trust are added to the laboratory committee. This is in connection with the trustees’ scheme for the endowmert of post-graduate study and research.” CARNEGIE’S SCOTTISH FUND. EPORTS submitted at the third annual meeting - Baron Hayashi, Embassador of Japan to England, onée saved his life by his ability to speak English. What an awful chance some of his countrymen in the United States would have in the same predicament. If the little brown men succeed in inflicting as much damage upon the Russians as they do upon our beloved mother tongue victory will perch on every banner in Nippon. : Since The Hague tribunal can do nothing to keep the peace among nations, it might as well set up as referee between Russia and Japan and order them to get in and fight or leave the ring. Dry dnys are scarce just now, but not half so scarce as weather prophets who will admit they predicted a dry season 5 | mention the wagon | have nothing His Wit. A capture of $3000 worth of smuggled opium in Chinatown at 4 o'clock one cdid, wet morning was considered at the time of its occur- rence to be one of the neatest jobs accomplished by a single police officer in the history of the department. This capture was made by Officer Michael Joseph Conboy, now a lieutenant in the police force. Conboy received a handsome reward from the Federal Government for the capture and the thanks of the Treasury Department in ‘Washington. At zlr‘:? time of the incident Conboy was doing patrol duty in Chinatown. One old, dried-up Morigolian on Com- mercial street was profuse in his praise of the gentle manner in which the officer performed his duty. Time and again he would invite the patrol- man into his store and treat him to a choice brand of cigars. On one oc- casion he offered him a present in money, which ‘was declined with thanks. The witty officer came to the con- clusion that the Chinaman’s gener- osity had a motive behind it and to arrive at this he decided to keep a sharp lookout on the store. The in- coming of a tramp Chinese steamer gave Conboy the tip to keep his eves open. He therefore hid himself on the veranda of a store opposite the Chinaman’'s place’ on the night in question. About 3:30 a. m., when the wind was howling at the rate of 10}'(! miles an hour and the rain coming down in torrents, an express wagon turned the corner of Kearny street and drove up Commercial, where it stopped in front of the Chinaman's store. The cunning Mongolian was up waiting the arrival and as soon as the wagon stopped the iron doors were thrown open and six boxes were has- tily carried from the wagon and de- posited behind a tier of tea chests. Just then Conboy stepped into the surprised circle, seized the contraband opium and arrested the driver and the cunning Chinaman. Chief Crowley was so delighted that he granted Conboy a month's leave of absence and on his return made him a sergeant of police. The Horse Laugh. “Last season,” said Leon Reynolds, leader of an Oakland theater orches- tra, “I went with the boys of the or- chestra camping through Mendocino County. We hired a wagon and two pocket editions of the mule tribe. I first because I against it. It almost seemed to be first in the going, any- way. The mule is nat well known to the general public. He doesn’t care a snap of his foot for that, however— neither does the public. When hungry the animal has a funny call; not the awful sound like tearing a rag, but one identically like a low, human laugh. One hot, dusty day, I was driving. The team was slower, if possible, than usual. I had exhausted all my per- suasive powers to encourage it to nobler efforts, but without success. Finally, in desperation, I offered up a blessing upon the heads of those two mules and in disgust shouted that I | could buy them both for fifteen cents. Well sir, as I am alive, one of those brutes actually turned his head, and looking me straight in the eye, said: ‘‘Haw-he-e-e-haw-haw!’ “I maintain that it was a pure coin- | cidence and that he was hungry, but the boys won't have it, and say he un- derstood me perfectly, and gave me the horse laugh. Believing they in- tend to tell the story on me, I have de- cided to beat them to it.” Carnival of Homicides. REDDING, Cal., March 23, 1904. Editor of The Call—Dear Sir: In your article against lynch law, evi- ! dently written with humane intent, in the issue of the 22d inst. you make statements and reach conclusions wholly unjustified by facts stubborn as they are regrettable. You say that “in every case of lynch- ing the law would have dealt adequate punishment.” In the matter of homi- cides it has scarcely done it in one case out of a hundred. Again you say that “Iynching proves to be no restraint upon criminals.” The contrary is strict- 1y true; it is almost the only restraint. The homicide does not fear the law. He wants to get to jail for protection at the earliest possible moment. We have had about thirty murders in Shasta County since a man was hanged by law for.a crime. Some go free and others go to an excellent home with good board, in a healthy climate for a vacation of about five years—a rather pleasant change. In a recent year the Youth's Com- panion of Boston Kkept statistics of the ghastly homicides done in the United States and the “adequate” (?) punish- ments for the same. These are the shameful figures—10,652 murders, 122 legal hangings and 190 lynchings. I hold that nothing justifies the taking | of human life but self-defense, and per- haps there were 652 cases of that out of the 10,652 murders. If the remaining 10,000 murderers had been hanged, either legally, or, if that were impossible, ille- gally, do you think that there would have been 10.000 more homicides in the following year, as there were, lacking a fraction? I do not advocate lynching, but ask you for some better way since cur laws are as utterly inefficient for the pun- ishment of the guilty as they have proved to be. Every one must admit that mob law is a terrible expedient, a dreadful alternative. If its only ob- Ject was to wreak vengeance on the guilty it could not be justified or ex- cused; but if it is to terrorize cther evil doers and deter them from similar crimes the case looks different. I feel sorry for the murderers who are lynched, sorrier for the innocent 10,000 who await death from the assassins yearly in the United States. If the career of the, notorious out- law Tracy had been cut short when first man £ more <+ -+ Who shall we pity—the guilty, or the innocent victims that are being dome to death in such enormous numbers every year? I took no part in the lynching of the Ruggles brothers, stage robbers, which took place in Redding some years ago, but I have never heard a good citizen say that he was sorry the deed had been dome. Its good effects were apparent. It is the onty thing crimi- nals fear. They have no dread of the “good boarding-house” in San Quentin or Folsom; it is as good a home as a lazy man wants. My soul is sick to the point of disgust when I see the apathy of the public to the carnival of crime in our midst. Evidently our jury system should be revised—nine men should give a verdiet in every case and no appeal should be allowed except for the admission of new evidence. Yours for the public welfare and safety. A M. GOODNOUGH. Birds. I claim I'm the first on the ground to propound That birds, whether singers or screech- ers, Are entitled to rank with the rest and the best Of our eloquent, ethical preachers; And 1 think that I should be allowed to proud— You surely don’t need to be told That, without any doubt, both my words and my birds Shut Audubon out in the cold! For instance, the Stork one ignores, or res The average woman or man: They think that the properest place for his grace Is'a Japanese teapot or fan. The infant-itesimal charge isn't large That he brings to his customers. Still Whatever its size, don't resent or repent What he neatly puts down in his bill! You may scorn her, but what is the use? The Goose Is a need in our lives. I aver That there isn't a creature on earth that is worth The respect we should proffer to her. Could we sleep without her at our ease, you please? Could we feast, without roasting her brown? No, no! Since by stufiing her up we sup, And slumber by stuffing her down! —Harper's Magazine. The RMOmdo. A company has been formed in South America to exploit the real El Dorado. This is a lake situated in the territory of Colombia, near Bogota, and the story is that the chief of the state in pre- European times used, twice a year, sol- emnly to empty a boatload of gold into the water in order to purchase the par- don of the gods for the sins of his people during the previous six months. This ceremony is said to have been reg- ularly carried out for several centuries, and it is therefore calculated that the value of the accumulated treasure must amount to many millions of pounds. Consequently if everything goes as the prospectus predicts the company should pay enormous dividends, and the United States of Colombia should be more than recompensed for the loss of the republic of Panama. \ HAmswers to Queries. HARD WOOD—Subseriber, Los Ba- nos, Cal. Whhe birch is classed among the hard woods of commerce. MANILA—R. O. T. C., Oakland, Cal. For such information as you desire rel- ative to the postmasters of Manila un- der American rule, address a communi- cation to the Postmaster General, ‘Washington, D. C. The RIO—H. 7. and B., City. It was Pilot Jordan who was saved while the steamer Rio de Janeiro foundered in the Golden Gate. Captain Ward, the master, was drowned. The pilot is still on the roll of pilots in active service. AN OPINION—Property Owner, Al- ameda, Cal. The question asked is purely one of legal opinion, which the department does not give. It answers questions as to what the law is. but does not undertake to give legal ad- vice. SCHOOL PUNISHMENT—A. §., City. The punishment of scholars in the pub- lic schools of San Francisco, such as re- quiring a delinquent to write a certain number of words for infraction of the rv'-- in the school vard during recess, is suggested. as a rule, by the teacher an@ approved by the principal. Any parent who disapproves of the mode of punishment has a right to make a com- plaint to the principal of the school or to the city Superintendent or the Board of Education. AN ANNOYER—A. S, City. Ir you have a person who calls at your house every day, and that person knows that there is no welcome there, and you wish to get rid of such without offering a direct insult, have a “peek-a-boo," such as.are in use to a great extent in Philadelphia. placed in position. This is a looking glass projecting from the house in such a manner that a person can, unobserved, look out and obtain a reflection of any one at the door. If the occupant of the house does not want to see the persom, there is no re- sponse. By the use of such a device you can ascertain if the objectionable person is at the door, and if so you can denyb.m caller admission. After a number of visits without e individual will tire of comim:r:o to the conclusion that it ot wr 18 a case of ———— This week good eyeglasses, specs, 25c- 50c. 79 4th (front Key's Cel. Oys. House.* e e e eb:u i N Tt fire-et. hed boxes. A nice for Eastern tri::d‘: 715 Market street. above bullding. *