The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 28, 1904, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO CAL — t 3 | ittt The Samurai of Japan. | It is now & mere commonplace, to | &well upon the wonderful rapidity with which, less than forty years ago, Jepan with one stride advanced from her medieval feudalism to the front rank of modern civilization. Not less | remarkable than the fact itself is the character of the revolution of 1868, and of the class from which was drawn the majority of the men to whom that| revolution was due. The Samural were the unique pro- duct of Japanese feudalism and in the spirit of the Samurai is to be found the most striking feature in the his- tory of the event, together with the best explanation of the sequel and of the enthusiasm, unerring rightness and lofty patriotism with which the nation is marching on its road of pro- gress to-day. A country which could produce such & class was capable of great things, Before the year 1868 Japan gwas dom- inated by militarism. Originally the Mikado had been the real as well as the nominal head of the empire, but in the Middie Ages the royal power of the Mikado waned, outshone by the military power of the Shogun, his commander in chief. Held at first by royal appointment in time of war, the Shogun's office gradually came to be permanent, restricted first to men of high birth and afterwards to represen- tatives of two particular clans; finally it became purely hereditary, the sov- ercign retaining merely the right of investiture. Henceforth, the royval power was a mere shadow, so attenu- - “aeed that when, shortly before the rev- olution, the powers Europe were negotiating treaties with Japan the negotiations were carried on by them of with the Shogun in the belief that he was the actual reigning monarch. While t Mikado retained in his court at Kioto the nobles of high birth ntellectual eminence, the Shogun hered round him at Yeddo the terri- al nobles, or daimio, men whose in- fluence lay in their landed possessions and their military skill. The daimio ruled their flefs according to their own wills, but owed the obedience of vassals to their feudal lord. And, as the Shogunate had become Rhereditar: £0 did the higher military sub-pos tions, held by the leading families, be- come hereditary also; as, too, the Sho- gun surrounded himself with the mil- itary nobles, so also did these, under the pecessities of their offices and cir- cumstances, gather about them their wmilitayy retainers, men who made war the profession of their lives. Finally these, in turn, hended down their of- fices and privileges from father to som, | until there came forth at last a dis- net and separate class, to whom ul- | timatély the bearing of arms was re- | stricted. The more troublous grew the times, the more important did the sol- dier become, the sharper the line di- viding him from the mere working member of the population and the greater his pride in himself and his contempt for the civillan. On the one gide was the warrior, the strong, the wielder of weapons, the honored—on the other the artisam, the weakly, the worker, the despised. Thus the Sa- murai stood out supreme, first (under the nobles) of the population, wear- | ing the two swords as sign of his| birth and proud position. | Though the bow was long the great | weapon of the Japanese, it was the eword, the katana, that was the glory | of the Samurai. Many vears, and the | best thought and work of many brains | snd hands, went to the perfection of its making. Men gave their lives to| the perfection of its use, till it became | infeed a marvelous and a terrible | thing in their hands. All systems of | ewordsmanehip were studied, each un- | der its best exponent, and the pupils | set themselves to improve on (helr} masters’ teaching and to add minutiae | of their own devising. Beautiful in its form, its temper, its power—sur- | rounded by superstition, honor and | worship—iae sword became a deity, | the Samurai its priesthood. Not only | by his devotion to the sword and its! exercise, but also wy physical training, | and by the practice of the delicate and | scientific art of “jujitsu,” did the sol- dier fit himself for his profession. could fight, and fight effectively, with any, even the rudest weapon, and at any disadvantage: on the field of bat- tle he engaged for choice in single combat. But he was not merely a redoubtable combatant; the conditions of his service raised him far above that. The wunique character of the| Sancurai, that which | marks him o from every other soldier the world has seen, and which bore such magnificent fruit in later times, was moral rather than military. The rules laid down for his guldance, binding the highest and the | the | simplest, the best living. A Samurai | Jowest, enjoined the strictest, must be active and zealous in all that appertains to his calling, its science as well as its practice; he must be stu- dious, but not in vain pursuits, must keep himself physically sound, must live and dress in the plainest fashion, abstain from dancing and from all enervating amusements; he must make and keep himself a man. Loy- alty, piety, simplicity, and courage— these were to be his watch-words; the utmost self-denial, the freest sacrifice of life, not in a trivial cause, but in the cause of honor, of morality or of He | !pamnfl-m—theoe the ideals of his ac- tion. And behind the code of service of the Samurai was Buddhism, long a living force, which taught him that serenity of soul was better than all the | joys of worldly life, that Nirvana, the death of dll passions and appetites, | was the gateway to the everlasting | peace; taught him to hold nothing so | dear but that he could give it up |Treely ana cheerfully if need might |be. The time came when the need |was, and the Samural to a man | obeyed the call—St. James Gazette. Napoleon’s Irish Fighters. There was a strange commixture of nationalities in the Peninsular War. There were Spaniards fighting on both sides. Thousands of them, who surren- dered wholesale at the battle of Es- pinosa, took part afterward in the ter- rible Moscow campaign. Four thou- sand ©of them were reconveyed to Spain from the Baltic by British naval officers in 1812 Portuguese troops were drafted into Napoleon’s forces and died like flles in that disastrous business. It need not be stated what gallant allies they proved to us when drilled and organized by that grand Irishman, afterward Field Marshal Lord Beresford, to whom the church of Ireland owes its useful *“Marshal Beresford’s fund.” The Duke of Wel- lington ardently desired to have these experienced soldiers under him again in the Waterloo campaign, but the Portuguese Government ungratefully | refused leave. There were Swiss regi- ments on both sides. There were Ger-| mans in both armies. Not only was | the splendid King's German Legion 2 | tower of strength to the British army, but the Fifth Battalion of the Sixtieth Rifles (the Royal Americans, in which | Duncan Heyward, of the “Last of the | Mohicans,” was a major), were as early | as 1798, when they served in the Irish | rebellion in County Wexford under Sir | Jchn Moore, composed of forelgners and were in the Peninsula chiefly made up of German deserters from Soult’s army. That there were Irish galore in the Duke’'s command goes without speaking. The deeds of the ightv-seventh and Eighty-eighth, Faugh-a-Ballaghs and Connaught Rangers, though they were “Picton’s theivin’ blaguards,” live in. martial| story. But few know that Napoleon had an Irish regiment, and that it| served in the Peninsula, and was un- | der his banner in 1815, though not ac- | v at Waterloo. We have a curious account of their gallant service in that fascinating though sometimes I think apocryphal book, the “Memoirs of Baron Le Mar- bot.” Marbot reminds me strongly of Brigadier Etienne Ggrard; they must have been first cousins at least. Massena had commenced his ill-fated advance | on Portugal, where he was destined to be foiled by the wonderful lines of Tor- res Vedras. Marbot states that his ex- pedition very npearly came to an end at Viseu through lack of foresight on his part. He made his artillery march on the extreme right of the column, away from the masses of his infantry, its only protection being an Irish bat- talion in the French service and a com- pany of French grenadiers. Marching in | single file more than a league in length, the park was proceeding slowly and laboriously by difficult roads when sud- cenly on its right flank appeared the famous partisan, Colonel Trant, at the head of 4000 or 5000 Portuguese militia. If they had surrounded the convoy and made a determined attack all the ar- tillery, ammunition and provisions would have been captured or destroyed. | But Trant, as he himself said after- ward, could not suppose that a general of Massena’s renown and experience could have left unsupported a convoy g0 essential to the safety of his army, and imagining that a powerful escort must be close at hand he advanced with extreme caution, confining his attack to the leading company of grenadiers, who replied by a heavy fire, which killed some fifty men. The militia recoiled in alarm, and Trant, doing what he ought to have done at first, overlapped a por- tion of the convoy. As he advanced he discovered how weak was the escort, and sent a flag of truce to the officer in command, summoning him to surrender or else he would attack all along the line. The French officer adroitly con- sented to negotiate in order to give the Irish regiment time to come up from the rear of the convoy. At length they made their appearance at the double. As soon as the French commander saw them he at once broke off the parley, saying, “I cannot treat any further, here is my general coming to my sup- port at the head of 8000 men.” Each re- sumed his position, but Trant shortly left his and made off, thinking that he had to do with the advanced guard of a strong column. Thus the game of bluff was won and the artillery saved, but the French army soon learned the dan- ger it had been in and great indigna- tion was excited. Ney, Junot, Reynier and Montbrun went off at once to General Fririon, the chief of the staff, and addressed strong remonstrances to him. Not satisfied with his explana- tions, the four corps comanders went on to Massena and had a fierce alter- cation with him. However, he pacified them for a time, but only for a time, as I may perhaps be allowed to tell in | another communication.—Robert Stave- |1y, in Weekly Irish Times. Far—D_;cElic:. At the forthcoming St. Louis Expo- sition there is to be a restaurant for dyspeptics, managed by a woman who | has won a reputation as a lecturer on | hygiene. Baked apples are to be the specialty. Let the visitor's indigestion assume whatever form it will, the baked apple is to be depended upon to cure it. Sometimes (in patent medi- cine advertisements, particularly) indi- gestion is pictured as a horrible, an- gular, unfeeling monster. The caterer to the dyspeptics has arranged, says |the New York Evening Post, to pelt | this dragon with baked apples until it faints and dies. Baked apples soothe the jaded stomach, please the fancy, and, when they are rich and sugary, delight the taste. Biscuits and cake will be “barred” from this gastronomic haven; it may be that bananas will also be ejected—the experiments have not as yet gone far enough to deter- mine that point, / MONDA MARCH 28, 1904 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor . . . . . . . . . . Address All Cnmnhflonsbmm.ldAUGET, Manager Publication Office . wevesee .Third and Market Streets, S. F. TRADE CONDITIONS CHEERFUL. AST week was another quiet and uneventful week L in trade, and the animation which characterized the two preceding weeks was not visible. There ivas no great speculative spasm, like the panicky col- lapse of the cotton boom, to excite commercial circles and business proceeded on conservative and normal lines, As for the cotton catastrophe, it is a strange fact to state, but it actually caused satisfaction in all lines of cotton mannfacturing, and several important centers, such as Fall River, Lawrence, Philadelphia and Liver- pool, reported actual rejoicing among” manufacturers over the clearing off of the fevered atmosphere, which enables both manufacturers and merchants to look a few weeks into the future and obtain a definite idea as to where they stand in reference to cotton values.. Since the failure of Sully the cotton business has shown more steadiness and stability and, though the ultimate effects aré not yet apparent, the situation is much clearer and therefore more satisfactory than when the boom was on. Commercial reports from all sections of the country were satisfactory. The weather was hardly as pro- pitious for geveral business as it had been for a fort- night and storms over wide areas cut down the distribu- tion of merchandise and otherwise hampered trade, while Ahe labor question, which had fallen into comparative ob- scurity as an immediate factor, again showed itself in a disturbing form here and there throughout the country, not seriously, but just enough to show that it was liable to break out again without much notice. These two fac- tors tended to diminish the favorable returns of the pre- ceding fortnight and set the expanding spring trade back a peg or so. Increased demand for building materials showed that constructive work on a large scale was im- pending, and the lull in it indicated that possibilities of labor controversies alone were retarding much building that otherwise would have been well under way. As far as the usual comfmercial statistics went there was not much change in the general situation. The bank clearings of the country fell off 6.1 per cent as compared with the corresponding week in 1003, with the leading cities about evenly balanced in the columns of losses and gains. The aggregate clearings were $1,877,000,000, and as the index point of these clearings for some time past seems to be about $2,000,000,000, the inference is natural that any exhibit under the two billion mark shows a recession and anything over it a gain. The failures for the week were 226, against 214 for the same week last year. There was nothing new in the great staples to excite especial comment. The wheat market was quiet all over the world, with few and narrow fluctuations, except at Chicago, where quotations fluctuated according to the varying condition of the crop, which is the governing factor of the market at present. Wheat is in such ample supply all over the world that there is nothing existent to change the price of the grain one way or the other, and whenever any market varies it is owing to its own local conditions. The winter wheat crop of the United States is not looking as we¢ll as usual, according to the best reports, as the fall planting was backward and the weather throughout the winter more or less unfavorable to the growing plant; but there has been no serious damage on the whole and the prospects at present are for a good crop. Provisions are in ample supply in all positions and the markets everywhere are running along quietly under the usual normal fluctuations. Wool and hides .are quoted steady to firm, with a fair demand for both raw and manufactured goods. More frequent ad- vances in iron and steel, though slight, show less pressure to sell and more disposition on the part of buyers to place orders hitherto held back'since the turn of the year. Trading in Wall street has been more active since the Northern Securities cloud disappeared and for several days it looked as if another bull campaign were under way; but a threatened rebellion against the plan of re- adjustment by the Union Pacific interests put a sudden damper on the sanguine expectations of the bulls and the market relapsed into a feverish and hesitating condition, where it remains. The money market stands precisely where it has been for many weeks, funds being in large supply everywhere and interest rates normal. With the advent of spring the railway conditions are improving and present indications are that the gross re- ceipts for March will show some increase over those of a year ago. They Have been falling behind for a few months. Thus far the month’s returns make a showing betttr than in any preceding year in spite of the un- favorable weather. There is a better wholesale, jobbing and retail trade all over the country, according to the week’s reports from the different distributive centers. General business in_California continues active. The foreign trade of this p;:rt is still large and no complaints are heard from either exporters or importers, except in the wheat trade, which is making a poor export exhibit. But barley, oats and hay have for some time been in active demand all over the coast, as the American, Rus- sian and Japanese governments have all been and are still large purchasers of forage for shipment to the Orient. Japan, in particular, is making very heavy pur- chases of barley, and the American Government is tak- ing so much hay that its demands upon stocks have largely offset the weakening influence of the recent rains. These latter have been so copious, especially in the southern part of the State, where they were sadly needed, that they practically insure abundant crops of grain, hay and fruit as well as of the minor products of the soil, hence a general feeling of confidence in an- other good year is perceptible all over the State. Con- siderable damage by submersion of productive areas along the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers has been done, but the gross benefit to the State is far in excess of any local injury by overflows. The influx of new population into the city and State from the Eastern and Western sections of the country continues unabated and is leading to considerable en- thusiastic figuring as to the prospective population of San Francisco and California several years hence. These sanguine expectations may or may met be fully realized, but the fact is indisputable that immigration into the State is very large and of the choicest quality and is likely to continue indefinitely. This produces a very cheering effect upon evérybody and is doing as much as any?hing else to make times active and good throughout the entire State. Thus, with this large immigration, brilliant crop prospects, abundance of money and a brisk and continvous demand for the products of our farms, California is warranted in looking forward to another very fine commercial and agricultural year. ’-? s Russian military authorities are confidently of ‘the opinion that the Far Eastern war will be a long one. To outside nations, that have recovered from whatever sen- timental spasms they indulged, there is everything to indicate that the conflict will be long enough to satisfy the most vindictive designs of both combatants, SAN FRANCISCO ENTERPRISE. HE secretary of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce T has filed a report in which, while pursuing another main purpose, he incidentally pays tribute to the methods of San Francisco business men. He makes the good showing for Seattle that there are nearly thirteen hundred manufacturing establishments in the city and 15,000 men are employed in these factories, receiving in wages and salaries the round sum of $17,000,000 per annum. The aggregate value of all the manufactures of Seattle combined is placed at $60,000,000 per annum. But, says the secretary of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, hardly any of the products of Seattle are sold in Seattle, although they readily find markets else- where. “Whenever Seattle retailers can purchase any article made in this city (Seattle), made for the same price, when transportation is-considered, in Chicago or San Francisco, the home manufacturer gets the cold shoulder.” Probably the secretary knows whereof he speaks and his testimony must be taken, for obvious reasons, as not unfairly discriminating against Seattle. Business is governed by fixed rules. An old maxim of business is that goods well bought are already half sold. K the retailers of Seattle are able to buy better in San Francisco than they are in Seattle it follows that the San Francisco manufacturers and wholesalers are able to produce the required articles on terms better suited to the Seattle retail trade than are those of Seattle. It will not be argued that Seattle’s retailers have any hos- tility to their home products. They undoubtedly desire to aid in building up Seattle. Their interests and in- clination must lie alike in that direction. Business con- siderations control them. Making some specific allegations the secretary of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce says that “instead of buy- ing tea in the Orient and having it shipped into Seattle by the Japanese steamship line, the terminals of which are here (Seattle), the merchants prefer to buy in San Francisco, thereby paying the freight across the Pacific to a steamship line which has its American terminal at that point.” This added statement gives credit to the San Francisco importers as completely as do those that relate to manu- factures and goods sold by San Francisco manufacturers and jobbers. p This city will not be harmed by this sort of averments. The point is seen clearly by the Seattle Times, which proposes that as a remedy for the present commercial practices of Seattle merchants some action be devised by the Seattle Manufacturers’ Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants’ Association of Seattle. It is said as a partial explanation by the Times that “it is hard to change from old mercantile associations and therefore we are apt to be neglectful of the fact that the same article of merchandise can be obtained in our own city of equal quality and at as low a price.” Old associations have their value as old friends have, but in the modern sharp competition of men and methods for business there is no room left for continued dis- crimination against Seattle by its own retailers unless there is some other reason to be alleged. While the statements of the secretary of the Seattle commercial body will be reassuring to the business men of San Francisco, it is still clear that they will find no reason to relax their energies. They will hold their old trade and secure as much new business as possible by using modern ideas and availing themselves of their .natural advantages, among which are cheap fuel and geographical position The excursion of the Promotion Committee .through the southern coast counties promises to be one of the best combinations of business and pleasure that the year will offer. It is to be a train of good things, and every business man to whom the opportunity comes should get aboard. A young Mormons throughout the entire State of Utah have taken preliminary measures to unite in an organization which shall have for its object tae strict enforcement of the pledges given to the Govern- ment when Utah was admitted as a State. They have announced a determination to bring matters to a head at the April conference of the church by declaring be- fore that body a resolve to leave the religion of the saints unless the practices of plural marriages on the part of the heads of the Mormon hierarchy, revealed in so cold-blooded a manner by President Joseph Smith at the Smoot inquiry, are done away with immediately. This stand taken by the younger element in the Mor- mon church is a worthy one, for it is indicative of the spirit whieh should permeate the whole body of the sect in Utah. It is the elevation of citizenship in the United States over membership in the Church of Latter Day Saints. From the time when Joseph Smith, the first prophet, shut himself up in his farmhouse in New York and read the mystical tablets down to the present day the exercise of the Mormon faith has been inimical to the exercise of good citizenship among those most ardent in the creed of Mormon, for the primal doctrine of the church, as confessed by President Smith himself, is obedience to the revelation of God through the appointed elders, all civil law to the contrary notwithstanding. 1t was this conviction which led to the armed clash viih the militia of Missouri during the Mormon settle- ment there in the late thirties. Again it was disregard of the laws of Illinois which moved the Mormons to in- trench themselves in their sacred city of Nauvoo and withstand siege for several days. After their hegira to Salt Lake the presence of a body of Federal troops was felt necessary for the preservation of the sovereign laws of the United States. But with the lapse of years and the growth of a younger generation, not so fanatical as their forebears, nor driven to desperation by persecu- tion, there was developed a seeming amenity to the laws of the land on the part of the saints which permitted of the admission of the Territory to statehood. The Smoot inquiry at Washington developed the fact that among the very heads of the church themselves all pledges regarding polygamy have been utterly disregard- ed and the natural inference might be made and would be made that such was the practice from the highest to the lowest had not this body of young Mormons voiced their denunciation of the bad faith of the members of the hierarchy as promptly and with as much vigor as they have. The movement of the young Mormons is a long step in the right direction and must be productive of great service to the honor of Utah. UTAH'S YOUNG MORMONS. RECENT dispatch from Salt Lake says that the Tt is getting along toward the time when primary elec- tions will claim atlentiox:, and it is therefore pertinent™for oa"rfl"’d citizen to ask another, “Have you registered P - TR R N Wifely Ecénomy. “T usually take a great deal of pleas- ure out of the marriage ceremony,” sald Justice of the Peace Lawson a few days ago, while at lunch. “Gener- ally after I unite two fond and loving hearts, I feel at peace with the world, but the other day I tied a matrimonial knot and felt mean and miserable for the rest of the day. “It was a little after 9 a. m. when a young fellow I knew well came to my chambers and asked me to marry him. Surprised, and, of course, pleased, I an- swered ‘Yes; bring in the lady. “Well, he stepped out into the cor- ridor, returning in a moment leading a woman, several (I would hate to say how many) years his senior. She will never take a prize in a beauty show, and when I acknowledged an introduc- tion to her I made up my mind that she could take first prize at any place where good nature was scarce. “Well, I tied the knot, and just when the couple were leaving, the groom turned and, pulling a $10 gold piece from his pocket, walked toward me. 1 was just getting ready to say ‘Thank you,” when with two long steps the bride was alongside of him. She grasped the hand containing the $10, put her other hand into her purse and handed me $2 50. I could not stop the ‘Thank you,” and I did not try te stop the other remarks that came from my lips when they left.” Not S o_S low, May Be. Two of the chorus girls in a recent New York production that made a hit in this city had to come all the way from that city to be handed a gold brick. Shortly after their arrival they expressed an opinion in an interview in an evening paper that the “Johnnies™ here were real mean and not at all like the New York “Johnnies.” Some of the local “Johnnies” made up their minds to have some fun at the expense of the two girls and one night they were introduced to a sup- posed wealthy Klondiker. He took them to a swell rotisserie and during the dinner he began to show them big nug- gets that he had brought with him from the Klondike. He generously handed them a nugget each, and for a day or two they wondered what they would do with s¢ much gold. The comedian of the company was told of the gold brick and for a night or two every time the girls were near him he would drop on the stage a “gold nugget” similar to the one each of the girls had fastened to her bodice. This led to inquiry and the trick that had been played upon them was exposed. The nuggets had come from a brass foundry on Fremont street. The Battlefield. A desert hplace where grew no kindly herb; A waste of sand where rocks lay dead, Where rivulets flowed not, nor flowers swayed— And lmltlnd‘ rays fell from the sun o'erhead. splintered One lonely figure robed in ashen gray, ‘Whose pafiient eyes saw nothing, see- ing all; Nor marked the shadows’ slow-revolving course, The tfl‘;lsn of dawn, the purple darkness all. There rode no hosts led on by warrior kings; No trumpets sang; there waved no banners gay; No flerce assaults nor routed quick re- treats, But silent hours wore out the night, the day. Alone against the world the leader stood— the parting Ways, To guide aright whoever seeks the light, To shame from wrong with level lov- ing gaze. There was the battle waged, the victory won, That conquered conquerors, that high above All greatness, glory, power, and all law Forever fixed the empery of love. Alone where ages met There l:l"“mphed' He, our conqueror and ng, Who wen for us, and made all earth his prize; ‘Who gave his life for victory over death, Who ' fell that mankind evermore should rise. —The Century. The Fearsome Mite. In our laboratories, under suitable conditions of food and warmth, a bacillus splits in half an hour into two parts, each of which splits again in half an hour, and so on, and it has been estimated that a single bacillus, if given similar conditions in nature, would, within a week, give rise to progeny numerous enough to fill the Atlantic Ocean. Such overbalancing is largely prevented by the protozoa, which feed upon the bacteria, increas- ing as they increase and dec as this food supply gives out. e protozoa; in turn, are eaten by animals like the worms and shellfish, these by others, and so on, the balance of na- ture being so delicate that no form in- creases disproportionately for any length of time, although, like the locust plague, or the California fruit tree scale, or the gypsy moth, some forms may occasionally predominate. Since Pasteur demonstrated the fact that many human diseases are due to minute living things, which grow and multiply in our bodles, there has been a tendency to call all microscopic or- ganisms, whether . harmful or net, “germs,” or “microbes” or “bacteria” indiscriminately. This confusion may be cleared by the statement that pro- tozoa are the lowest known forms of animals and that bacteria are the low- est known forms of plants, while “germs” and “microbes” may apply to the disease-causing forms in either group.—Century Magazine, Rough on Mollie Bruiser. ‘The New York tabbies are taking to the veldt, for the Board of Health has decreed that no cat is hereafter to be kept without a collar on its neck on which is engraved the name and ad- dress of the owner. The department of health is to have the power to seize any cat or dog not licensed or provided with a collar when at large in the streets. These animals are to be im- pounded and released on the presenta- tion of the license for the dog within g d three days after the seizure; if the li- cense was issued prior to the seizure no payment is to be exacted, otherwise tha $2 fee will be exacted. In the case of a cat a $2 fine and the purchase of a col- lar will bé necessary to satisfy the de- mands of justice. After the seizure the publication for one day of a notice and the allowing of three days’ grace, if the owner does not claim'a stray animal the department of health is to have the power to dispose of the animal. The most important provision of the new bill is that which allows the Mayor whenever he deems it necessary for public safety to issue pn order prohib- iting all dogs from runhing at large un- less muzzled or led by a chain after the publication of the order in the official newspaper of the city. All dogs run- ning at large may be seized, and re- deemed by owners. No person is al- lowed to interfere with an Inspector of the health department while engaged in the duties.of the dog-catcher, and any such interference is made a misde- meanor. The health department is also to have the power to build a dog and cat pound. It may also destroy any dog deemed vicious, whether licensed or not, after a three days’ notice and the affording of the owner an opportunity to be heard. Another Fallacy Pricked. The popular idea that fish nour= ishes the brain is pronounced falla- cious by the Lancet (London). Fur- thermore, that paper asserts that it is doubtful whether any given food in common use contains constituents which have a selective action, or the property of ministering to one part of the body more than the writer: “As a rule, when a food is assum- ed to have specific reparative proper- ties—as, for example, a so-called brain or nerve food—the fact really is that such food is easily and quickly assim- flated to the body's general advantage —in a word, in such a case repair quickly overtakes waste and a real purposeful nutrition and restoration are accomplished. The administration of such elements as phosphorus or iron in medicine is, of course, a differ- ent matter, but these elements are evenly distributed in the materials of a daily diet. It is often stated that fish is a food which ministers partic- ularly to the needs of the brain be- cause it contains phosphorus. As a matter of fact, fish does not contain more phosphorus than do ordinary meat foods, and it certainly does not contain it in the free state. The no- tion that fish contains phosphorus had no doubt its origin in the glowing or phosphorescence in the dark. This phosphorescence is not due to phos- phorus at all, but to micro-organisms. The belief, therefore, that fish is a brain food is just about as reasonable as the idea that because a soup i3 thick and gelatinous ‘it will stick to the ribs,’ or as sensible as the cele- brated advice to Verdant Green to lay in a stock of Reading biscuits to as- sist his reading. Fish, of course, is excellent food, partly because of the another. Says second. nourishing nature of its constituents and partly because of its digestibility. But it is in no sense a speoific -for brain or nerve.” Answers to Queries. LIQUOR BILL—A. J. B, City. In the State of California an action may be commenced at any time within two years after a debt has been incurred for liquor sold at retail, but the action can- not be for more than $5. MINER'S INCH — W. M., Santa Rosa. A miner's inch for measuring water is not the same in all the States. In California it is fifty cubic feet per A second foot is the quan- tity represented by a stream one foot wide and one foot deep and flowing at the average rate of one foot per sec- ond. TIBET—M. 8, City. Tibet is an ex~ tensive region of Central Asia. in- cluded in the Chinese Empire, stretch- ing from 79 to 102 degrees east and from the chain of the Himalayas to nearly 40 degrees north, being separat- ed on the north by the Tagh Range from Eastern Turkistan, and on the northeast by the Nanshan Range from the Chinese province. It is 1400 miles long from east to west, and 600 miles in breadth. SNOWFALL—L., City. The follow~ ing is the record of snowfall in San Francisco since 1876: January 21, 1876, light snow fell for ten minutes; December 31, 1882, heavy fall from 11:30 a. m. to 4:20 p. m., amount 3.05 inches; February 6, 1883, few flakes during the day; WPebruary 7, 1334, snow fell at intervals during the day, depth varying from 1 to 2 inches; Feb- ruary 5, 1887, snow during the day, depth on Market street and Grant ave- nue 3.7 inches, in Western Addition 7 inches; January 4, 1888, a few flakes during the day; January 16, 1838, snow to the depth of .1 inch; March 2, 1894, a few ‘flakes during the day; March 2, 1896, snow mixed with rain’ fell at intervals during the day; March 3, 1896, heavy snow during the night, depth 1 inch. e s Townsend's California Gla. A 715 Market street. above Call buildies. ———— Special Information supplied dal to business houses and public men ;ln Clipping Bureau (Allen's), 230 Cale ptreet, Telephone Main 1043, *