The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 9, 1904, Page 6

T HE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, MAY To Study Our Cities. i the committee, has done more than any | other man In England té foster and ! promote good feeling between com- | | mercial communities. He is continually | arranging conferences between Eng- | land and the representatives of foreign | ’(‘oumr!es with the view of bringing | { about a favorable understanding on questicns affecting international inter- ests. ! Spencer’s Letters. E i The following letters, heretofore un- | published, were written by Herbert | Spencer to a Brooklyn friend. Spencer | 1 wrote without thought of publication—| { | in fact, stipulated that his correspond- | | ence should not be published—presum- | ! | ably during life. He never corresponded | * | promiscuously, and what he sent out he | dictated, only the signature being in| ! his handwriting. Often the most or-| sencs 1 F THE CALL.| 5. HEX >TTA STREET, COVENT| GARDEN, LONDC , April 28.—When the St. Louls sails from Sl)ulhlmplnn‘ on May 14 she will carry an imposing delegation of English, Scotch and Irish | HEADQUARTLE:. meyors, ex-mayors and chairmen of borough councils and other varieties of | city fathers who are going over to see| how some of the principal American tles are gover and«to pick up| peints for the possible improvement of n Great Brit- municipal ey are taking their g to see the il all at their own ex-! be the outcome of an jew Lord Lyveden had last year | the Mayor of Philadelphia, the Commissioners of the District of Co- the Governor of Missouri. red his Lordship that an or- ganized cipal party would be wel- comed heartily in the United States, | and pointed out that such a visit would promote the friendly inter- | gland and America. Lord| on feared that to make such a party thoroughly representative of thc municipalities of the United Kingdom wase too huge an undertaking. He | communicated the suggestions, how- ever, 1o the Lord Mavor of London, | with the result that a committee was | organized to get the views of the muni- cipalities throughout the country. The | response was encouraging and the fol- ‘lowing formed themselves into an ex- | . ecutive committee to carry the scheme through The Right Hon. Lord Lyveden, chair- -man: Sir Thomas H. Brooke-Hitching, | ex-Sheriff of London, vice chairman; | Sir Thomas D. Pile, bart, ex-Lord Mayor, Dublin, honorable secretary; fir Alfred D. Newton, bart, ex-Lord Mayor, London; James Dailey, M. P., ‘Kensington Board Council; James Bafley, M. P., Kensington Board Coun- cil; E. A. Cornwall, vice chairman Lon- | don County Coumcil; J. A. Lile, corporation of city of London; D. George Collins, corporation of city of London, chairman of the City of Lon- don International Commercial Associa- .tion; A. K. Carlyon, Middiesex County Council; Richard Bainbridge, Barnes District Council. All these men will be members of . the party and their names are a suf- ficient guarantee that the affair will _be substantial. The organizers of this municipal tour thought that the sum of $395, which is the inclusive price for the tour, would be somewhat prohibitive, and that only 2 hundred or two of their municipal brethren would care to go to the ‘expense. The applications turn out to be double the number, so that the com- mittee is now confronted with the unenviable task of weeding out. After arriving in New York the del- egates will “d0” the city for three days ~“end then leave for Philadelphia and Washington. While in Washington they will be entertained by the Presi- dent. They hope to reach St. Louis about June 1, where they will stay for a week. On June 9 they will reach Niagara, proceeding to Toronto and thence to New York, where the party will break up, some to return home, . &nd some to make a more extended tour of the United States. z Lord Liyveden is, of course, one of tHe most interesting men on the committee. His adventurous career as actor, pur- ser, waiter and what not has been pretty fully described already. He has ‘mow settled down to the serious work of helping to govern his countrymen instead of amusing them from behind the footlights. A few days ago he was sitting on a committee that was in- quiring into the enlargement of the Cardiff docks, and it Is said that he - %ok an active and intelligent interest in the subject. Next in point of interest to his Lord- ship comes the ex-Lord Mayor of Dub- lin. In the early nineties Thomes Pile, although an Englishman born, was showe Irish than the Irish themselves. ~He carried on an extensive fish busi- ness in Dublin, entered enthusiastically = into the nationalist movement and clinging tenaciously to Parnell during the ‘most exciting days of that remark- able man’'s career was rewarded with the mayoralty of Dubiin as the price of Jpie allegiance. Little did Parnell think that the elevation of the fish merchant was a stepping stone to a barometcy. After Parnell's death when the late . Queen visited Ireland, Thomas Pile, in #pite of the violent protest of the ma- jority of the Dublin corporation, pre- sented an address of welcome to her Majesty, and as the price of his alle- giance to his sovereign he received his knpighthood. The coronation honors .. . brought him his baronetcy. The royal patronage @id not help to inecrease his popularity with the people of Dublin, cods’ heads, to remind him of his call- ing. determined to return to the bosom of his own countrymen, and he says | ening of the heart. | | ’ummudtnu.uyu. dinary paper was used by him, and; both sides of the sheet were written upon. Months would elapse when his| closest friends received only four or! five lines, often dictated from the sick bed. How little opportunity he had for making letter writing an art may be judged from this extract from a letter: ! “How much an invalid I have been for a long time past you may judge| rom the fact that until about two n:onths ago I had not seen my most in- timate lady friend for a year lnq a half, tho’ she wished to see me.” (June| 8, 1894.) In another letter he says that or-| dinarily he cannot stand over a few moments without experiencing a weak- He again Nplled: rather testily to his friends that they must not, in view of his extreme deli- | | cacy, bother him for an expression of | his opinion on more or less irrelevant; and pedantic matters. Later he left off | | letter writing altogether, except to the, very few, and answered correlpondence: with the well-known printed circular | thanking the correspondent for his good will, but begging on account of ill health to be excused. ¢ o @ TO MR. SKILTON. February 1895, Dear Mr. Skilton: In one respect you have misread my books. or misunder- stood an essential thing contained in them. You believe that the course of things in society is to be changed by | teaching. 1 do mot believe any such; thing. Everywhere 1 have contended, | and I contend still, that feelings, not | ideas, determine social results—that | everything depends, not upon intellect, | but upon character; and character is | not to be changed in a day or in a generation. When 1 was leaving America in 1882 I was unawares interviewed on board | the vessel just before we started. The interviewer asked me what I thought | of the trilumph over the “‘bosses” which had just been achieved. 1 expressed my belief that it was only a flash in the pan and that the old state of things would after a time return. It has, as you know, returned. The recent dis- closures have shown that the condition of things in New York had again be- come as bad as it was. A true theory of social progress is not a cause of movement, but is simply cil to the movement—serves simply to remove friction. The force producing | the movement is the aggregate of| men's instincts and sentiments, and | these are not to be changed by a the- | ory. You think that I have got some mes- | sage and that utterance of it might | stave off impending evils. I have but one message—be honest; regard the N equitable claims of others while main- | taining your own. The disregard of | zll save personal interests is the under- lying cause of your present state and of impending disasters. As I said years ago, apropos of American at-. fairs, a fatal trait in your society is the admiration for smart men, and I believe I said or implied that a people among whom there is an admiration for smart men will come to grief. If you think that a healthier ideal can be established in American society by teaching, I entirely disagree with you. Under your present condition men could not be got to listen. Even if they listened they would not be con- | vinced. And even if they were con- vinced their conduct would not be ap- preciably affected. When men are un- der the influence of pronounced feel- | ings no amount of reason changes their behavior. i May 10, 1890, Dear Mr. Skilton: Those who in the past have devoted themselves to the diffusion of ideas have usually had | much to suffer and have met with lit- | tle appreciation; they died before it came. Remembering the fates of such, I may regard myself as extremely for- tunate. Though during the first haif of | my literary career the losses werc great and the encouragements small, | yet the last half has made amends; and I may be moré than satisfied alike with the material results and the ef- fects produced, as well as with the marks of approval which have been’ coming to me more and more fre- quently. Among these last the resolution passed-by the Brooklyn Ethical Asso- ciation, which I received yesterday, is one of the most gratifying apd calls for speclal thanks.—From The Inde- pendent. Copyrighted in England and the United States. The Criminal Bison. As a species of hardened criminals among placid herbiverous animals none i worse than the bison, or American | buffalo. Toward man and beast and even among themseives these vicious, vindictive and agile brutes, whose haif- brothers on other continents do not fear even the terrific onslaughts of lions and tigers, are in a state of almost contin- ual warfare. Eagerly cropping grass from a meadow or luxuriantly wallow- ing in the swamp mud of their ranges, @ herd of these giant, brown, ponder- ous-headed, shaggy patriarchs make a scene of peace and t. Yet they are among the wickedest m-! and most aggressive ever seen fighters in a zoo. Sullen and ugly, they often become furioys to madness without the tack one another with serious Magazine. results,—McClure's kP ITHE SAN FRANCISCO CALL '0HK D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor . ... ... ... Address All Commonications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manage: siev.i.MAY o, 1904 QUIET COMMERCIAL DAYS. USINESS continues monotonous and feature- B less all over the country. Whether we regard the money market, the merchandise market, foreign and domestic commerce in general or the industries, we find the same apathy in all directions. Conditions now are about as they are in midsummer, when business shrinks to a low level and the whole field of trade is as quiet as a millpond. The distributive trade is reported better, however, owing to the improvement in the weather, which has stimulated the jobbing and retail demand in many sec- tions, though it has produced very little effect on the wholesale and foreign trade. If there was any feature of prominence last week it was the more unfavorable news regarding the wheat crop, which shows a decided deterioration from the April condition. The severe tem- peratures of the past winter, when the crop was unpro- tected by snow, followed by a cold, wet spring, which re- tarded the growth of the plant, produced their effect, which is now becoming manifest. There will be no serious shortage in the crop, but earlier estimates are being cut down, especially in the winter wheat belt ot the Middle West. In the spring beit seeding is practi- cally .finished, except in the Red River. Valley, and the outlook there is fair. It was expected that the disclo- sures relative to the impairment of the crop would send wheat up somewhat and Wall street railroad stocks cor- respondingiy down, but they did neither to any extent. Trade is in that languid condition when conditions must be radical and violent to affect values. Statistics continue to run against any good showing. The bank clearings still show a moderate falling off every week from the corresponding period last year, and while the shrinkage is never large, it is continuous. That last week was 11.4 per cent, with two-thirds of the im- portant cities ‘ranged on the losing side. The aggregate clearings, however, again exceeded the two billion dol- lar point, probably owing to the improvement in the distributive trade mentioned above. The failures were 206, against 176 last year, but none of them were serious enough to attract attention. Railway earnings in April were 5.8 per cent less than in April, 1903, and commodity prices, according to Dun’s index number, declined slightly during the month. Affairs in Wall strest are in a very tame condition at present. The public are still out of the market, and from present indications intend to remain out of it in- definitely. The great financial interests continue to ten- der them the best of speculative bait, but they are not touching it. These financial interests, as already men- tioned, are calling attention to the fact that money is a glut at from 1 to 3 per cent, while the railroads and in- dustrial concerns are paying 4 and 3 per cent dividends right along. “Why not borrow money on time loans at 3 and 3% per cent and buy standard stocks which pay 5 per cent?” ask the great financial interests, with their blandest smiles. But their blandishments fall upon deaf ears. The public will not buy. Perhaps they suspect that these 4 and 5 per cent dividends are being paid out of the recent enormous borrowings from the banks, men- tioned several times of late, and which aggregate, ac- cording to generally accepted estimates, to upward of $300,000,000, and indeed actual talk to that effect has been heard in speculative circles. Whether the suspicion has any foundation in fact remains to be seen. Another deterrent is the fear that a year from now these great railroads and industrials may be paying 2% per cent instead of 5 per cent, and some may be paying nothing at all. There has also been some talk to this effect. Of course all these conjectures and speculations tend to keep unprofessional speculators out of the market. There is still another deterrent factor in this propo- sition of dividends. It is the statement that the divi- dend disbursements in May will be the smallest May record for years. The total, based on dividends already declared, is only $14,991,357, against $21,025,697 in May, 1903, and $18,793,981 in May, 1902. Last year the United States Steel Corporation paid a quarterly dividend of $8,030,406, but this year the disbursement will be re- duced to $6,054,010 in consequence of the conversion ot preferred stock into bonds. Other companies will pay dividends' on a reduced percentage, and several which paid last year will be missing from the list. There is nothing especially new in the leading staples. The number of idle factories has increased, especially in textiles and footwear, and the depression in the silk industry mentioned last week continues. Structural work is increasing with better weather, but dealers had accumulated large stocks of building material, and prices are consequently rather weak than otherwise. All descriptions of clothing are reported quieter. Iron and steel are still quiet and no longer attract attention. Pro- visions are in large supply and dragging at the leading Western packing points. Hides and wool exhibit no fea- tures worthy of comment. Groceries show the usual fluctuations, np ahd down. Our local conditions remain unchanged. We are largely dependent upon our cereal and fruit crops on this coast, and both are looking well, considering the situation as a whole. The same authority that is cutting down the estimates of the wheat crop in the winter belt gives brilliant reports from the three coast States, the condition of California wheat being given at 9o, Oregon at 99 and Washington at 100. The Weather Bureau reports the fruit crop looking well almost everywhere, and the handlers of canned and dried fruit report both markets generally cleaned up, with the exception of rai- sins a2nd prunes, both of which will probably have some carry-over at the end of the season. The hay crop, ac- cording to local handlers, will be one of the heaviest ever known. General business is good all over the coast. Money is abundant, collections are normal and the domestic and export trade are both excellent. Some quieting down in sympathy with the East, by which we are largely gov- erned in many lines, i§ noted, but as a rule the movement of produce and merchandise is excellent and profit mar- gins are very satisfactory. THE PARK ATHLETIC GROUNDS. T a meeting of the Park Commissioners on Friday A afternoon representatives from the various as- sociations interested in the building of the pro- posed new athletic grounds and speed track in Golden Gate Park appeared and urged the Commissioners to be- gin work at once upon the proposed improvement. The representatives stated they were ready to deposit with the board $10,000 of the promised outside subscription ‘of $25,000, as an earnest of good faith toward their ob- taining the remaining $15,000. . The $25000 promised sl e s R is to be put with a like amount of public money already set ‘aside by the board to complete the amount of esti- mated cost of $50,000 for the new feature. The board very properly signified its unwillingness to begin the ‘work until the whole amount jof money is placed in its hands, when it is promised to push the work to a speedy. conclusion. It is fully realized that to raise such a sum is difficult, notwithstanding that the gentlemen who represented the organizations were act- ing in perfect good faith. It is a transaction in which a very considerable amount of money is involved, and the | Commissioners would subject themselves to severe criti- cism if the work were half completed and then aban- doned to be left as an eyesore for lack of funds. While it is true that the athletic grounds will be a splendid addition to the park and will be enjoyed by the general public in a large measure, at the same time the feature will be more particularly beneficial to the driv- ing clubs and athletic organizations using.it, and there- fore it is but fair that they should take an active inter- est in its realization. That there is need for more exten- sive room and apparatus for the different kinds of sports in the park the usual crowded condition of the tennis court, for instance, is an example, and it is much to be hoped that the matter will not be permitted to drag for lack of enthusiasm in obtaining the necessary money. Organized effort by the various bodies particularly interested should be made immediately. The devotees of baseball, tennis, golf, cricket, racing, football, bicycling and in fact all those who are fond of physical exercise, should ‘combine for their common interest and make a sport of the work of obtaining the money needed, so that the contemplated park athletic grounds may soon become a reality. by the Board of Health that the sweeping of streets as lodging. So far, so good. It is always well for every- Works Board may even sympathize with us. Democratic leaders of Nebraska to sit up nights in self at the St. Louis convention. From Omaha comes g0 as he wishes in the Democratic wigwam, and the dis- grows in Nebraska. vention and the inevitable awakening next November. raucous bray that comes from his oracular lips with lovelorn sigh: The Board of Public Works has been formally notified now conducted is a delusion and a snare. The streets are not swept and disease haunts the air for human body to understand the situation in reference to which the public has so long been thoroughly informed. The THE BRYAN COMEDY IT seems that Bryan, the irrepressible, is causing the anxious speculation over the probable antics in which the silver-tongued orator of the Platte will indulge him- the word that William Jennings Bryan is planning a bolt for the whole Nebraska delegation if things do not traught party whips declare that such an action will be an indelible blot on the fair name of Democracy as she In the Midsummer Night’s Dream of Democracy, which is to have its denouement at the St. Louis con- Mr. Bryan is playing the role of Bottom with his usual meteoric brilliancy. Despite his ass’s ears and the dreadful insistence, there are certain of the fairy ring of the Kansas City old guard who, like Titania, raised the Mine ear is much enamour’d of thy note; So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape. And Bottom, made drunk with ecstasy at the flattery of asinine | in true stand behind the deluded ones, kicks out his heels abandon, taking little reckoning of who them. This little comedy in the Democratic players’ camp is amusing enough to the spectators, but it has its uncom- fortable element for the actors. It is said that the tru- est actor is one who can so far forget himself in the de- lineation of the character he represents that he becomes oblivious to everything save that which appertains to his mimic art. Mr. Bryan is such a one. part of. the Presidential aspirant, and later the enforced role of the “once was” who would be it once again, the gentleman from the Platte has shown a soulfulness of dramatic expression and a thoroughness in every detail of the mummer’s trade that rivals comparison with any- thing the Democratic stage has seen. But, as suggested before, this wonderful concentration upon character de- lineation reacts upon the rest of the players with no inconsiderable discomfort. If the Democracy of Nebraska in particular, and the Democratic convention in general, would enjoy immu- nity from' embarrassment and even a small degree of tranquillity, they should delegate somebody to wake Mr. Bryan and bring him back to things mundane. When Democracy is united in the belief that the late Presiden- tial aspirant is no longer a power to move the world it may even succeed in making the light break in on the Bryan conscience. Until that auspicious time Democ- racy, and especially the perturbed Nebraska Democracy, has the undivided sympathies of a charitable world. It must be a matter of the deepest regret to every friend of the University of California that the authori< ties at Berkeley have found it necessary so to reflect upon the honesty of ‘any part of the student body as to accuse undergraduates of “cribbing” in the examinations. It should be the duty of the various classes to institute a most rigid inquiry, hunt out the offenders and insure their expulsion.. The initiative by the students would have an immediate effect in a salutory lesson. — e " It is to be regretted that the association of old firemen, the volunteers who fought the city’s fires without pay and without reward other than the consciousness of work well done, is being neglected and forgotten in its old age. The old men are going to their long sleep very rapidly and they should not be permitted to go without the knowledge that to the end they lived in the best oopinion of San Francisco and her new generation of men. Among the myriad reports from the Oriental war is one that is of exceptional interest. It asserts upon reasonable authority that 10 per cent of the Japanese army are women of the coolie class, who are fighting with desperate patriotism in the field. The fact that the story is probably untrue gives it greater importance, for it shows that the Japanese are placing deep reliance upon that most potent of weapons in any cause—senti- ment. Society in the national capital was roundly denounced by a nationally respected clergyman recently for the false ideals and palpable immoralities which distinguish fashionable life in Washington. The pursuit of studied ‘and elegant leisure seems to be the only profession in In playing the | — A Newspaper Beat. They still tell a story over at the University of California that has to do with a triumph of college journal- ism. Several years ago the university was the proud possessor of two female land ! tortoises from the Galapagos Islands, !each weighing nigh onto a thousand | pounds and reputed to be old as Me- thuseleh. They were kept in a pen behind the agricultural building anc jafter the first wave of curiosity had iswept over the students the ancient ! reptiles were left to their own devices. | One dark and starry night two stu- . dents, armed with a bicycle lantern and a can of white paint, climbed into the ! turtles’ inclosure and busied themselves | for several minutes in a mysterious Shortly afterward the office | manner. iof the student dally newspaper was i rung up on the phone and a voice, pur- porting to be that of a respected pro- | fessor in the “cow college,” notified the ! enterprising young night editor that ! the two turtles behind the agricultural !hulldlng had reproduced themselves |and had consequently born the firat | young of their kind in captivity. Cer- | tainly, in the professor's mind, it was | a noteworthy occasion. ‘ The next morning the student paper appeared with a long story about the | baby turtles on its front page with a | good, thick, black head and a lengthy introduction. In view of the fact that the mother turtle was particularly sav- age on account of the presence of her | babies the students were gravely warn- ;ed by the college organ not to venture too near the inclosure, but to stand on the wood pile at a safe distance faway. When the paper appeared in the morning there immediately formed a | precession of grave professors and gay ;nudents to pay a congratulatory visit {to the tortoise who had achieved the { proud distinction of becoming a happy, | though savage, mother. When the well }wlshem had arrived at the spot and craned over the fence they saw the two tortoises (femaleg) basking in som- | nalent ease with no maternal cares | seeming to depress them, and on the | dome like back of each was painted in | glaring white one impudent word: “Rubber.”" | | For the Complexion. | At the National Grocers’ Convention they were talking shop. One of the | party had been a traveling salesman. | Said he: | “When I first ventured into the game |1 was sent out on a house to house canvasg with a brand of bottled con- ! densed cream. I was anxious to make {a record, was enthusiastic and, per- haps, not over careful in some of my methods. One afternoon, late in a day | that had not panned out well, T was | answered at a door by an elderly | woman, who heard my story: “ ‘Oh, that's the cream I see adver- | tised so much as so good for the com- plexion?’ “What prompted me I don’t know, ! but I saw my chance, so away I went. | “ ‘The very same, said I ‘It will make youthful and bright the worst | wrinkled face you ever saw.’ “And I imagined my prospective pa- | tron gazing at herself in a glass. Well, {tc make a long story short, I soid {her a dozen bottles of the stuff. A | couple of weeks later I returned to the house. “ ‘Now, young man, your cream may ibe very good, but I cannot buy any | more,” was the reception she gave me. “ *Why’ not? “ ‘My husband declares he will di- vorce me if I use it,’ the answer came. | ‘I applied it every day, but he says it | 1s driving him out of the place. It be- comes so rancid.’ | “I withdrew in as good order as pos- | sible, but I've never forgotten the old {lady in her efforts to regain youthful i bloom with condensed milk."” | — Jeanne d’Are. | Goddess of battles, with the maiden | sword | And blameless banner, when to France i availed i Not all her gallant manhood, helmed and ma! | To drive from oft her soil the alien horde, That over pasture, hamlet, vineyard poured, | Yonu with your urarmed innocency scaled { The walls of war, and, wheére man's | might had failed, | Crownllng.demhmned the Anointed of the word. And should France yet again be called to scare The stranger from her gates. and hurl back thence Feet that would violate her frontiers fair, I Not meretricious sycophants of sense, But the pure heart and patriotic prayer, Once more would prove her rescue and defense. —Alfred Austin, Poet Laureate, in the Independent. The G:owth of Mountains. There is something almost lifelike in the growth of mountains. They do not attain their maximum stature all at a leap. The first great uplift of the Sier- ras, Professor Lawson thinks, elevated the range about 2500 feet. Even that was not done at a bound. It took time while the gigantic pressures were at work. Vast periods also elapsed while the growing mountains swelled upward to their culmination of 14,000 or 15,000 feet, Perhaps they are still growing. Age has its common marks every- where. An old man stoops, shrinks in stature and becomes round-shouldered; an aged tree sheds its branches, breaks off at the top and finally tumbles into ruin; a time-worn mountain loses its the constant wear of the elements, un- til only a line of green-carpeted hills remains to mark the place where tre- mendous summits rose into the region perpetual snow and flashed back the sunshine from a crown of glaciers. is relatively an | measuring tape of the centuries to the great Appalachian Range, which lies just behind the Atlantic seaboard. The Appalachians date back to the remate carboniferous age, which ended so long ago that nobobdy probably would be willing to risk a guess at the number of millions of years which must since have elapsed. The Appalachians may have been magnificent giants in their day, but time has conquered them, as it will | also conquer the rugged Sierras, and now thelr verdured flanks and tops de- light the unalarmed eyes of railway tourists winding on swift trains of par- lor cars through the rich valleys that have fattened on the substance of the disintegrated peaks.—Success. How Torpedoes Are Made. The Whitehead torpedo, built for the United States Government, Is made chiefly of steel, and nearly in the shape of a porpoise. Its greater diam- eter is nearly eighteen inches. It Is made in two sizes or lengths of about twelve feet and seventeen feet, respec- tively. The weight of the shorter one, ready for discharge, is nearly half a ton. As constructed by the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, these tor- pedoes are made in flve sections, con- taining in all nearly 2000 separate pieces. Beginning at the head of the machine, which is sometimes called the business end, we find 110 pounds of wet gun cotton packed above a bronze partition. This cotton is inserted in the form of disks, which are pierced through their centers to make room for a little brass ecase of dry gun cotton priming. The front =nd of the dry gun cotton is pierced to receive the deton- ating primer, containing fulminate of mercury, and capped with a percussion cap. In front of the primer case is screwed a war nose, which operates automatically when'the torpedo strikes the target by driving the firing pin against the cap and so effecting a se- ries of explosions ending with the wet gun cotton. Back of the head is the flask. which occupies more than half the length of the machine. It is filled with air com- pressed 'to a pressure of 1350 pounds to the square inch, or to one-ninetieth of its ordinary volume. The escape of this air through a small valve leading to the engines and motors, placed in a compartment back of the flask, fur- nishes all the power for the locomotion of the machine. Between the flask and the engin2 there is a very important compartment containing the mechanism for auto- matically regulating the depth of im- mersion—keeping it constant accord- ing to a setting of the machine. This device was never patented, but was kept a secret, the details of it being sold to the various maritime nations. The principle of it is this: There are several apertures through the walls of the machine which a~e covered by dia- phragms on thin rubber, The pressure of the water outside, which increases with the depth, pushes these in- ward accordingly, and at the same time pushes pistons that rest behind the rubber diaphragms. The motion of the pistons is communi- cated to horizontal rudders, co that a slight deviation from the assigned depth will immediately inclinc them; and thus the machine jis raised or de- pressed as required. A pendulum sus- pended in the same compartment op- erates similarly to keep the machine in a horizontal position.—From “Tor- pedoes and Torpedo Warfare,” by Hud- son Maxim, in the American Monthly Review of Reviews for May. Answers to Queries. GENERAL'S PAY—S,, City. The pay of the lieutenant general of the United States army is $11,000 a year, or $916 67 a month. GASES—Subscriber, City. A cubic foot of air weighs 527 grains; of car- bonic acid, 800; of carburetted hydro- gen, 220; of hydrogen, 43, and of oxy- gen, 627, NOT IN THE BOOKS—H. C. C., Los Gatos, Cal. Nome of the printed California decisions are to the effect that a man in California dannot work for his board and that he must receive some money compensation for his ser- vices. PRESIDENTS — Subscriber, City. Those who have filled the Presidential chair of the United States who joined Freemasonry are Washington, Jack- son, Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan, John- son, Garfield, McKinley and Roose- velt. It is said that Fillmore re- canted. TRON-—Sub., Oakland, Cal. The foi- lowing is given as a method for distin- guishing wrought and cast iron from steel: “Apply a drop of nitrie aeid to the polished surface and allow it to re- main there for about two minutes, then wash off with water. The spot wili then look a pale, ashy gray on wrought fron, a brownish black on steel and a deep black on cast iron.” Tt is the car- bon present in various proportions that produces the difference in appearance. ———— Townsend's California Glace fruits in artistic fire-etched boxes. 715 Market st.* ——————