The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 22, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1904 : | ! Horrors of Robben Island. Epecial Correspondence. HEADQUARTERS OF THBE CALL, 5 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT | = 72 WORLD - + lcng, the Department of Agriculture having given its approval to the idea. | All that is needed is money, which | Congress will be asked to give. The animals, which are the largest of all antelopes, would be very valuable in the desert regions of the Southwest as | 2 source of meat supply. They require almost no water, are accustomed to; forage for themselves and are quite tractable. The eland is nearly six feet high at the shoulder when full grown and weighs 1600 pounds. It is not particu- larly swift (unlike most of its con- geners) and a man can sometimes over- take it by running. Its flesh is con- sidered a delicacy. Commonly it browses in herds in the waterless des- | erts of South Africa, to which it is na- tive, its ability to get along for months together without water being a mys- tery. To some extent, doubtless, it de- pends upon moisture derived from suc- culent plants, such as the wild water- melon. | There are two varieties of eland, onel being reddish in color and the other (known as the Livingston eland) striped. It is one of about 200 species of autelopes found in South Africa, where | nimals of this genus seem to have un-| | dergone’the most extraordinary differ-| GARDEN, LONDON, July §—Had it not been for the war and the state of | things political in this country at| present, undoubtedly more attentior would have been attracted by a grim y which came from South Africa | regarding the lepers on Robben Island, near Cape Town, for | | a man, who holds the head of the sup- s ac recalls vividly some of the | 208t grewsome pages of “Ben Hur.” Robben Island, re for many years the diseased outcasts from all South Africa have bee lated, invariably excites the curiosity of passengers o rival off Cape Town, and the re mention of it creates a feeling of ror in th It was in the Cape As- s one of the most cal men in South Africa, made astounding statements regarding conditions in the leper island. The doctor said he knew of between sixty and seventy persons condemned to a lifelong banishment there amid sur- roundings that were indescribable, but who in reality never had been a source of danger to any one and who would not be if allowed to go at large. In consequence the medical man said that he now refused to certify as lepers those only slightly affected, as he knew that to do so would be to banish them &t once and for life to the dread island. And Dr. Hewat instanced the case of @ man, who, after having been kept on the island for eight years as a leper, was finally discharged, it having been established conclusively that he had never been affected by leprosy at all. Then this practitioner went on to bring some amazing charges regarding the administration of the leper island. Patients sent to Robben for examina- tion, he maintained, received no con- sideration at ail at the hands of the advisory board there and were left amid awlul surroundings without hope. The members of this advisory board, the accuser continued, who should visit the isiand every three months, had, in fa only visited it four times in three ye In consequence of this neglect, he declared, the unfortunates on the island were dying like flies from tu- berculosis, due to overcrowding. When several members of the Cape Assembly, shocked by Dr. Hewat's statements, visited Robben Island the other day, they were met by a half- crazy wretch, who implored the vis- itors” help. A carpenter of Southamp- ton, England, he went to work at Kim- berley, contracted leprosy in a mild form and promptly was dragged off to the leper isiand. This was three months ago. He now has lost all trace of the disease, but is as much a pris- cner as if he were doing a life term of penal servitude. Meantime he is the more anxious to return to his family at Kimberiey, whom he has not seen since his confinement, as they are de- pendent upon what his son, who is only 15, can earn. Life on the island he described as most horrible. There are few books for the use of lepers, and they pass the dreary days in-musing on the terrible fate that has sent them there. This victim adds that the food supplied to the lepers is indifferent and the mode of serving it bad. The man’s statements now have been Incorporated in & Government blue book and his re- lease is likely, as well as an official in- vestigation into the conditions prevail- ipg on the leper island. Muysterious Mitchell. Epecial Correspondence. HEADQUARTERS OF THE CALL, 6§ HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, July 8.—Labor leaders here were somewhat astonished when they learned that John Mitchell of the Miners’ Union of the United States had arrived in England. They hed no warning of his approaching wisit, although they were aware that he was to attend the Miners’ Interna- tional Congress in August next at Paris. On his arrival Mr. Mitchell had no time to make an official pronounce- ment regarding the miners’ agitation in the United States, as he was in a hurry to see for the first time his an- cestors’ home in Ireland. The British Mine Owners’ Associa- tion view Mitchell's appearance in England with much alarm. They be- lieve that he has come over here to discuss the question of international co-operation with the Miners’ Federa- tion of Great Britain, and there is nothing the owners dread more than such 2 compact. Mr. Mitchell will visit the leading centers of the mining industry of England and Scotiand be- fore he returns to the United States. The ownere here believe, although they will not express the opinion publicly, that he has a mandate from the execu- tive of his union in America to bring about co-operation if it is practicable. Bo much alive, in fact, are proprie- tors in this country to the danger of the ‘situation that they are likely to send a delegation to the United States 2lmost immediately to discuss the subject with the owners’ federation there. Introducing Elands. - The introduction of elands into this country is likcly to be attempted. before minds of residents in the | e other day that Dr. Hewat, | prominent | | | | thrust through the neck. entiation. Some of them are the swift-| st runners of all animals, and certain | kinds are so wild and wary that hunt- ers cannot possibly get within gunshot of them unless by the help of what Is known as an artificial ostrich—a Hot- | tentot contrivance, consisting of the skin of an ostrich arranged to disguise osed bird aloft by means of a stick Elands are becoming scarce in South Africa. Though they seem fo be the| most desirable species for importation into this country, there are others which might be valuable—notably the springbok, which is a graceful creature less than three feet in height, of a beau- tiful fawn color, a prolific breeder and well suited to the conditions, climatic and otherwise, of the arid regions of Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California.—Saturday Evening Post. The Long-Distance Diplomat. John Barrett, the recently appointed Minister to the Argentine, and subse- quently transferred to Pajnama, is per- | haps the champion long-distance trav- eler of the diplomatic service. In the year just closed, while on a world-tour- ing mission as Commissioner General for the St. Louis Exposition, he cover- ed not less than 50,000 miles. The year previous he went to South America as delegate to the Pan-American Con- gress. In 1901 he traveled the United States, addressing the most important Chambers of Commerce in the county. In 1900 he went around the world. In 1899 he traveled from the Philippines to Viadivostok, to Japan and through In- dia. The year previous he spent in the Philippines and along the Chinese coast, a frequent and much-sought guest at important social and commer- cial functions in the Anglo-Chinese cities of Asia. Previous to '88, as Min- ister to Siam, he visited the important cities of the East, and before entering the diplomatic service he traveled around the world as a newspaper cor- respondent. His feats as an earth- girdler were but incidental to the build- ing up of a successful career, physical vital and an active brain. Mr. Barrett is a man who does things. He is an eloquent and con- vincing public speaker, a forceful writ- er and a public spirited, aggressive American, loyal to the highest ideals of citizenship. He is the kind of a man Roosevelt likes and the sort of an| American that adds luster to the dip- lomatic service—an athletic, robust, strenuously intellectual and vigorously active twentieth century American.— The Outing. Novel Club for Women. An honor has been paid to Mrs. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, author of “The Givers,” by her appointment as a mem- ber of the committee representing the United States in the new Lyceum Club, Piccadilly, London. The club is for women only and it is the plan eventu- ally to have branches in other coun- tries. To have obtained a situation in Piccadilly itself is a triumph for the women described as “the energetic and powerful founders of the Lyceum.” One of the most difficult problems the club has had to face has been to meet the requirements of all its members, who include women of wealth as well as those who earn their own livelihood. That this problem has been met is evi- dent in many directions. For instance, luncheon is served for as little as nine- pence, or for three shillings. Or a mem- ber may dine for fifteen pence, or may dine herself and entertain one friend for half a sovereign. Muslc, art, a fine information bureau and other features, beautiful or merely practical, will com- bine to make the club the finest women’s organization in the world. Another distinguished American woman who is on the committee representing the United States is Miss Jeannette L. Gilder. Scouting by Telephone. “Scouting with the aid of the tele- phone has become one of the features of modern warfare and is now “being made use of by the Japanese,” says the Western Electrician. “Two scoutal proceed from the lines toward the ene- my; one, the observer, is a skilled army officer, who makes the observa- tions, which are transmitted back to headquarters through a telephone line paid out from a reel carried by an elec- trician of the signal corps. A ground return is used, the ground being made by thrusting a bayonet or hatchet into the earth and attaching one end of the line to it. The electrician carries a bat- tery on his back. He also makes the connections and does the talking. A special conductor is used, which will stand the rough usage. In this man- ner a scout may be able to stay out a long time and give valuable informa- tion without being obliged to make a number of hazardous trips to the front.” e o g Advertfking the shortcomings of oth- ers does not help us to dispose of our own. : W | produced a strong flour. ITHE SAN PRANCISCO GALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor . . .« . .. .. . Address All Communications to JOHN McNAUGHT, Manager Publication OMce ............ ST rteeeesttiiiiiiiiiieisiaseaes saeeses onsss . Third and Market Streets, S. F. FRIDAY B S R R W DR R A A JULY 22, 1904 THE WHEAT PROBLEM. HEAT growers and millers are rallying to ac- tion in the solution of the wheat problem. The matter, as far as it has advanced, illustrates the mighty change that science has wrought in the arts re- lated to the soil. The French settlers in Louisiana de- voted themselves exclusively to the production of in- digo. That crop was profitable and the prosperity of the province rested upon it. But a disease and a para- site attacked the indigo plant and an awful calamity fell upon rural Louisiana. It was then that the planters, after they were practically ruined, turned to sugar-cane and rice. That was long ago. Had it happened now there would have been no surrender to insects or disease. In the far Creole days nothing was known about vegetable pathology or the use of beneficial insects to destroy and exterminate their predaceous brethren. Now we over- come phylloxera with resistant grape vines. We medi- cate plants that are beset by fungoid diseases, and we clean California orchards of scale by the use of insects, and we fight the Texas cotton weevil to a finish by im- pBrting ants from Guatemala. We take a beet and breed it to find saccharine in the soil, just as we breed a dog to find quail in the chaparral. In the lexicon of ag- riculture there is no such word as “fail.” When the first settlers plowed the prairies of Ne- braska their corn was regularly destroyed every year by the early frost. When it was demonstrated that the season was too short to mature that staple crop the ad- vance guard of civilization began to fall back, beaten by General Frost. In this emergency appeared a greater leader than General Frost in the person of J. Sterling Morton. He called a halt in the retreat from the fron- tier and told the routed settlers that what they needed was “a ninety-day corn.” “How will we get it?” howled the discouraged and defeated plowmen. “Breed it,” shouted the master of men,and breed he did, although in that distant day little was understood and nothing had been printed about breeding plants for a specific purpose. He gave to Nebraska a ninety-day corn, that was ready for the husker three months after the planter put the seed in the ground, and so saved the State to settlement and civilization. California is at a crisis in wheat growing. In other days we would drop that ¢rop entirely and find a sub- stitute for it as the Creoles did for indigo. But the times have changed. Agriculture no longer surrenders to conditions. It improves them or creates new ones. Yrom the discussion of the failure of gluten in our wheat, making necessary the admixture of 20 per cent of the gluten wheats of Kansas or Dakota to produce a strong and merchantable flour, a few things are plainly apparent. When our wheat made a large yield and grew strongly on new land it contained abundant gluten and As the land is successively cropped and the yield per acre falls the gluten falls with it and its place is taken by starch and we get a weak flour. Irrigation has been tried to induce a more vigorous growth. But experience proves that irrigation pro- duces a “punky” wheat, very inferior and with no in- crease in gluten. When fresh seed is used, imported from outside, the first crop is satisfactory in its gluten content and after that comes a decline. As we cannot afford to abandon wheat growing, as it is to be always the main crop on our non-irrigable lands, the crisis is real and must be met with all the weapons of warfare furnished by modern science. It is demonstrated that gluten is a variable quantity in our wheat. When the plant is most vigorous it has the most gluten. The les- son is obvious. Reinforce the vigor of the plant. If Nebraska could breed a corn so quick and vigorous in growth that it could clear the frost in ninety days we can find a wheat with its assimilative system strong enough to get a due percentage of gluten out of the soil, but we must do this by artful fertilization, fallowing and all the other methods for promoting plant vigor. We cannot go abroad and find a wheat that carries 50 per cent gluten and plant it in the expectation that it will continue to produce that much gluten, for it will not. Fresh seed and fertilization seem to point to a solution of this most interesting problem which the State Board of Trade has brought into focus. The millers have sup- plied the means needed to begin the necessary experi- ments. It is a matter that goes straight to every home in the State aside from its commercial feature. Everybody eats bread, in the sweat of his own face or that of some one else, and we demand our daily bread with less starch and more gluten, for our people want more muscle and less fat. Without wheat an appreciable percentage of California land will be deprived of a profitable crop and our export trade will suffer if we can send out no wheat nor flour. Having made a bid for a niche in the temple of literary fame with their ambitious offering, “Health Hints for the Household,” the members of the Board of Health have made the harrowing discovery that the child of their literary labor must go out into the world without the names of its parents. Let us congratulate the men of pills and pellets. They will be as glad in a week or so over the omission as we are and will look upon it as a kindly intervention of fate for the protection of their good name. O fruit of this State is poured surprises promise to come of such a nature that we shall be under the necessity of finding new names to fit the luscious novel- ties that are to tempt our palates. More than that, we are to know strange perfumes and our eyes are to look upon forms of beautiful flowers never heretofore beheld by man. We shall have plums with a pineapple, banana or Bartlett pear flavor, as we prefer, with the same ease we now order our choice of icecream soda in a candy shop. We can have quince with pineapple trimmings, cherries with plum odor, or blackberries with raspberry fragrance, if we do not care for our fruit “straight.” All of these wonders are promised on the word of Ed- ward J. Wickson, professor of agricultural practice of the University of California, as the result of successful experiments which have been made by Luther Burbank. Professor Wickson pays a beautiful tribute to Burbank in an illustrated pamphlet just reprinted from the Sunset Magazine. In it is given an interesting account of the magyels the scientist has accomplished as a result of his year$ of experiments at Santa Rosa. In his leading out into an unknown field, untrammeled by rules or prece- dents, the author likens Burbank to Darwin. He says Californians do not know or appreciate the earnest, pa- BURBANK’S CREATIONS. UT of the prodigal cornucopia from which the tient man who has been working so constantly and quiet- ly in their midst and that while they are pleased to call him the “Wizard of Horticulture,” from his startling in- novations in fruits, vegetables and plants, his legerde- main has been made possible only after a Job-like pa- tience accompanied by constant study and experiment. Among the most startling of Burbank’s successes is the anomally of a white blackberry, resembling clusters of pearls. More marvelous still are a2 number of varie- ties of stoneless plums. Professor Wickson says of them: “The kernel is fully developed, but naked—no hard substance intervenes between it and the pulp. To “take up a plum and bite through it without hesitation re- quires education, so strong is the conception of the dan- gr involved, but to bite freely and find the flavor en- hanced by the nutty savor of the kernel brings reward in the new sensation which the palate experiences.” Another of Burbank’s creations is what he has named the “plum-cot,” a new fruit, the offspring of the plum and zpricot. He has developed a giant prune, new styles in berries and even provided vegetable monstrosities. In wiriting of his friends, the fruits and flowers, Burbank says: “We have learned that they are as plastic in our hands as clay in the hands of the potter or color on the artist’s canvas and can readily be molded into more beau- tiful forms and colors than any painter or sculptor can ever hope to bring forth.” l Enterprising correspondents who are now making and unmaking generals and giving to the world the bloodi- est battles in its history should have a care lest they reach the limit of their resources and of our credulity. They have already killed enough on both sides to tres- pass on the lives of the combined Russian and Japanese battle of lurid quilldrivers we will be facing the ludicrous condition of more men dead than were alive. . M the United States army contributes to the cur- rent number of Sunset a short but fairly com- prehensive statement of the general character of the maieuvers that are to take place in August at the grand encampment near Paso Robles. The statement makes clear the fact that the gathering of volunteers and regu- lars is not to be for any holiday outing, but for serious work in solving certain important war problems that cannot be so well learned in any other way. In describing the course of instruction to be given during the maneuvers Major Gillette says the trpops will be employed in “practicing that part of the art of war that lies beyond the drill ground and the target range,” and adds: “The art of operating in the vicinity of an enemy can best be learned by actual work in the field. To camp in safety, to march so as not to be surprised or ambushed, to be always ready to take an advantageous position if attacked, to protect communications and wagon trains, to arrange the movements of artillery, cavalry and infantry so as not to interfere with each other and yet be always ready for attack or defense, to make hasty intrenchments, to improvise bridges and roads, to interpret maps and to make reconnoissances, and in general to learn the handling of troops in the field, are some of the things to be undertaken.” Instruction in such matters is, of course, of vital im- portance in military training, and it would avail but little to volunteers to know how to drill with precision and to shoot straight if they did not know these other things as well. It is to be desired therefore that as many members of the guard as possible should take part in th& encamp- ment to profit by association with the regulars in the maneuvers. Such being the case it is the duty of employers who have members of the guard in their employ to grant them ample leave of absence for the encampment. It is certainly to the interest of all business men that the military efficiency of the guard be increased to the ut- termost, and there is no better means of doing that than is provided by the proposed maneuvers. The matter in- deed is one of concern to the republic itself and no em- ployer should stand in the way to prevent a member of the guard from taking part in the exercises, which, as Major Gillette says, “should not only provide an excel- lent outing for the forces engaged, but should furnish an experience to our officers and men that would be of incal- culable value to our country in time of war.” THE COMING MANEUVERS. AJOR GILLETTE of the corps of engineers of The automobile has taken another desperate fall out of our declining store of romance. General Chaffee has adopted the motor car and seated in one of them re- viewed his troops recently. What will we do now to perpetuate the images of our military heroes? How would General Chaffee look done in stone, his graven image rising majestically from a choo-choo car rather than sitting in command on the back of his prancing charger? T tered from 52 to 66 degrees, with perfectly ideal weather, while climatic conditions on the other side of the continent were distressing. In New York City the temperature was an even 100. Twelve deaths were re- ported on account of the intense heat and scores of peo- ple were prostrated and taken to hospitals. Hundreds of others not on the hospital records were stated as being in a critical condition and the expectations are for a greater death list unless the awful heat moderates. In St Louis the, papers are recording how lightning struck the Mexican National Pavilion, the Baltimore papers are warning the inhabitants to clean up to avoid the dreaded malaria which will surely follow the exces- sive heat, and the Philadelphia press is rejoicing over the ability of the people again to obtain ice on Sunday to prevent further infant mortality, an attempt having been made under an old statute to stop the Sunday sale of that commodity. Californians have sometimes been criticized for the pride they feel in their climate, but at a time like the present when it is almost cruel to make comparisons it will be evident their contentions are justified. EASTERN WEATHER. HE thermometer in this city on Tuesday regis- If any one doubted that China is striving to enroll her- self among the progressive nations of the twentieth cen- tury and to drink at the fountain of Western eiviliza- tion, let the doubt resolve itself into the certainty of posi- tive assertion that the Flowery Kingdom has at last sat up and is taking keen notice of what is best in the world. Fifteen high class Chinese youths, dominated by a high purpose, have come among us to be educated in our col- leges of learning, and we share their opinion that they have chosen the best in the world. ' occupants of Manchuria. If any more be killed in this | TALK OF THE TOWN | i | | ; The End of the Rainbow. “Yes, the prospect of success is often red and glowing enough to make a man begin to figure on just how many automobiles he is going to puy Wwith the money.” The reformed grub- stake prospector bit contemplatively into a slab of “chewing” and con- tinued in a volce hushed through veneration for memories passed. ‘““Before I broke into the newspaper business I was for many years what vou might call a wandering lamb on the heartless deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. - Sometimes I had some- thing to eat—other times I did not; one may live on very little down where the Gila flows. At the time I have in mind I was eating some. “A galoot had come into Bisbee with some chunks of rock that looked very good to myself and my partner in iniquity and sorrow. He said that he knew where there was more of it seventy miles away out where it was hot, so we grubstaked him and told him. to go to it and might God have mercy on his soul. “About three weeks from that time I was sitting on the commodious ver- anda of the Blind Luck saloon when a fellow rode in and handed me a mes- sage from the poor devil who was broiling out there on the sandy sands. It read: ‘Struck a regular veln— widens as she goes down; high-grade sulphurets. There is a big thing in sight. Need some burro shoes and half a keg of No. 4 iron washers." ““Well, upon reading that note I de- cided that I was already a rich man. I consequently went over and dug my partner out of a phony three-card game, told him the good news and we started out to buy those burro shoes and washers. “You could not understand if I ex- plained to you just what they put In their whisky down there; it has the color of whisky and tastes like a strong solution of radium. Some call it ‘squirrel’ because you feel like a tree is the only safe place for you after you have been absorbing a gill or 80 of this beverage. “But I digress. My partner and I bought the fellow out at our mine three kegs of burro shoes—he only ®ad two of the beasts—and 250 pounds of iron washers—all they had at the hardware emporium. Then we pur- chased and paid cash for a large, double-walled, three compartment ice safe, had it taken apart and packed upon three burros and shipped out to him. He had to go a mile and a half to get plain water I might add and the nearest ice was in the State Just north. “Did the mine pan? Would I be do- ing $3 details if it had?" 4 Carolina Gem. How on earth the following beautiful gem from a North Carolina singer ever escaped the notice of the editor of The Century Magazine will be the marvel of the century. Listen to him: “'Twas a beautiful night in the month of May, That marked the close of a lovely day, And the moon shone down with a holy light On the sleeping city fair and bright. “Such was the case, yet strange to think 'Tis all concerning Mr. Swink— Concerning he and his wife so bright And a ’Cot:xéord burglar on a moonlight nig “When he the Book of Life had read, In humble prayer he bowed his head, While long petitions scaled the sky, His loving wife was kneeling by. “‘Now I lay me down to sleep; May Cl;xlrlst the Shepherd guard his sheep, And watch them with unsleeping eyes Till they shall meet him in the skies. “When he his humble prayers 'had said He hung his trousers on the bed And kissed his wife a sweet good night And closed his eyes on the moon so bright. “And the goddess of sleep with her sil- very wings Unfolded the future of happy things, While an unknown man with a great long pole Hooked his breeches with skill untold.” —Atlanta Constitution. For Cleaner Paper. On Sunday, July 10, there appeared in the columns of The Call a para- graph upon the disease laden sources whence came the rags that are made into our finest note paper. The fol- lowing comment Upon this condition, sent in the form of a communication by a reader, contains a very excellent suggestion for a remedy: OAKLAND, July 20. Editor of The Call—Dear Sir: Cannot something be done about it? The inclosed cutting from The Call ought to suggest the starting of a new industry in California. Two or three years ago I was in Ukiah when a man came around to buy old rubber and tin oil cans. The lady of the house asked him to’/buy rags, too, saying she had three bags of clean rags, mostly dressmaker’s cuttings. ‘‘No,” he re- plied, “I tried that once; it does not pay. Filthy rags are brought from Hamburg and delivered at the mills cheaper than I can freight them from Cannot the railroad be induced to make special rates to encourage sav- ing of tons of good paper material that are now burned? Respectfully, MISS L. J. REEVES. An Itinerant Thomas. In the general offices of the Detroit Southern Railway in Springfield, Ohio, is a much petted tom cat that for- merly resided in Detroit. Tom is a veritable feline hobo. Just as train No. 2 was about to pull out of the Detroit station a few days ago Tom appeared, carrying a mouse between his teeth, as though provisioned for a Journey. He disappeared under a car and was forgotten. When the train reached Lima, Ohio, 156 miles from De- troit, strange sounds attracted the crew to the front part of the train. It was Thomas, calling for a drink. Seated upon the truck he had ridden the en- tire distance from Detroit. In vain did the traln men coax the little traveler to come off his perch. —_—— SRS Bt IHe simply drew himself together and spat at them. Meantime several pas- sengers had alighted to see what was the matter, and Thomas finally conde- scended to accept an Invitation to ac- company a gentleman who rode In a parlor car. With deliberate caution he climbed down from the truck, bringing with him the remains of his larder—the half-eaten body of a mouse. In the parlor car Thomas curled him- self up in a cushioned chair, washed his grimy face and went to sleep. Con- ductor Willlam Lockard Insists that the intelligent beast planned the journey, bringing the mouse along for lunch. Thomas is a fine Maltese and has found a home In the company’s offices.—De- troit News. Defense of Mexico. Mexico is thinking about a new navy, is taking some of the preliminary steps and is also laying out quite extended pians of fortification to be carried on through a period of years as her fin- ances will afford it. Her engineers are preparing plans for a modern fortress on San Juan de Ulloa Island, just out- side of Vera Cruz harbor, a site now occupied by the old military prison, and it is expected that the work will be be- gun this year. Defenses for other ports on the gulf and the Pacific coasts are also in contamplation and will be begun later, not because of any urgent pres- ent need of them, but to Be ready and fitted up with all modern improvements in case they should at any time be wanted. Remembers Waterloo. Born in the last year of the eight- eenth century, and therefore aged 15 when the battle of Waterloo was fought, Mme. Veuve Dupuis, who Iis still hale and hearty, was a guest of honor at the unveiling of Gerome's monument, the Wounded Eagle, on tha scene of the struggle of glants. Her one wish, to travel to the battlefleld in a motor car, was gratified. She did not, however, remain long away from her residence at Chapelle-les Herlain- court, as she did not know how her “boys,” aged 80 and 78, would get on It cannot be said that without her. her memories of Waterloo are very complete or distinct. All she recollects is that she heard at the time of thijeves cutting off wounded officers’ fingers to steal their rings.—New York Tribune. Answers to Queries. SAN JOSE TOWER—S., City. The height of the electric tower in San Jose is 198 fest. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION — M. K., City. No election for Presidential electors will be held in 1904 in any of the Territories of the United States. VENICE—S. P, City. Venice, also called Venedig, is a fortified city and seaport In the northern part of Italy on the northwestern fringe of the Ad- riatic. THE MINT—A Reader, City. The time of the opening of the United States branch mint in San Francisco was given in this department July & of this year. DR. ORD—Subseriber, City. Dr. J. L. Ord, at one time a well knmown United States army surgeon, statiomed at the Presidio, and brother of Gen- eral O. C. Ord, died in Hagerstown, Md., October 3, 1898. DEATH OF TERRY—Thomas B., City. The killing of David S. Terry by David Neagle, a United States Dep- uty Marshal, after he had made an as- sault on Supreme Justice 8. J. Fleld, :::umd at Lathrop, Cal, August 14, 9. NAVAL WARFARE—O. T. R, City. It was on the 3d of July, 187§, that there was a display on the bay to illustrate naval warfare. The at- tack was by the Pensacola, the James- town, the Camanche and the Ports- mouth, on a dummy representing, an ironclad and anchored off Arch Rock, which rock has since been blown out of existence. This was a part of the centennial anniversary celebration. ICH DIEN—M. H., Los Gatos, Cal The following is given as the origin of Ich Dien, the motto of the English Prince of Wales: “Edward the First conquered the people of Wales after a long and stubborn fight on the part of the latter. To win the favor of | these unwilling subjects he promiséd to give them for a ruler a prince born in Wales who could net speak a word of English. A few days after this promise was made the English queen— then staying at Carnarvon, Wales, to be near the king—gave birth to a son, and this infant the king brought be- fore the assembly of the people, say- ing to them in Welsh, ‘Eich Dyn, meaning, ‘bevond the man.' Whether this be true or not, it is a fact of his- tory that the young English prince was at that time and under those cir- cumstances born in Wales and from this fact the heir apparent to the throne of England has ever since held the title of the Prince of Wales.” —_——— Townsend's California Glace. fruits in artistic fire-etched boxes. 715 Market st.* ——em. business houses and -~ pul men by t Press Cl! '), - pping gvm (Allen’ l)liaa.l