The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 29, 1904, Page 8

THE SANFRANCISCOCALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS.........cc. +ecsecsssessmosrsonsssaons 3 e ™ vesssarsraraess NOVEMBER 23, 1904 THE RIVER -PROBLEM. HERE is a preliminary outgiving by one of the official engi- neers now attending the final conference at Sioux City to the effect that hydraulic mining caused the floods in Californfa and that rectification requires the raising of artificial banks 1 the exertion of the whole scouring foree of the streams deposit of slickens in the channels. The cost of this work t $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. It is not time to fully comment roposed until the engineers have published their report, probable that this preliminary statement expresses the con- clusion that will be reached. It is probable because most of the en- gineers have been employed on the levee work of the Mississippl River, and are familiar with that plan of river control. L § river: on any plan 1 T t 1t 18 prot The statement of the cause of our California floods promises tor renew in some form the contention between the miners and the| valley landholders. To many the foreshadowed conclusion will be a disappointment, since it will put the issue upon a single and a narrow basis. 1f, however, the rivers formerly carried all the floods in their channels and between their banks, before hydraulic mining sent down slickens, the cause stated may be accepted as correct and the solution of the trouble will require merely the deepening of the channels to their former depths. Jut is it true that there were no floods before hydraulic mining? If so, our hydrography is indeed remarkable. There is no disagree- ment that mining ated the floods, by raising the bottom of he channel. Vi of water that the rivers carried between ir banks in their primitive condition overtaxed their capacity when nels were raised, compelling the corresponding raising of e levees along the Bear, Yuba, Feather and Sacra- %ie rivers formerly carry within their banks such last spring is the question. We think they did v nk they will when their channels are scoured to e depth. Such scouring will increase their carrying will take care of freshets that now spill over, but there aining a considerable watershed that holds all the flood agora aggra Rivers are land builders. The Mississippi in its primitive state s a land build The silt that it carried built all the land from r above New Orleans to the present shore of the Gulf of Mexico. re is no mining alternately fill up their own chan se their banks with the silt they carry, until finally they the ridge formed by their own action and flow through nd to build it up in turn. The mining slickens carried into ornia rivers was an artificial acceleration of the process of . and it inflicted such injury upon the permanent in- re as to justify the legal steps taken to force its s where t But there were floods before slickens, and there will be floods after the deposit is taken from the channels. To say, therefore, that such removal will end the trouble is to be optimistic in the face of facts older than hydraulic mining. If the engineers determine to clear the channel by raising the banks, it should not be left to the slow process of scouring. Pump dredges can transfer the slickens from the channel to the banks, converting it into a levee, that will require the use of no other material. Or the pump dredges can t ns from the channel and spread it upon the low land, ding it up at a distance from the river. This process is fa- r to all who have seen the filling of the salt marshes around th material pumped from its bottom. Some plan of that sort would raise the banks more cheaply than can be done by taking the material from the dry land, as had to be | the case of the great levees on Feather River. But, as for n question, the cause of the floods, and the whole cause or tion of causes, must be considered and known before they can and it may prove a futile conclusion if hydraulic mining 1sed of the whole trouble. That it is to be 'blamed for some ke the slic B WV n a large sized problem, bequeathed maybe to the pro- essors of the present engineers. e two engineering opinions as to the efficacy of raising the bank 2 stream to compel it to cleanse its channel. There are engineers who contend that the bottom of the Mississippi River s steadily risen with its banks, and that these have to be con- raised higher to restrain the water. In spite of all that e that river defies control by levees, and from the Sny ksburg it breaches its confining walls and makes havoe s of acres of tilled land. We are glad that something is | g for our rivers, and the whole or partial plans reached by thé | commission will be supported, we know by public sentiment, and we hope by adequate appropriations, Federal and State. THE AUBURN TRAGEDY. . circumstances so far developed in the murder of the Weber mily at Auburn, preceded several months by the bold daylight bery of the Auburn bank, both crimes being ascribed to the same person, make a case without parallel in our criminal annals. The horror inspired by the crimes of parricide and fratricide is al- most lost in the study which the case offers to the criminologist and 1st. T'he ty-wvear-old boy, who stands accused of entering a bank masked, br aylight, and successfully escaping with a spoil of $5000 ore in gold coin. He seized a horse and cagf and escaped. Leav- ing the horse and’vehicle in the road*to run” away, he took to the brush in a canyon, made a detour and returned to the road, where he met the pursuing officers and went his way unsuspected. The dis- overy last Wednesday of the money buried under a cowshed on the of his murdered parents finishes a chain of circumstantial evi- e, in which the other links are furnished by handwriting ex- perts, and resemblance in stature and action to the robber during the brief time afforded for observation while he was in the bank. Now come speculations as to the motive for the murder of every member of his family, with which he stands charged by the Coroner’s jury and the committing magistrate. His demeanor has been curious in the extreme. Without emotion in the presence of the charred dead of his family and during the preliminary examination maintaining an attitude of interest such as would become a disin- terested spectator, if innocent he is the most singular and unfortu- nate of men, and if guilty he is the most remarkable criminal in all | history. Apparently of weakly physique, in bad health, his nutri- tion deficient, yet his will is of steel and his cunning oi an acute | type. He seems to have made no slight study of criminal law, he | apparently understands the necessity that his prosecutors prove an adequate motive for the murder of his family. When the warrant | charging him with the bank robbery was served he merely said: “Is | that all? T supposed you had found a motive for the murders.” This shows that he had studied his case with considerable profundity, and is far from being ignorant of his technical legal defense. Lawyers and students of the criminal and abnormal will find in his case something entirely new, Experience has exhausted the | incidents of erotic crime. In the Durrant case we had an example of that which went to the limit of that field. But here we have a| case in which psychopathy ~uts no figure, in which robbery of a bank | was not induced by any physical necessity, and parricide and frat- ricide are charged, lacking 2ll of the ordinary motives for murder. The officials of Placer County, in handling this and presenting the evidence, are furnishing to the school of broso and Nordau material fér digestionfand arrangement that add an entirely new chz]pter to their researches on the subject of degeneracy and abnor- mal man. o mmwonmotma:‘a;muhammdww. He | hes certainly lightened the work: census enumerators of two countries.— | Washington Post. » o I de circumstances and the evidence all point to the guilt of a | TUESDAY +* FLORINES AMULET BY INA WRIGHT HANSON. FOUND Fiorine by the tea table on the veranda, gazing dreamily into her oup. She wore my roses in the | belt of her white gown and in her bronze hair. For some time I had not dared to approach Florine with- out being fortified with disagreeable | | speeches. Otherwise I should have been | | guilty of proposing to her. Considering | t her monthly inco: was quite | equal to my annual one, & proposal of | marriage from me would have been | palpably absurd. I sighed, and my sigh aroused Florine. “Oh, I'm glad it's you,” she sald brightly., “I saw a visitor in my tea cup.” I frowned and took & chair on the other side of the table. “I wish you wouldn't,” I said. “Wouldn't what? Give you a cup of tea? Are you afraid it will hurt your complexion?”’ Her tone was bantering, but her eyes | had a hint of concern in their violet | depths. I looked away as I answered: “The other night at ‘Pit’ you turned your chair around three times, and then when you lost you attributed it to the misplacing of your rabbit foot.” “I did make a mistake,” she sald gravely. “It wasn't the rabbit foot—it was the day. Wednesday is my un- lucky day.” “If you keep on folks will think you are weak-minded,” I cantinued, keeping my gaze carefully from the dangerous | charm of her facé. “I have actually | heard it sald that you wear an amulet.” | Florine was silent eo long that 1 was compelled to glance at her. She was re- | garding me with what might be termed a complex look. Her mouth was dim- pled with smiles, her lifted brows were derisive, but her eyes were troubled. I ignored the eyes. “This superstition business detracts | from your real worth,” I went on re- lentlessly. “It is the flaw in the dia- mond, the blight in the rose, the—the—" “Fly in the ointment?” she suggested politely. “To have it told around that you wear an amulet!” I reiterated in fine scorn. Then Florine laughed. When Florine | laughs— | “You poor old dear!” she exclaimed as soon as she was able, “I don’t be- lieve you have the ghost of an idea what an amulet is!™ I was solid on that score, for I had ust learned the definition from the Standard Dictionary. ““‘An object, usually & peculiar bit of stone, metal, bone, paper, wood or the | | like, worn by superstitious people as a | | protection agains{ witchcraft, bad luck, | disease, accidents, etc. A charm—'" “‘Oh, don’t!” she choked. “You are too | absurd.”” Then she went off into an- | other gale of laughter. | *“I don’t see where the absurdity comes in,” I retorted. “If that isn't an amufet, then what is it?” I supped my tea with dignity while Florine recovered herself. “I knew a girl once who wore an| | amulet,” she said at last. “It was the—| well—the plcture of somebody she liked.” Picture—ah! | Adonis, neither was I afraid of break- | | ing the camera, but for one reasoh or | | another I had faced a photographer. | Plcture, was 1t? Was she the girl, I wondered. “It wasn” i To be sure, I wasn't an bone, metal, stone, paper | nor wood,” she went on. “And she | dldn’t wear {t as a protection against anything. She just wore it because she | liked it—because she liked the man | whose picture was in it.” “It wasn’t an amulet, then,” I said, setting down my cup. / “It was an amulet,” contradicted Florine. “Unimaginary folks get their definitions out of the dictionary. Other people—" “How about a walk?” I intexyupted. I couldn’t even pretend to be disagree- able any longer; neither could I muster up determination enough to Jeave her— lovely, laughing sprite that she was. ! } J “Well, go on,” she commanded. —r——————————p ]Perhum there was less danger in walk- ng. “But I'm going to have another call- er,” she demurred. “Did you see him in your tea cup?’ I asked. “No, I see him at the gate,” she laughed, “although he may be coming to see mamma—he is very fond of 5 mamma. Possibly I shall be at the: summer house soon.” It was clearly a dare, and I took it. I went to the summer house. Around the summer house are trees and flowers; in front is a miniature lake, a beautiful place, but a dangerous one when a man | o \ pose Florine should think that my find- ing the amulet influenced my declara-| tion—that it was an affalr of honor, so to speak? I laid the locket carefully under a small fir and went back to the summer-house. I was scarcely seated when Florine came flying down the path, her flimsy gown floating like a lovely white cloud around her. “You can laugh, or you can scold; I don't care!” she asserted tearfully. did wear an amulet, but now it's gon She sat down by me and dabbed her pretty eves with a square inch of lace-edged linen. I neither laughed nor scolded. I be- gan telling her a story. “Once upon a time there lived a beau- tiful princess, adored by eyery ome. In her court was a man, neither rich nor overwise, but loving her, he thought, best of all. She accused him of having no imagination, and maybe he had none; but he saw in the sunset gold of the princess’ hair, in every blue flower hue of her eyes, in every purling streamlet the music of her laughter. Often he criticised the princess, al- though to hifn she was perfect—" “What did he do it for then?" cried Florine. “He had a mighty purpose.” Florine giggled. I looked at her sus- plclously, but she made another dab at her eyes, so I went on: “For all his harsh words he repented in sackcloth and ashes, and when the day of his repentance was over he kneit on the ground at her feet—" “Oh, no!” corrected Florine: “He might have taken rheumatism or some- thing.” Were ever eyes so blup or lips so sweet? I plunged ahead recklessly. “He took her little hand in his,” suit- ing actlon-to the word, “and put his| n{m around her so and kissed her like this—" “How dare you?’ said Florine very softly. “I don’t dare,” I answered meekly. “I was only showing you what the man did who belonged In the court of the princess.” “Well, go on,” she commanded. “I can’t. “Why?* “I don’t know what ti.» princess did| after all—after that,” I sighed, although looking at Florine hopefully. She smiled. ““Oh, the princess sald, T have lost my amulet, and I can never see happi- ness without it: so, methinks, I will publish a decree that to him who find- eth it will I give his heart’s desire.” ” “Describe the amulet, O princess. “The decree should state that the | amulet is inclosed within a case of gold | shaped like my loving heart and set around with rubles like drops of my | Charles H. Lombard has resumed his | delightful Sunday afternoon “at homes.” Last Sunday his special guests were Miss Marie Withrow and Miss Eva ! Withrow, and emong the guests who were bidden to meet them were Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Foster of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. John Sayre Crawley, Mr. and “T| Mrs. Merschfelder, Mr. and Mrs. Adol- phus Graupner, Miss Adeline Knapp. Miss Ednah Robinson, Mrs. Alice Ham- | iton, Eric Julihn and Frederick Big- gerstaff. These gatherings, though of an informal nature, include chiefly the able representatives of art's several branches—musicians, painters, expo- nents of the drama and writers. These assemblies—usually of one cult at a time—are exceptionally charming, for | reason feasts and souls flow unrestrain- edly and with ease. . | Mrs. Eleanor Brown and Miss Ade- | laide Brown of Los Angeles are in San Francisco for the winter, having apart- | ments at the Hotel Cecil. Mrs. Brown |18 a sister of Mrs. Hancock Banning land of Mrs. Le Moyne Wills (Susan | Patton). Miss Adelaide Brown will be bridesmalid at the wedding of Miss Ella Clark and Henry C. Lee, which takes | place on December 7. o> Among the speakers at a dinner given in New York recently to Mr. and Mrs. | Wallace Irwin were Ethel Watts Mum- | ford, John Kendrick Bangs and Israel Zangwill. R e | Ben Greet will address the faculty | and students of Mills College this after- |noon in Lisser Hall at 2:30 oclock. There is much pleasurable anticipa- | tion concerning the event. .. & | Mr. ana Mrs. Leopold Michels enter- tained at dinner at the St. Francis last Saturday evening. Covers were laid for ten. Mme. Gadski will appear In concert at the St. Francis on December 20. S D | Invitations have been issued by the Misses Theobald of 1923 Plerce street | for a large card party to be given on | December 3. . ¥ . . The ball to be given Miss Anita | Harvey by Mrs. Eleanor Martin on | Friday evening will be preceded by has no right to tell what sometimes|own heart's blood; that the amulet is a dinner at the St. Francis, given by dims his eyes and Impedes his speech. As I sat down something at my feet caught my eye. I picked it up. It was a heart-shaped locket set with rubies. | It flew open in my hand, disclosing two | scraps of cloth, but cloth—I examined the pieces with some interest, especlally | as I noticed that my monogram graced the upper one. They were two corners | from one of my handkerchiefs evident- ly; anyway it was my monogram., ‘When my eyes fell on the other plece a bewildering lot of thoughts chased through my brain; for that plece bore my profile, traced cleverly in purple) ink. Florine's amulet—a ‘‘plcture of a man she liked!” No more letting a pal- try fortune stand between us if she really cares—and It must be she cares, or— ‘When I got this far I jumped up and started joyfully for Florine’s presence. Then another idea assailed me. Sup- Y :—_MlRROR OF DAME FAS HION e | | = i 2 Ly | A Modish Party or Matinee Frock for Young Girl. It Is Made of Cream Voile Over Cream Silk and Trimmed With Lace Flounces and Bands of Insertion in Self-Color. The Yoke Is of Tucked Cream Silk and the Sash Is of Deep Velvet Ribbon. Purple Guarding a Pagan Idol. In Pegu may be seen an English sentry keeping guard over a Burmese idol. The Burmese believe the idol is asleep and that when he awakes the end of the world will come. The sentry is there to prevent any one from entering the pagoda, which is his place of repose, and awakening him. His slumbers have lasted 6000 ) yeara. Songs for Motor Oyclists. A “Book of Songs for Motor-Cyelists" is being compiled by the German Mo- tor-Cycle Club. Prizes are offered for the six best ongs submitted. Coal Mine at University. A model coal mine—the first of its g:. scientific equipment of Birmingham of fine linen, marked with purple; that each separate llne stands for love, | trust, happiness; that all the lines to-| gether form the lineaments of—of—" Florine’s dark lashes rested upon very pink cheéks. She hesitated. “I go to search for the amule! nounced, rising. She looked at me approvingly. I peered under the step, made two short detours in the direction of the lake, then discovered it under a small fir tree. Florihe clapped her little hands. “How beautifully the story proceed: she cried, as sat down again to her my heart's desire. “I am wondering, though,” she mused a very long time afterward, “how the man came to find the amulet under a fir tree when the princess lost it in the summer house.” (Copyright, 1904, by Ina Wright Hanson.) t,” I an- ——% | and Mrs. William . A COMMONPLACE LIFE. “A com!g!nnplace life,” we say and we s But why should we sigh as we say? The commonplace sun in the common- place sky Makes up the commonplace day, The moon and the stars are commonplace ngs, And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings. But dlflrk were the world, and sad our ot, If the flowers should fail and the sun shine not— And God.lwho studies each separate sou Out of commonplace lives makes beautiful whole. —8usan Coolidge, in Philadelphia Ledger. KANSAS PHILOSOPHY. An awkward man In soclety usually a thoroughbred in business. There is no one so hopeless as those who do not make mistakes. The only case of overwork we know of, though many claim it, is that of the growler. A man can get sick now almost as easy as he can sin, and you all know how easy that is. is ‘When a man offers you a cigar, and | it purely as a| you know he is doin matter of courtesy, should you take or refuse it?—Atchison Globe. LATEST FROM RUSSIA. The imperial telephonJ jingled mer- Y. “Who is there?” demanded the Czar, wondering if it were possible for any one to shoot over the wire. “'Pis I,” cried Kuropatkin. “What is the news?” “I had to run all night.” “Bah! 'Tis nothing! I had to walk all night.” “You?” “Yes, I had to walk the bnh,y up and down the hallway. And just then a tiny voice called “Popisky!”—Baltimore Herald. RED LIGHT INFLUENCE. Mr. and Mrs. J. Downey Harvey in | honor of Miss Charlotte Wilson. . . . | Mrs. Eugene Freeman will give a | luncheon to her daughter, Miss Maude | Payne, on December 8. . . Mrs. Willlam Prentice Morgan en- tertained the Bridge Club yesterday afternoon. The members enjoyed a | . | spirited game and expressed much | pleasure. Among them were Mrs. J. K. Nuttall, Mrs. Rosenstock, Mrs. Timothy Hopkingsfrs. Warren Clark, Mrs. Willlam Prentlce Morgan, Mrs. | H. P. Gale, Mrs. Henry L. Dodge, Mrs. | Carolan, Mrs. L. L. Baker, Mrs. Wil- liam Thomas, Mrs. Southard Hoffman, Mrs. Frank B. Anderson, Mrs. Ira Plerce, Mrs. Charles Josselyn, Mrs. | M. P. Jones, Miss Laura McKinstry R. Smedberg. . | | . Miss Virginia Jolliffe has returned from Burlingame, where she has been visiting Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scott. . . B | Miss Anita Harvey was the hon- | ored guest at luncheon given yester- | day by Miss Linda Cadwallader at her | Broadway home. | 'The color scheme in decoration THE SMART SET BY SALLY SHARP. pink throughout, roses, name cards and candelabra being of uni- form tint. The guests were Miss Anita Har- vey, Miss Charlotte Wilson, Miss Ger- trude Josselyn, Miss Marjorie Josselyn, Miss Dorothy Eells, Miss Isabel Brewer, Miss Elizabeth Livermore, Miss Marie Louise Parrott, Miss Helen Cheesebrough. . Miss Marie Voorhies' marriage to Captain Haldinand Putnam Yoéung will take place on December 3i and will be an afternoon affair. The ceremony is to be performed in the music-room of the Voorhies hofe, this having been used on the occasion of the weddings of the other Voorhies is an ex- girls. The wedding gown quisite affair of white lace, richly trimmed. The many engagement gifts which have fallen to the lot of Miss Voorhies have included articles other than thoss of the conventional cups, although these are in abundance and very beau- titul. Jewel boxes and candelabra in exquisite designs are among the re membrances offered by the many friends. Immediately after the ceremony Cap- tain and Mrs. Young will leave for Philgdelphia, where a lovely home awalts and In which Mrs. Voorhies visited during her recent trip East. &5 Wy @ The National Soclety of Colonial Dames of America In the State of Cal- fornia gave its annual breakfast last Saturday. The white and gold room of the St. Francis was used for this occasion and the table was elaborately decorated. The addresses and toasts, auspicious, were given with zest and inspired en- thusiasm. An invocation by Dr. Clampett and a welcome by the president, Mrs. Ed- win W. Newhall, preceded the toasts, over which Mrs. C. Elwood Brown presided. They were given by Mrs. Walter Damon Mansfleld, Mrs. Hervey Darneal and Rev. William A. Brewer. The guests present at the breakfast were Mrs. John C. Adams, Mrs. Louls Aldrich, Mrs. Willlam Ashburner, Mrs. Willlam T. Bagget, Mrs. Hancock Ban- ning, Mrs. Theodore Z. Blakeman, Miss Adelene W. Brewer, Mrs. Willlam A. Brewer, Mra, C. Elwood Brown, Mrs. George F. Cambron, Mrs. Willlar: R. Castle, Mrs. J. Goddard Clark, Mrs Arthur D. Cross, Mrs. George A. Crux, Mrs. Hervey Darneal, Mrs. Coolldge, Mrs. Byron C. Dick, Miss Jessie Dorr, Mrs. Charles Fernald, Mrs. Thomas Flint, Mrs. Henry Glass, Mrs. James ! L. Giggogly, Mrs. Charles Hathaway. Miss Laurilla Hathaway, Mrs. Charles H. Hedges, Mrs. Willlam Heger, Mrs. George H. Hellman, Mrs. Samuel W Holladay, Mrs. E. Burke Holladay Mrs. S. C. Hule, Mlss Alice Humphre; Miss Elizabeth M. Jones, Mrs. George Kirkham, Mrs. Mansfleld Lovell, Mrs. Walter D. Mansfield, Miss Lulu L. Maddux, Mrs. Henry H. Mayhew, Mrs. Johmn M. MecClurs, Mrs. John McGaw, Mrs. Percy P. Moore, Mrs. Edwin C Morrison, Mrs. Edwin' W. Newhall, Mrs. Frank Payson, Mrs. William C. Peyton, Mrs. James H. Pierce, Miss Emily Raymond, Mrs. Augustus F. Rodgers, Miss Nannie L. Rodgers, Mrs. Leigh R. Smith, Mrs. Vanderiyn Stow, Mrs. John D. Tallant, Mrs. Davi¢ G Thayer, Mrs. Sage, Mrs. Willlam R. Thompson, Miss Roberta A. Thompson, Mrs. Ruth E. Van Brunt, Mrs. Henry L. Van Winkle, Miss Marie R. Voor- hies, Miss Anna A. B. Wright, Mrs. Selden 8. Wright, Mrs. Stuart S. Wright and Mrs. Wetherbee [SUNNY SIDE his OF LIFE] A GENTLE HINT. Customer (in chair)—How's business? A The barber—Dull. Customer—Ah! I see. Just like your in England—is to be included in| 8 As a result of experiments made in| some of the hospitals in Parls it is stated that vaccination performed un- | der a red light leaves no sear and causes less pain. The patient is vaec- | cinated in a room where the only light is an incandescent lamp with a red globe. They Do Not Smoke. | “It's a queer thing,” "said an old timer, “that although I meet hundreds of letter carriers daily, yet I never saw one smoking a cigar or pipe, or even a clgarette while they are either delivering or collecting mail. “Now you would imagine that they would take comYort in a smoke tray- A FINANCIER. Tommy—Say, mister, kin ysr change me father a dollar? Butcher—Sure. Tommy (taking money)—Tanks He says he'll send de dollar ter yer in der mornin’. eling around as they do. I am sure they get scores of cigars as tokens of sppreciation in the course of a year, vet you never see them smoke while on duty. I wonder why."—Chicago Inter Ocean. Townsend's California Glace fruits im artistic fire-etched boxes. 715 Market st.® e information supplied daily to le“nm and pv: by HER IDEA. Mrs. Jones—Do you ever quarrel with | you paid $15,000 to be elected, your husband? . Mrs.'Smith—No, but he often quarrels with me, the hateful thing, The Congressman—The people say The Senator—It's a lie!