The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 26, 1904, Page 6

SCO 'CALL, MOND THE SANFRAN C.ISCO CALL (ONNECTION BETWEEN JOHX D. SPRECEELS......ccc000 sssesstsssccsccssssssecnes ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO JOHN McNAUGHT....... PUBLICATION OFFICE.......c..... THIRD AND mnxm- STREETS, SAN FRANCIECO MONDAY...ccene L exchanges and curtailing the wholesale and jobbing movement. Christmas week is never very brisk in a wholesale way, as it is given over almost exclusively to the retailers. The holiday demand was expected to be good, but it has ex- ceeded expectations, taking the country as a whole. The liberal Christmas purchases of the general public testify to the continued prosperity of the nation. Prices for luxuries were higher than the normal, but the public purchased just the same, and the bargain counters were not as conspicuous as they used to be. The staples showed no changes worthy of especial comment. Wool was strong, with the raw product well cleanéd up and in good demand, and it is said that one-third of the 1905 clip has ulready been =old in advance. The market for hides and leather continues in good condition, the demand being still active and prices steady as a rule. Iron and steel continue to send in excellent reports, which indicate that the movement in both continues to expand, while both crude and finished products show an advancing tendency. Provisions show no particular change, but it is noticeable that while the Western packers express themselves as opposed to much of an advance at present they support the market on any marked recessions. Lumber is steady and building operations continue active. Railway traffic returns are favorable and show a steady in- crease, those thus far in December being 7.6 per cent above those of the corresponding period last year. The foreign commerce exhibit is also satisfactory, the returns for the port of New York showing ports and imports over 1903. I'he general distributive trade of the country, as indicated by the bank clearings, shows a gain over last year of 29.2 per cent, and of the first twenty-five cities on the list New Orleans is the only one exhibiting a decrease. But this is probably due to the fluctuation sessssssmasasmnssssssssessssss. DECEMBER 26, 1904 EXCELLENT HOLIDAY CONDITIONS. AST week was not a very interesting one in trade. The holiday in cotton dealings there and hence does not really indicate any de- crease in actual ‘business.” The failures for the week were 249, against 239 for the corresponding week last vear. [he feeling of optimism in Wall street will not down. All financial interests express complete confidence in another lively year, and while there is a bear element, as is always the case, it is in a hopeless minority. All attempts to permanently break the stock market signally fail. If the market breaks it immediately rallies, showing the general feeling of confidence pervading the investing interests ing factors at present are the phenomenal abundance the excellent demand for all standard securities and the mising business outlook. The large demand for bonds is illus- trated by the recent heavy offerings of new issues, which have reached a tétal of about $200,000,000 in New York during the past months. The most important of these are the $30,000,000 in Japanese bonds, $25.000.000 in New York bonds, $25.000.000 Rock $40.000,000 Mexican and a number of smaller issues. In ad- ftion the Atchison and Missouri Pacific each proposes an issue of 50,000,000 in the near future. These railway issues are rendered ry by the current heavy demands upon the leading lines for freight and passenger transportation, which is convincing testimony 1« t increase in railroad business. If trade were dull there no such expansion in railroad traffic. As mentioned last week the only reports of quietness in trade come from some parts of the Pacific Coast and“the South. This is explainable in our case by the fact that pretty much of our 1904 production has already passed out of first hands and been shipped East and abroad, hence the condition is not really adverse. Even as it is our coast business has been increasing for the past six months, already pointed out, and the final returns for the yvear will prob- show that 1904 was a bettdr year even than 1903, excellent as the latter was. The rains of last week have dispelled any apprehensions as to the condition of the crops, which at present promise an abundant pro- money necess, ) the curre would be duction in 19035. As we are almost wholly dependent upon our crops | for our prosperity it will thus be seen that we are still in an era of good times. 1 ignore the recent ruling of the commission on the illegality of rate division with industrial roads. To the end that by failing revenues all the railroads may be forced to accede to the steel corporation’s demands, that organization has already announced its determinatior: to throw over to the lines of the only Western railroad refusing to discontinue the illegal practice, the Wisconsin Central, all the pos- sible tonnage which can be routed over its system. In that way the’] steel trust hopes to force the remaining railroads to a continuance of practices which have fallen under the ban of the Interstate Com- merce Commission., An interesting situation is thus developed by the action of the THE REGULATION OF FREIGHT RATES. = e HE ited States Steel Corporation has openly defied the [ United States Steel Corporation, and one which forces immediate | action if legislative attempts to nullify discrimination by the rail- | roads in the matter of freight charges are to have any measure of success. In its recent report to Congress the commission calls at- tention to the fact that under the existing order the commission mav find that a rate complained against is in truth unreasonable, and it may order the carrier to desist from charging that rate in the future, | but it cannot, by reason of the limitations of its powers, find and | order the reasonable rate to be substituted for the one adjudged ex cessive. As it is, any reduction from the original rate made by a railroad at the behest of the commission, insufficient though it ma be, is in effect a technical compliance with the commission’s order and frees the carrier from further legal obligation. Carriers may ig- nore the commission’s orders altogether and await a trial of the! issue in a Circuit Court upon the initiative of that body. “The most important legislative act now needed,” says Presi- dent Roosevelt in his last message to Congress, “as regards the regu- lation of corporations, is this act (the one recommended by the com- | mission) to confer on the Interstate Commerce Commission the power 1o revise rates and regulations, the revised rate to go at once mto effect and stay in effect unless and until the court of review re- verses it.” Against this advised" legislative measure the corpora- tions make strennous objection that the concentration of authorit- such as that sought into the hands of five men would be dangerous to their every interest. besides being an unwarranted usurpation of leg- islative authority. : The Federal regulation of interstate rates for common carriers is not designed, however, to partake of a legislative or an execu- tive character. The proposed amendatory measures provide for a complaint, a full hearing, a report and opinion, and an order—a pro- ceeding which is essentially judicial in character and effect. The amendment sought by the commission but places a confirmation by subsequent legislative action upon the powers given that body in ite corporative act of 1887. Thede powers were exercised in ‘:1 spirit of the law creating the commission until the Supreme Co decreed in May, 1897, that no authorization for such prerogatives was embodied in the original creative act. Gold is reported to have been discovered in Ireland, but if this is so the case of Ireland is more hopeless than before. With gold there, England will never let Ireland go.—Chicago Record-Herald. The construction of interurban electric railways in the Southern siates is one of the best indications of progress. mmmhmtonrpfl-m’ #ts most ardent admirers by its quick development.—St. Louis Republic. observances cut into business by reducing the attendance on the | power of the Interstate Commerce Commission by issuing a | ircular order to all its constituent companies advising them to | LOFE £XD FOOD AN INTERESTING SPODY By Dorothy Fenimore [ a university monograph by a | specialist in domestic scence. Such a 'work, if couchea in noble language, might revolutionize the higher educa- {tion of woman by furnishing college girls with mental pabulum suited at once to their intellectual needs and their feminine aspirations. To-day man is either less ethereal or more ingenuous than Shakespeare was, or Milton: he does not look upon music or smiles as adequate food for the affections. Dickens showed deep ght i%to the nature of his sex when e made chops and tomato sauce an HE close connection between importan: argument in a breach of promise suit. And Dr. Andrew Wilson exploded one faverite illusion of youthful lovers about the cheap sim- piicity of love's dietary by declaring that bread and cheese, while a good enough meal for a farm laborer, would prove indigestible to a city man. He does not even hint that a modicum of es would do the service of pepsin. 3004 coking, it is generally agreed, the logical basis of domes hap- piness 'Tis the married man's crite- rion of wifely ability. It is the bache- lor's dream of a happy home. The easy chair and a pair of slippers at a ! cheerful fireside are out of date as a lover’s inspiration. The gas stove has come into fashion in their place. Nor can the mandolin and light guitar compare with the chafing dish as my tic spells to lure the masculine fancy. do women, like sirens on 1e rocks, attract the heart of man by songs. Like Hebe, rather, they charm Glympus by the more substantial magic of nectar and ambrosia. Even women’s clubs have taken the matter up. In solmen convocation not very long ago the Social Club of Illinois gave the cook stove the place of honor among the three essentials of a home. And an assos ciation of young society ladies has been formed a fashionable suburb of Philadelphia to learn the double 2ri of winning a husband and retain- ing his affections. ““Feed him substan- tial is the motto which they are embroidering in goiden thread on the perforated cardboard of their maiden dreams, with a view of using this wis- dom as a household adornment. betore them their grandmothers framed “Home, eet Home,” to hang over the mantelpiece. Hetty Green, who has the reputation of possessing the wisdom of the ser- pent, puts upon the poor housekeep- ing of the American woman full blame for the prevalance of divorce. 1f she is right—and. since I would not dare to contradict her to her determined « is {face, T will not 4o so behind her equal- Iy determined back—if our girls were taught how to cook, the number of ai- vorces in the United States, which the last census estimated as 51,538, would be noticeably decreased. Possibly. with this reform in the education of American women, the bald-headed ezgle would in time come to be the ‘mbol of domestic as well as national | unity. | Man’s position in regard to the rela- | tive importance of love and food is not different to-day from what it was Iin earlier eras. King Soloman’s cry w “Stay me with flagons, comfort { me with apples, for I am sick of love.” | Wordsworth put into gastronimic terms his description of a feminine phantom of delight— A creat:re not too bright and good For human nature's duily f. Some of you may remember Lord Cholmendeley’s lovesick wail of woe, as it sounded to the lips of Sothern: “Cahn’t eat, cahn’t sleep, cahn’t smoke."” Certainly Owen Meredith, that Myrtle Reed of a former genera- i | | | tion, was right in declaring that the | 1 great imperative masculine nee¢ js— | food. MR. CHADWICK'S CHECK A man went to Bellevue Hospital last week and announced tha: he wanted to see Acting Suverintendent Rickard in a hurry on business. When he was ushered into Mr. Rickard's private of- fice he exclaimed: “Want any mone: “Not just now.” said Rickard. just had my salary raised.” Then the visitor leaned way over and whispered: “I'm Mr. Chadwick. You've probably heard about my wife. Fiere's a little something to tide you over the winter.” Superintendent Rickard accepted a piece of paper the man offered him and found that iF was a check for $2,000,000,- 000 on the Fifth National Bank, at Twenty-third street and Third avenue. He didn’t lose any time in calling to a policeman to escort the man over to the psychopathic ward. There the man was positive that his name was Chadwick, until the doctors p.ade him own up that he was Rudolph Tang, a butcher of 553 East One Hun- dred and Thirty-sixth street.—New THE GRIP. What is it fills the heart with woe And makes the spirits sink =o low, And causes tears to freely flow? The grip. “pve What is it fills the soul with dread And makes the nose and eyes grow.red And makes a man wish he were dead? The grip. What is it gives a man the chills, And calls for powders and for pills And runs up mighty doctors’ bills? The grip. ‘What i= it curls a person’s hair, And fills his think tank with despair And makes a saint desire to swear? The grip. What makes the people sadly moan And mope and mumble, grunt and groan The worst the world has ever known? The grip. g —Chicago Chronicle. Tondon Gets 23,000 Sealskins. The number of sealskins deliverable in the London market this.year is ahout 23,000, made up as 1 Victoria 11,400, Japan 700 | Islands, etc., 4600, N man’s love and food is worthy of | Economics | CHARMS OF BLONDE DAUGHTER OF CHILE GAPTIVATE CAPITAL - i | | | | | i | ~ + SENORITA 1 THE BELL | WASHINGTON | " e — HE diplomatic corps boasts this winter of the most beautifut Young woman who has figured in Washington socjety for a decade, says the Philadelph#@ North American. This is the Senorita Elisa Walker- Martinez, daughter of the Chil2an Min- ister, who made her social bow a few days ago. I'his senorita is almost a pure blonde —a rare characteristic among her countrywomen. She possesses an ex- quisits figure, though only just 18. Last winter, while her father was serving in the City of Mexico, she saw scmething of socia! life. She is already the acknowledged belle in the exclu- sive dipiomatic coterie. In addition to being the beautv of the season, Senorita Martinez is a clever linguist and a musician of un- usual attainments. GROOM TCO OLD FOR HER A man of 40 and and a woman of 18 called several days ago on the Rev. A. R. Wescott, pastor of the Baptist church at Brewster, N. Y. They were from Waterbury and wanted to get married. After the usual questions as to age, etc., the clergyman directed Then he opened his and began to read: We are assembled here in the pres- ence of God and—"" them to stand up. X b i Here the young woman broke in with: “You may stop right there for a minute, parson. I want to see you in the hall.” Following the young woman to the hall the clergyman heard: “Parson, don’t you think that fellow a little too old for me?” : “Oh, T don’t know,” replied Mr. West- cott. “Forty is a long way from 18, but—" “Well, never mind,” broke in the girl, “you needn’t go any farther with this. Just call it off.” The couple departed. ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN. ‘We hear much about forging to the front, taking time by the forelock, seizing the bull by the horns, and the like, and also that the man with the tail-hold is entirely ignored. Nine mea out of ten wisely follow, and succeed, where one does who charges around at the front all the time. If you muss the forelock, seize the tail. Tt is the hang- | ing on more than the particular held that counts. The man will go just as fast and nearly as far who has hold of the tail as the one hanging onto the horn; besides, he can hoid on better, and is in less danger. Young man, don't be too anxlous to get rapidly to the front, but hang on to what you ! bave, and you will get ahead in the world just as fast as you deserve.— Sedgwick (Kan.' Pantograph. I t i WIDOW MORIARTY’S GOAT t | _The Widow Moriarty of Melrose until | Thursday had a pet goat, which was | the idol of her heart, says the Susque- . hanna, Pa., correspondent of the New | York World. She had nothing else {upon which to lavish her great wealth of affection. When asked by her neighbors why she didn't marry, the widow would invariably reply: ure, don’t smoke or drink, nor swear, and he don’t stay out nights.” And the aromatic goat appeared to enjoy the affection showered upon him, and as he ambled along the Jef- l ferson branch tracks. picking up stray | door scrapers, railroad spikes and :couch springs, no happier animal ,could be found. In an evil moment he found a railroad torpedo and swal- lowed ‘it. At supper time he came home, and seeing a lace curtain upon a line, ate it for dessert. Mres. Moriarty ran into the yard, and seeing only the end of the curtain in~sight, threw a milking stool at Billy, hitting him squarely in the side, when the torpedo exploded and immediately the air was filled with smoke, widow, goat, curtain and iron- ware. The widow was thrown over a fence, more scared than injured. They could find but a few straggling pieces of the goat, the whiskers, the toes of the left hind foot. The widow placed them in a herring box and -~ Apalneel Sawe DE! an’ Billy is company enough, and he | CEMBER 26, 1904. TEXAS GOURT WILL DECIDE THE VALUE OF THE APPENDIX 66 OW now! What is the value | Hln the cold coin of the realm | of the vermiform appendix? The courts must determine,” i#aid the man. “and thereby hangs a jtale of scientific meddling, which may !impose, in the end, a heavy penalty on imen who have been trying to overthrow ithe old order of things. Out in Texas a suit has been instituted against a jphysician who operated for appendi- ‘citis. The patient lost his vermiform -appendix in the operation and. recov- .eripg, now alleges that he never had appendicitis; that the operation was | unnecessa in fact, a surgical blgn-| !der, and in a suit for damages seeks to | recover $800, which he fixed as the value | (of the aforesaid appendix Was ll! worth that amount? What is the value | of the vermiform appendix? These questions must be answered by the' court in which the suit has been brought, and no doubt the world will be vastly enlightened by this judicial inqui Up to recent years we never knew we had a vermiform appendix. | It was one of those curious things the existence of which nature had care- fully concealed from us until some/ meddling scientist came along and gave the thing away. Since that unholy hour we have b sorely troubled by the newly discovered member, and we have been paying out large sums |n‘ physicians’ fees and enduring an end- less amount of torture because we sud- denly found out that we had a vermi- form appendix. Before we made this discovery we suffered from an ailment which was not called by the high- sounding and dignified name of appen- dicitis. Of course, 1 know nothing of the merits of the Texas case. But it will serve a good purpose if the inquiry throws more light on the function and value of the vermiform appendix. Dif- ferent theories have been advanced as to the function of the appendix. one theory being that it is merely a rudi- ment which wasg perhaps of value in some earlier stage of man's develop- mert, but which i1s of no value to man in his present state. The Texas inquiry should settle this and other questions concerning which we are now much in the dark.”—New Orleans Times-Demo- crat. MANNERS AT WEDDINGS Many 4 prospective bride and groom of to-day make plans for the ap- proaching wedding with as much se- crecy as if they were stealing chick- ens, says the Syracuse Post-Standard. They long to slip into some little church or parsonage “around the cor- ;mer” and have the knot tied with no one but themseives and the minister the wiser. They await the inevitable hour with fear and trembling. What is the reason for this? It is' the fore- boding spectacle of the barbarism, ex- pression in foolish, clownish pranks, played by “humorous friends,” that will follow the ceremony. Unless the groom is shrewd enough to outwit the tormentors, a difficult task. the cou- ple will be certain in many ways before Lamused strangers. HUMOR OF THE DAY. Not Going Up. “That fellow over there lool rising young man. But he isn't. the eyes of like a He's an airship inventor.”— Cleveland Plain Dealer. | Honest. R. R. Employer—So vour ancestors were railroad men. What department did they work? Small Boy—The rails; tramps.—Detroit Free Press, they was There Are Others. ““Has your daughter any vocal abil- queried the summer boarder. “Nope,"” replied Farmer Hayseed du- biously, “but,”! brighteneing up, “you just orter hear her sing!"—Houston | Post. | it Forgot to Notice It. Girl With the Gibson Girl Neck— How did you enjoy the matinee? | Girl With the Julia Marlowe Dimple ! —Splendidiy. 1 was with a box party. | Oh, while I think of it, what was the | play ?—Chicago Tribune. | | i | | A Long-Drawn Dog. “Pardon me, but did you see a dachs- hund near here?” “Yen.” “Where was he?” “Partly on Euclid avenue and partly | ‘on Erie street."—Cleveland Plain | i | Dealer. 5 Discouraging. “Going with any particular girl now, Chumpley 7 1 “Yes, too infernally particular. Ehei has refused me on an average of three times a week since the first of Janu- ary.”"—Detroit Free Press. t i | | i i | i Farmer's Luck. “Did you ever buy a gold brick?” “Yes,” answered Farmer Corntossel, “I did once; but I tyrned right around | an’ sold it at a profit before I discov- ered it wa'n't genuine.”"—Washington Star. Just Their Size. Ensign (of the Baltic fleet)—Your ex- | cellency, i am informed that there are dangerous rumors afloat. 1 Admiral (excitedly) — Wheré are | they? Tl tackle 'em, no matter how dangerous they are. I'll blow 'em out of the water, I will!'—Loulsville Cou- rier-Journal. Loubet and the Soldiers. % Whenever M. Loubet has decorations to bestow on subzlterns or privates he msists on the generals and other supe- rior officers remaining in the back- ground. “You make them shy, mon general,” he says; “a little man like | —— e —— ¢ to send T ) h"'l'ilnc Mc:wnund’. lew!'ru.m to be. humiliated o 2 N HARD LUCK. | | Tramp (disgustedly)—"Ang it all, after I've follered 'I/m two mile for | that cigar end I'm blest if he don’t finish it on 'ls penknife.~Tatler. | —l " “THE CALL DESERVES | GREAT CREDIT.. | This Is What the President of the California Club | Says About the Enterprise of This Paperin | Oftering Rose Plants to the Public. 1 CALIFORNIA CLUB. Editor The Call— | Dear Sire The Call certainly de- serves great credit for its en- terprise in raising such f choice reses and giving | them to the public. The idea is original and | cannot fail to meet with pop- 1 ular approval. Truly yours, MRS.AYLETTR.COTTO President California Club. > — 4+ e - MIRROR OF DAME FASHION A smart gown of blue wool batiste, trimmed at the neck and cuffs with Roman embroidery in black, yellow and red. and a ybke collar of heav v white lace. A fringed sash of black satin passes about the waist, dropping ‘in graceful ends at the side. T ANSWERS TO QUERIES. LETTER WRITING—A Subscriber, City. Any book dealer will furnish you books that will instruct you how to ‘write congratulatory letters to friends. clinging to them and they can,be de- stroyed. This should be repea: until o more cling to the leaves set out. Beds surrounded by a board edging five inches high, the same being oc- caslonally coated with a paste made of train oil and soot, will Kkeep snails out of the bed, for it will form a bar- rier over which they will never pass. "RUSSIAN VERST—Subscriber, City. A Russian verst, also spelled werst, is a Russian mile equal to 3500 English feet or about two-thirds of an English mile. SNAILS—A. 8., City. To get rid of snails that have got into a TRESPASS.—A. O. 8, City. If a per- Sen build a henhouse on the property of another without the consent of the mh»h liable to find himself in for trespassing on land in which-he has no interest.