The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 25, 1906, Page 26

26 TH FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY ARCH 25, 1906. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL JOHN D. SPRECKELS.. . tiisesssseesese.., Proprietor ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO JOHN McNAUGHT... oo ssinsassss s MATIASER 7.1;{;19 AND MARKET STREETS, SAN FRANCISCO ...MARCH 25, 1906 PUBLICATION OFFICE.. SUNDAY.. .. iooccor A NEW STREET RAILROAD. HE set determination of the United Railroads to adhere to the T cable and overhead trolley on all of the streets of San Fran- cisco has provoked resistance, and out of resistance has issued a remedy. It is still within the power of the United Railroads to placate the resistance and obviate the remedy, by giving the people what they reasonably ask, and making the alternative unnecessary. In such issues as exist between the United Railroads and the people of San Francisco, it is not the part of wisdom for.a corpora- tion to assume a position of irrevocable antagonism to.the public wish and just expectation. It may still be hoped that the corpora- tion does not so treat its attitude, for the people would like tojsee it do what is necessary to put San Francisco in company with the most progressive American cities in respect to its surface transpor- tation. The Call treats business affairs in a business way, and sees no need for excitement or invective in dealing with this strictly business proposition. A quasi-public corporation is not a law unto itself, to do as it pleases, secking its own interests and blind to all others. It has obligations, peculiar to its quasi-public character, which must be reckoned with in deciding what policy it will adopt. We fear that the United Railroads has considered only one side of the ex- isting issue, when it should have considered both. This is the reason the people have for feeling that they have been ignored, and for be- lieving that the corporation has considered itself only, to the ex clusion of its partner in interest, the public. The history of such controversies discloses the fact that with such treatment the popular opposition becomes implacable. wait long for satisfaction, but finally gets it in some form, and usu- ally in that form most harmful to the corporation, for the matter assumes the status of reprisal for injury. The United Railroads might add a page to its book of wisdom from the history of the street railroad controversy in Chicago. The furor for municipal | ownership there arose, not in any conviction that it is a preper public policy, but out of widespread resentment against the corporation | that owns the roads. It had long shown a sodden disregard of public sentiment and the rights of its patrons. Their reasonable requests were turned down and their convenience was disregarded, until the people were ready for anything, punitive in its nature, that would seem to reach the corporation. These things ought to teach and exhort, but we fear that they have not impressed the United Railroads, and that that corporation has put itself in a position which it fears to shift lest it lose prestige. In business this is & wholly false position, for there is no room for pride of opinion. But, be this as it may, the position of the United Railroads has ceased to be of importance. A few hours changed its It is left standing upon an eminence built of and though it signals and wigwags, its signs and tokens San Francisco can have an up-to-date railway pletely. es t of interest. sistance of the United Railroads. system its out-of-date methods, it can do so. If, however, de have been tentative, it can reverse now and proceed at blic sentiment. r of Mr. Claus Spreckels to organize and finance a com- ipped underground trolley system of street railroads for sco ends the supplicatory stage of the controversy. That 2 fide and will be carried out. It represents the wishes le and is made with full knowledge of the capacity to It means that there will be no overhead trolley stand- > lines of the United Railroads. wide way of escape from such an infliction. Is is known as a man of action. He conceived, or- the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Rail- nt Richmond to Bakersfield, and so enabled the Santa o enter California north of the Tehachapi. It was a ss proposition solely. A field for railroad enterprise had been , and he entered upon and used it, with results sat- > people and beneficial to the State. The attitude of ed Railroads leaves a field for similar enterprise here unoc- oses to occupy and use it, immediately, if the ited Railroads is not at once reversed. His propo- es the field. The capital is ready. In the engineering proposition there are no difficulties, and no sorcery is required ng upon luck. The enterprise, if undertaken, will move y to a finish satisfactory to the people and enormously beneficial to San Francisco. Then the United Railroads may haul its cars with oxen, if it choose, from motives of economy or to satisfv its sense of the beautiful and appropriate. he ke if The Call led in asking it to do what it ought to have done with- out asking, as a proper enterprise and to show that it did not mean to be a mere parasite upon San Francisco, but a contributor to the vigor of the city, rather than merely aphidovorous. We regret that it seems to have chosen the unwise part, but we rejoice that the city has suddenly become independent of it, and has found a way out of a difficulty that ought not to have been. The preliminaries of Mr. Spreckels’ proposition may be passed | easily and speedily, and the actnal work need be but little delayed. The matter is in hands that remove obstructions and meet em- barrassments without discouragement or surrender, and the city may feel confident of obtaining a system that will not mar its natural at- 1s nor disregard its welfare LABOR IN MASSACHUSETTS. DVANCE in the welfare of labor in Massachusetts and changes and development in the plans of trade unions.are made the subject of analysis in the summing up of the latest The title A report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor for that State. of the report is “Labor and Industrial ‘Chronology, investigated is the year ending September 30, 1905. It was a year of progress for the workers in the old commonwealth and much of this is due to the efforts of the trade unions. There were fewer labor disputes than in any year since the bureau began its work. The total, 158, was 40 less than during the previous year. There were no large strikes and the disputes were of minor importance. This is accounted for in large measure by joint industrial agreement and the attitude of the union leaders in discouraging a resort to strikes unless absolutely unavoidable. For this reason the sympathetic strike seems to have become a weapon of the past. There were only four such strikes in the year, and none of these were authorized by trade unions. The results of the few strikes were, that 37 succeeded, 73 failed and 30 were compromised. In 32 cases strikers were reinstated and in 41 their places were filled. All the disputes were settled except 14 without resort to arbitration or to the services of the State Board. Settlement by conferences between the employers and the men was the usual method of end- ing the disputes. The bureau reports that public sentiment has al- ways been opposed to sympathetic strikes and trade unionists dur- ing the past few years are becoming more in accord with this public opinion. The scope of trade unionism is on the increase in Massachusetts. Some unions report that all their members are at work under satis- factory conditions. The early closing movement has advanced, and the granting of the Saturday half-holiday is becoming more general each year. There is a tendency toward more amalgamation of unions of allied crafts, and to affiliation with central bodies. The chief thing on “which the unions differ is the question of the maintenance of public trade schools. . This report from Massachusetts will be very encouraging to the whole country. The most emphatic feature of the analysis is that the ordering of sympathetic Strikes is on the wane. The one . It may | : {1 h the underground ‘trolley and most modern equipment, If it wish to oppose | The offer of Mr. | and the period | ey OUCH! H | | | | { | | | = = !A.HAM!L‘I;O“I:I]—-;—& o, e P —NEW YORK PRESS. E3Tk\7(’ONDELRl? UL COUNTRY OF NOD T Little Washington [ 1 BY A. J. WATERHOUSE. 1l Stories OW give me your hand like a petal of rose, And you shall go sailing away | In a boat that I know, which swings to and fro | On billows of Slumberland Bay; { And safe in that boat you shall float, you shall float O'er waters that smile to their god, Till you come to the strand of a beautiful land, | The wonderful Country of Nod. WEET dreams are the fairies that welcome you there, | And they take your wee hand in their own, And they lead you away, till cometh the day, Mid glories but dreamers have known. There elfins are dancing through all of the night On carpets of velvety sad, And, smiling in sleep, I know that you keep Fond trystyin the Country of Nod. HAT! Frowns, little dreamer? What goblin doth now Make threat to the peace that you know? Well, never you mind, for a fairy more kind Shall bear you away from the foe; | And all through the night you shall smile with delight, Mid paths by your baby feet trod, And shall krow all the bliss of the land next to this, | The Wonderful Country of Nod. 5 H, safe on my breast I may deem that you rest, , But you have gone sailing away, In a shallop of sleep, where bright waters leap To breezes of Slumberland Bay; And not till the morn shall you seek me again, | Safe back from the paths that you trod, With gurgle and shriek, your rapture to speak At thought of the Country of Nod. feature to be regretted is the disagreement about trade schools. Tt would seem that as a matter of broad public policy the only ques- tion would be as to the quality of the trade schools. Opportunities for industrial education should not be opposed. Objections to the trade schools should be clearly stated and widely discussed, so the | relative merits of the views of those who favor and those who oppose | might be determined. L | terminated in many localities. Kerosene and copperas did the work. Stagnant water was drained off, and at the end of the campaign the | victorious warriors had a Roman triumph. But the hilarity is de- clining upon the discovery that the industrious insect puts in his time in the wet season looking around for a business location. He goes back to the greener ponds and waters new, where the rain has washed out the medicine that did him. So the fighters are mobilizing again for a spring campaign. The war is extending and neighboring committees are joining forces. Local ordinances are being passed. The State Board of Health is giving advice, and it is to be a hard year for the culex family. There is no doubt that the complete extermination of the mos- quito is possible. By making the war sufficiently extensive none will be left to immigrate at the beginning of spring, and spread again in places from which they were driven. There is no more commendable rural activity than this. It is no longer an open ques- tion that what malaria we have in California is spread by mosquitoes. That is just as well established as the fact of the annoyance they cause during the summer by their bites and their infernal music. If neighbors will co-operate and, towns and townships join in the work, California can be freed from these pests. Then it will be time to turn our attention to the California flea, a less annoying insect, but one whose presence accounts for the small attendance at church. Religion and morality rise up against the flea. Science must get after him next. s Eaieiy WAR ON THE MOSQUITO. AST year several localities in California took up arms against the mosquito,” the culex infernalis. By strict attention to business the pest-spreading foe of human happiness was ex-| gt ol S S B AT SR Sl i ENRY ST. GEORGE TUCKER, H president of the Jamestown exhibi- tion, told a Congressional commit- tee “abort his audiencé with King Ed- ward. says the Washington correspond- ent of the New York World. He said he and the King had a very pleasant talk. “As near as I can gather,” said a com- mittee member, “the King was calling him ‘Tuck, old boy," before he left.” ‘Consul General Robert J. Wynne of London, who is here as.a witress in the trials of the postal grafters, silk hat with an ultra brim that he had made for him on the other side. “Gee!” said a man sitting in the lobby of the Willard Hotel as Wynne came by, “that’s a swell hat. It's the same kind William Randolph Hearst used to wear before he became a peasant.”” David Jayne Hill, the American Min- ister to the Netherlands, is one of the most brilliant scholars In the diplomatic service of the United States Government. When he was Assistant Secretary of State a reporter was sent to him for a story about the foreign policy of the Govern- ment. It was 1 o'clock in the morning when the reporter reached the home of Dr. Hill, who leaned out of the sccond- story window and gave the desired infor- mation. Dr. hill used a great many French, Latin and Spanish phrases. The next morning Dr. Hill read the story in print and was surprised to see that the reporter had written exactly the reverse of what he had been told. Later in the day Dr. Hill met the cor- respondent who had sent the reporter to Dr. Hill. He asked, “What kind of re- porter was that you sent to my resi- dence last night? He entirely misunder- stood what I told him.” Dr. Hill was asked to repeat the story. He did so, using the same French, Latin and Spanish expressions that he had used the night before. “Oh!” said the correspondent, ‘I made a mistake. I should have sent a linguist instead of a reporter.” “How about a public buildings bill?” a visitor asked Representative Victor Mur- dock, of Kansas. “Oh,” Murdock replied, “there will be a small one, I guess, carrying a few mil- lion dollars.” “A few million dollars!” exclaimed the astonished Kansan. ‘‘That reminds me of the German out at Atchison who was talking with a friend about the high price of cabbage. “I dell you dot cabbage is way up high dis year. Me und my wite puts up six or sefen or eight parrels of sauerkraut efery year, yes. But ve can't do ut dis year, no. .Der cappage dey cost too much,’ the German said. “‘But you put up some sauerkraut, don't you, Chris?’ asked his friend. ‘‘Oh, so! Yes; we put up some, not much—two or t-t-tree parrels, shust to half in der house in case of sickness, yes. ” 1 Speaker Cannon received a letter today from a woman living in Danville, IiL, his home town.. The letter, which was ad- dressed to “The Congress, the President, the Speaker and all others in Washington ‘who have power,” read: “The crying nced of this country i for a law that will compel people to pay their board bills. Congress must pass this law immediately. The geatest evil of modern is the man or woman ‘who does not pay a board bill. I know. “Also Congress should pass in the same wears a | talk it over with Bartlett. | fessed to his victim, made such amends | | cover the writer of the letters. - % Uses Mails to Hound a New Yorker €€ T is amazing the number of l spiteful people who use the Unit- ed States mail to annoy otherg. and even more amazing the devices they invent to makc their victims miser- able,” said a postoffice inspector to a party of friends at dinner the other evening. “The most persistent I ever hcard of came to the notice of the department here in New York a few years ago. At that time Curry. Haverly Bartlett had an office in a big building down- town. He was a promoter of some sort, and had come from Chicago a year be- fore. He didn't like_his name, so he used only the initials, C. H. “One night, according to the story he told me later, he was one of a party when the subject of unfortunate names came up. In a burst of confidence, su- perinduced by more than enough wine, Bartlett spoke of his own name. and how detestable it had been to him from boyhood. i “The next morning the mail included a letter addressed to ‘Curry Haverly Bartlett” Opening it, Bartlett found a slip of paper, on which was written, ‘Oh, what a name!" “He recalled his declaration of the night before and dismissed the matter as the joke of one of the party. “Next morning his mail contained an- Other letter in the same Sort of en- velope addressed ‘Curry H. Bartlett.” In- side was a slip of paper identical with the one received theé day before and bearing the same legend, ‘Oh, what a name! The next morning's letter was addressed to ‘C. Haverly Bartlett, and inside was the same sentence. “Well, Bartlett got a letter every morning, and in every letter the same ‘Oh, what a name! The writer made a new play on the name each day for weeks. The letters came addressed.to. Court House Bartlett, Coal Hod Bart- lett, Cart Horse Bartlett, City Hall Bartlett, ete. “When the writer ran out ‘of new names he repeated the old ones. Bart- lett finally reported to the Postoffice Department, and two inspectors were put on the case. ' We traced the let- ters to a big office building not far from the onc in which Bartlett had his of- fice. The building has a mail chute, s0 that we were puzzled to discover from what floor they were mailed. “Finally we %it upon a scheme to dis- I went to the manager of the building, ex- plained the situation and got permis- sion to put the mailing tube out of commission, so that all tenants had to carry their mail out to street boxes. In two days we had the Bartlett let- ters located in a certain box on Broad- way, ard within a wgek caught a man in the act of mailing one of them. “I had wondered what we could do about it even after we had caught him, but I was willing to take a chance of at least threatening him with arrest. Luckily that was not necessary. “The writer proved to be a one-time friend of Bartlett. He said he had be- come offended at Bartlett's behavior on the night that Bartlett had con- fessed hatred for ‘Curry Haverly” as a name, and that in a spirit of spite.he had mailed the first letter. After mail- ing it the affair seemed like a good joke, and he decided to keep it up for a few days. Then somehow he didn’t seem able to stop. “He declared he was glad he had been caught. T arranged to go with him and He con- as were possible and the incident was declared closed.”—New York Sun. CALHOUN'S ULTIMATUM To the Editor of The Call: It is noted that San Francisco has had thrown at her an “ultimatum” by Presi- dent Calhoun of the United Railroad: This presupposes a crisis in San Francls- co’s development appertaining to her sys- tem of street raflway servie. The ar- rival of a crisis calls for a great man to meet it and turn it to use for the promo- tion and advancement of the good cause threateped with retarding by such crisis. San Francisco Is fortunate In having such a man in Claus Spreckels. Throwing an “ultimatum” is a game at which two may play, as President Calhoun now knows. In effect the ultimatum thrown by Mr. Spreckels at President Calhoun is, ““Cos off your trolley, or you'll be shaken off.” And to this all well wishers for fair San Francisco’s development and advance- ment on lines of up-to-date betterment say, “Hurrah for Mr. Spreckels!” For San Francisco's good it is to be hoped that President Calhoun will ablde by his ultimatum given to the city, that Mr. Spreckels may abide by his ultima- tum given to President Calhoun. San Francisco is to be congratulated that her greatest business man has so valiantly come to her defense against President Calhoun, who evinces a predi- lection for throwing at her with reckless abandon his *“ultimatum.” With the shield of public spirit aggressiveness Mr. Spreck- els has turned President Calhoun’s ulti- matum and, llke a boomerang, sent it hurtling back upen him who daringly threw it, purposing to mar the comeliness and beauty of San Francisco. ) ~ JOHN A. JONES. San Francisco, March 24. KANSAS PHILOSOPHY. J A noisy person is never in danger of working himself to death. It is probable that you don't notice what good bread you are getting through envying some one who has cake. In the books, the man has a hard time in winning the girl, and in real life he has a hard time in getting away. If your conscience hurts you after you have been out spending an evening, that is one indication you were Interesting: You talked too much. ‘When a boy goes through a graveyard he doesn't reflect about death as much as what dandy places the tombstones -would afford for cracking nuts. S -— Wonder This ~ Indiana Man | —_— RTHUR F. GRIFFITH of Milford, Kosciusko County, Ind, the mathematical wonder who multi- plies figures up to 1000 the same a8 tha ordinary individual handles the propo- sition of 2x2—4, is in the city this week, says the Indianapolis News. “I lay claim to being the mathemat- ical wonder of the United States.” he said, after he had méntally solved the simple, little problem 14,551,915.223.- 366,851,806,640,625x68,719,476,735. ~ The problem had beem written down by the skeptical financial editor, who Is al- ways from Missouri when it comes to figures. Griffith ran his eye over the figures and sald: “Those figures are hardly practicable for the problems of every-day life. but here is the answer, and ten seconds after the plece of pa- per had been passed to him the finan- cial editor haq it back with the answer written below the figures—999,999,999,- 985,448,084,771,633,148,193,359,375. “I dom't want to appear egotistieal.” sald Griffith, “but.if you will spend two ‘or three hours you will find that that an- swer is correct.” “But,” said the wonder, “a man has anything but a pleasant existence sup- porting the title ‘the mathematical wonder of the United States,’ and espe- cially is this so in his own State, where, when they see him figuring all of the time and multiplying sums like that, éven the officers try to get hold of him sometimes and Insist that he 1s crazy Thus far I have managed to keep at lberty, but one can never tell what will happen.” It is true that Grifith often appears abnormally preoccupied and his lips keep moving. He is at times working on his mental multiplication table. “When most folks have nothing to do,” explained Griffith, “they are think- ing about thelr girls or the folks at home, or their troubles. When I have nothing to do I am working on mental mathematical processes. In spare mo- ments I have learned the multiplication table by heart up to 1000, and within the next five years I shall have it down by heart up to 1,000,000 “Most people only go as far as 12x12 —144. I am now able to handle prob- lems préducing answers up in the vig- intillions. Perhaps youw don't know what a vigintillion is or what it looks Hke.” He took a pencil and wrote: “77,000,- 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000- 000,000,000,000,000,000,000.” “That,” he sald, “is seventy-seven vigintillions—it runs thousands, mil- Hons, billions, trillions, quadrillions. quintillions, sextillions, septillions, oc- tillions, nonillions, decillions, undecil- Ilions, duodecillions, tredecillions, quad- ricillions, quindecillions, sexdecillions, sepdecillions, octecillions, nondecillions, vigintillions.” Griffith jugsles the different ‘tillions as the ordinary individual does thousands. When he was taken to the Bast by pro- fessors of the State University mathema- ticlans of the Yale classed him with tha ten or twelve most notable prodigies of histery. Those who have followed his career will recall that when he was discovered, eight years ago, there was a great deal of speculation as to the stability of his mind. It was pointed out that most of the mathematical prodigies were monomani- acs, knowing nothing but figures, and not being able often to tell how they solved their problems. Those who kmew Grif- fitk when he first attracted State atten- tion and know him today have no doubt that his mind is normal in other lnes. He not only writes much better than most of the people do who write occa- gionally for publication, but his language is good. He states clearly all kinds of commercial propositions in which he uses figures. He converses well on general subjects when hae is drawn from his ab- sorbing study of figures. His lightning calculation is remarkabls and clearly outclasses the work of ordi- nary lightning calculators. Hardly less noteworthy than the rapidity with which he solves problems is the memory he ex- hibits in retaining the numbers and re- sults in his mind. A day after he has becn asked to multiply any number—say $48,397x308,697—he can restate the prob- lem correctly from memory and also talk of the result of his previous calculations. He makes all of his calculations mentally and only writes the answers down. Such a propocition as the one given is solved as fast as he can write down the figures, and he writes them very rapidly. “I came to town this week,” he sald to the News, “with some problems fdr the teachers of mathematics that I believe will defy the skill of the best of them. I have obtained the answers to the prob- lems, and they will interest those wha like to figure. “The first is—what would be the com- pound interest on $1 at 6 per cent from the time of the birth of Christ to the present time? “I would only suggest that those who figure must not be afraid of the numbers in which they will become involved, for the amount would make over $20,000,000,000,000,- 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. It will be profitable for people who are paying in- terest to, work on this problem, for it will show them what a mountain com- pound interest will build. This was the most difficult problem I have ever figured out. It took me half an howur. SHORT SLEEVES. The girl with the elbow sleeves will be back this summer. She will appear with her sleeves reefed to her elbows, ready for trouble. It must make the mosquitoes and the brown-tall moths exult in anticipation of the girl with the elbow sleeves. Peek-a-boo walsts and openwork hose have been a ciuch for these pests, but bare arms will be a pudding.—Boston Post. HOPE FOR US. A local wag left the following brief communication at this office yesterday and made his escape without disclosing his identity: ¥ City Editor: San Francisco’s streets are to be paved with doughnuts—so that it will-be a Holy City. —_—— e Townsend's California glace fruits and choicest candies in_ artistie cummxnmmm"g' ——. information supplied daily te Prea Eloping Buread (Alien sy, 30 Calis Press Bureau 30 g fornia c.. Telephone Main . 4