davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
NEWS OF THE MORNING.

Is New York yesterday Government bonds were
quoted at 1O4 Tor As OF 1907; 1893 for IS OF 1881
1919 for As; sterling, "a s3a4 s. silver bars,
Il4f silver coin, / discount buying, par selling.
SILVER in London yesterday, 52}; consols,
esl; per cent United States bonds 1855; As.
1913 rs, III.
IN San Francisco half dollars are quoted at par !;
trade dollars, IS buying 964 selling; AeXiean dol
lars, &c buying, 963 selling.
AT Liverpool yesterday wheat was quoted at los
80 TO lis ID for average California white, and lis
Id to lis sd for club.
Mining STOCKS showed little OF interest in San
Francisco yesterday. The extreme north end stocks
were a little higher. Utah advanced 81 80 from
Thursday noon, Sierra Nevada 81 10 Union CONSOLE
dated 81, Mexican 81 80. The remainder of the
Comstock list was lower, though the decline was
less than 81 per share all round.
GEORGE TIBBsrT, on trial for murder at Bakers
field, has been declared not guilty.
FIRE at Alton, H.
AT Cherry Vale, Ks, two men persisted in the
flames of a burning building.
The Germans at Petersburg, Va, are making lib
eral contributions for the sufferers in Upper Sesa
SEVERE shocks of earthquake occurred at Havana
Thursday night an Unprecedented experience there
THE Irish relief fund received 800 from the Grand
Opera House performance in New York.
THE Pope denies that he was indignant at Cardinal
McCloskey's reception of Parnell in New York.
SIXTEEN prisoners escaped yesterday from the jail
at Greensburg, Indiana.
NEAR jacksonville, yesterday, whale nearly sixty
feet long washed up on the beach.
A DIABoEICAL attempt was made on Monday to
poison an entire family at Sheridan, New.
The annual encampment OF the Grand Army OF
the Republic is in session at Oakland.
THE special attention of our readers is called this
morning to the insideIpages of the RECORD UNION
The second page contains a continuation of Far
jeon's great story, " Set in Silver Sea- and the
annual report of the Board of Directors Of the State
Agricultural Society. On the third page will be
found the regular departments OF " Outdoor Amuse-
ments,' 90 The Quiet Hour" and The Household"
together with poetry, miscellany and spicy letter
from New York On the sixth page are given Nor
denskjolds story of the Swedish expedition Supreme
Court rules the weekly review OF the San Francisco
market, etc.
In the State Senate yesterday large amount of
business was transacted and many bills were passed
to engrossment. The Senate adjourned until Mon
day at 10 AN
In the Assembly a number of bills intro
duced, read and referred to committees. The Gov
ernor returned Assembly Bill No. 1 approved and
signed was resolved to appropriate $3.50 for the
purchase of forty copies of Hittells Code The AS
sembly adjourned until Monday.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
DiaboItcai Attempt 80 Poi.on an Entire
nnhfIr

CARSON. January 23l-On Monday last
at Sheridan, a small place twenty-five miles
south of Carson, Frank Butler, negro, for
merly resident of Carson, was suspected of
having poisoned all the food in the house of
John Boston. with murderous intent About
noon he bought bottle of strychnine, and
Immediately after was seen hanging around
Boston's house. He was arrested and asked
what he did with the poison, and appeared
much frightened. He answered that he did
not know. Buffers house was then searched
and q strychnine bottle was found nearly
empty. At l P NJ, Peter Stetfers, German
farm-hand employed by Boston, went into
/ Boston's for lunch and took several bites of
bread and butter lying on the table The
food tasted bitter, and he stopped eating and
went into saloon, where he was taken seri-
ously i'll and fell out of a chair DIR. Smith
was called, and he pronounced it a case of
strychniLe poisoning. All the food in Bos.
tons house was then examined, and the
bread, meat. vegetables and preserves were
found to be thic&ly covered with strychnine
it was even thrown in the water-bucket.
Steffers had noticed it on the butter and
thought it was salt. The evidence against
Butler is circuInstantial only there being
nothing positive, though there is little doubt
that he did it. Butler had made a pet of the
seven-year-old daughter of the sister-in law
of Boston, but the latter disliked the looks of
Butler and had ordered him not to call again
at the house. 1t Is supposed that Butler was
enraged In consequence and determined on a
terrible revenge. The examination of the
case closed yesterday at Genoa, and Butler
was held to answer before the Grand Jury in
So goo bail, in default of which he was re-
manded to jail Steffers is still alive, with
some possibility of his recovery.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
THE WEEKLY UNION.

The WEEKLY UNION is issued in semi-weekly parts
of eight pages each, but it costs the subscriber not
one cent more He receives sixteen pages each
week of choicest selected and original mater for 81
ner annum, and an advantage accrues to him which
he can gain from other paper to wit the receipt
of his paper in the middle and at the end of each
week. thus bringing the news to him fresh and
within few hours after being recorded upon the
tablets of the day The departments of the WEEKLY
UNION are very numerous, but not so much 50 as to
he cumbersome On the contrary, they are so ca
gerly read that the demand is for their enlargement
Special labor is put upon each department, and
every one has the care and supervision and practical
judgment OF journalists of long experience in the
best walks of the profession. The WEEKLY UNION is
par excellence the family paper Of the coast; the
best newspaper; the best critical journal; the best
reviewer OF current political situations the best
paper for local news, general miscellany, for the
farm, home street and office. 1t contains full pho
nographc reports of the proceedings Of the Senate
and Assembly OF the California Legislature
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
SAN FRANCISCO ITEMS.

From San Francisco exchanges of January 23d.I
been increased to l75 men. About $50
piles have been driven for the third Sec
ton.
Bogus standard dollars of the issue of
1879 are in circulation. They are a good
imitation of the original, and well calcu-
lated to deceive.
From 10 to % per cent. of the domestic
unavailable letters daily sent TO the Dead
Letter Office from this city are addressed
to Oakland, and are dropped into the Post
office here with only a twocent stamp on
them.
The Board of Health met in executive
session at the rooms of Mayor kalloch, in
the Palace Hotel, this morning. Present
Mayor Kalloch and. Drs Douglass, Simp-
son and Toland. 1t was decided to allow
the cabin passengers in the quarantined
steamship City of Picking to come on
shore.
Cyrus s. Barnard and Charles F. Goss,
having pleaded guilty in the United States
District Court of robbing the Santa Bar
bara Postoffice, were sentenced by Judge
Hoffman to-day, each to pay fine of $50
and to be imprisoned for six months. The
prisoners are Is and 10 years of age re-
spectively, and are represented to be well
connected.
Two American ships came into port yes
terday with coal from Callao. 1t Is re-
lated of these vessels that both left Liver
pool on the same day, that both arrived at
and sailed from Callao within day OF
each, and that one arrived here yesterday
morning and the other yesterday afternoon
The names of these ships are the Alexander
Gibson and the Alexander McCallum.
During the year 1879, 27 vessels regis
tered at this port, aggregating s. 233 tons,
were wrecked, involving loss OF SIOO,OOO
OF these 10 were schooners; barks, l
steamer. sloops, brig and ship. The
largest single loss was that of the steamer
Great Republic, valued at S36O,OOO. The
number Of persons drowned was A and 3
were killed by the breaking of capstan.
About 425 men have been dispatched to
work OH the eastern end of the Southern
Pacific, and no more will be required for
the present OF this number some l25
were Cinnamon. 1t is calculated that one
mile of track will be laid day, at which
rate it VIII take less than 60 days to reach
Tucson, and probably third longer before
the road will be completed to the Tomb.
stone mining district.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
THE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS.

The Republican members of the Legisla-
ture did sensible thing in holding a eau
Gus to arrange for the swifter disposition
of the public business. 1t is already evil
dent that much more methodical practices
will have to be adopted if the present ses-
sion is to be completed within one hundred
days, and it is clearly the duty of the Re-
publicans to bring that about if it is pos.
sible. The session so far has been almost
altogether wasted. There has been as
much frivolous discussion over trifies as if
tie whole year was before members, and as
if it cost the people nothing to run this
elaborate machinery. If the rest of the
hundred days is to be frittered away in
like fashion an extra session of about three
hundred days will be required to accom-
plish the work on hand. The feeble appre-
hension of the magnitude of the task be-
fore them which many members exhibit is
strikingly illustrated by the recklessness
with which new bills are brought forward.
1t looks now as though enough of them
would soon be on the file to occupy the at
teation of both Chambers to the end
of the session, and yet besides all this new
legislation all the Statutes of the State
have to be revised from beginning to end,
and multitude of untried constitutional
provisions are to be enforced by appro-
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
A SALUTARY MEASURE.

A bill has been introduced by Assem-
blyman Braunhart to prohibit the paying
Of percentages on prescriptions by drug
gists to physicians. A meeting of drug
gists was held in San Francisco the other
night to discuss the measure. and it was
unanimously approved, and some amend
ments making it more comprehensive were
proposed. There were also some physi-
clans present at this meeting, and contro-
versy arising as to where the responsibility
for the percentage system rested, facts
were adduced showing that both druggists
and physicians had at various times sought
to extend and maintain it. There can be
no doubt that the percentage system is an
inequitable and dishonest one. 1t is in
fact an imposition upon patients, who are
thus forced to pay second fee to the doc
tor, in an underhand manner, and for no
consideration. The physician has no claim
whatever upon any part of the purchase
money of drugs, but the money that is so
paid him of course never comes out of the
druggists pocket. 1t is the consumer, as
in all such cases, who pays the tax. and
the consumer would be just as well off if
the doctor added the percentage to his
regular bill. In fact, this would be the
better plan of the two, for it is alleged
land by druggists themselves) that the
percentage system sometimes leads to such
tampering with drugs as completely in
validates the prescriptions of the physi-
Clans. For instance, certain druggist, to
gain the custom of as many physicians as
possible, will put his percentage very high.
Experience soon shows him that he has put
it 50 high as to cut off his own profits upon
prescriptions involving the use of costly
drugs. In order to save himself from loss
he therefore deliberately hampers with the
prescriptions, and only puts in half or one
third the quantity of the more costly
drugs ordered, thus of course neutralizing
the physicians combinations, and in many
cases doubtless depriving the medicine of
its beneficial effects.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
THE GERMAN ARMY.

A bill has been introduced in the Ger
man Bundesrath providing for an increase
of the army. 1t is proposed to bring the
peace footing up to 427,00O men, The
reason given for this demand is the in
crease of the armies of neighboring powers
No doubt the bill will be carried, and this
fresh burden will be laid upon the people
of Germany. But as there is nothing to
prevent Russia and France from following
the example of Germany, and as every
fresh increase on the part of one power
may be ayailed of to justify still further
increase on the. part OF the others, the pro-
cess can be carried on until the entire adult
population of all these countries is under
arms. Before that period is reached, how
ever, there will be war Nothing else can
come of the present policy of these powers.
Their tremendous efforts to Guido one an
other in military preparations show5 that
the certainty of war is accepted by all, and
that being the case the strongest and
swiftest will be very apt to choose its own
time for fighting. 1t is becoming more
probable every day that Germany has re-
solved to fight Russia soon, hoping to
cripple her before France can come to the
rescue. That is the favorite policy of Bis
marck, and though the great German cap
tains are now nearly all old men, there is
no reason to suppose that heirright hands
have lost their cunning, or that they are
not capable of sustaining another great
war. Meantime German commerce must
languish, however, and the progress of the
nation be suspended while the revenues are
absorbed in military preparations.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24

they were attached. But they sold for all
that, and the company was making money,
when some educated man exposed the
fraud. The company had the amazing im-
pudence to sue him for libel, and claim
$4,000 damages, and he has procured let
tiers from every scientific electrician in the
world, almost, declaring the so-called in
vention preposterous fraud. The COM
pany will be beaten, but the Western peo-
pie who bought the new kind of conduct
ors do not even yet appear to realize how
eyre iously they were swindled.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
THE PRIVACY OF DISPATCHES.

A bill has been introduced to Congress to
secure the privacy of dispatches. This
measure ought to be adopted. 1t is as es-
sential that the privacy of dispatches
should be inviolate. The principle is pre-
cisely the same in both cases. And the
political events of the last few years have
conclusively proved that it is not safe to
withhold this guarantee from the Geographic
service, for that politicians are only too
ready to avail themselves of real or as
sumed authority to violate the secrecy of
dispatches whenever any capital can be
made out of such work. Every dispatch
sent by telegraph ought to be guarded as sa-
credly as are the mails, and there should be
no means of prying into their contents. 1t
is evident that to give this guarantee is the
only way to secure to the telegraph its full
usefulness, for as the case stands men must
always hesitate about trusting momentous
matters to such an agency, and it is plain
that it may become unavailable at the
very moment when its services are most
urgently needed. Partisanship ought to
be deprived of the temptations which the
possibility of reading the dispatches of po-
htical opponents hold out, and the bust
ness public ought to be secured against
those violations of confidence which at
present are too lightly punished. This is a
matter which the public should urge upon
Congress with some emphasis, too, for it is
not safe to leave to any Government the
power to tamper with the communications
of the citizans
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
CoLoR-BLINDNEsS.

Science has at last been brought to bear
upon everyday business in regard to color
blindness. 1t has been shown that about
one person in twenty five in this country is
color blind; that is to say, is unable to dis
tinguish red from green. Now, as red and
green are the colors used in the railroad
service all through the country for signal
ing, and as mistake as to either of them
may at any moment lead to the most seri-
lion whether railroad employees are or are
not color blind is a very practical and i'm
portant one. In most of the European
railroad systems we believe tests have al
ready been made, to weed out color blind
employees, and the same undertaking has
recently been commenced in Massachu-
sets. This is the first step made in the
United States to apply the discoveries Of
science in this connection, but it will
clearly become necessary to adopt the
examination plan on every American rail-
road, for it is certain that the public will
demand it as soon as they realize that any
engineer or conductor is liable to be color
blind, and that if he is he may drive pas
senger train into another one, or into an
open draw, by installing red danger
signal for green safety signal.
Color blindness has no doubt been the
cause of many railroad and steamship ac
cidents in the past, and often when it has
seemed to the public that some casualty
could only be accounted for on the theory of
incredible stupidity, the truth has been
that the engineer or steersman was unable
to recognize red or green when he saw it.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
WARDEN.

The Board of State Prison Directors
have not yet appointed Warden, and We
are therefore encouraged to hope that they
intend to give due weight to the earnest
representations which have been made to
them on this subject. They have it in
their power to reform the administration
of the State Prison, or to allow it to fall
again into the disgraceful condition it has
occupied hitherto. The problem before
them is one which any business firm would
solve in ten minutes. 1t is whether they
shall secure trained penalogist to do the
work which none but a trained penologist
can etfectually accomplish, or whether they
shall appoint somebody who possesses only
political claims To do the latter would
be to abandon everything at the out
set, and to proclaim that, notwithstanding
all the efforts to get the State Prison
out of politics, it is still regarded
as one of the legitimate "spoils." We
should entertain but faint hopes of reform
if this line was taken by the Directors,
and for the reason that no sophistry can
conceal the plain path of duty in the
premises, or justify its abandonment upon
any consideration of political expediency.
An opportunity is now offered to introduce
reform to the penal administration, and
reform is not to be had by appointing peo-
ple to administrative offices who have ev-
erything to learn concerning their duties.
There ought not to be any need of insist
ance on this matter, but unfortunately
ofice-seekers are persevering and human
nature is weak.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
TIE Fus1oN1sTs IN MAINE. :,

The Fusionists in Maine appear to be
preparing to recede from their defiant
position. Why they have been permitted
to keep up the pretense of a separate
Legislature so long is not at all clear. Ii
the Republican Administration and Legis-
lature are the only lawful ones, it follows
that the Fusionsts are law breakers, and
that it is the duty of the authorities to
dispense or arrest them. 1t is possible
that the apprehension of resistance, liable
to involve partisans on both sides IN a
serious quarrel, may have induced the Adj
ministration to refrain from positive action
heretofore. but it is clear that the
spectacle of a double Legislature cannot
be submitted to as a permanent ar
rangement, and that sooner or later
lature will be compelled to vindicate the
legitimacy of their position by treating the
Fusionists as fomenters of sedition The
fact that the Democratic politicians gen
orally have given up all hope of doing any
thing further in the way OF capturing the
State Government, will no doubt tend to
weaken the Fusion members who still hold
out. Evidently their best policy now is
unconditional surrender, and the longer
they hang on the less likely does it appear
that they will obtain any effective support
from their own faction.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24

pirate laws. We are afraid that few mem,
bers realize the confusion and pressure that
are now being prepared for the latter part
of the session, when the committees have
all reported, and a mass of questions of the
most important character come up for dis
cussion and settlement. 1t is therefore
not without good reason that the Repub-
licans have resolved to do what they can to
expedite and simplify matters, but it is
plain that all other members are equally
under obligation to assist in this work.
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
NEW ADA.
Passengers Passing Carlin for California,

CARLIN, january 23d.-Ihe following
passengers passed Carlin to-day. to arrive in
Sacramento tomorrow George w. johnson,
James d. Lynch, New York City; Mrs.
Burnham and family, Omaha, Neb.; Miss
Cochrane, New Orleans, La; Mrs. l.. Swarm,
Miss Emma Swarm, Iowa; J. Johnson and
family, J. j. Kittel, New York City; S. n.
Burk, San Jose; J. S. Graves, New Orleans,
La; John L. Pike. California w. T. Curt
patric San Francisco Charles c.. Huff, In
diana c. w. Buttelfeld, San Francisco J.
w. Oldes, Chicago William A. Parish Den
yer, Col; Mrs. II. J. johnson, Kansas Z.
II. Cannon and wife, Chicago, H.; A. b.
Johnson, Washington, d. c.; Charles Hell
wig, indianapolis, Ind; NJ. E. McBurney,
Pat. Rian, Elko, New; IS elnigrants includ-
ing q males, to arrive in Sacramento Janu-
ary 18th
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24

1t is bad enough for the public to be
charged two fees instead of one, but it is
still worse not to be able to put confidence
in the faithful compromising of the physi-
clans prescriptions. In such cases the
practical outcome is that in order to screw
a little more money out of the patient the
doctor endangers the results of his own
professional efforts. The fact is that the
drug business is at the best one in which
the prices charged are out of all proportion
to the value of the things sold. There is
nrobablv no business in existence where
such exorbitant prices are maintained, and
this has always been the case. Druggists
used to be called Ninety-niners, because
the tradition went that they made 90 per
cent. profit upon everything. They make
a great deal more than that, however,
upon many things. Probably 1000 per
cent. would be no exaggeration of their
GAINS in a number of instances. And
when. therefore, these normally inordinate
prices are still further enhanced
by the addition of a percentage
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
A L1GHTN1EG-RoD FRAUD.

As an illustration Of the low grade of
scientific knowledge commonly possessed it
may be stated that company was not
long since incorporated in the West for
making new kind of lightning rods, the
principle of which was that they had no
connection with the earth. They were
laid along the ridge of the roof, and at
each end point turned up. Of course
they were considerably worse than useless
as protection against lightning, for they
actually exposed the buildings to which
Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
San lose Presidential S,ravs

SAN JOSE January 29d-The San Jose
Democrats and 100 Republicans, who give
the following Presidential preferences Dem
ocrats-Field, 25; Thurman, 10; Bayard
10; Seymour, 10; Hendricks, Is; Hancock,
O.; Tilden, 6. Republicans Blaine 80 |;
Washburne, 20; Grant, 10; Sherman, IL |;
Field, 8; Conkling, IS; Garfield, ,; Hayes,
l. REORGANIZATION 4 Repub-
licans, g. Opposition to Grant is based on
scruples concerning 4 third term. Nine Re-
publicans favor Field on general principles,
and because he is q Californian.