New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-20
TOPICS IN CALIFORNIA.
SAN FRANCISCO NOTIFICATIONS SEAL
SLAUGHTER-BEET SUGAR.
,nY TELEGRAPH TO THE ThIBOSK.I

rBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TkIBCSK.I
San Francisco, Dec. 19.-The hfty-four acres Oh
outside lands included in the old city cemetery
which the Government desires for fertilization
purposes have been appraised at S250,000. 1t Is
An ideal place for the establishment Of harbor
defence works as it commands the entrance tar
better than the present fort. With guns of heavy
ealibre and long range mounted on this heieh'
no hostile war-vessel could approach near enough
to the city 10 do any damage. Despite the de-
tepceless condition of the harbor, which has peeh
emphasized by the CHILEAN threats to levy con-
tributiop on San Francisco in case of any trou-
bic the Government seems TO be haggllng over
the price of this land and il Is understood 'iiao
the negotiations may fall through. The price
demanded lis what real estate experts regaro as
fair market value. AS the land is wlthlh ioui
miles Of the new City Hall, and on the line Vi a
cable road, $4,000 an acre cannet be regaroeo
as an excessive price.
There is great interest here in the Chihan
complications. and the Administrator sVuvuoe
on the subject has il many new lriehue'
Merchants engineers and ships captains on oniS
coast have suffered much from CHILEAN msoiehoe
and they would relish an effective rebuKe 10 'ne0e
Spanish-A American braggarts
The news from the Arctic that 10000 pup
seals starved 70 death in the rookeries on 81
Paul Island this wear simply bears out the pre-
dictions of experts The indscriminate slaughter
of seals nv poachers is more deadly than is gen
orally supposed, every female seal klieo rep
resents one young seal unborn or IN the SUCKING
stage The rookeries on Pnbylof Islands furnish
the best index of the rapid reduction In the num-
her Of seals All the big rookeries have shrunk
in size. while score Of small roolveries have been
abandoned. The printed estimate OF $4,000 SKINS
taken by the British Columbia sealing Meet Is
faulty as the customs books at Victoria snow
5000 skins and these do not include more than
one-third of the seals that were killed or wounded
Allen Kelly. who has just returned from an
;psnection Of the forests of the Sierra Nevada,
declares that the only way for the Government
10 save the timber lands from destruction is to
withhold all mountain timber lands now unsold
and make a series of reservations from Shasta 10
the new Sequoia Park. All the high Sierras
about the Yosemite must be reserved soon, or the
timber will be ruined. As it is, the timber is be-
coming SO thin on these high pateaus about the
Yosemite that the snow melts rapidly, and most
of the waterfalls in the famohs valley are dry
by midsummer.
War has been begun on the oleomargarine
traffic in California. Inspectors have learned that
10000 pounds of bogus butter are shipped here
yearly from Chicago, Omaha and St Louis. Much
of IL is sold here as genuine dairy butter. and as
good butter commands thirty cents pound about
half the year, the profits have been large. Much
of this fraudulent butter is repacked here, and
dressed up in California fashion.
e. S. Willard has drawn large houses at the
Baldwin. and the critics, though recognizing his
limitations, praise the finish and the naturalness
of his work He opened here in The Middle
1snh 20 for fyvo he
Girls" is such a roliclying play that it caught
the fancy of the San Franciscans, and has filled
the California every night.
John L. Sullivan opened here this week in a
new play, Broderick Agra" an absurd Irish
melodrama but the champion slugger and
Earnest Actor" Harrison. both had the hard
luck to appear on the same night that local
prizefght occurred Their house grew thinner
every night that the play only lasted one week.
An attempt to revive the tug of-war ended dis
involved in quarrels, and the manager, instead
Of coming money as MS hsa
ing to know that the tug-of-war fever has run
its course here
Light rains have fallen during the week from
the Upper Sacramento Valley down to San Diego.
They have been Of most benefit to stockmen, as
they were heavy enough to start feed. which was
becoming scarce.
The Southern Pacific Company made large
timber sale this week, disrosing Of 10000 acres
for s., 100000, The land is in Southern Oregon.
and this purchase gives the lumbermen Of Chicago
over $4,000 acres in one body. They will erect
mill at Klamath City and build thirtyeight
miles of railroad TO reach the timber.
The three best sugar factories in California
have shut down for the The total
product is 100000 pounds, on which the Gov
eminent will pay bounty of S1G5400. Several
new factories will be established next season. as
the farmers find that beets pay better than wheat
or other root crops.