The morning call., 1893-05-11

weak companies engaged in building up
competition with the monopoly.
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The effort of trying to join hands in the
construction Of the Stockton and Bakers
field Railway has been commenced. Mr..
j. S. Leeds and Mr.. Barry Baldwin, repre-
senting the Traffic Association. are at
Stockton. unfolding plans and stirring uD
interest in practical shape. This is mat
ter in which mere sympathy counts for
little. What is needed is encouragement in
the shape of substantial subscriptions, or
undertakings just as good as subscriptions.
y good competing railway through the San
Joaquin Valley would pay well from the
commence ment, and it would treble the
population in few years. TranspOrta-
tinn would never again be ham pered. Mr..
Huntington does not like the spirit Of self
assertion and self-help. He would rather
look after transportation himself and have
the merchants keep piling in freight for
his cars. Ii IS notorious that the Southern
Pacific is more alarmed by the prOsp of
just such railway as this than by all the
IumnrS in the air about other transcUnti-
mental railroads. The ocean traffic, too, is
an objectionable sin.
Navy Department experts are said to
have made up their minds adversely to the
dynamite gunbOat Vesuvlus. It's pneu-
matte guns are evidently too slow, too
short in range and TOO unreliable. A big
charge Of dynamite is only useful when it
hits its mark. When it travels not much
faster than hot baseball, and is visible
most of the way, an alert enemy has time
to slip clear OF the line OF fire. The Vesu-
vius Itself can rush at an enemy, but has
not greater speed than many torpedo boats.
Whether the pneumatic gun has a future
Ion H. faN. fs,. to
lis POOR range is against it. 1t would be
better economy 10 persevere with
adapting ordinary ritied guns to the dis
charge OF high explosive shells. This has
been done, but improvements are undOubt-
edly possible. The pneumatic gun in
veutor has labored, aud deserves some
reward, il for nothing else than having
stimulated others to new lines Of inven-
ton.
Director-General Davis of the Worlds
Fair seems inclined to claim credit for
moderation In regard to the extra charges
laid heavily with a deft hand on visitors
The general admission is so cents. but to
see all the sights only SIS 10 il required.
These extra charges vary from 10 to so
cents. 1t is very likely the fact that only
two or three OF the sidesh0ws ara worth
looking at, bat the very console ptI0uS eX-
plOrer who insists upon knowing that he
has seen everything may conclude that he
has paid too dear for his whistle when he
has run through S15 10. The ingenious
manner in which everything has been
studied At the fair with a view to profit is
charming to the coatemplative, but Chi
cagoaus are beginning to think il not quite
creditable to themselves.
The young woman Hagel, who attempted
to make balloon ascent at the Cliff
House recen tly, died yesterday from her
injuries. As the balloon rose it caught fire
and the poor victim was dashed against
some houses On the brow of the cliff near
the railway. i man was to have gone 10.
but as woman always attr acs a larger
crowd and brings IN more money the ger
tier sex is permitted TO enter this elevating
profession without hindrance. To show
how impartial nature Is in It's operation, a
man was Injured the other day from COM
ing down just as he was going up. 1t would
be good public policy to suppress the sem
satiOnal exhibitions of the parachute and
lrapeZe order.
Miss BeresfOrd JOY, the contrallo, of
California, is announced TO have scored
success at concerts and in oratorios in
England, holding her position we'll among
the most distinguished artistes. This Is
not as high triumph as opera gives, but
it is one which is more appreciated by the
for Orat0riO. Miss Sybil SandersOn an
other San Francisco singer. has risen to
great hODors in opera, and may win still
more renOwn.
The HaywaIds Electric Railway CON-
pany has apparently some intention of
running freightcars on its tracks at night
Alameda County would appreciate ser
vice of this kind. The Oakland and
Berkeley line could follow the example.
Passenger cars at present run on the latter
until / A. NJ, and traffic is resumed early in
the morning moderate amount of freight
would warrant keeping up power through
out the night Boston, in Massachusetts.
will soon have freightcars running to
Beverley. For local traffic communities
can do a good deal of good this way 10
solve the transportation question.
The heirs of Jay Gould are not inclined
to Initiate the exemplary citizen who paid
his taxes five times over from conscien-
tious motives. They dispute an assess
ment on $4,000, 900 personal property on
the ground thatit is already taxed. The
millionaire is a stickler for justice when
taxes threaten 10 nibble his hoard with
unprincpled looseness. But the Gould
estate Is not much in peril Its total is
estimated at S74.000O0O. and probably
every year millions will be added.
Harris. the convict. who was executed
on Monday, was offered facilities Of escape
by two other murderers about to emerge
into liberty. BE declined to leave his cell.
One of the escaDes has not taken much by
his fight. His body has been picked up In
the Hudson badly decomposed with bull
let wound through the head. The SUPPOSE
ton Is that the man Tho escaped with him
did the killing in order to make certain of
l.. 60 lie tnIy
parently not have been more sudden by
electricity. A story so gruesome as this