New-York tribune., 1896-12-06
TOPICS IN CALIFORNIA.
PRIZE-TIGHTING - SEVERE WESTERN
wEATHER-THEATRICA AND
Personal.
g.x rrLroRArH TO THE rRIBuNH.1

TpY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBuNE1
fan Francisco. Dec 5.-One good result OF tho
hitter legal contest that has followed the de-
r,s,on of the referee in the Fitzsimmons- -Snarkey
faeht will be the practical death OF prize-nghths
An San Francisco Boxers Of prominence VIII not
come here and risk the chance OF corrupt OF
4rcompetent referee and Police Commissioner
Gunst who used to be patron OF the Sport oe-
c,ares he will never agree to issue announcer
license for fight. While the great majority
Of San Francisco people believe that there is less
real brutality in scientific glove hsht uhuei
Oueensberry rules than there Is In the preseh.
game of football, nearly all admit tnat great
decentralization among young men is caused py
the excitement and the gambling on the coh-
test. In this city even schoolboys feel the
effects. Fully half the crowd that hiieo the
streets about the scene of the fight on Weones-
day night were boys under sixteen years OF age
In any other city in this country the ponce
would have arrested them. but here there is no
strict enforcement of any ordinance, and boys
of tender years may be seen in the worst quar-
%ers at all hours. The irony Of this proposed
abolition of professional pugilism lies in the 1act
that the man who will carry it out is the one
who was bitterly opposed by all religious and
social organizations because Of his connection
which they condemn.
Wilton Lackaye did not make the hit which he
expected In "Dr. Belgraff" at the Baldwin The
play was condemned by the critics as puerile IN
its comedy parts and as repulsive in the stronger
features; but the acting Of Lackaye, Marie
wainwright and all thu others was warmly
praised.
When Charles Main. the capitalist. was very
a, inst before his death his oldest friends were
amazed to find that he had no legal right 10 the
name which he borne for nearly hfty years III
California He had changed his real name when
he first came here because OF fanced preJudlce
against Hebrews. This week contest over tne
will of Jacob L. Davis. who accumulated
fortune of So 500 900 in this city, reveals that his
real name was Dediker, and that he dropped II
when he left Philadelphia In lS49, because ne
had been bound as apprentice to tradesmah
and he feared the consequences or his vioiatioh
of the contract His sisters children contest
the will. which left all this property to the two
nieces Of his deceased wife. whom he had prac-
tically adopted his children.
Henry Buffers. who represents South Afri.
can syndicate, this week decided not to accept
@he offer of the Los Angeles streetcar line for
S3750O00. The property was found 10 De sooo,
hut the rapid growth Of Los Angeles Will compei
much new track-aylng curing tne HeAt two
~sa-s which II is estimated, would require $780,
600 expenditure before dividends could be ex-
nected. Hence the syndicate declined to perfect
the deal with the bondholders OF the car mes
Cho are san Francisco savings bank directors.
The extreme cold weather which prevailed In
k.aiifornia for a week up to last Tuesday did
little damage. It was felt more severely In Ore
Kon and washington. At Portland the Columbia
month OF the Willamette for the first time 30
early in the season in the memory OF white
aettiers The great river was also choked with
Sce from the Willamette to the Dalles, and the
new Government locks were rendered useless for
the time by frost. The Great Northern Rail-
road and the Oregon Short Line suffered so Sc
vereIv from heavy SHOWS that not even the
rotary pioushs could clear the track for several
NAYS.