The San Francisco call., 1896-10-06

| it comes to that baby of mine Pm out In the
| first round. ."-Philadelph North American.
| Looking up suddenly, she beheld the bearded
face of man with cleaning knife between
his teeth. Then she tainted. 1t was no won
der, for she had been carefully reared and mad
never seen any one eat pie In that manner
/ Indianapolis Journal
"Is Miss Cahoots in ?'' inquired the caller.
"That dep1nds on you. Are yez Misther
| Jones ?" said Bridget
"Yes"
"She's gon' out."-Harper's Bazaar.
ANSWERS 10 CORRESPONDENTS.
SHORTHAND WRITING-C. A., Mokelumne Hill,
Calaveras County, Cal. None of the court re-
poIters OF this City use shorthand type
| writer.
The DoG-H. s. City. The poem you want Is
In scription on the Monument OF New
i. foundland Dog" Byron wrote it. and 1t can
be found in his works.
TAxEs-w. j. B., City A person owning land
| inLassen, or any other county of the State OF
| California, believing that he has been assessed
| too nigh Tor taxes, they should apply ior re-
duction to the Supervisors of that county
| THE SHERMAN BILI.-T. A. R., San Miguel
Cal. The vote for the repeal of the silver pur-
chasing clause of the Sherman bill was as fol-
lows: In the House-Ayes, 40 Democrats ana
~ Republicans; noes. "a Democrats, 20 Re-
pubiicans and z Populsts. In the Senate
Ayes, 4S Republicans ana % Democrats; noes,
II Republicans, % Democrats and Popu-
lists.
JAN1ToRs AND CLERKs-w f. NJ, City. The
question "What is the salary of janitors and
clerks in the City Hall and who appoints
them ?" is a very broad one. If you will
specify what particular clerks or janitors
you wish to know about, the information may
be given. Some are appointed by the super
visors, some by the County Clerk and others
by the heads of departments. The 1anitors OF
the School Department are appointed by the
Board OF School Directors. Their sal aries
amount in the aggregate to about $oOOOO
year.
FRENCH WAR DEBT-W. R., Santa Rosa, Cal.
The indemnity which France had to pay alter
the close of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871
was five milliards of francs. equal to one Dll-
lion of our dollars. One milllard was PAID
In 1871 and the remainder was PAID py tne
end of September in 1878. The indemnity
was met altogether in bills of exchange drawn
against exported merchandise. These bills OF
exchange, in their turn, represented the SUP
lied by the Freuch Government and taken by
the French people to liquidate the debt.
EYEsroNE-A. T. e., City. The eyestone is
taken from certain species of small seasheI
found principally on the South American
coast 1t is the mouthpiece, or front door, SO
to speak, of the shell and is shaped with
convex surface on one side. while the other Is
fat and the largest specimens are not more
than one-third of an inch in diameter. Hum
boldt, the great traveller, found this stone
used by the South Americans to remove ior-
eign substances from the eye, hence the name.
When put under the lid OF the eye the stone
is moved by the motion OF the eyeoall ana ~,
tie particles which it touches adhere 10 IL ana
may be removed with It. There Is pehe1
that these stones are alive, because when
placed in any weak acid, as IL, lime lulce OF
vinegar they will move about This is OWING
to the evolution OF carbonic acid gas oy the
dissoIving of some of the carbonates OF lime IN
the shell by contact with the acid, ana tne ~,
tie bubbles of gas move the stone pack anu
forth in the fluid.
THE CENTURY,. N. D., City. This corre-
spondent like many people is troubled as to
the century. He asks if this is the ninety
sixth or ninety-seventh year OF this century,,
and adds that ga friend claims that the twen-
tieth century will commence on the 1st OF
January, 1900 and that another claims that
it will not commence until January l, 1901"
The following from recent editorial in the
to the question::
Already the discussion has taken shape. and
arguments have been put forth on either side Of
the question at issue, which is: WEI the nine
teenth century end with the closing of the year
| 1899, or must wait until December 81, 1900,
| has passed before we can we come in the to be
wonderful twentieth century? There are dis
tinctlv TWO sides o this question, and each side s
| IN position bring forward quite number OF
| arguments in support of its own method OF con-
| struclion Under the ordinary conditions OF
| Enumeration full hundred Is not ompleted, or,
| rather, new hundred Is not begun, until the fuu
If a agreed take the first hundred apples
from tree and the second hundred. could
| hardly demand the right TO begin his count when
| A had dropped his n.nety-ninth apple into the
barrel. The hundred, the new century,
would under such a con struction, begin not with
ap.0. but with !. 1he won represent the
win ing up and closing of the oil century, and me
the beginning or opening up Of a new century.
On this basis OF calculation the twentieth century
| would not begin until after midnight the 3lst
| OF December, 300. Or, TO state the same matter
N other words, the twentieth century would begin
| on January 1, 1901
the proposition until we come TO consider the
other side of the case, which Is that our system OF
calculating time is based upon the birtn of Christ
| We speak of the present year A. ID. 1896; In
other words, assuming this basis OF calculation,
we now in the 1S97th year of our Lord Just
| as, in speaking of child who has passed its
twelfth birthday. we say that he is now in his
teens that is TO say, he has completed his twelfth
year and is in his thirteenth. II child is year
ana eighth months old we say he is in his second
year These calculations are based on the reason
/ able ground that, in concrete reckonlngs OF time
| and space. we do not begin with 1. but with o,
and there is a space between and !, as there is
| between and 2,
In a word, the difference is found In the use of a
| cardinal in contradistinction to an ordipal num-
ber. IL man can be said to be in his iftleth
year after he has passed forty nine the century
may be said 10 be he twentieth century after the
| clock has rung mid dnight the 81 ST OF De-
cember, 1899. But, this led to warm discus
sion century ago. it Is not improbable that Il
! will be equally subject of dispute during the
next three years. 1t is not, IL is true matter of
weighty importance, having much less practical
| bearing upon the welfare Of mankind than the
settlement of the silver contention, but merely
indicates how persons may arrive at different con-
clusons from q statement of the same set OF facts
| MoLAssEs crisp nopcorn. SC box. ToHnsands.