The San Francisco call., 1896-04-20
COAST EXCHANGES.


Whether or not the gifted editor of the Red
lands Cttrogrdph meant to be facetious when he
1 wrote the following paragraph may never be
known, but the fact remains that he has made
q suggestion that carries as much wisdom as
fascination. He says:
1t strikes that the owners of the huge salt
mines the desert north Of here are derelict
in their duty to suffering humanity In that they
do not use the big blocks quarried from the mines
material with which to build sanitariums. 1t
is well known that salt Is antiseptc and death to
most disease germs. Houses built of salt would
naturally be highly aseptic and the rock salt over
there is so hard that it makes splendid building
material Hurry up the first natural rock salt SAN
itarium and advertise it as blessing to suffering
humanity.
The Stockton Independent publishes an &C
count OF two ten-mule teams loaded with
freight at Stockton tor Modesto. The load con-
sisted of 40, 900 grain bags, consigned to Orrie
McHenry, the Modesto banker. The entire
NUM- Der of bags to be transported is 100000.
Our contemporary says:
The railroad companys rate on jute bags from
Stockton to Modesto in carload lots is ID cents per
hundred, So 80 per ton; the distance is about
thirty miles, and can easily be covered by teams
In day. The load taken on the four wagons
amounts to about twenty tons, the freight on
which would be S66, and on the whole shipment
OF fifty tons Of tute bags alone would be $140 In
freight rates saved to the farmer.
1t seems incredible that team freighting over
the wretched roads of the San Joaquin can be
done more cheaply than by the Southern
Pacific Company. The Independent adds the
following astonishing news:
Teaming to Modesto is not new thing, and at
present fully twothlrds Of the freight shipped out
Of Stockton to Modesto goes that way In prefer
ence to rail. The freight team on the street of
Stockton is becoming almost as familiar sight as
it ever was in the greatl days of teanaing to the
southern mines. In speaking on the subject yes
terday afternoon, Manager Welsh Of the Crown
Mills sta ted that for several months nearly every
pound of -four that has gone from the Stockton
mill to Modesto has gone by team. The rate on
-four for the thirty miles over the railroad is So 20
a ton, and there Is the haul from mill to train and
from train to store by team beside.
The need of the new railroad now being
pushed through the valley seems to be fully
demonstrated.
The Concord SAN is still calling attention to
the benefits to be reaped by any company that
will establish O fruit cannery at that place It
says:
There are several thousands Of acres between
Concord and Clayton and Concord and Danville In
fruit-bearing orchards. all Of which fruit, II re-
extensive cannery. This settles the matter
as the fact Of enough tree fruit growing here to
furnish a cannery. Then again the large amount
of berries and vegetables that would be raised here
IL such an industry were established would give
cannery greater guaranty of prosperity.
This is but one of many opportunities for the
profitable employment of capital in California.
The Modesto Herald publishes spirited.let-
ter from Oakdale which contains the follow
ing:
Oakdale to-day, without doubt, is the best busi-
ness town in the county. The streets are thronged