davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
A MISPLACED MONARCH.

"Emp peror William said a well-informed
and discerning Frenchman last summer TO an
American traveller sis precisely the kind OF
monarch that the great majority OF the French
people would delight to have as their ruler. j"
Unquestionably, if Emperor William, instead
of being the head of the Hohenzollern family,
had been the head of the Bourbon, the Orleans
or the Bonaparte family, and had In this way
come TO the throne of France, as, with his ia
voring personal qualities, it is not unlikely he
would have come, in spite of the republic, he
would without doubt have been fer the
that he never can be with his Ger
man subjects. Their devotion is for "Unser
Fritz" or the old Emperor, the good but
somewhat commonplace, ruler and fighter,
who will stand at his palace window each
morning at a certain hour TO see his troops go
by; who Will lead what the French would call
q bourgeoise species OF domestic life-that is,
quietly and after the rather tame midile-class
them by doing anything than is unexpected,
nor make too frequent demands upon them tor
displays of personal enthusiasm.
The French, on the other hand, have in the
past deligh ted in having over them a man who
kept himself constantly in evidence. General
Boulanger almost succeeded in securing die
tatorship by his pleasing personal bearing and
the art which he showed in attracting notice
at military reviews and on other public occa-
sions.
The Frenchman who looks back over his
national history finds in such sovereigns as
Henry ~ and in Louis. XIV, particularly the
former, the type OF man who has appealed
most powerfully to the popular mind. There
has been in them that exaggerated egotism
that monarchs who win the alteration of peo-
pie like the French must possess. They have
entire confidence in themselves and in their
judgment and demand and expect TO receive
the unquestioning confidence and respect OF
their people. This quality of supreme egotism
is one which the present Emperor William OF
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

in physical exercise. He had on q summer
vacation to the far North killed and mounted
fifteen Polar bears, which he sent to the differ.
ent museums of the world. He had published
several papers on the anatomy of the hagfish
and on the anatomy and morpholOgy of GER
tain groups of worms.
''In 1887 it was my fortune to be able to offer
him professorship in zoology in the Univer-
sity OF Indiana, which position he came very
near accepting. But he gave it up to accept
the offer OF the Norwegian Government of
means to carry out his scheme of walking
across the glacial plateau OF Greenland. He
wrote me that his friends in Christiania all re-
garded him as foolish to give up the certainties
OF professorship for scheme such as he was
going into. But his admirable good sense and
his wise choice of men, combined with his un-
iring physical strength, made this dreary eX-
pedition success, adding considerable infor-
nation largely negative, to our knowledge of
the glacial pateaus of the fer north.
"Slnce then he come to feel that the north
pole must be known, and he, if any one, has
the strength and the ability TO find it.
Not long ago had the pleasure OF naming
for Nansen new genus of Arctic fishes, the
species being Nansenia groenlandica."
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
THE TRUTH ESCAPING.

Mr.. Huntington is having an experience
entirely new to him-he is being cross-ex-
amined by men in Congress who have
neither fear of his power nor respect for
his money and character. Under the ex-
asperating pertinacity and contempt of
Senator Morgan he is driven occasionally
into outbursts of anger that alternate with
his abortive attempts at righteousness, and
under the torture OF cold and merciless
band of iron that holds him to the issue he
Is giving forth some truths that all his
powers of evasion are not able to withhold
de has divulged the fact for instance,
that 1t was he who suggested the destruc-
tion OF the Contract and Finance Com
pany's books. His assigned reason was
that the concerns of the company had
been closed and that the books were no
longer of any use. Yet he admits that the
books of the Western DEVELOPMENT Com
pany were not destroyed, so far as he
knows. The significance of this is appar-
ent when 1t is reflected that the crooked
work which it would be useful at this
iuncture to discover was done by the Con-
tract and Finance Company. Moreover,
1t is not the custom among business men
to destroy the books of enterprises that
have expired unless there is something in
the records that would be dangerous to
have discovered. 1t is commonly believed
in California that the books of the Contra ct
and Finance Company were not DESTROYED
until Mrs. Cotton filed her famous suit for
an accounting, and that the destruction
was intended solely to prevent their con-
tents from being made public.
Mr.. Huntington has been compelled to
disgorge other useful information. He
testified that the Southern Pacific Com
pany paid the Central Pacific 1850, 600 a
year as rental until the earnings of the
Central fell below that figure, and then
made new contract to pay only what the
Central Pacific earned. A close inquiry
would possibly develop the fact that the
new contract was made after the passage
OF the Thurman act requiring the crea-
ton of a sinking fund. 1t might not be
difficult to show, further, that about this
time and for the further purpose of i'm
poverishing the sinking fund the sys-
tematic plan of diverting traffic from the
Central to the Southern line was begun
On top of all that is the consideration
that the question of foreclosure was gradu-
ally approaching, and that a destruction
of the value of the Central Pacific would
make foreclosure and full recovery of the
Government debt more difficult process
than-if the Central Pacific had been kept
up to its full earning capacity. Mr.. Hunt
ington indeed is unwittingly and unwill-
ingly giving some very useful information
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

value. 1t is that the whole subject of
river improvement in California should be
in the hands Of the Federal Government,
and that under its direction there should
be conducted series ofimprovements, the
expense of which should be borne in rea-
sonable proportion among the Federal
Government, the State government and
the owners of the riparian property
affected.
AS the present inadequate carrying
capacity of our rivers has been ascrbed
wholly to the filling process of hydraulic
mining, 1T may be proper to call attention
to other current and increasing factors
contributing to tnat end.
Wherever the soil of watersheds is ex-
posed or stirred there is bound to ensue
flow of silt down the draining streams.
The only rivers which are never rolled are
those which issue with an easy flow from
dense forest regions. Such is the case with
the wonderfully llmpid and sluggish rivers
OF Florida. When there comes about
barbarous burning of the underground "to
preserve the forests" or a clearing and
cultivation of the ground for agricultural
use, or hydraulic mining, or anything else
that gives the erosive power of rains an
opportunity to work, there will be wash
ing down of the soil into the rivers and
consequent filing up of the beds of slug
eish streams, with all the ensuing evils.
Hence the spread of agriculture presents
ultimately as grave menace to our rivers
as does the mining industry which our
agriculturists are fighting so strenuously.
These are matters to be pondereo in all
fairness and wisdom, and the more they
are considered the wiser will appear Mr..
Price's suggestion that the Federal Gov
eminent should be the center of all move
ments to improve our rivers.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

late to remedy the difficulty that one-half OF
MS watcn do not know bowline from a
wagon wheel or the main brace from mules
natter. Hence the knock-doWn and stringing-
np-to-t the-shrouds business.
In the British mercantile service seldom
does anything of this kind take place, and the
reason is obvious, for the following arrange.
ment When crew signs articles with a
British ship for foreign voyage each man
VINO ships as an able seaman procures a Ger
tlficate from the Board of Trade of his compe-
tence. which he deposits with the ships
ofhcers. and if found incompetent may be
landed at any port and can claim no wages
and those who ship as ordinary seamen have
TO DO likewise; and seldom is punishment OF
hard usage reported in consequence of such
arrangement, for an officer knows he can de.
pend on the men that comprise his watch In
any emergency.
Chief and second mates have to undergo ex.
amlnatons before the Board OF Trade as tc
their efficiency in navigation and seamanship
and cannot ship on a foreign-bound vesse
without producing certificate Of competency
II would be well if the same rule were car
RED out at every American seaport, and if 9
law were enacted to severely punish every ras
cally person found guilty of toisting dock
loafers and other vagabonds on ship's officers
as able seamen q seaman's life would be much
improved OLD-TIMER
Seattle, WASH, Feb. IA 1896.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
THE TACTICS OF FOOLS.

In the whole course of the contest against
the funding bill no feature of the contro-
versy has been more surprising than the
part played by the literary bureau of the
railroad. If in other departments of the
monopoly camp there have been cunning
and skill, in the literary work there has
been nothing but awkwardness and blum
ders. The men appointed to obtain inter
views with prominent Californians favor
able to the funding scheme have gone
about their work with the recklessness of
a journalistic faker who believes that any,
thing will do for the day so long as it fills
space and is published long way from
home.
Column after column of the Washington
Post has been filled with what purports to
be interviews with men of more or less
prominence in California, and these inter-
views invariably are made to represent
some form of sentiment favorable to the
funding scheme. A wide variety of ex-
preston is given to the different state
ments, but all are so fashioned as to tend
TO the same end. In some the funding
scheme is directly commended. Others
oppose the policy of Government opera
ton of the roads. and the false inference
is put forth that such men support the
funding scheme. Still others are made to
denounce the great majority of their fell
sow-citizens as "sand-lotters" and "wild-
eyed anarchists because as is alleged they
are opposed to doing justice to capital.
In the concoction of these reported inter
views there is seeming cunning, but the
blundering awkwardness of them is dis
played by the vigor with which they are
denied by the men who are reported to
have given them. Man after man has
arisen to repudiate in langua ge more or
less emphatic the statements attributed to
him. Some of them assert they were
never interviewed at ALL Others found
their words garbled or distorted, and in
not few instances the reported interviews
contained statements the direct opposite
OF what the persons interviewed had said
We have here therefore coming forth
from the literary bureau of the monopoly
daily iteration of statements conta ining
every form of Misrepresentation, from a
sly innuendo to downright falsehood.
Such methods of conducting a controversy
are so dangerous to the employer of them
it is difficult to understand how men of
even ordinary sagacity, much less honor,
could be tempted to use them under any
circumstances. Their employment bv the
railroad therefore is one of the encouraging
signs of victory for the people. The monop-
oily must be in a corner, indeed, when it
resorts to such weapons, or perhaps 1t is
only another illustration of the old truth.
"Whom the gods would destroy they first
make mad.'
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

OF embroidered bands of creamy batiste laid
over black satin ribbons. Wide black satin
ribbon made the stock collar with bow at the
back bow like that shown in the illustra-
ton was set on either side of the box -pleat at
the waist.
A serge dress of black had the shoulder
straps of bright rose-colored ribbon, overlaid
with white embroidery. The box-pleatS were
OF white lawn, with ruffie of narrow Valen-
cfennes lace on the edge of each fold. The
sleeves on this gown reached to the waist ex-
actly like the pattern, which is longer than
shown in the illustration.
printed organdy made after this model as
trimmed with brettelles of ribbon, with bow
on the shoulder. Over the stock collar, which
was of the same violet ribbon, were tiny points
of white nainsook. edged with lace, six OF
these points just meeting extended all around
the collar, being sewed in at the top and over
tapping the collar, points downward.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
MAY PROVOKE A SMILE.

Personal Experience.-He-Her treatment oil
Jack has made him an NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
She-How is that? He-He knows what it is
to feel cut up.-Puck
A Wise Child.-Dickie, what do you want for
your birthday present?
oh, papa, get me savings bank that mamma
can't set nickels out of with hair-pin.-Chi
cago Record.
Photographer-Yes, sir; l can photograph
the money in your pocket-book just as you
stand.
Visitor-Well, you're real genius then:
went through it just now and couldn't find a
cent!-Chicago Record
"Doctor, my father wanted me to study medi-
cine, but l wouldn't have made successful
physician"
"Indeed! Why not. pray?"
because could not have felt a lady's pulse
without causing her heart trouble '-Fliegende
Blaetter.
You've seen them more than once or twice
These vagaries of fate;
The thinner Johnny thinks the ice,
The more he wants to skate
Washington Star.
Fenderson-You say that man is deaf mute.
and that he has an impedimen in his speech.
Pray, how can that be?
Foggs - Very easily. few months ago he
lost two fingers by buzz-saw.-Boston Tran
script.
Willie-I knew you were coming tonight.
Castleton-Why, Willie?
Willie-Sister has been asleep all the after.
noon.-New York Truth.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
IMPROVING THE RIVERS.

while the committee appointed to adyo-
cate before Congress various appropria-
tons for the improvement of the rivers
and harbors of California is presenting its
case to the Senate and House committees
having in charge the bills governing such
appropriations it is we'll to turn to an
eminently practical contribution which
has been made to the Woodland Democrat
by J. r. Price, Chief Engineer of the Cali
fornia Commission of Public Works. For
the basis of his argument Mr.. Price takes
the majority report of the Mississippi
River Commission, dated February II
1885, which report went to the value of
levees and other means for restraining the
flow of inland streams as a safeguard
against inundation of contiguous territory
and the occurrence of shadows and bars to
obstruct navigation.
Mr.. Prices argument is reducible to a
simple formula: The restriction of streams
to definite channels may be accomplished
by the construction of devices required by
the circumstances, as levees, wing dams.
jetties and the like; such restriction not
only prevents the overflow of contiguous
low regions but by confining the flow re-
duces the food level by bottom securing.
prevents the deposition of suspended
solid matter and increases the facilities for
navigation. All these principles are IA
miliar to intelligent persons and need not
be stated, either in Mr.. Prices terms or
those of James B. Eads. that brilliant
genius who not only was a member of the
Mississippi River Commission, but who
was the author of the jetties which in
creased the depth of the Mississippi chan
mel from nine feet to thirty-one, and thus
made New Orleans a port of the Cult of
Mexico.
Mr.. Price makes suggestion of great
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
PERSONAL.

L. Kinney, business man of Portland, is In
town.
Edward siltner of Oregon arrived here yes.
terday.
H. c. Bedford, a stockbroker of New York,
is here.
j. j. Boyce, the attorney, of Santa Barbara, is
in town.
Captain George Hark of Carson, New, is in
the City.
John W. Mitchell, the grocer, of Los Angeles,
is in the City.
H. G. Turner, an attorney OF Modesto, arrived
here yesterday.
Duncan McNee left on the Corona for Los
Angeles yesterday.
Fred Pelham, agent of Chicago lecture
bureau, is at the Palace.
S. Clark. who owns large mining interests at
Forest Hill, is at the Lick.
c. D. Hazard, wealthy merchant of Min
neapolis, is at the Palace.
A. 7. Evans and j. R. Marion, business men
OF Mazatlan, are in the City.
Hon. John MeMurray, the banker, of Reno, is
a guest at the Cosmopolitan.
j. J. Pratt, the extensive fruit packer of
Yuba City, is here on a business trip.
Joseph NJ. Locke, capitalist of Cincinnati
Ohio, is registered at the Cosmopolitan.
Austin Abbott, the well-known farmer of
Sonora, is stopping at the Cosmopolitan
j. W. Casebury of Sacramento who is ell
gagged extensively in cattle-raising, is in town.
R. D. Boyce of Portland is guest at the Cos
mopolitan, accompanied by his wife and sister.
in-law.
Frank NJ. Berry, a business and mining man
of Juneau, Alaska, is at the Russ, accompanied
by his wife.
Captain B. F. Day of the United States navy
and recently commander of the Baltimore is
at the Palace.
Lieutenant f. a. Rogers of the United States
navy returned from Seattle yesterday after
months absence.
District Attorney ]. Charles Jones of. Sacra
mento came down yesterday and heard Pader-
ewski at the California.
DR.. Hawks, formerly surgeon Of the cruiser
Baltimore, left for San Diego yesterday to join
the cruiser PHILADELPHIA
W. H. Mills of the Southern Pacific svstem
lett yesterday on business trip to Los An
geles He will be absent about a week.
Godfrey Holterhoff Jr. of Los Angeles, treas
urer, assistant secretary and tax commissioner
of the Southern California Railway, is in the
City.
E. NJ. Ross, United States Circuit Judge OF the
Southern District of California, will leave for
his home at Los Angeles to-day after mon tn
here
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

The CALL may be the means of causing a re-
form in such matters and benefit those whose
lives are spent on the briny deep.
The main cause of ill treatment on board
American vessels is the system of shipping
crews through the means of clearinghouse
keepers and their runners, whose words
are taken as to the capabilities of the
men they Introduce oships' officers. A sailing
vessel carries a crew according to the amount
of her tonnage, and among the number re-
remainder of the crew being made up of what
is termed ordinary seamen. When the ship
gets to sea- however, and the officers find half
the mon to be land-lubbers, it is no wonder
that trouble occurs, and especially so as that
class OF men are, as q rule, insubordinate and
what is termed cheeky"
Every ship master and officer in these days
OF fast passages on clipper ships is anxious to
make good voyages, and nothing is more ag-
grayating than for mate to find when too
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
DIR. JORDAN TALKS ABOUT NANSEN

PRESIDENT Jordan of the Stanford University
talked with CALL reporter yesterday concern
ing the Arctic explorer. DR.. Nansen. DR.. Jor-
dan said:
"Df. Frldtjof Nansen is a man OF tremendous
Physlcal strength and endurance, young am
oltlous and withal q highly educated gentle
man. thoroughly trained in the me thods OF
scientific work.
when first knew Nansen, in 1856. he had
put lately taken his degree in science at the
University of Christiania and was then director
OF the Natural History Museum of the city of
bergen He was a brilliant young fellow, with
the sohdlty OF mind common among Norwe-
glans. He stood over six feet in height, well
proportioncd, tremendously strong, deiighting
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
LADY'S WAIST WITH BoX.PLEATED
BLOUSE FRONT.

Here is charming model for extra waists
OF silk, batiste or other cotton, as well as for
entire costumes OF silk, wool or cotton
The pattern has fitted lining, the material
being seamless both back and front. The box
pleatls cut separate and sewn on, which is less
troublesome for the maker than to have it cut
In one piece with the front
A handsome crepon gown of old green was
made with waist after this pattern. and a.
perfectly plain skirt. The trimming consisted
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
TREATMENT OF SAILORS.

A PLAN SUGGESTED FOR IMPROVING THE LOT OF
AMERICAN SEAMEN.
To the Editor Of the San Francisco Cdlt--SIR !:
One can scarcely take up newspaper pub
Ished in a maritime city that does not contain
an account of Ill usage by ships officers of
sailors, and that chiefly on American mer-
chant ships, and the question arises, Why is it
SO? The writer having followed sea life for
many years of his early manhood, feels to
some extent able to answer the question:
trusting that the publication of this commu-
nlcation in so widely circulated q journal as
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
CALIFORNIANS IN NEW YORK,

NEW YORK, n. Y, Feb 19.-Mrs. Howard is
at the Holland; NJ. Moses, Broadway Central
IT, Huntington, Murray Hill; r. p. Vail, st.
CLOUD; E. {. Peiber, Astor. Mrs. W. R. Foster
and Mrs. A. Vanbergen were among the pas
sengers who sailed ON the st. Louis for South
ampton. E. ]. Priber and Miss Elsie Priber
were among the passengers who sailed on the
Normandia for Genoa, via Gibraltar, Algiers
and NaDles
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

They were getting up some amateur theatri-
Gals. and the manager said to Gus de Smith
who was to be one of the performers:
''Mr. de Smith, you are to have the role of
Don Alfonso"
"Do you think I'll please the public in that
role?"
"I'm sure of it. You are killed off in the frst
act."-Texas Siftings.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
THE POINT OF VIEW.

This world is as we make it,
often hear them say.
Ii we are sad and fearful,
The world will seem that way;
And If we seek the dark side,
Where everything goes wrong,
And see moehillS as mountains,
Our lives will seem too long.
But If we seek life's sunshine,
Sweet Joy to others give.
And gayly climb life's mountains,
AS though we're glad TO live;
To overcome disaster,
And round us sunshine shower
To make our dear friends happy
Then Joy will be our dover.
The world is but mirror,
Rejecting each ones mind.
II we look at it GROSSLY
To us twill not look kind;
But If we smile upon it,
1t Will be joyous, too
No matter bow we see it,
Twill give us our own view.
So, when the world seems dreary,
And life seems bitter, TOO,
Just ask your disposition
Ii 1t can better do;
And If 1t turns TO sunshine,
The world will look so bright
That you will be forgetting
How dark has been the night.
MARTHA ,. LIPPINCoTT, in Philadelphia Ledger
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
Cleveland the Autocrat.
San lose Mercury

san Jose MeTcuTy.
Cleveland has in several instances. either
directly or through the departments deliber-
ately set aside the law. He has assumed that
the legislative, executive and judicial powers
OF the Government all center in him. He has
been imperial in his dictation and conduct
and that he has not been impeached is due
solely to his retainers in Congress whom he
has purchased with official patronage.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20

made honorary members OF the st. petersburg
Imperial Academy OF Sciences.
President Cleveland still remains silent as 10
his desire TO experience the eek" rays.
General Horace Porter at a recent club DIN
ner in New York said that the first half ot.a
mans life was spent in getting his name into
the newspapers and the last half in struggle
to keep it out.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
RemarkabIe Coincidence of Lanrunee.
Gait Gazette.

There is remarkable unanimity of senti-
ment and coincidence of language in that Dor
ton of the State press that favors Huntington, g
funding bill. The stuff reads like newsnaner
syndicate work-as il all penned by the same
hand Arguments can always be found to
bolster bad cause.
The San Francisco call., 1896-02-20
Progressing Backward.
Petalurla Argus.


In the past three years we have increased
our Indebtedness 262 millions of dollars and
at the same time decreased the revenue The
interest-bearlng Indebtedness has been in
creased for the sole purpose of retiring green
backs, preventing the circulation of silver and
to give the wealthy classes an opportunity to
escape taxation on S262, ,OOO, 900 OF capital by
investing it in United States bonds.