Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-12-25

taking.
\ singular way our city authorities
have "f making repairs in detective
street planking is to create Il "dcad
fall' absolutely more dangerous than
the original break. If a plank j.
shattered and a yawning gulf threatens
to swallow up the unwary whcclman
"r unfortunate pedestrian who happens
to traverse the dcath-line Mt night,
the plan Is to stick a plank or scant
ling in the hole, protruding several
feet in the air, which by daylight
would be sufficient warning to keep
off the grass" but is ut night 4 VERT
able snubhing-post for the unwary
No better means could have been de-
rived for establishing the groundwork
OF Il damage suit should some unfortu
nate citizen be manned or killed by
this continuance. Even the prccau-
ton of hanging out Il lantern has
been omitted, probably to give any one
bringing suit soundcr ground for ac-
| ton.
A beautiful little propeller boat,
built and owned by +. Chase, of Little
Rock, was brought to town on Christ
mas morning, and placed in her " ma
| tive element" where she sits like
duck, and when the power is applied
runs like 4 greyhound. She is 81 feet
long, built OF cedar and spruce, and
the propeller 1G inches in diameter,
is rotated by two levers with bcvel-
gearing. 1t is thought that she can
make eight miles an hour with two
men at the levers, without extra exer-
ton. Commodore Mcdonald says the
device for propulsion is Il plain in
fringement of his patent, but without
some of its best points and he i'm
mediately challenged the skipper of
the X-Ray," the name of the new
boat, to q race with his craft which is
well known 10 the public. The chal-
lenge was Immediately accepted, and
in the contest the new boat came
out couple of lengths ahead of the
cOmmOdore's craft. Mr.. Chase and
Il couple of friends left to-day for
Orcas Island in the "X-Ray."
1t turns out that the "benefit" for
the school library fund, from the De-
Kannett lectures, was no benefit after
all-that the balance is on the wrong
side of the ledger to constitute any
thing but loss. Prof. Halves says in
letter to the press, that the whole
receipts aggregated $!210 and the ex-
penses footed up $4,000. If this be
true-and there is no doubt but that
the statement is correct-the poor re-
suit may be attributed to the details
of management, for there were enough
people in attendance, if all paid the
admission fee, to have afforded much
larger aggregate of gross receipts than
is given in the statement. The fact
is, the doorkeepers, being unused to
such work, allowed many to pass in
without tickets or the Equivalents"
and this will always result in disaster
to the best of objects and the most
careful management in other respects.
The Professor maintains that the peo-
pie received their moneys worth in
the lectures, which is true, but it is to
be regretted that means were not
adopted to have made the entertain
ments complete success.
1t is pity that the earth deposited
by the dredger had not been placed in
straight line surrounding the re-
mainder of the piling of the old Long
wharf. Had this been done, it would
have removed q menace to navigation,
and have provided permanent cause.
way from the city front to deep water.
The piles would have served a good
purpose in keeping it in place, whereas
as now deposited in unsightly knobs
all over the flats, it is only question
of time when some of it will find its
way back into the excavated channel.
The extra labor involved in placing
the debris from the channel would
have been exceedingly small, and with
disposition ON the part of the con-
tractor to render satisfactory service,
would have probably cost nothing,
and the result would have been
permanent work and an object of
pride and utility. 1t will be re.
membered what popular rendez-
vous the wharf was of long summer
evenings, before the toredo had rem
dered it an unsafe place for vehicles
or boisterOus crowds of people. One
of our most intelligent citizens re-
marked at that time, that if the wharf
served no other purpose than place
for recreation it was we'll worth what
it cost. But as the harbor improve
ments have progressed so far that it is
now too late to thus utilize the waste
earth, the old adage about crying over
spilled milk admonishes us that re-
grets are in vain.