The herald., 1897-12-15
lars In money, and with the full knowl-
edge that he Is risking his life; and that
even should he win wealth, 1t will be at
the expense of his health.

lars In money, and with the full knowl-
edge that he Is risking his life; and that
even should he win wealth, 1t will be at
the expense Of his health.
+ +
The Atlantic and Pacific Aerial Navi-
cation company of San Francisco seem
to have the courage of their convictions,
so far as furnishing money is concerned.
They contemplate. says the Mining and
Scientific Press, the building of an air.
ship and have secured from the Pitts
burg Reduction company Of Niagara
Falls sheets of aluminium Of unusual
size. They propose to use these sheets
In the manufacture Of cylinder. which
will be SO feet 3 inches In diameter and
feet In length, with forward cone of
5O rect and a rear cone Of AZ feet. They
propose to use this cylinder In the con-
struction of an airship which will cost
$l5,O0O, weigh about 5000 pounds and
carry one ton of passengers and provis-
ions. 1t Is proposed to propel this ma
chine by gasoline engine Of 100 II. p.
This the company thinks will solve the
problem of transportation to and from
the Klondike.
In the case OF the town OF Hinckley
vs.. the Kettle River Railroad company
the supreme court of Minnesota held
that where a municipality issues its
bonds to aid in the construction Of a
railroad the maintenance and operation
or the railroad during the life Of the
railroad company as fixed by its char
ter or articles Of incorporation, Is by
clear Implication either the condition of
or the consideration Of, the grant of
aid. and that IL during that time the
company abandons the operation Of its
road and tears up and removes its
tracks, the municipality granting the
aid has cause Of action against it on
common law principles.
4 + +
In the course Of time we shall sup
possibly be informed as to the amount
Of the total loss sustained on account
OF the recent London fire and how much
of the loss fell upon the insure COM
panies. At present an average Of the
various guesses made by the newspa-
pers across the water indicate, says the
Argus. total property loss of perhaps
six millions of dollars and an insurance
loss Of something like three millions.
In view of the extent of the loss sus-
tained by the companies and shared in
by probably forty or more, including the
best and largest, the panicky feeling re-
ported for two or three days in the in
surance share market in London was
one Of the ludicrous features Of the
fire. The real ground for apprehension
was not as to the ability of the insur-
ance companies to pay without serious
disturbance Of their resources, but be-
cause Of the inefficiency Of the slow
coach, imperfectly equipped and alto
gether inadequate fire brigade. What
might have been, II the fire had occurred
in a portion Of the city crowded with
valuable goods Of twice or three times
the value in the burned area, might well
furnish grounds for grave apprehension.
In the meantime, 1t will be especially in
teresting. in the light Of both the Lon
don and the almost equally destructive
fire at Melbourne. Australia, to learn
what the persistent advocates of self
insurance by municipalities will have to
say. Payment Of the big losses in these
two cities by the,taxpayers instead of
the insurance companies would have
been an object lesson rather sharply H.
Illustrative of the fact that It was a condi
ton and not a theory that confronted
them.