davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
WHY IMPROVEMENTS LAG.

this city and in Oakland the evil and ever present
 spirit of obbery shadows every aspiration for pub lie improvement.
 Oakland enjoys many advantages of situation and scenery The view of San Francisco and the inter vening bay with its anchored argoses, which may be had from the heights around Oakland, has but few scenic equals in the world.
 That city has for than score of years sought to acquire space for an ample public park, not mere plaza, where a few plants are tattered by the trade wind and children recruit their knowledge of letters by reading signs that advise them to keep off the grass, but park with drives, bridle and foot paths, verdant reaches of lawn and parade and recreation grounds
 The diversity of surface within the city limits permits park system excelled by any town in the world connected by system of boulevards which the clement climate will permit to be bordered and namened by palm of forty different kinds and by other flora which suggests dream of the Italian Riviera. But every time forward step has been pro- posed real estate jobbery in form has appeared, and in the ensuing recriminaon all plans tainted and fall. Everybody connected with it gets under pcion, the papers not excepted, and the public mind IS diverted from worthy projects of public improve to the of individual interests In the recent fasco one of the San Francisco morning papers ap- pears to have been retained fling mud at the Coun- cil and dehle everybody who failed favor the pur chase of 1t which 1t approved.
 Complaints made that members of the Coun- cil, being business men, under duress of threats that that paper would them for not favoring the scheme which 1t wanted to pass
 The yellow journal behind rank real estate job in this city within a few months and was pursuing the same tactics.
 The Call favors all of these proper public improve ments and will encourage them everywhere in Cali fornia because our climate enables garnshing of cities by means of parks to a refined extent of em- bellishment not possible elsewhere. But we do not propose to aid in the prevalent jobbery which tries to the popular wish for improvements as a means for undue private gain
 We hope that there is enough official courage and civic spirit left in Oakland proceed with the project to improve the approaches to the city by redemption of the nasty marshes Sixteenth street station which in an important sense injury to the whole State since they must be traversed by the hun dreds of thousands of people who come to and go from San Francisco every year.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
GOVERNOR BUDD'S OPPORTUNITY

C OVERNOR BUDD, by the death of pr. ]. I. Stanton, Railroad Commissioner from the
 Second District, has opportunity such IS presented few executives Under the constitu- ton he will fill the vacancy in the board The de- ceased, besides being popular in the truest accepta ton of the term, of more than average character and integrity. He did all he could to make the Railroad Commission a success. It was only when that body had been completely tied up by the Federal courts that he desisted from his efforts to regulate freights and fares
 There is now abroad an impression that the Rail- road Commission is failure. It is costing the tax payers about $2o,ooo year, and is rendering them little service. Except tribunal for the set clement of the petty disputes which occasionally arise between rival transportation companies ali useful ness seems to have departed from it. To Governor Budd is presented opportunity of demonstrating to the people of California either that the Railroad Commission is failure, that the basis upon which t is founded has been swept away He can do this by appointing the vacancy created by the death oi Dr. Stanton of character and administrative ability.
 If the appointment left to The Call it would select Republican for the place We believe that the Republican party of California contains more men of integrity ability and character than any other party
 sufficient number in fact to fill all the offices almost
 
 Dr. Stanton was Democrat The vacant place be- longs to the Democrats, and a Democrat will un- doubtedly be selected to fill it.
 What Democrat then, in the State of California possesses the ability to demonstrate 10 the people during the next twelve months either that the Rail- road Commission failure that Is still possessed of legal virity? It may be impertinent for us to meddle in Democratic politics but we have no hesi- tation in suggesting a Edward B. Pond ex- Mayor of San Francisco and present vcc-president of the San Francisco Savings Union is man whose word will be taken after years service on these points:
 As chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors for two years Mayor Pond saved the taxpayers of this city $ooooo in gold coin As City Hall Commissioner during his two terms as Mayor he saved them S5oo,ooo As an admins trator and a business man he has no su- perior in the Democratic party iii this State If the Railroad Commission is a failure it ought to be abolished If it is of any value the people want to know it. Pond will find out all about it without wasting any time. His appointment would only be received by the people generally with satisfaction but would reflect great credit upon the Governor.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
A RECORD-BREAKING FEAT.

A FEAT that breaks the record of marvels ac- / \ complished by telegraphy achieved yester- day by the Western Union Telegraph Com pany in supplying The Call with news connected with the Durrant case It consisted in the transmission from Washington of the decision of the Supreme Court in time so brief that within fifteen seconds after the decision was handed down by the court the report of it was displayed on The Calls bulletin boards in San Francisco.
 The decision was given in the court at I:o5 D. m Washington time, and the difference in standard time between the two cities IS three hours and two minutes. this equivalent to 1o:o3 a. in San Francisco. The report placed The Call bull Ietins at Io:o314-ffteen seconds later.
 This feat surpasses all records in the way of news gathering transmission and publication the continent Its effect such that if the decision of the court had been favorable to Durrant the news could have been transmitted from The Call office San Quentin prison in time to have reached the War den before the execution took place at Io:3+
 In connection with this marvel of speed and curacy 1t may be noted that the Western Union ice enabled The Call surpass the Examiner in the local field also by as much as fourteen minutes in getting from San Quentin to this city the news of the execution. By arranging system of signals from the prison to the telegraph operator the Tnent of every step in the proceedings of the ton The Call and buletined nearly quar- ter of hour earlier than the Examiner received it.
 By reason of the promptness with which The Call obtained the news both from the court at Washing and the prison at San Quentin 1t enabled to send reports to its bulletins throughout the State ahead o all rivals In this service preceded that of the Examiner by from five to fourteen minutes in reporting the news in various cities. The achieve nents of the day in the way of transmitting news with rapidty were genuine trumphs of teegraphic com nlunication, and the Western Union may record them among the greatest feats accomplished in its history
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
Fig. 2-Respiratory curves of the same

T iS. Z-aespiralory curves or the same subject
 a-nasal. b-buccal.
 c-of two subjects.
 d-by a single nostril.
 The time was 36 seconds for c and 26 for q.
 For some years past the nose has held Tn medicine and physiology an importance not formerly recognized. They accorded to 1t the function of smelling and were willing to admit that it served to humid fly and warm the inspired air. but that was aH- Now the study of this organ constitutes a recognized branch of medi- clne. Anthology is a medical speciality and the nose is thrust almost everywhere in diagnosis of the human ailments
 To the presence of polypi or other ob- struction in this organ, they attribute asthmatic affections, nightmare, coughs facial neuralgia, vertigo, fever, depres- troubles
 pr. H. Mendel of Paris has just added a very interesting confirmation of the importance of the nose in the respiratorv act, in showing, by careful experiments that that organ allows to pass in the same time and with equal respiratory eff fort a much larger quantity of air than the mouth, and that nasal obstruction determines diminution in the supply of oxygen to the blood and provokes as phyxia and its usual consequences.
 To ascertain exactly the volumes of air to which the nose and the mouth respect- lively give passage in a given time. Dr Mendel constructed an apparatus which he calls Rhinometre (A) which consists | essentially of a receiver of known ca pacity (40 litres), which can be increased or diminished at will by adding or draw ing off water. This apparatus has four | orifices. One connects the interior of the receiver with a Manometer (AD on the outside, which permits the measure ment of the inside pressure and the vol ume of air inspired. The three other i ori1ces-2 centimeters in diameter-are | fixed to the mouth and to the two nos ! triis by means of three rubbers, | centi- meter in diameter, armed at the end with nozzles of exactly the same diameter, but varying in caliber according to the age and size of the subject.
 On the top of the receiver are installed | three electro magnets. Every time the | current traverses the circuit these mag nets attract their armatures and close the rubber tubes. stopping the access of air to the cavities of the patient
 The electro magnets are controlled bv ciock-work apparatus GID which sends i the current at the end of a second. half second, ten or twenty seconds, as may he desired. An electric bell actuated bv the current warns the patient that the l tubes are about to open, and that respir-
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

for the establishment of the desired department and have found prompt and willing support in the West. ln the East the movement has not been we'll re- ceved but the opposition is probably due more to lack Of knowledge of the conditions under which our mining industry labors than of any positive objection to the creation of a Cabinet officer.
 The great mining exposition to be held in this city will have the effect of arousing popular interest in the industry and will undoubtedly give the general public clearer idea of the needs of mining in the way of national legislation. It will, therefore, serve as an important factor in hastc,ng the adop ton of the desired reforms in Federal mining laws and will aid the movement for department of mines and mining.
 Throughout the entire mineral producing region of the West there is vital interest in the subject It is hardly likely that any mining State or important mining county will fail to make good exhibit the exposition to send strong delegation to represent 1t Tn all discussions that may be undertaken to slider mining affairs and to devise means to improve their conditions
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

alton is possible. With little practice nothing is easier than for the patient to make the beginning of the inspiratory eff fort coincide exactly with the opening of the tubes. and thus measure accurately the volume of air inspired.
 In general while the mouth will breathe in one litre of air the nostrllS Will take in one and a quarter htres Tn the same time. and with equal effort. This applies to normal subjects SupJects troubled with nasal Instructions naturally nrodrce different results. The apparatus is practical and simple, and is destined to render great service in diagnosis or cases.
 By the aid of a registering apparatus M. Mendel made some experiments as to the comparative frequency ana regu- Iaritv of the nasal and buccal respiratory acts. The tracings of the curves, 'Whlch are here reproduced, are very lnteIestiils and instructive They show the resPll- atory movement as fixed by styAuI ,,I,n Iii disks turning at a given velocity. Inc axnira tion is the outside crest Of each or the sin11osities, and inspiration Is the leIt or inside.
 Rv the curves a and 1t was sho"h that in the same interval of time-0o sec onds-nine nasal respirauons were hlaoe' as against eleven bUccal.
 The tracinEs and q were taken rom two different subjects, one or "hoiii had Instructions in one Of ms noslIAS' and they demonstrated the very paraoo ical truth that inspiration by a slhgle nostriI even procures more air than the buccal movement.
 Let us breathe through the nose' ana train the children to do the same, and we will avoid many hurtful consequences Gle Monde IlluStre.)
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
COLLECTED IN
 THE CORRIDORS

T. Threlfall. mining man of Towers, Is at the Grand.
 c. A. Smith, a rancher of Winnipeg, Is guest at the Palace.
 F. E. Doggett, mining man of Pres colt, Ariz., is at the Lick.
 H. L. Billings, & business man of Chi cago, is staying at the Baldwin.
 w. E. Bertrand, a mining man from Mexico, is guest at the Palace.
 H. C. Hopkinson, owner of the Stock ton Pottery Works. is at the Grand.
 Professors Young and Fairclough of Stanford University are at the California. r. McCauley, a prominent business man of Chicago, is at the Palace with his wife.
 C. Sakaloff and J. Ireptonok, two trav- elers from Russia, are registered at the Baldwin.
 Hon. John Reid, a member of the Can. adian Parliament, Is at the Occidental with his wife.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
THE NEEDS OF MINING MEN.

n CCORD1NG to the Western Mining World of \ Butte, Mont, there is little prospect of any immediate improvement in Federal mining laws. Senator Stewart is quoted saying there will be changes at all made in the laws this session O. Congress It the bill proposed by the com mittee appointed for that purpose the Gold Miners Convention IS regarded too radical in its nature and will not be pressed by the miners themselves.
 Commenting upon the situation tic Western Min ing World argues that nothing be done to re- form the mining laws at this session every effort should be made to induce Congress to create na- tiona bureau of mines and mining Such depart ment would collect the information on which a wise system of revision of the mining laws could be car ried out. It to be generally agreed among mining that their industry has grown beyond the capacity of the Interior Department to handle properly and that for its proper development there is needed more comprehensive and intelligent su- pervision at Washington.
 California miners have taken the lead in working
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
PREcEPT AND PRACTICE.

My grandmother used to say to me,
 My grandmother used to say, Now don't run after the boys, my BHi' But stick to your sewing. pray! For men who want wives will hunt thern' oeoA' Care not to be met half way; .,, For the longest chase is the fairest spoFI-
 My grandmother used to say My grandmother used to say to me-
 My grandmother used to say, Now stop your dreaming and baste your hei"' Dreams never were meant Tor gay Don't hurry, my girl to find lad'
 Maids never have will nor way Till sorrow and twenty are come ana eone' My grandmother used to say. But I'd heard some tales and said one day; Now, Granny, you dear old thing, You met, I've been told, your lover at
 The gate by the meadow spring, And, though scarce eighteen, you rode oehlno To the village. six miles away. - And were married and all by Parson Phlppsi Now. what have you got to say And grandmother smiled demurely, then, Above the hurrying thread '' TT was not for the lack of precept, oear' Things happened as you have said; For Stop your dreaming and baste your heIn7 For the men won't run away; And 'Wooing will keep for good two-year' My grandmother used to say
 Richard Stillman Powell Tn PUCK
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
4 TALE
 OF THE ARCTIC.

Some years ago he was a mate on board the whaling bark Napoleon, which foundered at sea off Cape Navarin, on the coast of Siberia.
 Vincent and twenty-six companions succeeded in escaping from the sinking vessel to a large cake of ice, though they were unable to take any provisions with them.
 For thirty-seven days these poor wretches drifted about without food or shelter. now in this direction, now in that, at the caprice of the cruel Arctic winds
 Finally the ice foe drifted in shore and grounded. But only five of the original party were alive to crawl to land.
 Of these five two expired as soon as the beach was reached, the other three were picked up by wandering tribe of Deer men and taken into the desolate interior of the country. There Vincents compan- ions expired, one after another, from the scurvy. and there Vincent himself lived for two long years with his savage friends until a trip to the coast resulted in his rescue and return to civilization.
 S. J. Brandon, the clerk of the Senate. Is in town from Sacramento. He is regis tered at the Grand.
 Lady Reid, the widow of the surgeon general of the British army, Is at the Occidental from Vancouver.
 A. J. Levy, business man of New York. and George B. Mechan, banker of Denver. are at the Palace.
 Miss Grove and Miss Thompson of London, England, are at the California. They are making a tour of the world party of Philadelphians is registered at the California. It consists of O. Douglass, w. P. Martin and H. Lewis and wife.
 J. F. Rodrigues. the Minister to Mexico from Guatemala, is in the city on a short visit. He is accompanied by his wife and family and is staying at the Occidental
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
STREET CAR TENDERS.

THERE Is no doubt that the Board of Super
 vsors should adopt without delay an ordinance
 compelling the street railway companies of this city to place lenders upon their The death ord made by the electric roads within the short period during which they have been in fashion is certainly appalling It IS not to the point to say that most accidents are due to the carelessnes of the victims While the law may not muct the street rail ways in damages when the victim contributes to his destruction, the law of public opinion ought to infict heavy penalties upon Government which tol- crates without regulation the means of destruction.
 Beyond doubt a fender can be invented which will nine out of every of the street railway acci- dents which take place n this city. It is not neces- sary for the companies to rig their with con- trivance which will pick up careless person, throw him feather bed and offer him glass of beer sandwich and apology. What they want is an ar engagement which will turn Instructions from the tracks. This might occasionally hurt person, but 1t would always prevent the mangings and deaths which usually accompany street railway accidents
 So far the general public IS concerned it de- nands rapid transit It will consequently be very un- popular for the Supervisors to reduce the speed of the electric to eight miles an hour. rapidly moving car provided with efficient fender will do no more damage than one that is moving slowly. If person gets under the wheels of an electric or cable he is certain to be mangled whether 1t goes fast or slow The point to which the Supervisors should direct all their energies is the discovery of fender equal to the task of throwing Instructions from street railway tracks. Once discovered the street car com- panies should be compelled to adopt such fender II it is impossible to find contrivance which fills this bill will be time enough reduce the speed of the cars or force the rapid transit roads to build elevated trestles
 Probably non-killing street car will never be in- vented. There few fools whom it will be i'm possible protect from the consequences of their careessness and folly but something should be done to prevent the murdering process that is now in vogue The street companies, as we'll as the Board of Supervisors, 1t to the pubic which patronizes them to adopt a fender without un- necessary delay
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
A FELINE NARClSSUS.

having the reflective properties of mirror. A large and hand some tomcat, belonging to the es- tablishment, was wandering around the grounds one day and, chancing to look into the fountain saw the reflection of its own features looking up out of the liquid depths. The cat became so fas- cinated with the feline loveliness 1t be- held that 1t could not tear itself away. and forgetful of mice, rats and even the tempting green parrot on the porch, continued to look into the water and ad- mire the beautiful creature it saw there. The mistress of the house had her pet brought in and the most delicate dishes that ever tempted the palate of a eat were placed before it. All to no pur-
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
TO WHIP THE RUSSIAN RIVER.

 over the North Pacific Coast as far as Duncans Mills and returning to the city late tomorrow evening.
 The party, which is a strictly private affair headed by John Peletier of Borel & Co.'S bank, expect to have flrst-class sport and to be able upon their return to show such substantial proofs of their prowess that the somewhat notorious achievement of a gentleman of Palestine familiarly known as Jonah will sink into insignificance by comparison.
 J. F. Stubbs, the president of the Ne vada State University and a brother of the railroad man. is in the city for a short time. He Is staying at the Occi- dental.
 J. Kruttschnitt, the general manager of the Southern Pacific, who has been making a trip over the road as far as New Orleans, returned to the city on Wednesday evening.
 Don c. w. Musser. son of William Mus ser. one of the leading business men of Utah, is on this coast on a featuring tour. He arrived here from Washington Two or three years ago he visited Palestine.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
cALIFoRNIANs IN WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7-Louis P Boardman of San Francisco will remain in Washington for several days He has removed to the Riggs House from the Raleigh. T. E. Gibbon of Los Angeles, vice-president of the Los Angeles Trac- tion Railway Company, is at the Riggs HOuSe
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

Mir Gladstone, in acknowledging the gift of a history of the American Revo- lution, writes that for nearly half a cen tury he has been an admiring student of the American Revolution, and believes that he owes thereto an appreciable part of his own political education.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

Melville Davidson Post. who was wide ly censured for pointing out the loop- holes in the law through which criminals may escape in his book, entitled The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason" has published another work of the same nature, and says "he who points out the vice of the law to the people cannot be said to do evil-
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08
A WOMAN WITHOUT A STOMACH.

pose. Tom refused to touch the food and as soon as released would hurry back to the fountain. This continued until one day the emaciated body of poor Thomas was found at the edge of the water His heart had been true to Its ideal until it had ceased to beat
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

S. B. Vincent, who may occa- sionally be seen around the corri- dors of the diff ferent hotels, is a man with a history.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-08

Since the Queen ascended the throne it has been reckoned that over 800 grants have been made of the charitable dona- tion of three pounds, which her Majesty usually bestows on mothers of living trtpletS who are in poor or indigent cir es.-Philadelphia Inquirer