New-York tribune., 1898-12-25
TOPICS IN CALIFORNIA.
R1IN AIDS BUSINESS sITUArloN-Thh
RorKIN cAsE-RAILROAD NEWS
TsY TELEGRAPH To THE TRIBUNEl


,ha, ~ last week which broke the long droutn.
and /, fell without a wind, soaking the ground
,horoughly Work has now been resumed IN
The mines In all the foothill counties ana the
snowfall was so heavy last week IN the
high Sierras that water is assured ior min'hs
purposes until next summer. The rainfall came
tust In time for farmers as they can no"
n,ourh and SOW the fields. II has dlspelied al
fears of a dry year. and has given commence
10 farmers and business men NO investments
were made or even discussed by capitalists be-
fore the rain came. as there were fears OF
dry year Now capitalists are eager 10 aid in
tbe development. The rainfall throughout the
Sacramento. Napa. Sonoma and Soano valleys
was TWO inches while in the San Joaquin and
the Santa Clara valleys fully one inch fell All
the state north OF Tehachapi received the ben
eft Of a good rain In the southern counties
there were light showers The suffering for food
and seed among few farmers in the remote
southern part Of Monterey County and the
northern part of San Luis County was this
week exploited here by two newspapers. which
opened subscriptions and ostentatiously sent
carloads of supplies hungry farmers. The
situation was painted in such urid COlors that
II would lead a stranger 70 California to lnfer
that the people were in the habit of starving 10
death in the DRY season and that the local au-
thorities could not. or would not afford relief
The simple facts that many families settled
in these two counties wh"n the land was thrown
open Ii is a good stock raising country. hut
poorly adapted to general agriculture. because
the land is hilly and very dry In the last two
years the rainfall has been small and many Of
the farmers are destitute Many Of them, how
ever coud have obtained aid from county Off
cials had thev made application. and reports of
fear Of actual starvation were exaggerated In
-l-l....
made to appear as a general suffering for food.
and thus the state where no industrious man
need ever feel hungry is made to appear to ne
In desperate straits
The sensational Botkin poisoning case practi-
cally ended this week far the taking Of
testimony is concerned The prosecution made
out strong case against the woman who is ac-
cused of causing the death Of two women in
Dover. Del. by sending 70 them box Of poi
soned candy. The defence met this by the simple
testimony Of Mrs. Botkin, who denied fatty all
the accusations against her No material wit
nesses introduced tc strengthen her story.
II the jury shares the general opinion Of her
testimony. it will convict her speedily
The Southern Pacific Company's new owl
train between this city and Los Angeles has
proved a great success Leaving here al i
2. m. it reaches Los Angeles as o'clock
the following morning saving five hours over
the ordinary train time There are only FIVE
stops on the entire run. The same company's
Sunset Limited is also growing in favor with
those overland passengers who wish to avoid
the cold and snow Of Central or Northern lines
The Sunset Line by way OF Los Angeles
El Paso and New Orleans and is one of the
most finely appointed trains in the country.
William A. Bissen will return here from Chi
caGo in February to take charge Of the freight
and passenger traffic Of the Santa Fe Railroad
ives, of Albuquerque. All the Far Western
business which has been directed heretofore
here by Mr.. Bissell He will also control the
, .altornia Southern Railway and the Valley
read Next October all the general passenger
aud freight agents Of the Santa Fe will meet
here for their annual gathering After the bus
ness session the agents will see the scenic feat
,Ies Of CALIFORNIA. BY the acquisition Of the
Valley road. the Santa Fe will be able 70 bring
- traffic agents through TO San Francisco ~
its Cvn trains
The lst California Volunteers. who have done
such good service in Manila will have royal
reception on their return. II the first vol
unteer regiment to be mustered into the service
OF the United States, and its Colonel James f
states Volunteers All the men came from
San Francisco. so it has been determined to
build an armory for the veterans who. in years
70 come. will form part of the National Guard
Of the State
The Tivoli put on Christmas piece this week
called The yellow Dwarf" but all the other
houses are playing old things. no less than two
theatres using Hoyt comedies which are moss
grown with age Next month Rosenthal the
pianist Will be heard in q few performances
Inc dangerous Illness Of the Rev Dr. Horatio
T. Steooins this week alarmed his friends and
brought many MESSAGES Of inquiry from all
parts or The coun ~ His recovery is now re-
earded as certain Since the death Of Starr
hing, no pulpit orator in California has ap-
proached DR. Stebbins in eloquence and logical
power. He has never sought notorietv. and he
never stopped 10 sensatonalism in his sermons
put his voice has been heard in every good
cause ana his influence has been great He is
just rounding out the thirty-ffth year Of his
service as the pastor Of the First Unitarian
Church
The death this week in Virginia Of the Rev
~ W. n Platt removed clergyman who was
popular here twenty years ago As the rector
OF Grace Church Dr. Platt became known as
an eloquent preacher and lecturer, while his
chip
The retirement Of Colonel Andrew ] Smith az
the governor OF the Soldiers Home at Santa
Monica, Is due 70 the nervousness Of his family
over TWO attempt' on his life. One occurred at
LeaVenworth, Kan. last year. when the Colo
nels house was blown UP with dynamite. and
MIS- smith was seriously hurt The other was
the shooting of the Colonel al Santa Monica hy
q drunken soldier His injuries were regarded
as fatal for time. but he finally recovered
A big winery. to cost $4,000 will be erected
az once In Henford. Tulare County, by F A
West Of Stockton and b r K.ttredge of
New-York, who already own the large FL Pinal
winery. The extensive acreage Of the vineyard
is Just coming Into bearing Hanford and the
owners have promised upward Of twenty thou
sand tons Of grapes for the next season
All bonds and stocks have been pushed IN 70
such figures on the Exchange here that II seems
improbable TO carry them higher Hawaiian
Commercial advanced from 81 to SO and Hutch
inson Plantation from 6i to Go Alaska Packers
rose 10 lO6 Market Street Railway to 60 and
Grant Powder 10 GO. All railroad bonds were
high.
PETITIONS IN BANKRUPTCY
Sanford Wolf Of No. ses Madison-ave e,ed q