The San Francisco call., 1899-03-12


fair second to the writer in the Argo-
naut. To let such consideration go
without mention is impossible, there
fore 1 mention it.
For the short month of February
there were five murders in San Fran
cisco, being considerably too many.
There will be advanced in behalf of the
murderers the plea either of self-de-
Tense or insanity, and probably, if JUS
| tice were to be consulted, neither plea
would be found good in any instance
If the homicdal tendency so frequently
displayed is the result of insanity this
| must be the craziest town on earth
and if it can be traced to the neces-
sity of self-defense there is an mex
plicably large proportion of the popula-
ton in need of killing. The plain truth
is that people here commit murder De
cause they know that to do so will cost
them less inconvenience than to steal
ham. And all the while there Is
across the bay an excellent galIoWs
through the trap Of which number
have dropped, but mot enough. Hang
murderers promptly and surely ana
there will be far fewer of them.
| The welfare of the schools must in
terest every citizen and to see them
so often under the management OF IN
competents and rascals is source OF
| irritation and regret. The sup1ect OF
free school books is being discussed. L
believe that books should be provided
for every pupil, whether rich or poor
At present there is a way of supplying
them to such children as make open
declaration that their parents are un-
able to perform the office. Thls puts
the children coming from humble homes
at the disadvantage of being regarded
by their weather playmates as pau
pers, and on this subject the careless
tongue Of youth administers many
sting The result is that wage-earners
who cannot afford to do so buy books
for their children and the burden IS
hard to bear. There are many eX-
pensive and useless books, and frequent
changes, the latter precluding the poss1-
biIity of disposing of secondhand arith-
metics and Biographies or passing them
from child to child as the elder enters
a new grade. For the State to buy
the books would entail a considerable
cost. but the extra expenditure would
come easily within the amount now
wasted or stolen. With honest direct
ors there would not only be an end to
larceny, but to the common and friVo
lous substitutions now in vogue. In my
opinion the text book is as properly
part of the furnishing of a school as is
the desk or the map on the wall.
A poem entitled "Sweethearts and
Wives has appeared in a number of
prints with the credit Anon" There
is no particular excuse for such care
Iessness The poem was written by the
late Dan OConnell and there was no
secrecy in it's publication except such
as hedges about the work of all obscure
authors.
An Indian paper in describing the
charms of Lady Curzon says that her
voice resembles the voice of cuckoo.
1 would advise the lady to restrain her
speech Somebody might mistake her
for 81 clock
I observe that one of the evening
papers will not permit any of it's num-
erous talented writer's to say to-day
such a thing happened, but the obliga-
tion exists to say Friday or 'Satur-
day." as the case may be. This is an
excellent idea. 1t permits the item to
stand for at least a week and therein
is the virtue of it. For an evening
paper an item not more than seven days
of age is young and beautiful.
The police have arrested the wrong
highbinder" There is something about
the statement hard to believe. There
is not a highbinder in Chinatown who
does not deserve to be arrested, con-
victed and sentenced to be hanged at
least once.
Some Eastern publication has gone to
the trouble at this late day to review
Beatrice Harraden's Remittance
Man, The story was not worth this
trouble even when fresh from the press.
Save for the fact that the woman had
written one creditable book she could
not have found a publisher for this one,
and every publisher who accepted it
realizeC that he had made a bad bar
gain. The yarn is crude, uninteresting,
untrue to life, amateurish, and, more
over, vixenish. There is nowhere in it
a gleam of purpose nor sense. 1t is
worse even than AthertOn's worse stuff,
and to say this 1 regard as the climax
Of disapproval
The trust may be a necessary evil,
but it can reach point at which, while
it remains potently evil, it is no longer
necessary. Some of the recent aggre-
cations of capital have been startling
enough and that of the Eastern coal
interests, now being manipulated by ].
Pierpont Morgan, promises to be ap-
palling. The combined capital, it is
stated, will be more than $685., 900, 900.
To explain the occasion for this the
fact is set forth that there will be an
annual saving in expenses amounting
to $4,000 900. Think of it! The owners
of the mines, with more money than
they know what to do with, made rich
by the sweat of underground toilers
far worse conditioned than the slaves
of the South ever were, can save all
this money. Perhaps they will devote
il to charity for in the absence of char