davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
Washington. April I.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY MENAcED.
Hydraulic Mining Threatens to De-
strOy the HarbOr on the Pacific

FIom the Scientific American)
In California a renewal OF the old agita-
ton against hydraulic mining has been
started by influential agriculturists. 1t is
asserted that the restraining dams built
under the Camenatti act, for holding back
the debris of the mines, are Intellectual and
do not fulfill the purpose intended, the re-
suit often of faulty construction or DELHI
crate Indifference to the care 'ul require
ments of the law. Chinese are the principal
offenders, and much litigation has been the
result Floods have swept many OF the
frail structures, with all their accumula-
lions of sand and rocks. away, and the
consequences have been the ruin of agri-
cultural lands and the increased shoaling
of nayigable streams. Fifty years ago be-
gan the disastrous filling up of streams
caused by the general and unrestrained
pursuit of hydraulic mining. No estimate
can be made of The quantities Of debris
washed down by this process. The evil re-
suits are visible in thousands of acres of
fertile valley lands deeply covered over
with sterile sands washed down by flooded
streams from the mountains above. The
area of navigable waters of the State Is
seriously curtailed
In 1919 the Sacramento River was a clear
and limpid stream, navigab.e for vessels
drawing seventeen feet of water as far in
land as where the city of Sacramento now
stands, and for 200 miles further for yes
sells of seven or eight feet draft Now
steamers and barges drawing rot over
three and one-half feet can navigate the
river at summer stages to Sacramento. and
but twenty inches if they are bound to
Red Bluff The three fathom limit. which
in 1919 extended to Sacramento, has con-
tracted at the rate of one mile Per aunum
for the last fifty years and is now at Porto
Costa.
For over twenty years. or since the
cessation of hydraulic mining. the streams
OF California have never reganed their
original limpidity and are even now appar-
entity bringing down as great an amount of
solid matter as ever. This is accounted
for. in part by the vast mounds of debris
thrown out by early operations which
eventually find their way into the current
through the operations of floods But the
process of filing up the bay comes also
through the involuntary assistance of the
agriculturists themselves. Scientific inveS-
tgation demonstrates that the silt nov
flowing into the bay is not from the noun.
taius altogether. but is in great Fart the
soil washed from LANDS plowed for agricul-
tural purposes. The very element thar so
consistently demanded and achieved the
destruction of hydraulic mining is now do
ing that for which they successfully de-
bounced an interest which in the past has
contributed so greatly TO enrich the world.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
FROM THE RING TO THE RANKS.
I'm Army officer Who Once Fought
n Prize Fight.
CFrom the Kansas City star)

They used to call him Big Foot when
he was student at the Washington and
Lee University. Lexington, Va. He is d
first lieutenant in the Regular Army. and
stationed at Chicago now. He had two
brothers and a cousin at school with him
and the students called them Little Foot %
PLAY Foot" and Two Sticks Two
sticks" was called so because he was a
cripple and used crutches.
Big Foot was a strapping big fellow
with dark hair and eyes and skin as soft
and pink as an infants. He was an
athlete Of magnificent build, straight and
strong and tall. Everyone liked Big
Foot and everyone had great deal OF
re spect for his family. He was one of the
F. F. VS.. His father. colonel. had an
arm shot off at Malvern Hill while leading
the Confederate troops.
big Foot had some hard experiences
after he left school. He was graduated a
evil engineer from the university and took
a railroad contract with a partner to help
him. They made money out of the CON
tract, but the partner stolJ il all and Big
Foot vas left without dollar IL a
strange land
He was ashamed to go home or to write
home about his condition. He couldn't tnd
work and he got pretty hungry al times.
This is what led him 10 do what he did. At
Lynchburg. Va. he fell in with some sport
ing men who were looking for man 10
whip a prize fighter that had a reputation
I'm the town big Foot could see no
easier way of making money than fighting
the prize fighter. He would be fed while
he was training anyway, AMI If he should
win the fight he would make little money.
So he agreed to fight the fighter.
He whipped the fighter. made some
money, and went to Fort Leayenworth.
where he enlisted in the army as a pri-
vate. This was in 1898. In 1895. two years
later. he had risen to second lieutenant
This Is the shortest possible time in which
a man may rise in the army from the ranks
to such a position.
The lieutenant was stationed at Vancou-
yer barracks. Tacoma, Wash, few years
ago Ii was there he met the daughter of
a general. fell in love with her and married
her He went with the general 10 the Phil
ippines but returned shortly afterward
first lieutenant He is soon to leave again
for the Philippines.
The lieutenant is known to several Kan
sas City men, one of whom ';ent to school
with him. 1t is doubtful. though. whether
the lieutenant ever told how he fought a
prize fight and made enough money cut OF
il to join the army.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
Pretoria,
0From the Kansas City star.)

IITVW IIt NdT7Is tITI NTIT.l
Speaking ct the prediction Of Webster Dlyi,
no doubt that the Beers in the years they have
been preparing Tor war with the British have
made the place exceedingly strong but strictly
speaking no place that be thoroughly invest
I'd is absolutely and finally impTegnable 1t can
he ultimately starved out, il it can be taken in
no other way. and rule any besieged place.
however strong, be taken by regular APP
proaches ii prosecuted 10y ample force. Lady
smith and kimberley held out long against the
siege of the Beers, but no one doubts that they
would have finally surrendered had they not been
relieved by advancing British forces. Should the
Boers make their last stand at Pretoria it i
presumed there would be no outside Boer army
lett - drive of the besiegers, aud Pretoria would
be -e-iuced az was Yicksburg and as many brave
~ defended places have been. 1t may be said,
also. that the statements OF Webster Davi, never
nro. - ANYTHING.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
A FAMOUS HoSTELRY.
Many Noted aIcn of OIden Times
Among the LOdgers.
From the Lexington CKy) Obecr1cr)

u rum bIf L'AAiASlol NhN y pHN'lNtI-l
The Phoenix Hotel is in one sense the
Oldest hotel in the whole Western coun-
try, for il has. with varying changes, con-
tinued TO exist ever since the year 1900.
Early in this century its ancient prede-
cessor was destroyed by fire, but rose
quickly from its ashes in an improved
form. displaying upon its FROM a quaint
representation of the tabled Phoenix
whose name it has continued t. bear from
that day to this.
II was here that Aaron Pun lodged in
1906. while engaged In his daring con-
spiracy to make himself the head of a
new empire. and was here met ri well
coined by Herman BlannerhasSet tee cult
ured but unfortunate Irisnman he had so
completely fascinated. Here, as lar back
as Jefferson's Administration, Democrats
and Federalists, in knee buckled breeches.
ruffied shirts, and dangling cues, alked
red hot politics. 1t was he scene IF a
sumptuous dinner to Lafayette. and later
was the stopping place OF the willy NJ. XII
can chieftain, Gen. Santa Anna During
the civil war, while Lexington was held
by the Confederates it was the headquar-
tiers of Generals Bragg and Kirby Smith.
and before the struggle ended sheltered
General Grant. President arthur has also
been its guest.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
PARIS TO BE ENLIGHTENED
American BarrOom GIOries in the
Coming big show.

The gayety of nations will be distinctly
promoted by the establishment in Paris
this year of American bars. They will be
the first of their kind that the French
capital has ever seen. There are 10 be
sure, concerns that masquerade as SUCH
but they are frauds. You can buy a glass
OF claret, or a siphon of lemonade, or a
book Of beer but if you ask for cock
tail, or a stone fence. or a tea roll or a
sour, or smash. or high ball or a low
ball, or tizz. or a horses neck. or look
for the free lunch, you are doomed TO dis
appointment. The proprietor never heard
of such things. Yet. with the nice taste
of the Frenchman in things intended for
human consumption a Paris barkeeper
ought to be one of the most skilled of
artists. There are Frenchmen in this
country who create beverages that are
dreams, and why should they not find
employment in their own land? Under
lead of Americans they may do so. If
Paris once tastes real cocktail it is
likely to want more, and whether Paris
wants it or not. the thousands OF Americans
who live there or visit the city suffer ex-
ceeding for lack, so that real American
bar ought to be one of the distinct sue
cesses of the forthcoming assemblage of
the nations.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

Kansas City Enterprise
II an Englishman had CHANGED to be IN
Kansas City the day after the burning OF
the great convention hall and had strolled
past the scene of the fire. he would IN
doubtedly have paused in admiration and
exclaimed, How very American"
This ejaculation. from the lips of a for
! eigner, is not always agreeable, but in this
case no American, from Deer Is and to
Puget Sound from Lake Superior to the
Gulf, could possibly object to it, Early in
the morning after the Kansas City con
fiagration the people began to clear away
the debris, preparatory to rebuilding the
immense structure. 1t is a tremendous
task to be completed between now and
July 4, but the people Of the City of sand
Hills are not in the least daunted They
are Westerners, and they have seen the
impossible accomplished before. They say
that they can do it. and the chances are
that it will be done.
This trait OF rallyiug under defeat, CT
picking ones self up after SCATTERING
blow, and going on with business, may
Justly be called peculiarly American 1t
is slightly different from the mercurial
temperament of the Frenchman. or the
Englishman's bulldog tenacity. 1t is born
of two or three generations of taking
chances" and wrestling victory from de-
feat The colonial Englishman has il to
greater extent than the home II is
developed in a population which has had
to face uncertainties, and large odds. and
has learned to hold itself ready for any
sort of emergency. Therefore. is 1t pecu-
larly prominent in the West? The coun-
try is new, and the young blood of all the
Eastern States and of three or four Eu-
ropean nations went to people the prairies
of the Mississippi Valley and the sunny
California valleys. Western cities could
only be built by the overcoming of SEEM
ingly insurmountable obstacles. With few
natural advantages. Kansas City has
reached her present position largely
through public spirit, enterprise and ener-
gy. All of these qualities she now ex-
hibts in repairing the unexpected loss OF
her convention hall. Acquainted with the
boundless resourcefulness of the American
temperament and the general liveliness of
the Kansas City business men, the leaders
of the Democratic party are inclined to 90
smilingly about their work confident that
when the time comes for the convention
to assemble it will meet with a roof over
its head
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
THE osTRACIzED CLAIMANT.
Honest Debt Thrown Overheard Re-
cause of Age.

(From the Lewiston, Me- Journal)
The most pathetic figure at a town meet
ing rs the man with claim. | know OF
matters that have dragged along in some
towns for twenty years. The man who has
the claim or grievance goes TO the select
men each spring and has them put an ar
ticle in the warrant bringing this matter
up. | suppose he hopes that there may
come 4 time some day when the heart of
that town will relent and its conscience
viii get at work Some years he goes into
town meeting himself and urges his claim.
IN other years for the sake of variety, he
viii hire some of the local lawyers TO pre-
sent the matter in the best manner pos
sible. Usually the man is listened to.
though the whole thing is horribly familiar
to every voter in the town.
Then, when all the oratQry has been
spilled into their ears. some long cared
man from the back districts will rise and
will drawl with a grin:
Move We pass over that article AMI
forthwith the article is passed over with
whoop. And the man is round next year
as usual. II is curious thing. but the av-
erage town appears always ready to repu-
diate these matters of long standing I
have heard voters admit that certain claims
against their town were perfectly legiti-
mate. and perhaps ought to be paid. but
they are OF the coterie that regularly votes
against granting the appeal of the petit
TONERS.
Why?
Oh. well. it's AN old natter and the
Town is irritated ~ the persistence of the
man who keeps coming to claim his own
When town gets set in that direction
there is no Reputation so heartless and so
conscienceless as that which marks its
action. You see. the blame is so equally
divided. Refusing to pay honest debts is
treated as a joke. Even the man who at
last with awakened conscience gets up and
urges his fellow citizens to do the right
thing and pay the bill is smiled away as a
chap that means well but doesn't know
what he is talking about.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

The American public will read with
varied emotions the fun details of the spec
tacle at Ponce. yesterday morning. when
five Porto Rican criminals were executed
by means of the terrible and disgusting
Spanish garrote in the public square. Just
why such methods of administering pun
ishment should be encouraged by the Adj
ministration, We are unable to say. Perhaps
it is TO impress the American mind with
the idea that the island is a foreign cOun-
States
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

Ff0m the BF00hIyn tlgIt.J
We have increased the defences OF our hlrbors
until the leading coast cities are 'airly safe
against attack, or. ii not already be quickly
made 50. But local works are not enough. They
might successfully resist the attack OF invading
fleet. Il IS not policy, however, to wait Tor at
tack Il Is often the first blow that counts. To
engage the enemy before he can throw the cities
into a panic. before he lombard pilllge
OF levy tribute on the smaller towns. before his
transports land troops on our borders-that
is the wiser policy. Separated this country is
from all other powers by wide reaches OF I;
Approacha5ie from the north only across plains
that become our property the moment they are
crossed by a hostile foot, menaced on the south
B case OF war by a weak nation covering geo.
graphically not more than third of from
tier. are in position of the best security.
our battles must, therefore, be largely fought at
sea. To that end navy Of increased power is
necessary
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
The Problem of POVERTY.

woman in Rochester, New York. re-
Gently killed herself and her two children.
leaving an explanatory note in which she
said that she had no money, owed a gro
Gerry bill of one dollar and six cents, and
had been refused credit by the grocer.
Seeing nothing ahead of herself and her
little ones but slow starvation or pauper-
ism. she determined to end their lives and
her own.
The mood in which she did this might
rall ba called emotional insanity. The
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
POLITICAL NOTES AND GOSSIP.
Woodruff Movement seriou.-Lie

Noouruh movement Serious.-Lieu-
tenant Governor Woodruff's candidacy for
Vice President is no longer regarded as a
joke either by the Republican managers or
the ribald and incredulous gentlemen of
the press. He has gained too much
strength during the past month TO he
dealt with lightly. It is now force COM
handing respectful and earnest consider
alton. Its growth has been marve Gus. In
less than two months AR ,Wooiruff has
made himself a national character and a
candidate for the second honor in the gift
OF his party who must be reekoned with.
Though Senator Hanna fatty told Wood
ruff several weeks ago that he was too
young for Vice President" it is inter est
ing TO note that he is forty-two years old,
six years older than Mr. Bryan was when
the Nebraskan became his party's STAN
dard- bearer in one of the most Il tab e
campaigns in the history OF the country.
and the New Yorker is now two years tre
senior OF Bryan. MIR. Mekinley's c.ose
friends are new saying thar there is 70
disposition on his part to dictate the Vice
Presidential nominee. They declare that
the President positively refuses to use his
influence for or against any candidate. The
friends of Governor Woodruff are certain
that this is the case. and they are boom
Ing MN all along the line. Inc Other Gay
delegates were elected to the Philadelphia
convention from Brooklyn. WoOdruffs
home. These delegates were instructed for
Mckinley and Woodruff II has become
automatic in New York Republican poli-
ties that as goes Brooklyn so gozs Kings
County, and as goes Kings County so goes
New York State. Two days ago the Re
publican State Senator's, in conference at
Albany, enthusiastically endorsed Wood
RUIZ 5 candidacy. 1t is being pointed out
that he has been a leader in politics since
1884, and at the same time has been very
successful in commercial life being now a
very rich man. That he made friends on
his two trips West is no longer doubted.
Southern Republican leaders who come to
Washington bring reports of the rapid
growth OF sentiment in that section for
him. With all of these indisputable evil
denees OF the spread of sentiment for him,
added TO the declarations in his favor by
beth Governor Roosevelt and Senator
Platt. It is foolish to longer attempt to
underrate the man or the strength of his
candidacy. 1t really locks as if at the pres
ent time he has the bulge on everybody
for the second place on the ticket it'll
Mr. Mckinley
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
The Mother of the Trusts.
nrntn the 81. Panl Glnhe.l

The Democratic minority in Congress should be
reminded that so long as the existing tariff sys-
ten is allowed TO prevail all talk of suppressing
trusts is useless They have TO be suppressed
and specific action must be insugurated in thar
direction The most available mode of attack
and that which is most likely to result in success
is the one OF insisting spon the removal OF tariff
duties Upon all imported Articles ROW controlled
BIZ the trusts
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
President Mckinley.


frdfn the Portland August
There viii be no step backward in civil service
reform, declared President McKinley-and be took
it. war OF conquest would be criminal aggre,-
sion and not to be thought Of said President
Mckinney; and he is waging it. Our plain du.y
is to abolish the customs tariff between the
United States and Porto Rico, said President Me
Einley; aud today he is moving heaven and
earth to get 10 per cent tariff bill through
Congress with good prospect OF success What
shall be said OF such q President Be tti-s
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

From the PhiladelphiS Ledger

(FrOm the Philadelphia Ledger
The announcement that laborug men from all
parts Of the country are h0cking to New Yorl,
in search Of work on tie rapid transit tunnel
does not necessarily diSprove the commonly held
belief that there Is work enough in this
country tor all who choose TO accept il. Il rather
shows ,he disposition OF men TO flock to the
great cities Parts OF the country are IN need Of
men to .rk on the farms. and it IL extremely
probable that those who have gone from country
places to New York could have found plenty
20 DO al good wages nearer home.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
Fewer Divinity students.

lfoW me NHItagO IIlDIhe.J
In his annual report, recently issued. President
+. II. Capen. Of Tufts College, lays stress the
decline in attendance in the Divinity School
While suggesting that this may be occasioned by
the policy Of requiring tuition from students and
by raising the standard OF admission his own
Judgment is that the cause may be found in the
weakening of the religious motive, which is APP
parent in nearly all the churches. and to tie
overwhelming attractions presented to young men
In other professions
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
Never.

(From The Kansas city Starr
Kansas City expects to furnish hall for
the Democratic National Convention in ninety
days 1t would never do to adopt an anti-ex-
nlnsion platform in such a building.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

TO Succeed Davis.-It is said that
the selection of a successor to the Hon
Webster Davis as Assistant Secretary of
the Interior is giving Mr.. Mckinley and
his advisers a deal of worry 1t is con-
coded that in the peculiar circumstances
attending the resignation of Mr. Davis
it would be good politics to choose some
other Missourian for the place he has va
Gated AT the same time it is being urged
upon the President and Mr.. Hanna with
good effect that Missouri is hopelessly
Democratic and except the possible preser-
walton of party harmony in that State
nothing would be accomplished by the ap-
pointment of a Missourian TO SO valuable
a billet as that of Assistant Secretary of
the Interior. particularly as the head OF
the Department is a citizen OF Missouri
whose political activity was unknown or
unfelt in that State until Mr. Mckinley
discovered in him the organizer of the
Glass Trust and heaped political honors
upon him, first in the shape of Ambassador
TO Russia and then a Cabinet portfolio
Still, the Missouri idea seems to have
a strong hold upon the mind of the Presi-
dent and it is considered possible that
he may fill the vacancy with a Missourian.
The Missourian whose name is most fire.
Hon. B. B. Cahoon lawyer of wealth and
standing in the southeastern part of the
State. The chief objection to Cahoon
seems to be that he has been too closely
Identified with the Hon. r. c. Kerens to
make him acceptable to Secretary Hitch
cock. The Secretary is understood to de
mand the privilege OF saying who in Mis-
souri, is fit for office and who is not Colo
mel Kerens fought for years to get control
of the party machinery in the State and
when four years ago he finally succeeded
in driving the Machiavellan Chauncey l.
Filley from the head OF affairs in Missouri
he thought his ambition as the undisputed
party boss at last had been attained But
the Presidents discovery of Mr. Hitchcock
has put in the field dangerous rival for
the hOnors of bossism in the State and
has confused everything pertaining to the
patronage of Missouri For this reason it
is believed Colonel Kerens' man will not
be named as Davis successor but that
Secretary Hitchcock viii be permitted to
fill the vacancy with one of his henchmen
provided. of course that the final decision
is for the place to again go TO Missouri
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08

Mr.. James l.. Norris has been replaced
as Treasurer of the Democratic National
Committee by Mr.. Willard +. Dunlap. of
Illinois. and it is announced that the
change was made through the influence of
the Hon. William J. Bryan. Obviously Mr..
Bryan knows his friends.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-08
A Pleasing Suggestion.

/ (From the Milwaukee Sentinel)
| Our friends in Porto Rico may have made a
! mistake in pot INDUCING in more careful STUDY
CT our Constitution before subscribing to the fag.