The San Francisco call., 1901-11-25
ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

| TANFORAN-E. E. P, City. Tanforan,
for which a, racing park has been named,
| derives its name from a man of that
name. This department has not been able
to discover the derivation of the name.
| NOTARIES-A c. r., Fairfield. Cal.
| Notaries in the State of California are
appointed by the Governor One who de-
sires to be a notary should have some
knowledge Of drawing up legal docu-
ments.
ENGAGEMENT RING-L H. G., City.
A gentleman who desires to present his
intended an engagement ring should not
buy her "a plain gold band which later on
could be used for wedding ring He
should present a jeweled ring Of such
value as his means will allow.
ALIENS-F. o. T., City. In the United
| States an alien may acquire real estate
| by purchase. including conveyance and
devise, in such States where there is no
constitutional or statutory prohibition
The general rule is that aliens cannot ac-
quire real estate by purchase or descent
INTERPRETERS-P. R., City. In San
Francisco the Judges of the Superior
Court may appoint not to exceed five in
terpreters of foreign languages, who shall
actions and proceedings in all courts in
the city and county and in examinations
before Coroner's juries. The salary of
each interpreter shall not exceed 500 per
month.
NUMBERS-M. c. s. and E. NJ c., City.
The use of the comma and the period in
printing for the purpose of marking off
figures is a matter of style, some using
/ + 49,.
but the most common style is the comma
Some do not use any dividing marks, and
the three styles are 5000. 5000 and 5O00
According to the most approved style fifty
millions in figures should be as follows:
so, ,900 coo.
DRAW POKER-J T., Calistoga. Cal.
This correspondent asks: 81 claims that
if he bet s. in a game of draw poker and
calls him, but does not say word for
a minute and then raises $5, that T has
not the power to do so. Has hep When
T called ] that put an end to the game
and ] was forced to show his cards. I,
after calling J, had no right to raise J. no
matter whether he was silent a minute
or a month.
BURIAL AT SEAS, City This cor
respondent asks: 'I have a relative who
is sick with an incurable disease. He
knows that his death is but matter Of
a few months and he has requested that
his remains be taken out to sea for bu-
rial Can this be done without violating
the law?" A permit can be obtained for
the purpose of burying a body outside of
the limits of the city and county. A per-
nit in the case might be obtained to re-
move the remains to Honolulu or China
and on the way there the body might he
committed to the sea, provided the con-
sent of the captain of a vessel could he
obtained to do So The body could not be
buried at sea- if within the three-uiIe
limit of San Francisco's shore line.
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDI1M-
A. r., City. Referendum may be defined
in general as the referring of Legislator
to the people for final rejection or ar
ceptance.
The initiative is the giving to the neo-
pie the right of proposing legislation to
be acted upon.
According to the referendum as II is
now generally advocated no law. save .
strictly defined class of urgent measures
for the public peace, health and safety
which require a twe-thirds or thrss
fourths majority to cass would go into
effect without waiting a fixed tins ss.
ninety days. If during such time q, 49,
of the voters, say 10 per cent. sign ra~
t1tton for the referendum on that law IN
would not go into effect until the ns~+
regular election. when the people would
vote upon it, and if majority vote no II
could not be a law.
The initiative-n certain percentass
of the voters, say 10 per cent. sign . ne :
tition for law and file 1t with the ,ro-,~-
authorities 1t must come before the Tag-
islature, and perhaps be referred to th,
people. whether they petition for it or not
This is called compulsory referendum
When the referendum Is taken onlv when
a certain number of people petition for
it, it is called the optional referendum
Together the referendum and the initla-
tive furnish direct legislation.