Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-01

insurance companies, foreseeng large
losses, deposited large sums in New York
and in London to the credit of the San
Francisco institutions Again, San Fran
cisco merchants found their customers out
side the city paying bills freely. presum-
ably on the theory that the money might
be needed. As an illustration of the con-
ditlons of the best banks l found that
one had s24,OOo,OOO in deposits and $2O00O0OO
in cash. But as 100000 of the deposits
were controlled by an official of the bank
there was in reality $2OOOO,OOO cash to pay
100000 deposits. Some of the savings
banks are in a little different position.
They are, however. able to protect them
selves. owing to state law which makes
a savings bank the agent of it's depositors.
1t is discretionary, therefore, with the bank
to pay deposits or to say that the de-
positors shall wait until money due the
bank can be collected. The savings banks
are allowed by law, in California, to lend
10 per cent on real estate. If any insurance
losses are collected, therefore, the savings
banks are in good position to collect their
loans"
Profits of the 'DIind Pigs"
The most profitable business in San
Francisco since the disaster has been the
the Original package" law with a federal
license and in one instance a local court
decided they could not be interfered with
so long as their bottled goods were not
opened and contents drank on the prem
Uses. 'I sell an average Of sixteen dozen
quart bottles of beer and five gallons Of
whisky every day." said a Market street
dealer. 1.-THE beer costs me $40 a dozen
| bottles. sell II at 25 cents a bottle, or
| 10 cents a glass. By the single glass
naturally make a greater profit But
| saying that I sell nothing but entire bot
ties, you will see that I dispose of 1872
quarts of beer a day. At 25 cents a quart
I take in s4s The beer costs me $40 co.
That leaves me a profit of S2S on the beer
alone pay $50 a gallon for my whisky.
! Five gallons means twenty-five bottles Of
! whisky. Each bottle contains thirteen
drinks. That makes a total of S25 drinks.
At 10 cents a drink I take in $3.50 The
whisky costs me $3.50, so my profit on 1t
is an even $25 Add that to $3.50, that I
clean up on the beer and I have a total
| profit OF $3.50 on the day. That isn't so
bad in these hard times. is it,"
Chinatown Souvenirs.
When the placards forbidding rummag-
ing among the ruins on pain of being shot
were torn down there was a rush to the
hattened site Of Chinatown for relics and
souvenirs, and the debris was stripped
clean of China and bric-a-brac that had
been Scared by the hre Small boys
gathered this rubbish in baskets and
hurried to Market street to set up a barrel
or board.
The tourists bought these souvenirs with
such avidity that the bona fide stock was
soon exhausted Then tho cannv youth .
collected scraps of china and glass and
odd and ends OF junk from the unbruned
districts. BY the aid OF a bonfire this
! stock was readily converted into souvenirs.
! Cheap watches that were blackened by
flame brought more than they would in
their original state of perfection and rusty
hardware that the fakirs bouhgt in the Junk
yards for old iron sold for FIVE times its
| original worth after fire had scorched IT,
About the only things that were not
offered on sale souvenirs were bricks
Jumps OF melted glass sold for what their
weight would be worth I'm copper Nails
and spikes OF all sizes sold for cents
each. Empty tin cans that had been
melted out Of shape brought the same
return. and so did Chinese coins OF in
hnitesimal value.
In these various industries hundreds
or rather thousands, were reclaimed
from restitution. Some were on.
abled to hire tents, and continued
their careers as merchants I'm more
pretentious quarters. After the first dis.
position to sell souvenirs came the great
demand for food and soft drinks The
visiting army Of sightseers created this de-
mand. and the commencement of work or
large scale in removing the debris con,
tinued It.