davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

as he Is not citizen of the United
States. He intends to obtain patents
In China for the many valuable de-
vices he has invented In the meantime
his room is jealousy guarded to pre-
vent his ideas from being stolen. Sew
eral attempts have been made to spy
on him and to obtain entrance to the
room during his absence Only re-
Gently he discovered that a white man
had tried to force open his window.
His flying machine, which Is almost
finished. he guards most carefully Of
all and does not keep 1t in the room,
but in another place, where no one is
permitted TO enter but himself.
He is almost ready to go back to
China and begin his missionary work
of introducing electricity there. Water
power especially will be developed by
him. Already Chinese businessmen of
advanced ideas have prepared to back
him. and recently his way has been
made much easier by the support that
he has received from them In carrying
on his work in Oakland. A crowd of
Chinese merchants from Sacramento
recently made him an offer ofsunlim-
tied capital If he would let them share
in the profits of developing. conces-
sions they have secured in China. He
has not yet determined to accept this
offer. but his departure will not long be
delayed. He wants to complete his
airship first, and after that he will be
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

police were interested IN what he said
and began an investigation OF their
own. which substantiated Fung Joe
Guey's assertion that the device was a
fake. The band was arrested and one
OF the greatest swindling concerns that
ever operated in Oakland was ex-
posed and broken up. The men are
now awaiting trial.
Fung. Joe Guey is "a slight, nervous.
little man, with a pair of the brightest
eyes that ever shone. The hard work
he has done for years, the sleepless
nights and the mental concentration
he has subjected himself to, have left
their marks on him. however. He is
bundle OF nerves with no frame
But he has the energy that drives
him along, and the love for his work
that will not permit him to keep away
from 1t. He will stay with 1t until he
drops.
Gee Wing Yin, his pupil, is the
guardian OF the workshop as we'll
When work is over he turns in on the
little cot that Is in the room. The place
is never left alone now, since the re-
cent attempt to force an entrance.
The disciple is also ambitious to per-
feet himself as a mechanical and cleo
trical engineer and wants to be on
hand when China is awakened from its
sleep of 1000 years. He shares the
confidence of his master and is devoted
to him.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

an electric circuit as each tooth passes
small spring. In order that the mid
die and end Of each minute may be
recognized the teeth of the twenty
ninth second and those of the last five
seconds are omitted and no signals are
made. At about 1870 a. m. each day
this transmitting clock is compared on
the chronograph with the other clocks
and It's error on standard time deter
mined This error is usually not very
great and is corrected by accelerating
or retarding by hand the motion of the
pendulum until adjusted within few
hundredths. of second, as shown by
the chronograph
AT 1855 a. m. an attache of the hy-
geographic Office hoists the ball on the
Fairmont to the top OF the staff, un-
ships the crank and sees the electrical
switches properly set The Western
Union telegraph company furnishes
free use of its wires for five minutes
preceding noon each day, so at that
time the transmitter at the observa-
tory is switched in and the signals
commence. These signals are heard
not only in the photographic office and
on the roof of the Fairmont hotel but
also in every Western Union telegraph
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

appointment he succeeded In interest
ing his father and other Chinese to
the extent that they gave him enough
to live on while he worked in his little
room in Oakland.
few months ago he made the Oak
land police sit up and take notice, as
well as sundry gentlemen who were
fleeing the public by selling shares in
a company that was organized ostensi-
bly, for the purpose OF installing wire
less telephones. The company had a
wireless telephone, beautiful and con-
yincing to the eye and ear, which fool
ed enough people to enable the promo
ters to buy automobiles for themselves,
and make themselves well known as
spenders on the great white way.
Fung Joe Guey heard about the wire
less telephone, and wanted to see how
1t worked. The promoters thought
there was no harm permitting Chi
nese to inspect 1t, when they had de-
ceived countless white men, Fung Joe
Guey looked around the establishment
and discovered that the mechanism
was nothing more than an ordinary
telephone. with the wire cleverly con-
cea1ed.
That's fake he said.
The promoters were not even fright
ened enough to care what he said about
It, What did poor Chinaman know
about wireless telephones? But the
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

at the service of his countrymen.
he made every bit OF his wireless
telegraph instrument himself. for one
part OF his training for his great work
mas been to learn to construct machin-
cry as well as invent 1t. With his re-
ceiver over his head he can with the
ilttle instrument he made intercept
messages from Portland. Seattle, Los
Angeles and San Diego.
Fung Joe Guey became imbued with
the idea Of being the mechanical mis-
sionary of China eight years ago. His
rather was prosperous Chinese drug
sist In San Francisco, and wanted to
make an apothecary of his son. But
the boy did not want to devote him
self to the mortar and pestle.
TOO much taking about IT. he said.
So he went to New York instead, and
went to work in machine shop, be-
ginning at the bottom. When he
thought he had learned what there was
to learn In one shop, he went to work
In another whore observation-disclosures of q
different sort was done. For years he
drudged. learning greedily. At night
ne pored for hours over the books he
bought with his savings At last he
found that his studies engrossed him
30 that he wanted to give them all
his time. He returned to California,
and after much privation and much dis
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

OFFICE on the Pacific coast. They con-
tinue until IL hours SO minutes so
seconds a. M, wnen they stop. The
time ball is then switched in from the
photographic Office and no more signals
go out until exact noon, when a long
one is sent which causes the electro-t
magnet to work, and the ball drops.
1 4iis noon signal is seldom in error
to an amount greater than one or two
tenths of a second.
Standard time is based upon the me-
ridian of Greenwich as PRIME merid-
ian and is reckoned from that point,
one hour for each IS degrees of 1ongi-
tude. standard time on the Pacific
coast is that of the 120th meridian west
of Greenwich, so that, when noon here
1t is p m. of the same date at Green
witch. The navigator therefore simply
notes his chronometer time when the
ball drops and the difference between
that time and eight hours is its error
fast or slow as the case may be. BY
the same process on a subsequent day
he again finds the error, and by divid-
ing the difference between these two
errors by the number of days elapsed
he establishes the average daily rate
gaining or losing, as the case may be-
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

same time the siderea1 clocks are made
automatically to record their seconds
beats by closing an electrical circuit
at each beat of the pendulum. As the
star crosses each of the spider webs
the observer touches an electric key
in his hand, which records on the chro-
nograph the clock time of the stars
transit over each wire. These are re-
duced to the middle wire and the diff
ference between this time and the
stars time as found in the Nautical
Almanac is the error of the sidereal
clock. The error of the mean time
clock is found by comparison with the
sidereal, the chronograph being also
used for the purpose.
To determine the standard time 1t
is only necessary to apply TO the mean
time clocks their error and add thereto
minutes 5.63 seconds, the latter being
the difference in longitude expressed in
time between the 12oth meridian and
that of the naval observatory at Mare
island.
To transmit this time clock known
as the transmitter is used. It is SINH
lar to the others except that it has
wheel On the pinion of the seconds
hand with teeth that open and close
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

They are going back to China tn
make the waterfalls turn wheels bun-
dred OF miles away. They are going
TO help construct and operate steam
and electric railways. Factories will
spring up in their wake They ara
going to teach their countrymen thar
the wonders worked by the white man
are not magic, not the work OF thu
devil, but merely the control by man
of some Of natures forces.
When they see Chinaman A
these things II will be all right So,
Fung Joe Guey
the superstitions OF his people VIM
De swept away when they watch orr
OF their own race do the magic. he
thinks. They viii then cease to ofrer
objection to introduction OF western
ways and western inventions. The
conduct OF the Chinese who are hfs
neighbors bears him out in this. Ar
nrst they frowned upon the devfffrv
when they learned what he was doin~
In his little room But he went around
among them. fixed the telephones os
the merchants when they got OF ordsr
did the necessary tinkering on other
american devices they had been In
duced TO adopt without understanfing
and now he Is the idol of the Chimes.
quarter. '"ess
Wait until I get nv airsn,n a.
isned. ne said the other day. aThs,
we VIII teach China about elsctricltv-
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

cabled to vessels at Honolulu. Midway
and Guam. the electrical transmission
being practically instantaneous. The
Western Union company is connected
with nearly all the government wire
less stations on this coast and the noon
signals are transmitted from them
also. 1t is therefore possible for navi-
gators on board vessels fitted with the
wireless system to determine the error
of their chronometers while at sea-
The illustrations of clocks and
chronograph appearing herewith were
furnished by the United States naval
observatory.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23

This system is operated daily, Sun
days and government holidays ex-
cepted Should the ball be hoisted and
anything occur to prevent it from
dropping it is kept up until five min
utes after noon and then lowered slow
~ by hand. This. rarely happens. but
when 1T does notice to that effect is
published in all the morning papers on
the following day. The photographic
Office keeps on hand a chronometer, the
exact error of which is established by
this system, and many calls for the
correct time are answered daily by
telephone. This time is also frequently
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23
NO[eS TING IND
APP4R4T2eS

use OF it for the purpose OF regulating
their timepieces, and to many OF them
the following brief description of the
system and the manner in which 1t is
operated may prove of interest:
On the top OF the elevator shaft at
the northeast corner of the hotel roof
is a galvanized iron staff four inches in
diameter and 20 feet high. with two
sheaves at the top to receive the hoist
ing rope. The ball, which is fitted to
slide on the staff. is made of iron
bands covered with sheet zinc, has
diameter of four feet and weighs ap-
proximately 40 pounds. At the base
OF the staff is a steel air cushioned
chamber five feet high, into which the
ball drops
Under the roof, protected from the
weather. is the apparatus for hoisting
and detaching the ball This consists
Of a steel lifting drum carrying tho
rope which, after passing up and
through the sheaves at the top of the
STAFF. is secured to the ball. On one
rim of the outer circumference of the
drum is a ratchet and pawl and on the
other shock brake to used in case
of emergency. Under the pawl on the
drum. and operated by a strong stor-
age battery is the electro magnet for
releasing the ball.
From the battery wires are led TO
switchboard in the branch hydro
graphic Office. and from there direct
communication is made by means of a
Western Union wire with the United
States naval observatory at Mare ISL
and. California.
The exact time is determined at the
observatory by means of a transit in
strument, an electric chronograph and
four fine astronomical clocks, two regu-
lated to sidereaI and two to mean
time. The transit instrument is =
telescope mounted on horizontal
axis. well adjusted in the meridian
and having in it's field several groups
of spider webs.
The chronograph, which registers the
beats Of the clocks, consists of a cylin-
der operated by c1ockwork, causing 1t
to revolve at uniform rate of speed
once a minute. Attached to the arma-
ture of an electromagnetic is a pen
which moves in the direction of the
length of the cylinder. drawing a line
upon a sheet of paper placed around 1t.
Three or four times each week the
meridian transit of set of stars, US
ually ten, is observed. The observer
finds from the Nautical Almanac which
particular ones will cross the meridian
at a certain hour, sets his telescope
and starts the chronograph. At the
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23
By ]. c. Burnett
Lieut.. U. s. Navy, in Charge of
Branch photographic Office

TH United States photographic
Office has Just installed on the
roof OF the Fairmont hotel q time
ball service which is OF vital I'm
portance TO every navigator sailing
from the port OF San Francisco.
This service was formerly operated
from the tower OF the ferry building.
but in fits present position. AIS feet
above the level OF the sea, its range Of
Visibility IS vastly increased and st
can now be seen not only from all yes
sells at anchor in the harbor. but also
from those as far OF as Sausalito and
the Oakland wharves
The value OF this service may be
readily understood when 1T is known
that IN order accurately to determine
longitude at sea knowledge of the
correct Greenwich mean time is abso-
1utely necessary, as longitude is based
upon the difference between Greenwich
and local mean times. For time is
directly convertible into longitude and
vice versa, IN accordance with the
teachings OF our schooldays that the
aun passes over 10 degrees OF longi-
tude in one hour OF time.
Chronometers recording Greenwich
time, with error and rate established,
are furnished all sea going vessels,
but, affected as they are by change OF
temperature and density of the atmos-
phere, few, II any. can be relied upon
TO preserve the same rate. BY rate
is meant the change in the error, which
may vary from a small fraction of a
second TO several seconds a day. It is
necessary therefore that their rates be
verified as often as possible. and this
IS done in a simple and accurate way
by the time ball, which is dropped at
exact noon OF standard time by the
branch photographic Office in this city.
Although this service is conducted
principally for the beneht OF mariners.
numerous residents OF the city make
The oasis., 1909-05-22

cruz, are to the effect that a great forest fire swept across that section, going in a northward direction, last week, and an entire family is believed to have been burned to death and much valuable property destroyed. Nothing is known of the origin of the fire, which started in the heavily timbered region just north of Santa Lucretia. In the path of the flames were a number of very valuable plantations, which are said to have been burned. When the fire was at greatest head way strong south wind sprang up and the flames spread with start ling rapidity, utterly destroying everything in their pathway.
The oasis., 1909-05-22

WANTED-Trustworthy man or woman in each county to advertise, receive orders and manage business for New York Mail Order House. SlS.00 weekly; position permanent; no investment required. Previous experience not essential to engaging. Spare time valuable. Enclose self addressed envelope for full par tculars. ADDRESS. CLARKE Co.,, Wholesale Dept, 1u3 PARK AVE, NEW YORK.
The oasis., 1909-05-22

Torreon Enterprise: What pro- mises to be one of the most sensa- tional lawsuits in the history of this section has been entered in the courts here. The Continental Mexican Rubber company is sued for $1 100000 for infringements on the Ephraim patent. As all parties concerned are reticent about giving out much information it is impos- sible to glean the full particulars regarding the case. However, it is understood from reliable sources that the papers were served on the company May 8.
 Jalisco Times: As a result of the Degollado theater fire which threat ened the complete destruction of Guadalajara's great playhouse, it is probable that provision will be made for local fire fighting equip ment Tomas Rosales, former director of the municipal water system, who three years ago at tempted to interest the merchants and manufacturers of the city in the establishment of fire depart ment has renewed his efforts along that line, and it is now believed that there will be satisfactory re- suits within a short time.
 Chihuahua Enterprise: It is learned from Urique in extreme western Chihuahua, that Perez, the Mexican laborer who shot and killed the Los Angeles mining man, Otto Rader, and a little Mexican there little over a year ago, has been condemned to be shot. It will be remembered that the mur- der was committed or account of a paltry matter of wages. Perez slipped up and shot Rader dead. Then as the little Mexican boy who was with Rader ran in his fright, jumped over bluff and broke his leg, Perez went up and shot the little fellow in the head. The boy was a nephew of Perez.
 Chihuahua Enterprise: Reports from Santa Lucretia, state of Vera
The oasis., 1909-05-22

Pullman Sleeping Cars run through between Mazatlan, Sinaloa and Los Angeles, California. II. LAWTON, GEO. F. JACKSON
 Agente General Vce-Agente General de Pasajes. de Pasajes
The oasis., 1909-05-22
ACROSS THE BORDER.

Jaiisco Times: Fire late yester- day afternnon destroyed the saw mill and lumber yard at Zapotlan station owned by Pedro Villasefior and leased to an American. named Heally. The loss is estimated at $70,000 and is not known to have been covered by insurance.
 Chihuahua Enterprise: Within four months the big government dry docks at Salina Cruz will be completed and ready for business, says H. Aldridge. a prominent merchant of that city, The work on the dry docks is practically completed now, he says, but there is yet about four months dredging to be done before the dry dock can be used for the bigger ships. When completed, this dry dock will be able to accommodate any ship that sails on the Pacific.
 Mexican Herald: Locating En- gineer A. V. Nesbitt of the Dr. F. $. Pearson's railroad and other in- terests, left Mexico City yesterday morning for Amecameca where he will meet party of engineers to make final surveys for the proposed electric railroad from Mexico City to Puebla It was understood from an engineer yesterday that the survey work is nearly com pletely and that in all probability the electric company will select the route lying between the two vol canoes for the road.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-03

What particular brand of cussedness
does he make a speciality off"
Sadie says that Nora hadn't gone into
particulars much. except that when
last heard of he'd Joined the Salvation
lists, which had left old Larry frothin'
at the mouth. He'd threatened to break
Aloysius into two pieces on sight, and
he'd put the ban on speakin' his name
around the house.
''Followin' tambourinep' says l.
That's a queer stunt for Dillon. The
weeps was for him, then %
They want. 'Loyshy's disappearin'
act had been done two or three years
back. The tears was all on account of
the fortieth weddin' anniversary of the
billions. -fallin' as it did Just a week
after Larry had the spell of rheumatism
which got him laid off for good. It's
a nice little way the Inter Met. people
has of rewardin' the old vets. An in
spector finds Larry with his hand tied
to the chopper handle, takes look at
his cramped-u0 fingers, puts down his
number and next pay day he gets the
sack.
so you've found another candidate
for your private pension list, have you.
Sadie?" says I.
But that's another wrong guess. The
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-03

the machine comes Somethn' cute ii q
butter-colored overcoat and a brown
derby. In a minute more we gets the
report that the procession is headed up
the stairs, and by the time we've
grouped ourselves around the room with
our mouths open, in they floats.
In the lead, wearin' the oleo coat With
yellow silk fscings, was a squizzled-up
little squirt, with rat eyes and a mean
little face about as thick as a slice of
toast, and the same color. His clothes,
though, is a poms in browns and yell
lows, from the champaign tinted No. 3
shoes to the tobacco-colOFed necktie.
which was shade somewhere between
blue store front and bottle of purple
ink
Even if I hadn't seen the face. I could
have guessed who it was. Just by the
get-up. Course, there's been a good
many noisy dressers fioatin' around the
grill room district this winter but there
always has to be one real scream in
every crowd, and this was it.
eff it amt Shrimp says I.
Hello. Shortly says he in that little
squeak of his
And at that moment some )ne swoOps
past me. There's a f1appin' of green
silk skirt. and Mother Dillon has given
him the high tackle.