Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1902)
THIS MOKJtflNG OKJSGONIAJtf, rOESJpAi'. ttOVEMBEK 4, Entered at the Posjofllce at Portland. Oretfwa. &s second-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid, in advance) Dar. with Sunday, per month $ S3 iJauy. Sunday excepted, per year 80 2aUy. wltj, Sunday, per year 00 Sunday. p?r year..'.!.... 2 00 The Weekly, per year 1 50 The Weeky. 3 months!...... To city Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday excepted.lSe Dally, per week, delivered. Sunday lncluded.20c POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: ?i : i-pase Pair lc 1 to 28-page paper " Foreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonian should be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonian." not to the name ot any individual. Letters relating to adver tising; subscriptions or to any business -matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonian." Eastern Business Office. 43. 44. 45. 47. 4S. 49 Tribune building. New Tork City; C10-11-12 Txlbune building. Chicago; the S. C. Beckwlth Special Agency, Eastern representative. For sale in San Francis v L. E. Lee. Pal fcce Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros.. 238 Butter street; F. TV. Pitts. 1008 Market street: J. IC Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand; Frank Scott. SQ Ellis street, and N. Wheatley. 813-MlssIon street JFor sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 9 South Bprlng street, and Oliver & Haines. 803 South Spring street. For sale in Kansas City. Mo., by Eteksecker Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut streets. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. 03 Washington street. For salo in Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1G12 Farnam street; Megeath Stationery Co.. 1308 Farnam street. For sale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second South street. For sale in Minneapolis by R. G. Hearsey & Co.. 24 Third street South. For sale in Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale in Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrtck. 806-012 Seventeenth street; Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence street: A. Series, Sixteenth and Curtis streets. TODAY'S WEATHER Showers, with east erly winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Precipitation. 0.38 inch. PORTLAXD, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4. If Portland shall wait for the great railroad combinations to build lines as they please In this country, it may rest assured that they will be built aa the interests of the combinations may dic tate, and not for the benefit of this city. It is Portland's business to look after her own interests. The Hill lines and the Harriman lines are Interested in this country to the extent that they get rev enue from It. It is evident from certain occurrences that they wish to control the development of the territory that has been parceled out between them. This would be tolerable If they would proceed with the development. But the disposition seems to be to sit on this country, to stifle local enterprise and bind all transportation progress to the slow movements of the great combina tions. Control of the development of the country to them means that they shall bo plan and execute new' lines that the greatest profit will result to the carrier. Portland, Oregon, the-whole Northwest, have other interests just as dear as the railroads, and-'lt is time to demand that they be considered as well as the rail roads. Here we see the Harriman com bination trying to strangle the Columbia Southern with one hand while with the other It pushes the Nevada, California & Oregon up to drain toward San Fran cisco the heart of this great state. Be yond the Columbia just now the North ern Pacific is engaged in a hostile dem onstration calculated to frighten Port land people out of the Klickitat Valley, where they have a railroad partially constructed. There is no doubt that the Nehalem Railroad would now be far along toward completion but for the dis favor of the magnates who control our transcontinental systems. But Portland can build Its own railroads, it can tap the rich country now crying for an out let this way. in spite of all the opposi tion the great combinations can bring to bear If it will. If Portland business interests will stand together, all the local lines will be built, radiating from this center, and Portland will be infi nitely strengthened in all directions. It is a nice question how far public policy is subserved by the subdivision of political districts into their lowest possible units. In a general way it is a sound theory that the nearer the choice of officers can be brought to the people the better. Presidents are vir tually elected by popular vote, as much as Congressmen, and the tendency of reformatory thought is toward popular election of Senators. It is noteworthy, however, that custom varies widely as to the subdivision of political units. The State of Washington, for exam ple, steadfastly declines to district the state for Congressmen, preferring to elect them all at large. Yet Washing ton has minutely divided itself up into districts for its State Legislature, though Oregon still clings to the lump delegations from counties or still larger joint districts. The fierce contest In the First Ward of Seattle shows clearly enough the disadvantages of this minute subdivision. When two active leaders are candidates from one assembly or Senatorial district, the one that is de feated Is apt to get out his knife, as ex Governor McGraw is doing for George Piper at Seattle. In Oregon the two could be given places cn the ticket and harmony be perpetuated. It is doubtful if. with this evidence at hand, a division of Oregon into smaller Senatorial and assembly districts will ever be made. The more open formation tends to min imize the power of unscrupulous mal contents, and is manifestly useful to machine organizations. Curiously enough, however, the at-large system is strongly advocated by municipal re formers for city purposes, the idea being that unfit nominees who may carry a ward in their pocket cannot run the gauntlet of the whole city. Good gov ernment would doubtless be advanced by affording greater facilities for good voters to land effectively on the bad. But the law looks as kindly on one set as the other. The Pendleton East Oregonian Is not wholly In sympathy with the movement against the "sweatbox" through- the agency of which a great deal of testi mony against criminals is developed. "In nearly every case in Oregon," says the East Oregonian, "of an outrageous crime within the past year, the truth has been brought out through confes sion" by means of the "sweatbox"; and, this being so, "it may not be so bad a thing, after all. -The cry against every thing that seems harsh to the oversensi tive is not always justified. The crim inal element is never humane In Its work, and a little rough treatment sometimes brings criminals to their senses. There is nothing like treating a fellow like he is at home.' There is more 6ense tlian grammar in this re mark. Those who come into close con tact with the criminal class agree thnX we have of late years car- rled the spirit of "humanity" to a point where there is less terror than there ought to be In the practice of society in its dealings with crim inals. Moral suasion and the "rule of kindness" is all very well as applied to. certain types of youthful waywardness, but in dealing with habitual and hardened criminals it is wholly inadequate. The thug, the thief, the outrager of women, the deliberate ffcrger, are not reached by It. Their 'sensibilities are hardened against sym pathetic methods, which they only laugh at as marks of weakness. The suggestion that the criminal be treated "like he is at home" that is, with a se verity after his own fashion of severity "and calculated to reach his calloused sensibilities Is in accord with the judg ment of those best entitled to give judg ment. Jails and prisons ought to be made indeed a terror to evil-doers, and 9ince experience proves that this can not be done by seminary methods, then the strong hand would better be applied. The coddling practice has given us the prison "hero" of whom Tracy Is the meet conspicuous example; possibly an other and severer method will yield a better result. Prison experts think so. Almost to a man they are out of sym pathy with the practice which "humani tarianism" insists upon applying in re lation to a class in whom all that Is best in humanity has been lost. The battle-field of Cedar Mountain, about eight miles south of Culpeper, Va., was visited by President Roosevelt' on Sunday last The battle was fought August 9, 1862, between two division? of Banks' corps of the Union Army under General Pope and three Confeder ate divisions under "Stonewall" Jack son. General Banks did not have to exceed 8000 men of all arms, while Jack son's troops numbered between 20,000 and 25,000 men. General Banks was a man without any military training or talent, but he was personally a very brave, high-spirited man, and, entirely underestimating the strength of the enemy, decided to attack the enemy with his whole corps. The battle began, at 5:30 P. M. Banks was at first suc cessful, but was finally repulsed. "It was a hard-fought battle; fierce, obsti nate and sanguinary. Crawford's bri gade lost 9G killed, 397 wounded and 374 missing out of 1767; Gordon's brigade, numbering less than 1500 men, lost in killed, wounded and missing 466. The Federal loss was 1661 killed and wound ed and 723 missing, or a total of 2393 out of 7500 men engaged. Jackson reported 1288 killed and wounded and 31 missing. The loss in officers was very heavy on both' sides. It was a wholly neeedless engagement, and it was not any part of General Pope's plan that it should be fought. It was a mere tactical victory for Jackson, and was won only because he had the larger army and the stronger reserves. General Pope's orders to Gen eral Banks were to move to the front, deploy his skirmishersif the enemy ad vances, attack him as he approaches and be reinforced from Culpeper. It was clear that Pope meant Banks should de lay the enemy as much as possible If he advanced, and send at once for1 rein forcements, but Banks was not a Gen eral; he was only a brave man, and, to the folly of the Government making such a man a corps commander two of the finest brigades in the army were de stroyed to no purpose. LABOR UXIOXS. The current number of the Atlantic Monthly has an able article, "A Quar ter Century of Strikes," by Ambrose P. Winston, which is an uncompromising defense of the necessity and benefit of the labor union. In 1877 a multitude of strikes broke forth simultaneously from the Atlantic to the Missouri; from Pitts burg to St. Louis. In these strikes, of 1877 labor organizations played little part, were the result of no common or ganization or deliberate concert of ac tion. They were, like the great strikes In England twenty years before In their significance of the approach of deep in dustrial changes. There were at that time few trades-unions of Importance. Their membership in the United States was Jhen not more than one-fifth the number of trade-unionists today in the State of New York alone. The growth of trade-unions w.as due to the percep tion of labor that capital, whenever It sought to lower prices for competitive purposes, was sure to depress wages. When one group of producers by lower ing wages makes lower prices possible, then its competitors are compelled to force down the wages of their laborers. For the restraint of competition In excess the trade-union is Indispensable to shield the wage-earner against the pressure of low prices effected by lower ing wages. When the. average price of bituminous coal fell off by more than one-fourth from 1893 to 1897, wages In some districts declined one-third, leav ing less than $4 per week as the average weekly wages of Pennsylvania miners who struck in 1897. The railway strike of 1877 followed a sweeping reduction of wages necessitated by the railway war; the Pullman strike of 1894 resulted from low wages forced by low prices accept ed by competing car-builders! The labor union seeks to establish an approximate equality of wages; to repress In the in terest of labor the effort of the em ployer to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of the laborer. ''The trade-union, as a matter of sheer self preservation, becomes the defender of the ill paid." It protests against the employment of ill-paid children in fac tories, and exerts itself to Increase the wages of Immigrant laborers, not as a matter of benevolence, but as a matter of business, since In this way it breaks the point of the competitive weapon employed by mine operators that of cheap ' labor. Mr. Winston admits that the policy of compelling membership in a union, or forcing the acceptance of a union scaie by workmen who desire neither the membership nor the scale, has been de nounced as a grave infraction of liberty, but he thinks there Is much to be said in its defense. There are two rights in this case ,in Irrepressible contradiction, the right to "liberty" which the non union man hates to surrender, and the right to "the pursuit of happiness" which members of the labor union seek to vindicate. If a few workmen by their submission impair the equality of wages, it Is hopeless for others to attempt to maintain their standard. A general de cline in prices and a fall in all wages is the injury that the worker for low wages Inflicts on the labor union that seeks to increase wages. The injury is real; the impulse to redress It is nat ural. The labor union determines the wages for each laborer and his conditions of work, in order that wages may be uni form and the downward pressure of competition be checked. The trade union hai also interfered with the em ployer's attempts to control the work men In parlous matters not defined by the labor contract. The "boss" shovel ers in Buffalo were also engaged in the saloon business, and required the shovel ers to buy beer only of a certain brewer or lose their job. This imposition was cured b a strike. The brewers anjl the union jof beer wagon drivers In New York City made a contract that no driver should be employed on the rec ommendation of a saloon-keeper. The Jewish bakers of the same city obtained a release, from the obligation to board with their employers. The engineers of the C, 'B. & Q. Railroad gained a con tract allowing half pay for time lost as a result of accidents. A miners' union in Kansas secured a contract which relieved the miners from the ob ligation to pay for the services of the company physician If they preferred not to employ him. The trade-unions have made effective war in some states against the company store, a detestable Institution, because the employer at his own will urges or forces his workmen to. use It. This abuse has been abated in Pennsylvania by statute, but still flourishes in the great marble quarries at Proctor Vt.. When the Incubus of prohibition has been lifted from that state, probably the spirit of reform will be moved to abate that engine of extor tion, the company store. The trade-union asks nothing of the employers of labor but what may justly be claimed by employes as a right. It wants no free clubrooms, libraries, books or reading-rooms, no excessive interest on savings deposits. That is, It wants no charity. It wants no enjoy ment that It has not earned by effort. The experiments of Pullman and Home stead awakened resentment rather than gratitude. They were nominally gifts, .but really the price paid work men to persuade them to abstain from demanding a just wage for their labor. The workman naturally resents tjelng told by his employer that he was not competent to know what he wanted and to choose for himself. The labor union wants no Industrial overlordshlp, no compulsory patronage of a physician, saloon or store. It wants nothing but the naked, contract of purchase and sale. It wants no dependence on one side and condescension on the other. The growth of the labor union implies a tendency toward the cessation of strikes, for the penalties of strikes .to both sides tend strongly to prohibit such Industrial warfare. THE "COLLEGE MAX." The college man in politics Is the sub ject of an Interesting popular discus sion now being carried on through the columns of the Chicago Record-Herald, interesting chiefly through letters and published Interviews which exhibit a curious pretentiousness on the part of many college-bred young men. One such writes: "The politicians and their heelers will have to be shovedt aside in order to give young college men a chance in politics; and now, how is this to be done?" Another writes: "Shall I stand by the theories taught me in college or shall I adopt the methods of my Ices scrupulous opponent and meet him on his own ground?" Another: "If the college man works for the domi nant machine in his party, he must sac rifice his independence of thought and belief. If he works against the ma chine, he will be called a 'knocker' and 'sorehead. " Another: "The college man will find that a pleasant face and a glad hand will beat his college training every time." A fond mother writes: 'V am immensely interested in the arti cles on 'Young College Men In Politics.' I would like to have my son hold an honorable office and help to make laws and conduct the government, but how Is he to get a chance? I should not want him to go Into saloons and attend polit ical meetings In disreputable parts of the city. There has been considerable fighting in our ward at the Democratic meetings, and it gives me the horrors every time I think of his being asso ciated with such men. Is there no way to make politics respectable so that gen tlemen of refinement like my son can take part in public affairs?" A young man with a powerful grasp of a very profound truth writes: "One who goes at it in a manly way will be surprised to find what a stir a young collegian can create by doing practical work in poli tics if he has sufficient pluck and per severance to stick to one purpose until he wins what he Is fighting for. That is what it really amounts to pluck and perseverance rather than college train ing." The fundamental error of these letter writers with the exception of the one last quoted is that the college man is essentially different from any other man and that somehow he Is entitled to spe cial privileges in politics. It is a mis take which in other fields besides poli tics serves to "put wrong" the young college man and to nullify, practically, much of the benefit which his ad vantages of training ought to yield him. No greater practical harm can be done to the college man than to stimulate In him the notion that he belongs to a special class and la entitled to a con sideration which does not attach to men in general. The real truth and it ia pointedly suggested by the last quota tion is that the world of politics, and the world of business as well, cares not at all whether a man is college-bred or not. It la wholly a question of what a man Is, not how he came to be what he is; what a man can do, not the method by which he came to his capabilities. The advantage of college breeding, where, Indeed, It is an advantage, lies in its development of a man's powers; and in the practical world, neither in politics nor elsewhere, nobody accepts a diploma of graduation as proof of su perior powers. A college diploma. In truth, Is simply a letter of introduction, and In four cases out of five It makes prejudice rather than favor, for practi cal men are not uncommonly fearful of the "theories taught in college." Things being otherwise equal, the man of knowledge and of trained mental qualities has the advantage over the man of less knowledge and discipline. But it is a great mistake and one very commonly mane by the young collegian to presume that there is but one road to the power which comes through knowledge and discipline. The great men of this and of every age are, to be sure, educated men In the truest sense, but they have not, as a rule, gained either their effective knowledge or their power in its application to spe cial purposes through systems of formal schooling. Above all colleges stands the great school of life, and above all pre ceptors stands experience. The college may help men, but It cannot make men. And It can give no introduction to the world which means anything more than a chance with other men. No man of real manhood wants more than this. The movement against co-education in the Middle West cams strentrth. It la less than two years ago" that the Ar mour Institute (Chicago) closed its classes against young women students, and it lij only within the present year that the Chicago University decided to separate the classes for young men and young women. Now comes the North western University at Evanston with a new rule which puts women on one side of the chapel and classrooms and men on the other, and .prohibits under pre cisely similar conditions the participa tion of women In certain college exer cises. This action is resented, not be cause it makes any real discrimination against women, but becausa it tends to mark a distinction between men and women which co-educatloriists had suc ceeded in breaking down. The North western was one of the first of the great co-educational Institutions, and any change in its policy Is thought to Imply a menace to the whole system. It Is not likely that In any of the col leges where women have been ad mitted upon equal terms with men they will ever be excluded, but there is a growing sentiment against "mixed" classes, and It Is probable that the ex ample of Chicago will be followed In many places; that Is, that separate classes will be established for the two sexes- Just why this arrangement should not be acceptable to everybody it Is difficult to see. . British Somaiiland fronts on the Gulf of Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea, and has an area of 68,000 square miles. Along the coast are the ports of Ber bera, Bulhar and Zella. British Somali land is an elevated plateau crossed by barren 'mountain ranges and Inhabited by some 250,000 natives, who live under the so-called rule of the British gov ernment, with the Consul-General at Berbera as the chief official of the pro tectorate. Thesa natives are a mixture of Arab and negro stock, the same kind of nomads that fought General Kitch ener on his march to Khartoum. They are splendid horsemen and are natural bom freebooters. British Somaiiland touches Abyssinia on the west and Ital ian Somaiiland on the south. The Brit ish settlement at Aden was made many years ago tc command the straits at the mouth of the Red Sea, -and the scene of the present war la only 100 to 300 mlle3 south of the Gulf of Aden, where steam ers are constantly passing on their way to the Suez Canal. It ought to be an easy matter for the British to send qujckly troops enough to Somaiiland to dispose of the so-called "Mad Mullah," who is nothing but a Mohammedan re ligious fanatic who suddenly declared a war of extermination against the whites in 1901. He is nothing but an Imitator of the Mahdl, who captured Khartoum and killed Gordon in 1882. Canada expects to have a new trans continental road north of the Canadian Pacific in a few years. The Canadian Northern Railroad will be extended to the Pacific Ocean within ten years. The main line has been extended from Port Arthur "to Winnipeg, and nearly 1500 miles of the road are In operation. B.uildlng: 19 now in progress from Winni peg and up the valley of the North Saskatchewan River the track will be laid to Edmonton. From Edmonton the route Is to extend westward, crossing the Rocky Mountains at Yellowhead Pass, several hundred miles north of the Canadian Pacific; turning north along the course of tlie.Fraser River, It will pass northwesterly through the Cariboo, district to the Grand Portage or the di vide between rivers flowing to the Arc tic and these tributary to the Atlantic and Pacific. The route will then be westerly to Hazelton, on the Skeena River. It has not been finally deter mined what the" further course of the line shall be, but It Is probable that It will be carried down the Skeena to Port Simpson, where there is a magnificent harbor on the Pacific Ocean. There Is evidence that the fanatical Doukhbors are returning to such sense as they were born with, as several of the men who were leaders in the mad crusade have left the ranks; one of them has asked for a return of the clothing and blankets that he discarded at York town a few days ago, and has declared his Intention to return to his deserted home. These people are like sheep in the sense that they follow their lead ers blindly. A general retrograde move ment of the fanatics will probably soon be begun. A sort of stampede, so to speak, for their deserted villages. In the present status of the Lewis and Clark Fair agitation it Is refresh ing to be told that Mrs. J. B. Mont gomery, of this city, Is very enthusiastic on the subject and will endeavor to communicate her enthusiasm to as many persons as will assemble at the Uni tarian Chapel this evening to hear what she has to say. It may be hoped that our lukewarm citizens will crowd this chapel to the doors upon this occasion. For the multitude who, like Mrs. Mont gomery, are enthusiastic about the Fair there will ndt be room. Let the others turn out In force. Rev. J. W. McGarvey, of the Disciples' Church, Lexington, Ky., cannot bring himself to "praise God by note." His church, after long contemplation upon the iriatter, has decided to purchase an organ, and he has asked for letters of withdrawal for himself and wife. This is hard. But the hardest part of it is that the good brother resolutely refuses to grow in the wisdom and grace of tolerance. "Times change and people change, and If our hearts do not change with them, soi much the worse for us." The aged Count Tolstoi Is again seri ously ill. His work is practically done. The intervals between his prostrating illness are so short that hp accomplishes little or nothing, and he is forced, even at his best, to take such care of him self as will insure even- temporary ease and brief continuation of life. Oh, small is the pleasure Existence can give. When the fear we shall die Only proves thai we live. A Boston Iman well known in society, and an enthusiastic golfer, lately lost one of his eyes from the impact of a ball thrown by another enthusiastic and muscular golfer a distance of forty yards. He doubtless consoles himself in his misfortune by reflecting upon the rare sport he has enjoyed upon the Units, for which at last such a heavy price was exacted. Perhaps it would be well for the city to take no chances and pondemn every bridge within its limits. As for cross ing the river, the swimming is good. The London papers promise to become quite readable, now that' the American "tube" magnates have taken to airing their trrlevances there. NICARAGUA IS THE BETTER. Chicago Inter-Ocean. The action .of the Colombian Government In asking for further modifications ot the protocol, or treaty, relating to tho con structs of the Panama Canal by the United States was expected. The Colombian Government, which Is only half a government at best, haggles over the rental, and stipulates that the United States shall pay increased rent not from the date of the completion of the canal, but from the date of beginning work- This Is a comparatively trifling matter, but it shows' the spirit of' the Co lombian Government. More serious Is the stipulation a to control over a atrip of territory five miles wide alone the course of the canal. Co lombia's proposition Is to give the United States control, but to make no transfer of the territory, and to except from the conditions of control the City of Panama. In other words, the United States is to pay $40,000,000 for the privilege of com pleting a ship canal on rented property, with no right to control the southern ter minus. All this emphasizes the points made In the Senate against the project to com plete the Panama Canal. It was pointed out that Colombia could not concede to the United States such canal rights and privileges as Nicaragua had conceded without placing the police control of the capital of the Department of Panama under the superior power of the United States. At the same time, the depart ment would be under the sovereignty of Colombia. Colombia, however. In the protocol accepting the conditions of the Spooner canal bill, stipulated that the City of Panama should not be placed under the control of the United States. This, In effect, puts the terminus of the canal in the control of Colombia, subject to the moods and whims of a tur bulent population. It was pointed out before the Spooner bill was passed that this situation was impossible with Amer ican ownership and control of the canal In mind. As the canal question stands today, there Is a certainty of positive American ownership and control of the canal route In Nicaragua. There are no great en gineering difficulties In the way. If one of the dams or any of the controlling works should be destroyed, only one part of the canal would be injured. There is no hostile population along the route. The two states, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, are both Interested In the immediate construction of the canal. There Is no question as to the control of the terminal points or of the entire route. The United States may enter Into com plete -pcQscssIon of the harbors on pach side of the isthmus, make all regulat!onsr and enforce them. At Panama the main engineering diffi culties that dismayed and defeated the French engineers are still to be overcome. The destruction of the proposed dam at Bohlo would mean the destruction of the canal. There Is a hostile, turbulent popu lation in the cities at the terminal points and' along the route of the canal. Co lombia has been unable to restrain this population from rebellion and acts of out lawry, and the United States has been compelled to Interfere several times In the last few years. Under the Colombian proposition the United States has only a right of way; has no title of ownership or sovereignty; wou'd be constructing a permanent work on rented property; would be building a canal the main terminal of which the Co lombian Government would own and con trol. Because of this situation the Ameri can people will not regret that the Co lombian Government Is causing delay over the amount of rent and the conditions of control. Delay on the part of Colombia may prevent precipitate action on the part of the United States, and it Is certain that the more consideration that Is given to the Colombian proposition the more objectionable it will appear. Snakes Are Hard to Starve. New Orleans Times-Democrat. "The man who tries to starve a snake to death is In a bad way," said the man who has had some experience In dealing with reptiles, "and 1 happen to know what I am talking about because of a little thing that happened to me a num ber of years ago. There Is really no tell ing how long a snake can go without food. It is estimated that a horse can live 25 days without solid food. A horse will live on water for that length of time. Bears can live for six months without food. They generally live through the Winter months by sucking their paw. Of course, they have some food on hand, and they slip out to get what they can, but the main sustenance of the ear Is tho accumulated flesh of the Summer. But I am inclined to believe that the snake can hold the record when It comes to doing without food. I had an experience a few years ago which convinced me of this fact. I caught a rattlesnake in my henhouse in the southeastern part of Arkansas, and happened to catch him so that he could not get out. There was a good-sized rat hole in the place, and he darted into this as a last resort. I stopped the hole so the snake could not got out, and for the purpose of starving the reptile to death. I never thought any more about the snake until more than IS months after that, when I had occasion to make some repairs about the place. It was necessary to do some excavating. I was simply startled to find, a short distance below the surface, the snake I hand sought to starve to death. He was a little lank and not very active, but he was still alive. 1 felt sorry for the reptilian, and would not kill him, allowing him to crawl away. Since that time I have been convinced that a snake could do without food for a considerable length of time, and the claim that they can go 21 months does not startle me at all, for the snake In this instance, I am sure, never had a bite to eat during the time he waa In the rathole. Not an Abhorrence of Rape. Indianapolis Journal. The blood lust "of the South has very re cently shown that what has been said of It is true, namely, that it was pure blood lust, a saturnalia of cruelty, and not any desire to enforce law or avenge the un speakable crime on womanhood. Last week a negro convicted of murder and condemned to be hanged, consented that the execution take place immediately In stead of a month afterward, as It was fixed, because It was frankly confessed that the law could not protect Its con demned prisoner a month, and then hang him; a gathering mob prognosticated that, so the man was hastily hanged at once. Now, in Texas yesterday happened pre cisely what was threatened In the other case. At Hempstead two negroes, tried and condemned to death, were taken by a mob and hanged. These cases show that the ruffianism that Ig dominating the South Is not of the nature of vigilance committees on a frontier Inspired by any weakness of the law and .for the pro tection of society. On the contrary, It Is degeneracy pure and simple. If no ne gro has been kind enough to commit a capital crime to afford excus?e, then to be suspected of a misdemeanor Is sufficient, as the records of this mob murder show. And here we have two negroes condemned to death and certain to suffer It taken from the law and murdered by the mob. Was President Eliot of Harvard too se vere in saying that we had made a failure in training good citizens, and pointing to crimes of violence like these In proof? Morn, Koon and Xlprlit. Omaha Dally Bee. In the morning ot life tho youth goes abroad. With confidence grand and sublime. And he says, as he enters on life's busy road, "To the top of Fame's hill I will climb." In the noonday of life the man looks ardund On those ho has passed In the race; And he thinks no one else like him can be found. For honor, for glory, for place. In the evening ot life the man meditates On all he has done, said and seen: And this is the verdict he mentally states: "Oh I what a tlarnad fool I hava baanl" EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. Birmingham Evening Post. Great interest in England is now taken In the question of national education. But that interest seems to be chiefly directed to the question as to how far the day schools may be used to Impart "religious instruction" according to the particular creed of the parents of the children at tending such schools. However Important It may be that the principles of various creeds, with their bearing upon a future life, should be imparted to' the scholars, there can be no doubt of the necessity for a more thorough education In matters pertaining to the life that now Is. If our country Is to hold Its own In the com petition of the near future. In this con nection the example of the United States in regard to a system of national instruc tion in scientific temperance is well wor thy of the .consideration of the British people. The effects of Intemperance upon national deficiency have nowhere been so closely studied out and so thoroughly acted upon as In the United States, and no where else have the good results of ab stinence besn so closely demonstrated. We have all been made familiar with the power of American capital, the stress of American competition and the superior ity of American workmen: but there has been great reluctance in this country to acknowledge how much of these are due to a system of national education In sci entific temperance In Its bearing upon national efficiency. Let us recognize that the consumption of alcoholic liquors In the United States Is only about half the quantity per head of what Is consumed In the United King dom, and we may see our way to the so lution of the perplexing labor problem. Yet, although the consumption of drink is so comparatively low, so convinced are the educational and commercial authori ties of the states of the evil effects that they recognize the need for a more ex tensive Instruction in temperance mat ters and a more stringent application of that knowledge In daily life. By the laws on the demand of the owners, the machine of all the states, Instruction In scientific temperance Is given in all the public ele mentary schools. Under these laws there are more than 26.000.000 of children of school age in the United States under this Instruction. And all this has taken place within the last 20 years. The result is that the properly Instructed are enter ing Into yieir inheritance of commercial supremacy In the world. The Importance of temperance instruction so recognized has lifted the question out of the category of "fads," to which so many badly In structed people in this country consign It, and there the subject Is one of the In dispensable elements of knowledge. In some of the states a penalty is attached to the neglect of It; in some the topic must occupy one-fourth to one-fifth space In the books on physiology, and In oth ers no teacher who has not passed a sat isfactory examination In the subject Is al lowed to teach. What is the bearing of this teaching on the commercial world? One result is that fully 1.000.0CO railway men and 2,'000,0W more In other employments are required to be total abstainers. The prohibition of the Army canteen and the groggery In the Navv keeps the services free from the drink evil. What the United States has still 'to fight is the Influx of immigrants from the Old World, with their traditional regard for liquor and their Ignorance of Its effects upon them. To counteract this the system of National education In scientific temperance is continued and enforced, with lasting good to the country and to the. commercial spirit, which threatens to swamp all competitors. KRUGER'S POCKET-PIECE. Minneapolis Tribune. The queer story comes from South Af rica that President Kruger has been car rying around with him a 200-karat dia mond as a kind of pocket-piece, or lucky penny. This recalls the stories of Ori ental potentates, who put their wealth in the light and portable form of precious stones, that they might carry It Into exile In their pockets. Mr. Kruger did not put the Boer revenues Into this diamond. That might have been difficult, even with his autocratic power. It Is said to have come Into his possession as a gift, and the story is romantic enough to furnish Rider Haggard with a plot for a novel. The stone first, appears to tradition In the hands of a Basuto chief; from whom it passed by force to a Zulu King, and from him to a series of chiefs, each of whom committed assassination to get it. The native custodians of the legend say that 1G successive possessors of the stone were assassinated or exiled on account of It. Finally the whites heard of It, and an attack in the village where It was re sulted in the death of 300 on both sides. The chief who had the stone burled it in a flesh wound and let the wound heal over It. In the vicissitudes of native his tory, this chief became a captive and slave of the Boers. He got Kruger's ear, told him his story, received hl3 liberty, and gave him the stone. Nearly all these Incidents might be borrowed from fiction and legend of South Africa, but that doe3 not exclude the possibility of their truth. The super stitious may be convinced by the fact that the stone brought upon Kruger tho same doom it attracted to former pos sessors. He escaped death, but was de posed and exiled. This should make buy ers cautious, but the general belief of those who credit the story is that he has disposed of it, either to the Vatican or to the Emperor of Austria. Probably the Vatican feels that it Is proof against black magic, and the Emperor of Austria has had so much bad luck in his life that he may well be reckless about inviting more. SnvlnGT One Lang. St. Paul Dispatch. A young Bostonian, reared In the lap of luxury. lost a lung, and physicians Informed his father that if the boy was not sent on an ocean cruise or to the far West he would die of consumption. Accordingly the father put him aboard ship, with 11400 in cash and started him off to Samaria, being advised that the dry country between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean was food for consump tives. When he reached Queenstown the boy made the acquaintance of a hard headed, sensible chap, who told him that Samaria was sure death; that the only way to save his lungs was to go to Wick low County, near Tinahely. and set to work on a farm. This advice was taken, and for nine months the scion of Back Bay aristocracy did chores for a man who owned a castle. At the end of that period he was as lusty as a bull moose, with a pair of lungs like a blacksmith's bellows. The farmer gave him 20 and an honorable discharge. He returned to Boston with his $1400, and his health. He now lives in New York, a modern Hercules. Wlict She Like. Chicago Dally News. "Oh, teach mo how to woo thee!" A lover once did sing, "I'm much Inclined unto thee; I pine like anything. My heart to thee I bring. "My lute I'll touch fulj sweetly, If that will fill the bill. My heart Is gone completely And I have little skill To do much more than thrill." To which the maid, replying. Said: "No one but a fool Would spend his time In sighing. You really seem to drool. I'm not an Infant school. "The articles you' offer I'm sure I do not need. If chocolates you'd proffer You might perhaps suceed. Devotion! Lutes, Indeed! "Brine on your Beauty ro3es, Bring your bijouterie And such a man who knows Is, I think, the man for me. .But try, and wa will sso." NOTE AND COMMENT. ' .Coming attrations Summer. Give a bridge a bad name, etc. He has a good sidewalk tho crab. The front porch has been abandoned for the back parlor. Now is the time for young men to get engaged and save carriage hire. When some men slip on wet leaves their language Is fit only for their wives. t Seattle, Nov. 3. Foggy. Variable winds. Temperature, average, 773. Washout re ported from all railroads. Unsafe bridges, carefully administered, may prove the long-sought solution for the puzzle of overcrowded schools. Butte. Mont., Nov. 3. Bars rough. Passed out Free Drinks. Standing off signaling for a pilot The Man With a Vote. A chorus girl In New York was robbfed of some diamonds and money the othoc day. Thus Is heralded the rising of & new star. The New York Journal Is now discussing the remedies for divorce. It has decided that marriage is Ineffectual. This Is a blow to homeopathy. A chauffeur in New York was finer $1000 for Injuring 20 people. Millionaire automobllists can now make their year's estimate of expenses. When Adlai Stevenson said in his Madison-Square Garden Speech. "Trusts are the crying evil," it is supposed he had ref erence to infant industries. If some people would spend half tha pains on the bridges that are expended in keeping political fences In repair, tho mortality list would be smaller. King Edward's coachman never know3 until the King is seated in the carriae where he Is to drive to. The same law seems to hold- in the case of "party whips." Tho man who tucks his feet under his chair In the theater discovers that the In dividual back of him has hung a wet umbrella over the place where his feet ought to be. . The following have not been heard from for a week. Any Information as to their whereabouts will be thankfully received: Steel magnate Schwab. P. B. Strong. At torney Lord, W. W. Astor. F. A. Munsey and The Man With the Hoe. San Francisco, Nov. 3. The Weather Bureau states that the storm that has been raging for the past month Is now centralized over this city, and the max imum temperature will be reached to night. There Is a strong Republican wind now blowing which is expected to attain a high velocity tomorrow night, with a heavy Democratic precipitation. Pros pects are for clear weather on. Wednes day, with falling temperatures in Sacra mento. The following gems are from the Ma nila Freedom, a Philippine daily: The Cavlte Chlno who poured molten brass into a retort which was partially filled with water or nonalloylng material did not llvo to learn better, but his fate should be a warning to others who do not know that all material substances do not harmonize with each other. There was a young man from Shanghai, who remarked, "1 cannot see whal, with bloomln' club dues arid' the' high' price of hues, those blokes In Manila don't dal." A native named Rlos, In Tayabas province, styles himself the descendant of God. Ho will be a God-forsaken hombre If the constab ulary get hold of him. Rlos, the self-styled descendant of God, should be given an opportunity to visit the home of his ancestor. Tayabas Is not a fit ting place for a man ot his Illustrious descent. There is no season when the pld Ore gonian feels so triumphantly In bliss as during the first rains of the Fall. Then It Is that he sniffs the exhilarating wind delightfully, wonders what X can mean by leaving his wood out to soak, asks his wife and daughters whether they pre fer to go to the matinee or the evening performance, hails every man down town with a jovial grin, and comes homo hun gry to dinner. The whole world cheers up. The expenses of the Summer at the shore pass Into grateful oblivion, and the women of the household once more hold up their heads. There is a drawback, however. Wife and daughters insist on nickels for street-car fare. Thus it 13 that In every honey pot there is an in sect. "I want a good library edition of The Winning of the West,' by Theodore Roose velt." "We haven't got the book In stock. I'm sure," said the clerk, and he smiled in a v,ery self-satisfied way. "But you must have. Why, you adver tise it In the papers," persisted the cus tlmer. "I never saw a copy In the store, I know," responded the clerk, with a trace of weariness in his voice, t "Well, It's very strange. I'm sure. I saw a copy In your window display just last week." "Well, there may be one upstairs on the shelves. What's the title again?" " 'The Winning of the West,' by Theo dore Roosevelt." "Oh, yes. By the way, is the author German or English?" The customer came away without the book. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS "Will yqu be engaged this evening?" "Well, I don't know. I expect Mr. Bright to call." Detroit Free Press. Clara Don't you think It is cruel to wear birds on hats? Maud Worse than that it's unfashionable. Brooklyn Life. "Johnson writes that he's just killed the hero In his new novel." "Well, he needn't worry over that any Jury will acquit hlm!" Atlanta Constitution. "He calls the baby 'Coffee.' " "What a name! What does he call It that for?" "Be cause It keeps him awake nights." Philadel phia Evening Bulletin. "John." said the retired lawyer to his coach man, "aren't tho horse3 trying to run away?" "They be. sir!" "Then drive Into something cheap." Electrical Review. Charles Your uncle is a very religious man, I understand. Henry Oh, yes. indeed! He positively hates everybody who belongs to anj other church than his own. Bo3ton Transcript. Stubb I tell you, old man, I would like tc be over In the Philippines and see a town sacked. Pcnn You don't have to go to the Philippines; Just be in St. Louis when the boodlers are at work. Chicago Dally News. Jack Congratulate me! Mabel has accepted me. Edith Beally? I hope you're not super stitious. Jack No. Why? Edith Because you're the 13th she has accepted this season, I believe. Philadelphia Press. "Why did they operate on that poor man when they knew the moment he was pulled out of the wreck that his Injuries wera fatal?" "I believe they wished to make sure that their diagnosis was right." Chicago Record Herald. Hoax Sunday's such a slow day. Why, I was In bed and asleep by 9 o'clock Sunday night. Joax Huh! I was asleep at 7:45. "Come oft! You never went to. bed that early." "Oh, no: but I was In church at that time." Philadelphia Record. (