Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1905)
THE MOEtfENfcr vivcrcron-xAN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1905. Entered at the Postoffice at Portland. Or., as second-class matter. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (Br Mall or Express.) Daily end Sunday, per year SS.00 Daily and Sunday, six months 5.00 Dally and Sunday, three months 2.05 Daily and Sunday, per month S5 Dally -without Sunday, per year 7.50 Dally without Sunday, six months 3.00 Dally -without Sunday, three months .. . . 1.05 nflMv witTiniir snndflv. nr Tnnnrn ...... .ikj Sunday, per year Sunday, nix months Sunday, three months 2.00 1.00 .00 BY CARRIER. 11. wltVinnf Ciltlilllf Tkl -CffPftlC-- .IB Dally per -week, Sunday Included 20 THE "WEEKLY OREGONIAN (Issued Every Thursday.) Wblv, nr vftflr .................. 1.50 Weekly, six months Weekly, three months -jU HOW TO REMIT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The 8. C. Beckwith Special Agency New Tork: Rooms 43-50 Trlbuno building. Chi cago: Rooms 510-5X2 Tribune building. The Oregonlan does not buy poems or stories from Individuals and cannot under take to return any manuscript sent to it without solicitation. No stamps should be inclosed for this purpose. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex; Postofflce News Co., 178 Dearborn street. Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & Kcnd rick. BOG-912 Seventeenth street, and Frue nuH Bros., 005 Sixteenth street. Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and "Walnut. Los Angeles Harry Drapkin; B. B. Amos, RH "West Seventh Btreet; Oliver & Haines. Haines. Oakland, CaL W. H. Johnston, Four teenth and Franklin streets. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, 50 South Third; L. Regelsburger, 217 First avenue South. New Tork City I. Jones & Co.. Astor House. Ogtfen F. R. Godard and Meyers & Har rop; D. I. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnhara; Wageoth Stationery Co., 1308 Farnham. Salt LakeSalt Lake News Co., 77 "West Second street South. San JTranclsco J. K. Cooper & Co., 740 Market street; Foster & Crear, Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros., 2S6 Sutter; L. E. Leo, Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitts, J 008 Market: Frank Scott, 80 Ellis; N. WheaUey, 83 Stevenson; Hotel St. Francis News Stand. Wariilagton, D. C. Ebblt Honse News Stand. De Moines, la. Moses Jacobs. S09 Fifth street. St. Ixrals, Mo. B. T. Jett Book & News Company, S06 Olive street. Dallas, Tex, Globe News Depot, 260 Main street. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 429 X street. Phoenix, Ariz. The Bcrryhill News Co. Santa Barbara, CaL S. Smith. San Diego, Cal, J. Dlllard. PORTLAND, FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 17. 1805 STANDARD OIL'S MISTAKE. The Standard Oil Company is rapidly acquiring expensive experience. Law eon exploited it. Congress started it, Kansas accelerated It and the Presi dent is ready to get in the finishing blow. But the octopus has always sur vived publio odium, and thrived under it, and neither Lawson nor Congress nor Kansas nor Roosevelt nor all of them Is likely to put it out of business. Nor is it desirable that they should. "What the country wants is for the Standard Oil Company to be amenable to its laws, to suspend its hlBtoric practice of crushing and ruin ing its competitors, and to place all its patrons on an even footing. The gen tlemen who have been at the head of the monopoly for so many years, and have made incredible fortunes by crim inal defiance of law and heartless crushing out of the small producer, do not yet seem to be able to understand that the entire recent movement against trusts, monopolies, corporate greed of all kinds, has for its chief target the Standard Oil Company. Railroad regu lation, corporation control, trust sub jection all are mere details in the one purpose of government and people to bring the greatest of all malefactors to book. Standard Oil is the knot in the monopoly log, and when that is split the hardest part of the job is done. The Kansas situation is about as fol lows: There are ten counties" which produce great quantities of fuel and Illuminating oiL Thousands of men are employed. The oil wells number 4000, mostly in the hands of small owners. The' chief customer has been the Stand ard Oil Company, operating through the Prairie Oil & Gas Company. To ob tain control of the fields the company reduced thrice the price of crude oil; then under the threat of retaliatory legislation it finally altogether ceased operations. The result was that the wells, being without a market, for the most part shut down and the industry is paralyzed. It is by just such tactics that Standard Oil has first ruined pro ducers elsewhere, and then bought up idle properties and consolidated and op erated them at immense profit. But Standard Oil has made a mistake about Kansas. It has heretofore robbed without mercy, ruined without com punction, and exacted tribute without conscience, but it has not failed to gauge properly the influence of public opinion. Its method has been to lie low till the cyclone passed, and then to pur sue Its stealthy purposes ruthlessly to the end. This time it has failed to un derstand that in placating Kansas it would, if it succeeded, in a certain measure be placating the Nation. But it has aroused Kansas, and so it has stirred up the Federal Government. It is a project of questionable expediency for a state to build an oil Tefinery. It is essentially an enterprise to be under taken by private capital. The state might just as 'well build wheat ware houses and fcuy wheat, or erect a prune dryer and dry prunes, or go into the brewery business for the purpose of finding a market for hops not otherwise saleable. But as an avenue for the es cape of a great surplus of wrath and as a means of making the oil monopoly understand that the legislative club is not without a certain potency, the re finery may do the business. In any event, it is quite apparent that Stand ard Oil is uneasy and even alarmed, be cause for the first time it has learned that tooth Congress and State Legisla tures may be beyond its control. Mrs. Kate Edwards, under sentence of death In Harrlsburg, Pa., for the murder of her husband in 190L has been granted a short reprieve. She was to have been executed today, and for days has been piteously bewailing her fate and on the verge of collapse. The res pite, strange as it may seem, has re vived her spirits not that it foreshad ows pardon, but merely because it in sures to her a brief tenure of life. It is as if a drowning man, having passed to the very last stage between life and death, had been resuscitated to be again immediately cast into the water and forced to undergo the struggle which could have but one ending. Mrs. Sigourney, a gentle New England poet ess of a past generation, uttered a forceful truth when she exclaimed: Oh. small is the pleasure existence can give "When the fear we shall die only proves that we live. $60,000,000 TOR A STARTER. Your attention is particularly Invited to the part relating to the war In the Orient and the grouping of the military Dowers of Europe, which foreshadows a combined movement for lhe seizure of China, to the exclusion of tie United States, Great Britain and Japan, a movement that would set the world on fire. The balance of power be tween these groups is so evenly poised that war and peace may hinge upon the activity of America In naval preparation during the next few years. The country is now warned. Rich mond Pearson Hobson is the seer who particularly invites its attention to the ominous signs described in the above paragraph from a letter addressed by him to The Oregonlan. The world may be set on fire, and America must have warships as numerous as those of all other powers combined for use as fire- boats. As a preliminary step toward the acquisition of those flreboats, Cap tain Hobson would have Congress ap propriate an adequate amount during the present session "I believe that $60,000,000 is the minimum sum," he adds. To show the necessity for besrinninn: at once with $60,000,000, Captain Hobson incloses two pamphlets written by him self, one In 1903, the other in Decem ber last. After some generalities on the subject of commerce, we read that as a matter of insurance, America should have the largest Navy in the world. "Indeed," continues the author In a burst of enthusiasm, "the true propor tion would be more nearly maintained if America's Navy approached in size the combined navies of the earth." That is the way to talk. This Nation 6hould have a ship to match every ship that floats tinder a foreign flag, al though, of course, a present appropria tion of 560,000,000 will be the merest starter in the direction of the necessary expenditure. Not only will an Ameri can Navy equal to all others combined he "useful as insurance on our seaborne commerce, but it is necessary to pre serve Intact the Monroe Doctrine, since our armies, as Captain Hobson truly observes, cannot march to South Amer ica, at least not without undue crowd ing at the narrow Isthmus. Not only this, but this "navy of a dream" will enable America to extend the Monroe Doctrine to China, 6ays Captain Hob son. This is true, but there is no rea son to pause at China. Our fleets will enable us to establish a universal Mon roe Doctrine, and warn the Martians from trespassing upon this planet. "Heaven has allotted to America the task of peacefully overthrowing mili tarism," says Captain Hobson, and it Is solely through the agency of an enor mous Navy that she can accomplish this work. As for the faint-hearted who fear that naval power may tempt us Into war, the author points out that it is better for America to be tempted than a less steadfast "military power." All this from the earlier pamphlet. In the later, Captain Hobson Is inclined to line up the American, British and Jap anese navies against those of all other powers. He has made a calculation, "based on much study and on an ex tended sojourn in China," that by 1950 China will add nearly five billion .dol lars to the world's commerce, and of this amount America may obtain three billions, so that the present expenditure of sixty millions will fcring great in crease; The continent of Europe is con spiring to euchre the rest of the world in China. Rojestvensky did not blun der in firing on fishing boats, but tried, according to Captain Hobson'e views, to embroil Gerat Britain with Russia, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Nor can we ignore "the titanic efforts of Russia to hasten her naval preparations," continues the pamphlet With due deference to Cap tain Hobson's opinions, we think that these titanic efforts may safely be left to the consideration of Japan, even if "no thoughtful observer can fail to see here all the elements of a world war." America's Navy will be increased, is being increased. If Captain Hobson Is Teally anxious for the work to be con tinued, he will aid It more by silence than by illogical and extravagant pamphleteering. His value upon the deck is known to the Nation, and it greatly transcends his value at the desk. RAISING TEACHERS' PAY. The School Board, the taxpayers and the teachers of the public schools of the city are wrestling mightily with a prob lem the solution of which appears to the average mind as exceedingly simple. The proposition is to raise the teachers' salaries to a living wage. This, it would seem, would be easy to do, pro viding the paying element were willing to furnish the money required for the desired increase in wages. The ques tion was presented to the taxpayers in this light, and, after due consideration and careful attention to the statement of living expenses that supported the request, they agreed to grant the re quest. It now remained for the School Board to go over the schedule of wages and give the advance impartially to those whose wages had been shown to he "below the living rate. All was aim pie and plain up to this point; but here it became suddenly complicated. Some of the teachers were not worth more than they were already receiving, said a member of the Board, unmindful of the fact that this statement, if true, was most damaging to the employing power. "The City Superintendent has received an offer of a higher salary and will leave us unless we raise his pay," was the next startling announcement, and, frightened at this Impending ca lamity, this officer was forthwith given a raise of 51000 a year out of the closely-guarded fund, if he would only, only consent to remain and serve the district yet a little longer. The drawing teacher, too, who is so sorely pressed for time that she scarcely "gets around" during the entire term, fell that she was entitled to a generous lce of the money that, through the efforts of the grade teach ers, had come Into the school till, and the Board thought so, too, and another brick was placed on the top of an al ready topheavy school system, further weakening the base. In the meantime the perplexity of the dispensing power grew. There was yet something of the extra money voted for the grade teachers' salaries to be. ap portioned. "A merit system" must be devised, to the end that the incompe tent teachers hired by the Board pre sumably in obedience to a "pull" that it was not firmly enough braced to withstand might not get the 55 a month that they would otherwise re ceive and thus be led into extrava gance. And so "a merit system" was devised whereby three or four men at or toward the top of the system and the payroll might designate from the list, of their favorites, if they chose, the teach ers who were entitled to a living wage. Here the matter at present rests if anything in a state of chaotic move ment can be said to rest. The- School Directors, Individually and collectively, are in a state of perplexity. The City Superintendent is the subject of un friendly criticism It being alleged that he was well content with the salary he was receiving until, through the ef forts of the grade teachers, more money came into the school treasury. The teachers, rank and file, are in a state of mental revolt, and all because a question simple In itself has been com plicated by letting In favoritism and shutting out justice. Nothing could have been easier than to apply the Increased tax to the pay of the grade teachers all along the line. according to the Intent of those who voted it. If there are Incompetent teachers on the list, let the power that placed them there drop them when the proper time comes. If the City Super intendent of Schools can better himself by going elsewhere to "Los Angeles or Seattle." for example It is undenlably his right to do so. Without disparage ment to a very efficient school man, it may he said that "there are others." And finally, let the absurd, unjust and partisan "merit system" be dropped and all teachers who are retained by the Board be given pro rata the Increase in pay which has been provided in re sponse to their demand for a living wage. TONING DOWN THE COMMISSION BILL The amendments to the Washington railroad commission bill, as submitted by the railroad interests, disclose a wide gulf between their Ideas of the proper 'kind of a railroad commission and those of the subcommittee that drafted the bill. So much at variance are the views of the opposing forces that It Is difficult to understand how their differences can easily be recon ciled. Section 4 of the bill returned by the committee was perhaps the most pernicious of any of a number of per nicious features of the bill. This was the section investing ' the commission with power to allot to the companies interested their respective shares of the proceeds fronr a Joint haul. As recom mended by the subcommittee, this pro vision practically conferred on the com missioners a power which, were they disposed to use it, would enable them hy showing favoritism to any partic ular road to ruin the business of a com petitor. The language of this provision was plain and unequivocal. It declared that on the failure of the roads to agree among themselves on a fair distribution of the rate, "the commission may issue a supplemental order declaring the portion of the joint rate to be received by each railroad or express company party thereto, which shall take effect of its own force as part of the original order." Under the provisions of this clause in the bill the commission might decide that the Northern Pacific was entitled to such a large percentage of the haul on "wheat taken off the Wash tucna branch of the O. R. & N. that it would be impossible for the latter road to continue in business except at a loss. As matters now stand, the natural out let for the wheat along that branch is over the lines of the O. R. & N. to Portland, but if some future railroad commission which may ride Into poWer on a political tidal wave should decree that the Northern Pacific should have the long haul on that wheat, and the two roads were unable to agree on a distribution of the proceeds, the com mission would probably give the de cision to the Northern road, and there the traffic would go until the O. R. & N. was fortunate enough to land on top politically and have its commissioner distribute the business. This obnoxious provision would have the effect of keeping the railroads In politics in the state so long as there was a commission, and it would enable unprincipled political jugglers to. work one railroad interest against the other to the detriment alike of the roads and the communities they serve. The rail road amendment to replace this section provides that "the commission shall have power to regulate joint rates of lines under common control and man agement to the same extent and in the same manner that it Is given authority to regulate the rates over the lines of a single company." This would seem fair alike to the shipper and the railroads, but it is a certainty that the amendment will not be adopted without a hard fight, and, whether it is adopted or defeated, there will be some political scars which will not readily heal. The Oregonlan, it Is needless to reaffirm, is opposed to the advancement of the commission Idea until the railroads In Oregon and Wash ington are a little farther past the con structive stage. At the same time, it would like to see the protracted poiltl cVl row over this Issue In Washington settled by giving the matter a trial, but the commission idea can never be given a fair trial under a law that is so manifestly unfair as that which the radical commission forces have put up as a target for the railroads. LETT WALLACE AND "BEN. HUR." Popular fame of General Lew Wal lace, who died Wednesday at his home In Crawfordsvilje, Ind., rests on his great novel, "Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ." He was a stout soldier, un questionably brave and patriotic, but there is doubt whether he had the skill and military judgment requisite for large command. Together with many young men, he first smelled powder in the Mexican War. Soon after the Civil War broke out he became Colonel of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers, par ticipated in the ejection of the enemy from Harper's Ferry, was made Briga dier-General September 3, 1S61, and led a division and the Union Center at Fort Donelson with such ability that he was promoted to Major-General March 21, 1862. At the battle of Shlloh, having been oraerea oy uenerat urant to cross Snake Creek with his division to sup port General Sherman's right, Sher man depending on this support, Wal lace lost his way and did not arrive until the night. However, he rendered efficient service In the second day's fight and in the advance on Corinth. With 5800 men he Intercepted General Early's march on the National Capital, and, July 9, 1864, suffered defeat at the battle of the Monocacy. General Hal Ieck removed him from his command, but he was reinstated by General Grant. General Wallace was a good country lawyer, a stump speaker of more than ordinary power in astate rich In polit ical orators; served as Governor of an ' unimportant territory, and represented this Nation at Constantinople from 1S81 to 18S5, having been sent there as Minister by President Garfield on con dition that he write another novel as good as "Ben Hur." He studied Tur key and her people, went everywhere, mixed with all classes of Mohamme dans and made voluminous notes. On his return to this country he wrote "The Prince of India." It was a dis tinct disappointment to every one who had read "Ben Hur." And what Is the secret by which this Oriental romance has laid hold of so many million people? More copies of it have been sold than of any other book printed In English except the Bible. It has been translated and widely read in every country In Chris tendom. "Ben Hur" is vivid in color, brisk in action and its author shows no little genius for broadly effective scenes and strongly marked characters. For high color, strong action, dramatic and picturesque setting, one will search far to match the chariot race. While the Israelite central figure is full of love and adventure, he is made an Instru ment for the introduction of the new religion. As a literary product, "Ben Hur" is not in the highest class. Any one of a dozen novelists of the past century was the peer of Wallace in the realm of letters. As a minor figure mingling with the Oriental types so prominently present ed, General Wallace has given us the man Jesus, the most fascinating char acter in all history. The world will never grow too old to love the Master. Whether his presence in a romantic tale will give It permanent place in litera ture cannot now be foretold. It has stood the test for a quarter of a cen tury. "Ben Hur" promises to abide. It is now a library treasure. Mothers will teach their children and these children will teach their posterity to read it. In creating "Ben Hur" General Wallace has probably immortalized himself. In South Carolina the educational problem comes up In an entertaining way. A bill has been offered which calls for eight weeks' schooling In the year; but the penalties to parents for non-observance of It are so slight as to be negligible; for it is difficult, if not Impossible, to enforce any penalty upon poor parents who do not send their children to school. But the author of the bill, Colonel D. O. Herbert, pleaded for Its passage. He pointed out that five years ago, when the census was taken, South Carolina's percentage of illiteracy was disgracefully large. Rep resentative Pittman. of Lee, asked the House to consider the meaning and portent of the fact that there are today 23,000 more negro children than white children In the South Carolina schools. Representative Verner denounced the bill as a novelty, and an Invasion of the rights of parents. "If the percent age of education is so much more in Massachusetts, there's also that much more devilment going on there." he said. "I would rather have a good Illit erate man than an educated devil." Verner had the crowd with him. The House killed Colonel Herbert's bill by striking out the enacting clause 61 to 47. The general public cannot fail to be surprised at the Information that it has become necessary to devise a new form of money order to protect the senders of money by this convenient method from loss. It transpires that postal money orders have been "raised'"' or forged to a considerable extent, not withstanding the belief that the blanks latest Adopted were proof against the skill of professional criminals. A com mission has been created by Postmaster-General Wynne to devise a non forgeable blank, and the men who com pose it will at once set their wits to work upon the task. While it is a sur prise that forgers have overreached t b precautions adopted for the protection of the service, there is no doubt that the resources and inventiveness that the Government is able to command will in the end produce a blank that will be proof against criminal devices. Amalgamated Copper sold up to 75 yesterday. This Is about 35 per cent higher than it was when "Frenzied" Tommy Lawson was advising the dear public to sell Amalgamated until fur ther orders. The dear public who fol lowed the advice of this expert will await with Interest the coming chap ters of the Lawson serial, which will probably inform them where the slip occurred. It will be still more Interest ing to learn the Lawson explanation or denial of the charge that he was a per sistent buyer of Amalgamated all the time he was advising the public to sell. Submarine boats continue to cause death to their crews. After the tragic fate of the entire crew of the British boat "Al," at Spithead, comes the ex plosions on board the "A5" at Queens town, resulting in the death of three persons and In the injury of several more. It will probably be years before the submarine has been so Improved, and the crews have gained such experi ence, that service In these craft will be reasonably safe. In the meantime, volunteers will be found to accept the risks consequent upon maintaining this arm of the naval service. A recent consular report shows that the number of foreign commercial firms In the treaty ports and large cities of China was 1297, the number of resident foreigners being 20,560, a much smaller number than might have been expected. Great Britain and Japan have three- fifths of all the foreign houses and more4 than half of the foreign residents. Ger many comes third in the list, the United States fourth and France, fifth. President Roosevelt want3 a man who can build the Panama Canal. He could build it himself only he has an other job. Now the question Is, where can he find the man who can do this work? And would such a man work for any salary whatever? His reward, however, would not be limited to the salary. His name would go into his tory; which, after all, is greatest of re wards. For the sake of American investors, European investors and of the Domin icans themselves. It Is evident that some nation must sooner or later take charge of affairs in the naturally rich country of Santo Domingo, and the duty Is one that devolves upon the United States, owing to her geograph leal and political relationship with the West Indies. Oregon's proposed new-counties had a higher mortality rate man the Nation s proposed new states. NOTE AND COMMENT President Reyes, of Colombia, has a couple of islands for sale. It is a mark of our recognition as connoisseurs or, rather, as collectors that he has first of fered them to the United States. Island collecting is an expensive hobby, but it acquires an Irresistible fascination for those that once take It up. The scalpers will have to look out for their own in Portland. Lawson on Rogers: Donahoe on Law aon: Who Is to write on Donahoe? A Crosscut Saw. The pen Is mightier than the sword." At least it's mightier now and then; But let this line be underscored A pull Is mightier than the pen. Pupils of the North Yakima High School are on strike, probably because their fath ers arc not on striking terms with them. Rockefeller can hardly Kansas oil. make light of Submarine boats are the most destruc tive agents In warfare, especially to the nation owning them. Castro, of Venezuela, is getting after the asphalt trust. He should beware, ir any trust-bU3ting is to be done,. It will be done right here where they live. It's good-night to the all-night saloon. While Dr. Charcot seeks the South Pole, his wife in Paris seeks a divorce. Dr. Charcot evidently jumped out of the frying pan Into the frigid zone. Ten years remains as the minimum pen alty for arson. A Burning shame. Stocssel must now bitterly regret his surrender of Port Arthur. Better to have made the place his tomb. At every port i. . . . , . - , where his steamer touches a horde of in terviewers swarms aboard and pelt him with questions. "Better be Where the extinguished Spartans still are free" from interviewers. All the nations are now eagerly declar ing their belief In big battleship?, the bigger the better. It's a hundred to one that in 10 years naval experts, will be advocating small ships. There Is more choppec-changoc in naval construction than in any other business In the world. Naturally an Innocent bystander got potted when the Chlnameribcgan shoot ing up the burg. The Chinks must adopt some American customs. Yesterday we mentioned a few diver sions of a Chicago wife. Now a Chicago husband comes along with claims to at tention. This domestic Idol amused him self now and then by holding his wife by the throat against the wall and chopping close to her ear with a hatchet. When this and similar antics failed to amuse, he used to stick his wife's head into a pail of water to cool her off. Now he is himself in the cooler. Prospects for a great inaugural parade are growing brighter every day. Three carloads of "art, statuary, bamboo poles and other odds and ends" have been ship ped to Washington from St. Louis, where thej -were used in ie Fsfir decorations. Another cheering Indication is tho re- fusal of Governor Vardaman to have anything whatever to do with the Inau guration. Vardaman sulking in his Mis sissippi tent will be a much more pleas ing spectacle than Vardaman In the-parade would have been. New York papers are making a lot of fuss ovor the case of one John Felix, who parted with 550,000 to a gang of fake wire-tappers. Apparently bogus wire-tapping Is not considered a "legitimate graft" in New York. Here are a few more observations by Hoch, the man of many wive.5?. "A widow does not feel so sorry for the death or her first husband as her second husband does." "Before marriage a man swears to love. After marriago he loves to swear." "Many a time I told these wo men before marriage that I would gladly die for them, and now I wish I had kept ray word." If Hoch is the real author of all the sayings attributed to him by the Chicago papers, he would have made more money by writing about marriage than by practicing It. Forest Grove saloons must displny no advertisement. Tho business is one in which every regular customer carries an advertisement in his face. The following ingenious specimen of echo verse Is from the "Washington (La.) Enterprise: They were sitting side by side And he sighed and nbe sighed. Said he. "ily darling Idol" And he Idled, and she Idled. Said he, "Tour hand I asked, so bold I've grown" And be groaned and she groaned. Said he, "You're cautious. Bell"' And he bellowed and she bellowed. Said be, "You shall have your private gig" And he giggled, and she giggled. Said she, "My dearest l.uke" And he looked, and she looked. Said he. "Upon my heart there's such a weight" And he waited, and she waited. Said he. "I'll have thee. If thou wilt" And he wilted, and she wilted. WBX J. The Railway Problem. Railway Age. The discussion of the last few months has given the public a good deal of light on the complex question of rail way rates, and the railways and publio are getting constantly closer together. They are In complete accord on the question of rebates and discrimina tions. It is being made plain that a railroad docs not give up its revenue voluntarily. Rebates and discrimina tions, while harmful commercially and unjustifiable ethically, measure the extent to which the railroads are at the mercy of the shippers. One ship per will seek to obtain an advantage over his competitors, even if to that end It is necessary for him to violate tho law himself and to procure Ur vio lation by the carrier. Communities, especially large commercial centers, are no less susceptible to this disease. The present rate war. In which grain is being carried at much less than reasonable figures" is simply the result of an attempt by one market to gain advantage over another. Commercial freight bureaus representing cities or trade organizations, traffic managers of large industries or manufacturing con cerns, the scalpers' offices, which are to be found In such numbers on the streets of our large cities, are but expressions of the desire on the part of those whom they represent to obtain every posible advantage in the prices of transportation. Rale equality can never be established as long as quantative competition Is compulsory among rail roads. Unless this fact is taken largoly into account and provision is made ac cordingly. Congress may pass alL the laws itwill without arriving at a solu tion. New Definition. Boston Post. A laundry Is a place where shirts, are exchanged. ' GREAT ACTORS AND ACTRESSES DAVID GARRICK By Arrangement with the Chicago Tribune. HEN Samuel Johnson and his one time pupil, "Davy" Garrick, tramped up from Lichfield to London, in the Spring of 1737. with but fourpence in their united pockets. It was the former, not the latter, who hoped to achieve fame and fortune through the stage. Not that the awkward Samuel thought of acting. His scrofulous face, clumsy body and ponderous elocution scarce fitted him to play cither Harle quin or Hamlet, and besides, he contemp tuously regarded an actor as little re moved from a rope dancer. His aim was to become a great dramatist, and he car ried in hl3 greasy pocket the draft of an Oriental play he had named "Irene." "Davy," on his part, had at this time no thoughts of the theater. His object was to study law. and his highest ambi tion was to become a sedate judse "who might drink his Madeira, crack a legal Joke before a helpless court and die In the odor of sanctity." Fortune was to play strange tricks with the pair. John son's play, when put on by Garrick at Drury Lane, was to prove a most ponder ous, solemn, dismal fizzle. The mercurial "Davy." meantime, was to desert hi3 strict mistress, the law. and mildly scan dalize his old master by becoming, almost at one leap, the first actor of his or any age. "Davy" did not pay his devotions to the law long. He soon turned wine mer chant on fKOO left him by an uncle at Lisbon. ,ut he was a wine merchant who preferred drinking liquors to sellins them, and who made more acquaintances than customers. His especial friends were the gay people of the theater, who speedily emptied his cellars and repaid his gener osity by praising his wlnesand his Jokes and stories and telling him he ought to go on the stage. It happened one evening. when Garrick was at Goodman's Fields i Thoatw In T.nrttAr Vio v. ti.. Theater in London that the regular Har lequin becamo sick and unable to play. Garrick volunteered to take the part. Never had such a frisky, clever, comical Harlequin been seen. The audience 3plit its sides with laughing. A little later on an unknown young man. who was adver tised as "Mr. Lyddal." astonished, de lighted and terrified the people of Ipswich by the freshness, originality, virility and tragic naturaleness of his acting. Encouraged by the remarkable success and popularity of his first performances. Garrick put on "KIchard III." at Good man's Fields. His Richard was different from any that had been seen before by his generation. James Quin and the other actors of the period portrayed Richard as a transparent villain, who raged, stamped and bellowed In his royal robes like a red bjill bent on homicide. Garrick made him subtle. cold blooded, hypocritical a schemer too crafty to commit needless crimes, but hesitating at no act that would further his ambition. Alexander Pope went to se him in this J part. That young man," exclaimed the diminutive literary and artistic oracle of the time. In a transport of delight "that young man has never had his equal as an actor, and he will never have a rival." Goodman's Fields soon was crowded every evening. Garrick. as If to show the versa tility of hl3 powers, followed Richard with wlde variety of roles comic, ardent, pathetic and tragic with Lord Fopping ton. Clodio. in "The Fop's Fortune." Cha mont in "The Orphan." and King Lear. He was great in everything. The public Indorsed Pope's verdict. Garrick was a PLANNING THE PANAMA CANAL- General H. L. Abbott in the Engineer- ' Kansas City Star. Ing Magazine. ! The unexpected and startling develop- No well-informed person can fall to rec- I ments of the oil situation In Kansas are ognlze that the final plan requires time ! salculated to arouse the whole state" and for the closest technical study, but it is ,0 attract the attention of the entire coun cqualiy true that a large force can be set tri "hat has been a local fight between at work at once without fear of future changes la plan causing loss. The exca vations at the cogjfincntal divide can be pressed with energy. In this connection It may be stated that experience has taught that the real problem at the Cu lebra lies not so much In the development of the extreme efficiency of the dredging machines as in securing tho utmost rap idity of transporting the material to the dumps, which are. a mile or two away. The necessary continual shifting of tracks, often under heavy rainfall, causes fre quent derailments. If the steam engines the heaviest vehicles of the trains could be replaced by electric traction, the practical gain would be great The con struction of the dam at Alhajuela would enable this to be done. The surveys for the location of the branch railroad, ten miles In length, and the plans for the masonry dam. which offers no serious problem, are completed, and were turned over to the commission, and a large force could at once be put at work. If any element of the problem of the best pos sible canal Is settled it Is the neccsslty for this dam. It 13 needed for the regu lation of the floods and freshets of the Chabrcs. and for the storage of the low water supply when the canal Is In oper ation: and it would be of Immense service In controlling rises of the river during the construction of the Bobio dam. and in supplying electrically transported power for illumination and traction at the Cu lebra and elsewhere on the line. The sooner this dam Is completed the better for the progress of the cans construc tion. It Is the unanimous opinion of all the engineers who have had practical experi ence in canal work, and time to study tho problem thoroughly, that no sea-level project without locks, and no sea-level canal with a tidal lock, is practicable, that would be comparable In case and safety of transit to one equipped with modern locks- and planned to take advantage of all the desirable elements which the nat ural conditions offer. Why then waste an extra ten or a dozen years and untold millions of dollars to execute a scheme which the Investigations of 35 years have demonstrated to possess only a sentimen tal merit due to the Imagination of M". de Lessens? Congress and the American peo ple are Impatient for tho opening of the best possible canal, and this Involves well planned modern locks. The gates of those recently constructed at the sea entrance to the Amsterdam canal are operated electrically, and by a single man. At the Sault 8te. Marie canal over SO.00O.000 freight tons have passed In a single year, although for some months It was closed by ice. The old prejudice against locka Is rapidly passing away among hydraulic engineers conversant with modern prog ress. The Panama canal Is a hydraulic problem, and should be planned in ac cordance with the dictates of modern sci ence. Adam. Chicago Chronicle. Ah. Adam was a lucky wight And missed a lot o'f woe, , His trousers were not made skin tight. At least they tell us so. He did not blow his precious dough To purchase a cravat. Nor rid himself of all his plf To get a stove-pipe hat. Old Adam was a lucky lad And that you will agree. The clothes he wore were always glad And right in style, you see. He did not tote an overcoat "When he went on the street. Nor get the blues from plnchy shoes That hurt his tender feet. Xow. Adam was a lucky dog, ' Of that there is no doubt: x He clothed himself some like a frog And cut the tailors out. And never spent a single cent For handkerchiefs and ties. And that is why none may deny The man was- very wise. , rising sun before which all the stars of the English stage rapidly paled and dwin dled. Garrick owed his Immediate and lasting success to a happy and extraordinary combination of qualities, physical and mental. He was short, but his features were regular, peculiarly handsome and re markably mobile. His eyes flashed with genius. He was singularly graceful, and he had power to throw a dignity into his mien which made the spectator forget the deficiency of his stature. In point of ver satility he has never been equaled by any actor. Edwin Booth may have created a nobler Hamlet that Garrick's. Salvini a more impressive Othello. Edmund Kcan a truer Shylock. Edward A. Sothcrn may have been more comical. Spranger Barry was a more charming stare lover. Gar rick did Booth's, Salvlnl's. Sothern's and Barry's favorite parts almost as well as they could do them, and played some parts none of them could play. Nothing" could exceed the pathos he put Into the touching line in "Lear:" "O. fool. I shall go mad." He made the .-spectators' hair rise with sympathetic terror when he met the ghost in "Hamlet." He wa3 the most amusing of bumpkins. "Damn him!" ex claimed pretty, profane Kitty Cllvc. queen of stage tomboys, "he can act a gridiron." The great quality of Garrick's acting the quality that marked him as a transcen dent artist was his perfect naturalness. He really lived the parts he played. c He seems to have been more pleasing on the stage than off it On the stage, said Goldsmith: lie was natural, simple, affecting: Twas only that when he was olt he -was acting. He lived for several years in relations with "Peg" Woffington which had not 'been marked by bell, book or candle. later married Mile. Violette. a pretty dancer, whom the Empress Maria There?? had sent out of Austria to get her away from the Emperor, and made a dutiful, faithful husband. Drury Lane Theater was not only the scene of Garrick's great est triumphs as an actor, but was also owned and managed by him, and amassed him a large fortune. He bore the reputa tion of being- miserly. Ho reprimanded Peg- Woffington for wasting his money by making the tea "blood red.' and his rival, the actor Foote, asserted that he oftn went Into the street filled with generous intentions, but was frightened back by the ghost of a halfpenny. Dr. Johnson once angrily complained that Garrick had refused to send him a theater ticket for their mutual friend. Miss William?, be cause it would lose him three shillings. When in a less perturbed state of mind, however. Johnson was wont to assert that Garrick gave away more money than any other man in England. The great actor was also a great tuft hunter, and culti vated noble lords as assiduously and al most as successfully as he cultivated his art. Garrick never relaxed bis hold on the English public, nor did his powers seem to wane up to the time of his retirement in in!), wneu he was 60 years old. It was on the occasion of his death, two years and a-half later, that Dr. Johnson wrote the famous tribute In which he said that Garrick'a passing had "eclinsed the srav- i ety of nations and diminished the public stock of harmles pleasure." HU funeral was marked by great pomp and splendor. He lies buried at the foot of the Shake speare statue in Poet's Corner, Westmin ster Abbey. s. O. D. THE OIL ISSUE IN KANSAS. the Standard Oil trust and the producers of oil In Kansas has become, through tho trust's suspension of business In the Kan sas field, a problem for the whole com monwealth. For tho first time Standard Oil has justified a sweeping reentment on the part of all Kansas people. This assertive sentiment will put tremendous pressure on tho Legislature, now in ses slon. and It Is calculated to precipitate ill considered action. But now is the time for 'the Kansas Legislature and for all men of Influence In the state to "keep cool." The contro versy has narrowed down to a srave busi ness proposition. Technically, the Oil trust has a right to suspend business, if it chooses to take the chances- involved. Morally, It has as much right to refuse Kansas oil a3 Kansas has to seek to pre vent the exportation of Kansas ga?. The situation makes a crisis in the affairs of the state, and possibly In the affairs of the Oil trust. But Kansas should guard it self against undue haste. It should re member that It is matched with a won derfQlly alert, sagacious and resourceful combination of capital a combination which ramifies many other interests. The state must be sOro that It is employing effective tactics when It engages in battle with thi." powerful concern, it may waste Its energies on state refineries, or it may prompt, encourage, foster and fortify in dependent refineries. If this Is to be a fight to the finish Kansas must put the Oil trust out ot the state and keep It out. It must de mand for Its Independent refineries every concession given to the Standard Company out of the state. It rnuyt enforce fair play. It will take courage, determination anQ patience to accomplish these things, but Kansas ought to have all of these qualities in abundance and assert them in such an emergency as now confronts thar state. The "Growing" Mr. Bryan. 'Harper's Weekly. The most growing politician who comes under public observation just now is Mr. Bryan. He goes about the country, talks freely, and says good things. He seems to be In excellent form and spirits and to contemplate events with much genial philosophy. At a dinner of the New York Alumni Association of Syracuse Univer sity In New York on January 27 he rose from a seat between Chancellor Day, of Syracuse, and Mr. Archbold, of the Standard Oil Company, to speak about "Democracy's Appeal to Culture." "I have l03t no opportunity in recent years," ho said, "to make the acquaintance of the people ot the East," and he went on, after some pleasant trifling, to make his point that culture was not yet doing all Its duty by the people. The Bast seems to be reciprocat ing very heartily Mr. Bryan's desire for better acquaintance. It has never known him so well or liked him so well as it does now. Its distrust of him seems to be melting away, and not without good reasons, for the Bryan of 1SC5 has come a long ways from the spot occupied by the Bryan of 1S95. Time has dealt kindly by him In putting some of his most alarming beliefs out of active life. Free silver died a natural death. The policies of President Roosevelt which Mr. Bryan has approved may relieve him by a like process of those more recent sentiments favorablo to state ownership of railroads, which met with so little favor In the thoughtful East. A great many things come to him who can wait, and Mr. Bry an is a very competent waiter. He is not yet 45 years old. Think of It! He Is nearly two years younger than President Roosevelt, is the best-known man in the country except the President, and. thanks to his versatile talents, his sociability and his gumption, he Is not being forgotten. He's a Jabber, Not a Jobber. Salem Journal. A liner In this paper on "Genuine, joke lc3?. jabbing Jagger" of Clackamas did that gentleman a great injustice by a misprint of the word "jabbing" go it read "jobbing." 4 ' k