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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1905)
THE 5IOHKING OKEGONIAN, FREDA'S', SEPTEMBER 1, 1903. Xntered at the Fostoffice at Portland. Or.. &s second-class matter. BUBSCKIFTION KATES INVAKIABLT IN ADVANCX. (Br Mall or Express.) Uallr and Sunday, per 7 ear 59.00 ZJally and Sunday, six month 5.00 Pally and Bunday, threo months 2.53 Sally and Sunday, per month Sally "without Sunday, per year Sally -without Sunday. six month...... Sally without Sunday, three months... 1.8- Silly without Sunday, per month 4- Sunday, per year Sunday, six months. ....'..--vx-jj2 Sunday, three months . ' BY CARRIER. Sally without Sunday, per week Sally, per week, Sunday Included.. THE WEEKLY OREGOKIAN. (Issued Every Thursday.) Weekly, per year Weekly, six months Weekly, three months - HOW TO KEMTT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, coin cr currency axe at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OKHCI. The 8. C Beckwlth Special Arecy-ew Tork, rooms 43-50 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KErX OX SALE. Chlcro Auditorium Annex, Pettofnoe Kews Co- 178 Dearborn street. Dallas, Ter Globe Kews Depot, 260 Vain street. San Antonio, Tex. Louis Book and Clgox Co.. S21 East Houston street. DenTer Julius Black. Hamilton & Kend rlck. 006-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store. 1214 Fifteenth street. Colorado Sprint. Colo Howard H. BelL Des Koines, law-Koses Jacobs. SOB Fifth street. Goldfleld, Ver-T. Sandstrom; Guy Marsh. Kansas City, Mo Rlcksecker Clear Co., Ktnth and Walnut. Loi Ang-eles Harry Srapkln; B. E. Amos, IK West Seventh street: Billard News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh. CO South iThlrd. Clcrclaad, O. James Pushaw, S07 Superior street. New Xork Clty-L. Jones Co., Astor House. Atlantlo City, X. JT. Ell Taylor, 20T North Illinois are. Oakland. Cal W. H. Johnston. Fourteenth and Franklin streets. Orden F. R. Oodard and Meyers Har top, S L. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1012 Farnam: Hageath Btatlontry Co., 1S08 Farnam; 240 Couth 14 th. Sacramento. CaL Sacramento News Co 429 K. street. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second street South; National News Agency. Yellowstone Park, Wyo. Canyon Hotel, Like Hotel, Yellowstone Park Assn. Lone Beach B. E. Amos. San Francisco 7. K. Cooper & Co., 748 Uarket street; Goldsmith Bros., 236 Sutter and Hotel EL Francis News Stand; L. s. Lee, Palace Hotel New Stand: F. W. Pitts. 1008 Market; Frank Scott. 80 Ellis; N. Wheatley Movable New Stand, corner Mar- Ket and Kearney streets; Foster & urear, ,Ferry News Stand. St. Lonls. Mo. E. T. Jett Book & News Company, 800 Olive street. Washington, S. C Ebbltt House. Pennsyl vania avenue. PORTLAND, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1905 THE PHTLirriXES AND THE STAND PATTERS. At the banquet given in his honor in Manila, August 11, Secretary Taft, speaking for the President, made a number of important statements con cerning the Intentions of the Adminis tration toward the Philippines. There are two parties in this country, he pointed out, who, if they had their way, would treat the islands very differently from Mr. Roosevelt's purpose. The Im perialists would use them as a steo- Dlne-Rtnnp tn th omnlro nf fVio "V3oolf1o. inp gTirt.imnar fl eta trniiifi ri . ,i - . them; while the President and his party would do neither. Their policy, as 6tated by Secretary Taft, Is summed up In the propositions to prepare the peo ple of the Islands for self-government, and to govern the Philippines for the Filipinos. Both propositions are. unon the face, extremely benevolent; but it io nut jmeiy mui ivir. J. ail intended to mane them particularly definite In meaning. If such was his intention, he did not succeed. The Secretary says, in fact, that the form of self-government will be left to future generations to determine. He means, very likely, that time alone can decide whether the Philippines may better become an Independent nation or a state In the Union. The expression seir-government" Is conveniently am biguous, and may signify either condi tion. The idea of the islands ever being admitted as a state has been pretty generally flouted, though for reasons Vhich cannot stand analysis. Their dis tance from Washington Is an objection more apparent than real. Practieallv. under modern conditions, it Js not so great as mat irom Boston to Savan nah when the Union was organized and, so far as transmission of intelll gence is concerned, it is less than that from New York to Washington before tne days or electricity. The fact that the PhilloDines ar in habited by people of the Malay race. wmcn is too unlike our own for Intr marriage and those common sympathies tnat make nations homogeneous and enduring this fact would .be a swlnii objection 4.o the islands ever 'becoming a state lr it were certain to remain always as it is. But, speaking very wen within bounds, the Phtlirrolnes can support a population five times as great as what they now have. The lnhabi tants In course of time will number 42,000,000. the population Of Janan. in stead of 8,000,000, and it is -by no means demonstrated that, when this timi comes, the majority of them will not be whites. Considerations of this sort abundantly Justify Secretary Taft and ttne President in their use of the ambig nous word "self-government" in sneak ing of the future of the Philippines. It may oe best to make the islands inde pendent: but it may. on the other hnnH be "best ultimately to include them In the Union. The decision, as Mr. Taft suggests, may wisely ie .left to the generations to come. The meaning of his other proposition to govern the islands, while we retain them, for the benefit of the Filipinos, is measurably explicit. It means. a nil hi? words and deeds proclaim, that he does not wish to see them governed for the benefit of our precious American trusts. Indeed, Mr. Taft has nev spared his denunciations of the wretched tariff policy toward the Phil ippines which the United States Senate forced upon the country at the bidding or the sugar and tobacco trusts. And it ie reported that most of the members of the party visiting the Islands with the great Secretary are now of his opinion about these absurd regulations. Notwithstanding our ownership of the Philippine Islands, the money we have spent there and the lives we have lost. American goods are admitted upon no better terms tljan those of foreign nations. All pay full Dlngiey tariff rates. The rIHv nretense thaf tho mo son of this is to rive the islands tht benefit of the revenue deceives only the simple-minded. The whole of their Im "rts from the United States in IKK amounted to less than 55,000,000, and upon such a. quantity of goods the du ties, even at Dingley rates, cut no fig ure. The only reason for exacting duties-upon American goods at Philippine ports is the maniacal fanaticism of the standpatters for their ridiculous and tyrannical fetich. They would set -up a Dingley tariff wall between the states of the Union If the Constitution did not forbid. They well Tcnow that free trade with this country would do more for the prosperity of the Philippines than any possible tariff. Mr. Taft, who knows more about the Islands.ihan the Senate, and who has the advantage over that august body of being honest in his opinions, has said repeatedly that the tariff seriously hampers their prosperity. With infinite groanlngs the trusts permitted their puppets in the Senate to agree to a reduction of Dingley rateB by one-quarter upon goods coming to our ports from the Philippines. The re sult is that in 1904 our Imports from the islands were three times our ex ports to them. This is a beautiful commercial situation for a nation which aspires to lead the trade of the world. The total Imports of the Philippines scarcely differ from their total exports. Their trade is remarkably -well balanced upon the whole. That our share of It is ridiculously small is the result of our irrational tariff laws. CELESTIAL FINANCE. To a mind truly regenerate, no task is more delectable than to deduce a lesson for the good of others from the career of a man wholly consecrated to unworldliness. How much better It would "be for the young could they read such life histories in the dally press Instead of the biographies of criminals and lewd characters so frequently pre sented. The financial transactions, es pecially, of men truly devout are rarely without some wholesome and Inspiring message. We might speak of these transactions as "celestial finance" in contradistinction to those sad vagaries of blinded devotees of Mammon which an edifying author has characterized as "frenzied finance." A few touching anecdotes gleaned from the long and luminous career of All Ben Boozle, a distinguished capi talist of Mecca, will Illustrate what is meant by celestial finance. One of All's friends, "beiirg about to die. sent for the great money king and intrusted to him two pots of gold, one holding 442,100 pieces, the other 159,414. "Pay thyself whatsoever I am Indebted to thee and stop the usury theron," said he that was dying, "and husband well the remainder for my brethren, and no accounting shalt thou make' till we meet in Paradise." So AH Ben Boozle took the lesser pot and set it on his shelf. And at the end of seven years he took it down, and lo! 64.466 of the gold pieces had vanished away; whereat the holy All did greatly marvel. Also he set on the same shelf the other pot wherefrom he that was dead had bidden to pay the debt and stop the usury. But the usury did not stop. It went on and on and on, and evermore the number of pieces in the pot grew less. Whereat again the blessedgA.il marveled exceedingly. unis painetic taie, lamous in unenrai literature, ilustrates what is meant by celestial finance. A wicked man, thus Intrusted with gold, would have emp tied ooth pots forthwith into his own Iron chest. The pious All did nothing of the sort. He emptied' them gradu ally. Thus under the severest tempta tion. "Strong in the strength that God sup plies," the good man bids defiance to the Adversary. The robber ravishes the widow's substance with force and violence: the celestial financier akes It gently, so gently that oftentimes she knows not of her loss. The wicked man "steals; the celestial financier takes contributions for the Lord's work. The unregenerate gloat over their dollars by day and dream of them by night; the celestial financier handles his dross with averted gaze and at nightfall he hastens to leave It. "Adieu, vain world, I'm going "home," he sings, turning eagerly to his Bible and his prayers. "Why can we not all be igood? There Is no "get-rich-quick" scheme in the world to compare with It. JIM HAM AND JIM HILL. The volubility and ease with which James Hamilton Lewis, the political wonder of Seattle, Chicago and way stations, could handle statistics of all kinds have made him famous. He was at his best, perhaps, when describing In dollars and cents the delinquencies of the party which happened to be out of accord with his political views, but he was also good at remembering the exact amount of money offered by would-be bribers, the amount he earned in stevedoring, etc., etc The accuracy of this scintillating genius in handling "figgers" has been the cause of much newspaper comment, and heretofore Mr. Lewis has shone alone in his glory in this particular field. But a new star has arisen in the statistical firmament, and the Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago must look to his laurels. Mr. James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway, is the latest contestant for honors in the careless handling of figures, ;and from appear ances he has Jim Ham faded from his customary bright pink to a pale and sickly white. Mr. Hill is a big man. he owns a big railroad, and his steam ships are brdaTdandlong.and deep, and quite naturally we must expect big stories when, he speaks. In his Dead wood speech to the farmers at Grand Forks, N. D., Wednesday, however, he fairly outdid himself, as note the fol lowing: The State of North Dakota could sot raise grraln enough to bake ten biscuits per capita for the Inhabitants of China. New. ten bis cuits would be short for a year's supply, and I don't know that you could raise enough grain you certainly don't raise enough grain to uaKe two biscuits, per capita. The Government reports credit North Dakota with a crop of 77,000,000 bushels of wheat this year, "but this may not be realized. The iast good crop har vested in the state was something over 60,000,000 bushels. Sixty million bush els of North Dakota wheat will make about 14,000,000 -barrels of flour, and this amount, properly handled, would be sufficient to make approximately 28. 000,000,000 biscuits of commercial size. Allowing the two biscuits .per capita mentioned by Mr. -Hill, it Is quite dear that the apportionment would reach 14,000,000,000 "Inhabitants of China.' And yet the census-taker who was last over the ground could only find a pop ulatlon of 325,000,000 In the entire Chi nese Empire, including the suburbs and some of the back yards. Of course there is a possibility that Mr. Hill -was figuring on much larger biscuits than thoEe which are In com mon use throughout-the world, but he should have been more "clear on that point. Jim Ham was always prepared to qualify his statements whenever his attention was called to errors of a few million or billion in his "Aggers," and, unless Jim Hill is really endeavoring to crowd Jim Ham out of a field In which the latter has1 always been long and strong, we may expect a correction, either of the figures on the wheat-producing capacity of North Dakota or the size of the biscuits in common use among the inhabitants of China. THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. It is: pleasing to observe that Mr. Harrtenan, ever alive to the transporta tion needs of the great West, has or dered a large number of new passenger coaches at a cost of $10,000 each, for use on his "system west of Ogden." No doubt they are needed. It will be a grateful change to wearied eyes to be able to rest on the nice green uphol stered chairs of the new cars; and our gratitude swells up within our bosoms .to Mr. Harrlman for giving his per sonal attention as no doubt he has to the decoration of the new coaches. Green is a fine color. Doubtless Mr. Harrlman first saw It in our eyes when he was last out in Oregon, and It oc curred to him that It would "be too oad to allow a color scheme for which 'all Oregon has long been noted to go to waste. Let us all hope that some, day we may see those splendid new green coaches, and perhaps ride In them. We feel sure that we may, if we can con tent ourselves long enough in the old familiar red-plush coaches to ride far away from Oregon, where the verdant coaches will in due time be found. But we need be in no hurry. What we want in Oregon Is not so much new cars on old roads as any old cars on new roads. Mr. Harrlman Is "going to build" a new line from Drain to Coos Bay. He is "going to build" from Shanlko to Bend. He Is "going to build" from Elgin to the Wallowa Val ley. He Is "going to build" from Natron clear across Eastern Oregon to Ontario. He is "going to build" a brand-new tunnel through the Slsklyous. The pleasures of anticipation are often a more satisfying thing than the certain ties of realization. At any rate, we have had a long and exclusive feast of the former. Mr. Harrlman Is vet the greatest "going-to-build" railroad king of his day. REMOVING THE WHITEWASH. Secretary Bonaparte seems to have knocked off considerable of the white wash which the court of inquiry ap plied in its report on the Bennington disaster. .Beneath this glossed surface the blows of the Secretary have ex posed some raw work which no ex- planatlon will fully explain. It is a sad commentary on the discipline main tained, and the Judgment, or rather lack of judgment, displayed on board the unfortunate vessel, that there was nothing to commend in connection with the disaster but the action of the officers and crew after the accident oc curred. This remarkable verdict of the Secretary of War Is so utterly at variance with the usual procedure In such cases that Its effect, must be start ling on the gilt-laced mariners and en gineers who generally claim such su periority over the practical, hard-headed machinists occupying similar positions in the merchant marine service. It is also a healthy sign which argues for something better In the future. There can be but one captain on a ship. and but one commander on a cruiser. In that individual centers the responsi bility for safe handling and navigation of the vessel. If the Bennington, with her ancient boilers, was unsafe, or her engine-room was In the hands of in competent men, it was the duty of the commander to have informed himself regarding them and to have taken the precautions 'necessary to prevent trou ble. Secretary Bonaparte seems to have recognized this fact, and accord ingly objects to all blame for the la mentable tragedy being passed on to some comparatively obscure water- tender or assistant engineer, who may have neglected his duty and paid for the neglect with his life. The men on deck and In the engine- room on Uncle Sam's ships are not sup posed to discuss the condition of the vessels on which. they are sailing, but the condition of the Bennington's boil ers after their fourteen years' service with all kinds of water was so notori ously bad that It was impossible to pre vent stories of the true condition of the leaky boilers reaching the ears of friends of the men on board. Com mander Young, in charge of the vessel, and Ensign Wade, in charge of the engine-room, at the time of the disaster, are to be court-isartialed. and for the good of the service it is to be hoped that the court-martial will be fully as rigid and stern as the letter of the Sec retary which criticises the findings of the court of inquiry. In the merchant marine a leaky boiler or a leaky ship cannot go limping from port to port endangering the lives of those on bqard. The local inspectors in the districts where she touches have power to compel the owners to put her In a seaworthy condition long before she reaches a stage where life is imper iled. It is also impossible to secure sailors, engineers and firemen with which to man such a vessel. In the Navy the officers and crew of a vessel are not at liberty to exercise their in dividual judgment and to go ashore whenever they are convinced that life is no longer safe aboard the vessel. In ordering a court-martial of the com mander of the Bennington, Secretary Bonaparte offers a rebuke to the court of inquiry which cannot fail to Impress not only the men behind the guns and in the coal oins on warships, out also the general public THIEVES IN COLLEGE. Beyond the understanding of the or dinary man of affairs Is the statement that 300 books were stolen from the State University library at Berkelej", Cal., year before last, and that only by enforcement of strict rules was the number of losses reduced to 150 last year. That college students would steal books from the college library Is difficult to believe, yet the experience of every Institution of higher education proves that such breaches of common honesty will be committed. That there will be some men of low mQral standards among college stu dents may reasonably be expected. High Ideals and intellectual power are not always combined, and very often we may have either without the other. It Is indeed surprising, deplorable, that 300 -books should be stolen from a col lege library In a year, for the thefts- show not only low ideals in -many Indi viduals, but loose standards in the stu dent body. And yet, is not the per centage of honest men greater among students than among men not engaged in intellectual pursuits? Would there be less than 300 thefts if the same number of carpenters worked a year with a many tools as there were books in the library? Would blacksmiths, farmers or real estate agents pilfer less under similar circum stances? The fact of the matter Is that in 'the world at large the plain and practical precepts of the ten command ments have been, nearly lost In the maze of modern laws and the homely "thou shalt not steal" means less than don't get caught at it" The International Association of Sail ing Shipowners Will please 'sit up and take notice that 'Portland exporters yesterday ohrartered three large sailing vessels to load at this port for the United Kingdom at 25 shillings. This rate is 2s Sd per ton less than the rate which the association fixed for Portland and is Is 3d less than has been paid for -vessels chartered on Puget Sound. The supply of tonnage available at the cut rate was not all exhausted with the charter of these three ships, but, on the contrary, more were offering at the same figure. A free movement of wheat later Irj. the season may necessitate an advance In rates, but. when that ad vance comes, it will be due to the old law of supply and demand, and not to any arbitrary fixing of rates by the In ternational Association of Sailing Shlp- owners. Seattle is making a fine showing In attendance at the Exposition this week, and, individually and collectively, our King County neighbors are putting in a good word for the big show. Since the beginning of the enterprise, the Seattle newspapers have been most generous In their support of the Fair, and no small portion of the credit for the lib eral attendance and support it has re ceived from the Queen City is due to the publicity given it by the Seattle newspapers. Seattle, Tacoma, and. In fact, all of the principal cities of our neighboring state, have, for this occa sion at least, forgotten state lines or commercial rivalry and are pulling loy ally with Portland to make the Fair a great success, In which all communities in the Northwest will share. Official statements of the business done the first three months of this year by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company show little commercial de mand for the service. There were of fered by the public 111 messages to be transmitted to persons at sea, while 1635 were submitted by passengers to be sent to land. One reason for this disparity lies in the fact that the public has not yet accepted the new service as an established utility. On board ship the passenger has the apparatus con stantly before him and tries it as an experiment. In order to make the busi ness profitable. It will be necessary, some way or another, to create a larger public demand. In Its September number, the Crafts man, the leading publication of its class In this country, devotes eight pages to "Civic Art in Portland." The article, written in excellent taste. Is by Frank Ira White, and deals with what Nature as well as man has done. Illustrations of very fine quality Include the bronze group "Coming of the White Man" In the City Park, the Skldmore fountain, the Thompson memorial fountain, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Forestry building and the Sacajawea statue in the Lewis and Clark Exposition grounds. Both illustration and letter press will appeal to many people who value some things higher than material interests. The Steel Trust has made formal an nouncement that the price of steel rails for 1905 will be maintained at. 523 per ton in this country. The more fortu nate purchasers of American steel rails who dwell In Africa. Egypt and other countries which enjoy the blessed privi lege of buying where they can buy the cheapest will continue to purchase American steel rails at much lower fig ures. Our infant industries must be taken care of, and the trust apparently feels safe for an Indefinite period, or It would not be announcing a price which might naturally be susceptible to tariff changes when Congress meets again. According to the report of a New York police magistrate, about one mar ried woman in a hundred Is -deserted yearlj. .In Philadelphia there Is a larger proportion. It has been shown that In many cases deserting husbands move to other cities and commit big amy. A law passed two years ago in Pennsylvania making wife desertion a crime has worked no appreciable re form. The Philadelphia Press remarks that nothing will be accomplished until the registry of marriage Is placed on an interstate basis and the man who de serts his wife is followed and dealt with by the strong arm of the law. The widows and orphans of Russia and of Japan are, of course, glad that the war is over; but the mischief Is done so far as they are concerned. However, there may be Russian and Japanese financiers who make a spe cialty of looking after widows and or phans, and sparing them the necessity of worrying about any property they may have by taking it away from them. There are doubtless good men In Russia and in Japan who never fall to see that the widows and orphans are able to lay up their treasures in heaven They need no treasures In this wicked world. The Oregonlan today contains news of the most painful interest to the pro fesslonal hop bears who had bought "short" and who have been predicting that the market for the new crop would open at 10 to 12 cents. Five hundred bales were sold at 16 cents. The out look for better prices is npw favorable. Buyers and sellers, growers and brew ere, all who pinned their faith to the accuracy and completeness of The Ore- gonian's market reports, now know that they were not misled. One Russian newspaper complains that Roosevelt "butted In." He did. A lesser man might have permitted the war to go on to a finish; and then the Russians would have had reason to complain that he did not Interfere. Bishop Potter's sanctified saloon hav ing closed its doors, the saloon business will hereafter remain In the hands of the saloon-keepers. The pulpit's place Is notoehlnd the bar nor In front. The Steel Trust announces that the price of steel rails will be maintained for 1S06. Well, nobody -was looking or bargain sales at Mr. Corey's shop. Evea Emperor Nicholas has cabled a note of appreciation -to President Roosevelt. Evidently, the Grand Dukes weren't around. 0REG0N0ZQNE The "WiUandetto Meteorite. (Found near Willamette. Or., and recently placed on exhibition at the Lewis and Clark Exposition, where Dr. David T. Day. Hon orary Commissioner of Mines and Metallurgy, Is Its custodian.) I am the maddst meteorite That ever has meteorited Out of the infinite leagues of light Onto the earth benighted. Out of the infinite awful arc, ' Infinitesimal I a spark Dropped through the dolorous dreadful dark, v And here In Oregon lighted. Eonp and ages ago I came From fabulous fields etherle; Lit with a livid and lustrous flame, A- globule of metal spheric; Came with a sudden and sweeping flash. Fell with a swatting and swiping smash, Cut in the face of the earth a gash, Giving old Pluto an earache. Long I lay In my darkling bed. The surface ten leagues under: Grinding of glaciers overhead. Throbbing of Titan thunder Finally wearing the world away. Gave me gllmpos of the light of Day. Then along came an Oregon Jay, Dumb with awe and with wonder. Then was I loaded upon a van I. from the vasts of vapor. Dragged about by the midget, Man, Captive (a curious caper!). Now in a pen I sit a sight!. All bereft of my ancient might. Called "The Willamette Meteorite." That once was a heavenly taper! Dr. David T. Day. His English Was O. K. "Well, dear, how did you like the play?" Inquired Mrs. Mustknow, as her husband returned from the theater. "It was out of eight."' "Now, Charles, haven't I often scolded you for using that horrid slang phrase?" "But. my own. that Is not slang; it Is excellent Queen's English." "Oh. how very contrary you are to night!" , "I repeat, the language I used Is ex cellent. The play was out of sight. I sat right behind Mrs. Justwed, and she had on her new theater hat." An Invitation. Now that Strenuous Ted Has gone down to the bed Of the sea In a submarine. He should come to the Fair And go up in the air In an over-the-carth machine. The man who drew No. 13 in the re cent government land lottery in connec tion with the opening of the Uintah res ervation has returned home disgusted after having Inspected the several thou sand available claims. He declares that all the good land was allotted to the In dians and there is nothing left but preclp ltoushllls and alkali flats. So we And No. 13 cursing his luck. The Illinois commissioners at the Lewis and Clark Exposition have acquired a female cur as a house-dog, and they have named her "Sacajawea." ' To make the comparison Jibe with history and with the bronze statue there ought to be little puppoore. Dr. Uhlenhuth, a Prussian military surgeon, has discovered a method wherei by the presence of horseflesh In sausage may be detected. That doesn't Interest us Americans, as our horses are worth more on the foot than in the sausage, What we want to know is how to keep the dog out of the Hamburger. In Missouri a company of amateur sol diers composed of girls Is drilling, and it is said that the girls make excellent soldiers. Probably they are practicing the manual of arms, to provide against the time when, according to Mr. Bodine. of Chicago, the women will have driven all the men out of the strenuous occupa tions; or maybe It is just because the dear girls can't resist the inclination to have arms around them. ROBERTUS LOVE. SOUTHERNPENSIONS. Correction of a "Widespread Mlsap prehension on the Subject. Nashville American. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal having made the remarkable statement that "there is hardly a dollar of Civil War pensions spent In the South." the "Knoxvllle Journal, edited by an ex- penslon agent at Knoxville, an office through which several millions of pen slon money Is paid every year, gives figures showing that for the fiscal year ending. June 30, 1904, the sum of $26,- 035,37 1 was paid to pensioners In Southern States, including over $7,000, 600 for Missouri. Kentucky pensions are paid from Louisville, and those In Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland from Washington. All other Southern States are paid from Knoxville. Last year Tennessee pensioners received J2.313.000: Alabama. 5585.000; Arkan sas. $1,631,000; Florida, 5553.000; Geor gla, 5530.000; Louisiana JSSl.OOOT Mis slsslppl. 5656,000; North .Carolina. 5266. 000; Texas. 51.233,000. These are the states paid from Knoxville. Virginia pensioners received 51.286,000; West Virginia, 51.769.000; Maryland, 51.696, 000. and Kentucky. 54.056.000. Nearly all of this large sum goes t to Civil War pensioners. The 15 states named recetvo nearly one-sixth of the entire amount disbursed for pensions In the United States. Frequently South ern newspapers which ought to know better assert that only a small frac tion of the vast sums paid In pensions comes to the South. Tennessee alone receives more than Is required to run the state government. Including all its institutions. Not all Southern pen sioners are natives of the South. Many have moved Into the South from other sections. Weather Reports Save Money. Country Life In America. In spite of the standing Jokes about the weather man It is probable that for every dollar spent on the Weather Bureau. 510 arc saved. At the time of the Mississippi flood of 1S37, 515.0CO.COO worth of livestock and other property was saved as a result of warnings Issued a week ahead. Signals, displayed for a single hurricane have de tained in port vessels valued, with their cargoes, at 520,000,000. Th6 West Indian stations, established in 1SS3. inform us of hurricanes as soon as they begin. The course of the hurricane that caused the Galveston flood was charted for a week before it struck our shores for hurri canes move slowly. Eighty-five per cent of the forecasts now corse true, and by the aid of rural free delivery 25,000,000 forecast cards were distributed last year to farmers, many of whom could not have had them Ave years ago.v A Cat With Nine Lives. Tacolt Corr. Vancouver Chronicle. A' large cougar with eight kittens was discovered about a mile and a half from town and within 150 yards of the rallroud track. LETTERS ON CURRENT TOPICS Attorney Bennett Explains His Participation ia Tkat Poker Gaine Chairraaa Beetke en Graft and Irrigation The AB.Uad High School A Few Remarks on Adam aad Eve. THE DALLES. Or., Aug. Sl.-(To the Editor.) A good deal of notoriety has been given to the fact of myself and others having been engaged in & game of cards at a private room in one of the Portland hotels, some days ago. I have never been a professional gambler, and I hope I never may be, but nearly all my life I have occasionally played cards among gentlemen for small stakes, for amusement. I do not attempt to Justify this as exactly ethically right. Still I have never thought there was. under the circumstances, any really great or serious wrong In the habit. In this particular case It goes without saying that there were no such consid erable sums won or lost by any one, as has been reported, and I think it may be safely assumed from the persons engaged that no one had any other object than to amuse a passing: hour. Certainly that was my only object. I did not understand that the public officials were attempting to interfere with social card playing of this kind in a private room. On the contrary, I was Informed that card playing in a similar way was permitted at nearly all the clubs and. Indeed. In many families In the city. As I have said I did not consider that I was doing any serious wrong. Still I realize that others may and no doubt do look at it differently, and regard the matter as of a more serious character. and they may be entirely right. At any rate If the city officials are de sirous of Interfering- with that .kind of card playing. I certainly do not claim any exemption, and am ready at any time to appear and satisfy any judgment the court may see flt to assess against me. ALFRED S. BENNETT. GRAFT AND IRRIGATION. Mr. Boothe Criticises Proceedings at the Late Congress. PORTLAND. Aug. 31. (To the Editor.) The editorial in The Oregonlan August 20 headed "Mr. Hill on the Land Question" is such a splendid summing up of the objects to which the Thirteenth National Irrigation Congress might have considered with resultant benefits to it self and tho people of the country, that I desire to express my very great satis faction with it. Unfortunately for all concerned "graft and greed" with char acteristic effrontery insisted upon making Its presence felt, and although the papers and addresses noted on the programme were of the highest order and contained a great deal of Information, the com mittee on resolutions, which was supposed to reflect the work of the congress, ut terly falling to grasp the deeper prob lems, largely frittered Its time away either wrangling over matters of minor importance, or on one side pressing for opportunity to include matters for sel fish purposes, and on the other side re slsting. To those who have follewed the ed itorials of The Oregonlan it is a source for congratulation that though the con gress has adjourned, there yet remains here a force that will continue to exert Itself In the Interest of the people of tho whole United States and keep on resist ing the grafting propensities of the land grabber. I desire to express my appreciation of your excellent daily reports of the con gress, and to congratulate you upon the strength and tone of your paper, as well as the magnificent news service which you are giving your readers. C. B. BOOTHS. Chairman Executive Committee. PrT UP 3IONUMENT TO EVE Adam Was No Gentleman, and De serves Nothing, Says Dr. Tenney. CHICAGO. HI., Aug. 25. (To the Ed itor.) I read In The Oregonlan of July 23 the following: "Since Mark Twain has failed in his efforts to Induce Elmira, N. Y., to build a monument to Adam. let Portland follow up the Sacajawea start and build a monument to Eve. It would please the ladles and make Joaquin Miller happy. A monument to Adam, as proposed by Mark Twain, is a preposterous consid eration. Adam did nothing for which his name should be commemorated; but Portland would cover herself with glory by building a monument to the great and much-maligned Eve. at whose door has been laid the sins of the whole world, and that, too, by professing Christians and eminent divines, who. In their efforts to debase a great and good woman, have evidently forgotten the golden rule enun elated by the Master whom they profess to love and serve. It is truly said, that Eve first partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and gave to Adam, who also ate: but In doing so. she committed no sin. History tuen esU ID states that Adam was created and placed In the Garden of ,Eden, and the command not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge was given to him before Eve was created. She seems to havff known or heard something of the command, but she must have had her Information from Adam, and ner expert ence with that gentleman had been such that she did not believe a word he said, She could not accept the statement that the Lord would create such fine fruit as she saw growing upon the tree of knowl edge, and then forbid his children to eat It. So she gathered and ate, and when Adam saw that she did not die, he also ate. When the Lord came into the garden, and Adam was skulking behind a tree, ho called him. and asked him if he had par taken of the fruit of the tree of knowl edge, instead of stepping out like a chiv alrous jrenueman. ana saying. xes, Lord. I ate of that fruit." he whined out; "The woman thou gavest me did tempt me. and I did eat." He seemed Inclined to blama God for giving him the woman-. All honor to Eve for her wisdom and decision. Had she not eaten that fruit we should not now know how to print newsoaoers. nor how to read them, and the great Fair in Portland would never have been. Oregon was undoubtedly the site of the Garden of Eden, and ioniana wui u tract the attention of the world, and ereatlv increase the immigration of wise and thoughtful people by the erection of a monument to Eve. DR. RACHEL S. TENNEY, TAKING IN THE NICKELS. Petty (Scheme of Street Railway Com pany at American Inn. PORTLAND. Aug. 30. (To the Editor. Havine occasion, with some friends, the other day, to go out near the American Inn. on the outside, we took a car, upon which was the sign, "For the Fair Gounds and American Inn." Tou may Imagine our surprise, when wo reached the corner near the entrance to the Fair grounds to be Informed that we must change cars and pay an additional fare. Not that we cared so much about another fare, but. to say the least, it was annoy ing to be humbugged by a proposition that the trolley lines do not carry out, did n6t Intend to .carry out. and have no provision made to carry out. and the only way it could be carried out would be by transfer ring from one car to another, which the company ought to do if it owns the Amer lean Inn car. I suppose it does, for no separate company would place a track one-half mile long, with a single car, with no legitimate -connection with Its base. A second event happened to me on my return. I took a transfer from Washing ton street to a Fifth-street car. I only wanted to go three blocks to Yamhill street- No. 127 car came along and re fused to stop, motioning to take another car. I hold that cara are under obliga tion to stop for passengers, and the pas senger has a right to determine where he wishes to go, and not the conductor. Some one is putting up a brave fight for the clerks in the' stores. I suggest that a business men's day be appointed, and they go to the Fair and see what the National Cash Register has to suggest in behalf of the working people. I believe in fair play and fair treatment for every one. The street railways have a monopoly everywhere. Experience shows that mo nopolies grind evry one and everything that falls Into the hopper. W. G. ROBERTS. HIGH SCHOOL AT ASHLAND City Spends Nearly $40,000 for New Building:. ASHLAND. Or.. Aug. 31. (To the Ed itor.) Aru editorial In The Oregonlan Of August 29 again does great injustice to the Southern Oregon State Normal School at Ashland in saying that this school, with Weston, Drain md Monmouth nor mals, are In fact local high schools- sup ported by tho money of the people of the whole state. This writer has nothing to say as regards the others, for he does not pretend to have knowledge of the conditions that surround them, but he does know that tho statement i3 not cor rect as far as the school at Ashland is concerned. There la no more connection between the local High School of Ash land and the normal here than there Is between either aad the State University or State Agricultural College. Ashland school district has within the past year spent nearly 540,000 In building and fur- nisning a new high school building, prob ably the finest building of its kind in Oregon not even excepting Portland. A few years ago the school district here built another splendid public school build ing at a cost of 520,000. Neither of these buildings Is within less than two miles of the normal campus and buildings. Ash land maintains a high school course of four years, one year having recently been added to It. and the graduates from this coupse are admitted to the freshman classes in the State University and other schools, and I think it Is safe, to say that no other high school 'In Oregon stands higher in efficiency of its work than does the Ashland High School. The normal here does an entirely dis tinct work and is In no way related to the high school. The students of the normal come from a wide area of this section of Oregon and from many coun ties. FAILURES IN INSURANCE. Record of Old Lino Companies. What They Have Done. PORTLAND. Aug. 30. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonlan of August 29. in an article on "Fraternal Insurance Orders." It 13 stated that "there Is a record of S22 old-line companies organized. Of these no have disappeared. The annals of fra ternal Insurance present no such disas trous tale." I Inclose herewith a list of 1720 fraternal and assessment societies that have failed and ceased to do business In the last 25 years, and also a clipping from the Independent, of New York, on the subject of old-line failures, and I should be glad if you would publish the same In your valuable paper. EDWARD C. FROST. The clipping Is: Old Line Failures For some years many fra ternal orders and other assessment societies have persistently circulated a document which purports' to give a list of the number of old line failures that have occurred In the several elates. It Is claimed that "put of 782 Old line life companies chartered In the United States, but 58 remain." Challenge the con cerns publishing- the document for their au thority for the statement, nonecan slve It. They simply reprint what others have printed. assuming- It Is true because It suits their purpose. The figures, however, are always Introduced with the assertloa that they "were complied from the records on file In the In surance departments of the several states." There Is, of course, no trustworthy source of information, and the reader assumes that the list is correct, because his fraternal paper says It was compiled, though not stated when or by whom. It Is true there have been old line failure. a score or more, and some of them serious, but all combined would scarcely make ono fair-sized company In this day. In a general way it may be stated that, up to 18S5, there had never been one-fourth of 782 legal reserve companies organized, and there has never been a tenth of that number of actual figures. Of thoee that have gone out of bustnees. many never wrote any insurance at all. A considerable number of the others retired voluntarily, after reinsuring; their business. without the loss of a dollar to their policy holders. The actual failures were all the re sult of mismanagement, not of a defective plan. The legal reserve system Is mathe matically correct, but failure may come through a corrupt' or Incapable management. BUILDING A GREAT STATION, Monumontal Task Ahead of Pennsyl vania Road in New York City. Karl Decker in Success. Within the next Ave years the Pennsyl vania Railroad station in New York City and its connecting tunnels will be com pleted, and the new Grand Central sta tion will be ready for use a year sooner. Four city blocks have been razed by the contractors In charge of the work on the Pennsylvania station, and the great traveling steam shovels are at work, each tearing away a thousand cubic yards of earth dally, while a hundred, drills here bore Into the exposed rock and heavy charges of dynamite rack It into frag ments. A great excavation, 60 feet deep in parts, must be dug, and in all 60.000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock will be carted away before the work of building the new station can be begun. The cost of this work will be 550.000,000, to which must be added the 510.000,000 spent In acquiring real estate. Over in New Jersey the work of boring the tun nel, that Is to carry the tracks of the' Pennsylvania Into New York has been begun, and a shaft 75 feet deep and 35 feet in diameter has been sunk. From this point two separate tunnels, a mile In length, will be bored to the water front, and thence, under the river bottom, 6000 feet to the suaft on the western shore of Manhattan Island, where the underland tunnels will strike, through to the sta tion. On Long Island the shaft work has also been begun, and before long the work of tunneling the East River to meet the bores from the west will begin. The station itself will occupy a site of 500x1000 feet, and will be S00 feet in length by 400 feeet in width. Placed 50 feet back from the building line on all sides, it will givo the effect of being located in the center of a great plaza. Disconcerting-. Harper's Weskly. "Now, boys," said the schoolmaster dur ing an examination in geography, "what Is the axis of the earth?" Johnny raised his hand promptly. "Well, Johnny, how would you describe ltr "The axis of the earth." said Johnny proudly, "is an imaginary line which passes from one pole to the otner, and on which the earth revolves." "Very goodl" exclaimed the teacher. "Now. could you hang clothes on that line; Johnny?' "Yes. sir," was the reply. "Indeed?" said the examiner, disap pointed; "and what sort of clothes?" "Imaginary clothes, sir."