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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1906)
8 THE MORXIXG OREGONIAN. SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1906. Entered at the Postoffiee at Portland. Or., as Second-Class Matter. SrBSCRIFTIOJi BATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. "CJ (By Mall or Express.) DAILY. SUNDAY INCLUDED. Twelve months $8.00 Six months s-25 Three months 2-25 One month .5 Delivered by carrier, per year 9.00 Delivered by carrier, per month 75 Less time, per week Sunday, one year 2.30 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday). .. 1.30 Sunday and Weekly, one rear 8.50 HOW TO REMIT Send poatofrlce money order, express order or persona) check on your local bank, stamps, coin or currency re at the sender's risk. EASTKRN BUSINESS OFFICE. The S. C. Beckwith Special Agency New York, rooms 43-50. Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms S10-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE, (hlcaco Auditorium Annex, Postofflcs News Co., 178 Dearborn street. St. Paul. Minn. N. St. Marie. Commercial Station. Denver Hamilton Kendrlck. 806-912 Seventeenth street: Pratt Book Store. 1214 Fifteenth street; I. Welnsteln. Cioldfield. Nev. Frank Sandstrom. Kansas City. Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh. 50 South Third. Cleveland, O. James Puihaw. 307 Superior street. New York City L. Jones Co.. Astor Souse. Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnston, Four teenth and Franklin streets; N, Whsatley. Ogden D. L. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam; Vaseath Stationery Co.. 1808 Farnam: 24'J South Fourteenth. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento rlowa Co.. 4159 K street. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co., XI West Becond street South; Miss L. Levin, 24 Church street. Los Angeles B. E. Amoa, manager seven treet wagons; Berl News Co.. 82ote South Sroadway. San Diego B. E. Amos. Pasadena, Cal. Berl News Co. San Francisco Foster & Orear, Ferry Kewa Stand. ' Washington. D. C. Ebbltt House, Penn ' ay lvanla avenue. PORTLAND, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1908. THE PREDICTED REACTION. Bewailing editorially the shortcom ings of the Fifty-ninth Congress, the New York Sun observes that it was "most remarkable for the cooperation of both Democratic and Republican parties in the extension of Federal con trol over interstate business." To this opinion two exceptions may be fairly taken. In the first place, Federal con trol over interstate business has not been extended during this session of Congress. That control remains exact ly as it has been ever since the Con stitution was adopted," but hitherto, to the ruin of our public morals and the corruption of our commercial life, it has lain dormant. The Fifty-ninth Congress has partially, but only par tially, awakened to Its duty in the premises and passed raws for the pro tection of the public against monopo listic extortion, which ought to have been enacted long ago. There has been no extension of control or power, but merely a tardy exercise of power al ways possessed. With this correction In mind, one may concede that Con gress took a long step forward at the last session in the performance of its plain and long: neglected duty and It may even be granted that such an act, by such a body, was remarkable; but the Sun errs in thinking that it was the most remarkable fact in the his tory of the Fifty-ninth Congress. The legislation itself was far less re markable than the way it was passed. Of all the measures for the public good not one was enacted by Congress of Its own volition. Each was originated out side and only passed under the irre sistible pressure of public opinion. Congress did just as little for the country as it dared, and left undone everything It had the courage to neg lect. During the entire session It acted like a stubborn mule which had to be driven to its work -with blows and curses. The blpws came from the Pres ident's big stick. The curses came loud and deep from an angry Nation. If what was done was good, Congress de serves no credit for it. If it was bad. Congress deserves the blame, because the members voted as they did, for the most part, from low motives of fear and the desire of personal advantage. The Sun seems to think that the legis lation enacted under the threat of the big stick and the menace of public opinion was bad. It characterizes the rate bill, the pure food law and the meat Inspection act as the outcome of a "craze" for Government regulation of interstate business. Of course, a craze is some thing very undesirable, but it is a com fort to think that the makers of the Constitution must have been as crack brained as ourselves. If -we clamor for Government regulation, they gave the Government the power to regulate. Which Is the crazier? Does anybody suppose that the fathers of the Nation inserted the Interstate commerce clause simply to ornament the Constitution with a picturesque phrase? Did they confer this power with the secret res ervation that it must never be exer cised? The Sun stigmatizes the wish ior Congress to regulate interstate commerce as "a tide of radicalism." Why Is It radical to ask Congress to exercise this power more than another? Do not all the powers of the Govern ment come from the same source and stand on the same basis? The demand that Congress shall do its duty and attend to the business of the Nation, rather than to the private affairs of its members, may be a craze and it may be radical, but the Sun probably deludes itself In predicting that it will soon cease. The reaction, it cays, will inevitably come, "perhaps sooner than the doctrinaires and dema gogues think." Reaction from what and unto what? The present tendency is toward honesty In finance and poli tics; toward popular rule and really representative government; toward the subjection of the corporations to the law of the land; toward the cessation of railroad discriminations, rebates and tyranny; and toward the suppression of the deceptive sale of filthy and poison ous food. From this tendency the Sun predicts and desires a reaction. Could such a reaction move toward anything else than dishonesty, boss rule and cor poration anarchy? Certainly not. And what should we gain by it if it were possible? According, to the Sun, we should escape the monstrous evil of "central ization." which it thinks is descending upon us like a wolf on the fold. The bugaboo of centralization has played a part In American political history very much like that of the book of Genesis in the history of science. For many years almost every discovery In science was confronted with the awful accusation that it contradicted the first chapters of Genesis, and. In like manner, ever since this Nation was founded, almost every progressive step in legislation has been denounced as centralization. No harm, nothing but good, has ever come from the central ization of the Government of the United States; still the ragged plumes of the scarecrow continue to flutter in the breeze, and the hoarse voice of the antediluvian Democrat shrieks his in cessant protest. The corporate bodies which the Government has to control continually grow in power, aggressive ness and insolence. Several of them already surpass most of the states in available wealth and political re sources. To talk of state control over them is nonsense. The less cannot con trol the greater. Our only choice lies between Federal regulation and an archy. Mr. Bryan's plan to destroy the corporations may be dismissed as chimerical. It cannot be done, and it would be a step backward in civiliza tion if it could. The corporation will do for the human race what the slave of the lamp did for Aladdin. How fool ish we should be to kill it, even If we had the power. A POINT OF LAW. Nothing could flatter The Oregonian more than to be asked its opinion on a point of law by a man of Mr. S. B. Huston's legal eminence. The point Js this: In case a newspaper deliberately publishes falsehoods about a man, should he ignore the matter or should he sue the editor for libel? Mr. Hus ton must permit us to distinguish as he would himself do were he addressing his intellect to this problem before the Supreme Court. It depends, in fact, upon the falsehood. All libels are lies, but not all lies are libels. The Orego nian could not conscientiously advise Mr. Huston to sue an editor when he would be morally certain to lose his case. The falsehoods which he quotes as examples are singularly exasperating specimens. It would be hard to im agine anything more desperately dis graceful than to run for the State Sen ate In 1900 on a free-silver Democratic ticket, as the Salem Journal and other papers are said to have accused Mr. Huston of doing. The depravity of a man who would do such a thing is something too dreadful to think of. And yet, the question Is "Does this ac cusation Inflict upon Mr. Huston men tal agony so severe' that a jury can measure it in damages? Has it injured his law practice to an appreciable ex tent?" We apprehend that the mere Injury of his candidacy is not a matter of which a court would take cogni zance. De minimis non curat lex. Nor does it seem exactly libelous to accuse a candidate of never going to church. Of course all good men go to church, but candidates are not gener ally supposed to be good men. A tinge of wickedness, a alight Imputation of depravity, is often thought to faVor a man's chances of election. We recall that in this same campaign it was made a matter of reproach to one can didate that he did go to church, and his friends denied it with scorn and pas sionate indignation. The average voter Is himself a sinful creature, and his se cret sympathies are with the lost. It does not do for a candidate to be too holy. We think upon the whole that the accusation of never going to church must have helped Mr. Huston, and that he ought to send the papers which pub lished it some slight gratuity rather than to sue them for libel. To conclude, we should advise Mr. Huston to consult his personal comfort and let these matters pass without fur ther notice. They are part of the poli tician's lot, as the King of Italy said when the anarchist hit him with a bomb. He who endures slander brave ly may live td be glorified by the same tongues that abused him. By the time Mr. Huston runs for Congress again the papers which lied about him will probably have become filled with re morse and shame, and will be among his most ardent supporters; whereas, should he sue the editors for libel, they would lie worse than ever. Besides, nothing advertises a newspaper so well as a libel suit, and if Mr. Huston should sue these editors he would really be doing them an involuntary favor. All the argument seems to be on one side. Forget the wrong. Is it really worth remembering? Anybody can He. It takes a man to forgive a liar. PORTLAND STILL LEADS. The official returns for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, show conclusively that Portland still retains her position as the greatest distributing point in the Northwest for foreign goods. It is a simple matter for some of the optim istic statisticians of Seattle, and even of Tacoma, to compile figures showing the enormous foreign trade of the Pu get Sound ports, but, by some singular fault or discrepancy in the system em ployed, these figures never even ap proximately tally with those of the Government. This peculiarity is no doubt due to tb fact that Uncle Sam insists on strict accuracy In the re ports which are compiled by his em ployes, and furthermore insists that the cash be forthcoming with the re port. Both Seattle and Tacoma have much more frequent steamship service than Portland, and perhaps handle more Oriental freight "in transit" than is handled through this city; but, for ac tual business transacted, goods import ed and duties paid. Portland is, of course, well in the lead of the Puget Sound ports. The official figures of the Government show that, for the fiscal year ending June SO, 1906, the customs receipts at this port were J772.605.64, compared with 707.000.35 at the port of Seattle and J591.59S.77 at Tacoma, Ev erett, Port Townsend, Bellingham, Blaine and ten other ports In the Puget Sound customs district. In the duty collected on goods imported by the merchants at the port of entry, Port land made an even more wonderful showing, the Impost receipts at Port land amounting to J764.266.16. compared with J974. 997.32 at all Puget Sound ports combined. Official statements of this nature, showing with cold, unbiased facts and figures the actual amount of business handled at the ports, are for the busi ness man more valuable than pages of flatulent boom literature ornamented with fearfully and wonderfully-made statistics purporting to convey impres sions not at all warranted by the facts. This city has always led other North Pacific ports in foreign trade where the business between buyer and seller has been transacted at the port of entry. At no other port on the Pacific Coast is such a large proportion of the outward cargoes made up of products- originat ing in Portland or Portland's immedi ate territory, and no other port north of San Francisco handles so large a distributive trade In goods imported from foreign countries. Portland perhaps displays more mod esty than some of her competitors in revealing to the world facts of this na ture, but they are gradually becoming understood, and when tbey are brought before the public In the form of official reports which it is impossible to "pad," they convey a deeper significance than is possible in straight boom literature, such as occasionally makes Seattle the greatest shipping port on the face of the earth. M1RDEB AS A FINS ART. Strange as It may seem, repulsive and incongruous as we may think it, there is reason to believe that Esther Mitchell thought she was performing a religious duty when she shot her brother. There can be little doubt that to her Creffield, monstrous as he was to all normal apprehension, had made himself appear as a prophet of God. Nor need this surprise any one. Much stranger things have happened in the course of the history of that mysteri ous passion which we call religion. Whole nations for many ages have worshiped what they thought was God with rites more gross than anything reported of Creffield's followers. Scarcely any act can be named, no matter how obscene or absurd, which has not been included in some ritual and solemnly performed as essential to the salvation of human souls. No char acter is too degenerate to be accepted as a representative of the Deity. Such is the sad teaching of history in the realm of false religions. Sadder still Is the reflection that the adherents of a false religion, or most of them, never know that it is false. Their conviction is every whit as firm as that of the man who accepts ,the purest Christianity. Religious belief is independent of reason. It thrives upon absurdity. Tertullian could say even of the dogmas of Christianity that he accepted them because they were ab surd. How much more would such a feeling reign in an untutored mind like Esther Mitchell's. We must believe that her faith in Creffield was implicit. To her he was a good man persecuted for his religion. Perhaps she thought he was something higher and better than a mere man. Her cast of charac ter, if she is correctly described, was serious and brooding. Her face is mel ancholy. Her eyes look far away. Something of the hereditary taint of Insanity in her family tinged her mind with shadowy melancholy. One may believe that in happier circumstances she would have been capable of pas sionate devotion to a great cause and would gladly have sacrificed her life for some heroic end. Involuntarily, reading the motives which must have ruled the soul of this strange girl, one recalls Judith standing over the sleep ing Holofernes with her sword uplifted, though less of religious passion and something more .pf patriotism animated the Jewish maiden. Esther Mitchell believed that her brother had murdered the prophet of God and thai she was chosen to avenge him. We cannot doubt that this belief was deeply fixed in her soul and per fectly sincere; but it was not her only motive. Two others at least may be discerned. Like the other women who accepted Creffield for a religious leader, Esther mingled an earthly passion with her faith. The story in the "Arabian Nights" of the Queen who preferred the embraces of a slobbering negro to those of her gallant husband probes profoundly into human nature. There is no accounting for love and no rules guide it. It is fixed deeper in the soul than religion and- assumes forms equal ly strange and degenerate. Psycholo gists say that It may be perverted toward any object whatever, and those whose duties or studies have led them into the purlieus of fallen humanity know that this is true. There is noth ing incredible in the supposition that the women who accepted Creffield as a prophet were also drawn to him by the passion of sex. Indeed, it would have been strange if this had not been so. It almost always happens in such cases. Recall, for example, the history of Brigham Toung or Joseph Smith. We must believe, then, that when Es ther shot her brother she was aveng ing, not the slain prophet only, but also her dead lover. 1 But there was still another motive. The influence of Mrs. Creffield played Its part in determining Esther's act. Mrs. Creffield said that if she had had a weapon when George Mitchell shot her husband she would have killed him on the spot. Why not?' Would not any other woman have done the same? Who can expect a wife to stand by and see her husband murdered with no wish to avenge him? She would have been less than human if she had not felt thus. The bereft cobra returns to sink her fangs in the arm that has slain her mate. The she wolf fights for her dead. To Maud Creffield the man whom George Mitchell had murdered was not the remorseless monster that he looks to the rest of us. He was her husband and she loved him. Not dar ing herself to fire the shot that should avenge him, 6he persuaded Esther to do It. Whether Esther would have killed her brother without Mrs. Cref field's urgency one can only guess; but probably she would. Still, this in fluence must be taken into account. There is nothing In Esther's conduct, either before or after her brother's death, to show that her resentment was anything but cool and relentless. She went to the depot carrying her weapon with nonchalance. She fired with a steady aim. Her subsequent emotions were not excessively acute. Her Insensibility to the heinousness of her deed is in itself abnormal, and is one among the many indications of a strain of hereditary insanity in the Mitchell family. AN EXHAU8TLESS THEME. The varied career of Abraham Lin coln, from the sharp pinch of poverty that pressed all of the buoyancy out of hi9 childhood and youth to his career as President of the United States and the tragedy of his death, is the ever interesting theme of lecturers and ora tors. Whether drawn in detail by the strong hand of Henry Watterson. traced with painful minuteness by John Hay or presented as a character study by Dr. Stephen S. Wise, the life of Lin coln is inspiring. From the rough sugar trough, hollowed out clumsily by the slow hand of Thomas Lincoln, his easygoing father, to the deck of a flat boat and thence on in his progress to the chair of the Chief Executive of the Nation, every page of his life is a study, every chapter an inspiration. The recital of the incidents that make up his life is never wearisome. Each chronicler finds some new words with which to present the facts of this brave, strong, strenuous life; each ora tor presents the facts gathered in elo quent words and impressive tones, and men and women listen as thoucrh for the first time this strong, true life was being unveiled before them. The audience at Chautauqua listened with deep interest to Dr. Wise's pre sentment of "Lincoln, the Scorn of Con sequences," just as an audience lis tened four years ago In the same place to Colonel Watterson's review of the character and motives of Abraham Lincoln, from the standpoint of a man accustomed to view political and pass ing events through the understanding of the Southerner. A type that Nature wills to plan But once In all a people's years Is presented in the name of Lincoln and it will bear the study of generations. Old but ever new Is the theme; rever ently it is presented and with reverent attention received. And after all that has been said, that man would be a careless or superficial reader who, go ing once again through the story of Abraham Lincoln's life, did not find some new touch of character, some new phase of experience with which to embellish a lecture upon this fruitful, practically exhaustlese, theme. M. Pugliesi-Contl, whose name has a kind of prizering sound, engaged In a fist fight in the Paris Chamber of Deputies yesterday, and as a result sent a challenge to fight a duel with some other" excitable Frenchman. All France seems to be "torn up" over the rehabilitation of the unfortunate Drey fus, and the civilized nations could al most excuse some exponent of the code duello if he would send his seconds to that celebrated scalawag. Colonel Paty du Clam. Ever since It became apparent that Dreyfus was to be 1 vindicated, Paty has displayed some of the charac teristics of the bivalve whose name he has disgraced. He has at least re mained silent, although he can hardly be enjoying the peace of mind that la credited to the other kind of clam when the tide Is high. The Suez is a great marine highway, nd an endless procession of deep- water shipping Is continually passing through it. But when canals and ship ping .are the topics under discussion, the first to be considered is the "Soo." Through this wonderful Inland water way there is always passing a fleet that in comparison dwarfs that which is steaming through the Suez. For ex ample, during the month of June 8245 vessels of 5,682,321 tons net register and carrying 7,105,508 tons of. freight passed through the "Soo" canal. Over no other waterway in the world is such a vast amount of freight handled at so low a cost to the shipper. Incident ally it might be mentioned that none of the big modern steam freighters which carry it are subsidized. A Kansas City Iceman testified under oath that he started in the business of making ice with a capital of $600 and the following year succeeded in making a clear profit of $45,000, and five years later owned a plant valued at $400,000. It might be supposed that such oppor tunities In high finance were confined to Kansas City, but this view is cor rected by testimony of this particular iceman that ice could be manufactured at from J1.75 to J1.85 per ton. A few days of temperature such as we have experienced in Portland would enable our local manufacturers of Ice, if made at J1.75 to J1.85 per ton, to become enor mously wealthy, assuming, of course, that not more than 90 per cent of their profits are lost In bad debts. Not long ago this country, and espe cially New York City, expressed in a rather forcible way an opinion of Max im Gorky. Now Maxim Gorky returns the service by telling what he thinks of the United States in general and Man hattan in particular. He Is neither gentle nor sympathetic in matter or manner. To- Appleton's Magazine for August he contributes a most vigorous attack on the American spirit of Mam mon worship and excoriates its chief city. By special arrangement with Ap pleton's, The Sunday Orecvnian to morrow will publish Gorky's article, several days in advance of the maga zine. For several years during the period of reconstruction Judge George H. Williams was dictator of the South. As Attorney-General, Grant referred the many disputes, often Involving bloodshed, to him for arbitrament. Judge Williams had at his command the armed force of the United States and did not hesitate to employ it to preserve peace. In The Sunday Orego nian tomorrow he recounts most mod estly this service as one of Grant's Cabinet Ministers. One of the speakers at the recent meeting of the State Horticultural So ciety said that there is no place in which a cherry tree will do so well as in a chicken yard. Then here is a good chance for diversified farming.- Com bine poultry-raising with cherry-growing and you will have plenty of room for the chickens and Rood soil for the cherry trees. There is every reason why the two industries should thrive together. The 100 members of the National Guard who spent a week in a rifle com petition at Salem were serving their country faithfully, but undoubtedly some of the farmers up the Valley would like the looks of them better if they were pitching hay. Being assured once more of an audi ence, Mr. Bryan is very busy with pen and voice, and his great boom has slipped back several inches. It Isn't too late for Bryan to turn around and come home the other way. Judge Upton, of Walla Walla, sent a most remarkable telegram of encour agement and sympathy to Esther Mitchell. It is charitable to suppose that, in the cold gray dawn of the morning ater, he regrets it. Mrs. Creffield and Esther Mitchell say they are sane, and Thaw says he is sane. They are willing to be hanged, or freed, according to their deserts. Why not? Free silver would have been all right, IF, etc., etc., says Mr. Bryan. Mr. Bryan would better drop the "if" from his campaign. Of course the clumsy forgery of Mrs. Hartje's alleged letters to her coach man was discovered. They had no postscript. France can hardly overdo the amende honorable to Major Dreyfus. It will take much to atone for the past twelve years. The Bastile will fall again tday. It wm oe tne second time tnis week that something hap dropped in Paris. Murder trials are expensive in King County, yet Seattle will get it all back in the headlines on the news pages. "It Is up to Colonel du Paty de Fois Gras Clam to go back into his shell. If he can get there alive. But we always have cool nights. MR. BRYAN NO LONGER YOUNG. 807 Orator nt First, bnt Now Adept at Political Game, Cincinnati Enquirer. How often has regret been ex pressed that a kitten, if it .escapes the pond in Its infancy, must some day be come a cat. How deep the sigh at the thought that the innocent, afTectiona.e and playful youngster will in a few months be a full-grown "tabby," se date, cross, unsociable, selfish and cruel. What a transition from the confiding and simple faith of the young scion of cathood to ihe mature mousor, seeking whom he may devour. The Hon. William J. Bryan is no longer a kitten in politics. He is grown up- Time was when he was re garded as one as open. in his eloquent Innocence as Mr. Beverldge, of Indiana, and as Incapable of animosity or cold calculation as Mr. Fairbanks, of the same state. Talk about "boy orators." Bryan accepted the brand cheerfully, and beat everybody at the "game." He was as frank and open as a child of the prairies. Ho hesitated not to throw himself into any emergency, and to ask for anything that was worth having. He was charming because he had none of the ways of the wicked politicians. Some of the political pro fessors did not like him at heart be cause his open heartedness took with the people and paralyzed party manip ulation. Had Mr. Bryan been elected to the Presidency In his kittenhood, so to speak, there Is hardly a doubt that the United States of America would now have been In the full fruition of the millenium. The hearts of the people appeared to be with him, and there never was another such heart-to-heart campaign as that of 1896. And "they do say" that Bryan was honestly elected, and would have been Inaugur ated had it not been for the election skill of the magnates of the party in power. The opportunity presented in sweet intellectual Immaturity was lost. Mr. Bryan was a purring, fetching and delightfully insinuating "kitty" in 1896. Now he Is a rugged, staring, bald-headed, deliberative Thomas Cat. He has coldly studied men and things. He has doffed his freshness, and now appears as one who knows politics by the book and by experience. He is as shrewd as any "old fox" on the party stage. He has learned the weaving ways of politics. See him "shy" at the Presidency. Would he have done that in 1896? He protested only mildly in 1900. Behold him In 1906. The Demo cratic nomination has just been offered to him clear across the sea, wiys even greater verisimilitude than that with which the crown was offered to Caesar, and with the assurance that he would have such a "puddin " as Theodore Roosevelt to beat at the polls. Did Mr. Bryan jump at it? Did he spring nimbly into the arms of Democ racy as he did in '96? No, Indeed. The lady has withered a little since then, and the fondled champion of that day was no longer "Pussy." He did not rush for the milk pan and get other fellows to hating him. He smiied at a width denoting maturity and struck his breast tragically. He said, as Blaine would have said, or as perhaps Mr. Roosevelt would say now, "No," with a capital N. "This is not a time for candidates for President. There are others. There is Senator Bailey, of Texas. There Is Governor Folk, of Missouri. And there is Congressman Hearst, of New Yorl:. And there are others." Mr. Bryan would have none of It. His real friends will be glad to know that he has learned to be a real poli tician, and knows too much to concen trate the opposing elements against him two years before the next National convention. He is going to be "re ceived" in New York, however, and have a welcome home at Lincoln. Everybody will be so glad to see Mr. Bryan for his own sake. These demon strations are to be merely neighborly expressions of good will. Mr. Bryan will have it so. He will have braved the dangers of many deeps and run the gauntlets of disease in many hostile climes. And his friends will not have "lost" him. Those who may at some future day be Inclined to give his pop ularity and good fellowship a political turn will have the joy of knowing that he retains his ability and goodness, and that he speaks with the old-time fire and illuminating phraseology, and that he has adaptability to times, cir cumstances and principles that would not have been suspected aforetime. And. moreover, that he knows politics and practices 'em. And, moreover yet, he has done "right well" in material relations since the "first battle." He Is enough of a plutocrat to pay his own hotel bill at a convention without hir ing out to a daily newspaper. Indeed, may we not say, in all good nature and appreciation, that the son of Nebraska, schooled In the college of experience, smiles on the- situation with all the blandness of the cat which had eaten the canary? Nnrc for Ocean Steamers. Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette. A sea career is opening up for several hundred nurses. The German Hospital, of New York City, has already furnished two graduate nurses on the application of the Hamburg-American line for service on two of its largest vessels the Amer ika and the Kalserin Augusta Victoria. Other lines are sure to follow the practice and thus the nurse as well as the physi cian becomes a necessary complement of a first-class steamship. ILLINOIS' GIANT Co WHAT SHOULD MIL HUSTON DOf Consults The Oreajoulnn as to Possible Libel Salts. HILLSBORO, Or., July 12. (To the Edi tor.) I , was much Interested In the dis cussion between Governor Geer on one aide and The Oregonian on the other on the question of criticism of public men by the press. And while the criticisms of the press very often seem utterly un justifiable, yet, on the whole, 1 am In clined to think with The Oregonian, that it is better that men be unjustly crit icised than to have the freedom of the press abridged. . My object in writing this communica tion, however. Is to ask The Oregonian' s opinion upon a kindred question. Suppose a newspaper deliberately publishes false hoods about a man, whether he be a pub lic or a private citizen, should the Injured party ignore the matter, or should he in voke the law and cause the Indictment and punishment of the editor? To put It correctly, during the recent primary campaign the Salem Journal, the Tillamook Headlight, and other papers, published a statement that I ran for the State Senate in 1900 on a free silver Dem ocratic ticket, etc., with many other false hoods of like character. The Silverton Appeal published a statement that I never stepped Inside of a church, that I never gave a dollar to religion or charity that I never spoke of religion except to sneer at it, etc. These statements were wilful and de liberate falsehood, published with the In tent and for the express purpose of in juring my candidacy. Now. shall I con sult my own personal comfort and allow the matter to go by without notice, or Is it my duty, as one who tries to be a good citizen, to cause the authors of these statements to be indicted? It will do me no good to do so. but Is It my duty to do this for the protection of other can didates who may come hereafter? I confess I am in doubt about it, and the opinion of The Oregonian, if frankly given, will probably turn the scale with me. S. B. HUSTON. Teacher of Helen Keller Dies. New York Sun. Michael Anagnos. who lately died at Turnu Severin, Roumania, was born in Epirus, Greece, in 1837. He graduated at the University of Athens, and aided Dr. Samuel Gridlev Howe, of Boston, in the work of assisting in educating the refu gees of the Cretan insurrection who had fled to Greece in 1867. Soon afterward he came to America, and was associated with Dr. Howe in the work of educating the blind. In 1870 he married IJr. Howe's eldest daughter, Julia Romans Howe. He became the successor of his father-in-law as head of the Perkins Institution on the death of the latter In 1878. In 1887 he founded the kindergarten for the blind at Jamaica Plain, Mass., the first school of its kind in the world. It was princi pally through his efforts that it now owna property to the value of $1,000,000 and has upward of 100 pupils. Mr. Anagnos also raised a fund of $100,000 to establish the Howe memorial printing press for the blind, and materially increased the prop erty of the Perkins Institution, the pioneer school of Its kind in America. He directed the early education of Helen Keller, who was for some years a pupil at his Insti tution. She was taught by the methods Invented by Dr. Howe for Laura Bridge man, his pupil. Mr. Anagnos was also president of the Greek Union of America. He was a naturalized American citizen. His wife, who was also deeply interested in the work for the blind, died in 1S86. Old Vintage Brandy Vnril to Ran Anto, London Standard. The following story of the Shah is going the rounds in Paris, where the lightest deed of so frequent and popular a royal visitor Is always followed with Interest. Just before he became ill His Majesty had the joy of seeing a brand-new motor car unpacked. As excited as a child before a new toy, he Insisted that the car should be set going at once. Now, motor spirit Is not yet a common commodity in Persia. The palace was searched, but not a gill could be found. Courtiers trembled, but dared not admit that the royal will could not be obeyed. But the Shah clamored, and the truth had to come out at last. Nobody was led out for instant impalement. Instead, with a reasonable ness' he may have learned in Europe, His Majesty condescended to Inquire into the nature of the fluid required. It was spirit. The Shah brightened up at once. He had lots of it 1868 brandy specially purveyed to the Imperial household. It was brought, and the new motor car soon hummed along under the explosive force of alcohol. A Forty-One Story Tower la Next. New York Sun. Architect Ernest Flagg has filed with Building Superintendent Murphy the com pleted plans for the mammoth office build ing to be erected for the Singer Manufac turing Company at the corner of Broad way and Liberty street, the striking fea ture of which Is to be a tower of 41 sto ries, making it the .highest building in America. The tower will be 625 feet high. The plans have been designed to meet the technical requirements of the engi neers of the Building Department in the matter of the stability of the tower walls to resist the wind pressure. The main building will be 14 stores, and will be remodeled from the present 14 story Singer building and the 11-story Bourne office building adjoining It on Lib erty street. It Is to cost $1,500,000, includ ing the tower. When a Love Letter Is a Will. Philadelphia Press. A loveletter. which Miss Florence M. Crawford declares is equivalent to a will and should give her possession of an es tate valued at J2000 left by Edwin S. Up dike, Jr.. a paymaster's clerk in the United States Army, and to whom she de clares she was engaged, was produced yesterday before Charles Irwin, Deputy Register of Wills, and was filed among the other papers In the case. The pasasge in the letter upon which Miss Crawford bases her claim reads: "I and all that I have is yours to do with as you like. I am not in this half-hearted. I am woolly and absolutely youra, and I want to be." "CANNON" CRACKER Prom the Chicago Chronicle. SOME FEATURES OF THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN First and foremost, all the world's news by Associated Press, special correspondents and members of The Oreironlaa staff, raajtlna tbe fullest and most complete record of any Pacific Coast newspaper. MAXIM GORKY'S EXCORIATION OF NEW YORK CITY The great Russian reformer and novelist will tell what he thinks of the United States In general and New York City In particular. This is a vigorous, bitter article pub lished In advance of Appleton's Magazine, for which it was written, . by special arrangement with the Appleton house. Much that Gorky says in his indictment will be ad mitted to be true, but he finds nothing to praise. Still he had a motive: New York City punished him for a social Irregularity. WHEN JUDGE WILLIAMS WAS ARBITER FOR ENTIRE SOUTH In his recollections of political life Judge Williams has written noth ing more Interesting than the chap ter to be published tomorrow. It relates to the reconstruction period, when Grant as President turned over to him as Attorney-General the arbitrament of all political dis turbances, often involving human life. The doing of big things, when told by the man who did them, is singularly fascinating: Judge Wil liams Is becomingly modest. OREGON FRUIT FARM MAN AGED BY A YOUNG WOMAN It is only IS miles from Portland, and produced the cherries that took first prize at the recent Salem Fair. Its mistress is Miss Clara Webb, who personally superin tends the work on the 160 acres. The uaily life is well described by Miss Anne Shannon Monroe and pictured by a staff photogra pher. WHEN THE FRENCH GIRL DIPS INTO THE SEA She doesn't dress as they do at Clatsop or North Beach, and un til she reaches the water she protects herself from gaze with a wrap. Married women dress differently from maidens. A cor respondent on the Normandy shore tells all about the recrea tion and sends characteristic pictures. RUINED CASTLES OF AMERICAN CUFF DWELLERS Professor W. H. Holmes, through a special Washington corre spondent, furnishes Interesting details of his journey through the crumbled pueblos and cave dwellings of America's earliest race, which will soon be pre served in a National park, to gether with some photographs never before published. HOW A BACHELOR WOULD MIND A BABY Frank Barkley Copley, a writer in the Outing Magazine, has raised a storm among women by declaring that most mothers know little or nothing about bringing up babies, and then telling of modern methods based on the experience of New York hospitals on 6000 InfantH. His plan will shock every old-fashioned mother. A TELEPHONE THAT RECORDS SPEECH The newest electrical invention is a device that stores conversa tion on a wire and then talks back. Vlademar Poulaen discov ered the process, but in making It practical he was aided by American experts. SUSAN CLEGC AND HER FRIEND MRS. LATHROP The village philosopher tells of the election of a delegate to a woman's convention and the trail of consequential worries. WHEN SENATOR PETTUS WAS AN ARGONAUT The oldest' man in Congress, Sen ator Edmund W. Pettus, of Ala bama, relates a horseback jour ney in '49 across the continent in search of gold. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS Every reader of The Sunday Ore gonian knows that he can depend on getting the latest and fullest ac count of events In sportdom. No other paper In the Northwest is In a position to cover this field so thoroughly. Associated Press dis patches give accurate descriptions of Important athletic events in all parts of the world, which are sup plemented by columns of special correspondence and articles by rtaff writers. A 8an Francisco let ter from Harry B. Smith gives the latest from California. SOCIETY, MUSIC AND THE DRAMA Although society life in the city is becoming more quiet because of the departure of many to the Sum mer resorts, there is still much of interest going on. It Is all told In the pages elted by Nancy Lee. A complete review of the week In the theaters and announcements of the things in store at the playhouses are of Interest to all. Then there Is a thorough resume of the week In musical circles, and all these departments are Illustrated by pho tographs and clever sketches by staff artists. WHERE THE SUMMER COLONIES ARE FORMING While the mercury has been rising in Portland and throughout the state, many have escaped the heat by journeying to the Oregon and Washington beaches. Who are going and what they are doing can be found on a special page devoted to this subject. SOCIETY LIFE IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL In the usual letter from Washing ton, D. C, Grace Porter Hopkins gives some interesting Items about the people who are at present in the public limelight. Sir Mortimer Durand, the British Ambassador, and other prominent people are the subject of the present letter. THEATRICAL GOSSIP OF NEW YORK Some of the dangers which threat en girls who would win honors be hind the footlights in the country's great metropolis are discussed In the letter from Emllle Frances Bauer. She talks of the Stanford White case, and tells how men of position influence the careers of stage beauties in many cases. She also writes of "Mrs. Warren's Pro fession." which is to be produced next season. Circumstances Alter Cases. James O'Neill'a manager tells of the manager of a repertoire company who found to his dismay, that his little Eva "U. T. C." being the Friday performance had fallen ill. Says he to Legree: "Little Eva is ill. You must double in the part." "Well," said the Legree, "you'll have to lend me a dime for a shave." "No, no," said the manager, "never mind. We'll change the bill." 1