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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1906)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN. - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1906. Rt'BSt'RIlTtON RATES, ft 7" INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. "C3 (By Mall.) Iaily, Sunday Included, one year. . .. .$8.00 Daily, Sunday included, bix months.... 4. lJaily. bunday Included, three months. . 11. Daily, junday Included, one month 3 Daily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Bunday. sir months 3.115 Dally, without Sunday, three months.. 1- Dally, without Sunday, one month..... -J0 Kunday, one year 2.50 Weekly, one year (issued Thursday)... 1.30 unday and Weekly, one year 3.00 BY CAKKLLK. Dally, Sunday included, one year 900 Dally. Sunday included, one month.... .o HOW TO REMIT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the tender's rmk. Give postoffice ad dress in lull, including; county and state. l'OSTAGE KATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, Postoffice as Second-Class Matter. JO to li Pages 1 cent J6 to 2 Puges . . 2 cents V0 to. 44 Pages 3 cents 46 to 60 Pages cents Foreign Postage, double rates. IMl'OKTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers oh which postage Is not fully . prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EASTEUX IllblNKSS OFFICE. The S. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 43-00 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms M 0-512 Tribune building.. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postoffice News Co., ITS Dearborn street. St. Paul, .Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial Station. Colorado Springs, Colo. Western News Agency. Denver Hamilton & Hendrlck, 906-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 11114 Fifteenth street; I. Welnsteln; H. P. Han sen. Kansas City, Mo. Ricksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, SO South Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Su perior street. Atlantic City. N. J. Ell Taylor. New York City L,. Jones & Co., Astor Hons;; Broadway Theater News Stand. Oakland, (al. W. H. 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If there had been in the mind of Mr. Harriman any doubt as to the enact ment at Salem of drastic laws framed for the special purpose of forcing his railroad system to render service in keeping with the tariffs paid by the icop:e, that doubt will certainly be dis pelled by the unanimous sentiment dis played at the Shippers' Convention at Eugene. Oregon has, been patietjt and long-suffering. The ultra-conservative nature of our people has held back this Insurrection, perhaps much longer than was best for the elate Meanwhile, "with a poor service, high rates and woefully inadequate feeder trackage, , Mr. Harriman has continued "sowing the wind." Now harvest time is ap- Tili,a,hlnv .i A V. n n 1 some experience in "reaping the whirl wind." And it is a whirlwind of senti ment that will culminate at Salem in January in legislation that will be framed with but scanty recognition of any protests or suggestions put for ward by the railroad men. If at this coming session there are added to our laws railroad commis sion, reciprocal demurrage and maxi mum rate bills, there will be on every band abundant evidence that theee measures have been forced on the statute-books as the laet resort of a suffer ing people who have in the past ten years contributed more than $20,000,000 to the "net earnings" account of the Harriman roadf. The indifference with which Oregon's demands for more mile age and better service have been met would not perhaps have, been tolerated in any other state in. the Union. That an outbreak similar to that which has mow got beyond control has not oc curred sooner, while perhaps hardly to our credit, is a high tribute to the local Harriman officiate, who for years have loyally fought down these uprisings and endeavored to keep the people quiet with promises" which were never ful filled. Every railroad manager from McNeill down to O'Brien, together with the local officials under them, has en joyed the good will of the people, and undoubtedly if they had not been han dicapped by a system that has proved ruinous for the state, the necessary reforms would have taken place long go and the demands for such drastic legislation as are now heard would never have been made. Frequent mention was made at Eu, gene that Mr. Harriman was paying more attention-to stockjobbing, and to epending vaet sums of. money to keep other roads out of Oregon, than he was to the . improvement of his service in this state. This may be more than an idle statement. Certain it is that, if Mr. Harriman had paid more atten tion to Oregon's requirements in the past, he would not now be the target for so much unfavorable Criticism or the' probable victim of an overdose of legislation administered by a ''healer" well meaning but somewhat out of practice. The Oregon Steam Navigation Com pany, forerunner of the present Har riman eystem in the Pacific North west, piled up magnificent fortunes for Its stockholders. Its profits were the wonder of the financial world, and yet, from the day of its organization until it passod into history to reappear as part of a "eystem" very few complaints were heard over the heavy rates ex uded and 'every possible facility for the expeditious handling of traffic was sup plied. While the stockholders were lin ing their own pockets with gold, they did -not overlook the sources from which that gold came. The manage ment kept a close finger on the public pulse, and when the surplus became topheavy it was unnecessary to read a Wall-street "ticker" in order to ascer tain what to do with it. Instead, new, larger and faster boats were added to the fleet, and the road was steadily pushed farther inland, opening up new country and making more business for every one. This was the policy which made the people cheerfully pay .rates entirely out of keeping with the actual operating expenses' of the property, and it was the reason for the .unanimous good feeling which for years was the most valuable asset possessed by Ore gon's first great corporation. We cannot, of course, return to those old methods in their entirety, as chang ing conditions will not admit. There are certain fixed rules of right and justice, however, that are the same today as they were in the days of the O. S. N. Co., or, for that matter, since the beginning of commercial and transportation his tory. The Oregon people insist on a sufficiently close adherence to . theee rules to permit sadly needed improve ments in transportation facilities. In stead of the enormous "net earnings" being all poured into WalNstreet coffers we should like tofhave some of them invested in freight caVs, in locomotives and in branch lines to rich but isolated portions of the state. The O. R. & N. is credited with earnings of J24.000.000 in the past ten years. Had one-tenth of this amount been invested in roll ing stock for Oregon shippers' use, Wednesday's convention at Eugene would never have been held. The peo ple of Oregon wish to play fair, and will play fair witji the railroads, but they expect to receive fair play in return. Failing to secure it otherwise, they will now seek recourse at the Legislature. THE RAILROAD LANDS. In Mr. Killingsworth's speech at Eu gene there is matter for sorrowful re flection. According to his undisputed statement 412 miles of railroad in the State of Oregon have been endowed with 5.888,000 acres of land. Estimating this land at the low figure of $5 per acre, it is worth more than $29,000,000, or, as he computes it, $71,455 per mile. Of course thia estimate is not quite fair to the roads, since they are restricted to the maximum price of $2.50 per acre for the 2,000,000 acres which .they have left. But let us cut Mr. Killingsworth's figures in half and say that the dona tion to the roads was $35,000 per mile. The average cost of railroad construc tion in this country has been less than $17,000 per mile. The cost in Oregon has not exceeded the average, for while in some parts construction was difficult. in the main it w as not so. Hence, 'at our very low estimate of the value of the land given to the railroads, it would have built all their 412T miles of track twice over. Mr. Killlngsworth says the donation would have covered the state with a network of track, and, had the land been retained by the public and sold at market rates, undoubtedly it would have done so. Even if sold at the maximum permitted to the roads it would have doubled the trackage in the state if honestly applied to the pur pose for which it was intended. As a matter of fact it has not been thus applied, and the effect of the do nation has been to drain the state of its natural resources to build up the fortunes of outsiders. A still worse re sult ensues from the present policy of the roads. . They decline to sell their holdings at any price, their manifest purpose being to exploit the timber and minerals for their own profit. Since they can . grant to themselves any freight rates they please, the case of the competitive shippor, even if he could get cars, is not likely to. be en viable. ' . , .... Of the best land in the state 2,000.000 acres are thus withdrawn indefinitely from settlement, and improvement. The values created by the industry of the surrounding population will flow into this reserved land in a perennial flood, as New York values have flowed into the Astor treasury. The longer it is held the more it will be worth, and, whatever its .value, the roads will get it all. They may. find a time when a compliant Government will remove the $2.50 restriction. If they do not, the day may come when the land can.be rented as a vast feudal estate. Over the President's withdrawal of public lands from entry and sale there has been a vast amount of Senatorial indignation. Who has ever heard of any Senator objecting to this railroad withdrawal of land from occupation and use? The proposition to force the roads to sell the land at the stipulated price may not be practicable. In the law there are many unexpected twists and devices; but if it can be done it should .be. The most hopeful of all indications from the Congress at Eugene is that the people have begun to think soundly and fearlessly upon this and kindred questions. Let them continue to think and the solution is only a matter of time. That it will be equitable when found goes without saying. The people of Oregon never have shown the slight est disposition to be unfair to the rail roads. WHO WILL HEED? The President takes occasion in his annual message again to exploit his views upon the matter of producing large families. He cites that there are regions in our land and classes of our population where the birth rate has fallen below the death rate, and de clares that "willful sterility is a sin for which there is no atonement." That which strikes most people who live in the world with their eyes open as most likely to result from a state ment of this kind from so high a source is that those who give heed to th im plied exhortation to multiply and re plenish the earth" will be those who ought to die without issue. And this for the sake of society, of humanity, of National growth in prosperity and honor of "the race," for the perpetuity of which such solicitude is expressed. Every man who. lives upon the plane of animalism, every woman of whom abnormal fecundity is the chief charac teristic. Will take to himself or herself, individually and jointly, great credit for having produced a ' large num ber .of children; men and women who . connect parentage with a high sense of responsibility will continue to regulate the size of their families upon the basis of an intelligent desire to pro duce quality, reinforced by home train ing and educational opportunity, in their offspring, to the end that in giv ing children to the world they may give something worthy, of its glad accept ance. The President speaks further on in his mesaage of the horrors incident to the employment of young children in factories, or at gainful work anywhere, characterizing such a custom as a blot upon civilization. He) will scarcely need to be reminded that this "horror" is the direct result of thoughtless and all too willing obedjence to the blind, ungoverned instinct of race, propaga tion. This army of child toilers, ignor ant, pale, stunted in growth, without Joy iri the present or hope for the fu ture wretched little human machines whose name is multitude as they stand on tiptoe or crouch half-bent at their tasks amid the whirr and roar of machinery tell mutely of "a sin for which there is no atonement." The name of that sin is not "race suicide," though it may lead to that dreadful bogy, race death. 'It is the sin of unwarranted and unwarrantable fecundity; of exca?s in reproduction. "Willful sterility" may or may not be a sin. That depends upon circum stances. But unfit, Irresponsible par entage as depicted in the horrors inci dent to the employment of young chil dren in factories is always and every where reprehensible. So it is in the overcrowded hovels of poverty and drunkenness; in the annals of untaught, unprotected, uncared-for childhood; in unchildly wretchedness and crime. This sin Is the basis of all national sins, of all the ein3 against the race, the sin (if there is such a sin) for 'which there is no atonement. ' INDIAN THAT IS AN. INDIAN. The Alaska Indian problem is Just at present causing the wise men at Wash ington considerable trouble. The War Department Is anxious that the --work as well as the glory connected with the management of these far northern wards should rest with the Interior De partment. But " the Interior Depart ment, with a rare discernment which it would be difficult to find except in the Government service, has decided that the Alaska Indian is not an Indian, but is an Eskimo. Here is a fine distinc tion which the Interior Department claims will exempt its. branch of the Government from having anything to do with the brown natives for whom the Rev. Sheldon Jackson played Santa Claus for so many years. In setting up the claim by which it hopes to escape the care of the Alaska Indians the . In terior Department opens up great pos sibilities for speculation and argument over the question "When is an Indian not an Indian " The infallibility of the Interior De partment, or for that matter any other department of the Government, when a hairsplitting technicality is at stake can hardly be questioned except at the risk of "lese majeste," but in this case there is evidence from an official source to prove that the Alaska Indian is an Indian. In the official report of General Ainsworth, Military Secretary of the Army, he states that while the reports of suffering among the Indians have been much exaggerated, "there is much destitution among them ae a result of the increasing scarcity of game, the de crease in the run of salmon and the laziness and Improvidence of the In dians themselves." The commanding officer at Fort Liscum, Alaska, also tes tifies that "in rendering any assistance to these people it should be borne in mind that the Government is trying to help men who will not help them selves." 4 In these opinions of Army officers are revealed traits which are so strikingly characteristic of the Indian as he is known wherever the Government has provided reservation loafing-places that there seems very little doubt that the copper-colored native of the far north is an Indian. If the experts of the In terior Department have studied the In dian at close range, they will be quick to recognize these predominant traits in the Alaska red man, and the "acid test" (internal or external) will be un necessary in order to fix his status in the racial record. AUTOMOBILES IN THE POSTAL SERV ICE. Steps are being taken to Introduce the automobile into the postal service. There is some opposition to this, of course, but it is believed that much of it will be overcome" by an economic presentment of the matter, and the rest will be simply Ignored as unreason able. For many years the term "horse "hire" has represented a very large sum in the expenses of the Postal Depart ment, and the allowance made to meet them. It is well known that this term, though' the bills were audited under that name, has meant any means of transporting the mails from place to place in the large cities, except motor vehicles. While business men have for a number of years been using automo biles with profit to themselves, the postal service, a most indispensable auxiliary of business, has continued to transport the enormous bulk of mall in large cities by "means of ponderous wagons, many of which in their clumsy, ramshackle condition bid defiance .to speed in delivery. . ' It is shown that in this respect the Postal Department has allowed the modern business world to make prog ress while it has lagged behind. Plain ly stated, the Postal Department has made "horse hire" the basis of its movement of mails in large cities, re gardlerw of the convenience of the rap idly moving business world which has pressed the automobile into its service, "Speed" is, however, the motto of the Postal Department under the adminis tration of George B. Cortelyou, Postmaster-General, and his energetic first assistant, Frank H. Hitchcock. Upon the basis of securing increased speed in movement of the mails in bulk at the central 'offices and their distribution at substations, the department has been practically reorganized in the last two years, and the introduction, of the promised automobile into the problem is the climax of endeavor now awaited. "It is our business to keep the mail moving and moving fast," said the First Assistant Postmaster-General re cently, adding: "We should 6tudy econ omy of time. It is the business of the postal service not only to deliver mail, but to deliver it as promptly as pos sible. Ae far as this can be done, the work of the department should be con ducted upon a modern business basis." The spirit of the Government in many, departments is to proceed in the same old way year after year. A change is dreaded for the reason that it entails, or is likely to entail, increased expense in the beginning. The introduction of anything new is bitterly fought by the fossils in the service, with w-hich, un der civil service rules, the department is barnacled. The bureaucrats are tenacious of old methods. They fit into such methods perfectly and comforta bly, and abhor a change as Nature abhors a vacuum. By these, when Mr. Hitchcock proposed some months ago to Introduce automobiles into the serv ice for the more rapid movement of the mails in large cities, he was told that there was no authority in law for the purchase of automobiles. . Inquiry soon developed the fact that the appropria tion for "horse hire" was drawn upon for the purchase tor hire not only of horses, but of wagons, carts and other vehicles for the ruo vmcit., p t the mails and he soon thereafter confirmed the objections with the. question: "If you can buy wagons, pushcarts and other things with 'horse hire,' why can you not buy automobiles with the same fund?" For obvious reasons no reply was forthcoming, and the automobile will soon appear in some of the larger cities as a '.'hurry-up" addition to the distribution and delivery of mails Fish Warden Van Dusen proposes to add something to the vexed question, "When is an Indian not an Indian?" The Fish Warden takes the ground that; whenever " the noble red man catches fish out of the open season pre scribed, by the white man he becomes amenable to the same laws as are en forced against his palefaced brother. The Fish Warden contends that the In dians at Celilo make no pretense at ob serving the law, and he will ask the Legislature to frame up a remedy that will convince Lo that he is. on even terms with the white man whenever, a violation of the law is the Issue. The innovation will not be approved by Lo. The Castellane, creditors continue to keep the name of the unfortunate Mad ame Gould before the public by pre senting such enormous bills that she is obliged to stand them off until further remittances are received from America. The experience of this successful title chaser of the house of Gould ought to be sufficiently nauseating and humili ating to cause a check in the rush of American girls for indecent title-bearing foreigners. Aside from the expense attached, it must be unpleasant liqui dating bills for a husband who has squandered the money in entertaining the demimonde. Representative Cushman, in his ap proval of the admission of Japanese to citizenship, is in accord with the Presi dent but very much out of harmony with the rest of the Washington dele gation, as well as with the sentiment of most of his constituents. Washing tori, perhaps more than any other Pa cific Coast state except California, is in a position to understand fully what un limited Japanese immigration encour aged by naturalization rights would mean. Mr. Cushman will probably re vise his views if the matter should reach a stage where definite action was necessary. About twenty years ago Tacoma drove out her Chinese, burned their habitations and gave notice to the world that no Chinamen would be per mitted to live there. It was then pre dicted that, this act would affect ad versely the future -of the city. Now in a suburb of Tacoma inoffensive Jap anese have been set upon by a mob of loafers, who repeated Tacoma's out rage. Race prejudice is Human; law lessness such as disgraced the town of Alder is intolerable. Even the little brown man is entitled to a square deal. There Is little doubt from the evi dence adduced In court that Sidney Sloane, the Spokane parricide, is in sane. The most surprising feature of the situation is that his mental state, making it unsafe for him to be at large, was not discovered until after he had brutally killed his father, since according to the testimony of many witnesses he was irresponsible and a degenerate from his childhood.' The two-pound Hood River potatoes may be all right as freaks which show the wonderfully rich qualities of the Oregon soil, but for food purposes they will find successful rivals among much smaller varieties. The flavor and all other features may be of the best, but they will take up too much room on the plate. The rains have made a good stage of water in the Upper Willamette, and an other boat has been put on to care for the traffic. Some day a system of locks and wingdams may make the river a highway for business all the year, from Eugene down, if the trolley car does not first capture all there's in it. W. .W. Finley, and not Stuyvesant Fish, will succeed the late Samuel Spencer as president of the Southern Railroad. This seems to prove that a discharge from the Harriman service is not always sufficient credential to in sure employment on a Morgan railroad. Seated on his throne in far-away New York, hbw can our . industrial mon arch be expected to know or care about the interests or a minor satrapy like Oregon? The defect is in the system which tolerates absolutism, not in the man who exercises it. What's thj matter with the women's clubs in the State of Washington? The Supreme Court has declared the wife cannot testify against the "husband in a trial for bigamy, the crime being against the marriage relation and not against the spouse. Possibly the Home Manufacturers' Association (long may it wave!) is help ing the car shortage. If it be true that Oregon ships four carloads to the one she imports, there is cause for joy even to the pessimist, regardless of other re sults. - ' .During the past, year the National product of beer in the United States increased 6.200,000 barrels, while the manufacture of whisky decreased over 2,000,000 gallons. Our progress in Teu tonizatlon is rapid. People accustomed to well-aired bed rooms will not resent changing Pull mans at Omaha, which they must do under a new rule. Ail sensible travel ens would welcome a fresh sleeping-car every night. Light opera with students in the cast has been condemned by the faculty of the University of Washington. Let the girls and boys try one of Wagner's if the stage is equal to the weight. So long as this war with Japan is waged on paper, both nations can eas ily bear the expense. If the Japanese situation becomes any more acute. San Francisco may invoke the referendum on the President. Let us hope with Congressman Kahn, of California, that the Japanese inci dent is a tempest in a teapot. ' With butter up 2 cents a pound, our hot cakes must get along with less lu bricant.. Don't forget that some hens are do ing their duty, else eggs would go even higher. Mr. Loss seems to have been appro priately named RECORD FOR CABINET CHANGES Twenty-five of Them In President Rooaevelt'H Administration. Wa'shington Special to New York World. President Roosevelt has had more Cab inet members during his term and a half than any other President in two full terms. The number Is 25, counting such changes as "that of Cabinet officer from one position to another. There ,have been two Secretaries of State, two of the Treasury, two of War, four of the Navy, one of Agriculture, one of the Interior, two Attorneys-General, four Postmasters-General and two Sec retaries of Commerce and Labor. In the near future there will be new Secretaries of the Treasury. Commerce and Navy, and a new Postmaster-General.' Nineteen individuals have filled the 25 positions. President Roosevelt inherited this Cab inet: Secretary of State. Hay; Treasury. Gage; War, , Root; Interior. Hitchcock; Navy, Long; Agriculture, Wilson; Postmaster-General, Smith; Attorney-General, Knox. Of these only two, Hitchcock arid Wilson are still in the Cabinet, and neither has been shifted. They are, inci dentally, the two oldest members of the Cabinet in years as well as in service. Mr. Wilson will have had ten yearsj of continuous Cabinet service to his credit March 4 next. ' President Cleveland got through eight years as President with only 21 Cabinet members, and at that he made a com plete reorganization, not retaining in his second Cabinet a single man who sat in the first. The Cabinet members since Mr. Roose velt has been President, including those whose selections are not announced, are: State John Hay, Ellhu Root. Treasury Lyman J. Gage, Leslie M. Shaw, George B. Cortelyou. " War Ellhu Root. William H. Taft. Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Navy John D. Long, William H. Moody, Paul Morton, Charlea J. Bonaparte, Victor L. Metcalf. . Agriculture James Wilson. Postmaster-General :harles Emory Smith. Henry Payne, Robert J. Wynne. George B. Cortelyou. George Von L. Meyer. Attorney-General Philander C. Knox, Wil liam H.-Moody, Charlta J. Bonaparte. Commerce and Labor George B. Cortelyou, Victor H. Metcalf, Oscar S. Straus. SECRETARY TAFT FOR PRESIDENT Foraker May Step Aside In a Certain Contingency. Washington Dispatch in New York Sun. There is good reason to believe that the President will be sounded during the next week or so by Ohio politicians in an ef fort to learn whether ho favors William H. Taft, Secretary of War, for selection as the standard-bearer of the Republican party in the next National campaign. For many weeks the report has been in cir culation in Washington that Mr. Taft is Mr. Roosevelt's choice for the Presiden tial nomination In 1908. Out in Ohio there is a very lively fac tion lhat Is opposed to further advance ment for Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, who ii identified with the wing of the party that has control of the organiza tion. It has been reported for a long time, and is accepted as gospel hy a good many political observers, that if Mr. For aker wants the Ohio delegation to the Re publican convention he can have It. How ever, according to advices received here, the idea is spreading in Ohio that Mr. Foraker Is not in the running, and if the state is to land the Presidential nomina tion it must tie up to Mr. Taft. Friends of Mr. Taft, such as Representatives Bur ton and Southard, and Harry Dougherty, who stands high with the party In Ohio, are among those who believe that If an expression can be obtained from the Pres ident favorable to Mr. Taft, Mr. Foraker will stand aside. They figure that it the President lets it be known that he would like to see his Secretary of War suc ceed him In the White-House, state pride in Ohio will force Mr. Foraker to sacri fice himself for Mr. Taft. Governor Mnoon'i Disadvantage. Washington (D. C.) Herald. "Governor Magoon is a first-class man, and he is getting on well In his regency In Cuba: but when I was down there last week I could not help but see that he labors under one considerable handi cap," said H. V. Atwell of. Now York. , "This was the lack of ability on his part to speak the Spanish language. Not knowing the tongue of the Cubans, he Is obliged to have the aid of an interpreter, which Is a bad thing in more ways than one. In the first place, it means a great loss of time. To use an Interpreter re quires twice as long to" transact a given amount of business as where one knows the language of the people. t Is impos sible for two men to get really close to each other unless they- can understand each other's words. You may admire a man ever so much, but if you can't talk to htm. there can be no great bond of sympathy or mutual liking. I have some good friends in Cuba, and am myself handicapped by inability to converse with them as fluently as I -would like. "The time ought to be near at hand when this Government will send no man to a foreign country as agent, Consul, Minister or Ambassador who does not speak ' its language. Mr. Winthrop. our scholarly Governor of Porto Rico, is the right man in the right place. He is able not only to understand what the- natives say to him. but he can get on his feet and make them a beautiful talk in ele gant and correct- Spanish." Severe Penalty for Iltira-lary. Philadelphia Inquirer. " Assemblyman-elect H. J. W. Ruhlandt of Pittsburg says one of the first bills he will introduce will be one to Increase the penalty for burglary, for attempts at housebreaking and highway robbery. Ho wants to make the maximum sentence 30 years and the minimum 15 years. "This is little enough," says Mr. Ruhlandt, "for the man who enters your home at the dead of night and presents a revolver to your face or the face of your wife. I think if such a law were in vogue in this state the number of burglaries in this city would be-much smaller." Woman Adda "D. D." to Her Xante. Kansas City Star. Mrs. Agnes Lewis of England Is said to be the only woman who has received the degree of D. D.. which has been con ferred" upon her. In recognition of her la bors in deciphering some ancient manu scripts of the Bible, which were discov ered in a monastery on Mount Sinai. She is regarded as the most famous woman Bible scholar In the world. The Old Sheep Wagon. Denver Republican. I have "neard men lung for a palace, but I want no such abode. "For wealth is a source of trouble, and a jeweled crown Is a load; I'll take my home In the open, with, a mix ture of sun and rain Just give me my old sheep wagon, on the boundless Wyoming plain. With the calling sheep around me, and my -dog with "his head on my knees, I float my cigarette smoke on the sage scented prairie breeze; And at night, when the band is bedded, I creep lille a tired child To my tai-D In the friendly wagon, alone on the sheep range wild. , '1 have had my fill of mankind, and my col lie's my only friend. And I'm waiting, here in the sagebrush, for the judgment the Lord may send; They'll find me dead In my wagon, out here on the hilltops brown. But I reckon I'll die as ca&y as I would In a. bed In tuwn. DEATH RECALLS NOTED FORGERY. Story of Remarkable Literary Fraud 'That Put Cfanreh In Turmoil. William E. Curtis in the Chicago Record-IIoraltl. A recent Issue of that excellent paper, the Columbia (Mo.) Herald, contains an account of the death of Rev. W. D. Ma han, the author of one of the most ex traordinary forgeries ever attempted. The facts are stated as follows: "The death of Rev. W. D. Mahan, which has just occurred at Boonvllle. directs attention to a most remarkable, literary controversy which involved a church in turmoil. Mr. Mahan was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister of good standing in the church. He was an interesting speaker, wfth no special pretensions to scholarship. In l&ts) he left Cooper Qounty, Missouri, where he had been preaching, stating that he was going abroad and would spend some time in Rome. Months passed and the Boon ville Advertiser printed letters from him telling what he had seen and found in the Eternal City. Shortly after his return to Boonville he published a most curious book. It was a volume of some 200 pages purporting to be a translation from a manuscript which he had found in the Vatican library at Rome and translated into English. He gave to the book the title of "Acta' Ptlati" ("The Acts of Pi late,"), and the manuscript, the account of the finding of which was given with much circumstantial detail, purported to tell of the trial of Jesus before Pilate by a writing of the time giving an official record of the proceedings of the Court. "Then the people began to wonder that this country preacher should have stum bled at the Vatican upon a manuscript of such transcendant importance. Rev. Dr. Janes A. Quarles, then of Lexington, Mo., now of Washington and Lee Uni versity, challenged the accuracy of the statements in the book. William B. Cur tis, then, as now. correspondent of The Chicago Record-Herald, took the matter up, investigated it at Rume, and pro nounced the manuscript spurious and the alleged translation a forgery. "Mr. Mahan v denied the chai ses, as serted the truth of what he had written. A church trial was -culled. The New Lebanon Presbytery, of which he was a member., tried the case at length. Evi dence was introduced to show that Mr. Mahan had never been to Rome, but that he had spent the month he was absent from Missouri on a farm'in Illinois. The editor of the Advertiser showed that the letters that paper had printed were post marked at a little town in Illinois. Mr. Mahan claimed that thoy had been sent there to be remailed. The verdict of the Presbytery was practically unanimous, however, against Mr. Mahan. He was suspended from the ministry for two years. After the suspension he made no effort to return to the pastorate, but lived quietly at the home of his son-in-law, a hotel-keeper in Boonville. He de clined to make any further statement regarding the part he had taken in the preparation of the book except to say when it was told him that the literary world pronounced it a forgery: " 'Well, I have been a much deceived and a much persecuted man.' " Mr. Mahan's book was published in Philadelphia and attained quite a large circulation. It was generally received as a fortunate discovery of historical evi dence confirming the Scripture account of the trial and crucifixion of Our Lord. Many newspapers described it as an in valuable contribution to human knowl edge. As I remember. Dr. Mahan ex plained in his preface that the original manuscript had been found by himself in the library of the Mosque of St. Sofia In Constantinople, where it formed a part of the remains of the ar chives of the Greek . church handed down from the time of Constantlne. Knowing that there is no library con nected with the Mosque of St. Sofia and no literary archives of the Greek church, after consultation with Dr. Erie denwald. then in the Congressional Li brary at Washington and now In the University of Pennsylvania. I wrote Dr. Andrew D. White, then United States minister to Turkey. Dr. White replied promptly, confirming my own recollec tions, and further said that no such person as Rev. Mr. Mahan of Boonville, Mo., had ever been seen- in Constanti nople by anyone connected with the le gation or consulate or Robert College or by any of the missionaries or the repre sentatives of the American Board of For eign Missions. It was scarcely conceivable that an American Protestant clergyman woulfl visit Constantinople without call ing upon the representatives of his gov ernment or the members of his profes sion. The preface to the book also stated that the manuscript had been translated by the linguists in the library of the Vatican, and that the original manuscript had been deposited there with the keeper of the archives. A letter from Father Ehrl?, prefect of the library of the Vatican, stated that Rev. VV. D. Mahan was entirely un known there and that no person connected with the library had - ever seen or heard of . the "Aota Pllati" or any such man uscript. Nor had father Ehrle ever heard of the publication. I then wrote to Boonville' to ascertain something about the author of the forge ry, and a complete account of the move ments and career of Rev. Mr. Mahan was obtained, which confirmed the thoory that his book was a fake. Nevertheless, it is almost incredible that a country preacher, with no special pretensions to scholarship, as his obituary states, should have produced so plausible a forgery, and it would be interesting to know how it was done. But so far as I have been able to learn, to his very last day. Dr. Mahan insisted upon the truth of his original story that the manuscript had been discovered by htm In the lihrary at St. Sofia, and had been translated at the Vatican in Rome. OPPOSITE EFFECTS OF THE STHEXtiTH OF COX CRETE. narkable Leaning: and Hcntoratloa. of a Five-Story Building. Engineering News. Since the establishment of th French protectorate over the Beylik oC Tunis, its capital of the same nam has never ceased to grow in size, popu lation and wealth. While the original Arab city occupied and still occupies the higher and firmer ground, the new French extension spreads from this in. the direction of the Bahira. or Lake, of Tunis, to the modern port, which, by means of a canal constructed at a, cost of- many millions of francs, traverses the shallow and siltinjc lak and debouches In the sea at llalg 1 Dued. La Goulette. Uii former port. This flat stretch of land, some miles broad, on which the French town is built, is in the last degree marshy and unstable, a terror to architects ami builders, and wonderful are the direc tions from the perpendicular and the horizontal which many of the struc tures, for the most part temporary, ex hibit, collapsing into X-Jike or bulging into O-like forms. A recent example, however, on this marshy ground, far exceeding in im portance any of the numerous and previous instances, and which offered for a few days a modern analogue to the well-known leaning towers of Pisa or of Saragossa. deserves record. The Societe des Minoteries Tunisiennes has had. in construction for many months past three large buildings for tiie storage of wheal and flour, which Tunis now, as Carthage aforetime, ships in - abundance to Europe, a cen tral and two lateral blocks, the latter sepurated from the central one by some little distance. One of the latter was observed to.be gradually deviat ing from the perpendicular toward the central block, without, however, losing its rigidity, and this movement con tinued en masse for several hours until an angle of about L'S degrees was at tained. The mass gradually displaced itself as a whole, a monolith, as it were, hut the fall of the block was pronounced on all hands imminent. The engineer and contractor, however, took heart of grace, and. confident in the cohesion of the reinforced con crete, set about restoring the immense mass to the vertical. This was duly effected in loss than a fortnight. Tin; floors on the ele vated side of the building were weight ed. This counterpoise consisted of some 000 tons of sand in sacks on the ground or basement floors anil I'DOO tons on the upper stories. Exca- vations were also made alongside tlm foundations on the high side so as to allow of the soil giving way more, easily. The result was all that could be desired under the circumstances. The edifice returned to the vertical in a few days ;aud was then completed. The settlement has been very con siderable, for the building now stands some 15 or IS feet below its Intended level. - Tiie site is.- of course in the. last resort responsible for these acci dents, which have been a source of no little expense, delay and vexations. The ground, however, was declared sufficiently solid by the engineer whose plans were followed. The dis placed building remains whole and lis parts undisturbed, a wonderful testi mony to the cohesion and tenacity of these concrete structures. The rein forced concrete is, of course, in conse quence lauded to thr skies, but there, are those who maintain that in such situations the better course would be., at whatever expense, to adopt the American system of building upon a foundation of piles. "CnrUMO" Monkey, Made Fanioun, Dlt-n. New York Despatch. Knocko, the monkey, before whoso cage in Central Park Caruso was standing when arrested, is dead. There Is a suspicion among the keepers that his death was brought about by some one of the visitors, thousands of whom have flocked about his cage since the singer's arrest. Knocko always was greedy for food and trusted his human friends Implicitly. He was likely to swullow anything ho could get into his mouth. The monkey once served as mascot for an engine house on the west side, and h would often jump upon th'i back of the engine driver and ride to fires. Complaints came from residents in the neighborhood that Knocko play ed the part of "Peeping Tom" at bed room windows. The complaints becams so numerous that the foreman of the company took the monkey to. Central Park and left him there. ' Finishes) Painting; After f3 Years. New York Despatch. Thomas Ball, the sculptor and painter of Montclalr, N. J., Iihs just completed a, painting that is four and one-half by fiv and one-half feet, after working upon it K years, probably the world's record. li was commenced in Boston in ISol. Only one square foot of space was com pleted in the first two years. The paint ing depicts a scene from the life of ChrLst. the subject being chosen from the Gospel of St. Luke. ' Mr. Ball is 87 years of age and has contributed much statuary to public parks and buildings. One of his master pieces, the statue of Daniel, is in Cen tral Park. ' Raroa Browned to a Irian. Boston Tost. It is maintained of Senator Bacon, of Georgia, that he can use more language to conceal his thought than any other mail in public life. It Wa" H Tnser. New York Sun. Ken-ton "a'! just discovered why the ap ple fell down. ltut." he .-liked, "why do the plums fall to ihose higher up'.'" Herew-itn the- great man ha?tily had busi ness down the street. AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN From the Watihingtoi. Vont.