Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1907)
8 THE MORNING OKECJONIAN, WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 20, 1907. Bl'BSCRJPTION HATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Dally, Sunday Included, one year 98.00 Dally. Sunday Included, six months.... 4.25 Dally, Sunday Included, three months. . 2.2A riallv. Siinrinv Include nn. mnnth 7S Dally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 ; Dally, without Sunday, six months.... S.2S : Dally, without Sunday, three months. . 1.75 j Dally, without Sunday, one month 8 Eunday. one year 2.50 Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year 5-50 BY CARRIER. Pally, Sunday Included, one year 9-00 Dally, Sunday Included, one month 75 HOW TO REMIT Send postofnca money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give poetofnce ad dress in full. Including county and state. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland. Oregon, Postofflce as Second-Class Matter. 10 to 14 Pages 1 cent 15 to 28 Pages 2 cents SO to 44 Pages 3 cents 16 to 60 Pages 4 cents Foreign postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are Strict Newspapers on which postage la not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The s. C. Ueckivlth Special Agency New York, rooms 48-00 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms B10-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium ' Annex: Postofflca News Co . ITS Dearborn street. St. Paul, Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial Station Colorado Springs, Colo. Bell, H. H. Demo Hamilton and Kendrlck, 006-912 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. 8. Rice, Geo Carson. Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut; Yoma News Co.; Harvey News Stand. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh, 50 South Third. Cleveland, O. James jpushaw, 307 Su perior street. Washington, D. C Ebbltt House. Penn sylvania avenue. Philadelphia. Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket Office; Penn Newa Co. New York City L. Jones ft Co., Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Hotallng Wagons; Empire News Stand. Alluntic City. ". J. Eli Taylor. Ogden D. I.. Boyle; Lowe Bros.. 114 Twenty-nfth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros.. Union Station; Mageath Stationery Co. De Moines. Ia. Mose Jacobs. ftarramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co.. 430 K street: Amos News Co. Salt Lake Moon Book ft Stationery Co.; Roscnfeld ft Hansen;. G. W. Jewett, P. O. comer Los Angeles B. K. Amos, manager ten street wagons. San Diego B. E. Amos. I mig Reach, Cal. B. E. Amos. San Jose, Cal. St. James Hotel News Stand. Dallas, Tex. Southwestern News Agent. El Paao, Tex. Plaxa Book and News Gtand. Fort Worth, Tex. F. Robinson. Amarlllo, Tex. Amarlllo Hotel News 6tand. New Orleans. La. Jones News 'Co. San Frnnclsro Foster ft Orear; Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel News stand; Amos News Co.; United Newa Agents. 1144 Eddy street; B. E. Amos, man ager three wagons. Oakland. Cal. W. B. Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oaklartd News Stand; B. E. Amos, manager Ave wagons. Uoldfleld, Nev. Louie Follln; C K Hunter. Eureka. Cnl. Call-Chronlcla Agency; Eu reka News Co. PORTLAND. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 20, 11)07. THEY "BOLD BXM RESPONSIBLE". It is the opinion of The Oregonlan that Koosevelt will not be President again, unless the attacks upon him, on the charge that he has wrecked the prosperity of the country by the pol icy he has pursued towards plungers, promoters, rebaters and wreckers of various descriptions, coupled with the demand that the country shall return to the old system of financial and cor porate brigandage, shall bring on a general call from the people that ho shall continue to serve them and the declaration that he will not be permit ted to decline. It is known to all who well know Mr. Roosevelt that he has no desire to serve another term. His declara tion, made on the night of his elec tion in 1904, was put forth In utmost rood faith. He has not been repeat ing it, because when a man gives his word, by deliberate, utterance, repeti tion only weakens it. or raises further juestlon about it. The whole matter In such a case is summed up in the remark, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Mr. Roosevelt has no wish or Intention to be a candi date. He favors Mr. Taft, which he could not possibly do If he expected the office for himself again. He could not juggle with the people, nor with Taft. in such a manner. It would be wholly foreign to his nature; it could not succeed, nor ought It to succeed. What, however, will be the effect of th.' continual attacks upon him by the authors of frenzied finance, by the pro moters of corporation thievery and op pression, by the high-rollers among the trusts and banks and railroads, whose abuses he has laid bare? What will be the further effect of their dec laration that the country must return to their safe and sane ways of organ ized plunder? Nay, what has been the effect already? It Is causing the people everywhere to declare that Roosevelt Is the man for the time and oisjht to be re-elected, to continue and push the work he has begun. Such is the genesis of the demand for Roosevelt for another term. It may bring about the consequence, without a parallel In our political his tory, of a united call from u National convention upon a man for election to another term, who not only has dis claimed all desire for It, but Is known In fact not to want It. Roosevelt has done what the people approve; and they who say they "hold him respon sible," and call for reversal of his work, have but a poor comprehension of tho forces with which they have to reckon. ansa (joslino. If she lives long enough, Miss Gos llng seems In a fair way to become a gooBe. She la an English nurse who has been paying a visit to this coun try and admiring our institutions, most of which she finds to be "tremen dously" something or other. Pretty nearly everything we have here in Miss Gosling's gushing opinion out shines the universe, but our poverty is an exception. In that particular we fall behind England; far, far behind. The Whltechapel district In London can produce specimens before which our most highly developed poverty, is Rockefellerlan wealth. v. ry likely Miss Gosling is right about this. Even a goose can see what lies plainly before her. It is Miss Gos ling's remedy for the poverty of Lon don which excites admiration and en raptures one with its enormous anser osity. "Our titled women of wealth, numbers of them, are joining the ac tive campaign for purity and practical aid," and consequently one of these fine days, before a great while, there will be no more poverty in London. Thus quacks Miss Gosling. The notion that poverty can be cured by the efforts of titled women, or the elTorts of anybody else except the poor themselves, Is as exasperating as it Is false. Then things are needful to be done before we can hope to get rid of poverty. The first is to take away the Bpecial privileges of the "titled" women, and men, too, who are at present riding on the backs of the poor. The second is to take away the privileges of everybody else who is using the power cf the government to plunder the people. The third is to arouse the poor to make use of the op portunities which lie before them and help themselves. It is a sad truth, but all experience demonstrates it, that nobody can help the poor. If they are ever helped It must be by themselves. All that others can do for them Is to prevent them from be ing plundered and give them a fair show while they themselves slowly and painfully toll upward from the slum to the normal estate of human beln -s. The titled women of wealth of whom Miss Gosling speaks can do much more good by working to abolish the nox ious privileges of the British aristoc racy than they can by slumming. WHERE THE MONEY WENT. Official confirmation of the shame less manner In which funds wrung from the Oregon producer have been used by the Union Pacific to build lines where they are not needed was supplied by Auditor Blaisdell in his testimony before the Board of Equal ization in this city Monday. In an en deavor to escape taxation on $16,010, 000 of the $25,000,000 surplus ro led up by excessive charges on the O. R. & N. line, it was shown by the testi mony of the railroad officials that,, up to March 1 of this year, there had been expended from this surplus on the projected line of the Oregon & Washington to Puget Sound a grand total of $13,182,699.73. of which 80 per cent was for the purchase of ter minals In Seattle and Tacoma. This .shows a total of approximately $10, 545, 00Q dumped into the tidelands of Seattle and Tacoma, the amount be ing nearly three times as great as all the money expended on extensions and feeders to the O. R. & N. in the past ten years. The people of Oregon, who have as sisted in piling up this colossal sur plus frittered away on a "proposed" road on whioh not a yard of grading has been done, in spite of an expenditure of more than $13, 000,000, would feel less disposed to complain at the oppressive bur den of high rates under which they have staggered so long If some of this money had been used In construction of roads where they are actually needed. As has frequently been stated, the building of the Oregon & Wash ington Railway between Portland and Puget Sound will not open up a single acre of land that Is not already served by good transportation facilities. The Harrlman road is simply paralleling the Northern Pacific, over which four passenger trains each way are now running daily, although two trains per day between Portland and San Fran cisco afe the best facilities offered on the main line of the Harrlman road south of Portland, while throughout Eastern and Southern Oregon there are thousands of square miles that are more remote from rail communication than Seattle Is from Portland. Every branch line and feeder built by the Harrinian llnjrs In this state in the past ten years has added enor mously to the profits of the system as a whole, and the territory which has been so long neglected is susceptible of fully as great development as' any that has been reached by the rail roads. It is for this reason that the people of Oregon protest against Mr. Harriman's taking money out of the state In which it was earned, and where it is needed for further trans portation development, and using it for building a lfne that Is of no use to any one except the builder, who sees in it a vehicle for harassing a rival in the railroad world. But a day of reckoning Is at hand In which the peo ple of Oregon may "feed fat the an cient grudge" which has resulted from years of neglect on the part of 'those who have "milked" the state in or der to get funds to be wasted on use less roads elsewhere. If no part of the vast earnings that are being made off the producers of the state is to be used In building much-needed roads In this state, t may be eminently proper to, pass a maximum rate bill that will, to a de gree at least, keep the money in cir culation in the state instead of having it dumped in tidelands on Puget Sound or in Wall-street speculation. Mr. Harrlman has for several years been sowing the wind in this state. He is about to undergo the experience of reaping the whirlwind. WHERE COMPETTTION . REIGN 8. President Roosevelt awarded a bonus of 50 per cent to the owners of the American ships chartered to load coal for the Pacific squadron. This preference made the foreigners on whom we were obliged to depend for most of the tonnage somewhat indig nant, but they were eager-enough to take up all of the business offered them at the 50 per cent low- r rates than were granted the Americans. The Liverpool Journal of Commerce com ments at length on the Incident, and among other things says: It Is a pity at such a time as this that foreign steamship owners had not a union aa the sailing ahlp owners have, so that the American people might feel the effect of a combination of tonnage against them. As It la, they are getting the benefit of exceed ingly cheap tonnage, owing to the want of combination amongst owners and the amount of tonnage available, though with bunker coals at, say, 60 shillings at Callao, It Is dif ficult to pee what attraction a freight of $6.70 can be to take boats in that direction. The charter of these vessels and tho comment thereon throw some Interest ing side lights on a business that is not very well understood but is quite gen erally misrepresented in this country. The incident has demonstrated clearly that this country will never have any difficulty In securing all the tonnage needed at low rates, fixed by the law of supply and demand, for not only are there plenty of British steamers of fered for the business, but there have also been chartered Italian, Norwegian and German vessels for the same serv ice. The Liverpool paper's expressions of regret over the action of the own ers disclose the weak spots that are ever apparent in any effort made to Increase the owner's profits by other than the natural laws of trade. The United States Is getting the ad vantage of this cheap tonnage not because "the amount of tonnage avail able" is so great that it is impossible to maintain higher rates. The Journal of Commerce Is unable to Bee what at traction such rates should have for owners. Yet if the owners did not ac cept these rates, other steamers would take the business. The Liverpool pa- per also places undue importance on the power of the sailing-ship owners' combine. When the sailing-ship union originally established rates it fixed the minimum so low that it was practi cally impossible for either steam or sail to cut under the rates and still show a profit. In such circumstances it was"hot difficult to maintain rates at the minimum figure, although non union ships frequently made a better showing for a year's business by taking a rate below the union figure and thus getting away to some other part of the world where business was better. But within the past six months the old law of supply and demand has as serted Its power, and freights out of Pacific Coast ports are 5 to 7 shillings above the old minimum rate estab lished by the union. Recently that organization has marked the minimum rate up to 30 shillings, a rate which will be cut and slashed by both steam and sail craft as soon as the present rush Is over. Ocean freight space is a commodity of world-wide supply, and Its value is determined by world wide conditions, thus making an ef fective monopoly impossible. Nothing but Immense subsidies will ever admit of a "trust" being formed In the ocean carrying trade, and it Is well for all producers that we are steadily growing away from 'the trust idea. THE TODD MURDER. Concerning the murder of Frank Todd, which took place on the first of September, one easily concludes that the public has been more mystified from the outset than the police of Ho qulam, where the deed was done. Knowing what the previous relations had been between Steele and Mrs. Todd, knowing also what had occurred between Steele and her husband, the officers could not have been much puzzled over the identity of the mur derer. That they suspected Steele all along is plain enough, and their ruse to lull him into security and obtain his confession was rather more clever than the common run of such devices. Todd was a logger of good reputation residing in Hoqulam. Steele boarded at his house for a time before the trag edy, but apparently something oc curred to warn the husband that all was not well in his family and he ex pelled Steele with more or less vio lence. The reports that Mrs. Todd was privy to one or more efforts to poison her husband are too vague for entire credence, but that her affections had been withdrawn from him and be stowed upon the adventurer does not seem to admit of doubt. It seems also pretty well established that Steele made a night trip of twelve miles through the forest to avenge himself upon Todd for expelling him from his house; but the difficulty of the journey made him arrive too late for his purpose. These circumstances the police officers of Hoqulam knew very well. Hence they could not have doubted that Steele was guilty of the murder which looked so unaccountable to the general public. The deed was committed In Todd's house at some time In the night between the last day of August and the first day of Sep tember. Mrs. Todd, according to her first story of the affair, went to bed early that night, leaving her husband alone In the living-room. Somewhere about 9 o'clock she fell asleep and did not waken until 5 in the morning. Then she sought for her husband and found him in the woodshed lying dead from wounds upon the skull. Who had slain him she could not guess. The officers, however, guessed it was Steele. They got hold of his shoes and sent them to Portland for a chem ical analysis of stains upon them which looked like blood. The report which came back was that the shoes disclosed no trace of blood. This was the first truly clever move on the part of the police. The report given to the public was, of course, not genuine. The test for human blood is so accurate that no competent chemist could be deceived In the matter. The mislead ing report was set afloat to put Steele off his guard, and the announcement by the police that they no longer sus pected him was for the same purpose. Steele was not shrewd enough to un derstand what was going on. He .fell into the trap and began to believe that he was safe. Police officers get so much blame and so little praise that it is pleasant to recognize a good piece, of work when they have one to exhibit. Their use of Mrs. Todd as a detective, or rather a detective's tool, was excellent in its way. Without the confession which she led Steele to make In the hearing of the officer there was noth ing against him but circumstantial evi dence. With it the case was complete. Just how much the police knew of Mrs. Todd's part in the murder is un certain; but it is clear that they be lieved her guIltlesB of actual partici pation In the deed. If she had taken part in the murder Itself there would have been no sense in her asking Steele to describe the whole affair to her. At the solicitation of the police she did ask him to do this, and thus the confession was obtained. The most likely supposition is that Mrs. Todd knew of Steele's purpose 'to mur der her husband and that she aided him by counsel and concealment rather than by physical participation in the deed. She may have played the part of Lady Macbeth so far as temptation went, but no farther. Probably the police guessed pretty nearly the truth upon this point and acted accordingly. The woman in this case seems to have acted a role of singular Iniquity. In the first place she betrayed her hus band, unless all the ' indications are awry. Then she failed to interfere when she must have known that he was. being murdered. Following upon his death she betrayed her loVer to the police with a cool pitilessness which sets one aghast; and to cap the climax she betrayed the police to her lover. This we know from the letter which Steele left In his cell when he hanged himself. We can gain some Insight into Mrs. Todd's nature from her later story of the murder, which contradicts the first and exhibits almost incredible apathy of conscience. Some time in the middle of the night, this account runs, she found Steele standing over her husband's dead body. He then went with her to her room, where they passed the rest of the night re hearsing a course of conduct to mis lead the police. Few more shocking Incidents are recorded in the annals of criminal love, annals which do not lack for blood and horrors. She says it was Steele's-threat to kill her which induced her to obey him, but Bhe must have known that if she told the truth he would be arrested at once, and that when In prison he could not harm her. The psychological interest of tills murder case centers around the char acter of Mrs. Todd. Her conduct, un- fathomably wicked and complicatedly treacherous as it seems to have been, raises the affair from the dull category of vulgar murders and sves it a place of its own in the weird realm where sin and disease are scarcely distinguishable. Returning Americans frequently complain of the imperfect understand ing which many foreigners have of conditions in this country. That this laek of knowledge Is not general is quite clearly demonstrated In the fol lowing resume of the American finan cial situation In the London Corn Trade Newa utder date of Novem ber 5: How long the American stringency will last It Is Impossible to gredlct with any degree of confldence, but no country can suffer in the long run from much produce at too high a price; the producers will have to exercise a little patience until the wholesale distributors adapt their machinery and methods to the new order of things, and In the meantime all excresences upon the commercial organism, such tin the paeudo bank directors who were deposed in New York last week, must be ex cised, as one does with a malignant tumor. The advice to the producers Is ex ceptionally valuable in the Pacific Northwest, where the exporters are confronted with the problem of mov ing the largest crop ever harvested. It can be moved, and at good prices, but In order to get the h,est results there must be co-operation and some concessions in time on the part of growers and country warehousemen. It Is a matter of regret that the lack of refrigerator cars will compel the use of boxcars in moving Oregon's magnificent apple crop to Eastern markets. If, Indeed, even this facility for transporting this crop will be pro vided. Of course apple-growers are anxious to market the large surplus of their orchards. The fruit is fine and abundant. It has cost much labor of the painstaking, intelligent type to produce It, and to have it left to rot on the ground because the means of transporting it to a waiting and ample market are lacking 19 more than dis couraging; it Is exasperating. Boxcar transportation will be better than this, as far as the disposal of the present crop is concerned. But if boxcar shipments reach distant markets in In ferior condition through rough han dling, being long on the way or being frostbitten, the reputation of the Ore gon apple will suffer unjustly and the profits of a future market will be jeop ardized. The situation is a vexatious one to the apple-grower and one that is perplexing to tho railroad manage ment. The Washington Post condemns the recent order of the President that commanding officers in the Army must undergo a test in endurance by riding fifteen miles on horseback. According to reports, Lieutenant-Colonel Walker died as a result of the exertion in tak ing this test. Commenting upon this the Post says that "brains, not phys ical ability in rough riding, are re quired in those who command in our Army." In a measure what the Post says is true, and yet brains are likely to be of very little use If possessed by a than who cannot carry them on horseback fifteen miles. . An officer who takes active physical exercise, as every Army officer ought to do, would not suffer from a fifteen-mile ride. The President was right in establishing a test that will compel Army officers to keep themselves ready at all times for the work they are likely to be called uopn to do. A man who is unwilling or unable to keep himself hardened to physical exertion should ask to be placed upon the retired list. The Alabama Senate has passed the prohibition bill by a vote of 32 to 2, the law to become effective January 1, 1909. The demon rum is receiving some pretty hard blows of late, and must be getting wobbly In the knees in certain parts of the country. It Is noticeable that the cause of prohibi tion makes greatest headway in states where the liquor men have become un duly prominent in politics. The cause will quit naturally receive additional headway during the present season of general retrenchment. Changing eco nomic conditions have decreed that the man who drinks must give way to the man who does not, and when the ranks of labor are crowde 1 it is un necessary for the employer to take a man who is addicted to' the liquor habit. Prohibition is gaining in strength because there is a financial advantage favoring the man who ab- Lstalns as compared with the man who drinks. The grain fleet in Portland harbor numbers twenty-two .vessels, and they will carry away cargoes of an aggre gate value of $3,000,000. At Tacoma and Seattle is another fleet of fifteen graincarriers which will handle ap proximately $2,000,000 worth of grain. Just as soon as this grain can be float ed and exporters can make the turn on exchange, this $5,000,000 will be available for circulation in the Pacific Northwest, and it will be followed by many more millions as rapidly as the record-breaking crop of the Pacific Northwest can be floated. The steamship companies, which have been reaping a harvest by bring ing Japanese Into this country via Brit ish Columbia, will now have an oppor tunity to collect the return fare from the government. Ten of these Illegiti mate immigrants were taken in one bunch at Bellingham a few days ago, and will be deported. The return busi ness is certain to assume great propor tions as employment becomes scarcer and the Japanese are anxious to get back to their, native land. According to a Dallas correspondent a mortgaged farm is very rare in Polk County. This being true, it is scarcely necessary to add that there Is no finan cial flurry among the farmers of old Polk. Nowadays everybody is a doctor of finance and he doesn't have to pass muster before an Oregon examining board in order to advertise a cure for every real and imaginary evil. It Is no easy task to reconcile Mr. Harriman's valuation in Wall street with the figures presented to the Mult nomah County Board of Equalization. The Methodist Episcopal Church Is one large and important American in stitution that goes ahead regardless of financial stringency. Press dispatches are silent as to the class Gladys Vanderbilt entered Count Szechenyi at the New York Horse Show. Diamond importations to date this year have fallen off $6,000,000. So much more money left for turlfeys. THE BUSINESS OF BANKING. And the Duty of Keeping It Upon Legitimate Lines. New York Evening Post. "Well, it looks as if legitimate business would now have a chance to get banking accommodation." Words to that effect have been heard from hundreds of busi ness men within the past two days. They think they see In the rescue of certain banks from domination by promoters and stock gamblers the promise of a return of all the banks to the traditional and safer methods of an older day. We have un doubtedly witnessed a gross perversion of the original theory and the mercantile functions of a bank. The general hope now Is that we shall soon get back to the true business of banking. That is. In a word, to utilize Bavlngs and employ capital so as to secure the steady ongoing of mercantile and manufacturing enterprise. The honorable tradition has been that each bank has Its customers whom it must "take care of." That sim ply means taat the merchant and the manufacturer, the planter and the farmer and the dealer, shall be able to get his necessary loans, on proper security, and always be sure that good bills will be dis counted for him. To minister to uch business needs, banks were first created; and their chief duty should be to fulfil that end of their being. But what have we seen In New York during the past half dozen years? Great banking Institu tions prostituted Into tools of unscrupu lous speculators. Old names have counted for little. "Whose bank Is that?" "Oh, the Standard crowd have got that." "That's one of ..worse's string." "Ryan Is behind it." Such have been the common remarks for years past; and the Inference Is clear. People have bought into banks for the sake of "control," that control meaning use of banking resources pri marily to finance speculation, and only secondarily to provide regular business with its regular advances of capital. Under such a twisted and malign con ception of banking, business can, for a time, make a shift to get on. But let a period of restricted credit befall, as In the past six months, and what is the result? It is legitimate business that Is first made to suffer. Speculation is left un touched as long as possible. It is the merchant, the manufacturer, whom the president of the bank sends for and says that he is sorry, but that he is compelled to ask him to cut down the "line" that the bank Is carrying for him by one-third or one-half. And Interest on loans is marked up, even for old customers. But all the time, there Is too much reason to believe, the resources of these "con trolled" banks were being put as freely as possible perhaps more freely than the law permits at the disposal of promoters and speculators. In other words, to make It easy for them, legitimate business has found It made -terribly hard for It. The hold of stock gamblers upon banks has really been a grip upon the throat of business. What many people have vaguely felt throughout the Summer has now been hrought home to them with all the force of a demonstration; speculators through their ownership of banks, have been squeezing blood from the business men of this city. The immense discredit Into which this vicious system has now fallen must give great satisfaction to those conservative bankers who have consistently denounced and resisted speculative banking. It was to them that the very speculators had to turn, when the crisis came; and for their courageous, firm and thorough dealing with the perverted banks, the financial community Is lastingly In their debt. MISSISSIPPI TO THE ATLANTIC This New Canal Is Spoken of. But It Will Have tn Walt a Bit. Atlanta (Ga.) Journal. The proposition to establish a canal which will connect the Mississippi and its tributaries with the "Atlantic Ocean has met with more than ordinary approv al. Considered in its broader relation it Is a part of the plan which has found un qualified indorsement from President Roosevelt, and, what is perhaps more im portant still, has met the cordial in dorsement of the inland waterways com mission. This larger plan contemplates the connection of the great lakes and the gulf with a ramifying system of canals which will re-establish the rates which water transportation should Insure to the people living along the lines of those water routes. The Inland waterways of the country have heretofore been merely a theory. They are supposed to have been a factor In the regulation of rates. But as a mat ter of fact they have been nothing of the kind. The amount of traffic carried on the river steamers has been inconsider able. While Ohio River points have been supposed to play an Important part In the regulation of rates, as a matter of fact they have been a negligible quan tity They have carried only a nominal amount of freight. But If the new plans go through all this will be changed. A system of canals which wilt connect the Ohio River, the Mississippi River and the Tennessee River with the Atlantic seaboard will do much toward restoring the natural level of freight charges, and this being the case, the effort to dig this system of canals is entitled to the highest consideration. The people of Georgia are taking a keen interest in this new movement. Not mere ly as a component part of the President's plans for Interlacing the interior, of the United States with a system of Important ranals, but as a direct medium for regu lating the freight rates of the state of Georgia, this canal to tho Atlantic sea board should he constructed. The pa triotic and enthusiastic citizens who are behind this movement are entitled to the encouragement and co-operation of all our people, and we hope soon to see It an accomplished fact. Staple Pood "(ioohers" Spell Failure. New York Times. One of the new "single fcoders," a. Frenchman affected by the Ideals of Nebraska, having attempted a diet of "goobers," as peanuts are denominated In the South and West, Is reported to have gone crazy and died after a week of the distressing experiment. Nu's, beans, peas, and lentils are the food crank's special hobby. Tlrsjy have tls-sue-bulldlng elements In 'arse amounts, even excelling the finest cuts of meat. But, alas! they are In the class which Dr. Woods Hutchinson designates as "poison loods." An Irritating principle has been found present In all nuts, partly In the kernel Itself and partly In the skin which ur rounrls the kernel, which, even In cases of very moderate amounts, Is a derided irritant to the digestive canal. Peanuts which, of course, are not nuts at all. hut the .seeds of a species of pea. which is artificially caused to develop under ground are particularly strong In these poisonous extracts. Considered as a staple food, there fore, the "goober" Is a failure. . PASSING NEWSPAPER WAIFS. "I understood you to say he was hard hearted." "I never said it. I said his heart was as hard as his head." Town and Country. Master of the House Sarah, bring me an Infinitesimal portion of cheese. New servant If you please, sir, we ain't got that much In the house. Baltimore American. Gladys Father will be so pleased to hear that you are a poet. Algernon Ah. like you he adores poetry. Gladys No! It isn't that! the last one of my lovers he tried to lick was a football player. Life. "Do you think my case Is bad. doctor?" asked the nervous patient. "Bad?" ' ex claimed the enthusiastic young physician. "Why. it's beautiful, sir; beautiful. There are no ess than a dozen complications." Philadelphia Record. Wise Oh give us a rest for a while, won't you? Dubley Well, every fellow has a right to his opinion, and . Wise Yes, but the trouble Is that he can't be made to realize that there may be & wrong to it. Philadelphia Press. METCALP TRIES PHONOGRAPH. But Secretary of the Navy Must Write Report All Over Again. Washington, D. C. Dispatch to the Bos ton Herald. Secretary of the Navy Metcalf is a man of action. He can send the battleship fleet to the Pacific, but under some con ditions he puts up a "bum" line of talk, In consequence of which deficiency the ; Navy Department has been in an uproar for several days. The Secretary a month or so ago ap proached with great misgiving the task of preparing his report to Congress. The Idea of writing out In longhand every thing he had to recommend staggered him. Good stenographers were scarce, and also very busy. In this emergency the Callfornlan conceived the brilliant scheme of dictating his report to a phono graph and letting the Department type writers do the rest. No sooner conceived than executed. The phonograph was purchased. Mr. Metcalf rigged It up In his office, denied himself to all callers, produced his notes, started the machine and began to talk. At the end of the day he had talked 15,000 words Into the various wax cylinders, and, proud of his record, patted himself upon the back. About two or three more days of this rapid work and the Naval Secretary's report was completed. Today Mr. Metcalf smilingly turned the phonograph records over to the typewrit ers, locked his desk, and went out to play golf. The typewriters unllmbered their machines, uncorked the phonograps, and started In. Such a buzzing and spluttering sound as greeted them was never heard. The typewriters were undecided whether they were listening to ragtime or an over ture from grand opera. Anyhow, what they heard didn't sound the least bit like an official report. Every now and then they'd catch a few words "navy 20,000 tons 'battleship big guns buzz buzz buzz - .short rip zing." It looks as though Secretary Metcalf would have to start all over and write his report. PROPER REBl'KE TO HAZER9. Jury Find Verdict for 14,000 Against Student "Jokers." Chicago Tribune. Youthful excess of spirits as exempli fied tn college hazing has received a dis couraging reproof in the action of a Kewanee Jury which has brought In a verdict of $14,000 damages against five young men. Their offense was the hazing of a fellow student by tying him to a tombstone and leaving him In the ceme tery until in his fright he pulled the stone over, breaking his leg In the effort. In further rebuke the hazers will be held on a criminal charge, making this one of the most expensive college pranks thus far recorded. A few days ago the president of the University of Wisconsin notified the au thorities at Madison that they should pro ceed without delay or discrimination against all students guilty of infraction of the laws or amendable to the discipline of the town. It is recognized that a stu dent enjoys no privileges which entitle him to special exemption from punish ment for misconduct, and that because he Is a student he need not expect tolera tion for his misdeeds or consideration for his position. The hazing of one stu dent by others Is much less common than formerly and has been generally handled successfully by the college authorities, but such proceedings as were instituted at Kewanee are likely to prove even more effective in doing away with a custom which has gained in viciousness what it may have lost In frequency. The recent outbreak at the School of Mines In Rolla, Mo., well Justified the at tention of the local police, and other oc currences In other college towns have calld for more discipline than the college power saw properly to assert. The old saying that boys will be boys loses much of its significance when the boys under stand that their lde of humor do not correspond with the notions entertained by the community, and that college pranks which result in broken bones and destruction of property lead swiftly to a penalty worth considering. Pine Hauled Around the Horn. New Work World. Freighted with so-called Oregon pine, the British steamship Earl of Douglas is coming to New York around the Horn from Mosquito Harbor, R. C. She stops for coal at Callao. Peru; Coroncl, Chili; Montevideo and Barbados. Yet so valuable is pine, or any working substitute, that ber consignors see profit in the voyage of some 16,000 miles. Redwood shingles and special lots of lumber and timber have long paid the high freight rates by rail across the continent. When Samuel Bowles and Schuyler Colfax visited the Pacific Coast in 1866, Mr. Bowles, a shrewd observer, thought our Oregon pine inexhaustible. Ten years earlier the M'.chigan pine was so described; 20 years before that time the pine of Maine and the Adirondack:;. Now Gifford Pincliot, of the Forestry Bureau. 6ays that we have only lumoer enough to last 20 years. let when the Earl of Douglas gets here with her cargo of Canadian pine, relieving the waste of our own forests the "standpat" tariff policy of this country will collect a tax of $2 a thou sand feet on every plank and every stick! Well, Wlui t ( nn n Mnn Dot Chicago Journal. "George, dear, you are the sweetest and hest'husband In the whole world. George, I simply couldn't live a day without you. Look Into my eyes, darllng and tell me that you love me as I love you. Are we not the happiest things alive, darling? And you're so good and generous. You do want me to be happy, don't you, my husband? You want me to b' pretty like other women, don't you. sweetheart? Do you think I look well In green? That green princess was a lovely thing, wasn't It, dear? But think how long I wore It? I saw a terrible pretty piece of goods, something like It, yesterday, sweet. And only $1.89 a yard. O-'n-e e-l-g-h-t-y n-l-n-o len't that cheap? It would make up stunningly, but I really, darling, don't care whether you let me buy it or not. You know I only want my darling's love." (Well. now. what can a man do?) Other Placca Than Jailn for Insane. BAKER CITY, Or., Nov. 18. (To the Editor.) In last Saturday's Oregonlan. In an editorial on "A Bit of l,oglo," it Is stated that "A man is always put in jail as a punishment for something." The jail is commonly used also as a place of safe-keeping: (1) Of suspected persons until trial: (2) of witnesses; and (3) of the InBane on the way to the asy lum. Would It not be well to agitate a plan for having some place other'than the Jail fpr the latter class of unfortunates? SUBSCRIBER. Punlahtng an Andacloua Thing. Punch. "Policeman, that ruffian took my wife's arm." "All right, sir; we'll search him at the station." The Honkers. Minna Irving in Llpplncott's. When all the woods are red and gold. And corn Is shocked and dry, I see the wild geese overhead Go speeding down the sky. Their mighty pinions cleave the air. To southern marshes bound, And through the gray and drifting clouds Their ringing trumpets sound. Honk, honk! Between the meadows bare and browa. And waiting for the snow. The autolet is speeding fast His sccarlet car below. And like an echo loud and far Across the frosty morn, I hear upon the whistling wind Hia wild and warning horn Honk, honk! BOOIS HAVE you ever noticed that In many private houses when a musicale Is being given, the guests Immediately think it the proper moment to begin conversation? Whether they purposely do so in order to drown out the music Is yet to be determined. A Boston woman, whose most noted an cestor was a cook In the ship following the Mayflower to this country. Is a social leader In a Massachusetts town, because of her' distinguished ancestry, and the other evening she issued Invitations for a musicale. The elect were there, nearly all the men being at least bank presi dents or treasurers of trust companies. Among the talent responsible for the musical programme were four members of a celebrated symphony orchestra w"ho were engaged at a fee of $100 to play four different selections, their leader, a violin player, being a young. Intense- looking man whose mustaches are turned up at the ends a la Emperor illlam. During the rendition of the two first quartet numbers the guests chattered and gossiped to such an extent that the mu sicians could hardly hear themselves play. The strings were sending forth a merry bit of Dellbes When the conversation swelled to a chorus, and the first violin's) mustaches quivered with anger. "Ladles and gentlemen," said he, in a voice heard all over the drawing-room. "I and my three friends have been paid money to play here and you persist in talking to drown us out. Are we then to understand that you are also paid to talk? We artists must understand each other!" The musicale was concluded amid cold silence. . . - - "There's no money in music If all that Is told about such celebrated musicians as Schubert and Mozart Is true," says a Baltimore singer. "When Mozart wrts very young he played for Gluck's pupil, Marie Antoinette, and as he crossed the marble hall he fell. The Princess lifted him to her lap, and In gratitude the de lighted little boy whispered: 'When I'm a man I'll marry you.' But he didn't. At 35 years old Mozart died, and as lie was very poor there was no money loft to pay his funeral expenses. Accordingly, one of the world's famous musicians was buried In the potter's field. "Take Schubert's case. His' 'Hark. Hark, the Iark,' Is one of the most ten der songs ever written. As a little boy he suffered from cold and hunger, and tfe was so near-sighted he always wore eyeglasses. Also, he was homely, awk ward, self-conscious, and painfully shy. At one time, he was even too poor to have a musical Instrument upon which to play his wonderful compositions, and a friend said to him: 'Franz, when my win dow curtains are down, come into my house and play, for I'll be out." Schu bert passed the house many times, hut . alas! the shades were rarely drawn. He received a pittance for his songs, which afterward earned fortunes, but he died before his genius was recognized." Philadelphia fs putting on airs sines . recent performances there of grand opera by the Philadelphia Operatic Society. There are more than 250 educated singers In the society and 350 people were on tha stage and 450 people In one production. The best successes met with were In "Alda" and "Faust." All accounts agree that It was a wonderful exmoitlon of home talent by distinguished amateurs. e The new second violin of the Kneisel Quartet Is Julius Roentgen, of the Iate.it generation of an Amsterdam family equally famous In science and In music. Mr. Roentgen, who Is 26 years ot age, has Just relinquished the position of first concertmeister of the Dusseldorf Sym phony Orchestra. The new 'cellist la Wil liam Wllleke, who was born at Tha Hague In 1876. He has occupied the po sition of first 'cellist In the Phllharmonlo Orchestra at Lelpsic and at the imperial Opera In Vienna, and he has played as first 'cellist under Hans RIchter. - One of the most gorgeous boxes at tha New York Metropolitan when the opera season 'hegins, Monday evening, will ba that recently purchased by Henry C. Frlck from the estate of Henry L. Bar ney, and known as No. 19 In the Diamond, Horseshoe. The walls of the room back of the box are In rich red tapestry; tha ceiling Is frescoed In gold and green: edstly candelabra ornament the walls; the floor will be covered with a carpet especially woven In Europe to carry out the artistic design and color scheme. It Is said Mr. Erlck paid $100,000 for the box. Ethel Barrymore. the actress, has lately added violin playing to her piano accomplishments, and these days she Is specially interesting herself In Russian music. Besides several volumes of piano pieces by the leading Russian composers, she has a book of genuine folk melodies, a charming collection, with titles In tha Russian language and printed In Russian characters. She owned this book when she was rehearsing "Peter the Great" In Iondon. As no one In the company was especially musical she took it upon herelf to select a number of themes front this book of folk melodies, and they were used as motives In the Incidental music. Madame Tetrazzinl. a South American soprano, who once sang In San Francisco, has Just been proclaimed a world diva In London. She recently made her ap pearance In "Travlata." and the con servative, cautious critics over there say that stie Is the greatest new singer who has burst upon the musical world for an age. She came to London, unknown and unheralded. One critic states: "It was a breathless moment when the new diva began VInletta's first great aria Ah fors e lot' (Now is the Time.) Every one neemod to he thinking so intently that one could almost Imagine one heard it spoken. When the birdlike notes began to fill the air, not cold and colorless, but full of human warmth and tender sentiment, the popular triumph was al ready a foregone conclusion. Kcr hearers could hardly wait for the Inst note, so eager were they to give vent to their pent-up enthusiasm. The frenzy reached its height after 'Empre Libera. Deggio." The top E flat was sustained with a freedom and fulness that spoke of a possible extension of vocal compass. If necessary, on the part of the singer. But the triumph was a dramatic as well as a vocal one. One of the many roallstiei touches that were given by the artist occurred during the early part of the opera. To suggest the oncoming consump tion to which 'Travlata' finally succumb Madame Tetrazzinl repeatedly coughed, and on one occasion as she drew her handkerchief from her lips for one .rlef moment a look of horror came Into her face as, on looking at it. she realized for the first time her inevitable doom." There Is a gooa deal of talk In Paris musical circles regarding the alleged dis covery of a new tenor with a voice of remarkable register. The prodigy la none other than the son of M. Jean Lassalle. a baritone formerly of the Paris Opera and a frequent visitor to the United States. M. Lassalle began the musical education of his son. but finding tha parental relation to pupil Involved a lack of authority as a preceptor, he entrusted the training of his son's voice to M. Jacques Isnardon, who with M. Lassalle Is one of the professors at the Conserv atoire Challaplne. A Russian basso Is now crossing the At lantic on the Touralnc to fulfill engage ments In America which are to bring him $40,000. He returns to Europe in March. J