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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1908)
THE MORNING OREGOXIAX. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1903. LAYS BARE BANK'S BURIED SECRETS Probing of Experts Causes Ghosts of Wild Schemes to Walk. MAZE OF HIGH FINANCE Books Kept by Ross and HU Associ ates a Veritable Labyrinth to Accountants High Carni val of Grab Revealed. Each probe Into the bunco bank of the Title Guarantee & Trust Company un covers another secret ot frenzied finance, which the bank officers thought they had touried in the graveyard accounts of profit and loss and "suspense" earnings. When ever the experts stir up the dry bones, the ghost of a wild scheme begins to walk. The marvel is that the bank kept on its feet so long. It took money to engineer the deals of the broken bank. The stuffed ac counts of earnings could not carry on the deals, since they were but wind, and only money talked when the bank did business outside its own walls. So the bank's officers dipped their hands into the money of the depositors, replacing the hard cash with airy nothings, such as "enhanced values," fictitious profits and make-believe commissions. In searching the graveyard for the last Testing place of each set of bones, the experts find many tombstones, which are Badly mute on the most interesting mat ters in the careers of the departed. But the obituaries contain enough facts to show that if all the bankwreckers could be collected in the penitentiary, the offi cers of the Boss bank would be entitled to the blue ribbon in their class. Took One Final Grab. When the bank was breathing its last, during the legal holidays Just before its demise, favored persons were laying hold of this or that, in fear that it might not be theirs after the funeral. Boss helped himself to $17,000 by cred iting that sum on his 31,000 note to the bank; I -add & Tilton helped them selves to $26,000, by having the bank turn over that sum lying to the Ross bank's credit in New York; Wallace McCamant, attorney for the bank, re ceived a J1000 slice by being credited with that sum, as fee for legal services, on his $5000 note; and George A. Steel. Ktate Treasurer, caused the bank to hand out $10,000, by crediting that sum on the note of the Portland Fuel Com pany, of which he is president, from the account of the Home Security & Invest ment Company, of which he is also president. All the deals were put through the bank November 2-4. before depositors had knowledge of the wobbly condition of the bank, and when the holidays barred out all but the favorites. These favored creditors knew of the impend ing fall, and ued their knowledge to pay themselves 100 cents on the dollar. Another favored creditor was Mrs. E. A. Mack, who loaned the bank H46.50 on October 11. 1907, at 6 per cent Interest, tak ing therefor a demand certificate. Vhe shaky condition of the bank at that time is revealed by its willingness to pay the high rate of 6 per cent interest, in order to get money. Evidently the bank offi cers' conscience hurt them for having taken Mrs. Mack's money, since they made it a point to restore It to her. else it would have gone down in the collapse. Certain Depositors Favored. Other Interests were looked after, too. by the bank officers, at the expense of depositors. The savings deposits de creased JSlflO during the Interval between October 28 last day's business and No vember 6 day of receivership. This de crease was $.V00 paid to one preferred depositor and $100 to another. The de mand deposits decreased $990.60, In three items, one of which was that of Mrs. Mack's, mentioned in the foregoing. The check accounts decreased $9671 money which should not have been paid out. On the other hand, there was a big Increase in the overdrafts during that Interval being money drawn from the bank in excess of funds held to the credit of various Individuals and de partments. The miscellaneous over drafts showed a growth of $1500. The freneral department Increased its debt to the bank by tills method by more than $40,000. raising its overdraft from $8,000 to $128,000. The trust depart ment carried away a big load of cash from the bank department also $25,300 for replacing trust funds. The bank speculated with the trust funds In its care and used the money of depositors to restore those funds. In other words, the depositors were mulcted for the bank's misuse of the trust funds. So that when all hands in the bank rested on November 6 and Ross called on the Federal Court for a receiver, through his dummy, N. Coy. the cash and the rash items in the bank had shrunk $39,000 since October 28. Ross and his men had been a busy bunch in those eight days. Cash Shrunk Woefully. Their thrifty handling caused the ral cash in the vaults to shrink from $31. 15.1.92 to $4394.72 a difference of $26,756.20. and the overdraft of the general department to Increase from $S8.000 to $12S.000. and the overdraft of the trust department from $24,000 to $49,000. The stock of gold dwindled from $23,460 to $293. Hidden in a maze of. crooked book keeping are numerous heavy losses, which the accountants have not been able to trace out. The bookkeeper ot the bank was an automaton, who did the bidding of Ross and Aitchison and Burkhart, and who, when he became too familiar with the secrets, was transferred to another department and succeeded by a hand that knew nothing but to obey orders. The losses were cleverly concealed, by being put Into the suspense account. Instead of into profit and loss. Sometimes the losses were divided between suspense and profit and loss. Occasionally there would be a clean up of Junk in the suspense account. Then the loss or part of it would be charged up to profit and loss, while the same amount would be credited to the Junk suspense in order to make the suspense balance. Or a transfer would be made to some person or corporation or "tnist." These accounts are like the fabled labyrinth. Into which men could enter but not find their way out. Such Is the pliRht of the accountants after each days' exploring: they find themselves in the labyrinth, unable to trace their way out. Krpt Wind on Tap. The suspense account, besides serving to secrete losses, also served as a ready reservoir of wind, with which to replace depositors' money. When Burkhart want ed a sum to make up his overdraft on the bank, he drew It from "suspense" and credited It to his account. Then he drew depositors' money to the amount of the "suspense" wind. On December 31. 1904. Burkhart had drawn on the bank, in excess of what he had in it, $5269. The sum of $8000 wind was then transferred to his personal account. On February 29 of the same year his overdraft was $1934. Then $2000 wind was transferred to his account. Unless Burkhart can show that the $10,000 was disbursed by him for the pur poses of the bank, the plain inference is that it was used by him personally. In this case it amounts to the same as if a person having access to the bank's cash had gone into the vault, filled his pockets with money and absconded, like Willie does with mother's sugar. The account ants have been unable to find that the $10,000 was ever credited back. If that was done, it cannot be recognized with out knowledge of the many checks drawn against the suspense account. If the transactions were honest, why the need of passing them through the suspense ac count? Possibly Burkhart was acting as a medium for hiding losses. On Decem ber 31, 1904, the same day that $8000 suspense wind wae credited to Burk hart, the suspense account was charged with a total of $32,000.' Of this sum $20,000 was credited to the Goldbug Syndicate and $4000 to the Levems Ledge. Gold Mining Company two. wild mining ventures of the Ross bank. The remaining $8000 was that credited to Burkhart. May Conceal a Loss. This Burkhart charge on "suspense" might, therefore, have been a ruse for secreting a loss really much heavier than the books show. At any event, this method wae used in other deals, and its possible use in this is cited for example. At the time of the $30,00 credit to Burkhart. February 29. 1904, the fol lowing charges to "suspense" were made: Laver Park trust $ S.ono Livens letge Gold Mining Co JJ.500 T nlon IJght & Power Co 20.000 Fourth Plain Bvaiorator Co 3,000 A. A. Lindaley, trustee 22,305 Bill, receivable (Kinney notes) 2,086 T. T. Burkhart, personal 2.000 Total $88,982 On the same day another entry to the credit of "suspense" was made for $66, 982, which it will be observed balanced the foregoing charges on that account. Where the credit entry came from is not revealed. All the ventures mentioned in the foregoing made the bank heavy losses. The Union Light & Power Company drained the bank of probably $50,000. It will be observed from the foregoing entry that $20,000 was drawn from "suspense" on February 29, 1904, for this company. The company was financed by the Ross bank, for an electric power plant at Silverton. The plant cost probably $100,000 and was bought by the Portland General Electric Company for $50,000, at a time when it was running behind $500 a month. This Was Burkbart's Fet. The scheme was a pet of Burkhart's. He planned td turn water energy into power and light, to be sold at Mount Angel, Woodburn and Salem. The com pany built a dam, with depositors' money, but the dam was carried away and the company resorted to steam, with resultant heavy loss. Burkhart would not sell the company to the Portland General Electric: instead he sold the as sets and dissolved the corporation, pre sumably to hide the finances of the dis astrous venture. All manner of Junk was thrown Into the suspense account. What was taken out was used as a license for withdrawing the sum named from the depositors' cash. On May 23, 1906, such license was issued through the suspense wind, to withdraw $45,000 for the Goldbug Syndicate, down in Jackson County in addition to the $20, 000 withdrawal of December 31, 1904. Whence came the contents of the "sus pense?" It was a sort of miscellaneous Jackpot for contributions from all sources. On June 30. 1002, $14,500 was thrown in, as enhanced value of the stock of the Marquam building,, resulting from a Su preme Court decision. A year later, $10, 000 was thrown in as part of the en hanced value of the safety deposit vaults. The enhanced value added at that time was $23,000, but the bank officers thought $10,000 ought to go to "suspense" (the vaults had been successively marked up from $7000 to $60,000). The remaining $13, 000 went into general earnings. A Deal in Bonds. On April 21. 19.16, the general earn ings were credited with $53,200. com ing from the purchase of $266,000 par value of bonds of the Oregon Iand & Water Company (Umatilla Irrigation project!. The bank bought the bonds at 80 (the irrigation company being one of the many subsidiary corpora tions), and immediately listed the bonds as an asset of the bank at par, and credited the 20 per cent increase to the account of general earnings. But on June 30' following, $10,000 of the $53,203 was withdrawn from gen eral earnings and put into suspense earnings. This seems to have been clean-up day, because a lot of Junk assets which had been carried in "suspense" until they grew musty, were taken out of that account and Charged to profit and loss. Their amount was $62,759. The bank tried to balance its sus pense account on September 30, 1907. It found chat the Junk in that account showed a credit balance of $124,008, half cf which was commissions, . from sale of the irrigation company's bonds and of the Marquam block from the Colonial Investment Company at the Fairgrounds. The bank had a large number of subsidiary companies. It was doin service for them and charg ing them commissions. Ross had no money in the bank in his personal account, but drew checks on the bank and used its money Just the same. The account of this peculiar transaction with the bank is in his per sonal cash book and ledger, which have vanished. He had a way of, gettlngr money out of the bank, also, through his dummies. Coy and Reid. I "sod Coy as a Dummy. On May 26. 1906, Ross opened Coy's ac count, not by depositing money in Coy's name but by writing out a check in Coy's name, for $2150 an overdraft. Two days later another overdraft followed for $4450. Other overdrafts followed until the total was $7500 in June, 1907. Ross was virtual ly borrowing this money from the bank and paying no Interest. On June 19. 1907. Ross sold 76 shares in the Commercial building to the bank, for $76,000, through Coy, who was credited with that sum. Ross took In exchange, shares or Title bank stock, through Coy, paying $65,120. The difference between the selling price of the building stock and the buying price of the bank stock to Coy was $10,SSO. which was rakeoff to Ross. Ross carried through the same trans action in the name of Reid. thereby doubling the profits to himself. Ross opened Rcid's account In the bank May 26. 1906, not with deposit of money, but with an overdraft for $3900. Indictment of Ross. Burkhart and Aitchison is expected this mornlnsr. An effort will be made to put them under heavy bond, the same as was done with the bankwreckers in San Francisco. ADMINISTRATOR'S SALE At McAllen & McDonnell's, corn Third and Morrison streets. PHOTO CALENDARS HALF PRICK 10c up, Kiser, 248 Alder at. POLICE VANDALISM RUIN OF CHINESEMERCHANT The Other Side of a Recent Lottery Raid Mistaken Zeal of Ignorant Guardians of Peaco Results in Bankruptcy for Victim Guiltless of Wrong. BT CHARLES MESSER STOW. o F course, he is only a Chinaman, so it does not matter really what is done to him. He was caught with a lottery tickec in his possession by the keen-eyed minions of the law, who are clever enough to find lottery tickets and gambling dens in Chinatown, but who have been known to miss occa sionally a criminal who some have thought ought to be behind the bars. Together with some of bis friends he was taken to the station and let out on ball. Then his trial was put off from day to day. When finally it came up there were witnesses - who could identify a lottery ticket, and all the Chinamen arrested were fined some $10 each. The , Judge called "Next!" and the case was ended. In their zeal to make this raid suc cessful the keen-eyed ones took plenty of ' evidence. It all' looked alike to them, so they ripped off the walls of the room various sheets of paper cov ered with guilty-looking writing, and took from the counter various books with guilty-looking characters In scribed in them. They also took the cash drawer for fear that something might be overlooked. It so happened, however, that the sheets of paper taken from the. walls were a sort of daily paper in which were set forth the wants of those who frequented that particular store. One wanted to buy a horse and his desire was duly written out and past ed on the wall. Another wanted a cow and so anybody who had a cow SPEAKS AGAINST TREATING ARCHBISHOP CHRISTIE TALKS ON TOPIC. Urges Young Men of Church to Take Itecldcd Stand Against Practice. Archbishop Christie spoke at the . 8 o'clock mass in the Cathedral yesterday morning for the first time In months, this being the occasion of the monthly meet ing of the Cathedral Men's Club. Al though still weak from the effects of the operation which he recently underwent In Chicago, the Archbishop spoke for 20 minutes t more than 400 people, the largest part of the congregation being men. He pointed out that the treating habit is a source of excessive drinking on account of the social obligation resting upon each man to put up a treat for his friends In spite of the fact that he may not want to drink or to spend the money. He urged that work against the habit be made a general movement among Ca tholics, and said non-Catholics should also take It up. He said In substance: The antl-treatlng movement Is the. most practicable temperance -reform that ha been et on foot in this country. It must com mend Itself to every thinking; person. It combines in Itself two elements which give It value. In the first place. It Is a moderate movement. Hence It should be easily intro duced. There are several countries of Eu rope In which the treating habit Is un known. There Is nothing visionary in the hope that It may become obsolete here. In the second place, the antl-treat Ins; move ment applies the remedy to the real source of the drink evil. It Is useless to deny that the social glass is responsible for most of the drunkenness and wasteful expenditure of money connected with the liquor traffic. The social glass Is the curse of the young man who has to make his way In the world It leads him, out of human respect, to con tract the habit of drink It leads him to excess In the use of intoxicants. It fosters prodigality In spending. I am convinced that the treating habit Is responsible for the ruin of thousands of young men whose pros pects for life were of the brightest. 1 am heartily in favor of the work of the Cathe dral Men's Club, and I trust that every man In the parish will be enrolled among Its members. I hope that the movement will become general among our people, and among the citizens of the state. Twelve centers favoring the movement against the treating habit have been- or ganized in Portland, and it is planned to effect an organization of these centers. Before the end of January the Cathedral Men's Club will invite representatives of those bodies who have taken up the movement to send representatives, who will form a ''Federation of Anti-treating Centers." Its object will be to make the work of each center effective, to or ganize new centers,, and to propagate the movement generally throughout the state. Since the movement started several months ago, the Cathedral Men's Club has grown rapidly, and before six months more have passed it is expected that it will have between 600 and 700 active members, In addition to the regular membership. The movement ' has been taken up by a number of Holy Name societies, who will send representatives, when the time comes, to effect the or ganization of the federation. WANTS"ALTOGETKER"CLUB Mr. McCusker Also Wishes for Some First-Class Funerals'. PORTLAND, Jan. 5. (To the Editor.) Before reading the decidedly emphatic ad vertisement of Louis J. Wilde, anent our to pay the least peculiar mannerisms re garding people and things, I had contem plated writing an article along the same lines, but possibly would have been less em phatic in my remarks. It ls a sad truth that from force of habit, our citizens have become experts at wield ing the hammer. They can scarcely be blamed, however, as they have merely fol lowed In the footsteps of what we were wont to term the "first families," for want of a more opprobrious designation. The persons alluded to are those who came here in early days and sat down on a large-slxed chunk of the hemisphere, thereby suffering a stroke of "nervous prosperity" so much so. in fact, that they have been persistent In their efforts to prevent anyone else from falling inlo the same error. Those of us who have arrived on the delayed trains, are prone to look with scorn somewhat mixed with envy on the aforesaid first families, and to remark openly that what we need here is a number of funerals, in which the late la mented should consist of the before-mentioned aristocracy. Now, this would be all right, and no doubt proper. If the condftfons would be changed thereby, but the "late arrivals" are very little improvement on the "early birds." In fact. I am Inclined to the opinion that, given a free hand, the L. R.'a could give the B. B.'s a full house. Jacks up, and beat them with a bob-tailed flush. I think that Mr. Wilde has some Justifi cation for his remarks. Without going Into the merits or demerits of the failure of the Oregon Trust Company, .or any of the other suspended banks, it might bo pertinent to inquire just what assist an re the Oregon Trust Company received at the hands of our citisens, other than from those unfortunates who had their money there, and whose in terests lie In reorganisation? We have sev eral commercial bodies In this city who make a loud noise about the superiority of our city and state, and any one familiar at ail witb our resources will not di scute It. to sell could know1 where to find a buyer. It happened also that the guilty looking books taken by the keen-eyed ones were the merchant's cash books, in which he recorded his daily sales and kept track of the money given him for safe keeping by the Chinamen returning from . the canneries. Here were entered the debts of those who came to this man to borrow when they had need. All told, upwards of $10. 000 was on the pages of, these books, and this represented the entire busi ness of this son of . the Celestial Em pire, who had come to the free coun try of America to seek fortune. He is only a Chinaman, though, so it does -not really matter that his busi ness is ruined, that all the capital he had got together by years of saving and had increased by putting it out at interest war at one stroke taken from him and he was left as poor as the day he landed. For that is what happened. Accord ing to the city charter, all parapher nalia taken in a gambling raid must be destroyed. These books looked guilty. Only a Chinaman, anyhow, so into the fire with them! The keen eyed ones had taken them as evidence and surely there was no chance for the keen-eyed ones to be mistaken! Whn he found what had become of his business and his books, even though he was only a Chinaman, this one wept. "Ton aliee same kille me." he wailed. HIb business was his life. Now his business was gone. The keen-eyed dnes had seen to it that there should be no more lottery tickets in this store. Justice? Oh. he's only a China man; that doesn't matter, really. Hence the noise Is more or less wasted. To get at the value of an organisation to a community, we must ascertain Just what benefits have accrued from Its efforts. At the present writing, I am unable to call to mind any, but it Is possible that something has been done that has not been made pub lic yet. I feel that I can positively assert that Portland has grown -by reason of its natural location, without any effort on the part of Its citizens, but in spite of them. This Is a strong statement, but I am open to conviction. Has any industry been brought here through our efforts? Jf some persons knock for admittance, are they welcomed by those who are In a position to assist, or are such conditions imposed as to make It well nigh Impossible to comply with them? When the Portland & Seattle Railroad Company wanted to cross our river, did the gentlemen delegated to look after such af fairs, make It easy for them to get in ? Ttier are a number of other questions answered in the same language. When the Oregon Trust Company sus pended, did any nf our commercial organi zations come to the front to assist the ie posltors In obtaining their money? Did any financial institution offer assistance? On the other hand, were the directors and everybody connected with It 'cussed" by our good citisens, regardless of whether they knew of the -cause or not? I am not excus ing anyone for this failure, but citing the fact that we as citizens of this great city were indifferent to it, notwithstanding that this failure did materially assist In the run that was made on other banks, and was the beginning of the shortage In confidence that foltowed. When it became nearly a cer tainty that this bank would open again, did any financial institution celebrate with joy the occasion? Did they, on the other hand, express sorrow? Well, perhaps. Wss the failure of the Merchants' Na tional Bank due to any fault of theirs, or was It rather to malicious persecution by You filtered You would see glass-lined tanks where we age it so long that it cannot cause biliousness. How we filter it through white wood pulp. How we sterilize every bottle. How cleanliness is carried to extremes. . Ask for the Brewery Bottling. Common beer is sometimes substituted for Schlitz. To avoid being imposed upon, see that the cork or crown is branded That Made Milwauke some of our boosters? No need to answer this question everybody knows. Regardless of who is responsible for the failure of the Title Guarantee A Trust Com pany, since W M. Ladd has signified bis In tent ron of underwriting the deposits, is It good policy for some aspirants for political honors If there are any such to hamper him with conditions that might make it Im possible for him to do as he wants to? This brings out the selfishness of the average man. Those who have their money In the Title Guarantee Company do not care just how the money is paid, so that it Is paid promptly nor do they care who else may suffer. Two weeks ago they would have sold their accounts for 25 cents on the dollar but now that there Is a chance to get all, are they thoughtful and willing to assist? I hope so. Two million dollars Is a great deal of money, even for Mr. Ladd to pay on short notice, and It would even make me hustle to pay It without the usual GO days' notice. The attorneys for the de positors, as well as for the Surety Com pany, should be liberal in their demands. Any undue pressure might complicate mat ters Remember that the obligations of Mr. Ladd to the depositors of his own bank sre as sacred as those of the defunct institution, and any further financial embarrassments would be nearly fatal to our business inter ests. On the other hand, the reorganization of the three suspended banks would so re store confidence as to be of inestimable value. If Mr. Wilde and his associates can reor ganize the Oregon Trust Company, there should be no petty, selfish Interests stand In the way, but all our people should lend a hand. I think with the dawning of the New Tear, It would be quite the appropriate thing to organize what we might term the "All Together Club," bo that the naked truth might be seen and felt occasionally. Ws would all be benefited by It. So let us re solve. THOMAS M'CUSKER. STRONGER BY ASSAULTS Dr. J. Montgomery Preaches on Bible Criticism. Rev. Andrew J. Montgomery, pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, preached yesterday morning from the text Matthew xvii:8. "And when they lifted up their eyes they saw no man save Jesus only." The sermon was to prepare the congrega tion for the week of prayer which be gins today. After giving an exposition of the text. Dr. Montgomery said that it had been found by the engineers who were digging the Panama canal that too much sunlight was detrimental to health, and that the natives on the Isthmus, who understood conditions retired four and five hours a day to their huts to avoid the glare of the sun. From this fact the speaker drew the lesson that too much sunshine and evenness in spiritual life Is net a good thing, wherefore' God sent clouds with the sunshine to his children. "The most dangerous time in the Chris tian life." said Dr. Montgomery, "follows the most exalted spiritual uplight, so God sends a variety of experiences, dis tributing the clouds along with the sun shine. We have been passing through a variety of experiences the past few years. Even the fundamentals of the Christian religion, and birth of Jesus Christ, have been attacked under the name of higher criticism, tverything in connection with the Bible has been subjected to the severest tests, and yet good has come out of these tests. The facts of the Bible and the Christian religion have been verified and strengthened by this onslaught of criticism and they stand firmer than ever before. The doubts that assail the Intellect are not so dangerous as the moral doubts, but these may be overcome by seeing Jesus only." . Dr. Montgomery closed his sermon by declaring that all should work for the glory of God, and the upbuilding of his kingdom, and not for the church only. He called special attention to the week of prayer. ' How Schlitz beer would never buy any would see plate glass air, where we cool it. You would realize better Chit-Chat of the Sporting World. I BT WIU. 6. MAC RAE. DT ANDERSON, once Portland's popular second baseman, has already received several offers to play ball this season. Andy was by long odds the best keystone sacker In the Northwest League last season. He finished the season with a fielding average of .947, which shows that Old Wooden Shoes is a long way from being a has-been. Only eight players In the Northwest League, batted .300 or over. Eddy House holder led the league with ,347, which shows that the war-horse still knows how to clout the ball. Just before goingto press. Chit Chat received over its short wire circuit an account of the 100.000th accident to Bill Souls. Souls, who is armed with a pilot's license on the Vancouver stone barge, is hereby the championship title as the hard luck marine. Prank Selee. the old Boston manager, backed by a bank roll, is trying to buy the Denver ball team from George Te beau. It would be a great and glorious thing for the game if some one would tie a can to Tebeau. Mike Mitchell, formerly a McCredle star, made no mistake when he left the matter of his salary to President Herr man. When Mike received his 1908 con tract he found a healthy Increase in his salary. Mitchell by this time Is on his way to Sea Breeze, Fla., where he goes to get into shape for the Cincinnati Reds. English clackers have a delightful way of telling of a horse's work-out. Here Is a sample: "Wansford (Northants). Thursday A dull morning. Court Fla vour. Michellne. Todwick and Clongowes cantered a mile: Pacha. - Canty Bay, Glasshampton gelding and Jovey's Neuk came a mile and a half at a sweating pace; Bellax. Symptom, Fortune Bold and Pllnllramon had healthy progressive work; the yearlings cantered four fur longs twice." Such Information as this would be as welcome to the American bettor as a life preserver to a man who couldn't swim even dog-fashion. DIGDALE SEEKING NOTORIETY Fat Manager's Offer Probably Xot in Good Faith. D. E. Dugdale is starting early with his First of April jokes. The offer of the Northwest League to buy the Port land franchise from the Pacific Coast League will go down In history as the Joke of the 1908 season. Evidently Dug dale and President Lucas have given up waiting . for the McCredies to knock at the Northwest League door with the Portland franchise. If Dugdale was In earnest. It certainly shows that the Northwest League Ls still very sweet on , Portland and must sadly need this city ! In its circuit. i Perhaps Dugdale and his associates ! were of the opinion before they sent i Judge McCredle the telegram, that the McCredies were tired of Portland and would welcome a chance to sell the Port land franchise. If they were, the tone of Judge McCredie's telegram must have been most discouraging. Just now, with Los Angeles wanting continuous baseball, the Coast - League would be willing to talk business with Seattle and some other good Northwest League city, but the Coasters are not so anxious that they would offerto spend is brewed, other. rooms, filled with how much purity means if you saw the we use, amount to Sbci wood St She! woo4 8 Front Street, Portland. Yes, they are dropping, and today it's Men's Slices That have dropped from $3.00 and $2.50 to $1.85. Not all sizes of all kinds, but ; all sizes of some kinds. Come in and see the bargains. CLOTHING CO GuS KuhnProp' 166-168 THIRD STREET money for the franchise. Undoubtedly, when Judge McCredle stated at the close of last season that he was satisfied with a four-club league and that he had made a little money, or would have at least, had it not have "been tor the failure of the Oregon Trust and Savings Bank, lie was not believed by the Northwest League magnates. The truth probably has been driven home by this time. There may come a time again when Portland and Seattle shall be in the same league, but the outlook Is not very promising so long as the McCredies are satisfied with the treatment they receive from the Californias. If the McCredies were in the baseball business Just for the meney they could make out of it, Port land perhaps by this time would have been with the Northerners. Judge Mc Credle figured the matter out carefully and he couldn't see where the game would be benefited by Portland dropping the Coasters. No well posted baseball fan who read Dugdale's telegram yesterday, believes that the fat manager of Seattle was in earnest. The Northwest League Is not rolling in wealth, at least not to the extent that it could afford to pay a fancy price for the Portland franchise. Dugdale likes printer's ink. His name hasn't been in print much of late. The old fellow evidently saw a chance to break In, so he sent the telegram. Harvard to Row Annapolis. CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 5. The man ager of the Harvard varsity crew an nounced tonight that Harvard would row the midshipmen of Annapolis on the Severnon, April 22, the race taking me place of the customary one with Colum bia In the Harvard schedule. This will be Harvard's first rowing conteBt with the midshipmen. At the same time trie Harvard baseball team will make Its headquarters at Annapolis and will prob ably meet the Navy In one or more games. you methods, and the we spend, attain it 0 I