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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1909)
TTTE MOHXIXO OltEGOXIAN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1909. 8 rUBTLA.XD, OKEGON. Enurr'l at Portland, Orea-on. Poatofflce aa Seioad-cl& Mailer. Subscription Kate InTxrfublj In A or Men. (By Mall I ri:. Fundar Included, one yaar. l-m. lv. t-jnJa Included. s:x months.... - ! :., fcjuday Inc.uJe.l. tr,raa monlna. .- I..y. pundar Included, ona monta.... - I)a:.. witnout SjteUy. oi year. J La. ;::.iut sunu, r - - m.thout Sun uy, lire months.. - . w,,.i..v an molila. . I ::. I We-kiv. ona lfr 1 . 7 tiunoay. nn( y-iir toaailuy and Weekly, ona year ..... , by Carrier.! nilt, Fun'Uy ti.e,U'U.-d. on year...... rj Xaliv. bunday lacluued. one monta ' How to Remit Snd po.tof Bee erder. express order or p.r.o naJ. check on t.r local bank. .stamp., coin or cm renor are at tr inJ.r'l risk. Give P",!V " dress In full. ir.cludin counly and atate. Pootao Kate-. 10 to 14 pares. 1 nt; : 1 i to I pates, i c.nta; to pe.. J 'cent. 4 to puu centa, For..a po.ta.-a (ioubia rale. K.Mrrn Huslnro OinVe The 8. C. ii Tribune bul.d.iig. Chicago, rooiti 6i0-ll Tribune bulialn. IX)UTXAjn. WEUJiKSDAY. JAU. . I TILE EAST WI1. yesterday's wind wn the return fclow from the East. The wind goea towards the east from ocean during Summer. Then the Interior, heated by the rays of the sun. demands the coo! breezes from the sea. But at this present time of the year we tret the return wind. The Inland coun try has cooled off. The ocean is warmer than the inland country, and the cold olr from the Interior rushes toward the warmer region. The ocan now li warmer than the In terior country, and the air currents In Winter tend towards an equilib rium, as in Summer. The sun. monarch of all. creates these movements which nevertheless ere regulated by a simple mechan ical fact. Some think It a contriv ance of divine wisdom. Others, one of the accidents of matter and motion. -What makes the seasons of tne earth? The changes, at different times of the year, by fixity of the earth's axis and movement of the earth round the sun. of one part of the earth's surface, then another, to ward the sun, exposing now to the more direct rays of the sun one part of the surface of the earth, and now another. Hence the changes of air currents. Most unstable of things is the air. Tet it Is always seeking its equilibrium. It Is made unstable by the varvir.g influence of the sun upon the earth, in the middle zones at dif ferent seasons of the year. This, again, has for its proximate cause the change produced by the movement of the earth round the sun, with fixed ' Inclination of the earth's axis toward the plane of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the earth round the sun that is, the plane passing through the center of the sun, which contains the orbit of the earth. In the resultant of these move ments ocean again is a controlling force. Action of the sun upon the ocCan is the eame as the action of the sun upon the land, but greater in its results, because ocean occupies three-fourths of the area of our planet; and as the movement of the earth around the sun presents now one part of the great surface of ocean to the sun's more direct rays, now another, the air currents or winds take their movement from sea to land, and again from land to sea. Just cow we are getting the East wind the wind from land to sea, the wind which has a bad name in all the literatures of the ancient world. That world centered about the Med iterranean, the midland ocean, which Is the controlling factor In the climate of Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and " of all Europe south of the Alps. We are so situated here on the Paclf.0 as to make similar physical condi tions. We have a continent lying east of us and a great sea west of us. Our east wind, a land wind, is comparable with the east wind of the Mediterranean basin, which is exe crated in every literature of the an cient world; and the modern world has continued the theme. "Let him possess those wild and uncultivated rocks, thy habitations, oh. East Wind!" writes Vergil. 'The thin ears were blasted with an east wind." Is written In Genesis. In Exodus, "Moses stretched forth his rod over Egypt and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that dar" In Job the inquiry is made, "J-hosrffi a wise man fill his belly with the east wind?" In Ezeklel, "The east wind toucheth it," and "the east wind drleth it up." Much more In the Hebrew writers, and in innu merable passages in Greek poetry, especially in the dramatists. English poets and novelists deal with the same idea. Pope writes of a miser able region where "the dreadful east Is all the wind that blows," and the Idea of "Bleak House," of Dickens, la caught from exposure of a locality with which he was familiar to the east wind. Folklore on the subject of the east wind is Immense. It might bo com plied In a book of proverbs, as a do ' partment of the weather wisdom of the world. THE I) IS AITilA KI N O SATLEB. While it has been nearly ten years since any sail tonnage of consequence was added to the world's merchant marine, at no previous time has the future of the sailing ship seemed so hopeless as now. With sailing ships offering to carry wheat 14,000 miles to Europe at less than ti per ton, and no demand for their services, it can easily be understood that the day of the sailer Is about over. They have been crowded from the ocean by steamships, each of which handles as much freight as can be carried by two or three sailers,' and makes the voyage in half the time. One of the most significant features of the situa tion is abandonment of the towing business and the laying up of six tug boats by the Spreckcla Tugboat Com pany, of San Francisco. The Spreckela fleet of tugs was one of the largest and oldest established of any on the Pacific Coast, and before the tramp steamer began crowding the sailer out of business these tugs wer kept In service EiKht end day. Now all Is changed, and for the six months ending with December the total fleet of sailing Teasels from San Francisco for Europe numbered but twenty-six. a smaller number than were towed out of the Bay City In al most any single month a dozen years ego. The foreign shipowners have for some time been aware of the presence of the handwriting on the wall, and are selling their ships at ruinous fig ures to the Germans and Norwegians. The British ship Owenee, one of the fastest and finest ships afloat and a , craft that a dozen years ago would i Jiave been worth ne.riy 1100,000, was sold recently for ISO, 000, and some equally large carriers not quite so well equipped have been sold aa low as J1S.000. On the Pacific Coast many of the old American ships used In the for eign lumber trade before the compe tition of the tramp steamer became too strong are being dismantled and used as barges and eoai hulks. There wi:i of course, come a revival in freight rates from the present ruin ously low figures; but there will be no revival of the sailing-ship industry. It reached its maximum of greatness avnrii ve.-irn nirr. and has been on , the decline for the past ten years. Disappearance or tnese earnns iniv will be a matter of small regret for Pr.rtian1 na it was the sailing-ship ' owner, and not the steamship owner. who levied the unrair, oiscnrammory freight rate against Portland in favor of Puget Sound. It will also lessen the duties and expense of the Port of Portland In the towage business, for with but few deep-water sailers to handle, small, economically-operated tugboats can bo used at the river en trance for the small sailers used In the. coasting lumber trade. A MISTAJtEN DOCTOR. As The Oregonian has remarked be fore, they do queer things down at Los Angeles. The latest performance is by a doctor named T. Percival Gerson, and It is what the unlettered mob would call a daisy. This erratic phy sician has decided to abandon a lucra tive practice in high-toned Angelic society and devote his erudite drugs to the uriremunerative healing of the poor. At first glance one thrills with admiration. At a second glance one sees less to admire. The ridiculous is perilously -near to the sublime, and It is Just possible tb,at good Dr. Gerson has stepped over the boundary un awares. Will kind-hearted people never learn the lesson that neither the poor nor anybody else can be much bene fited by making sacrifices for them? Kindness, benevolence, sacrifice, have been tried for ages and have accom plished Just about nothing. To ben efit the poor appreciably we must give them an opportunity to help them selves. If there are laws which rob them, those laws must be repealed. If there are institutions which impose unnecessary hardships, they must be abolished. In short, the miseries of the poor can perhaps be cured by re moving causes, certainly not by palli ating symptoms. "BEX HUB." General Lew jVallace, the. author of "Ben Hur" achieved a fair success in two difficult callings and brilliant pre eminence in a third more difficult than either. As a soldier he fought with acceptance in the Mexican War and won his way to the front In the Civil War. He was with Grant at the slaughter of Shlloh and kept at his side through the operations around Corinth. When Cincinnati was threat ened by the Confederate General E. K. Smith, Lew Wallace was chosen to prepare for Its defense. The fact that he was defeated at Monocacy by Early does not dim his military laurels, for the North had few commanders who could face that energetic rebel on a fair field and come off victors. Wal lace's experience in che Mexican War furnished him with materials for his novel "The Fair God," which is a story of the conquest of Mexico by Cortez. in which the reader is made to feel that the natives were noble crea tures and the Invading Spaniards de plorable villains. It is a readable but not a particularly notable book. In its day it was rather popular. In the early '70s of the last century it could be bought in back country bookstores, where now it is never heard of. Un doubtedly It laid the foundations of that reputation which rose into a structure so towering and stable when "Ben Hur" was published. "Ben Hur" appeared in 1880, seven years after "The Fair God." Thir teen years later the author, then 88 ! years old, published his "Prince of India." This last book was popular in a rather large way, but it never attained the splendid success of- "Ben Hur," which took the country by storm, for a time almost rivalling in pious families the enduring vogue of "The Pilgrim's Progress." In 1900 "Ben Hur" was dramatized and has been fully as popular on the stage as with readers. Naturally It is more of a spectacle than a play to be acted. The principal character, Jesus Christ, cannot be produced on the stage at all. It is only by description and sug gestion that his deeds can be indi cated. In any other play this would be a fatal defect, but so vital Is the interest which we all take In the words and deeds of the master that It thrills us more to hear them de scribed than it does to behold what other characters, even the most en gaging, do. There is a scene toward the end of the drama where all the requirements of the stage demand that Jesus should enter and work a miracle before the audlenre. Expectation Is raised to the highest point. A brilliant stream of light seems to mark the path he will tread toward his deed of mercy, but In the end he does not appear. Of course he could not. Our sense of fitness would not permit the master to be exhibited In the theater, though we are not shocked in the least when he is painted. The reason is clear enough. Painting, flke music, has al ways been and still is the servant and handmaiden of the church. The same was true of the stage long ago, but some decades before the time of Shakespeare the church parted com pany with the stage In the English speaking world, and these two great educational powers drifted into an un reasonable and unnecessary hostility. Everybody knows that the German peasants at Oberammergau and else where represent Jesus on the stage without lacerating anybody's feelings, and perhaps some time, when we have grown in true reverence and our relig ion has become more of a reality to us, the same thing can be done here. But if that ever happens, the stage will be something very different from what it is now. "Ben Hur" contains one scene of In tense dramatic Interest. The famous chariot race, even wnen It Is severed from Its connection in the story and recited by Itself, seldom fails to thrill those who hear it. Its office in the book is singularly Important, since It is through the chariot race, and by no other imaginable means, that Ben Hur can gain a decided advantage over his Roman adversary. The world was at that time so thoroughly dominated by Roman power and a Jew was so In ferior In station from the very fact of his being a Jew that Ben Hut's case would have been utterly hopeless but I for the happy device of the chariot race. With his noble steeds from tne desert ho not only put his otherwise invincible enemy to shame, but also manure i by a, lucky accident to maim J him for life. Few incidents in fiction are more happily devised. Seldom has a difficult literary problem been more successfully solved. Still the main Interest of "Ben Hur" 'lies, not In the fortunes of the hero, but in the connection of Jesus with the incidents of the story. Almost the first among writers of English fiction. Lew Wallace ventured to make Jesus one of his characters. To . do this In such a way as to hold the reader's interest and at the same time not outrage his religious, susceptibili ties was an extremely delicate task. There were in existence before "Ben Hur" was written plenty of dull books of piety where Jesus was made to speak and act, but in all of them he was a mere lay figure. The authors lacked the divine touch of genius which could make him live. Even John Bunyan In his Immortal allegory is extremely cautious about introduc ing Jesus. He appears In the tale, but it is under disguising names. Of course Milton brought him into "Paradise Lost." but it was with the tremendous pomp of an omnipotent military sov ereign and not as an actor in earthly affairs. In making Jesus a character in his story Lew Wallace did what none of his predecessors had accom plished, and for his achievement he received a magnificent reward in fame and fortune BOCIAXJSM. From an ddre.ia by President Eliot, of Harvard, before tha Boston Economlo Club: This tremendous development of Democratic power, political freedom, social freedom, does not tend to the equalizing of human conditions, but Just the reverse. And the reason is that human beings are not equal In capacity or power, in natural gift or In capacity to receive training. If you make men free there will develop among them differences of social posi tion, of wealth, of control of capital, because in freedom men develop ex traordinary differences In their power of making and keeping capital. There fore freedom, which la the great goal of humanity, tends to Inequality of possession, and It always will; and when you establish a condition of equality you will have lost your free dom. Then there is incorporation with limited liability, which looks like a socialistic achievement. That is a democratic invention, and behind It is the one solid fact of human belief and human practice that there Is such a thing as individual property; and the human race, as It acquires freedom, clings more and more in tensely to that Individual right of property. Tet much of the Socialistic doctrine seems to take umbrage at private property. "That is my reason for thinking that the Socialist propa ganda is going to have a very hard time in the United States. What ever proposition Is put before us, as Republicans or as Democrats, which Involves a distribution of the property each Individual has acquired for the benefit of the mass who have not ac quired any, will be sure to fail in our land. Prosperity never was so diffused as it now la in the United States. It is one of the results of our freedom not the equal distribution but the Just distribution of property. Therefore, I have no apprehension that any So cialistic theory or propaganda which proposes to interfere with the rights of property will make any headway In the United States, outside of re cent arrivals from the other nations. There is a great deal that is ami able in socialistic theories, but the So cialists are not alone in their faith in human brotherhood. They have no monopoly of the principle of good will among men, and that is what the success of the modern movement to ward the bettering of human condi tions really depends on. That Is also what the success of American indus tries Is depending on, for when they languish, when they fall and panic eusues. It is because good-will has been lost between employer and em ployed. We are glad to know that the great employers of Industry are realizing more and more that the suc cess of their industry depends on good-will. If we could only persuade the trades unions to modify some of their doctrines about limitation of output we should see a great Demo cratic Increase of power and product through the development of good-will. On the whole It seems to me that the form of Socialism that Is likely to obtain In our country has In it nothing that is unsafe or dangerous, except In very recent Importations. In Baying that. I -may add that many of the Socialistic dootrlnea are sound and wholesome. Labor is the main condition of sat isfaction in human life, and the main source, not only of all capital, but of all enjoyment The laboring popula tion of the United States and we are all laborers Is and ought to be as happy a population as the world has ever seen. The enjoyment of life should not be connected with a posi tion of ease or repose. What can be more tiresome or boreeome than the ordinary descriptions of condi tions in the kingdom of heaven? The element of hard work, of competition, of strife and struggle, seems to be lacking there. My most serious ap prehension about the Socialistic per fecting of human conditions is that it might conceivably result in something like the popular Christian Idea of heaven. rrfJSEKE nTBOK3m IX JEOPARDY. On numerous occasions In the past two decades the assistance of the for eign powers has been most necessary in maintaining the integrity of China Moral support, accompanied by un mistakable hints of something more drastic if the occasion should arise for its need, has in the past been given China for the purpose of protecting her against the aggression of foreign invaders and territory grabbers. The present crisis has developed a greater need than ever for foreign interfer ence, but, unlike some of its predeces sors, this crisis was brought about by the Chinese themselves, and it be comes the duty of the powers to pro tect China against her own folly. Yuan Shi Kal. grand counsellor and commander-in-chief of the Chinese army, was a progressive leader of his race. The fact that a certain kind of Chinese civilization had developed, thrived and gone to seed some 2000 years before the civilization of the white men secured much of a foothold gave this intelligent, educated Chinese leader no false notions regarding the relative merits of the Chinese and the Caucasian civilization. The Ameri cans, British, Germans and other rep resentatives of the powers in the mind of Yuan Shi Kal were not "foreign devils" who should be killed or driven out of the country. The progressive grand counsellor knew that these In vading foreigners brought with them commercial secrets, inventions and op portunities for reciprocal trade which I would be of great value to China. He also recognized that it was through the establishment of these varied for- I elgn Interests In the Far East that the integrity of China could Dest De guarded. But ignorance and superstition, fos tered by centuries of sluggish. Inactiv ity and isolation from the world that moves, had such a powerful hold on so many millions of the Chinese race that the progressive element, led by the grand counsellor, was never with out trouble from within as well as from without. Details of the immedi ate cause of the dismissal of Yuan Shi Kai are as yet meager, but the effect on China is certain to be far reaching. A Pekin cable in yester day's Oregonian says that "one sec tion of the Pekin press considers Yuan Shi Kai's punishment to have been reasonable, while another holds that his downfall shows the decay of the government." The latter view of the matter is un questionably corerct, for with Yuan enjoying the confidence of the powers and wielding a gTeat Influence within the empire It has been no light task to keep the nation clear of all obsta cles which have arisen since the war with Japan awoke the Chinese from their sleep of centuries. Now, with the land torn by internal dissension, the powers insulted and every Indica tion of the establishment of an antl forelgn policy, the maintenance of the integrity of China is a far more diffi cult task than it has been in the past. A general break-up of the Chinese em pire is one of the possibilities for the new year, and the dismissal of Yuan Shi Kal Is a long move in that direc tion. Herman WJse, for the past four years Mayor of Astoria, returned to private life Monday with the record of placing a new Astoria on the map. The Astoria that was known all over the Pacific Coast when he assumed of fice had a bad record for dancehalls, gambling-houses and many low dives. The Astoria which will not soon cease to honor him for the change he wrought Is a decent, orderly city, and neither the fishing season nor any other season brings with it the rabble of gamblers, thieves and other dis reputables that in the old days flocked to the city by the sea. It was, of course, impossible for Mayor Wise to accomplish this great reform without the hearty support of the best people in the city. The firm stand he took for decency and morality, means much for the future welfare of As toria, and the effect of his policy will be felt through many continuing ad ministrations Five trains each way between Port land and Rainier, an hourly service to Salem and way points, six trains each way up and down the Columbia River, steam trains and electric cars garore between Portland and Vancou ver, and rapidly Increasing electric service to a number of other suburban towns and cities within a thirty-mile radius of Portland, will all have an excellent effect on business both at the terminal points and in the inter mediate territory. Later in the year we will undoubtedly witness further improvements in the facilities for transportation of passengers and freight, and along in 1910 we may have an opportunity to get into some of the new territory where not even a monthly service Is now available. Two or three persons have expressed the opinion that the reason why The Oregonian does not Join in excessive estimates of the population of Port land Is that "it wants to savo its news franchise." In the first place. It has no. news franchise; in the second place, its opinion about the popula tion of Portland can have no more to do with its relations with the Asso ciated Press or its position as to ob talnment of news than with next year's eclipses of the moon. Why will peo ple be absurd? Count Gassendorf, who was arrest ed in San Francisco for forgery com mitted In Portland, is perplexed as to whether he will be returned to Port land in Irons or otherwise. He threatens suicide if the irrms are used, because "the disgrace would be too terrible." In this staid far Western community, where most of the Counts we meet are "no-accounts," there la a feeling that more or lss disgrace attaches to a plain forger. What distinguished writer was it who made comparison of something chaste and beautiful with whiteness of snow that's bolted by the northern blasts thrice o'er? At Salem some attribute It to Colonel Hofer. At Ba ker It Is claimed for the distinguished editor (colored) of the Advocate. Friends of the author of "Beautiful Snow" yet to be heard from. It is a distressing and far from consoling reflection, says . the New York Times, but it la evidently true, that the danger of famine in the earthquake-stricken sections of Italy has been very much diminished by the awful mortality. X correspondent Inquires what poet wrote the line, "Welcome the coming, speed the parting year." Pope, in his translation of the Odyssey, wrote "Welcome the coming, speed the part ing guest." The 11ns has many vari ations. The oldest inhabitant whose mind goes back to the storm of '38 is hav ing things all his own way. Nobody can dispute him. The Bock woman wanted $5000 and was awarded a verdict for J 35 0. We suppose she will be too indignant to take the money. Maybe Santa Claus sent this weather to please the young folks who received sleds and Ice skates for Christmas. It was beautiful yesterday. The day gave us the stuff that puts the microbes out of business. There are "old boys" who take pleasure in remembering other weather Just as cold. We are engulfed in the blizzard's icy maw. Now, how will that do for a piece of fine writing? A good New Year's resolution was that one pledging not to make a Joke of the others. All persons should remember that they started out to make this a happy New Year. Now where are the persons who don't prefer mint SEX IS DETERMI.VED BY CHANCE. According to Prof esaor WUaon, Internal Mechanism of Germ Cell" X3ontroi; Baltimore Special to New York Herald. That the determination of sex la a matter of chance was the declaration of Professor E. B. Wilson before the section of zoology at the opening ses sion of the American Association for the Advancement of Science today. Al though he did not specifically mention the Schenck theory of control by diet, which was tried by the Czar and Czarina before the heir to the throne of Russia was born. Professor Wilson said this theory is entirely erroneous. Professor Wilson occupies the chair of zoology at Columbia University, and is considered one of the foremost in vestigators in that science. His paper was technical and went Into the sub ject deeply, but he gave the press an abstract, which he said he thought would bring on his head all the cranks in the country. The title of the paper 13 "Recent Researches on the Deter mination and Heredity of Sex." "i ormer inquiries." said he, "as to the manner in which sex is inherited have been on the supposition that sex is determined by the effect of external conditions, such as nutrition. The drift of more recent evidence has been against this view, and goes to show that sex is automatically determined by the internal mechanism of germ cells. If this be correct, it appears impossible to modify or control the sex by arti ficial means. Sex appears to be a phenomenon of heredity which con forms to the laws of heredity in gen eral. It Is supposed by many biolo gists to be a particular kind of men delian Mendel's law. Researcn has proved that tha me chanical basis of sex is so rt lusted as to produce an equal number of males and females in the long run, this fact applying to the race aa a whole and not to single families alone. There are, however, variations from ' this equal ratio. Some of these modifications have recently been completely ex plained by minute study, but many are still quite unexplained." , Prominent among the visitors are Dr. David Starr Jordan, president of Ice land Stanford University; Dr. Daniel T. MacDougal. of the Carnegie Insti tute, Washington; Dr. G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University; Dr. Henry Fair child Osborn, of Columbia University; Dr. Charles O. Whitman, of the Uni versity of Chicago; Dr. Edward B. Poulton, Hope professor of zoology at Oxford University, and Dr. Thomas C. Chamberlain, of the University of Chi cago. BEPTIO TAJTKS ARE! SANITARY. Certain Rules, However, Mturt Be Fol lowed In Their Construction. HILLSBORO, Or., Jan. 4. (To the Editor.) In your issue of December 27 appeared an article from the City Council of Grangeville, Idaho, con demning septic tanks. Being directly interested In the construction of such receptacles for the purification of house sewage and bettering of the sanitary conditions of the country home and' not having seen any one answer this, I venture to write a few lines stating in part what I know these tanks have done when properly in stalled. ' ' In the first place the size of tank or the area must be in proportion to the sewage it is to receive. Second It must be built of such ma terial as to exclude all air and light, both of which are very detrimental to bacteria life. Third It must be protected against cold, which can be done by placing it well below the frost line, or, if the topography of the locality will not per mit this it must be covered with earth or masonry and boxed in. Fourth The sewage, when entering tank must be broken from any force it may attain on steep hlllBldes or down vertical soil pipes. Fifth Without an automatio syphon the tank must have partitions, and so constructed as to retain the sewage by circuitous route from six to nine hours before it Will reach the outlet, as, according to R. M. Starbuck, one of the best authorities on septic tanks, it takes from four to six hours for the bacteria to change substances of a soft nature into liquid, such, however, as bones and leather taking a great deal longer. Many reasons can be given why the above suggestions should be carefully followed In the construction of septlo tanks which, however, should not take up too much apace, I know Its failures as well as Its suocesses from practical experience. I know tat in every case where a tank is not successful in the purifying of the sewage It Is due to Im proper construction of the tank, which. In many instances, is easily remedied by slight alterations being made. Permit me further to state for the benefit of those contemplating the in stallation of a eeptic tank that a great many people think that bath and sink water must not enter a septic tank, owing to soap, grease and the heat of such refuse being injurious to the bac teria. This is entirely wrong. As a matter of fact, it Is very beneficial that such waste water should enter therein, thereby providing the neces sary heat and, as the bacteria . thrive In all vegetable and animal matter, such as house refuse consists of. It will be easily seen- that the latter is a benefit rather than a detriment, thereby making the surroundings of homes perfectly sanitary, eliminating contamination of water, etc F. H. MILLER. In th Preaa Gnllery, Boston Transcript. The number of men in Washington who furnish a dally telegraph service to newspapers, and so are accredited to the gallery, now number 173. On Mr. Cleveland's Inauguration in 1893, Just 24 of these men were thus em ployed, showing that they are quite as permanent a body as those whose activities they chronicle. It is a cos mopolitan set, London having in it three representatives, Louisville four, Boston 10, Chicago nine. New York 83 including the Sun Press Associa tion besides five representatives of Brooklyn newspapers. Providence, Springfield, Portland and Hartford are the only New England cities outside of Boston which are represent ed by a regularly accredited correspon dent. A Poor Prospect, Philadelphia Record. X dangerous neighborhood you're living in. Colonel;" said a newspaper man to Charles Edwards, of the Demo cratic Congressional Campaign Com mltee, a few nights ago In Washington. "Been four highway robberies there in the past month. Aren't you afraid that somebody will hold you up and go through you some night?" "Should say not," said the big Texan. "Why, Ah've got so few means on my puson at the present time that the robber who goes through me will get hlsself in debt." Boiling- Hot Water for Bimrlars. Philadelphia Dispatch. Mrs. Bessie Garvin, of Mahanoy City, Ta. discovering burglars filing bars that protected the window of her hus- j band's store, without waking her . spouse, got a pail of hot water and dashed it from a window, putting the I four burglars to instant night. Paid for Ills Whistle. Washington (D. C.) Correspondent The Earl of Yarmouth Is making a living In London In vaudeville as a whistler. I HUGHES AND THE POLITICIANS. New York's Governor Once More Bids Defiance to the "OrKanlaatlon." Albany Dispatoli to the New York Evening Post. The politicians are having a hard time finding fault with Governor Hughes' approval of the new list of offices transferred from the exempt to the competitive class by the state civil service commission. The whole affair is a striking example of the Governor's method of treating matters "on the merits in each case." First of all, he robs his own office of patronage to the extent of five offices hitherto exempt from competitive ex amination. Right down through the state and county departments goes the knife, carving over 300 more or less choice bits of patronage from the ter ritory hitherto controlled by the "or ganization." There has been more or less of a pan ic among the Republican leaders, be cause the rumor had gone forth that the commission had given the Gover nor for approval a list which would practically destroy the whole patronage business In the capltoL The new state officers had withheld announcements of many of their appointments, await ing the decision, and fearing that In fact they would have little to do ex cept select from clvil-servlce eligible lists. The outcome actually was so much less than they feared that their sigh of relief Is almost audible. As stated in a memorandum given out at the executive chamber, "only ten positions In the offices of the elected state of ficers, apart from the office of the Governor, are affected. The Governor approved the resolution as to those positions, with the exception of the position of assistant deputy in the of fice of the secretary of state, and the chief clerk of the stock- transfer tax bureau in the controller's office. The disapprovay with regard to the latter was upon the ground that this clerk was the custodian of the stock trans fer tax stamps." The officers removed from the ex empt to the competitive class In New York, Kings, Queens and Richmond In clude none of special Importance. The significant thing about it Is that fur ther Inroads have been made into the resources of the spoilsman. The fact that a number of Tammany men now in office are assured of permanency Is a detail which does not materially af fect the merits of the principle Involved. UNION PRINTERS ON GOMPERS How I His Threatened Punlahment for Contempt la Looked Upon. Pilot Rock Review, Edited by an Old Time Union Printer. An organization whose only hope of redress from the wrongs suffered are to be found in remedial legislation and a strict enforcement of the laws will gain slow headway with leaders of the Gompers stripe, who are willing to defy an order of the court in order to gain a little cheap advertising. A good many people whose sympathies are on the side of labor would like to see Gompers go to Jail. The lesson might prove a wholesome one, not only to Gompers, but to others w.ho look with disdain upon the orders of courts. Gom pers and his lieutenants were enjoined from boycotting a certain manufactur er of stoves, and seem to have wholly disregarded the order. They were thereupon sentenced to Jail for con tempt. Gompers, John Mitchell and Frank Morrison, the accused leaders, are now out on bonds, and In the event of the higher courts not reversing the decision, It Is expected the leaders will appeal to President Taft for help. It would be a grevlous mistake for a President of the United States to Inter fere In such a matter. The "square deal policy" can best be subserved by a strict enforcement of the laws. Hillsboro Independent, Edited by an Old-Time Union Printer. That courts must have power to en force their decrees and punish dis obedience Is thoroughly understood and at the last election, so It Is hardly the principle was unqualifiedly Indorsed probable that much sympathy will be wasted over the case of Messrs. Gom pers, Mitchell and Morrison. At the same time whether the courts continue to retain public approval of punish ment for contempt rests entirely with the Judiciary itself. A Just and up right Judge usually commands respect and rarely Is compelled to resort to extreme measures to enforce obedience, while often the contempt which courts seek to punish Is an outgrowth of a belief that the Judire himself is cor rupt. BIO STEPS IN 1008ns ADVANCE!. Important Events of the Past Year as Vletred by Prominent Men, Hartford Times. Held up by the New York Times, several representative citizens of Amer ica have delivered their views as to the most Important and significant event of the year. The opinions are varied as they are suggestive. Justice David J. Brewer sizes up the pact between the United States and Japan as the most significant develop ment of 1908. Bishop Greer, of New York, takes the same view. John Sharp Williams rates the peace ful separation of Norway and Sweden as the greatest event of the present year. Health Commissioner Thomas Dar lington, of New York, puts the Interna tional congress on tuberculosis at the head of the list Rev. William R. Huntington thinks that the repayment of the United States ! of the unused portion of the Chineso Indemnity is the most memorable civil event of the year, and the meeting of the Federation of Churches In Phila delphia the most notable ecclesiasti cal event of the year. The progress which has been made in the conquest of the air Is, by Champ Clark, Darwin P. KIngsley, Hudson Maxim and Emil L Boas, regarded as the most striking achievement of the twelvemonth. Comptroller H. A. Metz of New York, thinks that the return of prosperity, material and mental, Is entitled to a preferred position at top of column next to pure reading matter. It's Lewis Nixon's opinion that the economical extraction of nitrogen from gas is the greatest development since January 1, last year. These opinions, which are naturally colored to some extent by the individ uality of the authors, are sufficiently varied to indicate that the past year has been marked by progress along lines that make for human welfare. Reflections of a Bachelor. New York Press. There's nothing ever coming to the public from anybody, and it gets it. What surprises a girl most about a man daring to kiss her is that he didn't do it before. A lucky thing about getting married is that for the one time other people are stuck for the presents. No matter what a woman's husband does, she can always find some excuse for it unless It was about another wom an. All that is needed for a man to think an occupation is beneath him is for him to be able to make a comfortable living at it by industry. Ten-Year-Old's Pay, .00 Weekly. Indianapolis News. Elsie Craven, aged ten, who has cap tured London by her dancing, will re ceive 500 a week from an engagement In vaudeville. SCHOOLMASTER OF REPORTERS Bou" Clarke, of the New York Son, Who Chana-ea "Stuff" Into Literature. Magazine Article by Will Irwin. Selah M. Clarke, night city editor of the New York Sun. known in the newspaper world over as "Boss" Clarke, Is the man who gathers the paper Into a blazing sheaf and sends it forth is the pivot of the Sun shop. Not many years ago a new reporter, one of the men who came to the Sun with a reputation in his home town, sat in the office with his head In his hands. To him came an alumnus. "I think that man Clarke hates me, and I know I hate him," said the new reporter. "You do," said the alumnus, "and you will hate him worse and worse for a month. After that you'll love him the rest of your life." Clarke has been there almost ever since Dana took over th paper. The Sun be lieves, and with some grounds, that he has had greater Influence upon American letters than, any other man of his time. a Clarke has been called the greatest living schoolmaster of newspaper men. It has always been his province to educate the cub reporters. The raw recruit, fresh from college and In that painful period of uncertainty follow ing his plunge into the world, lives for ' six months In terror of the assign ments, utterly foolish to him, by which Boss Clarke tries him out to find whether the boy has steel and grit In him, and whether he tells the truth. When the cub returns and reports from one of these wild-goose chases Clarke questions him and comments upon the situation In about two iron ical sentences, bettor and more afford ing than a whole college lecture on Journalism. Eventually, following one of these wild-goose chases, the cub stumbles upon his first chance. When he has turned in his copy Boss Clarke gives It a touch here and a tight ening there until it Is a real story, with the individuality all left in and the youngness all cut out. His cher ished half-column, as he reads It In bed next morning, is to the cub re porter a whole treatise on Journalistic style. It happens now and then that a youngster, still In the kindergarten, writC3 a story which sets all New York talking and brings the office about him with congratulations. He never hears about it from Boss Clarke. One old reporter on the Sun remembers that Clarke praised his work Just once and that was an acci dent. The reporter was lipping out a late story at top speed and Clarke was taking away the copy, sheet by sheet As he picked up the last sheet he read it where he stood, and the one word, "Fine!" escaped him. Then, as though he had - made a great slip, he hurried back to his work. "Jones," said Clarke to a cub re porter one evening, "there is no such word as "tot" In our dictionary, and some automobiles are not large red touring cars." The cub retired, blush ing. "A blame fine story he wrote," mut tered Clarke to his assistant. By one sign, however, the Sun man comes to know if he has written a story which pleases the boss. The process Is invariable. Having read It over and Inserted those touches by which he Improves everything which passes through his hands and that without Impairing Its flavor Clarke takes his other pencil from ovor his ear, lays aside his pipe and puts on It a head which Is literature. In the ironic, subtly humorous, condensed expression Sun heads, the Sun reader may recognize Boss Clarke. Some of them have grown into office traditions. There was the case of Horgan and Slattery, contractors, accused of dally ing with tho city funds and of turning over their property to their wives. "'We're Broke." Says Horgan. 'Sure.' Says Slattery, 'But Our Wives Are Doing Fine. " ran the head. Again, "Whale Rams a Whal.ir Rams It and Jams It and Dies a Free Whale." In these heads, I make no doubt, Clarke shoots the gulf between Journalism and literature; between the stringing together of careless words and the making 'of phrasos, clauses "and sen tences which are so welded,wlth mean ing that not a word could be changed, t have noticed that Sun men. telling of certain old stories, mention them always by the title which Boss Clarke put upon them. This generation re members that beautiful tale of pathos, "A Little Child in the Dark." which appeared in the Sun about three years ago. As "A Little Child In the Dark" it will always be remembered; Clarke gave it the only possible name. a Long ago the other newspapers got tired of making him offers; they per ceived at last the New York Sun was the life of Selah M. Clarke. An office boy reported once that a man who would not state his business wanted to see Mr. Clarke at the rail. That rail is one of the properties In Jesse Lynch Williams's "The Stolen Story," which is imagined In the Sun office. "Tell him to come here If he wants to see me," said Clarke. But the man per sisted, and at last Clarke rose and walked to the rail. "Mr. Clarke," said the visitor, "Mr. says that if you'll ascertain the highest salary tha Sun will pay to keep you, he'll double that salary." Clarke grunted and turned away. "He'll triple It," shouted the emissary. Another grunt from Clarke; and he walked back to his copy reading without further answer. A ripe scholar his diversion on dull nights Is wrestling with the higher mathematics with a brain' of the most subtle quality and of great grasp, he has sat for 80 years and turned the mind of his Imagination upon the af fairs of New York. No man knows less of the city from first hand sight. For example, he has never seen an election crowd; he has always been too busy working logarithms on re turns. Yet no man really knows more about Its affairs. Their Honors Our Imnrane Jndges. Atlantic for January. If a general on the battlefield com mits a grave strategical blunder which costs thousands of lives, the world la thrilled with horror; but a Judge may so misapprehend a critical situation as to bring sorrow and suffering to un numbered homes for generations, and we dumbly acquiesce, as If viewing a visitation from heaven. Pertinent Inquiry. Chicago Record-Herald. Mr. Bryan recently went to the trou ble of printing In his Commoner a "vindication of Governor Haskell." Why drag Haskell out again, seeing that the public has shown an Inclina tion to forget him? Urban Winter. New York Sun. When the radiator whistles And the pras bills swiftly rise: When the rubber plant droops sadly And In muny cases dies; When the cold sneaks 'round the windcrws And the court Is dark and drear; When tho tenants want more steam Then is dear old Winter here. When the roofs show fewer washlnis And the Ice hill drops apace; When there are fyw window shoppers And tha card fiends turong the place; Wh,n the banquet Is In season And the uuto wheels wear chains: When the horde of tourists dwindles Then the city Winter reigns. When the hallhoy shies at rrands And the children leave the streets: When the fruit stands move indoors And they sell more "stacks of wheat;" When the motormon are mufMed Ana tha big truck horses slip; When the waiting cabby dance Winter baa us Is lu grlD.