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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1909)
THE MORNING OREGOXIAX, SATURDAY. JUNE 19, 100. PORTLAND, OREGON". Knterd at Portland. Oregon, Postofflce as Recond-clasa Matter. bubsorlptiun ltatrfl In variably In Advance. (By Mall ) ynllT. Sunday Included, one year ..$8.00 lally. fiunrtay Included, six months 4.25 Jally, Sunday Included, threo months... 2.25 lnl!y, Hunday Included, one month..... .75 J aJly. without Sunday one year 0.00 Xftilly. without Sunday, six months...... 3.25 Dally, without Sunday, three months... 1.T5 I!vlly, without Sunday, one month .60 wepkly. one year 1.60 Sunday, one year 2.50 Sunday and weekly, one year S.SO (By Carrier.) Tally, Sunday Included, one year .... 9.00 lially, Sunday Included, one month 75 How to Remit Send postofflce money ordr, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamp's, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postofflce ad dress In full. Including county and state. Fostaire Kates 10 to 14 pages, 1 oent; 18 to 28 pages, 2 cents; 30 to 44 pages. 8 cents; 46 to 60 pages, 4 cents. Foreign postage double rates. Kastrra Business Office The S. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 48 B0 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. , rOKTLAM), SATURDAY. JINK 19. 1909. TJIIE O.V-LOOKF.KS TOW. Yesterday (June 18) was the turn ing point in the fate of the world. It was the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. British stubbornness and valor, on the field of Waterloo, saved 'Germany as well as England, from the domination of Napoleon. The Prussians came up at a critical time, Sate in the day, and gave assistance; but had the English army been de stroyed at Waterloo this iwas what Napoleon expected to do the rest of ( Europe would have been blown away like chaff. Great Britain was always the life and soul of the coalitions c gainst him. Had her army been de stroyed at Waterloo, all England would Jiave been In mourning; she would Jiave been Incapable of further effort and would have shut herself up and tried only to defend herself at home. Not even this could she have done for ciny long time. "I expected," said Napoleon, at St. Helena, "to destroy the English army. That I did not, was a consequence of the strangest series of fatalities. Even Xiovr it Is inexplicable! Had I destroyed he English army on that day, I should Biave thought little of the Prussians tend Austrlans and Russians. Without England they were negligible. Of what avail, against France, would 3iave been all the hosts from the Dan ube, the Rhine and the Pyrenees? I should have checked or destroyed Jthem all." This supreme master of military or-J ionization probably in this judgment made no mistake. The war in Spain, supported by the English, under Wel lington, was in greater degree the cause of his downfall than the campaign of Russia'.' It was England, too, with her diplomacy and money, that constantly stimulated the nations of the contl- nent to new efforts. Her command of the sea was a check upon Napoleon that practically paralyzed all his great est efforts. It is necessary to restate these things In order to account now for the appre hensions of England about the great naval armament of Germany. The Insular situation of the British Islands hitherto has preserved them, during nearly one thousand years, from in vasion. But such Invasion has fre quently been threatened. The Span ish Armada that attempted it in 16 88 was beaten off. But had it been suc cessful It would have changed the course of human history and the fate of the world. The invasion threatened by Napoleon, in 1804-05, likewise would have succeeded, but for the su premacy of the English at sea. French expeditions to Ireland, at one time end another, have been thwarted in the same way. England Is penetrated through and through by the idea that her national existence depends on the maintenance of her ascendancy at sea. No matter what professions of friend ship and good will may be offered by any other power. This is the feeling of Englishmen that they must always be prepared to beat off any enemy that might make an attack on the British Islands, head and heart of the British Empire. The English feel, too, that since they rescued Europe, and espe cially Germany, from the grasp of Na poleon, they ought not now to be threatened by Germany. Tet English naval power obviously is the only naval power that Germany Is prepar ing to cope with, or to be prepared. In case of war, to overthrow. This appears in most of the. public utter ances emanating from both countries, nnd Is taken up by partisans of either side In all parts of the world. Even neutrals cannot but notice it and this is the reason why American newspa pers make comment .on so significant a fact. Clearly it Is a race once more for superiority at sea, which the world lias not witnessed since Trafalgar. Of significant a thing men cannot choose but take notice whether their sympathies lie one way or another, or have no bias either way. AN EXPERT OF THE OLD SCHOOL. Once in a while something happens which seems to clothe the expert of whatever variety with a little of his old, original splendor. How Professor w. W. Williams' handwriting demon stration in the Pendleton courtroom would have appeared If an expert on the opposite side of the case had turned up, one hesitates to guess, but having the field all to himself, he vertainly made a brilliant showing If the proof of forgery which he gave was not as convincing as Euclid It foil very little short of it. The trouble with the signatures to the will -was that they were too perfect. A man never signs his name twice alike and 1. here were signatures, one of them made a dozen years after the rest, which exactly corresponded In every niinute particular. Nothing short of a miracle could have achieved such a feat. Professor Williams has done a stunt which would not make a bad appearance beside the work of Wilkie Collins" handwriting expert in "The 1-aw and the Lady." Whoever reads that fine story now adays? Not one current novel in a hundred la half so Interesting. The art of story telling has not Improved a great deal In the last generation and certainly the glory of the expert has sadly declined. In Wilkie Collins' story much depended on a disputed document whose genuineness had to be determined from a signature which might have been forged. The expert was called into court to say whether It was genuine or not. The narrative of his testimony Is one of the cleverest things In fiction. Possibly it had something to do with the vogue which experts in many line enjoyed a decade ago, and which they have now measur- i ably lost, for In his Anv AViivu rnin . " w I vna wlrlelv roo il tKa e vi was widelv read. The hrovltv nf hia day speaks volumes for the worth of fame as it ordinarily runs. The de cline In the reputation of experts is their own fault, of course. As long as they were believed to be honest they were trusted, but when it came to pass that they would say anything desired If they were paid their price, naturally their credit waned. THE CENTRAL OREGOX ROAD. Washington dispatches announce the approval by Secretary Ballinger of the location maps of the rights of way through the Deschutes Canyon of the Oregon Trunk Line and the Deschutes River Railroad Company. Unless there are some unannounced provisions in connection with this approval order of Secretary Ballinger, it would seem that there is no longer any obstacle In the way of early construction of the line which will release from bondage the greatest railroadless empire In the United States. There will, of course, be the usual attempts of owners of right of way to hold up the project with excessive demands for the land to be crossed by the railroads; but the temper of the people has been so sorely tried by these repeated delays that it is hardly probable that any unneces sary obstructions will receive much consideration in the courts. The advantages which Portland will reap by addition of this great water level route to the Interior cannot be overestimated. It will open up for development a region as large as half a dozen New England States, which have built up a dozen great cities. It will bring Into cultivation an area of good wheat land, which is capable of producing more wheat than is now grown In the entire state. It will af ford access to the world markets for an immense body of pine timber for which there is an ever Increasing de mand that in no way conflicts, with the demand for the great output of fir and spruce In other parts of the state. It will add to the trade field of Port land more than 20,000,000 acres of land which can support a popula tion many times greater than that of me Willamette Valley. If. as before stater, tw. iportant conditions in with anorovTof th! ' ,, co?nec,tl? we mav 1 t imrnUfit lat8' we may expect Immediate eonstruc- uon or the road, and. if It Is oimheri to completion with the . Ll activity as characterized the bunding it .. . uuiiumg I ui me iNortn .bSanK road, tho nnr,u I will soon forget their ln. w 'r LTMSrTarrimaPaPOenien 00," " a E6nUine b6ne- ADVICE TO ADVISERS. - The art of advising high school and college graduates has been practiced long and assiduously enough, one would think, to be perfect both In theory and practice, but it is not. To confess a shameful truth, we have no reliable book on the subject. There are works, which tell how to fly, how to manage a submarine ship, how to dissect an automobile and restore It to its original structure, but nothing, not a single dependable word on the deli cate and difficult task of advising graduates. This lacuna in literature ought to tie filled before another com mencement season comes round, and we may hope for some Improvement in baccalaureate sermons and commence ment speeches. As matters stand, they e.re growing something stale. All the good advice has been given over and over again. All the inspiring senti ments have been worn threadbare. All the thrilling poetry has been quoted so many times that It has ceased to thrill. In no other field of effort Is expert aid so badly needed. To point out all the ways in which grad uating sermons and addresses might be Improved would require several is sues of The Oregonlan. 'Necessarily we must limit our strictures to one o two of the most glaring faults of which every orator will confess himself guilty the Instant they are mentioned. The first fault we" shall specify Is one which graduating addresses have In common with sermons. The good advice is given to the wrong persons. The minister spends an hour or two of a Sunday morning detailing the backslidings of the wicked and warn ing them of the fate which awaits them, and who hears It all? Not a single sinner; only a congregation of saints. In much the same way Superin tendent Ackerman, who is one of the most experienced and accomplished givers of advice in the state, heaped bushels of It on the heads of students who did not need it. Take, for ex ample, his excellent remark that It "should be the object of each member of the class to select those things which are in his power to do especially well, and then have an honorable pride in doing it well." The trouble with this is thbt few people in the world can do any thing eSDeciallv -well i - - , -..tvuvi lllW hard they try. The average person can do one thing about as well as an other and nothine with cellence. The Lord has made the aver age individual with average capaci- i miea to work at the aver, age job, unless his schooling has un fitted him for everything. This being true, what he needs is advice how to And an opening for his mediocre and as yet undifferentiated capacity. It is m-uii-eciea counsel which encourages him first to sit down and try to figure out what he is best fitted to work at and then issue forth upon the street in the expectation that he will find a whole assortment of Jobs awaiting uo ni.i nna notning of the kind. If he finds a Job at the kind of work which he thinks ho ni... i L . ... " .caoi, xio Will be fortunate. We say "thinks he likes least" deliberately, berai.se th .,, age young person can learn to like . . . " fcw " rvi: senr1oydto0fth:tLVfs J! v,,, . " auapt himself to anv nnnmtimit,, n.. himself to any ODnortnnltv the , - - J XD succeeds In discovering. The people who are pTirinir0ii k.. - - ....... MJ "tt mre wun special fitness for some par is fortunate because the 1nh r-Amit. ing peculiar adaption are not common. ie oramary tasks of life are, happily . -'-' I'4'.-, such as any young person of medium gifts can learn to do pretty nearly as The excena, ""v' "S!! The exceptional work which riomon singular fitness by nature Is very lim ited In quantity. Not many carica turists are needed to supply the de mand In Portland, or any other city, not many poets or professional piano players. The Individual who is born with a strong Inclination for a particu lar employment and unique fitness for it is to be congratulated from one point of view, but from another he is to be commiserated. He is soared the doubt and uncertainty which besets most youths when they come to select their iif tt-u k., ,v, n v. - - " .. w. wuk V li Lilt; UllH.l iltUlU, HC . . ti j . , . . . may not find an opportunity to do what nature has made him for, and then he is miserable. The youth of merely general good ability is saved from this danger. Whatever he finds to do, the chances are that he will ultimately be happy in doing it. The difficulty, for him is to find an open ing of any sort. When he does, he will fit into It readily enough. It would be refreshing to read a graduating address which turned the eyes of the students out unon th world they are about to enter, instead or inward upon their own natures. They know a good deal about them selves already. Of the world thev know virtually nothing. One of the saddest disclosures which awaits many of them is the fact that nobody wants them. They must strive and fight, not for a chance to do the work they would like, but to do any work at all. One more word on this subject. If the school did Its duty by the young, it would not be necessary for Mr. Acker man, or anybody else, on graduation day, to tell them to try to find out what they are fit to do. It is rather late then for such advice. The school ought to have been helping them find out all through their course. On grad uation day no student ought to feel the slightest doubt about what he can do or to lack preparation for doing It. Our second criticism on graduating advice is, therefore, that it comes too late. It savors of cruel irony in that it tells the students their four years' work has left them with the most es sential part of their education utterly neglected and satirically urges them to go and do for themselves what they fancied all along the school was doing for them. EXPERIENCE VS. THEORY. The whole of the Marxian theory of capitalism and wages is based on as sumption of a progressively increasing misery of the working class, under ex isting Industrial conditions. The theory rejects the possibility of any ImDrovement nf the Mvlno- pnniHtlnna of the industrial laborers under the competitive ana wage systems, estate socialism, m some form, is offered and ured' as tne only remedy But the fundamental assumption Is untrue" The condition of the working npriT1in , rho ,,.,,, la , . , , r ?sing misery On the contrary, it fn , Increasing comfort, In general, comparative statistics show - . '. . . ' : ------ "marKawe improvement of the llv- f ,0 tZZ J?- -al decades. Perhaps there are ex- v. lj l Liir j fx 1 e o lew us 10 uo neKlieible. A writer in the Tnl!tio!l Science Quarterly for June, a publi cation edited ror the Academy of Po litical Science in the City of New York by the faculty of Dolitical science of Columbia University, has examined In some detail conditions In several European countries, and In our own, showing that there has been ereat gain during the last twenty or thirty years to laDor, Doth In hours and in wages, and further, that while there has been some increase of the enst of living (due very largely to Improve ment or tne scale of living), yet the advance In wages has been greater and that on the whole the position of the wage-worker has been steadily grow ing Detter, during the last half cen tury. But this is no news to living persons whose observation has extended ovsr a period say of forty to slxty years past. They have lively recollection of the conditions of their early lives, and often express a gratified surprise when incidents arise that b-,ing conditions of today in comparison with those which existed then. The writer of the Quarterly article holds it "evident that the experience of all industrial countries without ex ception shows a steady and unnww dented improvement In the conditions of the working people." Further: "The tendency which has led to a oreiKQown of our economic organl- gatlon not only broke down Itself, but developed a corrective tendency In ex actly the opposite direction." The article Is one of a series, of which tia notice only can be taken in the space at command of a newspaper; but it may be said that the series is one of the Innumerable contributions of the recent time to the exposure of Marx Ian sciolism. Tndeerl socialism h,a now virtually thrown Marxism over- Doara. equally does the experience of our day prove that the assumption -whoever may trv to cllnc to it tht the existing mode of industry Is In creasingly oppresive to labor, which, therefore, must look to socialism in some form for relief, is erroneous nnil untenable. r - OCR DOMESTIC EXPORTS. Cotton exports alone enabled our foreign trade figures for the month of May to show an Increase over the cor responding month last vear. tn thl- Hem, as shown by a summary of do mestic exports Just issued by the De partment of Commerce and Labor, there was Increase for the month of more than $9,000,000, while the total exports of breadstuffs, meat and dairy products, food animals, cotton and mineral oil were but $51,609,597, com pared with $47,984,080 for the same month last year. The bulletin con veying this information also presents figures for the eleven months of the fiscal year, which closes June 30. For the class of domestic exports noted there was a decrease for the eleven months ending with May from $895, 786,068 last year to $792,595,238 for the same period this year. Mineral oil alone shows a gain, and In this com modity the exports were but $2,000 -000 greater than for the same period last season. 1 XIIC eiiect OI OUT aflOrt Wheat Ttn attendant high prices at uown in a decrease in this item of , ""a llera i neany ju,uuu,ou. with flour showing a decrease of $11,000,000. The extent to which the Pacific Nnrtbt 1 . V... . " of more than $15,000,000 In Portland o-iia x-uget oouna shipments, as com- fiicu uu muse or last year rnr the first eleven months of the season 1907-08 these ports shipped more tan f a the breadstuffs export- irom tne united states during that period. This season our proportion has fallen away to less than one eighth. - Fortunately for this North Pacific country, as well as the remainder of the United States, we are rapidly ap proaching the period when there will be another crop available for export That there will be a good demand at high prices now seems a certainty, and it will not take very long to shift this trade balance back to the right aide of the ledger. If present nrlces can b maintained and the American grain crops make an out-turn at all in keep ing with present prospects, the agri cultural districts will be rolling in prosperity before the snow flies. The supremacy of the steamer over all other classes of ocean carriers , has again been recognized. When the Eastern shipbuilders, about a dozen years ago, supplanted the old "square riggers" with mammoth schooners, that could be handled with less than half the crew required by the ships, it was freely predicted that the bottom had been reached in economical han dling of freight by water. The Crow ley fleet, which included the seven master Thomas W. Lawson, had a number of schooners that would carry from 5000 to, 7500 tons of cargo. But the managers of the line have, after many years' experience, realized that this is an age of steam, and last week awarded a contract for construction of two 8000-ton steamships which will be used exclusively in the coast coal trade between Philadelphia and Boston. The steamers will cost $500,000 each and will handle more coal per year than half a dozen sailing vessels of approxi mately the same size. The livestock show and raes at th Country Club grounds last year at tracted patrons -and exhibitors from points as far east as Missouri and the exhibition of .livestock was the finest ever seen in Portland. Through the Interest awakened at the Lewis and Clark Fair stock show, Portland and tributary territory have taken quite a prominent place as a .livestock center. Much of the prestige thus trained will be lost if we fall to keep alive the in terest that has been awakened in the great stock industry. The race course at the Country Club is one of the finest ana lastest In the United States, and it would be a great loss to the city if it were to be abandoned. The project for reorganizing the company and giv ing a high-class stock show and race meeting is one that should receive the support of every one interested in the growth of the city, and of one of its greatest supporting industries the livestock business.- Rainier, Or., has let street and sewer contracts to the amount of $50,000 this year. This, is the same Rainier that a dozen years ago was a diminu tive steamboat landing, at which Dean Blanchard's woodyard and the post office were the only features of promi nence. Rainier Is an excellent exam ple of what railroad transportation can do for a town, and may be taken as a criterion of what we may expect In scores of other railroadless towns and crossroads corners throughout the state. There is a fine country lying back of Rainier, and, with good water front facilities and plenty of timber to work on, the Columbia County city has a very bright future. Ninety-two pages were necessary properly to exploit the twenty-fifth an niversary of the founding of the Spo kane Review last Thursday. A great paper this birthday number is. Be cause of the fact that Spokane is In the center of an empire a little richer in diversified resources than . almost any other region on earth, this great Spokesman-Review is a marvelous story of mining, farming, lumbering in fact, almost everything but deep-sea fishing. From the point of view of The Oregonian's three-score years, the Spokane paper is a healthy youngster, and, as a newspaper, is but representa tive of its locality, so Is the city of the falls likewise vigorous. Referring to the suggestion that the Initiative law be so nmanAa . quire petitions for enactment of new aws to De lert at the office of the County Clerk to be signed, and forbid ding their circulation by Interested parties, the Eugene Register says: It Is the most sensible and noteworthy suggestion on lawful operation of the initia tive we have yet come across. It would put an effectual stop to the farce and fraud perpetrated under the gulBe of political re form fn thlB BtAtA o-i -l,... . v. . . . ' - - . ii" miuauva a decent and respectable standing. Men with lu giuiu ana political foes to punish would be barred from the buttonholing and cajoling process and measures would then come up before the people on their own merits. The Republican press of Oregon, without an exception so far as we know or thus far have seen, deems the method adopted at Portland the ad visory method of making nominations a proper solution of some of the main difficulties and irregularities caused hitherto by the primary law. It may be regarded as certain that the method will be pursued by the Repub licans of Oregon hereafter. The Dem ocrats have pursued It always, sob stantially heretofore. They have sup ported "assembly" candidates. The steamer Telephone is to be added to the big fleet of steamboats that have been sent around from Port land to Puget Sound. The Almighty having provided Seattle 'and Tacoma with a remarkably fine body of water. It Is, of course, natural that the citi zens should desire to have steamboats In keeping with the water. This, of course, necessitates having them built at Portland. Mayor Lane at last will sign up a lighting contract. After two years' delay he "got busy" to rebuild Madi son bridge. If his term had expired sooner, he might have wound up this important business earlier. A railroad town has an advantage fn that Its money seems to come from the outside. Something like $35,000 was disbursed at La Grande by last month's payroll, which 1 DrtWs 'uortr 1 good. Down In Oklahoma a train crew suc cessfully resisted hold-up robbers who wanted the crew's pay envelopes. It makes a difference to train crews whose money robbers, want. There may be just one girl in Port land fit to marry a young man, but the young man's Idea and his mother's seldom agree as to who, the girl is. Mrs. Gould, in one of her drunken revels, kicked off her slippers, went to bed dressed, and snored. Does It prove her claim of "society lady"? - The county has sold the poorfarm for $154,530. Taxpayers get the "un earned value," not curbstone agitators. That is "social Justice." In the Oregon Penitentiary yester day the gallows hanged another mur derer because It couldn't hang the whisky. .... INITIATIVES AND REFEREX'DtH. Striking A b tire a of the Initiative Method of Legislation. Oregon Observer, Grants Pass. The great abuses that the U'Ren Ini tiative law is liable to at every re curring election, have seriously alarmed the common sense of the state. At the election last year, bills under this law were introduced and passed that men of knowledge and experience would not have considered favorably for a single moment. Worse than that, the people voted In favor of bills of the reach of which they had not the slightest under standing, and which can only be Inter preted- by trained lawyers and judicial decisions, what an absurdity for such bills to be submitted to the judgment of the uninformed voters! At the late city election In Portland the abuse reached its climax. Thirty five hills, more or less fakirish, more or less dangerous, and mostly beyond the understanding of the average voter, were submitted. It is gratifying to know that the common sense of the voters revolted, and most of these 35 warts of law making were condemned. But the danger remains. At the state election next year there may be a hun dred or more freak bills submitted for popular approval by voters who in 'the nature of things have not had the training to enable them to vote intelli gently on the measures submitted. Once in a while a vicious bill will get approved in Ignorance, and in due course there will be an accumulation of vicious bills made law in that way. The prospect Is truly alarming. The Observer is afraid of the exist ing initiative and referendum law, but it does not want it abolished. There is virtue in it, if the associated evils can be cut out. What is wanted is an amendment limiting the action of this law to bills passed by the Legislature and bills defea-ted In the Legislature. Here would be ample power in the hands of the people to check any ob jectionable legislative transactions and that is all that serious people desire in the way of popular legislation. As it stands, the initiative and referendum is a menace to every prudent home builder in Oregon, and every prudent home builder is bound to demand Its amendment or abolition. LENTS GRANGE A LITTLE HASTY Initiative Law Should Be Amended, Snyi, Mr. Hume. SELLWOOD, Or., June 18. To the Editor.) The writer recognizes the Oregon State Grange as an association of the very best citizens of our state. Almost always their conclusions in handling matters of public weal are well considered. But he thinks they were a little hasty out at Lents the other day in their action on the mat ter of the Sellwood Republican Club's resolutions recently passed by it. Near ly all seem willing to admit that our initiative method of law making should be amended somewhat, or weighted; and this is the object sought by our club. The writer has always favored a con servative method in seeking reform or change in our laws, as in dealing with the saloon problem for Instance. Hence he has been subjected to severe criti cism in his not Indorsing out and out prohibition instead of local option, the successful method. He will not say but that radical methods will accomplish the end sought Just as well, though subject to stronger opposition, as in the present case. Hence he did not Insist on the adoption of the resolution re ferred to in the report of the meeting of the club and presented by him, sub mitting always to the will of the ma jority in political matters. As report ed, he favored that a larger per cent of voters be required to sign a peti tion for enacting a new law, and the reason for such law he stated therein; that each signer should have personal ly read the same before signing, and suggested that instead of its being cir culated for signatures by a paid agent. It should be in the hands of a County Clerk, a City Auditor or Recorder, and there signed voluntarily. There is no need lor any one to get exercised over this matter just now. The people will take care of this mat ter In due tine with all other matters of merit or demerit as the case may be in our present methods of law making. PETER HUME. Man and Ills Ways. Philadelphia Enquirer. Many .persons wonder that there are almost 500,000 surviving soldiers of the Civil War, considering tha it is 48 years since It began and 44 since it ended. The reason lies in the fact that it was a young man's war, as the following official statistics as to the .age of men as they enlisted will show: At the age of 10 and under 25 At the age of 12 and under 225 At the age of 14 and under 1,523 At the age of 16 and under .-. 844,801 At the age of IS and under 1,151.438 At the age of 21 and under 2,159.798 Twenty-two years of age and over. 618,516 These figures include re-enlistments, of which there were almost 2,000,000, but it can easily be seen that this was prac tically a boys' war, since only a small percentage were 22 years of age and over, and these must, to a large extent, have enlisted previously. It is estimated that if the year 1863 be taken as a starting point, since it was the middle of the war, the average age of the soldier was about 22 years, which would make him 68 at the present. ThaJ is a fair age, but not old by any means, and it ought to be re membered that those who served through a campaign and came out fit showed virility which indicated a promise of living beyond the normal. An Interesting Pension Experiment. World's Work for June. A large mercantile company, which has branches in nine of our cities, has put into effect an employe's old age pension system, which is an Interesting experiment. To this the employes themselves contribute noth ing, but all are eligible at 60 years of age if they have served the company for 20 years. Provision, too, is made for those who. at any age. are inca pacitated .for work after 20 years of service. The amount of a pension Is based upon the salary of an employe and the number of years he has served. The salary figured on is the average salary during the five years preceding retirement, and the pension amounts to 1 per cent of this, multiplied by the number of years of service. Thus, a man whose salary is $2000 a year, upon retiring after 25 years' service, will receive a pension of $500. The smallest pension to be paid is $300, the largest $1000; so that the system strongly favors those who have received small or moderate salaries and who, unable to save as they have gone along, have looked forward to old age with con sternation. Southern Chivalry Still Lingers. Chicago Post. The leisurely chivalry of the old South still lingers. In Florida, one branch of the State Legislature has passed a bill re quiring that when an automobile meets any other kind of vehicle "the chauffeur shall stop, turn out to one side, and if a lady or child be driving the team the chauffeur shall get out and help same by with their horses, mules, oxen, or what not." Baby Office Bulldins; for Nevr York. Baltimore News. -Facing the new Williamsburg bridge plaza. New York, will be built a two story office and store structure only 6 feet 11 inches wide, with a depth of 100 feet, to cost $10,000. The narrow strip of land was left by the cutting away of the blocks taken to make the plaza. SILVESTOXE IS GIVEX DECREE Divorced From Woman Wlx Desert ed Him Ovpr 11 Years Ago. Circuit Judge Gatens granted three divorces yesterday afternoon. J. sav. tone, a local attorney, said his wife left I him aiarch 20. 1S9S, without assigning any reason, and has remained awav ever ' since. He said he occasionally had little "spats" with her, but gave her no real cause to leave. Nathan Solomon testified that he was Introduced to Mrs. Edith M. Silvestone by ex-Senator Gearin, and talked over her marital troubles with her. He said she told him she' would not live with Silvestone again under any consid eration. The Silvestones were married in Skamania County, Washington, January 20, 1898. This is the third time they have been in the limelight of the divorce courts. one secured a decree in Oregon, and married a rich cattle owner in California named Dunphy. she obtained a divorce from Dunphy with a Judgment for $10,000 alimony. Dunphy appealed and the Su preme Court ruled that she was never legally married to him, because the first Oregon divorce was not legal. Judge Gatens granted Klvestone' a decree. Lnora Richardson, of Arleta Park, secured a. divorce from John Morrow Richardson, on the ground of cruelty. She married him at Newport. October 16, 1SS9. She said that although she was ill with heart trouble, her life was made bitter by her husbands frequent intoxica tion, cursing and nagging. Rebecca E. WInton told of Eugene Win ton's violent temper. He ordered her to leave, she said, and told her he would make an end of her and himself. They were married December 20, 1903, and have two children. The divorce was granted. J. S. O'Brien brought a divorce suit in the Circuit Court against Hettie 0-Brien yesterday, charging her with having de serted him in September, 1S97, leaving him to care for their four children. He asks to remain their guardian. He says he married his wife at Cliico, Tex., Decem ber 15. 1SS7. That Frank Wilde grabbed her by the throat last Tuesday and told her it should be cut from ear to ear. Is the charge made by Lillie M. Wilde ifi a divorce suit brought in the Circuit Court. She also tells of being drenched in a shower, and of trying to start a fire on arriving home. Her husband threw the kindling out of doors, she says. She also states that he compelled her to remain awake the greater part "of the night a short time ago in the dark and cold without bed clothing. They were married May 14 1902. WOULD STOP TRACK-LAYING Suit Brought to Block Construction on East Side. An effort to have the Portland Rail way, Light & Power Company enjoined from constructing its new line along Albina avenue at Pippin street is be ing made in the Circuit Court. E. A. Ming has filed suit to have the track laying stopped until the election of June, 1911. He says ordinance 19,176, giving the streetcar company a fran chise. Is to be submitted to the people for vote, a petition for referendum be ing on file at the City Hall. Notwith standing this petition, he says, the com pany is going ahead with its work. Ming owns property at the intersec tion of the two streets, and says the track comes within a few feet of the curb, preventing him from using his property for business purposes. The streetcars would prevent wagons from standing in front of his store, he says. Dow Alleges False Arrest. Stephen P. Dow has brought suit for $15,000 in the Circuit Court against Samuel Christie, chare-lne- false mn...i , He alleges that Christie had him arrest- en .viay at nis home at Hubbard and kept him in jail for three days. He was charged with falsely telling Christie that he represented O. A. Dow, and that me latter owned iJow's bakery at 693 East Morrison street, which was for sale. The case in the Municipal Court against Dow was dismissed. Attorney A. E. Clark appears as counsel for Dow in the suit filed yesterday. Damage Suit Thrown Out, Because none knew the cause of a powder-house explosion March 14. 1907, in which Alex Anggelos was blown up, Judge Cleland threw the suit of M. Apach against the Pacific Railway & Naviga tion Company out of court ye"sterday afternoon. As administrator of the Ang gelos estate he demanded $7500 damages, on the ground that the company should not have allowed to have a stove in the building with the dynamite. Anggelos is supposed to have been endeavoring to thaw out a quantity of dynamite when the explosion occurred. AVllliams Gets Five Years. D. H. Williams, ex-secretary and treas urer of the local branch of the United Leather Workers, was sentenced by Judge Cleland yesterday morning to serve five years in the Penitentiary. He was convicted several days ago of having embezzled about $1000 from the union in 1904. He was apprehended at Btsbee, Ariz., and brought back for trial. Court Notes. John T. Brooks, who sued the Northern Pacific Company for $76 because his bag gage was shipped from Forsythe to Bil lings, Mont., instead of to Butte, the sta tion to which It was checked, obtained judgment In Judge Gatens' department of the Circuit Court yesterday for $62. Brooks is a traveling man, and was de layed by the mistake. Harry Weber brought suit in the Cir cuit Court yesterday to recover $1477 from Ida M. Brackett and W. W. Brack en. E. P. Sisk sued the Bracketts in San Francisco for $2000 on a note. It is alleged that only $6S9 was paid. Sisk assigned the claim to Weber. A. G. Eddy, formerly a conductor on the Oregon Electric line between Portland and Salem, pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court yesterday to simple larceny, and was sentenced by Judge Gantenbein to 90 days in the County Jail. He was then paroled. He was charged with having "knocked down" fares to the amount of $1.45. Attorney John Logan appeared for him, and Deputy District Attorney Vree land prosecuted the case. Circuit Judge Gantenbein directed a verdict for the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company yesterday morning, in the suit wherein Isaac Lane demanded $2500 damages on account of an accident at Grand and Hawthorne avenues. A jury had been drawn, but the pleadings showed negligence on Lane's part by driving suddenly in front of a moving car. Northwest People In East, NEW TORK, June 18. (Special.) Northwestern people registered at lead ing hotels today are: From Portland--Grand Union. R. T. Johnstone. G. Johnstone, E. Grenfell. From Spokane Savoy, J. G. Donnell. From Seattle York, H. H. Plummer; King Edward. L. F. Holmes; Park Ave nue, S. M. Constantian; Breslln, C. E. Herron; Marlborough, F. Brown. Campbell Issues Court Orders. ASTORIA, Or., June 18.9peclal.) Judge Campbell held an adjourned ses sion of the Circuit Court here yesterday and handed down formal orders In a num ber of cases. He set the case of H. A. J.arsen Spande vs. the Western Life In demnity Company for trial on July 6 and granted J. W. Kelley. indicted on a charge of larceny, ' until next Monday to plead. BOATERMAX IX AUTHORITY Acting Governor Refuses to Take Trouble Onto Himself. SALEM. Or.. June 18. (Special.) IJurlng the absence from the state of Governor Benson, President of the Sen ate Jay Bowerman is Acting Governor and Secretary of State, with two out of three votes on most of the state boards. It was pointed out today bv a state official that Mr. Bowerman might, if he chose, come to Salem, take possession of the Governor's office, discharge all the clerks and appointive officers. In cluding the men at the head of. the prison, asylum and other state institu tions, call a special session of the Leg islature and do numerous other revolu tionary things. However, when a friend telephoned him from Salem, calling attention to his great power and asked him if he in tended using his authority to pardon or commute the death sentence of Nord- who was nangea today. Bowerman-declared: "Leave me out of It; I've got troubles of my own." LIQUOR BLAMED FOR HIS EXD Murderer Nordstrom Goes to Deatb With Xo Trace of Fear. SALEM. Or., June 18. (Special.) "Booze hrrttlpht mA V,a-A- t 1. - boys." This was the burden of a three minute talk by Adolf N. Nordstrom to me newspaper men and others in attend ance tOdav 1llRt hffnrA tho Kl .1 ..1- an . - - ...... .v . i ... drawn over the murderer's face and his uouy snot tnrougn the trap to eternity. The trap was sprung at 11:27. and 15 minutes later Nordstrom was pronounced dead. The condemned man showed absolutely no sign of fear or agitation. On the scaffold with him were Rev. C. Hoph and Chaplain St. Pierre, of the penitentiary. Although there have been numerous mur ders in Tillamook County. Nordstrom is the first man sent up from that county to suffer the death penalty. The body was buried in the prison cemetery. OPEN RIVER BOARD NAMED Governor Hay Appoints Five Eastern Washington Citizens. SPOKANE, Wash.. June 18. (Special.) ' Five representative men. all thoroughlv conversant with the Columbia River anil its obstructions, have been selected by Governor Hay as members of the Colum bia River Improvement Commission, pro vision for which was made by the recent Legislature, when a bill carrying an ap propriation of $50,000 Was passed for the opening up of the Columbia between Bridgeport and Kettle Falls. The members appointed on the Com mission, according to private advices re ceived in this city from Olympia, are J. B. Valentine, of Bridgeport: State Sen ator A. W. Anderson, of Addy; Captain Fred McDermott, of Wenatchee; W. W. Bryant, of Addy and Herman Cornell, of Bridgeport. NEGRO BROOKS ARRAIGNED Date for Hearing Depends on Ability of Injured Men to Appear. THE DALLES. Or., June 18. R. E. Brooks, the negro who shot Bernard H. Trumbull and John S. McLaughlin at Shaniko early Wednesday morning, was arraigned before Justice of the Peace J. A. Douthit this morning on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. No definite date for the hearing was set. the time depending .on how soon the men he wounded will be able to come to this city and appear against him. XOME FLEET IS OUT OF ICE Four Steamers Reach Nome Safely. Ohio Still Delayed. NOME, June IS. The steamers Croix. Olympia, San Mateo and Umatilla, which were caught in the Ice and de layed for several days, have broken through and are here safe. The reve nue cutter Thetis and the steamer Ohio are still fast in the ice 80 miles from here, but are considered safe. Clark County Divided. VANCOUVER, Wash., June .(Spe cialsJudge W. W. McCredie has di vided Clark County into three Jury dis tricts,' in accordance with the new jury law. About one-third of the population Is in each district. District No. 1 in cludes the precincts of Whipple Creek, Travor, Pollock. Lincoln. La Center, Cathlapoodle, Eaton,. Mountain View and Cedar Brook. District No. 2 contains the precincts of Preston, Fourth Plain. Battle Ground, Lackamas, Fern Prairie, Columbia, Washougal, Alpine and Camas. District No. 3 includes Fruit Valley, Sal mon Creek and Vancouver. -Dayton May Get Stone Quarry. DAYTON. Wash., June 18. (Special.) That one of the four stone quarries to be established by the state will be lo cated here seems evident. Professor Harry Lambs. State Geologist, who had charge of locating the quarries, was here today. He found the qualities of rock here the best in Eastern Washington. The other features that commend this lo cation are access to two railroads and waste lands on which' t'o establish a. con vict camp. Coos Bay to Send Delegation. MARSHFIELD. Or., June 18. (Spe cial.) The Marshfield and North Bend Chamber of Commerce will send a del egation to the . Oregon-Idaho Develop ment Congress to be held at Burns, Or. July 1 and 2.- The August meeting of the league will be held in Coos Bay and the delegation will go to Burns to extend the members an invitation to this place, and to boost for the Coos Bay, Oregon and Idaho Railroad. Wire Thieves Caught in Act. ALBANY, Or.. June 18. (Special.) Charged with stealing 400 pounds of cop per wire, J. T. McKay, a Western Union lineman, and George Richards, a hobo, are in the Linn County Jail tonight. Foreman Lincoln spent yesterday and to day tracing the thieves and this after noon found them in an old barn Just finishing cutting up the wire Into short pieces and placing It in barrels. Their evident purpose was to send it to Port land for 6ale as scrap wire. May Remove Hume's Body. MARSHFIELD. Or., June 18. Spe cial.) It is reported that the body of the late R. D. Hume, which is buried at Wedderburn, on the Rogue River in Curry County, is to be moved to San Francisco. Prior to Mr. Hume's death he expressed the wish that he be bur led on a hill overlooking the ocean, but now that the estate is to be sold it is understood that the body will be moved. Railroad Supplies Shifted. GARDINER. Or.. June 18. (Special.) The many thousand barrels of cement stored for nearly two years on the lower Umpqua River by the Southern Pacific and Intended to be used in the construc tion of the Drain-Coos Bay Railroad, are being transferred to other points. The gasoline vessel Wilhelmina; of Coos Bay carried out the first load of five hundred barrels today for Coos Bay.