Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1910)
TITE MORXTS'G OREGOXIAN. SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1910. fOKTLAXD. OREGO. Entered at Portland, Oregon. PostolTlc BtccDH-Ciiia Iattr. obwrtouoa stle Invariably la d fRT VilLk Dally. Sunday included, ou w ??? Fallr. Punlay Included. tm month, ... Lnr. fiuacay Included, tar month,.. Eatly. Sunday Inelu4d. on mocUk.... Pa.y. without fcunnay. on year I'ai.y. without funaay. six month. ... ri:y. without sunoar. thr months.. Paiiy. without dufldir on moow.... Weekly, on yar. tun'.tr, on yar. ..........- - Sunday and wklr. on yr-.,..--- 4 35 2 25 .7J r0 3 1.75 .80 ISO 2 SO K Dl?y. Pnndar Included, on yar -J2 uany. sunoay. tncmoo. on rao. - - How t Rrmtt Sand PoetofTlc money rder. tiprtM order or personal check on your local bank. Stlmcn coin or currency ar at tn sender, risk. Glv PostniTir addr la full. Including county and atai. PeMsur Kate 10 to II ps. I cent; 1 to 23 pages. 2 cnt; to 40 psg. cents. to 0 pas 4 cau- rorticn poatag doubl rat. Eastern Boato OrTV Th, . C. Vc. with SpcUU Ai'nrr .sw York, room tn Trlbuna buiidin. Chicago, room oiu B12 Trlbun building. PORTLAND. BATTKDAY. lO. 27. ltlo. THE ROOT Or THE TBWBlt The Oregonlan prints a letter today "hlch Is a fair nmplt of many that coma to the office. Written by a man of affairs whose conscience U active and his intelligence keen. It exhibits deep Interest In the subject of prohi bition. The writer. Sir. J. Allen Har rison, cannot understand why It Is that The Oregonlan should be unable to favor prohibitory liquor laws. He reminds us, no doubt with perfect accuracy, that the liquor business is responsible "for nort of the crime and misery of our Nation" and "notes with regret that so able and promi nent a journal should take the stand" The Oregonlnn docs "on the liquor question." Mr. Harrison, like many other excellent citizens, confuses op position to prohibitory laws with favor for the saloons. We do not be lieve that the two things are Identical. The Oregonlan may and does . see clearly the evil caused by the sale and use of liquor, while at the same time It believes that prohibition is not the best remedy for them. Indeed that It is no remedy at all. If Mr. Harrison had a child lying; sick of diphtheria and a visitor offered to cure the pa tient with catnip tea. would It follow that the father desired the death of his Infant If he administered some other medicine? People who think that opposition to prohibition necessarily Implies fa vor for the saloons might correct their error by looking round the world a little. Nobody on earth desires the welfare of her fellow men more ar dently or Intelligently than Jane Addams. Nobody hates vice more deeply or pursues it more relentlessly. But Jane Addums is not a prohibi tionist. Indeed she has a good word to say for the saloons now and then, as for instance that they provide a social resource for the city poor and give innocent outlet to passions which might become dangerous under sup pression. It Is well to add a caution here. Miss Addams sees the evils of the saloons as clearly as anybody and labors to abate them, but she is not on record as a prohibitionist. The same may be said of Dr. Lyman Ab bott, who baa advocated local option, but never state prohibition. It ought to be evident from exam ples like these that there are conscien tious people In the world who prefer other remedies for the drink malady than prohibitory legislation. One Is not necessarily a friend of drunken ness and crime because he thinks It will require something else besides legislation to eliminate or even cleanse the saloon. When a wise physician undertakes to treat a disease he first looks for the cause. As long as the cause is unknown or neglected, it Is hopeless to treat the disorder. All remedies which are administered In Ignorance or Indifference to the root from which the malady springs are mere quackery. They may produce some results which are temporarily pleasing. but In the end the patient is sure to be worse off than he was in the first place. Now prohibi tion as a remedy for the drink evil and the saloon totally ignores the cause of the disease which It is ex pected to cure. How many of our belligerent prohibitionists ever asked themselves this question: "Why is the American saloon so much worse than the places in France and Italy where liquor Is sold?" And again. ' "Why does the habit of moderate drinking degenerate Into drunkenness so much oftener In the t'nlted States than in most European countries?" It must be conceded that the Amer iran saloon is an ulcerous sore on the civic body. It Is so essentially bad that one blushes to concede what rigorous truth demands In Its favor. Why la It so bad? Of course there are many reasons. One of them lies in our National temperament. The virtue of moderation seems to be Im possible for us. Either we must ab stain altogether or we go too far. This is Just as true in politics and many other directions as it is with reference to strong drink. For long years we lie perfectly inert, making no progress whatever In our politics, then all of a sudden we rush to the other extreme and try to remedy ac cumulated mischiefs by one grand feat of legislation. Continuous and rational advance Is something w-e never dream of. If we drink at all we get drunk. If we differ from our wives on the price of a new bon net, we rush Into the divorce court. If we fall to make as many converts as we think desirable in a revival we demand the destruction of the public schools. What sort of statesmanship Is this? Can prohibitory laws make us studious, thoughful and moderate? But there Is something else which may be said on this subject. As a Nation we are guilty of another sin. and that is the sin of indiscriminate condemnation. We have been in the habit for a hundred years of lumping together innocent amusement and abhorrent vice as if they were one and the same thing. A village dance, a party at whist, a game of ball on Sunday afternoon, we have been taught to believe, were Just as wicked as drunkenness and theft. The effect of this senseless teaching is now ap parent. Since rational enjoyment and gross vice are equally sinful, why not plunge Into vice? Morally, so our teachers say. all pleasures are equally bad. Then what Is the use of making any distinction In our conduct? It follows that the average American when he seeks enjoyment runs too often Into bes:lal Indulgence. The saloon is an easy deduction. Can we correct the fallacies of Puri tanism by prohibitory legislation? It Is easier to pass laws than It Is to re trieve false teaching and modify fun damental traits of character, but we feaf that the latter tasks must be ac complished before we shall ever make much headway against the evils of strong drink. There are some other things that must also be done. Scien tists tell us that poverty is heinously responsible for Intemperance. Can we cure poverty by passing prohibi tory laws? 1 PRIMARY LAW TO BE VPMFI.O? It Is important to note what Sena tor Bourne says only so far as he voices and embodies the spirit and purposes of a large body of Oregon voters. This is the element that seeks to control and dominate the Republican party, and at the same time repudiates any obligation to do anything whatever for the Republican party. It completes alliances with Democrats. Populists and the" dissatis fied and Irreconcilable remnants of all parties and of all factions of all parties, to make common cause at the Republican primary or at the election later against the Republican party. The aim and effort of these allied forces Is to destroy the Repub lican party. They scarcely pretend now that they care anything about party, or party organization, but they seek to break down party lines every where that the "gang" may run things to, suit themselves. The Oregonlan does .not preach the doctrine that "every voter should vote blindly for the nominees of his party." as has been declared from one of many Democratic sources, that is conspicuous chiefly for the constant concern It displays about the conduct of Republican primaries. Nor does it agree with the opinion that the threat of Senator Bourne to 'repudiate the result of the Republican primary if it should fail to nominate the candidates be supports Is the "view of all intelli gent, progressive citizens." Senator Bourne, speaking for him self and undoubtedly also for his fol lowing, said he would not vote at the regular election for any candidate rec ommended by an assembly of Repub licans, even if the candidate should be duly nominated at the primary. Very well. Republicans know exactly what to expect. The Bourne contingent goes Into the Republican party with the openly proclaimed purpose of wrecking the party if its own nominees shall not be successful. Tet we are every day bombarded with the false appeal of this same Insincere crowd of In triguing politicians, and their self anointed leaders, to "trust the peo ple" and to "keep hands off the pri mary" and "leave everything to the' will of the sovereign voter. Is the primary law to be upheld? Or Is It to be destroyed? Is any man a friend of the primary, or the prin ciple of the direct primary, who says in advance that it cannot be trusted and that he, will not accept Its Judgment? PESTERING TItK PEOPLE. Here are lawgivers in Oregon many of them who are unwilling to submit their measures to parliamen tary treatment: so they offer them by initiative "to the people." Yet these bills, whose authors fear the Legislature, are the very ones that ought to be tested by the methods of representative, deliberative legisla tion. In Trequent cases, authors think it a mark of merit to refuse to go before the commonwealth's cho sen delegates with their measures: they "appeal" to the people, declar ing the people should rule and that the Legislature is no good anyway. But the people rule best by the system that enables them to declare their majority will and to repudiate minority fads and isms. That system is known as parliamentary represent ative government. None better ever was discovered. Oregon's "Improve ments" mark no advance: they reveal regression in the strife of factions, the activity of agitators, the anxiety of conservative citizens, the stimulation of minorities, and the practical aboli tion of constitutional government. Generally, the reason ascribed by promoters of new-fangled bills for refusing to take ttuMr measures to the Legislature is the real reason why they should be forced to go there and should be denied access to the "people." Verily. Oregon is a choice haven for agitators of fads and' Isms. It is the easiest of all states wherein to pester the people. HATfOXAI. CONTROL OP WATER POUEKo. Control of water power is one of the most Important features of the conservation problem. There are few If any water powers In the United Stairs that can be developed and brought into condition for practical use except at a very heavy expendi ture of money. This naturally limits the Bold of development those who have capital. But while there may be comparatively few people who control sufficient capital to develop this power that is running to waste, there are thousands who might have use for It after it was harnessed and who would be willing to pay for the power generated. These people are entitled to the advantages to follow the development of a water power which they were unable to develop themselves. It is the duty of the Government. National or state, to permit such development as Is neces sary wherever a water power can be worked Into shape for general utility. In the September number of the World's Work. Major Henry L. Hlg ginson. a Boston financier, whose Arm has invested in many water power developments, offers some In teresting and valuable suggestions for handling these water powers without keeping them forever In a rtate of Plnchotlied Inactivity and uselessness. Major Hlgglnson believes that "the Vnited States, or a state which grants the use of its water power, may fairly a.k for a royalty If it seems worth while to do so." H properly takes the stand that the men who are willing to Invest their money In the development of these water powers should be received "not as enemies, but as friends In whom the guardians of the state and Nation's property can trust. If the majority of the human race were not (on the whole) honest, the business world would have been smashed long ago." Major Hlgginson suggests that cap italists who are willing to Invest money In developing water powers be compelled to act promptly, on pain ot forfeiture of the grant, and that the state Is entitled to "payment of rea sonable compensation for the benefit granted by the people, with periodic readjustment of the rate of compensa tion, so as to Insure Justice both to the Investor and to ths public." To safe guard the Interests of the stats and the Nation against loss through heavy future appreciation of values, It is proposed to limit all such grants "to periods not exceeding fifty years, and reservation of the right to terminate and reconvey the grant for proper cause and upon equitable compensa tion; together with proper Inspection and publicity of records and ac counts." This Eastern view on con servation and control of Western water powers is so radically different from anything proposed by the Pin chot faddists that it will hardly fail to attract attention and commendation among all fair-minded people. THE ANTT-tVEED CAMPAIGX. The city of Tacoma has now j ranged itself among those which are ut'ienmiieu lu bbi iu . n .j . table weeds are meant. The human variety Is still to be permitted to flour ish unchecked and is even encour aged by divers charitable Institutions. The campaign in Tacoma will be waged against burdocks, thistles and similar rank phenomena. Naturally vacant lots will be the scene 'of the most vigorous onslaughts upon the pests, since it is on these depressing spots that dire vegetation doth most luxuriantly flourish. The vacant lot belongs commonly to an absent owner. He sits at his ease In some distant town and smokes his pipe while the labors of the people round about his lot raise its value for him.. Every stroke of work they do, every building they erect, con tributes to, this beneficent end. By and, by, when the value of the lot has been inflated to the point which satis fies his avarice, the absentee owner sells and pockets the proceeds. While he Is waiting for this blessed consummation the thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher on his property. It is an asylum for skunks and catamounts, and If It Is bordered by a high billboard hold-up V men make It their headquarters. The absentee lot-owner contributes little more than his good will to the growth of the town as things are now managed, but it is possible to make him do something more substantial. A new system of valuing real property has been devised in some of the East ern cities of the United States which appreciably swells the amount of taxes he pays. The increase would be sufficient to pay for keeping his land clear of weeds and leave a hand some surplus for the public use be sides. Really, when one thinks the matter over, there is no sound reason why absentee lot-owners should be Indulged with especially light taxes and allowed to keep their property in the condition of an eyesore as well. The public has some rights, though perhaps -not many, which the indi vidual is bound to respect even If he lives in some other city. IRRIGATION' FOR THK YVXLLAMETTB VALLEY. Why think of Irrigating 4.000,000 acres of land enjoying an average annual rainfall of 30 to 47 inches? Has It not been a repeated story that crops have never failed In the Wil lamette Valley, and that the climate is so even that Injuries from frost or from drouth have never been re ported? Has not this great Willam ette Valley been the earliest cultivat ed and the most continuously cropped district in Oregon? Is not land there worth today from 50 to 1150 an acre? All true, 'and yet the report of A. P. Stover, the engineer of the Department of Agriculture, who has for three years been Investigating the conditions of farming in this great Valley, and the possibilities or radical Improvement In methods and results, shows that unless irrigation is pro vided and the new style of intensive farming is introduced and generally practiced, the reputation of the Wil lamette Valley as the garden of Ore gon will take to Itself wings and flee away. This Government expert is not alone in the foreboding. Many other ob servers have taken note of the facts on which his deliberate and reasoned opinion rests. When wheat was the farmer's mainstay, warehouses were filled to overflowing, and the farmer's year ended with the harvest that paid his debts and furnished the living for the family for the coming year. The fact that for two months and more after the wheat had ripened no rain fell, the pastures dried up. and farm ing stopped until the hard ground was softened by the Fall rains was of little import and less consequence. But the wheat farmer of those days was drawing on a bank account that was fed by no deposits. Tear by year mother earth honored his drafts on her stored resources. He laughed at the idea that the wheat field he had plowed and harrowed and sowed for twenty or thirty years would ever fall him. His farm consisted probably of his donation land claim, where he and his wife got title to 640 acres of level or gently rolling land. Front the basaltic walls that bordered the Valley the rains of centuries had washed phosphates down the little creeks and spread them over the al luvial lands. Year Ty year the brush fires of the Indians had strewed the ground with ashes before the white settlers made their homes. No wonder that surface plowing and once harrowing was the extent of the farmer's cultivation. Indeed, five and twenty years ago It was no uncommon sight for the wagon to be drawn across the' unplowed wheat stubble, and the Boed sown broadcast, to be harrowed in for the next year's crop. Wheat crops dwindled and a rem edy was sought. The Agricultural College. began Its beneficent work and new farming ways, varied crops, new Industries on the farm were diligent ly preached. Changes were very slow, but gradually the donation land claims went into . other hands and were broken up into manageable farms. New men. new ways. Sum mer fallowing was denounced and crops were introduced that required feeding, and of all things rain, or rather water, throughout the dry months of early Fall. What was at first merely desired is now proven absolutely needful If the Willamette Valley acres shall not only sustain but reward the new owners' work. It is a big problem that stares the Willamette farmers In the face. On each side of the big Valley, from Ore gon . City to Cottage Grove, streams flow from mountains to the river from which the Valley gets its name. Brim full in the Winter months, the flow dwindles to a mere rivulet in Summer and Fall. When the Fall rains begin the level fields absorb till the surface soil can hold no more. Ditches and water courses are the only drains. The alluvial soil is soaked and the subsoil sometimes waterlogged. Irrigation being the sure remedy for the lack of water in the Summer months, how can It be supplied? Dams in the foothills, say the engineers, will store the Winter overplus for Summer use, and the supply will be abundant for every crop that grows. Fortunately the opportunities are many and the con ditions such that each system need demand no extravagant cost. But to deal with the whole question hundreds of thousands of doIlarB will require to be Invested. The returns? So great that a fair estimate shows figures that it takes courage, even more than faith, to quote. A donation land claim of 640 acres under the old plans had, per haps, a hundred acres of wheat land and the rest rough pasture. Thirty years ago wheat products might aver age twenty-five bushels to the acre, or perhaps thirty. .Wheat was worth about 85 cents per bushel, or $2137 for the crop, or on the 640 acres of the farm, say 13.35 per acre. Irri gated land in the Willamette Valley will be too valuable to grow wheat as a main crop. The only parallel on this wide earth to the Willamette Valley, in soil, cli mate, water or rather river supplies, and crops adapted, is the Valley of the Po in Northern Italy. Irrigation there has been practiced from the times of the Romans down. The Irri gation systems in use today are diver sified between government, municipal and private ownership, but the irriga tion laws are strong and plain, and from them we could learn much. Let the eyes of irrigators, present or prospective, be turned on the Wil lamette Valley as the greatest field for them today. The wheatgrowers of the Argentine seem to have followed much the same system as that of the American farm ers in holding their wheat over through last season's high prices. At no time during the Argentine shipping season last year did the exports from the southern country approach those of the preceding season, and the nat ural assumption was that the most extravagant early claims of crop dam age were accurate. But the Argen tine, right on the eve of another har vest and at a time when exports are supposed to cease until new-crop wheat arrives, has suddenly come to life and is shipping an average of more than 1,250,000 bushels per week. Russia, despite her record breaking shipments through the sea son, is still the most prominent factor In the world's wheat markets, and out of the -Russian and Danubian ports there is coming a steady supply of from 6,000.000 to 6.000,000 bushels weekly, an amount sufficient to min imize the effect of any crop damage on this side pf the ocean. Dr. Kimm, representing the Corean Insurgents in this country, predicts in an interview that war between Japan and the United States will come within five years. This is a prediction that has been made quite frequently within the past year: but, if it does come, war will not be declared for the purpose of enabling Corea to "regain her 4243-year Independence and throw off the yoke of annexation," as mentioned by Dr. Kimm. The United States has indulged in much of this relief work for the oppressed since the Monroe Doctrine was promulgated for that purpose, but, whether in the peppery Central American republics. In Cuba or the Philippines; we have received such scanty thanks that the incentive for taking up' the brown man's bur den in Corea is not strong. It will be Japan's treatment of the United States, and not Japan's treatment of Corea, that will provoke a war with the sons of Nippon. The two-minute harness horse has arrived. Minor Heir is no longer obliged to share honors with the great Star Pointer as a Joint holder of the world's race record for pacers. The record of 2:00 st by Star Pointer in 1897 remained unchallenged for eleven years, but in 1908 Minor Heir tied that record. Last year Minor Heir was unable to get rid of that fraction of a Becond, but his wonder ful performance at Galesburg Thurs day leaves him alone In his glory with the world's race record for har ness horses. It was October 6, 190S, when Minor Heir tied the Star Pointer record, and as there still remain more than six weeks of ideal racing weather in the East, a further reduction of the record is not Improbable. If Sherman should quit the political game two years from now, as it is re ported he will do, popular govern ment will survive. This applies to every other great leader insurgent, standpat, Democrat or 8tatement-No.-Oner. ' In view of the numerous explana tions. Including the latest from Tim Woodruff, it may be asked In all sin cerity. Was this knockdown of Roose velt a fake fight? How distressing it must be to ladies like Margaret Illlngton Bowes and Maybelle Gilman Corey to have impu dent, heartless reporters divulge their professional plans. It having been demonstrated that a police whistle will put to flight a highway robber, let every Portland citizen so arm himself when he goes forth at night. Not to Introduce an unpleasant topic, but merely to fix ft date In the minds of 29,000 Portland youngsters, the public schools "take up" Septem ber 12. "If," says Senator Bourne. "I am here at the November election, I shall vote," etc.. etc. What's your hurry. Senator? Here's your hat. The big hat will continue, and should the hoopsklrt come back, there will be a deal of waste in the femi nine tout ensemble. - "Chaos rules Nicaragua," reads a headline in yesterday's news. When did they elect him president, and what ticket did he run on? Return of Mrs. Corey to the stage is prima facie evidence that Mr. Corey was a failure in the Taming of the Shrew. It is almost time for some en terprising newspaper to start a guess ing contest on "What is a Republi can ?" Well, they can't get the Sherman Taft fight into the moving picture shows. , Dollar butter is headed this way, and oleo is the goat. 4 ,. ' Old Mast Bennett's Coinage Spoiled by the Printer. PORTLAND, Aug. 26. (To the Edi tor.) I live at Irrigon. where I edit the Irrigon Irrigator. I also reside at The Dalles, where I edit The Dalles Op timist. And I sometimes stop in Port land, at the Hotel Yorke, where I am at present, spending some money ac quired on a sage-brush-dog trade, as follows: A delinquent subscriber brought to the Irrigator office a load of sage brush, which we use for fuel up there. This being an off season for fuel, I traded it for a dog, a likely brin dle pup. He had a voracious appetite, and at the present high cost of living rabbit gizzards costing 10 cents per dozen I found the pup's keep expen sive, found that I could not board him for less than 12.88 per year. Then I looked up the canine mortuary and expectancy tables and discovered that he would in all probability live for 10 years and seven months. Now,, that meant an expense of 130.48, which seemed to me too much for the luxury of owning a dog. So I killed him, and having this cash surplus of over $30, I came down to see the circus. When I got up this morning at the Yorke and seized The Oregonlan lying unused at a neighboring room, I found therein, and on the editorial page, an article copied from the Irrigator on 'Plnchoservation," which had become twisted, snarled and tangled into "Pin chotservatiam." I wrote that article before leaving Irrigon. and left it to the devil and his wife, who are doing the work in my absence, to put Into type and give to the world through that great organ. Now, I felt devilish proud of the word "Plnchoservation." It means something, stands for something, ex presses in a forcible way the "aerva tion" that is throttling the West. And I was pained and grieved to find so fit a word of my own coinage so twisted, and I wish The Oregonlan would give to its readers this explanation, and place the word "Plnchoservation" on its way to fame and perpetuity in its prop er form. I might effectually make this correc tion in the Irrigator, but that great sheet Is a daily only once-a-week, on Fridays, and I do not wish to lose any time and have the new word copyright ed and patented by any lesser light than the Old Man. ADDISON BENNETT. WOMA.V IV FORESTRY SERVICE Graduate of .Radcliffe to Work for Government In Wisconsin. Boston Fosu The distinction which has just come to Miss Gerry is one which, it is said, might well be envied by forestry ex perts the country over. She is to become an experimenter to whom Uncle Sam and his much-worked department for the conservation of natural resources will look seriously for aid in the solution of one of the country's problems. Last year she re ceived the degree of master of arts at Radcliffe for research work in paleo botany, under Dr. E. C. Jeffrey, head of the Harvard botanical department. And now as the outcome of her ge nius in the investigation of trees, plants, flowers and everything allied with forest preservation work Miss Gerry, of Roxbiiry, Is to start out upon a career of service for Uncle Sam which may eventually land her high among the expert workers In the De partment of the Interior. Her work In Wisconsin will all have in view the ultimate conservation of the country's forests. From the first, as an experimenter in the new labora tory, she will undertake tasks that shall help in this great and much-desired issue. Science and Microbes. Harper's Weekly. In 1892 diphtheria destroyed in what is now Greater New York 3243 lives, and 4530 in 1894. Then in 1895 the bacteriological laboratory reinforced its microscopic work with the manu facture of diphtheria antitoxin. The deaths from the disease immediately diminished, until in 1907 they had dropped to 1614, although the city had added 1,000,000 to its population. In brief, the microbe, by appearing as the true cauBe of pathological con ditions, has shown how disease may be conquered. In New York, as elsewhere when similar methods have been adopted, the general death rate has splendidly fallen only from 26.68 in the thousand in 1869 to 26.11 in 1891; but then to 25.38 In 1892, when the laboratory began its work, to 19.81 in 1897; and to 18.10 in 1903. If the death rate of 1892. prevailed today the city's annual mortality would be increased by 25,000 souls. Fashion Notes for Men. September Delineator. The practice of allowing the hand kerchief to protrude from the breast pocket is dying out. It seems to be tacitly understood that a gentleman carries a handkerchief whether he dis plays it or not. . European authorities differ as to whether pocket-flaps shall be worn In side or outside this season. If a deci sion is reached we shall stop the press to announce It. The newer collars have clever elastic bands which are Intended to inclose the whiskerB on windy days. The dletarian waistcoat is a new of fering. It contains a belt which may be set to the required dimensions. When you have eaten sufficient to fill out to those dimensions the tension on the belt releases a small alarm bell and you order your coffee. Two Misused Word. v Kansas City Star. "Under Socialism" conditions would be so and so, wrote H. L. Mencklen, of the Baltimore Sun to R. R. La Monte; the Socialist. "Do not. my dear Mencklen." replied La Monte, "write about Socialism as though It were an umbrella" The word "under" has a way of usurping functions. Where another word has a rightful place "under" Is prone to foist itself upon the tongue or pen. "Only" is another undisciplined or disobedient word. Where it should modify one meaning in a sentence it is more likely than not to slip into the wrong place and change the idea. Minding one's p's and q's is nothing like so difficult as minding the "onlys" and "unders" and such small deer in the forests of language. In Demand. Boston Transcript. Wanted A language in whioh the devotees of Esperanto, Volapuk, Blu badub and Hoohoo can understand one another. WIU Help Some. Boston Transcript. We can stand being a "billion-dollar country," provided the prospect of a three billion-bushel corn crop is real ized. INVICTC8. Out of th night that covers me. Black as the pit from pole to polo, I whank whatever gods there be. For my unconquerable aoul. In th fall clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud; Under the bludgeoning-, of chance My head la bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Loom, but the horror of the shade. And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how straight the rate, a How charged with punishment the scroll, I am th master of my fate; I am the captain of mv soul. WILLIAM ERNEST HENLET. They Kept Forests Free From Inflam mable Material. . PORTLAND, Aug. 24. (To the Ed itor.) The disastrous timber nres in the past few weeks demand serious consideration, and as the Government has .adopted a policy to prevent these fires, I would like to make a few re marks along that line. Since the Gov ernment adopted . its present policy, some years ago, placing rangers in th9 field to prevent fires starting and at taching a severe penalty to anyone who did set one, either accidentally or oth erwise, each year fires get more disas trous and will continue to as long as the Government continues its present policy. Anyone who has had experience knows how impossible it Is to control a forest fire when once well started. While the Indians had control of this country, when the present stand of timber was started and . grown, they made a yearly practice of burning the entire country over, or as much as would burn. This, however, was not for the protection of the timber so much as it was a business proposition. They wanted the underbrush and litter kept out of the way for the purpose of hunting. But these yearly fires are the protection and the only way of pre serving large forests of timber. Ordi nary grass fires will not kill younjj timber, and that Is all there Is to barn until the leaves, limbs and windfalls begin to accumulate, and they should never be allowed to accumulate in such quantity that would kill ' the tree. If there were a few saplings killed occa sionally, it is far better than to lose several hundred sections, such as has occurred recently. But in burning over the timbered areas good judgment must be used, es pecially now, since we have such an ac cumulation of inflammable material on the ground. The higher elevations must be bnrned over first. Forest fires never run downhill, but Invariably up, and stop when the top of the hill, or divide, is reached. By this method fires could not gain much headway, and could be fairly well controled. In doing this some damage Is likely to occur. Some rancher is liable to lose a string of fence, but better that than lose all his improvements, and possi bly he and his family be burned to death, which only too frequently occurs. Fires kept away from large forests fo 10 or 15 years, with their Immense ac cumulation of windfalls, leaves and un dergrowth, only means their total de struction when a dry summer comes along and fire gets started. No such fires occurred while the Indians had control of the country. Why not do as they did? A. R. REFORM NEEDED 131 CITY LIFE) Roosevelt's Country Life Commission On of Business. Ban Francisco Chronicle. What has become of the Roosevelt commission on country life? ' If it is still extant, it ought to go to Kansas and find out why the farmers want to put 17,000,000 more into automo biles. Also to count the farms that are run ning by electricity. The Roosevelt commission was going to ameliorate country life, but the pres ent era of high prices show that the life Is rapidly ameliorating itself. It wants no sympathy. The hardscrabble farmer with a shack, a wife In calico, five children, seven dogs and a mortgage Is vanishing. He belonged to the pioneer age and the holdover perlqd and to the communities which practiced the stinginess which Benjamin Franklin preached. As cities grow and population in creases, food prices rise and the farmer, if he knows what he is about, gets most of the benefit from them. Among other things, he got a buggy for the boys and a piano for the girls and gave the youngsters good schooling, and as things kept lopking up he refur nished the old homestead, built out some verandah, put electrical power in the barns and then bought an automobile. Now nothing distinguishes him from the gentleman farmer except that he works and makes money. If the Roosevelt commission wants something to do, let it reorganize and try to ameliorate city life. Let it see if there isn't some practic able way for city people to hit the mid dleman on the other side and get their share of the profits he is extorting from them. The farmer is all right. If he is a good one and has productive land, he is the most independent man in the state. Age Brings Authority. Life. One reason why we grow more gentle with ' age when we do Is that the years themselves bring authority to whom authority belongs, and the need of vehemence is lessened. The young, when they strive to make their wiil prevail, have ned to use force enough to offset the weight of years that M opposed to them. That weight their elders have at their backs to aid them in getting their way. Another reason is that in age we want fewer things, and want them less, and want what we do want less for ourselves and more for the next generation. protecting Her Summer Costnme. Atchison Globe. Notice By special ordinance enacted last night the women of Atchison must immediately place a sign within 10 feet of the kitchen door on which is printed in big letters, "Stop and whistle." The Ice man, the butcher's boy, the grocer, the marketman, etc., will read, stop and whistle, and by the time they reach the kitchen door the woman of the house will have thrown some garments over the two pieces she was wearing while doing the work. These signs, according to the ordinance passed last night, must be put up and maintained from June 1 to September 15. Earliest Insurgency. New York Sun. Adam grew philosophic. "If it hadn't been the devil it would have been Uncle Joe," he cried. Thus we see how early Insurgency began. Got' 'Km Going and Comlns;. 8t Louis Post-Dispatch. Mr. Roosevelt's range is perhaps best Illustrated in the fact that he is at once the foremost representative of both peace and war. LINES TO A RAINMAKER. O Hofer. Coloner Holer To whom the "wet" folk, pray. Give up that trip, take a fre,h srlp. And send the rain thi, way. For how can man fight better than by quelling fire and amoke. Instead of chasing phantom, that are naught but one bis Joke ? O Hofer. Colonel Hofer, Now out on that big "tower," Got off the perch and go to church And pray for one long shower. S"or man can do but little to stop this desolation. While you. O colonel Hofer, you know the combination. O Hofer. Colonel Hofer. Lay by your tuneful lyre. Spit on your mitts and give 'em fit, For help to quench thi, fire. For how can man do better against these frightful odds Than by praying for rainwater and forsak ing his false gods? O Hofer, Colonel Hofer, List to my voice this day: Arise In might to ehed the light. Coma home at once and pray. The- woods are full of sorrow and th air 1, full of smoke Come home and help u, out on this and cease to be a joke. ALIKE KAWLEY. TALK Professor Garner Learns Secrets Of Simian Langoage. Cape Lopez. West Africa, Correspondent of Chicago Tribune. I have just met Professor Richard Gar ner as he emerged from the African for ests after a continuous period of seven years devoted to the study of the monkey language. I was standing on the deck of the Afrique, aa wo were lying off Cape Lopez yesterday. I watched the sturdy man come aboard carrying a chimpanzee, and learned he was Professor Garner. I was interested in this man, who has been spending years here among the tribes of monkeys trying to learn their language and place it in some form Intelligible to human beings. I tried to place myself in the state of mind of an enterprising re porter and to obtain from him the first word for the world of his progress in his strange task. Professor Garner is a man about 65 years old, and when I saw him was) dressed in khaki garments, a helmet, and top boots. He had the appearance of an African hunter. Whatever his peculiar views may be, he is a kindly, courteous gentleman in manner. On a previous period of study and ex ploration he had built for toimself a cage, in order to facilitate closer fellowship with the animals. In this last period of seven years; however, he did not use the cage, but studied alone in the forest Professor Garner told me he was born In Virginia and that his wife was living In Kentucky during his absence from home. "How many times. Professor Garner, have you been in Africa?" I asked. "Three times, and I have stayed in the woods at this point for seven years now." "Why do you come to this particular locality?" "There are more of the monkey family here than elsewhere, and of the highest type. The chimpanzee is the most ad vanced, and so the best subject for study." "How large an area of Africa have you covered?" "I have explored through 400,000 square miles In a region where there were only three white men, including myself. This was two too many. A man must be alone to get the best results in studying the language of animals." "What are the most important results you have obtained this time? Seven years is a long period." "I know the monkey language contains 28 distinct sounds. Of these I know the meaning of nlre. I am in the dark as to the meaning of the other 19." "What are these nine sounds used to express?" "Almost wholly pain, hunger and Joy." "What progress have you made toward conversing with the monkey family?" "I know when they call me from a tree and I can call them." "Can you conver any further than this?" "No, practically not. I may be able to do so later." "Do you regard the chimpanzee with you as intelligent as any you have met?" "Yes, I do. I value her at J250O, and she is only a year old." "What can she do to show she can think, or speak as the result of her thinking?" "She can select colors and Identify them. I may ask her to pick out a cube from a lot of blocks of various shapes and she will do it readily." "Do you regard this as her greatest in tellectual attainment up to the present?" "Yes, I do. But she also cries for me." "Did your coming here to live among the animals have anything to do with proving or disproving the theory of evo lution?" "Only incidentally. I do not believe the ape is man's immediate ancestor." "How will that ancestor be discovered? Is he living somewhere now?" "No, no. I think the discovery will come with the finding of skeletons. Some have been found already which help to fill in the gap between the ape and man." "Do you regard the theory of evolu- , tlon established by, anything you have seen or actually known?" "I believe it will be established." "Have you ever studied the language of horses and dogs?" ".No." "Why not? They are easier to reach . and thus far show more intelligence . by what they do than the monkey fam ily." "I don't believe they are as intelli gent as a chimpanzee." "May not these skulls of which you speak as a help to finding the connect ing link between man and ape have been the skulls of some degenerate or deformed human beings?" "I think not; but I do not know." "Will you return to Africa?" "I think so; but for short terms only." Demand lr Fight News. The public demand for different sorts' of news leads the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to give some figures that may : not be very creditable to this country, but they illustrate the progress of the last half-century In a certain direction. Seven New York daily papers used 121 columns in their report of the Jeffries-Johnson fight at Reno. The same papers nearly half a century ago told the entire story of the battle Jf Gettysburg in 26 columns. The fa cilities for gathering and printing news have increased since the war, but not to the extent these figures indicate. The papers gave all the details of the brutal prizefight because the people demanded them, and a good many more wanted them than are willing to ad- mit it. - He Notes With Regret. PORTLAND, Or., Aug. 25. (To the Editor.) As a reader and subscriber to The Oregonlan I note with regret that so able and prominent a journal should take the stand It does on the liquor question, for It is impossible for me to believe that you do not realize that the liquor business is responsible for the most of the crime and misery of our Nation. As a reader I think I have a right to ask that you at least give a fair representation to both sides of the question. J. ALLEN HARRISON. Always Come Back. New York Herald. Unlike pugilists, actresses who get married and leave the stage always come back. CURRENT NEWSPAPER JESTS. Cholly Give me time to collect my thoughts. Miss Keen Certainly. Mr. Sap leigh. You can have two second,. Boston Transcript. Yeast Did you ever have the acoustic properties of your bouse tested? Crimson beak Oh. yes, my wife Is testing them all the time. Tonkers Statesman. "I see by the paper, that the insurgent force in Venezuela has been outgeneralled. Can it be true?" "Yep. The Insurgents have only 3500 generals, and the loyalist, hav 8630." Cleveland Leader. Those poll' telephone operators In Paris acknowledge a call by saying: "I listen.' Over here It's the neighbor, who listen, but they 'are not polite enough to mention th ,act. Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I would like a cash book." "Yes. sir; right this way. sir. Now this I, the regular size ,tr." "This won't do at all. I want an extra large one. It 1, for household ex pense, and you know how they are In creasing." Buffalo Expre,,. BChOOl VlBIIWt i ucai, iuj vou hav a case of somnambulism In your .. n . k, Unii.r 'Tain', nn amr.il ramiiy. rwiui ; . ' thing, ma'am. We ain't never had one of them Ketcning trouble la that Mamie walks in her sleep- Daiuwui. "I suppose," said the kind lady, as sh handed the husky hobo a generous wedg of apple pie. "that your lot Is full of hard ships'" "Dat's de proper word fer It, ma'am," replied the h. h. "In de Winter w'en d farmers ain't aoin- nomin- out In' apples an' drlnkln' hard cider. Us too . m va rtavnnln arntinil all in COIQ ier iiiw i de Summer people fillers offerm' m worn. Chicago Daily News. X