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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1913)
10 Ttt- r-r::TT?G. OREGOXTATf. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1913. POBTLAXI, OREGON, Knterd at Portland. Orecon. f ostofflca a second-class matter. subscription Kates Invariably In Advance: (BY MAIL) Daily, flundfty Included, one year. . . . ... .$S.W Daily, Sunday Included, six months 4.21 Ually, Sunday Included, three months... 2.20 lally, Sunday Included, one month Dally, without Sunday, one year OOO lally, without Sunday, six months. .... . oJ lally. without Sunday, three months.. Iaily. without Sunday, one month .J" Weekly, one year J-g Sunday, one year ;-9jJ bun day and weekly, one year -rt' (BY CAHSIER) Dally, Punday Included, one year '9'22 Dally, Sunday included, one month... ... How to Remit Send postofflce money or der, express order or personal check cn your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Ulve postofflce address in full. Including county and state. Postage Rates 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent: IS to 82 pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3 cents: 00 to fc pages. 4 cents; 62 to To pases, o cents; 78 to U2 pages, U cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern Business Offices Verree & Conk. Iln, ls'ew York. Brunswick building. Chi cago. Stegcr building. Han Francisco Office R, J. Bldwell Co T42 Market street. roBTLAM, nuDAr, nov. si, iis- 1 IfON-rARTISANS 1 Oil THE BENCH. The state la entitled to have the services of its most eminent lawyers on the Supreme and Circuit Benches without regard to politics. The Ore gonian approved the selection by Gov. ernor West of a. capable and scholarly Democrat W. M. Ramsay to the Su preme Bench, and it is prepared to say that no reason or consideration of pure partisanship should control either the people or the executive in selecting Judges. It Is not unmindful of the fact that the most active pro tagonists of a non-partisan Judiciary are some of our Democratic politi cians, and it knows what the persistent cry of non-partisanship, raised under the Impulse of Democratic self-seeking, has done for the Democratic. party and to the Republican party in Ore gon. Nevertheless, The Oregonian eays that a Supreme Bench, or a Su perior Bench in a largo county, made up of Judges exclusively selected from one political party is not a reassuring or wholesome spectacle. The charge has never been made that the Supreme Court of Oregon has rendered a decision on political gTOunds, or that any of Its members have been inspired in any action or ruling by partisan aims. But that is not the issue. The state ought not, by its partisan methods of nomination and election, to deny itself of the serv ices of the finest minds and the best men from all parties in the legal pro fession. They have a non-partisan Judiciary system in the State of Washington. It Is a hit-and-miss system. So far one Democrat has been elected, among many Republicans. What reason have the Democrats to think they would fare better in Oregon 7 We incline to the bi-partisan method of selecting Judges, as in New York; but we will approve any practicable plan of giving a Judicious political balance to the Supreme Bench, if It shall not have the taint of Democratic Intrigue or Re publican greed. r BLB.1JTJ3 STUFF. The spirit of levity with which The Oregonian considered that remark able volume, "The Pacific Metropolis, Where and Why," has brought us a mild chiding from the Tacoma Ledger. It does not surprise us that the TaT coma press and people have taken Mr. Radebaugh's book so seriously. While it Is chock full of humor, that element Is too subtle to impress one except in his most wakeful moments. For example, Mr. Radebaugh insists that foreign trade determines the final population supremacy of near-by cities, und forthwith sets out to prove it with a. short tabular statement which dis closes that Philadelphia, with $44, 800,000 less exports and imports than Boston, has a population two and one half times greater. If this be not cunning wit, what is it? There is also a pretty bit of sarcasm on another page in a discussion of delays to navigation on the Columbia River. The funny author, to prove that delays actually occur, cites one specific instance. It happened thirty seven years ago. San Francisco Bay, we learn from this authentic history, la a hazardous harbor a pilot-boat capsized in the Golden Gate in 1865. What is more appropriate than a whimsical review of a volume so re plete with wit and humor? If we had been serious, a criticism of Mr. Rade baugh for not telling othe merry time Tacoma has had in keeping its wharves from sliding off into deep vmater would have been necessary and that would have been unkind. But the chief burden of the Ledger's complaint is that the Portland news papers avoid any reference to the report of a committee of the Portland Chamber of Commerce on the depth, of water on the Columbia River bar, quoted in "The Pacific Metropolis, Where and Why." Bless you, broth er, the Portland newspapers have been full of the work of the dredge Chi nook, which has deepened the bar more than three feet since that report was made. In spite of the Tacoma humorist's figures of 23 feet of water on the bar, the ship Roma, draw lng 24.3 feet, passed into the Colum toia in August, when the tide gauge registered one foot below zero. In spite of his bombardment of ancient history and outdated statistics Port land continues to lead all Puget Sound In wheat shipments; the two largest steamship companies in the world have made Portland their Pacific ter minus; the biggest vessel of the com pany's fleet is coming into the river in January; and the Hill railroads have chosen to invade coastwise pas senger traffic from a Columbia River base. It is a sad exhibition of stupidity, that of Tacoma's, in failing to learn after all the years that its foreign exports and imports exceeded Seattle's, that mere transhipping of freight will not make a metropolis. Seattle's Alaska trade, made up largely of goods that originate In or are Jobbed out of Seattle, is ten times a better up Jbuilder than all the teas and silks and wheat that pass through Tacoma's warehouses from or to points in which Tacoma has no actual commercial in terest. Foreign commerce is an incident as well as a cause of community growth. What Portland exports is produced in Its own trade field. What it Imports is there consumed. It is an originat ing and distributive center, not a transhipping point. Tacoma's slow growth has been due in past to its practice throughout many years of pointing out the dis abilities of competing cities and ,Its failure to cast an inward glance upon Its own. Content with a few natural advantages It has sat supinely still while other communities have over come natural obstacles and distanced It In. the race for supremacy. Portland and Seattle have captured trade ter ritory that might have been Tacoma's, while Tacoma expended its energies in promoting quarrels over the name of a mountain. Portland has extended friendly hands to Southwest Wash ington, -while Tacoma has raved about bar improvements that will directly promote the -Interests of Washington shipping points on the Columbia River. Boasting of the sobriquet "City of Destiny," Tacoma's real destiny Is to knock. Its sole reliance for future growth Is on supplying way-station facilities for foreign commerce. Its hopes, if they are no more than Mr. Radebaugh discloses in his book, are founded on the stuff that town-lot booms are made of, nothing firmer. THE Dim'DIIM) NEW PARTY. In New York, as in other states,' the Progressive party makes progress backwards. The combined vote of the Republicans and Progressives this year was almost exactly the same as last year 795,000 but the division was radically changed. Taking only those candidates who were not in dorsed by the Independence League In 1912, the Republican vote Increased from 444,000 to 699,000, while the Progressive vote decreased from 351, 000 to 196,000. In other words, the proportion of Republicans to Progres sives has Increased from 5 to 4 to 12 to 47. The number of secessions from the Republican to the Progressive party in New York City In 1812, as stated by the Sun, Is Indicated by the dif ference between the Republican en rollment and the vote for Job Hedges for Governor. This difference was 77,000. The Progressive vote in the city this year was 73,000 less than a year ago, which suggests that nearly all the seceders have returned to the old party. The Republican party has done nothing formally to win back its re volting members. They have returned of their own accord as soon as their resentment has cooled. What may we expect to become of the Progressive party when the Republican party def initely makes Its conventions truly representative and chooses spokesmen of the new Republicanism to lead Its hosts? It will probably prove as ephemeral as the Barn-burner Demo crats, who left the Democratic party In 1848 to return a year later. FIXDELL, OF PEORIA, GETS HIS JOB. The great Pindell mystery is not cleared up by the appointment of the "original Wilson man in Illinois" to the Ambassadorship to Russia. Few outside of Illinois ever before heard of Mr. Pindell; none anywhere have regarded him as suitable for a con spicuous diplomatic appointment. Sec retary Bryan i3 quoted, however, as saying that he Is one of "the best qual ified" men In the country for the Job. But we must regard Mr. Bryan's com mendation as more enthusiastic than accurate. The mystery as to Ambassador-elect Pindell does not consist in the uncer tainty, or lack of it, as to his quali fications for the place, nor as to the exact reasons for his appointment. It is clear enough that they are political. It consists In the conflict of evidence as to who got the Job for him. Senator Lewis offered the Ambassadorship to Mr. Pindell. But it is clearly hinted from Administration quarters that Senator Lewis was "butting In." But was he? Senator Lewis tells Pindell he may have the place a nice, easy, comfortable, well-paying, leisure ly and distinguished diplomatic post for a whole year. He will have a chance in that time to hobnob with the crowned heads of Europe and in troduce his daughter to court circles and come back to Peoria with undying distinction as the gent who told the Czar a few things about himself worth knowing or something like that. The Administration intimates that Senator Lewis talks or writes too much, and that there are no strings to the Pin dell offer and the choice is Mr. Bryan's and President Wilson's. Yet all will observe that Senator Lewis peddles the Job and Pindell gets it; and that he tells Pindell he is only to remain a year, and it is admitted from inside official scrarces that he will "not remain the full term." The Pres ident has someone else in mind C. R. Crane, who did not go to China as Min ister under the Taft regime, although he started and someone else will later supplant Pindell. There have been some signs that President Wilson is indifferent as to our foreign relations, so long as they do not trouble him; and the Pindell Incident seems to indicate also that he is careless about who fills the diplo matic posts. The President has not Suppressed the scandal about Pindell by doing precisely what the scandal mongers said he had entered into a political deal to do. STEAM-KOI.i rNQ THE WEST. If Mr. Pinchot and Mr. Fisher imag ine that the action of a steam-rolled Conservation Congress will have any weight with the Wilson Administra tion, they greatly mistake its temper. The President has declared his belief in a policy of conservation, as op posed to a policy of reservation. His Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Lane, has translated this policy into one of humanizing government, which in its application is highly satisfactory to those Western states over which Mr, Pinchot and Mr. Fisher ran their steam roller. The public domain is being and will be administered in the Interest of the states wherein it lies, and not according to the dictates of men whose states have no public do- main and who wish' to fatten the Na tional Treasury at the expense of the West. A Conservation Congress, in order to have influence with the Government, must fairly represent the people in terested In conservation. A body packed with bureaucrats and their mercenaries and with doctrinaires of the Pinchot type Is not representative. The great states jjvhich have a direct interest in the subject were denied a voice and some were denied a vote in the deliberations at Washington, Washington's spokesman -was howled down, so was Montana's, and Idaho was disfranchised on a flimsy pretext worthy of a Tammany chairman. Alaska also was. barred from particl pation. When these states and this great Northern territory, in which lie most of the resources under discussion are shut out a mere rump convention rsmalns. Why Is the congress being held in Washington, on the extreme eastern edge of the country? Is it not in order the more easily to pack the hall with so-called delegates from states which have little left to conserve and to re duce to a minimum the number of delegates from the far West, which has most to conserve? What has be come of the virtuous indignation against a bossed convention, to which Mr. Pinchot gave utterance little more than, a year ago? The chief fugleman of Colonel Roosevelt seems to have been taking lessons in practical politics from "Boss" Barnes and "Boss" Pen rose. Mr. Lane showed plainly where he stood when he styled himself "the en emy" at the banquet given to the Pin chot crowd. ' We in the West agree with him that conservation work as he and the West understand it is "for the benefit of the whole country," and the West will stand behind him In his opposition to Pinchotism. THE LAW OF ENGAGEMENT RINGS. For many an ardent lover the Joys of courtship must have been marred by a painful sense of the legal un certainty hovering round the engage ment ring. To whom does it belong after It has been tenderly fitted upon the lily finger of the beloved object? Is it hers? Is it his? Or, In case it ha3 not been paid for yet, is It the dia mond merchant's? We should not like to say Just how many engage ments have been made miserable by this legal uncertainty, but they must be numbered by the million. . From these considerations w may estimate the value of the boon that Judge Webster, of Salem, has con ferred upon Cupid and his bondsmen by determining once for all this per plexed point of law. The case before him was one involving every essential difficulty in the ownership of the en gagement ring, so that his decision will probably take rank as a casus princeps, or. In vulgar tongue, one from which all subsequent decisions will flow ,like water from a fountain for a million generations. Forrest Price bought a glittering ring from the Barr Company and be stowed It as a pledge of undying love upon his betrothed. She was fair but fickle, and even with the ring upon her finger transferred her affections to an. other, whom she married. Thus Price was left lamenting and his lamenta tion was embittered by the remem brance that be still had the ring to pay for. . His credit had been good, all too good, at Ban's, and now he had to endure the awful spectacle of his dia mond glittering upon the faithless fin ger of another man's wife while he was forced to make regular weekly or monthly payments for It. No won der Price's manly soul revolted. No wonder he took counsel of the un godly, or rather of a lawyer, for a way out of his predicament. The sequence was that he assigned his rights In the ring back to the Barrs and they re- plevined It from the fickle fair one. It was upon this state of facts that Judge Webster made his epochal decision which was to the effect that while the beloved object had an equitable right to the ring, the legal property of it re mained In Price up to the end of their engagement and that he might reclaim it 'whenever he wished. Inasmuch as her wedding with another man made it impossible to fulfill her engagement to Price, the ring reverted to him com pletely and his assignment to the Barrs was valid. We hope this case will be a lesson to light-minded young creatures who flit from flower to flower and want to keep all the engagement rings they thus accumulate. As a matter of law, and of Justice, too, they are not enti tled to a solitary one of them. THE WANING OF THE KNIFE. The clinical . congress of North American surgeons has taken a decided stand against "legalized murder" by inexperienced members of their profes- on. Even the laity can easily un derstand that the young surgeon's per formances with the knife are likely to be little better than more or less blun- dering experiments. His knowledge of symptoms Is necessarily limited to the ory. Anatomy is to him scarcely more than a scheme which he has learned out of a book. He has usually en- Joyed a little practice in dissection. but a dead body is very different from a living one when It comes to a ques tion of exploration with the knife. Be sides all that, there are the young man's nerves to reckon with. Natur ally he puts up a brave pretense of coolness and undaunted dexterity, but it Is so thin that the patient readily sees through it If he is not already at the gates of death. The cutting and lashing of this Inexperienced but courageous young man have hitherto been but little restrained either by law or custom. He makes such experi ments as he chooses upon his long-suffering patients and the world smiles complacently In the hope that if he kills many he will ultimately qualify himself to save a few. It is this form of boyish self-culture at the expense of the human race which the clinical congress calls "le galized murder," and they have passed a set of outspoken resolutions designed to check It. The congress demands that every physician shall have five years of practice in general medicine before he does,anythingwhatever with the tempting but pepflous knife. Of this experience at least two years must have been gained in active hospital work "under the direction of a sur geon of the highest standing." The eminent authorities convened at the clinical congress agree with the simple-minded layman in the opinion that the slashing of a cadaver in a dissecting-room does not sufficiently prepare a young man to operate upon the liv ing body. They also believe that the medical colleges ought to give "full clinical advantages as part of their courses." How this can be done by a medical college situated in a little vil lage where there is no hospital and but little sickness is one of those questions which boards of trustees find it easy to dispose of, but which puzzle everybody else. A strong committee was named by the congress ,to present these de mands to the various State Legisla tures and the Canadian Parliament, in the hope that they can be made a part of the law of the land. It will take a long time to effect such a reform, but it may be done some time, and if it ever is, a great and wholesome change In the practice of medicine will ensue. For one thing. the young physician will be led to rely a great deal less upon the knife and a great deal more upon medical intul tion and common sense than he does now. Dr. John B. Murphy, a distin guished Chicago surgeon, expresses this thought by saying that during the next twenty-five years "internal medi cine will become enormously more im portant than surgery." Of course he means that it will supersede surgery through all ranks of the profession in great part, but he must have had young practitioners particularly in mind. As matters stand, their first thought is to cut and slash whenever an ailment confronts them. If they were forbidden to use the knife at all until they had reached the age of dis cretion, their thoughts would naturally be directed toward the Internal symp toms of the patient. The traditional procedure of the physician when he makes a sickroom visit Is to feel the pulse, take a look at the tongue and with, vague benevolence "pat the. euf- ferer's hand." Dr. Murphy assures us that the diagnosis of the future will be a far more extensive and scientific process. The public already knows something of the part which blood analysis is destined to play In Identify ing diseases. Such a .disease as ma laria, for example, can be accurately detected by no other means. The lab oratory also plays a decisive part In diagnosing diphtheria and tuberculosis as well as those terrible Internal can cers which challenge the physician's best efforts and so often baffle him. Within the next few years we may expect the scientific study of "the duct less glands," as they are called, to pro duce fruitful results. Much Is known about them already, but the learned confess that much more' remains to be discovered. There is little doubt that the developmentxof tumors, the irreg ular and monstrous growth of parts of the body, the Impairment of certain functions, the habitual routine of the bodily processes, ' depend at bottom upon the secretions of these glands. The use of their products in medicine has assumed great Importance, but it is probably destined before long to bring about a. revolution not unlike that which followed the development of the germ theory. What the medi cal profession longs to attain Is the ability to predict and forestall disease before It actually mature. As long as physicians are obliged to wait for the actual outbreak before making up their minds about the nature of the malady, their business is a mere em pirical art, and not a science. The test of genuine science is the power to make predictions. The physicist can do this. He knows with infallible ac curacy what will result from a given combination of machines and forces. The astronomer can predict events in the sky for thousands of years to come. The chemist has similar power. Herice we say that physics, chemistry and astronomy are true sciences. Neither the physician nor the politi cian can predict with any surety the- consequences of their doses. The politician passes a law with a thousand lovely promises of its benefi cial effects, but experience usually brings most of them to naught. The same evil luck pursues the doctor. He never knows when he administers a ' potion what the precise results will be. He trusts that they will be curative, but there is often an unknown factor which may make them deadly. It Is the abolishment of this element of un certainty toward which physicians like Dr. Murphy are working. He had it In mind when he told the clinical con gress that the physician of the future "would take out the patient's tumor before the patient tells you the tumor is there." There were 10,292 left-handed men among the 266,270 recruits in the Ger man army In 1909, and a doctor has been studying them. He says left- handedness is apt to be correlated with constitutional weakness and that the left hand often or ordinarily, remains weaker, in spite of exercise. How does that agree with the records of our famous "southpaw" pitchers? Sta tistics of baseball players might be compared with those of the German army. Dr. Charles W. Eliot follows the illustrious example of Washington In pleading for a National university at the Federal capital. In his opinion, which is valuable, it should be mod eled upon the original plan of Johns Hopkins and be made a center of orig inal research. Since the National As sociation of State Universities is back ing the project, it has become some thing more than a dream. We may see it carried out. --' There's a movement on foot to make the Pullman Company pay the wages of its porters. The porter Is willing, provided the wage doesn't run under, say, $200 a week. Otherwise he would prefer the present tipping system. The acme of absurdity has been reached in Long Island City, where a funeral procession was stopped while a chauffeur was arrested and tried for breaking the speed laws. The carp and catfish are due to hold a high Jinks if the Government confiscates the carload, more or less, of catsup from California, alleged to be impure. . Huerta says he will abide by any finding Congress may reach. Congress men, however, will kindly not speak out of their turn nor above a whisper. Curses! Huerta Ignored the Admin istration In his banquet toast to America. Worse still, he didn't drink the toast in grapejulce! Congratulations to Colonel James Jackson on his eightieth anniversary today and may he continue to feel as young as he looks. A New York funeral procession was arrested for speeding. Getting too swift back there to give a chap a re spectful burial. Hillshoro and Salem are commended to France, where the Chamber of Dep uties Is considering a bill to close 280,. 000 saloons. When at a loss for ocupation, Mex ican federals and rebels take Juarez. That town Is easy to take, but hard to keep. From Governor of a great state to president of a big league is a step more or less onward and upward. Serving of cold soup at a St. Louis supper table resulted in a shooting affray. It is a serious offense. The police department bids fair to develop a rival for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde among its senior officers. Few San Francisco women took the trouble to vote. Was there something in what Anna Held said? Huerta ignored the diplomatic crisis In his "message. The crisis, however. declines to ignore Huerta. Hood River is "enjoying" freezing weather, but that Is a condition that makes the good apple. Unless their bellicose chief changes his mind we shall read shortly of the last of the Navajos. Retail prices are the highest In twenty-three years. And still mov ing up. Are the Democrats going to serve diplomatic posts in relays? Jokes about Governor Colquitt and the turkey trot are barred. This "tough old world Is considerably wet in spots. PROTECT SIGHT NOW THE SLOGAN It la the Only Sense Now Unprotected From Vicious Acta. Mall Order Journal. States and communities are awaken ing to the importance of doing away with the billboards, which not only disfigure the landscape, but also do great harm to the human eye. In Eu rope the war on billboard advertising has already been fought and won. The French government has simply put bill boards out of existence by taxing them higher than any profit that can accrue from each advertisement. The blatant billboard nuisance Is oc cupying public interest in New York, where it has become insufferable and a report by a New York commission, which investigated the issue, will in Its effect deal a deadly -blow to bill board ads. . In that highly interesting report it Is said: Of the five human senses that of sight, the greatest of all. Is least adequately pro tected. The human person Is theoretically Inviolate so far as the sense of touch - is concerned. One man may not lay violent hands udod another, nor InfUct pain upon him. Odors which offend the sense of smell may be restrained as nuisances, and unnecessary noises which Interfere with per sonal comfort may be suppressed. There are rigid laws against the pollution of food and water by causes which, in addition to affecting the health, offend the sense of taste. But the sense of sight, by which the quickest and most powerful appeal is made to the highest faculties, and upon which, more than upon the other four, human hap piness depends, la left largely unprotected We shorten- the hours of labor that man may enjoy himself. We make large appro priations or the pu'bllc moneys for the crea tion of scenio reservations. But when, as in the City of New York. the public treasure has been spent to make parts of the city beautiful, and private wealth and clvlo pride and the instinctive desire for attractive surroundings have led to the (building up of sightly properties, we find ourselves In a large measure powerless to protest and to conserve the happiness for which the sacrifices have been made. This anomaly would be ridiculous if It were not so gravely serious. The commission has made several general recommendations. They are: The prohibition of outdoor advertis lng near parks, publio buildings, boule vards and any other place in which they are "wholly Incongruous and det rlmental." t An esthetlo censorship of advertising. The regulation of the neighborhoods in which signs are allowed, so as to prevent the accumulation of filth and rubbish. The closed-in lots are often a menace to health, and decency ac cording to the commission. The prohibition of intense flashing lights near residence districts, hospi tals, hotels and other places where they disturb sleep. The elimination of the fire and wind hazard. The forbidding of all advertisements except legitimate store or factory signs upon publio streets. The limitation of the size of all bill boards. Local option to cities upon the mat ter of allowing billboards within their limits. ANOTHER DISEASE IS DISCOVERED "Itiiocksoinanin" la Final Stage of "Booaterta" and la Incurable. PORTLAND, Nov. 19. (To the EdI tor.) While we have the matter of un authorized criticisms of city officials before the house would it not be well to call attention to the fact that it often requires a very careful diagnosis to tell Just when a booster or a booster organization afflicted with boosteria arrives at that stage of the disease known as knocksomania and the boost er becomes a knocksomaniac, with the Incurable hallucination that a knock is a boost? The sober fact Is that booster busi ness is often conducted in a very un businesslike manner and because of this lack of care and thought as to what is for the actual welfare of the entire community the booster gets in bad sometimes as In the sad case cited in The Oregonian today. The only comfort to the friends in a case where boosteria has been neglect ed so long that It has developed into acute knocksomania is that the knock somaniac does not realize his condi tion but still thinks he alone is right and every one else wrong. This is a sure symptom of the disease. And if the miracle of a cure should ever hap pen and the patient recover his nor mal and healthy booster activity it would be made known at once by a frank statement that a cure had been wrought and that all the unbalanced attacks on our magistrates and public officers were but the vaporings of a knocksomaniac The good that improvement associa tions can do Is simply enormous, but dignity, systematic methods and an ab solute adherence to their only proper slogan the community's Interests are essential to any lasting results. O. Q. HUGHSON, 608 East Fifty-second street North. THE GOOD NEW TIMES. 1. Isn't this a nice old world and aren't you glad you're here. And don't one have the bestest time throughout the whole long year? Why! I Just love the sun and rain and all the things I see. But how I wish my grandpa codda shared my fun with me! We've a little old black button set In brass upon the wall. If you press It it Just floods the room with light enough for all. Now doesn't that beat candles and old lamps like grandma had? And when 'you come to think of it I betcher you are glad. And now we have electric cars that whizz along the track And that beats little horsecars that they drove a few years back. And better yet's the auto that con take you anywhere And If grandpa codda seen one wouldn't he Just stop and stare? The stores we have In our big town they cover meat a mile. And you can walk around all day or sit and rest awhile. Now, my ma says in grandpa's time the stores were small and few; I wish my grandpa codda been a boy with me and you. Now, we've a box at our house that sings the nicest song And If you change the pie-plate you can listen all day long To men who talk or bands that play or violins so grand I wish my grandpa codda been still living in this land. I can talk to my girl, Emmy, and hear all she's got to say And it don't make any difference If she's forty miles away. My mother says my grandpa had to wait most half a year To hear from his old sweetheart. Gee! I wish grandpa was here. But best of all's the picture show, where you can go and be Tonight in London or Japan tomorrow In Parie, And see the horses and the men and lions roaming wild Oh! how I wish my grandpa was again a little child. VIRGINIA DRAKE,. Seaside, Or. Purpose of an Election. Washington (D. C.) Star. "I suppose your elections are in tended to decide who shall hold office." "Sometimes. But this one Is to decide who shall b made to let go." INDIAN'S VIEW OF FLAG EMISSARY Bxpesn Unneeesaary ss Red Han la Already Patriotic. GRAND RONDE. Or, Nov. 19. (To the Editor.) I am an Indian and I think as do the biggest part of the In dian race that I've had any talk with that Mr. Rodman Wanamaker and his emissary. Dr. Joseph Kossuth Dixon, are spending a lot of unnecessary money which could be used to a better advantage otherwise. There is not an Indian in the United States that would not without any hesi tation shoulder a musket In defense of Old Glory at a moment's notice and would feel proud to do it. And as to civilizing my people well it never will be accomplished until the Govern ment turns us loose to manage our own business. So why throw away so many thousand dollars In some person's ex penses running around shouting civili zation with a flag to back them. What we want is our freedom to manage our own busienss and also our rights. There are thousands of In dians who have not received an allot ment or anything from old Uncle Sam, who are entitled to such. It has been a good many years since the treaties were made with the different tribes and a good many have not received their allotments as yet. What Wanamaker ought to do is to spena his money civilizing the whites who need- It and there are quite a number. Then if there is still enoue-h leit, proceed to the Indian DeoDle. but 1 think that he will find that there are a lot of Indians who are further ad vanced than their white brethren. Don't send a white man among the Indians. but Just the reverse an Indian out among the whites eo the people will hear for once our side of the Indian question as it Is called. 1 saw an article in The Oregonian Saturday in regard to Indians as prune pickers. I think they are as gooa as any and far better than mont others, only they will drink, of cniirno It is noticed more than it would be among the whites. But who la it that furnishes the dope for our people? The Indians themselves? Warn th In dians the first to introduce liquor in the United States? So why always ui&nie me Indian people and throw siurs at them? Now I drink occasionally but I don't make it and when I do get any It Is from a white saloonkeeper and Is not Bold by my people. So let the people think that over and see who is to blame we or the whites. Every man caught selling to the Indians ought to serve a term of 10 years In prison and still 1 think it is not severe enough at that. I am only sorry that we can't furnish tne necessary funds to send one of our own people on a tour through the states and let the public see Just how tilings are ana now they are being mis Informed right alone-. I'd do it myself If I hmi th mnn Maybe Rodman Wanamaker will rlnl nate. Ha! ha! I would like to send a copy or this to every paper in the Union, but I have not the time nor tunas to do so. At anv rata T Hnn think it would even be printed. But, if you can spare space enough and can find time enough to makn nn a kb nt type for this, I would like It to appear in The Oregonian, as it reaches nearly n-ii parts oi me united States. I'll say this much for Mark Hayter: He may be a good prune raiser, if he wrote the article in The Oregonian last Satur uaJ. uui. eucn sentiments as he ex pressed tend to keep the Indians a down-trodden class of people. Let him os a Doosier and not a knocker. SID WILLING. COMPARISON'S IN FIREMEN'S PAY, Assertion Denied That Portland lias Beat Treated Department In West. PORTLAND. Nov. 20. (To the Ed itor.) Kindly allow' me space to an swer J. E. Wilson's letter concerning the new system in the Fire Department. The dissatisfaction is among the mem bers, and not among the outsiders ex cept those who sympathize with us. Under the present system we start at ISO and get $100 our third year. Un der the new system it will take seven years to draw ,100. Besides, we are required to move from zone to zone at least once a year, which will make it very inconvenient, especially for married men who are paying for homes in outside districts. If Mr. Wilson thinks ?50 a month is good pay for 24 hours a day at this hazardous Job he has some eye for business. 1 am positive that Mr. Wilson has never consulted any of the firemen, as none of the firemen approve of their wages being cut after putting in sev eral years of service. Mr. Wilson also asserts that there is a string of people going around to the different houses telling the firemen how abused they are. This is also with out foundation. I think if Mr. Wilson would investigate a little he would find that Seattle, Spokane and several other cities have two shifts, 12 hours on and 12 hours oft, and pay $100 a month. He asserted that the Portland department was the best paid in the West. But even Salt Lake, with only 77 firemen, pays the same as we do and the men get every seventh day off, whereas we get every eighth. Besides, we have never asked for a raise in our pay, but do want more time off; which we are entitled to. The Mayor and Commissioners only work six days and rest the seventh, which is the commandment In the- good book, which I believe applies to all hu man beings. So I believe we are not asking for anything unreasonable and only stand for our rights. A FIREMAN. Who Wrote Poem t PORTLAND. Nov. 20. (To the Edi tor.) Will you kindly tell me who wrote the poem called "If We Knew," the first stanza of which Is: There are gems of wondrous brightness oft times lying at our feet. And we pass them, walking thoughtless down the busy crowded street. If we knew, our pace would slacken, we would step more oft with care, Lest our careless feet be treading to the earth some Jewel rare. I have forgotten the rest, but there are two more stanzas, one of the lines of the second being "If we knew what feet were weary, walking pathways roughly laid." and the first of the third being "If we knew what friends around us feel a want they never tell," and where I can find the poem. AN OLD READER. The "poem Is not In the standard col lection at the Public Library, and The Oregonian has been unable to identify It elsewhere. One of the old Moody and Sanky hymns Is similar in senti ment and rythm, but a search of hymnals has not disclosed this one. Ferhaj3 some reader of The Oregonian knows who Is the author and where the poem may be found. Tribute to Colonel Jackson. PORTLAND, Nov. 20. (To the Ed itor.) I have received an Invitation to meet an octogenarian at a luncheon in the Arlington Club tomorrow. This oc togenarian reported to me 63 years ago on a battlefield in Vlrgina. He had won the grade of corporal by recruit ing over 200 men for war service in the regular Army. This octogenarian was in nearly all the battles of the Army of the Potomac, won three brev.ets in the Civil and Indian wars and a medal of honor for an act of distinguished bravery in the Modoc War. He is Colonel James Jackson, Inspector-General of the Ore gon National Guard. I pay my respects to Colonel Jack son In this manner because I will not be able to be present at his luncheon. THOMAS M. ANDERSON. Twenty-five Years Ago From The Oregonian of Nov. 21, 1888. Indianapolis, Nov. 20. Among nu merous letter written by General Har rison were 44 replies to parents who had informed him that they had named their babies Benjamin Harrison. Salem. Or.. Nov. 20. The State Board of Agriculture today elected the fol lowing officers: President, J. T. Ap person: vice-president, Mr. Wilkins; secretary, J. T. Gregg; treasurer, A. Bush; chief marshal. T. G. Richmond; marshal of the. pavilion. A. F. Miller. Salem, Nov. 20. Hon. Warren Tru- itt, president of the board of directors of La Creole Academy, at Dallas, has called a meeting of the board for next Saturday to consider the advisability of erecting a new building. Corvallls, Nov. 19. The wife of Wagman St. Clair was found dead In bed by her husband this morning. Mrs. James Bayler. who left East Portland two months ago to visit her parents In Michigan, has lain danger ously 111 for six weeks. Dr. C. B. Smith left on the steamer S. G. Reed last evening for Cedar Landing. , There should be no trouble about se curing the Improvement of that slough of despond on Fifth street, from Q to the O. R. & N. depot. C. H Dodd. Captain Flanders and Mr. Plummer. of Whlttier & Fuller, who own property there, all express willingness to have the improvement made. Draftsmen In Captain Young's office are preparing an estimate of the cost of deepening the river between this city and Oswego sufficient to allow of the passage of sea-going vessels. D. W. Prentice Is still 111 at St. Vin cent's Hospital. Mrs. A. L. Rlggs has returned from her Journey by stage through Eastern Oregon with Earle, the five-year-old son or her brother, N. K. Rankin. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of Nov. 21, 1863. (From our Weekly of this morning) This morning we publish the first number of our fourteenth volume. Since The Oregonian was first issued in 1850 our city has made rapid and surprising progress in population and in the arts of civilization and refine ment. At that time hardly a street along the bank of the river was oc cupied by the pioneers of Portland. Now our thriving. Industrious, enter prising and intelligent community has covered a large area with churches, schoolhouses, dwellings, - warehouses, stores and shops of busy merchants. Washington,' Nov. 11. The whole rebel infantry crossed the Rapidan. The only forces left on this side are reconnolterlng parties of Stuart's cav alry, covering the rebel front on the south bank of the Rapidan, which they are fortifying. New York, Nov. 12. The transport Daniel Webster, from New Orleans Oc tober 29, brings news of the departure from New Oreleans, under Major-Gen-eral Banks In person, of an expedition which for some weeks had been fit ting out under the direction of Major General Dana. The board of delegates of the Port land Fire Department has ordered the annuel election for chief engineer and two assistants, to be holden at the house of Willamette Engine Company No. 1 on the first Monday In December. The board has appointed Thomas Tem ple, of Vigilance No. 1: Hen L. Norden, of Multnomah No. 2, and Alex Dodge, of Columbia No. 8, Judges of election. The new Presbyterian Church, cor ner of Washington and Second streets, was yesterday freed from the network of staging and now stand3 a monu ment of architectural beauty. Willamette Theater Tonight the popular melodrama, "Nick of the Woods," will be presented with Mr. Waldron as Nick. Uiinli float loris for Office. Washington (D. C.) Star. "What are the duties of the office to which you desire appointment?" asked the official. "1 haven't Inquired Into the duties," replied the applicant. "But," he added rather reproachfully, "it was held by a Republican for yrars. And you oughtn't to have any doubt that what one of those Republicans can get by with a first-class Democrat will be able to do with ease." Features for SUNDAY Thanksgiving With the Pilgrim? A full page, strikingly illustrated in colors, recording the first ob servance of Thanksgiving Day on American soil. General Huerta The real story of Mexico's "grim bulldog." While he is a born fighter with a will of steel, yet he was reared in luxury as a . Mexican gentleman. Illus trated by Huerta 'a latest photo, taken only a few weeks ago at the National Palace, and showing the dictator as he really is. . Cranberry Red Doe9 it symbol ize cruel scratches on tiny hands f Prom the cranberry bogs comes a tale that has little of Thanksgiv ing in it. The Gamut Club A milepost in the march of the feminist move ment. Attractively illustrated. Seeing Life With John Henry A new series by GEORGE V. HO BART, in his best vein. You will enjoy the humor and gentle satire of these, tales, which are illustrated by Carey. If Eggs Aren't Fresh Who is to blame for bad eggs? It's the farmer. Official investigation lays the blame at bis door and suggests a remedy. The Tragedy of Great Inventors Many and strange are the ca prices of fate that have overtaken men of vast achievement. A read able full page, illustrated. American Girls Near Royalty There are many of them who are close to crowned heads in the line of nobility. One actually occupied a throne. Theodore Eoosevelt In the 36th weekly installment of his auto biography he recalls happy days with books and children at Saga more Hill. There Are Scores of Other Fea tttres, Selected to Meet Every Taste. Order Early of Your Newsdealer.