Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1919)
THE 3I0RNIXG OREGOXIAS, FRIDAY, JUXE 27, 1919. 10 CST1BLKME0 BY IE.M! U rmOfl- Fvsiisbed by The Lregonlan Publishing COu am turn ntreet. roruun, union. C. A. UORDF.V. E. B. PIPER. lluuir. .11 tor. Taa Oregonian to a member of the Amo- eiated Pihi. To Associated Fraaa la ea ciustvelT entitled ts th uae tor publica tion of nil news dispatches credited to It or not omerwiee creoitea in inia paper, nw e:s the lov-al news published herein. All rigata of republication: of special dispatches ncrain are also reserved. Subscription rates Invariably In advance, Ttv Vail I 2ai:y. Sunday Included, one year.. !M Dell y, Sunder Included, six months. .... . a.. lui Rnnri. In. Inrtfti IkrM man tha. ... 11- Ially, Sunday included, one month .Jo tS!ly. without Sunday, one year COO Taily. without Sunday, six months. ...... - ' vv-eie'y. one year '. I-1? Fiinrin An v r . ......... Sunday and weekly 00 Dally. Sunday Included, ota ear 13 00 liar-, fiundky Inelud- 1. m-i montn l"k!v fin 11.I.1V Inr lurtrd. 1n-.ee months.. . . . Tal."y. without Sunday, one year 7 Tai!y. without Sunday, three months ... l.as Xai:y. without Sunday, one month ...... .no How to Remit tfend postofflce money or- Cer. excrete or personal eft-ck on your iocs bank. Humps, coin or currency are It own ar'a risk. Give postoffice address In full. In cluding county and atate. Foatasre Rates 12 to IS Paget. 1 rent: IS to 2 P-Afta. '1 cents: 54 to H pases. 3 cents: S to e par's: 4 cents: 2 to TS pases. S rents: 73 to e.1 pagaa. 6 cents. Foreign poet la. double ratea. rTaeeeea Boetnes Offlre Verrea Conk- Jin. Bruiiswtca building, Nte lork; errea et Cenk:iu. St-cr building. Chicago: Verree at enlin. Free Preoa bulldlnr. Detroit. Mien.; SUn Francisco repreeentatne. ft. J. Bldwell. ONE PCBLIC? OB SEVERAL? The sojourner in South Portland, who may be on his way afoot to get a view of the new playgrounds in Mar quam Gulch, or who may perchance be speeding along- Fixth street in his automobile, headed for Terwilliger boulevard, with its smooth pavement. winding curves and magnificent out line, cannot fail to have his esthetic sensibilities jarred a trifle, or more than a trifle, when he frets to Sixth and Grant streets. There he finds the keletoa of an abandoned reservoir, mossy, empty, hideous, a reminder of former usefulness and of present neglect. It covers an entire block. Once it was a more or less ornate square of interest to the hundreds and thousands of Portland people, who were wending their way on a holiday to Robinson's hill (who knows now where Robin son's hill is and what it was?); but now it is a haven for vandals and for beys wiling; away their idle moments in a ranie of sheep-pen. The block is public property. It has "been ever since the city acquired the old waterworks a jrreat many years ago. It has had no utility what ever since that remote age, some twen ty-five or thirty years ago. Around in that vicinity also there used to be a quarter block belonging to the water plant. It was there a few years ago, and probably is there yet. All over Portland are blocks and tracts of land, never used, or once used and abandoned, in state some what like the water block. A few years ago the school district closed the old Couch school in North Portland, and built a new school several blocks away, having first acquired the new site by purchase. But it held on to the old site and left the building to stand, or fall down, as might happen. There is a new Shattuek school and an old Shattuck school, the latter not good enough for the children of that dis trict but suitable, it seems, for a school of commerce. Thirty-Dve years ago the people of Portland built a new and splendid high school, a model of architectural elegance, after the ideas of the '80s. It was and is located at Fourteenth, Morrison and Alder, and it bids fair to stay till it is blown up or burns down, The public generally is not sure about its present uses, but there are rumors that it houses a night school and a few other highly desirable educational functions of our somewhat complicated and elaborate educational system. There is an Atkinson school, too, long dedicated to the cobwebs, but jutt now or lately tenanted by beds for soldiers. It is held as a monu ment to the hundreds and thousands of Portland boys and girls who passed through its doors and out into the avenues of life and duty. There are other such instances of public prop erty which served their day and gen eration, but are now given over to idleness. Anybody who will take the trouble to walk about town can gather his own exhibits. The Portland Auditorium is located at a fSite not convenient to the entire public, and not approved at the out net, or now. by all. It may be re membered that there was a great dis pute over the location, and it ap peared once to be probable that the Auditorium would be built on the cast side. It was then somewhat has tily put where it is on a site which, it happened, the city had owned for many years, and had not been able to find use for. Finding a use for the site was apparently a controlling rea son why the Auditorium was set down there. Can anyone think of another reason? It had been urged that a suitable place rould.be found at the old Lincoln high school site on Four teenth street. In the opinion of The Oregonian and of others, it was an ideal suggestion. But the block be longs to the school district, and not to the city, and the school board bluntly refused to turn over the prop erty for the auditorium; and nothing could bo done about it. The public that patronizes the pub lic schools, and pays for them, is the name public that patronizes the Audi torium, and paid for it. Yet officialdom makes a distinction and refuses to give over lor the puMic benefit utility which the public owns, but cannot control. Ko way could even be found, apparently, through which the municipality could buy the site f-om the school district. The public would thus, of course, have been buy ing of itself, paying itself for what it already owned., and there would have been no profit or loss in the transac tion: but nobody thought of it, or of a way to do it. The purpose of The Oregonian, in making these random observations, is not so much to complain about the accumulation of public property, as to suggest that all such property ought to be available for any proper public use. If the water block in South Portland is suitable for a park, or an armory, or a school, or m. city hos pital, it should not be held vacant through many years J n the vague no tion that some day it may be needed for a reservoir. Just now a survey is being made by a commission of indus trial sites. The same commission, or another like it, could profitably look into the public property situation and devise a plan by which the ownership of all sites could be co-ordinated and the fiction that there are several pub lics, each independent of the other, and not one public, duly abandoned. of Georgetown university at their com-1 into finished products. It is no ac mencement exercises recently in set-1 cident that Kew York, Philadelphia, ting fifty-four trees for this purpose. Baltimore and many other ports are This also calls attention to the fact manufacturing cities. Commerce and that the American Forestry associa- I manufactures each attract the other, tlon, which designed the bronze mark- I Both commerce and manufactures will ers accompanying each tree, has 1 come, faster and in larger volume if opened a national honor roll, and will we make the way easy for them and enter upon a campaign to encourage cultivate them. If we confine atten tree planting of this sort, not only by tlon to commerce, we shall neglect other colleges this year, but by alumni one-half of the proposition associations to commemorate the The mayor has appointed a good deeds of their associates, and by in- committee of men, each of whom can coming classes to form groves under contribute knowledge and experience which to gather in future reunions, to some part of the survey. They are' The practice may easily result in a public-spirited men. in whom the peo large contribution to arboriculture. If pie can repose confidence. Let them it had been begun by Georgetown by get to work and. when the survey is the first entering class there would I complete, let us stop talking and act. now bo a good many thousand trees. The world is moving fast, and this some of which would be 130 years city must speed up in order to keep old. Tree planting is gaining in favor up with the procession. for material as well as esthetic and jcuumtuiiii reasons. KRRPrvn f HrFRFTT. It will not have escaped notice that dietz. SLACKER, the delegates to the Greeters" conven The Jury at Spokane could not agree tion are uniformly a cheery lot of men whether "Lone-Star" Diets, who claims From the time of the first innkeeper to be an Indian, had perjured him- we have associated the profession of self in his questionnaire and was sub- I thus catering to the comfort of the Ject to punishment But whether an public with a rotund, sunny coun- Indian or not an Indian the net result tenance and a bright, ingratiating of the trial is to show that Dietz is a smile. The hotel clerk with a grouch slacker. does not fit the picture, somehow. If "Lone-Star" Dietz is a graduate of be exists, he is the exception to the Carlisle. Ho had been educated there rule. by his government, which, he says, is The secret of this Invariably op not his own. He became a football timistlc outlook on life probably is coach, and was employed by Wash-1 found in the words of one of the Ington State college at $3509 per year, speakers at the convention, who said V hen the war broke out Diets' patriot- that he who would be a successful ism took the form of hiring himself I hotelman must first learn to serve. out as coach of the Mare Island foot- I There is something about the fact of ball team at $300 per month. Doubt- I service which makes for charity less football was a needful occupation toward others and for unselfishness. for the marines, and served to keen up The hotel clerk may not have formu their morale; but Dietz, who had re- lated a. philosophy in words, but he is fused to go to war, was not thinking I the unconscious exemplar of the prin of marines' morale. He was looking ciple. Besides, it is capable of proof out for Diets' pocket, and keeping that a happy demeanor pays dividends. Diets skin intact, out of the trenches. 1 The habit is easy to acquire and once The Diets tale is quite romantic. Helacnuired will never be laid aside, says he had an Indian mother and a I Those who patronize hotels may white father, and that his father's! 'earn something by studying these white wife became his foster mother I Greeters. So, also, may others. Serv nd reared him as her own. It may I ice for others gets one out of oneself. bo a true story. But whether It island the unselfish man has no room true or not. it is Irrelevant to the real I for groom In his makeup, issue, which is that Dietz, whether an Indian, or not an Indian, or a half- breed, was In fact an American, and that he took directly from a benevo lent government its bounty, and re fused to give it any service in return. except for large pay. The real Indians repudiate Dietz. No wonder. The whites claim him a their own only to show him up and put him where he belongs, either in prison or in the limbo of public con- A KEW DRIVE FOB BECBCITS. The effort to enlist 100,000 men for the regular army of the LTnited States finds the country in a new at titude toward the military service and holding a revised opinion of the op portunities of the soldier. Recruiting is now going on in fifty-six American cities, and it is the experience of the officers in charge that most of the 30 per cent which is represented by ra the government that civilization of the Indians should be undertaken by edu cation families, composed not only of missionary preachers but of teachers and artisans. The effort to carry this policy into effect is illustrated by the personnel of the. now surviving mem bers of the massacre. The Saunders family were teachers. Mr. Osborn, whose daughter, Mrs. Nancy Jacobs, still lives in Portland, was a helper at the Whitman mission, where he had gone in 1845. Mr. Canfield, son and daughter of whom are still living, was a blacksmith. Dr. Whit man combined the professions of preacher, teacher and physician. The wives of both Dr. Whitman and the Rev. Mr. Spalding aided in establish ing the work' by translating English works into the Indian tongues. Such measure of success as attended the early efforts of the missionaries is at tributable to the practical association of industrial education with religious charity. There are few persons still living of whom it can be said that they have witnessed practically the full perma nent development of the Oregon coun try. The "pioneers of pioneers," as the early explorers and fur traders are sometimes called, are in a slightly dif ferent category. The trading policy was not always consistent with the idea of future development of a white man's settlement. The missions at Lapwai and Waiilatpu, in particular the latter, had an important part in encouraging permanent immigration. The material influence of Whitman mission as a way station probably was very large. tempt- What is done with him ma, enlistments is influenced by pure sat- -.,-uul uo' isfaction with army life, while a largo uuw , me puouc. t nf th r.mainiri. T0 itfr cr-nr is moved by the promise of vocational DEADLOCK IX TRANSPORTATION. and general education which the army In Boston it has been demonstrated i under the new dispensation proposes that an increase of 40 per cent in car- to give the soldier. fares docs not necessarily provide an I If- as some fear, the unemployment increase of 40 per cent in gross rev- I problem is likely to bcoome vexatious, enue. What has been demonstrated the new army will contribute to its in other cities which have abandoned solution in two ways. It will furnish the 5-cent fare is not disclosed at the openings for those who are without moment, but in Boston the result has Jobs or who are uncertain as to the been both positive and interesting. future, and it will train young men in the first four months of a 7-cent nw unsKiuea ior traces in wnicn fare the increase in revenue was only they are practically certain to find II per cent. The actual fallinc off In remunerative employment later. The passenger rides was 21,372,995. The I burden of unemployment nearly al period included that of the Influenza ways falls upon the unskilled. epidemic, which it is admitted had The offer of choice of nearly a hun- somcthing to do with the case, but dred trades, ranging from those of influenza is not regarded as wholly cook and carpenter to wireless expert responsible. The conclusion is reached master electrician and airplane me that more people walk when the farelchanic, marks a definite improvement is 7 cents than walk when it is S cents, lover the pre-war status of the soldier The Boston elevated, which the fig- wl0 could hope for little better than urcs concern, is now operated on the I the policing of an army post. service at cost" basis. Fares are! The recruiting officers will have a fixed under a state law at a figure in- good deal to say on this subject while tended to produce costs, maintenance the campaign is on. They are sup ;ind a fair dividend on the investment. Ported in their claims by the official If. revenues by application of such announcement of policy of the wa fares result in a deficit the taxpayers department, which aims to combine foot the bill. The fare has now been military training with that of the placed at 8 cents, and if deductions civilian, and to return its men to thei from previous experience are correct former status better fitted for it than there should be a further falling off in they were before they entered the number of passenger rides, with possi- I service bility that the average monthly deficit of $200,000 will not be made good. So what is the solution if the 5-cent fare will not provide sufficient revenue and if increases result in the offset! of lost patronage? The two-zone sys tem 10 cents for the long haul and S cents for the short- is now proposed in Boston. The system remains to be tried in this country. It has the ob jection in theory that it will produce congestion in close-in districts, and unbalance established realty values I and rentals. There is more in the rapid transit problem than the present inconveni- MISSIONABY DATS. The death at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the other day of Mrs. Eliza Spalding Warren reduces the number of sur vivors of the Whitman massacre to ten The youngest of these. Mrs. Mina Kim ball Megler, now living at Astoria, is 73 years old, and the eldest, Mrs. Helen M. Saunders Church, a recent resident of Albany, is 86. All live to remind us of the amazing develop ment, social as well as industrial which has been accomplished in the Oregon country in one lifetime. Mrs. Warren was ten years old at J V " - J i u..:iiy iur th tjme of th. massacre and wis one ina in?. in ijie nifjciitc cil pi otlts and of failure of higher fares to pro duce profits companies will make no extensions. Growing cities will sooner or later find transportation itself an issue. of the prisoners taken by the Indians and held both for ransom and, per haps, as hostages for the safety of the wily Indians themselves, and who were rescued through the efforts of Peter Skene Ogden, then factor of the Hudson's Bay company at Fort Van couver. She was the second white child born in the Pacific northwest The new movement to plant trees as living memorials to men who lost their lives in the war received decided Lmpttuj from the action f students LET THE SCKVEr CO AHEAD. The proposed surey of the com mercial and industrial needs of Port- the first being Alice Clarissa, daugh- land is long overdue, and should not ter of Dr. and Mrs. Marcus Whitman, be further delayed by bickering I who was accidentally drowned at the among the city commissioners. Port- I Waiilatpu when less than three years land stands high as a manufacturing old- city, but what it has accomplished i The birthplace of Mrs. Warren re a mere beginning compared with whal I calls the success of the Lapwai mis it might accomplish by proper public sion. situated at the junction of the action and concerted, public-spirited Clearwater and Lapwai rivers, only a effort among property owners. As short distance below the point where appointment of the survey committee Lewis and Clark, In 1S05, reached the of fifteen proposed by Mayor Baker navigable waters of the Columbia, was an advance in that direction, there Here, at a time when missionary en should be no hesitation about puttinr terprise in the west was beginning to It to work with the modest funds for decline, and when hostility of the In which it asks. dians toward the encroachments of For years we have been hearing of the whites was growing, Mrs. Warren's men who proposed to locate factories father and mother, the Rev. Mr. and in Portland, but who grew weary of Mrs. Spalding, were able to report the search for sites or for local en- consistent progress. Their's was, in- couragement and went to Other cities, deed, in the early '40s, the most pros. where their wants were quickly sup. perous of the missions. It was shown plied. Other cities have bureaus which I here that the missionaries who had keep records of sites, stating area, elected to disregard Dr. McLoughlln's transportation facilities by rail and counsel to pitch their camps west of water, sources and cost of raw ma terial, markets, and everything needed to guide a man in deciding on a loca tion. This information saves a stranger from a long survey of the city on his own account. The cost would not be great, but nothing of the kind is pro vided here. It has been proposed that an indus trial development company be organ ized to investigate all proposed new industries, tdlndore those which have met it and to subscribe a portion of the capital. There has been oceans of talk about this project, but nothing has been done. If there is any good reason why nothing should be done, those who know it have kept it care fully to themselves. Portland is now going out after ocean commerce. That commerce both demands and creates manufac tures. It demands them to consume imported raw materials and to pro duce finished goods as export cargoes. It creates them by bringing materials from abroad and by assembling them the Cascades under his protection had a superior grade of Indians to deal with, although, as it turned out, a more hostile band. Success of the Lapwai mission, such as it was, was due in part to the greater avidity of the eastern Indians for education. Also the more favorable reports received from there may have been due in part to the profound optimism of the Rev. Mr. Spalding, who saw life through rose-colored spectacles. Eliza Spalding was 6 years old when her father wrote that "the cause of religion and of civilization has steadily advanced among this people from the beginning." There were then twelve Indian members of the church and fifty had been received on probation. But it was still more encouraging to note that the school had 234 pupils and that chiefs as well as children were learning to read and to write. Even more significant was. the fact that the Indians were taking uj husbandry- Thl was a vindication of the policy urged as early as 1820 by the THE WAR'S SHIPPING LOSSES. The most surprising feature of an analysis of .world shipping losses dur- ng the war, which has been made by Henry C. Wiltbank for the Rudder, is that more ships were sunk by mines than U-boats. He places the total loss of allies and neutrals from all causes at 15,136,000 tons, and attrib utes 43 per cent to mines, 3S per cent to U-boats, IS per cent to marine risks and 4 per cent to raiders and seizures. Probably a large proportion of the osses by mines were actually due to U-boats, for many of the latter were mine layers, especially in the last two years. Losses of ships and cargoes from all causes are estimated at the enormous total of $7,775,000,000, covering about 7000 vessels. But, considering the drain on the man power and industrial resources of the world, it is wonderful that the allies and neutrals replaced 6 per cent of their lost tonnage, while Germany replaced ' only 66 per cent, Austria 70 per cent and Turkey 48 per cent. Destruction and new construction have caused much shifting of rank among the nations. .Great Britain still leads with greatly diminished tonnage, and the United States has risen to second place with an increase of 3,400,000 tons, or within almost half a million of Britain's net loss. Ger many was third on armistice day, but has since been deprived of almost all its ships. Japan is fourth, and France and Italy have fallen far behind. The most impressive fact is the rise of the United States to second place, This country's tonnage has increased from 1,076,000 on August 1, 1914. to 4.476,000 on'November 11. 191S, not withstanding a loss of 700,000 tons in the war. The race for the lead is now between this country and Britain with Japan rapidly gaining. There is still a great deficiency to make good, when allowance is made for the normal in crease which should have occurred during the war and for the bad condi tion of the remaining pre-war vessels. Those Who Come and Go. Wearing a $12 silk shirt, the sheriff of Harney county complained that tne federal grand Jury had made him come to Portland just as he was trying to round up cattle thieves. "Cattle rus tling Is not a thing of the past," sighed W. A. Goodman, who has three times been elected to preserve law and order in 10.000 square utiles. Harney county being larger than Massachusetts and Rhode Island .combined. "The thieves take 'em in bunches, alter the brands and then drivo them over to No Man's Land, the high desert range occupying a corner of Harney and Lake counties. Mr. Goodman doesn't look the part of a cattle-land sheriff of the movies. He short, doesn't wear hair pants nor tote -a, couple of .45s strapped to nis side, nor does he sport a btetson. in Harney county, however, tne voters want results rnther than "atmosphere,' hich accounts for the way bherltt Goodman keeps holding down the Job. While there is only a normal market for lumber, production is not normal. exDlalns William Carsen of Burlington la., who is at the Hotel Fortiana. -mis accounts for the steadily rising prices. The eight-hour day on the coast cuts down production about 2o per cent. In the south, where, the day is anywhere from ten hours up, and the wage scale low, production is low owing to the unusually wet season, and in the north there was very little snow last winter. which handicapped the getting out of logs the logs are taken out over tne snow in that section." Mr. Carsen is here to meet J. H. Owen of Brookings, Or., boins interested with Mr. Owens and others in the lumber plant at that deep-sea harbor at the mouth of the Chetco river in Curry county. Hotel customs change, as "Uncle Billy" Bartlett, aged 70. observed at the convention of Greetors at the Multno mah. Mr. BarthMt is here from Asto ria and is at the Multnomah. "I couldn't grasp all the new-fangled ideas of the speakers about studying human nature and the psychology of hotel patronage and all that." observed Mr. Bartlett. It wasn't like that in the olden days. People didn't roll up in automobiles to be met by a string of porters and bell boys. We just told 'em they were wel come and to tie their horses in the shed and come in and stick their shins near the fire. If a fellow dared to order a bath., we referred him to the river. And the funny part of it is that in the old days people slept Just as well and did a darn sight less kicking." Known as the father of irrigation. W. W. Caviness of Vale, Or., is at the Hotel Oregon. Mr. Caviness is a pio neer In the irrigation work in this state. He started first in Umatilla and later went to Malheur county. He regards the new law by which the state guar antees the payment of interest on irri gation projects as one of the greatest movements toward the development of Oregon and says that by the enactment of this law at the June 3 election irri gation, instead of being a local mat ter, became a state problem. HIGH PRICES ARB ACCOOTED FOR ew Level Reached Through Opera. tlon of natural Lawn. TILLAMOOK, Or., June 25. (To the Editor.) War conditions have brought about a new set of circumstances, the most important of which is that prices for all commodities have been estab lished on a new plane, and they are likely to stay there. At any rate, the sooner the community realizes that pre-war prices are no longer an ind cation of what should be expected th better. Prices are determined in the main by the volume of production, of conaump tion, and, probably more than by either of these, by currency, bank credits, etc. 1- Production After the civil war the return of prices to pre-war level, though it took 13 years to accomplish. was immediately aided by the develop roent of new machinery and new kinds of business organisations. No one will seriously contend that the possibilitic of the immediate future for Increased efficiency or novel methods in produc tion or distribution (with few excep tions) are likely to ever approach those which came between 1S6S and 1890 a period which marked the trans formation of our entire business struc ture from hand methods to machin methods, from pound to tonnage raeth ods. Z. Consumption In view of the vast destruction wrought by the war an now to be made good by reconstruction nd in view of the accumulation of the demand for many things which could not be supplied during the war, demand in many fundamental lines bound to be large and urgent for som time to come. 3. Circulating medium The credit ex pansion and currency inflation of th leading countries .of the world, inolud ing our own, during the past fiv years has been on an entirely unpre eedented scale. The process of con traction and deflation, to the extent i is possible, and likely to be approved by public opinion, will take many years The conclusion must be inevitable that we have arrived at a new price level. This level in the early future may go somewhat lower, er H may go somewhat higher, than at present pre vailing, but it seems certain that there cannot be' any immediate or radica recession. Those who hope for materially lower prices will have to wait a long time Be a bull on commodities a bear on stocks, advertise and you will make money. OPTIMISTIC PROFITEER. The man of the house. showed a great aversion for the basement when -there was nothing to do there but split wood and fire up the furnace, but after July 1, when he has made a good cache of the forbidden beverage, he will find it the coziest place in the house. Of course this does not apply to Oregon, for in this state the caches were made long ago, and some of them have dwindled sadly. The late Frank' Toevs went into the newspaper "game" because he liked it and he made good, as in fact he could have done in any profession. He was that kind of man who does a day's work in the prescribed time and a little more for good measure. That he died young only 56 is incidental in the greatest calling on earth where a man wears out and does not know it. General Coxey should organize a new army composed of all the bol- shevists in the United States and should lead them to Russia. All Amer ica would speed the parting guests and Lenine would welcome them. The word safe as a name for a place where valuables are secure against robbery has become a mis nomer. It is a standing invitation to burglars to come and open the big steel box and help themselves. Most men rather would go to jail than claim the benefit to be derived from proof of illegitimacy, as in the Delta case. He did not get that streak from Indian blood, which never has been yellow. Portland will have a real indepen dence celebration the coming Fourth, when every one does as he pleases (if unmarried) and follows no set pro gramme. Hooray for the Fourth! .This is official, for the statement Is made by the chief of police, Al Roberts, who is at the Perkins: "Pendleton will bo wide open on July Fourth, and it will be wido open twice .during the Round Up. You can make all the noise you want. There is more Inquiry about this year's Round Up than any pre vious one. and it promises to be the premiere of the lot. It will be an all star show, for some of the stars who were overseas are back home, full of pep. Anyone who sees the Round Up and can't get a thrill has something wrong and should consult a doctor pronto." "Cap" George Fletcher, who in his earlier days was well known in Ore gon as a trapshooter and who now lives at Walla ,Wa"i has been an en thusiastic attendant at the northwest sportsmen's meet the past week. He is an ardent admirers of Frank Troeh. "It's funny," commented Mr. Fletcher at the Multnomah, "what a little typo graphical error will do. I picked up one of the Washington papers a day or two ago and read in bold headlines. 'Frank Troeh leads in crap shooting contest. Looking like an exhibit in the annual floral parade, a machine was driven Into town yesterday from Government Camp, burled under a mass of rhodo dendron blossoms. L. F. Prldemore gathered the blooms and piloted the car to the Hotel Portland. The moun tain of flora was used last night to decorate the tahles at the Greeters' banquet at the Multnomah, and made sensation. A young man was standing at the desk of the Benson when he received a telegram, and on opening it he nearly collapsed. He said the wire contained the information that his wife waseuing him for divorce and that his bank ac count was tied up and he couldn't draw a dollar, and his partner was clearing out. "And," he added, "this ia my birthday." It is said the U-boat commanders are In a suicides' club to defeat jus tice. Most of them are just "brave' enough to be self-killers, for suicide is cowardly any way you look at it. John Reed's attempt to form soviet in New Tork did not follow Petrograd precedents, the proletariat needing further enlightenment on blessings of bolshevism. Good sign when soap goes up. The more expensive it becomes the more it will be used by people who need it with domestic materials to be worked J Rev. Jedcdiah iIorset who proposed to The worst of it In the coffee rise is that a fellow cannot get even by drink ing tea, which distinctively is feminine. Now Germany plans, such is the rumor, to war on Poland. May be. Germany is crazy. If the Beavers do not jigger some we must change the name to "Ante-penults." Holland let the crown prince go, no doubt, with a crossed-fingers blessing. The Germans are preparing to break the treaty before it is signed. Winnipeg has had enough for a hun- dred years. Good rain and just right, "Give me the key to Mr. Blank's room, "directed a young woman to a clerk at one of the hotels yesterday. "I'm his wife." The clerk looked her over suspiciously. "You are Mrs. Blank? He hasn't registered you. 1 hat's all right, " she explained. "He uses the hotel room as his office, hut he lives at my house with me." She got the key. Between the time he left Empire, Or. and his arrival in Portland. George Tobin lost every cent he carried. Some one, on the train, lifted out his pocket- book, emptied its contents and put the wallet back ih-Tobins pocket. After reelsteriner at the Perkins, he started out to find someone who would identify him at a bank so hie could refill the purse. Lon S. Hill, formerly of Cottage Grove, is at the Imperial. He is now in the wholesale lumber business at San Francisco. Mr. Hill knows lumber from the tree to the planed plank and has served his term as a lumber jack. Neil C. Hurley, of the Hurley ma chine works of Chicago, is in the city, but up to last night had not been able to negotiate a room To attend the federal grand jury, E. Ia Schwartzlander is. at the Imperial. Ha is the government agent at the Umatilla Indian reservation. Motoring from Los Angeles to their home in Seattle. Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Heiskell arrived at the Hotel Oregon yesterday. Exceptions la Soldiers' Aid Law. PORTLAND. June 26. .(To the Edi tor.) Kindly inform roe concerning the oldiers and sailors' educational law as to whether this amount is just for the overseas men or is it for all enlisted men, including S. A. C. T. OLD SUBSCRIBER. Overseas service is not necessary to receive educational aid unless the sol dier was in the limited service. S. A. T. C. men are denied -the benefits of the act '' I Crest of 1894 Flood. SANDY. Or., June 26. (To the Edi tor.) On what date did the June flood of about 25 years ago reach the high est point? One says it was June 7, 1834: another says it was June 4. Which, if either, is right? C. L. FISK. DECIDES TO REMAIN tit THE ARMY Reasons Tbat Move Veteran to Recon aider "Never Again" Resolution. PORTLAND, June 26. (To the Edi tor.) The following letter may be of interest to your readers, especially the young men of this state. The letter is from a boy who decided to stay in the army, made good, and writes his old buddy, asking him to return. The let ter reads, in part: HAZELHUKST FIELDS. Mlnneola. Lens Island, N. Y., June 1. Dear Old Bunkle Ueorce: Waa It all as rosy as you pictured in the long weeks while you waited for the transport after the armistice? Do your war experiences atill nolo em broathless, no you catrh them suppressing a yawn? Does the old jab or the now Job seem ino- aotonoua and confining? Does the family "understand" you the way I did? Is the bunch at home aa res ular a crowd aa was yaur messmates in the chow line? In spite ef all of those resolutions, those "never asrams that you used lo say so fervently when the army was mentioned, haven't you caught youreelf thinking pleas antly of your experiences? Don't you feel sorry for the fellow who didn't get into the oigr game i It seems to me that when TJnrle Sam is calling fellows back every veteran of war experience would re-up" to train the new air service workers in how It's really done. It's a cinch to get your old rating back, and with the big perccntago of new men promotion should be lifted from a silver plate. When aerial navigation arrives, and it's coming strong, with your army training you will be prepared to name your terms for a civilian job. George, practical experi ence in this old lift Is the thing that counts. You used to kick on the old army game, but remtmber a peara army is different than life in the field. You live in honeat-to-God barracks, fitted with every convenience of the modern home: believe me, boy, it's like living in a palace compared to those 40 hommes and 8 cheveaux. We are eating like kings and from regular 'china" plates with implements of the real stuff rRogers, IS17, so It says on the back). Our evenings are our own and it's always a hike to a real American city, not French. After all, tno army Is a man s xamo and T suppose I will remain in until old uncle kicks ma out I am now at the top of th ladder in the non-com grade and by thi: time next yoar expect to be ona of those feUowa who kicks around with the leatlie putts. However, I eould not do as we: In civil life, so am perfectly happy, as you ran sec. If you ever arrive at the. time when you want to come back In the service let me know. There are a world of va cancles, and for good men there is no stop ping. DICK. Bid realization meet expectations? G. E. II. In Other Day. Twenty-five Tear Ago'. From The Oregonian, Jane it, ISM. Tacoma From ail over the state. the national guard of Washington is on its way to Woodland park, five miles this side of Olympia, where tt annual encampment will take plnue. Company G of this city left Wednesday to prepare camp. San Francisco. Italians of San Fran cisco do not sympathize with France in the death of President Carnot. To night a mass meeting of Italians broke up In a riot when expressions of con dolence were uttered by speakers. The Portland Cricket club was organ ized last evening by a number of ad mirers of the old English sport C. W. Lawrence was elected captain. J. Flin ders secretary and W. J. Johnson treasurer. The steamer Signal came up last night, having 30 Chinese passengers en board. In the matter of incorporating- the town of Montavilla, the county court made an order yesterday, setting July IS as the date for an election to decide the question. Reichm-eln's hall at Mont avilla is the place for taking a vote on the question. There is a difference jf opinion as to whether the settlement and the settlern will be given en oppor tunity to decide tho question at this time and place mentioned. STATESMEN ARB KOT OF 0T5 MTSTD METRIC SYSTEM IS CONVENIENT The crest of the spring flood in 1S94, the highest of which there is a record, waa reached on. June 3, . . . Easy to Use end Adoption Wonld Be Promoter of Commerce. PORTLAND. June 26. (To the Edi tor.) I plead for the adoption of the metric system of weiehts and measures. During the war we had thousands upon thousands of metric measures from battlefronts in Europe in the daily press, and in nearly every stance the home papers were kind enough to give the equivalents in our own barbarian numbers in order that we might understand. How often have you not told the readers that a" kilo meter is about five-eighths of a mile Would it be hard to remember that while the distance to Astoria ia 100 miles It is 160 kilometers? Then we read about the 155-bore guns on the French front; about milk by the litre; about the width of No Man's Land in meters, and about shells weighing so many kilos. Practically all the world uses the metric system but the English-speaking peoples. It Is unfortunate that we should allow ourselves to lag so. It is established by law among us since 1866, We are too indolent to change. I hold it is a moral duty to discard unncces sary hindrance. Science established i fact, a truth, but what good is it un less we make use of it? We lose in trade millions of dollars year because we stick to a system that has been thrown in the ash barrel by everybody save old John Bull. But even he will be compelled to relax on this folly sooner or later. It is only his (and our) mental indolence and egotism that prevent us from taking a step forward in physical advance. Every school, college and university uses the metric system in the instruction of chemistry and physics. Let me conclude with an example for those who dread the unknown mon ster. By the metric system 1 can ex press any sum of money with the sign of only one denomination the dollar mark usually. I can write in one line the billions, millions of dollars, cents, mills and any ractlon thereof. The English can't do that with their half dozen denominations. And we can't give the weight of a carload of goods in one denomination. We must express It in tons, pounds, ounces, drachms and grains, and perhaps pennyweights or carats. ERNEST BARTON. Some Bated aa High aa Sir. Taft Find Faults in League Tact. PORTLAND. June 26 (To the Edi tor.) My friend, Colonel Bowcn, de murs to my letter on grounds which are embarrassing to controvert, but which deserve a brief notice. He de fers to the judgment of Mr. Taft, which he modestly prefers to his own and properly prefers to the judgment of myself and of "professors" generally. He thus delegates his function of cit izenship to a man of acknowledged competency. I shall certainly not quarrel with him in his estimation of Mr. Taft or of myself or of professors in general. I have been too long a professor not to know the limitations of the caste. I none the less think there am enrlnui difficulties in the way of bis choice. Pass for Mr. Taft. but how about Mr. rooir is tnere an American livine who rates his juda-ment lower than Mr. Taft's? And Mr. Root says we need a clearer pronouncement regarding the Monroe doctrine, a more untrammeled. right of withdrawal, and. above all. release from that terrible guaranty of existing territorial frontiers. That is the first difficulty. The biir men who so far outweigh mere professors are on both-sides. Indeed, as I count on my fingers those whom I have long since learned to trust, the cons work my fingers harder than the pros. And after all. ought Colonel Bowen or even the professors thus to dele gate ineir functions? The big men are wiser, than we, no doubt, but after all when a people seriously buckles down a problem like this it has a. wav of reaching a conclnaion that is better tnan any that the biff men can reach for ua. And it is better simply be cause it fits the psychology of the people fits it because it is made by It. A democracy grows Its own adinti. ions as an animal grows lta own akin. It beats the best tailor-made suit all out as a fit. That is the whole iuati. fieation of a democracy. The oeools re not wiser than their bin men. ouite obviously, but they have the power to fit institutions to their own phychol- ogy as no other agency can do; and this fit is necessary to make these in- titntions live and function. That is just what isn't beiner dona in the nresent case. President Wilson feels sure he can fit us even at a iHtanee, but we want to try It on. Mr. Taft acknowledges that it won't . e a very good fit. but thinks we may fall out with the tailor and get noth- ng it we insist. I wonder If the im patient defenders of the league have really noted what the opposition ask. We do not ask that there should be no league. The opposition in the sen ato does not mean that. It means merely that we want a fit and not misfit We want the league te e- ross the psychology of our people. It must do so to be a success. That psychology may be eccentric or defec tive, but it is ours. We don't want to take chances on Mr. Wilson's ready made clothes. Mr. Knox says, take our measure first. Mr. Root says, lot us try it on before we take it for good. Isn't that fair? e And it need not delay actual peace a day. The big men aay so, net the professors. I mistrust those who hurry us so are really afraid it isn't a fit. I fancy that even Colonel Bowcn isn't really deferring to Mr. Taft. He de cided in favor of the league and then lauded the wisdom of Mr. Taft because he confirmed his opinion. Else why not Mr. Root? H. If. POWERS. FATE OF SHIP HANGS IN BALANCE Distance to Manila. MILL CITY. Or.. June 26. (To the Editor.) Klndty give the distance from Seattle, Wash., to the Philippine Islands. We had a little debate over it. A. EVANOFF. The distance between Seattle and Manila, as given on government maps, is approximately 6581 pules, nautical. D. A. R. Will Aid In Maintaining. V. S. S. Oresren, Premises Resrcnt. EUGENE, Or., June 23. (To the Edi tor.) Through the kindness of Captain Fields, commandant of the navy-yard at Bremerton, I was, a few days since, accorded the privilege of visiting the battleship Oregon, where, her work done, she lies at anchor in the waters of the sound, to be later used as a target unless the state of Oregon rouses sufficiently to realize that here is her great opportunity. The object of our visit waa tn ait In securing from the ship some memento which might find a worthy place in the University of Oregon te be for all time a fitting reminder of the wonderful achievements of 1h famous old battleship. -Making my request. I found Car. tain Fields deeply interested in the return of the Oregon and hoping as devoutly as any resident of Oregon' that the ship may be taken over by the atate. Pending the decision, the vessel is being guarded ana cared for, no one beiner allowed to go on board without spe cial permission. Anchored half a mile from the shore, the Oregon is the cen ter of interest to visitors at the navy- yard. Just how much has been done toward acceptance by the state of the offer of tne government i do not know, but surely we will not forget that the Oregon, a pathetic figure In her deso lation, is ours ehe belongs to ua, if only we pledge her maintenance and she should be moored in Oregon waters. We have choice of two things either he will be dismantled and used as a target, or she will be, as far at is possible, restored and sent free of cost to any point designated by the state. we must not fail to give the youth of- our state this one lesson in pa triotism. The state of Massachusetts cares for the old frigate Constitution. Shall, we do less for the Oregon? The rooms at Mount Vernon are cared tor by the different states. May not the patriotic societies of Oregon take up a similar work in this ease? Personally, I hope to see the state chapter of the Daughters of the Amer ican Revolution have state headquar ters on board the Oregon, and feel that I may Safely pledge In advance the interest and support of every Ore gon Daughter. , And let every child in every school In the state be given this lessen in loy alty and reverence. Bring home the Oregon. MRS. F. M. WILKINS. State Regent Daughters of the Amer ican Revolution, .