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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1920)
8 THE MOUXLXG OHEGOMAN. SATUKDAY, A1VU1L, 11, ESTABLISHED BV HENRY I- FITXOCK. I "Published by The Oregonian Publlahlnf Co.. 135 Sixth Street. Portland, Oreaon. C. A. MOKDEN, E. B. PIPER. Manager. Editor. The Oregonian la a member ot the elated Press. The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for publica tion of all news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Subscription Kates Invariably In Advance. (By Mail.) Xally, Sunday Included, one year .....$8-00 "t'ally, Sunday Included, six months ... 4.25 lally. Sunday included, three months.. 2.2S laily. Sunday Included, one month ... 7 "Daily, without Sunday, one year ...... 6.00 Jjally. without Sunday, six months .... S.ii X'ally, without Sunday, one month .60 Weekly, one year 100 Sunday, one year ........... 6.00 By Carrier.) I'ally, .Sunday included, one year 00 "Cally, Sunday Included, three months.. 2.25 Dally, Sunday, included, one month .... .75 Daily, without Sunday, one year 7.80 X'ally, without Sunday, three months .. 1.05 Daily, without Sunday, one month 65 How to Remit Bend postoffice money order, express or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give postoffice address In full, including' county and state. Postage Kates 1 to 18 pages, 1 cent; 18 to 3- pages. 2 cents; 84 to 48 pages, S cents; r.O to 64 pages, 4 cents; 68 to 80 fages. 5 cents; t2 to 68 pages. 6 centa. orelgn postage, double rates. Kastern Business Office Verree Conk lln, Brunswick building. New York; Verree A Conklin. Steger building. Chicago; Ver ree & Conklin. Kree Press building. De "troit. Mich. San Francisco representative, ; It. J. Hid well. TEACH AMERICANISM. Arrest of disloyal radical leaders Is but one of the means of combating attempted revolution. By itself It (cannot stamp out the evil. A process 1 K)f education among: the people who are -most ready to accept radical Ideas is necessary, and with it should So removal of any injustice which ' supplies agitators with a text for r1.. their red sermons.. The superiority f American institutions and condi tions of life is so obvious to most of us that we take its acceptance by all as a matter of course. It is not ob vious to the newly arrived foreigner, whose knowledge of America is con fined to his own experience with his ' employer and with his associates in some logging or grading camp or in some section of a city that is inhabi ted only by people of his own na tionality. Such men fall easy prey to the itinerant agitator, who magni-J lies their real wrongs and invents others. When he places responsibil ity on the form of government, he finds men ready to believe, for many of them have had good cause in their native country to regard the govern- . ment as their natural enemy. Counter-propaganda Is the only ef fective means by which the work of the radical agitator can be undone. "Men, especially immigrants who do not know English, need positive teaching in the nature of the Ameri can government, in the liberties which it secures to them, in the "' rights which it gives and in the way to exercise those rights. The propa ganda of communism should be countered by that of Americanism, both in speech and in printed matter. This counter-propaganda should be carried to every place where men work and live. It should meet, false hood with truth, plans to redress wrongs by revolution with plans to redress them with the ballot. It should frankly acknowledge the evils which exist and should provide or point out legitimate means of re form. Much is being done in that direc tion by John Anderson, who has as sumed the voluntary task of travel- ing about the Pacific northwest, - speaking for Americanism at meet " ings of workmen, especially at log ging camps and in sawmill towns. He solicits gifts of books and magazines and distributes them among the log gers, thus spreading healthy knowl edge to supplant red literature. He has aroused opposition to the radi cals in labor unions, and they have met several defeats in consequence. There is room for much work of the same kind, and for action to follow It up, in order that (he reds may find no cause of just discontent on which to base a harangue.. IMPROVING THE ART OF FLYING. As John Townsend Trowbridge pointed out in his satirical poem, "Darius Green and His Flying Ma chine." long before the Wright brothers began experimenting in aviation, flying is only part of the game. There are problems connected with alighting that also test the in genuity and the nerves of man. In all the progress made in aviation ; since the first flight was made, pace has not been kept by devices for making landing safer and more ac curate. So the announcement that for the first time an airplane has ".alighted on the deck of a warship although several have been launched front shipdecks may mark the ; opening of a new epoch in aviation. ." The example of a Frenchman who a few years ago landed on the top of a Paris building seems not to have proved anything except the foolhard- ' lness of the performer. It belongs in the category of the circus trick rather than of scientific accomplish ment. Incidentally the feat waj never repeated. The gull is the model that air plane inventors would like to follow. ..Any close observer will have noted . r that the gull, on arriving immedi ately above the object of its desire, is able to check the momentum of its flight by a simple movement that brings its wings almost to the per pendicular. Man has done much to rival the birds, but it does not seem probable that he is yet able to add another hinge to the airplane's wings without a greater sacrifice of strength and safety than is war ranted. The effort to provide a , brake against the air has taken many ingenious forms, all of them, how ever, impracticable. Consequently the world will wait with a good deal of Interest for news whether the most , recent feat was the result of special skill on the part of the aviator or of some new device possibly on the order of the gyroscope. If the latter, the importance of the event In the history of flying can hardly be over- . estimated. Now, as in Townsend's time, the alighting part of flying is the critical ' part. Hitting the ground without un comfortable violence is a test of skill on the best of fields. And the one factor that more than any other is : now retarding aviation development is- want of landing fields. If the . flyer were assured in advance that in a pinch he could land anywhere that ..he could find an open space the size cf a city lot or thereabouts, he would . - be free to roam practically at will. The recent Cairo-to-Cape flight across Africa was put off a year be- cause of necessity for preparing costly landing facilities. . An inex pensive attachment to the plane would add immeasureably to the radius of flying men. We still have some distance to go before we can boast that we are free as the birds. We can almost outfly them, but they still have the edge on us in maneuverability. Possibly they are about to lose this advantage. With ability to land at will aviation should become practically universal. The device suggested by the feat of. the naval aviator may prove to be the biggest little thing ever invented in the history of transportation. TICKLING AN IDEA TO DEATH. One of the chief troubles with the American people is, unless they are tossed into the pit of war, that they cannot take their difficulties with serious mien. They jest with their problems, experiment with them, make freakish, banderlog advances toward solution and then drop the matter for a new jazz step or a dif ferent blend in cigarettes. There is the current perplexity concerning clothing, for example, demanding means to lower outrageous prices or to afford substitutes that will tide over the interim of abnormality. New York thought at once of blue denim or brown the same material that the mechanic and the farmer wear when at their daily tasks. Denim suggested economy while af fording a material that could be tailored into neat summer suits. It is characteristic of New York, how ever, that her banderlog propensities here asserted the old bane and that of a genuine, practical idea she evolved a freak. Overall clothing is rather the vogue back there. It is said, but the style is a burlesque of the bell-bottomed trousers of the Mexi can vaquero. Denim thus trans formed sells for from $20 a suit up ward proving that there is always profit in ideas, even when devoted to the abolishment of profiteering. But the point is that "New York tailors, given a workable idea, have cheapened and bedizened it until it is the joke of the paragrapher, almost reft of any hope of general adoption, and weakened in appeal as a sensible solution of the clothing dilemma. Were New York given the opportun ity to design pontifical robes, the idle and perverse conceit of the town would insist upon a garb crossed between comic opera and the spring mode. A city of banderlog. SELF-MADE THROUGH COLLEGE, One of the cheapest jests in the joke-book is that at the expense of the college student, wherein he is presented as a noodle-pated youth with too much money for his own good and not enough wit to suffice for the night. Of course, this con ception is distant from the truth, but it has spread productively among those self-made citizens who "riz" by ability and gumption, despite the lack of academic polish. It has not occurred to these tri umphant ones, apparently, that the college-trained man or woman may be equally self-made, with fully as stern a record of struggle against odds until achievement was attained. Yet it is the fact that the strongest impulse toward complete education is manifest, as a general rule, among those who have not been born with the golden spoon, but who must make personal sacrifices to gain learning. The fact that funds were lacking did not deter many Reed col lege students from entering that in stitution, prepared to make their own way, nor will it serve to hold back similar thousands in the semesters yet to come. An incomplete report of students who are earning their ways through Reed coirege. recently made public gives the present number as 107, with their earnings during the last school year and summer vacation as $32,315. They worked as laborers, as typists, as office boys, as music teachers, as house maids nor was there an opportunity for honorable toil that the Reed students neglected. Thirty-five per cent, of the students come from homes where the family income is $1500 or less, and but 6 per cent are from families whose income is $7500 or over. It is pertinent to oberve that Reed college, in common with similar in stitutions, must be engaged on a wholesale basis In the shaping and equipping of genuine, self-starting, self-made careers. A DREYFUS ECHO. A story that taxes credulity, yet contains the elements of romantic possibilitiy, is that told by a French army officer, said to be in a position to be well informed, who gives a new version of the famous Dreyfus affair of a quarter century ago. He says that the French had just invented the famous "seventy-five" gun, and that to lull the Germans Into a sense of fancied security it was decided by officers in charge of the secret to pretend to sell the plans to them. The plans furnished, however, were spu rious. The real secret was still pre served. Other officers, engaged in a nefarious business of selling the plans, but believing them to be gen uine, became aware of Dreyfus' transactions and accused him in or der to protect themselves. Then, says the informant, it became a ques tion whether Dreyfus should plead in defense that he sold only the plans that were intended to be sold, and thus reVeal the deception, or bv m .ik ing no real defense and accepting punishment let the Germans go on believing that they possessed the gen uine design. The intensity of the fight made to obtain Dreyfus' vindication later on would seem to discredit the story, but it is urged against this that the true reason for his prosecution never has been made known. The anti-semitic motive, say the critics, neve- was proved beyond doubt, nor was it shown how anti-semites hoped to gain by Dreyfus' downfall In any event, it remains true that Dreyfus himself, after he had won his free dom, was content to drop the matter. On a subject presenting the strong est possible) temptation to revelation, he has been a sphinx. - The best that can be said of the tale Is that it contains d ram at ir nsia- sibilities. It is sometimes a duty of the patriot silently to suffer ignom iny, as it may be the duty of a soldier to give his life. The" history of diplomacy is filled with examples of ambassadors who were repudiated by their governments after having fol lowed out instructions, and whose only offense was that an intrigue did nbt succeed. A still remembered play, "The Copperhead," was built on the exDertence of a natrinf signed by President Lincoln to a dis loyal roie in order to keep in touch with the treasonable plans of the Knights of the Golden Circle, and I who lived a social outcast because he I would not betray a confidence re-! posed in him. The inference was plain, that there may be higher forms of sacrifice for country than that of life itself. Doubtless the inscrutahlo nvfn was wholly capable of the sacrifice indicated. Yet if he did do as it is now said that he did, it will he con ceded that the requirements of the nicest honor have been fully satisfied and that he is free himself to lift the veil. The Germans long have known the truth and the seventy-five has served its purpose. The world will await a statement from Captain Dreyfus before concluding that this new version of the famous scandal is more than a fanciful tale. INTRODUCING THE BULL-FROG. When Spring strikes up her dulci mer, in seasons soon to come, the gentle shrilling of frogland along the Columbia and Willamette sloughs will be deepened by the more majes tic note of the burly bull-frog, whose hams are to the modern epicure what hummingbird tongues were to rakish old Nero. This year, so the state game and fish commission has de termined, is the last in which Oregon is to be deprived of the musical and gustatory advantages of the king of the ranidae. Through a trade with Idaho, whereby Oregon barters bass min nows for young bullfrogs of the blood regal, the sloughs are to be stocked by a modest beginning 100 pairs of frogs. The bullfrog, let It be interpolated, is of either gender, his and her name signifying merely the dulcet call that greets the moon over the marshes. Well, five-score pairs of bullfrogs, left to their own devices, take so readily to the rearing cf super-Rooseveltian families that but a season or so will see the species plentiful. The bullfrog is sport. Stalked with the air-rifle or the .22 caliber, as he crouches intently at the marge, or angled for with rod and line and lure of red flannel, his capture is com parable with the quest of the arbor eal squirrel, or of the humble but de licious catfish. Once introduced in Oregon he will become game, subject to protection as rigorous as any, with closed and open seasons defined. The Jealousy with which he is guarded will be amply repaid, for the hams of the American bullfrog, neatly browned, are as choice as the ten derest milk-fed chicken. Eight inches from his snout to his rump, blunt of nose and wise of eye, hoarse of voice and agile of limb, the bow-legged bullfrog is an acquisition to Oregon marshes the largest liv ing member of his kind, with the ex ception of some cousins in South Cameroon and the Solomon islands, who outmcasure him by the fraction of an inch. PROBLEMS CELESTIAL AND MUNDANK. Professor David Todd of Amherst, ho says he is enlne- nr. in t - Stevens' balloon on April 23 to find out. an ne can concerning our social relations with the planet Mars, has wisely thrown an anchor to wind ward, speaking figuratively. While he hitches his balloon to a star, as it were, he contrives to keep one selen itic toot, on mother earth. If he OeS not I?et a nicnnl rVnm T c - -a v.. . U 1 O. uc may learn a (rood cerning mundane physics that we would like to know. We m nfftas tit sharing the common skepticism re- t.o.. umS success or the Martian phase of the projected experiment, but we see no reason why Professor Todd, who is a scientist of note, should not clear up a good many matters that heretofore have been in doubt. JUeteorolosrv. forilliiKtraHr. ,i,n,i. to profit most of all the modern sciences by his Investigation. Prac tically an that has been done to im prove weather fnrpastin Vo. i accomplished within about aixt. years. Adolph Erman's memoir on the distribution of winds and of atmospheric-pressure over the globe, published in 1858, gave recognition for the first time to (ho r,r, .oi.v. lished principle that meteorology is .i imernaugnai science. Ferrers re searches into the lnwa of mt, -I the earth, atmosphere, the phenom ena iiuamK irom me rotation of the earth on its axis. th oventt j condensation of aqueous vapor and me general influence of solar heat, and the contributions of other phy sicists to solution of our atmospheric thermodynamic problems have been interdependent on one another and on the observations of scientific men of many lands. Development of the chiefly mechanical branches of the sciences meanwhile has progressed amazingly in the hands of men whose names would mean nothing to the laymen. The instruments with which roiessor lodd will be provided on his voyage mav m.-ike nnu!hi. terminations undreamed of a decade ago. oucn are the appliances by which the velocity of air may be measured from a free balloon a new way of making allowance foi local "relativitv" arH .. Corona record of Professor Todd and tne aencate apparatus of Professor Wood which makes it alyze dust particles in the atmos- pnere. If the vovatre of Ptnfan. t. . , ,i does nothing more than clear up some oi me mysteries, of our own atmosphere it will ha Charles Fort, who rwrntiv "The Book of the Damned," has col lected reports fro things that have fallen on the earth. ne list is rormidable. and compiled from usually scientific eludes "mud. ashes. stnn them bearing strange inscriptions; bronze axes, brick, blood (not red rain, but blood, analyzed and found to be such, and explained as the blood of birds destrovf-ri ivhiu flight by a storm, though nothing of the birds fell except their blood), hailstones weighing a pound and three-quarters . . . these things fell to this earth." Fishes and frogs have fallen from the sky. Now modern scientists have had ways of explaining thesj phenomena, al though their explanations have con flicted, but Mr. Fort has conceived other possibilities. Suppose, he sug gests, there is a region in the upper air so dense that matter Is held there In suspension for a considerable tim a kind of super-Sargasso sea? Or Perhaps Inhabitants of other worlds, steering through space in vast dirigible constructions, have cast out from time to time ashes, coal perhaps they have bat tles up there. Perhaps they try to com municate with us by means of lights In the sky; more likely they g.ve us none of their attention. Just as persona crossing the Pacific give little of their attention to an Island sighted, but not marked on any chart Perhaps this earth has been vis ited, explored, colonized and Is now re tained by. some one as a preserve, from which all others are warned oil assum ing, that is, that we are in some way use ful to then. Perhaps there are Inhabitants who are giants from a world called Mod strator. a spln3 e-shaped world, one hun dred thousand miles along its major axis, or little people, who seem to have come here at some time from a world of their own. Perhaps. In short, our Ideas of the emptiness of interstellar space are as far from the truth am our rnn n.ntinn nf tha passage of rays of light from the stars. ' Alter an, wny not? AH of which, to be sure, is fantas tic enough, yet not out of place in a world that is beginning to believe that "after investigation of all the known data the scientific mind will reach an impasse, from which it is impossible to escape except by a path of pure conjecture; the conjecture being made, investigation of It will reveal some traces of truth, and as knowledge progresses, the conjecture is sustained" sometimes. Now here are conjectures for Professor Todd to work on, and there are others no end of them. Only to subjugate another layer ot the atmosphere would be to add im measurably to the practical basis ol our working knowledge. It Is a pres ent fact that weather forecasting, notwithstanding local imperfections that make it a convenient topic for humorists, has definitely moved for ward within half a century. In a large sense meteorologists have made it possible to foretell general weather changes, so that stockmen, planters and navigators are able to adjust their enterprises to them, and even hurricanes have been reduced to a semblance of rule. But we are still subject to sudden visitations, such as that which recently wrought destruction in the east, which 11 would be profitable to be warned of. It is widely believed that their se crets may be contained in atmos pheric laws now imperfectly under stood, but which will-be illuminated by such inquiries as Professor Todd is about to undertake. As a scientist with imagination, the professor may speculate as he pleases as to communication with Mars; but with a free foot on the ground, as has been suggested, he is likely to find as interesting subject-matter in earthly problems. Men have prac tically mapped the surface of the earth, and are beginning to extend their explorations into the realms oi ether. THE COMMUNITY CHEST PLAN. Civic organizations of Portland, through a general council, have adopted the community chest plan for the defraying of worthy calls upon the generosity of the city at large. One drive each year will fill the chest with contributions ade quate to care for the customary host or smaller drives of a legitimate character. From the community chest so established the various funds will be doled out. The chest will prove an incentive to careful book keeping and the inculcation of the budget system in many a public insti tution. It is not likely that the community chest plan will awaken much popular enthusiasm. The drive-wearied pub lic will view it with lack-lustre eye and without a smile of welcome. But it should prove its worth right speed ily, if all that is claimed for it comes to pass. The pedestrian may find that his rambles from office to car are no longer interrupted by a pretty pleader for the financial rescue of some public institution. "Old Sub scriber" may discover that his news paper is no longer cumbered by fre quent paragraphs describing the gal lant advance of "civic campaigners" upon the entrenched and badly af frighted pocketbooks of the city, un til that final triumph known as "over the top." There should, in time, waft upward from the citizenry such a sigh of relief as only new and un anticipated freedom can evoke. The house of representatives is planning a series of three-day re cesses, under a "gentlemen's agree ment" that no business will be trans acted. We truBt the agreement will not deprive members of the pleasure of making speeches for the Congres sional Record. An "economist" of the federal trade commission says the high cost of living Is due largely to "the asso ciated activities of producers and dis tributors of necessities of life." Pshaw! It's due to everybody want ing more money and getting it. Couples who marry like buying a ticket should consider the late Joseph MiBner of Albany, who in nine days followed his wife to the grave. Death did not long separate them after a married life of sixty-four years. An Amherst college' professor an nounces he will try to signal Mars from a balloon on Friday. April 23. If he does get a signal through ori that day it s likely to scare the poor Martians half to death. . Commissioner Pier has an ordin ance to introduce to shut out "crim inals" and cheap shows generally during the big weeks In June and it should pass. Portland wants noth ing cheap at that time. With thousands of women ready to grab the jobs, the strike of elevator operators in New York seems foolish. It would have the same look else where. We could take more kindly to this proposed planting of Idaho bullfrogs in Columbia slough if the frogs were equipped with mufflers. A boycott oh the potato will not deter anybody who has the price. Boycotting is an individual matter, anyway. Candidates for the legislature in clude three lumbermen. They ought to have good timber for their plat forms. Four inches of rain in twenty-four hours at Redding is "worse" than any Oregon record. The Northern Pacific has lucky ac cidents. An entire train left the rails and nobody hurt. If potatoes keep on going up, pres ently they will meet liberty bonds coming down. This Is the day of grace for the strikers. The roads have been kind to them. Huirt made bigamy in the twenty fifth degree pay for awhile. Now, he pays. The first man in overalls here must have "his picture took." WHEHK OPPOSITION COMES FROM Objection to Soldiers Bonna Is fcy Those Wnn Don't Need It. ELM A, Wash.. April 18. (To the Editor.) Kindly give the necessary space that I may reply to the worthy veteran from Cove. Or. I wish to say that I served in the convention that elected Mr. Barrows commander of the Legion in California. Mr. Bar rows was elected by the same con vention which voted for a national cash bonus. 417 for and 101 against. Now it appears that for some ui--known reason Mr. Barrows has broken faith with the veterans who elected him. At that time I was a delegate from San Francisco and served on the com mittee on resolutions which helped frame the bonus bill, remodel the Sweat bill and many other bills which were forwarded on to the national convention. At the California con vention, which Is on record as the greatest state convention in the his tory of the Legion. Mr. Barrows, who was also a delegate, had much op portunity if he desired to voice his objection to a national oash bonus. He did not once take a stand aualnst it. Again, Mr. Barrows was sent to the national convention of the American Legion, and was instructed by the state convention to make a thorough fight for the national bonus. At the national convention. Mr. Barrows would not permit delegates to take the floor to make a fight for the bonus. The writer was refused the floor three times by Mr. Barrows. Now It happens that the undersigned served in the same officers' training camp as did Mr. Barrows. It also happens that the writer knows some thing of Mr. Barrows' war service. Personally Mr. Barrows is a gentle man of the highest type; he did, however, break faith with the Amer ican Legion, which elevated him to office as their leader. , I have taken a great part In legion activities along the Pacific coast and can state that in every case those who oppose the bonus are well sup plied with the necessary evil. Hence the back compensation pay does not appeal to them. I came back from the war with much less than I went in with, and I was an officer. Tou can see what has happened to the officer. He Is exempted from the benefits of a national cash bonus. It Is another action by certain members of congress that Is unjust. un-American and uncalled for. Another feature is the cutting out of all men who were In the regular army prior to the war. This I call rank Injustice. Some of these poor fellows have been compelled to serve going onto eight years for their coun try. Then to exempt them from the bonus would be a national disgrace. What should have happened to Mr. Barrows was a movement for his re call instead of his being given the opportunity to resian. America should treat all of her sol diers with the same consideration, and that is the stand of the American Legion. KARL IIARKINS. CAUSE FOR DOUBTING ALTRUISM Leaajne Rejection Sufficient to Arouse Latin-American Saaplclon. MULTNOMAH. Or.. April 15. (To the Kditor.) The Oregonlan's recent editorial on the "Latin-American League" presents a very timely idea to the American people. The outside world's idea of the Monroe doctrine Is not as rosy as many politicians like to picture it. I believe with you that Salvador's recent more Is simply an other evidence of suspicion on the part of the South American republics concerning the future foreign policy of the United States. When you say this action of Klv. dor "Is probably the outgrowth of our treaty-, with Nicaragua" I think you have overlooked the latest and perhaps the strongest reason. The present action of the United States senate, led by Senator Lodge and his Duncn oi political pirates, in refusing to adopt the league of nations Is the big reason. If the United States is so altruistic In protecting South .America why should she not be willing to im part at least a little brotherly protec tion to the young republics of Europe as fostered by the league-of -nations Idea? The truth of the whole matter is that the Latin-American republics are not blind. They can look far enough ahead to see what will eventually happen to them when the "dear pee pul." throuKh their slothf ulness. elect an "old-line stand-patter" such as Lodge or his kind as president. A policy of foreign aggression Is left open. If the people are Ignored on the league of nations to stop war. why won't they be ignored when the "big Interests" want war? They will, and the Latin-Americans know It, Without the league of nations the future means war. not only in Ku rope but also In America. The prom ised league may not stop all wars, but it will stop some. At least, it is a step in the right direction and is worth trying, even though It was worked out by a democratic president. Surely it is no longer concealed that the Latin-Americans are wise to the situation. 1 believe further that more people in the United States are wise to Lodge's programme than he or many of the other "stand-patters" re alize. The polls next November will be the final test. I. for one. have al ways been a republican, but I cannot and will not vote for a candidate rep resenting the "stand-pat" element in the republican party Lodge, Wood, Penrose, et al. FRANK A. NAGLEY. Only One Escape From Taxes. LEBANON, Or., April 15. (To the Editor.) One of the high school teachers of this city says that The Oregonian, Sears, Roebuck & Co.. and Carnegie do not pay any income tax. If this is the case will you please tell me how it is avoided? The same in structor also said that "It Is a dis grace for any town to have a Car negie library," Will you please tell us why. A SUBSCRIBER. The teacher Is wrong as to all ex cept Mr. Carnegie, who has passed on to the place where it Is popularly believed that taxes are unnecessary. We can think of no reason why a Carnegie library is a disgrace. Economy Commended to OH Compnny SALEM. April 14. (To the Edi tor.) I understand that the Standard Oil company of California Is so hard up for gasoline that it has sent out letters to all its employes asking them to economize in the use of gasoline in their private cars, notwithstand ing they pay for it. It would seem to an innocent by stander that If the Standard Oil com pany really is that bad off It would better discontinue building new serv ice stations and close up a lot of those that are now operating to the great detriment of retailers of gasoline In general wo buy their gasoline of the Standard. They could save a lot that way. A BYSTANDER. Who Paya TaxesT PORTLAND. April 16. (To the Edi tor.) On October 24, 1919. I sold a small acreage tract in eastern Oregon for a small payment down and a mort gage to be paid off by notes in three years. Should I pay the 1919 taxes? No agreement was made other than that the land was free of all encum brance. SUBSCRIBER. The purchaser should pay the taxes in this instance, the warrant for col lection of 1919 taxes not having been issued by the county assessor before the date of transfer of the land. Those Who Ccme and Go. Horses are not Increasing In Ore gon, according to Dr. W. H. Lytle, state veterinarian, at the Imperial. "There are now 10.000.000 more cattle than before the war." says the doctor, "and 7.000,000 fewer sheep, while there are more hogs In the LnJted States than in the pre-war period. There is an increase of between 200,000 and 300.000 horses and the prices are also increasing. There Is a steady change underway from the light to the heavy horse. In Ore gon there is no increase in horses, and as for the wild horses, they are more heard about than seen. A Texan intended installing a horse plant In Oregon If he could be assured of 10,000 horses, but he was only offered contracts for 5000. He intended using the hides, bones, etc., but did not plan on using the flesh for food. In the wheat belt of eastern Oregon mules are used, but there is a desire to return to horses Instead. The 'walk ing disease' practically wiped out the horses In that section, but there is a belief that this can now be over come. Mules cost from $200 to $300 a head and horses are about $100 cheaper." ' The movements of Sir Oliver Lodge are of interest to the lobby loungers at the Multnomah. For example, they report that the other night he rambled around the lobby examining the photographs of Oregon scenery and at 10 o'clock nestled under a reading lamp on the balcony and read until 1 A. M. yesterday. He waa invaded yesterday by many visitors, almost all of the callers being women. Sir Oliver is a quiet, unobtrslva patron and is not a "kicker." He has taken Intense Interest In watching the red electric cars roll past the Fourth-street side of the Multnomah and he devoted 15 minutes to studying the display in a tobacconist's shop window. There will be a familiar face miss ing from the house of representatives when the legislature assembles next January, for V. p. Elmore of Browns ville will not be there to answer the rollcall. Mr. Elmore, who is in the city and is registered at the Ferklns. has decided not to file a declaration of candidacy. While the prohibition Issue was still to be settled. Mr. Elmore was Interested and wanted to be in the legislature to bring about a victory for the "dry" forces, but with that problem settled Mr. Elmore is content to remain at home and eschew politics. For a good many years, being a real estate agent in Astoria was about as profitable as running an ice cream stand at the north pole, but things have changed, and there are realty operators In the city by the sea who have made so much money lately that they have to pay a surtax when they make out their income report. H. W. Vance, one of the real estaters of Astoria, left his prospects long enough to come to Portland for a few hours and register at the Hotel Oregon. "If you made a search of the stores of Portland, you probably can't find a spool of No. 60 black cotton thread." said C. C. Graseman of St. Louis, who is at the Imperial. Mr. Grassman is western manager for one of the big thread concerns. He says that there is such a demand for thread that it will be months before the mills can catch up with the orders they already have on file. 0 Although one of the best Informed men In the country on the sheep and wool business, Don Prultt of Pendle ton Is more interested in automobiles than fleece or mutton. Mr. Pruitt, who is registered at the Imperial while In the city, was for years one of the chief lieutenants of Robert N. Stanfield. Mr. Prultt now has the agency for a couple of high-priced cars. One of the Eugene colony of real estate dealers is at the Multnomah. He Is David A. Auld. One of the main issues under discussion in Eugene at present Is whether the big road bond programme, which Lane county vot ers will consider in May, will pass. The programme provides for a com prehensive road system which will spider web the county. Obtaining rooms in the local hotels yesterday was a problem. The usual influx of tourists and traveling men arrived, placed their names on the register and then waited, impatiently. A number of out-of-town people came in to attend the Shrine and other fra ternal sessions today and discovered that rooms were as scarce as bars of aoap In Russia. Just what has happened to cauxe Grants Pass to become active. R. W. Clark, who is at the Imperial, does not say, but In the last few months there has been an increasing demand for property, both improved and un improved. Grants Pass Is one of the few towns which was backward in feeling the boom, but it is now catch ing the stride. W. R. Scott, representing a new packing concern at Albany, which specializes in jams. Is at the Mult nomah. This concern Is advertising Albany in all of the leading maga zines of the nation while advocating the use of this particular brand of jam. Ed Lark in, logger, from Blind Slough, is, at the Hotel Oregon on one of his intermittent visits to the metropolis. Blind Slough Is down In Clatsop county and Is the scene of logging operations on a rather ex tensive scale. Cheese Is the specialty of H. S. Brown, who Is at the Hotel Oregon from Chicago. The cheese he deals in comes In little packages and Is an entirely different article from the fa mous Tillamook product of Oregon. Dr. W. T. Phy. who combines the duties of physician and county judge, is at the Benson. He Is the county Judge of Union, his home Is at Hot Lake and he ia a democrat, which is not uncommon in Union county. E. Constable of Cherry Grove, Or., is at the Imperial, and J. E. Deputy of Battle Ground. Wash.. Is at the Multnomah, while over at the Perkins Is the town marshal of Pendleton. Al A. Roberts. D. 8. Kinney, who has a large mer cantile store In Tacoma. with branches in other places, is at the Hotel Port land while visiting the wholesale dealers In this city. Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Levy of Se attle are honeymooning in Portland and are registered at the Benson. Mr. Levy is In the theatrical business in the Puget Sound country. For the purpose of attending the Shrine ceremonial Charles L. Springer is at the Multnomah. He Is the busi ness manager of the Gazetto-Tlmes. published at Corvallis. George ' W. Peavy, dean of the school of forestry at the Oregon Agri cultural college, is at the Multnomah. He is here to participate in the Shrine ceremonial. Wanderers from London at the Ho tel Portland are G. Ayre Carr. H. J. Earle and Mrs, E. J. Earle. W. H. Hobbs. one of the councilmen of Redmond, Or., is at the Imperial, accompanied by F. G. Cutley. ONE'S RIGHX TO LIVE OWN LIFE Love Superior to Conventions of So ciety Sara Defender of Mary. PORTLAND, April 15. (To the Editor.) I have read two articles In The Oregonian concerning the Fair-banks-Pickford nuptials, and if that Is the sentiment of most American mothers they are to be pit'ed. ' It is a disgrace to America for mothers to be narrow-minded enough to bar their children from seeing pictures featuring either Mary or Douglas Fairbanks. Because she loves a man enough to sacrifice her church (the greatest sacrifice In the world to some peo ple), perhaps her life ambition, and reputation she is condemned by man made laws and the conventions of society. Real love Is something beyond our power to control and If Mary loves Douglas, which ahe undoubtedly does and has for two years, it isn't her fault. Also, why blame Mary for some thing a Nevada Judge did? Why are their divorce laws so flimsy? Why didn't he Investigate her case and all other cases before granting her divorce InstVad of afterwards? Mary Plckford-Fairbanks has a right to live her own life just the way she wants to live it. Let her live It that way. Who are we that we should pass judgment without first knowing the true facts of the case? It is auch condemning by women and mothers that makes most sirls what they are today. They never think of saying a kind word or lending their aid in helping girls but are always ready to criticise and find fault. Mary is fortunate enough to have a mother, like most of us, and more than that, her mother is always with her and undoubtedly knew her thoughts on the matter and the step he waa going to take. Also being a mother she understood and knew it was for the best. She was deserted for some time as everyone knows divorced all but a scrap of paper handed tfown by some judge. She loves Douglas and was a free woman, thanks to one of your man-made laws. Why should she wait? 1 sincerely hope "American Moth er" and all mothers who have been so unjust over a common occurrence will be more lenient with poor little Mary and will continue to stand in line with their children for hours to see America's sweetest, most lov able star. E. L. C. LAKK OES EH v ES PRESERVATION Dralnnac Plan nt nnrouver Would Destroy Beanty Spot. PORTLAND, April 16. (To the Editor.) We are in great danger of losing beautiful Vancouver lake, and It surely will be destroyed if people who love our natural scenery do not wake up and use their influence on the powers that be. It ia a broad sheet of water and Is so close to Portland that the day will surely come when it will be a summer resort. It is now. for many who picnic on ita wooded shores. It is a fine harbor for wild ducks and geese as they are passing over, being so large hunters cannot get near enough to shoot the birds with out being seen, so they are reason ably safe. It was reserved for three years by the state of Washington, no hunting being allowed on It. I wan der why they took off the restric tions? The rivers are not very safe for boats, canoes or bathers. Too much traffic on them and too treacherous banks: but Vancouver lake is deep enough to re clean and is quiet and safe. Settlors along its shores say It is a slander to call it a breeding place for mosquitoes, as it is nut. If it were, they could easily be de stroyed. Let every one help to save this lovely sheet of water at our door. J. A. It. City 'a Moral Clranllneaa Liked. PORTLAND. April 15. (To the Ed itor.) Words fail to express my pleasure and appreciation toward youd beautiful city. I intended to spend one day and stayed ten, all on account of your city being so free from vice and low-down places of amusements. It makes one want to become a resident instead of visitor. Deep down In my heart I want to thank the mayor and chief of police for having the courasre to enforce the laws and make Portland a fit place to raise a family you are not ashamed of. I return to Kansas City. Mo., tonight. I shall speak of your city as a model and an example which many others should follow. W. J. M'ADAMS. DruKglst. Kansas City, Mo. Re Buffalo (N. Y.) Commercial. Diner You charged me more for this steak than you used to. Restau rant Manatcer I have to pay more for it. The price of meat has gone up. Diner And the steak is smaller than It used to be. Restaurant Keeper That, of course. Is on account of the scarcity of beef. The Careers of Leonard Wood and Herbert Hoover In the Sunday issue, by special permission of the World's Work, appear comprehensive sketches of the life narratives of two fore most contenders for the republican presidential nomination Gen eral Wood and Herbert Hoover. How the former loomed large in the creation of the republic of Cuba, while Hoover rose from orphan office boy to the burden bearer of a heavy load of world problems. These articles are illuminating and informative. You should seek them out. Section 5, page 10. The Comeback of the Horse. Hell never tighten the tugs on the heavy trucks again, not as he and his mates used to before the day of gasoline, but the horse is coming back. How? Watch' the streets for the return of the smart equipage with its team of high-steppers, a gleaming phaeton drawn by equine aristocracy. For the public fancy is turning again to horse-drawn pleasure ve hicles, and De Witt Harry, feature contributor, has written a spe cial story about it in The Sunday Oregonian. Mysterious Yellow Behind Russia's Red. Is there a trace of Mongol in the unrest of Russia? Never so far apart, these na tions, China and the land of the Russ, though they sprawl in dif ferent continents. And now the Russian dictator, Lenine, has as his chief counselor one Ipak Yen, formerly a Chinese barber's assistant now vizier to the bolshevik caliph of Russia. What omen has this, if omen it bears? In the Sunday issue, with illustrations, there is a special dispatch from Moscow, relating this strange de-, velopment. Magazine section, page S. ' Is it Safe for a Woman Ever to Tell All? Maybe the Sphinx knows but mortals can only guess. In the Sunday issue, by Helen Lester Hall, there is the story of a woman who told her husband everything, trusting in his chivalry. And he the divorce courts heard his plea. So arises again the old question of how far we should confide our faults to those we hold dear. You'll want to read this riddle for yourself. Magazine section, page 6. The Baby That Two Mothers Wanted. When King Solomon or dered the slave to draw sword, the true mother begged for the life of her child. And you know all about that story. But 3000 years later, in Atlanta, Ga., there were two mothers who contended for the one child, while neither would claim or acknowledge another babe of the same age. Death solved their quarrel. A story of the strange tan gling of mortal affairs told in the Sunday magazine section, with photographs. All the News of All the World THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN More Truth Than Poetry. By Jamea J. Montague- NO FAVORITES. If you and I were robins. Residing in a nest. We'd feel nc fears that profiteers Would have us dispossessed. But when we saw a tom-cat. With terror we should faint. And vhat It why that you and I Are kind of glid we ain't. If you and I wore minnows Abiding in a pool. We'd never need to learn to read Or spend long days in school. But little boys with fishpoles Make tough the minnow's lot. We'd find that .looks were worse than books. And so we're glad we're not. If you and I were rabbits. And bounded through the wood. Quite certain we should always be Of good abundant food. But dogs have keen incisors Which cut one like a knife. And so we're clad we never had To lead a rabbit's life. Man sees the cuttle browsing, . . The birds that soar aloft. The fish that swim, and all to him. Seem living protty soft. They keep no office hours. They have no work to do. But Ju.st the same they find the gams Is full of trouble, too! It Pays Better to W nit. Yon never notice a stt of children trying to put papa into a padded cell while the old gentleman is Will mak ing money. Hardly. This government's allowance of $23,000 for the president's traveling expenses would never do for the pres ident of the Irish republic. Mr. Rryan'a Next yseerk. "You cannot press a crown of rye upon the brow of the people and cru cify them on a cross of Scotch." (Copyright. 1920. by the Bell Syndi dicate. Inc ) In Other Days. Twenty-five Years Aaro. From The Oregnnian of April IT. IR9.1. Tien-Tsln An imperial edict has been issued authorizing Li Hung Chang to sign the terms of peace promulgated in the Japanese ulti matum. The Jury in the case of Rev. J. C. Read, after 20 hours' deliberation, de cided that he wis Insane when he tried to rob the East Portland bank unci pave a verdict of atquittai on this basis. ' About 100 business men met at the Chamne,- of Commerce yesterday on call of A. H. Dsvers and inaugurated ptpps toward organization of a manu fucturer.V association. The Portland co-operative common wealth was incorporated yesterday and is ready to receive donations, find employment for needy men and trans act similar business. Midi DEPRIVATION IN STORE Tkor V ho Boycott Mary Will. If Con alMtent, Royeott Many. PORTLAND. April 16. (To the Ed itor.) As I read the criticism anent the Pickford-r'alrbanks nuptiuls. the words come to me, "Why criticise5'' The world cannot be reformed In a day. and besides, in the case of celeb rities, we should be more concerned with their art than with their mor ala. We are none of us perfect, even those not exposed to the fierce light of publicity and all the temptations that go with the realism which the public demands in motion pictures. If we were so influenced by the mistakes of the great and the near great that we cou'.d not see a picture of Mary Pickford. for instance, with out offending our sense of decency, then we should have to be consistent and miss a great many artists of one kind or another, because all are human first, therefore weak and err ing. Let each one look to hla own con , science for praise or blame, and ac cept what is good in the aesthetic world without regard to personality. ! V. R. . ..ru America Had No Iloraea. ; SiLVKIiTtiN. Or.. April 15. (To the j Editor.) Our eighth grade class j would like to know if there were horsetf here when Columbus discovered j America. Kary C. Davis, author oi "Productive Farming" says there were not any horses here at that 'time, but in Indian stories they have horses even before the settlers came west. I would like to know which la rUht RALPH UUbTAKSOX. Wild horses existed In America several centuries before its discovery by Columbus, but had become extinct. The first Spanish explorers found no horses In America.