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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 1903)
THE SUNDAY OREGONJAK, PORTLAND", MAY 17, 1903. IT G. B, M'CLELLAN, His Record and 2?CE upon a time, that is to say about a fortnight prior to the Tam many convention of a duo of years ago, -which selected Mr. Shepard to he Mayor of New York city and thereby builded its house upon the sand Mr. Croker carried the name of George Brln ton McClellan much upon his troubled elope of thought. This mental condition of the Crokerlan part befell in this -wise. When Mr. Croker, Beveral months be fore, would be about his preparations for his annual visit to England, there to give himself over to the Derby, the Oaks and other British relaxations, he made notable arrangements for the Fall campaign. The town was In a ferment concerning vice and its flourishing growth beneath the Tammany influence. The town, indeed, was much and heatedly inclined to ascribe certain east side conditions of black vl clousness wholly to Tammany's fostering care. Borne upon by what he believed to be the needs of the hour, Mr. Croker pitched upon Mr. Devery, then Chief to Police, as a sacrifice. Mr. Croker named Mr. Nixon and a committee to "discover" Mr. Devery and conduct him to the stake. The destruction of Mr. Devery In the . name of "antl-vlce" would calm a storm tossed public: the rising tide of that anti-Tammany resentment would ebb; j the Autumn would find the city a scene of political peace; and Mr. Croker could return, call Tammany about him, and carve unto himself an easy victory. This was the Croker-Tammany plan when Mr. Croker sailed away; a plan which for an added element included Mr. Nixon as the coming Mayoralty candidate. But the programme miscarried; the chip of Mr. Croker's purposes struck hard and fast on a reef; and the reef for that disaster proved to be none other than the -vivacious Mr. Devery. Mr. Devery re fused to become a sacrifice; he would not be led to the stake for the political con venience of Mr. Croker and Tammany Hall. Devery's Deflnnce. "When I go to Sing Sing," cried the In dignant Mr. Devery. this by way of warn ing to Mr. Croker and his lieutenants, "you'll all go. For that trip up the river you will need a special train." Thus admonished that he, Mr. Devery, would not permit himself to be poured as sacrificial oil upon the troubled waters, the .more prudent minds of Tammany called a halt. That suggestion of "Sing Sing" and a "special train" was not pleasant; the Nixon committee arrange ments of Mr. Croker for a Devery auto da fe came to a full stop. "When Mr. Croker returned he found himself confronted by a mutiny. The Bulllvans, a powerful set, which at that day favored Mr. Devery. were In rebel lion, and their slogan was "Coler for pJayor." Mr. Croker surveyed the field the field that was to become his Water loo. It stood clear that Mr. Nixon as a Mayoralty project must be laid aside, and Mr. Croker, as history displays, even fell with the last of it to the sorrowful choice of Mr. Shepard. Before his plans dwindled to the Shepard stage, however, Mr. Croker took Mr. Mc Clellan Into serious consideration. Nor was Mr. McClellan without honorable company, since at this crisis Justice Gay nor. Mr. Shepard and Mr. Cord Meyer were also upon Mr. Croker's mind. The arrant respectability of these gentlemen should give one some glint of those des perate straits wherein Tammany found Itself adrift. While Mr. Croker abode In this mood of uncertainty and was pressed upon by dangerous circumstance he went amjjng folk whom ho might trust seeking coun sel. Mr. Croker on a lee shore was apt to ask advice. He would break himself of that habit, however, when once In the open ocean, a fair sky overhead and the wind aft. Mr. Croker sought the views of his Intimates as to the propriety of Mr. McClellan for Mayor. He himself pre ferred him for a swarm of personal rea sons. Fitness as a Candidate. "What do you think of McClellan for Mayor?" asked, Mr. Croker of one close to his elbow of politics. "What sort of a candidate would McClellan make?" "The best In the world for you," re turned the other, who was not only a pol ltlclan but a cynic. "Now, why do you say that?" urged Mr. Croker. eager to hear all details of Mr. McCIellan's availability. "Why do you think he would make such a good cnadldate for me? "Because," replied the cynic politician. "McClellan will take orders and he doesn't look it. He has the appearance of a man with a will of his own, while no one is more tamely ready to execute Tammany command. He would be most admirable figure to fool a public witft." Mr. Croker nodded thoughtful acquies cence. He remembered how Mr. McClel lan, in Congress, had voted with the Re publicans against the Wilson tariff blll- a test measuro of Democracy at his. Mr. .Croker s behest, a "behest" Inspired of the Sugar Trust. Also, he recalled Mr. aicweilan-s prompt espousal of the Huntington Pacific Railway bill when xammany commanded him to support mat particular piece of land nlracv There ie.ruuch reason to believe, besides the ones just quoted, that at that .time iM.r. croker, had his hands been free, would have placed Mr. McClellan forward in the Mayoralty race. He was prefera ble for Tammany to Mr. Nixon, since air. -McClellan was better and more thor oughly broken to the Tammany bit. All this was fair two years ago, and a deal or water, say the Scotch, will run under the bridget in two years. It has not. hnwcvir Riimrorl In ia lncnnn to wash away the chances of Mr. Mc Clellan for a Mayoralty nomination, and now that local politics has reached the Summer or dlscussional stage the name of that gentleman is often and respectfully within the Tammany mouth. Indeed, while one hears of the Colers, the Cord Meyers, the Gaynors, the Shepards, the Nlxons. the Fitzgeralds. the Sergeant Crams and mayhap a baker's dozen be sides, Mr. McCIellan's is the name mcftt persistently in the air, and were the con vention to be held at once It is much among the certainties that he would head the list. It is the old Croker Influence, Mr. Cro ker is gone; but the Croker ghost stll haunts the corridors and walks the halls of Tammany. The Croker word, while whispered, is still potent. And the Croker word Is "McClellan." Mr. Murphy would take Mr. Croker's hint today as swiftly and with as warm a zeal as In that other hour when, fresh with victory, "the chief" held court at his club. Murphy and. Mayor-Monserinf?. Moreover. Mr. Murphy, for himself, would turn naturally in any Mayor-mon-gering- to Mr. McClellan. They are of the same "district;" the two have' long been friends of nearest feather, and in the par lance of the hall, Mr. Murphy is Mr. Mc CIellan's "leader." Thus happily founded, not to say sur rounded. It should not stretch the imag ination to any utmost pitch to foresee for Mr. McClellan the next Tammany nomi nation for the city's Chief Magistracy. Wherefore, with the situation thus made, and when one reflects how New Tork is, though second in census, first in import ance among the cities of the earth, Mr. McClellan will find promotion to a worthl while place in present public thouchL Following his retirement from the com mand -of the Army, General McClellan. father of the subject of this sketch, was seized on by the Democrats as a candi date for the Presidency. This would be In the midst of the war-tossed 60s, and General McClellan was run against the mighty Uncoln. General McClellan de- TAMMANY'S MAN FOR MAYOR His Personal Traits. He Will "Take Orders." y- GEORGE: B. M'CLELLAN. i : served a better fate; the Democracy might as wisely have run itself and him against a stone wall. Qn the. heels of that campaign, wherein Lincoln with the Republicans went over McClellan and the Democrats like a train of cars. General McClellan withdrew, self- exiled as It were, to Germany. He felt himself to have been ill treated by his countrymen, both in war and in peace. and to tell the whole truth, there is proof extant that he was right. Therefore he went abroad, considering how he would never come back, a feeling which time overthrew. In this exile to Germany, however, the elder McClellan stands In no need of sympathy. There comes to be no strange and dreadful difference between life on the Hudson and life on the Rhine, and by best account the Mc Clellans in Germany passed a happy, not to say successful, existence. The younger McClellan, George Brlnton, he of this sketch, was born November, 1SG5, In the city of Dresden Dresden, where they make the china. It Is, doubt less, jiothlng save coincidence, but there lives "much about Mr. McClellan and the brittle fragility of his opinions to remind cne of that city of his nativity. He Is peculiarly of Dresden china politics, and altogether in the hands of Tammany as bo much bric-a-brac of party, to be broken or preserved on a shelf of office, as seems meet and best to that organization, busy 1 with its housekeeping. "Attenuation of Principle." It is this sllmness of conviction, this at tenuation of principle, and the selfish cob web characteristics of his policies spread, these latter, solely to catch buzzing of fice for himself that maKo an analysis of Mr. McClellan, together with a re count of his record in place, no easy thing to write. ' t Passivity is ever difficult of description; the motionless will baffle your story tel ler, who requires activity, aggressiveness and direction on his subject's part to carry him along. Mr. McClellan owns I many of those safe and, for himself, com fortable attributes of a canal. He Is cur, rehtless, narrow between his banks, of an even depth, or rather shallowness, and while not muddy, yet not so lucid as to allow the eye to sound him. To the casual glance he will seem as profoundly deep as the ocean; one may find his bottom, however, with any 6-foot question. There Is a safety for Mr. Mc Clellan in thus being of canal sort; nor does he believe in mountain streams, how ever splendid with glassy pools and splashing waterfalls. They bring in no cargoes, while the canal does. Mr. McClellan is canal-like from choice. And therein lies a sagacity. Ever and anon, you who watch will note some blunt, bull-nosed vessel, bearing his hopes and fears for office, as it creeps silently on its voyage; no Impulse of Its own, and the Tammany mule on the towpath fur nishing the power. Yes, forsooth! Mr. McClellan prefers the canal as his exam ple. It will not be the Mississippi truly, It will sweep away no bridges; it will overflow no regions round about; no na vies will battle on Its bosom; the world in its giant commerce will not make of It a thoroughfare. But what then? Your canal means safety and profit and suc cess for Its little special enterprises and those are the proposals to most engage the faculties of Mr. McClellan, who, of briefest breadth withal in every other regard. Is only expansive in his anxiety, for place. Concerning this "anxiety" a word might be said. Folk, careless when brought to "a review of those divers huntsmen of poli ticsthe Lows, the Roosevelts, the Cro kers, the Platts and the Odells are prone to fall Into a trap of error. They do not distinguish. These political huntsmen are. of two kinds one is your pot hunter, who hunts selfishly; and the other is that no bler sportsman who does not make poll tics his trade nor carry wholly on his thought some sordid benefit for himself. Of the Pot Hunter Class. Mr. McClellan in politics belongs with the pot hunters; also he has appetites for office Instead of ambitions. This latter makes the reason why Mr. McClellan is passive rather than aggressive, and, while sedulous to follow. Is careful never to lead. Ambition Is a captain, it will have a principle, a war reason and lead a charge. Appetite Is ever your camp fol lower. Its thought is, "Safety first, and then aggrandizement." Ambition is much the more admirable, and yet Appetite will fatten while Ambition starves. As stated, Mr. McClellan has appetites and not am bitions of politics, and thus one finds him always with an office In his hands, never letting one go until he feels a better in his clutch. There is one mighty virtue to blaze forth in the case of Mr. McClellan he is in a personal sense utterly and entirely the honest man. Beginning his office holding as secretary for the board that built the Brooklyn Bridge, and going from there to the Common Council, and next to the As sembly, and after that in Congress for ten years, every day of his career will bear Inspection. His personal integrity Is beyond question. Mr. McClellan never owned a dollar that wore a stain. One should observe, however, that in de claring the fine honesty of Mr. MoClellan the word "personal" Is used. That is to distinguish the honesty quoted In its sort. Mr. McCIellan's personal Integrity Is ner- fect; Mr. McCIellan's political integrity is the integrity of Tammany HalL The stream never lifts Itself above a source; Mr. McClellan if Mayor would execute the last least whisper of a Tammany com mand. The City Hall would be in Four teenth street and acting for Wantage over the water; the Mayor would be Mr. Cro ker behind two masks the one mask Mr. Murphy, and the other Mr. McClellan. Will Take Orders. Mr. McClellan. as said the cynic politi cian two years ago, "will take orders." Mr. McClellan himself would not deny thls. Should he do so and his denials grow to a point that convinced Tammany of their truth, he would never be selected to make the run. for Mayor. Your Mayor who "won't take orders" Is a disaster and no blessing to the Tiger's people They would prefer a jRepubllcan or even a "reformer" In control to one of their own selection who had thrown off the yoke of the "boss." In such latter case they would carry a responsibility without chance of reward, which is a eho far to the left hand of any Tammany notion. Mr. McClellan in conceding that ho "would take orders" would expound his position by saying, "I'm an organization man; I believe In organization." That Is a phrase to be the cut-and-dried cant of the regular parties. Mr. Piatt will use It as often as Mr. Croker. It should be noticed, however, that whether he be Republican or Tammany, that man Tvho does use It is Inevitably one who hopes with his politics to advance his own per sonal fortunes with either an office, or a contract, or a pillage too dubious to own a noonday name. Mr. McClellan passed his schoolboy pe riod in -Paris. Then he came across and entered Princeton College, from which seminary of learning he graduated In 18S5. Next one is to hear of him as a reporter on a leading New York paper, and he sets to writing that history current of police circles, the party primaries and conven tions, and the courts. It was that secre taryship for the Brooklyn Bridge which should be Mr. McCIellan's maiden public place. The salary was J 4000, and seemed an improvement, doubtless, on "space rates" rife at that hour. It was while Mr. McClellan prevailed as secretary for the big bridge and per inci dent would be studying his Blackstone un der cover of Columbia, with a final pur pose of the bar, that Mr. Croker became a factor in his destinies. Mr. Croker was a shrewd, far-sighted leader. The disaster for Tammany was a lack of fashion, and its ceaseless, never-failing, year-ln, year out disrepute. Of this Mr. Croker stood well aware. It was with the thought of curing as much as might be such condi tions of mud that Mr. Croker would be forever reaching forth for folk like the Prices. Belmonts, the Astor-Chanlers and the Mr. Croker would have a first line for Tammany made wholly of the nobility, as Mr. Croker understood the term. The Tammany rear guard might be Hester and Mulberry streets, and the Bowery and Avenue D, but for its front Mr. Croker preferred Fifth avenue. Then when any one snapped a kodak on Tammany, there in the smiling foreground would be dis covered a bevy composed of members of that highly selected. If not select, coterie known fashionably as the "Four Hun dred." This would serve td give Tam many a vogue and rub off some of the mud so Mr. Croker thought. It was this idea which was to bring Mr. Croker to Fifth avenue with his club and no cheap weakness to feel gilded, as his foes de clare. In his search for fashion Mr. Croker, among other raw material, pitched upon Mr. McClellan and Invited him Into Tam many. However, Mr. McClellan did not rush Into the Tammany arms the moment they were outspread to him, Mr. McClel lan even as a youth was not without a QUESTIONS and ANSWERS "What Briquettes Are. I notice In several Western newspapers articles on organizing companies by William dc la Barre, of Berlin, backed by the Washburn-Pillsbury Company, of Minneapolis, to build works at Bismarck, N. D., for the manufacture of Briquettes from lignite underlying' a large portion of tho West. Now would you mind tell ing me what a briquette Is? Is It used for general fuel, or simply In blast furnaces? And how Is It manufactured? There are veins of lignite all over Eastern Oregon. H. M. Briquettes are "bricks" of compressed fuel. Those manufactured from coal dust are used for general purposes, but those made from lignite would not be suitable for all uses, owing to the low per cent age of carbon therein. iJgnlte Is prac tically the third stage of coal develop mentwood, peat, lignite, bituminous coal, anthracite coaL Lignite has about 70 per cent of carbon, while anthracite coal has from 90 to 94. Enormous beds of lignite underlie the "West Central States, and it will un doubtedly be largely -exploited in the fu ture. Admission to -the Fair. 1. If the Lewis and Clark Exposition opens In 1905 what will K cost a person to go into the Fair? 2. Where does the money go to, if there's any left after paying all expenses? Do the shareholders get it all, or does the State of Oregon, after giving $500,000, get its share pro rata, the same as the shareholders? JOHN C SCHMIDT. 1. The admission fee has not yet been Axed. Probably single tickets for adults will be sold at 50 cents. 2. No one need concern himself about any surplus, either for the shareholders or the state. Yes. We are In doubt as to the real mean ing of the phrase, "A natural-born citi zen," and wish you would-kindly Inform us. Is a man eligible to the Presidency of the United States who was born In the United States, but whose parents were not? L. J. Washington. School Isadt. Will you please Inform me If they sell Washington State school land now? "What is the .price on it? A. K. J Address Wash. Secretary of State, Olympia, Married. "Woman's Right to Deed. If after a husband gives a warranty deed to some real estate to his wife in the State of Oregon, and If she chooses to sell. cautious virtue. He paused to locate the butter on his bread. "Could a young man of appearance, ed ucation and name enter Tammany to hi3 own advantage?" That was the question which Mr. Mc Clellan asked. He did not complicate It with "advantage to the people" or "ad vantage to Tammany." The question ended simply and easily "to his own ad vantage." Mr. McClellan took advice. The" Bel monts and the Coopers respectable names, these told Mr. McClellan that Tammany would not soli him more than a mudhole soils a duck. "Your native fineness would protect you," said they; "and observe, too, those noble harvests of frog and tadpole to ac crue from the mudhole to the mudhole duck." The Greenes and the Alexanders names also respectable would give counsel the other way. "Avoid Tammany," cried they, "as you would a pestilence. Mr. Croker comes seeking you. for you are young and beau tiful and good. But you should say him 'Nay.' You will look In Tammany Hall like a geranium in the window of a ten ement-house." Led "Within the "Walls of Taiftmany. Mr. McClellan, however, yielded to the hyperbole of the Belmont-Coopers. He extended his hand to- Mr. Croker and was led within the walls of Tammany. Mr. Croker then put Mr. McClellan to that purpose which was with him earliest, and used him, and others of his glittering Fifth-avenue fellows, for the ornamenta tion of Tammany, just as Mr. Daly would gild the dome of his gambling hell in days when Long Branch ran brldleless to play. The sequel, however, has displayed Mr. McCIellan's judgment as without a flaw. Place being his purpose, he was wise when he took on with Tammany and gave over his convictions of political right and wrong, to ,be yanked hither and yon by Mr Croker as that chieftain's caprice or Interest should decide. Mr. McClellan parted with his birthright, but his mess of pottage was a course dinner. The repast began with tho City Coun- ell. The soup was the Assembly. .air. McClellan, with the napkin of silence be neath his chin and a Tammany knife and fork to equip his hands. Is still at that dinner with a place in Congress. They are about to bring on the Mayoralty course. Mr. McClellan, reading with te eye of anticipation, besides a Mayoralty, believes he glimpses a Governorship, a Senator's place, a "Vice-Presidency, even a Presidency, on the menu. Wherefore, Mr. McClellan will at this pinch take what is placed before him and ask no questions for conscience sake. Mr. McClellan has been a "colonel" on the staff of Governor Hill. Also, as an' ammunition of politics not to bo over looked. Mr. McClellan Is a member of the Loyal Legion. Aztec Society, Sons of Vet erans, Irish Brigade, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Union, Princeton, Manhattan and Democratic Clubs. What Is his record of deeds? Aside from his vote against the Wilson tariff bill and for the Huntington Pacific Railway bill, by command of Mr. Croker, a glance rearward displays Mr. McClellan as one day acting Mayor, when he performs the ceremony of marriage for a lovesick Ger man couple: later he shlne3 in the Assem bly in a gallant, albeit fruitless, strug gle to cut down this city's cab fares. Mr. McClellan failed in his great cab war for much the same reason that Vincent Crummies' comic horse. In "Nicholas Nickleby." failed at melodrama. "His work was too broad, sir, much too broad." Mr. McClellan is married to a lady beau tiful and accomplished, and a pure daugh ter of those Knickerbockers whose an cestral stream finds Its wellhead 'among the spinning wheels and wooden shoes of two centuries ago. In person Mr. Mc Clellan is short, square, thick, stralgnt and gives one with his smooth face an Impression of an indomitable respecta bility. . Also he dresses perfectly, which Is a wise political thing to do In a day when a good coat will carry one further toward high office than a good conscience. As to Mrl McCIellan's "principles," he Is for the platform In advance of Its construc tion. Personally, one could get no opln Ion on any local question from Mr. Mc Clellan. He belongs to the tribe of iseitner-ainrm-nor-aeny, ana he ever awaits a party utterance to be the guide for his own. Mr. McClellan would not today tell you whether he favors a city gas plant or the public ownership for street railways, or no; he is without a "yea" or "nay" on every city subject. There in blurred fashion, as I see him, Is the picture of George Brlnton -McClellan, a gentleman well up among the prob ables of a Mayor to come. Mr. McClellan is like a bucket of spring water. He Is pure, clean, cool and fairly refreshing, but there Isn't enough of him to put out a Are or swim a boat or turn the wheel of any mill of moment. Alfred Henry- Lewis In the New York Herald, Is It necessary that he should sign the deed also to make the sale legal? E. W. The wife takes the property by title in courtesy, and may hold It In her own right, but if she convey It to another per son her husband must Join In the deed Britlsb Political Parties. Please tell me the political parties in tho two Houses of the English Parlia ment; also, the numbers and the leaders of each party, and the holder of these offices: Chancellor of the Exehmucr. P?rst Lord of the Treasury, Home, For eign, colonial, war and Navy Secretaries. V. S. The political parties In the British Par liament are the Conservative and the Liberal. There is a branch of the latter known as Liberal Unionists, who are op posed to granting hom'e rule to Ireland, and the Irish Nationalists. Mr. Arthur J. Balfour leads the Conservatives and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman the Lib erals. At the" last election (1900) there were 334 Conservatives, 6S Liberal Union ists, 1S6 Liberals, 82 Nationalists, in the Commons, in the Lords there 13 a Con servative majority. The officials are as follows: Chancellor of the Exchequer. C. T. Ritchie; First Lord of the Treasury, Arthur J. Balfour; Secretaries Home, A. A. Douglas; For eign. Marquis of Lansdowne; Colonial. Joseph Chamberlain; War, W. St. J. F. Brodrick; Admiralty, Earl of Selborne. Hott to Take Ub a Mining Claim. What are the conditions and what is it necessary to do to take up or stake out .a mining claim? S. M. L. See sections 3975, 3975 and 3977 of the Codes and Statutes of Oregon, compiled and annotated by Charles B. Bellinger and William W. Cotton. If these are not accessible to you, ask the Justice of the Peace of your precinct. Taking: Unmarked Logs. Can a man tie logs up In a stream'above a chartered boom If they are not branded and convert them Into is own use? W. W. - He would have no more right to take unmarked logs than he would have to take any other property. Life of a. jailgment." If a Judgment for a debt was recorded against a man's property, but nothing was paid on It how long would it be be fore it became outlawed? A. B. Ten years, if no execution has Issued. been WILLIAM DEAN HO WELLS ON The Distinguished Critic's Estimate of the Master of THAT most enthusiastic literary man and militant American patriot, "Will lam Dean Howella, contributes to the North American Review for May a paper upon "Certain of the Chicago School of Fiction," -the greater part of the paper being devoted to George Ade and Flnley Peter Dunne. The entire paper Is in the author's most characteristic vein. He finds George Ade's work typically Ameri can, and his enjoyment of Mr. Dunne's Dooley Letters Is at once real and ana lytical. It is when considering Mr. Dooley that the critic writes: Wbn I read a fable beginning. "Once there was & mimchewcr named Tesate, who Ironed upher white dress and bought seven yards ot ribbon and went on ft picnic given by the ladles' auxiliary of the Horseshoers' Union." I am calmly glad In the security of a fully foreseen passage of life. "When I read a Dooley paper I try to prepare myself for the delicious surprises irhlch Mr. Dooley has la store for Mr. Dunne. Then I know that It Is' of the last effect of subtle-Irony, and 'could not be better if it had been meant from the first. The greater part of the pages dealing with Mr. Ade's literary art Js reprinted here, and those readers interested In the world of today and its expression of the literature of today, will find It worth while to turn to the article Itself. After several page3 devoted to "True Love." a romance by Edyth Wyatt, Mr. Howells turns to Mr. Ade: "In Mr. George Ade the American spirit arrives; arrives, puts down its grip, looks around, takes a chair and makes Itself at home. It has no questions to ask and none to answer. There it Is, with its hat pushed back, its hands in its pockets, and at Its outstretched feet that whole vast. droll American world, essentially alike In Maine and Oregon and all the hustling re gions between; speaking one slang, living one life, meaning one thing. It is, I think, Mr. Ade's instinct of our solidarity and the courage of his Instinct which has enabled him to get stralghter to the heart of our mysteries than any former humorist. He has lost no time, he has made no false moves, from the beglnnlngso far as one knows his begin ning. I ayself knew it in his 'Artie.' which I hailed, with what noise I could, as a masterpiece in a sort as new as it was captivating. In that very surprising study of the kind of common young Amer ican who Is never commonplace, there was a touch as absolute as the material was novel. Both touch and material were as authentic and genuine In 'Pink Marsh. the portrait of a Chicago post-bellum ne gro, as Western conditions have differ enced him from the Southern and earlier type: and again, one felt the fresh air in one's face, and the untrodden ground un der one's feet In approaching the group at the Alfalfa Hotel, svith that masterly fig ure of 'Doc Horne to welcome one with his courteous and friendly lies. Of course, this Is not saying the, thing, not giving the sense of character which so richly abounds without slopping into caricature In these pictures of an unerringly ascer tained average of American life. No cata loguing of the excellencies of these books would give a notion of their people so frankly, so boldly and yet so delicately defined, so unmistakably shown, so unde niably true. The level struck Is low: the level of the street, which seems not depressed in the basement barber shop where Pink Marsh polishes shoes., or lifted in the office where Artie talks to his friend and evolves himself and his simple love story. It Is the same level In the entrance floor of the Alfalfa, where Doc Horne sits with his fortuitous companions and harmlessly ro mances. You are not asked to be Interest ed in any one because he is any way out of the common, but because he Is every way In the common. Mr. Ade would not think of explaining or apologizing or at all accounting for the company he Invites you to keep. He knows too well how good THE LIKE A Through the millions of little mouths, or pores, the sHn absorbs froiri the surrounding atmosphere innumerable poisons, and takes into the blood and system the virus of the most deadly diseases. It is as porous as a sponge, and is' supplied with a perfect network of tiny blood vessels that carry to the great current of the blood the impurities and poisons, that are absorbed by the skin, and diseases thus contracted become constitutional, deep-seated and as dangerous as those brought on in other ways. POISON OAK, IVY and other noxious wild plants growing in field and forest percolate through the skin like water through a sponge, and are taken up by the blood, where they linger on for years,, break ing out again each season or until the jpoison has been antidoted and driven from the blood. BARBER'S ITCH breaks out m yellow pustules and red, angry looking bumps, sometimes covering the entire bearded portion of the face, causing the greatest pain tand annoyance, and itching and burning almost incessantly. Dnicnucn dv unin , DYE POISONING is a commoa occurence among DJ B"a pIeoe tne employes or aye nouses, ana irom wearing unaer-ciotning and hosiery colored with cheap dye stuffs which soak through the skin, poison the blood and spread throughout the sys tem, causing boils and sores and great injury to health. BLOOD POISON, the most loathsome of all human maladies, is often contracted through a friendly hand shake or handling the clothing or some other article used by one afflicted with this .disease. The deadly virus finds its way into the blood through the skin, and the body is soon cov ered with offensive ulcers and red eruptions and blotches. WORKERS IN LEAD, BRASS AND OTHER METALS The use of chemicals and acids in the polishing of brass and other metals is attended sometimes with fearful consequences; the acids entering through the pores of the skin are taken into the general circulation, and frightful sores break out, and the general health and system are affected by these dangerous chemicals. Invisible atoms and dust in foundries and factories settle upon the skin and produce irri tating eruptions followed by painful boils and obstinate sores. The diseases that enter the blood and system through the skin are as real, deep-seated and dangerous as those brought on by internal causes, and require the same thorough and radical treatment. You cannot reach them with washes, salves, soaps or other has been broken down by chemical or lead poisoning, or the effects of blood poison, nothing will give such quick relief as S. S. S. If you are suffering from Barber's Itch or some other eruptive disease, or there is still lurking in your veins Oak or Ivy poiso S. S. S. will drive it out and make a complete and permanent cure. Write us freely should you desire medical advice or any specific information about youi case. This will cost you nothing Jm swjpr gjTO COMPANY. ATLANTA. CUL It is, and he cheerfillly takes the chance of your not yourself being better. ' It is hl3 wonderful directness which is in case here, hl3 perfect control Ineallng with the American as the American knows himself. He does not prepare his speci mens, or arrange a polntfof view for you. There tho characters are, as they have walked in out of the sun, and they could not Imagine your not being pleased to meet them. But you will make a great mistake if you fancy they are without refinement of their own, their point of honor. Artie is essentially as fine as he is frank. In the best things of a gentle men he is a gentleman. He Is a fountain of slang, but his thought Is as pure as any that flows from wells of English unde nted. "Doc Horne is a lovable type of the old er fashioned American with the elderly Ideals of politeness, of chivalry, of per sonal dignity, which I do not believe even race suicide can obliterate In our na tion, and his fellow lodgers at the. Alfalfa are worthy of his suave and1 gentle so ciety; even the insufferableNreckled Boy, even the wretched Hustler who swindles Doc Horne Into a guiltless complicity In his swindling scheme. But what dreadful things am I saying? That these frail fel low mortals are of the great American family in which we are all one. Pink Marsh Is the colored brother In this fam ily, and I love him like the rest. "If we come to the Fables In Slang, as I am coming, we have now four volumes and several hundreds of them forming a splendid triumph on terms which might well have warranted defeat after the first 20 or 30. But our life, our good, kind droll, ridiculous American life. Is really inexhaustible, and Mr. Ade, who knows its breadths and depths as few others have known them, drops his net Into It any where and pulls it up full of the queer fish which abound In It. There seems never doubt of a catch In his mind, and so far there has been no failure. -The form of these fables helps Itself out with capital letters such as the nouns and other chief words of the old printings of Aesop used to wear, and there Is a mock moral tagged to each, but each is reaily a little satire, expressing itself in the richest and fresh est slang, but of a keenness which no most polished satire has surpassed, and of a candid complicity with fthe thing satirized our common American civiliza tion, namely which satire has never con fessed before. I am trying to get around to saying a thing I And difficult, that Is, how the author posts his varying people in their varying situations without a word of excuse or palliation for either, in the full confidence that so far as you are truly American you will know them, and as far as you are truly honest you will own yourself of their breed and more or less of their experience. I will not load up this slight paper with any" statement or analysis of them; everybody has read them, and knows what they are, and how, while they deal with any or every phase of our motley yet homogeneous existence, they deal chiefly with its chief Interest, as It Is, or as it has been, which the au thor calls The Girl Proposition. "He gives that name to his latest vol ume of fables, but It 13 the nature of nearly all. Somehow, more or less, they center In It. Sometimes It Is the old girl proposition. The relation of huBbands and wives in marriage or divorce, but mainly It is the young girl proposition, as it should be In a republic so pastoral as ours, where the Innocent love-making, innocent however vulgar, of youthful un married people Is the national romance. He divined that this was the great na tional concern, or else he has recognized it as such without being at the pains of any previous Inspiration, and he has made It the ever-fascinating theme of his fables, as he had made it the theme of those earier stories of his which one can hardly call novels. But even when the girl proposition Is not the theme of his allegory, it Is so joy glvlngly true no one can deny that, when the fable comes with each successive Sunday paper, and you sit down to It. you are SKIN SPONGE external remedies. The poison must be antidoted or coun teracted and the blood purified before the sores and erup tions disappear, and S. S. S. cures by ridding the blood and system of the original poison, and not an atom or taint is left to re-ferment and bring on a fresh outbreak. S. S. S. is guaranteed entirely vegetable, an unrivalled blood purifier and the best of all tonics. If your health GEORGE ADE Modern Slang. sura of Ave minutes away from all tho tiresome unreality and pretense of tha workaday week, and experience some thing of the bliss of looking at your own photograph, either as you once were or as you are now. So far as the girl proposition Involves the money proposi tion, and it nearly always involves that more intimately or less intimately, the other great interest of our life enters into the scheme of Mr. Ade's literature. I mean the financial interest, which oc cupies us, never indeed exclusively of the girl proposition, but antecedently and subsequently and concurrently. We are still, in spite of our multiplicity of millionaires, almost as universally con cerned in getting on as wo are In getting married or unmarried, and Mr. Ado knows this as he knows much about us. without making any noise over his facts. "It would be interesting to know, but perhaps we never shall know women are so reticent! how much or little Mr. Ade's work pleases the sex with which, it most interests Itself, and perhaps most amuses itself, but I am obliged to be lieve that he must postpone an honest acceptance by the largest reading sex to the production of some unblushing ro mance where he shall paint woman the heroine she really knows herself to be, even when she chews gum, and wears corsets that give the fashionable shape, and a picture hat that it Is a pity should ever have escaped from the picture. "Nothing could be more mistaken than a criticism that gave the notion of satire In Mr. Ade's mirth, as satire used to be. He is without any sort of literary jtose. It Is very caustic mirth ,it is sarcasm of the frankest sort; but I suspect he would not count It gain If his laughter lessened tne iony in tne worm, vony, x iuncy, he does not think such a very bad thing, and It Is always the more or less Inno cent types of folly that he deals with, even when depicting thoso guiltlessly familiar and helplessly 'fond phases of the girl proposition which are more characteristic of our civilization than ot any other. It is the note (the word In sists again, as if It had not already had Its inning) of so much of the proposi tion as seen in the humbler walks ot our life, if any of our walks are humble, that we should be the sadder If Mr. Ade's gayety with it should abash the Ingenu ousness of so much Americon love-making." SCHOOLBOY OF 1903. Scientific Bon Mots-Hurled at That Youngster. Judge. "Tommy, have you been vaccinated?' "Yes. ma'am." ' 'Have you had your vermiform appen dix removed?" Yes, ma'am." "Do you use sterilized milk?" "Yes, ma'am." "Is your home connected with tha city Eawer?" "Yes, ma'am." "Have you shed all your milk teeth?" "All but one." "Have you a certificate of Inoculation for the croup, chlckenpox and measles." "Yes, ma'am." "Is your lunch put up In Dr.. Koch's patent antiseptic dinner-pail?" "Yes, ma'am." "Have you your own sanitary slate rag and drinking cup?" "Yes, ma'am." "Do you wear a camphor bag around your throat, , a collapsible life-belt and Insulated rubber heels for crossing the trolley line?" "All of these." "Have you a pasteurized certificate of baptism?" "Yes, ma'am." "And a life insurance nonforfeitable pol icy against all the encroachments of old age?" "Yes, ma'am." "Then you may hang your cap on tho Insulated peg set opposite your distin guished number, climb into your seat and proceed to learn along sanitary lines." V of brass machinery, for -which a pow erful acid -was used, my blood, became poisoned, and before' long I vzas .one mass of sores. I tried everything that the best physicians prescribed, all to no purpose, and it is difficult to de scribe the suffering I had to endure. A friend suggested that I try S. S. S. and I Improved -with the first bottle and in a few months I was entirely cured, and there was not a sore on. my body, although the disease left soars equal to a case of smallpox. GEORGE A. DAVIS, Fairfield, Ark. POISON OAK AND ITS EFFECTS. Gentlemen; Over fifteen years ago I was poisoned with Poison Oak. I tried remedy after remedy without getting relief. Sores broke out over my body and on my tongue, affecting the lining of my mouth. Finally about a year ago my doctor told me to try S. S. S., which I did. After taking three bottles all the sores disappeared, and I have not been bothered since, CON O 'BRYAN, Danville, Ky.