16
THE WESTERN AMERICAN
tragic fate precipitated the war with
Spain. She was launched in July, 1901,
at Cramp’s Philidelphia, but was not
completed until December, 1902. There
is an aphorism that all battle ships are
obsolete as soon as they are completed,
but the Maine was hailed 20 years ago
as the finest fighting ship afloat.
She cost $5,225,000; battle ships of to­
day are four times as expensive. Her
tonnage was 12,500; the average tonnage
of the capital ships of the United States
scrapped at the Washington conference
was 40,000. The Maine was 394 feet over
all; the Colorado, one of the new ships
which are not to be scrapped is 624 feet
long.
So the giant of 20 years ago goes to
the scrap heap a useless pygmy. Twenty
years hence the Colorado will either be
a pygmy or else there will be no more
giants. That is dependant upon whether
the spirit of the Washington conference
survives the naval holiday of ten years.
THE REAL FOLKS
Folks that likes you—them’s the kind
Worth a journey long to find,
’Cause it’s something purty fine
To be standin’ up in line,
Where the chosen congregate
In the counsels of the great.
Yet fame, somehow, doesn’t seem
To bring mutual esteem.
I’ll admit it must be good
For to have it understood
That you’re one o’ the select
Few considered quite correct.
Havin’ people near an’ fur
Bowin’ low an‘ sayin’ “sir”
Must be mighty soothin’, still
’Druther hear jes’ “Howdy Bill!”
Folks that whispers in your ear
Compliments that ain’t sincere;
Folks that use ye fur a day
Then jes’ laugh an’ turn away—
How we strive their praise to win,
Only to return agin
To the fellers that stan’ true—
Folks that likes you, ’cause they do.
It makes me wish that I were good,
And always did the things I should,
The silent dark;
And that there was somebody near,
Or that I even could but hear
Old Towser bark.
Then, sometimes, comes a little tapping,
A gentle, friendly sort of rapping
Uuon the window pane;
They make a pleasant sound at night
When one’s alone and there’s no light,
The fingers of the rain!
THE BUSY GENERATIONS PASS
By John Taylor
Like shadows gliding o’er the plain,
Or clouds that roll sucessive on,
Man’s busy generations pass;
And, while we gaze, their - forms are
gone.
“He lived,—he died;” behold the sum,
The abstract of the historian’s page!
Alike in God’s all-seeing eye
The infant’s day, the patriarch’s age.
O Father, in whose mighty hand
The boundless years and ages lie,
Teach us thy boon of life to prize,
And use the moments as they fly.
To crowd the narrow span of life
With wise designs and virtuous deeds!
So shall we wake from death’s night,
To share the glory that succeeds
CUT ME OUT
I can be exchanged for 25
S. & H. Green Trading
Stamps with any pur­
chase of one dollar
or more any time
before Septem-
ber, 1923, at
Woodard-Clarke & Co.
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DRUGGISTS
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Wood-Lark Building
Alder at West Park
PORTLAND, OREGON
We sometimes supped on dewberries,
Or slept among the hay,
But oft the farmers’ wives at eve
Came out to hear us play;
The rare old songs, the dear old tunes—
We could not starve for long
While my man had his violin,
And I my sweet love song.
The world has aye gone well with us
Old man, since we were one—
Our homeless wandering down the lanes
It long ago was done.
But those who wait for gold or gear,
For houses or for kine,
Till youth’s sweet spring grows brown
and sere,
And love and beauty tine,
Will never know the joys of hearts
That met without a fear,
When you had but your violin
And I a song, my dear.
Very excited was Mildred, the nine-
year-old, when she rushed into her
mother’s room not long ago with this
announcement:
“Mother, we have been having the
best time! We have been playing post­
office, and we gave every lady in the
block a letter”
“But, my dear, where did you find
the letters?”
“Why, we got them from your trunk
in the attic—all tied up in blue ribbon."
Loyalty to Your
Adopted Country
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VIOLIN AND SONG
Mary Kyle Dallas
He’d nothing but his violin,
I’d nothing but my song,
But we were wed when skies were blue
And summer days were long;
And when we rested by the hedge,
The robins came and told
How they had dared to woo and win,
When early spring was cold.
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JULY, 1923
THE FINGERS OF THE RAIN
(Bina Payne, in Boston Eve. Record)
At night when I am tucked in bed
My prayers and good-nights have been
said,
And nurse has gone away.
Sometimes I cannot sleep a wink,
But just lie there and think and think,
And wish that it were day.
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COMING to the United States you
B Y have
chosen a worth-while under­
taking — that of becoming a GOOD
AMERICAN. But the advantages of
being a good American are so many,
that it is easy to work for your citi­
zenship.
One of the best ways is to start right now becoming fi­
nancially secure. Make sure that you will never be dependent.
To do this, you should open a savings account and place
there a part of your earnings every pay day. We pay interest
on these savings, and with your regular deposits, the amount
soon grows.
$1 opens an account in this strong bank. Open yours today.
¿paa
3
LM® & TH
bank
Oldest in the Northwest
WASHINGTON AT THIRD
PORTLAND, OREGON
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Place Your Orders With The Western American Advertisers—and Tell Them Why
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