THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
5
canning and handling salmon in Oregon one gets some idea of the im
portance of the industry and of the value of the propagation being car
ried on in the various hatcheries of the state.
From the mouth of the Columbia to Cascade Locks the water area of
the river is 98,000 acres. For the past 45 years this area has averaged
to yield a revenue of $25 per year per, acre in salmon.
If a farmer can afford to spend money on fertilizing his fields, cer
tainly we can afford to spend a small portion of the revenue derived
from our rivers and streams in the artificial propogation of fish to re
stock our streams.
PRACTICAL SIDE OF LENT
HISTORY OF IMMENSE INTEREST TO ALL
KNT is with us, and no matter whether you observe the
season as one of fasting and penitence, as a religious
duty, or not, the respite and change that it brings is
a good thing for everyone. All such institutions have
their origin in the genuine welfare of mankind, and
they deserve respect.
In earlier times religion and morality and hygiene and
physical well-being were all combined in one general code of conduct.
The Mosaic laws are a mixture of abstract piety and practical sanitation.
The tendency of modern orthodoxy has heen to make religion a thing
apart; it has been separated too much from the everyday life of men.
Efforts are being made by the churches to make religion minister to the
physical as well as the spiritual requirements of humanity, but a great
deal remains to be done in this direction.
As we have said, the Lenten fast is based on a real human need,
manifested all through the ages; it is not religious in any narrow theo
logical or sectarian sense. The term "Lent" comes from the Anglo
Saxon word lencten," meaning to lengthen; the reference is to the days,
which begin to noticeably increase in length at this season.
The ancient pagan nations celebrated the coming of spring by fasting
and penitence, and this custom, like many others, was adopted by the
Christian church and adapted to its purposes. This shows the astute
ness of the early religious fathers, for if the Christian religion had an
tagonized these pagan practices and customs which were so powerfully
intrenched it could never have made the conquest it did. It simply
captured the pagans, with their customs and all, and " benevolently as
similated" them.
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