THE DALLES WEEKLY CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 18.. 1896. The Weekly Chroniele. j NOTICE. fjBT Ail eastern foreign advertisers are referred to onr representative, Mr. E. Katz, 230-234 Temple Court, New-York City. Eastern advertising mast be con tracted tbrongb turn. ' . STATIC OFFICIALS. ejvernor W. P. Lord Secretary of State HE Kincaid Treasurer Phillip Metscban Bnpcof Public Instruction G. M. Irwin Attorney-General , C. M. Idleman . . (G. W. McBride Benatora.: Jj -w Miti-huU Congressmen. ......... State Printer I B. Hermann W. R. EUla H. Leeds COUNTY OFFICIALS. County Judge... Robt. Mays Sheriff. T. J. Driver Clerk .....A M. Kelsay Treasurer u. 1 runups , . ia.s. mowers Commlsidoners in. 8. Kimsev . Assessor W. H. Whipple Surveyor -J- 5;,V"" Superintendent of Public Schools. . .C. L. Gilbert C jroner W. H. Butts THE TRAMP PROBLEM. The tramp problem has caused, is causing, and will continue for an in definite time to cause comment as to his wherefore and suggestions as to his whitherness. That he is an un mitigated nuisance is undoubted; that he is a source of danger at all times, a hreat to property ana a menace to peace is freely conceded . by all ; that he is often a dangerous criminal, always a petty one, his his tory shows. Wbnt then to do with h!m, and how to control him have become im portant questions. The remedies suggested have been multitudinous, ranging from the rock pile and en forced work to a great national home for him, where he may be sent and cared for until his moral nature gets thoroughly renovated and he becomes a good citizen, by contagion. The tramp disease, like leprosy once contracted is incapable of cure It goes from bad to wcrse, eating into the morals, into the manhood of the victim until disease or a slip from the break-beam sends him into the beyond. It seems to us that the proper way to deal with the tramp is to prevent him, and we believe this can be done asily. We premise that the great mass of tramps were not born to that condition, but made sol that they were not born with criminal instincts, but acquired' them through circum stances. The only difference, after all, between your moral citizen and the criminal is a lir.lt dozen or so meals. When hunger makes the demand, crime will, if necessary, furnish the supply. What then is the remedy? By making steady em ployment possible, the first step in tramping will be avoided. How can this be done ? By stopping immi gration, or so controlling it that it will be reduced to a minimum. With 350,000 to 1,000,000 people coming here annually, besides our own natural increase, the supply of labor outruns the demand. The re suit is steadily decreasing wages, trending ever to the level cf those in Europe, and forced faster and faster to that level by the sharp competi tion of the labor of Europe imported and competing with that already here The laborer, accustomed to certain wages and to the mode of living per nut ted from them, becomes disheart ened as year after year his wages de crease and the practice of the most rigid economy is forced upon him He refuses to work fer the reduced wage and takes a tramp seeking some place where he may better his condition. The European laborer, accustomed to lower wages, goes' to work willingly, for to bim it is an increase in pay. The result is that the new immigrant is employed; the older one and the American becoming idle and tramps. The mining re gions of Pennsylvania and Ohio are in consequence practically foreign coun tries. .The tramp cannot be . cured by punishment, but he may be prevented by wisdom. Have we as a nation the latter quality? s " admitted. It is a matter, between the parent government and its colo nies. The only excuse for any inter ference must be based upon the man' ner in which the war is conducted.- Hisher than international law or international courtesies is moral duty, To take part in the war is beyond ns; to stop the butchery of women and children is our duly. Warfare at its best is a bloody butchery of men, but civilized nations have cer tain well-defined rules that govern the conduct of all warsi One of these is thdt non-combatants shall not be disturbed. Another that pris oners shall be treated humanely. Spain has violated both of these rules, and has turned her licentious soldierly loose to rob, to ravish and to murder. As long as Spain con ducts war against the rebellious sub jects, according to the rules of civil ized warfare, It is none of our affair; but when she resorts to the methods of the savage, it becomes our duty to stay -the red-hand of murder. This sentiment is shared by fifteen millions of free men in this country, and it is high time the head of the government discover this fact. Let Spain stop her butchery of babes, or let her be swept by the strong, hand of free America trom her last toot hold on this side of the Atlantic. EDITORIAL MUSINGS. " the " jjrippixg bain;': 'i - 1 never sea a summer shower '."-'. Bnt memory brings again A scene, a dream of Joug ago, "" Mixed with the falling rain. I see the gnarled apple tr e, , Its pink-white petals wet. And under its protecting leaves My boyhood's Vio!et-, I see her wistful eyes ol blue Uplift to gaze in mine; I.feel her arms two links of love My bending neck entwine; Jl feel the kiss upon my lips By trusting girlhood given : The first, the last, the only taste, I ever hope, of heaven. I feel hi r heart throb next to mine; "Good bye!" I hear her say. And through tlie softly-falling rain I sadly ride away. She striids beneath the apple tree, I turn, and turn again, Until the picture fades from view, Dimmed by the dripping rain. Ah ! That was thirty years ago. And all these passing years Have left their scars of venal sins, A heritage of tears. Bnt memory of that long ago Comes mingling with the rain To lift my heart from sinfulness And bid me hot e again. the heavy top came down. He was in a sitting posture, and the top of the bed caught him, bending him down in such a manner as to break his back. Suiely no man knows when his time shall come. When a man's bed joins the vast number of other things that rise up, or fall down, to crush the life out of him, where shall he find safety? To what sudden and terrifying dangers are modern inventors leading us? Has it come to . this that an insensate and measly bed shall conspire to a man's undoing? Shall man ro to und trembling as Shall he fold the couch about him prospect that the his bed with feat to the guillotine? draperies of his with the pleasing IMPORTANT RAILROAD. DECISION Contracts Releasing the Company from Liability In Case of Injury Are Void. A MORAL DUTY. Tfie dispatches yesterday lead us to believe that the administration foresees the .possibility of trouble with Spain, and the probability of being compelled to interfere to settle thp struggle in Cuba. . That this gov ernment has no right to interfere in the affairs of Spain or Cuba is freely The English government acceding to the demands of the United States for the arbitrtion of the Venezuela boundary lines, is more of a victory than it at first seems. It is not the concession in this particular case that is of importance, but the acknowl edging ot the principles expressed in the Monroe doctrine b' the greatest government on earth, except our own. It was not Venezuela's border lines that were in issue, but the ques tion as to whether the United States, looking after its own interests and providing for its own protection, might interfere between the govern ments of Europe and those of South America, or rather of this continent, and compel the submission of differ ences to arbitration. The United Slates, in England's opinion, at least, has this right, and the far-reaching effects of this admission can scarcely be estimated. Cuban affairs seemed to have reached a crisis.- According to the latest dispatches, 'General Weyler, with 60,000 troops had attacked Maceo, the insurgent leader, who has but 7,000. The latter, however, has the advantage of position, and the continuous firing indicated that the battle was a severe one. Spain fears the meeting of congress, and is urg ing Weyler to crush the rebellion be fore that time. It is understood that Weyler must either win or be recalled, and this is what has sent him into the field. The result of Ihe battle is awaited with great anxiety by Cuba's friends in this country, they feeling that it may be decisive. It is quite probable that within the next two days we shall have news that will indicate the final result of the struggle. Should Maceo hold his position the blow will be fatal to the Spanish cause, while the contrary re suit will make things look black in deed for Cuba. The beauties of the grand canyon of the Columbia, where it cuts its way through the mighty mountain chain of the Cascades, await the coming of some poetic soul to drink them in and tell them in the flowing measures of noble verse. Th me the grand bluffs on the Oregon side, ex- pending from Eagle gorge to where Multnomah pours its billows of lace a thousand feet down over their majestic battlements, are simply overpowering. The bold head-lands, the towering precipices, the castel lated peaks, buiit by Titan hands and fashioned by Nature in her grandest mood, fill the soul with awe and the heart with wonder at Nature's handi work. But awe inspiring, magnifi cent as they are in their towering and silent grandeur, the great Cot umbia, flowing at. their feet, chal lenges them in ' its majesty and strength. The one stands the grim. silent emblem of eternity ; the other moves, the swift, noiseless, uuswerv ing rush of Time. sheets may be winding ones ere the dawn or day.-' fehall the prayer learned at his mother's knee, "If ) should die before I wake," be biought forcibly to the mind of the old, and bring the careless sinner to his knees from very fear? Shall he rise from nis coucn in tnaukruJness and ap proach it at night in dread ? Heaven forbid! Sickness and sudden death are frequent enough now, but from the treacherous bed that smites one to his death in the silent watches of the night, may the saints prcserye us. THE ASYLUM MUDDLE. In three weeks congress will be again in session, and our valued ex. change, the Congressional Globe, will again resume publication, en cumber the mails, load the editorial table, and finally find the waste basket. It is one of the most in tensely stupid publications foisted upon a helpless public, but for this is not to blame. Senators and congressmen furnish, the copy in stead of newspaper men. There are speeches handed down to posterity in its pages that would jar the pop corn off the Christmas tree, or make a campaign orator put a seal on bis mouth and swear off talking forever. The rains are coming up the river, and the river is coming up itself since McKinley's election. It is the same old story and yet con stantly recurring that Simmons Liver Regulator is the best family medicine. We have used it in our family for ight years and find it the best medicine we have used. "We think there- is no such medicine as Simmons Liver Regu lator." Mrs. M. E. 8. Adington, Frank lin, N. C' Each 'member of onr family uses it as occasion requires.1-' W. B. Smith, Mt. Vernon, Ky. Go out on the farthest point at the head of the rapids and watch the great flood as it gathers itself for the will dash over. the rocky barriers. See! There by the island the cur rent sweeps silent and swift!- power ful! majestic! restless! See the tide glide ever faster and faster, its blue surface spotted wiih bubbles of foam, until, as you watch, it seems the rush of a mighty leopard swift in pursuit of lis prey. There, but & little further, the whitCToam breaks up in feathery, streaks, darting in and out ana across, Dither and on, ns though all the Naiads were plyin their shuttles' and weaving their bridal laces of delicate spume Fiercer and more resistless grows the sweep of the azure tide, and now it is no longer a leopard, but a royal tiger, showing the milk of its teeth twixt its teeth all a-wnnkle. Silent still, yet with a sensate desire in each throbbing drop to outdo its fellow, it heaps itself, arching its spine, and just there where yon Titanic bowlder of basalt lifts its head in sullen and stubborn defiance, it gathers its su perb strength, the blue foam-flecked wave lifts itself for the leap, and as it springs you see the blue change to green, to yellow, then to the glow of an opal, and with one mad dash pour its whole mighty torrent down onto the black basaltic bowlder, and shiver itself into a million crystalline splinters, into a hundred million atoms of diamond, that blush up to the sun in a rainbow at their own mad wantonness. Panic-stricken it flees away with a rush and a roar, and the Naiads shriek from very ex uberance of joy and fly away with the swirling foam, flinging' their white arms up through the spray, riding the foam-flecked race, as the spirits from out the cave of the winds go forth with whip and scourge on the hurricane. Then in a mo ment it gathers again andi rushes away down twixt the mountains that lift their1 heads a mile or more above it, down ever down, home ever home, to lose itself in the bosom of its mother, the sea. ' . . A NEW DANGER. At Chicago, about a week ago, Warren B. Mason was killed by the sudden dosing of a folding bed. He arose to ascertain the time, and in getting back jarred the bed so that The decision of the supreme court in the branch asylum matter 13 no doubt in accordance with the law, but what effect will it have on the treasurer or the secretary of state if called upon to issue or cash warrants in favor of state institutions outside of Salem? Can the members of the supreme court, for instance, draw their extra allowance of $1500 per annum for holding their term at Pen dleton ? Or, for that matter, can the secretary or treasurer issue or draw a warrant for any of the state Insti tutions not located near, but at Salem ? In speaking of the present condition of the branch asylum mat ter, the Baker City Democrat says : The financial status of the Eastern Oregon branch asylum muddle is about this: About 1500 has been drawn on the Eastern Oregon asylum appropriation including one attorney fee of $250. All necessary expenses connected with the asylum will have to come out of the appropriation levied for the asylum at Union. , All has been converted into the general fund, except the $40,000 levied this year. What was levied in 1834 was turned into the general fund. The warrant of $25,000 that was issued for payment of the land is out,n. dorsed by the state treasurer. "It was issued in the name of Phi! Met scban as a member of the staie board, turned over by him to Thos. Wright of Union, who in turn passed it over to a Portland bank, where it is now. The title to the lands have passed to the state, and are on file with the secretary of state. The deed is to corded in Union county. The land is paid for, but not by the state, al- though the state owns the land. , A decision of importance to railway beneficial .associations has been ren dered by the United States court ot ap peals. An employe of the Burlington named Miller obtained judgment against the company for damages occasioned by a derailment in Colorado. The company set up that Miller was a contributor to the Burlington Voluntary Relief asso ciation, an organization for employes, and in hie application for membership be agreed that whatever amounts he might receive should be in satisfaction of all claims for damages arising out of in juries for which he drew benefits. The court sustained a demurrer to this plea, and the railroad company Bppealed from this findiug. The court of appeals ens tains the court and affirms the judg ment. Judge Thayer save that several well coneidered cases sustain the theory of the demurrer the courts holding that employes may elecU whether to take benefits in such an association or to re serve the right to sue the employer, and that each contracts are not contrary to eound pnblic policy ; bat he remarks that in this case the plea of the de fendant failed to show with' requisite certainty that the corporation had legally obligated itself to the members to maintain the organization and to supply the funds necessary to ran it. It did not appear that if the relief association was at any time short of funds a member, could maintain sort against the company to recover the amount due him. Neither did it appear what money, if any, the corporation had contributed to the association, but it did fairly appear that the moneys ex pended by the relief association were paid from moneys deducted from the wages of the members. The corpora tion had not shown that the arrange ment was fair and reasonable to the men, and Judge Thayer hints that there are reasons for holding it to be voidable for lack of valuable consideration. Judge Caldwell, as perhaps was ex pec ted, took still more radical grounds, declaring that ''each contracts', in so far as they attempt to release the railroad company from liability for injuries in flic ted on its employes through negli gence, are without sufficient considers tiOD, are against public policy, and are void, and mnet ultimately be so de clared by all courts." must be two-thirds of the states present for a quorum, and a majority of the states elect the president. If the house of representatives fails to choose a president before the next March 4th, the vice-president acts as president. The vice-president will have been elected previously, In all human prob ability, because if he has not been named by a majority of the electoral votes at the joint session of congress, the Lsenate is directed to select him by ma jority vote irom the two highest nam. here on the original list, a two-thirds quorum being required for this action. Beyond the provisions of the constitu tion, an act of the forty-ninth congress covers all proceedings in case of dispute, and also fix the presidential succession in the emergency of death, resignation and disability in the following order : Sec retary of state, treasury, war, attorney- general, postmaster-general, secretary of the navy and interior. But this acting president mast hvae been approved by. the senate as cabinet officer, and within constitutional requirements for presi dential legibility. He is compelled to convene congress immediately and with twenty days notice. Rood Hirer Notes. SOME WEATHER NOTES. The Rainfall Uaeqaaled Since the Year 1875. LOOK OUT FOR BURGLARS. All Inland Empire Towns Invested by a Thieving- Gang;. Burglaries and thieving have been common in Pendleton, Athena. and Walla Walla and all towns in these parts during the past month. In Pen dleton only a few have occurred and the vigilance of the city police officers has kept down the number of cases there. . Bat Athena suffered no lees than half a dozen last Saturday night, Walla Walla bad another case Wednesday night, and all the towns appear to be infeeted with a gang of lawless cbarac ters such as go the rounds every fall in this country and were due here several weeks ago. The advance guard began by stealing crips and bundles from the cars in Pen dleton and Walla Walla, says the East Oregonian, and about one dozen cars were reported robbed daring one week a month ago. Rewards have been offered in some cases. Business men should take care to secure their places from the burglar by barricading the doors more than usual and the people should see that their dwellings are locked and no opportunity given for the thieves to break through and steal. The Athena robberies constitute a' rather remarka ble instance. It is reported that six stores were entered daring one night and all the money taken from the tills. But little merchandise was taken, only articles that could be worn with little danger of detection were stolen. Sheriff Hoaser and his deputies have the Athe na case in charge, bat no clues have been found. La Grande Chronicle. Cash In Your checks. All county warrants registered prior to July 11, 1892, will be paid at my office. Interest ceases after Oct. 20, 1896. C. L. Phillips, ' ' County Treasnrer. From Mr, S. L. Brooks we learn that rainfall so far this month has not been equaled eince 1875. In November of that year a trifle over 6 inches of raiu fell. We have had, to date, 2.85 inchee of rainfall this month, 2.65 falling during the present storm. The barometer ie low, 29.44, and etill falling, with the thermometer at 55, indicating more rain, . Contrary to the stories that the rain ie confined to the territory immediately along the Columbia, the storm is gen era, extending south to Los Angeles and eaet at least as far as Idaho. Snow is falling in the Blue 'mountains and at Baker City and other points east. A peculiarity of the storm is that it is unaccompanied by wind, a dead calm having prevailed through it all . This is the more noticeable when the reports ehow that at Portland yesterday the wind reached a velocity of seventy miles an hour, almoet a hurricane. From 5 o'clock laet night to 3 this afternoon .76 of an inch were added to the rainfall. In Sherman county farmers are plowing in the rain, and al Bakeoven, Mr. Burgess, who came in day before yesterday, eays (he rainfall has been heavy. No opposition line of boats on the river so far. The Regulator line has too many friends to make a competing line profitable. A big land elide occurred on the Washington side of the Columbia, below the Knapp place, laet Monday. The loud report of the avalanche was dis tinctly beard at Franklin, where it seemed as If the slide bad occurred on this side of the river. ' Mr. J. N. McCoy received word Wedneeday that his danghter, Mre. Ag nes Jones, living near Boise City, Idaho, way lying at the point of death. Mr. McCoy being in feeble health, could not make the trip to Idaho, but Mre. Milton Odell left here Wednesday night to go to her sister's bedtide. 1 Hood river was booming last Sunday after the heavy raine of Saturday and Saturday night. There had been a big fail of snow in the'monntains. and the chinook winds melting the enow caused a big rise in the river. At the head gate of the Improvement Co.'e ditch there was a rise of eleven feet in the river, and floating loge threatened the flume, bat it escaped uninjured. The board of directors of the Improve ment Company appointed H. II. Bailey, L. Henry and Joseph Wileon to go op to to the head of the ditch Wednesday and inspect the first half-mile of flame that is now completed, with Water running in it. Another half-mile will be com- ' pleted before the end of the month, un less the weather should be too severe to continue work. The flame was expected to reach the bridge yesterday. Glacier. A Good City -to Lea re. How the President Is elected. The exact procedure of a presidential election is known to comparatively few people, and a recitation of the principal points is always worth while. The election takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in No vember. The vote is for electors, the number of whom in each state mnet equal the whole number of representatives and senators from the Btate in congress. The electors are required by the con etitotion to meet in their respective states on the same day, and congress has decreed the second Monday in Jan nary following the election ae the date. The electors vote separately for presi dent and vice-president (one of whom at Ieaet shall not be from the same state as the elector), and the list of voters, after being signed, certified and settled, ie transmitted to Washington, directed to the president of the senate. Congress Is required to be in session for counting the ballots of the electors upon the second Wedneeday in the fol lowing February, the president of the senate opening the certificates in the presence of the senate and house of rep resentatives jointly assembled. A majority of the electoral votes elects the president and likewise the vice president. - If no one has a majority, the election goes to the bouse of representatives; the three or two candidates having the highest number of electoral, votes being voted upon by states. The representa tion from each state has one vote ; there Mrs. E. M. Wileon received - a few days since, a letter from her sister, Mre. Grover, who is living at Lausanne, Swit zerland, giving an account of the condi tion of Constantinople. Stopping with Mrs. Grover is Mrs. Marshal, an Eng lish lady, one of the refugees from Con stantinople. In speaking, of conditions there, tbeudy says, "They are eimply indeecribable. The Saltan lives sur rounded by five or six thousand fanatics, and no one can approach him. The Turks would gladly accept any kind of a government if the Sultan could be de posed and some semblance of law and or der restored." Lausanne is filled with refugees, as nearly everyone who could get oat of Constantinople has left it. A Bridge Gone. Saturday night the bridge across Her mann creek, just this side of the Cas cades, was carried oat by that stream, which we are told has assumed the magnitude of a torrent. It has remained so high that nothing con Id be done towards bridging it, and so, the through paeeenger trains have made a transfer at that point, and the local and all freight trains have been abandoned. Sunday morning the pile driver was started for the scene ot the wreck, but it bad either swelled or the tunnel shrank, for it wouldn't go through, bat stack fast and was smashed to a limited extent. How long the delay will laet ie bard to say, bnt it ie quite certain that the danger will be repaired as soon as it is possible. Public School Report. The following report of the public school for the quarter (four weeks) end ing Nov. 6, 1896, show the gain over the eame period laet year : 189fi 1R9S OA IK No. in altd during quarter 1..... -.729 644 86 Average number belonging 662 597 66 Average dally attendance 637 572 65 The quarter ending laet week hae in the totale of enrollment and attendance greatly surpassed any previous period in the history of the city. The Mosler School. Following is the report of Wood vale school, district No. 52, for the term be ginning Aug. 24 and ending Nov. 13,' 1896: Number pupils enrolled, 28 ; No. pu pils belonging, 26; No. of days taught, 60 ; No. of days absence, 40 ; No. of days attendance, 1039; Average daily at tendance, 19.2; No. of vieitore, 24. Katie E, Davenport, Teacher.