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About The Dalles weekly chronicle. (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1947 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1897)
THE DALLES WEEKLY CHRONICLE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1897. The Weekly Gto oniele. county officials,. County Judge.......... EobL Mays Sheriff. - . ..T. J. utlver Clerk A. M. KelHty Treasurer .'.C. L. rhillips Commissioner..... ..... in. H. Kimwy Assessor..... W. H. Whipple Barreyor.. J. B. ioit Superintendent ol Public Schools. . .C. L. Gilbert Coroner W. H. Butts STATE OFFICIALS Bjvernor. W. P. Lord ' Secretary of State HE Kincaid Treasurer Phillip Metschan Bnpt. of Pnbllc Inatructioo O. K. Irwin Attorney-General CM. Idlemnn . 4G. W. McBi 89Dators j. ! Mttcl ' B Hermann .uux reoaiueu . . . v. R. Ellis Btate Printer V. H. Leed DEFECT OF LAWMAKERS. The last legislature of Idaho has much to answer for because of the failure to properly pass laws w hich were endorsed by the people. Elec- . tion of a United States senator con sumed so much valuable time that important measures were pending up to the last moment of the legislative session. To get these bills through it was thought wisi to pass them without reading in full, although the last feature is required by the con stitution of the state. Idaho's crim- . inal code was defective, and the - law-breaker had numerou; loop holes by which to evade just punishment for his wrong doing, hence such laws were introduced. He is not slow to evade them now. In the last three months half a dozen laws passed by the state legislature have been declared illegal by the supreme court on constitutional grounds. Failure to pass these laws in proper form was due to nothing but care- . lessness. In these days of civil ser- vice reform and examinations for I fitness in every department ofthe government, it might be well to re quire that a candidate for the legis lature be examined as to bis under standing of the constitution of his state. If he be found deficient, the ' state could m:ike no better invest ment than to start a night school and educate him. It appears strange that the Idaho senate bad not one jman who was sufficiently acquainted -with the constitution to know that .-a bill cannot be made a law without 'having been read in full by sections -on the third and final reading. If -the decisions of the supreme court nre of any value, the Idaho public. is .forced to believe that the last state vsenate lacked that one man. Spo Ikane Review. Recent dispatches from Washing ton indicate that the government looks more favorably upon the project of building locks at the dalles rapids than it does the proposal of a ship railway. Notwithstanding, The Chronicle is cf the opinion that it will be a long time before -much money is spent in removing the bar riers to navigation at this point. The country '8 finances have been sub jected to a too heavy drain from the late Democratic administration to al low of much expenditure of money upon improvements just at present It may come later, but in the mean time ,it would be well to urre the bui'ding of a portage around the ob structions as a temporary relief. The charges of the Oregouian against the. municipal oflicers of Portland show that city to be run by a scandalous set of men, and the sooner some change is made, the better it will be for the common good. It is a sad commentary npon the ability of the American people to govern . themselves when tbey will deliberately choose men for pcsitions of high authority who have repeat edly shown themselves incapable of discharging the trust committed to their hands. Pennoyer is an exam ple in point. . The' English press hastens to criti cize President McKinley's message, But then, Englishmen do not like - anything that is done by an Amcri can looking to the advancement of his own country. It is well under stood that McKinley has no other object than to promote the. welfare and prosperity of the nation whose chosen guardian he is. The election of the present board of directors of the Commercial and Athletic Club is a fitting compliment to a body of men who, by their de votion to duty, have earned the gratitude of those who enjoy the benefits of the meritorious organiza tion known as The Dalles Commer cial and Athletic Club." The Chron icle extends its congratulations both to the directors and to '.he club. IT HAS COME TO STAY. Especially inopportune just at-lhis time is Congressman Grosvcnor's at tack upon the civil service law. All parts of the countrv are suffering from an aggravated attack of spoils. men in office. Healthy-minded citi zens in Greater New York arc aghast at the prospect of that city being for years under the miserable domain of Tammany. In different states dur ing the last vear have legislatures been held up and necessary legisla tion thwarted through the voracious selfishness of petty politicians hunt ing for place and power. Portland is awakening to the fact that good government is denied her because the spoilsmen, headed by Pennoyer and Davis, are .turning the city machinery into an instrument for the protection and enrichment of themselves and hungry Lenchmcn. Only through the patriotic efforts of Presidents Harrison, . Cleveland and McKinley has the national gov ernment been saved from being a football, tossed hither and there by men incapable of managing their own private interests successfully, but confident of their ability to serve in the public capacity. The advance of civil service re form during the last ten years has been the most gratifying phenome non of our national life. Steady progress has been made in lifting na tional offices from out the clutches of the spoilsmen, and though heavy obstacles have been thrown in the way, the work has gone persistently on, till now most of the departments in Washington are being conducted on a business basis. This government was not insti tuted to provide positions for all who want them. There are higher and more weighty matters which should occupy the attention of our execu tive- and law-makers. The early policy of the nation was in favor of the government's work being done by those most competent to do it, and it was not uulil Andrew Jackson found his waj to the presidency that the idea of parcelling out the offices on account of political preference be gan to dominate. None will gainsay that the heads of all departments and such offices which depend upon political policy, should be filled with men in sympathy with the principles of the dominant party; but it is just as true that every small clerkship should not be delegated every four years as a reward of political merit. The country has too much politics now; what it needs is more business sense in the conduct of its affairs. ' The continuation of the civil ser vice idea offers the only hjpe in this direction, and we believe the Amer ican people can be depended upon to see that it shall reman. President McKinley was right when he said "The civil service system has the official sanction of the people. Judge McKenna can probably re alize the truth of the old proverb "A prophet is not without bonor save in his own country," as he reads the remonstrances being sent in against his proposed appointment ' to the supreme bench of the United States. That there is some merit in the ob jections cannot be denied when such names as Ex-Atty.-General George II. Williams, Judge Gilbert and other lawyers among the ablest on the coast, appear in the remonstrance, If( Mr. McKenna has not been able to impress his fitness for the judicial ermine upon those who know him best, it is more than likely the presi dent has been deceived in bis judg ment of the man. Ihere are too many men worthy of the position in the country to make it expedient that one should be chosen concern ing whose fitness there is such well founded doubt. The Oregonian holds out the hope that Mr. Corbett will be seated when the senate gets aronnd to it. Such a presumption is not warranted by the facts, and in a few weeks Mr. Cor bett will be settling his hotel bills in Washington and hie himself to his Portland home a place he should never have left, feuch a course would be extremely 'satisfactory to the people of Oregon, who do not wish to be represented in the senate by an antiquated gentleman who would be but the inouthf iece foi Joe Simon, the displaced boss of the Re publican party in Oregon... A TAX ON INHERITANCES. Massachusetts is always among the first states to attempt reform when needed, and very often sets the ex ample for other stales to follow. The special committee on taxation, ap pointed under the act passed by the legislature of that state last year to investigate and report what changes, if any, should be made in the state system of taxations, has just made its report, and the conclusions make interesting reading. Jineny summarizea tuey are as follows: An inheritance tax should be levied with respect to realty as well as personalty al the rate of five per cent., with an exemption for estites not exceeding $10,000, and an abatement of 15,000 on estates between $10,000 and $25,000; a tax in proportion to house rentals, only the excess over $400 of rental being taxable; abolition of the present taxes on Intangible personality, such as stocks, bonds, securities, loans on mortgages, incomes, etc; the assump tion by the state treasury of county expenses, and appropriation by the state of the revenue from taxes on corporate excess now distributed among the several cities and towns. The committee concludes that "what ever objections niay be urged against the changes proposed, it cannot be said that these recommendations In volve any element of unfairness." That some change must be made in the piesent system of taxation, every thinking man has come to be lieve, and the plan suggested in Massachusetts, if put in operation, will be watched with interest by other states. A tax on inheritances would add to the revenues of the state and inflict injustice on no one. The Dalles can never expect to be a town of greater importance than it is at present unless some steps are taken looking to the establishment' of manufacturing . industries here. Our city has kept pace with the sur rounding countty in growth, and has about all the adjoining territory to support it that it ever will have. Unless ' incentive is given business" from new sources, we cannot expect to grow as our geographical situation would justify. If we do not ad vance, a retrograde movement may be expected. It is impossible to re main just the same. Any movement towards locating industries here with pay rolls would pay both directly and indirectly many times the cost of the original investment. Spain expresses herself as pleased with that portion of President Mc Kinley's message which relates to the revolution in Cuba. It is good the country of Castile can find some thing whereat to rejoice. Surely the real situation in Cuba can afford little grounds for - congratulation among the Spaniards. The unexpected rise in wheat yes terday at Chicago is due undoubted ly to speculative conditions. There is . nothing in the general reports which justify any such advance, But anything tending towards in creased prices will be received joy. fully by the farmeis, without refer ence to the causes. We doubt it Mr. Corbett will ever be seated in the senate as senator from Oregon. But if, in the uncer- iainty of events, he should be, it can never be said he is the choice of the people of Oregon. . If left to a pop ular vote, Corbett would not have been within telescopic view of an election. President McKinley, by his devo tion at the bedside of his dying mother, shows that he has the heart of a man, as well as the brain of a statesman. . Employment Wanted. .- A N'o.'l bookkeeper wonld like some thing to do in his line, or steady employ ment. , Will open or close books, change from single to double entry, and make trial balance or business statement. I have highest recommendations; know my business and amj willing to earn my alary. C. M. Sissox, City. - dec2d5w2. GREENHORN VAPORINGS. Ha Tells Bow . Sunday la Spent; Also About Numerous Other Things. Editor Chboniclk : " ; "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," or words to that effect, was written eo many years ago that the memory of Susan B. Anthony and others of the oldest inbabitanta ran not to the recollection thereof. It applies to this neck of the woods on the western boundary of Baker county, and called (heaven only knows why the Greenhorn. We do not keep it) wholly, but only in part. In the language of the Thanks giving proclamations, we "abstain from our usual vocations" and do something else. For instance, there are fiva of as Greenhorns, or Greenhorners, in this cabin. One has shed his clothes, or part of them, and ia engaged in washing: them, for Greenhorners are not of pro lific wardrobe. Another is pounding I rock in a mortar, vainly looking for colors. A third is shaving the Sybar ite. A fourth is down in the little mill making shakes, and the -other ia pen uing (with a pencil) these few lines to let yon know that he is well, and to ven tare the modest, but heartfelt, hope that "you are enjoyitg the eame blessing." So goes the Sabbath np this way. Last night about six inches of (now fell on top of other six inches already covering the ground. It came down as silent and still as a Qaaker meeting; no bluster, no. blow, no noise, and this morning the gray fog hangs over the hills and thrusts its ghostly lances through the fir tree tops as though it would destroy them. The tall tama racks, with their twiglets of limbs mak ing a delicate tracery against the gray skies, lift their minaret-like and grace ful boles up, apparently to the very heavens. There is something almost oppressive in the silence of a forest when the deep snow lies through and under and upon it. It is the silence of the tomb, the stillness ot a Democratic de (eat, the holy, quiet calm of a Populist Waterloo. The little twittering birds that hang around all winter to twit a fellow on being a greenhorn, are as noisy as a twenty-stamp mill when they give vent to their feelinge, and when they quit, the silence is doubly deepened. Occasionally breaking through, the bI- lence comes from far np the canyon the faint sound of the busy stamps in the Don Juan quartz mill, aten-btamper that grinds merrily night and day, week in and oat, serving man and mammon, if uothing else. Speaking of the Don Juan mine, or mill, reminds me that someone has been ap this way with a taste for liters. tare and a knowledge of the classics. It is ebown in the names of the mining cations, and their name is legion, be sides other things. On the very summit of old Greenhorn is a promising mine, appropriately named the Diadem. Near it is the Banzett, and scattered over the hills are hundreds of .others, varying as to wealth, incongruous as to name.- The Union lies next the Imperial; the White and Red Bulls are yoke fellows, while a gang of Poly gam ists from Utah have a group of claims named after the twelve Mormon apostles and the heads of the "stakes of Zion." They also have, so I am told, a Mascottess in the shape of a buxom girl, with a flowing sorrel . mane, a white strip in her face and two white hind feet. I do not vouch for the truth of this, it being merely hearsay. I do know, though that Psyche, she who, with trembling band, spilled the hot oil from her lamp upon poor Cupid, and was transformed into a butterfly ; she, poor unsuspecting maia, is lying along side of the naughty Don Juan. But this storted Oct for a sermon, and I fear I am losing sight of the text and treading closely on worldly things. Far be it from me. . Until a day or two ago the weather here has been beautiful. The skies were as blue as a "sweetheart's" eyes, the air warm, balmy, sott, breathing of spring and sweet with the odor of cedar and pine. - Just such weather as in the spring time turns the young man's fancy into love. Writing these lines this peaceful Sun day I do not feel at all above my old Dalles friends, though at am altitude of 6000 feet. I know I am a mile nearer heaven than they, but still I realize that I am a . long ways from the goal. So short a distance on the journey, indeed, that. I wonld willingly be back and start even in the race. It is a nice place here for one who loves solitudo, and to commune with Dame Nature. A beautiful winter resort for an ancho- rite, ot which I am not whom. I must confess to a liking for the giddy whirl of life in The Dalles, and if I could, by an effort of the imagination, or the collar I of my pants, or any little thing like that, lift myself through space, I know where I would be at this writing. ard whom I should be talking to ;' but a-lass it can't be done, and so I make this simple statement that she may know; but which she deponent sayeth not. An anchorite indeed am I; such an one as Butler described when he spoke of a pretty girl who, . "like an anchorite, gives over, this world for the heaven of a lover." Dame Nature is too old to mash, and Mother Earth just now too cold. ' ' Well, I have written more, and less. than I intended, and more certainly than you will care to criticize, or the r n : : . 'Sri . 1 1 Ji ' U.WIW'BtMiU- 5IK3II tKTvr? 5f - , Cheapest and Simplest Gate on Record Eor Simplicity, Durability, Ease strnciion. it is unequeled. Can Parties wishing to see large gate bunnysiUe Orchards, btate and 5SSBX183L readers of The Oiikonici.e to ernse However, I shall, perhaps,, not soon again inflict the good old papere's pa trons with the idle vanorings of GB2EKH0BX, AN INDIAN BRIDE. :ha Romantic Engagement Sioux Maiden. of She Become the Wife of an Irish nu Who Saved Her Father's Life and Gave Her as Ed ucation. A notable, wedding occurred at Bis marck, N. D., on June 24. The bridle was Picture Eyes, the daughter of John Moose, an old warrior, who lias scalped many a white man and participated in many a tribal battle. The bridegroom was Thomas Dulaine Cronan, an Irish man by birth. The marriage ceremony was performed first by a Roman Catho lic priest, after which the Indians had a genuine old-fashioned wedding feast, The wedding was the culmination of a courtship extending over seven years, which has been attended by unusual incidents. Picture Eyes at the age of 18 was a well-formed, pretty-faced girl who could not speak a word of any but the Sioux language, and had never known the ways and customs of the white man. bne uvea tnen in a tepee witn ner parents. Now she is 25 years of age, educated and refined. Her father, John Moose, Uvea on the Standing Bock res ervation, but the bride has. been a mem ber of Col. Frank Duncan's family, hav ing been adopted by him several years ago with the consent of her parents. It was about ten years ago that Mr, Cronan first came to this country. He was then about 25 years of age and came out west through the mstrumen tality of Moreton Frewen, an English financier, who was at that time in terested with.. Marquis de Mores in the cattle raising and exporting business, Cronan was sent to America as a sort of special agent to look after the in terests of the English capitalists, and his duties brought him to the cattle raising regions of Montana and Wy oming once each year. On his third trip he had occasion to stop off at Me- dora, and it was there that he met the Indian girl. Upon the day of his arrival a Sionx Indian had been thrown into jail for attempting to set fire to ranchman's barn and .there was a mob of white men gathered about the jail door evidently bent upon lynching the Indian. The plucky constable, who was a small man, stood upon the door step threatening to shoot the first man that made a move forward, but it was certain that he could not stand the mob off very long, and already a detach ment of the would-be lynchers had be gun to batter in the lone window of the building. : In the meantime an Indian girl had appeared upon the scene and was darting about making frantic ef forts to have some one understand the entreaties she was screaming in the In; dian tongue. Cronan, noticing the girl, asked who she was, and was told that the man m the jail was her father, and that she wanted the mob to spare his life for her sake. Cronan, moved by the help lessness of the girl, decided to inter cede for the life of the Indian, though he realized that it was a dangerous move and might cost him his life. Elbowing through the mob, he sprang to the side of the constable and shouted out a plea for the Indian: He per severed in his efforts whenever the din subsided long enough for him to be heard, and in time he was successful. The mob dispersed, leaving the consta ble in charge of the jail and his pris oner. A few days later the prisoner, who was John Moose, was tried and was acquitted, having proved an alibi. Cronan went back to England, but returned in six month:; to Medora, only to find, that John Moose and his family had gone to Bismarck. He went to the i latter place on his return trip from Wyoming and found the Moose family sungly quartered in a tepee on the bank of the Great Muddy. He learned that the girl had already been promised to a young buck named Four Toe, who had given her father a certain quantity of tobacco for her Jiand. Cronan ana an interpreter went to the tepee of the lucky Four Toe and proceeded at once to negotiate for the purchase of the prospective bride. It was an up-hill job at first, but after several trips had been made to the lodge of Four Toe the redskin finally relinquished all his right, title, and interest in and to the Sioux maiden for thex consideration of $25 ' in hand paid and ten pounds of NATURAL GRAVITY GATE ot Operation and Cheapness of Con- ' be operated without dismounting. in Operation can do so by visiting . County rights for Bale by E. E. GTJSTIN. THE DALLES, OK cabbage-leaf tobacco to be delivered on the wedding day. Then the old war rior's consent was obtained to the pro posed marriage and Cronan returned to England, after making' arrangements with Col. Frank Duncan for the adop tion. of the girl and for her education. Picture Eyes attended the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa., for two years &ni then was placed in a seminary at St. Paul, where her education was. finished. N. Y. Sun. . AS LETTER WRITERS. ; Our People Bank First Among All Nations. . . The Enormous Business of the United States Post Ofllees as Compared ;wlth That of Other . Countries. There are 200,000 post offices in all the countries of the world enjoying or ganized facilities of correspondence, and of this number 70,000 are in. the United States. In respect to the num ber of letters and postal cards written and received, the revenue and disburse ments of the department, the extent, promptness and accuracy of letter de livery, as well as the number of post offices, the United States stands at the head of all other nations, Germany fol- , lowing second, Great Britain third, and Austria, among European nations, .. fourth. The United States sells in a year 2,000,000,000 two-cent stamps, which is equivalent to 1,000,000,000 let ters sent through the mails in- a year. In addition to this the United States sells in. a year 600,000 one-cent stamps, some of which are used for letters, though a larger number for newspaper and cir cular postage, 12,000,000 three-cent ' stamps, 20,000,000 four-cent stamps, and 50,000,000 five-cent stamps, mostly used for letters sent from this country for foreign delivery. More then 1,000,000, 000 letters a year, theref oret paying full postage, and exclusive of postal cards, are written in theUnited States. . The business of the German and 'of the English post office department is less than, half as large. The postal card . system in Germany is in much more general use than, in England, and it is . far this reason, perhaps, that Germany keeps ahead of England .in respect to the amount of correspondence done. The number of post omces in Great Britain by the last official statement, made on January 1. 1897, was 20,275, ex- elusive of what is officially called in England "the road and pillar letter box." There are 150,000 employes of the post office department in Great Britain, of whom 6,500 are women and girls. The number of poet office employes in Germany, where telegraphic communi cation is a part of the post office system, i3 125,000. The number of letters handled by the Austrian post office de- partment in a year is 750,000,000, and of these two-thirds, are handled in that portion of the empire which comes un der the designation of Austria and one- third only is handled in the portion of ficially known as Hungary. The Ger- - mans in Austria, as well as in Germany, are great letter writers, and in those cities of the United States in which the German- population is numerous more letters are written in a year proportion ately than in cities in which the German population is small. ' - - ; The Italian post office handles 350,- , 000,000 letters a year, the post office ' department of Spain, 120,000,000, of . Canada 100,000,000, of Holland 100,000,- 000, of Belgium 125,00(1,000, and of Bus sia 200,000,000, a considerable propor tion of which is carried on what aire called "the mail coach roads," - upon which postal service the imperial gov ernment maintains 50;000 horses. In . France the number of letters handled by the post office department is about 700,000,000 in a year and the receipts of the department are about $35,000,000; or one-half of those of the United States. The French government, however, does considerable express business, hand ing -more than 40,000,000 parcels, or at the rate of one to each inhabitant of the country in each year. The expendi- tures of the post office department in the United States exceed the receipts by ' . from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000 in an or- dinary year. When times are bad there is less corresponding done. N. Y. Sun. Don't be persuaded into buying lini ments without reputation or merit Chamberlain's Pain Balm costs no more, and its merits have been proven by a . test of manv years. Such letters as the following, from L. G. Bagley, Hoeneme, are constantly oeing receiveu; ThB best remedv for nain I have ever used is Chamberlain's Pain Balm, and I sav so after having used it in mv family for several vears. It cures rheumatism lame back, sprains and swellings., -For . sale by Blakeley & Houghton.