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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1914)
LA QR'A$m EVmiSG OBSERVES, THURSDAY, JAOTABY l, 1U4 THF ORSIFR V ER crease of f 124 a year, or 36.5 per 'fa hi at her ears, put numbers fey it. PAGE SIX If Mtu.u viu ubnn is, tsaitor ana uwner. Address all communications to " THE OBSERVER, 1710 Sixth Street. Entered in the post-ffice at La ' 0n the .ther han(I the emPyes Grande, ' Oregon, as second class show that the freight traffic increased "tw. o: the Burlington railroad from 192 ..... " . t 1912 was 03.34 per cent and that Advertising rates on application. All ., . ' copy for display advertising must the Pa88ener trafflc ,ncrea?e reach the office the day before the 84-93 Per' cent- Their further ar- od appears. gument was this: "Not only did the average car ca pacity of each car increase, but the number of cars to a freight train SUBSCRIPTION RATES. also greatly increased.- The por- Daily, single copy 5c ductive efficiency of each freight train Daily, per-week ,.l5c man increased 40.53 per cent in the Daily, per month ............. ,6oc deca(je un(jer consideration.. Their Daily, per six months in ad- . vaBCe .......$3 50 Pr0uct've efficiency in terms of ton Dally, per year in advance $7.00 miles is neater than that of the Daily, by mail per year in ad- freight train man of any other west- vance ' ' -00 ern roa(j except two. Weekly Observer, per year in ,. i . advance $1.60 i The efflclency of each passenger conductor Increased 3.53 per-cent and AN ABLE WAGE ARGUMENT. Folly as strong an argument as the railroads of the east are putting up to back their request for an in crease of 5 per cent in freight rates, is being advanced by the Chicago, i Burlington and Quincy railroad em ployes in support of . their demand for an increased wage. The railroad employes have pre sented figures showing' that the pur chasing power of the dollar is now nly about one-half of what it was in 1902. On the basis of the mar ket for 15 articles of food they at tempt to show that the value, of the American dollar has dwindled from 100 to 51.4 cents in IT years. The 15 articles of - food, on the cost of which the ' figures are based are sirloin steak, round steak, rib roast, pork chops, smoked bacon, smoked ham, lard, "hens, wheat flour, corn meal,' eggs, creamery butter, potatoes, ' granulated sugar and fresh milk. Tha figures showing the rela tive purchasing power of the dollar are taken from studies of the high cost of living made by the govern ment and issued officially by the fed eral bureau of labor statistics. The employes of the Burlington presented a table showing the steady decline of the purchasing power of a dollar from 1902 to August 1913. It shows the dollar was worth its full "value in 1902 and went up very slightly in 1903, when it was worth 101 per cent. In 1904 it went down to 99.4 per cent, which rate it main tained through 1905, but from that year the decline in value has been steady. In 1906 according to the table, the dollar was worth 95.8 cents. By 19W it had dropped to 72.5 cents. Following this it took a spurt in 1911, when it went up to 74.9 but it drop ped again in 1912 to. 63.9. In Aug ust this year it had fallen to 51.4. Basing their argument on these figures, th? employes allege that the annual approximate cost of the aver age workingman's family for food in 1902 was $339. By 1912 the cost had advanced to $463 a year, an in- passenger train man 5.66 per cent. "The effect on the men's earning power "is no less significant. Al though each conductor and trainman handled more freight and passengers per man in 1912 than in 1902, owing to the greater trainloads and the in creased arduousness and - duration of labor performed, the earning power of each man actually declined in the face of' a greater output per man." It is such strong cases as this which the Burlington employes have put up that wins wage increases with more speed than strikes and boy cotts. HOW RUMORS GROW. Theer is an old proverb which goes that "people believe what 'they 'want to bolieve." Nothing multiplies with the ' same rapidity as a rumor. Whether . it is. the . besmirching of the good name of another or the tell ing a story that is absurd on its face, makes no difference. Perhaps there is something in the statement that the teller of a "whopper" Ls somehow to get killed. Ther could be ao accident without the lc of life to these men, right at the lUad of the train. A neighbor had the' story re lated to him and was told that the number of injured and killed was 30. By this time of course some) one interested in the engineer's family must break ther news to the sorrowing widow. She gsta it straight from so and-so, and it must be true. Thinking such an accident might befall these men a little faith is given: ti the story and worry commences In the end comes the real story: "Everybody is safe. No damage done. Train is off the track.!' Sometimes people are wont to rail' at the courts for the slowness of which trials are conducted. If they were conducted with the same haste in which many persona make such snap judgments, there would be more dissatisfaction .than there is now. A fond father once told his son to think three times before ' speak ing. One day they started on a walk, the father in the lead and the boy bringing up the rear hunting stones to throw at birds. The par ent had just concluded a cool smoke and ' put the pipe ' into his ' pocket, without shaking out the livid ashes. Presently the- boy saw smoke com ing from the pocket of his father. In a loud voice he shouted: "Father I think." The father turned around but the boy said nothing. Again the lad shouted: "Father I think,", and stopped short, watching the fond pater turning for an explanation of these peculiar outcries. At hist the boy shout: "Father, I think your coat's on fire," when the head of the house discovered to his excitement that his coat was actually burning. There are some explanations of the first advice . about thinking three times before speaking, but that , is not necessary here. -There is a tnor- 1 n i 1 ".. il. . . .iF A! -B J.1. neignieneo. n me esumawon- oi me ;a, tQ thig oU tale and if people used hearer of the story, and makes the ' heir headg R litt,e more instead of details of the tale as vivid as his powers will permit. A good story teller is. a favorite everywhere...Some times he has had time to digest the substance of his story and is there fore in a position to tell the tale with some semblance of probability. In most cases the story comes from one who has heard it from another, and by the time it goes the rounds and comes out of the churn of various imaginations it hardly resembles the original tale. An instance in point was the hap pening on the O.-W. last Sunday. All the cars of No. 10 had left the track, no one was hurt and the equipment suffered little damage. That was the whole story. But busy minds in the city began to speculate what could happen when a train left the track. Some one related the 1 story of the happening; this person put a few finishing touches to it. A third em bellished it with new details, a fourth knew there must have been a terrible loss of life, and the last man, with the words "loss of life" still ringing their tongues there would not be so much explaining. Wait until you know the facts before you attempt to tell a half baked story to one who will invariably stretch it. ,tt - LEW FERGUSON'S COURAGE. JT A N U A M M I La Grande National Bank Organized in 1887. DESIGNATED DEPOSITORY OF UNITED STATES GOYERMIEJIT. UNITED STATES POSTAL SAYINGS DEPOSITORY. Capital $100.000.00 Surplus $130.000.00 Total Resources $1,000,000.00 For twenty-six years, in all kinds of financial weather, we have successfully catered to the monetary wants of the people of La Grande and the Grande Ronde Valley. We respectfully solicit your business. La Grande National Bank La .Grande, Oregon Credit is due to Engineer Lou Fer guson for his presence of mind in the derailment of last Sunday near Haines. But for his cool nerve cars might have been piled upon each other and the loss of life might have been heavy. Instead of applying the emergency brakes which would have brought the, train to an almost sud-' den ston he applied the air and brought his train to a gradual stop, preventing the jam that woum nave resulted from the momentum of a long string of cars. It is ' well to praise a man for years of faithful service during which ' time nothing out of the ordinary occurs. It is a sign that he is careful if he has no mishaps. But where t,he inevitable happens, reqniring quick thought and cool nerve the man who shows in the emergency is worth more than the man who has never bee tried. Passengers on the train to the num ber of 70 sent a signed note of praise to President Farrel of the O.-W. at Portland, praising Engineer Fergu son tor nis courage unu thought. It was well deserved. Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Cove State Bank. Ttft.ie Is herebv eiven that the an nual meeting of the Stockholders of the Cove State Bank, will be held at their banking house in Cove, Oregon, on Tuesday, January 13, 1914, be- o'clock, P. M. of said day. At this tween the hours of 2 o'clock and 4 meeting a board of directors will be elected to serve for ensuing year and until their successors are eltcted and qualify, and such other business will receive consideration, as may prop erly offer at said meeting. HUGH McCALL, Cashier. Cove, Oregon, Von o-rowl when vour wood is 7 o green and won't cook hubby's dinner in time. You say uncomplimentary things about the wood dealer for sending sappy fuel to your home when you are away. Get dry wood and do away with the trouble. Snook Brothers have absolutely dry wood ;hat makes some hot fire. . Phone M Gearamice Sate! Our Entire Line of Men's, Women's and Children's all included in this great sale-nothing reserved. No Job Lots Bought for this Sale. We are putting on this sale to reduce our stock . before inventory. Nothing but our regu lar stock at Reduced Prices. One lot of Misses' shoes, patents, kids and gun metals, in button and lace shoes, up to $3.50, sizes up to 6, $1.00 Pair. One lot, Boys' shoes, gun metal and kid; good ser vicable shoes for winter; sizes up to 5 Vi; regular prices up to 3.00, at $1.65 One lot of Ladies' patent kid and gun metal shoes; button and lace, all sizes; regular prices up to 3.50, at $1.45. - 1 One lot Ladies' button shoes in black and tans; all good lasts, some high tops; mostly 4.00 grades, Special $2.75. These are only a few of the BARGAINS you will find at our store during this SALE, which STARTS JANU ARY 2nd. Don't fail to take advantage of this sale and SAVE MONEY. 10 Off on all Men's, Women's and Children's Hosiery. NO SALE ON RUBBERS. Lo Jo French Shoe Cc La Grande's Exclusive Shoe Dealers 706. e.o.d.-3t.
