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.