La Grande evening observer., February 05, 1914, Image 4

'" '.,"., . : ..
LA 6EANBE EVENING OBSEBVEB
; t rilURSDAY, FEBRUARY S, 1914
PAGE POUR
THE OBSERVER
BRUCE DENNIS, Editor and Owner.
Kacered la the post-Sice at La
Graade, Oregon, aa Seconal claaa
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reach the office the day before the
ad appears.
Address all communications to
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vance $4.00
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advance $1-50
WHICH?
Does publication of news items
dealing with vulgar vice tend to les
sen the volume of 'vice or does it tend
to excite curiosity in the home where
the newspaper is read by the young?
This is a qnestion that has ever
bothered and perplexed men who try
to run home newspaper. ' t,
Is it better to Tare to the public re
volting and immoral events, or is it
not? "' " ' ' '
The editor of this paper has held
that there is sufficient trash bound to
percolate through the news columns
even with constant vigil, without malt
ing a specialty of handling sensation
. a.1 matters in a sensational manner.
We believe the man or woman who
craves news items setting for' filthy
detail is committing a wrong. One
has but to point to the almost un
speakable Thaw trial and memory
will at once call attention to many
days when issues of .the daily press
were withheld from children in the
well organized home.
To admit a deep interest in an event
that parades immoral conditions; that
excites the animal nature and causes
lost to displace manhood and woman
hood, is but to admit that the harlot
still has a certain amount of popul
larity and that her master is a glad
iator who -excites -admiration.
We believe in a local community
there is some news that is unprint
able, for the sake of the young and
for the sake of the community as a
whole. Because a matter may be of
court record, and therefore a public
matter, is not always proof positive
that it should be circulated in the
homes of Christian and law-abiding
families.
Another feature of local news pre
sents itself to us, while we are dis
cussing the subject. And that feat
ure is the innocent ones who are not
only injured by the crime committed,
but would be doubly injured by its
publication.
We have listened to the pleadings
of good mothers many times to save
their boy's name when the boy had
committed a wrong, and in many,
many instances we have fallen for
the pleading. We have listened to
noble, virtuous sisters in times gone
by as they "leaded to spare the fam
ily name from some shameful trans
action a wayward brother had been
in, and we have in many instances
agreed to spare the name.
And each time we knew the iron
rule "to give the news at any cost"
was broken by us. We knew that
there would be many who would say
"if it had been some one else they
would have suffered." Yes, we
knew all of that, but when we thought
of a mother whose eyes would not be
filled with tears when she read her
local paper; when we thought of
other relatives and friends whose
pride would not be broken by seeing
in cold type a record that when once
made, stays made, we have agreed
with our conscience to take the crit
icism of the many, to submit to the
many bitter things that would be
said about us, and rest in the full as
surance that we had done what was
right according tw our way of think
ing. And, too, so many are prone, , to
want to see the other fellow exposed
to the world; they want to see flam
ing headlines depicting his crooked
ness, but when the old wheel of life
keeps turning daily and .on a later oc
casion either they or their dear ones
stub a toe and fall into a scandalous
transaction, how different the world
looks to them. They are the ones
who come with earnest pleading
then. "'..-!
Thinking it all over carefully, there
fc but one standard to be set in news
paper work, and that is the happy
medium, for as some jingle verse re
peats,
"There is so much bad in the best
of us,
And so much good in the worst of
us, etc." "
DO VOU KNOW BILL HAN LEY?
Everyone in Oregon has heard of
Bill Hanley very often, but do you
know him?
A few nights ago the writer was
sitting in a Portland hotel lobby and
Bill blew in. Yes, he blew in,. for
Bill has elasticity, of step not known
to the water soaked brothers of the
Willamette valley.-
He sat down by us and we visited
for two hours. Bill is spending the
winter in Portland, just for fun. Ha
and his wife take a little lark in the
winter months, for as he says, ''we
get the chores done up in the. fall,
get up about twenty thousand -Usaa of
hay and the winter's fuel, then Jhere
is nothing left to do but feed cattle
and the boys can do that. ' ''"
"We put out the cat," continued
Bill, "pull in the latch string and
come down here to the whirlpool. Yes,
that's what Portland is, it is a whirl
pool. Everything whirls around down
here, commercially, socially and po
litically. Just whirls, and whirls and
whirls. I like it for a while like the
steam heat and the millions of lights,
like to hear the music and to see the
fun. But it is only for awhile, for I
soon begin to wake up in the night
and listen for the noise bands of cat
tle make, listen for the lonesome yull
of a Harney county coyote. And
when that feeling gets to coming
strong we pack up and go back to
the great out-of-doors Eastern Ore
gon." .
And Bill looks like a product of the
great out-of-doors. He would pass
very well for a quaker, except occas
ionally his language might be a lit
tle out of tine with a Quaker's. His
big broad face and weather beaten
skin makes him look like the real
man that he is, compared with the
pinched up boys who with milk white
faces hover around radiators in the
tall buildings.
Bill said when he went into Harney
county he was up against the big
trust of the range an Immense cat
tle company that had had thing?
their own way for a quarter century.
He sent out a boy and a pack hois?
to look after his cattle and th big
company sent the boy back. "It took
me just twenty-five years to return
the compliment,? said he as hb eyes
snapped with success. "I worked
away for twenty-five years with the
one idea of getting so strong that I
could send the company's outfits back
to them when they got Jn my terri
tory, and I did it We scrapDcd for
years but now it is all over' and
everyone realizes there is plent of
room in Eastern Orepon for all who
want to come."
When we asked the ion of the'
broad prairies why he did not run for
governor Bill laughed so deep ' that
. -. .
an elevator stopped, because of the
vibration! ." ' ' " ;
. "Me run for governor of Oregon ? '
Not I. Don't you know that a gov
ernor If but a sort of messenger boy.
I have been used to depending whol
ly upon Bill to decide matters. When
a canal was to be dog, ten or tewenty .
miles offence to build, I had to de
termine in my own mind whether on
not it should be done.' Now, as gov- 1
ernor, I would be a "member of a
board thatspends most of itsltime
auditing bills; when I wanted to do
anything I would be confronted with
the constitution, supreme court ani
a book of laws that no one under
stands except the lawyers who make
it a business. And if I. wanted to
start anything that took money to
put over for the state I. would be
forced to wait for a" legislature to
meet No, there is no gubernatorial
timber in me. . I would die of nervous
prostration to be hampered as a gov
ernor is" necessarily hampered."
, But, we believe that Bill might run
for senator if the clouds were hang
ing at just the right height and fires
were just hot enough to make 'a
branding iron sizzle. - He leans a
little that way, for he wants Oregon
to get the benefit of her natural re
sources just as every other' state has
had the benefit of the resources -within
her boundaries, and it may take a
trip to the senate to awaken things
along that . line. But the trouble
with Bill he is like a lot more of us
has no more political home than. a
wild horse on the range has a' corral.
He used to be a republican, but he
voted for Woodrow and is poud of
it. He does not stand in wrth'the
democratic machine that makes ctfhdi-'
dates in Oregon, and (foes not1Jwant
to. To be truthful,' Bill ts like almost
everyone else in . Oregon politically-r
does know what he is arid doesn't, care
a rap about it, but he is for Oregon
first, last and all the time. ';.
'He is very practical, very interest
ing and everyone should know him.
And this is no political boost for
Bill, for should he decide to ride the
political range he would probably
start by bulldogging a few steers in
front of the Oregon hotel and make
his' own campaign in his own sweet
way." ; " .:
KEEP AT IT:-,
Editor Observer: A few days ago
it was my good fortune to be seated
in a coach on one of the through
trains of the O.-W. R. & N., east
bound. . I say. good fortune for two
reasons; first, because the O.-W. is
our La Grande railroad and second,
because of the man who occupied the
seat directly in front of me. He was
a resident of one of the middle west
states and with his wife was out
west .looking over the country. As
long' as the . gentleman across the
aisle, a resident of Union coujity,
kept, up a good line of farm talk with
him, T kept my ears open andvmy
mouth shut, because' he could do
that particular kind Of .boosting bet
ter than I could do it. When my far
mer friend left ,-thc ' train at Union
Junction, I did what I could, intro
duced myself to the investigating
stranger, gave him 'a shor.t line of
points that count on Union county
and La Grande, then handed him my
card with the assurance that if he
or any of his fellow countrymen ever
wanted any further information I
would see that they got it quickly and
accurately.
What's the use of being a. member
of the Commercial club if all you do
is to .pay your dues of one dollar a
month. . The Commercial club is
doing fine work but why not support
the work with your time as well as
your money? If you happen to be
like me you will enjoy it immensely.
I wished then, and I still think it
would have helped if I could have
handed to that man n small bcoklet,
nothing , expensive, cnilninintr brief
answers to fifty common questions of
people looking for home ) in the west.
Every man who travels at all ciuld
do 80108 Plendi1 cultivating with
I such equipment and at very little cost.
A BelieveT in This Community.
V J
i 1 . - &
IN A TERRIBLE FIX
By WILLiAM BLOSS.
Without question I' felt like that
unhappy principal in one of the
fables of Aesop
that long eared
and four-footed
ass who starved I
to death between j
two luscious and j
succulent bales of ;
hay, . unable reso
lutely to declare 1
himself upon j
which one first j
he would regale
his appetite. It
is true I have but
.' two feet. ' As to
. the length of my
ears I 'am begin
ning to entertain
disquieting appre
hensions.. .
And yet and yet,
there are decis
ion even more difficult to make than
those confronting an umpire in ' a
world's championship pennant battle.
Of -course as to the main point, I
have known for three months it 1b
necessary for me either to' marry
some dear girl with plenty of money
of her own, or horrible alternative!
go to work. I have a cultivated
disinclination to go to work for the
mere base purpose of being paid for
it. Wages is a word abhorrent to my
breeding. - It smacks of the prole
tariat, of the sordid, the lowly, the
unbaked and soggy undercrust of the
social pie. j
Father worked, naturally. Host
fathers of any account do. I under-,
stand. - Oood old dad! He locked me
out of the loaveB and fishes cupboard
all right and tight enough when ha
quit, but I hold no grudge. In his
day and In his way be was good to
me. Here's to him. This is beastly
cheap sherry, but what can one drink,
fit to drink, on $3,600 a year? '..Mar
jorie has $36,000. If she were, my
fiance instead ?t. my. Bister that .would
be an Income not half bad, for ''wo
people. ' . ". " .'
I'm to have my $36,000. pet when
I'm forty. Lord! Ten years to wait
What an age! -That is the reason
this marriage matter perplexes me.
We must admit the nuptial necessity
as a conditional and not m theoretic
confrontation.
The trouble lies in this there are
two of them. I stand between them
even as the Aesopian ass, unknow
ing where to browse. Charlotte is
fonS of me, I know. She has more
than as much aa told me so. If only
Grace Dalzelle had Charlotte's money!
I am not quite sure bow many mil
lions Charlotte .will have some day.
It's something quite incredible. .Old
man Flaxhaver la still piling them
up, ' they say. He's a grouchy old
beast and has "views." Thinks men
ought to work. Last time I dined at
his house he quizzed me about my
"career." Said every American worth
his salt ought to have an aim In life.
Said dad was one of the beBt men he
ever knew. ' -
Mind you, I can marry Charlotte
all right enoiih, any old day, or
night. She'll elope as fast as I'll
take her. But I'm In doubt; I'm In
doubt. Old Flaxhaver stickles for his
paternal and pare, tal authority. It
he got his back up about thlukless
chee-lld he. might not get it down till
after sackcloth and ashes had done
their awful worst to Charlotte and
poor Charley Lavender. ' '
My predicament is really no less
than Bickening. "Grace hasn t a cent
worth speaking of. Maybe $20,000
life insurance Dalzelle left her out
of his wreck, after he had blown his
brains out the day they aky-hlghed
U. P. to 1,000.
: It's when I'm with .Grace that I
fully determine' to tell ; Charlotte
"there 6 are Insuperable obstacles
which must forever forbid our union"
I have it written out along those
lines, and It Isn't 'bad. And -then,
after I leave Grace, and my hot blood
cools and the sweet sting of her
.kisses no longer burns In my mouth!
I have to come down to earth and
remember my duty to myself and my
family, if I Bhould ever have one. . It
Can't be expected It is a man's social
duty to rear a lot of paupers.
, And this Is Decision Day. Marjorie
said she would give me until' tonight
to quit being a fool.Grace and Mar
jorie are chums, you see. Sis says
she will lend me $3,600 a year on my
prospects If I marry "right." I know
what that means. I might do worse :
,than "right." If there's a prettier
girl in the world than Marjorie Lav
ender It's Grace Dalzelle. i
i And, then, I love her. Though I
am a loafer, she, too, loves me. 1
Ooctora Los by Telephone. 1
"Do you know," said the doctor
apologetically to the patient waiting
in his office," that thls-prescrlbing by
'phone is1 becoming a serlou business
for ua doctors. Now, If I bad no 'phone
f win 1 rt ha railed to -the house and I
would charge my regular fee for t
visit But if I attempted to charge for
prescribing over the telephone I would
be thought an extortionist Yet there
is no reason why I -should not be paid 1
for my. advice over the teiepnone jusi
is much as if I sat at the patient'
bedside and prescribed. Take, for in
stance, a case which should be watch
ed for three or four days. Instead I'm
told, 'well call yoifdoctor. If there iB
any change.' And then proceed to
call me over the telerfcone, give me
the symptoms and ask what is to be
done. Of course, there Is no excuse
for going to the patient's side after
the telephone bulletin, unless there is,
a turn for the worse. So I'm cut right
out of a fee for a visit. 1 Deneve inat
we physicians should Set together and
agree to charge a certain sum tor pre
scribing over the telephone."
Artist and Parvenu.
Phil -Morris, the eminent portrait
painter, who died when his fame was
at its height, had a very unpleasant
experience whilst' visiting a wealthy
merchant who had commissioned him
to paint his wife and baby - for the
sum of 700. The first evening Mr.
Morris and bis "employer" were dis
cussing the "pose,"' and the artist,
thinking that he had bit on a brilliant
suggestion, said it would be effective
if the child were lying on the hearth'
rug with just a vest on, and his moth
er leaning over, playing "This little
pig went to market" .-.; "
"How dare you, sir! Do you wish
to insult me?" I've half a mind to
countermand my order,", roared the
irate wealthy magnate. Poor Phil Mor
ris couldn't think what harm he bad
done until a few days later he learn
ed that his patron had 'made his
money in "pork," and was known. a
the "bacon king."
Method of Spearing Fish..
In spite of the march of civilization,
there remains much that is still prim
itive in Sicily, and a curious sight -at
Palermo la to see the fishermen
spearing fish in the harbor by the aid
of glass-bottomed buckets (says the
Wide World Magazine). There are
many corners of the world where flsr
are Speared, but perhaps the use of the
glass-bottomed bucket in this connec
tion 1 to be seen only at Palermo. The'
fishermen lean far over the side of
their boats, and hold the bucket on the
water with one hand, poking their
head into it as if engaged in the Hal
lowe'en game of ducking for apples.'
They hold, a spear poised in the free
band, -and thus await the arrival of
their victims, who are sighted through
the glass bottom of the bucket, which
acta as a kind of telescope, - -
Retail Department Phot e Main 8
For Lumber, Lath
Shingles, Sash and Daors
Rubetoid Roofing
GEORGE PALMER LUMBER CH
La Grande National Bank
Organised
DKSISITATED DEPOSITORY OF UNITED 8TATE8 60VERJIMHT.
CKITED STATES POSTAL SAVINGS DEPOSITORY.
C"1181 ' $100,000.00
8urP'u $140,00000
Total Resource
For twenty-sii years, in all kinds of financial weather, we have
uccessfoHy catered to the monetary want of the people of La
Grande and the Grande Ronde Valley.
W respectfully solicit your business. ;
La Grande National Bank
La Grande,
HORNS OF FANTASTIC SHAPE
East African Trib Hav a Peculiar
Method of Dealing With,
Their Oxen. ; , ,
A tribe of East Africa, called the!
Suks, hammer and twist the horns
of their cattle Into all kinds of fantas
tic shapes. An ox with one horn that
nolnts forward ana Ue qmer back
ward, writes M. W. H. Beech in "The
Suk," is an object of envy and admi
ration to all; it is called xamar.
' They believe that such an ox has
exceotional properties. Every fighting
man should have hi kamar; those!
who do not posses one are objects of
derision. When tber prepare to start
on a raiding expedition, the men gath
er the kamars together, bedeck them
with ostrich-feathers, and lead them
to the river. There the -warriors are
assembled; they dance round the sa
cred oxen, flap their hands at them,
and kneel on one knee; they hold up
their shields in attitudes of defense
and brandish their spears, while they
titter weird war-cries, which are sup
posed to excite in the faint-hearted the
desire for battle. A captured kamar
is a coveted prize, and "the Suks
laughter and eat it with much cere
mony.
The Suks were originally an agricuk1
tural people. In every plantation they
build little shelters on piles, whereon
sit the women and children whoBe
duty it is to give warning of the ap
proach of elephants, and to scare
away birds. Of the members, of the
tribe who do other than agricultural
work there la a saying, "God . gave
them no sheep, so he gave them clev-l
erness instead," Youth' Companion!
Knew He Was 8afe.
After the League of Public Safety
became active in Broklyn some tlmej
ago 'lectures were delivered in the)
schools and button were given to all
pupils. . Teacher thought the scheme
for safety had been well theorized by
the lecturers, but one boy recently
showed that everything had not been
made plain. In crossing a street h
narrowly escaped being hit by an au
tomobile, the driver of which took the
opportunity to admonish the lad. "Ah
go on!" yelled the boy; "nothing can
bit met,", and he pulled back hi coal
and . revealed hi "safety" button.
8Vretly Unreasonable.
' "There Is no use of trying to deny
that women are Sometime a little dm
reasonable,1- said the - mild-mannered
man. "My wife made me do my best!
to explain about a writ of habeas con
pu to her."
.. "Did yon make it clear?"
"I'm afraid not She went around
to a lawyer next day and tried to ob-l
tain one that would get me away from
the. ball game in time for lMf.
The Evening Observer en sale at
Newlin's Book Store.
in 1887.
.$1,000,000.00
Oregon