OREGON CITY COURIER
Published Thursdays from the Courier Building, Eighth and Main streets,
and entered in the Postoffice at Oregon City, Ore., as 2d class mail matter
J ? G3AI CITY COURIER PUBLISHING COMPANY, PUBLISHER
M.J. BROWN, A. E. FROST, OWNERS.
Subscription Price $ 1 .50. Telephones, Main 5 -1 ; Home A 5 -1
Official Paper for the Farmers
M. J BR.OWN,
If we must go to Belgium with our j
food stuffs let us first see that no
Americans need anything in the way
of necessities.
While we will not have war and
all its savagery in Oregon we are
going to have a legislature and that
is bad enough.
There are literally thousands of
American citizens right here in Ore
gon who need a shipload of food
stuffs sent them from Belgium.
Altho carried by a majority of 8
in the house of representatives, the
Hobson resolution to submit a nat
ional constitutional "dry" amendment
to the state legislature was defeated
Tuesday because a two-thirds vote
was necessary. This is a case where
majority did not rule.
If the Germans win Europe will
be annexed to tnree countries Tur
key, Austria and Germany. If the
Allies win Europe will be divided
among three countries Russia, ahd
France and Great Britain. The lat
ter will take the rest of the world ex
cept the United States and Japan.
Happily, when the war is over every
body will be ready to quit about
where they started.
The courts and lawyers certainly
stay with the man whose mother has
the coin. Once upon a time a man
named Thaw, (who had been declared
insane to save him from the electric
chair for murder) escaped (?) from
Matteawan insane asylum. The
courts and lawyers have been chas
ing him every since, and now the
United States supreme court has de
cided he shall be returned to New
York to face a trial for conspiracy to
escape. A man declared insane go
ing to be tried for conspiracy. Ex
cuse our smile.
How Oregon canneries on an
eight hour and minimum wage
can compete in putting up fruit
gainst the Hawaiian pineapple
produced by Cooley labor was a
problem before the . common
monwealth congress. Gresham
Outlook.
Yes, this was a big problem. Here
the pineapple trees of the Willamette
valley are simply loaded down with
fruit and our sugar plantations are
going to waste and all because the
cooley labor 3,000 miles away can can
the stuff cheaper. That "common
wealth congress" sure has its troub
les. It solves (?) the unemployed
question two weeks ago.
Professor F. . Young tells us of a
lot of offices that could be abolished
and consolidated without hurting any
body but the holders thereof. This
is all very true. It is refreshing to
see a college professor with his sal
ary drawn from the tax payers,
telling them how many salary-grabbers
are unnecessary. A single hous
ed legislature would be compelled to
do something along this line, but
with two houses in a legislature one
always hides behind the other, blames
the failure to act upon each other,
and thus avoids progress. Professor
Young should have supported the
abolition of the state senate last year
when he could have done some good.
The legislature will play the game
as above outlined. ,
Of course we should be thankful
that we are not absorbed in a wild
and bloody' war with Idaho, or Ne
vada, or California. Between these
sovreign states and the sovreign
state of Oregon we have absolute free
trade. If we tried to march an army
into California and annex Del Norte
county, Uncle Sam would put a ve
to on the program. If Nevada tried
to annex Malheur county, a regiment
or two of colored infantry would put
a stop to the invasion. There is
nothing to squabble about. Any citi
zen goes and comes at his pleasure
from one state to another, and takes
his goods and chattels with him. The
pauper labor oranges of California
invade our markets, and the pauper
labor potatoes of Oregon invade Ne
vada's sacred soil when and where
deemed of advantage. In Europe the
German principalities have been built
into an aggresive Empire because of
free trade between them. All that's
the matter with Europe today iB pro
tective tariffs between what should
be the United States of Europe.
O I
we Greeting is Old
but it improves with age. It,s
an old fashioned, warm hearted,
sincere expression of good will
and best wishes to the individ
ual and The Bank of Oregon
City cordially wishes you a very
Merry Christmas
Society of Equity of Oregon
EDITOR
everyone w Ins own opinion, but
ours is uuxt tne commercial cluo oi
uus ciuy is wrong in Dooswng ior
eigu missions wnen our own people
are nungry ana suiiering, ana wnen
our mg nuns are wirowing our own
iauoreia out of worn. 'ine "trade at
iiome' motto is good, and "give at
nome" is better.
What Oregon needs is general state
laws governing its cities, laws de
nning cnarters tor the cities and hav
nig tnem unuorm. As it is today
eacn city has its own charter, no two
are aliKe, ana in case of litigation
tnere is no end of confusion ana
costs. Nearly every state has a un
uorm law regulating its villages and
small cities, out in Oregon any little
xour corners may incorporate and be
law unto itsself and all who enter,
The Herald is now, always has
Deen, and always will be, strictly in
xavor of high taxes on raw land hold
ings, and gradually reduced as it is
cleared, improved for crops to pur-
cnasers and actual settlers, until they
reach a very moderate per cent. By
this process the land hog speculat
ors burden of taxation will be a
great burden of incentive to sell for
reasonable figures so that farmers
with moderate means, but anxious to
to secure farms and raise crops, may
De able to secure a foothold. Spec
ulative land holding of large acreage
is one of the curses that has deprived
men from securing farm homes and
driven them to the cities and towns
to eke out miserable existences try
ing to earn wages in . overstocked
labor markets. We say shoot the
burden of taxation onto the lord of
unimproved land holdings. Herald,
Houlton, Ore.
Our legislature will abolish some
offices and talk about abolishing ten
where it will actually abolish one.
It is a tin dollar to a counterfeit
bank note that for every office abol
ished the legislature will create two,
Rtirl for everv office abolished the
legislature will create two, and for
every salary reduced increase two
perhaps more. The people voted down
measures that would have abolished
offices and reduced taxes. Where
fnr whv tint? What are we here
for?" Certainly to take care of our
own, ourselves and our friends." Thus
will reason the statesmen at Salem
next January. "In case there is any
destitution and want during the win
ter of 1915-16 will not Ben Selling
have his soup house furnishing five
cent meals? Cert. Uit apl ye law
makers and give my brother-in-law a
job. He voted the Republic ticket."
So will the lobbyists sing.
There are many thousands of acres
of land held by farmers in Oregon
that are not used, or if used, not to
their best extent. There are many
thousands of people in Oregon who
want homes, and have no money to
pay the price. If the farmers with
land to sell could dispose of it to men
who would build homes and help
make the neighborhood, the schools
and the roads better, they would be
glad to do so, and take the money to
make more comfortable homes for
themselves, to level that field, to
clear that patch of land, to put up a
new barn, to get some better stock.
It would be better all around, then,
if those who want land to USE could
buy, and those who have land they
cannot use could sell. All right!
Let us go to the state and make it
useful by having it borrow the money
buy the farms and sell them to the
men who wish them at long time and
low interest. Why not? Would
there be any better security than the.
homes of the people? The land for
the people. The people for the land.
WHICn IS HOTTER?
The fish and game commission
paid out $160,000 last year.
What have we to show for it?
Salmon at 20 cents per pound.
Smelt at 60 cents per hundred.
Salmon are highly protected
for the benefit of the canneries.
Smelt are not.
Whioh is the cheapest eating?
Close the river to net fishing en
tirely; open them the year around
to any man with a fish pole and a
line.
Salmon will be more plentiful and
far cheaper to the eaters, but the
canners' cinch will be partly broken,
What doYOU think about it?
"I o
PAY IN THE LONG RUN
The action of the taxpayers at the
budget meeting last week probably
will not reduce the county expenses
a fourth of a mill, nevertheless it
was well worth the time spent.
It showed the people that it is nec
to tro further ud the Southern
Pacific railroad to reduce taxation
that Salem is the breeding place.
The farmers of this county are
thoroughly maddened.
On top of the 8 mill road 'levy tney
have voted SDecial taxes all over this
county in order to have better and
permanent roads, and then on top
of this burden comes the big state
tax and the big county tax, made nec
essary by many useless county laws
the state has lorced onto tnem u
make official jobs.
These are what the farmers are
mad about. They will stand for tax
ation, high taxation so long as they
get the worth of their money in bene
tfits, but they DO back up on sus
taining "expert" jobs, county school
fish and eame pork
barrels, stale tax commission, state
railroad commission, state insurance
commission, state veterinary commis
sion, state pure food commission,
state emmigration commission, state
health commission and so on down
to state stallion commission.
They don't get but very little val
ue for taxation that holds up these
iv. filling commissions. They are
paying pensions to the politicians to
hold the jobs. ,
Tha Varmprn' Enuitv Society and
Varmsrs' Union will no doubt
consolidate, the Equity going to the
Union. The Farmers' Union ana tne
f.nnm are davine close together,
and some of these days these unions
combined, are going to give uregon
such a clearing out of jobs as it never
. . .1 i 1 Ml .1
dreamed of having ana tney win uu
it with the power in their hands, the
initiative.
LET US ORGANIZE
For manv vears Harvey E. Cross
and others have advocated the or
ganization of a Taxpayers' League or
nrl vising board to the county court
for the purpose of securing munici
pal, county and state government at
lower cost, ana getting more oi
finonpir in irovernment.
We note that other counties of the
state are fast organizing along these
nt. for the Duroose of oppos
ing the county court, but to work
with them, to take on a part ox men
responsibility to advise with them
and help them to plan and carry out
the county's work.
In Marion county the idea has
hoon i-arried out into a strong organi
zation, with two state senators at the
head of the movement ana tney nave
organized with a constitution and
adopted vigorous bylaws. This
league declares that the state and
county levies can be reaucea ;i,ou,
nnn wlVinnt-. reducing efficiency.
Tillamook county has an advisory
board of seven men, picked irom tne
different parts of the county, and
they meet with the county court as
advisors on matters of more than or
dinary importance that come up for
action. . .
This county needs an organziation
of some kind to work along these
nnt pnt.irelv with the county
court, but to join with other organi
zations and make a protest mat wm
and heeded at Salem.
Th innnlv court would welcome
any organization along tnese lines.
Thia ia a treat county with many big
problems and expenses, ine court
would heartily endorse an orgam.u
tion that would help them to work
rtnf Via nrnhlems.
It simply needs a leader, some man
to start it and plan the organization.
EASY WHY NOT?
' (Alfred D. Cridge)
ww ahnnld tint an Oresron citizen
who discovers a piece oi iaie lami
a home on it, have
a right to build and fence and plow
the same? What is idle lana nem
idle for? Will it run away? Will
it become a hole in the ground if the
man owning it gets a reasonable price
for it and lets go to somebody who
iironfd tf 11RA it? Whv should not
the man wanting a piece of ground
that nobody else is making use of
nnr) who is willine to put it to its
best use, have a right to take it up,
improve it, raise his family on it, ana
Oreeon what Oregon
was made for, homes for free men
and womein ? How can it be done .'
rwirl pnsv if we have the sense and
gumption to provide for it. Oregon
belongs to the people oi uregon wnen
ovoi find tn nnv extent that they see
fit tr. fnk nnssossion. Simply pro
vide that the state snail condemn any
piece of idle land wanted by a woum
be home builder and lease the same
tn him t five or six Der cent of its
appraised value, paying the present
nwnnr thn nrice aDDraiscd. The state
can borrow all the money needed for
this at four per cent. 1 he dinerence
UTAH I A nav off the bonds. The people
would have homes. Nobody would be
confiscated out of their big or utile
Oree-on would orosoer all
lntiif tliB line. Would this- clan en
courage speculation .' it wouia not
if it. was nrovided that the assessed
value should be the governing, factor
in appraising the value oi tne lana,
nnd t.hnt in no case should the price
paid exceed that assessed value over
ten per cent. The lease of such lanas
could be re-valued every five years,
nnd thn imnrnvementa made in or on
the land would belong to the home
builder. It would be perpetual pos
session and use, but net a cent for
speculation.
The Pennies' Land Lea cue of Ore
wnn has not been born vet. but it
r-' -
might be. There is no reason but
our own aggregated stupidity why
idU lnnd should be idle in Oreeon.
The state should see to it that any
man wanting to use an iaie acre
should have it.
It is said that in some of the cities
of France dilapidated houses are as
sessed higher than modern and good
ones on the ground that the first
kind are a burden on the municipal
ity, a bad fire risk, a sanitary risk.
a disgrace to the city and a source
of crime. If Henry Reid, the asses
OREGON CITY COURIEB, OREGON CITY,
sor of Multnomah county, was to
proceed on that basis what a reduc
tion of taxes there would be on the
progressive property owners! There
are shacks in the business part of
that city that would be a disgrace to
a Chinese river port.
The new national appraisers' board
will not accept as security mortgages
on purely speculative, idle and unim
proved land. Many of the leading
bankers of the world have passed up
idle lands as security several years.
The word has ben quietly passed out
that idle, speculative holdings are
poor property for anybody but Gen
tiles to loan money on.
The action of the county court in
limiting the weight and speed of
autos and fixing the width of wagon
tires for loads is the right move.
Good roads cost good money and they
should not be torn up needlessly.
A big auto truck with a big load and
high speed can do a lot of damage in
a short time. It is not so much the
load as the speed that sucks up the
surface of the highways.
THE PRICE OF PEACE
There never was so great an event
as the European war, and there never
was so great a horror with so little
newspaper comment.
Thn npwsnaners nrint the news
dispatches and then sit tight. They
do not lineup, do not take sides, do
not comment.
We Americans do not know what
Europe is killing about.
We do not know what brought
ahont thn awful carnaee. 1
The men who are lacing tne guns
do not know.
We know that about three million
men are already dead or missing and
that millions more win me ii tne car
nage continues another six months.
Thfl one rav of hone is the general
prediction that this war will end war
for all time.
It's an awful price to pay for peace
but perhaps it will be worth it.
WHAT CAN BE MAY BE
Thnrn are manv wavs whereby the
unemployed could be given work to
provide their families with iooa ana
fnoi that would cost anvone a dol
lar, leave the men with their self
respect, and do away with this dead
wrong system ot charity.
For instance the Courier knows a
half a dozen property owners who
will give the timber for many hun
dreds of cords of wood to those who
will cut it.
Why not the county hire the un
employed and really needy men of
thin ponnt.v to cut this wood, cut all
the wood that may be needed to give
the needed employment; iurnisn
thn ennrt. house with the wood it
buys annually, and the rest it can sell
at the actual cost of cutting and de
livery in Oregon City and elsewhere.
The county would not be out a dol
ing land would be cleared and many
a man would be able to support his
family who now has to let them sui
fer or accept charity a self-respect
ing man's last resort.
Better vet. let the county buy out
right an idle tract of land, cut the
timber into wood, clear the land and
then sell it.
Not a dollar needs to change hands
to bring about this labor-providing
movement. The county's credit is
sufficient to buy all the waste land
the county's needy can clear, and the
wood Rold from the place and the land
sold again when cleared, would more
than pay for the labor.
Not a cent lost to the county, no
donht some crofit to the county in
the deal, and labor and wages for
families that are in dire need or tne
labor.
And apain. carrvine the same idea
to a little bigger plan, the state
could take on these idle men, use
them to clear the state's idle acres;
use them to cut every stick of wood
the many state institutions use; use
them on the many different works the
state needs; use them on the state's
highways.
And every day's work oi tnese
idle men would be an investment to
the state which needs the improve
ment.
These sucirestions are a mere
waste of words to relieve the pres
ent distress of the people, but some
day this plan, continually advocated
by this and many other newspapers,
will mold a sentiment that win bring
about conditions that will give any
man who honestly wants work the
right to have it and the right to
support his family without the aid
of charity.
Some day Clackamas county win
condemn idle land, buy it at apprais
er's valuation, put its own workmen
on it and make the acres proritabie
and the work prosperous tor uack-
amns countv.
But men have got to reason, hes
itate and fear for a time yet, because
someone will sniff out that it IS a
step toward confiscation and govern
ment ownership and the scare will
hold them off for some time.
But the fellow with the real grey
matter above his ears won t oe scar
ed.
Hp will think it out that productive
acres and used lands under state
ownership are a mighty bigger asset
than idle tracts held by New York
speculators and then he will fall for
it.
Let this help you.
From 1900 to 1910 Oregon only in
creased in population (outside of the
cities) just a fraction over 4 per
cent.
Just realize this only 4 per cent
increase in the country in ten long
years.
There has got to be a great break
ing up of the idle speculative lands
of Oregon for it is becoming a state
to stay away from.
Rich beyond comparison. Wealth
beyond that of almost any state in
the Union.
Climate the greatest in all the
states for a year-round average.
Resources only scratched, millions
of dollars needed in labor.
And yet thousands of its present
small population being cared for thru
charity.
A land-locked state. A state used
as safety deposit vaults of eastern
OREGON
capitalists.
That s what ails a big part of Ore
gon, and if county or state owner
ship is necessary to get back the
lands, then let public ownership
come. i
It costs S100 per day for expenses
of running the circuit court here. Fi
gure up what the Milwaukie liquor
violations have cost and will cost
this county and see if you can find
a balance in favor of the county for
the licenses paid.
FORCING LAND INTO USE
(Christian Science Monitor)
Contrary alike to the wishes and
the statements of some anti-tax re
formers, the western provinces of
Canada continue to enact and to en
force measures looking to ultimate
radical changes in the method of
dealing with land value assessments.
H is now generally known, of course,
that the single tax, in a somewhat
modified form, is in force in several
of the western cities of the Domin
ion. Despite , repeated efforts to
prove that this system is working un
satisfactorily, there is a strong prob
ability that before long it will be ex
tended and made more positive in its
operation. It is, at all events, a suf
ficient answer to the alleged exist
ence of popular discontent with this
plan of raising public revenue that
in the Alberta Legislature, on Oct.
17) a bill was passed placing a spec
ial tax on all wild land held for spec
ulation. In all the prairie provinces mil
lions of acres of unused, uncultivated,
unimproved land is in the posession
of people who are holding it simply
for a rise in price. This rise in price
must, necessarily, result from the
efforts, the labor and energy and en
terprise of those who buy contiguous
land for settlement and improvement.
The actual settler, and homemaker
gives value not only to his own land
but to all the land about him, and is
taxed in proportion to the value of
the improvements he makes while the
investor or speculator who owns aa-
joining lands is permitted to enjoy
his unearned increment at little or
no cost. In other words, the settler
who toils to give value to his land and
to bring wealth to the province, is
penalized, while the speculator, who
allows his land to lie idle until it
takes on a value from the labor of
others, not only profits by an en
hancement due to this labor, out is
rewarded by total or partial immun
ity from taxes. In cases where abso
lute immunity is granted, the tax on
wild land is merely nominal, in
Drovement. on the other hand, invar
iably increases the taxable wealth of
the state, to use a common phrase,
and the person that increases the
taxable wealth of the state is certain,
under the prevailing system, to be
taxed, and sometimes heavily, for
presuming to do so.
It is needless to say that whether
in Canada or in the United States or
in Mexico laws that support such a
system as his are inequitable and
pernicious. In Alberta the lananoia
er who waits on the toil and enter
prise of others for increment is now
told that he must do one or two
things: sell his holdings to those who
will improve them, or pay taxes on
them. He is privileged to use the
land in any way he may think
proper. The provincial government
will be glad if he shall use it prof
itably to himself. But if he decides
to let it lie idle he must pay an an
nual special tax for the privilege.
The tax is low, only 6 cents an
acre, or ?10 by the quarter section,
but it is high enough, according to
estimates, to bring into the public
treasury $1,600,000, if the landown
ers elect to pay it. If they elect to
sell to others who shall improve the
property, it will be a very much
greater sum in revenue, and will less
en the taxes of those genuine home
makers who now must bear practi
cally the whole burden.
In either event, Alberta must be
the eainer. The absentee landowner
and speculator is not desirable, but
he cannot be deprived of his holdings
by act of the Legislature. That would
be confiscation. He can, however, be
compelled to pay reasonably for the
privilge of allowing his land to go
to waste. This he will not do for any
long period, of course, for the tax
would eat up the value of his hold
ings. Most likely he will at once
take the wiser course of selling to a
bona fide settler, and this, undoubt
edly, is what Alberta would like best.
THE SPLENDID SYSTEM
The bankers borrow money from
good old Uncle Sam, and loan it to
Old Hayseed, who does'nt give a
clam how much ne pays tne Daniter
to get a little cash and with the in
terest on his debts the banker cuts a
dash. For Uncle Sam is easy when
it comes to loaning mon that he
gathers in by taxes and pets his fa
vorite son. Son Banker gets the
money at perhaps two per cent, and
lends it to his brother, Old Hayseed,
borrowing bent It works out most
delightful with Old Hayseed's pay
ing ten; it's awful just to think of
how the system might have been,
Suppose Old Hayseed borrowed his
money right direct, how would his
worthy brother exist, do you expect?
The banker spends his interest, (on
his debts, you understand) that he
gets from loaning money to the chap
that plows the land. Thus every
thing is lovely to keep the wheels
goin' 'round; the banker gets the
money, and Old Hayseed tills the
ground.
Alfred D. Cridge.
Checks Croup Instantly
You know croup is dangerous. And
you should also know the sense of
security that comes from always hav
ing Foley's Honey and Tar Compound
in the house. It cuts the thick mu
cous and clears away the phlegm,
stops the tsrangling cough and gives
easy breathing and quiet sleep. Take
it for coughs, colds, tickling throat,
hoarseness and for bronchial and la
grippe coughs. Contains no opiates.
Every user is a friend. Jones Drug
Co.
Three hundred dollars from a pa
per mill for European charity. How
much to relieve home suffering? .
Only two weeks more and then a
legislature. What have we done that
troubles should come in bunches?
The 10-day shut down of the pa-
per machines did not help Christmas
shopping in this city, but big busi-
ness is not regulated by the seasons ,
in its actions.
Railroad employees insist on high-i
er pay. Granted. Kaiiroads ask ior j
increased freight rates. Granted, i
Prices to employees will raise and
they will ask for another wage raise. J
Then railroads will ask for another
rate raise. Fine for those on tne
wheel.
President Hawlev of the Hawley
Paner Co. has e-iven S100 for the re
lief of the Belgians; his company
has given ?10U more, and it is saia
the workmen of the Hawley mills
will ' give yet another hundred. We
admire the spirit of this charity, but
we can't help but think that Ameri
can manufacturers owe first aid to
American laborers who are out of
work, out of food and fuel American
lnhnr whiph has made such enterpris
es as the Hawley plant possible and
profitable.
Coming at just this time of year
the 10-days' shut down of the paper
machines puts fear into the hearts
of many. But there is little to be
alarmed at. The big mills have run
steadily for 25 years and they are
not going to quit now. As long as
water runs down hill, so long will the
fall's power turn wheels of indus
tries in Oregon City and West Linn
for such power is too valuable to go
to waste in Oregon. A new com
pany has taken over the mills. The
company has a capital of $14,000,000.
Don't get scared. Oregon City is
the best city of its size on the Pa
cific coast, and it will continue to be.
If Oregon City would only stop
doing the wrong thing at the wrong
time it might get within speaking
distance of the country residents and
get as much country trade as Canby
gets. There should be good feelings
friendship, and trade. But instead
there is hostilitv and mistrust. Tak
en hold of right, this could be done
away with and the same- relations es
tablished that once existed, but there
must be tactful and honest men to
take hold of it. and such breaks as
the last council made must be ever
lastingly forbidden.
One of the items that helped to
make an expenditure of $160,000 last
year by the fish and game commis
sion was . the sending of special
agents to Europe to find new game
birds. And by the way. this reminds
us that we also sent a commission to
Europe to study the credit system.
We would suggest that these two
commissions make a joint report of
their findings; that the coming leg
islature make an appropriation of
$50,000 to have the reports printed
and sent to every taxpayer who had
to buck up for these European pleas
ure junkets.
Accuracy
reaeirauon j
n i
jii.tin.:.it
. -l
"High Power"
Repeating
Rifle No.425
List Price $20.00
(.25 .30-30-.32and.36
calibers
Use ftcmlngton Auto-Loading I
CartrKlk-fs.
A Big Game Rifle that
Makes Good.
Sure Fire No Balks No Jams
Order from your Dealer.
Send for Handsomely Illustrated
Hide Catalog No. 11
Stevens Arms & Tool Co.,
T O Box mi.
Chicopee Falls, Mass:
The Courier and the twice-a-week
Portland Journal, three papers each
week for $1.75 is some bargain.
imp
I
m vi
HOLIDAY FARES
Following usual custom the Southern Pacific
will have in effect from all points, Main Line
and Branches
Special Christmas and New Year
Holiday Round Trip Fares
SALE DATES IN OREGON
Tickets between all points in Oregon will be sold
December 18 19, 20, 23, 24, 25 and 31, 1914, and
January 1, 1915; also between all C. & E., P. K. .
& N., P. E. & E. and S. F. C. & W. points. Final
return limit January 4, 1915.
SALE DATES T O CALIFORNIA
December 21 o 25, and December 28, to January 1, '
inclusive, from all points in Oregon to any point
in California; also to Klamath Falls via Weed.
Final return, limit January 4, 1915.
Superior Train Service
Call on our nearest Agent forfull particulars, fare
to specific points, reservations, train schedules,
SOUTHERN PACIFIC
Joha M. Scott, General Passenger Agent, Portland, Oregon.
WEATHER PRANKS
v: ' v x . i
Oddities of Atmosphere, Clouds,
Foas and Lightning.
..'
THIRSTY WINDS OF THE ALPS.
They Drink Up All Moisture So Quick
ly That Everything Becomes as Dry
as Tinder Ancles Lightning and tha
Fire Ship of the Bay of Chaleur.
Cloud cups form ou mountain tops
when a current of moist air ascends
the slope of the mountain, for the air
cools as it rises and the moisture in it
condenses.
On the flat top of Table mountain,
near Cape Town, a strong southeast
wind produces 11 horizontal sheet of '
cloud known us the "tablecloth." This
cloud often appears to pour over the
steep leeward side of the mountain
like a mighty cataract. The "spread
lug of the tablecloth" is a sign of bad
weather. At a little distance from the
mountain a second cloud ofteu forms.
A similar pair of clouds often seen
near Cross fell. In England, are kdown
as the "helm and bar." The helm, or
helmet, forms over the mountain when
a violeut wind known as the ueim
wind" is blowing. The bar appears a
mile or two to leeward.
At Callao, on the coast of Peru, sail
ors often encounter a foul smelling
fog that deposits a brown slimy coat
ing on white paint and metal and hence
Is called the "painter."
Another remarkable fog on the Peru
vian coast is known as the "garua."
It occurs In a region , where rain is
'unknown and supplies suUlcient mois
ture to support vegetation.
Red fogs frequently occur off the
northwest coast of Africa, between
the Canities and the Cape Verde is
lands. They are sometimes so dense
as to make' navigation difficult. The
color is owing to dust that the trade
wind brings from the Sahara desert
Certain valleys In the Alps are of
ten visited by a very warm and dry
wind known as the "fobri." The effects
of this wlud are particularly striking
In wiuter. The snow molts and evap
orates as if by magic; woodwork be
comes as dry as tinder, and great pre
cautions nre necessary to prevent the
occurrence of. the , disastrous "Ores
known as "foh'n ''r" that often de
stroy whole to- nid villages. No
cooking is pei-it. 1 while the fohn,
Is blowing, and nut even a pipe or a
cigarette may be lighted. Many per
sons suffer with "fohn sickness" when
ever this wind prevails. The chlnook
of the western United States is similar
In character and origin to the fohn.
Over the waters of the bay of Cha
leur, in Canada, a mysterious phenom
enon knowu as the "Ore ship" is Some
times seen by night. It is a roughly
hemispherical mass of luminosity, with
its flat side to the water, but some
times It rises in slender moving col
umns that resemble the flaming rig
ging of a ship. It Is supposed to fore
tell a storm. No satisfactory explana
tion of this phenomenon has ever been
given. .
"Amies lightning" Is the name given
to a very striking luminous discharge
of electri:il.v seen over the crest of the
Andes, In Chile, in a iviilon whe.re or.
amary tliiiiiiU'i'-itiirnis nre almost un
known. The mountains appear to act
aa gigantic lightning rods, between
which and the clouds silent discharges
take placi. on a vast scale. A contln-.
uous glow Is seen a limit the summits,
with occasional outbursts like'' the
beams of a great searchlight. These
displays have been seen by vessels
300 miles from the coast.
Among' the snow clad Alps a curi
ous and beniitifiirpheiiomenon Is some
times observed at the close of the day.
The rosy Illumination of the mountain
summits passes away, from below up-'
ward, as the sun sinks helow the op
posite horizon, and for a few mlnhtes
the peaks, with their rocks and snows,
have a livid appearance: thou gradual- '
ly they are lighted up with a second
rosy glow, nnd this may last for as
much as an hour after sunset. This
is called the "recolorntion of the Alps,"
or, in the case of the giant of the
group, the "resurrection of Mont
Blanc." The whole series of phenome
na is called the "alpeuglow." Youth's .
Companion.
The new Clackamas County com
plete record report cards are now for
sale at the Courier office at 15c per.
dozen. Postage 5 cents.