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About Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1902-1919 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1915)
OREGON CITY COURIER, OREGON CITY, OREGON, THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1915 OREGON CITY COURIER Published Thursdays from the Courier in the Postoffice at Oregon City, E. R. BROWN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Subscription Price $1.50. Telephones, Pacific 51; Home A-51. THIS PAPER REPRESENTED FOR FOREIGN , ADVERTISING BY THE GENERAL OFFICES NEW YORK AND CHICAGO BRANCHES IN ALL THE PRINCIPAL CITIES THE SOLID FIVE Now we know who is boss of Ore gon City. We know who is boss in legislative affairs and in judicial af fairs. It is the "sold five" of the council, assisted and abetted by Templeton. Also more or less sup ported by Metzner. The council, which has hitherto been supposed to exist solely for the purpose of passing ordinances and transacting routine city business ac cording to these ordinances, now tak es upon itself the bossing of the city courts, and decrees that while a Chi naman may be prosecuted for selling whiskey, and while a pool hall may be placed on trial for a similar charge, and while a servant of a lodge may be fined for selling liquor, the officers of a lodge who permit the steward to sell liquor shall not even be tried. The Courier has nothing against the lodge. It regrets that the coun cil has forced it to make these re marks. The Courier never believed that all the officers of the lodge in question could be convicted on the charge against them; but it did be lieve that at least one of the officers was guilty, actually and morally, and that if the Chinaman and the pool hall had their day in court, this one officer, at least should have been giv en no special privileges in a legal line. This one officer was warned on several times to make his buainess to see that the sale of liquor in the lodge was stopped, he said he would stop it but it is reasonable to sup pose that he did not keep his word, for after the warnings evidence was gathered that liquor was still sold, and the man who Bold.it pleaded guil ty. However, this didn't worry the solid five, which was instrumental at the first in starting the prosecutions of the lodge officers. The solid five found out that prosecution of the of ficers it had forced into court would bring embarassment to them in many ways, and they flip-flopped and yell ed for a "whitewash." They would : not even permit a trial to be held they framed a resolution with the assistance as aforementioned, that virtually ordered the city attorney to drop the prosecution which he had started at their behest. Four of the solid five are prohi bitionists of the professional variety. They were responsible for the hiring of detectivoe in the recent "clean up" farce, they particularly gloried in the "getting" of the lodge; and then when they saw where they themselves might get hurt they quit cold, and usurped the duties of the judicial end of the city government and put skids under the case they had themselves built up. They posed as reformers, but when they saw that "reform" had pangs along with it, they turned blind, like the left eye of justice. The Courier is glad, for the sake of the truly innocent men who were unfortunately implicated in the net spun to catch the truly guilty, that the final outcome of the "reform wave", is as it has developed. But the Courier is sorry that the solid five brought it about the way they did. The innocent men could have boon protected and the guilty could have been made to stand trial had not the solid five been so chicken-hearted;. The Courier trusts that tho solid five is satisfied, and that they can square themselves with their consciences. But the Courier is glad that it does not belong to tho same school as these noblemen of the solid five, and it hopes that the next time the solid five is moved to "clean up the city" that it will proceed along lines that can at least be defended. And my! How proud tho "drys'' must be of the solid fivel THE POOL HALL CASE AGAIN The Courier is glad that in the trial of William Myers, Jr., on the charge of selling liquor in a Main street pool hall, that Recorder Loder gave a verdict of acquittal. The Courier is also glad that following this City Attorney Schuebel moved that the municipality's other case, against Frank Cox, be dismissed. Both cases together were based on the charge that liquor had been sold in the pool hall in question. The Prosperous Farmer HAS become so through good manage ment and hard work. On the good management side a checking account at the bank has often been of great help. The farmer who pays everything by check nev er pays for the same thing twice, and al ways has a receipt for every dollar paid. We welcome the accounts of the farmers of this section, doing everything in our pow er to make banking by mail as entirely sat isfactory as personal deposit. Write to us and we shall be pleased to extend you ev ery courtesy and help in our power. THE BANK OF OREGON CITY 33 Years in Business Building, Eighth Street, and entered Ore., as 2nd class mail matter While the Courier has not in any way changed its views in regard to pool halls, and while this paper still believes that they should comply with the state law and be closed on Sun- day, and that they should not admit I boys under age of majority; this pa per never did believe that liquor was I sold in the pool hall in question, and ' never for its part intimated that li quor played any ' part in the things that made this pool hall and others I not as desirable as some other plac es of amusement. f In. regard to the case of the city against the Cox pool hall, the Cour ier is particularly glad that the trial resulted in an acquittal and a dismis sal for a number of reasons. In the first place the Courier believes with Recorder Loder, that "the evidence of any private detective should be taken with a degree of suspicion, and should be required to be fully corrob orated." The Courier does not be lieve in convictions that are obtained by the hiring of stool-pigeons, espec ially when these creatures make every effort to get people to violate the law so that they may have a "case." In the second place the Courier believes that it is particular ly unfortunate that the city seems to think it necessary to employ "out side talent" to "clean things up." This paper has remarked before that in a community such as this, where a large majority of people voted for a strictly "dry" town, it ought to be possible to obtain evidence against any violators of the law from among the same people who went to the polls to protest against the saloon. If the same people who made Ore gon City "dry" cannot keep the town in that condition if they have not the moral courage to complain of mis deeds, or even to tell the authorities of their suspicions' then 'this paper thinks it would be better to wipe the "dry'' law off the statute books un til public opinion and public moral courage will support it. Keeping a law in force that the people them selves will not help live up to and see that others live up to is a first class kind of hypocrisy. However, to get back to the pool hall case. This paper has never heard even a hint that liquor was sold in any pool hall in the city. If there had been any well-founded rumors to this effect they would have reached this office, for rumors go first of all to a newspaper office, and then to the public. This paper has never be lieved for a minute that liquor was sold in any local pool hall; and after the Memorial Day raid, when two bottles of liquor were found in a place where it was palpably "planted" by a crook, this paper was positive that the city's case against the pool hall was based mostly on fraud. It was unfortunate that the city at torney was forced to prosecute the cacse. He probably did it because in his well-meaning zeal he believed it his duty to take the word of the two detectives as against the word of others. Or he may have done it at tho behest of the "solid five" of the council, at least one of whom, the Courier knows, was desirous of mak ing out as bad a case as possible against the pool halls. In any event it was unfortunate all around, and this paper is glad that an acquittal was tho result. This acquittal will probably make it harder to get fu ture convictions of violations of the liquor laws, if they occur but this is one of the things that must bo ex pected when a municipality hires a couple of private dotectives to clean up a neighborhood. Hereafter let us confine our ref ormation to that which is brought on by home talent then there will be less hard feeling und more justice; and probably more will be accom plished. A RARE OPPORTUNITY The ideal school mineles nlav and lessons. In fact there are author ities who say that all the knowledge of the world should be taught by means ot games, much as rudiments of knowledge are taught in tho kind ergarten by means of supervised play. While this may be an extreme view, it is nevertheless true that more can be learned in pleasant sur roundings, where the course of study is disguised, than can be learned in a bare schoolroom with constant dis cipline. This being the case, the forth coming Chautauqua to be held .at Gladstone park, offers an appeal to old and young that should not be overlooked. The Chutauqua is, in brief, a summer school, both for chil dren and for grown-ups; and its great success in the past has been due to the fact that pleasure and re creation is so intimately connected with its other features. To the average person attending the thirteen day session, the Chau tauqua is merely an outing in an ideal location, where the hours of eass and rest are pleasantly broken up by the many attractive features on the pro gram. Of these features as much or a&f little may be taken part in by the individual, depending on how one feels or in how much one desires to receive. Most of those who go to Chautauqua, however, find that they are drawn to attend practically all of the events on the program; and in this way a great deal that is of val ue and of interest is absorbed. The Chautauqua program is de signed to bring to those in attend ance the world's best thought on a variety of subjects. This thought is imparted in an entertaining way, and while but few of the features on the program are directly designed to "educate;" practically all of them make the hearers think and when people think they educate themselv es. They unconsciously weigh and digest what they hear, holding to the new or to that which seems good, and either casting out the dross en tirely or substituting for it some original thought that has been in spired by the program itself. No better way of spending thir teen days in the early summer can You Can't Get Oat of a Ttfinip Neither can you get your money's worth out of a binder that hasn't had it hammered and built into it at the factory. A good way to find out about a binder is to look it over carefully and see if it measures up to your idea of what the machine should be. Another good way is to ask those who have used the machines. If we didn't have the fullest confidence in our machine we wouldn't advise you to do this, but as it is we will be mighty well pleased if you will ask every person you know who owns a Cham pion Binder, how he likes it. THE CHAMPION BINDER like all Champion Machines is built upon the quality first policy and then it also has some very important advantages, for instance it's positive force feed elevator, which insures a continuous flow of grain to the picker arms. The Relief Rake which prevents bunching at the inner end of the platform. The Champion also has many other good strong features which we will gladly show you if you will call on us. Need Anything in Pomp or Water AVe carry a big stock of pumps of all kinds, pipe, fittings, hose, Give us a call when interested in this class of goods. Sold By W. J. WILSON CO. Oregon City Canby Hardware & Implement Co. Geo. Blatchford Molalla, Ore. bo had than to attend the Gladstone Chautauqua. In the course of its sessions there is presented a vast amount of interesting and instructive matter, and in the communion with others there is a wide field for dis cussion opened, and a big impetus is given to original thought. ' Aside from this there is the out-door life, the recreation and the exercise, which cannot bo else than of benefit. Tho Chautauqua offers a rare op portunity for the improvement of both tho inner and outer self, and is a blessing to every community which is reached by its influence. CAUSE OF CRIME A revolver manufacturer's adver- tisement contains the following statement: Society trains criminals as carefully as it does lawyers or doctors and graduates more of them. There will always be criminals as long as the train ing schools of crime exist rum holes, prisons, opium joints and gang-infested corners. That is as far as the advertiser goes in his explanation of crime. It leaves unexplained how the gradu ates of "rum holes, prisons, opium joints, and gang-infested comers'' will pass their time after these have been abolished. It is easy to say that they will be engaged in honest work, but hard to prove. Thousands of men are today unemployed and looking in vain for work who do not frequent such places. Opportunity for work would not be increased by their abolition. That would only in crease competition for what ever jobs there are. It is true that society trains crim inals. It trains them by so limiting opportunities to earn an honest liv ing that many are involuntaryarily unemployed. Even without the evils mentioned in the advertisement, many of these unemployed would be com pelled to resort to crime. The pro cess may be hastened or intensified' by the "rum holes" and other places, as it may also be hastened by increas ed the supply of the latest improve ments in revolvers, but that is as much as can be fairly charged against them. The limiting of opportunities to live without crime, is the cause of crime which must be removed. The above remarks are reprinted in part from a communication from the American Economic League, which once in a while hits the nail upon the head. WITH THE WARM SUN A contemporary presents to its readers two letters one from a girl of twenty-seven who is beginning to suspect that she ought to get mar ried, and the other from a man of thirty who "pictures the possibilities of a home." Quite naturally both of these letters are pure "bunk" pre pared for the purpose of giving the contemporary in question a chance to run a series of letters from men and women on matrimony its advantages and its perils; but nevertheless dis cussion of the subject, even based on imaginary woes of two young people, will do no harm. When the sun rides high in the sky and the evenings are long, light and luxurious with soft zephyrs and the scent of blossoms, the thoughts of the young (and some others) naturally turn to thoughts of mating; even as do the birds turn to nest-building, and the snukes and reptiles shed their skins. The season of summer mad ness is approaching a madness feat ured mainly by seashore outings in which two is company and three a crowd. Such being the case, it is well to pause and consider. The prelimin aries to mating are among the most delightful things in the world, and often blind us to the possibilities of the future. Were it not so there would be but little need of the di vorce courts, and the happy days of Eden would return, and all would be as merry as a fairy tale. The mere fact that a girl is beau tiful and that she permits a young man to squander all he earns and can borrow upon her is no sign that she will make a good wife. Nor is the mere fact that a young man looks like Apollo, is the best hitter in the ball team, and hires a buggy every Sunday any proof of the fact that he will make a good husband. There is a vast difference between courting, as it is commonly called, and sitting down to meals three times, a day in the same company for the remainder of one's natural life. There are girls who are not beau tiful, who are not good conversation alists, and who don't like to go to dances and picnics who will make good wives. There are young men who don't wear smart clothes, who hang on to their money, and who look like the battered side of a way side fence who make good husbands. In fact the average "perfect young couple" ought not to get married at all; or at least they ought not to marry each other. Girls who wait until they are twenty-seven and young men who wait until they are thirty usually play the matrimonial game with more success than those who gallop in laughingly when they are just out of their teens. We know a young woman who was thirty-six before she married, and she is a hap py wife and has a happy husband; and we also know a youth who flit ted gaily from flower to flower un til he was thirty, and who then mar ried and has lived happily ever after. Neither one of these people were sor ry they waited; yet had either of them married when they were just out of highschool or college, the chances are that they would by now have wished they hadn't. In line with its endeavor to be generally helpful, the Courier here with has the temerity to offer the following advice to the young, who at this season of the year may be think ing of orange blossoms and the dim, religious light of stained-glass church windows. Boys: beware of the girl who can't even carry her own umbrella, who wears shoes so tight that they pinch when she tries to walk, who always uses the "latest thing" in beautifiers, whom you never seen unless she is doller up in her party clothes, who Blood Supply Goods? engines, pressure systems, etc. The just dotes on society and jewelry, whose knowledge of the culinary arts is limited to fudge and rarebits, who likes to stay out late at night, and who gossips about her acquaintances. And girls: Beware of the youth who always wants to show his prow ess by fighting, who likes to rock the boat when you are on the river, who have talks sagely about what he knows of things forbidden, who al ways lias more money to spend than you know he ought to have consider ing that his salary is only nine bucks a week, who swears that he never kissed another girl till he met you, who tells you his ambition is to be a stock-broker, whose clothes are of that peculiar modern style sold only by the dollar-down-dollar-a-week houses, and who expecta to inherit the farm and the auto when his uncle dies. Remember all that glitters is not gold, and that the cow and the plod ding horse are fully as useful in the scheme of the world as the butterfly and the greyhound. W. J. BRYAN Last week, in printing the news of the resignation of William Jennings Bryan from President Wilson's cab inet, the Courier expressed its opin ions of the proceedings and of Mr. Bryan. To date this paper has seen no reason to change these views; and the later announcement by the "boy orator of the Platte" that the note to Germany was "softened" followflng his resignation, gives us no cause to vary in the slightest our original es timate. In fact we think Bryan is reveal ing himself quite' thoroughly to the reading public. Having quit, he found that there was not that loud acclaim of approval that he had ex pected, and 'so the "commoner''' be gan to hedge. It will be very dif ficult for him to hedge back into the cabinet again, we believe; and the added fact that his action has been praised by the "stand-pat" republi can press shows that his behaviour was calculateed to embarass the ad ministration as much as possible. There was a time when Bryan showed some promise of develop ing into a real man. The Courier, with others, hoped that when he was honored with a place in the cabinet he- would develop the best that he had within him, and would grow away from demagogism and develop a man's-sized character. This hope was futile, it seems; and Bryan's ac tions since his resignation mark him as being a most excellent person to get out of official position. While the United States is noted for being a nation of individuals, each of whom has a right to his or her own opin ion and a guaranteed freedom in which to express this opinion; there are few real Americans who would, to advance themselves and to gain no toriety, take the particular time that Bryan took to burst into publicity by the back-biting method. Mr. Roosevelt should find a strong ally in Bryan, and it is to be hoped that the two will promptly get to gether. Probably the best way for these two gentlemen of peculiar tal ents to realize the esteem in which they are held by the United States at large would be for them to organize a party and run on its platform as the heads of a ticket. The resulting vote would then determine unmis takably their exact measure of popu larity, and the exact amount of ap proval that is given their methods. Wolf Howls i , The current number of one of the "women's magazines" tells how these cute lace collars, that look a good deal like cat-teaser on a fence, can be made to stand up. The informa tion may be of interest, but we'd like to know how poor man, who also wears standing collars, can make them stand up on a hot day. Freddie Taylor, late of the Enter prise, and still later of the Oregon- ian, dropped in on us the other day and slipped over a new one. He was discussing the journalistic material employed on Oreon's oldest daily, and mentioning a late addition, said "she isn't much good now, but she has the spark." We don't know just what Freddie means, but we bet the Oregonian will extinguish the spark if the young journalist continues in its employ. Rex Lampman or something like that who edits the "Saturday Alibi" in the Oregon Journal, and Dean Col lins, who edits the "Monday Craw fish" in the Oregonian, have recently been slinging editorial mud at each other. Rex appears to have so far had the best of the argument unless the rumor that we hear is true, to the effect that the columns of the "Craw fish" have been censored. We are rather inclined to believe this rumor, for we never heard the Oregonian of letting anything get into its col umns unless it knew the why and wherefor, and also the how-much. Two of our sweetest young ladies hereabouts recently planted nastur tiums and geraniums in a window box in the office in which they work. Under the warm sunshine and the gentle rain the seeds prospered, and now the window box contains oats, corn, onions and garlic. The young ladies were at first inclined ao ac cuse a certain attorney of having brought about the change; but later they recalled the fact that the seed they planted had been received from a congressman, so they were not surprised. Government seeds are wonderful things, and sometimes they grow. Speaking of the government, we learn from a federal publication that Uncle Sam has recently issued a pa per on "The Specific Heat and the Heat of Fusion of Ice." We used to think icp was cold and had no heat, but after eating some Rose Festival ice cream in Portland we had to suck it up through a straw we are beginning to believe that some ice is warm. Now that the government is investigating the heat of ice we know it. An American consular office in Switzerland reports that a Swiss firm has been buying "hot air regis ters" from Germany, and that now since the war broke out desires to get in touch with an American manu facturer of these same hgt air reg isters. We had surmised, from in terviews in the daily press, that hot air from Germany was not register edso much of it was coming our way. Still, maybe Germany is con serving the supply to answer Presi dent Wilson's second note. . Alas and alack! Our good friend! Sammy, back at Washington, D. C. I tells us in a recent number of the tAl. 1 I . T . . ! naiiy consular reports, that "Mad rid's rough cobble stone and granite block streets are to be repaved," and that the government has appropriat ed eight million dollars for the work. We used to regard Spain as being be hind the times but with Main street, Oregon City still unpaved, we now realize that we are even worse off than Spain. Wonder if the city coun cil couldn't get some of the $8,000,000 from Spain and use it here? the same source we learn that "the increased exports of palm u. Wo tn the United States in 1914 has no particular significance." When we read oi it ai "" wo tv,nn-l,t mnvlin the United States had been getting hot-headed over some thing. We are giaa to see uw m were not. Tho n,iilv Consular Reports also tell us that "the peanut shipments were 50 percent below tnose oi thp demand for Spanish peanuts in the United States being unusually light." judging peanut shells on the floors of the in terurban cars and in the movie hous es, we hadn't noticed any tailing on in consumption. Consul-General A. W. Weddell, Athens. Greece, in forms the world that the metropolis of the old, old, old world has caugni (v,o fovpr ton.. In Athens, he says, there are four modern movie houses, half a dozen not so modern, and ten open-air theatres where refresh ments are served to the movie-fans. Greece uses about half a million or more feet of film a month, and "Wild West films have failed to capture the public taste." Hurrah for Greece she knows what she wants and what she doesn't want; and one of the things that she doesn't want is Bron cho Billy, fake Indians, phony gam bling houses and cowboys who ride on English riding saddles. A local movie house, by the way, last week ran a feature picture in which the "naked truth'' wandered in and out of the story. A minister who wasn't appreciated by his flock was also a character. The film was sup posed to convey a "great moral les son," and two small boys who saw it were examined when they got home by their parents, who asked what they had learned from the film. One youngster said: "It showed a min ister would rather follow a woman without clothes on than one who was dressed." And the other young hope ful said the film taught him that "if you don't wear clothes you ought to keep away from people." Who says the movies don't instruct? JOHN STARK'S COLUMN After several years' of exhortation the standpatter seems destined to come into his kingdom. Of late he has gotten the habit of "standing be hind the president." Just what he is standing there for is not always clear to one living in the uncut. It seems to connect with the sinking of a British ship and a great noise is raised about "our plain duty" and "our sacred national honor.'' Sever al points about that incident of the European war seem to have escaped notice by some of our belligerent ed itors when firing their 13-em broad sides of gas. Some have noted that those American citizens who met an untimely death had been warned by the German embassador of the dan ger, but failed to take heed. The wise man seeth the danger and avoids it, but the fool goeth into it and meets disaster. One point is for some reason en tirely overlooked. Why not hold Great Brittain responsible? These people were on a vessel flying that flag, and it therefore follows they had placed themselves under British protection just as much as if they were on English soil. Another point I want to emphasize is that in the event of war with Germany whd are the persons we propose to kill ? Is it the men who sank the Lusitania or is it proposed to kill Kaiser Bill, the re sponsible government official of the barbarous Germans? Not many years ago a bill was be fore our congress making it a special crime to propose the killing of such persons as the war lord of Germany. I believe this bill became a law. So you see we may not harbor any such idea if we are to remain law abiding citizens. Incidentally it calls to mind that a sailor composed a jingle about this person and "our government," apologizing to "his im perial Majesty." Just put that in your pipe and smoke it. No, it is none of these people that it is pro posed to kill to avenge the death of innocent travelers on this British ship. It is proposed to kill equally innocent peonle and desf ty of the Germans, and also kill a lot oi innocent American youths, whom the wind -WHVrinVH ran carl iisi a to put themselves up for target prac tice. Besides that, some "patriots" will be enabled bv..i ouine bundles of blood-soaked boodle ufr- mshing war material. Now you can yell "copperhead" at me till you get chirrosis in hnth lw of your milky liver. There is the big end of the patriotic racket. Not long ago I saw in the press that the business intovoct-o ,u i. be embarassed if called upon to take up a billion dollars in "bonds." See anything? Had this wonderful thine noii our government" placed an embar go upon everything poing to all the nations at war at the very outset, we would not face such a serious prob lem. It seemed the J "UtlWJl course. Woodrow Wilson it seemed at me start, was in favor of such a course, but was "nersuaded" nnt t pursue it and .remembering what happened to a president about four teen years ago, he subsided. British money wisely distributed among the proper people, turned the trick. It is by no means certain that Great Britain did not deliberately plan to embroil the U. S. in such a mess, and she herlf ;n.. t :t. the information to Germany that the ... vCa5ei was carrying war material. JOHN F.STARK. , K- L. Holman and T. P. Randall, Leading Undertakers, Fifth and Main St.; Telephones: Pacific 415-J; Home B-18.