Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1901)
liiffWSl! T-'SriB fryt--f ryr-f'-f &grri &rTq-& p rw?&,s$$P'-fr . THE MOKXtXG OKEOOXUX. MONDAY, 13. 1901. te rggomatt, Eaterofl t the Postofflce at Portland. Oregon. As .second-class matter. TELEPHONES. Editorial Booms.. ...IGtf I Business Office,. -66T BEV35ED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By Mall ipottage prepaid). In Advance Dally, with Sunday, per month ...$ S5 Dally, Sunday excepted, per year......... 7 CO Dally, with -Sunday, per jear...... -0 00 Sunday, per year ........................ 2 00 The Weekly, jier jear - 1 $2 The Weekly. 5 months ... - M To City Bubscrlbers Dally, jer week, delivered, Sundays cxcepted.lBc Dally, per week, delivered. Sundajs lnclttdeL20c POSTAGE RATES. United States. Canada and Mexico! 10 to 16-page -paper....... .......... ......... le 16 to 32-page paper............ .........2c foreign rates double. News xyr discussion Intended for publication Jn The Oregonlan should be addressed Invaria bly "Edlior The Oregonlan." not to the name of any Individual. letters relating to advertis ing, subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply ""The Oregonlan." The Oregonlan does not buy poems or storle from Individuals, and cannot -undertake to re turn any manuscripts sent to It -without solici tation. No stamps should be Inclosed for thlf purpose. Fuget Sound Bureau Captain A- Thompson, office at 1111 Pacific avenue. Tacoma. Box 055. Tacoma Postofflce. Eastern Business Office 17, 48. 40 and 50 Tribune building. New York City; 4C3 "The Eookery." Chicago, the S. C. Beckwltb special agency. Eastern representative. For sale la San Francisco by J. K. Coop'r. 5T4G Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Gold smith Bros., 238 Sutter street: F. W. Pitts. 100S Market street; Foster & Orear. Ferrj news stand. For sale in Los Angeles by B. r. Gardner. 25U So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 10(5 6o. Spring etreet. For sale In Chicago iy the P. O. News Co.. 17 Dearborn street. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1C12 iarnam street. For sale In Salt Lake br the Salt Lake Newn Co 77 W. Second South street. For sale In Ogden by W. a Kind, 204 Twen tj -fifth street. On file In Washington. D. a. with A. W. Dunn. COO 34th N. "IV. On file at Buffalo, N, jY-. In the Oregon ex hibit at the exposition. For sale In Denr, Colo., hy Hamilton & Kendrick. 900-S12 Seventh street. TODAY'S WEATHER-Frobably fair; north erly winds. PORTXARD, JIOKDAY, MAY 13. CAPITAL TRUST ASD LABOR. TRUST. In Ills testimony before the Fed eral Industrial Commission, President Schwab, of the steel trust, shows that he approves of the trust principle for capital, but disapproves of the trust principle for labor. The advantages of combination he almost takes for grant ed, and this is well enough, as his views have had recent airing in his article in the North American Review. He says, however, that the steel trust, for ex ample, is "a. clearing-house to which its constituent companies go for informa tion." In other ways he indicates their harmony and the benefits of combina tion, as where he speaks of the vari ous managers getting together as re gards sales, and in the utilization of every portion of their product. But as regards combination of labor, he says: If I -were -a laboring man, as I once was, 3 should not want to belong to a labor organ ization If emplojed by a properly managed corporation like the steel company, for I w ould not -want to be put on a level with the poorer workmen In the establishment. The tendency la to glv e the nighest possible price for proper fcervlces, and no member of a labor organiza tion Is in a. position to avail himself of such disposition. -Now, it is a fact that the labor trust and the capital trust occupy positions of great similarity. The members of a craft have pooled their issues. Strong factors have taken in weak factors, it is true, precisely as strong plants go into a trust with weak plants, and the idea of the strong in each case is that by sinking the superiority they might assert they nevertheless gain compen satory advantages in the unification of the whole and the strength that comes through organization. The steel trust will fix a minimum price per ton, and the labor trust will fix a minimum price per thousand ems or ton of coal or day's work, but the swift workman will get paid for his 50,000 ems, while the slow workman will get pay for only his 32,000 ems, just as the busier steel plant will get more for its large output than the slower steel plant will get for its smaller output. When it comes to marketing its product, the steel trust wilL act in unison, and -w hen the labor trust -comes to market its product, It also will act In unison. In each case competition, with its rewards for the strong and penalties for the weak, has given place to combination, with conces sions from the strong and protection for the weak. But the parallelism goes much deeper into the subject than this. The funda mental principle, pernicious as it is, is the same in each of these two forms of trust. That principle is the elimination of individualism and the enthronement of communism. It is an imperfect ap plication of communism, to be sure, but it is communistic in Inspiration. It is the antithesis of the competitive prin ciple, which has built up not only vege table and animal life, but skilled labor even, and potent capital. It was through struggle with his rivals that Mr. Schwab, when he was a workman, grew strong and efficient. It was through struggles with rivals that Mr. Carnegie became a great captain of in dustry and made fortunes to give away. The workingman who belongs to a labor trust, therefore, can take Mr. Schwab's arraignment of unionism and turn it into an answer to him, thus: If I were a steel plant. 1 should not want to belong to a trust. If I were managed bj an efficient owner, for I should not want to be put upon a level -with the poorly managed and worn-out plants in the trust. The tendency Is to rain for the well-managed steel plant the highest possible profits for Its product, and no member of a steel trust is In a position to avail itself of such disposition It is a serious proposal for the indus try of the country to set aside the method of Nature and the system under which we have grown strong enough to defy the world. Competition has made our great captains of industry today. The trust is able now to select from a bountiful supply of keen and forceful managers, but they are not the product of peaceful skies and calm waters of non-competitive combination. "What kind of men the trust era turns out we shall know better in another gen eration. The labor and capital, the sa gacious methods and wonder-working machinery put into the glad hands of the trust today have come up through the toil and struggle of the competitive system. They are a gift to the trust, and it is hard to see how it can keep themfrom deteriorating in its hands. The Independent has been entertain ing criticisms on methods of church service. The worship of the Catholic Church first received attention from Protestant contributors, and kindly suggestions were, made for Improve ment. A reciprocal criticism 4y a Catholic writer on the Protestant serv ice has now appeared. His suggestions show clearly his predilection for Catho lic methods. He does not go into the question of creed or tradition, and treats only present-day conventions. He takes Protestant churches to task in four particulars music, style and matter of preaching, conduct of wor shipers and interior decorations of churches. He says fully 30 per cent of the hymns are worthless, spiritually and poetically. Further, music can do better, than to take on the airs of the opera. Preachers should teach the gos pel as true apostles of their belief In stead of engaging in political, social or literary subjects. Sensationalism in sermons needs to be replaced by the fervor of the gospel. The writer re bukes worshipers for their talking, laughing and ogling. Reverential si lence and pious eyes are due the sol emnity of the occasion. Finally, the ar ticle advises that the interior decora tions of churches contain the symbols of religion, to Invoke religious feelings and. to lend a spiritual atmosphere. Memorials of Jesus and his mission should keep before congregations the purpose of their meeting. The criti cism concludes by saying that Protes tants would have less difficulty in lead ing Christian lives if the suggested changes were made. THE MISCHIEVOUS MARGIN. The business of buying and selling stocks on a margin will lose some of its attraction through the recent turn over in "Wall street, and the drastic methods adopted by the professionals in the big game may eliminate to a certain extent a following which is far from beneficial. The operations of the "margin" men, when finances are easy and prices are holding their own with but narrow fluctuations, have no serious effect upon business, but dur ing violent upheavals like that through which "Wall street is now passing they become a serious factor in the gen eral disturbance. The man who has bought and paid for a block of good railroad stock or any other investment security obtainable at a figure which admits of a fair percentage of profit can watch the wild fluctuations of a market like that which was in evidence last week with a fair degree of equa nimity. He can rest secure in the same judgment which prompted him to make the investment, knowing full well that when returning reason supplants the temporary insanity which accompanies and perhaps creates these panics his investment will still be reasonably safe. "With the operator whose investments are confined to margins the situation is different. If there is a profit in his transaction, It Is so much greater in proportion to the amount invested than that secured by the actual owner of the stock that he Is always much more reckless In his buying and selling. This recklessness frequently and, it might be said, generally leads the . margin man to assume greater risks than he is able to carry. The result Is that the first sign of an approaching storm throws him into a fever of excitement, and he becomes an element of violent disturbance. A loss which would not ripple the serenity of the actual owner of a stock may mean the wiping out of the entire capital of a heavy margin operator, and to guard against a total loss of his money he dumps his hold ings on the market with a reckless ness which frequently upsets all cal culations of the men who are trying to steady the market by legitimate means. The general public is prone to lay the blame for the .ruin which follows in the wake of a panic like that of last week at the door of the big professional operators. This class of speculators is perhaps responsible for creating these periodical booms, but in recent years the outsiders have got beyond control of the professionals so quickly after a boom was started that the Mat ter could never stop them until it was too late. The general demoralization which attends the process of "shaking out" this undesirable following unset tles values in all directions, and it is the erratic and excitable actions of the margin men themselves which carries the demoralization to its great est limits. It does not necessarily fol low, of course, that all persons who operate on margins lose their heads,, and incidentally their money, in time of crisis. By confining their operations to an amount which they could afford to lose without ruining themselves, they do not become unduly excited during panics, and will not aid In the disturb ance by throwing over their holdings at a time when their retention would have a beneficial effect on the market. The losses suffered by margin men of this class will never aid in the pro duction of a panic, and are not apt to influence the general temper of the community. The elimination of the margin from financial transactions may not easily be accomplished, but the dis astrous work of the speculators who at tempt to swing an Immense business on a very small investment is becoming so far-reaching in its effect that it may require limitation. A liberal increase in the amount of margin demanded from speculators might help matters. This Increase should be great enough to bar out the small fry, who, as re cent experiences have shown, not only lose their own money, but assist in de preciating the value of legitimate hold ings of people who buy stocks outright as an investment. STREET ASSESSMENTS. In another column The Oregonian prints a very full extract from the re cent decision of the United States Su preme Court, upholding the courts of last resort of the various states in de ciding that the Legislature has power to impose the cost of improving streets upon the abutting property, and that said assessments are conclusive upon the courts and property-owners, unless Invalidated by fraud or mistake. This sentence contains the pith of the de cision: But the Legislature has the power to de termine, by the statute Imposing the tax, what lands, which might be benefited by the Improvement, are. In fact, benefited; and if it dees so, its determination Is conclusive upon the owners and the courts, and the owners have no right to be heard upon the question whether their lands are benefited or not; but only upon the validity of the assessment, and its apportionment among the different parcels of the class which the Legislature has conclu sively determined to be benefited. This decision would seem to estab lish the validity of the Portland charter upon street assessments In the United States Courts. In the Portland charter the Legislature has determined that abutting property shall pay the cost of street Improvements, and this has been held valid by the Oregon State Courts. Thus Portland has "an orderly pro- cedure "under a scheme of local improve ments prescribed by the Legislature and approved by the courts of the state as consistent with constitutional prlncU pies," and this is what Is held valid. This city Is entering upon an era of development and growth, and It is of the utmost importance that our streets be improved. There Is no way for our streets to be improved unless the char ter method provided by the Legislature, and which is the method that has been used in Portland ever since Portland was a'town, Is upheld and enforced by all the courts. The state courts have heretofore upheld and enforced these assessments, and it now appears that the Federal Courts will do likewise. PRUDENCE IX PROSPERITY. President McKlnley has, since his tour began, said many pleasant and complimentary things and some things that bear the stamp of wisdom. Among the latter is the following expression from one of his speeches to an enthu siastic and well-to-do crowd of people that gathered at one of his scheduled stopping places In the South to honor and welcome him. After reference to the evidences of thrift and prosperity on every hand, he said: "What we want to do now is to be prudent in our pros perity save while we can and be strong If the storms should come, as they do now and then. "Whatever comes let us be fortified by the practice of economy while we are so well em ployed." This Is sound and salutary advice. "We need only to review commercial his tory to find that revivals of industrial and trade activity are usually followed by business excesses that have in recent years taken the name of "booms." Tne constituent" elements of the boom are Inflation, speculation, public and pri vate extravagance and commercial and industrial recklessness. The first of these elements has been surnamed "the trust," and it has been literally holding carnival over the country for some months. That the second is now run ning wild is shown in the stock quota tions in "Wall street from day to day, in which speculative frenzy seems to have utterly dethroned common business prudence. The third Is rife both in pub lic and private life to an extent which proves that the lesson of prudence in prosperity has yet to be learned. No croaker Is he, but a sound philosopher, who, seeing these things, reasons from cause to effect and sounds a warning of probable disaster as the result of recklessness in prosperity. Experience has shown In its stern, unrelenting fashion that the way to prolong a period of prosperity is to cor rect, In Its earlier stages, the tendency to extravagance and reckless financial ventures. The confirmed optimist can scarcely assert with teriousness that the present financial situation is free .from boom features. That it Is heavily laden with them permeated by them Is plainly apparent. ' Public extrava gance plays no unimportant part in the general trend toward recklessness. It may, in fact, be said to "set the pace" for private expenditures. Hence the words of the President above quoted are wise and timely. No one questions, or can question, the truth of the declaration that a wise economy of resources is the most assured means of providing strength for the future. This utterance at this time indicates that the President, though on a pleasure tour and primed for saying things that will please, also takes thought of weightier matters, as becomes the Chief Magistrate of the Nation. Perhaps,, also, it permits the hope that his power within constitutional limits will be ex erted to secure material reductions in the great volume of Federal appropria tions In which the extravagance of prosperity sets the pace for private ex penditures. However this may be, his caution is a timely one, and its sug gestion of possible collapse as the result of the absence of prudence from pros perity should enable the careful man to "foresee the evil and hide himself." POPULATION MOVING WEST. A bulletin prepared under the direc tion of Henry Gannett, chief geographer of the Geological Survey, gives the lo cation of the center of population of the United States, excluding Alaska and the recent accessions of territory, on June 1, 1900, according to the rec ords of the Census Bureau, with a dis cussion of the movements of the cen ter, decade by decade, during the past century. The center of population, as defined by Mr. Gannett, Is the center of gravity of the population of the country, each individual being assumed to have the same weight. In 1790 the center of population was about 23 miles east of Baltimore, and in 1800 about 18 miles west of that city. From 1800 to 1810 it moved to a point about 40 miles northwest by west of Washington. The southward move ment during this decade appears to have been due to the annexation of Louisiana, which contained extensive settlements. From I860 to 1870 the cen ter moved westward and sharply north ward, reaching a point about 48 miles east by north of Cincinnati, O. This northward movement was due In part to waste and destruction in the South consequent upon the Civil "War, and in part probably to the fact that the census of 1870 was defective in its enu meration of the Southern people, espe cially of the newly enfranchised negro population. During the decade from 1870 to 1880 the Southern States made a large positive increase, both from natural growth and migration south ward, and the center of population re turned southward. In" 1890 the center moved northward on account of the great development In the cities of the Northwest and in the State of Wash ington, and also to the increase of popu lation In New England. During the decade 1890-1900 the center moved west ward a little over 14 miles, and south ward a little less than 3 miles. This is the smallest movement that has ever been noted. The slight southward movement was largely due to the great increase In population in Indian Territory, Oklahoma and Texas, while the great decrease in the westward movement was -due to the large in crease of population In the North At lantic States. It also showed that the population of the Western States did not increase so rapidly as in former decades. The center of population in its rapid westward movement has clung closely to the 39th parallel of latitude. The ex treme variation in latitude has been less than 19 minutes, while the 110 years of record have accomplished a move ment In longitude of a little over 9 degrees. The total westward move ment between 1790 and 1900 was- 519 miles. The sudden acceleration of movement between 1S50 and 1860 SI miles was due to the transfer of a 'considerable body of population from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, 12 individuals in San Francisco exerting as much pressure at the then piyotal point the crossing of the 83d meridian and 'the 39th parallel as 40 Individuals in Boston. The center of area pf the. United States, excluding Alaska and 'Hawaii and other recent accessions, is In Northern Kansas, in latitude 39 degrees 55 minutes, and longitude 98 degrees 50 minutes. The center of population is therefore about three-fourths of a degree south and more than 13 de grees east of the center of area. The median ppint is the point of in tersection of the line dividing the population equally north and south with the line dividing It equally east and west. It Is the central point of the population, and differs from the center of population In the fact that distance from the center Is not consid ered. Its movements from census to census bear no relation to the move ments of population, since only move ments by which bodies of population are transfererd across its parallel or Its nierldlan have any Influence upon its position. 'From 1890 to 1900 the me dian point moved west 10.8 miles and north 2.4 miles, while the center of population moved west 14 miles and south -2 miles. One of the echoes of the recent relig ious controversy in Portland is the as sertion that there are no degrees of truth. Such a .declaration would, be natural for a purblind dogmatist to make, but not for one who has synthe sized the facts of religious and rocial phenomena If the person who made the assertion meant absolute truth, he was right. But absolute truth Is Infi nite and impossible of comprehension by a finite being. Truth, therefore, as we conceive It in our limited way and for a particular ambition, can be noth ing else than a matter of degree. Ex pressions, of truth clothed In the verbi age of creed and dogma are finite, and not absolute, and as all moral and pious precepts vary In intensity or extension, so they are degrees of truth. This has been the rule of every creed and con vention man has set up; It Is the rule yet, and will be the rule until that mil lennium when this finite being of ours shall become merged with the- infinite truth. Is any creed fixed forever? In our own day one is revised. It is then, indeed, only one degree of 'truth, for absolute truth is eternal. Is any dogma immortal In an established expression? We change unconsciously even when we try to keep cur conscious bell'f rig'd. Truth is identical with well-bping. Re ligious or social well-being today will be different tomorrow. Everything changes, even since the time when the Greek philosopher could not put his foot twice Into the same stream. Everything changes, as It Is bound to do In a state of imperfection. This was known long ago to a sage who said: "They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom." What shall it profit a man to declare a tenet of today truth absolute, in the face of transitory experience? What shall It profit a .man to declare his sect has discovered the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when he knows human limitations? The only truth he verifies in so doing is that man is always blind until he truly sees the Infinite, not In his own way, but In the, way of the world's experi ence, and not only that, but until he truly sees the flniteness of himself. The Hepubllc of Haytl Is moving steadily toward a gold basis in finance, and is gradually reducing its national debt. This debt, foreign and domestic, amounts to $27,000,000 In gold. For the first time in many years, as shown by official statement, the government has not had to resort to a loan to meet its current expenses, but has managed to bring them within its resources. The reduction of the debt last year amount ed to $901,673. Accustomed to the enor mous proportions of our own National debt, these figures are insignificant, but when it is taken into consideration that for years there has not only been no reduction of the island republic's debt, but an Increase Instead, the show ing is important. This improvement In finances has been brought about large ly by the government In changing the floating debt, which was largely of Hay tlan currency, to a gold basis, and is suing a new series of bonds to cover this debt, in which both principal and In terest are payable in gold. The policy of the government Is to reduce its paper currency by withdrawing It gradually and not placing new notes in circula tion, thus eventually bringing the cir culating medium to a gold standard. When a man of Mr. Burrell's characl "iter and standing avers that employes in his department are hired, not for fit ness, but through political favoritism, it devolves upon somebody to show the statement false or else confess mal feasance In office. It Is a poor solution of a clash of this kind for the man who is standing up for civic honesty to re sign and leave the street-cleaning de partment to the spoilsmen. He ought to stay In and let the other fellows do the walking. As fpr complete reform of the city's working force, that is not, of course, to be expected. Theoretical ly, the city contemplates a body of em ployes drawn from the most powerful and energetic athletes in the city, shov eling up In ah incredibly short space of time almost lipiltless piles of dead leaves and horse-droppings, but In practice such a thing is not nor yet to be realized. Yet It Is sad, in a clean cut issue, to see the victory go with the plunderers. According to the British Consul-Gen-eral at Seoul, Corea, who writes an in forming letter on Manchuria to the London Times, Japan has a special, even unique material Interest In Man churia, because "she Is dependent on that country for beancake with which to manure her farms." What is a bean cake? It Is "a large cheese-shaped com pressed cake of beans 'after the oil has been expressed," says the Century dic tionary, "used largely In Northern Chi na as food for cattle, and in the sugar plantations of Southern China as ma nure." This recalls Dr. Johnson's fa mous definition of oats as "a grain eaten in England by horses, but in Scotland by men," and the Scot's ready answer, "Ay, mon, but where will you find such horses or such men?" Mr. J. J. Hill went into the cage and stirred up the animals. It is natural, perhaps, but not altogether fitting, that he should weep for his own and others resultant wounds, 'SECRET OF AMERICA? INDUSTRY Kansas City Scar. The London Times has been printing a scries of articles on the progress .of American engineering which have caused comment in England because of the warning that the British manufac turers were being outdone by those of the United States. In the latest article the writer explains the causa of Ameri can superiority as lying In what he calls "the human factor." In Great Britain, he says, the young man Is repressed; in the United States he is encouraged. The result Is that the American employer has the advantage of energy and new ideas to a much greater extent than his British competitor, Furthermore, he be lieves the American Is much more apt than .the Englishman to associate his heads of departments with him in the business. This gives them a greater In terest in their work than they would have as mere employes. It 13 the practice in England, he says, to pay young graduates of technical schools wages far below the actual value of their services. One Instance which ne cites Is that of an accomplished technical graduate who entered the drafting office of a large English firm at a salary of J2 50 a Wfek. The concern wanted to bid on work involving a new branch of engineering and the graduate was the only man in the office competent to pre pare plans and estimates. The contract a large one, was secured and several months later -the draughtsman's wages were raised a few shillings' only. It would have cost the firm several hundred dol lars, the writer says, to have had the estimates made outside its office. Such a policy as this, in his opinion, has dis couraged young Englishmen from ee curlng technical training and has sent many English technical school graduates to the United States., The case of Mr. Carnegie, who took .... .... . ... .M...Ma.M, ...... . his heads of departments into the bust. ness, -has evidently impressed the Lon don Times writer. He believes British manufacturers have failed' to make the most "of their employes. "If American steel works are better equipped than our own," he say, "If American machine tools are more ingenious; if American electrical plant is commanding even our own market; to .whatever "we turn we find It is the human factorcharacter that commands the situation." English men, he continues, have thought them selves secure and haye relaxed their vigilance. They have kept back young men until their best energies are gone and they have tried to keep all labor at an average of the lowest level. In Amer ica, young men are encouraged and are givon whatever placev their ability en titles them toN This neglect of the hu man factor, the Times writer finds, has led to the Invasion of the British market by American, engineering products.' . . vThe April Fire Lom. New York Journal of Commerce. The fire loss of the United States and Canada for the month of April, as com plled'from our daily record, shows' a total of ?11,352.S00. The figures for April, 1900, word $25,727,000, and Included $12,000,000 for the Ottawa-Hull conflagration. The fol lowing comparative table will show the losses by months for the first four months of 1S99, 1900 and 1901: 1ST0 1000 1001. January ... .810.718 000 $11,755,300 516.574.950 February ... 18.4G3.0O0 13,427,000 13 002,000 March 11.401.000 13.iJ47.20il 15.01i5.25O Aprl 0,21,!,000 25.727.000 11,352.S0, Totals ,...X!Q,80r, 000 $GG,25S,500 $50,056,000 The Jacksonville disaster will just about equalize the difference In favor of 1901, so far, as will be seen when our tabula tion for May is published. During April there were 221 fires of a greater deetructiveness than $10,000 each. A detailed list of these fires will be found on the insurance page, this issue, but the principal losses were these: St. Louis Mo, grain elevator $050,000 Baltimore, Md., wholesale drug house and other ..., 200,000 Richmond, Va department btore 225,000 CMcago, in. grain elevator 200,000 Pittsburg, Pa , department store and other 225.000 The 221 fires may be classified as be low: 510,000 to $20,000 72 20000 to 30.000 S3 30,000 to 50,000 33 50.000 to 75,000 42 75.000 to 100,000 , 11 100.000 to 200,000 ,. 18 200,000 to 050,000 5 Total , . 221 The fire underwriters are clearly losing heavily and more retirements must occur within the next few months. There ap pears to be little hope at present of such a readjustment of rates as will put the non-paying classes on a profitable basis. Paymaster Fruden. Army and Navy Register. The Impression Is again abroad that Mr. O. In Pruden, assistant secretary of the President, has been appointed a pay master in the regular Army. Such, of course, is not the case, although he will eventually find himself in pessession of a commission as Captain and paymaster In the regular establishment. At pres ent, however, and until June 30, he will be a Major and additional paymaster. There are no vacancies, of course, in the grade of Major in the regular corps and all the places of Captain In the corps have been filled by designation. The death of Major William Monaghan, additional paymaster at Manila, recently, after that officer had been designated for appoint ment as Captain in the regular corps, will make the vacancy in that grade to which Pruden will be appointed. It does not seem to have been necessary for the Pres ident to appoint Pruden to volunteers as a step to his appointment in the regular corps, as some people imagine. There la nothing In the law to prevent the ap pointment of a civilian directly to the pay department. Of course, es matters stand, Major Pruden ge'ts the advantage of a couple of months' pay as a volun teer major before he receives his commis sion as Captain and paymaster. Extraordinary Fecundity. Medical Age. One of the Italian journals has recently recorded an extraordinary case of fecund ity of which It guarantees the authentic ity. Flavia Granata, who, it appears, Is well known at Rome, has recently given birth to her sixty-second child. This wo man Ik now 59 years old. She was mar ried at 28 years of age, and has success ively given birth to a daughter, then six sons, then five sons, then four daughters, and then a long series of twins annually, and ended recently by having four sons. It Is much to be regretted that this in teresting woman did not marry earlier, as she thus lost ten precious years of her life, and so missed the distinction she might have enjoyed of being the mother of a hundred children. First Love. New York Press. A woman is never so foolish as when she Fs in love for the first time, nor a man either. Mr, Joseph Jefferson at Yale. First love, of course, Inspired the re flection "Where ignorance Is bliss." Ahd folly Is, after all, a very relative quan tity. The pair Immersed in each other are convinced at least of the folly of striving to viease other people, which convictioh Is at flic DOttom of much real personal satisfaction. Mr. Jefferson might have added that some people's first love affair is the only really sen&lble one they eyer have. Memories. Thomas Moore. Let fate do her worst, there are relics of Joy, Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy. They come In the nlirht t'me ot sorrow and care. Ana brine; back the features that Joy used to wear. Long, long be my heart with such memories filled. Like the vase In which roses have once been distilled; Tou may break, you may shatter the vase If you will. But the scent of the rosea will clln 'round it still. AMUSEMENTS "Hoanoke." a play founded on love. In nocence, avarice, rascality, idiocy and a few other things, wprked "up a large house to a considerable pitch of excitement last pight. The quality known as heart inter est is so abundant that the tieoDle can hardly get away from It long enough to go out and get a breath of fresh and calm air between acts. A blind girl, whose father has been killed by a miser who Is not altogether an upright man. Jives In the home of her cousin and aunt, together with her half-witted brother. Her hand Is sought In marriage at one and the same time by the miser and a Captain in the Army. Feeling that it mignt oe an act or questionable taste to marry a man who has killed her father, the maiden passes the miser up. but does not accept the Captain right away, for the reason that in doing so she would re move the necessity for further continuing the play. Later In the story she -starts to cross a bridge, a plank of which the miser has removed with the laudable in tention of tumbling her a thousand feet Into an abyss, but hears a bird sing and goes back. Still later she and. her broth er are sitting in a garret telling each other hard-luck stories, when the miser looks In through a window and takes a pot-shot at the brother. The bullet re stores the lad's reason, and he at once sets about encompassing- the miser's fin ish, which occurs In the last act. Mean while the girl's 'sight Is restored, she mar ries the Army officer, gives the laugh to her erstwhile proud aunt and cousin, and the curtain goes down to a wedding march. In the company arc Miss Iva Donette, who does a song very cleverly; Louise Carter, who makes a prayerful blind girl; Oswald Roberts, who, as the miser, talks in pairs and looks like an exhumed mummy, and several others. . Akucmviv nm uc tiic uiu 4ur mice more niBnts. and If It is as pleasing to "Roanoke" will be the bill for three all who see it as it was to the house last night it is likely to prove a de cided hit. SETOSf-THOMFSON TODAY. Famous Author, Artist and Natural ist nt tlxc Marqnnm. Juvenile Portland ia on the qui vlve of expectation today, for at 3 o'clock this afternoon Ernest Seton-Thompson. "the friend of wild animals." whose delightful stories every boy and girl has read, will speak at the Marquam Grand Theater on "Personality of Wild Anima'n." In order that every boy and girl may have an op portunity to hear this remarkable man, the puUic schools will be closed both to day and tomorrow in ample time for all to got to the theater before the lectures begin. Seton-Thampson's engagement In Port land is under the auspices of the Woman Club, which fact alone is a tufficient guar antee that the lectures will be worth any one's time and'-money. In all, four lec tures will be given. The subject this even ing will be the same as the title of one of Seton-Thompson's famous books, "Wild Animals I Have Known." Tomorrow aft ernoon the subject will be "Wild Animals at Home;" and tomorrow evening the clos ing lecture will be given on "Mind In Animal Heroes." The afternoon lectures will besin at 3 o'clock, and those of the evenings at 8:15. . Gymnastic Exhibition. One of the leading new features of the Y. M. C. A. gymnastic carnival and exhi bition to be given at the Marquam Grand Theater next Friday everlng, for the bene fit of the Y. M. C. A. building fund, is the Greek mirth drill, by 11 young women, who have been and still are being trained by Professor RJnglcr, This drill Is some thing new in Portland, and it Js promioed that all who witness It will unite In de claring that It is pretty and entertaining, as well as novel. The participants al ready have mastered their task nearly to perfection, and by Friday evening will be ready to give a highly finished exhibition. All the features of the last gymnastic car nival, which proved so popular, have been retained and strengthened, and an evening of unalloyed pleasure Is in store for all who attend next Friday evening. The sale of seats will open Wednesday. Npteti of the Stase. Richard Carle Is to replace Dan Daly in "The Whirl of the Town." when the lat ter production to given in London. A hit equal to that made by Edna May abroad Is predicted for a new favorite, Ella Snyder, who is said to be a singu larly beautiful brunette. May Holahan, a daughter of the well known Tammany polltican, has gone upon the stage. Her sisters have already ap peared In the profession. Ethel Wintrop has Joined Amelia Bing ham's company to replace Annie Irish, who Is playing Nerissa In Nat Goodwin's revival of "The Merchant of "Venice." Very high praise Is given Nat Goodwin's first essay in the character of Shylock at Syracuse, Monday evening. May 5. Max ine Elliott is also credited with a hit as Portia. Rostand, the author of "L'Aiglon," Is working on his play, ""Le Theater," for Sarah Bernhardt, a part being especially written for Coquelln. The play is baoad on modern stage life, and is written in verse. The Earl of Yarmouth, professionally known on the stage as Eric Hope, ia suing a newspaper in New York for libel in as serting practically that he was hunting for an heiress. He claims damages to the extent of $25,000. The Old Man Benevolent. New York Mall and Express. Mr, Russell Sage benevolently explains that the "calls" that he has lately been selling, and which have been quite cheer fully returning to him, were for the pur pose of inducing activity in the market and "enabling worthy young men to make money and help support their families." Mr. Sage Is a truly benevolent man, and aims to help the "lamb" to drive the wolf from the door. Practical Reform. Washington Star. Mayor Harrison, of Chicago, has been trying to clean up the streets and en courage the police In suppressing- crime. Mr. Harrison's reform movement has an advantage In the fact that It does not have to lose time hearing the minutes read every time It holds a meeting. When Father Goes to Church. H. P. Rodney. Pa's playing: In the hardest luck. And now Is most a wreck: They Josh him when he carves a duck And when he writes a check, Or slng3 a lullaby, and how He. swings a hefty birch. But no one goes him one round now. When father goe3 to church. The old man's sleep Is very bad. He lies awake and thinks, And in the night he's often had Just forty-se'ven winks; But when old Sleep has winged his flight And left him In the lurch; He gets his cat-naps in all right When father srocs to church. There, tenors sing exquisitely. And prima ddnnaa fling Their cavatlnas up to G. And slang sky-pilots alios Anathemas aloft galore Of heaven he la not in search. But keeps the tenor of his snore, When father goes to church. He'll take a short cut, if ho can, i To heaven, like as not, " Upon the European plan, Or nickel In tho slot; But when the preacher fires a prayer. Fa settles In his perch And lifts his chin to Morpheus there, When father goes to church. MOTE AND COMMENT, Has any one beard of Com Paul lately? Let us hope- that President McKlnley wlll not write a book, of travel when he gets back home. Here's hoping that the author of "Shore Acres' may ring up the curtain for an other long act before Its final fall. . An ex-President of Peru has died a natural death. As a rule they never get a chance to become ex-Presidents down there. Nothing has been heard of Funston for some time, and it is believed that he has set out on an expedition to kidnap Hon. Mark Twain. It the Ohio Congressmen were desirous of shining they should not have allowed themselves to become the tall of tha Presidential comet. What will Mascagnl do In the way of dago profanity the first time he gets a request to play the Intermezzo from "Cavaleria Rusticana" In ragtime? President Schwab says the steel trust is a good thing. From the point of viaw of a man who gets a million dollars a. year out of it, he is making a very rea sonable statement. - A New York banker says ministers Sik& too many vacations. He should remem ber that. It Is necessary for them to get. out of town once In a while In order to dodge donation parties. t The American soldiers in China wero too vulgar to suit the European troops. The aristocratic Thomas Atkins is mada quite 111 by the spectacle of a soldier eating pie for breakfast. Recent experiments by railway officials in Berne with an automatic ticket ma chine. Invented by a Swiss, have given entire satisfaction, says a Berne cor respondent. The machine Is similar to the ordinary automatic machines, but the glass cases contain the tickets on which are printed the names of the stations and the price of the ticket. By dropping In the right amount and pulling a handle the ticket Is set free. The machinery is so constructed that an Insufficient sum, or any base coins will not work the spring, and there Is no danger of the purchased losing the whole amount. "The destruction of the City of Jackson ville is most lamentable, but it will un doubtedly prove In one way an advan tage," observed a Florida man, now on a Northern trip, a day or two ago. "It will, or at least ought to. Insure the construc tion of modern buildings there. I -was In Jacksonville Just one week ago. The best hotel there was of wood, and built many years ago to accommodate tourists who came South In the Winter. It was not a, hotel worthy In these modern times of a city of that size. From the standpoint ofj .the material growth of Jacksonville the sweeping away of so many wopden struc tures will mark an era for a more beau tiful city." A copy of the "Boston Almanac for 1S33" contains some amusing information, some of which. selected at random. Is as fol lows: "Miss Mary Clark, of Medway, on pass ing through a pasture, was attacked by a young heifer, with tremendous fury. Sne barely escaped with life, having had htr clothes literally torn off. It was supposed tVinf Vtn rpfl Aroti ah hart On was the soln cause of exciting the rage of the animai. "London Is said to contain 30,000 thieves, 20,000 beggars and 10.000 professional gam blers. "As two black men were cradling wheat near Medford, Del., lightning struck the scythe of the foremost, glanced off and in stantly killed the other. "Two young men went Into the river at Castle Green. N. Y.. to swim, and at the very moment they leaped Into the water a salute was fired from some heavy pieces of cannon, which were contiguous. They remained undtr the water for some seconds, and on rising to the surface were observed to act in so fantastic a man ner that it was evident something- of un usual nature had happened to them. A boat was, therefore, Immediately pro cured, and on their being taken out of the water and brought to the shore it was found that both of them had lost their senses; and so totally and entirely as to be unable to give any explanation of how they had been affected or what aensatlons they felt at the moment." PLEASANTRIES OF PAnAGRAFHERS' Charlie Loveday L"m. ah. Er, r er! Er e hel he! Jeweler (to. his assistant) Bring that tray of engagement rings here, Henry. Tit-Bits. His Limitations. Joser It Is unfortunate that Captain Lozzet never smiles from ear toj ear. Glbley One of, .hljiftrs fJn 4he Ehll lpplnes Harper's Bazar. - - Elderly Lady Was that your sister I saw you with yesterday Johnny? Johnny (aged 6) Do I look like a fellow' who'd waste his time on sisters? Boston Transcript. Strong-WIHed. Kind lady It must be hard to get along without working? Tramp In deed it Is ma'am; yer have no Idea how strong de tem'tation ter go to Work Is, sometimes. Brooklyn Life. A Life-Long Treasure. "Clara, that Is & hideous vase." "Yes, it Is; it was one of our bridal presents but we never have any luck getting ugly things broken when we move." Chicago Record Herald. A Tender Point. "I am surprised that a man like Basso should have married a girl who had no music in her at all." "Nothing- sur prising about It. She was wllllnjr to listen to his singing." Town and Country. Base-Hit Percentage. Miss Musyck Do you. thing Wacner leads Liszt? Mr. Pittsburg I'm posltiie. I was readinjr recently the Na tional League batting averages, and Wagner leads the list. Judge. Exception. Teacher As I have been telling you, there are two general classes of workers. Tommy, does your father make his living" by using his brains or by using hu musclei? Tommy Neither one, ma'am. He's a police man at the big railroad deepo. Chicago Trib une. A Philosophpr. Wife There's a burglar down cellar, Henry. Husband Well, my dear, we ought to be thankful that we are upatairs. Wlfc But he'll come up here. Husband Then we'll B0- down cellar, my dear. Surely, a 10 room house ought to be big enough to hold three people without crowding Detroit Free Press. The Weary River. Lewis Morris. There is a ceaseless river. Which flows down evermore Into a. walllnjr ocean. A sea without ft shore. Broken by laughing ripple. Foaming with angry swell, t Sweet rousio as of heaven. Deep thunder as of hell. Gay -fleets flow down upon It, And sad wrecks, full of pain; But all alike It hurries To that unchanging main. Sometimes 'tis foul and troubled. And sometimes clear and Buret But still the river flows, and still The dull sea doth endure. And thus 'twill flow forever, Till time shall cease to be, O weary, weary river, O bitter, barren sea.