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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1902)
THE MORNING OEEGOIAN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1902. Entered at the Postofflce at Portland. Oregon, as wscoad-class matter. revised subscription rates. By Mall (postage prepaid. In Advance) Sally, with Sunday, per month J Dally. Sunday excepted, per year J Dally, with Sunday, per year J Sunday, per year r "X The Weekly, per year. x The Weekly. 3 months To City Subscribers Dally, per week, delivered, Sunday "ePe- Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays included-JOo POSTAGE RATES. United States, Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-page paper..... .........'; H to 2S-page paper............ ....... roreign rates double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan should be addressed invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscriptions or to any business matter should be addressed simply 'The Oregonlan." Eastern Business Offlce. 43, 44. 45. 47. 48. 49 Tribune building. New Tork City: 510-11-12 Tribune building. Chicago: the S. C. JJeckwith Special Agency. Eastern representative. For eale In San Francisco byL. E. Lee. Pal ace Hotel news stand: Goldsmith Bros.. 233 Sutter street: F. W. Pitts. 100S Market street; J. K. Cooaer Co.. T4C Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand; Frank Scott. SO Ellis street, and N. Wheatley. S13 Mission street. For eale In Los Angeles b7 B. F. Gardner. 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. S05 So. Spring street. For sale in Sacramento by Sacramento News Co., 420 K street. Sacramento. Cal. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 517 Dearborn street, and Charles MacDonald. C3 Washington streets For eale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros.. 1C12 Farnam street; Megeath Stationery Co., 130S Farnam street. For eale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 W. Second South street. For sale In Ogden by C H. Myers. For ealo in Minneapolis by R. G. Hearsey & Co.. 24 Third Ftreet South. For sale in Washington, D. C. by the Ebbett House newa stand. For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 000-012 Seventeenth street: Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. 10th and Lawrence street; A. Series, Sixteenth and Cur tis streets; and II. P. Hansen. TODAY'S WEATHER Fair, with northwest erly -winds. YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 77; minimum temperature, 47; pre cipitation, none. .PORTLAND, WEDNESDAY, JULY O. "WANTED A FIREBOAT. It would be useless to argue Port land's need of a fireboat, for It Is plain to everybody. "We have from seven to nine miles of water front, built up of highly combustible materials, in danger every, moment of being touched into flame. The river, which would afford to a fireboat an easy and expeditious road to every part of this large and exposed water front, makes all of it difficult and much of it impossible to be reached by the ordinary fire apparatus. But there is no need to set forth facts which the recent destructive fire on the East Side has made emphatic We know now. If we did not know "before, that every day we postpone the putting of a fireboat into commission is a day of hazard; that any hour the lack of a fireboat may cost us ten times the price of such i . boat. We know, too, that In special I Are policy premiums we are paying F many times the interest upon the value of a fireboat plus the cost ofher opera ' tlon. In other words, we are more than without the protection a fireboat would give us. It Is ridiculoiis to say when these facts are urged home that the available re sources of the city will not permit the purchase of a fireboat, that there is no way by which the community may serve its manifest interest in this mat ter. We say it is ridiculous because a community of one hundred or more thousands of persons may always find means to do what It really wants to do. If we want & fireboat even one-sixth aa much as we wanted an exposition, we can get it and in a day. Portland has shown that when her mind is made up, that when she really and truly wants a thing, she knows how to get it. Such a boat as would answer our purpose a boat capable of pumping 5000 or more gallons per minute through half a score or -more nozzles can be got, so we are told, for approximately $50,000. This sum is equal to about 50 cents each for the people of Portland. It is possible quite so that the munici pality has not this amount of money available; it is possible quite so that it has no means of borrowing the money or of buying upon credit; it is possible quite so that for this or any other emergency the municipality, through its long course of political folly and busi ness mismanagement, has lost its power to serve the public necessity. But our whole resource as a community let us devoutly thank God does not lie in an exhausted municipal system, nor in a wasted and empty municipal treasury. We showed that it did not half a year back, when we put the Lewis and Clark project xm Its feet; and we have shown It with emphasis a dozen other times, In a dozen other emergencies. It is time to show it again. We need sorely need a fireboat. There Is no way to get it through the municipal government. Fifty thousand dollars Is the amount needed; and If this sum shall be provided, the municipality will some day be .able to pay it back and will pay It back. The present way the only way Is for our people to pro vide the money by private subscription, accepting the assurance that whatever is thus given will be returned. HARBOR I3IPROVE3IEXT. The people of Cocs Bay have made a request through our representation at Washington that a certain Government fund now in hand for jetty extension, but not sufficient in amount for that purpose, be applied to deepening the In terior channels of the harbor. This is out of the ordinary, and probably be yond the discretion of the Treasury De partment, which has these matters in charge, but intrinsically It is entirely reasonable. Coos Bay Is one of the minor harbors of the Coast, but one, nevertheless, of very large commercial value. And If 1b, under our system, Just as much a' duty of the Government to make the most of It as if it were a port of large possibilities. A marked deficiency of the Pacific as compared with the Atlantic Coast is its relative lack of harbors. Whereas the coast from Maine to Florida lis broken at a score or more places with fine ports and at a hundred other places by fairly good secondary harbors, we have only three or four of the former and half a score of the latter. Puget Sound, the Columbia River, San Fran cisco Bay and San Diego four in all are the only really good deep ports on the Pacific Coast, and for the mainte nance of two of these continuous ex penditure of money is required. These ports are not sufficient in number nor are they in the right place to serve all the commerce of the country economical ly. There must be more or les3 use of the saialler or secondary ports, like Coos, Taqulna and Tillamook Bays, and Gray's Harbor at the north, and San Pedro, Humboldt Bay and other minor port's in California; and It Is the duty of the Government to put these small ports in condition and 60 maintain them that they may be depended upon to serve the commerce of the country. Everywhere on the Atlantic side of the continent there is a disposition to sneer at our Pacific Coast projects, both large and small, in spite of the fact that more money has been spent by the Government ten times over on Atlantic and Gulf ports than has ever been asked for by the Pacific Coast When It is proposed to spend a million dol lars on the jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, one of the great and growing marts of American commerce, there" is loud outcry, though nobod thinks to mention the fact that the Government has just completed a work for Charleston, S. C, which does not dispatch one ship where we do fifty, at a cost of $3,500,000. It is the same or even worse when projects for our sec ondary but still vers Important har bors, like that of Coos Bay, are named; and this in spite of the fact that the Government is constantly at work at the little bays and creeks along the coast of New England and the Southern States. Reading the Eastern papers at times one would get the impression that the annual river and harbor bill was a Western, or, more particular!, a Pa cific Coast project, whereas, as a matter of fact, the Coast States gain less from it In proportion than the Atlantic and the Gulf States. Again, on this Coast our works are relatively new, while the works of the other side are old and have already absorbed vast sums for example, the lower channels of the Mis sissippi River between New Orleans and the sea. We make no complaint of what the Government has done for the Eastern Coast. No other expenditure It has ever made for a general purpose has yielded so much as what it has put out in aid of commerce. All that the Government has expended at the mouth of the Mis sissippi is returned each year to 'the producers of the great valley In the form of reduced seaboard rail rates. All that has ever been expended on the second ary Atlantic ports has been returned a hundred-fold in direct and indirect ways. And the same is true with us. No feature of Government policy Is more to be commended, but we insist that our projects, both for great ports like the Columbia River and for small ones like Coos Bay, are as important as those of the Atlantic and Gulf shore even more so, since our ports are few and theirs are many. THE PARK SITE. As ah exposition site the City Park has many and undeniable advantages. First of all it is convenient of access, not only to the great bulk of the city pop ulation, but to those who come ex pressly, to attend the fair. All the ho tels and boarding-houses are on the west side of the river and within possi ble walking distance of the City Park. The parkhas this advantage, namely, in its relations to the city It lies like the handle of a fan. From the business center, from the North End and from the South End. the distance is about the same. At this time the arrange ments for transportation of passengers are not good; but there is no problem in the way of making them good. The present so-called park line, which ends at the foot of the hill on the Barnes road, can easily be extended Into the grounds at the top of the hill. Another easy approach Is up Park avenue, which separates the Green and the Macleay properties. Another and equally easy approach is out Jefferson street and up the hill between the reservoir sites. This route was once built and oper ated for a cons'derable time by the old Jefferson-Street Cable Company Any or all of these routes could be dupli cated by building temporary lines up parallel streets. With the exposition at the City Park there will be no problem on the score of passenger transporta tion. There can never be a "gorge" such as nearly every exposition has to contend with on special days, for the distance is not so great as to make walking out of the question. With the exposition at the City Park there will be this great advantage, that much of the expenditure commonly lost in the final break-up can be saved. Whatever shall be expended In the making of roads and in the adornment of the grounds will be just as good for the park as for the exposition; and this Is to some extent true In the matter of buildings. Every exposition has to have at least one practically fireproof and of course costly building, usually the art building, since owners of fine pictures will not grant their use unless there is reasonable assurance of their protec tion. Such a building erected at the City Park would not be a loss In the end, since it could be turned to perma nent account, either In connection with the park or some other municipal pur pose. In these and other ways growing out of the permanent character of the park, the location of the fair there will imply a final saving of not less than $100,000, and possibly double that sum. It will, of course, be a great advan tage to have the fair In a situation where It will command fine views. If It be true that the most significant ex hibit at every exposition Is the city In which It Is held, then it becomes a matter of the largest importance, to put the best foot foremost and this in the case of Portland Is unquestionably our mountain views. The City Park is the one piace near ax nana ana easy or ac cess where the mountains are to be seen at.thelr best; and this fact, no doubt, is one of the controlling reasons back of the recommendation of the special com mittee. The special committee is unquestion ably right In its recommendation" of a small as distinct from a large site. There Is, beyond question, ample room in the City Park for every purpose of the exposition when once It gets into operation; but we think there is serious question if there is, either !n the park limits or adjacent to the park, suffi cient level ground for the necessary railroad yards. And this, be It remem bered, Is no unimportant matter. First and last, the equipment of an exposi tion, even though it be a small one, in volves an enormous railroad traffic call ing for a large amount of yard room for its convenient and economical handling. The exhibits are many of them both bulky and heavy, and not easily handled in limited space. This was demonstrated in a most embarrass ing way at Atlanta in 1895, where for two weeks preceding the day of formal opening there was a hopeless glut of freight In. the too-contracted railroad yard. A reasonable amount of yard room Is one of the absolute essentials of an exposition site; and the matter is, of course, one which only practical rail road men are capable of determining. Probably the committee has been ad vised on this point; but If it has not been, then those who are to make the final determination ought to call to their aid our most expert traffic author ities. From the beginning of the agitation there has been In many quarters an unreasonable expectation of advantages to follow the location of the exposition at one place or another. Something like this has been witnessed wherever expo sitions have been held, and in every in stance hopes have been disappointed. Nowhere has any particular locality or district gained permanently through its fortune In being adjacent to an exposi tion site. Experience, Indeed, points to another principle. The district near a fair is likely to fill up with temporary structures not good enough for perma nent use, but a little too good to be torn down; and these shacks are likely to stand for years to discredit and hold back a district which would be far better off If the exposition had been In another part of the city. An Oregonlan writer who has recently visited every city where an exposition has been held In the United States, and who made It a special point to look into this matter, declares that nowhere is there the slightest Indication of special or district benefit as the result of being near a fair site. The notion that the location of our fair in one part of the city or another will be a local advantage, he says, is absolutely a delusion. There is, we think one consideration which ought to be very carefully stud led before the determination as to site shall be made final, and that Is the camping habit of the Oregon people. Probably four out of five families of Oregon especially of Western Oregon take their Summer outing in the way of a camping trip. In the old days when the State Fair was a vital thing hundreds of people used to come, pitch their tents and make a week of It at Salem. Now, If In connection with the exposition there can be maintained a campground where the conveniences of fuel and water can be had at nominal cost, we believe it would contribute many thousands of dollars to the in come of the fair. Many families who, if they come at all, will limit their stay to a day or two If they must put up at a hotel, will come In full force and re main for weeks If they can come with their own teams and camp out conven iently to the exposition grounds. And a campground In which hundreds or thousands would live after a primitive fashion would be a unique and attract ive thing of itself one of the features of the fair. There is abundant room for such a campground back of the park or on the hill slopes of the King tract to the south, and It would not, probably, cost much to Introduce water and make such general sanitary arrangements as would be required. THE PORTAGE ROAD FAILURE. The failure of the latest attempt to revive the Paul Mohr portage road scheme is perhaps less a matter of re gret than some of the previous period ical failures which attended efforts of a similar nature. So long as the Gov ernment remained indifferent and In active regarding the opening of the river above The Dalles, there was more of a demand for the repeated attempts that were made for building a connect ing link In the water route frdm'the Interior to tidewater. Now a good ap propriation has been made, plans have been practically decided upon, and the work of opening the river to navigation by steamboat, not by rail, will proceed. The portage road at the best Is but a makeshift where permanent Improve ments of another nature are contem plated, and there Is no assurance that its construction would afford the relief expected In the way of greatly reduced freight rates. Instead of having the de sired effect, it might stand in the way of securing permanent facilities from the Government Enemies of the work of opening the river on permanent plans, as now proposed by the Government, might find grounds for opposition to the work by calling attention to the fact that transportation facilities around the obstructions in the river were already provided by a private company, which would be put out of business if the Gov ernment went ahead with the work. An open river, in all that the term im plies, from Lewlston to the sea, will undoubtedly result in lower freight rates, but there Is nothing in the ex perience of the open river from the dalles to the sea that affords hope that rates could be reduced by an arrange ment that made it necessary to break bulk and handle freight over a portage road around the Celilo obstructiona The wheat rate from the dalles to Port land Is 4 cents per bushel by river or rail, a material reduction over the charges exacted before the steamboats came into competition with the rail roads, and incidentally a lower rate than Is made on any other route leading Into Portland, Irrespective of rail and water competition. This 4 cent rate Is made over a 100-mile stretch of water which, with the exception of a few miles of swift current at the Cascades, is remarkably easy to navigate. The greater portion of the. revenue of the boats engaged In carrying wheat from the dalles to Portland Is received from passenger traffic, the scenic beauties and comparatively short ride attracting many pleasure-seekers, with an addi tional revenue of considerable propor tions derived from the dwellers in the numerous towns and settlements, mills, fisheries and fruit farms strung along the route. With all of these advantages, and with rival steamboat lines contending with each other and with the railroad for the business, the rate hangs station ary at iVz cents per bushel. There Is a run of 198 miles, some of It through pretty swift water. between Celilo and Priest Rapids, the first serious obstruc tion above Celilo. The railroad rate on wheat to Portland from points corre sponding to river points near the upper end of this long run Is now 10 cents per bushel. It Is apparent, then, that if the portage road and its attendant line of boats just met the competition of the railroad It would be forced to haul wheat 198 miles over a bad stretch of river, offering little or no passenger traffic, and light local business, then transfer it to cars and haul to a point opposite 'The Dalles, all for 6 cents per bushel. If this can be done at a profit, the rival companies on the Portland-Dalles route are making too much money. From Priest Rapids to , Lewlston, a distance of 146 miles, is a succession of rapids, which make steamboat naviga tion slow work. The rate from Lewis ton to Portland on wheat is 12 cents per bushel. This would allow the port age people 214 cents per bushel for. the haul from Lewlston to Priest Rapids. These figures, of course, break up the route in sections, whereas with an open river from Lewlston to the sea freight could be more economically handled. But it Is questionable whether any di vision of the route can make a more favorable showing for the shipper than that over the first 100 miles out of Port land. Taking the figures onthat route as a basis, 'it is extremely doubtful whether any company can reduce them and stllf make a profit until the river Is open so that freight can come through without breaking bulk. Railroad rates are about 5 cents- per bushel lower than they were when the portage scheme was first Bprung on the public, and this 5-cent reduction, together with the as surance of relief from the Government, has lessened the need of a portage road. This is probably the reason why capital for its completion Is not forthcoming. While, whatever the location of the Lewis and Clark Fair site, a number of our energetic, worthy citizens will be disappointed, it is but reasonable to believe that this disappointment will be but temporary, and will not In any sense abate popular Interest In the great historic enterprise that Is soon to be launched under that name. Abraham Lincoln, when defeated by Stephen A. Douglas for Congress, after a hard and stjll memorable campaign, took his de feat philosophically, simply remarking that "when two men attempted to ride one horse one must ride behind." This reflection is pertinent to the present case. A contest of whatever nature means that somebody or some interest must be unsuccessful In hoped-for re sulta Wise men understand this and do .not allow the failure of their com petitive endeavor to drive them sulking or disheartened from the field. If the City Park shall be chosen for the fair site, as now seems probable, everybody wlll be expected to accept the decision cheerfully, as In the deliberate Judg ment of those having the deciding voice In the matter the best location, alL things considered, for the purpose. Should any other location yet be chosen, the same just expectations will, It is hoped, be met. The late weather conditions hat gave our citizens opportunity to verify the by no means well-founded statement that "It always rains in Oregon on the Fourth of July" prevailed over the entire Northwest country, from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast, and at the last veered eastward, causing a temporary deluge In New York and other sections of the Atlantic seaboard. The damage to crops In the Upper Mis sissippi Valley and In Western New York was heavy. West of the Rocky Mountains no damage greater than the loss of a portion of the hay crop fol lowed the storm, while the benefit to other crops from the soaking rains much more than offset this lo?3. At present the prospect In the Coast re gions Is for a somewhat late harvest, but an abundant yield In grain, hops and fruits. The Ideal conditions, as sung by Thomas Buchanan Reed, are found In "an early harvest and a "plen teous year." But there Is no real cause for complaint if the harvest is late, as long as It Is "plenteous" and matures In time to be taken care of before the storms of Autumn overtake It, un housed. Senator "Wetmore, of Rhode Island, is so thorough a New Yorker that his biography, published In a New York Illustrated weekly, In describing his ca reer and his life In the fashionable cir cles of the metropolis, his family con nections, etc., neglects entirely to men tion the Incidental fact of his Senator ship. Wetmore Is a rich man, and his position at Washington Is only one of his many expensive Indulgences. The fact that the Senatorshlp was omitted from his biography shows In what re gard he holds. It, and also indicates the injustice of Eastern comment on "rotten-borough" states which proceeds on the assumption that they are all, like Nevada, in the West. Nevada's inde pendence In Congress compares favor ably with that of Delaware or Rhode Island. After gambling-houses have been closed In response to public protests, the gambler can figure out a very at tractive programme of neatness and de corum for the conduct of such places. If these commendable theories were ever to be put Into practice, their ap pearance In the form of rueful hind sight might be avoided. Wars on ques tionable places may always be-traced to the reckless abuse of privileges by those enjoying them. The moral wave Is al ways preceded by the open and flagrant defiance of law. Drastic as reformatory measures are. they are just retribution for the offender's stupid refusal to profit by experience. An unassailable position of the" fair site committee is that we must cut our garment according to our cloth, depend chiefly upon els-Rocky attendance, and not spend the capital stock for land. These are fixed points In the problem, from which the details may be worked out. One of the chief points In favor of the City Park Is that no promoter will thus be preferred above another. Its most serious disadvantage is the diffi culty of bringing railway tracks upon the grounds for the discharge of ma terials of construction and exhibit. An article In yesterday's Issue of The Oregonlan, upon the career of Charles Gannon, inadvertently reflected upon the other children of the family. As persion of their characters was not In tended at all, and was foreign to the purpose In hand. While insistent upon the general lesson of the family's his tory, It was not Intended to make In vidious reference to its inoffending members. A briber's wife and child were Intro duced Into a Minneapolis courtroom to Influence a jury with considerations of mercy. It seems to The Oregonlan that the person to show consideration of them was the briber at the time of temptation. William Frazler is the only man who has been Sheriff of Multnomah County three terms. This fact Is a testimonial to his efficiency and popularity. No InsureentH Need Apply. Topeka Capital. In the campaign now beginning In Kan sas Republicans will stand squarely on the Wltchlta resolutions, and .Republican speeches In every school district . will voice the Administration policy with rela tion to Cuba. Senator Burton has seen fit to place himself out of harmony with the party In the state on this matter, which promises to become one of the crucial Issues of the campaign In every Congressional 1 district In the country. This attitude of Senator Burton will have few defenders In Kansas. DEFENSE OF ALFRED AUSTIN. Ambrose Blerce. If Mr. Alfred Austin, poet laureate, has given to the world a coronation poem, as In duty bound. I have not seen it It is to be expected, and expectation Is the foundation upon which are reared some of the fairest fabrics that dazzle and delight. If nothing that Is expected ever came to pass what a singularly beautiful world this beautiful world would be! It Is not true that only the unexpected occurs; it Is only true that nothing but the unex pected occurs as It ought, and that not often. But Mr. William Watson's coro nation ode has been flung to the battle and the breeze. Let us salute It In silence. As to Mr. Austin, he Is prepared, doubt less, for what he will get. The wits of the press on this side of the sea will have something to say of the matter. If they said nothing they would be sick. True, they know nothing of poetry. Not one in a thousand of them, and hardly one In live hundred of their readers can be made to apprehend the difference between the indefinable spirit that pulses through the lines of Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," and the peasant's sentiments of a "dialect ( poem by James Whltcomb Riley or Sam Walter Foss I think his name is that. Gentlemen who write of Mr. Austin In thn American newspapers are of two classes, the Ignorant and the presumptu ous, and all belong to both. There are competent critics of poetry in this coun try, but it is Mr. Austin's luck not to have drawn their attention. Mr. Austin Is not a great poet, but he Is a poet. The head and front of his offend ing seems to be that he Is a lesser poet than his predecessor his immediate pred-ecessorw-for his austerest critic will hard ly affirm his Inferiority to the illustrious Nahum Tate. Nor Is Mr. Austin the equal. by much, of Mr. Swinburne, who as poet laureate was Impossible or at least, high ly Improbable. If he had been offered the honor Mr. Swinburne would very likely have knocked off the Prime Minister's hat and jumped upon It. He Is of a singularly facetious turn of mind. Is Mr. Swinburne, and has to be approached with caution. Below Swinburne the differences In men tal stature among British poets are Incon siderable; none Is much taller than an other, though Henly only could have writ ten the great lines beginning: Out of the dark pit that covers me. Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may bo For my unconquerable soul. And he Is not likely to do anything like that again; on that proposition "your ex istence might be put to the hazard and turn of a wager." I wonder how many of the merry gen llemen who find a pleasure in making mouths at Mr. Austin "for what he does and doesn't do" have ever read, or read ing, have understood, his sonnet on LOVE'S BLINDKESS. Now do I know that Love Is blind, for I Can see no beauty on this beauteous earth. No life, no light, no hopefulness, no mirth. Pleasure, nor purpose, when thou art not nigh. i Thy absence exiles sunshine from the sky. Seres Spring's maturity, checks Summer's birth. Leaves linnet's pipe as sad as plover's cry. And makes me In abundance find but dearth. But when thy feet flutter the dark, and thou With orient eyes dawnest on my distress. Suddenly sings a bird on ever' bough. The heavens expand, the earth grows less and less. The ground Is buoyant as the ether now. And all looks lovely In thy loveliness. The influence of Shakespeare Is altogeth er too apparent in this, and It has as many faults as lines; but It Is admirable work, nevertheless. To a poet only come such conceptions as "orient eyes" and feet that "flutter In the dark." Here is another sonnet In which the thought, quite as natural, is less obvious. In some of his best work Mr. Austin runs rather to love (a great fault, madam), and this Is called LOVE'S WISDOM. Now on the summit of Love's topmost peak Kiss we and part; no further can we go; And better death than we from high to low Should dwindle, and decline from strong to weak. We have found all. there Is no more to seek; All we have proved, no more Is there to know; And Time can only tutor us to eke Out rapture's warmth) with custom's after glow. We cannot keep at such a height as this; For even straining souls like ours Inhale But once In life so rarifled a bliss. What If we lingered till lovo's breath should fall! Heaven of my earth! one more celestial kiss. Then down by separate pathways to the vale. Will the merry pikes of the Lower Mis sissippi littoral and the gambling whale backs of the Duluth hinterland be pleased to say what Is laughable in all this ex cepting their solemn conviction of its ab surdity? The Constitutional "Flat Salaries." Arlington Record. Governor Gesr seems to be hesitating about calling an extra session of the Leg islature and, according to our way of thinking, well he might. What is there to call an extra 'session for? The Consti tution of our State Is very plain and explicit about the salaries of the several state offices. If former Legislatures have violated that Instrument by adding to the salaries, which every man who can understand plain English must admit has been done, can an extra session by any act they may pass change the plain pro vision of the State Constitution? All this talk about fiat salaries Is rank humbug. The only sensible way In this matter Is for the state officers to take the consti tutional salaries, and no more, until such a time as the Constitution can be changed. If the people want It changed. Surely we don't want to advertise ourselves to the world as a set of boodlers. We call on tho Legislators of the State of Oregon to stand by our Constitution, which they are all sworn to support, and make no appro priation for salaries in conflict with that Instrument. Every man who ran for a state office at the last election knew the provisions of our Constitution and knew what the salary for each state offlce is. It is high time we were getting back to flrst principles. If the salaries named In our Constitution are inadequate let the people make a change, but until a change Is made, let our Legislators stand by Its plain provisions. No HnndHhnklnar. Boston Herald. The President's secretary has notified the authorities in Springfield, 111., where the President Is -to be the guest of the State Board of Agriculture In October, that there will be no reception and pub lic handshaking at the fair grounds. Thl3 Is a good rule to follow everywhere, and especially wherS everybody and anybody would have a right to be In the line. The President started well In this particular. His flrst appearance at any public recep tion after he took office was at the time of the Yale bicentennial. This reception was held in the large new dining hall of the university. It was for graduates and guests of the university. Presumably .there were no dangerous anarchists In that crowd. But the President did not shake hands with those who filed before him. nor did President Hadley, who stood with him. They simply bowed In response to complimentary greetings. But we be lieve the President has departed from this custom on other occasions hardly less public. There was no complaint made of the proceeding at New Haven; although there were some who Involuntarily held out their hand as they had been accus tomed to do on such occasions. Why should It not be sufficient for the Presi dent to be seen and heard without being handled? Striking; American Enterprise. Indianapolis News. The thrifty Kentucky wife who used her husband's temperature during a severe fever for the purpose of hatching chick ens. Is only one more striking proof ot American enterprise that no mere person al consideration can subdue. HONEST ANTI-IMPERIALISM. St. Paul Pioneer Press. One of the peculiar qualities of the East ern antl-lmperiallst is his particular hon esty. He Is no sniveling liar, as others are. He Is not only morally but mentally honest. He la for facts, and when he has the facts, no matter who is hurt or who Is helped, you can bet your bottom dollar on his drawing the correct conclusion wltn the rectitude of a scientific observer and more than his accuracy. All who do not agree with him are mentally or morally oblique. McKinley, Roosevelt, Root, Taft and Chaffee have been absolutely Incapa ble of telling the truth. A conspiracy ot "suppression, evasion and 6ilence" has been conducted by them with brazen dis regard of common morak. In short, tne only reason why the anti-Imperialists can not get facts is that every one connected with the Government won't furnish what their own Inward light tells them has ac tually happened. It Is with keen regret, therefore, that we find the New YorK Trltfune entrapping the Springfield Re publican, one of the most rabidly honest of the anti-Imperialist papers. In what looks very much like a deliberate He, and a miserably sneaking sort ol "lie at that. This regret Is deep and profound, not only because It naturally gives one a shock to have some paragon ot virtue turn out to be unlovely, but because there Is no tell ing where we can find honesty If the anti imperlallsts are going to desert us. The subject which the Republican was j discussing when It yielded to temptation Was the petitions of the Filipinos for the retention of our army officers In certain localities, a fact that the imperialistic press has pointed to as suggesting that even our cruel army was not quite so odi ous as the antls have palnted.lt In tne fullness of their long-distance knowledge. I Says the Republican: Were the petitions genuine? To ask this question, on Its face so Impertinent, would not have occurred to any one had not the above mentioned Government publication contained a copy of a cablegram from the War Depart ment in Washington, dated early In February. to the military authorities In the Philippines. That cablegram from Washington was forward ed to the various division and brigade com manders, and It read as follows: "To refute statements of misconduct of troops toward natives in Philippine Islands. Secretary of V.'ar Root directs petition of retention of commanders of various organizations." The inference from this quotation of an official order was that Secretary Root had caused bogus petitions to be secured, a very unsavory and' very reprehensible trick. But the Tribune Introduces by way of comparison the entire dispatch, which reads: To refute statements of misconduct of troops toward natives In Philippine Islands, Secretary of War Root directs retltion of retention of commanders of various'organizatlons, and any Information within the knowledge of any officer on these Islands will be wired here. The plain meaning of this Is that the pe titions already existed and were known to the Secretary and that he requested that they be wired together with any other useful information. Of course it was a crime for him to wire for facts with which to refute the antls or defend our soldiers against slanderers. The only course for the administration to pursue was to let the army be slandered and reviled by any set of backbiters without giving It a chance to be heard. Consequently the slight change In sense made by the Re publican Is a matter of small moment ex cept as a slip from that lofty virtue from the heights of which it has been accus tomed to look down on such moral pyg mies as Roosevelt. Root and Taft. Ambassador Herbert antl President Roosevelt. New York Herald. The friendship of President Roosevelt for the Hon. Michael Henry Herbert, Great Britain's newly designated Ambas sador to this country, Is based on tho fact that their tastes are congenial and that each possesses a physique built up from a naturally weak body. When Mr. Herbert was attached to the British Legation here he lived not far from the house of Mr. Roosevelt, who was then Civil Service Commissioner. The two frequently took long walks In the hilly country surrounding Washington, and more than once, It Is said, the Presi dent tried to tire out his somewhat taller, although not so vigorous companion, and failed. In explanation of his love of walking, Mr. Herbert used to credit It to the custom followed by English gentle men of dally Inspecting their estates on foot. On one occasion a friend of Mr. Her bert visited President Roosevelt at Oys ter Bay, and In the course of conversa tion remarked that Americans did not take enough exercise. "Perhaps that Is true," musingly re marked the President. A few minutes later he suggested to his visitor that they take a walk. The visitor acquiesced. They started out early in the afternoon. Mr. Roosevelt cut out the pace from the start and kept It up until the English man, long and powerfully limbed though he was, had to go to bed to recover from his exhaustion. PLEASANTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS A Strain. Parko What's the matter with your wife? She looks fagged out, and tells me sho hasn't slept decently for weeks. Lane She Is forming a Don't Worry Club. Life. A Cozy Home. "They seem to be happy in their married life, with such perfect confidence in each other." "Tes; they live In a flat, and there isn't room for doubt." Philadelphia Bul letin. Not Quite Ready. "Stop! Don't flght, boys! Can't we arbitrate this thing?" asked one of tho' bystanders. "Tes, sir!" panted the fellow who was on top. "Just as soon as I've blocked his other eye!" Chicago Tribune. Sociable "Well, well," remarked Farmer Korntop nt the Zoo. "this hero Hon 'pears to be teal good-natured." "Mcbbe," suggested his good wife, 'It's one o" them social lions ye read about in the papers." Philadelphia Press. Room Enough Yet. "Uncle William, don't you think that hell must be full by this time?" "Mebbe It Is, Marse Tom," was the reply; "but ef you keeps on In de way you gwlne, dey'U sho make room fer you!" Atlanta Constitu tion. Tho Retort Unkind. Benham There's no place like home. Mrs. Benham If there were you wouldn't know it. Benham What do you mean? Mrs. Benham You are not at home enough to know what home is like. Brooklyn Life. "I am Mr. Phake. sir." said, the obtrusive stranger, "maker of Phake's panacea." "Ah, yes." remarked Cadlelgh. 'Tour medicine, sir, has benefited me greatly." "Glad to hear it. I" "Yes: a rich uncle ot mine took it, and I was his sole heir." Tit-Bits. Ho Aroused Discussion. Lucille Cholly is such an uninteresting person. Helen Oh, I don't know. He gave rise to animated dis cussion last night as to whether a person can bo considered absent-minded when his mind Is neither hero nor elsewhere. Town and Country. Toujour Amour. Edmund Clarence Stedman. Prithee tell me. Dimple-Chin, At what age does love begin? Your blue eyes have scarcely seen Summers three, my fairy queen, But a miracle of sweets. Soft approaches, sly retreats. Show the little archer there. Hidden In your pretty hair; When didst learn a heart to win? Prithee tell me, Dimple-Chin! i "Oh!" the rosy Hp3 reply, "I can't tell you If 1 try. Tls eo long I can't remember: Ask some younger lass than I!" Tell, oh, tell me. Grizzled-Face, Do your heart and head keep pace? When does hoary lovo expire. When do frosts put out the fire? Can Its embers burn below All that chill December snow? Care you still soft hands to pres3. Bonny heads to smooth and bless? When docs love give up the chase? Tell. oh. tell me, Grizzly-Face! "Ah!" the wise old lips reply. "Youth may pass and strength may die; But of love I can't foretoken: Ask aorao older sage than I!" NOTE AND. COMMENT. In cutting the wires, Tracy showed an enterprise worthy of Dewey. Hogg ought to be put on the bleachers. He should at least be able to root. Somehow or other the echoes awakened by Austin's coronation ode seem to have died out. Sunstroke and cyclones are proving nearly as fatal In the East as Tracy. is out here. It begins to look as If the free swim ming baths would be patronized before the month Is out. No ono has yet taken any photographs of the Standard OH Company moving its tanks outside the city limits. Walt until Agulnaldo gets to Boston and tries to talk English that will be ac ceptable to polite society there! No one thought to send a special car along with the baseball team to bring back the honors they may win. The Bailey-Beveridge controversy will now step In and fill a long-felt want on the flrst pages of the newspapers. The coronation Is to be held In August, and all the money that has been laid out In ermine coronation robes Is gone and lost forever. Speaker Henderson and Congressman Hepburn are both Iowa men. but they do not follow the same rules as to the pro nunciation of proper names. The other day Mr. Hepburn had the floor and Mr. McRae desired to ask a question. "Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas," said Hepburn, pronouncing the last two syllables of the state namo as though It was Kansas. "The gentle man from Arkansaw has the floor," said the Speaker. Pay Director Casper Schenck. who was recently burled in the Naval cemetery at Annapolis, was the author of a poem which once attracted as much attention as Admiral Coghlan's "Hoch der Kateer." It was 'based on the order of Admiral Foote abolishing the -custom of "piping all hands to grog." The grog was abol ished and the pay of every enlisted man was advanced 5 cents a day. Schenck wrote a song, the refrain of which was: They raled our pay 3 cents a day, But stopped our grog forever. Baron Henri de Rothschild, who Is a distinguished physician and a specialist in infantile diseases, not only drives mo tor cars, but manufactures them- His automobile business is now to be pushed forward on new lines. A scheme has been elaborated under his instructions for turning It to philanthropic purposes. Next door to his hospital for children he has opened a motor-car factory, and all the profits of the latter are to be devoted to the former. He expects to sell about 100 cars a year. In this case the hospital will benefit to the extent of $10,000 per annum. Rumor hath It William of Germany counseled Edward of England "to be a King." And Edward, It is further whis pered, in London's polite society, which Is the oligarchy ruling the empire, tried to obey the injunction. So trying, he "In terfered too much to suit some of his more powerful subjects." and It was con vincingly explained to him by Lord Salis bury and Mr. Joseph Chamberlain that the clock would not be put back In Eng land. The sluggard Kings of France In the time of the mayors of the palace were no more powerless than he who Is called "of Great Britain and Ireland and of the dominions beyond the seas. King; Em peror of India; defender of the faith." PERSONS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT. Charles Tennyson, a zrandson ot the lato poet laureate, won distinction at Cambrldga University this year. His father was the lata Lionel Tennyson, third son of the pot. Congressman Cannon has not yet learned to pronounce Hawaii. He always utters the namo as though It were spelled Hl-wah. and tha effect when "Undo Joe" becomes earnest la calculated to raise laughter. Somebody sent Senator Burrows a big bunch of roses one day recently, and he had them taken to his committee-room. The Senator re fused to tell who sent tho flowers, saying mys teriously: "They are from an admiring friend." A colleague raised a roar of laught- by re marking: "Oh, bought them yourself, eh?" A Berlin dispatch says that Emperor Will iam his given orders to stock his game pre serves near Potsdam and Berlin with American quail as an experiment. The Emperor Is quoted as- say Ins that he wants American quail be cause, like American citizens, they are satis fled with their surroundings, while German quail, like a great many German citizens, emi grate every Fall. Two eminent Delawareans opposed In tha matter of National Dolltlcs. Senator Gray and General Jnmes H. Wilson, were at one tlmo fellow members of the board of visitors at West Point Academy. An officer of the acad emy calling to pay his respects found the Sen ator, but not the General, and was told tho latter had gone. "Gone?" asked the officer, disappointedly. "Er-gone for good. Senator?" "No, sir!" was the emphatic reply. "He has gone' to the Republican National convention." The eminent German portrait painter Frana von Lenbach admires "strawberry blondes" more than any other type of women, though he declares that they arc so ethereal that they cannot be happy In marriage unless they aro adored and petted all the time As for his own daughters, he takes care that they shall not learn too much, for that, he thinks would spoil them. "For'my girls." he said the oth er day, "every day Is a holiday. They learn only what U necessary and play tho rest of the time." On the last day of the Congreslonal session just closed. Senator Spooner. while talking about the Philippines, said something which Senator Patterson did not like. "I wltbdraw tha remark." said Spooner. Patterson said ha objected more to the Wisconsin man's manner than to what he said. "I withdraw. te man ner" -aid Spooner. promptly. The Senator from Colorado still seemed aggrieved, where upon Spooner said- "I efface myself entirely. I am expunged. 'Now will the Senator be sat isfied?" A member of Parliament Is said to be circu lating about the London clubs a typewritten copy of an epitaph which he solemnly declares Is Intended for John Plerpopt Morgan, and should be taken by him as a warning not to push his world-grabbing enterprises too far. The epitaph Is as follows: "Here lies his head at last upon this earth; He now belongs to what he made his own; He bought the world for what he thought It worth. , il. t i. And God once more Is running things alone. The astronomer who, on September 23. 1S46. discovered the planet Neptune Is still living. On June 0 he celebrated his 90th birthday. Johann Gottfried Gale retained his position aa professor at the University of Breslau until ho was S3. Since that time he has lived at Pots dam. Leverrler had theoretically demonstra ted that there must be an unknown planet where Neptune was found, but as he had no telescope at his disposal he wrote to Calle and put him on the track. Laland had seen Nep tune 54 years soonerj but without suspecting that It was a planet. Although Russell Sage, the famous financier, will be S6 years of age on August 4 next, and has recently had a severe turn ot Illness, he has expressed his determination to continue at his business the same as before. It was some five years aro that Mr. Sage was asked why he did not retire and take a rest and enjoy what he had made. His reply then was, doubt less, what it would be now. If he were asked the same question: "I don't know that I could stop If I would. I fear I should not live long if I-did so. I believe I like work better than I do play. My chief happiness today Is In my work, and I suppose my machinery will go on. at this same rate as long as I live."