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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1903)
t THE MOENING OBEGONIAlf, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1903. ire x2$mxxaxt EaUred at the Postomce at Portland, Oregon, as Bsomd-class matter. REVISED SUBSCBIPTIO?; RATES. Br Mall (postage prepaid la adTaace) Dally, with Sunday, per month:... SSHBi Dally, Sunday excepted, per year.... .. J0 XI ally, with Sunday, per year. Sunday, per year riS The Weekly, per year 1.50 The "Weekly. 3 months - "0 To City Subscribers . . , 5lly. per week, delivered. Sunday excepUa.l&c Ually. per week, delivered. Sunday included JUc POSTAGE HATES. United States, Cannda and Mexico. 10 to 14-puge paper......... ...... ...lo 16 to 30-page paper.-. - 5 1S2 to 44-page paper....; 30 Foreign rates double. Xewi or discussion Intended for publication la The Oregonian should be addressed invari ably "Editor The Oregonlan," not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscription, or to any business matter should be addressed simply "The Oregonlaa." Eastern Business Office. 43, 44. 45. 4T. 4S. 41 Tribune building. New York City; 510-11-12 Tribune building. Chicago; the a C. Beckwlta Special Agency. Extern repreaentatlve. For eale In San FrancUco by I E. Lee, Pal ace Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros., 233 Butter street; F. "V. Pitts. 1003 Market street; J. K. Cooper Co., 746 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry news stand; Frank Scott, 80 Ellis street, and J. "W'bfeatley. S12 Mission street. For sale In Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 59 South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 05 South Spring street. For sale In Kansas City, Mo., by Rlcksecxer Cigar Co.. Ninth and "Walnut streets. For sale la Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 217 Dearborn street; Charles MacDonald. S3 "Washington street, and the Auditorium Annex news stand. For sale In Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam street; Megearh Stationery Co., 130S Farnam street; Mclaughlin Bros., 210 S. 14th street. For sale la Ogden by TV. G. Kind. 114 25th Street; James II. Crockwell, 242 23th street: . R. Godard and C H. Myers. For sale In Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co.. 77 "West Second South street. For sale In "Washington. D. C. by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale In Denver, Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck. 000-912 Seventeenth street; Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co.. Fifteenth and Lawrence streets; A Series, Sixteenth and Curtis streets. ' 1 YESTERDAY 8 WEATHER Maximum tem perature, 87; minimum temperature, 00; pre cipitation, 0. TODAY'S WEATHER Partly cloudy; cooler; westerly -winds. (PORTLAND, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 39 "GRAFTS" ON THE SEWER FUND. The Inability of those modern cornu copias, "the county" and "the city," to keep pace with the prosperous desires of the multitude was painfully brought to light In "Taxpayer's" communication of a day or two ago on the subject of cesspools and vaults. There are not sewers enough between the river and Mount Tabor, and "Taxpayer," by the aid of question marks, thus moralizes: Is it because there Is so much graft going a In the city that funds are not available lor such necessary and legitimate thlpgs as jewers? Do the grafters have to have their rraft, whether the citizen has health pro tection la the way of sewers or not? The idea that money paid for sewers Is somehow diverted into the pockets of the city officials is interesting, if not original or accurate. The fact Is, more over, that Portland is one of the best sewered cities on the continent, and Bewers have been constructed and ex tended just as rapidly as the owners of property benefited by their construc tion were able to pay for them. It Is the function of the city gov ernment to build sewers, roadways and bridges; but In doing this work it acts is the agents of the people Interested, who must themselves pay the price. If "Taxpayer" really owns a lot between Bunnyslde and Mount Tabor, it Is the province of himself and his neighbors to build a sewer, or in Its default to provide for themselves otherwise under Buch sanitary conditions as will pre serve their" health and not menace the health of those around them. Persons Who can never-do anything: for them selves are always rushing Into print iVith-complalnts that they are neglected by the, "government." Chronic petulance and dependence can be better borne, however, than this cheap fling at everybody in office as dishonest. "Graft" Is easily said, but not so easily proved. So far as The Oregonlan knows, no money that should bae gone to build sewers at Sunnyside has ever found Its way into the pockets of Mayor Williams, Auditor Devlin, Treasurer Werleln, or any member of the Council or Executive Committee. If "Taxpayer" Jtnows of any, he should speak up. There will be no difficulty In meting out justice to the offender. UOW THE CANAL DOES PROGRESS! If the world should come to an end this morning, It Is exceedingly doubt ful how much serious Injury would be done to tho project of an Isthmian ca nal. We are in a fair way to complete it now within the same time limit and under the same propitious auspices that will prevail if tonight the heavens are rolled away as a scroll and the elements melt with fervent heat, and The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palace, rhe solemn temples, the great globe Itself, Yea, all which it inherit shall dissolve: And like this Insubstantial pageant faded Leave not a rack behind. ' August Is an inopportune time for the transcontinental railroads, which have "cajoled, threatened, bribed and cor rupted "against the isthmian canal these many years, to reap their reward as chronicled in the Bogota cables. Con siderations of humanity forbid that the already riot and humid air should be further laden with the scorching, with ering words that only are fit to charac terize this shameless prostitution of the age-long dream of commerce and ex ploration to the base ends of corrup tlonlsts and blackmailers. In the Sodom and Gomorrah of "Washington Intrigue and Wall-street stock Jobbery and Co lombian degradation, where are the ten righteous souls to save from utter de struction? It Is Impossible to foresee the sequel to the act of the Colombian Senate in rejection of the Hay-Herran treaty. If we only knew what would be the most effective Instrument of delay, then we should be able to arrive approximately at the thing most likely to be done. Once It 6eemed to an uninformed world that to press the Niearagunn route was the way to success; but those on the inside persuaded "a confiding country that to substitute the Panama route was the true short cut to results. Now we have seen that the Panama route was chosen simply because it was im possible. It would -seem, indeed, as it the un scrupulous and all-powerful wreckers of the Isthmian canal had rather over acted the part. In bringing in a unani mous vote of the Colombian Senate against the treaty. If the result had been close. It might have been main tained that an unexpected slip had .somehow occurred; but when the entire Senate rejects our proposal to buiid the canal, the Panama manipulators are estopped from the pretense that the as surances of plain sailing with the Co lombian government were put forward In good faith. The confiding statesman Is readily pacified when two or three of a supposed friendly delegation get away; but here Is a case where the whole delegation gets away. We should repose too much confidence In the per ceptive faculties of the Senate leaders to imagine them now offering the ex planation that this Colombian hostility was something unforeseen and unsus pected. What, then, to do? The choice of the Panama route as an Insuperable obsta cle to a canal Is certainly approved by experience. It will be fitting to Insist upon it to the exclusion of all others, unless at any time a method of winning Colombia's consent should appear, and then the engineering difficulties of the Panama route could be exploited the moment there, was a well-defined pros pect of Colombian acquiescence. Mean while It is not to be supposed our noble patriots are idle with Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Doubtless those govern ments will he suitably fixed by the time Congress or the President turns to them again. It Is possible the machinations of the canal's enemies may at length gain the attention of Theodore Roose velt. Words said as he can say them, and acts of his own boldness and di rectness, may yet give some measure of pause to the conscienceless "betrayers of the National honor and welfare. FEASIBLE CURRENCY PROPOSALS. We are unable to place much cre dence in the Washington special pur porting to give the Senate currency programme. The two measures an nounced for support are so meritorious and feasible that the Republican lead ers cannot be supposed to have given them their adherence, except upon the most positive evidence. They are too simple and efficacious to please the Fowler brand of currency reformers, and they are too honest and devoid of special privilege to Wall street to please Aldrlch. They are probably the dream of some humble and intelligent reporter rather than the product of a real emi nent and trust-serving statesman. It says in this dispatch that all the need" of elastic currency can be met by the simple device of repealing the' anti- .-quated and pernicious limitation upon retirement of bank circulation,, which cannot now proceed faster than $3,000, 000 a month. Truer word was never ut tered. The evils of this restriction and the certain benefits of Its repeal have .often been set out In these columns. Currency reformers will make the point that a higher tax upon the emergency Issues would assist In their prompt re tirement; but It Is not certain that any such unusual Incentive is needed. Bank circulation declines with measurable rapidity under -existing statutes, and would surely do so much faster under the proposed amendment. It may also be objected that this programme would Involve Indefinite perpetuation of the present bond security system. But this Is really no objection at all. So long as we have the security system we must use It In the most efficacious manner possible. The Senate committee's re ported declaration that there Is no pop ular demand for a change to "asset currency" Is the simple truth. We have always looked with misgiv ings upon the campaign against the Subtreasury system; and even yet we regard the proposal to keep Increased portions of the public moneys on de posit with certain selected banks as a measure fraught with doubt and dan ger. The proper place for the Govern ment's funds Is In the Government's vaults. There Is no doubt about that. There Is an element of Insecurity, though certainly small, In the practice, soon to become general and adminis tered with more or less inevitable hu man carelessness, of farming out the public moneys where they must In fact become merged with the general stock of the holding banks. No administra tion, can escape the nasty charges of favoritism In the selection of the banks, and, however unfounded they may be, there will always be knaves to exploit and fools to believe them. In addition to all this, every amelioration of the difficulties under which the Govern ment labors In doing a banking, busi ness which does not belong to it, in pil ing up large surplus funds to tempt ex travagance, and especially In withdraw ing money from the people through In ordinate tariff taxes, unjustly wrung from Industry for the behoof of cor porations already rich every ameliora tion of these difficulties only smooths the way for a perpetuation of these evils and puts off the day of honest and prudent dealing. Why, then, should the proposal to authorize deposit of customs revenues in National banks upon security In shape of approved state, municipal and railway bonds, be commended? One reason Is that It Is Inevitable. There Is no feature of our fiscal sj-stem so heart ily and unanimously execrated by the bankers themselves as the Subtreasury system. The bankers can get their will In currency legislation, and the only reason why we have not already had thorough banking reform Is because the banks can't agree among themselves. On the propriety and necessity of "the Treasury ceasing to disturb the money market by withdrawals of currency from the channels of trade, the banks are agreed. It is worth a good deal to make them happy, unless at too high a price. Another reason is suggested by the banknote situation. The system as it Is and not the system -that should be Is what we have to face the con dition, not the theory; and the condi tion is that the existent tariff and cur rency regime Is impossible -of serious alteration for a generation. No person now of mature years will live to see the day when free trade will supersede pro tection as our National policy, or when free banking will supersede the general principle of Government guarantee, su pervision and control. There is the same need, accordingly, for removing friction over the Subtreasuries as for removing friction over banknote re tirement. The end to which Congress should ad dress itself, so far as the currency is concerned. Is the gradual strengthening and elevation of the prevailing system by such minor reforms as will not alarm either the wise or the foolish, the banks or Investors. Any violent change operates to the advantage of speculat ors with Aldrlch bills on one hand and brutal agitators like Bryan on the other hand. Fortunately, no radical measure can command the votes requisite for passage. Fortunately, every compre hensive bill like Aldrlch's or Fowler's antagonizes so many groups In Con gress that It falls under their concerted opposition. The only measures that can pass are the safe and simple ones, to the Jews of Wall street a stumbling block, and to the Greeks of the "scien tific" school foolishness. The fact that Jeffries and Corbett go through a prolonged course of train ing to fit themselves for a prizefight has been noted by tie St. Louis Chroni cle and the lesson drawn that men In other walks of life should train in the same way and attain the same endur ance. As a- matter, of fact, nothing could be more foolish. Training for a specific effort that is to be made at a certain time Is a necessity! but as a means of promoting health, the great object of life, It would be fatal. A man in hard training is very aptly said to he "on edge." The slightest thing- may make him go stale. He is trained down to the minute almost. Far different would it be If he were to try keeping on edge permanently. The effort would end in a complete breakdown of his constitution. For the ordinary man the best state may be described as half trained. A razor edge is useful In shav ing, but detrimental for chopping wood. OUR NEW MILITIA LAW. A correspondent writes to inquire whether our new militia law contains Any provisions Imposing "death as the penalty for refusing to answer the call of the President for military duty," and also whether the unorganized militia can be held to a term of five years' service or one. Somebody has been "talking through his hat" to our cor respondent. Our new militia law Im poses no new military burdens upon the people of. tills country. So far as the organized militia, the National Guard, Is concerned, the new law simply seeks to secure uniformity In organization, armament, discipline and instruction, better arms and equipment, and. more thorough training. This organized mi litia is subject to the call of the Presi dent in time of war to serve if neces sary until the volunteers are ready to take the field, for a term not exceeding nine months. The unorganized militia are subject to nothing beyond the re quirements of tlie old law of 1793, wblch Is reiterated .'n the first section of the new law. Under the new law, as under the old, the President In case, of Inva sion, rebellion or when the laws cannot be executed, can call out the militia in such numbers as may be necessary for a period not exceeding nine months. There is nothing In this respect of obli gation to service In the new law that was net In the old law. In time of war the organized militia, or National Guard, may be called Into service by the President, but this right Is a con stitutional right under the authority given Congress, under which laws have been enacted since the foundation of our Republic making every citizen of military age, whether In the organized militia or not, subject to military duty whenever called out by the United States. In Europe, conscription and standing armies prevail, but in Great Britain and the United States there is no conscrip tion. Voluntary enlistments are resort ed to to ke.ep the ranks of our regular Army full, and when our military ne cessities are greater than our small regular Army can meet, we raise great armies of United States volunteers. With these volunteers the Government fought the gigantic war of the Rebel lion to a victorious conclusion. After obtaining a million of men by volun teering, the Government resorted to a draft In July, 18C3, to fill up the armies wasted by battle and disease. Under this law a man drafted could obtain exemption by paying the Government $300 or by furnishing, a substitute. In event of another war as long In dura tion and as great In dimensions, our Government might be forced to supple ment volunteeerlng by a draft, but whatever is possible for the Govern ment to do under the present militia law Is simply a reiteration of the au thority given the President by the old law. The new law gives the President no new powers; it does not attempt to enlarge his authority In any respect. The new law only seeks to put our organized militia in a better state of efficiency and preparation through bet ter arms, discipline, equipment and In struction, than before. Only in event of a great military or civil emergency Is the President authorized to call out the organized or unorganized militia. The President today can do under the new law of 1900 nothing that he could not do before under the old law, so far as calling able-bodied citizens into ser vice, for a term not exceeding nine months. The regular Army and the or ganized militia would form the first line behind which our volunteer masses would assemble and organize. The un organized militia, or reserve, would theoretically be subject to call In emer gency, but In practice there would be no emergency that the regular Army and National Guard could not meet. THE BIRTH OF THE PARTY. The Republicans of Michigan will celebrate at Jackson, In March,- 1904, the completion of the fiftieth year of the existence of the Republican party, established In that city In March, 1834. It Is an error to speak of the Republi can party as organized at Pittsburg, Pa., in 1855. The first convention tak ing the name of Republican assembled there, and, after adopting a platform of principles, adjourned to meet at Philadelphia In June, 1S56, when Fre mont and Dayton, the first candidates of the Republican party for President and Vice-President; were put In nomi nation. In the thirty-third Congress Michigan had two .Democratic Senators and four Democratic Representatives. In the election for the thirty-fourth Congress the Republicans carried three of th.e four districts of Michigan and the three Republican members called a meeting at Jackson, then the state cap ital, and adopted there the name Re publican as that of a National party. Subsequently the name Republican was taken up at Detroit, Milwaukee and elsewhere in the West, but It was not until the meeting at Pittsburg, Pa., that representatives from other states appeared to acquiesce In the declared purpose of the party, which was not to abolish slavery, but to oppose any ex tension of It to Western terrtorles. A Southern-bom and bred man, "Wood row Wilson, president of Prince ton University, In a chapter contributed to "The Cambridge Modern History," is of the opinion that but for the .repeal of tho Missouri Compromise, which ex asperated the free states, and John Brown's raid, which alarmed and em bittered the slaveowners, Henry Clay's compromise measure of 1850 might have averted civil war, or at least postponed It many years. John Brown's raid would never have taken place but for the passage of the Nebraska bill, and the consequent attempt to "establish slavery In Kansas. From this point of view Stephen A. Douglas forced the Re publican party Into organization and agitation, and was the real author of the Civil War. Dr. Wilson says that of their own motion the Southern men had never dreamed of demanding the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, but were persuaded by Douglas to use their power in the House and Senate to make an end of compromises for the future by the adoption of "squatter sovereign ty." The race for the possession of Kansas led to bloodshed and finally to civil war. The Republican party took its platform from the old "Liberty party" of 1840-44, but It gathered Its recruits from the anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats of the North, whose pa tience was exhausted and whose fears were excited by repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1S54, so that Douglas bulided far better than he knew; he intended to make a successful bid for the Southern vote for President In the Democratic National Convention of lSSO, but he unified and solidified all shades of anti-slavery opinion at the North Into the Republican party and alienated from himself the Southern Democracy b his fight with President Buchanan over the Lecompton constitu tion. Without Douglas there would have been no Republican party, no Civil War, for many years to come; so In a certain sense Stephen A. Douglas forced into life and labor the great party which made his election as President impossible arid that of his great rival. Lincoln, sure. It drew Into Its ranks all the old-line Whigs, who had hitherto followed the flag of Seward rather than that of Webster. It absorbed all the old-line Democrats, who, with. Hannibal Hamlin, Simon Cameron, Preston King, had voted for the Wilmot Proviso of 1845, and all the Ftee-Sollers, who were followers of Salmon P. Chase and Charles Francis Adams. It' was strong enough under the exasperation follow ing the enactment of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854 to elect Lincoln President In 1860. And yet it Is doubtful, save for the Civil War, whether the Republican party would not have been defeated by the Democ racy in 1854. Alexander H. Stephens took this view In his opposition to the secession of Georgia, He argued that Lincoln as a constitutional President could not, under his oath, do any harm to the Institution of slavery; that the Republican Congress had not the power to harm slavery If the South remained In the Senate; that only by exposing slavery td the exercise of the Indefinite war powers of the President could slav ery suffer harm; that civil war invited the exercise of that fatal power; that four years of peace would quiet the exasperation of the North over the re peal of the Missouri Compromise, and that in 1864 a united Democratic party was likely to be victorious. But the counsels of Stephens were rejected, and the moment that Civil War began the Republican party was sure to be sus tained by every War Whig or War Democrat who had hitherto been as bit ter a pro-slavery man as Butler, Gush ing, Daniel S. Dickinson or Edwin M. Stanton. When Civil War was ended, of course, a good many Democrats went back to their old party, but there were thou sands who remained in the Republican camp; some of them because of the dis reputable part borne by the Democracy toward Lincoln's policy; some of them because of the early attempts of the Democracy to discredit the payment of our war bonds In gold, and to favor the Issue of Illimitable greenbacks. The Republican party lived on Its "war" capital and the Democratic disposition to fool with repudiation and cheap money for twenty years after the res toration of the Union. It lives today a vigorous life In spite of many serious mistakes in its policy of reconstruc tion and dilatory action in stiffly up holding the gold standard against cheap money compromise,, because it has had a policy and pushed it for all It was worth. All this time the Democracy has had no policy save that of negation. It has waited until the Republican party showed Its hand, and then the Democracy has contented Itself with opposing the Republican policy, wise or unwise, patriotic or unpatriotic The result Is the Democracy, when It has not been a mere dogmatic negationist In politics, has been a wild-eyed .Popu list, for free riot In government and for free silver In finance. The Republican party's life began In the gigantic blun der of a Democratic party demagogue, and It has lived largely since out of the capacity of the Democratic party to do the wrong thing at just the right" time to help the opposition. The unspeakable Turk Is again abroad In Macedonia, slaying and maiming helpless people, including Christians, who fall in his way. For reasons that are largely financial, the great powers of Europe look on, pro testing, it is true, but declining to in terfere. These brutal brigands and cut throats have grown up in the very presence of an earnest missionary effort of more than half a century, a fact that attests the futility and wastefulness of the attempt to Christianize or civil ize these people through mild and gen erous means. When the principle which declares that he who takes the sword shall perish by the sword is applied to these people their outrages against humanity will cease, and not until then. In the meantime, Turkey is Indebted to England and Germany in enormous sums, and their only chance to secure payment Is through a continuance of the Ottoman Empire. Hence the seren ity with which these nations look on while the terrible Turk perpetrates un speakable atrocities upon the helpless, who In self-defense become "insur gents." In fulfillment of reasonable expecta tion, the Government's receipts have now begun to overtake its expendi tures, and are rapidly wiping out the deficit that was a feature of the Treas ury's operations In July. During the first week In August the excess of re ceipts was considerably more than $3,500,000, bringing the deficit of the fiscal year to that date downj close to $5,000,000. The question now agitating those who supervise the personnel of the Navy In the Interest of the proprieties In dress Is whether the enlisted men shall wear nightshirts or pajamas. Who shall say that the questions of peace are insig nificant as compared to those of war? No one seems to have done President Roosevelt the good turn at the Ne braska convention to oppose his in dorsement. Consequently the demand for his renomlnatlon became a mere matter of form. Instead of the enthusi astic affair It became In Kentucky. The man who stole Senator Ben Till man's pass on the Burlington and then had the hardihood to proclaim his find may well be characterized as a sneak thlef. But what of the octopus-hunter who accepts passes from money devils? It would perhaps be inhuman to wish that the Turks and the Insurgents could end their fight as did the Kilkenny cats, bt BRYAN AS A CRITIC OF BOLTERS Harper's Weekly. Mr. William Jennings Bryan no longer denies that In November, 1S32. he and his friends in Nebraska voted, not lor Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic- nominee, but for the Populist candidate. Mr. Weaver, with the result that Mr. Harrison carried the state by a small plurality. That Is to say, if Nebraska had happened to turn the scale, Mr. Bryan's defection would have deprived the Democracy of the Pres idency. Mr. Bryan defends in the Com moner the course which he then pursued, by asserting that It was devised for strat egic purposes. A strategy that gave the state to the Democracy's opponents seems to have been Ill-conceived, or, at all events, ill-executed. Wa are perfectly willing to concede, however, that for the vote which Mr. Bryan cast In 1SS2 he had an exemplary, an edifying, and even a patriotic motive. We concede that of the moral and Intellectual quality of the mo tive he must be the exclusive judge. Neither would we for a moment assert that ho was disqualified for being the nominee of a Democratic National conven tion in 1SS6 because he had chosen to vote for a non-Democratic condldate In 1S92. However "Irregular" may have been tho course pursued by Mr. Bryan In JS92, wo hold that his credentials of regularity were perfected from the moment that he was permitted to take a seat as a delegate from Nebraska in tho Democratic National convention which met at Chicago four years later. Not only do we concur with fodder should ..not be allotted to a sheep should be welcomed back to the fold, hut we know o5 no reason why tho warmest corner In the fold, and the best part of the fodder should not be allotted to a sheep that went astray. That Is precisely what the Chicago convention of 1S96 did In the case of Mr. Bryan. His fellow delegates did not Invite him to take a back scat, but summoned him with effusion to "go up head." It was in the same spirit that the Democracy in the State of New York welcomed back with hurrahs In 1S32 the Barnburners who had bolted the nomina tion of Lewis Cass in 1S4S. Mr. "Bryan has sometimes been credited with saying that he has no objection to the readmlssion of Democrats who voted against him In lSSt and 1S00. but that he docs not think they ought to presume to dominate a National convention. Jf Mr. Bryan really said this, which we doubt, he must for the moment have forgotten that he, the bolter of 1S92, wns allowed, only four years later, not only to re-enter a Democratic National convention, but to carry off the prize of the Presidential nomination. We hold that the precedent then established was a prop er one; and we do not see how Mr. Bryan can object if It should next year be fol lowed in the case of Mr. Cleveland or some other Gold Democrat who, for strat egic or other reasons, declined to accept the candidate or the platform put forth at Chicago in 1S96. Senttle's Reputation Abroad. Council Bluffs Nonpareil. Seattle, Monday. Dear Nonpareil: Last night I took a walk with a sergeant of the police force. He traversed the main business streets of the city with great care and attention. With tho exception of a belated street riot or two and a few hold-up men hurriedly finishing up the straggling homegoers, the streets were In perfect order. We had turned to re turn to the station when suddenly the ser geant grabbed my arm. "Look," he whispered, "wouldn't you consider that suspicious?" I looked Three men with masks had Just placed a tie across the trolley line and were lying in wait for the approach ing car. "They are not passengers," paid the sergeant, with an air of deep thought. "Or they would flag the car. Ha! Another suspicious circumstance." The car had struck the tie with an awful crash. The passengers were' thrown in all directions. Quickly the masked men ran forward and began clubbing the motor man and the conductor. "If they were law-abiding citizens they would not do that," mused the policeman, edging away a little. "Ah, there they are taking the valuables from the passengers. They have fled. This Is very suspicious. I believe a crime has been committed. Let us Investigate." And we rushed for ward. "There, didn't I tell you," said the desk sergeant triumphantly after he had heard the stories of the victims. "There has been robbery committed. If I hadn't reasoned It out and inquired the villains might have escaped. Let' us sound the alarm." We did so. The villains are not in limbo as -yet, but thanks to the wonderful de ductive powers of the police force, their capture is regarded as a certainty. Wlio Otitis Jiew Zealand T London Chronicle. Queer points are raised from time to time In courts of law. For Instance, one Just seriously reserved for consideration by an Australian Judge of the Supreme Court namely, whether New Zealand Is legally a British possession. It sounds like a joke at the expense of that most ardent and energetic of Imperialists. "King Dick" Seddon. At the same time, it Is possible there may be something in the point. Although Captain Cook repeatedly urged upon the imperial gov ernment the colonization of New Zealand, no practical step was taken until very late in tlie thirties, when It leaked out that the French were contemplating the annexation of the islands. It was a close race between a British and a French man-of-war. the British ship winning by a few hours. It Is conceivable In the ex citement of the moment some formality in the proclamation of British sovereignty over New Zealand may have been over looked. In 1SS5 a Frenchman who called himself "Baron de Thierry" proclaimed himself "Sovereign Chief of New Zea land." but his funds failed, his ninety three followers deserted, and he sank into obscurity. Finds Rare Flovrer. Orchard and Farm. A rare plant, known as the golden yel low lupine, has been discovered In Walla Walla. Valley by William Cuslck the vet eran botanist of Union. Or. Miss Emma Cusick, a niece of the discoverer, was asked by her uncle to be on the watch for the lost flower while attending the Whit man College commencement picnic .She found a specimen growing on the banks of a small stream In the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Botanist Cuslck lost no time in going to Walla Walla and found that his niece had located a real specimen, there by ending his search of 25 years. Doug lass, the Scotch botanist, who spent two years on the Pacific Coast, beginning In 1S20, found this rare specimen of flower In the mountain region near the Walla Walla camp of the Hudson's Bay Com pany. He secured but ono specimen In America. The flower was highly prized in Europe. It Is a very beautiful yellow blossom, having soft, velvety, golden pet als. The color grows deeper and richer by cultivation. It is a hardy plant, easily transplanted and more beautiful than the tulip. Was Here All the Time. Washington (la.) Democrat. Jake Huff, brother-in-law to Joe Jack son, left his place one morning In 187L He hitched up to his wagon and drove out, and that was the last he heard of him till a few days ago he got a letter in re sponse to one he had written. Huff Is In Oregon. Appropriate. Helena Record. Bob Meeks seems to have, escaped through a hole in the wall Into the Hola-ln-the-Wall country. Miss Jones' Mas. Chaparral. "I dislike that Miss Jones. She. seems double-faced." "Impossible, or she'd bo wearing the other one." CHICAGO'S MARRIAGE MARKET. Baltimore Sun. Recent dispatches have told the up-to-date story of a Chicago lady, Mrs. Grace Snell Cofnn-Conln-Walker-CofBn-Layroan. aged 37, who Is seeking a divorce from Mr. Layman, said to be her fifth husband, and who, in anticipation of success lri her suit; has Just telegraphed to the mat from whom she has been thrice divorced: "Please marry me Just once more, Frank, dear." Mrs. "Snell and so on" as the ac count for the sake of brevity calls her was married to Mr. Layman less than a year ago; but ho has no money, and her heart reverts to Frank Coffin, her first, second and fourth husband. The lady has found time, notwithstanding her matri monial occupation, to cultivate literature and is a writer of romance. Her own ca reer affords her, doubtless, many ro mantic Incidents. The heroine of five weddings and five divorce suits cannot but be a walking encyclopedia of senti ment, "having over and over sounded all the octaves of nuptial rapture and de spair. To her practiced ear the wedding march is a familiar tune, and she could give points to lady reporters whose func tion it Is to describe wedding presents and wedding trousseaus Indescribable lin gerie, golng-away dresses, coming-home dresses, etc Mrs. So-on"s Ave marriages suggest, in view of her age. an average duration for each union and disunion of about three years, whereas trousseaus are calculated to last five years. She is. therefore, probably tho possessor of a considerable accumulation of lingerie and dresses suited to all occasions, from the wedding breakfast to the divorce court." Should "Frank, dear," consent to wed her again, he need not fear that he will soon be called on for an outfit. But Mr. Coffin Is. said to bo slow to ac quiesce In her anticipatory offer of her hand. To her tender message for It seems to bo In good form In Chicago for the lady to "propose" Frank replies rather unfeelingly, "No more at present," he says; "I think I've married you for positively the last time." But for this Chlcagoan. as for the Wife of Bath, there Is no "positively the last time," for while there is life there is hope of another match. Mrs. So-on complains of the di vorce law that she has to wait a whole year before she can get her divorce. "Isn't it dreadful!" she exclaims. Tho world moves fast nowadays, but It is all to slow for Mrs. Snell-Coffln-Coflin-Walk-er-Coffin-Layman. Tlie Romance of Blanche Walsh. The conditional divorce granted to Miss Blanche Walsh last April has now been made absolute, and the actress Is priv ileged to make a new matrimonial al liance. If she chooses to take that hazard once more. Miss Walsh's case Is some what peculiar. Proceedings for her di vorce revealed for the first time the fact of her marriage. It had been regarded as somewhat singular that this attract ive Irish girl, whose personal graces and professional distinction made her a shining mark, had been so successful In avoiding Cupid's shafts, and she was credited with the Inheritance of some of her fathers shrewdness In meeting tho arts of persuasion. This theory was pret ty generally adopted among those who had known the political career of the former warden of the Tombs. But tho ways of the stage Incline hard toward matrimony and divorces. The mesal liances of tho life are not surprising when Its particular propinquities aro taken into consideration. Miss Walsh, for example, fell In love with Alfred Hickman, still little known to fame, when she was playing Trilby and he Little Blllee. What could be more natural? The real Trilby really loved "tho little shrimp," much to the surprise of Sandy, and why should not the mimic Trilby O'Farrell, nee Walsh, bo similarly smitten? And as there was no Svengali to interpose his "spell," why should they not steal away to the "Little Church Around the Cor ner" and be married, without so much as asking tho consent of Taffy and Sandy? But it was a bad match, evidently. Tril by soon after sailed for Australia, and Billee well, his course is not so. well known. Seemingly they suited each other better apart than together, and both kept tho secret of their marriage for seven years. This secrecy, under condi tions that most have brought both many new opportunities to marry, is tho most unusual phase of the case. According to established tendencies in "the profes sion," each should have been married and divorced at least once since the event of 1SS5! Canada Kicks on Vanderbilts. Montreal Herald. The Duke of Marlborough continues to be mentioned for Governor-General of Canada. The Duke married a Vanderbllt. Needless to say, of course, Canada has no objection to Vanderbilts, but it has' a decided objection to Vanderbllt worship In the States, and particularly on the part of the yellow Journals which issue an extra edition every time a Vanderbllt eats a biscuit. With the Duchess presiding at Ottawa, the New York Journal, or some other en terprising "yellow" would proceed to throw fits all over the place. They would hurl a special train to Ot tawa containing an expert- staff of ro mance writers, and would Issue special editions every seven minutes with two foot headings: Vanderbilts Rule Canada! Canadians Dazzled! She Wore Her Diamond Tiara! It Was Worth $90,000,000! Vanderbilts the Whole Thing! And lots of other headings too numer ous to mention, but all tending to the same effect namely, that the great Ameri can girl is at the head of the Canadian works just as she Is In India, where Miss Daisy Letter, of Chicago (Lady Curzon), is supposed to rule the roost. Please, good, kind England, don't send the Doolc The Phantom. Bayard Taylor. Again I sit within the mansion. In the old, familiar seat; And shade and sunshine chase each other O'er the carpet at my feet. But the sweetbrlarB arm? have wrestled up wards In the Summers that are past. And the willow trails Its branches lower Than when I saw them last. They strive to shut the sunshine wholly From out the haunted room; To fill the house, that once was Joyful, "With silence and with gloom. And many kind. rememberM faces "Within the doorway come Voices, that wake the sweeter music Of one that now Is dumb. They sins In tones as glad as ever. The songs she loved to hear; They braid the rose In Summer garlands Whose flowers to her were dear. ' And still her footsteps In the passage. Her blushes at the door. Her timid words of maiden welcome Coma back to me once more. And, all forgetful of my sorrow. Unmindful of my pain, I think she has but newly left me. And soon will come again. She stays without, perchance, a moment. To dress her dark-brown hair; I hear the rustle of her garments Her light step on the stqlr! O, fluttering heart! , control thy tumult. Lest eyes profane -should see My cheeks betray the rush of rapture Her coming brings to me: She tarries .long: but lo, a whisper Beyond the open door. And, gilding through the quiet sunshine, A shadow on the floor! Ah! 'tis the whispering pine that calls me, The vine, whose shadow strays; And my patient heart must still await her, Kor chide her long delays. But my heart grows sick with weary waiting. As many a. time before: Her foot Is ever at the threshold, Tet never passes o'er. NOTE AXD COMMENT. Evidently some of tho. phone girl3 are as cute as they are charmlngf ' It looks as if the cupwlll be lifted and the canal built about the same time. It would add to the world's quiet it tho hinges of the open door wero 'oiled. There is a confeuHthrower in Jail at Olympia, and he doesn't seem a bit out of place. It Is only the people who know how to handle torpedo boats that have accidents with them. "Dinso" Is the engaging manner in which the Council Bluffs Nonpareil refers to a drunkard. Astoria will permit no snakes to be at large during the ragatta. thus relieving the minds of any Jolly skipper that may have been too free in splicing tho main brace. Milwaukee's city ling seems likely to be three schooners of beer, or. on a ground azure. On the same principle, other cities have adopted municipal flags as fol lows: Seattle Tho Jolly Roger, .with the motto. "Hands up." , Tacoma Black flag, representing night, wlta the motto, "Don't wake me." San Francisco Blue flag, with ostrich hldlr.g head In sand. Motto: "We see no compe tition." Boston A spade, with the motto, "Call It an agricultural Instrument. St- Louis A boodler, crouchant. bars sinis ter and dexter. Motto,. "I'll jnlsa the fair." Fashion Xotea, and.. Comment. ZIgzaz strappings aro as effective as they are hard to make. So they think in the Georgia convict camps. Stole effects are in as firm favor as ever for coat finishes. Ungrammatlcal, but probably true. If you ire tho owner of a yacht by all meani have the signal of your craft or club embroid ered on tho right ankle of your , silk stocking the inside of the ankle Philadelphia Record. Thoso who merely own bicycles should by all means" have tho license number of their wheel embroidered in the same way. "Diary of a. Chnrch. Member." Monday. Just returned from tha Guild of Touchers' convention In' New Tork. Trip so expensive I" won't be able to sub scribe a cent to church work here for twelve months. ( Tuesday afternoon. Attended picnic of Holy Stragglers' Society. Excellent ath letic sports. Evening. Meeting of tho Church Literary Club. Bead paper on Bible Study a Handicap to Novelists. Wednesday. Daughters of Royalty had fair this afternoon. Bought paper doll for $9.73. Most successful event, as all soci ety leaders were present. Thursday. Birthplace League social good fun. Church well decorated for event. Won first prize In Cakewalk open to members of all church societies. Friday Th Bilious Brotherhood refused my proposition to hold a Fall carnival. Would bring In big money and be splen did ad. for the church, but they aro all dead ones. Saturday. Tappers? Union held a most successful debate on the Advisability of Separating the Union from tho Church. Evening. Attended social and concert by the Young Gushers' Auxiliary and Church Aid Society. Lasted until daylight. Sunday. Bested. Too tired to go to church. Where Birth Rnte throw Luia. MELBOURNE, Aug. 18, 1953. Victoria Is greatly excited over tho news that a baby was born In tho colony last night. Ex cursion trains aro bringing in thousands of people from surrounding towns, and even from the other colonies. It Is feared that the little creature cannot survive, as there Is no one In the Commonwealth that knows how It should be treated. Keep Off the Limerick. It Is with regret that we see in otherwise carefully edited newspapers such a dread ful thing as a so-called "continued" Lira erick A Limerick Is essentially Incapable of continuation. It Is a Jewel of wit, pol ished, shining, and complete. It can no more bo continued than an epigram could bo stretched into a speech. It might. In deed, be possible to have a "sequence" of. Limericks, as In the case of the sonnet, but even then each would be solf-con-taincd, detached, as tho pearls in a neck lace or the stars In a constellation. The Limerick is the -one metrical form that the present ago can claim, and that alona should save us from those who would tinker with its completeness. Earlier times have given us many formal meas ures, tho ballade, the sestlna, the trifling triolet, the sonnet; and so forth, but It remained for the Victorian age to fix tho Jewel of tho Limerick in its tiara. An other point. We have had sonnets upon the sonnet, triolets upon the triolet, and Swinburne In "A roundel Is wrought as a ring or a star-bright sphere" has wrought a perfect ring for the linger of the muse. There Is even famous "bee" epigram upon the epigram, but where Is tho Limerick up on tho Limerick? Is Miss Carolyn Wells, whose Limericks are "jewels to hang in the. ear of thought," so dull a3 to leavo unnoticed thl3 blue chip upon the table of fame? PLEASANTRIES. OF IARAGRAriIERS "The Chinese are a very ancient race, aro they not?" queried the Information seeker. "Tes," replied the laundry-strike victim. "They belong to the Iron age." Chicago Dally News. McBluff I did want to tip you, waiter, but I have no change . "Walter I can make change for .you. sir. McBluff Er can you? "Well er give me Ave pennies for this nlckeL Philadelphia. Ledger. "Tou say your conscience prompted you to pursue this course?" "That's what I said," answered Senator Sorghum. "I concluded that I couldn't conscientiously refuse all that money." "Washington Star. "Did you hear that there was a skeleton In Smith's family?" asked Jones. "You don't say so!" exclaimed his wife. "Where?" "In side of Smith." replied Jones. And then ho chuckled Idiotically. New York News. "Maudle, dear, those shoes look tight. How do they feel on your feet?" "Perfectly com fortable, mamma." (To herself: "If she had asked me how my feet felt In the shoes, she would have had me!") Chicago Tribune. Befitting a Waitress. Polk She took part la your amateur play, didn't she? Jolk Oh. yes, she took the part of a waitress. Polk What sort of a costume did she wear Jolk A fetching one, of course. Philadelphia Press. "Unconscious humor Is always the best." "Yes," ' replied the amateur chauffeur, "the funniest thing I ever saw m my life was a fellow who furnished matter for one of the comic weeklies, after I had run over him tha other day." Chicago Record-Herald. His Musical Taste. "You never applaud at a concert." .''Xo," answered Mr. Cumror. "If I enjoy a piece well enough to applaud it, I know by that fact that It Isn't the sort of music that mother and the girls would ap prove of my aoplaudlng." Washlngtdn Star. The Ocean Located. The class In elementary geography was up for recitation. ''What Is an ocean?" asked the teacher. "You may answer, Jant." "It Is a large body of. water stiuated near Norfolk, Va.," replied Janet, who had once visited her aunt at the set shore. Kansas City Journal.