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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1903)
' THE MORND?a OBEGONIAN. 3I05iT AY. AUGUST 24, 1903. Entered at the Postofneo at Portland. Oregon, as second-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION BATES. By Mail (postage prepaid In advance) Daily, with Sunday, per month 50.85 Daily, Sunday excepted, per year.... Z0 Dsiir. with Sunday, per year 9-00 6unday, per year W The Weekly, per year 1.60 The Weekly. 3 months -M To City Subscribers Daily, per week, delivered. Sanday ercepted.lSe Daily, per week, delivered. Sanday included.SOc POSTAGE BATES. United States, Canada and Mexico 10 to 14-page paper. ...................... .le 16 to 20-page paper ...... - 2o 22 to 44-page paper.. ....... -Sc foreign rate double. News or discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonian should be addressed invari ably "Editor The Oregonian," not to the name of any individual. Letters relating to adver tising, subscription, or to any business matter thou.d be addressed simply "The Oregonian." Eastern Business Office. 43. 44. 45, 47. 48. 49 Tribune building, New York City; 610-11-12 Tribune building. Chicago; the S. a Beckwith Special Agency, Eastern representative. For Eale in San Francisco by L. E. Lee. Pal ' ace llotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros., 230 8utter street; F. W. Pitts. IOCS Market street; J. K. Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. Ferry newt eland; Frank Scott. SO Ellis street, and N. "Wheatley. 813 Mission street. For sale in Los Angeles by B. F. Gardner, South Spring street, and Oliver & Haines. 205 South Spring street. For sale in Kansas City, Mo., by Blcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and "Walnut streets. For sale in Chicago by the P. O. News Co.. 17 Dearborn street; Cnarlea MacDonald. 3 Washington street, and the Auditorium Annex Dews fitand. For eale in Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1012 Farnam street; Megeath Stationery Co., ,1303 Faraam street; McLaughlin Bros., 210 S. 14th street. For eale ia Ogden by W. G. Kind. 11 25th street; James B. CrockwelL 242 25th street; F. ft. Godard and C H. Myers. For eale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second South street.' For eale in Washington, D. C, by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale In Denver. Colo., by Hamilton A Kendrlck. 000-812 Seventeenth street; Louth an & Jackson Book & Stationery Co., Fifteenth end Lawrence streets; A Series, Sixteenth and Curtis streets. 1 YESTERDAY'S WEATHER Maximum tem perature, CS; minimum temperature, 07; pre cipitation, .02 of an inch. TODAY'S WEATHER Fair and slightly wanner; northwest winds. FORTLAXD, 3IOXDAY, AUGUST 24. OX THE GERMAN PLAX. "Whoever shall have chanced vpon a crowd of excited Germans, each enun ciating his views vociferously and ath letically at the samo moment, wilUre call his surprise at discovering that they were all of the same mind, and that whatever rivalry, If any, existed, was as to who should be able to ex press the common opinion of all in the most belligerent and "conclusive fashion. Such, as we understand It, Is the method of operation propounded for his newly acquired command, the Demo cratic party, by Senator Gorman, as re gards its attitude toward Republican measures In Congress. Mr. Gorman Is duly impressed with the fatuity of the prevailing Democratic policy, which is, in brief, to And out what the Republi cans propose, and then advocate the other thing. He realizes that between Republican discernment and Demo cratic perversity, his party has fallen upon evil days, and his remedy Is to try another plan. It will be diverting as well as In structive to watch the Democratic ag gregation perform at the crack of the new ringmaster's whip. "When Mr. Aldrich Introduces his revised currency bill, Senator Bailey will pour forth his most telling periods in its support. On the military appropriation bill. Patter son, erstwhile the Army's defamer, will pound his desk and grow red In the face in favor of the regular and the volunteer and the "War Department. As to the Philippines, the new Adminis tration act will see Stone vying with Lodge, and Daniel with Spooner, to up hold the honor of the flag and the traditional Democratic policy of expan sion. After you, Gaston; after you, my dear Alphonse. On perhaps the most Important Issues to come up. Senator Gorman himself Is most admirably equipped, by tem perament, by training and by experi ence, to earn out the Republican poli cies. "We refer to the tariff and the trusts. Support of Republican propo sals on either of these topics will come from Gorman with singular good grace. No man in New York City Itself has been so potent an Influence to black mail the corporations of "Wall street for the benefit of Tammany Hall, and to order the course of the Democratic party In Congress in keeping with the desires of Wall street. On the tariff, Mr. Gorman's standing Is unimpeach able. He has a record. He stole out of the Democratic free trade camp on a black night of 1S94 and betrayed the Wilson tariff reform bill to the Repub lican party and the protected corpora tions. It is only fair to Senator Gorman, however, to say thnt this programme may be attributed to him wrongfully. Possibly he has been misquoted. The utterance does not sound like him. "Nothing would be like Gorman that purported to reveal with pellucid frank ness what was In his mind. If he really said he favors not opposing the Repub lican financial and tariff measures, then the only thing -we are absolutely cer tain of is that he favors nothing of the sort. Mr. Gorman is too successful a politician to give the country the bene fit of what is passing in his mind too brainy, too able, too unscrupulous, too merciless, too cold-blooded, too fond of seeming to do one thing and secretly doing something else. Mr. Gorman's intimate friends, we are sure, will ab solve him of any purpose to do what he says he will do. They know him. GOOD MAXAGEvMEXT PAYS. The truth of the saying that "them as has, gets" is well illustrated in the price hopgrowers must pay for having their hops picked. According to the news dispatches, the growers who have a large yield of clean, hops have no difficulty In securing pickers at 40 cents a box, while those who have light yields must pay SI. That Is, the man who can well afford to pay 50 cents need not do so, while he who can't afford it must. An advance of 10 cents on the cost of picking a box of hops Is not much in amount, but it is 25 per cent, and runs into the hundreds of dollars on a large crop. And so it Is with other crops. It costs but little more to produce thirty bushels of wheat per acre than it does to produce fifteen. The plowing, seed ing and harvesting are the same, the only difference being In. the cost of threshing and hauling to market. Suc cessful farmers, like successful manu facturers, must study to secure the largest amount of product at the least expense. This cannot be accomplished by neglecting to cultivate a hopyard at fJ& jpropec times and in the. proper. manner. It cannot be done by taking grain off a farm year after year with out returning anything to the soIL The difference between a large crop and a small one usually represents the profits. A farmer may "make a bare living and keep out of the clutches of a mortgage-holder while pursuing methods which have proven unsuccess ful, but if It is profits he wants, he must be one of those who raises a crop above the average In yield.- By Increas ing the quantity, he not only has more to sell, but he reduces the relative cost of production. LESSOXS FR03I DISASTER, From the crash of the wreck, the mo ment of horror, the groans of the dying, it Is but a day to the sad and solemn hour of home-coming dead hidden from sight In merciful caskets, Injured borne on stretchers among weeping throngs and followed by maimed sur vivors, friends and relatives perform ing in tender anxiety every office that love's quick senses can suggest. It Is a pity that such things must happen. It Is a pity that such heart-searching sights must be seen, but some one must see them; what is worse, some must pass through them as the victims, and some one must carry to the grave the awful and Inescapable sense of respon sibility. The shallowest natures must be moved somewhat to reflect upon the perils which encompass our mortal path, and the fearful way In which modern life has multiplied the instru ments of fatal mischance. Reflection, indeed, might busy it self in speculating upon the remote in fluences of these unforeseen terrors. On the threshhold we encounter the va cation days of joy turned Into death for some, periods of mourning or life long infirmity for others. Great enter prises may hang in the balance upon the chance of such accidents. Nearly every life brought under their spell is changed materially for better or worse. Acquaintances are formed or those that would have been fateful fall to be formed, children are deprived of pa rents and thus embarked on precarious seas, homes are broken up, lives are clouded, and aftermaths of misery come upon many who are Innocent of any cause for It. A motorman ran over a little messenger boy once and crushed out the life In an Instant. He was blameless; he had children of his own, to whom he was a loving father; he never knowingly harmed the hum blest of God's creatures; but that day's work changed -his whole life. So mo mentous Is the part played by chance In every human history. The lessons of such a horror are apt to be overdrawn. Superstition persists In Its dismal surmises, although It was rebuked so long ago as the founder of Christianity. "When the tower of Siloam fell upon some wicked soldiers, and Pharisees wagged their heads in unmerciful Judgment, as they do to day, Jesus rebuked them. It Is a won derful' commentary on his teaching that 2000 years ago he saw the error which all but now pervaded the Christian world. Sodom and Gomorrah, he said, were not more guilty than the cities about them. Yet the precarlousness of life should at least be pressed home upon all beholders, and again there may be repeated the old reminder that life should be lived as if each moment were to be the last. Fun should have its rightful, but subordinate place. The Jolllest crowd of merry-makers should never forget the dignity and purpose required of all who live. The most ur gent lesson of these disasters Is for those who were responsible for the safety of the lives entrusted to their care, and there Is no way to inculcate due caution without punishment! Re gard for the living demands rigorous Inquiry Into the wrongs of the dead. No considerations of friendship or favor should stand between Justice and its complete satisfaction. A RECURRIXG STRAIN'. In the history of families there is nothing commoner than to find physi cal characteristics cropping out every two or three generations in such man ner that in most galleries there are por traits of different generations that, were It not for the difference of costume, might easily be taken as those of the same person. Such similarity of men tal characteristics Is less common, and It is therefore of especial Interest when observed In the case of such a family as that of the Cecils. The late Lord Salisbury was a wonderful counterpart of his ancestor, the great William Cecil of the Elizabethan age, in temperament and mental qualities, and In the lives of the two men are many striking co Incidences. Both were, men of learn ing, deeply interested in educational matters, William Cecil beings chan cellor of Cambridge University and Lord Salisbury chancellor of Oxford University. Both had the Infinite ca pacity fortaking pains. Seventy-five years of age, and already sickening to his death, William Cecil read and anno tated 1290 important documents in a single year. Lord Sallsburg rarely traveled with out a dispatch box full of state papers, and his knowledge of detail was Im mense. As Secretary of State for India, he knew the inner working of every de partment of his office, and the memory of his administration was kept green through its contrast with a successor's. Lord Randolph Churchill, on being asked if it did not take long to master the details of the India Office, indig nantly replied: "Details! You don't think I bother with details!" Further more. William Cecil and Lord Salisbury had the same liking for the Intricacies of foreign affairs, William Cecil being respected abroad as Lord Salisbury was later. Even in the coincidences of these men's lives their resemblances of char acter are brought out. In the face of bitter parental opposition. Lord Sails, bury married the wife with whom he lived so long and happily. His allow ance was cut off, and he was forced to make a living with his pen. William Cecil, while attending St. John's Col lege, Cambridge, then the most famous place of learning in England, met Mary Cheke, sister of his Instructor in Greek. She was the daughter of a tradesman, and her entire fortune, present and prospective, was 40. Naturally the wealthy courtier "viewed with regret" and anger his son's Intention to marry this pauper girl. He took young Will iam away from Cambridge, but two months later the young man slipped oft to London and married his Mary Cheke. The irate father altered his will, but the early death of Mistress Cecil made him relent. To the credit of Cecil, he kept up his correspondence with his dead wife's family, and when his mother-in-law died she left him her "new bed, with the bolsters and hang ings," to be kept In trust for her grand son, "Thomas SyselL" A, second mar riage proved, hojsyjv acd, William Cecil lived a peaceful home life, until, in fiis declining years, his wife died, leaving him a lonely figure, reserved, aloof, waiting for death. Just as Lord Salis bury was in his last years. Another interesting coincidence is that William Cecil sat for Stamford in Parliament in 1547. Lord'Salisbury rep resented the same borough in 1E53. It would. Indeed, be difficult to find such another case in history as that of these two men. Essentially one In character, habits, preferences; holding the highest office In the kingdom at the highest tides of the kingdom's power; wise in council, striving to maintain unsullied their names and their official honors. " Tls a difficult thing," wrote William Cecil to a close friend, "to prove one's honesty without endanger ing one's fortune," and he evidently laid more stress upon the first object than the second, for he left a great rep utation for honesty, but a small fortune. PEXALTY OP PRODIGALITY. The man who must make his way In the world and Is not saving some money these days is a pretty poor sort of man. All kinds of business enter prlces are prospering, and wages are high. There Is employment for every one six days In the week. The time to save money is when you can get It to save, and can lay it by without deny ing yourself either the necessities or the comforts of life. It Is a rule which holds good much too often, that the more a man earns the more he will spend. This ought not to be so to a very great extent. If by "spending" Is meant the needless expenditure of the results of labor. The purchase of cost ly luxuries and the extravagant expen diture of money on empty pleasure soon form habits not easily broken when reverses come and money is less plentiful. The more you earn, the more you should -spend In buying a home, Improving your property, making safe investments and increasing the earn ing capacity of your business. It is not necessary to predict a return of hard times, nor to reflect that old age will soon appear, or that health may fall, in order to assign a sufficient rea son for frugality. Frugality needs no defense; prodigality can have none. The young man who has money that he has earned has power, not because money Is power, but because he has earning capacity and has hard cash as evidence of his ability. Money talks, and when it has been earned honestly It speaks the praises of Its owner. The young man who Is accumulating some thing as the result of his efforts, soon wins a substantial place In the estima tion of the worthy people among whom he lives. He counts for something In the higher business and political cir cles, though he may not shine in "so ciety," where spendthrifts are too often lionized. The man who has made his name good at the bank need not carry a pocketful of testimonials when he ap plies for a position. If the banker knows him, he will need no introduc tion among other men of affairs. Economy, but not stinginess, is an es sential of success. THE NEW MILITARY SYSTEM. With the retirement of General Miles the general staff of the Army began Its career. It Is an effort to model our military system, or rather lack of sys tem, after the systems In use In Ger many and France, nations which main tain vast standing armies in time of peace. Such militaristic nations are obliged to create a vast military ma chine and carefully maintain It, but neither the United States nor . Great Britain can be said to be militaristic nations. Neither Great Britain nor the United States maintains a vast stand ing army; neither of these two great nations enforces conscription in time of peace, as do Germany and France, for both have a hereditary dread of great standing armies and trust the na tion in emergencies to fill up the ranks of war with patriotic volunteers. This system will do well enough for the United States and Great Britain for do mestic defense or against civil war, for neither Great Britain nor the United States could be successfully invaded, but for aggressive warfare or for wars of conquest against first-class modern soldiers the American and British sys tem Is so weak that, despite the fact that Great Britain and the United States always have a full Army chest and have as good raw fighting material as any .in the world, the American mili tary system broke down so completely In our Invasion of Cuba that nothing but the poverty and Incapacity of Spain saved us from humiliating repulse. Suppose the Spaniards had been as well supplied and had shot as well as the Boers, would Shafter have forced the surrender of Santiago In a thirty days' campaign? The British system fell down In the Boer War, although It was good enough for "home consumption" and for fighting the hill tribes of India. It is impossible to impose the German military system upon the people of the United States or Great Britain, because militarism would not be endured In the shape of general conscription In time of peace. All that we can do to better our military system is to adopt such changes in Army organization modeled after the Continental systems that seem adapted to increasing the Army's efficiency and power. In the new gen eral staff an effort Is made to concen trate the best brains upon the work of preparing for possible war by planning campaigns, organizing methods of transportation and furnishing military supplies. In other words, the new gen eral staff Is in theory to be selected for the purpose of putting Into practice the wisdom of Washington, "In time of peace prepare for war." In theory we are to have a military administrative machine so excellent that when war comes, no matter from what quarter, we shall have the solution of the mili tary problem already worked out to the smallest details. Moltke could make this kind of preparation because the field of operations had been fought over repeatedly In the last five centuries; had been mapped carefully and every battle exhaustively analyzed pro arid con by famous strategists. But In a new country, like the United . States, the ground would be for the most part, from the military point of view, un known land. The Virginia Peninsula, a very old section of our country, was so unknown to McClellan's engineers that his plan of advance was constant ly balked through Ignorance of the country; Sherman found all the maps of the country between Dalton and Atlanta worthless. The British In the Boer War found themselves constantly In trouble through their igncrance of the field of operations, for the Boer maps were better than their own. The new general staff wai doubtless be of great service in the matter of keeping tha Army, abreast of the times in its preparation for war, but it Is doubtful whether it will effect as much in practice as It promises In the ory. Each incoming President will be able to select his own Chief of Staff from the whole list of Brigadier, and Major-Generals, and any President may make a change during his term of office, but our Chief of Staff can serve no more than four years In succession. The country Is promised under this new system a .freedom from much of the old friction between the Secretary of War and the nominal military head of the Army, but In practice some sort of friction between an able Chief of Staff and his civilian superiors will be sure to prevail. In our Civil War Gen eral Halleck undertook to be Chief of Staff to President Lincoln, but proved so Incompetent that Lincoln wrote "him a very severe letter of censure and complaint Finally, Lincoln took the bridle in his teeth, ignored Halleck practically, and urged Congress to con centrate military power In the hands of Grant, upon whom Halleck, as nom inal Chief of Staff to Lincoln, had sat down heavily as long as he could keep his seat. During the Boer War General Lord Wolseley retired from the British War Office because of his troubles with the civilian Secretary of War. In Euro pean countries the head of the War De partment, who sits In the Cabinet, Is al most always a soldier by profession, as In France, when Generals Galllfet and Andre have In turn been the head of the War Department. The new system will undoubtedly increase the efflclency of the United States In Its preparation for war, but It will not eliminate the friction between the professional sol dier highest In rank or command and the civilian head of the War Depart ment, which has been a historic fact since the days of General Scott, who was relieved of his command In Mexico by President Polk because of his Insub ordination to the authority of Secretary of War Marcy. It Is always a question of executive ability and temper, of wise personal appointments and administra tion under all systems. The" general staff system might work admirably un der a Secretary of War like Mr. Root, and might exhibit a great deal of fric tion under a Secretary of War like Alger. Whatever may be accomplished or may fall In the way of securing Fed eral appropriations or other recogni tion at Washington through the efforts of the Trans-MIsslssippi Congress, the recent meeting of that body cannot be other than productive of much good. Not a. man who attended the meeting took part In the deliberations or lis tened to the able papers that were read but learned something of value regard ing his fellow-citizens and the localities In which they dwell. The men from the North and West found the men from the far South an active, energetic band of hustlers who had bullded fine cities, blazed trails through swamp and forest and developed a country to which they now Invite their North ern neighbors to come and join them. From out of the sunny South, no longer the home of the lotus-eater, came representatives who looked with awe on the marvelous natural resources of the bounding West, They told the Westerners all about the millions that were added to the 'country's wealth with their sugar, cotton and tobacco. The Westerners came back with figures showing that the mines of the West, our forests, fisheries and farms, turned out enough wealth to buy all of that cotton, cane and tobacco and leave enough remaining to pay for the corn crop and the hogs to which It was fed throughout the Middle West. The men from Utah were there In force, and their Intelligence and active support of all measures proposed for the general good of the American people won for them the highest regard of the dele gates, irrespective of creed or religion. With the exception of the few who at tend such meetings for junketing pur poses, they were all there to learn something to secure a better under standing of the people and the various localities from which they came. Many of them were business men to whom time was money, and they would not take the time to cross the continent unless they could receive some recom pense in the way of Increased knowl edge which will prove valuable to them. The total expenditures for the sup port of the common schools of the state for the past year was 51,676,907. This oovers all expenditures, Including erec tion of new buildings, purchase of ap paratus, etc. 'As there were, in round numbers, 100,000 children enrolled In the public schools, the expense per capita was about $16.76 for the school year. Distributed over the entire population of the state, the burden of maintaining the common schools averages about $4 per year for each inhabitant. Some 5200,000 of the total expenditure was raised by the loaning of the irreducible school fund, leaving 51,476,000 raised by taxation. This sum is about 1 per cent upon the total taxable property In the state. The public school system Is the greatest and most Important depart ment of the governmental machinery, whether It be viewed from the stand point of money expended or ends to be gained. At this season of the year the teachers of the state are assembling In their annual county teachers' Institutes to prepare themselves, better for their work. In other words, they are study ing out ways by which they can give the pebple more for their money. This is a problem that does not often trou ble the mind of a public employe, and one might be tempted to pass the teachers an unqualified compliment were it not for the fact that attendance at teachers' institutes has been secured only by means of very strict laws en acted for that purpose. Though a large number of teachers attend the an nual institute under compulsion, it Is pleasant to believe that a far larger proportion of them are willing to make this sacrifice of time and money In or der to fit themselves more thoroughly for their work. The Kansas City Times says that the Kaw Is not a poet's river. Its name, to be sure, is against it, but the Times referred to the river's disgraceful be havior in rampaging through streets and other places where rivers have no business.' This Is a mistake on the part of the Times. Experience teaches us that It is the wild, passionate, ob streperous girls and rivers that the poets sing. A peaceful bread-and-butter river is a much pleasanter neigh bor than the untamed Kaw, but it Is never likely to be immortalized In verse. "No discrimination" should be the motto of the wind off Sandy Hook this week. Even if they are nothing but big gun boats, they; fly. the pennant, THE RICHEST AMERICAN. Chicago Record-Herald. Walter Wellman says In a recent letter that Morgan Is now considered second to Rockefeller in Wall street: that If the latter Is not In control of the New York Central he soon will be, and that he is gradually acquiring an Interest In the Pennsylvania which will give him a voice in the management of that railroad. Mr. Rockefeller is also Interested in lake shipping, in Iron and copper mines. In the United States Steel Company. In banks, and all as a result of his original Interest In oil. When he had perfected the oil monopoly, that Is when he had come virtually to control a great coun try's output of a natural product that was given forth in great abundance, and that was one of the necessities of modern life, the subsequent developments were sim ple enough. He could take what he would by levying tribute upon the whole.natlon, and it Is impossible now to fix any limit to his power. His income la so enormous ly In excess of what he can use that ev ery year adds many millions to his funds for investment, so that he Is In a position to take advantage of any opportunity that may offer for profitable purchases of any description. When there is a flurry in Wall street and a rush to sell he can buy shares by the thousands and tens of thou sands. From dictating to one trust he can proceed to dictate to others by'vlrtue of his increased holdings, and the only limit placed upon him Is that Imposed by death. If he could reach the years of a Bible patriarch the whole country might become merely a Rockefeller com bine. Much unfavorable criticism has been directed against his methods, while at the same time he has had his defenders, who havo praised his character, his charities and his manner of life, but the interest ing thing after all is the simple fact of his power. It so" far transcends any ques tion as to his personality that It is doing more than all the essays and books that have been written by Marx. Lassalle and others of their kind to promote the prop aganda of socialism. Women and Drench of Promise Suits. New York Times. Of every thousand suits for breach of promlse'to marry, It least 339 ore brought by women. Now, It Is probable that men are the victims of such breaches at least as often as women, and thereforo the question arises whether the vast predom inance of feminine plaintiffs has any sig nificance as to the relative delicacy of mind possessed by the two sexes. For a breach of promise suit is essentially in delicate. To bring it requires a more or less brutal Indifference to public ridicule, and an amazing willingness to place one's self and one's private emotions un der derisive inspection and vulgar com mentary. And men rarely do all this, while women do it frequently. It's very puzzling. Of course, there is the matter of money, more commonly in the posses sion of men than of women, but that ex planation Is not kind to the women, for It Involves the assumption that they are mercenary, and that for the sake of money they are willing to go through an ordeal that would be simply frightful for men in most respects callous. As for the 'Vindication." which the plaintiffs usually say is all they want, that Is too mysterious for masculine discussion. We simply do not know what the dear crea tures mean when they talk about the "vindication" that results from a breach of promise suit. As a general rnle. some observers declare, men hate "scenes" much more than women do, and a suit of the kind under consideration partakes of the nature of "scenes." But why do men hate "scenes" more than women do? Is It because the "scene" usually reveals the man as a villain of one kind or another? Perhaps peace and safety can be bought only by letting it go at that. The Two Canal It out cm. Kansas City Star. Fortunately the United States need not consent to being held up by Colombia in order to construct a transisthmian water way. While the engineering advantages are with the Panama route, the difference In its favor is comparatively small. In a paper prepared for the Knife and Fork Club, of Kansas City, a year ago Mr. Al fred Noble, a member of the Isthmian Commission, said: A great waterway afford Ins a safe transit for ships and answering every demand of com merce can be made by either route and the ad vantages possessed by the Panama route ate not worth vraltlng' long or paying an excessive price for. There is little difference between the two routes in cost of construction. But it is estimated that the maintenance of the longer canal through Nicaragua would be about $1,300,000 a year In excess of that for the Panama waterway. Offsetting this is tho fact that the northern route would save a day for vessels operating between North Atlantic and North Pacific ports and two days for those between harbors in the North Pacific and the Gulf. The commission estimates that the econ omy of this saving of time would not compensate for the extra cost of mainte nance. But, as Mr. Noble has said, there is a difference of opinion as to the amount of tho advantage for the Panama route. He does not think it large. Therefore, If Colombia tries to hold up this Gov ernment, negotiations to secure the Nic aragua right of way should begin at once. Can't Import Xewspnper Sense. St. Paul Pioneer Press. But no school or process of education can ever make a newspaper man, as that term is used ( in the profession. No amount of education will Implant that subtle instinct, the noso for news. Prac tical experience develops It, and when It is present knowledge and mental training supplement it. become its instruments, and a high-class newspaper man la the result. But as every newspaper office knows by frequent and sad experience, neither news-gathering nor the selection and arrangement of news is a matter of scholarship. Some of tho brightest and best informed young men, and hundreds who possess a superior command of Eng lish prove useless in a newspaper office. And to a certain extent this rule applies even to editorial writing. Breadth of In formation and a sense of responsibility of the newspaper to the public, which can perhaps be Instilled if the aspirant Is caught young enough, help to protect against serious errors, but nothing can supply the want of common sense, of sound Judgment and of Intellectual hon esty so painfully apparent in the editorial columns of weak newspapers. Increased. Cost of Living. Chicago Record-Herald. According to the reports of the corps of experts sent out by the Employers' Asso ciation, the cost of living has Increased 15 per cent in the last five years. The ex perts found that In comparison with the values of 1S9S, the prices of fuel, rent, groceries, meats, clothing and milk have Increased on the average 11 per cent, while the cost of luxuries, such as theaters and amusements, has Increased 3 per cent. The prices upon which these calculations were based were obtained from dealers along Blue Island. Archer and Milwaukee ave nues, where the shops are dependent upon worklngmen for patronage. Whether workingmen who demand an increase in wages will accept these statistics on the cost of living as a basis of adjustment is. of course, problematical. They have some value, however. In that they affirm the general belief that there has been a marked increase In tho cost of the neces saries of life. Shamrock III, '03 Defeat 3? New York Sun. Sir Thomas Upton, king of TTTTT, Would make the Shamrock queen of CCCCC, But Yankee boats, the busy BBBBB. Have held the cup with greatest EEEEE. Oh, what a trinity of 33333 If we whip now. oh. huUy GGGGGI So Shamrock 1 mind your QQQQQ and PPPPP And win Sir Thomas many WYW And KE&sh that trinity ot 23333, THE CRY OF THE WEAKLING. New York Evening Post. The "weakling" caught it again, yester day, at Oyster Bay. Indeed, the President In addressing the Holy Name Society a Roman Catholic antl-profanlty league seemed to have misgivings as to his hear ers, for he repeatedly assured them that they were not weaklings, and urgently bade them add strength to their charac ters as they subtracted it from their oaths. It was lucky that there were no weaklings present, for the President said with his customary severity on this subject: "I am not addressing weaklings, or I should not take the trouble to come here." And yet we think It would have been fortunate if some tremulous weakling in the audi ence had found voice to plead for his pit iful class. "Mr. President," he might have said, "why will you talk to all the strong men of the land, and not to us who so sorely need you? In particular, why do you constantly excoriate us in our ab sence? By your own words there are very few of us. One hall, one hillside of Oyster Bay. would contain us all. Why not deal with us once for all; talk firm ness Into our knees. Stiffness Into our backbones, and Iron into our blood? Un til you dragged us from our obscurity we were a simple, inoffensive folk; now with our kinsmen the cravens we perish of public contumely. Convert us, great fath er, to the strenuous life, or give us again oblivion." Having ventured so much, the weakling's tongue would once more cleave to the roof of his mouth; but the Presi dent, we feel, would be bound to honor the weakling's supplication for an audi ence, or let him alone. Possibly the lat ter would be best. For the weakling has had the straw so thoroughly trounced out of him that he no longer retains even a figurative value. A NEW SAXDWICir. What the Office Boy Found When He Went Down to Cnnariie. New York Commercial Advertiser. By the Office Boy. Since the excise law Has competed Coney Island and other re sorts to serve a Meal with each glass of Beer that is sold. The Properties are serving all sorts of humorlous sandwiches these days. One In particular was served in canarsle the other evening. It Consist ed of a leaf torn from an old cigar pressed out ana covered with sawdust. and two pieces of bread that a horse could not break. The w'alter was asked what the Idea of serving such a sandwich as that. "Well, I'll tell you we make the Sandwiches out of Stale Ham and stale bread and Scatted them around the tabfes early in the Morning of Course these sandwiches are not Ment to be eat. But they eat them Just the same so the pro prleor Came to the Conclusion that the only way to remedy this was to serve this sort of sandwich, the name of it is Called a Havana Sandwich. Every one laughed and thought It was the best Addition in the Sandwich Lino that has yet been served. A Democratic Scheme. St. Paul Pioneer Press. Democratic politicians are said to be en gaged in a scheme for bringing about a re newal of the strike In the Pennsylvania coal fields next year during the Presi dential contest. They recall the advantage they gained from the Homestead troubles In the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1S92; and doubtless imagine that if sim ilar troubles can again bo fomented tho blame can be successfully laid at the door of the party in power, with the result of a labor landslide toward the Demo cratic ticket But if this scheme Is really under consideration, the aforesaid poli ticians have made of too little account the difference between Harrison and Roosevelt. Harrison was a man of cold disposition, finding only Intellectual appreciation among the masses ot his countrymen. Roosevelt is a warm-blooded man of the people. In whom the worklngmen confide and around whom they delight to rally. They would see through the scheme at once, and would decline to bo used by Its promoters. The heartlessness of the latter, who, for a political purpose, would bring about a repetition of the miseries attending the recent coal strike, is beyond comment. Mr. Folk Pauses the Test. New York World. It appears that Mr. Bryan has discovered Circuit Attorney Folk, of St. Louis, and, more extracrdinary still, actually approves of him. If anybody else In the United States expressed approval of Mr. Folk it would naturally be on the ground of his wonderful campaign for public honesty, by which he has Invigorated the fight against corruption throughout the conti nent. But to Mr. Bryan this is a minor consideration. The first thing that quali fies Mr. Folk for a seat among the elect Is that he "has been a consistent friend of the Cnicago and Kansas City declara tion of faith." Incidentally "he has done a great work here in Missouri." How small that work in Missouri appears to the editor of the Commoner in comparison with Chicago-platform orthodoxy may be appreciated from the fact that Mr. Bryan was In Jefferson City helping to launch the Hon. Gumshoe Bill" Stone's Presi dential boom at the very time when Mr. Folk was identifying that statesman as a paid lobbyist of the baking powder trust, several of whose other agents and benefi ciaries are now in the penitentiary as a result of Mr. Folk's efforts. The Handle and the Illn.de. C. F. Copeland, in Omaha World-Herald. Ah! "Well I remember some leseons of wisdom My father and mother Impressed oa my mind; Among the old adages, proverbs and sayings. The wisdom of this I right often can lind. In handling all tools that have any sharp edges, A knife or a razor, a scythe or a spade. Or axes, or hatchets, or chisels or wedges, Take hold o the handle Instead o the blade." And think when you're dealing with rough hu man nature. There's good in the worst and there's bad in the best. Don't think your own style is the only correct one, Nor look for perfection in all of the rest There's much human nature around and about us With angular points and sharp edges arrayed. But in them you'll find some redeeming at traction. "Take hold ot tho handle Instead of the blade." I've neighbors in plenty with mannerless call-' dren. Dogs, cats, pigs, chickens a bothersome train. But how could I better my present condition By adding their hatred, contempt and dis dain? , And since wo can't have everything to our fancy. And we, among others, some errors hare made, Le's note what is pleasant, ignoring tho bal ance. Take hold of the handle instead of the blade." And some, having Intellects, stx-for-a-nlckel. Are constantly tramping on neighborhood corns. When plucking a rosebud ot ravishing beauty. They seem to see nothing except ugly thorns. If trouble you're seeking In patches and acres. You surely can find it and not be delayed; Don't "mind your own business," but faults of. your neighbors. Grab loose of the handle and hold of the blade. And yet. Holy Writ teaches this beyond doubt ing. That "X am a keeper of brothers around." And brotherly kindness can point out their errors In. words clear and plain; It by charity bound. Appeal to their manhood, their honor and reason, Let love and respect every sentence per vade. Nine times out of ten they will make strong endeavor To hide In the handle tho edgo of the blade. NOTE AND COMMENT. Of course, the kids cannot go alone. Some anarchists are harmless, but no fool. Thurston DanieUt may be smashed, but never scooped. A man must be truly hardened If tho sound ot a church bell docs not- make him think. Tho tramp who put his neck across tho rail In front of a Northern Pacific train lost his head. And he must be truly regenerated If the sound of two ,or three together does not make him swear. To be virtuous may be to spend a lonely evening, but you don't have such a bad head the next morning. A man who papers his room with worth less bonds should fill his cistern ' with water from tho stock. If the Humberts had only got away with five or ten million more they might have escaped with six months' Imprisonment. Woman has been described as one ot nature's agreeable blunders. What should we have if nature were ever dlsageeable? Twenty Getablta breakfasts .... get busy .... makes red muscle on the .... jaw . . '. . physical cul ture while you eat .... get busy. A man named Star has married a girl named Glider In Washington, la. After marriage the girl will be the glider, es pecially when he's trying to sneak into the house at 3 G. M. Judging from the interest taken by lawyers In the question of the county's authority to make prisoners work on the rockpile, a number of attorneys must bo expecting visits from a Deputy Sheriff. When we read of a porcupine being clubbed to death near Oregon City it is with a feeling of sorrow that so many in teresting animals are doomed to extinc tion. It Is inevitable, at least until pub lic sentiment changes considerably, that nearly all the wild animals shall be wiped out of existence, even those that do no great harm. All that can be done Is to say It's a pity. Astonishing are the fashions In books. Just now nothing Is published except letters. John Snooks, artist, writes to Elsie Dingbat, idiot, and they discuss love, law and religion. To be in the latest style the author must preserve a deep anony mity, or the author of one set of letters may be announced, while the other set has been written by Myrtle Muldoon, and the publishers whisper loudly that Myrtle Muldoon Is none other than a great leader of New York sasslety. The form of letters has nothing to recommend It. It handicaps the best author and smothers the others. A new hat and" a new literary style have the same vogue and the same ephemeral life. On Saturday the following paragraph was published: A Nebraskan married hl3 stepmother. If the couple should have a child what relationship would It bear to Its mother's first husband? Mrs. Nellie Jones, of Oregon City, re plies that the child would be no relation to its mother's first husband, because tho woman's first husband, if now alive, would be only .her father-in-law. William P. Johnson, of Vancouver, Wash., whose writing, by the way,' is almost Illegible, says the child would be the grandson ot Its mother's first husband, as he was tho father of the child's father. In view of these earnestly expressed opinions we have given up all hope of a definite solution of the question. To the Dead I'orcupfne. Surly and bristling. Like a human dub. Who same as you Learns only from a club. The Bachelor Heart. Good wine I find a great strengthener of the bachelor heart, Ike Marvel. t The bachelor heart Is sometimes sad. And weary, oh, and dreary, oh, And wishes, with Bums, It only had A dearie, oh, and a dearie, oh. But the bachelor care Is an easy care. Will fluker out with liquor out; Conjuring the vision of False and Fair" To kick her out, the quicker out. Experiment a Success. There had been a train wreck and the graduate from the Pulitzer College of Journalism had been sent out to cover the story. IP the World office all was excitement, as. this was regarded as the first test of the system. A messenger boy dashed into Mr. Pulitzer's office. Tho founder of the first college of journalism tore open the envelope and glanced at the dispatch. Tears of joy stood in his eyes as he summoned the managing editor. "I am justified," he exclaimed, as the editor read aloud: "The scene at the wreck beggared description." FLEASAXTRIES OF PARAGRAPHERS "Willie Pa, if a warship is called "she," why Isn't It a woman-of-war? Father It's your bedtime. Willie. Boston Bost. She Now that I have openly confessed my one Indiscretion to you, what do you say? He That you have committed a second! Brooklyn Life. Tess When It comes to flirting, he's rather green. Isn't he? Jess Not now. Tess No? Jess No, he's blue. I rejected him today. Philadelphia Press. "Oil and water won't mix." remarked tho Wise Guy. "It would be pleasant to know the same thing about milk and water," snickered the Simplo Mug. Philadelphia Record. , "That man, sir. Is one of the greatest UsA. ures In the financial world." "I want to know!" "Yes, sir. He's tho patentee of pre dlgested securities." Detroit Free Press. "When a man can't do no good foh hlsse'f," said Uncle Eben, "he's liable to try to mako trouble foh somebody else, hopln dat he'll feel happy by comparison." Washington Star. Miss Lakeside Why can't I play with that girl next door, ma? Mrs. Lakeside Becaus. my dear, she's not in our class. Her mother Is not receiving one-third the alimony yours Is. Town Topics. "I've got a new boy at my house," said th barber proudly, as he began operation on the faca before him. "That's my fourth." "All little shavers, eh?" said the lathered cus tomer. BatUmoro American. Mlsa DeAuber (an amateur artist) Have you ever been done in oil. Mr. Marks? Mr. Marks Well. I guess yes. Miss DeAuber And who was the artist Mr. Marks Artist nothing! It was a promoter that did me. Chicago News. Visitor You haven't got half as nice a ceme tery here as we have In Elmville. Prominent Citizen No; I've always heard that the ceme tery Is the only part of your town that holas out any inducement for permanent residents-. Chicago Tribune. "I wonder why so many people grinned at me as' I came from the car?" said the foppish old gentleman. "Do you see anything ridicu lous In mV wig?" "Nothing but your heaa. my dear," calmly rejoined the wife of his bosom. Chicago News. Young wife (rather nervously) Oh, cook, t must really speak to you! Your master la al ways complaining. One day it Is the soup, tha second day it is the ash, the third day it is tho Joint in fact. It's always something or other. Cook (with feeling) Well, mum, I'm sorry for you. It must be qulfe hawful to live with a gentleman of that sort. London Punch,