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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1905)
8 TO TASK Motives of Lafe Pence Discussed. FILES ON WATER RIGHTS Colonel L. L Hawkins Declares Scheme a Hold-Up. LOOKS INTO THE FUTURE Declares It Appears Pence Is At tempting to Gain Control of Portland's Water Supply and Hold Up Public in Future. Colonel L. L. Hawkins The scheme of Lafe Pence In filing- upon various streams, creek and water rights In Multnomah and adjacent counties is a hold-up proposition. It is- also a scheme to hold up the people, ilr. Pence ia a mischief maker from fhe ground up. Frustrate his plans and restore the water to the people. Mr. Pence Nothing of the sort! Our surrey on the canal from the Sandy River Is almost completed, and we hope that all concerned will be benefited by our expenditure of .labor and capital. As to the Balch and Johnson creeks, Colonel Hawkins is Incorrect In what be fays. "We are not ready at present to talk about the whole of our plans in that section. "We are willing to fur nish fire protection and a water foun tain for the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Wait a bit! Colonel I. L. Hawkins. Park Commis sioner, made a number of serious state ments yesterday morning1 at a meeting of the County Court.' reflecting on the motives of Lafe Pence, a recent arr'val here from Colorado, in filing upon Sandy River, B'lch and Johnson Creeks, and many other streams of water in Multno mah and adjoining Counties. The Colonel denounced Mr. Pence and Intimated that the latter Is practicing a hold-up game on the people. Itr an interview Mr. Pence denies Colonel Hawkins allegations, and siates that his scheme Is of the bona fide order and that he is acting for peo I'lf who are interested mainly In irriga tion work. Mr. Pence's lawyer says that 1ne filing of water rights referred to and the subsequent work on the properties arc being carried out subject to the gen eral irrigation law of Oregon. The first gun in the dispute was fired by t'olonel Hawkins at the meeting of the bounty Court, at which Commissioners Lightner and Barnos were present. Judge "Webster is out of the city. Colonel Hawk ins used plain, unmistakable language. Up charged Pence with trying to appro priate the waters of the Sandy River, Barnes, Canyon and Balch Creeks, and many other streams, and said the pur pose of Pence was to hold up the people. "olonel Hawkins further stated that Pence has filed on water rights in other counties and urged that the public should r aroused with the purpose of frustrating Pence's plans and restoring the water to the people. The Commissioners prom ifd. to take action upon the return of Judge Webster. Calls Him Mischief-Maker. I would like to bring a little matter be fore the attention of the County Com missioners in which the public Is deeply interested," began Colonel Hawkins, In addressing the court. "A gentleman named Lafe Pence, who has recently come In our midst. Is trying to do up the whole community In a way which I shall outline as 1 go along. He is a mischief-maker from the ground up, and the purpose of my talk is that measures shall be taken to thwart his plans; to nip them in the bud. He went to Bull Run River and appropriated all of Bull Run except what the city was using, and would have succeeded except for the shrewdness of Superintendent Dodge of th Portland Waterworks, who ascer tained what was going on and cut Pence off by having the Legislature pass a bill. Pence's scheme probably was to hold up the city for two or three thousand dollars. "Pence has filed on the Sandy River and streams all around it, streams adjacent to the Barnes and Canyon roads and Balch Creek. Prints of his filings in the Recorder's office show reservoirs, dam sites and floodgates and routes laid out In all directions. His whole purpose and scheme is to lie in abeyance for a while, to lie quietly by for a few years, and the f'rst thing you know when a farmer any plae wants a little water or wants to dig a ditch. Pence will say. 'That is my water. Tou can t use it unless you pay mt for it, and you can use only so much' Tie has taken up Balch Creek, which runs through Macleay Park. That is how my attention, as one of the Park Com missioners was first particularly directed to this matter. Pence's object Is to graft on the people. Asks Board to Investigate. This board should take hold of this thing. I don't know what power is given to the board, but you ought to get a good man to investigate this scheme and choke it off. The different counties of the state should be notified and get together and. pee if he can do this. He raised a big row here in the mining convention. Aud itor Devlin knows his history. Are we going to have some man come in from the outside and grab uj all these water rights? It is not contemplated by law, and I would like to got this matter venti lated. Just look over those blue prints in the Recorder's office and see how he has pot property located, with his routes and r:servoi.rs and floodgates marked. Why, it's absurd." "It's quite a hold-up game for future use." remarked Commissioner Llghtner. Mr. Lightner Talks. "olonel Hawkins coincided in this re mark, and Mr. Lightner continued: "We will see Judge Webster when he returns, and you had better speak .to him. There Is no such system of water rights taken up, skirted all around this city, for any good purpose." 'There is something In the law he has got on to which needs correction," said Vilonel Hawkins. The latter also called attention to the action of the Legislature in killing off Pence's Bull Run scheme, and commented: "It's not just the thing to patch up a flea bite, but to round up th whole proposition." A search in the County Recorder's office revealed the presence of a filing made by Mr. Pence last January by which h sought to appropriate 500 cubic 'feet yer second, or 20,000 miner's inches of the waters of Sandy River, In Clackamas and Multnomah Counties, and also 250 iUbic feet per second, or 10,000 miner's inches of Bull Run Creek or over, in ('lackamas County. The deed was signed hj Iafe Pense, and witnessed by Fretz. PORTLAND MEN HEJTRT HAHN. Hans Koch and George Crusted. The ob ject named was to supply pure water. Filings on the water of Marquam, Tan ner, Dairy, McKay, Balch and Johnson Creeks were made last March. The legal purpose of the appropriations of Balch and Johnson Creeks were stated to be: "For irrigation, domestic, household and municipal purposes and to create electric power and energy for light, transporta tion and all other purposes, and for hy draulic mining, sluicing, grading and fill ing purposes." The name of the pipe line is given as the Balch-Johnson pipe line, and the owners, "Lafe Pence, his associates, successors and assigns." Echo said: Where is the redoubtable Mr. Pence? His name was neither in the city director" nor telephone book, and on inquiry it was not known at the Post office. But he was found, and listened with an amused twinkle in his right eye at what the reporter had to tell him. An interview? He demurred. "Mr. Maxwell, of the firm of Hubcr &. Maxwell, this city. In setting up pegs for the finished survey proper from the ca nal on the Sandy River is getting on very well with the work, and we hope that what we are to accomplish In that sec tion will prove a great convenience to all parties who will take water from It. We hope all concerned will be benefited," began Mr. Pence, in reply to questions. "So far as our appropriation from the Balch and Johnson Creeks are concerned. Colonel Hawkins is in Ignorance of the real purpose of the appropriation. It will be some time yet before we can make any use of the plant, because we hope to do some grading, which has been hitherto found to be impossible by other methods on account of the heavy expense. "The first use to which the water will be put, In all probability, will be to afford fire protection to property .at the Lewis and Clark Exposition. My lawyer has arranged an appointment for himself and myself tomorrow morning, with President troode. of the Lewis and Clark Exposi tion. At that time I shall offer President Goode, free of all charge as any other public-spirited citizen would do the use of waters from our canal for the protec tion of the Exposition buildings from fire. I have met President Goode, but do -not know whether or not he will avail him self of the offer. I take it as a matter of course that he will, as It has been proved that the water pressure will be 300 feet head. He might also want to use the wa ter for ornamental purposes at the Expo sitionfor instance, a fountain. He will be perfectly welcome to do so, free of all charge, so far as we are concerned. Would Supply Fountain. "In addition to this, we have thought that by diverting a portion of the water from our flume through the west gate into Balch gulch, either upon our own land or on that other part of the gulch which is known as Macleay Park, we could make a water fountain which would espe cially present a very attractive feature to our Summer visitors. We, of courso, know that we will not get very much use of the water until the rains of next Fall and Winter. So. if the above features are well thought of by the Exposition managers, they will be very welcome to use them. It seems to me that this ought to make even Colonel Hawkins happy, for I. know that the chief object of his life is to present attractions to Portland visitors, and especially to beautify our parks. In which he takes so much In terest." Papers Filed at Hillsboro. HILLSBORO. April 12. (Special. ) Lafe Pence, of Portland, has filed arti cles with the Washington County .Re corder of Conveyances, reserving; the riparian rights of two streams in north Washing-ton County East Dairy Creek and McKay Creek. His filing sets forth that he appropriates 125 cu bic feet of water per second out of Dairy and 75 cubic feet per second out of McKay Creek. The canal, according to the draft. Is to be 20 miles in length, will have six huge reservoirs, and its dimensions will be ten feet bot tom and four feet depth. The water, according- to, his plat, will bo used for Irirgation. domestic use. household and municipal purposes, and will be used also to generate power for electric purposes. The pipe line is to be known as the "West Portland Canal and Pipe Line." The canal will run generally southeasterly In course, and it will take all of $1,000,000 to finance the enterprise. The surveying has been finished by A. W. Shearer, who for years followed mining engi neering in Southern Oregon. Filed In Oregon City. OREGON CITY, Or., April 12. (Spe cial.) "Valuable water rights in Clack amas County were filed upon last Jan uary by Iafe Pence, who proposes by the organisation of "The Suburban Home Supply Canal & Pipe Line" to fur nish the residents of the suburbs of Portland an adequate supply of water for all purposes. Mr. Pence proposes to appropriate from the Sandy river in Clackamas and Multnomah Counties 500 cubic feet of water per second, the point -of diversion being- at a point on the southwest bank of the Sandy River in section 25, town ship 1 south, range 4 east of the Wil lamette meridian, where the bank of said river is crossed and intersected by the range line between ranges 4 and 5 east of the Willamette meridian. From the water of Bull Run River or CreCk Mr. Pence expects to appropriate 250 cubic feet of water per second. The point of diversion of those waters will be at the headgatc of the pipe lines, which will be located on the west bank THE MOBNIffg DREGOlSTAy, THUBSDAY, 'APRIL' 13, 1905. HOLD CONFERENCE WITH TRAFFIC REPRESENTATIVES AND K. B. MILLER. of the creek at the west end of the county bridge across said creek in sec tion 6, township 2 south, range 5 east. In appropriating- these waters, it is the intention of Mr. Pence to provide water for domestic and other purposes to the people of Russellville, Monta villa. Mount Tabor, Stewarts, Wood stock and St. Johns and the other suburbs of Portland. None Filed In Marion. SALEM. April 12. On inquiry, Lafe Pence, of Portland, has not yet filed on water rights with th$ County Clerk of Marion County. MASTERS NAMED BY THE FIFTH New Deal Club Indorses Candidate for Councilman. Backed by the Indorsement of the New Deal Club, W. Y. Masters, is the latest name to be added to the already long list of candidates from which the Republicans of the Fifth Ward will be asked to select their representative in the Council. The entry of Mr. Masters Into the field will be somewhat of a surprise, since' heretofore he has been little mentioned as a possible candidate for the nomination, and not until the meeting of the Fifth Ward New Dealers, held last night, did his name come up. This meeting was held at the request of the generaj committee of the New Deal, which asked that the executive committee, each precinct committee and all members of the organization in each ward should meet for the purpose of agreeing upon nominees from each precinct for the city central committee. All but four of the precinct? of the Fifth Ward were repre sented at last night's meeting The following' nominees In the precincts named were decided upon as the choice of the New Deal, and will be placed on the ballots at the primaries for election: Pre cinct 26, H. Claussenius, Jr.: Precinct 28, J. B. Ofner: Precinct 29, Dr. Alan W. Smith; Precinct 31, Dr. W. L Cottel. Nomi nees from Precincts 23, 24. 26. 27 and 30 will be selected at meetings to be held within the precincts. It was suggested that it would be advis able for the Fifth Ward branch of the New Deal Club to agree upon some candi date for Councilman from that ward and to indorse him as the club's choice. Mr. Ofner moved that John D. Mann be given that Indorsement. Mr.' Mann, in response, stated that he must decline the honor tendered, for the reason that his business interests would not permit him to accept the office of Councilman. He In turn, In a complimentary speech, presented the name of W. Y. Masters, whose past record In the Council was sufficient, he thought, to make him a successful candidate. Mr. Masters selection as the candidate. of the New Dealers was made unanimous, and beginning with tomorrow petition? will be circulated and filed. One of the big factors in the election of a Councilman from the Fifth Ward will be his position on the South Portland fills. This is the momentous question In the southern part of the ward, and the sup port from those precincts will be thrown to the man who can demonstrate his abil ity to aid the taxpayers In Unit section in securing a reduction in the assessments for the Improvements now authorized. HE TRIES TO TAKE HIS LIFE Stranger. Suffering from Tremens Fights His Rescuers. In an effort to take his own life. George I nowers iat night plunged into a slough along the Willamette river at LInnton. He was rescued by A. W. Schair and John Zoller, was placed in a carriage and brought to police headquarters here. He fought like a demon all the way, and twice threw himself In front of trains on the Northern Pacific track. Both times he was snatched from certain death in the nick of lime by the men having him In charge. Bowers is a young man of 2S years,, of whom nothing Is known here beyond the fact that he was locked up in the City Jail at his own request Tuesday night and released yesterday morning. lie was suffering then, as now, with delirium tre mens. He told Captain Moore when he entered the station that there was a charge there against him. and ho wished to face it. no matter what it was. Captain Moore, having had years of ex perience, knew that the man was suffer ing from excessive use of intoxicants and locked him up. When those charged with being drunk were released by Chief Hunt yesterday morning. Bowers was turned out The next seen of him by the police was when he was dragged Into headquar ters by Schair and Zoller, at 8:30 last night. "We got this man out of the slough, near Linnton." said Schair. who lives at St. Johns. "He walked right Into the mud. and water to his waist, and was still going, when we took hold of him. We took him to Mr. Zoller's milk ranch, whore we placed him In a carriage and started to Portland for the purpose of turning him over to the police. "The young man fought all the way to Portland. Twice he got away from us and threw himself In front of trains on the Northern Pacific track. Both times we reached Jiim just In time to pull him from sure death, as the trains rushed by." Bowers was covered with mud" from head to feet. He was attired in good clothes, but they were" ruined by his wad ing in the slush and throwing himself madly on the railroad tracks and scuf fling with those who were endeavoring to save his life. He was locked up for .the night, and given medical attention. An investigation will be made today. J. C. STUBBS. DODGES THE GUARD Another Rockpile Prisoner Makes His Escape. OUTRUNS HIS PURSUERS Two Prisoners Make Break for Lib erty, but One Is Recaptured After. Hot Chase Man Who Gained Liberty Was a Burglar. Shortly after Guards Hellyer and Tich nor escorted five prisoners to the city rockpile yesterday morning, O. Keith and Harry Smith, the latter a burglar and highwayman serving- 140 days for va grancy, made a break for liberty. Hell yer remained to hold back three others; Ticknor made a run and captured Keith, but Smith escaped. Smith had yet 110 days to serve. Al though he has one lame foot, he Is said by Guards Hellyer and Tichnor to be, perhaps, the swiftest sprinter in all Ore gon. At any rate, he got away, and his escape was not reported to police headquarters until 1 o'clock yesterday afternpon. This gave him considerable time to secure lodgings, or to make ar rangements to secure employment In the downtown districts. At a' late hour he had not filed an application to become a membor of the police force. In fact, he had not notified any officer where he could be found. If wanted. Keith, who started with Smith, escaped once before from the bathroom of the City Jail. He is serving a term for va grancy. Both men broke through the board fence together, but separated when they were outside the Inclosurc. Guard Hellyer was compelled, he says, to stand and keep the other three prisoners. Guard Tichnor ran after Keith, succeed- HARRY SMITH, AV1IO ESC lng in bringing him back, after a run of two blocks. Smith got away by taking an opposite direction. It is explained by the guards that, as their prisoners are under sentence mere ly for misdemeanors, they cannot shoot at them when they attempt to escape. This the prisoners are supposed to know, and take advantage of. It is claimed. No shots were llred yesterday. It was only last Friday that three men out of six escaped from Patrolmen Smart and Carlson, acting as rockpile guards. In that case they all got away without the knowledge of the guards, by crawl ing under the fence. The first thing Guards Hellyer and Tichnor did when they took charge of the prisoners was to stop up the holes under the fence. They say they thought the fence 'would hold the men. but found it would not. Smith Is but 25 years old. He was first arrested here on a charge of burglary. He was sentenced to serve a term of two years In the Penitentiary, but was pa roled. He went to Seattle, where he was again arrested for burglary, and sent to Walla Walla Penitentiary. He served his term, and returned here. Two weeks ago he was arrested by Detectives Vaughn and Welner for vagrancy, and when before Municipal Judge Hogue was sentenced to servo a term of 90 days on the rockpile. As Smith was being led from the court room to the prisoners' docket, he said in a subdued tone: "This Is a blankety blank kangaroo court." "Walt a minute." said Judge Hogue to Bailiff Goltz, who was escorting Smith, "I was not quite through with this case. I will add a fine of $100." Elks Prepare for Fair. As many people as could comfortably crowd in the officers' rooms of the Ar- DISCUSS QUESTION OF DISTRIBUTIVE RATES L. A. LEWIS. roory Hall, filled that place last evening-, consisting of ladles and gentle men who represent the various com mittees for the Elks' Fair. Architect Martin presented his plans, showing- the designs for the various booths, which in themselves will be one of the at tractive features of the big- Fair. The ladles, who will preside over the vari ous booths, were most enthusiastic regarding- their contributions, and each one is striving- to excel in the matter of decorations. Perhaps never 'in the history of any fair in Portland have so many valu able prizes been offered. There are not less than ten prizes, in value up to as much as $1000 each. There are sev eral articles of value of $500 each, and from that down to $250 and $100. The decoration of the booths will begin next week. One of the features will be a most elaborate and complete kitchen and restaurant, where everything- will be served, from a ham sand wich to a turkey. The committee will meet again tonight at the Elks Hall, where all the final arrangements will be made for the Fair. HUMOROUS LEGAL FIGHT Courtship and Romance Dragged Into Court.. Did Charles Smith buy his wedding" suit from J. M. Price, a. merchant of Oregon City, and then lose all recollec tion of the matter even to the extent that he had not paid for it? Or has the Smith family proved to be a maze for the merchunt and In groping- about for his whilom customer he has pounced on the wrong member? These were the ticklish questions presented to Justice Reld yesterday In the case brought by J. M. Price against Charles Smith to collect $17.40, and thoy proved such a conundrum that the case had to be postponed to permit the securing of additional testimony. The evidence submitted by the plain tiff showed that, in 1S9D. Charles Smith, the defendant, resided in Oregon City and had purchased from the plaintiff wearing apparel to the amount of $17.40, receiving the same on credit. This bill Included a charge of $15.50 for a suit of clothes and a pair of shoes purchased on September 21, 1S99. At the time of this purchase Mr. Price was Informed that the clothing, which was blaok. was to perform the impor- A TED TROil ROCKPILE tant duty of being Mr. Smith's wed ding suit at an early date. Mr. Smith, the testimony showed, shortly left Ore gon City to resido In Portland, but up to the, present time he has failed to pay the bill left behind. The testimony of Mr. Smith, In which he was ably supported by his wife, ended to show that Price had made a mistake and was trying to collect money from the wrong man. He ad mitted that he had formerly lived in Oregon City, but stated that he had re moved from there on Septembers. 1S99. Further testimony showed that he was not married until in June, 1900, and it was not likely, therefore, that ho would, purchase a wedding suit nine months in advance. Ho had worn a black suit when he was married, but had never purchased anything from Price. Mrs. Smith thought, too. that Price was mistaken, since throughout the courtship period. Including Sep tember of 1S99, Smith had never worn a black suit. And now Price la hunting up addi tional testimony to show that this Charles Smith Is really "the" Charles Smith. Challenger Hard to Raise. SOUTH BEND. Wash.. April 12. The schooner Challenger still lies in the stream, fast in the mud. where sho was scuttled last November. The people who contracted a couple of weeks ago to remove the wreck and cargo have failed to float the vessel by means of scows, as the chains would not stand the strain. Now pumps will- be used to pump out the cargo of lime, when it is thought the ship will float. For that tired feeling or when you are weary and worn out, take Hood's Sar-saparllla. W. A. MEARS. HE EATS NO FLESH W. H, Galvani for Seventeen Years a Vegetarian. KNOWS NOT INDIGESTION Has Undergone Toil and Fatigue on Pure Vegetable Diet and Is Hale and Hearty, With Good Teeth and Stomach. A VEGETARIAN MENU Breakfast. Oranges. " Baked Apples. Cereals, with. Cream or .Fruit Syrup. Omelette with Fine Herbs. Lyonnalse Irish rotatoes. Cornmeal Muffins. Vlnna Rolls. Coffee. Tea or Cocoa. Dinner. Grape Fruit, cut in half. Cream Tornato Coup. Chces Straws. Omelette with Fine Herbs. Turkish Roll. Sauce Bechamel. Scalloped Lima Beans. Sauce Mace Hollandaise. Baked Sweet Potatoes. Lettnc with Oil and Lemon Dressing. Potato Snow. Artichokes. Mushrooms en Toast. Celery. Aspararua. Pineapple Ice. Plum puddlns (without suet). Mince Pie (without meat). Olives. Nuts. Unferxnented Grape Juice or Wise. Black Coffee. Tea. Whole Wheat Biscuit. French Bread. Italian Chestnuts, baked In Cream. Whole Wheat Bread. Fruit Cake, Almond Blanc Mange. Ambrosia. Apple Gam. Preserved Pineapple. Honr. Fresh and Dried Fruits. Tea. Hot Lemonade. Cocoa. This is the heyday of vegetarians in Portland. Discoveries of filth In flesh-shops- make them chuckle. A man lives In Portland who has tasted no flesh, neither of beast of the field, nor fowl of the air, nor of fish of the sea. for 17 years. He Is prince of vege tarians by name. William H. Galvani. a civil engineer, one of the most wldoly known citizens of Oregon's metropolis. "And in all that time," sayf he. "I have never suffered from Indigestion, my teeth have given me less trouble than in any one year of my carnlverous existence, and I have endured toll and fatigue with the sturdiest of flesh-eaters. Foulest of the markets in Portland are those of flesh vendor?, where poultry and fish and venl and beef and lamb are retailed. Such was the discovery of the women of the School of Domestic Science In their tours. Vegetable markets were found filthy, too, but vastly cleaner than the flesh shops. The stench and the ooze and the rot of meat markets wore beyond description viler than the decay tnd un cleanness of the vegetable markets. This is why vegetarians are chuckling. "Filth," they say, "is inseparable from flesh diet." Some of them abstain from meat from philosophical or sentimental reasons; oth-' ers solely because they think plants and grains are the best food for the human species. Mr. Galvani eschews flesh for both reasons. And Mr. Galvani declaros that the best brains and sinews are nourished from fruits of the plant world the keenest in tellect and the strongest brawn. "The most disgusting of the spectacles," says he, "is that of decaying flesh, gloosed over in cookery so as to blind the eye3 of thorn that eat it. Can you do that with fruit? No. When an apple or an orange Is bad it's bad and there's no hiding it." Do Not Bar Milk. Vegetarians do not bar milk nor butter nor eggs, though such are animal foods, because, say they, those foods are not slaughtered. Milk as the earliest of mam mal foods, even with plant-eating animals, they say, is wholesome If pure, at all ages of the human family. "What do I do when T enter a restaur ant?" responded Mr. Galvani yesterday to a question on that point. "Well, nearly all the restaurants know me and help me make out a vegetarian meal. I find no especial trouble In picking out a variety of wholesome food. I am always well In health, teeth nor stomach never bother me. and my friends frequently remark that I look as young as 20 years ago." "And you can toil and drudge without meat diet?" Mr. Galvani's vocation frequently takes him on surveying expeditions, in which he endures severe exertion. T can endure as much hardship as-meat-eaters." he responded. "I have lived In camp with them many days at a time, and while they fed on flesh I was fully sat isfied with my usual vegetarian fare. Did I crave meat? No; never felt any appetite for it. Fact Is, the appetite for meat Is habit." Tho plant-eating brethren say kind words for the women crusaders' who swooped down on the filthy flesh markets. WON BT5HIPPE Traffic Men-'Make Con cessions. LOWER RATES GRANTED Schedules Are Adjusted and Jobbers Are Elated. COMMODITY RATE MODIFIED Pacific Coast Manufacturers Are Fa vored Readjustment May Make Necessary Certain Changes In Spokane Rates. The members of the North Paolftcv Coast Jobbers' and Manufacturers' As sociation are glad today as a result of. the conference held with the traffic representatives yesterday afternoon; both glad and surprised. They went into the meeting without much hope of se curing recognition of their demands for lower distributive rates from the Coast inland, and came out much elated at unexpected concessions granted after having abandoned confidence that any changes would be made. Not only were the shippers surprised as regarded tne attitude of the traffic men. but they were shown that where they thought a gold brick ' had been handed them In the proposition made at the meeting of a week ago. they were at least in part mistaken and that much good would have resulted in the long run from such, an adjustment as ha.l been proposed. Therefore, the fight which loomed large a couple of days ago failed to put in an appearance and peace and harmony reigned through thq meeting. It would appear, so those who know say, that the railroads are planning for great anil extensive changes in freight conditions for the near future. Many agencies arc working for a more open policy of freight charges, among which are the Interstate Commerce Commis sion and. In the Northwest particularly, the Washington State Commission. It s held by the .shippers that there aro many tariffs now in effect, many class divisions and differentials on the books which, while they may all be good and equitable, would appear in an embar rassing light should they have to be explained before a commision or In a court. Not porhaps that the charges aro in reality wrong or extortionate, bwt that intricate problems of traffic rating cannot bo explained to one not inti inateli versed in traffic conditions. Since the freight charges will in a short time be under the inspection of these commissions, tho railroads are prepar ing for investigations by making changos in their ratings. Upon this the ory Is explained the concessions .that were yestorday granted, to the Port land, Seattle nnd Tncoma shippers. Commodity Tariff Abolished. It was announced yestorday after noon that the old commodity tariff, which has heretofore been in offset, would be abolished, except on those goods manufactured on the Pacific Coast, The former low commodity rate on cereals, syrups, bar iron, newspaper, paints and oils, building materials, lumber and its manufactured products, lime, cement and other commodities of such nature made by Pacific Coast firms, will romaln the same as it now is. Canned goods, rice, sugar, nails an.l spikes an.l such materials will be taken from the old rating and put In a new class upon which the differential In carload Jots or less will be lower than at present. These are a few of the changes made. It Is Intended by the rhange to tak the commodity rate away from nuch goods as are not manufactured or th Coast, in order not only to remove what discriminations have existed against the Coast shippers, but also to place the roa? in a position to explain what may appear to be unjust rate charges on the baste of succor to local manufacturers. In addition to the abolishment of tfc commodity rate it was announced that material reductions would be made in thn rates on first, second, fourth and fifth class goods. Changes for Spokane. While neither the shippers nor the rail road men go Into detail regarding tb meeting and the adjustments effected, sat isfaction is expressed by the shippers to the outcome and pleasure at the atti tude of the shippers by the railroad men. The changes made are material, and will serve to place Portland. Seattle and Ta coma on a parity In Interior shipments, with interior points, so it Is stated by both sides. It is held by the traffic men that while some objection may be raised bv Interior shippers at the adjustment, still it is fair to all. or will be, with sligbe modifications at the Spokane end. In or der to maintain the 100-mile rule estab lished for Spokane, some changes in rat ing may be made there, but In the main an adjustment has been reached that will work for the advantage of all section? to tho detriment of none. Mr. Stubbs. traffic director for the Har riman system, and the man who Is respon sible for the change? that have been made, will leave for Chicago this evening. J. G. Woodworth. general traffle manager of the Northern Pacific, will remain in the city for the rest of the week, when he will return to his office at St. Paul. Other railroad men present at th conference were: R. B. Miller, general freight aeeet of the O. R. & N.; S. G. Fulton, aseiet ant general freight agent of the North ern Pacific, and W. B. Coman. genoral freight and passenger agent of the South ern Pacific lines In Oregon. TRIES TO lOLL THE FAMILY CAT And Is Arrested for Discharging Fire arms in City Limits. "Can a man kill his own family cat, if he chooses?" Up to 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, Alexander Shlpplewhlte would have an swered the question in tho affirmative, but henceforth he will say "No." He grew tired of the old reline that no longed would keep the house free of ro dents, and took from a dresser drawer an old revolver. Ho loaded it with powder and ball and proceeded to take dlvrs and sundry shots at the said oM cat. He missed her. and she still lives. It was Mounted Patrolman Croxfwd who butted in and caused trouble for Alexander Shlpplewhlte. He arrested t shooter, and booked him for discharging firearms In the city limits. The case will be .tried before Municipal Judge Hecue today. Tor Coughs. Colds, Throat and I.tjbc af fections. Piso's Cure la most effective.