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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1905)
7 THE MORNING OHEGONIAN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1905. Entered at the Poetotnce at Portland, Or., as second-class matter. SURSCRIITION RATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall or Express.) Dolly and Sunday, per year. "'rnn Dally and Sunday, alx months Dally and Sunday, three months DalJy and Sunday, per month Dal y without Sunday, per year.. Daily without Sunday. lx months-.--.. Daliy without Sunday, three months... ij Dally without Sunday, per month -J Ftinday. pr year. r-J Bvnday, elx months X-J:S Sunday, three months BY CARRIER. D.al!y without Sunday, per weelc. Dally, per week. Sunday Included THE WEEKLY OREGONIAN. (Issued Every Thursday.) TCeekly. per year - -Jj Weekly, six months -JjJ Weekly, three months. .HOW TO REMIT Send postofnco money Crder. express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, cola or currency are at tht sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFTICE. The B. C. Beckwlth Special Asency-Nexr York, rooms 43-30 Tribune building. Cnl capo, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex. Postofflce Iews Co- 178 Dearborn street. Dallas, Tex. Globe News Depot, 280 Main street. San Antonio, Ter. Louis Book and Clear Co., 521 Eaat Houston street. JQcnTer Julius Black. Hamilton & Kend rl'k, 000-012 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store. 1214 Fifteenth street. Colorado Springs. Colo. Howard H. Bell. Des Moines. lav-Hoses Jacobs. 300 Fifth Street. Goldfleld, Nov. F. Sandstrom; Guy Marsn. Kansas City, Mo. Ricksecker Clear Co., Klnth and Walnut. , Los Angelea Harry Drapkln: B. E. Amos. 614 West Seventh utreet; Dillard News Co. Minneapolis H, J. Kavanaugh. 00 South Third. Cleveland, O-James Pusbaw, SOT Superior treat. New York Clty-L. Jonea & Co., Astor House. AUantlo City, If. J. Ell Taylor. 20T North Illinois ave. Oakland, CaL W. H. Johnston. Fourteenth end Franklin streets. Ogden F. R. Godard and Meysrs & Har top. D L. Boyle. Omahiv Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnam; Mageath Stationery Co., 1308 Farnam; 246 South 14th. Sacramento, Cat Sacramento Newa Co., 420 K street. Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co.. 77 West Second street South; National News Agency. Yellowstone Park, Wyo. Canyon Hotel. Lake Hotel. Yellowstone Park Assn. Long Beach B. E. Amos. 6an Francisco J. K. Cooper & Co.. 746 Market street; Goldsmith Bros.. 286 Sutter and Hotol St. Francis News Stand; L. E. Loe. Palaco Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitts, 1008 Market; Frank Scott. 80 Ellis; N. Wheatley Movable News .Stand, corner Mar ket and Kearney streets; Foster & Orear, Ferry News Stand. St. Louis. Mo. E. T. Jett Book & News Company. 806 Olive street. Washington, D. C Ebbltt House, Pennsyl vania avenue. PORTLAND, THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1003. THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN. .Japan naturally wants Sakhalin, and ought to have it. Sakhalin le one of the peculiar islands of the world; pecu lfar in its conformation, and now dou bjy Important from Its position and Its relation to the struggle for ascendancy hi the Orient between Russia and Japan. Sakhalin is part of Japan's system of islands, and should be part of her Island empire. It. Is separated from Japan's northernmost island" only by a narrow strait Yet It extends 600 miles toward the north, far past the mouth of the Amur River. It Is a narrow and mountainous island, bleak and cold to ward the north, not capable of sustain ing within itself a large population, but of great value for fisheries and for coal, perhaps also for gold and other metals; but especially valuable for Its strategic position, as a defense to Japan against Russia since Japan has come to real ization of the new part she is to play among the nations of the world. Japan once possessed this island, but Russia pushed iher out of it. Not aware of her own strength, or of the limita tions of the might of Russia, Japan at first yielded to Russian pressure and consented to share with Russia the sov ereignty of the island. Finally Rus sia, pursuing the policy customary with her, gained entire possession. This was fifty years ago. Japan feared to pro voke the hostility of the great power pressing upon the North Pacific Coast of Asia. So Russia got Sakhalin. But Japan, having now cleared the seas of Russian warships, has proceed ed to retake Sakhalin. She has cap tured the Russian garrisons at all points occupied by them, and now an nounces her purpose to retain Sakhalin; cr, since Sakhalin is now hers by con quest, to sell it to Russia for a great sum, equal perhaps to the war indem nity she claims. -So Russia might buy Sakhalin, instead of paying indemnity direct, and thus "save her face." The Island would be valuable to Japan, but a big sum of money for it would help her to maintain the military and naval ascendancy she has won; and, instructed by recent events, she is confident of being able to hold Rus sia in check hereafter. So Japan will sell Sakhalin back to Russia, and take her Indemnity that way. Such seems to be the present state of this interesting negotiation. It signifies that Japan will give up her claim lo Sakhalin, if she can get a sum of money that would reimburse her for the expenditures of the war. Her first de mand was for both Sakhalin and war Indemnity. But she will make peace upon this compromise. Such. Indeed, seems to be the fact, from the reports now at hand. An ar ticle on this page today gives an ac count of Sakhalin and of the history of the controversy over It, showing the reasons why the two parties contend so strongly for possession of it Till now It has been deemed improb able, even impossible, that the bellig erents could agree. It is by no means yet apparent that they can; but pro longation of the conference from day to aay leaves a hope that agreement may yet be reached. All nations are deeply interested in securing peace between Russia and Japan; for all know that prolongation of the war may, through some turn In affairs, extend its area, till half the world may be involved. USES OF INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL. ; Industrial alcohol can be used In many activities in the United States on the farm, in the factory, in the lab oratory and especially in the gas en gine, but It is subjected to the same tax as beverage alcohol, and its use for such purposes, therefore, is praotlcally prohibited. The proposal to lift from industrial alcohol the beverage alcohol tax is an important matter for the country to urge on Congress. The Uni ted States Is the only commercial coun tfy In the world which has failed thus to encourage use of industrial alcohol In Germany, France. Great Britain, Austria, Russia. Holland, Denmark, Norway. Sweden. Switzerland and Italy the tax is not levied. In this country the tax is about 52.07 a gallon, or near ly 1000 per cent of the original cost of the alcohol as distilled. The greatest use of industrial or "de- naturized" alcohol would be as a motor fuel, for automobile?. power boats and stationary engines, -whose motive fluid is now gasoline, the cost of "which has been lamely advanced in the last six years. Other uses would be for light ing, heating, cleaning, manufactue of dyes and of organic chemicals. The supply source of such alcohol Is unlimited, as the fluid can be easily dis tilled from corn, potatoes and .. other farm products. In Germany, where pro duction of Industrial alcohol has been most encouraged, farmers have been benefited by a greatly Increased de mand for potatoes, of which enormous crops are grown; besides, they have a cheap fuel for their farm machinery. In Oregon, where vast crops of potatoes could be grown, and where price of gasoline is high, the boon of Industrial alcohol would be considerable. Such alcohol is unfit for beverage and its freer use therefore would not dis turb the restrictions now placed on the beverage fluid. It is an essential ingre dient in thousands of important indus tries. Many articles contain alcohol, though containing no evident traces of It. It is clean, odorless and free from danger of accidental explosion. A bill to remove the tax on denatur ized alcohol will be introduced in Con gress at the coming session, and an at tempt will be made to persuade that body to lift the heavy tax from indus trial alcohol. THE SMALL FARMER. Under the reclamation act of 1902 no landholder can obtain water to Irri gate a tract exceeding 160 acres from a Government ditch. The obvious pur pose of this provision is to Induce own ers of large tracts to sell them in small lots to settlers. It Involves no Injus tice, because the land without water will be quite as valuable after the irri gation system Is established as it Is now. Indeed, it will sell for more, since an unearned increment to its value will arise from the settlement of neighbor ing tracts. If the owner already has water for his land and surrenders his prior right to promote an irrigation project, he makes no real sacrifice. The inliux of population upon every Irrigated tract Invariably causes the price of land to rise enormously, so that what might seem like a sacrifice in surrendering pioneer water rights Is really an In vestment and a very profitable one. These matters are so nearly self-evi dent and are so thoroughly understood 1 on all sides that those who charge the ! Government with injustice in Its re quirements cannot be supposed wholly Ingenuous. It is natural to believe either that they are seeking to obtain the ben efits of irrigation at the expense of their neighbors, or else that they pre fer a small, selfish advantage to the welfare of a whole community. A farm of 160 acres has been the Ideal of the United States Government is all its dealings with settlers on the public domain, and experience has . proved its wisdom. The homesteader on his quarter-section has created flour ishing commonwealths from Ohio to the Rocky Mountains. For grain farm ing with machinery, that is enough land to exercise the brain and muscle of a man and his family. If he has more he must become an exploiter of hired labor; he is no longer self-sufficing. In Irrigated regions a quarter-section Is too much for one man to farm. It not only requires an investment beyond the means of most men who wish to make an independent living with their hands, but It also requires more labor than one family can furnish. Irri gated land is usually so productive that tract of twenty acres or less, thor oughly cared for, furnishes plenty of work for a farmer and his boys, and pays them much better than many ranches of three or four hundred acres in the Willamette Valley have paid of late years. Communities settled upon irrigated land whece the farms are so small that there is little need for hired help and the methods are so enlightened that the returns are secure and ample, exhibit country life under its most charming conditions of ease, independence and society. Why cannot such communities, half rural, half urban, exist In the Wil lamette Valley as well as in the Yak ima country, at Hood River, and in such singularly happy spots as Eagle Valley, not far from Baker City? Wherever there is a fertile soil with abundant moisture and an intellgent and industrious population, the closely- settled, highly civilized rural commu nity is possioie. irrigation Is not a necessary condition to such ideal coun try life: it provides a sure supply of water and thus furnishes certainly and unfailingly the first requisite of pros perlty and civilization; but wherever Nature elves moisture In abundant and regular quantity, as it does in the WI1 lamette Valley, the small, highly pro ductlve farm, the farmer living In leis ure and comfort, and advanced rural society are possible. Why have such communities as Sunnyslde In Wash lngton. the Payette neighborhood In Idaho, and Eagle Valley in Oregon, never developed west of the mountains? The land may be made to support as many people to the square mile, while the beneficence of Nature forestalls the great labor and expense of irrigation. The rainfall is abundant, and it comes when it is most useful. Is it possible that what we most lack in this part of the world is an Intelligent understand ing and use of our own advantages? THE PXAY AT PORTSMOUTH. Russia's diplomacy, if never honest. is at least always interesting, and the present game of the White Czar's gov ernment. as played by Witte and his company of diplomatic performers, has in It all the cunning for which Russian statecraft is so well known. To begin with. Russia has been laboring to make the world believe that peace, though somewhat desirable. Is not at all neces sary; that in sending envoys with full power to bring the war in the Far East to an end, it is acting only in courtesy to the humane inclinations of President Roosevelt whose appeal It could not resist because of that "tra dltlonal friendship" which always char acterized the relations of the Russian government to the United States. To show the world that they are an! mated by a "sincere" desire for peace, the Grand Dukes, with the cabal of the Alexeyevs. Bezobrazoffs. et al., are now quite willing to allow China the pos session of her own territory, and to transfer the celebrated lease of Port Arthur to Japan, provided the consent of China should be forthcoming. Some few other concessions, -though not of as great Importance, these .adepts in du plicity and cunning are also willing to concede. Having done thus much for the "yellow" race, they ask only two things In return that no indemnity be asked, and that the Island of Sakhalin, the territorial property of the Mikado from whom It was stolen In a most hlch-handed manner but some few years ago. and now reconquered by Japanese arms, be given back to "the old blind beggar." On these two items, we are told, rests the honor of Holy Russia to recede from these two items would be a most humiliating calamity to Russia's great ness. To this end. Mr. Witte, with his company of trained performers. Is straining every atom of gray matter In his liead. To this end a sham as sembly hath been heralded over the length and breadth of the Russian em pire. Other feats, too. and no less acro batic, are being tried, but, alas! the Jap can no longer be deceived nor Im posed upon as easily as In bygone days. The truth of the matter Is that Rus sia Is only bluffing to secure the best possible terms from the victorious Jap anese. With her credit completely gone even in France, with her ships on the bottom of the Sea of Japan, with her army disorganized and her subjects In every part of the empire In an ugly and rebellious mood what else can Russia do but make peace? The Mika do's envoys fully understand this and they will not be caught in the same kind of a trap as were the allied pow ers after the Crimean War by the same "old blind becerar." The sooner, there fore. Mr. Witte comes to terms the bet ter for his lord and master. "WOMAN'S "LARGER SPHERE." To compile and to present In digested form the multifarious statistics gath ered by the census of the United States, usually employs the Census Bureau during the entire decennial period that Is. from one census to another. Classi fication of the returns is a very elab orate work, for the details are im mense. Only just now has the census office been able to get together certain important parts of the vital, the social and the industrial statistics, so as to present them in their full elgnficance. One branch of the work recently re ported shows the number of women en gaged In various employments, outside of purely domestic duties, and the sig nificance of it Is the showing it makes of the increasing employment of wom en in various occupations into which women have but recently been Intro duced. The following table, which com pares returns of 1&00 with those of 1S9. is significant: 1000. IS09. Journalists , 2.198 &SS Lawyers 1.010 Literary and sole-atlfic persons 5,084 2S 2.764 38 Chemist, assayltis. etc 24S .Musicians and teachers of 52,39 music .. 34.519 Physicians and swgeeas. .. 7.357 4.55" Teachers and prefossers 327.014 246.M6 Laundresses - 333.Z5Z zia.esi Stenographers and typewriters 66,118 21.279 8.474 82.85 3.471 20.663 Telegraph and telephone oper ators 22.350 Cotton mills 120.216 Woolen mills 30.630 Silk mills 32,437 This, of course, does not exhaust the list of occupations, but is indicative merely of the increasing tendency of Women to engage in gainful operations on their own account. The actual in crease in the number of these women In ten years was 1,415,236; yet the ac tual increase in the number of men in gainful-employments was 5,135,025. It doesn't appear, therefore, .that women are "crowding the men out" as fast as some of the social philosophers would have us believe. For even in some of these employments known more distinctively as "women's occupations," the number of men also has Increased greatly. For example, the number pf male stenographers and typewriters more than doubled, in spite of the vast increase In the number of women. The number of male telegraph and telephone operators Increased about the same percentage as the total number of males. In cotton mills, where so many women and children are employed, the In creased employment of women was 28, 0W. or less than one-third, and of men, 45.080. or more than one-half. Of Dr. Bodine. the gentleman who uttered the recent lamentation, so wide ly published, that woman was pres ently to drive man out of all occupa tions except the rudest and hardest and most degraded, the chief clerk of the Census Office is reported as saying: "His inference that man is destined soon 10 oe a crawer or water and a hewer of wood Is a pretty big explosion to result from a comparatively small mass of figures."- Nevertheless, the sphere of woman's work Is steadily en larging. Of course, It will produce. and already Is producing, some effect on family life. AFTER DISPENSARIES. WHAT? The dispensary system of South Car ollna was borrowed from Sweden. where from the beginning It has worked welL The use of alcoholic drinks had Increased in that country until it men aced the health of the people and the prosperity of the nation; and what was called the Gottenborg system was de vised by public-spirited citizens to check the evil. Under this arrange ment the sale of liquor in each town Is entrusted to a company composed of respdnsible persons. The salesman has a salary in no way dependent on the quantity of business he transacts. Sales are discouraged, and the profits go largely Into public Improvements. The management of the system has been thoroughly honest and under it the consumption of liquors has so fallen off that from being one of the most In temperate countries In Europe, Sweden has become one of the most abstemious. The modified form of the Swedish system adopted In South Carolina has always been opposed by radical pro hibitionists on the same ground as that of Wendell Phillips' objection to the United States Constitution; that it placed the state "in league with hell." Whatever benefits the state liquor dls pensarles might produce, they argued. would be more than counterbalanced by the moral evils of an acknowledged alliance between the government and the hosts of King Alcohol. They point ed out, too, the undeniable fact that under local option laws the liquor busi ness was being progressively excluded from state after state In the South, more than one county, even in South Carolina, being strictly prohibitionist when the dispensary law went into ef fect But their argument did not avail. The system was adopted, with the Im mediate effect as Senator McLauren has pointed out In an address published in the New Voice, of forcing the sale of liquor upon counties where it had not existed before. It is by no means likely that the com mon sense of the state ever approved of the dispensary system any more than the fanatical prohibitionists did. The influence of Tillman, then Governor, bullied both, the conscience and the rea son of the 6tate into tolerating it at first, but the opposing sentiment has steadily Increased and the failure of the law Is now acknowledged on all sides. With the intelligent people of the state In favor of the system from the out set as in Sweden, instead of being op posed to It, there Is no Inherent reason why the law should not have worked as well here as there. The example of the Scandinavian countries, for It has been tried In Norway, also, proves that the fault is In the administration of the law rather than In Its principle. Sen ator McLauren's arguments against It In the New Voice are none too con vincing, considered as arguments, but undoubtedly the facts of the case are with him. It Is no real objection to the Swedish system to say, for example, that It cre ates a state monopoly of the liquor business. If such a monopoly really diminished the injurious use of liquor It would be Justifiable on the highest principles of public policy; but it Is a sound criticism which he makes when he remarks that "it lowers the stan dard of morality of the state to the level of the barkeeper." That was not the Intent of the law, of course, but It Is the actual effect as the facts show, and by its working under conditions as they are In South Carolina, not In Europe, the law must be Judged. Upon the whole, the outcome of this experiment In South Carolina Is dis tinctly discouraging to temperance re formers. Nor Is there much to en courage them elsewhere. The per cap ita consumption of alcoholic drinks has doubled In the United States- in the last forty years in spite of all efforts against It Prohibitlonlsm Is an acknowledged failure. Local option Is merely prohi bition on a small scale. What is the true remedy for the evils of intemper ance? We take It that Billy Ladd and his little old tin-cup bank, having gained some experience, will not soon start a morn ing paper. Billy Ladd causes his organ to speak most contemptuously of morn ing newspapers; he thinks they are "cumbersome and inopportune," and but "relics of the earlier and formative stages of what is now known as real Journalism" We sympathize with the organ of the Ladd bank and of the plutocratic families up against legiti mate afternoon Journalism, represented by the Evening Telegram. It Is only another Illustration of the fact that every essay in journalism, attempted for purposes not its own, but to help schemes of speculation and plutocracy, will have no good time of It These abortions have filled innumerable Jour nalistic graveyards. Our sympathies. our deepest sympathies, go out towards the local crepuscular organ of an effete plutocracy. The latest East Side fire brought out again the old need of earth fills in a part of the city whose buildings and roadways stand on pile stilts. This city has had many lessons of this kind, and some progress toward filling In the low East Side district has been made. The work doubtless will now go on with more energy. It is to be borne in mind. however, that If the Willamette River should go on a flood rampage, as In 1S90. the fllled-ln area would be In great peril: besides, the contraction of the river's flow with the fills would endan ger other parts of the waterfront Noting what the President said about Federal supervision of the life insur ance business of the country, the New Tork Sun remarks: "Nothing, not even the Equitable scandal Itself, furnishes so strong an argument In favor of the Federal regulation of life Insurance as does the general relation of the Insur ance companies to the Insurance de pertinents of the several states. In general it may be rudely stated that the Insurance officers blackmail the insur ance companies or that the insurance companies own the Insurance officers. Ambassador Meyer, of the United States, at St Petersburg, Is trying to help the Czar out of his troubles; but clearly he Is not able to do much. He sees the Czar pretty often, but the great public functionary of Russia Is controlledvby his system of government and by his kitchen cabinet So the ef forts of Ambassador Meyer come to little or nothing. The Czar nominally has all power. In reality the control is in the hands of an oligarchy, of which the Czar is the creature, and, by a fiction of state, the head. The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, noting Senator Heyburn's letter to The Oregonlan reaffirming his opposition to the forest-reserve policy of the Govern ment on the ground that the bona fide settler was robbed of land, says: "The bona fide homesteader does not seek timber lands for farming purposes, but gentlemen of means and capital do seek them for the purpose of felling the timber and then abandoning the land as worthless to them and prac tically worthless to all others, and dan gerous as a fire-breeder." Take the world as you find It," says Colonel Watterson with great energy In a letter to his paper from abroad The Colonel has spent a picturesque and strenuous life endeavoring to make the world other than he found It Does his present advice signify that nothing can be done in the way 01 Deuerment or that there is nothing left to do? Is he speaking In the mood of Diogenes or of Alexander? The three young hoodlums of East Portland who have beaten a smaller and timid yet well-behaved boy to death are not nearly so much to blame as their parents are. who never hav restrained or controlled their offspring's natural brutality. It seems the Russian commissioners would accept the compromise terms suggested by President Roosevelt and the Japanese might also. ,But the Czar Is said to be obstinate. He. is willing to make further sacrifice of his subjects in war. In Clackamas County, a wife-beater was let off with a fine because whip ping was deemed unconstitutional. In Multnomah County, whipping for wlfe- bcaters has been found the best kind of "constitutional." Inasmuch as Oregon can't hold any more political conventions, its citizens should make the most of the commer cial and Irrigation and other conven tions at the Fair. We do wonder, since Billy Ladd holds morning newspapers in such contempt what he Is running a Sunday morning newspaper for,-except to break the holy Sabbath? .0REG0N0Z0NR Taking Things Easy. "I don't believe in worrying," said the fruit-stand man to the stranger who had paused In front of his stall to remark that It was . going to rain and he feared it would spoil the picnic "No. sir. I don't believe in worrying at all. I Just take things 'as they come." "So do I. for that matter." replied, the stranger, surreptitiously taking three ba nanas, a peach and a bunch of grapes, and hiding them under his coat. "I don't believe in worrying I always take thlng3 easy." Sends Us the Seed. An Indiana man has solved the problem of Insuring longevity. At the age of 9a he has Just built his coffin of lumber cut I from a tree which he planted for the purpose. It required half a century for the tree to grow large enough to furnish, coffin material, and, of course, the man could not afford to die beforehand. By the way. what sort of tree Is It that grows the slowest? Evaporation of the Egotist. Once upon a time there was a little man who Imagined that he was a big man. with a Big I. The little man was really small enough to rattle around In the place he occupied Hko a drled-up pea In a last year's pod. There was another man In the same smalK town who had kept cases on the little man. and he was on. He knew well enough that the little man was sufficiently Insignificant not to leave a grease spot qn the pristine pagos of posterity when he gave up the ghost. He was widely aware that the little man. some uneventiui ana unrcmem bered day. would perish like the unsub stantial fabric of a vision and leave not wrack behind not even a hatrack. But the little man continued to Imagine himself the sole and solitary pebble upon this bank and shoal of time. When he walked abroad ho paused every ten steps to enjoy the sensation of the earthquakes. And It grieved him sore that other men. and particularly laaies. never seemed to recognize the fact that the earth was. of the Quaker persuasion when he walked thereon. The little man and the other man. he who was on, met one day In front of the general delivery. The young clerk was new at the busi ness, but. being a woman, she was up to snuft and knew what was what. "Is there any mall for Me?" Inquired the little man. using the Big M in his accent and Imagining that the damsel at the general delivery, as also everybody else, carried his name In reach for ready reforence. "Who?" asked the damsel. "Me Me," replied the little man, puff ing pompously. "Yeth. thlr," sweetly replied the dam sel; "here Is a letter Just handed In, ad dressed to Portland, Me." "He! he!" ejaculated the other man. In tending his utterance not as an expres sion of the personal pronoun, third per son, male gender, but as a large ana lusolous lump or" laughter. "Te-he! te-he!" tittered the general de livery, who enjoyed her own joke, as womon always do when they can enjoy a joke at alt Thereupon the little man suddenly van- Ised, and when the postoffice pup came to sniff, at the spot on the floor where the apparition had stood he found not the slightest smell of grease. The System." I'd be rich, and I'd be great. Sure as shootln. sure as fate. If It wasn't for the System; I'd be cutting fat coupons From the bottoms of the bonds. If It wasn't for the System. I am sure the only thing That has kopt me out of swing Is the System yes, the System! I have never had a chance. For I've always bad to dance To the piping of the System- What's the use for me or you Anything to try to do? Wo can never buck the System. Might as well sit down and mope. For there Isn't any hope With the System oh, the System I Lawson must be right I guess. Oh, the frenzy of distress. All by roason of the Systom! Still, perhaps. It may be true Something's wrong with me and you vMth our systom yos, our system. ROBERTUS LOVE. Bryan In 1908. Washington Post That Mr. Bryan will be a Presidential nominee In 199S Is extremely probable. The nomination of candidates Is a long way on, and events may chance pres ent indications. But If thintrs nolltlcal go on as they have been going since Mr. Bryan's prospects were Illuminat ed by the Democratic calamity of No vember s, 1984, It Is morally certain that ho will be able to secure the Dem ocratic nomination, and eauallv cer tain that he will avail himself of that opportunity. At this date he looms up 10 such an altitude, to such a towering height above any other Democratic Presidential possibility, that there can scarcely be said to be any competition. And when, some months hence, he re turns from his travels in the old world "In the interest of good government," what Is to prevent his millions of ad mirers from giving him so hearty and loud a welcome that his nomination will be cleared of the last lingering remnant of doubt? Out of the Fact Factory. Philadelphia Bulletin. No unvaccinated person can vote In Norway. "Bosh" Is a Turkish word meaning "nothing." Sumatra grows the largest flower in the world. It measures a yard and threo Inches across, and Its cup will hold six quarts of water. Rafflesia Arnoldll Is Its name. The Austrlans use a stone blotting pad that never wears ou- A little scraping with a knife cleans It effec tually. Living Is 40 per cent cheaper In Lon don than in New Tork. The mountains of he moon are far higher than those of the earth. The Danube flows through countries In which 52 languages and dialects are spoken. Among the Sultan's pate are babies' baths of solid gold. Big-gun practice at sea often causes lobsters. In sheer fright, to drop a claw. Tallest Structures In the World. New Tork Mail. Metropolitan Towr (proposed) 560 feet Tallest structure. Washington Monu ment - 553 fee Tallest public building". Philadelphia City Hall 537 fee Tallest cathedral. Cologne 512 feet Tallest pyramid. Cheops 479 feet Tallest business buiidlnr Park Row.3S0 ft Tallest statue. Liberty SOS feet Talltit hotel. Belmont...-. Z93 zee SAKHALIN, AN ISLAND WAR PRIZE Russia Seized It From Japan, Nippon Hnn Won It Back: by Force of Arms and Xoir It Figures as a Trice of .Pence. To those who, suffering from a surfeit of war news, have not of late been fol lowing very closely the operations In the Far East all this talk of the Island of Sakhalin seems remarkable, that there should be so much contention over a long strip of bleak and barren land may seem Inexplicable. Yet when the facts are known and recognized, the haggling over the future disposition of the island is worth any amount of pains on the part of the opposing envoys. It might almost be said that it is Indeed worth continuing the war for at least from Japan's stand point And what lends a peculiarly ln- j terestlng bit of romance to the Ports- mouth proceedings over "Article a" is the fact that the man who was principal ly responsible for Russia's first complete acquisition of Sakhalin Is now carrying on. as an aide to Mr. Witte. a great In tellectual battle for Its retention among the Czar's possessions. Sakhalin, or Saghallen. or. Its native name, Taralka. Is a long, narrow strip of land that extends almost due north and south a few miles oft the coast of Asiatic Russia, or what was once Asia tic Russia. It lies In the southwest part of the Sea of Okhotsk, In latitude 52 degrees. It Is separated from the mainland-only by the six-mile wide Mamla Strait Unfertile, mountainous and cold. it offers little encouragement to agricul ture, but is extremely rich In coal and Is said to possess great deposits of gold and other precious metals. Its coast line Is bleak and uninviting. , On the western shore lofty cliffs rise sheer out of the sea, unbroken by bays or any Indenta tions of land whatsoever, while the east ern coast Is llttlo better, although here and there narrow Inlets and lagoons pierce the barren rocks. Huge forests, however, abound and will be a source of fabulous Income to the island's future owner. But its chief value He3 in Its fisheries. Its waters are said to be the fin est fishing grounds In the world. Japan Is fish-eating nation. It Is at the same time growing nation. From the economic tandpolnt this fishing Industry Is all but absolutely essential to Its welfare, The population of Sakhalin is insignifi cant always ha3 been. Its aborigines were the AInus, the same race of men as those who sprang forth first In Nip pon. In 1S72 there were 13,000 Inhabitants. counting all sorts and conditions, and today there are about 36,000, or a little more than one person to the square mile. This long splinter of land, therefore. has suddenly grown to be one of the chleest spots in the world, Inasmuch as Its near destiny Is to work a stupen dous Influence upon the history of two great nations. The one surprising point In the present contention over its possession Is the fact that its strategic and Intrinsic importance seems to have been an apparently recent discovery in the part of the Japanese statesmen, whereas. Russia, if hec actions are to be considered as guided by any degree of foresight, had without doubt realized it years ago when she made her first encroachments on Sakhalin's inhospitable shores. That happened In 1SS3, when at last the Russian expansion had reached the Pacific. It wa3 not, how ever, until 1S56 that any political cog nizance was taken of what Japan likes now to call a trespass. On February 7 of that year Admiral Putlatln. In the name of the Czar, signed a treaty with the Japanese Tokugawa Shoguns at Shi moda, specifying that In the Island of Sakhalin there was to be "no dellmlta tlon of boundaries between Japan and Russia," and that the conditions that had hitherto obtained should continue as they were, which meant that Russia was to keep the posts that her ambitious gen erals had planted on the Island by the right no longer of usurpation, but of treaty.. In 1S52 General Nevelskoy had explored Sakhalin and founded the first Russian settlement at Illnsk. on the southwest coast, with only six Russian BULK NOT EVERYTHING. St Paul Pioneer Press. St. Paul, with 197.025 inhabitants today. may justly congratulate ltsolf on being "a pretty big town." But there are so many others bigger! The best fame of our city Is evidently not to be looKed ior in that direction. Let our people take more account of some of their other assets. Among these are beauty of situation, and a capability, on account of the romantic character of the site, of being maae one of the most beautiful cities In the world. Next comes an opportunity, owing tq the purity of Its water supply and tne excel lence of Its drainage, for maintaining a reputation for being the most healthy city la the world. The concentration of railroads at this point Indicates another opportunity; that of so perfecting the ma chinery ior nanunng racremiiiuiao u. . enable an Immense business to De aone with few hands, thus contributing 10 maintain and magnify the present prim acy of our city In the wholesale trade. The numerous railroads make possible. too. the establishment of manufacturing enterprises without number, on territory in and contiguous to the city, witn super ior facilities for handling ireignt. yet without congestion of population which attends the multiplication of such enter prises In many other places. The Influence of a community depends on the quality, not on the size, of Its population. Athens. In history, outsnmes Babvion. Oxford today outweighs Man chester in the counsels of England. If the people of St. Paul continue to address themselves to making tnelr city attrac tive for the beauty of Its parks and thor oughfares. Its cleanliness and health. Its facilities for education and recreation and to the Improvement of its government as well Its vacant spaces will ere long be filled with tho homes of a class of resi dents so superior that they can well af ford to dispense with the crowds wnlcn serve only to congest without bettering a city. A Real American Capital. Saturday Evening Post. We read that Chicago has Just found that she has a population of 2,250.000, and wc pass on with some commonplace com ment on the marvel of it- But It Is a fact worth pausing over. Chicago Is American In a deep sense In which no seaboard city Is or ever can be. The seaboard cities represent much that Is foreign. Chicago stands for the great Mississippi Missouri Valley. It Is the true capital of the true American people. Its very ugliness, liko that of a mighty, Incom plete work with tn'c workmen swarming In and over It and the noise of their toll sputtlng the heavens, Is Inspiring and splendid. In Its 2,2o0,000 there Is no vast inert undigested mass as there is In New York;. Chicago seizes upon Its newcom ers as the fire seizes upon the fresh shoveful of coal. Rural 'Delivery and Sobriety. Milwaukee Wisconsin. A Milwaukee man asserts that In addition to the other benefits which rural free delivery of malls has con ferred upon dwellers In the small coun try towns. It has exerted a noteworthy Influence as a temperance agent In the old times, he says, when the men folks went down to the store to get the mall, the store usually sold liquor. and. they were likely to linger and swap gossip and take a few drinks or In some cases a great many before driving back to the farm. :Now, when the mall Is delivered at the farm, the usual practice Is to sit down and read tho paper the first, thing after supper. and when Mr. Farmer has finished that pleasing task he is usually ready to go to bed. inhabitants as a start, and a year later Muravievsk. Qn the southeast coast. Thus was a foothold gained by the European monarchy. It took the Japanese nearlv ten vears to comprehend what a mischief thev had done themselves, and when they did per ceive it tne best they could do was to re monstrate and attempt to divide the Is land In two, they to take one-half, the Russians the other. But to no avail, for the Russians maintained that the status quo suited them perfectly. Ten years later the Japanese were told that Sakha lin was exclusively Russian, and in 1S75 mey so rar acquiesced to the theory as to accept in exchange the Kuriles. which itussia presented to the Japanese without ever having owned them. All this, of course, cannot be forgotten by such close students of history as the modern Japa nese are Deiieved to be. It Is Interesting to note who brought about this deal, and under what condi tions. Nowadays It Is popularly called "Rosen's coup." although In former years the deed was attributed to the Baron's then chief. M. de Strove, envoy during the '70s at Toklo and later for many years Russia's representative at Washington. Baron Rosen, as a young officer of the guards at St Petersburg, was reputed to be rather wild and extravagant, and 'was sent as acting attache and acting secretary to De Strove, as a sort of wing clipplng training. But no sooner did the young officer appear In Tokio than he adopted a course toward the Japanese that not only surprised the diplomatic colony, but also ran adversely to its own Wea of things. In those days It was con sidered the proper thing to slight and carry oneself contemptuously toward the Japs. Not so did the Baron, who soon became such "close friends with the high officers of the Oriental land that his in fluence grew to be the most important asset M. de Strove had In the country ha was accredited to. De Strove himself, and perhaps Rosen, too. were considered among the most frivolous of men. spend ing their days and nights at tournaments and balls and routs. One fine morning, however, the other, foreign envoys were peremptorily notified by their home gov ernments that the Russians had induced the Japanese to abjectly surrender the whole Island of Sakhalin to them, in ex change for the practically unowned Kuriles. Such an opening of eyos has scarcely ever been witnessed in a diplo matic colony since. But surprised or not surprised. Russia had at last obtained what she set her cap for at the beginning, and quickly began her work of colonization. The Island was converted Into a penal settlement. It has popularly been called the "most terrible In the world." a barren rock or two, where once to have been sent was to have left all hope of good and decent things In this life behind. In fact the penal col onies In Sakhalin were In many ways more terrible than the majority of those In Siberia, where exile, for the most part, consists of enforced emigration from Eu ropean Russia. In Sakhalin there was. first of all, the severe, uncompensating climate to be endured. There was no op portunity to forget troubles In the en grossing care of the soil. Fishing was not a trade for prisoners. There was little to do but go through the dull, hard routine of convict life. In Siberia, exilos often started life over again, and many cases are known of successful men. ban ished from their homes, renewing their success and becoming powertui in me land where they arc practically prisoners. Not so In Sakhalin, for of all offlcial-Tld-den prisons that was the worst In tho world. The final disposition of Sakhalin Is a nf world-wide interest and impor tance. Should it remain Russian there f little likelihood that Its resources -r.iii hA -worked for decades to come should It become a part of the Japanesd Empire, it would afford a oreeamg paoj aim training erouna ior a race riors such as perhaps has never been seeri I since the days of Sparta's powers. NECK BROKEN, STILL CONSCIOUS New York World. The Rev. Emll A. Meury, pastor of th Second Reformed Church, one of the bes beloved clergymen In Jersey City, a ma of sound sense and cool Judgment, maaei this astonishlncr-statement yesterday: That to him and five ethers a murderer proved, while being executed on the gal lows, that he retained consciousness. memory and tho power of voluntary mo tion after his neck was broken. I have seen seven unfortunates hanged. One was Paul Genz, wno was executed in the Hudson County Jail April 13, 1S97, for the murder of Clara Arnlm. In the fight I shall make to abolish capital punishment In New Jersey I shall argue that sometimes a man is conscious after his neck Is broken. 'Paul Genz was In my charge; he and I discussed the question whether a man's brain might be active after his cervical vertebrae were broken- Genz was certain he would be conscious after he neck was broken. He said to me: 'U atch me close ly. After my body Is Jerked upward and I fall to the rope's end, and my neck Is broken, I will wait about a minute; then I will close my hands twice, then once. then twice again. I arrange this signal now so that none of the doubters who may be looking at me can say that my movements are only involuntary twltch Ings.' " The clergyman continued solemnly: When Genz fell, after being Jerked Into the air by the fall of the weight, his body stiffened. About three-quarters of a minute passed. Then Genz clinched his hands twice, opened them again, closed them once, then twice again. I distinctly saw his pinioned hands make the signal he said he would give me. 80 did six other men to whom I had told Genz's promise of what he would do. The horror of it was almost overwhelming." Two Miles a Minute. II. S. Consular Report. The Belgian administration has asked the congress to appropriate $10,515,000 for a new railway into Germany via Louvaln, St Trond and Argenteau. The new lino will help to meet the close competition of the Dutch railways. Every effort will be put forthto make travel as comfort able as possible and to Increase speed as far as Is consistent with safety. It is hoped that the speed will reach 120 miles an hour. There will be no grade cross ings, the grades will be light and the radius of every curve will be at least 2000 yards. The projected road will connect Central Germany with Antwerp, the port of entry Into Belgium. Snakes In Southern Orgeon. Ashland Tidings. Homer Barron killed a big rattlesnake on Emigrant Creek Hill, last week, which bad ten rattles. It was an unusually big snake and had evidently lost some of Its rattles. The other day Senator Car ter killed one with 13 rattles on Frog Creek Hill, above Henry Applegate's place on the Dead Indian road. Yester day Claude Freeman killed a large rat tler, near the corner of Woolen and Church streets, on the side of the hill. A rattlesnake Is rarely seen on the Sis kiyou side of the valley up this way. A few years ago they were numerous on the Cascade side of the valley. Seaside Warnings. Sanitary Record. For the local visitor who has no op portunity of studying the habits of the marine fauna. It would be well that shellfish should only be gathered after Inquiry has been made as to the prac tice of the local gatherers familiar with dancer zones of pollution.