THE 3IORXIXG OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, TAXUARY 11, 1906.
Unt'ered at the Postoffice at Portland. Or..
; as Second-Clnss Matter.
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rOItTLAND, THURSDAY. JANUARY 11.
BATTLING RAILROAD GIANTS.
The railroad plot thickens in the Pa
cific Northwest, and occasional peeps
through the veil of mystery which hides
the mighty forces (behind the scenes
Snly serve to strengthen the belief that
Oregon, Washington and Idaho are
about to witness the greatest struggle
lhat ever engaged the attention of railroad-builders
in the West. The report
from Chicago that the Harriman Inter
ests were behind the North Coast road,
now seeking entrance into Seattle, has
some of the earmarks of authenticity.
The Harriman-HM fight is on in dead
aor-ncw? in1 if -n ntimhpf nf -nnlnts in
the Pacific Northwest the dummies
who have been put forward have been
at times shunted into the background
long enough for the public to get a
view of the real power behind the
:hrone.
Mr. Harriman regard? the building of
fhe North-Bank Railroad by the North
trn Pacific as a direct invasion of terri
tory in whioh he had reigned supreme
for so long that he thought he owned
It. It is thus perfectly natural that he
should resent invasion of his terri
tory by an immedKite move on the ter
ritory of the enemy. He is fighting
every inch of the advance of the Hill
road to Portland by the most strenuous
methods known to the science of rail
roading. And yet it is easily apparent
that all of the craft and cunning of his
own, as well as that of his clever em
ployes, will not keep the Hill road out
of Portland and Portland territory.
With the advent of the Northern Pa
cific there will naturally be a division
of the traffic which has heretofore paid
tribute -to the Harriman lines. And it
Is highly probable, that Mr. Harriman
has serious intentions of replacing
some of the traffic which he will lose in
the division of territory with some that
he will draw from the exclusively Hill
territory on Puget Sound.
Portland can no more expect Mr. Har
riman to overlook the Puget Sound field
than Seattle and Tacoma could expect
to keep Mr. Hill out of Portland terri
tory. Under the new regime both Port
land and the Puget Sound ports will
have the advantage of competition,
and the Increasing development of the
tributary country will give not only the
Hill and the Harriman systems plenty
of business, but will also supply an
overflow sufficient to earn dividends for
several'other roads than are now head
ing in this direction. Mr. Harriman
may strengthen his position by a line to
Puget Sound, but the strongest anchor
which he is puttlng.out to windward is
the building of the numerous long-overdue
branch lines in the territory trib
utary to his main lines, and to Port
land. The coming of more transcontinental
lines to Portland is a matter of tremen
dous importance to this city and the
entire Columbia Basin. Of even greater
Importance is the development of the
long-neglected regions of richness now
in readiness to pay tribute to this city
as soon as transportation facilities are
provided. Mr. Harriman is now devot
ing himself to the branch-line needs
with great diligence, and so long as
Portland's requirements in this line of
construction are met we can view with
equanimity his construction of a line
to Seattle.
ONE PHASE OF IT.
No man should foe prudent, industri
ous, economical and self-denying,
throughout the course of his life. For,
should such be his life and character,
the law w.ould penalize his efforts. In
sist on taking away from his estate the
best part of what he had acquired, and
bestowing it on "society," for support
of those who aTe too lazy to work and
too worthless to accomplish . anything
for themselves. This Is the inheritance
tax law.
The ideal citizen, then, is the indolent,
worthless individual, .who never exerts
himself or accumulates any property;
your hand-to-mouth, beggarly aristo
crat, who is much better than anybody
else because throughout his life he has
been lazy, dull and worthless. He Is
too proud to be a drudge, and if he
earns anything which is seldom he
spends it at once upon excesses, and Is
a. good citizen because he Is always
"dead broke."
The late P. W. Gillette, of Portland,
made the mistake of -working- hard, of
cultivating the virtues of prudence and
of economical and yet decent living
thereby leaving a small estate. The
state now wants it, under the inheri
tance tax law. It will help somewhat
to support a number of those who are
too indolent to support themselves.
It is not to say that the inheritance
lay ought to be cut out. But this is one
phase- of it. The assumption on which
it is based, is that efforts. to acquire
i
property, even In moderate degree,
ought to be penalized. The best citizen,
then, is the man who doesn't exert him
self, does nothing in the world, and
who leaves nothing behind him.
THE GREEDY SLUGGARDS.
Too many lots and parcels of land in
Portland are still held unimproved, for
increase of values. This Is an old evil;
has been an evil these forty years, and
more.
As values of the unimproved lots and
parcels of land rise, through the energy
of the community, to which these dead
head owners contribute nothing, their
greed Increases and grows. They buiid
nothing, but wait for the spirit and ac
tivity of others to make them rich. The
like greedy sloth or slothful greed is
witnessed in other young and growing
cities. '
Here the Kansas City Times says a
good thing, worth repetition. A partial
remedy, it says, might be obtained by
a change in the method of raising
taxj:s. Were the valuations placed
more on the ground and less on the im
provements, part of the burden as
sumed by the progressive citizen who
makes his land useful and enriches the
sluggards round about him would be
removed.
Hence the Kansas City paper Justly
says: "The enterprising man who is
ready to develop bis property by the
erection of dwellings or stores or office
buildings or factories is not so common
that communities can afford to penal
ize his efforts by any "burden In addi
tion to that imposed by monopolistic
combinations."
THE O REG ONIAN'S GUESTS.
The Oregonian has 'undertaken to
give twenty-three young women a fif
teen days' outing In Yellowstone Park
during the coming Summer. The paper
will pay all expenses, and it will other
wise provide every facility and 'conven
ience for a comfortable and enjoyable
journey. Selection of The Oregohian's
guests will be made by readers of this
paper in Oregon, Washington and
Idaho. It will be a popular voting con
test on conditions that will be named
hereafter. The contest begins January
15, 1906, and ends May 15, 1906 abun
dant time to demonstrate absolutely
who are the twenty-three young ladles
that stand highest In popular regard
and favor in the various communities
of the Northwest.
The Oregonian will say no more about
this undertaking at this time, beyond
giving its pledge that the voting- contest
and its results will be a project carried
out with entire impartiality between all
the contestants, and that It Is, In all
respects, the most Important and at
tractive contest ever undertaken by a
rfewspaper in the Northwest. The Ore
gonian is quite sure lhat sufficient pub
lic interest will be aroused to justify all
the trouble and expense It has assumed
to make the project a complete success.
THE COLLKfiE WIDOW.
Consider the moral situation of a
young man on his way to enter Bing
ham College who yields to the allure
ments of a woman and enters Atwater
College Instead. Nothing very bad
about that. Surely a man may choose
his own college freely. Tes, but this
young man was going to Bingham to
play as an expert on -the football team,
not to study. He had given his promise
and the team was depending on him.
His situation was much the same as
that of a lawyer who has received a
retainer or a soldier who has enlisted.
For either the lawyer or soldier to
change sides would be accounted black
dishonor which the youth and beauty of
the seductive DeMla whose wiles pre
vailed over his fidelity would scarcely
mitigate. May a football hero break
his plighted faith which a soldier, a
lawyer or a merchant is bound to hold
sacred?
The traditions of the drama permit
the base-born peasant to be a liar or
even a thief. The comic characters
may cheat, they may be pickpockets;
but the hero must be a man of honor.
He may be as stupid as Mr. Ade's Billy
Bolton; he may be. like that doughty
halfback, a mere unintelligent, though
docile, animal, but he must not break
his word. He must prefer honor before
life and before love. Many traditions
Mr. Ade has disregarded, to the charm
of his play; but in defying this one and
creating a hero who breaks his word for
love without remorse or even apparent
sense of having violated the high code
of gentlemen's ethics, the playwright
has planted a canker in the heart of his
rose.
The source of the extraordinary
charm of "The College Widow" must
not be sought in the character of the
hero. .Big as he is and stupidly good
natured, one feels quite certain that in
the railroad business he will exercise
the same brutal contempt for faith and
honor as he does In football not so
much from malignity as from Ignorance
of the difference between right and
wrong. He Is typical, of course, but
he is neither interesting nor pleasing.
One almost regrets that Jane Wlther
spoon did not fool him, for he is just
the sort of man to divorce her when
her beauty fades -and marry some
Bprightlier woman. That the football
brute without intelligence or honor
who serves as hero does not spoil the
play, or even mar it much, at the first
glance, only shows what a very good
play "The College Widow" must be
upon the whole.
None of the male characters singly
adds much to the play, though they
make an agreeable little group. Any
one of them at random might be
dropped without being missed a great
deal. The college president Is singular
ly imbecile. The tutor is purely con
ventional, arid can be found better done
In a hundred plays. The elder Bolton
is a perfectly familiar figure on the
American stage, and especially in the
American novel. He is a mere shadow,
and a Tather faint shadow, of the well
known "Senator." The boys, are whole
some enough, but without Individuality;
any one of them might change places
with any other and no harm done;
Bub Hicks, the raw freshman, differs
from the others only in his clothes and
manners. When broken In, he is Just
the same as the rest, only perhaps a
little more so. As for the women, they
are, if possible, less original than the
men, though better drawn. The ath
letic girl Is old in fiction; the grass
widow is never omitted from Army
stories, though in them she kisses sub
alterns dnstead of students. Jane With
erspoon. who bewltch'es the hero from
honor and duty, 5s a thin echo of Cleo
patra, Lady Macbeth, the sheik's
daughter in "Bon Hur," and & thousand
more. All tie women might have been'
taken ready made from a dozen litera
tures. All the characters are commonplace.
Not one of them gives the least sign of
wit or of any humor except what lies in
animal spirits. The plot of the play is
trivial, too utterly bald to account for
Its charm. Jane entices Billy to break
his word with Bingham and play on the
Atwater team. He wins the game and
she marries him. That is all, absolute
ly all. Two acts, or scenes, whichever
they may lie, recount the seduction.
The third exhibits the game of football.
The -fourth seals the hero's happiness.
We must look elsewhere than in" the
plot for the element of delight in "The
College Widow." Nor shall we find It
In the literary style. Mr. Ade knows
nothing of style and despises what he
knows. His books are one enormous
solecism. The language of his play is
slangy, thin and poor.
The charm of the play, which Is un
deniable and' very potent, lies partly In
the youthfulness of the characters and
their irresponsible conduct. Not In
anything they do, but in the way they
do it. Most that they do is foolish or
wrong, and most of what they say is
silly, but the freshness of youth covers
and beautifies it all. Moreover, the il
lusion of the college campus is fairly
well maintained and that of the foot
ball game is almost perfect. The boys
and girls are real; the talk is clean,
lively and amusing; the action is swift;
the sexes are brought Into pleasant and
healthy intimacy: the situations are
natural, and, above all, the excitement
of the football game Is nursed to a
skillful climax. The memory of college
days is. agreeably awakened; the senti
ments are mildly stirred; the moral
sense Is shocked just enough, perhaps,
to be interesting. If this does not ac
count for the charm of Mr. Ade's de
lightful play, what does or can?
, PROGRESS IN PANAMA.
The President In his hopeful message
wisely urges Congress not to reduce the
salaries of the Isthmian Canal Commis
sioners or their subordinates. Their
employment upon the Isthmus, as he
says. Is temporary. While engaged,
there they must drop out of the current
of professional life at home. Their
places will be filled, their merits for
gotten, and when they return It will be
almost as strangers to build up their
reputations and business relations like
mere beginners. This is a substantial
sacrifice made by these men for the
good of their country, and it merits
compensation.
Besides their financial sacrifice, the
officers of the commission are obliged
to live under conditions more or less
dangerous to health. The comforts of
civilization can be at best only par
tially established in such a place as
Panama, where the climate, the work
to be done and the habits of the people
all tend to make misery perennial and
health and happiness difficult. It can
hardly be believed that the wish of
such men as Mr. Gorman to Teduce sal
aries comes from any good will to the
canal or any real thought of economy.
Obstructionists always to this great
National enterprise, as soon as one ex
cuse falls they search for another and
care little about reason or justice, so
long as they can find fault.
With his message to Congress upon
Isthmian affairs, President Roosevelt
transmits a letter from Secretary Taft
which explains two transactions that
have been criticised a good deal, and
not entirely without cause. The first Is
the sale in December by the directors
of the Isthmian Railroad of $628,000
worth of bonds to pay debts of the road.
Remembering that the Canal Commis
sion owed the railroad at- that time
more than enough to pay all its debts,
the transaction looks startllngly like a
piece of frenzied finance. Mr. Taft
rather smooths the matter over, but he
made the directors buy back their
bonds and has warned them not to try
it again.
His other explanation refers? to the
notorious Markel supply contract, and
is as satisfactory as the case admits.
What one really hopes for Is to see
fewer occasions for explanation coming
to light in Isthmian affairs, and a gen
eral settling down to steady, hard, hon
est work. When that happens, nobody
will object to generous salaries for the
workers, and, with Roosevelt and Taft
both pushing. It is bound to happen
Boon.
PROVIDING FOR EX-PRESIDENTS.
The man who conceives It to be his
duty to place ex-Presidents of the
United States In suitable positions is
never out of print for long at a time.
It is true thai our list of ex-Presidents
is small, comprising at present a single
Individual, who seems to be perfectly
able to fix his own status, financially
and otherwise. It Is also true that the
list never has been a formidable one,
and that In the very nature of things
It is not likely to become so. Hence
the effort in this direction would seem
to be overstrained and the columns that
are from year to year written about
placing ex-Presidents to be burdened
with much ado about nothing.
As Indubitable evidence that our one
ex-President Is amply able to take care
of himself without outside suggestion
or Interference, we find Grover Cleve
land, occupying a position that carries
with It the modest salary of 512,000.
Three large Insurance companies are to
provide this salary, and the duties of
the .position are not specially exacting.
That President Roosevelt will look
out for himself when the time comes,
without the necessity of National worry
about his future, is practically a fore
gone conclusion.
t Still, it must fle admitted that after
a man has been President of the
United States it Is difficult for him to
find a position in keeping with the dig
nity of his past office. He can scarcely
afford to go into politics, since he would
thereby degenerate into a mere politi
cian a creature that he has learned by
contact to detest. The fame of General
Jackson suffered through his career as
a politician after his retirement from
the Presidential chair. The failure of
General Grant as a banker after he left
the White House Is $rtlll a matter of re
gret. General Harrison took up the
practice of law after his defeat for a
second term, and In It was enjlnently
successful. President Hayes returned
to the simple walks of agriculture,
which he was eminently fitted to adorn,
at the close of his not brilliant term of
service, and as an affable, modest, quiet
country gentleman completed the short
tenure of his years.
It seems from these examples that the
question of placing our ex-Presidents
is a superfluous one. They have a
habit of placing themselves, and may
fitly, as American citizens of integrity,
experience and Intelligence, be left to
attend to their own placing. There
would probably be no serious objection
r&teed in Congress to a proposition to
grant an ex-President a life salary; but
this is not necessary, and would be
more in accordance with the principle
which declares that "to him that hath
much shall be given" than with that
which underlies independent, self-respecting,
American manhood.
The United States Court of Appeals
at Cincinnati has decided that the Chi
nese exclusion act of 1904 continued the
former exclusion law In full force, re
gardless of the" bearing which the ex
piration of the treaty might have on
the matter. This decision wRl add a
little fuel to the flames which are al
ready blazing In some parts of China.
Under the treaty which expired by limi
tation In 1901. China had nothing to ex
.pect In the way of modification of the
exclusion act. but the Orientals un
doubtedly expected a more liberal con
struction of the new act which became
necessary with the expiration of the old
one. The excuse made by the Chi
nese, when protests have been made
against the boycott, was that they
demanded nothing but more liberal
treatment of students and others enti
tled to admission to this country. The
general belief Is that Increased latitude
In the treatment of students was de
sired In order to facilitate the admission
of a horde who were not students. It Is
now quite clear that the existing exclu
sion act will keep out the undesirable
coolie class, and so long as It does the
Chinese will continue the boycott-
An Astoria dispatch states that, ow
ing to the rough weather at the"mouth
of the Nehalem River, the merchants
doing business In that isolated region
have not yet received the goods ordered
by them for the Christmas trade. This
"Nehalem country" Is one of the rich
est spots In Oregon. It has vast tracts
of the finest timber on earth. The soil
is of marvelous richness, and agricul
tural and dairy Interests in the limited
degree possible by such wretched trans
portation facilities have shown great
results. All of this latent wealth lies
dormant within less than 100 miles of
Portland, and perhaps the highest trib
ute to its worth Is In the fact that
there are men who will devote money
and time in endeavoring to do business
In a region so hampered for transpor
tation facilities that goods ordered for
Christmas have not been received by
January 10. When the building of a
railroad to Tillamook and Nehalem af
fords that country an opportunity to do
business, the traffic turned out will be a
source of wonder to the railroads which
neglected it for so long.
, In blg capital letters the Astorian de
clares: "There is no city on the conti
nent with her natural advantages that
is as desperately Inert as Astoria." "It
Is time," adds the Astorian, "that some
thing was doing, and this paper Is going
to put up a fight -for It." What Astoria
Is going to have, we are told, are these
things, to wit: "A railroad to the Tilla
mook country via the Nehalem and the
coast, a sea-wall from Tongue fo
Smith's points; a modern and -model
hotel; a splendid park or system of
parks; a trolley line to the coast re
sorts; and minor things that will come
of themselves If these potent and Im
portant others are supplied." Certain
ly, brethren. Pitch in, and we shall
rejoice with you.
Now that Baron Komura has declined
to commit hari-kari and the Japanese
have ceased their disgraceful murmur
ings for blood money, the Japanese
government Is making preparations to
distribute $75,000,000 among the soldiers
who fought In the late war. The Mi
kado Is also passing around a number
of promotions for the faithful of his
cabinet, and by the time the little
brown men get ready to go over and
take the Philippines as a "dessert" for
the meal they have Just made off Rus
sia, loyalty will be fully restored.
,An appropriate hint to commercial
bodies of Portland, when banquets and
annual meetings and New Tear's pro
grammes are In the air: "Spokane citi
zens have subscribed 540,000 to adver
tise Spokane and Eastern Washington
In the East this coming Spring." So
say their papers and applaud. Yet It
would seem that advertising of that
city and country had been thoroughly
done, not once, but often. But they
keep at It.
The President's refusal to allow Rep
resentative Overstreet to name Ihe
"Surveyor of the Port at Indianapolis"
has badly discouraged that gentleman
and he wants to do something about it.
He might begin by finding out what
are the duties of a Surveyor of the
Port In a great maritime center like
Indianapolis.
Talking about "mergers," we are told
by an esteemed contemporary that a
merger of churches Is one of the great
mergers wanted. Yes,' Indeed. What
is the difference between liberal Juda
ism and the liberal Christianity of
Unitarianism? Ask Dr. Wise and Dr.
Eliot.
By a vigorous course of diet Secre
tary Taft has reduced his weight from
31-4 pounds to 2948 pounds. Very
good. But it looks to us as if there was
yet something to be done.
Unless this HIll-Harrlman scrap ends
soon. Judge Frazer will detect little
difference between holding down the
woolsack and having a brand-new baby
in the house.
A correspondent wires the important
information that there Is no law or or
der in Goldfield. Mayor Lane and his
Philippine Islander need not feel abso
lutely alone.
Mr. Rogers and his counsel want de
lay. The Supreme Court of New York
has taken a hand. No doubt Mr. Rog
ers wants time to think up some new
Jokes.
Kansas is going to investigate the
freight rate question. The freight rate
question might as well make up its
mind to be settled.
The dispatches indicate that Winter
cruising bids fair to become a fad
among the steam yacht owners of No.
26 Wall street.
Apparently the same brand of bad
luck that elects a man -Mayor out West
dooms him to a Police Commissioner's
job In Gotham.
Ex-Private Smith, of Hood River,
who Is against the canteen, Is hearing
from the rest of the Army, which Is
for It-
Do they call it a "fish-tail" burner
because of tke. lies it tells the gas
meter? "
THE SILVER LINING.
You cannot beat the right. It is good
enough.
I was glad when. they said unto me
let us go into the house of the Ladds.
a
Blessed be everyone that fcareth the
Ladd; that walkcth 1c his ways.
Peace be within thy walls, oh Port
land, and prosperity within thy pal
aces. Chicanery cannot fight squareness.
It hasn't the -wind.
Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity. H. Lane.
It Is better to be abused and misun
derstood "doing- right than to lose your
self respect doing wrong;
One man In a hundred may be right
and the rest wrong, though 99 disagree
with him.
"Did you make a good. Impression?"
"A strong one. I should say; I
hugged her."
Sitting In his FIfth-avcnue home,
after pocketing SO per centum interest
for the day on about 530,000,300, Rus
sell Sage mused In smiling- comfort,
while his wife played softly on the
melodion. "Every Little Bit Helps."
The more snobby the neighborhood
the less likelihood that the neighbors
will call. No trouble now in finding
such a neighborhood in Portland.
Which means that the place is getting
less country-townlsh, more cosmopoli
tan and more Inhabitable.
Lawson showed us Rogers. Rogers Is
now showing- us Missouri. The task to
make Rogers show us Standard Oil
secrets Is a more difficult one.
Will the Bclasco be a store, a lodg-Ing-houac.
or a ten-twenf-thirf?
The roller skating rink craze is
again spreading over the land, to the
immense devastation of the theatrical
business. Scarcely a road company now
on tour is reported as making money in
the East, and the skating mania has
struck the Pacific Coast Portland In
cluded, although Portland is properly
a New England town in Its funda
mental qualities of public tempera
ment. Last year tho vaudeville houses
checked tne flow of public amusement
money toward the first-class theaters,
and this season the roller skating pas
sion looms up as another pest in the
eyes of high-grade theater managers
all over the United States. Surely the
manager and the burglar lead precari
ous lives. However, what Is prettier
than a girl on roller skates, gliding
along with her fellow, arm in arm,
hand In hand, skimming- over the,
waxed boards? Nothing, except it
might be the same couple skating on
the ice!
Wanted; in large lots: Incorruptible
ministers of the gospel; statesmanlike
politicians; men who hate graft so
much that they will not take it them
selves; high-minded lawyers; humane
and intelligent physicians; modest act
ors: newspaper men who respect ev
erybody's rights; honest merchants; po
lite salesmen and their female proto
types: accommodating street-car con
ductors; healthy girls who love the
open air; fellows with normal .appe
tites who enter life's fray with ear
nest good will; mothers who love their
homes; fathers who have ideals and
stick to them.
How many of these are there in
Portland?
I forgot the answer.
Do not be among- those who think
resolutions are valueless because somo
are broken.
Don't be so cautious and so suspi
cious that you miss the opportunities.
The truth Is a mighty dangerous
thing to meddle with, and you'd better
not bother about tinkering with it un
less It is very, very handy.
About half the world have the rocking-chair
habit mentally and physical
ly. That's why three-quarters of the
population are unsuccessful.
The Hon. Grover Cleveland continues
to answer the question. "What shall
we do with our ex-Presidents?" with
complete success and apparent satis
faction to himself and the public.
It Is .stated that commanders of lin
ers plying between German ports and
Buenos Ayros are implicated in the
white slave traffic and that hundreds
of German girls are annually sold to a
Buenos Ayres firm, which pays fixed
commissions on all girls delivered into
their hands. The girls, who are all be
tween 14 and IS yoars old, are sold at
auction at Buenos Ayres at prices
which run from 51000 to 51200.
The price is not large. I have a pock
ctbook with my name on it that cost
me 51500.
In Norway they have a new and fan
tastic kind of drunk.
Norwegian papers relate that those
who have sunk lowest in Chrlstianla
have now discovered how to drink
with their nose.
The "Orebladet" describes how It is
done. The drunkard fills the p'alm of
his hand with "aquevit" (very strong
brandy made of corn) and sniffs it up
through the nose. This Js repeated sev
eral times, although once is enough to
render a man intoxicated.
"Nosc-drlnking" has become a real
vice with some individuals. The effect
of It is terrible, because the whole
nervous system Is paralyzed In a mo
ment, and the drunkard remains almost
unconscious for several minutes. After
wards a sleepy fatigue Is felt, as after
smoking opium. This fad, like other
refined and Ingenious excitements, may.
hit America later on.
Good-Byc to "Joe."
Boston Herald.
J. C. S. Blackburn, who has represented
Kentucky In the Senate for nearly a
quarter of a century, has met the fate of
all pitchers that go to the well too long.
Politicians, generals, prize fighters, hard
riders and high jumpers they all go down
at last If they persist In entering the lists.
It can be said of Senator Blackburn that
he has well represented his State In all
that Is most characteristic of it in prin
ciples, codes, manners, language and ap
pearance. Not many Southerners of the
old type will remain In the Senate after
this year, and It is a question if their
successors will add as much to the pic
turesqucness of that body or to the pun
gency of tho debates.
BAD EFFECT 0FC0MM0N SALT
Its Excessive Use a Fruitful Cause
of Brlght's Disease.
Samuel G. Tracy. M- JD., in New York
Times.
Apropos of the recent death of Charles
Yerkcs from Brlght's disease of the kid
neys. It iKcms a fitting time to say some
thing of tho danger attending the exces
sive use of common table salt, especially
if one has an affection of the kidney.
It has been demonstrated by well-known
physiologists that Only small amounts of
sodlcm cnloride (common salt) are essen
tial for the well being of man. Bunge
claims that a person using a mixed diet
only requires from 1 to 3 grams 05 to 30
grains) daily: however, mose people con
sume excessive amounts, from 10 to 20
grams (150 to 300 grains). Professor Wldal
found that when a patient who had ne
phritis or kidney disease was given 10
grams (140 grains) of sodium chloride
common salt) for several days he in
creased in weight, due to dropsy produced
by the salt. The amount of-nlbumen In
the urine Increased, and headache, nausea
and stupor developed, producing a condi
tion resembling uremic poisoning. Pro
fessor Wldal was able to make the dropsy
appear and disappear at will by Increas
ing or withdrawing the use of the salt.
Recent reports from the New York
Board of Health show that the mortality
from kidney disease Is greatly on the In
crease, hence It behooves us as Intelli
gent physicians to disseminate such
knowledge as will be preventive or reme
dial in Brlght's disease or other diseases
of the kidneys. Refraining from a too
strenuous life and the avoidance of ex
cesses, particularly In diet, alcoholic
drinks and common salt will do much
toward the prevention of diseases of tho
kidney.
The reason why a person who lias ne
phritis should use but little common salt
Is because the excessive use of it produces
dropsy and retards the activity of the
sweat glands by increasing the ocmotlc
pressure of the blood.
Two grams (30 grains) of salt are a,
great plenty for the average person. Milk
contains from L2 to 1.7 grams per litre
(little over a quart); 100 grams of bread
has an average of L3 grams: 100 grams of
beef has about 1.15 grams. Wldal, who is
a recognized European authority on this
subject, recommends the following daily
diet In kidney diseases: 400 grams (about
12 ounces) of meat: 1.000 grams (about
13-4 pounds) of potatoes; 100 grams (about
3 ounces) of sugar: SO grams (about 2 2-3
ounces) of butter (unsalted) and 2,500 cu
bie centimeters (about 2 2-3 quarts) of
fluids.
Both Needed Trimming:.
Tit Bits.
An old lady of his flock once called upon
Dr. Gill with a grievance. The doctor's
neckbands were too long for her Ideas of
ministerial humility, and, after a long
harangue on the sin of pride, she intimated
that she had brought a pair of scissors
with her, and would be pleased if her
dear pastor would permit her to cut them
down to her notions of propriety.
The doctor not only listened patiently,
but handed over the offending white bands
to be operated upon. When she had cut
them to her satisfaction and returned the
bibs it was the doctor's turn.
"Now," said he, "you must do me a good
turn also."
"Yes, that I will, doctor. What can it
be?"
"Well, you have something about you
which Is a deal too long, and which causes
me no end of trouble, and I should like to
see it shorter."
"Indeed, dear sir, I will not hesitate.
What Is it? Here are the scissors; use
them as you please."
"Come, then." said the sturdy divine;
"good sister, put out your tongue."
An Infant but Prosperous City.
The Bend Bulletin has a right to some
pride when It can state that, at the be
ginning of the second year of the cor
porate existence of Bend, the citizens can
show:
First Municipal government In full
swing.
Second Streets opened, sidewalks laid.
Third A six-roomed schoolhouse.
Fourth Eleven water hydrants bought
and Installed.
Fifth Fire-house built, and Are protec
tion organized and equipment costing
51200 provided.
Sixth City cemetery of 40 acres, bought,
fenced, partly cleared and platted.
Seventh A City Jail built and two po
licemen employed and paid. And no debt
left.
No railroad communication within 100
miles. Most of this work done on faith.
Inspection of Factories.
Who would believe that there were 146
factories in Jackson. Coos, Josephine and
parts of Lane and Douglas counties, run
ning machinery on a scale important
enough to call the attention of the State
Labor Commissioner? Yet that is Com
missioner Hoff's report. But. he says,
in most of them he found machinery
exposed so as to endanger life and limb.
Owners have been notified to provide
safeguards. No doubt part of this reck
lessness is due to the fact of so many
of these undertakings being young, and
hardly finished In final details.
Purify Drinking; Water.
Portland gets her drinking water
straight from the mountains to the city,
uncontaminated. Other cities In Western
Oregon Ijave been demanding purer water
than they have been getting. The East
ern purchasers of the water works at
Eugene and Albany could not do anything
better to secure reasonable popularity
than to proceed at once to install modern
and effective "filtering plants for both
these cities on a large scale. They an
nounce that contracts have already been
let for the installation at Eugene.
Another Bast ami West Link.
A new telephone line, connecting
Central Eastern Oregon with the Wil
lamette Valley, over the Cascade Moun
tains. Is a sign of the times. From
Albany to Cascadia. a mountain Summer
resort, the line exists. Thence It is to
cross the mountains and reach Prlne
ville in a direct'line in the coming Spring
or early Summer. A forerunner, doubt
less, of the railroad.
Journey of the Water "Wagon.
Omaha Bee.
The man who drove called "All aboard!"
'Twas January first
And every man there was a horde
Who wished to lose his thirst
Upon that good old wagon climbed
And settled down to ride;
Then loud, their husky voices chimed:
"All ready: let er slide."
Before the wheels had fairly turned
One Yellow lost his grip:
Another for this comrade yearned.
WhlchV made his Angers slip;
The next they struck a Jagged bump,
A dozen lost their hats;
Each, for his top piece made a jump
The balance cried: "Oh, rats!"
Then one by one they jostled off.
It was a tearful sight,
'Till only one was left, to scoff.
And he was fastened tight;
But e'er another mile they sped
This fellow wiggled loose:
The barn for me." the driver said,
"I se It la no use."
The water wagon cornea and goes,
It's fares stay but a while;
The driver has his little woes
For every passing mile;
Folks wonder why the Job hai stand;
Bat land him aot in haste t
He wears a silver palate, and
"11a sB4 ko 9ne of taste.
PANAMA MISiMANAGEMENT.
By Poultney Bigelow, in the Independent.
The strictly engineering, or technical
difficulties in the way of building the
Panama Canal have vanished, if they
ever existed. Today the canal Is a feas
ible project, provided wo have the threo
conditions money, labor and administra
tion. We have money enough, and there
Is plenty of labor to be had. for the ask
ing. The administration that Is reflect
ed in our great railways and that chal
lenges the admiration of the world for
economy and efficiency is on all sides of
us waiting for a call from Washington. ,
The famous speech of .Chairman Shonts
Is a strange slur upon our colored fellow
cltizcns: "Unless a much greater effi
ciency can be developed than can be de
veloped at present, we shall have to Jook
elsewhere for our labor." Does Mr.
Shonts know that all the labor at the
Isthmus is negro? Negroes there arc paid
In silver, not gold, and their pay days
arc irregular. They are returning to
Jamaica from Colon by the shipload.
.
Along with an American merchant. Mr.
Robinson, who ha3 lived in Colon sinco
1SS7. I walked about the city and found
that around the central market there
were pools of stagnant water. Every
whiff of air blew poison into the public
market. The meat on the butcher-stalls
hung unprotected against flies, dust and
tho plentiful body of germs which were
breeding luxuriantly in the moist, hot
air.
"Did Mr. Taft inspect the labor quar7
ters?" I asked of Mr. Robinson.
"No," answered my venerable friend,
"I prayed him to let me show him tho
real .state of things on the isthmus, but
he declined; ho' professed to know all
about it from 'official sources."
"Mr. Taft spent five days down here,"
said an eminent engineer to me. "In
that time he attended three dances and
a succession of social functions. But
he nad no time to look into the condi
tion of the laboring man."
Mr. Taft, it seems, and most of the
other high officials who had run down
at Government expense, made them
selves ridiculous in the eyes of the res
idents by exhibiting a panicky dread
of disease In a place where thousands
of their fellowmcn were exposing
themselves freely.
The natural thought in the minds of
many was: "It this place Is too rotten
tor such as Mr. Taft. why does not he
order It immediately drained and
cleaned? Ts his life so much more
precious than ours that he is hauled
out to sea every evening on board a
Government transport while we who
have also come down here for tho
United States Government are con
demned to sleep in a poisonous
swamp?"
Throughout my pestiferous excursion
up and down this filthy city I could
find not a single man or woman who
had not suffered or was not suffering
from fever of some kind; not a single
one who did not want to go home, but
was prevented by the want of money.
At present there is not a single drainage
canal made at Colon the very first need
of a swampy community. The dredge
which I saw stuck in the mud was also
turned the wrong way; but that is a de
tail, save as it indicates the presence of
political or amateur engineers.
'
"Specialists" came to the Isthmus with
Chairman Shonts and did pretty much
what the Taft party repeated later.
They were met at the wharf by political
deputations and a special train, with dis
infectants, strong drinks and mosquito
nets. Then thej- .ran across the 50 miles
of railway and back.
Each of the short five days was occu
pied by some short, easy railway excur
sion under the most elaborate precautions
lest an Insect more or less should jeopor
dize the success of their inexpensive out
ing. October 5, the run was to the site
of the Bohio dam, and such was the scare
in the party that only one man ventured
to the edge of the water. Next day an
other railway run wa3 made to the site
of the proposed Gamboa dam under sim
ilar precautions.
Each night they were all carefully
towed out to sea beyond the range of
Colon s'mells, alligators, mosquitos and
other savage beasts, and .slept the sleep
of those who sleep while others scratch.
Mr. Taft promised officially that by De
cember 1 Colon would have a splendid
water supply! There is today no water
supply in Colon. Mr. Taft does injustice
to his countrymen by treating flippantly
questions involving human life by the
thousands. We are not all children or
fools. We do not need reports which read
like the circulars of doubtful land com
panies. We have but to apply business methods
to a business proposition, and then, and
not till then, will the filth fly, and also
the dirt at the bottom of the big ditch.
But first of all we must make the politi
cians fly the barnacles, the drones, the
men with weak chins and flabby lips, who
today are standing about the works of the
Isthmus and acting as a constant source
of discouragement to negroes who know
the difference between a real man and the
"ornery, mean white trash!"
The practical man realizes that the suc
cess of the canal Is bound up with the na
ture of the powers which may be given
to the general commanding the labor
forces on the Isthmus.
This proposed chief is not far off there
are plenty of them within call of the
White House telephone. West Point alone
could furnish a dozen of them tomor
row, to say nothing of the Boston Insti
tute of Technology.
Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Taft no doubt
mean well when they give us the assur
ance that political jobbery Is foreign to
their natures. At the same time jdbbery
flourlshes under their noses and they ap
pear to be incapable of stopping it. Tho
people at large need to appreciate this
fact and to consider some change in a
system which already gives ominous signs
of rottenness.
Nothing; in a Name?
Olympla Olympian.
Rather than occupy a pulpit that was
not free in tho fullest sense of the word.
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, the brilliant rabbi
of Temple Beth Israel, Portland, has de
clined a call from Temple Emanu-El. of
New York. The rabbi's name appears to
be no misnomer.
NEWSPAPER WAIFS.
Mr. Stopiatc That song always moves mi.
Miss Tcrsleep If I'd known that. I'd have
sung It an hour ago. Cleveland Leader.
"What are your qualifications for an office
boy?" "Well, sir, I can do anything from
filling Inkstands to attending directors
meetings." Life.
The- American Tourist I suppose I speak
broken French, .eh. Henri? The Waiter
Not eegsactly. M'sieur. You haC a word
describes. It bettaire let me sec ah, yes
It Is pulverized! Puck.
Passerby Is that your pork down there
on the road, guvnor? Farmer' Pork! What
d'ye-mean? There's a pig o mine out there.
Passerby Ah. but there's a motor car Just
been by. Punch.
"What a fool expression It Is to say a
man has been "relieved of his pocketbook."
"Oh. I don't know. Ever lose a pocketbook
with nothing In It but a memorandum of
things your wife wanted you to bring home?"
Philadelphia Ledger.
"I fear I shall not be abl to attract much
attention," said the new Congressman.
"Don't worry." answered Senator Sorghum.
'In this era of accusations and Investiga
tions It is sometimes a luxury not to ba
noticed." Washington Star.
"Well." said Jokely, concluding one of his
best stories. "I haven't noticed you laugh
ing to rfny great extent." "Aw, really,
now." replied the Britisher, "why should I
lawf V "Why. man alive, that was a Joke I
Just told you." "Oh, come, now, I say;
now could it be a Joke If It docs Bot make
cn lawf r Philadelphia Prer