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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1906)
.:5 THE MORNING OREGONIAN. "WEDNESDAY, MAUGH 21, .1906. Entered at the rostofflce at Portland, Or., as Second-Class Matter. SUBSCRIPTION' RATES. CT INVAR I AB LY IK ADVANCE- 4X3 (By Mall or Express.) DAILY. SUNDAY INCLUDED. Twelve months J8.00 Mx months ' ti Three months On month - Delivered by carrier, per year -00 Delivered by carrier, per month....... . L.es time, per week - -JO Sunday, one year " Weekly, one year (lsfcued Thursday)... 1.30 Sunday and Weekly, one year S.SU HOW TO KEM1T Send postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The S. C BecUwIta Special Agency New Terk. rooms 4S-S0. Tribune bulldlns. Chl-i-ago. rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postofflce News Co., 178 Dearborn street. St. rul, Minn. N. St. Marie Commercial Station. Denver Hamilton & Kendrfck. 808-812 Seventeenth itrect; Pratt Book Store, 1214 fifteenth street; I. WelnMetn. Goidfleld, Nev. Guy Marsh. Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Clear Co., Ninth and Walnut. .Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, 50 South Third. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Su erlr street. New York City L. Jones &. Co., Astor Heuee. Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnston, Four teenth and Franklin etreets, Ogden D. L. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1C12 Farnam: Mageath Stationery Co., 130S Farnam; 240 South Fourteenth. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 43D K street. . Salt Lake Salt Lake News Co., 77 West Second atreet South; Mips L. Levin. 21 "hurch street. Los Angeles B. E. Amos, manager Keren trtvrt wagons. Berl News Co.. 320 '.4 South Broadway. v San Diego B. E. Amoe. . Santa Barbara, Cal. B.- E. Amos, InaUrna, Cal. Berl New. Co. San Franclfco J.' K. Cooper & Co.. 746 Market -trecf Goldsmith Bros.. 230 Sutter and Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. E. I-cc Palace Hotel News Stand; Frank Scott. 0 BHU: N Wheatlry Movable News Stand, erner Market and Kearney streets; Foster A Orar. Kerry News Stand. WaJUngton. r. C. Bbbltt House, Penn sylvania avenue. PORTLAND. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 21. "LOGIC AND JUSTICE. A famous chapter in "Don Quixote" iells how Snncho Panza administered justice during his brief Yufe over the imaginary island -which he had been appointed to govern. Seated in his magisterial chair, he heard- each, dis putant give his side of the story, and Then, -without law books, lawyers or precedents, trusting solely to his native wit, he decided between them, dealing uttt substantial justice in every case. In fiction such a court as Sancho Pan jwl'sV ouches "bettor results than it would in practice, but it is a. fair question to ask whether hi? direct and unencum bered method of procedure, dependent solely upon common sense and regard less of forms and rules, would not, with all its admitted liability to error, bo an Improvement upon our present methods, where form and precedent count for so much and the intrinsic merit of the case for so little. Has not a predilection for ingenious logic to a certain extent displaced the sayjHK quality of common sense in our courts? A writer' in the March Atlantic presents an array of facts which neem 10 indicate some such conclusion. His theme is the variance between the de clared purpose of what is calle'd "labor legislation" and the effect which the courts give to it. The purpose is to make it unlawful for an employer to werk his hands more hours a day than consistent with wholesome humanity and normal citizenship; to realize the workman's aspiration for that leisure which is essential to manhood. The courts, however, disregard utterly, the ethical aim of these laws and look at them merely as efforts to limit the workman's freedom of contract. The workman cares nothing for this freedom of contract. It lias no real existence, whatever the courts may say; for the man must work or Marve, and he must work under conditions Just as severe as the Jaw permits his em ployer to impose. The liberty to throw up his Job is nugatory, since he cannot live without a Job. Freedom of contract, o far as the workman Is concerned, is a pure abstraction, the Atlantic writer points out. a mere legal fiction; and yet. for the sake of it. the courts aiulHfy law after law enacted to secure real and definite benefits .such as fair hours and protection to life and limb. Forgetting altogether the merits of the case, its relations to human welfare, the Judges obstinately pursue a logical chi mera. An Incident In j)olnt is a Buffalo fac tory girl's action for damages for the loss of her arm. dler hand was caught In some unprotected machinery In the mil! where she worked and her arm Avas crushed. A New Tork statute re quired such machinery to be covered in. She sued her employer for damages and won her case In the lower court; but the Court of Appeals dismissed the action on the ground that the girl knew the risk she ran and had Impllcltly waived her right to statutory protec tion when she hired out to work in a mill whose owner was breaking the law. This reasoning is Ingenious, but It is aot sensible. It ignores the common facts of life. It sacrifices humanity and Justice to an abstract theory, and , It sets a premium upon lawbreaklng. In theory the poor girl could work where she pleased. Theoretically, in deed, she wj free to ypend her days driving 'about In a carriage Instead of working anywhere. But such. a theory is nonsense. As a matter of fact, she had to work,, and she had to work in that, particular mill. The court called "her act In taking a Job there "contrib utory negligence." It was, in Teality, grinding necessity. The law tried to give her a chance to earn her living in safety; the court nullified the law for the sake of a. vain proposition in ab stract logic. The girl would have fared better with Sancho Eanza for a Judge. In New York State each year 40,000 workmen are maimed as a direct conse quence of this decision and others like u Is it any wonder Ihat men who must earn their living distrust the courts? How shall we account for this predi lection which sacrifices human, welfare to empty theories? Many persons reply hastily that the courts are determined to sustain the capitalists against their -workmen at all costs, and that they re sort to scholastic sophistry for Jack of Anything better to defend their course. This is probably a mistake. May we not find a better explanation In the one sided education of lawyers? Their col lege .courses deal with, abstractions alone. They study iorm devoid of subetance. They learn little of acence. machinery, manufacturing processes, and nothing at all of the conditions of modern life. They think In terms of pure logic, .while life works under the spur of the elemental passions. Hence their decisions look incongruous and cruel. It is said that the decision against the anti-sweating act In New Tork Is responsible for scores of sui cides every year. Did the Judges wish to drive men to suicide? Certainly not, but their scholastic education had left them Ignorant of- the relation between cause and effect in the real world. "If you must go before a Judge," says Goethe, "choose one who knows the world as It is, -not as he thinks It ought to toe." TJIE GAS COMPANY'S DEFENSE. The public doesn't know what It is talking aboutVhen It says that it has been getting poor service at Increasing cost from the gas company; and that part of the public which has testified under oath about overcharges, insolent treatment. Incorrect meter jreadines 4tnd the like. Is grievously mistaken or has .not told the truth. In not a elngle instance has the gas company erred; in no case has It done wrong. This is the astounding defense of the Portland Gas Company so far as It has developed. It maintains, and will maintain, that the gas Is good, the price reasonable, treatment of the public courteous, meter readings correct, investigation of complaints prompt, and rectification of minor mistakes, on those rare occa sions when they are made, immediate. The entire public knows Just how much and how little there is in the gas company's defense. But It will be im possible to overcome the common com plaint that the gas has been bad, and the universal experience that bills have not been reduced, thou eh the nrlce has been steadily lowered. Everybody knows It; many have complained about It; and their complaints are met with the sworn testimony- of gas company em ployes that they have no Just griev ances. Of course they haven't. The public can have no grievance against a gas company, and It is the business of the gas company to show the public that it hasn't, whether it has or not. Take, for Illustration, the case of The Oregonian, because there can be no ex planation of variation in bills by faulty or erratic meter reading: The Orego nian paid the gas company as follows: In 1903, $1654; 1904, $1742; 1905, ?1S81. The contract price in 1903 was ?L30 per thou sand; it was reduced to $1.25 and to $1.15 in 1905. Yet The Oregonian continued to pay more. Why? The gas company says it was because of the Exposition period and because The Ore gonian installed two new linotype ma chine?. That sounds plausible; but It isn't true. The Oregonian put In two new machines In 1903. From that time in the mechanical equipment stereo-typing-room, art-room, composing room, in all departments where gas was used there was no Increase. Gas Is burned precisely the same number of hours whether the machines are used or not. so that they may be ready for use. The Fair made no difference what ever. It could not because there was always a maximum use of gas. Why, was the aggregate charge greater In 1905 than in 1904, though the price was reduced? By what device were The Oregon ian's bills made to go up as the price went (nominally) down? How much further will the actual cost in crease after the great reduction to 95 cants occurs? "The Oregonian'. experience Is every body's experience. The public knows it has been tricked and cheated. It has demanded an explanation. It will not get it from the gas company. But no matter. There is a remedy. IS IT TRUE HOME J.ll'K? The growth of the apartment-house idea in the great and even the lesser cities of the United States has been exceedingly rapid within the past few years. To say that. this growth repre sents a decadence of what is tenderly termed "family life" I? but to state a self-evident fact, since it destroys ut terly the sense of possession and re sponsibility that form the central point around which individual homes are builded and maintained. There is. to be sure, a certain degree of seclusion about life in a modern apartment house, provided there are no children In the household; but the delightful sense of ownership that comes to young people who start out in life together in their own home Is utterly wanting in this method of living. In the first place, the apartment house, with its boast of "housekeeping made easy." offers a premium to mar ried people to find ways and means to restrict their responsibilities to the care of themselves alone. Tenants are re stricted to "persons without children." a coldblooded requirement, but, after all. for obvious reasons' a necessity. Against the assumption that "no man lives to himself alone" the compart ments of these great houses are occu pied by solitary married people whp go to bed at night tired of themselves, if not of each other, and rise In the morn lgn to dedicate anew their lives to self ishness. Mrs. Russell Sage, one of the most practical and sensible of wealths' women, recently wrote: Hotel life offer to many the enxleat solu tion of the domestic question, but lazy -women are really to blame for their troubles with ervant. Apartment-hotel Ufa Is detrimental to family life, and make Teal home life at moat Impossible. Bev. Charles H. Parkhurst. than whom, perhaps, no one Is better quail! fled to speak upon the domestic and social problems of the great metropolis, says: We cannot have a home in the true ense of the word In oneof theee catacomb ret up on end. with the tunnel ued for elevator shaft. While Rev. H. M. Warren, chaplain of hotels In New York, adds his impres sions of the deleterious effects of apartment-house living, saying: I fj-ar that the apartment hotel haa had a Mi effect upon many of our women. The complete relief from responsibility and every kind of duty have turned Idle hand and minds to various "unworthy undertaking. We laugh over the answer of a woman who, a reported "by Arthur Train In a lute number of the Saturday Evening Post, under cross-examination on the witness-stand, said in reply to the question "What do you do for a liv ing?" replied: I am a respectable married woman with teven children. I do nothing for a Firing ex cept cook. wash, scrub, make bed, dean windows, mend my children' cloth en, mind the baby, teach the- Jour oldest their lessona, take care of my huaband and try to set nouch sleep to be up by 2 o'clock in the morning. But the laugh at this Inventory of dally activities is net shadowed by pity It is, on the contrary, merry and en joyable, full of the human spirit and fed by a feeling of wttisfictlon that springs up in the presence of a life of useful even though commonp.lace en deavor. Of course no lawyer Is so poor or so superficial a Judge of human nature as to ask a woman who lives in an apart-ment-3ious?e the question that drew forth the voluble answer of the home maker and housemother above re corded. Were he to be so Indiscreet, he would be met by a glance of scorn, a .shrug of incompetent shoulders and perhaps a display of hands urfused to I labor, raised In disgusted protest at his Impertinence. The apartment-house may represent the solution of the domestic problem for maiden ladies and childless married people on a ba?ls of economy. Two women workers like the Cary sisters of a past generation, for example, might live in it and grow in grace and pros perity. An elderly pair whose children have gone from them might And in the "housekeeping made easy" that Is. its boast, conditions suited to their age and manner of Jife. It Is, perhaps, the Ely- slan dreamed of for the selfish young married pair who have set out in life to live for themselves alone. But it for bids the enjoyment of the home life which underlies a nation's greatness and perpetuity. In this view the rapid growth of the apartment-house Is to be deplored as the advance agent of a large and yearly increasing class of homeless Americans. STREET-PAVINO. The City Council will do an act of simple justice to property-owners and street contractors if it shall pass an ordinance to be reported tonight throw ing open to competition all street pav ing which comes under the generic title "bituminous-macadam." The sit uation in brief is this: One paving company has for several years enjoyed a complete monopoly of this class of paving, because the city ordinances mak"e provision for a "bltullthic" pave ment which Is the bituminous-macadam pavement laid by the "bitu lithk" company. This concern has given its trademark to the work done and materials supplied by it. and therefore no other company can lay bltullthic pavement. But any other can lay bituminous-macadam pavement, if the Council will give the needed au thority; and the Council has already manifested an Intention to do it by di recting that an ordinance to that end be framed and submitted for Its consider ation. There Is no branch of public work subject to so much abuse and wrong as street paving. There Is no form of-contract Into which the city enters that should be so free from all suspicion of juggling, or favoritism, or trickery. There should be open and full competi tion in all kinds of street contract work; there should be no combinations among contractors, no collusion with city, officers, no schemes for defrauding the taxpayer by cheap materials or in efficient work. All these varieties of swindling Portland has had to contend with. Jn one form and another, in times past; so that all measures that are de signed to put contracts for street work on a correct basis will be regarded with favor by the public The bituminous macadam or bltullthic Is a very desira ble and popular pavement, and The Oregonian does not at all intend to in timate that the bltullthic company has done more than to shape our local leg islation so as to have a monopoly of this brand of paving. But there should be no monopoly, for reasons already given, and for others, which are mainly that free competition means lower prices, better methods and greater sat isfaction to the property-owner. AN ArOIvOGY HUE. It has been supposed that the pachy dermatous Senate was proof against the shafts of ridicule and the sting of censure. This, it seems, is a mistake. Some Senators have sensibilities really delicate. Mr. Elklns, for one, takes great pride In the Senate, and irreverent epithets applied to It afflict him deeply. What he finds ;o be proud of he does not say, and it must remain a matter of wondering conjecture, but there can be no doubt that he finds something. Perhaps it Is his own record or Mr. Depew's Mr. Elkins is distressed by a kindly offer from Governor Cummins, of Iowa, to provide headstones for the members of the Senate, on the ground that they are corpses, or ghbsts at best, and their legislative chamber a graveyard. The Senator from West Virginia insists thai he at least Is alive and In no present need of a tombstone. He might have spared his protest. Nobody thinks the Senators are dead, except In trespasses and sins. Their activity Is too apparent and too pernicious to permit of any such supposition. Mr. Cummins errs In calling the Sen ators corpses. He would have "been nearer the truth to call them grave worms which feed on corpses the bod ies of dead bills Intended for the public good. This is their principal occupa tion; indeed it has been almost their only occupation during the present ses sion, except to pass the ship-subsidy bill, which is like a poisonous emana tion from the grave. Mr. Cummins owes an apology to the helminthic dig nity of the Senate. Even a graveworm has its feelings and may Justly resent being called a corpse. THE MOTIIKK-IX-UW. A pathetic story was told the other day ' about' an aged woman who was taiken from Condon,..In this state, to Vancouver, Wash., by her son-in-law. He had previously spent all of her sub stance. There he abandoned her. pen niless, to live or die aj circumstances might dictate. Nothing Is said of the daughter in this case the wife of the manly and affectionate son-in-law and daughter of the aged woman who was turned out on a strange' common to die. It is charitable, and indeed natural, to suppose that she is not living. Other wise one might be .almost tempted to hope that her part ln'the pitiful drama in which the mother-in-law too often figures will, when the time comes, re flect in some measure that of her wretched parent. While shallow mlrids will continue to have their tilt at the mother-in-law (.the wife's mother, of course), and shallow police magistrates continue to assert upon occasion that there Is no chance for peace In a household of which the mother-in-law is an inmate, the fact remains that the wife's mother, nine times out of ten, dotes on a worthy son-in-law with all of a mother's affection. If the man is a good husband, sober, industrious and kind, he has a place In the heart of his wife's mother that is scarcely second to that which the daughter occupies. If, on the contrary, he is & 4riaklfr wan, quarrelsome, In dolent or thrlf ties," bis mother-in-law (strange as it may appear to men of this class) is not fond of him, though even then in a vast majority of cases 6he gives to his family of her substance, her labor and her care to make up his deficiencies, often for months or years, hoping for better things. But woe to her when, voluntarily or of necessity, her benefactions cease. She Is then proclaimed the cause of all the family disagreements. If she follow the true instincts of the maternal heart and sug gest to her daughter that there is no point In living with a husband who abuses and does not support her, she Is held up" through the courts to the public scorn and made the target of the feeble wit ot the penny-a-liner of the daily press. The story of the mother-in-law Is an old one. Its variations are 'few. Its chroniclers belong to the "smart set" in the newspaper world.. Those who pass opinion upon it feel in duty bound to cater to a deep-seated prejudice by which the mother-in-law is judged. But back of It all in most cases there stands a sensitive, womanly woman who has been most cruelly and unjustly dealt with, where she had every right to ex pect kind and generous treatment. Of course there are mothers-in-law and mothers-in-law. Just as there are husbands and husbands and wives and wives; but the testimony of every ob servant person will. It is believed, bear out the statement that the most loyal friend of an -upright, manly husband, next to his own wife. Is his wife's mother. One day last week The Oregonian printed from a staff correspondent at Boise a dispatch that W. E. Borah had retired from the race for United States Senator, largely that he might be free to devote his time and energy, without embarrassment of political complica tions or personal ambitions, to the prosecution of the men ac cused of taking the life of ex-Governor Steunenberg. The announcement- cre ated a great stir In Idaho, for the rea son principally that Mr. Borah's elec tion as Senator was everywhere regard ed aa probable. Various Idaho news papers have declared that the story was false. Their motive may be clear ly understood when It Is stated that the news appeared in the column? of no other paper but The Oregonian. It may be added, further, that The Orego nian knew and knows that the story was authentic. That Is the reason it was printed. It Is gratifying to note that the typhoid situation in Eugene is much Improved, and that the city authorities will at once take measures to carry out the Instructions of the State Board of Health In regard to the purification of the water supply of the town. The only wonder, in the light of develop ments concerning the contaminated waior supplj-, is that everybody in the town was not stricken with this most dreaded of enteric-fevers. As Jt Is, the cases have run up Into the hundreds and deaths from the disease have been too numerous. Distressing features of the matter have been the anxiety of parents whose sons and daughters were In the State University, the loss of lime from classes, and the expense incident to sickness away from home. It may be hoped that a guarantee of pure water for the town will be forthcoming before the Fall term of the university opens. Advices from the wheat belt indicate that there has been severe loss by freezing In many localities where lack of snow left the plant unprotected. It Is still full early, however, to begin talking about a short crop. There Is seldom a soason when there Is not some damage of this nature, and it Is gener ally repaired by rcseeding to Spring wheat. The cost of the seed and the labor of putting it in are. of course, a dead loss to the farmer so unfortunate as to have his crop Winter-killed, but, with favorable weather In the Spring, much 4jf the damage can be repaired. Spring wheat In this country Is never as certain to turn oft well, as is Winter wheat, but we have experienced sea sons when the Spring crop was the bet ter of the two. Let us take consolation In the hope that this will be one of those fortunate years, and that the price will not fall below $1 per bushel. Gas at 30 cents a thousand feet Is the charge at Akron. O.; In Portland. $1.15. At the gas Investigation before the spe cial committee In the City Hall yester day J. N. Teal, for the Portland Gas Company, disingenuously tried to make out that the 30-cent charge was for nat ural gas. The Oregonian received the following dispatch last night from one of the leading newspapers of Akron: "Both natural and artificial are fur nished to this city 30 cents." Work has been started on the Klam ath irrigation project. A large force of men and teams will soon be engaged and work on the big ditch will proceed without interruption to the finish. The project Is one of great Importance to Klamath farmers and stockmen, and Its completion will mean much In the de velopment of the natural resources of Southeastern Oregon. Senator Fulton's chlnook salmon, which broke up a quorum of the upper houpe, was cooked, according to the telegraphic report, in "Oregon style." This is top indefinite. Was It boiled, broiled or baked? And why this silence in the all-important matter of sauce? Mrs. Danlelson. the Kansas City woman who shot and killed a dinner table guest because of an insulting re mark, was discharged from custody yesterday. There are some rules of eti quette that even the courts do not dare interfere with. Street railway's of Massachusetts ac tually pay In taxes 6.3 per cent of their gross earnings; in other words, each nickel handed to the conductor contrib utes nearly a third of a cent to the pub lic treasury. Interesting information for Portland. Thanks to the welcome meteorolog ical change, it seems safe now to in vest in onion sets as well as other vege tables, and put them under the ground. Engineer Wallace thinks we ought to build a sea-level canal at Panama. Mr. Wallace has become the leading au thority on canals we shouldn't build. You may not like unseasonable snow, or any kind of snow, in Oregon; but did you ever live in Colorado? The gas company may not be as "cocky" as it ocewxs,' but it knows more., V.VJ , THE SILVER LINING. By A. II. Ballard. Thought for the Day. Within the sacred portals ot the mind Ideals loved and guarded are enshrined, j Blest la the man who loses not Ideals; This life Is little to the hope he feels. Half the world rises on the other hairs shoulders, and thinks It Is running the wholo outfit. Get the happy habit. It's a good habit. Never think too long about what you In tend to do. Do it . A girl in hand Is worth dozens of prom ises. God bless the rich they must be gorged at all hazards. ' One worthy, absorbing object is more to you than riches: and if you stick to that worthy object the chances are that you will get the riches, too. ' Kindness Is a Rood religion. The multitude that aeems to think that one good turn deserves a kick does not grow appreciably less. No one ever got hold ot any money but some one tried to get It away from him. Look at "Scotty." His only troubles come from tho fact that a bunch of men are crazy to get his gold away from him. Hu manity Is rather primarily brutal in Its Instincts, after all. Perhaps there Is a sound, wise satisfaction In "Scotty's" mind when he sees people insanely run ning after the change that falls from his spendthrift hands. He is learning life at the fountain-head. Ot course, some men must be killed when there is a large sum at stake. 1 am glad to hoar that Charles S. Fran cis, of Troy. N. Y.. Is to be sent as Am bassador to Austria-Hungary. "Charlie" Francis Is a very fine fellow, and has proved himself an able man. He was a Cornell man In the class of T6. a member of the Zota Pal fraternity, a bully, good college enthusiast, winner of the single scull race at Saratoga in 1S75. His father left him the Troy Times. He has been Minister to Greece. He Is a square, virile, mentally robust, manly American, experienced In business, journalism and diplomacy, At the Dolmonlco dinners in the Winter, where the Cornell alumni congregate. "Charlie" Francis Is one of the most distinguished of them all; but he has never lost a jot of his old. easy cor diality and warm, modpst. friendly ways. He is a rich man and a successful man. and I don't believe he ever went back on a friend or broke his promise In his life. He Is just the kind of person President Roosevelt would like. Bowers. Mr. Bowers, the only H. C. Bowers, we can't spare you. Mr. Bowers. Go down there and fix up things at the Falrmount. In San Francisco, and start the hotel off right, so that their gorgeous lv brilliant and cllmactrlcally luxurious caravansary may make a hit with the American univcrsci but you just come back here often enough to keep the Hotel Portland running as It has been running under your unequnlcd management, or there might be a stampede from Portland to California among the people who know the advantages of a' really comfortable hotel. Mr. Owens, of Astoria, earned $3.C0 and gave It to bis wife to keep ffir him. Next Jnc divorced him and kept the money but not for him. Now he begs the courts to restore some of tho money to his hands. Mr. Owens having been a fool docs not justify your continuing in that role. Don't stop to soak up any part of spilt milk. Go and earn another J3.0. and, when tho woman comes along asking you to give It to her, quietly remark, "Nothing doing." Women can keep the funds all right, but there is always a difference of opinion as to whom they belong. I'll bet you'll hang on to the next $20.CC0. and that It will do you some cood. This experience Is Just what you needed. I lost $30 once myself In a similar way. Have you noticed that quite a village of stores and business places has grown up around the Belasco Theater, at Washing ton and Fourteenth streets? That was the way things wont in San Francisco. First Polk and Larkln streets filled, up with stores, forming an oasis of business for the convenience of Che fast-increasing population. Then Webster street, farther out. was the cross street selected for small shops; and now similar centers of business dot the thoroughfares was out to the CllfC House and the Pacific Ocean. Portland Is Just beginning to develop theso half-way-station trade centers. You could trace the growth of New York in the same way. Men alive today remem ber when Chambers street was the upper limit of the city. Traveling In your mind's eye up town, the crofa streets that were first given up to business uses were: Ca nal. Houston. Tenth. Fourteenth. Twenty third., Forty-second, Fifty-ninth. One-Hundred-and-Tcnth. One-Hundred-and-Twonty-Flfth. and the last is Harlem. Beyond that you are out of Manhattan, and you are camping out, say the Knick erbockers. For British Strap-Hangers. Springfield Republican. "Strap-hanging" is a subject which has recently engaged the attention of Parliament. We aro sadly familiar with the thing In the United States, and nobody has tho slightest authority over Its regulation street-cars, ele vated railways and other transporta tion companies consign from ten to 50 persons, men and women, to the tedi ous punishment of strap-hanging a cruel, but thug not-an unusual punish ment, and so not coming under the statutes. But It is different in Great Britain. We should think it odd to have hours of debate In the National House or Senate on such a matter, but that's the ?ort of thing Parliament luxuriates in If a beadle whips a boy in some remote parish, the case Is paraded In Westminster. There Is now promise of a bill to make the railways do something to relieve the workmen and .young girls these are the chief sufferers from strap-hanging of the woes they inflict. And It Is quite sure that the railway companies will do what Parliament requires. Great Bri tain really believes in Parliament. When You Try On a Suit. Sartorial Art Journal. Trying on Is an evidence of trade progress, for It Is employed not so much for the purpose of enabling the cutter to fit his client as to enable the client to nave his own Individual Ideas of sr3ce, appropriateness and beauty embodied and expressed In the gar ment and to enable the cutter to de velop the garment to the nearest pos slble approximation of his Ideal of what it should be In Its relatle t art, to fashion and to the maa. OUR IMPERFECT LANGUAGE. Kansas City Journal. An Opinion From Kansas City Af fecting Spelling Reform. The English language has various im perfections, but none more glaring than the spelling of its common words. When we placo side by side the words rude food, lewd, wooed, sued, jewed and note that with exception of the initial conso nant they are pronounced precisely alike, we get an idea of the inconsistency o our spelling and how confusing it must be to those of a different tongue who try to learn ur language. No other language Is so faulty In this particular. It Is not surprising, therefore, that edu cators now and then undertake to make Improvements. The department of super intendents of the National Educational Association, In session this week at ouisviHe. Ky.. Is attempting to straighten out some of the worst kinks In our orthography. According to the dispatches, these edu cators have decided that 12 changes should be made, along phonic lines, and they will so recommend. It. cannot be supposed that these 12 comprise all that are needed; presumably they are merely such as the members were able to agree upon. They include some of the most clumsily spelled words, but by no means all of thom. These arc the changes recommended: "blzness." for business; "enuf." for enough; "fcther." for feather: "mesure." for measure; "plesure," for pleasure: "red." for read; "ruf." for rough,; "traur." for trough; "thru,", for through; "tuf." for tough; "tung." for tongue: "yung," for young. The question naturally arises. If we are to havo "mesure" and "plesure"' why not also "tresure?" If "fether." why not also "lethcr" and "wether"? Why change rough and trough and through and tough and leave dough, cough and bough un changed? ' There Is Just as much reason to make lead "led" as to make read "red." It might be assumed that the changes recommended are meant to In clude all other words of similar spelling; but If so. why should "mesure" and "plesure" both be given and each count as one of the dozen alterations? And why add "ruf and "tuf" after we have had "enuf?" Many attempts have been made to change arbitrarily the spelling of such words aH these, mostly by college profes sors and newspapers. But the reform is a difficult one. Reference to old books, printed a century age. shows that nu merous alterations have come about In the spelling of English words, but these changes were the work of decades. If the National Educational Association can. by resolution or otherwise, alter the spelling of even one word in common use It will have reason to congratulate itself upon a wonderful achievement. It is easy enough to see tho faults In our orthography, it Is not difficult to suggest Improvements, but as to making the public adopt the re forms suggested that Is a very different matter. How to Find a Gas Leak. Philadelphia Record. The folly of hunting for a leak In a gaspipo with a lighted match Is not so much because of the danger of an ex plosion as of other damage, as Is shown by the experience of a West Philadel phia householder last week. One or two small leaks were detected by go ing over all tho pipes and holding a lighted match to them. The smell of gas ceased, but was replaced a few nours later by the smell of burning wood. Another visit to the cellar showed a charred floor Joist a little distance above the gasplpe. There was no apparent cause for this until a very close examination discovered that a tiny Jet of gas was issuing from the plpo beneath the beam. Tt was lighted, -but was so small as to be blue In color and nearly Invisible. It had been light ed by the match used In the first In vestigation, but had not been noticed. "If that leak had happened to be in a lead joint instead of an iron connec tion." said a ga3 man. "there would probably .have been work for tho fire department. The smallest possible jet of lighted gas Issuing through lead will, m time neat, ana mcit me icau anu make the leak larger, until a big flame Is Issuing. This may make a fire nours later, in the dead of night or at a time when no one Is In the house. The only proper way to look for those very small leaks is to paint the suspected pipe with a smooth sonp lather. Just as In the case of a bicycle tire, tho tiniest leak will blow a bubbles In the lather, and there you arc." Appearances Didn't Count. Guthrie Leader. Uncle Rob McKee tried for 13 years to convince the Dawes Commission that he was an Indian, but failed. He wore glittering rings in his ears and one In his nose: he wore very long hair and sometimes sported a red blanket. He often bowed and knelt to the au gust tribunal, uttering hardly anything but badly pronounced Chickasaw words. Bur, alas, he was not able to furnltm witnesses. Then ho threw away the miserable disguise and took to catching varmints and fish for an honest living. G. B. Slinw Explains His Epigrams. Clarion. I told a He accidentally on the plat form at Wakefield tho other day. A workman corrected me afterward In private conversation. I assured him that it was pure Ignorance on my part. "Oh." he said, with a slightly disap pointed air, "didn't you know? We thought It was ono of your epigrams." I think this shows a remarkable In sight on the part of a poor man Into the true nature of most modern epigrams. Japanese Politeness. Baltimore Sun. The politeness of the Japanese Is a byword and Its application to.theprac tlcal affairs of life was well brought out by a small . placard noticed In a curio shop at Atlantic City a few days ago. Over a shelf of fragile and valuable porccjain was the following warning: "Please be good enough to "handle these at your own risk." r WSPAPER AVAIFS. Salesman "Don't you want to look over some of our prepared babies' food?" Tounf Mother "But I haven t a prepared baby." Life. Paddy (oblivious, on the track, with train advancing) "Where will I catch the ex prei for Dublin;' Statlonmaster "Te.'ll catch It all over ye. If ye don't set off the line mlshty aulck." Punch. "I am sorry." said the doctor, "but your little cirl -will not be able to speak for several days." "Then It will be safe," said the anxious mother, "for me to Invite the minis ter to tea, won't It?" Judce. "You hear so many people talking of 'the pace that kills. I wonder what they mean exactly?" "Well, it dep"endl There's the messenger boy's pace, for Instance: that merely kills time." Philadelphia Ledser. "Yei. It's a realistic story. Here is a scene In the dark, wbere tne Heroine stretches out her arms and rar the waft on either sMe." ."Where waa sheT In a cell?" "Xo, In a Harlem Rat." Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Mr. Wis U an agnostic. Isn't he?" "Xot at all. What led you to think that?" "Miss Passay told me he didn't believe the, Bible." "Ah! she means the Bible In which the rec ord of her birth. Is entered. He noticed that she, had been tamperlne. with the date." Philadelphia. Presa. Mra. Crossly "John, that gentleman with the lone hair and big black tie Is going- to write a scries of stories on "Wild Animals I Have Met" " Mr. Crossly "Well; what do you, meaa by inviting: him to call at this house m early in the morning?" Mrs. Cross ly (sweetly) "Why. r thought he would like to see yoa wfeea breakfaat is a few minutes late." Chicago Dally New. FAVORS SEA-LEVEL CANAL. Wallace Advises Senate Committee It Will Be Safest and Best. WASHINGTON. March 20: John F. Wallace, formerly; Chief Engineer of ths Isthmian Canal Commission, today testi fied before the Senate committee concern ing the type ot canal to be constructed across the Isthmus of Panama. He was asked to state his views, and prefaced his examination with a- general statement, which in part follows: Mr. Wallace, in advocating an approxi mately straight sea-level canal of ample width and depth, as the best type, urged that any other plan which places restric tions upon the probable permanency of the canal itself as well as upon the speed .and the size and number of vessels passing through It must render the canal far less valuable: that the deterrent factors In this connection are relative time and cost, and that In approaching the discussion the question of how much money the Ameri can people supposedly are willing to in vest In the f anal and how much time they are willing to wait for Its proper accom plishment should be considered. He argued that 1O.00O.C0O tons of shipping a year, the quantity now passing through the Suez Canal, at 51 a ton. would justify an expenditure of $3GO.0CO,C0O. which is am ple to dig a sea-level canal. It could b completed in 10. or at most 12. years, which was only three years more than the time required for a lock canal. He would let the work to a single contracting firm, which might employ two shifts of ten hours, instead of one shift. He contended that the committee should not consider any type of lock canal which could not bo changed into a sea-level without undue interference with com merce or excessive cost. In criticising the lockrcanal scheme, he questioned the safety of the proposed Gatun dam. half a mile long, to retain an S3-foot head of water. He made similar criticism of the other proposed dams. He advised that, if a dam be built at all. It be at Gumboa, where there is rock foun dation about on sea level. Ho recommended that the Panama rail road bo used as a substitute for. the ca nal while the latter Is being constructed: should be completely separated from any steamship line at either end. and should charge a flat rate not to exceed $2 a ton for all merchandise, light and bulky arti cles being rated at a measured ton. and the rate being reduced as business In creases. He suggested that the railroad corporation be abolished, and the road be placed under a single manager on the isthmus. This would save expense and complexities. ' He warned the committee that, when the Tehuantepcc railroad was completed, traffic would be diverted to It unless the Panama road was provided with equal facilities. CAN'T AFFORD ANY CLERKS Poor Uncle Sam Jleduccs Ambassa dors to Wretched Straits. WASHINGTON. March 20. As the result of the failure of the State De partment to secure at the hands of Congress deficiency appropriations ag gregating 570,000 for contingent ex penses of embassies, legations and con sular offices, many of the consular offices have been obliged to cut oft a large part of the necessary routine work. A cablegram received today at the department from one of the Con sulates In Japan, asked whether the Consul should refuse to receive In voices of shippers to America, lacking the means to .perform the necessary clerical work. The department sent out a circular letter today to all its officers abrpad "gratuity" from the banks during his was exhausted and directing them to refrain from making any further drafts- So there will be, In many cases, no money for clerk hire, postage, office rent or other Consular necessities. The American Ambassador to Paris Is obliged to pay out of his pocket a fee to a concierge next door to the Embassy when he wishes to send a telephone message, for tho Embassy is not allowed Its own telephone. An other Ambassador must go without a typewriter or buy one at his own ex pense upon which to write the Gov ernment's business letters. There Is some expectation on the part of the State Department officials that pro vision will be made by Congress for such deficiencies in the regular appro priation bills, but In that case thft money will, not be available before the end of the present fiscal year. DEWEY FAVORS BIG WARSHIPS AVotild" Build Two Monsters Like Britain's Boasted Drcadnaught. WASHINGTON, March 20. Great bat tleships like the 13,000-Jon British battle ship Dreadnaught are the crying need of the American Navy, according to Admiral Dewey, who appeared before the House committee on naval affairs today to dis cuss the future ot the American Navy. At least two of the lS.OOO-ton battleships, with ten 12-Inch guns each, should be au thorized at once, in Admiral Dewey's opinion. He would use those of American design, and thinks we should be creative rather than Imitative in developing the Navy. x Admiral Dewey also believes extensive experiments with submarine boats should be carried on. NEXT ROUND FRIDAY. Lawyers Will Argue Hermann's Lat est Dilatory Motion. OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU. Wash ington, March 20. The next round In Rep resentative eHrmann's fight against the r.-... n.ltl aaaii. hAfnm Titoftnn Gould, next Friday morninjr. when argu ment will be heard on a motion made to day by Hermann's attorneys to compel District Attorney Baker to furnish a bill of particulars describing more minutely the letterpress copybooks which, Hermann Is accused of destroying. Counsel sub mitted with this motion an affidavit signed by Hermann, In which he. in sub stance, says he is not able to answer tho charge against him unless the same be made more specific. From comments made last Friday, dur ing the arguments on Hermann's demur rer. It Is believed that Justice Gould will direct the District Attorney to furnish a bill of particulars, but this can be done Instantly, and will throw no new light on the case, since the prosecution and de fensa are both aware what books were destroyed. Today's motion and Friday"a argument mean nothing but delay. Judging by comments heard about Con gress, Hermann Is doing himself no good by his dilatory tactics. Indeed. Senators and Representatives agree that by con tinued evasion he is injuring his case, in that he Is creating the Impression that he is afral dto face a jury. Inasmuch as Hermann does not deny the destruction of the letter-books, and In view ot the fact that the entire case centers around the question' whether or not those books were actually public records, it Is diffi cult to understand Hermann's motive in staving off the trial, particularly as these delays have no beneficial effect. When the bill of particulars Is furnished (and the prosecuting officers say It can bo submitted whenever the court so or ders), the court will again be asked to fix ' a date for the trial. The Government will force action on each, dilatory motion, as rapidly as the cpurt wilL permit. If the Circuit Qourt of Appeals shall refuse to grant a special appeal on the demurrer. -Hermann will be about at the end of his rope, and will be compelled to face a Jury, unless he shall exercise his constitutional right of exemption from trial while Con gress Is In session. "If he waives thia right, His case will soon be disposed of.