G
TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1906.
M)t (Ortntmttmt
Entered at the Postofflce t Portland. Or.,
as Becond-Claaa Matter.
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sylvania avenue.
PORTLAND, MONDAY. SEPT. 17. 1906.
WHERE IMPROVEMENT 18 SEEDED.
. The Astorlan has awakened from Its
Rip Van Winkle sleep of 20 years
and made the remarkable discov
ery that "The Portland Oregonian has I
et last frankly and honestly gone on
record In absolutely unqualified terms
Jn the matter of the primary and im
perative necessity of Improving the
Columbia River bar." Of course, every
reader of The Oregonian endowed with
sufficient intelligence to understand
the simplest language is fully aware
that The Oregonian has for more than
SO years . been on record as to the
necessity and urgency of Improving
the Columbia River bar. There has
never been a. shadow of a doubt as to
the vital importance of deepening the
river entrance so that it would admit
of the unimpeded and undelayed pas
sage of any vessel that could get up
and down the river. Great ocean liners
carrying 8000 to 10,000 tons, and draw
ing from 24 to 28 feet of -water, make
the run through from Portland to As
toria in a few hours, and are then
delayed for days on account of an in
sufficient depth of water on the bar.
It is not alone the foreign-bound
shipping that is delayed, tout within
the past week coasting steamers, like
the San Francisco and Portland liner
Aztec, have been detained for sev
eral days at Astoria after go
ing through from Portland In a few
hours. The Oregonian has In the past
been subjected to criticism for its ad
vocacy of the expenditure of Govern
ment funds for river and harbor
work in the interior. It has been
charged with an' effort to increase the
capacity of the bottle without first re
moving the cork or enlarging the neck
of the bottle. Such criticism Is un
just and is founded on an Improper
understanding of the eltuatlon. The
Oregonian desires to see the Colum
bia River opened from the sea to the
farthest point inland. In the past we
have been led to believe that sufficient
money could be secured to carry on the
work of Improvement at the mouth of
the river and at interior points simul
taneously. W think that, if the mer
its of the entire scheme were fully
understood, there would still be an op
portunity to secure needed funds for
all river Improvements.
If, however, it is impossible to secure
enough assistance from the Govern
ment for more than one project at a
time, it Is of the utmost importance,
not alone to Portland, Vancouver, As
toria and other Columbia River ports,
but to the entire Northwest, that the
money be applied where the Immediate
need is the greatest. The open river
above Astoria, or the advantage of the
water-level rail route from the In
terior, i of no use to the producers
of the. Columbia basin, so long as the
cork remains in the bottle at Astoria
and their products are held up through
an Insufficient depth of water at the
entrance. Portland and other seaports
along the lower river cannot consume
the millions of bushels of wheat, oats,
barley and the vast amount of other
farm products grown in the Colum
bia basin and available to the water
level route. They must pa63 on to the
high seas without unnecessary expense -and
delay.
On the one side it is said that It Is
no use to resume construction of the
bar Jetty -without an appropriation of
$2,500,000 to finish it without delay;
and on the other It Is said that here
is no hope for an appropriation of such
a large sura next year for the Jetty,
or even for all the projects in the Co
lumbia, including the Celilo canal. On
neither sido, therefore, Is the outlook
cheerful; for it appears that the jetty
cannot get the required money either
by standing by itself alone or by re
ceiving money that would otherwise go
tb other river projects. This is a se
rious matter for the commercial in
terests of the Columbia River. It
means that the most Important project
of the river that at the bar must
wait while minor projects, can go
ahead because not requiring a large
lump sum at one time.
Heretofore the United States En
gineers have -built the Jetty on install
ments, with successive appropriations,
Just a's they will build Celilo Canal.
But now comes a sudden change of
policy in the announcement of Colonel
Roessler's that nothing further should
be done on the jetty until the com
plete cost shall be provided for. And
it is probable that this policy will be
approved by his superiors la "Washing
ton. This imposes on the people of the
Columbia basin the task of opening
the river mouth against huge ob
stacles. The old method of occasional '
appropriations to "carry on the work"
will ' not do hereafter. Thus a new
issue is presented one that will re
quire the unite'd effort of Columbia
River interests -to meet. It 'cannot be
met as ' heretofore, by spreading, out
the total Columbia River allowance
between several projects so as to keep
them all going.
. It would seem logical that a union
must be made on the one most import
ant. Whether that one is the bar Jetty
or the Celilo canal is for the people to
judge. The Oregonian has expressed
its opinion, but does not intend to
make a "fight." This is no time for
a fight; if there cannot be unity, all
the projects might as well wait in
definitely. River transportation 1s trammeled
so long as its outlet to the sea is ob
structed. Columbia River commerce,
to reach the markets of the world, as
is necessary to its growth, needs a
deep entrance. The one purpose of all
the river projects Is to give the river
region access to the world's markets
down a water-level route to the sea.
WHAT BRYAX 18 TRYING TO DO.
Mr. Bryan's Commoner appeals to
the opposition press to "treat fairly"
his great government ownership pro
ject. Bryan's Democratic apologists
eagerly and unitedly agree that Mr.
Bryan used the word "ultimately" in
his initial Madison Square speech. He
did not mean now. After awhile will
be time enough, when it shall have
been demonstrated that the President's
rate regulation plan is a failure. Mr.
Bryan himself agrees that the new
Congressional enactment, otherwise
the Roosevelt plan, is entitled to a fair
trial.
Then let him give it a fair trial. -He
is deliberately doing his utmost to un
dermine the general confidence in rate
regulation and control. He means now,
and it is now, because he has made it
a present issue. Bryan has damned the
President with faint praise for his at
titude toward the railroads, which he
still maintains and In which he needs
and must have the support of a pow
erful public sentiment; and he has
commended him unqualifiedly for
bringing the Japanese-Russian war
to an end last year, and settling the
miners' strike three years ago. This
is commendation that will do Roose
velt no good and Bryan no harm, and
Bryan, of course, knows it. And he
uses it as the basis of an appeal to
the voters of the country to return
a Democratic Congress as the "best
way to support the President."
A Democratic Congress would, of
course, sieze every opportunity to de
feat and discomfit the President. No
body need be deceived about it, nor
presume that Mr. Bryan means what
he says. On the contrary, it is ob
vious that his pseudo endorsement of
President Roosevelt's actions and
his astounding government-ownership
scheme, are employed by Mr. Bryan
as part of a systematic and well-arranged
plan to discredit and break
down the President in his supreme ef
fort to place the great railroads of the
country under proper restraint and
subjection.
BREEDING DRAFT HORSES.
There is good reason for the grow
ing interest in the breeding of draft
horses, as , evidenced by the attention
given to the horse show at the State
Fair Jast week. The market for heavy
draft horses is strong and active and
is likely to continue so for several
years to come. A farmer can breed his
maros and bring his colts to four years
of age at a cost of about $100, part of
which, represents feed produced -upon
his own farm, and can sell the colts
at that age for about S200. At three
years of age the colts will earn their
own way upon the farm. By limiting
the number of breeding mares to the
requirements of farm work, so that
there shall be no idle horses eating
their heads off, a farmer can make a
clean profit of $100 upon every colt
he raises and at the same time pro
vide a market for part of his hay
and grain which might otherwise find
6low sale.
The market for good driving horses
is also good, but is not now, nor is
likely to be, so active and constant
as that for heavy draft horses. For
the light farm horse or city delivery
horse there is a varying and uncertain
market at prices that leave profits in
doubt. It costs little more to pro
duce a heavy horse than a light one.
and the heavy one brings much the bet
ter price and finds a much more ready
sale. Buyers are always on the
lookout for heavy draft horses. Own
ers of light horses must hunt the buy
ers. For general purposes on the farm
the horse of medium weight is per
haps preferable, but the owner of such
is at a disadvantage If he -wishes to
sell.
The horse has his proper place not
only upon the farm, but in the city
and the lumber camp, and will not be
displaced by the automobile or steam
engine. It is well, therefore,' that there
should be a revival of interest in horse
breeding and that the State Fair
should reflect this interest. The State
Board of Agriculture has wisely en
couraged the attainment of high
standards in breeding, not only for
draft animals, but for driving and sad
dle horses as well.
MORE GLORY FOR THE VIKINGS.
Captain Roald Amunden, discoverer
of the Northwest Passage, arrived at
Seattle last Saturday, and in a brief
interview expressed the belief that he
had definitely located the north mag
netic pole. Measured by the standard
of tangible benefits to the world at
large, it is not clear that even this
remarkable discovery is worth the ef
fort it has cost, or the lives wasted in
the attempt to solve the mystery. A
striking feature of the discovery, how
ever, lies in the fact that It will be
regarded as of vastly greater import
ance than the discovery of the North
west Passage, that celebrated but elu
sive marine highway for which ex
plorers have been searching for more
l than 400 years.
Little or nothing was known or
cared about the existence of the
North Polo when the Europeans
steered northwest in an effort
to reach the Far East. The ob
ject which they sought was a short
route to the Tlch fields for barter in
ancient China, and more than four
centuries passed, after the first efforts
to find it were made, before Captain
Amundsen and his staunch little GJoa
proved that such a passage actually
existed. The decline In the value of
the discovery of the Northwest Pas
sage may be understood when It is
remembered than more than 200 years
ago, Great Britain had a standing re
ward of $100,000 for the first of her
subjects who would sail from the At
lantic to the Pacific north of latitude
63. Today, so far as known, there is
not enough financial interest attached
to the discovery to attract even the
smallest reward, although the Voyage
of the Gjoa has won undying fame for
her commander with the good old Vik
ing name.
The search (or this passage between
the two oceans, -which, according to
Captain Amundsen, has at last re
sulted in the discovery of the mag
netic pole, began so far back in the
past that history and tradition seem
to have merged into a kind of a haze
which enveloped come of the early ex
plorers to such an extent that their
accomplishments, if there were any,
were not accurately recorded. It is
known, however, that, so far back as
1499, Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese
navigator, spent considerable time in
Hudson's Bay endeavoring to find an
outlet to the Pacific Ocean. As the
most famous of all navigators, Chris
topher Columbus,' had also been en
gaged in seeking this fabled passage,
Europe was greatly excited when Cor
tereal returned from his cruise and an
nounced that he had discovered the
short route from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, and had christened it Straits
of Anian.
Substantial rewards of cash and
glory awaited the navigator who first
sailed through, and about 1519 Magel
lan started around by the southern
route to make an effort to find the
western entrance of the storied pas
sage. Other opportunities claimed his
attention, and it was not until 1542
that the Spaniards sent a regular ex
pedition up the Pacific to look for the
passage. This expedition got no far
ther north than latitude 44, but Drake,
the pirate, -who was knighted for his
piracy, in an effort to dodge the Span
lards whom he had plundered on his
way out from England, sailed north
to the 48th parallel in an effort to find
this short route back to the Atlantic.
This was in 1578 and, 14 years later,
Juan de Fuca sailed north from New
Spain and mistook the straits which
now bear his name for the long-sought
Northwest Passage.
The spirit of conquest and adventure
which lures men into such expeditions
has flickered low at times in the four
centuries which have elapsed since
navigators first sought to sail west
ward to the Far East, but it has never
died out. Now, if it should be proven
that Captain Amundsen, in addition to
discovering the Northwest Passage,
has also discovered the North Pole,
two of the world's greatest mysteries
will have been solved. Although the
Greeks, Spaniards and Portuguese all
made great efforts to solve this mys
tery, it remained for the men of the
Northland, the sturdy Vikings, to land
the prize and the name of Amund
sen -will rank in history with that of
Magellan, the Cabots, Drake and other
famous men "who drew the world to
gether and spread the race apart."
WAS HEPPLE a bad man?
How does a good man go wrong?
And why? The New York Independ
ent has a careful and interesting study
of the "Psychology of a Pious Thief,"
taking for illustration the case of
the late Frank K. Hippie, L.L. D.,
president of the Real Estate Trust
Company of Philadelphia. Here was
a man "so good, so trustworthy, so
unwilling to employ anyone who drank
or gambled or smoked, so strenuous in
his righteousness, that the bank ex
aminers did not think it important to
examine his company often or very
strictly, and the directors took his
word for everything, and the Trustees
of the General Assembly of the Pres
byterian Church made him their treas
urer -""and put nearly a million dol
lars in his trust, and the Sustentation
Committee of the Synod of Pennsyl
vania also made him their treasurer,
as did the Presbyterian Hospital of
Philadelphia, and the American branch
of the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance. He
was then, a prominent, notable,
trusted, Christian man of, business,
lawyer and financier." It appears to
be the opinion of the Independent that
there was in the mental and moral
make-up of Mr. Hippie a "comming
ling of right and wrong Impulses, by no
means prevented by religion," and
that he' may through an initial lapse
have become so involved in a network
of temptation and wrong that he had
no alternative but. to continue his evil
course in the hope of ultimate escape.
Of course, it is the commonest of
observations that right and wrong
may exist In the same person at the
same time. No man is thoroughly
good all the time, and few men are
always bad. The good man has his
weaknesses and wicked impulses, but
he resists and overcomes them if his
moral fiber is sound and his ethical
training correct. Conscience is im
planted in the breast of every man,
good or bad, and he is good or bad as
he is controlled by its monitions. Hip
pie probably had a conscience, but
he stilled its voice end lulled his scru
ples until he was face to face
with complete financial bankruptcy.
In the meantime he robbed the depos
itors In his company, deceived and
lied to his creditors, stole and bor
rowed on securities deposited with his
company, and wrecked it to the tune
of seven million dollars; and then,
when exposure was certain, he com
mitted suicide. They said that he did
not steal from the benevolent or re
ligious societies whose funds were in
his power. But these funds, by later
reports, are in confusion, and he sacri
legiously abstracted bonds of the Pres
byterian Hospital,
It is impossible not to think that the
Independent's view is too charitable.
Hippie was no good man gone wrong.
He was always wrong. The careful
and elaborate system of his stealings,
the conscienceless diversion to his
own uses of the trust funds of thou
sands of poor people, the secret and
colossal dealings with the Promoter
Segal, all show that Hippie was in
spired from the first by a criminal
purpose to take what did not belong
to him when he thought he ran no
great risk, and use it as If it did
belong to him. The money was there,
and the depositors were innocently de
luded by the religious professions of
Hippie into the firm confidence that
it would remain there. Hippie knew
how and why he -teas trusted, and as
the deposits grew and the measure of
belief in him grew larger, his activity
and-aeal in the church and his influ
ence in its councils increased. There
never was more consummate rascal
ity. It cannot be reconciled with any
theory that Hippie was a good man
who made a mistake, or that he "went
wrong" through unfortunate and un
foreseen circumstances. He was a bad
man who did not have the conscience
or the character or the moral resolu
tion to go right, only to appear to go
right
The Chinese boycott seems to have
collapsed and regular liners sailing
from Pacific Coast ports are all carry
ing full cargoes again. The boycott
is a very effective weapon, if the boy
cotters can get along without the com
modities against which they make
their fight. With the Chinese it now
seems apparent that it was more to
their advantage to pocket their in
jured pride and buy., where they; could
secure the best bargains, than to con
tinue their trade fight against the
Americans. Some recent statistics,
supplied to the Government by Con
sul Rogers at Shanghai, shows
a remarkable recovery in the cotton
trade last year, as compared with 1904,
when the boycott first became effec
tive. Imports of cotton and cotton
goods from the United States into
China last year were valued at $12,
666,093, compared with $3,703,548 for
1904.
That Portland is the greatest dis
tributing center north of San Fran
cisco for all classes of foreign imports
is again shown by the official statement
for August, 1906. During that month
Seattle, Tacoma, Port Townsend, Ever
ett, Bellingham and 14 other Washing
ton ports handled duitable imports to
the value of $355,828, while Port
land alone paid the duties' on goods
valued at $361,268. Receipts of the
Portland Custom-house for the month
wrere $105,154.23. At Tacoma they were
$39,138.11, Seattle $98,946.96, and for the
entire 19 ports in the state, the total
was but $146,777.37. The receipts of
goods "in transit" at the Puget Sound
ports were somewhat larger than those
at Portland, but, as the only berteflt
conferred on a port by business of this
nature Is the small pittance which
goes to the truckers and stevedores
who remove the cargo from the" ship
to the car, the matter is inconsequen
tial. A colony of Dowieites, composed of
men and women -who are weary of the
bickerings in Zion City, will, it is said,
shortly emigrate to South Dakota.
Dowieism is a malady that it is not
easy to run away from. Milton had
Satan exclaim in despair at the impos
sibility of getting away from his trou
bles: Which way I fly is hell myself am hell.
This is strong language, but in all
probability it expresses the facts in the
case of the Dowle,Ites. They will carry
their troubles with them to South Da
kota, or any other place in which they
seek refuge. The reason Is simple. The
trouble is within themselves.
This announcement in the form of a
prospectus is from an English religious
Journal:
Jesus & Co., Limited. The company offers
a safe and sound Investment to intending
shareholders.. The dividend Is on the parti
tion principle and Is both Immediate and de
ferred. The immediate dividend consists of
current rewards earthly peace and earthly
happiness. The deferred dividend consists
of "heavenly mansions, crowns of glory, and
garments washed white in the Blood of the
Lamb.
England has not been slow to criti
cise America for "blatant blasphemy,"
but we have never reached the extreme
limit here exhibited.
General Trepoff died because the
strain was too great, and he knew his
enemies would get at him sooner or
later. If the iron-nerved Trepoff
broke down, how long before the Czar
succumbs? But perhaps the Czar has
no nerves, or no fear of death, or no
real appreciation of his danger. Per
haps, too, he has a proper royal
scorn of bombs and all such vulgar
devices of the rabble. From all ac
counts his Imperial Majesty appears
to be thriving, and it will be a long
time before Russia has another Czar,
barring accidents.
Linn. County hired a superintendent
to run its poor farm and tried to get
some work out of the inmates of the
poorhouse, but the plan was found un
profitable and will be abandoned. The
county authorities figure that it -will
be cheaper to" pay board for the poor.
There are few farms, poor or other
wise, that will be profitable under the
managements of hired superintendents,
especially if politics sometimes has an
influence in the hiring of the super
intendent. A ' farm needs a farmer
more than a superintendent.
A great deal of excitement has been
created in the East by the announce
ment that a New Tork young woman
with $30,000 a year has become engaged
to a newspaper man "credited with
aibHity but no means." His credit ap
pears to be good for $30,000 per an
'num. It should be added that the ex
citement is confined largely to Jour
nalistic circles.
A Utah man who visited the big Fair
last year and was impressed by the
Benton exhibit, has returned to start
a paper at Corvallis. There are two
very good papers now in the college
town, and the newcomer must needs
be "red-headed" to beat them.
Taft is the right size of man to
wieM a big stick, and a big warship
is a good thing to back him up. He
would have made a lasting impression
on the South American republics,
where Root has been visiting.
It is reported that one member of
the Legislature from Multnomah
County -wants to limit the prayers of
the chaplains In the Legislature to two
minutes. He doesn't know what's good
for him.
"The public is anxious to see what
Mr. Heney can do with Btnger Her
mann," remarks the Albany Democrat.
But probably not so anxious as Mr.
Hermann.
It is too bad for the divine "dry"
prophets who saw in the rain a sign
of heavenly wrath against Polk and
Marion counties. .
Ontario has organized a company to
bore for oil and gas and, incidentally,
sell $1,000,000 in stock. The next move
belongs to Vale.
This is the day that has been haunt
ing the young folks ever since school
"let out" and vacation began a long
while ago.
Nick Longworth says Papa-in-Law
Roosevelt is right. Think of what
would happen if he should say any
thing else.
Dr, Large is getting Forest Grove on
the map, all right, but Dr. Tamiesie
has already put Hillsboro in the milky
way.
'Rain retarded hopplcklng but expe
dited dairy grass. Trust to Oregon
weather to bring the dairy out on top.
A great many hold-ups in automo
biles are never heard of only they are
not practiced by thug highwaymen.
If Steneland's Nadine had beauty
proportionate with his gifts to her, she
must have been a dazzler.
Colleges are quite busy these days,
resuming their studies, and much prog
ress in football is expected.
THE LAXD-FRAl'D CONVICTIONS
State Press Gives Forth a Choice Vn
x' rlety of Opinions.
Corvallis Times.
The get-rich-qulck plan has yielded up
three more victims. A jury has adjudged
Pierce Mays. George Sorensen and Wtl
laxd N. Jones guilty as charged. Their
scheme for easy money was to secure
title to an Immense acreage of worthless
school land in Eastern Oregon, to have
these lands included in a forest reserve,
for each acre of their lands so included
to receive scrip with which they could
get title to timber lands elsewhere and
finally to sell the scrip to timber land
purchasers at $7.50 to $15 per acre. It
was a comprehensive game. They played
for immense stakes. A million or two
of dollars would have been the profit if
all had worked well. The presence of Or
egon statesmen of easy virtue at the
National capital was a major asset for
perpetrating the enterprise. "Stand in
and keep still" was the watchword of big
and little In the game. It would have
been an easy road to wealth If all bad
gone right, but by the sequel it Is be
come a long and weary way. On the
Journey, friends, fortune, honor, posi
tion, everything is sacrificed. It didn't
pay. The get-rich-slow road would have
been better, far better. And what is
more the pity, is that it all comes too
late in life for the Ill-starred actors to
regain that they have lost, or rebuild
that which has tumbled in ruins about
them.
Brine All Criminals to Justice.
The Dalles Optimist.
The story S. A. D. Puter told on the
witness stand at the Mays trial gives us
an Insight of many events that we did
not understand when they transpired. It
shows that Oregon politics were domi
nated by as precious a lot of rogues as
ever went unhung. Some people object
to these trials because it gives Oregon
a bad name, and say the Washington
authorities are giving all their attention
to our frauds and letting greater crimes,
and greater criminals go. We do not
voice such sentiments. We believe the
authorities are doing their best to bring
all criminals to Justice, and that Oregon
came first for purification was an In
cident, and likely due to the prominence
of the bellwethers among the thieves.
v ' Let Oregon Be Purged.
Union Republican.
The disclosures of Stephen A. Douglas
Puter, in the matter of the Oregon land
frauds, seems to place the cap-sheaf on
the story of land thieves in this state,
and leaves little to do but railroad the
balance of the gang to the pen. The soon
er Oregon is purged of this notorious
gang of .thieves, the better for all con
cerned. Prosecuting Attorney Heney
seems able to handle the case in all its
details and the indications are that there
are a lot more implicated in the deal who
are daily expecting to be called to ac
count. Isnt It Time to Look Elsewhere.
Astorlan.
It is to be hoped that the Government
has done all that is necessary in Oregon
in the matter of land frauds. Oregon has
made full and terrible response to the
tremendous accusations of the time, and
taken on the ample fold of her reproach
and will suffer enough, without the
further pressing of the record. It will re
quire time of the amplest sort to live
down the stigma, and surely she will do
it if only the public shame Is deverted
and the interest centered in other states
equally guilty.
What Mr. Pater Mijrht Do.
Toledo Leader.
In the land-fraud cases now on in
Portland a brilliant feature is the at
tempt to Impeach the testimony of other
witnesses with the testimony of Stephen
A. Douglas Puter, the biggest rascal and.
the most desperate character in the
bunch. Of course every one of the ac
cused will be found guilty. Witnesses of
the Futer stripe could easily swear the
blameless and spotless Hon. Mr. Hitch
cock himself Into the pen.
Bold Plot to Plunder.
Boise (Idaho) Statesman.
Another batch of Oregon men have been
convicted on the charge of committing
fraud in connection ' with timber land
deals. It has been shown by the series
of trials held in that state that a wide
spread aonspiracy existed, participated
in by many prominent men. The evidence
demonstrated it was one of the boldest
plots to plunder the Government that
has ever been unearthed.
Terror of Evlldoera.
La Grande Observer.
The Government, while slow at times, Is
equally sure. It took the prosecutors
quite a while to get all of their evidence
before the Jury in the recent land-fraud
case, but when it finally went to the Jury
it required only a few hours to bring in
a verdict. Special District Attorney
Francis J. Heney, will certainly go down
in history as a terror to evildoers, and the
end is not yet.
The Greatneaa of Mr. Puter.
Pilot Rock Record.
After reading Stephen A. Douglas
Puter's testimony we are constrained to
believe that his escape from Detective
Burns was only part of the game. And
again we believe he Is either the biggest
rascal or the biggest liar, or both, on
earth. Such a man on general principles,
should be imprisoned for life.
Bud for the Trust Barons.
Corvallis Times.
Just to see the scatterment it would
make among them, how interesting it
would be to make Heney United States
attorney general, give him carte blanche
to prosecute, and turn him loose among
the trust barons. v
A Real Grievance.
Anna Street. In New York Times.
Twaa the voyce of the orthur, I hurd him
komplayn,
O glv me my old-fashund apeltng agaynl
Pray paws, gentel atranger, take heed to my
wose;
(So wreched hia meen and so ragged hla close.
That I llngurd and let the next airship, pas
by.
While be spok thus.) "A dlalekt writer was I:
In the yere 1906 I was happy, now aee
What the edmplyfled spelling haa dun unto
me!
So nimbi my pen and so ampl my means,
(I had storls and poyma In the beat matra
zeens,) When from Sagamore Castel the dlkt went
forth.
To Che Best and the West and the South and
the North!
O'r the land of the brav and - the home of
the tree.
To akolur and poyt. whfr ho mite be.
That to write In gud Ingllsh no longur was
nt,
In fakt that the Slmplyfled Spelling was IT I
O pray, Mr. President, did I deride.
When you preached on rebates or 'genst race
suicide?
(I was deeply in luv at the time, and I sed.
His Highness Is rite and I shortly was wed!)
So suksesful I gru that I hoped to aford.
Shud the Beet Trusts be downd, soon do
longur to bord.
But to find sum small kotage wher wa mite
betake us.
In a kolony forrod by retlrd muk-rakers!
O litel you rekt of Auld Reekie, Lord An
drew, When yu the new law with yor very own
hand drew.
To poor dlalekt writers konetder the sekwul.
All the wurld writes It now and eech orthur
Is ekwull
And I whom my trends kalld the Majraseen
Morgun.
Sell shoo strings or "Tammanee" grind on
an orgun.
And my dlalekt manuscripts, wun time so
aalabul,
Kum bak now politely markt, "Not sow
avalabul."
'Twaa the Dlalekt Orthur. I hurd him kom
playn, O slv me the old-raahund spelling arajnl
EZRA MEEKER ON HIS TRIP.
The Pioneer Reaches Omaha In Journey
Over Oregon Trail.
Omaha Bee, Sept. 12.
Ezra Meeker, who passed over what
Is now Omaha some 54 years ago with
an oc team while en route to the Pacific
Coast, is again in Omaha en route back
to his old home in Indianapolis, On his
first visit to this locality Mr. Meeker
used as a mode of transportation a
team of oxen and the prairie schooner.
K is still using the same kind of
transportation. He left his wagon and
one ox in Lincoln and his trip to
Omaha, partially, Is to visit the stock
yards and get him another" steer, hav
ing lost one a few days ago.
Mr. Meeker is making the trip across
the country to re-establish and mark
out the old Oregon trail. At regular
Intervals he is having erected monu
ments to make the landmarks perma
nent. At the conclusion of his trip he
expects to publish a book, "The Old
Oregon Trail, 1852-1906." Tuesday Mr.
Meeker spent considerable time with
Dr. George L. Miller and other pio
neers discussing the location of the
original Missouri-River crossing. When
this is settled beyond any doubt the
traveler expects to call upon the peo
ple of Omaha to subscribe money for
the erection of a monument to mark
the crossing.
When Mr. Meeker first passed over
the Oregon trail he was 22 years old
and was accompanied by his wife and
one child. Ho is now 76 years old and
Is rugged for so old a man. His home
is at Puyallup, Wash., where he and
his first wife settled 54 years ago.
"Neither of us has had a day of sick
ness In 54 years," said the traveler.
As soon as he secures another steer
Mr. Meeker will drive through from
Lincoln to Omaha, "where he will re
main several days. He is accompanied
in his travels by his grand-daughter,
Miss Bertha Templeton. He wears a
long, flowing beard and his hair Is en
tirely white. 1
Spelling; Change Come From England.
London Cable Dispatch in New Tork
Times.
Andrew Carnegie in another letter to
the Times returns to his defense of
President Roosevelt's spelling order and
his advocacy of spelling reform. He says:
"So far from being distinctively Amer
ican, the President's proposed changes
in spelling are selected by the Simplified
Spelling Board from fully 3000 words
agreed upon and jointly recommended in
1883 by the Philological Society of Lon
don and the American Philological Asso
ciation after serious consideration. The
list will be found at the end of the last
volume of the Century Dictionary, also
the ten rules agreed upon in making the
changes.
"This reform, therefore, comes from
philologists of the whole race. Indeed,
Professor Skeat states in the Scotsman
that the list was actually prepared in the
motherland.
"There needs only that one step be
taken by your Government to continue
this race reform, namely, the appoint
ment of such a committee as advised
our Government what words to select
from the larger list for immediate adop
tion. If such a commission were ap
pointed I doubt not that it would in
dorse the selection made for the Presi
dent by our American board and the lan
guage would be one.
"It is never to be forgotten that
amended spellings can only be submitted
for general acceptance it Is the people
who decide what is to be adopted or re
jected. Inat the two Governments agreed
jointly to submit certain changes, how
ever, would, no doubt, result in the even
tual adoption of many."
Golden Future of the South.
Manufacturers' Record.
Give free rein to your imagination and
let it picture the future of a section
which has one-half of the iron ore of the
United States, nearly three times as
much coal as GreaV. Britain, Germany
and Pennsylvania combined, which holds
a world monopoly on cotton production,
and is rapidly becoming a great cotton
manufacturing center, which dominates
the phosphate rock and sulphur trade of
the world, which has much of the richest
oil territory known, which has one-half
of the standing timber of the country,
which produces all the sugar, all the rice,
most of the tobacco, and adds to these
800,000,000 bushels a year of grain, and
then think of Its water power, its splen
did rivers, its great seacoast, Its expand
ing commerce; and remember that its cot
ton crop alone annually exceeds the total
gold and silver production of the world,
and that every dollar of gold annually
mined on earth is not enough to pay the
South's bill against Europe for cotton,
and you will get just a faint conception
of the future.
Lowest Dlvea Not the Worst.
Albany Democrat.
The North -End dive is undoubtedly a
very rotten section, and yet these dives
probably do less harm to Portland than
some of the dives 4n the heart of the
city, open places for the youths of the
town in their start downward, convenient
resorts for plactng money that belongs to
the family. After all It isn't always the
lowest dive that is the lowest. There
are different kinds of robbery, and the
rounder isn't any worse than the ma
nipulator of the fashionable gambling
game.
On the Reappearance of Mount Hood.
Out of the smoke that filled the air.
Out of the rainclouds everywhere.
The snowy peaks of the mountain stand.
Pointing the way to the Promised Land.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS FROM THE PINE TREE STATE?
-From the Chlcaca Chronicle.
VIEWS OF MAINE ELECTION,
O rowt h of Independent Vote.
" Kansas City Times (Ind. Rep.).
Whatever the issues, there was a radi
cal breaking away from the old Repub
lican lines. Broadly speaking, the returns
in these states show the growth of the
independent vote and serve another warn
ing on the majority party that it may
presume too far on the convenient slogan,
"Let well enough alone."
National Issues Won the Fight.
Louisville Courier-Journal (Dom.).
Maine has long been a hopelessly Re
publican state. It is certain that great
interest was taken In the Littiefield can
vass, and a number of men were sent
.there to try to make the voters aware
that National Interests were Involved. In
view of this fact. It seems a little late to
claim that Llttlefleld's reduced plurality
was due merely to state matters.
Labor Not the Issue.
New York Mail (Rep.).
Maine voted independently on an Issue
concerning only Itself, and the sole re
gret Is that voters did not discriminate
between the state election and the Na
tional Congressional election which coin
cided with it. It seems that it did not
injure Mr. Littiefield perceptibly that cer
tain labor leaders had conducted a
guerilla warfare against him. It seems
to be up to Mr. Gompers to hump him
self once more.
Prohibition, the Overshadowing.
New York World (Dem.).
The returns indicate that National
issues had little to do with the
election. The overshadowing question
was prohibition, with the cities ar
rayed against the country districts. The
country won and the Republican ticket
was saved, but by very greatly reduced
pluralities. Mr. I.ittlefteld's victory even
by a narrow majority indicates that the
time is not quite here' when a Congress
man must vote according to the dictates
of the Gompers conscience or retire from
public life.
Moral. Victory for Gompers.
Chicago Evening Post (Rep ).
It would be folly to blink at the con
clusion which every open-minded observer
much reach that the result in the case
of Mr. Littiefield Is a moral victory for
Mr. Gompers and the federation? Never
theless the large reduction of his ma
jority must be accepted as an earnest of
the influence of the American Federa
tion, an influence henceforth to be ac
counted with In our political issues. Let
this fact be looked at squarely: Labor
in politics was inevitable and it has come
to stay. To play the ostrich Is not wise.
Gompers Helped Llttlefleld.
Detroit Journal (Rep.).
The fact that no victory was forth
coming, that. Indeed, the Gompers in
fluence was not perceptible In the election
returns and that Mr. Gompers' participa
tion in the campaign is asserted actually
to have helped Mr. Littiefield, may be ex
pected to have a corresponding depress
ing effect on that movement. In the Gom
pers fiasco in the Second Maine District
we are afforded data enabling us to judge
of the probable success of the effort to
commit union labor to partisan politics
In our own city and in other sections of
the country.
Maine Tired of Prohibition.
New York Sun (Rep.).
It may perhaps be made to appear to
the unthinking that the campaign which
Sam Gompers conducted against him, be
cause he had refused to wear the collar
which the American Federation of Labor
wanted to put on him, had something to
do with Mr. Llttlefleld's greatly reduced
plurality. It is indeed regrettable on this
account that Mr. Llttlefleld's vote m-as
reduced at all, but the fact remains,
nevertheless, and plain to any intelligent
mind, that Maine voted on but one issue
yesterday for all oftlces, the issue of pro
hibition or resubmission.
Gompers Issue Met and Defeated.
Chicago Inter Ocean (Rep.).
Mr. Gompers and his friends blacklisted
a number of Congressmen and in the
name of "labor" demanded their defeat.
The Maine elections coming early, Mr.
Littiefield was selected as the first vic
tim, and against him Mr. Gompers led
the fight in person. The battleground
was adroitly chosen. Labor organizations
are strong in the Second Maine District,
and the Republicans of Maine were ab
sorbed in one of their recurring factional
warfares over prohibition. The local issue
reduced greatly the normal Republican
vote, but the Gompers Issue was met and
defeated.
Republican Alleartance Wavering.
New York livening Post (Ind. Dem.).
Yesterday's election In Maine looks like
a very black eye for the Republicans.
In any previous year, they, themselves
would have so regarded It. Mr. Llttle
fleld's narrow escape will be pointed to
all over the country as a demonstration
of the political power of the American
Federation of Labor. This outcome of the
Maine election must be considered un
fortunate. It will alarm the Republi
cans, and will, we fear, lead them to Ig
noble concessions to Gompers, and at-
tempts to placate him, instead of with
standing him In the manly fashion of
Mr. Littlcfieid.
In any event. Republicans are not so
blind as not to see In the Maine election
returns an unpleasant indication of Re
publican losses throughout the country
In November.