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l-ORTLANO, TUESDAY, OCTOBER SO, 1806
MR. ROCKEFELLER.
The Oregonian has received a letter
from a correspondent, who seems to be
a socialist, taking exception to some
views upon Mr. Rockefeller recently
expressed. These views, it will be re
called, were to the effect that Mr.
Rockefeller la an exceedingr5!"undeslra
ble member of the social body and one
whose wrongs to his neighbors are nu
merous and weighty. Our correspond
ent says ho is surprised at this opinion
of the Standard Oil magnate, and asks
whether our wrath against him has
been excited because he has let the cat
out of the bag, so to ppeak. To put
the point plainly, we will quote a sen
tence or two from the letter. "Does
The Oregonian attack the great king of
capitalists because through him some
thing of capitalist methods has been
revealed, or becauso of his relatively
great success in the profit-taking
frame?"
The Oregonian animadverts upon Mr.
Rockefeller for the same reason as
upon any other public person whose
conduct falls short of the ordinary
standards of morality. Both his com
mercial and private character are open
to criticism. There are honest and dis
honest capitalists. There are capital
ists who benefit the country without in
juring their neighbors, and there are
some whoso profits are obtained, not
by increasing the sum total of the
wealth of the nation, but by transfer
ring to their own pockets what justly
belongs to other men. To the former
of these classes Mr. Rockefeller does
not belong. It is no more proper to call
his methods of accumulating property
"capitalistic" than it is to arply that
term to Captain Kldd'e industry. The
capitalistic system has its faults, but
It is not necessarily piratical. A man
may carry on business under modern
conditions without robbing his com
petitors. Of course all competition involves an
effort to divert gain from one man to
another; but this effort has limits set
by both law and custom beyond which
It is no longer properly called competi
tion, but robbery. The charge against
Mr. Rockefeller Is that ho has consist
ently Ignored these limits throughout
a 'long life of business and has accu
mulated his vast fortune by trans
prcestng the honorable and legal
bounds of competition. Orant that the
competitive game i-a a harsh one. All
the more need that men preserve such
, scraps of confidence in one another and
such traces of human kindness as the
play permits. This Mr. Rockefeller has
not done, lie has eliminated from com
petition all that it contained of mutual
confidence and transformed it from the
benignity of a Christian rivalry into an
unscrupulous and cruel contest where
blood alone satisfies the lighters.
Our correspondent makes the shal
low remark that Mr. Rockefeller is a
product of his environment. He per
haps quoted it from the Outlook, where
it hits appeared more than once. The
thought seems" never to have occurred
to either of them that in a much truer
sense the Vnvironmcnt is a product of
Mr. Rockefeller. His fellow-men have
had little to do with moulding the traits
of that minister human phenomenon;
while he lias Influenced his fellow-men
In many ways, his effort upon the char
acters of his contemporaries has been
profound and invariably for the worse.
The generation now living in America
is perceptibly more unscrupulous and
less regardful of lis Christian obliga
tions In commerce than it would have
been had no such man ns Mr. Rocke
feller ever lived. Exercising a genius
for unscrupulous finance surpassing
anything ever before seen on this con
tinent, he has. like the Miltonlc Satan,
drawn after htm a va multitude of
men who, but for his pernicious exam
ple, would have pasooil their lives in
beneficent industry instead of piracy.
Mr. Rockefeller, more than any other
man. is accountable for the financial
depravity which has .been revealed of
late in this country. His whole life
and his unparalleled success have been
potent forces for evil. He cannot be
excused by calling him the rroduct of
his environment. Ho, ha? made his own
environment. He cannot be explained
hs the bitter fruit of a cruel system,
for he himself has created the system.
If modern competition is harsh beyond
all excuse, Mr. Rockefeller more than
any other man or combination of men
has made It eo. If in its frantic greed
for profit it Ignores God and despises
man, Mr. Rockefeller has taught it the
baneful creed. If it wears the emlle of
the hypocrite to conceal the want of
heart and conscience, Mr. Rockefeller
has set It the example of a vast and
all-embracing hypocrisy which makes
the ministers of the Most High the ln-
struments of his avarice and turns the
sweet fountains of benevolence into
feeders for the Dead Sea of his wealth.
These are some of the reasons why
The Oregonian animadverts upon Mr.
Rockefeller's conduct and speaks oft
times in his dispraise. Could Tie make
tAe whole nation see him in hia true
character and perceive the necessary
results of imitating his example, we
should feel that some part had been
played toy this newspaper in accom
plishing a gTeat good.
MAX IX GOD'S WORLD.
Elder G. A. Snyder, a good brother
who preaches, and who at times deals
with witches, ghosts, spirits, the devil !
and other abstractions, is troubled, !
more or less, about signs and proofs
of the antiquity of the human race.
Man, he seems to be sure, ought not
to be older than Usher's chronology
makes him. In a sermon on Sunday
last Brother Snyder said: "We were
informed not long ago by a certain edi
tor of a certain Portland paper that no
religion was good for anything that did
not conform to the ever-fluctuating
theories concerning certain fossils
found In certain strata of the earth's
crust."
Evidently the good brother means
The Oregonian. Since he has thought
it worth while to read The Oregonian,
it is to be regretted that he didn't take
the trouble to read it correctly and un
derstandingly. The Oregonian, speak
ing of the proofs that man had lived
on the earth during a period Inconceiv
ably long, said:
His Indestructible tools and Implements, In
cluding his weapons of warfare and of the
chaee, have been found in situations innumer
able, buried deep in beds of glacial drift and
gravel that certainly have lain undisturbed
through countless ages. No forces less potent
than those which produce cosmic or geologio
changes could so have placed them. Imple
ment and weapons of flint and stone found In
such situations tell a story which all minds
open to facts must receive. No human theory,
no creed of theology, no cosmology or re
ligious belief. Is good for anything that dis
putes or Ignores them.
Very different from the statement
presented as to what it eaid, "that no
religion was good for anything that did
not conform to the ever-fluctuating
theories concerning certain fossils
found in certain strata of the earth's
cruet."
The Oregonian was not talking about
fossils. It was speaking of the discov
ered remains of the handiwork of man
hie tools and implements unearthed
In places where powerful agencies of
Nature, operating long ago, alone
could have placed them. Fossils, In the
geological sense, are things which bear
in their form or chemical composition
evidences that thiey are of organic
origin. Shells, bones or plants, which
have been buried beneath the surface
of the earth, are fossils; man's tools,
Implements or weapons are not.
Fossils are often found in places
where they may not have lain long, and
there are variant theories as1 to how
some of them came to be so placed.
Shell beds, "kitchen-middens," the
refuse of human habitations, never
can be supposed very old; but flint
tools and weapons, undoubtedly formed
by .the hand of man, found 'buried very
deep, sometimes fifty or even one hun
dred feet in solid and undisturbed gla
cial drift, tell us that man was here
before the end of the last glacial
period. It is not known when this
period terminated, but it is known that
it terminated inconceivably long ngo.
Of what use, then, Is any scheme of
theology, or any religious creed, that
files in the face of such facts?
Wouldn't it be Just as well to recon
struct the theological system and the
religious belief? Nay, wouldn't it be
better" than to persist In the assump
tion that man was created less than
6000 5'eiars ago, at tho end of a creative
period that had lasted six days? The
crudities of a theology, and of a sys
tem of religious doctrine, founded on
so fundamental an error, will never
cease to give trouble to the cause of
religion, till they are abandoned. It is
becoming hopeless to attempt, in our
day, and will be increasingly hopeless,
on such assumptions, to assert Eternal
Providence and justify the ways of God
to man.
A STORY OF DEVELOPMENT.
The first settlers who went to East
ern Oregon as a temporary expedient
for bettering their fortunes by raising
stock and mining look with wonder
now whether they remained and prof
ited by the agricultural development of
the country or returned to establish
homes in the Willamette Valley upon
the diversified products of the great in
land empire. Forty years ago thirty,
twenty-five years ago the vast areas
of this wide domain might well be de
scribed in Hamlin Garland's words as
Silent, majestic, lone as the seas
Round the Southern pole; the land unmete
Awaited the plowman'e stern decree
To laugh into plenty beneath his feet.
The waiting is practically ended in
many sections of this broad domain.
Large tracts of this portion of the
"Great American Desert," as the early
geographical textbooks designated the
great plateau of the North American
Continent, have been in recent years
made to "laugh into plenty" in the as
tonished faces of the pioneers and yield
returns in wheat, fruit, vegetables and
hay that have been truly surprising to
the world. This story of plenty is re
peated wherever wtater for purposes of
Irrigation can be had throughout the
semi-arid belt, once supposed to be able
to produce nothing but sagebrush,
stunted junipers and bunchgrass. The
waste lands over which the spirit of
desolation seemed to brood when the
weary pioneers of fifty years ago urged
their footsore oxen across them, have
in many instances become enormously
productive through cultivation and irri
gation, until now the only lands to
which this term can be applied are the
mountain fastnesses and the levels
where water for purposes of irrigation
cannot be secured.
Travelers passing over these lands on
swiftly moving trains look with amaze
ment upon their vast extent. As seen
from the car windows they seem abso
lutely good for nothing unless it may
be to hold the mass together. Early
immigrants shared the same belief and
made what haste they could urged on
by the near approach of Winter and
the menace of hunger to leave them
behind. But a story that mocks at
desolation is being told now of this
vast and supposed sterile region. It is
a story of harvest bounty and homes
of plenty; of cosy settlements and ca
pacious schooihouses; of prolific or
chards and well-stored barns; of rail
way transportation and a wide market.
A desert traversed by the fences of
settlers and Irrigation ditches and dot
ted with homes, schooihouses and
churches is a desert no longer, but a
land the productive capacity of which
is as yet unmeasured, but of which
the promise is large, and wherever
tested has been more than fulfilled.
Whether within the boundaries of
Klamath or Crook Counties, Wasco or
Sherman, Harney or Umatilla, Union
or Baker, Morrow or Malheur, the
miracle of productiveness has been un
folded wherever the test has been ap
plied by industry and irrigation. The
possibilities of this vast region no one
can foretell. They can only be judged
by the results that have followed the
intelligent combination of these forces
in redeeming to agriculture and to civ
ilization the erstwhile waste lands that
formed Oregon's apportionment of the
"Great American Desert."
MRS. EDDY AND HER rSDEKSTTDT.
The story with a mystery as an at
tachment or basis is generally exagger
ated In its derails if not In statement.
The temptation of the writer in such a
case to enlarge upon facts and revel
in imagination is strong and not often
wholly withstood. Hence it Is probable
that the World's story regarding the
feeble, senile and practically helpless1
condition of Mary Baker G. Eddy is
overdrawn. Advanced in years, it is
most likely that Mrs. Eddy is feeble
both in mind and body. As rigidly se
cluded from the outside world as is Tsi
An, Emipress of China, It is not un
likely that servants long in her employ
have grown pompous and arrogant and
manage her literally, both as to her
fortune and her movements. Even
though her life is one of exceptional
length, such as is occasionally given
to men and women in life's ordinary
walks, its tenure cannot much longer
hold. That she (has an "understudy"
with whom she has been closely con
nected for some years and who ex
pects the mystic mantle to fall upon
her shoulders when Mrs. Eddy dies, is
likely enough true. Otherwise she has
been spinning all these years a. rope of
sand that will not hold when her hand
falls from the distaff. That this under
study poses in the leading role when
the leader Is not able to assume it is
more than probable, since Mrs. Eddy,
regardless of fine-spun theory, must
work, and has worked, through mater
ial agencies. She has never been ac
cused of lacking in worldly acumen
and sagacity. To deny that she has an
understudy on the stage or behind the
wings is to bring this accusation.
And after all, what of it? What but
that the cult for which her name stands
will, like other dreams of "mortal
mind," have its day and vanish, even
as Mrs. Eddy will vanish from the
earth like other mortials, and her creed,
like other creeds, become a thing of
memory-Tlater a thing of wonder; a
thing that in due time will furnish a
chapter in the book wherein is written
the history of religious beliefs and as
sumptions that have had their day and
passed on.
TOWNS AND ELECTRIC LINES.
The building of a new steam railway
always means the location of new
townsltes and the building of new cit
ies. The construction of the North
Bank road to the mouth of the Colum
bia will probably result in a boom for
Bome city across the river from Astoria,
or perhaps a new town will be started
at a point advantageous to the railroad
builders. The construction of Eastern
Oregon roads will be followed by rapid
building of cities at any one of a score
of places that could toe named. To
some extent the railroad has the power
to determine where a city shall be built,
and usually this power is exercised, in
important cases, so that the railroad
company profits by the advance in the
value of the real estate in the new city.
But the construction of electric roads
will not have a similar effect. The
tendency of an electric line is to fill the
territory traversed by it with small
farmers and gardeners,- thus creating a
thickly-settled rural community rather
than a city. The electric road encour
ages residence in rural districts. The
stations are located at short intervals
along the line for the better accommo
dation of passengers and shippers. Loss
of time and power in stopping and
starting trains makes it impracticable
for steam Toads to place stations near
together. The Portland-Salem electric
line touches scarcely a town through
out the distanqe of fifty miles, and yet
it Is not probable that any towns of
considerable population will be built
along Its course. Small villages will
undoubtedly spring up, where a few
stores will supply the wants of the peo
ple of the surrounding country, but the
population from which the line will get
its traffic will Teside on farms and gar
dens. Gradually the large farms will
be subdivided until they will sustain
five to ten times the number of fami
lies they do at present. The next ten
years will see so many changes In the
territory traversed by the Portland-Salem
electric line that the country will
scarcely be recognized by people who
are absent during that time.
BAD TINS IN FRUIT.
California fruit canners have started
a movement for enactment of a Federal
law which will require the use of a
better grade of tin plates in making
tin cans. It is found that the coating
of tin on the iron plates now used is so
thin that small spots are left uncoated
and the acid in the fruit eats holes
through the cans. This results in a
double lose the buyer refuses to pay
for the goods and the reputation of the
packer suffers. In support of the plea
that the Government should interfere
it is asserted that, as soon as the acid
begins to act upon the Iron, the fruit
becomes impure as a food, hence the
law should be passed as a feature of
pure-food legislation.
This is a matter in which Oregon
canners are also interested. To say
that the canners should buy only a
good grade of tin does not meet the
situation. Buyers are seeking as low
priced tin as they can get, and, in the
effort to supply the demand, the manu
facturers turn out a defective grade of
piate. The canner assumes, as he has
a right to do, that tin is suited to the
purpose for which It is purchased. He
finds out that it is not, several months
later, when the buyer refuses to pay
for a part of the canned fruit deliv
ered. The California packers propose
that the pure-food law be amended
so as to require a certain quantity of
tin on the iron plates, the quantity be
ing sufficient to guarantee good qual
ity. Then packers could buy their tin
with assurance that there would be no
loss of fruit on account of poor quality
of material in the cans.
This Is clubwomen's week in this
city. The occasion is the sixth annual
convention of the Oregon Federation of
Women's Clubs. It will doubtless bring
together an assemblage of active, ear
nest women, each ready to testify to
the benefits that she has herself de
rived from club work. The woman's
club has become an Important cog In
the great wheel of modern develop
ment. Since Alice Carey became first
president of Sorosls, the first woman's
club organized in New York, forty
years or more ago, women have liter
ally "found themselves" in the w-orld of
broad, helpful, intelligent public en
deavor. Their work In clubs stands for
Itself and for them in every urban com
munity. It will, without doubt, be ex
ploited during the week in an enter
taining and more or less convincing;
manner by Mrs. Decker, president of
the General Federation of Woman's
Clubs, now in this city, and by promi
nent clubwomen of the Oregon Federation.
The activity In the realty market
fully sustains the assertion that has
been made in these columns many
times in the last few years that Ore
gon real estate is a good investment.
That. Oregon farms are desirable for
honreseekers has long been recognized
by everyone. Many people, however,
have not foreseen the profits that were
to be made in both farm lands and city
property purchased purely las an in
vestment. The changes now under
way in transportation facilities have
opened new opportunities for realty in
vestments, for the building of roads
through Eastern Oregon and down the
coast from Seaside to Yaquina will put
upon the active market lands that have
not been in much demand in the past.
For a safe investment and a sure
profit, Oregon realty, judiciously pur
chased, can scarcely be excelled.
The United States Government has
been printing its postage stamps lately,
instead of having them prlnjpd by con
tract. It has been found, however, that
the work can be done cheaper by con
tract, presumably for the reason that a
contractor gets more work out of his
employes and hoe a lighter expense ac
count. But whatever the reason, the
fact that the Government printing of
fice could not compete with a printing
plant operated by a man who was per
sonally interested in its success is
worth remembering by those who ad
vocate the purchase of a printing plant
by the State of Oregon.
If brevity is one of the objects to be
attained by reformed spelling, why not
go a step farther and condense the lan
guage by dropping a few vowels in
words which could be as easily read
without them. Who, for example,
would have any difficulty in reading a
sentence written like this: "When in
the crse of humn evnts It bems ncssry
fr one ppl to dsslv th pltcl bnds wheh
ennct thm wth anthr," etc.? There is
no copyright on the idea, and Mr. Car
negie Is at liberty to make such use
of It as he may desire.
This year will not see the end of the
scarcity of wood unless some change In
labor conditions brings about lower
wages. Farmers cannot afford to hire
woodchoppers at ruling wages and sell
wood at former prices. In fact, as long
as men can get good wages at other
work, they will not chop wood. There
fore, if labor should be as scarce this
Winter as it wka last, and it probably
will 'be, there will be comparatively lit
tle wood cut and prices will be high.
It is a case of supply and demand.
A dollar a hundred Is a pretty good
price for potatoes, and to the man who
can raise a fair crop of good quality it
means big profits. The trouble is that
for one reason or another potatoes are
too frequently inferior in quality, ex
cept In a few localities that seem to be
especially favored. The next farmers'
congress might do well to postpone the
study of dairying and talk a while on
spuds.
A Clackamas County woman asks for
a divorce and alleges that, although
she raised eleven children and milked
the cows and did other outdoor work
on the farm, her husband accuses her
of being no good except to spend
money. Here's hoping the court will
allow her alimony equivalent to a dol
lar a day for every day she milked the
cows.
A mistake of tremendous import
organized labor In San Francisco will
commit If It attempts to stand by Abe
Ruef and Mayor Schmitz. The labor
unions elected Schmitz, and he is their
favorite; but they would better wait
and see what the proofs are, before
they resolve to stand by him, no matter
what the proof are.
Wonder what the result would be if
every officer charged with the enforce
ment of the law should stop every boy
he saw smoking a cigarette and make
him tell where he procured the tobacco?
But what's the use speculating on the
subject? No one cares whether the
cigarette law is enforced or not.
The report that $3,000,000 a year ie
stolen from the gold mines in Australia
need not breed the hope that some of
our municipal grafters will emigrate
to that country. They have better (pick
ing here, with less probability of con
viction, judging by the records of the
past.
A Portland doctor has purchased a
motor-car with a speed capacity of
seventy-two miles an hour. Profes
sional ethics will prevent his brother
physicians from charging a fee when
the accident occurs. ,
Like the merchants who haven't the
goods in stock, but "expects them to
arrive any day," the railroads always
have orders ahead for engines and cars
but the shipper is never supplied.
Count Boni de Castellane is anxious
to keep the divorce proceedings out of
the newspapers. He was not so anx
ious to avoid publicity when hie wed
ding ceremony was performed.
According to dispatches from New
York, the campaign for the Governor
ship is being run entirely by the can
dldates. Somewhat like a direct pri
mary campaign in Oregon.
The Yakima boy who took a collec
tion of apples to Salem and put them
on exhibition has the right kind of stuff
in him. He will be a second Tom Rich
ardeon yet.
The Astoria Herald, run by C. J.
Curtis, has turned Democrat, "because
of the tariff issue." We are glad that
it wasn't the money question.
Colonel Hofer is still writing about
the Portland Collectorship. Every one
else thought that was a closed inci
dent
Will the Legislature, when It meets
semiofficially In Pendleton today, take
a straw vote on Senator?
RIVER AID HARBOR CONGRESS
Call For a Convention to Meet at
Washing-ton, D. December S-7.
CINCINNATI, Oct. 24. (To the Editor.)
Representing the executive committee
of the National Rivers -and Harbors Con
gress, we request your particular atten
tion to the call for and invitation to at
tend this congress convention, scheduled
for Washington, D. C. Thursday and
Friday, December 6-7, 1906.
We believe the call will show that the
National Rivers -and Harbors Congress
is working unselfishly for the good of all
sections of our common country. Its
platform is the broad one of internal
improvements without regard to state or
sectional lines and one on which we all
can unite and work together for the bene
fit of the producing and consuming inter
ests of the entire country. With the
belief that your .section of the country is
interested in and will be benefited by
the work of this organization, that your
subscribers and readers will appreciate
as we will, whatever notice you may
make of that which is submitted, we ask
at your hands through the columns of
your paper, such favorable publicity as
you believe it worthy of. We will, with
your permission send you from time to
time carefully prepared articles on trie
subject of river and harbor improvements
from a National standpoint You can be
assured of the correctness and reliabllity
of every statement therein.
This call is issued by the executive
committee under authority given by the
last convention, and is the third conven
tion of the organization. The National
rivers and harbors congress was formed
and has labored for the single purpose of
arousing the commercial, agricultural.
manufacturing, consuming and producing
elements of all sections of the country to
demand from the Congress of the United
tates that a more just proportion of the
revenues of the general government be
devoted to the improvement of the rivers
and harbors of the nation. You who re
ceive this, in whatever section of the
country you reside, whatever personal or
public business you are engaged In, what
ever commercial or municipal organiza
tion or waterway association you repre
sent, are interested in the question to be
discussed by this convention. River and
harbor improvements from a national
standpoint will be the sole question, and
that means added facilities lor ana me
cheapening of transportation.
Transportation Is today the most im
portant question before the people of the
United States, as it is before all the
states and countries of the world, and to
the country which solves It first, ana
best, will come commercial supremacy.
Freisht charges do not add to tne value
of any commodity, but are a tax alike
upon the producer and the consumer.
Reduce transportat.on charges and the
man who produces ana he who consumes
Is benefited. It is admitted that of all
forms of transportation known to man,
that borne by water is the cheapest.
No country on the giobe has more or
better natural water courses and harbors
than this: no progressive government
among civilized nations has done less to
improve its rivers and harbors than ours.
Tt is to chance these conaitions ana im
press on the law-makers of the National
government the united demand coming
from all sections and interests of our
common country, that our rivers and
harbors should be improved, to make
them equal to the present and constantly
erowlne demands of our state, interstate
and international commerce, that the Na
tional rivers and harbors congress is
wnrkinsr through its executive committee
to bring together in Washington, on the
dites indicated, the greatest convention
ever assembled, having for its purpose
the advocacy of these internal improve
ments. The National rivers and hartjors con-
gresB advocates annual rivers and
harbors appropriations of not less than
$50,000,000.
You. your section, ana tnose you rep
resent, ere Interested!
Tt 1 to brine about tne placing or tne
rivers and harbors bill upon a plane with
other annual government appropriations,
making it regular and in size commen
surate with Its great importance to the
commercial and economic welfare of the
nation, that the National rivers and
harbors congress, through its executive
committee, cordially invites and urgently
requests that delegates in such number as
you, in view of the great importance of
this convention, may consiaer proper, do
appointed.
A special rate of one and one-third fare,
on the certificate plan, for the round trip,
has been accorded delegates to the con
vention by all passenger associations
throughout the United states, except
from Pacific coast points. Pacific Coast
delegates can avail themselves of regular
nine months rate in effect daily from Pa
cific Coast points to Chicago, St. Louis,
St Paul. Minneapolis, Kansas City, New
Orleans, which approximates two cents
per mile in each direction, or about, one
and one-third fare for round trip. At
any point named above tickets on certifi
cate plan can be purcnaseo. to iv""i
tnn n a. When nurchaslng tickets to
Washington, paying therefor full fare.
secure from ticket agent a certmcate.
This certificate, when vised by the secre
tary of the National rivers and harbors
congress at Washington, becomes an
order for return ticket, at one-third the
regular rate. Delegates must secure a
certificate, not a receipt, from railroad
agent at point where ticket to Washing
ton Is purchased.
We assure you, and through you all
interests in your particular section of the
country, whether or not they have re
ceived this invitation, that their dele
gates as will all others, no matter from
what' section or what interest they may
be sent to represent shall receive all
the privileges and courtesies of the con
vention. JOS. E. RANSDELL,
Chairman Executive Committee.
Attest: J. F. Ellison. Secretary.
James J. mil's) Three Railroad Aides.
r Pittsburg Despatch.
James J. Hill, the railroad magnate,
has three sons in the same -business.
t, tc thp eldest la vice-nresident of
the Northern Pacific: Louis W. is first
vice-president of the Great Northern and
Walter H. Is right-of-way agent for a
new line between sioux vaiy anu uiuan.
It is generally understood that Louts
will be his father's successor In the rail
road world.-
CbicBKO Wast Taken T'na-rvorra.
di-minffham A ff-TTpralrl.
A Little Rock. Ark., man sent 5000
copies of the Lord's Prayer to Chicago,
and but for an eagle-eyed proofreader it
would have been reviewed in one paper
under the neaa oi ivew rumicuuu.
The Simple Mother.
Woman's Home Companion.
Tm wearied of the whirl," quoth o.e,
"Henceforth the simple life for ma.
Methlnks it would be very wise
To take my breakfast ere I rise
Of coffee Just slncle cup."
(N. B. Her mother brought it up!)
"And when I'm dressed," thus spok ths
maid,
' "I'll hie me to the elm tree's shade.
And with a book there I will find
Sweet rest and comfort for the mind."
And so in sylvan shade she read.
(N. B. Her mother made her bed.)
"A dainty lunch will suit me best
Salad with oil of Luoca dressed;
No steaming soup, nor heavy roast,
But broiled SprlPff chicken served on toast'
She ate it all and found it good.
(N. B. Her mother cooked the food.)
Then, when the day at last was spent
Her mind was filled with sweet content;
She donned a dainty gown of wtilte
With rosy ribbons all bedlght.
And looked as fair as any rose.
(N. B. Her mother Ironed her clothes.)
4T love the simple life," quoth she;
"My heart from care is ever free;
A good night's rest I'll have, I know.
For prompt at 0 to bed rll go."
True to her word, retired she then.
iH. B. iter mother worked tlli IOlK
WRITING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Policy Of All Hlsrh-CIaas Papers, In
cluding The' Oretrontan.
New York Times.
We are glad to get letters from our
readers, and many of them we are glad
to print Those ws do print form, we
think, an interesting and valuable fea
ture of the paper. But, as is known to
many and should be known to all, we
recognize no compulsion to print any
letters at all, ana wo claim and exer
cise our own Judgment in making se
lections from our mails. More than
that, a correspondent who Joes not ex
plicitly state that his letter must be
used lit full and unchanged or not at
all need not be surprised If we cut it
down in accordance with our estimate
of its interest, or if we put Its sen
tences Into English tnat seems to us
more easily readable than his own.
We do not claim or exercise the right
to edit or to add to his opinions, and
that is about the only limitation we
recognize In this matter.
As everybody knows, we do not in
sist upon adhesion to or acquiescence
In our own views as a requisite for
publication, but It is something be
tween Insanity ana imbecility to say
that it is Improper for us to pass
judgment upon the logic of these com
munications or upon anything else
they contain. We have always done
that with great freedom, and shall
continue to do it by included notes of
dissent, by a few appended words, or
by more extended comment in the ed
itorial columns, Just as we deem best.
The victim or beneficiary of such
criticism will have no grievance, and
if he pretends one he will only make
himself ridiculous or pathetic, as the
case may be. Our correspondents are
extremely fond of having fun with
us, and there is no imaginable reason
why we should not have fun with
them when opportunity offers.
Kentucky Colonel Ships Water,
Lexington, Ky., Dispatch.
Word has Just been received here that
Colonel Clifford E. Nadaud, of the Gov
ernor's staff, will ship from Jerusalem 200
casks of water scooped out of the River
) Jordan.
It is known that the Colonel is president
of the International River Jordan Water
Company, Incorporated, but his friends
his best friends decline to discuss nis ex
ploitation of water, and hasten to ab
solve themselves from any part of it.
No member of the Governor s staff be
lieves that the River Jordan water should
be drunk simply because it comes from
the Holy Land, so they accept the ex
planation that the importation of Colonel
Nadaud is to be employed for baptismal
purposes.
t ne water win De seaiea in casus ay nm
Turkish government under the supervis
ion of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and
will be bottled in the United States.
Tortoise Lived for Four Centuries.
London Post.
A giant tortoise, believed to have lived
upward of four centuries, recently died
at the London Zoological Gardens. The
only clew to the age of this creature lay
in a half-effaced "16" cut into his shell,
and supposed to be the first two figures
of a 17th century date. Perhaps some
pirate or castaway, in an idle moment
thus marked the horny encasement of the
sluggish beast. At any rate, this much
is known; toward the end of the 18th cen
tury, Drake as the tortoise was named
was captured in the Galapagos Islands.
The inhabitants of those regions then re
garded him as a bi-centenarian. About
a quarter of a century after his capture
he was taken to England. Finally he was
secured for the Zoological Gardens.
His appetite was enormous. Lettuce
was his diet, and he devoured only the
hearts of the plant. It is said he could
eat as much as an ox. Giant tortoises
are somewhat rare, and his place will be
hard to fill.
Speaka 72,000 Words In Tvro Duya.
Brooklyn Standard-Union.
The work of the stenographers who ac
companied Charles B. Hughes on' his
Long Island trip was worthy of note. In
the two days they took 70.000 words in
shorthand, and 20 carbon copies of each
speech were made. The motion of the
train and the various noises nearly. set
the stenographers and typewriters Insane,
but they persevered, and their work
pleased the candidate, who is careful that
all his remarks be correctly reported.
James C. Marriott, a Senate stenograph-
er, with an office in the Park Row build
ing. Manhattan, was in charge of the
work of reporting Mr. Hughes speeches,
and was assisted by W. A. Jones, a sten
ographer, and E. Myerson, an expert op
erator of the typewriter.
- en The Gnu Wooing-.
Harper's.
There was a lovely lady gnu
Who browsed beneath a spreading yew.
Its stately height was her delight;
A truly cooling shade it threw!
Upon it little tendrils grew
Which gave her gentle joy to rhew.
Yet oft she sighed, a-gazing wide.
And wished she knew another gnu
(Some newer- gnu beneath the yew
A METEOR FROM THE NORTHWEST FLASHES ACROSS
THE CHICAGO HORIZON
BELGIUM'S MARRIAGES MART.
Some Particular;! of the Fourth Annual
Meeting;.
London Express.
Two thousand bachelors from all parts
of Belgium, many from Prance and soma
from Germany, swept down on the village
of Ecaussines-Lelalng recently to find
brides.
It was the fourth yearly marriage mart
as established by the maids of Ecaus
slnes, and as there are only 9T marriage
able young ladies in that quaint little
place the supply of matrimonial partners
fell deplorably short of the demand. All
the same, fhe proceedings were a great
success.
The men began to arrive early in the
morning, but it was toward noon before
train loads of them appeared. There
were all sorts and conditions of men.
One man of 72 had traveled all the way
from Luxemburg to find a wife, to whom
he promised a dowry that would place
her beyond want. There were trades
men, clerks, mechanics, miners, laborers
Indeed, no branch of trade appeared to
be unrepresented.
Gay banners of welcome, triumphal
arches with mottoes of encouragement
for prospective husbands, figures of Cupid
and hearts pierced by arrows were to be
seen everywhere: but the local authority
had not accepted the young ladles' pro
posal to name the main streets "Place
des Plancailles," "Place Conjugale" and
"Place de la Concorde."
At noon the bachelors were formally
welcomed at the gates of the village by
the spinster committee. Last year's presi
dent ana several members of the com
mittee are now married as the result of
the festivities 12 months ago and others
had been elected in their place.
All marched to the "Grande Place,
where there was an open-air concert.
The bands played nothing but nuptial
marches and love songs. At the close an
adjournment was made to the town hall,
where the young ladles took their places
at tables on which stood bowls of pink
roses with such mottoes as "Hope on,"
"Love." "Be Trusting," and "Have.
Faith."
A vacant chair was left beside each
girl, and at a given signal the men with
matrlmonal Intent made a rush to secure
the seats. Then coffee and a sweet cake
were served, followed by a bonbon tast
ing of licorice. When this was over the
lady president made a speech on "The
Art of Pleasing Man," which was wildly
applauded. Dancing in the open air
ended the programme of the festivities.
Hundreds of letters, many of them
very amusing, were received this year
from intending husbands. A railway of
ficial from Paris anxiously inquired
whether in the event of not finding a girl
to his taste he could refuse to marry and
would be allowed to leave quietly.
Some bachelors from Gilly (France) ex-
plained that they were young, good look
ing and earning 12 a month, and were
anxious to find wives from Ecausslnes,
where the girls are renowned for their
good looks and quiet domestic life.
Two friends, a butcher and a hair
dresser, asked to be recommended to two
nice girls by the president, but so mixed
up their qualifications that it seemed as
if the butcher shaved his animals with
antiseptic treatment and the hairdresser
slaughtered his customers humanely.
High Corporation and the Law.
New York Evening Post
"It Is not possible to defend a rebato
case In the present state of popular
opinion," Austen G. Fox was quoted as
saying at the conclusion of the New
York Central's trial. Plainly, no de
fense was possible in that case. The
offense was too flagrant; the proof too
conclusive. The Central stands con
victed of having deliberately violated
the law in regard to rebates in the
devil-may-care spirit of the sand-bagger.
Yet railroad officials wonder that
there is a great prejudice against rail
roads, and that Government ownership
plans enlist the support not only of
demagogues, but of sane and sober
men. Why declaim against lawlessness
in the South or West, or the flagrant
failure to enforce the statutes and or
dinances in our cities? When men who
sit in high corporation places, who are
trustees of the millions of sharehold
ers, an'd stand In a position of responsi
bility toward the public become law
breakers without hesitation or scruple,
the spread of lawlessness is not
strange. We consider the conviction of
the Central one of the most important
Judicial events in years. It will serve
to call a halt on crooked railroad offi
cials the country over. Hereafter the
freight traffic manager who deliberate
ly sets out to violate the law will see
beforo him a version of yesterday's
jury of his fellow-Americans, who
proved again that there are laws which
can be invoked against corporations,
however powerful.
Mne Be, However.
Baltimore American.
The country In general has a fairly
good opinion about Nebraska, but it
is shocked to learn that a girl whose
first nume is "Mae" is running for the
office of County Attorney in one of the
Nebraska counties.
Probably Volclnjr a Protest.
St. Louis Republic.
Girls in a factory in New Jersey have
struck because they were not permitted
to sing. Maybe they were making some
melodious reflection on father.
From the Chteago Tribune.
1