s
'I ILK MOK-NlCi OKJ5GOXIAN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1906.
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rORTLAXI), THIRSDAY. NOV. 39, 1906.
THK PRESS AS A MORAL GUIDE.
Dr. H. C. Sampnon, in his address be
fore the State Teachers' Association
naturally found occasion to speak of
the educational activity of the press.
His theme was) "The influences that
mold the character of the community,"
and it was a pimple recognition of an
evident fact to rank the press first, or
at leaft among the foremost, of the.se
influeneee. Dr. Sampson's regret that
the press docs not lead instead of fol
lowing public opinion was the repeti
tion of a common complaint which has
some justification in the facts of the
case; but there are two sides to the
question. The press does not entirely
shirk leadership, as we shall try to
show in a moment; but first and chiefly
it endeavors to perform a much more
useful work than the endeavor to di
rect opinion. This work Is the publlca
tiott of facts which furnish the basis
for opinion and without which opinion
is mere prejudice. Thought bas-ed upon
ignorance is dangerous. The presrc
makes it a fundamental duty to set out
the facts, all of them, without bias.
This dune, it may be conceived that
the public, which has enjoyed the
training of the public schools, is in a
piKr'ilion to form itr own opinions. i
I! at Dr. Sampson is not convinced
that the papers do print the facts. He
laments that they .fill their columns
"with ptorios of crime anil Immorality
to the exclusion of facts tending to up
lift the morals of readers." This again
is the echo of a common complaint
which hardly stands investigation.
What fact or clHrw of facts tending to
uplift morals thus the press omit?
Can Dr. Sampson cite a single one?
Had he considered the matter a little
mine deeply he would have altered the
wording of his complaint. He would
perhaps have said that the papers
throw excessive emphasis upon stories
of crime, making them long and prom
inent, while euch events as educational
addresses and" sermons are relegated to
obscure corners and discouraging!
curtailed. But, even with this modifi
cation, the doctor's complaint cannot
make good. On its face it is' true
enough, but its implication ia false.
The implication is that this treatment
or the ncwe makes vicious fact? inter
esting and elevated ones uninteresting,
which is not Irue. It Is not the way
the papers treat the facts which gives
them their Interest or takes it away.
Interest is something which inheres in
the facts themselves. Do what they
may, the papers cannot impart it
where none exists, nor can they de
stroy it If it is present. Interest de
pends upon the nature of events and of
the mind of man. In presenting the
news to its readers two coure"et are
open to a paper. It may give promi
nence to the interesting events or to
those that are uninteresting. In the
flatter case it will bore its readers and
must perish. In the former, it will
nourish, other things being favorable.
A paper which tried to force Its patrons
to read what they did not care Tor
could not survive. These are the cold
facts.
Now educational addresses and the
like, however edifying, are not inter
esting to the mass of newspaper read
ers. They will read a brief report of
such things, but not a long one. Which
Is better, to give a comparatively brief
report with the assurance that it will
be read, or a long one with the assur
ance that it will be parsed by entirely?
Voluminous accounts of improving
occasions would undoubtedly flatter the
self-esteem of those who took part, but
so far as the great public is concerned
they would defeat their own purpose.
Instead of giving information they
would, in fact, suppress it. It io not
what Is printed that informs the peo
ple, but what they read. Those who
would have the papers fill their col
umns with improving facts are like
gluttons who make an entire dinner of
sweetmeats. Indigestion follows. The
Improving mut be sandwiched between
(the amusing and the exciting. Thus
pleated, it comes to its own and finds
i:s way quietly into the moral bone and
blood of the reader. He must be en
ticed to inform and elevate himself.
Koine, little guile must be practiced
fijion him. Certainly he cannot be
liriven. To provide the public with
vhnt it wants to read is a condition
precedent to providing it with what it
ought to read. Unless the former is
done the latter cannot be done. Bad
as some papere are, and faulty as they
all are, it it etill true that upon the
whole their influence is elevating;. In
recent years they have been, not mere
ly the most potent moral influence in
the Nation, but almost the only active
one.
But we wish to protest finally against
the statement that the newspapers al
ways follow and never lead public opin
ion, for it is far from the truth. Al
most every paper tries with more or
less "kill to sway opinion by its editori
als. Where the editorials are weak the
intent still remains; where they are
strong they are effective. It is no dis
credit to a paper that it generally
agrees with the public, for on most oc
casions the public it? right. But when
it Is wrong only an exceptionally abject
newspaper would hesitate to 6ay so.
COKRl'I'TION IX HIGH rLACKS.
The latest disclosures in the land
fraud transactions in Utah leave no
room for doubt, as has been believed by
many, that this species of theft has
been aa wide as the Nation in its ex
tent. Crime knows no limitation
of locality, or party. or creed.
Men high in the service of the
Government entered into conspira
cies to defraud the Government
(in other words the people) of a vast
heritage of public lands. It happened
that in Oregon events led to the earli
est disclosures and here the first prose
cutions were had. For many months
Oregon hae been paraded before the
world as the hotbed of public land
stealing, the home of the leaders in the
conspiracy. The conviction of a United
States Senator and a Representative in
Congress caused the people of other
states to hold up their hands in horror
at the revelation of corruption in high
places in Oregon. But Oregon stands
not alone, nor shall she bear the dis
grace of having conceived this great
est of schemes of public plunder. This
state is willing to endure and has en
dured the humiliation incident to the
proof of guilt of her favored and trust
ed citizens, but who shall utter word
of reproach If the shame-bowed hea,d
and drooping eyes are lifted for a mo
ment to behold the greater humiliation
of commonwealths that must bear a
heavier burden of responsibility for
this most stupendous crime against the
whole American people?
Assurance is given that the frauds
will be probed to their remotest ramifi
cations, and that, high or low, the
guilty shall be brought to justice. Not
alone upon the man who committed the
single crime of perjury shall the wrath
of the Nation be visited, but the trust
ed servant of the people, who added
breach of faith to his theft, shall be
made to suffer the consequences of his
crime. In seventeen states land-fraud
indictments have been found, and pros
ecutions are pending. Not in sev
eralty were the crimes committed,
though the scene of each wrongful
transaction was distant from the oth
ers. Back of every theft of public land
were master minds in official power at
Washington, manipulating the laws
and the administration of public busi
ness, conceiving new means of plunder
ing the Nation and carefully guarding
against discovery and interruption of
the piratical proceedings. Upon these
the lash of the law's prescribed penalty
should and must fall.
But it is to be hope?! that the prose
cution of land frauds will not end with
the punishment of those who secured
their land by subornation of perjury.
Other frauds, far greater in extent and
therefore more costly to the .Nation,
were perpetrated through the scripping
laws. It is pocsible that the vast
steals of public land under the scrip
ping laws were conducted without any
violation of criminal law, but that does
not make the offenses any the less
wrong in morals. If the corporations
were able to secure the enactment of
laws which would protect them in theft
of public land; they must have pro
cured those laws by corrupt methods.
Neither the Department of the Interior
nor the Department of Justice can
come out of these land-fraud investiga
tions with entire credit for sincerity
unless every effort shall be made to
discover and make public the means by
which the stripping graft has been
conducted. The manipulators of that
part of the public land-stealing scheme
may not be brought before the bar of
any criminal court, but they should be
brought before the bar of public opin
ion and the evidence disclosed, so that
the people may know upon whom the
guilt lies. Until that has been done
the land-fraud investigation will be in
complete and there will be reason for
question as to the honest purposes
back of the prosecution.
TU A1K VOSSI UI I.1T1KS l'KKII A rs.
Mr. J. T. Ulynn. a representative of
the North American Cable & Tele
graph Company, operating In Alaska
and with a desire to operate in Siberia,
had an interesting story in Monday's
Oregonian on the possibilities for trade
in the far northeastern country. "1 be
lieve," said Mr. Flynn, "that within
two years there will be no more re
strictions on trade in Siberia than in
the United States, and I am satisfied
that there will be a great opportunity
offered for American capital and enter
prise. Our exports to Siberia will be
enormous within a few years, and will
add much to the wealth of this coun
try." Pessimism was not one of the
predominant traits in Mr. Flynn's char
acter, even when he was a Portlander,
and this fact may account for the rose
ate view which he takes of the trade
possibilities in far-off Siberia.
Making due allowance for the enthu
siasm of Mr. Flynn, there are unques
tionably great opportunities for trade
development in the land which is now
about to break from the chains of
bondage, but it is not an assured fact
that "our exports to Siberia will be
enormous within a few years." A
great .many things can happen "within
a few yeans," and among the possibili
ties which may become actualities in
that period is a new order of commer-.
cial policies. We have it from a gradu
ally diminishing squad of tariff stand
patters that there wU be nothing new
in our tariff policy, and. if they are
correct in this assurance and have the
power to "make good." there will be no
change on this end of the line.
If, however, Siberia in her onward
march of progress, should decide to
adopt the trade methods now under
serious consideration in Germany, our
exports to that country would not be
"enormous." for the simple reason that
the Siberian gentlemen who will do the
buying may levy a tariff of their own,
of sufficient burden to stifle and dis
courage our trade, just as we are now
stifling and discouraging trade with
nearly every country on earth. Lying
between the United States, and Siberia
are numerous millions of square miles
of territory - rich in mineral, agricul-
tural and timber wealth. This empire
of undeveloped riches stretches from
the Canadian line almost to the Arctic
circle, and it is open .to the trade of the
worlrf for exploitation, but it will not
much longer remain open for American
exploitation, unless our commercial in
terests, exhibit more of a disposition
to reciprocate with the countries which
that will be in a position to control the
trade policies of the rich northland.
The manufacturing interests of the
United States have become strong and
great by the aid of a tariff policy
which, even though perhaps necessary
a few years ago, has from its incep
tion been unfair to every other country
with which we have been doing busi
ness. Many of these countries which
we have treafed so unfairly have for
years been "nursing their wrath to
keep it warm." and in the near future
we are scheduled for some reprisals j
which will not only prevent us getting )
in very strong on new territory, but
will also hamper us greatly where our
eminent standpatters believe we are
now firmly intrenched.
TOO MICH CRIME, TOO LITTLE Pl'X
ISIIMKNT. '
Judge Marcue Kavanagh, of Chicago,
in a recent address to the alumni of St.
IgnatiusCollege, on the "Enforcement
of Law in Large Cities." stated that
there had been 45.000 persons murdered
in the United States in the past five
years. This "awful total," he further
declared, was due to the way in which
the law was administered. He vigor
ously assailed the operation of the
courts under the jury system, charged
that the law providing penalty for
murder Is burdened with restrictions
and technicalities, and said that in al
most every case the criminal has nine
chances of escaping punishment to one
of being punished.
This its, indeed, a sad showing, and
one that calls for candid considera
tion 'of the causes that lie behind it.
Still, we are not quite prepared to be
lieve that the United States is the most
criminal country in the world, though
Judge Kavanagh says it is. and backs
his statement by carefully compiled
statistics. "The world" Is a very large
term. Where staivde Russia on the
criminal calendar, or Turkey, or Aus
tria? The truth Is bad enough, 'and
9000 murders a year for five years are
a great many. But broad assertion
that we have the worst and the most
wretchedly administered law of any
country in the world will hardly pass
muster, unless it be before a board
composed of men who refer to Ameri
can customs and laws only to sneer at
them.
TIIAKS;lVINi HAY.
The original Thanksgiving day down
on the bleak New Kngland Coast was
perhaps more an occasion for real
thankfulness' than some of those
which have followed it since the
descendants of the original Ameri
cans spread over the land and amal
gamated with other races. It was
a great day down in the American "col
onies" when "from north and from
south, and from east and from west,
came the pilgrim and guest." Cold,
hunger and constant danger from mur
derous redskins had been the portion
of the original observers of Thanksgiv
ing day, and in modern times the av
erage American, surrounded by all of
the comforts and conveniences of mod
ern civilization, might well wonder at
the cheerful nature of the Puritans in
discovering that they had been favored
by Providence to euch an extent that
they deemed a special Thanksgiving
observance a fitting tribute for what
had been given them.
And, after all, it is a matter of en
vironment and of adaptation to circum
stances. The .wolves and Indians who
lurked in the New Kngland forests
were no more cruel and hungry than
the "wolves" and "Indians" who seek
to pull down their prey in the hurry
and bustle of, modern high-pressure
life. In this strenuous struggle for ex
istence if is both pleasant and fitting
that we should pause for a day at least
and contemplate the blessings which
have been granted us. There are, of
course, in every community hearts that
arc breaking today, and while thou
sands gather round the tables and fling
care to the winds, there are others who
sit silent, bowed by a grief which, for
a time at least, has shut all sunlight
from their hearts. And out on the
street there are others who. hungry and
cold, wander up and down the earth
with naught but ghosts of dead delight
for company.
But it is the exception that proves
the rule, and the American people in
general, and the Portland people
and Oregonians in particular, have
very much indeed for which to be
thankful as this, their most pros
perous ' year, draws to a close.
Throughout the great Northwest the
farmers have been favored with
excellent crop for which they have
secured high prices. In every branch
of industry there has been a big
demand for labor, and even the unpre
cedented prosperity which has caused
a universal car shortage has not pre
vented tremendous expansion in the
great lumber industry. Throughout
the year we have been favored with
constant additions, to our population,
and the creation of so much new
wealth through the rapid development
of our natural resources is reflected, in
an unprecedented building movement
in every hamlet, village and city in
the North Pacific States. Oregon in
particular has been exempt from the
ravages of the floods which spread
havoc to the north of us. and the ruin
which was wrought by the earthquake
in California.
Not forgetting a silent prayer for the
few who have perhaps failed to ex
perience the blessings and good fortune
which have been showered on so many
of our people, Oregonians can today,
without any appearance of hypocrisy,
offer up thanks for the good fortune
that has followed the most prosperous
year we have ever known. There is
much that is not right In this oM world,
much that never will be right, but it is
well for us all that we have one day in
which we can pause and congratulate
ourselves on being a little more fortu
nate than some one else. And when
that feeling comes to us we naturally
feel a ilttle more sympathy for the poor
"other fellow," who perhaps had a less
favorable start in the strenuous race
for existence.
The United States is the world's
greatest rubber market. During 'the
first eight months of. the present year
39,924.720 pounds of rubber were im
ported into this country; Germany was
the next largest importer with 19.888.176
pounds: Great Britain was third with
17.9J3.300 pounds; France fourth with
9,527,320 pounds, and Belgium fifth wit-h
4.473.3S8 pounds. These last-named
countries are large manufacturers of
automobiles and the seat of other im
portant industries in which rubber playf
an important part. But, by contrast
with the United States, their importa
tions of rubber are small. The aggregate-
proves that this is a rubber-consuming
age and justifies the assump
tion that Belgium, which, through the
greed and mach'nations of King Leo
pold, controls the rubber output of the
Congo country, has a revenue-producing
industry sufficient to feed the
dreams of avarice, even though the
most avaricious and unscrupulous man
on the favj of the earth is the dreamer.
Russia is slowly replacing the war
ships captured and sunk by the navy
of Japan during the late war between
those two countries. The Pallada and
the Bayan, recently launched, are of
the same name and type of the vessels
which were sunk at Port Arthur and
which were afterwards raised and re
paired, and are now valuable adjuncts
to the Japanese fighting equipment.
They have, of course, been renamed
from the Japanese vocabulary, which is
almost as rich in unpronounceable
words as is that of Russia. Russia has
a task at once tedious and costly, if
she has est herself to make good upon
the sea.5 the vesse's that were de
stroyed by her enemy in Oriental wat
ers. The Chinese in the Lienchow district
are again assuming an ugly mood and
have pillaged church property and are
threatening the lives of some French
Catholic misisionaries. As the religion
of the American missionaries has not
been forced on them since the outbreak
of October, 1S05, the Orientals have
probably decided to repeat last year's
success, with the French for victims.
Perseverance of this kind will event
ually be rewarded by the right to wor
ship in their own peculiar way.
The third annual convention of the
Pacific Coast branch of the American
Historical Association, to be held in
this city Friday and Saturday, prom
ises to bo a session of much in tercet.
Most of the toiucs that will be pre
sented are pertinent to the local his
tory of the Pacific Coast region for a
period already becoming dim with time.
The meetings will be held in the High
School assembly hail, and all who arc
interested are invited to be present.
The Waters-Pierce Oil Company, an
appendix of the Standard Oil. Is liable
to fines of $1,520,000 for accepting re
bates. This sum appears large to the
man who buys his oil by the gallon,
but. even should it be levied and col
lected, a fractional advance in the oil
and gasoiine market will be sufficient
to pay it and still leave the Rockefeller
family with enough coin of the realm
for the purchase of a Christmas turkey.
If the example of the citizens of Pay
ette. Ontario and other towns along
the Harriman lines east of La Grande
should be followed, there would be no
more seizures of coal in Kastern Wash
ington towns for the good and sufficient
reaison that there would be none of the
fuel to be seized. Cold and hunger
are afflictions which man will not en
dure, even if unlawful means must be
invoked to alleviate them.
The daughter of Chairman Shouts, of
the Panama Canal Commission, ie; to
marry into French royalty. The gen
tleman In the case is the Due de
Chaulnes et de Picquigny. This does
not sound as pleasing as Bonl de Cas
tellane, or even Paty du Clam, but for
the sake of Miss Shonts let us hope
that he is a better man than either of
them.
Dr. Brougher Is reported to have
stated that a man is not of much ac
count who docs not walk on his heels,
while high medical authority has stated
that a man who walks on his heels is
subject to diabetes or something worse.
In order to avoid a clash between re
ligion and science, the best thing a
man can do is to walk on his feet.
Chicago has discovered that she is 1:16
year. older than was generally sup
posed. Simultaneously with this an
nouncement appears a statement that
since January 1 her streetcars have
killed 132 people and injured 2271. oth
ers. With such a substantial addition
to her age. it would seem that she was
old enough to know better.
Science has at last directed her in
structive ray toward the tobacco pipe
with valuable results. For example,
the stem of a cob pipe, to get the best
draft, must be thrust half-way through
the bowl; while all the little traps to
catch nicotine catch nothing but tar.
Use a straight stem and keep it clean.
Thus salth science.
Among other signs of approaching
Winter, we note the serious injury of a
party of Gold Hill (Oregon) miners w ho
were encased in that popular pastime
of thawing dynamite on the stove. The
annual list of casualties of this kind
usually fills before the drowning acci
dents due to skating on thin ice be-
t comes very largo.
If the good work keeps on, no incon
siderable number of municipal public
servants in San Francisco and Pitts
burg will cat their next Thanksgiving
dinner off of tin dishes at a long table
with guards at either end. They will
inarch to the meal lockstep in striped
uniform.
Effort by the Kast Side Improvement
Association to establish a theater dis
closes commendable civic spirit. These
enterprising men seem to have gone
about it in a practical way.
It Is just as well the hand of the law
reached out for the man who says he
had to steal to enable him to marry.
The now-impossible bride can give
thanks today.
For all the mercies gratefully re
ceived, as well as those providentially
missed, in the past year, let us today
give thanks.
Directors and officers of several pred
atory corporations have reason to be
thankful that they are not yet in jail.
You may break, you may shatter, the
gang as you will, but the stench of the
land frauds will hang round it still.
Probably Mr. Wood will not allow
that there is too much ego in his cos
mos. But it's a fact all the same.
Senator Tillman's coarse language
may "go" in the Carolinas; it cannot
help his cause up North.
One thing more to be thankful for
the plutocratic gang can't seize part of
Portland's harbor. .
Just one word anent today's feast:
Quit when you've had cnough-
GREAT 'EKD OK WATERWAYS.
Eaar to Get Money for Xavjr, but Not j
Tor tiarnurn.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Last week's convention in Chicago to
boom the project for constructing; a
deep waterway from the Great Lakes to
the Gulf was, whether designedly or
not, exceedingly- well timed. Coming
as it did when, the country was suffer
ing from probably the most serious
freight traffic congestion in its his
tory, it emphasized the importance
and necessity of improving existing
waterways and providing new ones
sufficient to take care Of the enormous
and growing business; for any com
plete relief through the railways can
not reasonably be expected, since in
crease of railway facilities cannot keep
pace with the constantly and rapidly
increasing bulk of freight traffic. The
railways are doing all in their power
to relieve the congestion and prevent
its recurrence, but the outlook is that
by the time the new trackage and
rolling stock can be provided the de
mand for freight-carrying facilities
will again have outstripped the supply.
In the meantime Congress, . still
lavish with naval appropriations in
tended to protect American commerce,
is reluctant to supply the need which
at present Is a serious handicap to
that commerce. We must have bettor
harbors if our freight trade Is to be
expanded and a more complete sys
tem of, waterways if our internal trade
is not to suffer. Yet it is like pulling
teeth to secure a river and harbor bill,
while , Congress cheerfully votes three
times as much for naval purposes as is
asked for rivers and harbors. In
spite of our progressive spirit and
urgent commercial needs, we have
lagged behind the most advanced
countries of Kurope in the matter of
providing facilities for transporting by
water a vast amount of bulky, cheap
and non-perishable freight, which is
now a largo factor in clogging the
railways and which could be sent by
wator as safely, far more cheaply and
rapidly enough for all practical pur
poses. Moreover, as Senator Cullom
recently pointed out, waterways are
one of the most effective means of re
ducing and regulating railway rates.
Tliis country has spent, all told, more
than f.450.0)0,OHO for rivets and har
bors, no small part of which has been
wasted, whiic France has expended
since ISli no less than $700..100,0J0.
Everywhere in Europe the importance
of waterways is more fully appreciated
than is the case at home.
There la now, and certainly will be
in the future, room enough for both
railways and a system of linked lakes,
rivers unj canals. An extension of the
waterways will provide a certain and
permanent relief for congested traffic;
and the emphasizing of this need at
this particular time may induce Con
gress to make sufficient annual ap
propriation for harbor improvements
and new inland transportation facilities.
The Billboard Nuisance.
Leslie's Weekly.
"A concerted movement for the aboli
tion of indecent billboard advertising
is in progress in Cincinnati, where the
Protestant clergy in their sermons, the
Roman Catholic Federation of Socie
ties, the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation, and the Municipal Art League
are working In harmony for that end.
The Dayton's Bluff Commercial Club of
St. Paul. Minn., has instituted a similar
movement, and these two are examples
of the agitation throughout the country
against the offense to decency and the
affront to the eyes of the community
of which the billboard nuisance-makers
are guiity. We bar obscenities from
the mails, andwe arrest and line ped
dlers for selling merchandise In the
streets without a license: but posters
that corrupt the minds of thousands,
and others, morally innocuous . but
artistically hideous, and representing
advertising privileges worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars, arc suffered
without taxation or any restraint.
How long will the American public en
dure it? Let tlio newspapers and
magazines and other legitimate instru
mentalities for advertising purposes
make a united and winning crusade
against the billboard and streetcar ad
vertising nuisances.
Clone Klcriionsu
Albany Argus.
Talk about small pluralities in this
state has brousht out the ancient fact
that Horatio Seymour was defeated for
Governor bv 2ti2, and by 309, respec
tively, in rim closest gubernatorial
races in record in New York. His
long-forgotten victors were Washing
ton Hunt and Myron H. Clark. Tin;
people of this state always had the
good judgment, if Mr. Seymour was de
feated at all. to make it almost an
election, anil when they did elect him,
they gave him a flattering plurality,
to show that their consciences rightly
pricked them for tile other thing.
SoiiKn'a l)Bujther Xow "In Sorlely."
New York World.
Among tin interesting debutantes of
the Winter is Miss Helen Sotisa, daugh
ter of John Philip Sotisa, "The March
King."
Miss Sousa'3 greatest interest is
charitable work. At Mrs. J. Hood
Wright's lawn fete two yeaers ago silo
impersonated a Japanese girl. Miss
Sousa is especially interested in the
Home for Ciippb-d Children.
I'lrrpont Morsnn Meaaurcji One Yenr.
St. Paul Pioneer-Dispatch.
J. Pierpont Morgan's intimate friends
declare that he does not look a day older
than he did 10 years .ago. He believes
that the annual trips lie takes have a
wonderfully rejuvenating effect on his
physical and mental being. "I find," "he
said recently, "that I can do a year's
work in nine niopths, but that I can't
do 12 months' work in a year."
Sometime, Somewhere.
Uobert lirownlnfc.
Unanswered yet? the prayer your lips have
piailrd
In fl'iny of heart these many ycam?
Does faith ne-;ln to fail? In hope departing?
And think ou all in vain those falling
tears ?
Say not the Father hath not heard your
prayer;
You shall have your desire sometime, some
wnere. Unanswered yet? though when you first pre
sented This one petition at the Father's throne.
It seemed you could not wait the time of
asking.
So urceni vas yotir heart to make It known;
Though years have passed since then, do not
despair.
The Lord wlli answer you sometime, some
wnere. Unanswered yet? nay, do not say ungrant-
ed
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done:
The work began when your first prayer wad
uttered.
And Jod will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there.
His glory you shall see, sometime, some
where. Unanswered yet? Kaith cannot be unan
swered; Her feet are firmly planted on the rock;
Amid tne wildest storms she stands un
daunted: Nor quails before the loudest ttiunder shock,
Shu knows omnipotence has heard her
prayer.
And cries, "It .shall b done," sometime,
somewhere.
OTES OF ORFlttOV PROGRESS.
No Prune Knllnre for Hint.
Yoncalla Courier.
E. A. Langdon. of Rice Hill, was her
the first of the week preparing for
shipment to South Dakota a carload
of Petite and Italian rrunes. Mr. Lang
don ha disposed of his prune crop each
year by this method and succeeds In
getting about double the wholesale
(Oregon) price. He dried 16,000 pounds
this year and purchased the remainder.
He ships to South Dakota and
sells direct to the consumer. As they
are packed in 80-pound boxes he finds
no trouble disposing of them, one farm
er oftentimes taking two or three
boxes. When he began shipping to
South Dakota none but California Pc
tites were to be found on the market
in fact, most of the consumers had nev
er heard of an Italian prune. Upon In
troduction, however, the Italian took
the lead, as It is not so sweet, and the
Dakotans want the sour fruit.
Land Value In Yamhill.
MrMlnnville News-Register.
Iand within a few miles of McMin
ville is advancing: in price. Some two
years ago E. C. Apperson bought 60
acres of the Jonathan Todd tract two
miles west of town at $60 an acre. Ho
has 40 aeres set to hops and 2) in wal
nuts and other stuff. This week he
sold the tract to R. .laeobson of this
city for the sum of $12,000, or $200 an
acre. Mr. Apperson has sold, two crops
of hops from the place, which have af
forded nearly sufficient revenue to pay
for the place and all the improvements.
One Marlon County Orchard,
Gervais Star.
The apple best grown on the W. M.
Cline farm is the Baldwin and it seems
to thrive better than any other vnrlet;
unless It is the Gravenstein. The crop
this year will equal 2000 boxes. The
soil is rich and was originally ctwered
with a heavy forest growth that wa:
thoroughly burned over by Mr. Cllne
in clearing and he says the ash de
posit is the principal reason why apples
do so well.
Healthy .rovth.
Klamath Republican.
During the five months ending Sep
tember :t0. the Oregon Stage t'oinpany
carried into' Klamath Falls 521 more
passengers than they took away. This
does not by any means represent the
total number of people who have come,
but is an indication of the growth ol
this city.
Secrelnry Shaw nnil Hlw Clerk.
Washington ( I . M Star.
Secretary Shaw endeavored to change
the nature of the Government clerk and
hits failed dismally. He was surprised to
learn some time ago tiiat very few. of his
clerks were paving money and that most
of them were regular patrons of money
lenders, so he instructed his disbursing of
ficer to pay them in checks instead of
cash, his bleu being that they would go
to the bank to get their checks cashed
and would thus be led to invest a little in
savings institutions. The hope was futile.
On tracing the history of these pay
checks Secretary Shaw was -horrified to
find that a large portion of them were
regularly cashed by the proprietor of a
flourishing saloon a couple of blocks from
the Treasury Department. Thi tli.scov
ery so disgusted Mr. Shaw that he re
scinded the pay-check order.
Motlcrn Country i'hyftlcinn.
New York Times.
The country physician is rapidly be
coming extinct as a species. The men
one meets at their societies look, dress,
talk and act as the men do at any meet
ing of city physicians. The papers pre
sented are quite up to the standard, the
discussions markedly above those of the
city men. The surgical experiences re
lated would astonish some men who
think the city clinics and clinicians do
all of this work, or at least all that is
well done.
Kniiinu American Novel Header.
Baltimore News. 1
Senator Knox, of Pennsylvania, for all
his legal learning and application, is a
constant render of fiction, preferring the
old-fashioned love story. Secretary Root
keeps closely in touch with current litera
ture and Senator Stone goes in for de
tective stories, as -does Senator Klkins.
Senators Culberson and Lodge probably
do more reading of American history
than any i:4hcr two men in public life.
Difference In Teddy and tirover.
Saturday Evening Post.
Joseph H. Ciioale was asked to de
fine the difference between cx-Prcsi-dent
Cleveland and President Roose
velt. "Well," he said. "Mr. Cleveland is
too lazy to hunt, and Mr. Roosevelt is
too restless to fish."
1'iltfsliurg Mlllionnlren and notlcr.
Chicago Tribune.
Things have come to a pretty pass in
Pittsburg when the boiler tubes it turns
out for Government warships have no
better moral character than its million
aires. I'arnble of (he Thcnlrlenl Dollar.
New York Sun.
E. II. Gilniore. the New York theatrical
manager, who is worth several millions,
came lo New York 40 years ago from
Munson, Mass., with just ftl.
Modern Yerlon of a l.nrceny.
Cleveland Leader.
Anna Held has lost her jools.
And don't know where to find 'em:
Let 'em alone ind they'll come home,
AVilh press agent tales llehind 'em I
REACTION ON
-id
'
n
XEW IRISH BILLS.
Some Freh and Funny Examples From
tireat Enellh Speaker.
W. E. Curtis, in Chicago Record-Herald.
Debaters in the House of Commons
are required to stick to their texts. No
campaign or buncomb speeches are al-
lowed, and no manuscript is permitted.
A member may have notes before hint
and may refer to them as often as ln
likes, but if he should attempt to read
from a manusuript. his voice would be
drowned by shouts of "Order, order."
and less polite reminders of bis breuclt
of propriety. This rule, of course,
makes it a severe ordeal for a nri'
man to take the floor. New members,
and sometimes old ones, are easily rat
tled when they are on the HoOr for
the first time, and make funny blun
ders. A friend of mine, a parliamen
tary reporter of long experience, keep
a notebook In which he has recorded
flights of fancy. Irish bulls, mixed
metaphors, and other blunders whlclt
he has heard in the debates.
Even Lord Curzon. who is one of the
most accomplished orators in England,
is sometimes guilty of a lapse, and
while he was Under Secretary of Statfl
he amused the House one day by de
claring: "We are not yet out of the woods in
South Africa, and the ship of state re
quires most careful navigation."
Mr. t'ream. one of the Irish members,
remarked hist Summer that "The tax:
on sugar is more offensive than if.
would be if it were less objectionable."
In discussing the new form of gov- .
ernment in South Africa an eloquent
gentleman from the midlands of Eng
land was so carried away by his own
oratory that he exclaimed:
"1 see a vision. The car of progress
floats before my eyes, sailing on in
mighty majesty, crushing in its tectlt
everything that obstructs its way and
shaking its mane in consciousness of
its own strength."
But such rhetorical eccentricities are
frequent. A 'few years ago no less a
man than Professor Hryce called upon
his fellow members to "Kehuld tlin
niagniticent cities of antiquity! When:
arc they now? They have perished.
They have vanished so completely that
it is doubtful if they ever existed."
Another member, who Is not Irish,
declared that "the untrodden paths are
marked with the footprints of a for
gotten race."
One of the labor members informed
th' House that hi- had "among tint
voters in his district scores of destitute
children.'- When the laughter which
greeted this ambiguous statement had
subsided, be made tilings worse by ex
plaining that he meant the fatbi ts ami
mothers of destitute children: where
upon one of his colleagues asked how
many votes were cast by the mothers
of destitute children at the last elec
tion. Even so great an orator as Mr. Glad
stone got his tongue tangled, and was
frequently guilty of little lapses. My
friend. the parliamentary reporter,
pointed out several singular mistakes
in bis speeches like. "I will not reiter
ate what I was going to say"; "If I
have not already said it. I will repeat
that": "The time has come, indeed, if it
is not already rapidly approaching."
You would expect such confusing con
tradictions from one who is unaccus
tomed to extemporaneous speaking, but
certainly not from a man of Mr. Glad
stone's experience.
My friend, the reporter, tells me that
one of the funniest scenes that ever oc
curred In the House of Commons was
due to an innocent remark made by
Robert Spencer, who is now Lord Al
thorp. His Lordship was one of tho
greatest dandies of the House. He was
noted for his fastidiousness in dress
and had a very effeminate voice and
manner. One evening .he appeared in
lhe House in an immaculate dress suit,
with a white tie. a white waistcoat and
dangling a pair of white kid gloves
In his hand. When his turn to speak
came he arose and with tho utmost
solemnity began:
"Mr. Speaker, I am not an agricul
tural laborer."
I'Yom anyone else such a remark
would have attracted no attention, but
from li tm. in the cost time he was then
wearing, it sounded so ludicrous that
the House roared with laughter, and
it was fully ten niiimtes before ho
could go on with his speech.
Fur Chrltilin Day.
Nnncy ftyrd in St. Nicholas.
There's a bustle In the kitchen
And a rattle and a din.
And such peculiar goings-on
You'd best not venture In;
The eggs are being beaten
And the butter s being dripped.
And the flour's being shaken
And the cream Is being whipped;
The nuts have had their beads cracked.
The jelly's till -a-o.uake ;
Outsiders, keep your distance
Daisy's making Christmas cake!
Don't say she's lost her ribbon
And her apron's all awry;
Don't speak of Hour upon her nose
Anri smut above Iier eye;
Don't tell her that the pans nrcn't grrasrA
The powder's quite at fntllt.
That the heaping cup of sugar
Was a heaping cup of halt.
Don't mention that the lire is out,
Twould be a grave mistake
Onlookers, keep your distance
Wh"n Daisy's bilking c;ike!
THE ISTHMUS
v
j-' f l
t-NkS'r1.'-l:-i
From the Washington Post.
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