Morning Oregonian., January 04, 1907, Page 8, Image 8

THE 3IORMXG OEEGOXlAX, FRIDAT, JANUARY 4, 1907.
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PORTLAND, rRJDAV. JANUARY 4, 1907.
THE TRAP MOI.US.
The efforts of the Stand-ard Oil Com-
pany to wriggle out of the clutches of
the law are almost pathetic. No shift
is too fraudulent, no trick too mean, to
eerve its ends. For a corporation of
Its lofty moral pretensions, Standard
Oil surprfeps and sometimes fairly
shocks one Dy Its obliquities. Kight in-
dictments wre pending at the same
time In Judse. Lamlis' oourt against
Mr. Rockefeller's philanthropic enter-
To them all the
'"counsel" of
the benevolent trust demurred.
The grounds of the demurrers are
aniufiinK. The indictments were
brought under the Elklne law of 1!03,
hlch imposed a penalty for rebating.
The lawyers of the trust told Judge
lyjirid is that the law did not forbid re
bates if the trust made a" direct agree
ment with the railroad. but only In.
it sent a third, party to ask for
t !. in. "What must thceo lawyer think:
of Judge Landis' intelligence? FortU-
iiately, ho is not so silly as they rnutst
have tiuppnrd. for he overruled their
ch 11 dish demurrer.
Another perfectly fatuous point made
by the trust lawyers was that remis
sion of terminal charges dort not
amount to a. rebate. According- to
them, a railroad has the right to exact
tprmina I stnraRo . charpree from some
shippers and remit them to others.
Tne Jurte. of course, ruled that rail
roads must treat nil shippers alike in
this as in other matters. What the
trust relied on inoet was a plea that
the rerrai ot the KiKina law Dy the
new rat law obliterated all -their old
in itidecds."
They probably cherished, the forlorn
hope that ih prosecution overlooked
the statute of 1871. which states that
no repeal of a. law shall remit any
penalty under it unlees such provision
is exprefvly made: and when the Mat-
uto was called up. they advanced the
UMtraJ trust plea that It was unconsti-
tutionai. Every law Is unconstitu-
tional in the eyes of the plutocracy
which interferes; -with their prerogative
of plunder. Judge X&ndls made short
ml ot their demurrers In all but two
CBBPfi.
It will be a cheering spectacle to the
country to see the Standard Oil Com-
pany brought to the bar of justice and
Mutually made to stand trial on the
merits of 'these. cfimeH, as all other
criminals must. Its wealth and power
hava enabled It to shirk ink ordeal
too Ion r- for the credit of the courts or
the safety of the country.
CAl SK, BUT NOT CVRK.
Chairman i-it n It 1 1 ri J 1 1 f . oT the
Interstate Commerce Commission, has
made a report on th car-shortage sit-
nation, and it will be noted with regret
that fie throws but little light on the
subject, and offers but slight hope for
early improvement. Had this report
come from a man less well and favor
ably kntwn on the Pacific Coast, where
the car shortage is perhaps at Its
worst, it might have provoked unfa-
vorable criticism for its author. But
when tk man of the recognized ability
of Mr. Lane, with vory facility tot
searching Investigation, can get no
more out of the nadly tangled t ran
pcrtatroti embargo than a repetition of
the cause, and only mild suggestions
for the cure, the outlook is not plea-s-utit.
Quite naturally, the Pacific Coast
lum ber sh 1 p pers. som e of w horn were
hustling alons the road to bankruptcy
through lack of cars, are only slightly
interested in the coal famine ii Da-
Icota. due also to car shortage. But
at r. I-ane finds that the conditions)
which were responsible for tho coal
famine In Dakota actually had th ef
fect of Improving the sltua tlon on the
Paclflc Coast. Congested terminal
yards at the head ot the Lakes made it
.so difficult for the roads to handle
the short-haul coal traffic with the
Uakotas that, to ease the strain, more
cars were sent to the Coast with "long-
haul" traffic and to load back with
lum her. . of course, know that the
number of these cars waswoefully In-
adequate for trie huslness, but. as th
Investigation of Mr. Iane fhown, the
ncrvhe from the faoiflo Coast had. not
yet reached iw limit or incfflclcircy
when the freezing Dakotans sent up &
complaint that could not be Ignored.
Divested or Its verbiage, Mr. Lane's
report simply reiterates what was al
ready Known, to wit: There has been
an increase of all kinds of business
entirely out of keeping with the in-
crease in transportation facilities for
handling- it. By "robbing Peter to pay
Paul, the railroads liave at timea
Quieted the roar in certain localities,
but the basic conditions have not been
rem eel lea, ana, until tne car ana loco-
motive works catch up with their or-
aers. no great aegree or improvement
can be expected. A. reciprocal demur
rage bill might penalize the railroads,
tut It would not Increase the number
of cars any more rapidly than they
could be turned off by the ehnps. The
California fruitgrowers are still hold
ing indignation meetings to protest
against the alleged favoritism of the
railroads In gi vlrig the Xort hern lum
bermen cars, ana the Northern lumber
men are holding the same kind ot
meetings to protest because they can
not get cars.
Between the two, the grain men are
still paying demurrage bills to shipe
which cannot get cargo because the
roads have no cars with which, to bring
ill the wheat. Mr. Lane, however, asks
for greater power for the Commission,
In order that it may enforce rules for
the interchange of cars between the
different roads. This will not make
any more cars, but it will enable some
roads, which are shorter than - others,
to piece out their equipment. Viewed
from most any standpoint, it appears
that an immediate adjustment tf the
trouble" Is impossible.
"WASTE-BASKET" COUNTILMKN.
"Throw It into the waste-basket,"
eald eix Councilmcn last Wedneeday
of a message from the Mayor protest
ing against vacation of Hull street. A.
motion to this, effect was lost by only
one vote, and then the Mayor's veto
was passed "by a vote of 31 to 3. The
solid ten or eleven -Council men, com
bined to override vetoes, Irrespective of
the reasons for the Mayor's negative,
again got their hand in. Fortunately
for them, five of their number per-
ceived the Impropriety of the waste
basket motion, and voted It down.
"Throw it into the waste-basket Is
a fair sample of the Council's un will-
Ingness to be moved by outside plead-
ing or -argument. Against protest, the
Council last Monday fixed an extrava
gant tax levy, which i to force from
the saving and toil of taxpayers exor
bitant taxes. The city lawgivers bark
ened not to the pleading of City Audi-
tor Devlin and County Assessor Slgler
for a lower levy.
Likewise the Council has listened not
to protest against liquor and vice evils,
and, when it has moved for their cor-
ret t ion, has done so condescendingly
and sluggishly. It hus declined to open
its ears to protests against perpetual
franchises, or against too cheap award
of new franchises. Other streets than
Hull It haa given away. The gas in
vestigation, in the hands of a. commit-
tee, has been cieoon-holed, despite the
widespread grievance of the public
against the gas company and the abun-
dant evidence of it submitted to the
committee last February and March.
Other lapses of duty could be cited,
but they will be forthcoming In due
time,
lf the Mayor is "playing 'politics
as the controlling members of, the
Council allege, they have made poor
plays on the other side. Juot such
plays as the turn-down of street-grab
vetoes put weapons in the hands of
the Mayor for the city election next
June. The Council members will find
that they cannot cope with the Mayor
before the people on such issues as
they are giving mm, Instead of dam-
aging him before the people, they are
strengthening him for a. new term of
of lice. Xo they want him elected next
June tor a second term? K Mayor
Lane can make franchises and street
grabs his issue in the city election
next June, it will be very difficult, and
perhaps impossible, to Weat his re-
election.
The Council is not establish Ing itself
in. the public confidence. Rather 15 H
doing the opposite. High tax levy
has broken the back of many men in
politics; nothing is mor destructive
to political Tortune, Nor floes It he-
token the spirit that the people want
in their lawgivers, that Council men
should vote to throw Into the waste-
basket a message of the Mayor's, a
public document from a branch of -the
city government correlative with their
own. Thoee Counciimen are taKlng
the quick rqad to run themselves into
the waste-basket. They should "get
next." They are playing "bad poll-
tics." They should hold themselves
above such pettishness. It belongs to
hot-headed schoolboys, not cool-headed
legislators.
COTTON KXmANGE ROW.
The periodical war between those
vho operate where the cotton is grown
and those who operate In New York,
-w-here mu?h of the product Is sold, has
broken out again. Representative Liv-
Ingstone, of Georgia, and Harvey E.
Jordan, president of the Sun Cotton
AaRocUition, of Atlanta, Oa. , have filed.
charges agpainst the New YorK CottOll
Exchange, deelurl ng: It to.be merely a
gambling exchange, and asking that
it be -denied the use of the malls. It
is a very difficult matter to flraw a
fine line of distinction between "gam
bling" and much of the "dealing ii
futures that Is eneaxed In. not onli
on the cotton exchanges, but the grain
and stock exchanges. The legitimate
function of all of these exchanges Is to
provide a market for the actual com-
modlties in which they deal, but the
business of the country is of such enor
mous proportions that it Is no longer
possible to limit transactions to the de
livery and acceptance of the actual
stuff bought and sold.
The exporter who floats a cargo of
wheat or a cargo of cotton may
through delay in getting: hie cargo to-
prether, be caugrht with a fulling mar
ket before he can place his bills of lad
ins in the bank. To guard against
this contingency, he avails himself of
the opportunity offered by the future
market, and sella on margin a SUffl
dent amount of wheat or cotton to
Insure him against loss In case of de
lay and a falling -market before the
actual product can De shipped, The
transaction Is a perfectly legitimate
one, an-d yet. where the fullest details
are not known, it Is difficult to distin
guleh it from another transaction
where some gambler In futures buys or
sells an equal amount or wheat or cot
ton simply on speculation, without pos
soflslnsr a pound of either.
A. suspicious point in the serious
charges made by the Southern cotton
men agatnen the IN'ew lorK Institution
lies In the statement re-rtedly made
that fhe Now York Cotton Exchance
Indulges In illegitimate practices for
uie "rase or "depressing" the mar-
ket. This statement carries with It the
inference that the New York: cotton
gamblers, as veil a6 legitimate oper
ators " "who buy and eell on the ex
change, are all ' what are known as
'bears' in the market. Thie charge,
the most serious one . made, carries
with It a self-acting refutation, for
there can be no speculation or gam-
bling in -cotton unless there are buy
ers and sellers, and, quite naturally,
those who are selling will not permit
any practices that -would, a,rtiflcially
"depress" the market, but, on the con
trary, would work jut as hard for
high prices as the bear contingent
would work for low prices.
There are plenty of crooked 'operators
in all lines of business, but there can
be no gambling market or speculative
market without men who are as anx-
lone to inflate prices as others are to
'depress" them. The investigation of
cotton exchange -methods asked for by
the Southern operators may disclose
something that is not mentlone In
their formal complaint, but, in the Ini
tial charges, they 'have made a weak
case. Tne producer or any commodity,
s a rule, seldom receives as much
for it as he helieves it worth, but. in
placing the blame for any alleged artl-
ficial depression of prices, It should not
be forgotten that there are hundreds
of opera tors right on the floor of the
exchanges working their
hardest to
make higher prices for themselves as
well as growers.
LIQUOR LICENSE, frlOO OR $1000?
The Portland City Council has here-
tnfnnA vntail X-ix.'n all mra mirr to In.
crease the S400 liquor license tax, and
It has just shown that It is ever ready
to vote up any scheme to increase tne
realty and personal ta'x. The taxpayer
Is patient and long-euffering, and will
stand a vaet amount of squeezing; but
when he flnd that the pressure on him
Is growing h-eavier in order that the bur-
dpn nn thp. liniior dLlpr mav hf ma rift
Just as light as possible, he is likely
to take measures to protect himself.
The eaioon license in fortiana is
$400, and it ought to be more; the
present municipal tax levy Is 5.7 mills.
and it ought to be less. In order to
make the ratter less, the taxpayer, who
cannot control the Council, will ap
peal to the initiative, which he can.
control, and will make the Portland re-
tail saloon license $1000 per annum.
It is singrular that the saloon Inter
ests have not been able to see w hat
was certain to happen if they persisted
in their efforts to defeat a higher li
cence. They made a strong ngnt
against the recent "Wills ordinance.
which proposed to raise the license tax
to $S0O, and -would doubtless have dou
bled, nearly, the city's revenue from
saloons. The Council at their Instance
defeated the bill. Now the result will
be an initiative bill for a $1000 license
whlcto the people of Portland will vote
on in June. Doubtless the measure will
carry.
Or perhaps the saloon Interests have
now learned something about public
sentiment," and have caused the $800
Shepherd ordinance to be Introduced
in the Council, and will support Its
passage as the only means to prevent
higher licence. The Oregonian thinks
It, or something like it, is the only
means to defeat the $1 OOO license tax.
RELIGION BY Sl'GfiESTIOM.
From the point of view of the unbe
liever, all religious practices are equal-
ly-absurd. From thej point of view of
the devotee, all are absurd except his
own-. - The philosophic inind. which is
neither sterilized by . extravagant doubt
nor blinded by credulity, is able to
discriminate among these practices
and arrange t'hom in classes according-
aa they depart little or much from the
canons of common ense and human
decorum. Judge Frazer, therefore, in
remarking that the performances of
the Tongues or Fire toellcvens are
"foolishness exercised the prerogative
of a philosopher. Whether be dis
played the acumen which may prop-
crly h& expected from one who rtes
to philosophize is another question.
The Judge has. in fact, undertaken the
diangerous and -delicate task of dis
criminating between genuine and 1ml-
tat ion miracles. With what Judgment
shall one judge a.n with what meas
ure shall tie mete when lie undertakes
to say that this miracle Is a fa tee delu
sion, while that one is a real exhibition
or the divine power? By what stand-
ard shall .we discriminate true mlra-
cles from false ones?
The Apostlo Paul possessed, the gift
of tton&ues, and frequently exercised
It. We may therefore Quote him as
authority for the orthodoxy of the be
lief that a true r Christian may re a-
sonabiy expect to he favored with this
accomplishment. To be sure, he In
timates that not every one. even of
the devout, ought to look for this par-
ticuiar eupcrnatural power, hut he
does say that If one h;s not the gift
of tongues he -will receive some equiv
alent for it, such as prophecy, heal-
ing or the like. It seems to have Wn
the belief of the greatest of the apos
tles that every- true Christian would- be
distinguished from the children or
Satan by the possesion of some mirac
ulous gif t ; If not that of tongues, then
something else; but It may be sur-
miscd that the simple and unlettered
worshipers at 253 Second street base
their touching confidence that all the
devout may speak with the tongues
of men and angels upon the well
known proof text In ths 16th chapter
ot Mark. "In my name shLll t ii v caat
out devils; they shall spealc with new
tongues." 'This precious promise Is
beyond question given to all believers.
1 1 wo u 1 d a fford th e new sect wh ich
worships with such singular vigor and
rapture a wry substantial ground for
the principal article in their creed but
for one unhappy circumstance. The
text Is spurious,
Nowhere in the New Testament is
the authentic promise given that all
Christians shall speak with tongues,
though, as we have said, there Is ex-
cellent reneon to expect that many of
them may The question then arises
whether the humble and energetic wor
shipers on Second street are among
t hose to whom Paul holds out the- de
lectable prospect of, speaking Hotten-
tot na Cingalese without first learn-
ing these important and literary lan
guages. Does Mrs. Crawford delude
herself- In believing that her infant of
nine years has boon endowed by the
A-lmighty with the amazingly useful
power to speak Portuguese. Chinese.
French and German eimultam?OUglv:?
We are compelled, .however reluctant
ly, to conclude that Mrs. Crawford de
ludes herself. The reason for this
opinion ig round . m another text or
Scripture, where Paul, the great au
thority upon the k! ft of tongues, com-
-mands that 'this miracle, and In fact
ail others, shall be. performed "decently
end in order." Hence, when a band
of worshipers perforins n H r -! njir
acle Indecently and In disorder, one
must conclude ' thit thrare lirdis-
obedience to the apostle. Disobedi
ence is sin. One who sins Is a sinner.
And to sinners the promise of speak
ing with tongues is not given. There
is no way that we can see, therefore,
to evade the inference that the gift of
tongues which the athletic worshipers
on Second street possess Is either a
mere delusion or an inspiration from
the devil; and we must concur in Judge
Frazer's melancholy opinion that it is
"all foolishness. Certainly there is
tout one thing: more foolish than for a
person to fool himself, and that is to
let himself be fooled by the devil.
With another obiter dictum of the
Judge, however, we cannot concur. He
remarked that 41 Anybody can work
tlrfemselves into a religious frenzy; it is
a purely physical manifestation."
Without pausing, as we should lov to
do, to weep over the Judge's gramm'ar,
we must take issue with him here.
Long lingering beside the pellucid rlvu-
leta or the law ig not, perhaps, con
ducive to psychological lore. At any
rate, the manifestations are .not purely
physical. They have a psychic as -well
as a muscular aspect. Nor ia It quite
correct to call them hysterical. Hys
teria connotes nervous degeneration,
while religious manifestations such a
we now discuss are characteristic of
perfectly normal men and women. In
deed, the healthier the subject in both
mind and bQdy, the more vigorous
oftentimes his religious testimony.
The entire batch of phenomena is in
cluded under the category of "sugges-
turn." Suggestion makes a man who
reads the account of a murder desire
to go and kill somebody. It animates
men with the mob spirit. It keep po-
lltlcal parties. together after their prln-
ciples are dead, and maintains the dis
cipline of schools and- armies. It is.
therefore, both useful and pernicious.
Without our susceptibility to sugges
tion, civilization would be impossible.
With It, we are brought down to the
level of the brutee, not only In such
eases as that of the Second street ener-
gumens, but whenever we permit sug
gestion to conquer reason.
Mr. Stuyveeant Fish, who was. run
over and seriously Injured by the Har-
riman band wagon during the last
sortie made through Wall street by
that celebrated vehicle, is predicting
an industrial smash. He Is very prop-
erly rebuked by George Gould, who
calls attention to the evidences of
prosperity on every hand. Mr. Fish
aljso saye that the New Tork tock
Exchange has become the plaything of
cliques and -pools, and that it is no
longer a free market. The statement
suggests the inquiry, Would Mr. Fish,
have the came pessimistic views of
finance and of the New York Stock
Exchange, had he emerged from the
recent battle in eome other role than
that of "the under dogr in the fijrht"?
On account of the peculiar- circum
stances which immediately preceded.
this warning from Mr. Fish, It will
have fully as much effect on the pub
lic as the broom of Mrs. Partington
had on the Atlantic Ocean.
"With growing families es with grow
ing towns, the expentse of keeping.
house steadily increases. Here is a
condition that cannot be avoided; it
must be met. Still we ehould like o
have some member of the City Council
point out a single family, or a single
business or manufacturing: concern,
whose expenise account last year wa
25Ms per cent more than in 1905, and
will -be 35 pef cent more this year.
ThesA are the percentages of increase
in -the city tax.
The railroads will not be obliged to
haul as many deadheads in lfK)7 as In
former years. The activity of the Gov-
eminent in prosecuting them in nearly
every state in the Union -will, however,
necessitate the transportation of eo
many officials and employes needed as
witnesses from Mains to California
that th curtailment of passes will of
fer t relief for the. strain on the
equipment.
PInee the jrreat naval battle in the
Japan &ea, the warmth of our friend
ewp ror the little fcrywn man hae dc-
veloped cool cpots. No man appreci
ates this more than "Mr. Dooley," and
no man can put the situation In Its
'Humorous phase more skillfully than
he. Read him In the next issue of The
Sunday Oresonlan.
An Inmate of the Walla Walla penl-
tentiary has Just discovered that he
was Imprisoned one year longer than
tne term for liicn ne was incarce-
rated. None of the penitentiary offi-
ciald have ever forgotten how Ions
they were In for, and,, if any of them
overstayed their term, it ie not gener-
ally known.
"We need the money" is the answer
of the City Council to protests against
higher taxes. "To h 1 with the
money; Jet "om have It free," is the
answer to protests against private UK
of a public street. Consistency Is a
Jewel that the Council doesn't -wear In
Its soiled shirt front.
George Gould contradict the rumore
of an impending financial smash, and.
emphasizes his contradiction by pay
In? flhnut t1 hAAftAA fn a balf
a v iv
in an Oakland bank. Slfcpnfldenoe of
this el wrtifT r1" is general, the crash is
yet some distance in the future,
Mr. Hearst hats made the announce
ment that he will never again be
candidate for office. In making the an
nouncement, he tenders no thanks to
the majority of the voters of New
York, who were so largely responsible
for his arriving at that decision.
What an
effective agency the stage
ie for public acquaintanceship! In
what other .vocation could a stranger
In three short weeks create such wide
spread interest In his own personality
as did Ernest Hastings during his
.short sojourn in Portland?
Perhaps stuyvesant Fish Is right
when he declares that a financial
crisis Is due. but the country -may take
hope that, another $7,000,000,000 crop
may postpone Its arrival. .
G rtOTJ?r T-iJGA SE AT A BARGAI T
Several streets belonging to the pub-
lie; nominal rent: term perpetual,
Apply City Hall. Portland. Or. -
From Commissioner Lane himself we
learn the real cause of the car ehort-
ae. There are not etioujrh cans.
Ana H ehouia not De forgotten that
the levy of 16 mills for 1907 fs based on
top-notch values for real etate.
Seven sporting gentlemen arrested at
the poker table? Is that old game
still being played in Portland T
But Senator Platl uWt resign.
LAND FBAt'DS, SWOLLEN FORTTXES
Roosevelt's Fight Agalnat Inlnwful Ac
quisition of Great Wealth.
The Independent.
The- President "Is gravely concerned"
he says, "at the prevalence of fraud"
under the present provisions of the pub
lic land laws. Me would have the Timber
and stone Act repealed because "the ef
fect of it is to turn over the public tim
ber lands to great corporations." " The
Desert Land . Act should be radically
amended because It "results so frequently.
in fraud and so comparatively seldom In
making homes on the land. It assists
"large holders to get control of land and
water on the public domain by indefen
sible means." And it Is the "large
holders" and the "speculators" far more
often than the honest settler, that profit
by the commutation clause of the Home
stead Act.
This story of frauds under the land
laws is an old one. It has been told
for many years, and for as many years it
s been true. There are unwise provi
sions of some of these laws which, as
the President says, put a premium on
fraud. and public sentiment In certain
parts of the country has not condemned
violations or them. But a majority ot
the frauds, and the most profitable of
them, have been without any excuse
whatever. They have been nothing short
of stealing, for the benefit of wealthy and
unscrupulous men, or of great corpora
tions ruled by such men; and .the theft
has been accomplished by means of the
suborned perjury of poor men who were
willing to help the great thieves for a
few dollars in hand.
If ope could find in the record of land
stealing, some evidence that the land was
occasionally stolen by poor and strug-
gling settlers for their own use, such of
fenses, while still quite objectionable,
would be regarded as less harmful to the
public interest than those with which
that record Is almost exclusively filled.
As a rule, however, the lands wrongfully
acquired have gone into the possession
ot the rich and powerful, and possession
of them haa In many Instances been used
to the disadvantage, and even for the op
pression, of the common people.
Influential politicians. Senators (Mr.
Mitchell was one of them). Representa
tives, and local land of fleers (several of
-whom are now awaiting trial), have
taken part in the robbery. It was In the
race or annoying and sometimes power
ful opposition that Secretary Hitchcock
proceeded to enforce, the criminal laws
against such offenders and procured 4!0
indictments, which have already yielded
89 convictions, 401 remaining to be tried.
But conditions have not been exceptional
ly bad during his term of office. There
was warrant for a host of indictments
cefore his term began.
Mr. Roosevelt perceives, of course, that
some of those "swollen fortunes," the
perpetuation of which Ho desires to pre'
vent, either had their origin In the steal
ing of public lands or, from com par a
tively small beginnings, by reason of
such stealing took on what he has called
"an unhealthy size. In his messages he
frequently speaks of the misuse of great
wealth, but commonly lets the prosecu
tions instituted under his direction speak
for him concerning the acquisition of
great wealth by unlawful or unjust prac-
tices. For example, In his war upon
railroad freight rebating by suggested
legislation and by prosecution ha has at
tacked a fruitful source of private
wealth. , There are srreat fortunes which
were built up largely by means of freight
rebates and by railway favoritism
other rorms, all apinst public policy anil
also unlawful. "With rebating has been
allied the stealing of public land, especi
ally lands containing coal, and also the
Increase of coal profits by combination
and conspiracy.
It Is chargedi, by Indictments and other-
wise, that the coal supply of the moun
tain states, which is controlled by two
great railway systems, is taken mainly
from land which was acqu Ired from the
Government and the people by fraud, and
that a coal monopoly has been main
tained and the protlta of the subsidiary
mining-, companies made large by un
lawful freight 'rebates. Among the of.
fleers and directors of the controlling
companies are the owners of representa-
tivcs or some or our most prominent
"swollen fortunes.'
Mr. Roosevelt would have the Gov
ernment keep Its title to such coal lands
as it still owns. He is right. And bis
more recent recommendations as to tna
repeal or amendment of certain general
land laws should De embodied in new
legislation at the present session of Con
grass.
Bulk for City Bird.
Kansas Oity Star.
A night telephone operator at fire head.
quarters stood at a window and looked
i
out upon the roof of an adjoining build
ing from out of which protruded the ex
haust pipe of an engine. The condensed
steam from this pipe had fallen upon tne
nac root ana. mrniea a pooi in a uepres-
slon
Before the
hour hlpfh. at
least 50 birds had tahen their morning
hath In this pool, and others were chat
tering and splashing and flying around
th? exhaust piie on the roof.
"It's the regular morning bath," said
the operator. "The English sparrow Is
the cock of the walk up on the roofs of
thoxo bulldlnss. Pigeons, swallows In
fact, all birds make way for the spar-
rows. Not long ago two pigeons, seeing
the shower bath In use, flew down to it.
and were having- a big time bathing.
Thy Just simply monopolized all the
epray.' A sparrow joined them. One or
the pigeons nipped hlra with his bill and
the sparrow darted away. He fftoppefl on
trie roof a. few feet distant and contem
plated the pigeons. Then he left. In
about five minutes a flock of fully
sparrows swooped down on the bath and
attacked the two pigeons and drove them
away,"
I
Holdlnc Iown m Clnlm.
Duluth Herald.
Fred McNuIty, of this city, had a ter
rible experience while holding down a
claim which he has several miles east
of here. iTo went to the claim just before
a hlg blizzard. The weather previously
had -been mild, and McXulty had no store
of fuel In the shaelc. The storm was so
fierce that he could not maKo his way
home, so he went to bed in order to
keep from freezing; to death. For three
days the storm raged, and MeNulty lay
covered up to his ears, without a bite to
eat and only a small Quantity of water.
When at last the storm subsided he
made his way to a -neighbor's, & mile
distant, freexing his face and ears whlU
en route. When he finally reached Atlnot
he was compelled to taRe to his bed as
a result of hiff experience.
British Array Cutlery
Indianapolis Xcws.
The recent invitations for bids on cut
lery for the British army are probably
among the largest ever specified. These
tender! include w,w table Knives, Wi,-
M table forks, and 70,000 clasp knives,
containing a. can opener and a spike. Tho
patterna ror the Knives and forks a m
of the all-steel variety mado In a single
piece ground by machinery.
MOIJF.K.V MARTYR
CHIRCU
Elijah Hay., 87 Ywi Old, Suffers Trl-
vatlon for Vo reign Missions.
Northern Indlanan, Warsaw. Ind.
The chance, or luck. Is not given to
every man to give all his property, rep
resenting a value of $100,000, as an of
fering to foreign missions of the Meth-
odist (EpiscopaI Churcli, accept in re
turn an annuity of $1500 for himself
and wife, and 17 years thereafter out
of the savings of that annuity to turn
over to tne same cause real estate.
cash and notes amounting to 121.000,
with only a trifling stipulation at
tached. Yet this Is the personal ex
perience of Elijah Hays, 87 years old,
at one time rated as one of.the wealth-
imsi ihiiuuw nf rs in jvosciusko tounty,
Indiana. Several years jiko his wife
died. A few days ago Mr. Hays be-
came an inmate of a home for aged
people at Edgewater. 111.
Since Mrs. Hays death her husband s
health became such that he could not
be leu alone, notwithstanding' the ef
forts of the Methodist people to provide
Tor his needs In this direction. Mr-.
Mays' well-known eocentrleltles bec-ame
so pronounced that nobody could be
found to continue as housekeeper for
him even at double the usual Iny for
such service. If the church people
would have allowed It, Mr. Hays would
have continued in his inherent fru-
gality. endeavor to cook for himself
and Ket along; without the services of
a housekeeper, and, some have stat-
ed, neglected to provide nourishment
sufficient to keep his physical being In
tne condition it shoud be. so great nas
been his lifelong propensty to pinch
his living: expenses down to tlie lowest
possible notch.
Hays oams to t nis section In a two-
h orsA w-n Bon f rnm hln In 1 Sat ul- h on
he was H years old. H was a black
smith by trade, and succeeded so well
inai r one year ne started a supp on a
lot of liis own. I-fe also marie waaons
and as In those days there was little
money In circulation, Hays took his
customers land In payment. Lnter h
went Into the dryaoods business, drug
trade and real estate.
In 18S7, with his holdings listed ap
proximately at $100,000. he tlirned all
Ills property over to the Methodist
Episcopal missionary society, through
the agency or Bishop MeCflbe. Mr.
Hays always had a desire to give liber
ally to foreign rather than home mis
sions. At that time the donor was 68
years old, una" when Chaplain MeCabe
asked him what amount he would con
sider fair as an annuity for the re
mainder of his life and that of his
wile, Mr. Hays thought that he and
his wife could live comfortably the
rest of their days on S F.OO a. year. The
Bishop would not hear of this for a
moment. Instead of an annuity ot $500
to the old couple he made the smount
S1000 for Air. Hays and $500 for Mrs
Hays.
in 1904 Mr. Hays made another gift
to the general Methodist Episcopal For-
eign MlnBlonary Society, tucning over
real estate, cash and notes to th
amount of 921,000. accumulated from
the annuity alluded to, the only stipu-
latlon attached to the gift being that
the trustees pay him -8 per cent lute
eEt on the amount Of cash he lias
turned over to them until his death,
when the entire estate deeded becomes
theirs to use for the education of Meth
odist ministers at the Nicholas Low
Institute at Mercedes, Argentina, South
America.
Prevrntliiir ColllNlona aat Sea.
London News.
A German scientist has invented an au
tomatic mechanism for preventing collis
ions at sea, based upon the use of Mert
zean waves. Miniature wireless telegraphy
plants are to he placed on vessels, effec
tlvc within a thousand yards radius. Tw
vessels fitted with this apparatus ap-
proaching each other in a fog and with
the mechanism set would at 1000 yards
give mutual and automatic warning by
acting upon each other's siRiial. which
would, in turn, automatically stop the
engines.
(cTncTnnatl'Bnqiilrcr,)
Governor-elect James H. Hlsgins. of
Rhode Island. 30 years of see. is the
youmtest Governor of the smallest state
Higgina is popular in the extreme, and
even his political enemies have for him
only respect. His habits are exemplary,
and ho uses neither tobacco nor liuojtl-
cants in any form. His father died When
he was 12. and he had a hard struggle to
educate himself and assist in supporting
his mot her and t"wo you'nser brothers. 1 1
is the first Roman Catholic Governor Of
any New England state.
Boston Herald.
"I'va traveled In Europe" auoth Evelyn
iway;
W n.1 1 abroad for at -ymr."
The cithcrfl Just, nlfctted I n an pnvloun 'wa.y.
And some of them murmured. "Oh. dear!"
Said Dorothy Jane. "Tv never been there.
And that Is Important. V ou look -v cry nh
And see only water, like walls."
"It munt hav been lovely," said Rosalia Jo.
One time I waw ilotv n in a rn In .
Way under the earth, and we all had to SO
in a car, on a eon ot incline."
Then Jack declared loudly the beat time that
TCver had was when he and Joe fmll
Went out on the trolley laat Summer to see
The "Giants" and "Yankees" play ball.
"Oh . that 1 nn' t r ythi n K -" rrlcd Mary Ruth.
Theyliavf animals bears, Hons, camels 1:
truth,
Every kind, and some other kinds, too.'
Said Ittfle John Benry: "Now. I know a
Mucii belter than all of the rt
Te. bettor than Enrop nnfl Kin (jar a. Falls
Tis Buffalo Hill' Wildest West!"
"I rode on an cntrl ne with papa one day.""
Said Margaret Mill)-, with pride;
"The wind was to ilrong I almost blew
"And, oh, but It Joltefl!" Then Babykln Lou
Interrupted, with tyn very bright,
But a serious voice, "I did somfln'. t'
I stayed up tin -leven one ninni
A CONGRESSIONAL DEADLOCK
ROMANCE OF 91 ME. I FXBA'S SOX.
Former Oregon Sheep-Tender Wfrt aa
EnglWh HeirevA.
Washington Lietter to Chicago Record
Herald. The cablegrams from London tho
other day gave us an interesting; ac
count of the marriage of George Arm-
etrong; son of Jlme. Melba, the famous
opera singer, to Ruby Otway, daugh
ter of Colonel Otway. one of toe most
cnnHnl.-imiii mi lllonalres of Par k Lan'.
The guests lnciuaea ;ne uukc ana
Duehoss of Devonshire, the Marquis
and Marchioness of. Abercorn. Iot-d
and Iady Beaufort. Ixird and l.-ady
Cadogan and quite a long list of ot.ier
members of the nobility. It was also
stated that Mme. Melha had presented
her son , marriage jejift of a castle in
Ireland and an estate attached thereto,
with an annuity or 4"00 a year,
Three years airo the bridegroom in
this brilliant matrimonial function wi.s
herdinpr sheer, on a ranch in the C.ib-
cade .Mountains near Klamath Falls.
Oregon, about CO miles from Thrall
Station on the Southern Pacific Fta 11 -
way. If- was living in a r u e. diu
comfortable cabin with his father, n.
sheepman, and was tolerably well sat-
istied with his lot in life. He had not
s?n his mother slncp she deserted him.
when he was a little child in Au-
traiia, but bad been cared lor and eflu-
eated through childhood and youth by
an affectionate and devoted father.
Tlila is only a part of m. very pathetic
story, Mme. Melba, in her professional
career, has shown no disposition to
look after her husband and her son.
This cablpftram, however, looks as Jf
Ehe has been making- up for lost lime
and lost oppoitunltles so far as her
son is concerned.
Nobody linows precisely why Mr. and
Mrs. Armstrong separated down in
Australia 20 years ago, although it Is
natursl to infer that she. with her
glorious voice, was ambitious for th
musical triumphs she has won, and he,
being- common clay, and without,
moans, was compelled to stay with his
sheep In the Australian bush. And "tie
kept the boy, their on 1 - child. t?hs
left Australia after she had achieved
all the colony offered In the way of
musical reputation, and went to Kll
rope wearlnff a stage name adapted
from that of her native city, Mel
bourne. At first she used to write her
husband frequently and send him
newspapers containing accounts of her
concerts and operatic performances,
but after a while the Intervals In their
correspondence grew longer and lonar-
er. Twelve or fifteen years n Ro he
sold his Australian ranch and came to
tne United States, bringing the hoy
with him. After a brief experience li
Texas he wandered northward. nni
finally settled at Klamath Kails, where
lie bought a ranch and a flork of shrrp
and has over since ben a popular and
highly respected citizen. The boy went
to school at K larnat h FVt 1 1 s tint 1 1 h
had learned all that anybody there
could teach him, and then Joined his
father In the cabin nmonjr the foothills
of the Cascade ra n e, taking bis turn
with the herders.
About three years ago, after the boy
nnd passed his 23d birthday, Mr. Arm
strong received a lett cr from his wif
unking him to send their son to Sn
Francisco, where she would mpet him
on a certain date. She nald that tlin
father had enjoyed hisi companionship
for 23 years., and now it was the '
mother's turn.
The father and the con had no e-
rrets from each other. They talked tho
matter over -h 1 ml y and srrreori that
it whs just and proper that the hoy
should accept his mother's Invitation.
and at least make her acquaint an c.
Tf. nfter a fit I r trial. he found "hut
he did not enjoy the life she lives. h
would return to his father's cabin,
whoe, until then, he bad been perfect
ly content. The father consented to
this arrangement with the greatest re-
luctance, but, as he told his friends,
he felt that It was his duty to maka
the sacrifice for the benefit of his son.
In order that the young man mlsht
have an opportunity to see Eoirtlhlng
of the world' and have the prlvlletru
of the experience snd associations his
motht-r's famo and influence could
give him.
Wiiwi (he tiniP earne for them to
Sftparati? the fattier and son came In
from the ranch to K 1 n. m t-1 i Falln. pur
chased a slender outfit and drew a suf-
ricicnt sum of money from the DanK
to make the young: man independent
of his mother in oas- thy did not hit
It off tORCther. The father accom
panied him a snort distance on thq
journey, but he did not g-o to Pan
Francisco. His wife had not invited
him; she had sent for the son only, and
Stter he had seen the boy aboard the
ears at Thrall Station he mounted his
pony and rode silently back: to the
lonely rsnch.
The people of Klamath Falls never
knew or suspected that their ncltrhhop
Armstrong? was the husband of the
(treat rr ima. donna, until the boy -was
sen t for, alt hough they afterward re-
memDcrcrt mat Mb father and son
bad shown keen interest in everything:
that was publlHhed ahout her in tho
newspHpers, and had pasted several
newspaper portraits of tlie lady upon
their cabin walls. The postmaster re-
callod several scented letters that he
had delivered to Mr. Armstrong, who"e
name was written on tHe envelope In
a woman's hand. And some one els
brought out a m BRazlne containing -i
btoicraphy of Melba, in which it -was
stated that nhe was the wife of Georgo
Armstrong:, but. as I say. until the rea-
sous for tho younfr man's fJparturn
-werci' Riven the relationship -was never
BUripected.
Three yean have passed glnefl
Oenrno Armstrong took the cars at
T h ral I Stat Ion to Sa n Franclnro. Tie
has not returned to Klamath F.1I
since, but Ills fattier Tift" beard from
him regularly, and lias rplatod som of
his escoerienoes to his old friends there.
Most or the time he ha. toeen travel
ing with his mother and living with
her In London. They unpeur to ho
con jar cn fa I and happy, and. now that he
has marrlod tho daughter of a multi
millionaire and has become the owner
of a castle and an estate In Ireland, it
is not likely that he will ever return
, to the Bhep ranch.
From ins v.'a-hlnptou fotv
i