8 TIIE MORNING OREGONIAN, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 5, 1907. SUBSCRIPTION BATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Daily, Sunday Included, one year fs.oo Dally, Sunday Included, six month".... 4-5 Dally. Sunday Included, three months.. 1.25 Dally. Sunday Included, one month..... .73 Dally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six months.... S.S5 Dally, without Sunday, three montba.. 1.75 Dally, without Sunday, one month 60 Sunday, one year J Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 100 Sunday and Weekly, one year 8.60 BY CARRUSK. Dally, Sunday Included, one year JM Dally, Bunday Included, one month 78 HOW TO REMIT Send postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank, stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give poatotflce ad dress lu full. Including county and state. rOSTAOii KATES. Entered at Portland. Oregon, postofflce as Second-Class Matter. JO to 14 Pages J em; 18 to 2b Pages cents 80 to 4 Pages cents 48 to 60 Pages cents Foreign postago. double rates. I.WFOKTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage la not fully prepaid are. not forwarded to destination. EASTXKX BUSINESS OFFICE. The H. v. Beckwith Special Agency New York, rooms 48-CiO Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms S10-D12 Tribune building. KEPT ON SALE, Chicago Auditorium Annex; Postofflce Tews Co. 1T8 Dearborn street. St. raul, alum. N. St. Marie, Commercial Etatlon Colorado Springs, Colo. Bell. H. H. Denver Hamilton and Kendrick. 906-812 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book store. 1214 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. B. Rice. Geo. Carson. . Kansas City, Mo. Rlckseckep Cigar Co.. Xlnth and Walnut; Toms. News Co.; Harvey Xevi Stand. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh. 60 Sootn Third. Cleveland. O. James uehaw, 807 Su rer! or street Washington, D. O. Ebbltt House. Penn sylvania avenue. , . Philadelphia, ra. Rran'i Theater Ticket Office; Penn News Co. Nnr Vorli City L. Jones A Co.. Astor House; Broadway Theater News stand; Ar thur Rotating- Waions; Kmplre News Stand. Atlantlo City. K. J. EU Taylor. Ogden D. L. Boyle; Lowe Bros.. 11 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Aiafreatli Stationery Co. Des Moines, Mose Jacobs. Sacramento, Cel. Sacramento New Co., SO K street: Amos News Co. Salt Lake Moon Book Stationery Co.; Rosenfeld ft Hansen; O. W. Jewett. P. O. corner. 4 ls Angeles B. B- Amos, manager ten street wagons. Snn Diego B. E. Amos. J xing Beach, Cal. B. B. Amos. San Jose, Cal. St. James Hotel New Stand. Dnllas, Tex. Southwestern News Agent. El Paso, Tex. Plaza Book and News Etand. Fort Worth, Tex, F. Robinson. Amarllla. Tex. Amarlllo Hotel News Etand. New Orleans, I. Jones News vo. San Francisco Foster & Orear; Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand; L. Parent; N. Wheatley; Falrmount Hotel Kews Stand; Amos News Co.; United News Agents. 11H Eddy street: B. E. Amos, man ager three wagons. ' ' Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland News Stand; B. E. Amos, manager Ave wagons. GoldQeld, V . Louis Follln: C. B. Eunter. Eureka, Cnl. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu reka News Co. PORTLAND, THURSDAY, DEC 8. 1907. THE COPPER COIJAPSK. The present crisis came on copper. It broke there, because that was the weakest link of the chain. There had been excessive speculation In copper. Copper stocks and copper bonds had been exploited to the limit and beyond Jt. The belief was that copper pro duction and supply could be controlled, and actually was under control, of the Standard Oil copper people. Prices of copper, and of copper stocks and bonds, had been forced, on this sup position, to a value or price a sup posed value and imaginary price more than twice greater than the facta would warrant. These people sup posed they had control of all the cop per supplies of America, which are far greater than those of all the rest of the world. Stocks and, bonds were multiplied on this supposition, to equal the imagined wealth, and were even carried beyond It. Upon the fight be tween the bulls and bears of copper In New Tork the crisis came. It fright ened the public, and was speedily ex tended In other directions. Naturally It fell on the banks which were sup posed to be promoters of various spec ulations; and the shock was quickly communicated to all parts of the United States. The Standard Oil copper people be lieved they had gained full control of the entire copper supply, or the greater part of It, and could make euch prices for copper as they chose. Tet they had not succeeded, as they supposed, in getting control of the sup ply. But they persuaded European operators that they had done so. For a time the copper they were accumu lating from American mines they suc ceeded In unloading on Europe; but the European customers presently be came aware that there was an ever Increasing supply and first hesitated, then stopped. The fight between the bulls and bears In New York and Bos ton made It impossible to hold up the price, so as to enable the operators to unload on Europe. The break came; the bears lost, temporarily, and the bulla ZMciaged, though at great loss, to keep the field by pulling everything else down with them and making other Interests, for their' own protection, temporary allies, In the hope to save what they might. It shows the strength of the Standard Oil copper syndicate; yet the syndicate is doomed. It cannot control the supply of copper, and therefore cannot hold the price up to the figures required by its pro gramme. The effort to maintain the price of copper bears a relation to the effort a few years ago to sustain the price of silver. In each case the effort failed, because the metal may be produced at a lower rate, price or value than the exploiters supposed or imagined. Cop per cannot be made Into money; It is too abundant for such purpose. So was silver, unless gold was to be lost from use as money, since no sure ratio could be maintained between them. Copper was forced to a price of 18 cents a pound. It is worth about one half that, because it may be produced at one-half that, or less. America now Is producing 2,500,000 pounds of cop per dally; -other countries about 1,500, 000 pounds. Total, 4.000,000 pounds. But the .world's consumption Is not much more than 2,000,000 pounds daily; and prospects of Increase of production far exceed all probabilities of increase of consumption. Copper will certainly fall to 10 cents a pound; probably to 8 cents; for Utah and Ne vada, to say nothing of other sources of supply, have mountains of copper ore that may be mined at this low rate, ' or lower. Full of copper also are districts in Eastern Oregon and Northern Idaho and Western Montana, and l&rgs areas of Alaska, not yet developed. Never again can the price of copper be carried to the height it reached under the recent ex ploitation upon which it broke. Though production has been reduced by the manipulators, the supply on the mar ket cannot be worked off, except at reduced prices. Increasing supplies of copper at natural prices will take care of the market hereafter. No speculation of modern times has so overreached itself as this attemptto control the copper market. It was based on the fallacy that the syndicate could control production. The supply. It was supposed, was limited, and the syndicate had "cornered" It. The mar ket broke on the effort; and this pre cipitated a crisis in money in New fork. The copper people, both bulls and bears, were very powerful; their bank connections had wide range, and the conflict between the opposing par ties gave a scare to banks and to busi ness, far beyond the limits of copper operations. Every other line of spec ulative effort felt the shock; the de positors ran to the banks for their money; the banks for their own pro tection employed clearing-house cer tificates, and legitimate business waits till It sees what has become of the plungers who have dropped Into the abyss. But the crisis In other specula tions would not have come so soon but for the copper catastrophe; which, on one side of it, resembles the catastro phe that resulted from the effort to force and to uphold silver, from 1880 to 1896. . OUR FREQUENT MURDERS. The cheapest commodity in the United States today is human life. It Is protected by no tariff; It Is monop olized by no trust. Even the courts, which are Instituted primarily to safe guard life, make It of less account than property. Mr. Justice Brewer says very frequently that the chief duty of the Supreme Court Is to pro tect property, but It is difficult to recall anything ha has ever said about Its ob ligation to protect life. From its read iness to set convicted murderers free on technicalities one Infers that It does not feel under any such obligation. The wholesale murder and holocaust of a family such as occurred at Ma cteay the other night excites a little passing attention even in Marion County, where murder is one of the common pastimes of excitable citizens. Thirteen human lives have been taken in Marion within a year,, and nobody punished. Every one of them has either set the police officers In Just such a muddle as this Macleay affair has caused, or else it has been ex cused under the detestable "unwritten law," which does so much to encour age homicide wherever it is preached. Perhaps the Macleay horror would have stirred the Indurated consciences of the Portland officials, but certainly nothing less could do it. The slaugh ter of one little boy like the McGrath child causes not even a moment's dis turbance of their astral calm. The death' of a child under conditions painfully suspicious Is not worth Inves tigating. How many citizens must be murdered at the same time to make up a case worthy the attention of our guardians and protectors? "What Is the matter with us? . Are we reverting to savagery? Not even Italy, the land of brigandage, where the knife is thrust into an enemy's back on the slightest provocation, can compare with our record of homicides. In this evil particular we surpass the world. Mr. Roosevelt, says it is be cause of our love of technicalities and our sentimentality. Doubtless he Is right; but it does look as If Inherent "cussedness" had a good deal to do with It. We like to praise our Na tional good temper, but a country which can show more murders to the thousand than any other in the world must shelter a certain amount of tem per which is not so good. THE RECALL OF AOKI. The recall of Japanese Ambassador Aoki will be a matter of deep regret to all who have followed closely the trend of Japanese affairs in this country Viscount Aokl is a man of unusual in telligence, and his views on the Japan ese question in America have not been warped and biased by the pretty but misleading comment of the Eastern newspapers. The Japanese statesmen In far Toklo quite naturally have dif ficulty in understanding the aversion shown to their countrymen by a 'cer tain element on the Pacific Coast at a time when another element of our variegated society on the Atlantic Coast, 3000 miles away from .Japan ese competition, is showing a disposi tion to welcome all kinds of Japanese as equals of our own Anglo-Saxons. But Aokl has not been deceived. He knows that along the entire Pa cific Coast, wherever his countrymen have appeared, there has arisen a deep-seated and Ineradicable feeling of resentment over their appearance. Birth, breeding and racial Instincts prevent the Americanization of these Japanese, but wherever they have se cured a good, strong foothold there is much evidence that they meet with signal success in Japanning the por tion of America where they gain the ascendency. The honorable govern ment of Japan is undoubtedly dissat isfied with Minister Aokl because he has not been as aggressive !n demand ing full recognition and no immigra tion restrictions for his countrymen. In accordance with the expressed senti ment of the New Ydrk newspapers. The jingo party, which seems to have pretty full " swing In Japan just at present, demanded that a. slight brawl between American hoodlums and Jap anese In San Francisco be rfiagnlfied into an international question of seri ous portent. Aoki declined to make any undue fuss about the matter, and, to insure a continuation of the best possible re lations between the two countries, re fused to regard It at all seriously. But if Japan, as reported, is recalling Am bassador Aoki because he has not been sufficiently aggressive in stirring up trouble, she will learn her mistake If she replaces him with a man who at tempts to make the United States kowtow every time an Incipient race riot Is started on the Pacific Coast Aoki knew that his countrymen of the coolie class were not wanted in the United States. He also knew that their increasing numbers were causing a strain on the industrial situation which must- soon lead to serious trouble, .and he did not care to in crease that trouble by wearing a" Jingo air or making jingo reports to his gov ernment. The attitude of his successor will be watched with considerable interest. When Aokl arrived the United States was the only country then protesting against the Indiscriminate admission of Japanese. Npw the subjects of tht Mikado are receiving rougher, treat ment from Canada than they ever re ceived in the United States. The. agreement signed at St. Petersburg in September, by representatives of Great Britain and Kussia unquestionably left Japan in the lurch so far as ever having Great Britain for an ally on the Pacific was concerned. Canada is already enforcing harsher exclusion measures'1. against the Japanese than are in effect in the United States, and if Aoki's successor comes here in the expectancy of compelling a more humble attitude than has been shown during -the Aokl administration, he will be referred to existing conditions with our nearest neighbor on the north. INLAND WATERWAYS. Taken with reference to the long future, what he says about our inland waterways Is the most important part of the President's message. The dif ficulty with corporations is for the most part psychological, like our re current panics. In creating these for midable agencies we were a little more ingenious and powerful than we thought we could be. We grew afraid of our own handiwork and have not yet quite recovered our equanimity; but that will come In time. Some Aladdin will presently ' find a lamp which need only be rubbed on the rim and the corporate Jinn will obediently serve the country which they now threaten to ruin. When our Judges find a way out of the enchanted for est of technicalities where they wan der, the legal troubles with the syndi cates will disappear like morning mist. Lack of common sense lies at the basis of most of our difficulties with monopolies, and the currency also. But Internal waterways are among those material things which lie at the basis of crWliza.tion. ' Upon them depend the Increase of population and the security of human welfare on this continent. From most new devices In the realm of mechanics people expect too much. This was emphatically true of rail roads. When the country began to be reticulated with iron tracks It was be lieved by everybody that the day of inland water transportation had gone forever. The old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal fell into disuse. The Mis sissippi steamboats" were left to rot at the forsaken wharves and the towns along the great river which had thriven on the trade, of the boats were almost deserted. The channel of the river became clogged with sandbars; the water, forced out of the banks In flood time, invaded the fertile lands along the lower reaches, while the de struction of the forests along the upper river intensified and hastened the pro cess of universal ruin. What was the use of spending time and money to rectify the river? The day of its use fulness was gone forever. The navi gation of the Mississippi had passed Into history and was of no further in terest except In Mark Twain's books. Then came the awakening. The country discovered all at once that it was impossible to carry its Internal commerce on the railroads. The sys tem of railroad transportation which had seemed adequate for all time broke down. It was perceived that we must either develop the water traffic once so despised or forever dwarf the growth of the country. Mr. Roosevelt, with his usual foresight, was one of the first to see the dimensions of the Internal waterway problem, and he has consistently advocated a broad and scientific scheme of development. This scheme would Include the improve ment of river channels and the con struction of canals. The rivers to be Improved are naturally in the first In stance the Mississippi, with its tribu taries, and the Columbia. But the President wisely recommends that the main channels shall be made navigable for deep draft vessels before the tribu taries are attempted. The first step in improving the chan nels of the Mississippi and Columbia Rivers will naturally be to reforest their banks. This will put "a stop to the wash of soil, which builds the sandbars and renders dredging a mere wasteful palliative. The Mississippi contains no rapids from the falls of St. Anthony to the Gulf, except the rather negligible ones at the mouth of the Rock River. But with the Columbia the case is different. To have a navi gable channel from the mouth to the head of boat navigation there must be at least a canal at Cellio, so that this canal is really a part of the improve ment of the river channel. Along the Lower Mississippi a system of levees Is essential to retain tho water in flood time, but the previous effect of these levees has been to make the channel more shallow and thus neutralize their protective Influence. The same experi ence has occurred with the Theiss in ITungary, the Po in Italy and the Hoang Ho in China. The beds of some of these rivers have actually been elevated above the adjacent land by the long action of the levees, and they thus become a greater menace to the country every year. Permanent Improvement of a river channel would Include a system of levees which would cause the current tp scour Instead at depositing silt. Fortunately the ques tion of levees does not concern the Columbia. By way of the Mississippi the Middle West would have access to the Gulf, but this would not be sufficient. There is a great area of country which is traversed by the Missouri. Until that river is improved the Dakotas, Mon tana and Nebraska must depend upon the railroads for their outlet, and we have learned what this means. Then a deep waterway should be provided from Oswego, on Lake Ontario, to Troy, on the Hudson. The present plans of New York provide for a barge canal at an expense of $110,000,000, but this is insufficient. Canada has under construction a ship canal from Georgian Bay by way of Lake Simcoe to the north shore of Lake Ontario. With this complete the supremacy of the Lakes will pass to our northern neighbor and the wheat and ores of the Northwest will go to Europe, with out trans-shipment, down the St. Law rence. There must be a waterway across New York which will permit cargoes to go to Europe1 by way of New York City without breaking Milk. The West needs not only a deep water way to the Gulf, but also ship routes along its natural eastern outlet. Interoceanic canals like the Suez and the Panama strike the Imagina tion, but their Importance Is very much less than that of inland water ways like the canal across New York and the Canadian route through Geor gian Bay. ' It is our Internal trade that has made America prosperous. Still, the waterway to the Gulf derives part of its importance from Its being a feeder to -the Isthmian route. This oute will relieve the congestion of the continental railroads. In fact, it will greatly lessen their importance to trade, as their managers well knov. But there will be trade enough for all, in the long run our inland waterways are bound to increase la relative Im portance. Ultimately the . railroads will become feeders to the canals and rivers, which are destined to be the main arteries of internal commerce for everything except rapid freight. Con gress cannot take up this Important enterprise too soon nor treat It too liberally. Eddie Foy, futimaker for a conti nent popular alike in the two-dollar seats and the gallery, has ambition. He expects to do Shakespeare. Pre liminary to his debut as a high-priced star, he proposes to change his name by adding to it "Fitzgerald." A name so short as Foy, he thinks. Is a handi cap. Perhaps Mr. Edward Foy Fitz gerald has forgotten. If he ever knew, that contemporaries and posterity in Eigland and America found no such fault with a distinguished man named Fox who is remembered with honor on this side of the Atlantic. One can scarcely count the prominent actors, living and dead, who are known only by the names they assumed when they entered the theatrical field. These be came permanent. The only notable exception is Minnie Maddern, who by gradations came to be known to the present generation as Mrs. Fiske. "Willie" Collier succeeded In changing the diminutive into dignified William. At his time of life, Foy will do well to substitute Edward for the child's name. If it is in him to rise to ex alted heights in the realm of comedy, he can do It under the familiar name of Foy. Henry O. Havemeyer, the sugar king:, died yesterday. Mr. Havemeyer rose to the head of his profession by his signal ability as an organizer of a trust second only to the Standard Oil In Its power to enact unreasonable toll from consumers of one of the great necessities of life. The magnificent fortune, for which no place will be found In his pocket-less shroud, was plied up by a system of extortion of big profits from the consumer, and of depression of values of the raw mate rial for the producer. In some cir cles, Mr. Havemeyer is charged with promotion of the Spanish War for the purpose of furthering the ends of the grasping monopoly which he per fected. Thi3 crime has never been proven against him, but others have, and all of the millions which he ac cumulated by the devious ways of the trust will not avail in the land In which his spirit now wanders. In the Imperishable wealth of a good name and of good deeds well done, the late Judge Frazer, of this city, left a for tune incomparably greater than that of the dead sugar trust magnate. "At present prices for wool and wethers, there Is actually more money raising sheep in the Willamette Valley than there is In raising -grain." In these words an Eastern Oregon sheep man calls attention to the probable extinction of the Eastern Oregon sheep-raising industry, and an In crease in the business in the Willam ette Valley. It has been pretty well demonstrated In the past few years that the lands of the Willamette Val ley are more valuable for almost any kind of farming than for grain-growing. It has also' been demonstrated that sheep on cultivated farms in the Valley are much superior to those which are obliged to rustle for a liv ing on the vast ranges of Eastern Or egon. The influence of the coming Argen tine wheat crop is already felt in the world's wheat markets, and prices have been weak for the past few days. It will not do, however, for foreigners to place undue reliance on the Argen tine crop, for it will be necessary for it to break all previous records by an enormous margin in order to make up for the loss in other quarters. Just at present the unsettled money market in the United States Is the most po tent factor in depressing wheat prices. Fortunately for the Pacific Northwest, there has been a material reduction In ocean freight rates, and. If the down ward trend continues, it will for a time at least, make an effective stand off for the decline in the price of wheat. Some philosopher once . remarked that'"with the exception of horses and women, old things were the best." This being true, the people of South ern Oregon ought to rejoice over the resumption of "mixed train" service on the Southern Pacific, for this is one of the "oldest" as well as the slowest kind of service now in use on Ameri can railroads. Ex-Senator Simon expressed the opinion that the Title Guarantee & Trust Company would pay dollar for dollar of Its obligations. If Mr. Simon is sufficiently sincere in his belief to support his Judgment with money, he can readily accumulate a large num ber of claims at an astonishingly heavy discount from the face value. The Anti-Imperialists held their ninth annual meeting in Boston Tues day, and reported very little senti ment in favor of retaining fhe Phil ippines. If the sentiment to the con trary was confined to the..anti-lmpe-rlalists, there would be very few peo ple in favor of disposing of them. At any rate, the man or men who seek to organize a state convention anywhere in the Union against Roose velt, will have a hard task. Conven tions may not send delegations in structed for Roosevelt, but they cer tainly will not send delegations known to be unfriendly to him. Commendable indeed Is the spirit of civic and neighborhood pride that prompts residents of Portland Heights to construct at their own expense .a sixty-foot boulevard. As If we haven't enough new trouble, now comes a reminder of high finance in the life insurance business when young Mr:. Hyde thought himself dic tator. It must have been a lady reporter who, describing the latest prizefight, spoke of Moir as "uncertain and ill at ease." Is "Jimmy" Hyde suffering from an attack of conscience or is he trying to "do" the Equitable again? Gus Lowlt has gone to Denver. What bank will he get into there? WILLIAMS STILL THE BOSS Democrats Reject Scheme to Take Away Committee Appointments. WASHINGTON, Deo. 4. By a vote of 124 to 4 the House Democratic caucus to night voted down the proposition of Rep resentative Jones of Virginia to take the designation of minorit. members of the committees out of the hands of John Sharp Williams, minority leader, and by the same vote adopted a resolution af firmatively placing the power In Mr. Williams' hands. Immediately after the caucus was called to order, Jones offered his resolu tion referring- to the discretion of the minority, the selection of minority mem bers of the committees, and placing the responsibility on the Speaker. Jones spoke in support of the resolution for three-quarters of an hour. He said he desired to make it unmistakably plain that In proposing the abdication of the nominating power by the minority leader he was actuated by no personal motive. He said: I do not want my action to be oonstrued aa expressing any want of confidence In the leader we have so recently chosen. The truth Is, I have been opposed to the nam ing; of- committeemen by the leader of the minority ever since that harmful practice prevailed. 1 am unalterably opposed to the practice of permitting- the Speaker to shoulder onto the chosen head of the oppo sition the task of deciding: which of his col leagues' shall, and therefore which shall not, serve on committees of this House. In other words, I do not believe the Speaker should, with our consent, be enabled to throw firebrands into the ranks of the mi nority to sow conflagration of envy and dissension. Carlin, of Virginia, .Jones' colleague, offered as a substitute the following res olution: "That it Is the sense of this caucus that the minority leader be requested, authorized and Instructed ' to nominate minority members for assignment to committees." The substitute, directing the minority leader to nominate committeemen, was adopted by a vote of 124 to 4. - Those who vated negatively were: Jonos. of Virginia; Lamar, of Florida; Slayden, of Texas; and Hard wick, of eGorgta. Henry then withdrew his resolution, offered but not acted on at last Satur day's caucus, for the appointment of a committee . live to formulate a mi nority plan to force a discussion of the tariff question on the floor. SENATORS OFFER MANY BILLS More Pay for Army and Xavy Ship Subsidy Once More. WASHINGTON, Dec. 4. Nearly 1000 bills were introduced in the Senate to day and all of them were referred to committees, where they will be taken up for consideration after the new Senators shall be given committee assignments. No other business of Importance was transacted. Almost all of these bills were considered in the last Congress, and most of them are private pension bills. The whole number introduced in the Senate of the Fifty-ninth Congress was 8627, and before the Christmas holi days It is probable that at least half of them will again be introduced and re ferred to committees. Among the more Important measures introduced today were the following: By Fulton Amending the railroad rate law in such a manner that a change of tariff filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission cannot go into effect where objection is made until the commission has declared the rate fair. By Dick The administration measure providing for an increase of pay for members of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. By Burkett Providing for the teaching of agriculture in normal schools, free postage on reading matter mailed to the blind, and prohibiting telegraph and ex press companies from transmitting re turns pertaining to gambling. ' By Heyburn Bills providing for the purchase of public building grounds in Washington; the establishment of land courts and appellate land courts; the es tablishment of a National board of cor porations, and a department of mines; and placing in the capitol building ot each state a model of a naval vessel which has been named after that state. By Hansbrough Repealing the timber and stone act and providing for the sale of timber on public lands; also a bill giving homestead entrymen the right to be absent from their homesteads dur ing four Winter months. By LaFolIette Requiring that railroad rates shall be fixed so as only to yield a fair return on the valuation of a road's property. ' By Nelson Extending the free delivery service to all towns having a postal revenue of $S0CO. A short bill which may take the place of a regular ship subsidy bill this ses sion was introduced by Gallinger. It provides for an increase of the mail car rying rate for lS-knot ships plying on the Pacific and the South Atlantic to an amount not exceeding the rate paid to first-class vessels. The bill Is designed to meet the ideas set (forth on ship sub sidy in the President's message. Gallinger also introduced bills prohib iting the sale and transportation of poi sonous foods, providing for a monument in Washington to the private soldiers of the Army and increasing pensions for total deafness. Two single statehood bills were Intro duced, one by Teller for the admission of New Mexico, and the other by Stone, for the admission of Arizona as a state. Culberson reintroduced two bills, which "he advocated in the last Cingress. One is intended to make Illegal the dealing in futures, the other to provide penalties against railroad companies that fail to furnish cars to shippers. Overman reintroduced his bill author izing the President to suspend the collec tion of customs duties on articles com ing Into competition with products of companies which sell abroad at a less price than in this country.. CANAL-DIGGERS BEAT RECORD Excavation in November Many Times That of November 1906. WASHINGTON, Dec. i Colonel Goethals, chief engineer of the Panama Canal, cabled the canal officers In this fity today that all records were again broken for the month of November in the matter of excavation on the Isthmus. The total amount of earth removed during that month was 1,839,486 cubio yards as against 389,407 cubic yards In November, 1906. MAT BE DESTINED TO CHINA' Transport Thomas Takes Cavalry to Camp In Philippines. SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 4. The Army transport Thomas, which will sail for the Philippines tomorrow, will take nine companies of the First Cavalary and two companies of the Sixth Cavalry to Fort Stotzenburg, on the Island of Luzon, where SOOO troops are already stationed. It Is rumored that they are to be held In readiness to proceed to China, in case of a renewal of Boxer troubles. President Reappoints Post. WASHINGTON, Dec. 4. The President today nominated Regis H. Post to be Governor of Porto Rico (reappointed); Edward S. Fowler to be Collector of Customs at New York City, and Wil liam F. Willoughby, Secretary of Porto Rico. A large list of postmasters and promotions in the Navy also were sent to the Senate. ABERDEEN SHIPPING NEWS . 9 Highest Tide of Season Probably Floats Solano. ABERDEEN, Wash., Dec. 4. (SpeclHl.) The highest tide of the Winter was re corded today, and as the storm whs light, it is believed the schooner Solano has been floated. If so. Captain Stream, who has engineered work on the strand ed vessel, will come in for a great deal of praise and a large reward. The dredge Pacific was successfully placed in drydoek today at high tide. The feat was at first considered hardly possible. The schooner Golden Shore, which arrived from Mexico recently, will go on the marine railway as soon as the dredge Pacific is taken oft. Considerable trouble Is being exper ienced by. captains of vessels arriving here In paying off sailors, as they re fuse to take the scrip of local banks and demand gold, according to their con tracts. The schooner Andy Johnson sailed to day. Tho schooner Bendixson and bark S. C. Allen, which left the harbor last week, are still detained inside the bar. Captain C. P. L. Roberts has been ap pointed an assistant quarantine officer. LIKES THE ASHLAND NORMAL Senator Miller Visits School and la Pleased With Appearance. ASHLAND. Or.. Dec. 4. (Special.) Hon. Milt A. Miller, of Linn County, a Bryan and Democratic loader in Oregon, and a holdover member of the State Sen ate, who la on a lecturing tour of the state in the Interest of the Modern Woodmen of America, with State Depu uty J. W. Simmons, remained over a day In Ashland, after filling his lecture engagement here, for the purpose of vis iting the State Normal School. Senator Miller is a member of the State Text book Commission, a rpgent of the State University and is deeply Interested In the educational eyntem of th state. He addressed the normal students in chapel briefly and after visiting the different de partments and looking over the buildings and grounds, expressed himself as being Impressed with the school and Its work and . pleaded with the beautiful irrounds and the possibilities of developing their natural attractiveness, which has been much added to by the work done the past year. MESSAGE COMES FROM DEAD Relic of Steamer Dix Washed Ashore on Dungeness. PORT TOWNS-END, Wash.," Dec. 4. A message from the sea was picked up on the shores of Dungeness Bay by "Jim" White last Saturday. It reads: "Am on the Dix, and all are going down, down, down, so good-bye to all. "JOHN." The reverse side contains the following: "Should any one find this message mail It to Aggie Shaughnessey, Missoula, Mont." The fact that a man named Shaugh nessey took passage on the Dix the night It was sunk by the schooner Jeanie in Seattle harbor lends credit to the authen ticity of the note. It is written In pencil and was corked in a whisky flask. APPLES TAKE A BIG SLUMP Tacoma Market Weakens and Fruit Is a Drag. TACOMA, Wash., Dec. 4. (Special.) The apple market has taken a big slump, prices in some cases having declined as much as 25 per cent. The commission men are selling today at 75 cents a box fruit that brought SI three weeks ago. Owing to the weakened condition of the market the street is now carrying a heavy stock of choice Yakima apples, which were bringing top notch prices. As much as $2.50 was being obtained for ex tra fine Yakimas but there Is no demand for apples at that price. ASSERTS POLE SHOT HIM Country Lad Hit on Hand by a Ball From Pistol. ABERDEEN. Wash.,. Dec. 4. (Special.) Thomas Majek, the Polish youth charged with shooting a country lad named Henry Landers, was given a pre liminary examination today and held on ball for trial in the Superior Court. Landers was shot in the hand by a stranger, whom he now Identifies as Ma jek. Majek, however, declares he Is en tirely lnnooent. Adventifits to Hold Conference. FREEWATER. Or.. Dec. 4. (Spe cial.) The next biennial iscsion of the North Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventlsts will be held at College Place, January 20 and Feb ruary 2. This union conference has under Its Jurisdiction the' States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Mon tana, and delegates are expected to bo present from the entire field. Until a few weeks ago British Columbia was Included, but that section is in a sep arate union conference. Council Levies Tax. ASTORIA. Or., Dec. 4. (Special.) The City Council at a special meeting this evening decided to levy a tax of 18 mills on an assessed valuatton of $2,380,618 for municipal, park and library purposes. The ordinance will be passed at the next meeting. AGAIN ENJOINS LUMBER RATE Judge Hunt Bases Decision on In terstate Commerce Law. HELENA, Mont., Deo. 4. Judge Wil liam H. Hunt In the Federal Court here today signed an Injunction restraining the Great Northern Railway from collect ing the excess over the old rate on t.,e new lumber rate which went into effect November 1, until the Interstate Com merce Commission has decided as to tne merits of the new rate. The new tariff only affected lumbermen of Flathead County, who brought the suit alleging that ulterior motives influenced the Great Northern in increasing the tariff 30 per cent. Judge Hunt held that the Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction In cases involving a construction of the interstate commerce law- and have the right to grant a temporary injunction until the action of the Commerce Commission. This is among thefist questions raised which test the power' of the courts to enjoin carriers before the Interstate Commerce Commission can act upon the rates charged. Somewhat similar cases were recently decided in Seattle and Portland by Judges Hanford and Wolverton, who based their decision upon the anti-trust law, while Judge Hunt bases his on the Interstate commerce law. It Is expected the cases will be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. ; Finds Bank a Gold Brick. CHICAGO, Dec. 4.-John W. Worthing ton has brought suit to set aside the contract by which he bought control of the Federal National- Bank from Issac N. Perry, and to compel? Perry -to return $40,000 cash and $140,000 In notes. He says he found In the bank's assets notes securing ' loans given by firms who had gone Into bankruptcy and by Individuals who were in Jail. The bank closed Sep tember 28, 1907.. BY LILIAN TINGLE. ONE would think that with the open ing days of December all Thanks giving troubles should be over and done with. Christmas looms threateningly ahead, of course, but that Is another story. Yet here lie before me two dis turbing letters bearing the date of Thanksgiving eve and addressed from a well known university. One writer ex plains that the only thing that kept him from going home was "some 860 miles of hard roadbed." and the other speaks pathetically of the "immense dinner" be ing prepared 550 miles away, "for all ex cept the 'loved one' at college": so for convenience I shall refer to them aB "X. 850" and "X. Sort" respectively. X. 850 opens fire by calling me a "gas tronomic iconoclast" surely a hard name to hurl at a harmless Domestic Science woman. Not that I am much scared of polysyllables as a general rule, though I think they are rather dangerous thinss to leave lying around loose. Once when I was quite young I approached my big brother with a simple question in organic chemistry. A plain "yes" or "no" would have sufficed, but lie was busy and care lessly flung out,, "diacetyltetrarhloeo hydroqulnol." I got over it. and it left no scar; so I have never been really afraid of them since. "Gastronomic" I can stand. As Hump ty Dumpty remarked to Alice. "Adjec tives you can do anything with"; but why "iconnclast?" My gastronomic pre cepts and practice are utterly orthodox; I don't break things much as a rule not even promise; I am a very careful dishwasher and I always try not to step upon other people's toes. My spelling book gave "Iconoclast" as "a breaker of idols"; hut the only idol I possess in a placid bronze Buddha which nothing short of a steam hammer could smash. To nuote Humpty Dumpty again, "Im penetrability, that's what I say." X. S,V then goes on to accuse a little article of mine "Some Suggestions for the Thanksgiving Menu," I think it was of having caused the following distressful symptoms: "My parotid aid sub-lingual glands began such a secretion of enzymes as was never experienced before." More over when he Insisted upon reading the said article to certain of his fellow stu dents (separated by varying numbers of miles from their family turkeys) he "suddenly became the cushion protecting some six big fellows from an awful hard floor" but he read It to them all the same and caused them to have similar symptoms. Y. 550 explains how nothing more ex hilerating than corned beef and cabbage was to be expected for the following day. "Three hundred of us poor unfor tunates are fed at the same place, and while it Is very good on the whole (a fair-minded youth this!) Thanksgiving day looks Just like any other day to tho management." He says further "Any solution you may have of this problem (that of Thanksgiving emptiness), and you must have some, will be thankfully recelved by some very hungry boys." e Now the feeding of students Is an ex tremely important and far from, easy problem and should be in the hands of Intelligent and thoroughly trained dieti tians and careful and competent cooks. But that is too wide a subject for dis cussion at this moment. All I have to suggest refers to the personal side of the problem. Let every fond mother, sister, cousin and aunt who has any interest in any' young man at any university within a radius of 650 or 850 miles from his home, prepare and send forthwith (never mind if he Is coming home at Christmas; do it. now), a large and consoling hamper of good things to eat, prepared iu best home style. It Is not too late for a roast turkey with a stuffing that "eats good" cold. Cranberry Jelly travels well In glass cans. Pumpkin pie is rather hard to pack but this does not apply to mince. Fruit cake makes a good solid bottom layer. Red apples are mighty conven ient things to slip Into corners. Choice celery hearts (done up In parafine paper) with a Jar of home-picked and marin aded shrimps and a bottle of home made mayonnaise can be turned Into a good salad by the most unpracticed hand. Jellied tongue can be put up very satisfactorily In an ordinary lard pail. Chicken, veal and ham (with plenty of jelly and hard egg sliceH), or pigeon pies will go nicely in deep enamelled dishes, and home-made potted or deviled meats (not tho canned kind of "Jungley" associations) wlil make of even the hum ble soda cracker a thing of Joy even though not "for ever." If this suggestion Is adopted. It seems almost certain that the doleful state of affairs recorded by my correspondents will be relieved at least temporarily. But X. 850 has a secret to tell me. It seems too bad to write of it publicly, wnen he says, "Sh! not a word." but It is the only way I can help him. Re ferring to a menu "prepared by one woman" he says: "Well, perhaps you never can tell, but perhaps, I may get some one to prepare future Thanks giving dinners for two." That Is a pretty good plan, and I wiBh him all good luck; but let him perpend and . mark the fol lowing Sad but True Story, the moral of which Is the same- used by Shakespeare In connection with the Prince of Morocco and the Golden Casket. Once upon Ka time there was a nice prosperous home-loving young man who was horribly tired of boarding. He met and adored a most charming girl, who looked too utterly sweet in a chafing-dish apron, and whose superlative fudge, in comparable Newburg-lobster and dream less Welsh Rabbits seemed to assure future bliss. There were six beautiful bridesmaids and a stunning maid of hon or, only eclipsed by the radiant bride herself. But, alas! The radiant bride had neith er talent nor training for home-making; and man cannot live by the chafing-dish alone. She could do nothing for herself and could neither train nor manage ser vants. She did not know how to order a satisfactory breakfast, to say nothing of preparing one when the cook walked off at ten minutes' notice; and her dinners were things to shudder, at, not to see much less eat. So they are now boarding, I under stand. He takes the "Monthly Epicure'' or Borne such magazine, and studies with keenest interest the menus and recipes therein: She, however, prefers "L'Art de la Mode" and "Toilettes," but she looks sweet as ever In a cute little apron. The moral for her Is that old one about "Having the cloak to make when it be gins to rain."