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-PORTLAND, MONDAY, FEB, 15, 1309.
VAIXATIOXS FOR TAXES.
The Legislature ought to adopt the
suggestion of the Assessor of Mult
nomah for an amendment to allow
assessment of property throughout the
state at half Its estimated value. It
would be fair for all parts of the state,
and would tend to hold down the tax
levies. There Is much property whose
value Is largely overestimated. Pur
chape of a piece here and there at an
extravagant price has caused excessive
estimates of all the values In the vicin
ity. Owners themselves are largely
responsible for the very high valu
ations made by the assessors, in one
locality or another.
Extravagance In all directions la
created by high valuations, and more
and more "free" things are constantly
demanded. This, certainly, if not
checked, "will come to a crisis; and
the check ought to be applied now
at least a beginning should be made.
There are many owners throughout
the state, and especially in Portland,
who undoubtedly now would be glad
to find relief from the consequences
of their own over-estimates' of the
values of their property, and would
help in that direction, if they could.
The total valuation of the State of
Illinois, for purposes of taxation in
the year 130S. was $1,261,043,437.
This includes the great City of Chi
cago, mhose assessment was J476.770,
399. The assessment of the State of
Oregon, for taxes in 1908, was $398,
133,963 nearly one-half that of
Illinois. Tet the wealth of Illinois
cannot be less than ten times that of
Oregon, and its population Is more
than ten times as great.
Of the assessed values of Oregon
those of Multnomah County are about
40 per cent. Assessor Sigler says he
has simply obeyed the law as to
"actual cash values." He seems to
have accepted the Judgment or wishes
of many owners as to the values of
their property. Eut they do not feel
so rich when they find out what their
tax Is. Several other counties, besides
Multnomah, have assessed at high or
full values, but many others have
purposely kept the valuations down
nearly to old figures.
It is undoubted that high assess
ments lead to official and adminis
trative extravagance. The Legislature
now is sorely beset by the conse
quences of the enormously Increased
valuations of property, forced largely
for "boost" and "boom" purposes. On
such show of wealth every scheme In
city, county and state bases its de
mands for "more," and ingenuity in
vents new demands for money from
the public treasury, never heard of
before. An enormous list of them
might be made, but it would merely
give the taxpayer an ague, without
any prescription for his relief.
City and county and state extrava
gance would be checked by enactment
of Sigler"s suggestion into law; but to
assure Justice in the distribution of
the state tax, provision should be
made with It for equalization of
county valuations. This is done In
every other state, and it should no
longer be refused in Oregon.
AVE DO NOT IJVK IN 17TOFIA.
Of course the churches of the city
could not be opened toA the loafers
for lounging places during the "week.
Not many would enter them unless
free lunches were served, with" beer;
and this would hardly be practicable.
Few of these people care for books,
magazines or newspapers. Besides,
doesn't the city maintain a great free
library, with branches -where Mayor
Lane's intellectually hungry constitu
ents can sit and road all day and
half the night? The Mayor exagger
ates the desire of that description of
intellect for literature. The down
town saloon supplies its wants.
However, there's the Men's Resort,
right in the congested district. It has
a good many visitors of the more
decent sort, but they are an indolent
class or they wouldn't be there but
out at work; and very soon they
mould have decent places to live,
where they could read and rest at
night. But they would require a
good deal of sleep, because they would
be tired, and would want to work to
good purpose next day.
Every able-bodied man has his. des
tiny in his own hands. In a country
llke this no man need be Idle; but
all can't stay In the cities. It is only
an Injury, a mistaken philanthropy, to
try to make life for them in the cities
easy and agreeable. Sovereign rem
edy for all ills is necessity of labor;
and "whoever attempts to redeem man
from It, under the notion that labor
is a curse, pronounced upon man,
from which he ought to be relieved,
makes his life more truly a' curse;
for it reduces his spirit of self-dependence,
fills him with envy of others and
hatred of society and government,
and encourages him to look for re
sources elsewhere than in himself. It
is excellent to help men to employ
ment, but the greatest of mistakes to
make comfortable "resorts" for them.
The saloon exists because men want
it, and it will exist so long as men in
considerable numbers want it. All
the "resorts" that may be created, all
the reading rooms and coffee rooms
and T. M. C. A. establishments, and
all the churches thrown open for
lounging places, will not diminish the
crowds at the saloons, because they
find there the company they want,
some food and much drink. But till
compelled by necessity they will not
work.
It is useless to worry about "re--"uitration"
of these people. They
don't want regeneration and will not
have it. The Mayor says he can close
half the saloons, if the churches will
open their doors during the week
and make things easy, cheerful and
comfortable inside. Two Impossi
bilities. First, the churches will not
do it. Second, it would be useless, if
they should do it. Some of the clergy
men say they would close not only
one-half the saloons, but all of them.
Two more impossibilities. First, no
result can be had in the absence of
the conditions necessary to produce
It. Second, no city the size of Port
land ever has been able to prevent
the sale and consumption of liquors
not because saloons like those in the
North End and some elsewhere
throughout the city would be toler
ated alone, or if they were all, but
because there is a large number of
people who use liquors, but with
decency, and will not permit the sup
ply to be cut oft. It is Just as well
to be plain about these things. "We
are not living in Utopia.
. WHO WILI DEFEND THIS BH.LT
Are we to have a doctors' trust in
Oregon? We are to have. If Senate
bill 201, introduced by Senator
Nottingham, shall become a law. It
is a long measure, setting forth a
great many things the State Board of
Medical Examiners (an autocratic
body with supreme powers over life,
limb and reputation) may do, and
others may not do. It would take a
great deal of space to set forth all
the sections of this astonishing meas
ure. Passing over seventeen sections,
which are full of meat for the doctors
and menac.e for all others, we find
the following In section 18:
Any person shall be regarded as practicing
medicine and smrttery who shall . .. .
prescribe or administer any drug, medi
cine, treatment, method or practice, or per
form any operation or manipulation, or ap
ply any apparatus or appliance, for the
cure alleviation, amelioration, correction,
reduction or modification of any human dis
ease, 111. deformity, defect, wound, or In
jury, for hire. fee. compensation, or re
ward, promised, offered, expected, received,
or accepted, directly or Indirectly.
No oculist, optometrist, chiropodist
or masseur can live and work here
after in Oregon if this amazing bill
becomes law, unless he qualifies as
a medical doctor by examination be
fore this board. No drug clerk can
sell you medicine for your cold; no
barber can recommend and apply
tonic to your dandruff -filled hair; no
beauty-doctor can assist in your
modest and proper desire to be better
looking; no benevolent midwife In the
plains of the remote counties of Ore
gon, where It is many miles to a
doctor or surgeon, can respond to any
neighbor's call for help in the ex
pectation of any pay or fee or reward,
implied, promised or deserved. No
storekeeper or druggist In or near
any logging camp can render first aid
to injured without making himself
liable to fine and imprisonment.
There is more like it in this won
derful bill; but that will do. Is there
a doctor in Oregon who will have the
temerity to defend the bill, or to
advocate Its passage by the Legis
lature? '
ANOTHER WAR CLOCD LIFTED.
King Edward Is home again from
a foreign shore and neither a family
row nor political complications have
attended the friendly visit to his im
perial nephew. "Kings is queer actin'
things," remarked Huckleberry Finn's
companion when the Jovial hobo,
masquerading as a monarch. Invaded
the raft which was carrying, them
down the Mississippi. Perhaps this
is the reason that the visit was con
summated without the two monarchs
indulging in any display of ill-feeling
such as was predicted In England, in
a democratic country like the United
States it is difficult to understand
why there should be any serious po
litical differences between the coun
tries, but the tone of the foreign press,
especially in Great Britain, for several
weeks prior to this visit, had been dis
tinctly hostile.
This feeling seems to have been re
ciprocated in full measure by the
Germans, for a growing dislike for
anything English has been apparent
in the Faderland since Emperor Wit
helm followed the example of the
famous parrot and talked too much.
There was perhaps method In some
of this madness displayed by the
British, for it undoubtedly enhanced
the success of Secretary of War Hal
dane in getting together a territorial
army for the ostensible purpose of re
senting a German Invasion. For all
that, this new army Is still about
50,000 short of the minimum provided
for, and the prospects for further re
cruits will be materially lessened now
that the two monarchs seem to have
made up as well as "kissed" quite fre
quently and fervently when first they
met.
However disappointing this new
peace pact between the two monarchs
may be for the "war lords" of the
two countries, it is hardly probable
that it will fall to meet the approval
of those who would be obliged to
stand the expense of war if it should
occur. Aside from the non-existence
of any European complications seri
ous enough to warrant trouble be
tween England and Germany, a
weightier reason for peace is found in
the foreign territorial situation. Both
countries have such far-flung inter
ests in remote parts of the earth,
that there is abundant field for the
display of their financial and political
prowess, without the necessity of get
ting into a, family row at home.
SPEAK VP
Of first importance to a public
speaker who attempts to point a
moral or adorn a tale for the instruc
tion or edification of school children
is a clear, strong voice and distinct
enunciation. If a man or woman has
not this type of voice, and cannot
cultivate It up to the standard re
quired to Interest school children on
Memorial day or other patriotic occa
sion, he or she though conscious of
having a message to deliver should
firmly refuse all invitations to speak
to this most restless and most critical
of all audiences. Inarticulate words
convey no message and children can
not or should not be expected to sit
decorously, in listenmg attitude, to
their most monotonous, uninteresting
delivery.
There are a few old heroes of past
battles who wake echoes of patriotism
in the hearts of boys and girls at the
Memorial day exercises in the schools
of this city. They do not do this by
soft, smooth, cultured speech, but by
vigorous, sonorous words, descriptive
of camp life, hospital life and of bat
tles, interspersed with snatches of pa
triotic songs of war and victory, sung
in unmusical tones, perhaps, but with
an energy that commands attention
and awakens shouts of childish ap
plause. There Is a simple lesson in
TIIE 3IORXIXG OREGOXIAX, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1909.
this that soft-voiced speakers of cul
ture may learn, to the pleasure and
profit of their youthful audience and
to the great relief of teachers who are
expected to keep their charges quiet
and attentive while patriotic speeches
are In progress. The past is past, but
Washington's birthday is close at
hand. Is it too much to hope that
those who are appointed to address
school children on that day will profit
by the above suggestions and say
what they have to say "so loud that
all may hear"?
A NICE DISTINCTION.
The Supreme Court of the United
States has rendered a decision which
seems at last to have breached the
wall of the "fellow-servant doctrine."
The plaintiff, Anderson, was sent by
his employer, a master stevedore, to
load one of the Standard Oil Com
pany's vessels at Bayonne, N. J. While
loading it he was injured by the care
lessness of a wlnchman employed by
the Standard Oil Company. Anderson
sued the company for damages and
the Supreme Court allows his suit.
The distinction is drawn that Ander
son was still in the employ of the
master stevedore wno sent him to do
the Job, and not of the Standard Oil
Company. Hence he was not Injured
by the carelessness of a fellow-servant,
and the old rule which would
have barred his damages did not ap
ply. '
The distinction by which the court
rescued Anderson from the clutch of
the common law and its barbarism
was a fine one, but we only repine at
fine distinctions when they are made
to serve Injustice, mployed to fur
ther Justice, they are well enough.
The interesting point In the case Is
that the court was willing to exercise
its ingenuity in behalf of Anderson,
who was a poor man, and not for the
Standard Oil Company, which is not
threatened with Immediate want. De
cidedly the tide which once set so
strongly toward corporation favorit
ism in some courts seems to have
turned. Judges have their eyes fixed
on Justice rather than on those nice
technicalities which can be made to
serve the turn of the great syndicates.
How much the election of Mr. Taft,
with his known predilection for fair
dealing, has to do with this revolution
in Judicial temperament it would be
hard to say. Were William Allen
White to write an article on social
conditions five years from now, one
would almost venture to wager that
he could not repeat what he said In
his last, that "the corporations had
captured the Constitution."
INEXCTSABXE MISREPRESENTATION.
Mr. John H. Whyte, of the Astoria
Chamber of Commerce, has a poor
opinion of the intelligence of the In
land Empire wheat farmers, or else
he has been misled Into making nu
merous false, unreasonable and ridicu
lous statements about Portland. Some"
of these stories regarding Portland
which Mr. Whyte took with him to
the farmers' convention at Spokane
have been repeated so often that there
are well-meaning people in Astoria
who actually accept them as facts.
Mr. Whyte, being a. newcomer at As
toria, may have found these hoary
headed untruths In active circulation
as facts. In some manner he secured
them, and before the farmers' conven
tion and in the Spokane Spokesman
Review he repeated them. Among
the gems which entitle Mr. Whyte to
a front seat in the Ananias Club are
the following:
"No modern ship can reach Port
land, for . the owners will not take the
risk in its narrow channel
Portland has '.ost much of its shipping
to the Sound. ... There are
eighteen bars in the river between As
toria and Portland, and a narrow
channel. ... At most, ships leav
ing Portland at high tide can draw
only twenty-four feef. of water. . .
. Ships can be chartered at Astoria
30 cents a ton cheaper than at Port
land. . . . Higher insurance rates
are charged ships engaged in interior
navigation. . . . Portland has
shown its selfishness in this work, for
it doesn't want a deep-water channel
over the bar -mless there is the same
depth of channel the entire distance
to Portland from the river's mouth."
These are a few sample gems from
Mr. Whyte's symposium of misrepre
sentation. In order that he may not
repeat the offense, his attention Is
called to some fpcts regarding the
points mentioned.
If "no modern ship can reach Port
land," how does Mr. Whyte account
for the presence here of . the Dleke
Rlckmers, which in October, 1908,
less than six months after she was
completed, loaded 212,000 bushels of
wheat at Portland, and, drawing 25.2
feet of water, went through to As
toria without delay and was held up
at the river entrance for thirty-six
hours, after she had reached Astoria?
Other comparatively "modern" ships
loading here this season were .the
Strathlyon, ten months old, and the
Falls of Nith, eleven months old at
the time they were here. The most
"modern" ship to load on Puget
Sound during the same period was
the Strathord, two years and two
months old when she loaded at Ta
coma. "Portland has lost much of Its ship
ping to the Sound." Bulletin No. ,
issued by the Department of Com
merce and Labor, presents official fig
'ures for the entire year 1908, show
ing a gain in wheat shipments for
Portland ove,r the preceding year of
41 per cent, while the gain for Puget
Sound for the same period was 25 per
cent.
"There are eighteen bars In the
river between Astoria and Portland,
and a narrow channel." There never
were eighteen bars In the river, and
the shoalest place between Portland
and Astoria will float any ship that can
get in and out of the river, As the bar
deepens this channel will be deepened
correspondingly. St. Helens bar, the
best-known obstruction in early days,
now lies under thirty-four feet of
water at low tide.
"At most, shir leaving Portland at
high tide can draw only twenty-four
feet of water." The steamships Mag
dala, Nederland and Dleke Rlckmers,
all drawing more than twenty-five feet
of water, had no delay in going from
Portland to Astoria last October, when
the water was at the lowest stage of
the year.
"Ships can be chartered at Astoria
30 cents a ton cheaper than at Port
land." ' Wrong again. The matter has
been repeatedly taken up with the
owners, and Portland's fresh-water
harbor is too attractive for them. In
surance rates are no higher -from
Portland than from Astoria or from
Puget Sound.
Regarding the work on the bar. It
is Portland Influence alone that has
resulted in the present depth, and this
influence will not be withdrawn until
there are forty feet of water on the
bar. The making of a river channel
in keeping with the , channel on the
bar is comparatively easy. It will al
ways be necessary to have ten feet
more water on the bar than in the
river, and Portland will attend to both
river and bar channels. The steam
grain fleet from Portland this season
carried cargoes averaging 217,470
bushels; the steam grain fleet from
Puget Sound for the same period car
ried cargoes averaging 211,449 bush
els. If the Astoria Chamber of Com
wnniH sunnlv its hired man
Whyte with some of these easily ob- ,
talned and easily venneu uniai ins
ures, the organization would appear
less ridiculous to the public, which
in the long run always prefers truth
to falsehood.
The Providence Journal, in com
menting on a "bitter feeling" which
is said to exist in Boston against the
New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad, asks if this feeling is not
"Intensified by the selection of the
high officials of the road from the
Far West, where railway conditions
are wholly unlike those of New Eng
land." The Journal suggests that local
men should be promoted to these po
sitions instead of giving them to men
from the West. C. S. Mellen, formerly
of the Northern Pacific, is president
of the New York, N-ew Haven & Hart
ford Railroad, and his vice-president
and chief lieutenant is Ben Campbell,
who rose from the ranks to some of
the highest positions In both the Hill
and the Harriman systems. It was
because railway conditions in the Far
West were "wholly unlike those of
New England" that these men secured
a training that qualified them for any
position that an Eastern railroad
could offer. Tho Eastern-trained
railroad man generally makes a poor
showing on a Western railroad, but
the Western railroad man almost in
variably makes good when he is
transferred to the East.
It has been less than a month since
a Portland saloon-keeper murdered a
patron in cold blood, but that painful
fact was insufficient to prevent an
other drunken saloon man from at
tempting to commit murder in simi
lar circumstances early yesterday
morning. That Saloon-keeper Turner
was relieved of his pistol before he
had an opportunity to use It proves
that a special Providence not infre
quently watches over foola. The In
cident is perhaps less effective for the
prohibitionist than the saloon murder
a few days earlier, but it all helps
somewhat and serves to drag still fur
ther Into disrepute a business that has
never reached a very high plane of re
spectability. Until Oregon gets a Legislature
strong enough In the sense of right
and justice to stand against the nor
mal schools combine, but little can be
expected in the way of guarding the
people's rights from salary grabs and
Inordinate greed in all lines of official
life. Promoters of the grab game In
one section are met by like promoters
in another section; a compromise is
effected and looting of the state treas
ury goes on.
During this week Portland taxpay
ers who have applied for them will
receive from the Sheriff's office state
ments of taxes due March 15. They
will thus learn in the concrete the
difference between multiplying the
cash value of Multnomah County
holdings by 1.4 and by 2. We know
the worst concerning this year. Eut
what about next year's taxes unless
a halt is called on this looting?
It .Is settled now that there will not
be a sea-level, but a lift-lock, canal at
Panama. Taft is convinced, and un
doubtedly his recommendations will
prevail with Congress. Meanwhile
the Frenchman,' M. Bunau-Varilla,
doubtless will continue to utter his
predictions of disaster and hopefully
await the resuit.
The water committee did well to
raise the pay --f employes. As the
earnings at the rate charged cannot be
used for extension of the service, a big
surplus might lead to reduction of
rates, which would be an anomaly in
these days of high prices. It's the peo
ple's money, anyway.
Of course you are happy that
through our admirable new way of
running the government both state,
county and city -your taxes are only
fifty per cent more than at any time
in the city's history.
That alfalfa mill up at Echo ran out
of hay and tpok up the grinding of
wheat heads to a fine powder for an.
Eastern stock-food concern. "Echo"
is not the right name for that pro
gressive town.
Judge Gatens begins this morning
and Judge Gantenbein retires to his
chambers. About the same use for
the fifth- judge that a wagon has for
a fifth wheel.
Breeding China pheasants in captiv
ity is a profitable business In Oregon.
A Corvallis man has already this sea
son sold 600 pairs to Washington
breeders.
The Legislature and the Assessor
seem to make fairly successful sub
stitutes for the historic long and
short man of every back-street
hold-up.
Just to think of it! Seventeen days
from high noon this day T. R. will
cease to be President of the United
States. "By Godfrey!" Also, "by
George!"
You do not have to draw big pay
to do good work. It is said the wire
less operator who saved the Republic
was getting ten dollars a week.
Forest Grove does not appear on
the new Government map, but Dr.
Large will see that the town figures
In the census report.-
A wheat shortage should lead to
greater use of cornmeal, which is
nearly as good and more filling and
fattening.
Do the people rule? They do.
Their rule comes high a twenty-mill
tax on a par valuation Is about it
but evidently we must have it.
Now that Taft has loft the South,
New Orleans is wondering what it is
going to do with all those plug-hats.
There is a. ray of comfort in the
reflection that raids on Oregon's treas
ury will continue only five days longer.
THIRD JUDGE A USELESS EXPENSE
rrotcxt From JodR-ea Hamilton and
Hnrris Against Proposed Colleague.
EUGENE. Or., Feb. 13. (To the Edi
tor.) We have had our attention called
to a Senate bill Introduced last Thurs
lov hv Senator Chase, of Coos. It is
a bill providing for the election of
three Circuit Judges in the Second Ju
dicial district of this state. Our at
tention had not been called to any de
mand for such Increase, or a purpose
to introduce such measure in the Leg
islature. We are therefore somewhat surprised,
and Inasmuch as we hold the respect
ive positions of Circuit Judges In the
Second Judicial District we deem it
proper to give our views as to the
necessity for a third Judge in this
district. Should we remain silent, it
might be argued that our assent is
given to such measure, and the bill hav
ing been introduced at so late a date
in the session we may only hope to
make our views known by the kindness
of The Oregonian in allowing us to use
Its columns.
The Second Judicial District of Ore
gon comprises Lincoln, Benton, Lane,
Douglas. Coos and Curry counties. Un
til February,. 1905, the district hod but
one Circuit Judge. At that time the
Legislative Assembly provided for the
election of another judge. Since then,
so far as we know, we have been get
ting along satisfactorily with the work.
We have been satisfied that 'we were
not overburdened. If our duties have
not been performed acceptably to the
people, when the proper time comes
they will doubtless make a change.
Two competent judges should perform
the Circuit Court duties of this dis
trict until the judicial business thereof
has been greatly increased.
This Is written for the reason that
we do not desire to be placed in a
false light before the public. We do
not wish any legislator to believe that
this is a measure for the relief of
either of us, but upon the contrary,
we obtained our first knowledge of this
proposed measure while casually pe
rusing a newspaper, and found that
such a bill had been Introduced.
The time mar come when it will be
necessary for the people of this state
to Incur an additional expense of $3000
a term for another Circuit Judge in
this district, or $18,000 in all, but In
our opinion the time, therefor has not
yet arrived.
J. W. HAMILTON,
L. F. HARRIS,
Judges of Second Judicial District of
Oregon.
Collegre Renulrenients.
Chicago Record-Herald.
An Interesting study of "College En
trance Requirements In Theory and
Practice," which appeared In the Inde
pendent, presented a long list of uni
versities and colleges at which a very
large percentage of the students were
admitted with conditions. One of these
institutions, which took In more than
50 per cent on these terms, formerly
insisted that all conditions should be
worked off before the student could
enter the freshman class. The appli
cants had to pass examinations, no mat
ter what school they came from. If
they took the examinations early in
Summer and failed in certain studies
they worked on these studies through
the Summer vacation and tried again
at the opening of the college in the
Fall. If they failed this time in whole
or in part thev were kept out until
they could make good. If the purpose
of the college is to increase the stu
dent roll It Is no doubt successful, but
the question naturally arises: "What
significance have the requirements?
They are not a real minimum, "they
are at best an ostensible minimum, any
part of which is liable in most colleges
to temporary suspension and occasion
ally to complete abrogation. Ihere
is no standard worthy of the name, but
merely a pretense at a standard The
requirements are good looking In trie
catalogue, but the discretion that Is
used takes all fervor out of them and
reduces them to an absurdity. There
is no real co-operation between the sec
ondary school and the college, but an
excellent opportunity is offered for pas
sing along the unfit.
Fair Babblers Encourage Sntan.
South Norwalk (Conn.) Dispatch to New
York World.
"Woman commenced to babble In the
earden of Eden, and she has babbled
down through the ages from that day to
this," said Rev. Hugh B. Carpenter in
the Baptist Church here when PacWi.g
to a club of young women called The
Silent Seven." , ,
"Nothing will send the devil back to
the satanic regions, to die and rot. like
silence, but the gentler sex Is not push
ing his migration very hard.
i. few months ago Dr. Carpenter had
occasion to rebuke a number of young
ladies from the pulpit for whispering dur
ng service. They banded themselves
together in a club termed "The Silent
Sven." They sewed for charity, and
thoir sessions were mum affairs with
fines for talking, the money going to
hedoctor commended them on their
club this evening, and expressed a wish
that they would form the church into a
"Silent Four Hundred."
This Nation Has Eaten Ita "noodles."
New Haven Journal-Courier.
We have been a Nation unusually en
dowed by Nature with the priceless good
ies of timber, water, soil, and m ne.ra.ls.
But like many a young man with too
much riches at his disposal, we have
turned profligate and have wasted our
Inheritance. The time has come for us
to turn thrifty. There is no alternative
The conservation idea may or may not
have been evolved in Mr. Roosevelt s
brain That is of little consequence.
Suffice it that it has been evolved and
that It should bo adopted with all of the
characteristic enthusiasm of which the
American people has so often Bliown it
self capable in other regards.
'o Outalde Experts Needed.
Indianapolis News.
Well, anyhow. Congress won't have
to employ any expert outsiders in its
collection of informaton concerning the
alcoholic liquor traffic.
It Might Bo Worse.
New York Times.
Note Fear of a S'-rm in Massachusetts
,mi, .-creased the consumption of that
SopuUr" NeweaEnBland tipple 10,500.000
quarts per annum.
Shoo!
Is It true
That a eerm,
A venomous laetoworm.
Ha""'0 ,nto MaMachilsetts milk?
Yes?
Ah! What distress
Must follow this Incursion,
Must pr.strate field and town.
When milk cannot be taken
With pie to wash It down.
That's tad, . '
Also sad.
But, gee whiz.
It ain't so passls
As If a iterm.
A venomous llkkerworm,
Teellnir frisky
Had got Into Kentucky whisky. ,
H-iy"
-Wouldn't that turn you frray?.
Oh ye who comfort in distress.
Who lay the kindly palm
On aching heads, and into woe
Pour ever-soothlni? bnlm.
rufthat in your toddy, will youT s
Wow.
What's a, cow.
NEVER MIND THE CONSTITFTION
Did Old FellcXvs Who Framed It
Really Know MuchT
SALEM, Feb. 12. (To the Editor.)
Many truths are spoken in jest. I-was
Impressed with this at the third house
meeting recently held in the Statchouse.
Mr. Glen O. Holman Impersonated the
Governor and delivered his message. In
discussing the proposed Increase of the
Supreme Court he used arguments (of
course In Jest) that are so complete a
burlesque on the absurd argument re
garding the Increase of the number of
Supreme Court Judges that I ask a place
for It in The Oregonian. He said:
"The constitution was made 50 years
ago. Such men as old Ed Shattuck, Matt.
Deady, George Williams, Rube Boise and
others. These, men were not possessed
of the higher education of our modern
Institutions. Then studied Latin, Greek,
mathematics, Shakespeare, English
grammar, hut could not run 100 yards in
less than 20 seconds. Now, gentlemen of
tne legislature, tnose out cuuhcib cam,
when the population of the state reaches
200.000 the Supreme Court shall consist
of three Supreme Judges. Now It Is
plain they meant that there could be
three Supreme Judges for each 200,000
of population. The last census of Ore
gon showed us with a population of a
few over 400.000. Now we cannot have
a Supreme Court ' of even numbers, so
In the Interest of economy we drop the
six and make It five.
"Again, what is a constitution for ex
cept to be kicked aside when it Is neces
sary to create some new offices or raise
a salary?"
There was much more said along these
lines, but it strikes me that the reason
ing was Just as sound as the far-fetched
ones used to defend the proposed Increase
of Judges. J. L. BROWN.
HOOD RIVER MAIiaRRIVALS.
Extension of Sunday Service of Rural
Free Delivery I" Proposed.
HOOD RIVER. Or., Feb. 13. (To the
Editor.) So that conditions in farm
life In this section may reach the ideal,
we should heed the recommendations
of the Commission on Country Life re
garding good roads, water facilities,
mail service, etc The first two needs
are receiving much attention and can
be handled locally. I have not taken
the trouble to Inform myself, but pre
sume that the Government stands in the
way of a betterment of our mall serv
ice. Many farmers here take Portland
dally newspapers, and many more
would be taken had wa a proper mail
service. A farmer's newspapers usually
comprise the principal part of his mall.
These papers reach Hood River every
morning including Sunday morning, at
10:20. They then, except during the
Summer months, remain over one day
In the postoffice at Hood River and
are delivered the next day. Here Is
ample room for improvement. On Sun
day, the Rural Free Delivery takes
a rest and the farmer does without his
dally .papers and other mail, or goos
to town to the postoffice at the pre
scribed hour for it.
During good weather, Sunday Is the
farmer's only day of rest and reading.
The Sunday editions of the dally
papers are peculiarly adapted to his
needs. By failing to deliver mail on
Sunday, the machinery of the Rural
Free Dellevery Is worked to only, six
sevenths of its normal capacity. I
looked in vain among the recommenda
tions of the President's commission on
country life for a recommendation
looking toward the correction of this
deficiency. My views concerning the
farmer's Sunday mail service are pre
sented with due apologies to the friends
of the lamented Abraham Sunday ob
servance bill. J. W. SHIPLEY.
Why the Pomp and Paraphernalia f
PORTLAND, Feb. 12. (To the Editor.)
I have been muc.i interested in the letters
and editorials concerning the Health De
partment of the city schools, and though
I know you are amply equipped for tho
warfare, perhaps one mor9 shot in your
locker will not come amiss.
Shortly before Christmas the nurse tele
phoned to our school one morning, asking
the principal to instruct the teachers to
have all pupils cleaned up next day, as
she was coming out to Inspect.
Today word came to our building that
In the future the teachers themselves are
to roll up the childrens' sleeves, examine
wrists and arms, and report each week
to the principal.
As you doubtless know, teachers have
always been required to look after pupils'
personal cleanliness; also to report any
symptoms of sickness; now under the new
regime we still do the same (plus the
rolling-up-sleeve act), so wherefore the
pomp and paraphernalia of a Health De
partment, conducted by telephone on the
installment plan? The nursa has been
In my room once this term.
TEACHER.
Consumption Bncfllus In the Blood.
Boston Transcript.
Physicians, conservative as they must
necessarily be, are careful In expressing
any opinion with reference to the press
reports of Dr. Rosenberger's finding of
the bacillus of consumption In the blood.
But there Is nevertheless a great deal of
Interest expressed both by them and by
the bacteriologists. This viewing of the
bacillus in the blood is new and the bac
teriologists find in it a step of importance
in its scientific aspects. Physicians find
in it a field in which the imagination can
run riot. It seems but reasonable to as
sume that the bacillus will be present in
the blood long before the irritation, so
often deep-seated, makes Itself known to
physicians under present conditions. It
can placa In the hands of the medical
attendant a new and early way of de
termining the condition of his patient.
The medical world will hang with Intense
Interest cn the development of the new
method.
Dlnlng-Rooms and Politics.
Lowell Courier-Citizen.
The big hotels in Atlantic City have
united in bouncing their negro waiters
and substituting girls. There Is said
to be some politics in the movement,
as the colored voters, most of them
waiters, have a good deal to say about
the running of the city. If they are
forced to go elsewhere by losing em
ployment the white folks will have
things their own way. The fitness of
women for Waiters' duty is as a gen
eral proposition undoubted; but wait
ing in a board-walk hotel Is not the
easiest job In the world for man or
woman.
Safety Chaln or Window-Cleaner.
PORTLAND, Feb. 13 (To the Edi
tor.) Now that Portland's office and
other buildings are going beyond the
ordinary three and four stories to ten
and more, with hundreds of windows
to be cleaned would it not be well
for the City Council to pass an ordi
nance such as other cities have, com
pelling owners- to furnish each- window
with slots into which a safety chain
or rope shall be put as the window
cleaner performs his work? Otherwise,
we shall be horrified by more than
one tragedy. JOHN E. BOYS.
Wants Marconi to Re Honored Hott.
New York Press. .
Anna Held, the actress, desires to ap
pear at a benefit for a fund to erect a
monument to Marconi, the inventor of
wireless telegraphy. She thinks Marconi
should be so honored before his death.
And Frederick Had a Garcoyle.
I
Boston Transcript.
"Willet'g "Gargoyle" is found in an ar
ticle in the Century magazine on Pots
dam. There, in Frederick the Great's
writing room, "his pet brass gargoyle
still disgorges warm air." Tho connec
tion is now clear.
SILHOUETTES
BY ARTHUR A. GREENE.
THE girl who has no figure to speak of
usually figures on her face.
It's a lucky man who is able to pledge
his word of honor at the pawnbroker's.
Most people seek the frivolities of so
ciety to escape the boredom of tholr
own society.
.
When a woman hits her husband for a
little pin money, she is likely to make a
few striking remarks.
After all, fame Is shortlived. Who con
tell offhand the namo of'the Democratic
Presidential candidate against Grant the
second time, or who was heavyweight
champion before Sullivan?
A Grand Army Funeral.
I, saw a tottering line of marchers go;
Their step was halt, their progress slow.
No glittering show of pageantry it was;
There ayas no blare of martial music.
and no guns
Were in their hands. No Jaunty banners
Did they bear aloft, save only one
The dear-bought flag which they had
saved.
Its radiant folds In somber black arrayed.
This was the straggling cohort that had
braved
The horrid dangers of a brothers' war.
They prated not of srlory nor tho high
Inspired courage that was theirs;
They vaunted not the deeds that they
had done.
It was a guard of honor to a grave.
And silently they moved to follow one
Whose duty called. It was the pass
ing of the brave.
e
It seems an unnecessary cruelty that
water wagons, are built so high.
It is easy for men who live in monas
teries to tell others how to be good.
Have patience, brethren. The Legis
lature will adjourn this week.
I ...
A fool and a sage fraternize only when
they are drunk or In love.
...
Rosemary and Rue.
In the wonderful Inspired days of Ions;
ago a youth and a maid sat one night by
a broad, moon-silvered river. The long
ago might have been a year, a decade or
a cycle of time back along the broad
highway of dead eternity; It matters not.
Yesterday Is Just as Irrevocably a part
of the long afro as the beginning of the
world. If some Joy died thereon.
They were young, these two, but a wis
dom for beyond the numbering of their
years had come to them, and as they
sat and watched the wooing of the
moonbeams and the ripples, they felt the
numbing weight of It. It was the girl
who drew aside the tapestry of silence
which the witchery of the Summer night
had hung about them. "I am going out
of your life tomorrow," she said in an
even voice which emotion strove In vain
to make tremble. She might have been
speaking to the river, the stars, the
night, or the youth by her side. Nona m
answered, and she gathered up the
threads of talk again. "What a pleasant
Summer this has been! God has been
very good to us."
A locust shrilled In a distant tree-top
and tha first breath of Autumn touched
their faces. "And now it Is over. Wa
have trod tha happy path through our
field of flowers and cannot retrace our
steps. Wa are at tha desert's ' edge.
Whatever may come to us now will be
only a mirage." The boy-man at her side
said nothing, but In the white light of
the ardent moon she saw that his face
was set as if ha looked into tha face of
Death. From across the water came tha
sound of voices singing an old love song
to the mellowed tinkling of a mandolin.
The girl who had been brave shuddered
and spoke again. "It Is too high and
wide this desert place. Wa may not
Join hands across it." The other looked
at the dimpled water and kept his silence.
At last a star shot athwart the bosom of
the river. "It is our omen," she said,
rising. "It is like my dream. This is
the end. V.uf wledersehen."
The boy stood beside her. a moment,
kissed her brow as the faithful might
kiss the brow of the Madonna, and left
her with tha river and the moonbeams
and the stars.
Compliment for Prealdent-Elect Taft.
Washington (D. C.) Cor. New York Eve
ning Telegram.
Charles P. Taft, at a banquet the other
evening, told a story on his big brother
Bill.
"One day a woman came to Bill's of
fice," said Brother Charley, "to ask help
In the case of her boy. He had been ex
amined for West Point and passed hand
somely, but he was a qtarter-inch under
the required height. His mother wanted
the requirement waived.
"She pleaded with Bill with tears in her
eyes and he was Immovable. Then she
told him about Jimmy; what a good boy
he was, and how he loved to fight, an
ought to make a good soldier. Bill perked
up. 'Wo need mora of that sort of boys.'
he said. 'All right, I'll waive the rule
and let him In.'
"The woman had about given up In de
spair, and was quite taken off. her feet
at his sudden surrender. She Jumped up
and started effusively to thank him; but
she couldn't think of anything good
enough to say..
" 'Mr. Secretary,' ,fhe finally got out.
you are Just too good for anything. I I
I why, Mr. Secretary, do you know,
you just aren't half as fat as folks say
you are.' "
MlsslMKippI to fjrnore Lincoln Day. .
Jackson, Miss., TMspatch to New York
Tribune.
The birthday of Abraham Lincoln
will not be celebrated in Mississippi,
nor will the school children of the state
get even a half holiday. Governor
Noel has been requested by the Grand
Army of the Republic and by others.
In and out of the state, to call official
attention to the fnct that February 12
Is Mr. Lincoln's birthday, but he as
serts that he has no authority to name
holidays or to direct that the people of
the state observe other than days
made legal holidays by law. Governor
Noel laid the proposition before mem
bers of the Board of Education of the
state, and they declined to have any
thing to do with the matter.
Carrie Nation Dodfces Engflinh Bottles.
London Globe.
In order to prevent the throwing of bot
tles and other missiles, Mrs. Carrie Na
tion, the American, was prevented from
appearing a second time as a music hall
performer in London.
Balrincns and Health In - Senators.
Washington, I). C, Post.
Dr. Woods Hutchinson says bald heads
are conducive to health. That probably
accounts for the longevity of United
States Senators.
.1