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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1909)
tetrotan rOKTLAXD. ORKGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflce a Eccond-Claes Hatter. Subscription Bates Invariably i Advance. (Br Mall.) Pally, Sunday Included, ona year sa.OO baily. Sunday included, six months.".. 4 23 pally. Sunday included, three' months... 2.25 I'aily. Sunday Included, one month -o Jj-illy. without Sunday, one year 0 IHily. without Sunday, six months 25 rally, without Sunday, three month.... 1,75 Xally. without Sunday, one month SO "Weekly, one year - 1 W Funday. one year 2 50 fc'ucday and weekly, one year 3.00 (By Carrier.) Eally. Sunday Included, one year 9.00 ally. Sunday included, one month 75 How to Remit Bend poetoSlce money rdT. express order or pergonal check on our local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's rlk. Give postofflce ad dress in full. Including county and state. Poetare Rates 10 to 14 pages. 1 rent; 19 to 28 r.aaea. 2 cents; 30 to 40 paaes. 3 cents; 44 to 6u pages. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rates. Eastern Business Office The 8. C. Beek wlih Special Ajrency New York, rooms 48 t Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-S12 Tribune building. PORTLAND, SATTRDAY. AUGUST 14. 1909. Z.YXAVS BOOK OX THE COLOfBIA RIVER. Of the several volumes of the "American Waterways Series," (Put nam & Sons. New York), the one of special Interest to readers in the Pa cific Northwest Is the book on The Co lumbia River, by Professor William I. Lyman, of Whitman College, Walla Walla. The plan of the book gives the author scope for a large sketch of the topography of the country traversed by the Columbia River and its tributaries, an account of the history, the myths, the scenery and the commerce of the region, and a fusion of the whole body of the materials into a highly interest ing essay and narrative. It is the first real attempt to write an extended ac count and description of the Columbia River, on a sufficiently ample plan. We do not forget Mrs. Victor's book, en titled, "The River of the West," pub lished some thirty years ago; but that entertaining book was not so much an attempt at description of the river and the land and an account of the historic origins, as a romance of the life of the principal hero and typical pioneer trapper, Joseph L. Meek. Professor Lyman's book, while adhering closely to the actual history, is a most pic turesque account of the general fea tures of a river and of the land which "t traverses a river and land wholly tr.llke any other in the United States. The author writes on his subject a'ith the enthusiasm of a native son. He has visited every part of the Co lumbia Basin, has the observation of true lover of nature, and possesses rood descriptive powers. Animated by "the spirit of the land of the Ore gon River," saturated with it from his Infancy, educated In constant touch with it, son of pioneer parents whose lives were spent in sawing the seed w hich now Is bringing the harvest to the states formed from The Oregon Country, this writer might be expect ed to produce a rare book. He has done so. Among his merits is his power of compression, without sac rifice of picturesque description. The detail, though great. Is Informed throughout by an enthusiastic yet never tedious sentiment; and the book supplies an historic outline, which il lustrates how much may be gathered Into no great space by one who makes himself master of such a subject be fore he begins to write upon it. The historic matter Is, however, only In cidental to the general purpose an account of The River and of The Land. One of the most intricate river systems in the world is that of the Columbia and its tributaries. All the streams Issue from high mountains, most of them from glacial areas. The trend of mountain ranges in confusion, with valleys and outlets at opposites with each other, sends the streams to wards every point of the compass; large streams, too, whose variant courses puzzled the early explorers, and even today the stranger to the topography can scarcely conceive how these rivers, so at opposites. can find a common channel and outlet to the sea. In the midst are valleys of great extent and indescribable beauty and fertility; for the greater part of the descent of these streams is in their upper courses, and the general water shed, a thousand miles from the sea, has a mild and equable climate. Tet Klacial peaks, but little more than one hundred miles from the sea, also send their streams to the Columbia. These features render the river and the land unique among the rivers and drain ape basins of America. Now for the first time they find description in a form that unites the history with the descriptive- matter about the country Jn a continuous narrative.' Photog raphy has furnished the illustrations, and the art of engraving at the high est has done the rest; so that we have a book whose pictures are those of nature, not of imperfect human fancy, misguided by want of proportion, or by wish to make Nature more striking than It Is. Here the art Itself Is nature. t .. I. AA1rn&A tn triM mem ory of the author's parents. It is a filial tribute, touching to those who have known the family. Another son, Horace Lyman, now deceased, some years ago. produced, with painstaking labor, guided by literary and histori cal judgment, a history of Oregon, in four volumes. This work is on a plan that supplies the large details on which the historical part of the present book by William D. Lyman ia founded and framed. But the books of the two brothers are different In purpose and scope, and different in style and treatment. The memory of the father and mother pioneers, missionaries, educators, hopeful workers amid the humble and narrow conditions of the early days In Oregon Is honored In the "work of their song. IXTEREfiTIXa RELICS. An Oregon lad. living at Currinsvllle, In this state, has had a bequest from his grandfather, late of Los Angeles, of a slats and a copy of Kirk nan's English Grammar, relics of his school boy days, bought In 1S40. If the lad make as good use of the article that have come down to him from his grandfather's schoolboy days, as the lads of that period -were wont to do, he willaknow more about at least two of the subjects taught in the common .schools of today than do many who graduate from our high schools. These old relics are mute witnesses of a time when pupils had to study a lesson until it was learned before they passed on to the next a process that f;xed the rules of Klrkhan's. Gram mar and Smith's Arithmetic In the vouthful mind, with a pertinacity that has outUved th years. Not many branches were taught in the old school days, but the boy who went to school long enough to pass through McGuf fey's series of readers. Kirkhan's Grammar, Smith's Arithmetic, Mitch ell's Geography and Webster's Spelling-book, in accordance with the sys tem then in vogue, was not likely to fall In life from lack of a practical education. Old things have passed away and with them the old textbooks that were well thumbed by the generation that they served. A return to the crude schoolhouses, their meager equipment and their birch-rod rule is not desired, but the fact remains that these meth ods turned out men and women who could read understandlngly, write leg ibly and "cipher" intelligently and whose Intimate acquaintance with Webster's Spelling-book made the weekly spelling-match an exciting con test often lasting several hours before the last speller "went down" before a rapid fusillade of words. Trophies of past triumphs, mute mementoes of past endeavors in the educational field, are these and simi lar relics of the school days of a past generation, and worthy to be pre served as memorials of a hard-fought battle in the advance guard of a con tention which opened the way for the establishment of the common schools of America. The sturdy lad. With mlttened hands and cap drawn down To guard the neck and ears from snow, his slate, arithmetic and grammar un der his arm, breaking the way through the drifts for the sister who followed with her geography and spelling-book, formed a moving-picture on many a Winter landscape in the time of the old school textbooks. PROBLEMS OF I-I VK AXD MIND. One who doesn't understand Shake speare simply, doesn't push himself or herself into Shakespeare world; which Is the widest intellectual and moral and spiritual world yet revealed to the sons and daughters of men. This is the test: If one can't understand Shakespeare, it is because he is too narrow; hasn't range enough. On the religious side the old Hebrew prophets have the like expression; and since religion and morals have close relation and each must support the other, the Hebrew Scriptures are the highest expression of the religious emotions and moral -aspirations of mankind. Their "sacredness," over other writings, is another question. President Eliot, whose five feet of books, contains not one which the world could spare, didn't include In his list Shakespeare and the Bible. He doubts whether either can be read understandlngly without high culture. All the more necessary, then, for high culture. For, on the two sides of life on one side for highest expression of the religious instinct in man and the poetic expression necessary for It; on the other, for deepest observations on the widest range of human life, and on the moral forces that rise up con tinually to control and direct it and to avenge its lapses and mistakes for one side or part of this you go to the old Bible: for another you go to Wil liam Shakespeare. There are others, besides Shakespeare. But there is one who Is supreme. Others, indeed are mighty, when his face Is hid. A letter to The Oregonian asks why so much criticism is passed on Presi dent Eliot for omission of Shakespeare from his five feet of hooks. His omis sion of the Bible, this inquirer says, was natural enough, since it is not on the basis as other books. But It is on the same basis as other books, and must be judged by the same tests and on the same principles it is a body of literature, subject to the same principles of interpretation that apply to any other. This now Is all but universally admitted. After a while none will question it. To string out quotations and comments, to show that Shakespeare is not only greatest of observers and thinkers, but great est of moral writers, would be easiest 'of undertakings. He had wider range of observation and experience than the Hebrew writers, and his observa tion and thought had modern in stances for their support. Hence his peculiar power. He Is merely a prodigy. There are no miracles; and prodigies appear only in the intel lectual and moral world. There is nothing that much astonishes the world in the appearance of a new po tato or cherry. But no one expects another Isaiah or Shakespeare, or Moliere or Milton. Men may appear again whose powers will astonish the world, but they will not be like those who have preceded us. It is, of course. Impossible, to set limits to human powers. But no one can see how there ever can be another great poet like Homer or Shakespeare or Tasso or Milton, or another great con queror like Napoleon. . But there Is more probability of a Napoleon than of a Shakespeare. OIH MERCHANT MARINE. The latest fesue of Lloyds' Register Is at hand. Like all of its predeces sors, It contains the most complete de tails and statistics of the world's ship ping that can be compiled. Lloyds' Register is accepted uthorIty on all shipping matters by all people and all countries where ships float. It will undoubtedly come as an awakening shock to the American people, who have listened blindly to the statements of the ship subsidy seekers, to learn from such an unimpeachable source as Lloyds' Register that the United States has a merchant marine tonnage greater than any other nation except Great Britain, and that in sailing ves sels, this country has a greater ton nage than Great Britain. Ia steam tonnage we crowd Ger many pretty closely, with 3.682.332 tons, compared with 3.8S9.046 tons for Germany. The steam tonnage of Great Britain is 17,702.714 gross, or nearly half of all the tonnage in the world. 'The mistress of the seas" has so far abandoned sail for steam that the British flag floats over but 1.123,728 tons of sail shipping, while there are enrolled under the Stars and Stripes 1.291.480 tons of sailing ships. In number and average tonnage, our fleet of steamers on the Great Lakes compares favorably with any other country's. We hear much from the ship subsidy seekers In praise of the subsidized fleets of Japan, Norway and France and in apologetic strain for our own fleet; but our lake steam fleet of 1.873 steamers of 2,044.653 tons register is greater than the en tire fleet of any of the countries men tioned. Nearly all of this lake fleet finds re munerative employment on our In land seas on longer routes than the average traversed ty the coasting fleets of Northern Europe or on the Mediterranean, but not infrequently some of these vessels steam through the canals and out on the world's oceans, where they give a good account of themselves In competition with the vessels of other nations. This coastwise trade, on which such a large propor tion of our vessels is er.gaged, extends In some cases clear around Cape Horn to the North Pacific, and the 14,000 mile voyage of our American coast ing steamers make the North Atlantic routes, where most of the world's ton nage is found, look like short ferry routes. That enormous fleet, which sweeps along the shores of the gTeat lakes carries traffic between many states, any one of which is greater In size and development than most of the principalities and powers of the old world. . Instead of bemoaning the al leged decadence of our American mer chant marine, our people should be pointing with pride to the remarkable fact that this, one of the newest nt the world's great powers, has the sec ond largest merchant marine on earth, and that our coastwise and internal commerce is of so much greater pro portions than that which is known as foreign commerce between the Eu ropean nations, that It is an everlast ing source of wonder to the foreigners who secure their Impressions or the size of our merchant marine by read ing the buncombe of tne ship subsidy seekers, many of whom are so igno rant that the facts which Lloyds' Register presents are new and start ling when brought to their attention. HOW IT MAT BE DETERMINED. The Deschutes (Harriman) company has made Its survey for eighty-two miles up the Deschutes River-on the east bank, except for a distance of six miles, where it crosses to the west side. The Oregon Trunk (Porter Brothers) survey occupies alternately each side of the rivet but In the main is on the west side (fifty-two out of eighty-two miles). The principal points of con flict are between mile posts 20 and 38, and mile posts 70 and 82. In the state ment by Mr. Cotton, counsel for the Harriman system, published yesterday, appeared the following: If the Deschutes Company should resur vey its line tor the six miles above men tioned (on the west bank), all of Its line would be on the east side of the river, and if the Oregon Trunk would remain on the west side of the river, on which it ctarled. and on which it has surveyed fifty-two miles of road, out of a total distance of eighty two, there will be no conflict between the lines, and each company could construct a road without any fuss and feathers. As a practical Question, it would seem that no good reason exists why this should not be done. We will not undertake to say whether it is practicable to follow Mr. Cotton's suggestion. The reply of the Oregon Trunk may be, and probably will be, that It is not possible without great expense, or at all, to build for the entire distance up the west bank of the Deschutes, leaving the more feasible east bank to the Harriman people. But how shall we know? We cannot know, perhaps. If we are to listen to the contentions of opposing attorneys; but we might know if the Interior Department of the United States, or some other Government authority, would concern itself in this most Im portant controversy through the fact that the railroad surveys pass largely over Government land. And if the matter could be thus determined, why could not one course or survey be mapped out for one road, and another for the other? Or, if there should be at some point, or points, a necessary conflict, why could not this, too, be adjusted by joint surveys or double survey? If this shall de done, we shall soon have a test of the good faith of one or both constestants for the Des chutes. We shall then have one or two railroads up the Deschutes, or none. Besides, it may be added that under the statute neither railroad has the right to exclude the other from a de file; and It may be added further that in the whole distance of eighty-two miles, or thereabouts, constituting the Deschutes Canyon, the parties admit that there are only two or three points where the roads must lie closely side by side. Construction of a Joint road bed (not a Joint rack) at these places Is the necessary solution. THE DIFKERKNCE. Perhaps If the Portland grain handlers were a little more familiar with conditions on Puget Sound as compared with Portland, there would be greater hesitancy about attempting to drive shipping away from this port by maintenance of a differential against Portland. An officer of the union is quoted as saying that "the class of men obtained on Puget Sound for SO cents per hour are inexperi enced and unreliable." If this be true, Portland Is very much in need of "Inexperienced and unreliable men," for it has been several years since this port has been able to make as good a showing for fast and economical han dling of grain as has been made by those "inexperienced and unreliable" grainhandlers on Puget Sound docks. As a matter of fact, the Puget Sound grainhandlers are a very good class of laborers, many of them own ing their own homes and being in comfortable circumstances. Employ ing men strictly on their merits, and not by virtue of a union card, enables the Puget Sound dock managers to select their men much more carefully than would be the case if they were obliged to take any man who came along. Irrespective of his merits as a worker. CLIMATIC EXTREMES. The annual parade of the G. A. R., at Salt Lake City, at noon last Wednes day, was a most lnposlng spectacle. Bronzed and gray the veterans, 5000 strong, marching four abreast held right of way over everything except the scorching rays of the sun. These glared mercilessly down upon the line of march and sent many an old soldier to the emergency hospital in an am bulance automobile. The test of en durance was probably almost as severe as any one of the veteran soldiers had endured In his youth when on the march or the battlefield; but the men showed the stuff of which they were made and only broke ranks when over come by exhaustion. Children de ploying as a living flag tender little school girls, who had long drilled for the occasion suffered uncomplaining ly In the performance of their part, though many were borne, limp and pallid, from the scene In ambulances, or were returned almost lifeless to the arms of their parents. But for the excessive heat there would have been no disturbing in fluence In connection with this forty third annual encampment of the G. A. R. Despite the heat the spectacle was inspiring though shadowed by dread. This is the second patriotic display within the year that has been attended by atmospheric extremes that for the time being put patriotism in eclipse and made the easement of physical dis comfort the paramount consideration. The elaborate preparations for the in augural of President Taft were so set upon by the forces of the bleak North land that thev were rendered practical- ' ly useless. Snow and sleet accompanied by a zero temperature, and driven be fore a bitter northeast wind, rendered Washington the most uncomfortable, inhospitable spot in the United States on March 4. while, according to all ac counts a scorching sun, aided by a hot wind from the desert made Salt Lake City the most uncomfortable spot In the country on August 11. Such extremes are exceedingly try ing. To guard against a recurrence of j the first it will be necessary to move the date of the inaugural of the Presi dent to a date a couple of months later. To guard against a recurrence of the latter will be much easier. It is only necessary to select as the place of the annual meeting of the G. A. R. some city on the Pacific Coast, preferably Portland where extremes of heat and cold are practically unknown. It might also be well to move the date of this meeting backward two months, when, if daring enough to select a city where climatic extremes prevail, the worst may be forestalled by an earlier date of meeting. The proposal to incinerate the bod ies of the pauper dead is worthy of consideration. Cremation is a clean, quick and final method of disposing of human remains, and in the case of persons who die of contagious diseases it is the only safe and sanitary method. By comparison with burial in the potter's field it must appeal strongly to the sensibilities of every one who would protect the bodies even of the unknown, unclaimed dead from the Indignity of hurried and careless disposal. The finality of such disposal of the human body is a strong plea in favor of cremation. The menace that hovers over a number of graves In Lone Fir Cemetery that lie In the path of street development is but a repeti tion of what has happened In every large city in the land. Bodies long since buried, those who placed them there gone, what is their dust to the man who turns the furrow or opens the street over or through the place of their sepulture? This being true of many who were given tender burial in years past, it Is doubly true of the body of the pauper "whom nobody owns." The Umbria and the Etrurla, still the fastest single-screw steamships afloat, are to go on the auction block. They cost 31,500,000 each about twenty years ago, and when they scorched across the Atlantic several hours faster than the first six-day boat they created fully as much excitement as was occasioned by the appearance of the present-day record-breakers, the Lusitanla and Mauretania. The twin-screw and the triple-expansion engine soon displaced the Umbria and the Etrurla in the ranks of the record breakers, and for more than fifteen years they have been second-class boats. They are not only much slower than the modern flyers, but they are also more expensive to operate, and a few years hence will either reach the scrap pile or be shunted to some ob scure route where speed and elegance are not so necessary as they are on the North Atlantic. Those of us who have come to look upon Western Canada as the great grain-producing section of the North American Continent must revise our opinion or else remain at variance with the report of John Inglis, the ex pert statistician. In this we find that the wheat acreage of this year in North Dakota is nearly 1,000,000 acres in excess of the combined acreage of the three Northwestern provinces of Canada. In milling qualities and food producing properties, North Dakota wheat is, as everybody knows, unsur passed. Why look enviously and anxiously across the border when the grain area and output are under con sideration? . The one thing that, above all others, Is a test of human fortitude, and that most frequently causes self-appointed exchange of Ills known to possibilities unknown, is continued, hopeless ill ness. The public, to whom she was known as "Miss Santa Claus," will be sad to learn that Miss Elizabeth Phil lips, of Philadelphia, found life thus encumbered too heavy to bear and passed out by the act of suicide last w.dncarinv. This is her simple eu logy: "By reason of her work among poor children at Christmas time jvusa Phillips enjoyed an almost National niitatlnn " To this It may well be added: "She will be missed by chil dren." Perhaps It Is Just as well to allow all game birds and animals to be slaugh tered at once. Then those who kill, out of season, from .the mere lust of killing, will be compelled to give up v. n Dnnvt " Q rt m n nf them then might l in. . - - be led Into useful employment. But it's doubtful. Most or tnem are nat ural loafers, and will always be a pest to society. Gilford Plnchot does not want all the power sites In the land gobbled by v, in,.ts Neither does anybody else. But Mr. Plnchot neglects to say what a poor man can do with a power site other than sell It to some one or cun cern rich enough to develop its energy. vnor tht x.ravs have been found .r..ir in reviving a victim of lauda num. It is but a step farther to their use In administering tne tnira ae gree." Local detectives might enlist them in the searcn ior tne mjsioi ioua "big red touring car." Irrigation, some tell us, is a "poor man's proposition." In many a place where the hoe and the cultivator are Just as good, or even better, irrigation Is a lazy man's proposition. a i nt th r.ersons accounted lucky In the Idaho land drawings could find better and cheaper land in the Willamette Valley. .We don't need to worry about that 4 n I l. I n ehnptflcra miieh loncpr! ju-ihi:u lain the new season begins in less than three weeks. By this time young Thaw should be making up his mind that It didn't pay, after all, to kill Stanford White.- One of Harry Thaw's svmptoms of insanity was distrust of his lawyers. Then how about the rest of us? The Government doesn't prosecute the newspapers that advertise its land lottery. " The whole Sutton family la rather combatly lEl'PEirS'S TRY FOR NORTH POLE Other Scientists Agree With Htm That the Idea la Not tptoptan. Chicago Record-Herald. Count Zeppelin's projected expedition. In which he hopes to crown his life work as a developer of the art of air navigation by reaching and returning trom the North Pole in a new dirigible I lin II, is planned to be undertaken I next Summer. The count and the I scientific expert who will accompany Ihim, Professor von Hergesell, a cele brated Strasbourg aerologist, modestly disclaim the express intent of trying to find the pole. They say their expe dition will be for the purpose of "in vestigating the unknown regions of the Arctic" and of making a series of scientific observations in the Polar regions. The German public, however, understands that if the preliminary trips of Zeppelin from his base of operations are successful, the search for the pole will be undertaken. This base will be Cross Bay, on the Island of Spitzbergen. The airship is to sail to that northern point, cross ing Germany and Norway, with proba bly several intermediate landings for the purpose of gathering scientific data. Cross Bay has been chosen part ly because of familiarity with it by Professor von Hergesell, who made soundings and observations about the bay when cn a voyage with Prince Al bert of Monaco in 1907 in the prince's luxurious and scientifically equipped yacht, Princess Alice. . After thoroughly testing the ability of the Zeppelin airship to weather Arctic conditions, the dash for the pole will be made. It is said several polar explorers have expressed confi dence In the success of the Zeppelin expedition, and Emperor William is supporting the project enthusiastically. Prince Albert of Monaco will con tribute to the expedition a complete set of scientific instruments for mak ing measurements and observations, many of which have been designed by himself. This multi-millionaire ruler of the tiny principality famed as the seat of Monte Carlo, the great gam bling resort, is one of the most lib eral and accomplished patrons of science in the world. Lieutenant Shackleton, the English explorer who nearly reached the South Pole; Sven Hedin, the famous Swedish traveler; Professor von Drygalski, the Munich Polar explorer, and Major von Parse val, constructor of ' Germany's "non rigid" military airships, have expressed the opinion that the Zeppelin expedi tion will succeed. The last named au thority says a nonrlgld airship of the type he has built could reach the Pole in 48 hours from a well-selected base. "I would press farther north than Cross Bay as a starting place," says Major von Parseval, as quoted by a Berlin correspondent of the New York Times, "and fill my airship upon one of the mighty ice fields at about the 82d degree of latitude, wnlch woulQ leave a distance of only 560 miles to the pole." From Spitzbergen to the Pole is about 800 miles, but this dis tance is easily within the radius of the utility of a Zeppelin airship, for the Zeppelin II accomplished a considera bly greater task in its famous voyage across Germany May 30 and 31 last, traveling 850 miles in anout 37 hours. The reaching of the pole will depend wholly upon the strength of the wind, according to Professor von Drygalski, but Major von Parseval is optimistic about this and other physical difficul ties to be encountered. e "I have been brought to realize," says Major von Parseval, "that the weather conditions in Summer in Arctic latitudes are actually more favorable to the aeronaut than those of Central Europe. Not only Is an Immense ad vantage gained In the fact that our alternating day" and night changes theie into one continuous day, but the very circumstance tht the polar regions, land and sea alike. He for mile after mile under one connected cover ing of ice is In itself in the aeronaut's favor, since it brings about a uniform ity in the general conditions which in our part of the world is utterly un known. "It Is easily conceivable that under such conditions there must be long windless periods periods, of absolutely atmospheric stillness in the course of the Polar Summer, and that the Polar winds, when they do put in an appear ance, are inevitably of the mildest character, as Nansen found them to be during his long voyage in the Fram. In the face of such considerations as these I am obliged to admit that the Idea of reaching the pole by airship can hardly be branded Uptopian." e Discussing the difficulties confront ing an aerial dash to the pole, real and Illusive, another well-known German aeronaut scatters the popular mistaken belief that the Polar temperature is one of the prime hardships to be faced. He points out that the low temperature is in reality quite an insignificant factor, since in July and August, the two hot months, and the period in which the Zeppelin expedition Is planned to take place, the thermometer is never more than sllgutly below zero, sometimes even a trifle above It. It is possible that .eppelin may not have the chance to be the first finder of the North Pole, for two explorers who have been engaged more than a year on the task are yet to be heard from, and a third is preparing for a trip northward from Spitzbergen. Dr. F. A. Cook left New York in the Sum mer of 1907 and Wintered at Etah, on the coast of Greenland. March 3, 1908, he started from Annatok, with Eski mos and dogs, to travel across Grin nell and Grant lands to the Arctic Ocean, where his journey over the sea would begin. Except for a letter dated two weeks after his start he has not been heard from since. Commander R. E. Peary started from New York a year ago on the steamer Roosevelt, with the hope of arriving at the Pole by a sled journey from some base on Grant Land. He started north from Etah August 17 last. Walter Wellman Is at Spitzbergen, preparing to make another attempt, this Summer if possible, to reach the pole by means of his dirigible balloon America. One or more of these three may be reported to have reached the Pole long before Count Zeppelin starts north next Sum mer. Played Joke on Prohibitionist. Detroit Free Press. Over at Newaygo, where it is so dry that the boys habitually "spit cotton," there seem to be some mighty dry pro hibitionists, according to a story that comes from the desert. A Newaygo citizen recently received a letter from a Kentucky whisky house, re questing him to send them the names of a dozen or more persons who would like to get some fine whisky shipped to them at a very low price. The letter wound up by saying: "We will give you a commission on all the orders sent In by parties whose names you send us." The Newaygo man belonged to a prac tical Joke class, and filled In the names of some Dt his prohibition friends on the blank spaces left for that purpose. He had forgotten all about his supposed practical Joke when Monday he' received another letter from the same house. He supposed It was a request for more names and was Just about to throw the com munication in the waste basket when it occurred to him to send the name of another old friend to the whisky house. He accordingly tore open the envelope, and came near collapsing when he found a check for 14.80, representing his com mission on the sale of whisky to the par ties whose names he had sent in about three weeks before. APPROVAL FOR THE ASSEMBLY METHOD Discussed With Candor and Force by the Newspapers of Oregon How Some Serious Defects of the Primary loiw May Be .Met. Oregon Observer (Grants Pass). The direct primary nominating law is being widely discussed just now. It has proved a signal failure wherever It has been put In operation, the latest experience being In Indiana. In Ore gon the experiment has not Improved with experience, but has grown worse in the dishonesty and trickery that the provisions of the law Invite. The. elec tions of lest year were disgracefully dishonest, even for the political game, which Is none too scrupulous. There Is no use going over that again. The particulars of how a Republican state elected a Democratic United States Sen ator ore known to every voter in Ore gon. But the boldness and success of the crooked game awakened serious Re publicans to the political Iniquity ti.ey were tip against, and there was a feel ing around for remedy. The city of Portland, in Its civic elections, had also suffered seriously from similar abuses of the primary law, and there some months ago the proposal to hold a con vention of Republican citizens to recom mend candidates for the primary elec tions was adopted and acted upon and worked out satisfactorily. This result let IlRbt Into the growing political darkness, and there mi In all sections of the stnte a resolve to repeat that process when the state -elections are held next year. The idea now seems to be to hold to the primary law, and endeavor to cor rect its failings by county convention, which It appears to be now the proper thing to speak of as "assemblies." These assemblies, to be composed of reputable citizens, will endeavor to select desir able candidates for nomination at the primary election, and it will rest with the voters to approve them or not as they may judge best. There is no pur pose to take any direct power from the people. Heretofore at primary elections, the voters have had no guide in choosing nominees, and it is be lieved that the assembly method will be an important aid. . The election of Jonathan Bourne, Jr., as United States Senator from Oregon was not so much a blunder as it was a misunderstanding. Mr. Bourne kept himself close to Portland and cam paigned by printed circulars. Not half the people knew anything about him, and he was elected by the votes of men who did not know he was unfit for the office. The assembly will help to stive better Information. Again, the people by a large vote elected State Treasurer Steel, of whom they knew nothing at that time, he, too, electioneered by printed circulars. But with the col lapse of the rotten trust bank In Port land the facts were exposed that Steel was a mere creature of the bank, and had not only procured legislation for it, but had unlawfully deposited the state school money with the tumbling Institution. Steel should have been prosecuted criminally and ousted from office, but neither o these things hap pened. He is State Treasurer yet. The peoole do not want to make a mistake like that next year, and they need the assembly to vouch for the characters of persons who offer for norainatton. Thus far the assembly can be of service to the voters, but It cannot prevent false reirlstratlon, and that la the rock that will eventually wreck the primary lair and call for Its repeal. The Observer accepts the assembly proposition, believes it will do much for better government, but does not believe that it will be entirely successful, or that it will make the primary law ac ceptable to men who believe In gov ernment by party, and all thinking must believe in party as opposed to chaos. THE GEORGIA EDITORS. More Fun Down There Than Even in Oregon These Days. Philadelphia Record. We trust that the hostilities between Clark Howell, of the Atlanta Constitution, and Dick Gray, of the Atlanta Journal, will go no further than pens and ink. If they extend to shootlng-lrons and smokeless powder comedy will be turned into tragedy; and we prefer comedy. If one of these accomplished editors should be shot and the other one put in the penitentiary we should lose the diversion which both of them are now affording the country; and there is not enough fun in the world, anyway. Mr. Gray says that Mr. Howell has been "caught red-handed as a fakir." Of course, this is a mixed metaphor; but mixed metaphors are as appropriate to this season as mixed drinks, and are ar safer. Murderers get red hands, but fakirs do not get anything worse than dirt on their hands. We trust that both of these editors will continue to be caught black-handed from the injudicious use of their ink-stands, but that neither will ever get red hands. Mr. Gray also says that Mr. Howell has been "ripped and riven to his sawdust heart, the stuffed rag baby of Georgia journalism." This Is fine; we do not wish any care less use of weapons to interfere with such, a flow of language. Mr. Howell retorts that Mr. Gray has been so often openly branded in the Constitution as a "fishpion ger" a perfectly legitimate calling, by the way a "guttersnipe," a "brute and bully," a "thug Insensible to gentility or refinement," and a "hopeless ass," that further characterization "would exhaust the vocabulary of contempt and disgust." Not at all; the vocabulary Is Inexhausti ble, and ite use Is most diverting. Mr. Howell says there is no use of "further cornering a polecat," but there Is a lot of use In his saying it, and we hope Mr. Gray will not shoot him till he has said some more things. There is a proposition in Atlanta to create a Court of Honor "to adjust the difficulty in an amicable way." We don't want any one shot, but we cannot con ceive what a Court of Honor could possi bly have to do with this controversy. Albers' New Mill and Broadway Bridge. PORTLAND. Aug. 12. To the Editor.) In The Oregonian Thursday an an nouncement by the Albers Bros, that they are forthwith to construct a six-story brick flouring mill Just north of the Ains worth dock is attracting the attention of the people who voted for the Broadway bridge. This bridge will pass directly through this mill if built, and it is strange that the firm should construct such a mill In the face of an early condemnation suit, The Albers Bros, certainly know that the bridge passes over the center of this dock and that the bridge cannot pass over a six-story building after reaching the west bank of the river. Whose duty Is it to call the attention of the brothers to this matter? Will the city have to pay the extra amount for the removal of this obstruction as soon as it is finished? Perhaps the Mayor and Council could call the attention of Uie builders to the neces sity of foreseeing the bridge and the fu tility of erecting such an expensive struc ture as an obstruction. M. J. MAC MAHON. The . Reasonable Idea. Chicago Record-Herald. "Don't imagine," he said after she had refused him, "that I am going away to blow my brains out or drink myself to death." "No," she replied. "I have no Idea that you will do anything of that kind. You are going away to do some wonderful thing which will bring you wealth and fame and make me regret all the rest of my life that I didn't believe you when you Intimated that you were one of the greatest little men that bad ever come over the asphalt.'' The Dalles Optimist. It does "oeat all how the Democrats are fighting against the conference plan of nominations. And yet there is nothing In the direct primary law against conferences or even conven tions. Indeed, It was the Intention of the franier of the law. Is In harmony with the spirit of the law, that nominations ' or suga-rstions should be made by the different parties, such suggestions to be afterwards passed upon by the people at the primary elections. We do not believe the most ardent advocates of the law ever understood that the races for nominations should be a go-as-you-please affair. But after the law was passed the Democrats and "independents" and "re formers" saw how the law could be manipulated to cause the dominant party to divide their ballots between a multitude of candidates, while the minority party would concentrate their ballots on one or two of their best men. In thet way they foresaw that wt would probably nominate our weakesi man, while they would have their best As we have often said before, we have thus far allowed the minority leaders to outwit us, and as a result we have in the United States Senate two men who ould not have been elected had the Republicans acted with any sense. It is all very well to say that Bourne and Chamberlain were the choice of the people, but those who say it, as well as everybody else with a grain of sense, know such a statement is false. In a fair and honest election by the voters of the state neither one of them would ever have had a look-in for the position they now hold. The only thing for us to do as a party is to let this hue and cry of the Democratic press go unheeded, and go ahead and call a conference or con vention next Summer and agree upon candidates for Congress and the Sen ate and for state officers and members of the Legislature. There will be strong opposition to this, but if we will analyse this opposition we will find It coming almost entirely from the minority party organs. Any Republicans who dispute the right to nominate need not be seri ously considered, for they are the ones who have given us Bourne and Cham berlain, and are at the least but traitors to our party. And another thfnsr we must do, and that is alt down ou Statement No. 1. Never must we again tie our hands as we did last Pall and witness the spec tacle of Republicans bound hand and foot- Let it be understood that any man who signs that statement must be slaug-htrrcd at the polls. Then by elect ing beyond, a peradventure our candi date for Senator in November, he can be elected by a solid Republican ma jority in January. It is said that the Republicans of the state are almost universally in favor of the direct primaries law and Statement No. 1. There never was a greater cal umny uttered. It Is untrue from a to lzzard. Such a report is a man of straw, put up and maintained by the Democrats and their cohorts, and we should no longer let the bugaboo scare us. There are but two courses open to us; take the plan as outlined by the best Republicans and make our nomina tions, or turn the state, bag and bng srasre, over to the minority. DEMOCKATS HELPED OUT. The Crowd Chamberlain Acted With OS the Tariff. Memphis Commercial Appeal, Dem. Our Democrats in the tariff business, except Gore and half a dozen others, have gone along and permitted the Republicans to have tilings Just as they wished. They took little part in form ing the bill, and when the Insurgent Republicans revolted the Democrats rather sneered at their course and gave silent aid to the standpatters and the regulars. Charleston News and Courier, Dem. Unfortunately ft.' the Democratic party and the country, the Democrats In the Senate- and the House followed opportunity instead of principle in deal ing with the question; a little bit of protection for local Interests here and there, something for sugar and rice in Louisiana, a nubbin for the lumber in dustry In North Carolina and Alabama, a hand-out for the camphor orchards In Florida, or something of the sort, and whatever sop offered that seemed to be of temporary advantage to "my con stituents." Louisville Courier-Journal, Dem. The country Is indebted but little more to the Democrats in the present Congress than to the Republicans for relief from the burdens of a tariff for subsidy, the truth being that the bill as it went to conference was a product of Democrats as well as Republicans, and that several of its worst features could not have been incorporated in It except for the votes of Democrats, es pecially of Democrats in the Senate. And a still further and humillatlngly significant truth being that the chorus of opposition to the bill that is now going up from the Democrats in Con gress Is based upon the complaint, not that it is a highly protected measure, but that it makes an unfair division of the protection swag! Aa Old-Fashloned Christian Minister. New York Tribune. William R. Huntington was a Christian minister. Everything else in his life was made subservient to the fulfilment of that supreme calling. He sought no new de vices. He did not pose, or strain after sensational effects. Notoriety was not the breath of his nostrils. He was content to keep his church a church. He did not deem it necessary to introduce into it "smoking services" or moving picture shows or what has not unjustly been called "ecclesiastical vaudeville." For "drawing power" he depended upon noth ing more than preaching the gospel and administering the sacraments of the church according to his orthodox creed. But there was no complaint of empty pews in his church or of failure to keep men interested In religion. There was no decline of that church In spiritual au thority or In vital Influence for righteous ness during his ministry of a quarter of a century. No Just and intelligent person will for a moment dispute the fact that It has been a good thing for New York to have Grace Church in it with Dr. Huntington as its rector, or that It would be for the good of tne city to have such churches and such ministers multiplied. Graves of the Wicked. Washington (D. C.) Herald. Where is the man who has not wan dered now and then through the grave yards of the world and wondered where , the wicked folks are burled? If one be lieves all the tombstones say one In evitably inclines to think there never were many, if any. very, very wicked folks on earth. Both "Out of Politics." Brooklyn Ea?le. Tom Johnson in Cleveland and William Randolph Hearst in New York seem to be out of politics for the same reason. Only Johnson has lost his money, and Hearst Is saving his. The effect is identical.