I TTTP. TTrT?VTVn- OT? FCOVT V TTT'F.STj A Y". SEPTEMBER 14, 1909. - - t 1 I I FORTLAXn. OREOOS. Entered at Portland. Oman. Fostofrlcs a Second-Class Matter. fcuWrlation Rate laTarlabbr In Ad ranee. (By Mall.) Dally. Sunday Included, on year D '.ily. Sunday Indtxifd. six months Daily. Sundar Included. thra months... 1m;1v. Sunday Included, one mnth jj Ially. without Sunday, one year J llly. without Sunday, sla months i i Dal y, without Sunday, three months.... iJallv. without Sunday, one month...... -SO vklr. one .year. '. J jj f-inday. on year zj?J? Eunday and weekly, one year 3 su (By Carrier.) D!!. einnday Included, one year JO Dai;y. Sunday Included, one month 75 How to Rauilt 6enfl postonTlce money order, express order or, personal check on jour lor-al bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postonTlce ad dress In full, including- county and state, lntiia-e Kate 10 to 14 pafee. 1 reeit; 1 to L'H taea. 2 cents; 30 to 40 panes. 8 cent; 4i) to 60 pates. cents. Foreign postare diitiht rates. Eastern Business Office The 8. C. Beck wlth Special Arency New Tors, rooms 4S Bo Tribune building. Chlcaco. rooms 510-513 Tr'.l-une building. PORTLAJTD, TTESDAT. SEPT. 14, 1900. TUB WAR OF THE EXPLORERS. The elder Disraeli devoted one of the books of his "Curiosities f Liter ature" series to an account of "The Quarrels and Calamities of Authors." Such quarrels are often calamities; yet it muft be owned that multitudes of bibliophiles and literary mawormi take a kind of delight in them. So long as such controversies are recent and friends of the opposing parties survive, there will be a good deal of rattle of armor among the contest ants; and curiosity about great con tests of this kind often survives long after all contemporaries have passed away. The contest between Peary and Cook will be of the nature of a lit erary quarrel; for their writings, the examination of their records by scientists, and Innumerable essays on the facts and conjectures, in every country, will make an Immense mora of written memorials. Able men will gpt Into the controversy on either side. No on can tell yet whether Cook or Peary will have the better of It. But It will be another veritable "Battle of the Books." There was ample room at the North Pole for the visits of two men, with out interference with each other, es pecially since their dates place them at the Pole more than one year apart. But there Is to be a controversy, be side which all recent quarrels and calamities will pale their ineffectual tires. Both Cook and Peary may "make good" their claims to have reached the Pole;s but Peary has chal lenged the veracity of Cook. Evident ly he does not believe that Cook reached the Pole, and Intends to stake his reputation on his ability to prove It. On this point there must be dis comfiture for one or the other. "We take it for granted," says the New York Evening Post, "that Peary la convinced that his proofs are Indis putable. As a scientific man, he must know that so sweeping a denial will Inaugurate the bitterest kind of con troversy, beside which other differ ences between explorers will seem ut terly insignificant. Commander Peary must have realized also that there are many who will accuse him of Jealousy and spite, and, therefore, discount nil utterances; and that many others will wish he had deferred any comment on his rival until his return to this coun try. But the die Is now cast." Peary alleges that he will produce the testi mony of Cook's Eskimos against him. But these people have no knowledge of a scientific kind, and their testi mony may conclude nothing. Could they know whether they were at the Pole or not? But Peary says he had the same Eskimos that had served with Cook; and their denial of Cook's claims would be most embarrassing to their author. But the observations ' and general data furnished by the two explorers will be sifted with utmost care and with scientific precision by a multltuda of examiners and critics, and on these results the case will be made up. It could not be expected that Peary "ould be able to find any relics left by Cook at or near the Pole, a year earlier; for the movement of the Ice field across the polar region, which is both considerable and incessant, would render futile any expectation of the discovery tY later explorers of the relics of former ones. But It Is evident that the news paper world will be ringing ' for months, perhaps for years, with the resounding clamor of the two con testants and of their many partisans. Brooklyn is preparing to award to Cook, a resident of that borough, a mighty reception, and apparently In tends to become his champion. The contest, however, Is not one that num bers will decide, but competent Judg ment, passing on the evidence to be furnished by the two explorers. A OAXAL DBJSASX BBCALLED. Revival of Interest in waterway con struction and Improvement recalls the enthusiastic advocacy of coastwise canal-digging, by the late United States Senator John Tyler Morgan, of Vlabama. Senator Morgan was up to the last an uncompromising advocate of the Nicaragua route. He had, moreover, a vision, so to speak, of a chain of inland waterways from Port land. Me., to Galveston, Tex, which comprehended a series of canals that would safeguard the American domes tic marine by cutting off the haz ards of Cape Cod, Cape Hatteras and sundry shallow seas and bnyous. lie saw In the future and attempted to make his vision clear to his col leagues a ship canal Joining Dela ware and Chesapeake Bay; an other through the Great Dismal Swamp into Albemarle Sound, thence to Pamlico Sound, thence- to Onslow Bay. These were, in time, to be wipplemented by a ship canal across Florida, and by other artificial waterways across the Gulf coast to the mouth of the Rio Grande, thus secur ing what he deemed absolute safety to domestic marine trade. Senator Morgan's plan, to which few would listen except to discredit It, with due courtesy, was to build, first of all, the Nicaraguan Canal and from the profits of this, which he was sure would be large, to build from year to year ontil completed this great inland coast waterway. , He failed to arouse enthusiasm among his col leagues at the time. There is yet in deed no disposition to consider such a project, yet it had some merits to com mend it and these may eventually prove of sufficient value to revive it. Already private capital, that of Henry M. Flagler" and his associates, foresees profits In the operation of an ocean railroad from the lower east coast of Florida over almost fathom less depths of salt water to Key West and Cuba. Money to the extent of un counted millions stands ready to finance this scheme, compared with which the construction of an inland waterway, such as Senator Morgan planned, appears a small undertaking. In reviving memories of this old ca nal scheme and outlining' that of the proposed ocean railroad, the New York Commercial recalls that. In the twenty years following 1881, not less than 1000 vessels steam and sail were wrecked off Cape Cod or in con tiguous waters. The loss of life due to these wrecks was appalling and the financial loss reached Into the hun dreds'of millions. A canal connecting Cape. Cod with Buzzard's Bay would have prevented all that loss. This citation Is certainly pertinent to the subject of the .inland waterways Im provement, that" was the dream of Senator Morgan, and indicates the possibility of a -late fulfillment of his dream. IN A TROUBUD SEA. The President intends to speak on tariff on his Journey. Mighty deep water here, and cross-currents and whirlpools. The President is a pro tectionist, but all "protection" that some obtain others must pay for. They who can wield the main forces of the system grow enormously rich of" course, at the expense of others the enrichment of the few at the cost of the many. Such always is the result of "protection." But, since protection Is the policy of the country, since protection Is the system to which the country la committed, it is natural that each and every' part of the country should demand and insist on protection for Its own particular Interests. This produces the combinations that is sue in robber tariff bills. Each state or district supposes it la taking care of its particular' interests. But the peculiar genius that presides over the system brings the greatest profits to the few who have put themselves in position to control it and be its chief beneficiaries. They control the sources of supply of materials, as well as the markets and prices. They have the beds of iron ore, they have the sugar planta tions; they have the sources of wood pujp; they even force the railroads, on market staples, and the producer and laborer Is forced also. The system would be unjust and burdensome, even without protective tariff to support it. With protective tariff for its buttress, it can force such additional exactions as It thinks can be had without immediate danger of political revolution. Its strength and continuance lie in the fact that each particular district or state believes It can get special advantages to itself out of the shake of the dlcebox. Doubtless It Is true, to an extent, since the system is to continue; but who doesn't know that the chief advantages will enure to the few, already enormously rich, who are in a position to get the main usufruct? The President, doubtless, will take a middle course in trying to navigate troubled waters. STORY OF THE KEGRO. The story of the negro, as Mf. Booker Washington tells it, in The Outlook, makes interesting reading. In the first Installment, which is writ ten in an easy, sketchy style, he gently destroys the foundation of ignorance which most of our common prejudices against the colored race have reposed upon. Perhaps Mr. Washington has not tried to be amusing in the course of this piece of lconoclasm, but in one instance be has succeeded, whether he tried or not. In touching, by the way, upon the vexed subject of mixed blood, he points out that white men usually say the offspring of miscegenation Is always degenerate. Inferior to black and white alike. This is all very fine and possibly true, but In the next breath you will hear the same white men declaring that no negro has ever done anything worth while unless his tilood was mixed. Evidently the logic of this double ar raignment halts a little. Doubtless Mr. Washington Indulged in a quiet smile as he analyzed it. As a rule, in trying to inform our selves about the negro In this country and make up our minds about his capacities for progress, we have not paid enough attention to' what travel ers tell about .his condition in those parts of Africa where he has dwelt out of contact with whites. Mr. Wash ington quotes copiously from these accounts and. if we heed them, we shall be rescued from two errors at least. We shall escape from the super stitious belief that slavery Improved the negro morally and mentally, and we shall learn that It is untrue to say that he has never advanced with out help from white men. Slavery improved the negro In some respects, but it injured him in others. For example, in his native Africa It Is easy to convince oneeelf that he had developed a good deal of inde pendent initiative. He had faced the problems of life as they presented themselves in tropical Africa and had solved many of them adequately. This power of initiative, slavery de stroyed. It obliterated the Impulse of self-help and along this line pushed the colored race a long way back to ward childhood. Forbidden to think or act for themselves, they naturally lost the inclination to do so and even the power of individual enterprise must have atrophied. That it has measurably revived in the short time since slavery ceased. Is a marvel to any thoughtful mind. It ought not to surprise us that the negroes re semble children mentally. What ought to surprise us is that so many of them display manly intelligence after three centuries of systematic mental dwarfing. Unless African travelers are all in error, about the facts of the case, It is a mistake to believe that the ne groes have never made any progress toward civilization from their native impulse. The truth seems to be that thev have made a great deal. Every body knows that the negro of pure stock has a fine physique. If we could get rid of our blinding prejudice we Bhould agree with Walt Whitman that he is a handsome man. Mr. Wash ington cites plenty of facts' to show that the negro's intelligence is by no means despicable. In the Interior of Africa he has developed a consider able agriculture, one which supplies him with food at any rate. Among the tribes who have not been harried, enslaved and murdered there Is an admirable network of exchange car ried on in market places which have existed for many generations. Nor are they Incapable of settled govern ment. Mr. Washington cites the in stance of the chieftain, Mohammed Askia. a negro of pure blood who founded a great empire In 1492. The Fulahs and Hausas, tribes of the Ni ger now under British rule, were par ticularly gifted as inventors of laws and settled institutions. Evidently what we commonly take for knowledge of the negro in his ab original state Is altogether too much the product -of pur own fancy and prejudice. We boldly declare that he never has done anything when the evi dence proves that he has done quite as much as anj- other primitive race be fore it felt the stimulus of contact with outsiders. There seems to be no doubt at all that the negro in the African forests Is fully up to the mark of our own barbarous ancestors In the European forests. What he will ac complish and how far he will advance when white men cease to murder and torture him remains to be seen. the "ri.uRAi.rrv evil. The evil- of plurality rule consti tutes the main evil of the direct pri mary, when the direct primary Is. hot guided by some kind of representa tive action. The absurd results which have been realized In Oregon, under this method, have a highly deterrent effect In other states. It Is not the primary itself, but the self-suggestion of numerous candidates and nomina tion by a small plurality of oe or a bunch, who is not a representative man, that constitutes the objection. Hence the necessity of .councils, as semblies or conventions to suggest candidates for' the primary. Only so can there be' any maintenance of principles or distinctive purposes, through representative party action. A citizen of Indianapolis, Adolph Schmuck not a politician, but a dis interested citizen has written sev eral articles for various newspapers on the evil of plurality rule, through ungulded primaries drawing his ob servations from recent experiences in his own city. His latest Is an elabo rate article in the Indianapolis News a, paper that has warmly supported the direct primary, and still .favors it, but confesses its disappointment with the practical working of the law' un der the system that invites candidates to nominate themselves. It finds that representative men do not ob tain presentation for office in this way. The personal scramble excludes the fittest, and the plurality system com pletes the farce. We of Oregon have found all this. In ample measure. The general situation in Indianap oils, on, which Mr. Schmuck founds his statement and reasoning, does not differ from the situation here, or in other places where a mass of candi dates offer themselves and a plurality candidate comes forth as the nominee of his party. It is seldom in such a case that the man who Is successful will represent the majority tendency of his party; arid men who would be fittest for the positions to be filled will not come forth, under the con ditions. It Is becoming an old story n Oregon. Then comes party revolt, and the real sentiment of the people finds no expression In the succeeding election. It is said to be certain that the can didates for the Mayoralty In Indian apolis do not represent their parties at all, nor the people either, though one of them will be elected; and then the "professional" element and "boss" Influence will be stronger than before. The primary must remain under strict regulation and direction of law; but the attempt to make party nom inations under it, without some guide to representative party action, always will be a blunder. Yet our primary law leaves a way open to rational pro ceedings In the direction of party rep resentation; and this way will be fol lowed in Oregon hereafter. "UNTO DtJST SHALT THOU RETURN." All that wealth and human Ingenu ity could do to turn aside the decree "Unto dust shalt thou return" was in terposed in "behalf of the body of E. H. Hirrimnn. A steel casket, strongly constructed, received all that was mortal of the railroad king. This was hermetically sealed and lowered Into a brick-lined vault hewn from the solid rock- of the hillside and Impris oned therein with cement. thus fenced against, the processes of decay will be stayed and hampered ana Hin dered, but not defeated. Snr-vi riisnosal of a body may soothe grief temporarily - or flatter human vanity, but it can serve no ultimate purpose in the economy of Nature or in the sharing of events. i.ven me body of the great Pharaoh was at lonrfti rnthlesslv dragged rrom its centuries-old hiding place and, ghastly and repulsive in lta time-blackened cerements, was Installed in a niche where it might meet the Irreverent gaze of the curious. Cnmnllance. with the demand that Nature makes for its own is much more gracefully and not the less sure ly met by the simple process of cre mation which, overreaching all the revolting. Intervening steps of decay. loavoa of the human body in a iew 6hort hours but a small heap of clean. gray cinders. A SCHOOL COURSE IN ETHICS. a frttnl of 12.000 Dubllc schools were opened In Kansas yesterday. This Is a verv commonplace announcement. since an equal or greater number of ,.kii.- ar-hnola were opened In other states on the same day, the grand ag gregate forming a stupendous numoer. But in Kansas it is different. In Kansas most things are different from ihinn nf similar character In other states not Including Oklahoma. For example, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, collaborating with the State Board or .Education, nas formulated a new order whereby eth ics will be taught in the public schools. This subject does not appear In the regular course of study; that would m.iia it commonplace. It Is at tached thereto by a sweeping order of the State Superintendent ot bcnoois. It implies the curtailment of many tihortipa of which Kansan and' other fathers still boast as belonging to the estate of boyhood. Before It rails tne delight of beating the other fellow at "keeps." It means that the young "jayhawker," after playing his game, having duly observed the old-fash-ruin nt "knuckle-down." and other tame regulations supposed to in duce fair play, may pocKet nis mar bles and walk demurely away without a galling sense of loss or an undue sense of exultation. It means that the exuberance of boyish spirits, induced k the first, or any subsequent, snow fall must not find expression in pelt ing passers-by with snowDaiis. Again, the hoy who, forgetful or defiant of the new order of things, puts pepper or sulphur on the schoolhouse stove, or scatters snuff about, or ties tin cans to the tails of dogs, or pulls the girls' hair, or unties their apron strings, will be dealt with must be solemnly dealt with by the Kansan school teacher. How dealt with, and by what means? Moral suasion, of course, since in Kansas as elsewhere the birch In schools has fallen into disrepute. It Is. moreover, hardly probable that fathers who have made themselves heroes in the eyes of the Kansan schoolboys, by a recital of their suc cess In the game of "keeps." by stories of luscious watermelons abstracted by night from a neighbor's garden with the wrathful owner in full chase and perhaps a bulldog in full cry, or of a mysterious epidemic of sneezing that followed the Innocent scattering of snuff on the schoolroom' floor, will join very heartily in the effort to make these and similar misdemeanors ap pear heinous in the eyes" of their sons. It Is manifestly up to the Kansan teachers, sharply supervised by the State Superintendent, to make this course In ethics interesting to the schoolboys of the Sunflower State. In full realization of the difficulties that lie In the pathway of this endeavor, and of the sleepless vigilance that this course In ethics will entail updn the members of an already fad-ridden profession, The Oregonlan beg3 to ex tend sympathy and proffer moral sup port in the premises. I Preliminary steps for establish ment of the Reed Institute, made pos sible by the generous bequest of Simeon G. and Amanda Reed, will shortly be taken. In a measure of this kind it is the part of wisdom to make haste slowly. It Is, In fact, necessary to proceed with a delibera tion and prudence, to the end that the intent of the donors may be faithfully carried ouV Litigation having ceased, the bequest which makes the Reed Institute an assured fact is now at the disposal of the board of managers that has been delegated to handle it and the weighty questions covering the scope and purpose of the institute are being carefully considered. No community can afford' to have a mis take made in a matter that trenches so closely upon its welfare as this. It may be added, with confidence, that no mistake will be made in this case. If Southern Oregon papers that publish sneers about "the recent dis covery of Southern Oregon by the Ore gonlan" had either memory or knowl edge, they would know that The Ore gonlan, many and many a year, has published more matter descrip tive of Southern Oregon and its ad vantages than all other publications whatsoever. Through the whole of Its own long history and that of the state. The Oregonlan has been doing this continuously. Climate, soli, productive capacity, mines, fruits and the scenic wonders of Crater Lake all were first made known to the world through The Oregonlan; and the work has been kept up from the first for The Oregonlan always has been the newspaper of all Oregon, and of the Oregon Country, now constituting many states. It has been the work of more than fifty years. The public schools of this city and the wide area known as District No. 1 nTwrnon VMtprdRV with a full corDS o'f teachers and a large first-day at tendance. Later, when the children gather In from the hop yards and orchards and from Summer out ings at seaside resort and mountain camps, the largest enrollment in the history of the Portland public schools will no doubt be reached. The growth of a city Is measured by the growth of its homes and homes without cmi dren are still happily the exception tp the good old-fashioned rule. Transfer of Henry B. Miller from .v, r-,ro r, f rnncni.r;pn(irjii at Yoko hama to that of Consul at Belfast will no dou'bt prove acceptable to mm ana m fftmHv Thflv have been in the Orient since 1900, Mr. Miller having serve tt as uonsui ai tnung xvuig ouu NTt.t rhmflnff nrtnr to his nnnnintment at Yokohama. , A thoroughly practi cal man, he has servea me country well in the important stations to which he has been assigned. A young Indiana church organist, detained in Los 'Angeles for eloping with a wealthy young woman, says he Is wiling to go back and believes he can arrange to be forgiven by the de serted wife. There is no doubt of it, as she is said to be an invalid and has three young children, and women are proverbially "easy." If she were strong and husky,-with a square jaw and muscle to match, his repentance would not 'be evident. It has been found necessary on the part of the state to transfer a murder case in the Superior Court at Tacoma because the Judge is opposed to capital punishment. When men who "adorn" the bench are allowed to interpret jus tice to suit their whims, it Is little wonder the proletariat has a howl coming. ' A Heidelberg professor announces that he has discovered HaUey's comet which has been lost these seventy years. In the present era of Incredu lity, how does he propose to lay his proofs before an International scien tific board of Investigation ? Postmaster-General Hitchcock pro poses to find out whether Uncle Sam Is paying the railroads too much or too little for carrying the mails. Did vou ever hear of a railroad hauling stuff for any one too cheap? With the opening of schools yester day there Is a cry for more room from all parts of the state. t The director of the census would read the Oregon news with profit. How the world does howl with Joy when a clergyman falls from grace, and how the worrd should be ashamed of Itself! To err Is human, and some times divine. When Anna Held In the news dis patches offers $10,000 to be landed at New York In an airship, it proves originality and effectiveness in- her press agent. Says our Jonathan: "If I can be h rblef fuelnman In entertainment of the President at my City of Port land, I care not who discovers the Pole." Some people are saying Peary .took the Cook house in the Arctic. His friends think he has taken the bakery, too. - Meteorological traditions have been broken. The State Fair opened with out rain. Mrs. Pearv isn't sitting ud nights to make Christmas presents for Mrs. Cook. Mr. Beals, having returned, is giv ing us his prettiest. WHAT TO WEAR WHEV TAFT COM 15! A Chance for the Ever? -Hay American to Ft ra pi re for His Country. Baltimore Sun. The eminent citizens who wimiiie the reception committee In Ix.ulninna have resolved that during l,r-ll"iit Taft's visit to the state they will ti"t appear In long-tailed cout itii'l sUI hats. They have decided thnt comfort is more than style and the body thud raiment; and they do not propoan Iff swelter along in hot clothes Junt for the sake of making a show. Weighing a few stone under 300 pounds. Mr. Taft is somewhat of a swelterer himself, and he must appreciate the feeling, of tno stout committeemen who have to wad dle around as his bodyguard. But is this showing proper respect for the President of the United States? For generations whenever an American has wished to put on his dignity in the daytime he has arrayed himself In a long-tailed black coat that covers him like a blanket and makes him look like a clothier's dummy. He has topped his costume with the high silk hat, which is the unfailing mark of prominence and importance. True, when Princess Eulalie came from Spain to grace the World's Fair at Chicago certain emi nent citizens of that enterprising town appeared at the municipal breakfast in swallow-tailed evening clothes, but their fate has been ever since a warn ing to other receptionists not to appear In anything save the regular recog nized uniform. The Louisiana men may be brave in resolving to face the country iri com mon everyday clothes, but it is bravery that verges on sheer recklessness.- For several days they will be right in the limelight and the public gaze will rest upon them. They will be so close to the President that they will look al most prominent. Do they dare allow the eyes of the populace to rest on them when they are In ordinary attire? Their very appearance will at once arouse the suspicion that they are not the men for the place. How can the people look up to them if they have no high hats? How can they be dis tinguished from the mere folks who are not committeemen? Everyone will suspect that they are committeeing un der false pretenses. No matter what the Louisianans may do, we hope the 2927 committeemen at the other points on the Presidents tour will realize what the occasion de mands and measure up to their full duty. It may be trying to wear a long-tailed coat blanketed around you, and struggle along under a high hat that looks like a stovepipe and fits like a crackerbox, but there are times when personal feelings must be put aside. It Is a poor committeeman who will not be willing to perspire for his country. ( THIRSTY HARD HIT BY TARIFF. More Evidence of What the Cooramer Kinds In the Payne BUI. Kansas City Star. Another example of what Mr. Ultimate K. Consumer drew In that fascinating prize package which those funny Sena tors In Washington wrapped up this Summer and labeled the Payne bill has been brought to his attention in the last few days. Cute little placards have ap peared In most of the bars In the city within a day or two conveying to him this Interesting intelligence: ? All Imported Beers, 15 Cents. : Now, as everybody knows who knows anything about it, that means that those tall, tapering glasses containing Pilsener and other German brews which one for merly purchased to give' the crowd the impression that he had traveled exten sively abroad, have been rudely snatched out of reach of the great common people and handed over to the jaded palates of the pampered rich. The reason for this blow leveled at the great American thirst is, of course, the increased duties on the beverage levied under the new law. Of course. . propor tionate Increases have been made on champagne, brandies and other Imported wines and liquors, but these do not bear so heavily on the every-day straphanger, who only goes to a banquet once a year and doesn't care what the "whoopee" stuff costs so long as he gets a pocketful of corks as souvenirs. Plain bucket beer is still quoted steady at 5 cents the glass, but In these days, when the cost of all the necessities of life Is going skyrocketing, there's no telling. Ten cents may be the price before long. Muzzle for Crowing Booster. Washington, D. C, Dispatch. The recent municipal edict, which may spell the banishment of the sleep destroying rooster within Washing ton's limits, has aroused the inventive genius of a man who has devised a rooster muzzle. His Idea is to kill the crow, but save the rooster. This ad vocate of a noiseless chanticleer be lieves that If the authorities will sanc tion the use of the device, which con sists of a simple collar of leather with a small cotton pad fastened around the rooster's neck sufficiently tight to throttle the vocal organ, both the com munity and the rooster can live in peace and quiet. United States May Need the Pole. Hartford (Conn.) Times. William H. Seward annexed Alaska to the United States in 1S67, and now Dr. Cook has annexed the North Pole, If discovery carries with it the right of possession. It is easy enough to say we do not want to own the Pole, but a good many people said the same thing about Alaska at first. There mav be great advantages some day in having title to the 300,000 square miles of "territory cut out from the terres trial unknown," as the explorer strik ingly says. For one thing, . there is probably a lot of coal up. there, and coal land is good property wherever you find it on the surface of the earth. Muzsle the Dogs. Chicago Record-Herald. The American Veterinary Association declares that the number of deaths from . hydrophobia in this country varies from 100 to 300 a year, despite all that the Pasreur Institutes can do. In contrast with our record there is the record of Great Britain In which there has been no case of hydrophobia since 1899; of Holland, where there has been none since 1879, and of Berlin, where there has been none since 1883. Muz zling and quarantine of imported dogs serve to eradicate the disease. Suggestion to Dr. Cook. Chicago Tribune. Dr. Cook should explain more com pletely why he had to spend a year in the wilderness after having, as he says,, reached the Pole. The first and the last thought of a man who had thus gained a title to enduring fame would be to hasten back to civilization and claim his laurel wreath. He would brave many dangers to escape being Immured for a year in the desolation of Ellesmere Land. No Wages or Jail Life for Drunks. Reading, Pa., Dispatch. Mayor Arthur, of McKeesport, Pa., has decided that men convicted of in toxication must sign a paper permit ting their wives to draw their wages for at least one year. In the case of an unmarried man his next of kin, man or woman, is to draw his wages. The alternative is a term of six months in the workhouse. Licensed Chauffeur 13 Years Old. Bangor, Me., Dispatch. Arthur H. Terry, Jr.. 13 years old, is said to be the youngest licensed chauf feur in Maine. The boy drives a 10 horsepower automobile for his father. NKW USF2 FOR TUB INITIATIVE. Kntploy It to Cheek the Tendency To- ' ward I'srless Public Officers. I'OKTLANI), Sept. 13. (To the Editor.) An i-dltorlHl In The Oregonlan Friday on "Nothing Ijolng'" was a center shot at 1 1 in hiillKf-yi). ' The county has no more tifi fur five Circuit Judges than it ha fur n-vf.n Comity Clerks, nor than the iy hn for nn additional crew of health iirrlmrs. You are not the only citizen who la supremely disgusted with the ten-1-ii:y toward officialism run to seed tnl then some. lint thle: Circuit Judge business is the limit. Officialism in this direction has gone daft In Oregon. Haker County, for ItiKiurjcf, has now a Circuit Judge all to IIH lf. Union and Wallowa have one. The UiKt legislature, controlled by the "choice of the pupl," "trrteners" and "State ment One" devotees, foisted another on Multnomah against a decided popular pro Ut and another on a Southern Oregon district where the presiding Judge him self voiced his opposition to the scheme. But Chamberluln demanded It as a re ward for. his sacrifice in accepting the senatorshlp at the hands of servile "Re publicans," and it was done. Had to be done! Sure! Why not get the people In action with the Initiative In support of a measure to abolish at least two of the Judgeships In Multnomah County, consolidate several outside districts and thereby lessen the number of superfluous Judges by three or four and weed out a regiment of useless burdens to the people? It is not likely that the world Is gov erned too much, but there is no doubt that there is a growing and fattening ex cess of men on official payrolls who pre tend to be governing something or some body. It is likely that the people will be fore long wipe out the initiative and other modern excresences on our hitherto representative system, of government, but while It is yet with them they should give through its agency a final swat to this unchecked drift toward more offi cers, and still more. A few doses like that would tend to Indicate that the people have some sane conception of what the Initiative privilege may be made to do and the process would go far toward creating a sentiment In favor of Its retention. Why not use it in that way? . YOUNG FOGY. HUMOR, OF POLES AND POLLS. Heaatny Murphy Gives Flippant Ideas on Kot Discoveries. PORTLAND, Sept: 13. (To the Editor.) People are keeping their brains, or what's left of them, stewed up over the discovery of the North Pole. Why should we interfere with the business of the ex perts, or the disciples of Ananias? That's a queer place, anyway, to nail the Stars and Stripes. I'll bet $2 that the American eagle will keep away from the North Pole, although it might be a good place for decaying things like State ment No. 1. Saddest of all, it has got the poets on a sublime spree. . One of them sings of the purple cold eternal, and the doom of all things vernal, where the wind is death In motion, flying o'er a frozen ocean and then pictures the flag, bloom ing with the beauty of a cause that can not die, smiling at the outer worlds against a frozen sky. I wonder if that poet is any kin to Jona than Bourne? Jonathan is the only man I know of who can picture bloom and besuty in a commonwealth of frozen faces. Brethren, you should study your own poles or polls your understandings have been frozen up long enough. Two hot bricks ought to thaw them out. If Oregon studied the poles or polls of Its National representatives. It would apolo gize to the North Pole and suspend Judg ment as to the South Pole. It would send greetings to the Eskimos as having the one government free from hot air, and the one country where you can't make a statesman otft of a flunky. Brethren, study the poles when President Taft comes here, and the poles will make you free. JAMBS HENNES3Y MURPHY. . Getting In Touch With the Soil. L. H. Robbins, In Newark (N. J.) News. A $75,000 automobile rolled through the $60,000 bronze gates and up the $35,000 winding avenue to the $20,000 marble steps. Descending from the machine, the billionaire paused a moment to view the smiling $500,000 landscape. Across the $90,000 lawn a -$125,000 silver lake lay speellng in the shades of early evening, and beyond It rose a lordly $80,000 hill, whose crest, cloaked with forest at an exn,ense of $200,000, glowed in the last golden rays of the setting sun. The billionaire sunk luxuriously Into "a $2000 Ivory porch chair and restod his feet on the rosewood railing of the $160. 000 veranda.. "It is pleasant," he observed, "to get back to nature once in a while. After the cares and worries of the business day, I certainly love to run out to this quiet little $60,000,000 country club of ours and taste a bit of simple life. It is good to keep In touch with the soil, for what Is man but dust after all?" Feeling restored, he passed In through the $400,000 doorway to his $1500 din ner. Scouts for Swarming Bees. Scientific American. Swarms of bees are sometimes com pelled to take refuge In remarkable shelters. A peculiar and Instructive instance was observed by the writer in the Spring of 1908. The swarm flew over a large vineyard which contained a few buildings. One of these buildings was constructed of hollow concrete blocks. The swarm flew directly toward a small hole in one of the blocks and disappeared in the interior. No doubt the swarm had rested on a tree or shrub on the preceding day and had sent out scouts to seek a home. The scouts found the little hole leading into the great cavity of the concrete block and reported their dis covery to their comrades. This case furnishes indisputable proof that swarming bees really send out scouts, as they are believed to do, for the little hole could not have been discovered in the rapid and lofty flight of the swarm. The Charm of Youthful Eves. Washington (D. C.) Herald. "Up to the age of 16 Dick had re tained the proper scorn of things fem inine." said Fred S. CoTer, of Chicago, at the Riggs, telling the following lit tle yarn. ''Then he went to a dancing school and was smitten by the charms of several youthful Eves. Accordingly, jjick approached his father and re quired theater ticket- for two. "Father complied and merely asked as he turned over the seats, 'Which girl Is it?' " 'I'm going to take Mabel,' Dick re sponded. "Then she's the one you like best? father continued. Dick turned a superior and pitying eye upon his parent. 'Oh. no. I don't like her best. You don't understand the situation, father. It isn't the girl I care about. It's the experience I want.' " . Inherently Improbable. Chicago Tribune. Baldwin What's the matter with you, Rambo? - Rambo Been cel'bratln th' dlsh cov'ry of th' Pole, ole fel'r. Baldwin Think you can make me be lieve you accumulated a jag like that on dogmeat and train oil? Three Chances. Princeton Tiger. "Baltimore has three saloons to one policeman." ' "That gives you three guesses as to where the policeman is." "Mr. Dooley" on the North Pole BY F. P. DUNNE. "D'ye think," asked Mr. Hennessy, "that both these lad1 has discovered the North Pole?" "Faith, I don't know." said Mr. Dooley. "Ayether they have discovered it or they've Invlnted It. It don't make much dlff'rence which. I afn't ah Artie explor. er. Ail the polar observations I have lver took has been took at a pint about a Toot an' a half fr'm a base-burnin' stove on a Winter's night. But I've had me thee rles an' I'm glad to see thlm verified. Wan lv thlm was that th' North Pole was In a northerly direction. Another was that If iver discovered a careful obsarver wud find ice In th" neighborhood. Both contributions to science has been estab lished. Th'-scientific wurruld is no longer In doubt. Th' North Pole Is sartalnly in th' north. It Is not so far north to go to as I thought, but It is farther to come away fr'm. Ye go up In th' afthernoon on th" publick sledge that meets th' two thirty at Uppenavlk an' ye come back In fr'm two to five years. As f'r th' ice, it was not nictesry to bring back specimens. Both explorers agree that they noted dis tinct thraces iv this precyous min'ral ln dlcatln' that there are valyable deposits near by. Why, thin, ask me what good . does Artie exploration do whin these here two gobs iv knowledge have been added to th' wurruld's store lv information. We now know all there is to be known about the North Pole. "Who do I think gets th' honor iv bein' there first? Faith, I'm not goin' to de cide. As Dock Cook says th' honor is great enough f'r both an' there's little enough lv It, as It is. If th' Dock wasn't th' first there he was th first to say he was. an' I ain't sure that it don't take more courage to be th' first to say that ye wint there thin it does to be th' first to go there. I believe thlm both, I don't see anny reason f'r not bellevln' thlm. It's aisler to believe thlm thin not. I ex tlnd me hand to both lv thlm. I say: 'I congratylate ye with all me heart. No, no; don't show me anny proofs. If ye've got to prove it, it ain't 60. But if ye'd come to me years ago I wud've told ye all about It an' yet might've been at wurruk all this time at some useful occy pation.' "How did they get up there? says ye. Th' doctor took what Is known as th gum dhrop route. 'I discovered.' says he, 'years ago that th' way to win me way to th' North Pole was be means lv a Judicyous distribution lv gum dhrops. This here delicious but sticky edyble Is priced beyond annything In thlm grim Northern climes as an ornymint. " 'At two-thirty we put th' electhrlc lights lv Upper Navik behind us an' were started on 'our journey. Th' days flew with Incredible speed. Our suffer ing were intense. At 3 o'clock we stopped to kill a musk ox. At three-thlry we see on our right a vast island iv thirty-six thousand, five hundherd miles in extinct which Wallo Wallo said was a game preserve. We did not go near It. A lack iv public spirit on th' part lv th' Polar taxpayers has left th" Ice here in an exthremely bad condition. It Is full iv ruts. Why will not these people lam that their business will suffer If they do not keep up th' highways? 1 " 'At four o'clock we had a dog f'r tea. This rejooced our speed to sixty miles an hour. But at five o'clock me heart stopped beating, f'r Wallo Wallo cried: "Here we ar-re." We were at last at th' gool lv our ambitions. I will de scribe me sinsatlons. Me first slnsa tion was: "They won't believe It." Mo slcond an' last sinsatlon was: "Thank hlven 'tis an' American an' It ain't Peary that has won this glory f'r th" old flag.' I lmmedately made scientific obsar-atlons. I first ast th' askymo chief If he was sure he wrs right. He said he knew th1 dlrthrict as we'.l as I knew Fulton street, Brooklyn. F'r th' pur pose iv further sati-sfyin' th' skeptical I obsarved that th' pole was surrounded ant covered be Ice. How wud I dp scribe It? I wud say that It looked like a skating rink although not po densely popylated. "Well, sir, the lnthrepld explorer had hardly been back In Copenhagen long enough to have his hair cut an' take dinner with the king, whin I opened up the pa-aper an' see that Penry had discovered th' North Pole too. Strhange he didn't see Dr. Cook. He must've been on th' other side Iv the Pole nt th' same time. 'Twud've been very effectln' If these two men had met on th' top lv th' earth. Thin there wud den't be anny question iv which wns th' first. Th' one that got home at all wud he th' boy. How they wud've em braced each other an' rasseled over th' frozen sea. But It didn't happen. Th' North Pole must have a bigger top thin I thought If these two old com rades nlver run Into each other at nil an' both Iv them there at th' same time. But they didn't see each other an' -didn't come acrost a thrace iv each other. Th' most Important scientific observation Iv ayether lv thlm Is that he didn't see th' other. 'How do I establish my claim to findln' th' North Pole?" says Peary. 'Because Cook wasn't there.' 'How do I know I was at th' Pole?' says Cook. 'Because I took careful observation an' found that Peary wasn't there,' says he. It's a fine thing to see th" the sclentitlc spirit that these two heroes show, an' to know there ain't anny more jealousy among thlm thin ye'd be liable to find among actors. 'I honor Peary." says th' magnanimous Cook, i 'Some day I hope he will devote his patience an' his en ergy to th' gr-reat cause iv Arctic Ex ploration." 'Doctor Cook," says Peary, is a splendid man an' I'm glad to know that he's goin" to splnd his life fr'm now on In the orchid huntin' Brazil," he says. "Thank th' Lord, lv'e nlver discovered th' North Pole an' so me repytatlon f'r truth an' veracity will go on bein' good among sthrongers. Yet I don't know that I wudden t be- easier in me mind knowin' ivrybody thought I was a liar than If I thought Ivrybody else was a liar." "Who will th' North Pole belong to?' asked Mr. Hennessy. "It's ondecided," said Mr. Dooley. "Some think England, some says th' United States and some says Denmark. There'll probably be a fight over It but I think Denmark will get it." "Why." asked Mr. Hennessy. "It will go to th' loser." said Mr. Dooley. (Copyright 1909 by H. H. McClure & Co.) POLITICAL SHOUT COMMENT. Bryan had. a spirited runaway acci dent by motorcar in Springfield, Mo. He hasn't been able to strike so fast a pace since he ran away with a National convention. Boston Herald. The public Invariably tires of a player like Colonel Bryan, who cannot get a hit in several 'times at bat. He might make a good umpire, but he will never be a good ball player. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Western peoplo look forward eagerly to the day when Mr. Cannon will be given a minority membership on the House committee on Potomac River front and ventilation and acoustics that Is If he remains in Congress. Kansas City Star. In popular governments political stagnation is certain to follow the dis appearance of an alert oppposltlon. Some, of the ills of Democracy are due to the fact that in various respects it has ceased to oppose Republicanism, and has sought to assist it. Others are traceable to the platform habit, which has led It into many strange and con tradictory declarations. In main, how ever, the spirit of faction has grown because In the search by would-he leaders for a novelty the real principles of the party, always applicable, have been neglected. New York World. V