T1TE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1909.
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PORTLAND. TUESDAY. OCT. 19. 1908.
FERSOAX. RBSPOXSranJTY.
"Society makes Its criminals." It is
a, common assertion, but a false one.
6oclety has Its faults and fooleries and
failures, but it does not make crim
inals. It Is the business of each and
every Individual to know what Is true
and what la false, and tot keep out of
the criminal class. Individual respon
sibility is the only basis of society.
It must be enforced. Then society
will be what individual responsibility
makes It. Society doesn't teach men
to steal and to become outlaws. No
notion is more monstrous than the
idea that society makes its criminals.
Undoubtedly society has its vices. But
who Is bound to imitate them?
Even further. Who is to say that he
is forced by the pressure and tendency
of the times to do wrong, to violate
the fundamental principles of honesty
and fair dealing? That is what the
man Morse pleaded the New York
Morse when he said that he had done
no more than others had done. Moore
of Portland pleads the same thing.
These people assert that they are
driven by the constitution of society to
do what they have done. Society."
therefore, is to be blamed, not them
selves. This is the most untenable
and absurd of all arguments. Such
sorry plea for elimination of human
and personal responsibility never will
be accepted in this world. It would
cut all the moral responsibility for
the Individual's acts up by the roots.
No person is at liberty to lay the
blame of his misdeeds on society, or
on its usages. The Individual must be
held to personal accountability, and
the lapses of one make no excuse for
another.
These are trite remarks. But the
Btatement they carry is true, and al
ways will be. No one is to put In the
plea, for extenuation of wrongdoing,
that he is but following the fashion
or custom of the time. In the first
place, he mistakes about the fashion
and custom of the time and misrep
resents it. In the next place, he has
no right to plead evil-doing in others
as in excuse for his own.
EFFECTS OF VACCINATION.
The number of persons in the world
who are eager to sacrifice their own
welfare and everybody else's for the
sake of exploiting a fad is astonish
ingly large. Nothing testifies to the
multitude and the persistence of these
deluded people better than the crusade
they keep up against vaccination. It
makes no difference to them that the
vast majority of enlightened physicians
assert that vaccination has made
smallpox a comparatively rare and
harmless disease, instead of the uni
versal plague it used to be. Lake the
antl-vivisectionlsts, although they
seem to be kindly persons In ordinary
life, when they are once mounted on
their hobby they are ready to spread
death and slaughter round about them
without a tremor. By diligent search
they are able to unearth some appar
ently cogent reasons against vaccina
tion. On closer examination these
reasons are seen to be worthless, but
the faddists go on repeating them Just
the same as if they were sound, and
make them an excuse for subjecting
themselves and their families and
neighbors to a loathsome plague as
blithely as if they were distributing
happiness instead of death. '
Vaccination is not a very old prac
tice. It Is only since the year 1799
that it has been common. When Jen
ner first advocated it he was assailed
with a storm of vituperation so ran
corous that one might have supposed
he was inviting people to murder their
children Instead of showing how they
might be saved from misery often
worse than death. But that need oc
casion no surprise, for it has been the
lot in greater or less degree of every
Innovator In medicine. Few men have
ever lessened the virulence of any dis
ease 'without being made to suffer for
It. Even the invention of the serum
for the cure of spinal meningitis has
evoked a furious storm of calumny
from the antl-vlvisectionlsts. They
would prefer to see the poor children
perish of this frightful scourge rather
than admit that their propaganda is
foolish. Physicians did, however, in
spite of the howls of simpletons, grad
ually take up the practice of vaccina
tion, and in consequence of it small
pox soon became one of the uncommon
diseases of the world. In the eight
eenth century . it was comparatively
rare in any walk of life to see a per
son whose face was not pitted by the
pest. Now it is still rarer to see one
who has suffered from its ravages.
Since during most of the last century
vaccination was practiced throughout
the civilized world, and since few per
sons are now attacked by smallpox,
while those few are almost always
among the class who have not been
vaccinated, it would seem rational to
draw the conclusion that the banish
ment of the disease has been effected
by the remedy which physicians have
applied. Still there are some who do
not think so.
It is possible even to find physicians
who affect to believe that vaccination
has had nothing to do with the meas
urable disappearance of smallpox.
They contend that inasmuch as it is a
disease imported from the tropics, we
might naturally have expected it to
lose its virulence in northern cli
mates and disappear in course of time.
Hence the supposed efficiency of vac
cination is nothing but a case of post
hoc ergo propter hoc. The result
would have been the same If Jenner
had never made his discovery. The
answer to this argument is obvious
enough, of course. All that Is neces
sary is to point out the undeniable fact
that persons not .vaccinated have
smallpox today Just as virulently aa
they ever did and that it is fully as
frequent among them as it ever was,
taking Into account the infrequent
chances of exposure. It Is also worth
remarking that tropical pestilences
like cholera and bubonic plague, for
which no remedial serum has yet been
discovered, do not lose their virulence
In northern latitudes. but become
more deadly than they were at home.
Even if tropical diseases did lose
their power to slay after they had
passed through a number of succes
sive individuals in the north, no argu
ment against vaccination could be de
duced from the fact. because the
course of trade is continually bringing
fresh virus from places where its
vigor is unimpaired. vTime and cold
weather cannot therefore be the agen
cies which have abated the ravages
of smallpox, because they have had
no opportunity to aoc. The civilized
world has been newly Infected from
the tropics every year. But it is pos
sible to see exactly what effect vac
cination has upon smallpox in situa
tions where no other curative factor
can be at work. All we have to do
Is to observe a tropical country like
the Philippines before the population
has been vaccinated and afterward.
When the United States troops en
tered the Philippines smallpox was
an everyday disease there. Between
three and four millions of the people
have since been vaccinated and the
disease has almost disappeared. In
this case it is not possible to say that
a cold climate has produced the result.
Nothing has been at work except the
vaccine serum. It would be interest
ing to hear an opponent of the rem
edy explain the phenomenon.
A BRASSY Bl'PINESS.
Now it is asserted that the Attor
ney General has no standing to deny
the right of the two additional Justices
to sit on the Supreme Bench, since the
Constitution authorizes no such offi
cial as Attorney General.
If you are on the search for a non
sequitur, here you have it. The Con
stitution does expressly limit the num
ber of Justices of the Supreme Court
to three. But the Constitution itself
contemplates the appointment by law
of officials not expressly provided for
in it, yet forbids the creation of any
office, the tenure of which shall be
longer than four years.
Under the recognized right of the
Legislature to create offices not ex
pressly prohibited by the Constitution
a multitude of such offices have been
created: as Private Secretary to the
Governor, Land Commissioner, Food
and Dairy Commissioner, Fish Com
missioner, Game Commissioner, Insur
ance Commissioner the list is end
less. The Attorney General Is in this
list, and the legality of this office
was established and consecrated when
"Our George" was elected to It.
So far as one can see, the Legislature
might go on creating offices endlessly,
except when specifically forbidden by
the Constitution to do so. But, in
the case of the Supreme Court, it is
specifically forbidden by constitu
tional limitation of the Justices to
three.
As now constituted, the Supreme
Court is clearly and certainly an ille
gal tribunal. Besides, the law that au
thorizes the additional Justices was
passed and approved directly in the
face of an overwhelming declaration
of the people against the change of the
Constitution to authorize such an act.
It was a shameless, as well as an un
constitutional business, but a legiti
mate child of the new system of hocus
pocus reform.
A GOVERNMENT OUTRAGE.
Slowly but surely, the hand of death
is shortening the list of active claim
ants for damages suffered by American
sealers unlawfully seized by the Amer
ican Government nearly a quarter of a
century ago. The death at Astoria
last Friday of Captain James Tatton
will awaken memories of the most dis
graceful transaction in which the
LTnited States ever became involved.
Tatton, a Yankee shipmaster of the
"oaken breed," with genuine love for
the American flag, in company with
Captain W. E. Warren, still a resident
of Astoria, in 1886 fitted out the seal
ing schooner Alpha, and set sail for
the northern sealing grounds. With
Implicit faith in the protection of the
flag he was sailing under, and with
perfect knowledge of maritime law
governing the locality, Captain Tatton
sailed into Bering Sea, and, while well
outside the legal limit of three miles,
was seized by an American revenue
cutter.
Five other American schooners and
six British schooners were seized at
the same time. Some of the crews
were thrown into squalid Alaskan
prisons, others were cast adrift, penni
less, on the beach, and one proud old
British captain, rendered ill by hard
ship and exposure after he had been
driven from his schooner, wandered
into the woods and perished, a rav
ing maniac. Tatton and his fellow
sufferers worked their way back to
civilization and made immediate de
mand for recompense for the outrage.
Justice was denied or, rather, post
poned, and a year later a dozen fine
schooners that had been making their
home port at Seattle, Port Townsend,
Astoria and other American ports
hauled down the American flag and
fared forth from Victoria as Cana
dian sealers. The - British subjects
laid the matter of the seizure before
their government, and payment was
demanded. The United States de
murred and, after' fighting the cases
for several years, at last paid over to
the owners of the seized vessels $42j,
000 In full for the value of the vessels
seized, the catches already made and
prospective, and interest on the money
from the time the seizures were made.
All of the British schooners seized
when' the Alpha and other American
schooners were taken participated in
th'i award, which was made nearly 15
years ago; but as yet not one cent has
been paid the unfortunate Americans
who were caught at the same time and
under exactly similar conditions Ail
of the seizures made by the American
revenue cutter were declared by an
International commission to be illegal,
and the claim of the American sealers
should have had equal consideration
with the British. It has not been
paid, however, and failure of the Gov
ernment to protect its own citizens
cost this country more than half of
that immense fleet of sealing schoon
ers that were driven over to Victoria.
Captain Tatton was 61 years of age
when he died, and he was a compar
atively young man when he was
robbed of his schooner and means of
a livelihood. Captain Warren and
some of the other victims of the out
rage are still living, but unless the
Government should change its policy
and extend to them the same treat
ment that Groat Rritain insists shall
be given her subjects, the chances for
the liquidation of the long overdue
claim are remote.
SOCIETY AM) THE CRIMINAL.
The first and most vivid impression
of the reader of The Oregonian yes
terday, when he saw the pictures of
the fugitive convicts who had been in
battle with the officers, was that they
were obviously both criminals and de
generates. - Perhaps It was the sullen
gray costumes they wore; perhaps it
was the deadly pallor that comes with
Imprisonment; perhaps it was the
hang-dog look and hopeless demeanor
that are characteristic of the hunted
man; but there they were, boldly por
trayed by the truth-telling camera as
the true type of desperate and reckless
lawbreakers. No man, woman or
child could have met either of these
men and have failed to note that they
belonged to a class distinct and apart.
They were and are criminals. They
could never have disguised themselves
so that their character would not at
once have been known at first glance.
Their escape, therefore, was impos
sible. These are desperate men. They have
not been In prison through any fortu
itous combination of circumstances,
or through any chance misstep. Their
attitude toward society and the law
was shown when they conspired to
overpower their guards and escape,
slaying all who came in their way.
They shot at their pursuers on sight.
The officers had and have no alterna
tive but to strike down such men in
their tracks. For they are outlaws
.of the lowest and most dangerous de
scription. They are. or are ready to
be, murderers, every one of them.
There can be no sympathy for the con
vict who wa3 killed In his tracks, and
there should be no sympathy for the
others who were badly wounded and
may later be severely punished. So
ciety must protect Itself.
AS TO WIXK-ELRIED.
We venture to believe that if Mr.
C. Bircher will read The Oregonian's
comments on John Brown a little more
carefully he will not object to what it
said incidentally about Winkelried.
To be sure, he was called a "fool," but
so was Cavonarola in the same breath,
a circumstance which, ought to have
put Mr. Bircher on the alert. As his
letter, which appears In the paper to
day, shows he is a man of intelli
gence, and probably he has too much
sense of humor not to understand that
a man may be a "fool" from the ter
restrial point of view while he Is su
pernally wise in the light of eternity.
The Oregonian classed the heroic
Winkelried among those fools who
"throw themselves away that God may
work his will upon the world."
We might have put the idea a little
more obviously and tritely by saying
that Winkelried was one of those men
who sacrifice themselves for the good
of their kind, but we did not think it
necessary to be quite so literal when
addressing the readers of The Orego
nian. They are usually able to come
at the meaning even through a hedge
of irony. Mr. Bircher would have un
derstood instantly that we meant to
praise Winkelried, not to slur him, If
his patriotic zeal had not, for the
moment, overcome his literary Judg
ment. It does not make very much
difference, perhaps, whether a man
dies in battle or by the executioner
If he gives his life for liberty and truth.
Winkelried died facing the foe with a
sheaf of spears in his heart. John
Huss died by the executioner's fire.
Their glory is equally bright. If John
Brown's fame Is less luminous than
that of some other heroes. It Is proba
bly not less enduring.
MISLEADING THE FOREIGNERS.
The October crop report of the De
partment of Agriculture is fully up to
its predecessors In the amount of mis
Information it contains regarding the
wheat crop of the Pacific Northwest.
This report gives what is purported to
be the output of Spring wheat from
the three states Oregon, Washington
and Idaho. Oregon is credited with
4,918,000 bushels, Washington 18,
643,000 bushels, and Idaho 4,621,000
bushels, a total for the three states of
28,085,000 bushels. As any man pos
sessing even . a slight knowledge of
the wheat Industry on the Pacific
Coast knows that Spring wheat forms
a scant one-third of the total wheat
'crop of the three states. It would seem
that the Government's final quantitive
figures on the 1909 crop would show
a total of about 84,000.000 bushels of
wheat. This is so far in excess of
the amount that will be harvested
that the figures as usual will be re
garded as one of Secretary Wilson's
Jokes.
The "farm value of wheat In the
three states is given at 87 cents In
Oregon and Washington, and 75 cents
in Idaho. As the freight rate from
Lewlston, the principal wheat shipping
point in Idaho, Is exactly the same as
from Washington points, and from
other Idaho points, and as the maxi
mum rate is but 3 cents per bushel
higher than the maximum from
Washington points; it is difficult to
understand why the farm value of
Idaho's select wheat crop is 12 cents
per bushel less than that of Oregon
and Washington. No one In this
country, of course, considers these fig
ures seriously, for the reason that
they are so far from the truth that
they are ridiculous. In the foreign
markets, however. Secretary Wilson as
a statistician has a standing tha't is
denied him In this country, and 'his
magnified figures undoubtedly have
some effect on prices abroad.
For example,, we find the . Corn
Trade News of Liverpool, under date
of October 5, estimating an exportable
surplus from the Pacific Coast of 40,
OCt.OOO to 48,000,000 bushels of wheat,
although it expresses doubt "if more
than 4,000,000 quarters (32,000,000
bushels) will be available for the for
eign trade, at about present prices; at
rates much under a dollar a bushel,
farmers will probably hold." For the
benefit of our foreign friends who are
taking the Government figures so se
riously, it may be said that a price of
J 2 per bushel would fall to bring
forth the 48,000,000 bushels which are
supposed to be available for shipment
from the Pacific Coast. This mis
information costs the Government a
large sum of raohey annually, but,
until that reported resignation of Sec
retary Wilson becomes an actuality,
we can hardly hope for any change in
the system.
A sale of 1909 hops was made at La
fayette yesterday at 26 cents per
pound. These prices will undoubtedly
result in some of the fields which were
plowed under a few years ago be
ing replanted. Since the beginning of
the industry hop prices have at fre
quent periods soared wildly to dizzy
heights, and thus stimulated produc
tion, which in turn caused lower
prices. The spread of the temperance
movement may have frightened some
of the growers out of the business, but
high prices for other farm products
have played an important part in cut
ting down the hop acreage. Now,
with the price steadily moving up to
ward "30 cents per pound, some of
the agriculturists who have pro
nounced views on the beer question
will drift back Into the business, which
now presents such alluring profits.
If there is confirmation of the Paris
cable reporting the sale by Mulal Hand
of the Riff mines to a German com
pany, a new and serious feature has
been added to the Spanish-Moroccan
trouble. The Spanish claim to these
mines was based on a payment of J 15,
000 to RogUi, the pretender, who was
recently put to death by the. Sultan.
Spain seemed to regard its rights in
the matter as of sufficient Importance
to warrant war with Morocco. It now
remains to be seen what Spain will do
with the bone of contention snatched
from its grasp by a power that is big
enough to hold it for a time at least.
The most serious phase of the situa
tion, if the report be true, lies In the
danger of the controversy extending
far beyond the present contestants.
There are so many intersecting trains
of powder leading up to the European
magazines that a match dropped on
any one of them might set off the en
tire lot.
The dangers attendant on aerial
navigation are not all confined to the
men who run the machines. M.
Blanc, the French aeronaut. In at
tempting his first flight in a Bierlot
machine yesterday, made a false turn
of the rudder, and the machine fell
in a crowd, mortally wounding a wo
man and injuring a dozen others.
Automobile racing is a safe and pleas
ant pastime so long as the machine
keeps on the track and does not break
down. Aerial racing seems to be
equally safe so long as the flying ma
chines remain in the air, or are careful
in descending. Thus, the only victims
for the fatalities reported in our new
est sport have been the navigators
themselves. Now that they have com
menced to drop down on the heads
of the public, it will be necessary to
take a new kind of precaution.
"Race suicide" is one of the un-thought-of
expedients for the allevia
tion of human misery In Russia. Plain,
ordinary, everyday suicide for such al
leviation has, however, become so
common as to be alarming, and the
acting Prefect of Police for St. Peters
burg has asked for restrictive meas
ures that will keep drugs used for
this purpose out of reach of the hope
less and desperate masses. Begotten
in Ignorance, born to misery, utterly
without hope, it were better that
these miserable creatures had not
been born. It will require a wide
stretch of imagination to interpret
this sentiment as treason to the race,
or to censure as guilty the oppressed
myriads of "Holy Russia" who delib
erately cast from them an unasked
existence, which is not life, but a liv
ing, lingering death.
Matthew A. Henson, the colored
body servant of Commodore Peary, has
taken to the lecture platform and is
now giving the country what might
be termed an unprejudiced account of
the North Pole discovery: Peary, with
his characteristic selfishness, refused
to permit the negro to exhibit slides
which had been made from photos
taken in the far north, although the
negro had taken them himself. This
latest development In the contest
places Dr. Cook at a disadvantage,
for he should have the two Eski
mos who accompanied him to the
Pole on the vaudeville circuit showing
how the trick was turned.
Bishop Scaddlngs advice on health
and healing is good enough. . Briefly,
it is as follows: Keep your mental
poise. Live simply and as much as
possible in the open air. Choose in
your physician one who is known to
have had a thorough medical training
and then trust him and stay by him.
It may be added that the advice con
tained m the last paragraph would not
be needed if that contained in the
first two were conscientiously and
prudently followed.
"The pace that kills" was set by one
George Derby, and his wife early in
their marital experience, in 1906, and
continued with unabated ardor until
he died Sunday night In the City Jail
from acute alcoholism, while she lay
in a drunken stupor in the woman's
ward of the same building. Fortu
nately there are no children In this
case to become a tax upon the public
through destitution or degeneracy. '
Naturally, there is some curiosity to
know who, if anybody, got the rake
off for the sale of those telephone
bonds to the Oregon Trust. The pub
lic has had several years to speculate
on the subject, and it Is still guess
ing. Somebody has been trying to "throw
a scare" Into people by saying it is un
lawful to draw a check for an amount
less than $1. The man with money
on deposit can check it out in sums
from 1 cent up.'
It is pleasing to learn that it will
only cost Portland $25,000 to have
the world's greatest aviators at the
next annual Rose Show. But there is
still an idea prevalent that Portland
should hold an annual Rose Show.
Whether adjacent suburbs can get
into the municipality of Portland or
not, is, after all, no Important matter
except in a showing. In reality the
people are here, part and parcel of
Portland's population.
Now if Jack Johnson will draw the
color line, he will have as great a
"cinch" as a Supreme Court called
on to pass on the constitutionality of
its own existence.
This Mount McKinley controversy
can aaallv be settled. If Dr. Cook left
records, let the Oregon Mazamas de
tail a squad to find them and report
next Summer.
vnu ran rest oerfectly assured that
Messrs. Reed and Powers, the Jocular
highwaymen, will not do it again.
Nobody else saw the Joke.
Mr. Roosevelt has had another nar
row escape, this time from a charg
ing bull elephant. He is having the
time, of his life.
EXPLORER PEARY'S REPLY TO COOK
Newspaper Comment on Both Sides of
North Pole Controversy.
Louisville Courier-Journal.
Commander Peary's "proofs" that Dr.
Cook did not reach the Pole fall easily
into the long list of things Interesting If
true.
Difficult to "Fire the Cook."
Chicago Evening Post.
Peary has the usual hard Job in try
ing to fire the Cook. Will some gentle
man kindly volunteer to go to the Polar
regions and verify the Peary and Cook
maps?
Llsht Must Come From Experts.
Chicago Tribune.
Until more light has been thrown on
the matter, the Tribune will withhold
Judgment. That light can come only
from experts who shall have before them
all the evidence for both sides.
Walt Verdict of Scientific Tribunal.
Brooklyn (N. Y..) Eagle.
Commander Peary says that he Is ready
at any moment to submit his data to
American scientists. Dr. Cook pro
fesses an equal willingness, with a res
ervation in favor of a Danish court. The
sooner both men invite a scientific ver
dict from an American tribunal, the
better for a public already too
much befogged with statements ana
counter-statements, affirmations, denials
and epithets.
Thinks Peary Has Scored One.
New York Mail.
It looks bad for Cook. The skepti
cism regarding Cook's exploit which this
Eskimo narrative makes us feel is based
of course, on the assumption that Peary
has not suppressed any part of the Es
kimo story, and that he has not prompted
and guided these boys in such a way as
to cause them to withhold a part of what
they know. If they acted under orders
not to tell Peary the truth, why did they
tell him so much of the truth?
Peary Corroborates His Rival. .
' New York Sun.
Peary's statement shows that Cook's
estimate of the intelligence of his two
Eskimos was defective or that he deemed
it negligible. Taking into consideration
the quality of the evidence of his accom
plishment so far adduced by Dr. Cook,
and making due allowance for the intrin
sic character of his published account,
we think that he would be more justi
fied in pointing to the Peary statement
as strongly corroborative of all that he
has set forth. Dr. Cook is soundly war
ranted in his conviction that there is lit
tle danger that he will be celebrated as
the greatest impostor for whom human
credulity ever paved a road.
A Cloud on Cook's Title.
New York Times.
Men of science do not believe, have
not believed, that Dr. Cook climbed
Mount McKinley. They would have be
lieved him in respect to that achieve
ment had his record been convincing
Thev would believe him now as to tho
Pole, but for his extraordinary behavior
and hia utterances since his return. W
may say that they will believe him still,
if he can produce evidence in substantia
tion of his story. That evidence is now
lacking, and the fault is his alone. He
must now meet and overcome tne ad
verse testimony of his own witnesses,
the only human beings who, besides him
self, know just where he went.
Dr. Cook's Case Seems Stronger.
Snrinefield (Mass..) Republican.
We can only record the Impression that
Dr. Cook's case seems stronger, at this
moment, than at any previous time; yet
we do not pretend to know how his
scientific data and diaries will stand the
severe test that still awaits them. It
need only be said that the impostor
theory involves things quite as incredi
ble as anything Dr. Cook has stated In
his remarkable story. . . . Nothing
essentially new is forthcoming to sup
port Mr. Peary's contention regarding
Dr. Cook; and if the public now interpret
this paucity of evidence as a further sign
of weakness, the fact would merely con
firm our Impression that Mr. Peary
blundered seriously when he impulsive
ly set out to prove a negative. ,
Backbone of Cook Narrative Smashed.
New. York Globe.
It appears that the two Eskimo boys,
before credible witnesses, denied that Dr.
Cook had gone to the Pole or anywhere
near it. Examined separately each
traced, - without knowledge of what the
other had done, the route that Cook had
travelled. Compared, the two tracings
coincided. It is inconceivable that these
Ignorant savages could have so agreed
if not telling the truth. Every consider
ation of personal and tribal pride would
lead them to assert that they had been
to the Pole If they had been there. From
Dr. Cook's request for them to keep si
lent they must have suspected some
thing. . . . The backbone of the Cook
narrative Is thus smashed. Finally, the
alleged climbing of Mount McKinley, the
more It Is Inquired Into, Is more and
more doubted.
Printing Prohibition News.
St. Paul Pioneer Press.
To the Pioneer Press: Will you kindly
inform some interested temperance peo
ple and prohibitionists whether there is a
daily newspaper published in the North
west that will give its readers prohibition
news as well as fights, ball games and
other sport news? A. M. Muedeking.
Stillwater, Oct. 4.
We take it for granted that every "daily
newspaper published in the Northwest"
and elsewhere will be glad to "give Its
readers prohibition news, as well as
fights, ball games and other sport news,"
whenever its readers supply a demand for
such prohibition news as they are now
supplving for fights, baseball, bowling,
golf and other sporting and athletic news.
The Pioneer Press publishes prohibition
news, Just as it publishes other kinds of
news! It records the fact when a county,
a city or state goes "wet" or "dry," and
it records the progress of prohibition cam
paigns, the same as it reports the cam
paigns on the tariff or other issues before
the people. We suspect, however, that
the implied complaint of our correspond
ent lies in the fact that the Pioneer Press
does not print prohibition arguments, any
more than it prints socialist arguments,
or suffrage arguments, or religious argu
ments, or campaign literature on any
other issue or propaganda. No newspaper
can give space to such arguments, and.
If It did, would soon be without readers.
The newspaper prospers only as It meets
the demand for news, and that demand
v. n-hnla YitHllr nnt from
cornea iiuiu m; . . . - . .. . . ,
any special class or special interest.
The Voice of the Rain.
Fitter patter, pltter patter, gently comes the
FalIins?'oftly falling- upom the window pane;
Patiently we've waited Ion- lta voice to hear.
Tenderly it seems to fall upon the listening
ear; . . .
Soothing are its tones to us, as snug in bed
Mothe"could not sing her babe a sweeter
lullabje; .
Though the heavens seem to frown, aaa
clouds be draped In black.
Nature seems to hurry forth to welcome
raindrops back;
Mother Earth and offspring have suffered long
tor this. ,
Now the rain has come again with aweet, re
freshing kiss;
Little brooklets, once so dry, seem anxious to
repeat
The gladsome news, as gliding on, the larger
streams to meet:
Flowers, grass and all green things lift up
their heads and drink
Aad if they had the power to apeak, would
' "thank you." don't you think?
"BROWNIEV
BUlsboco, Ollifjir 4V -x
VOX WINKELRIED, THE HERO. j
How
He Made Glorious His Fame in
rnnint with Anstrlans.
PORTLAND, Oct. 18. (To the Editor.)
In an article on "John Brown" In Satur
day's, issue. The Oregonian, in its usual
omniscient, graceful way, places our
Wlnkelreid in its large class of "fools."
Kindly allow the undersigned, whose cra
dle stood In the very shadow of the Win
kelried home, earnestly to protest against
such classification. I shall always revere
the memory of your hero, John Brown,
on account of mv fullest sympathy with
his aim against human slavery ; although
the route he chose to accomplish his
project led his neck to the rope's end.
Winkelried sacrificed his life In open bat
tle at Sempach, in the front rank of his
own people, his heart pierced by the ene
mies', not executioners', lances. His glo
rious deed secured the freedom of the
old eight Swiss cantons and thereby laid
the cornerstone to our present dear Re
public of Switzerland. Are such deeds to
be classified as foolish? Are such heroes
to be sneered at as fools? The time may
come when the majestic chains of our
beloved Alps shall disappear, but as long
as they stand will we Swiss never forget
to be thankful to "our hero, Arnold von
Winkelried." slain by the Austrian lances
on the battlefield of Sempach on the 9th
day of July, 1386, so that the freedom of
the common people may find and did find
an asylum in the center of the then en
slaved Europe. C BIRCHER.
A subscriber and attentive reader of The
Oregonian for the last 27 years.
TEACHING WAITERS HOW TO WAIT
University of Chicago Takes T an Im
portant Branch of Learning;.
New York Evening Sun.
With that fresh and unquenchable
optimism which enables Chicagoans to
go right on living In their city, appar
ently with pleasure, we note that cer
tain of her bold spirits have set out
to teach waiters how to wait. There
Is something very engaging about this
notion, it will be agreed. Perhaps,
never in civilized times, has man cm
barked upon such a forlorn hope, or
faced such overwhelming odds.
The present endeavor is upon a small
scale,1 being limited to the 40 student
waiters in the commons of the Uni
versity of Chicago. But if success
should ensue, by any chance, it need
hardly be said that the movement would
spread like wildfire. A textbook has
been prepared by the faculty of the
Chicago wai.ing school, and from it
we present these sample rules:
'Avoid appearing to Jlam things down on
the table.
Do not souffle, talk, or drop trays.
. Always place a drink to the right of the
customer.
A waiter should never leave any customer
after serving till he knows he nas the neces
sary silverware to eat with.
An egg with a broken yolk should not be
served at all
To be a good waiter it is essential that
you should be quick, but also that you should
not appear to hurry.
Waiters should remove dirty dishes as
soon as the customer Is thrcugh. but be sure
that he is through and avoid giving an im
pression that you are in a hurry for him to
nnlbh.
" It will be seen that these Western
experts in the high art of waiting have
lofty ideals. For our part, we cannot
help thinking that the rules should
have begun with simple propositions.
Certainly, from a New York point of
view, the education of waiters should
start with such axioms as these:
Remember that this is a free country and
that the diner is in theory as good as you
ar0-
Slam things down, or toss them In from
the kitchen, but get them on the table
the same day. if possible.
A bll of fare, a glass of water and a nap
kin will keep a truest amused for a long
while. It's the little things that count.
Scuffle, talk, or drop trays or do anything
else, but bring the food.
No doubt your tip should bo as large as
the check; but give us time.
Never be rough with a guest. He Is prob
ably doing the best he can.
No. A college course for waiters
may be all very well in Chicago; but
here in Manhattan a kindergarten
would much better suit the needs.
Cost of a Nevada Divorce.
Munsey's Magazine.
Railroad fare. Reno and return, with
pleeping-rar. meals, etc $ 200
Six and one-half months' residence
House rent, seven months, at $-10.. 2SO
Servant, seven months, at 540 280
Household bills six and one-half
months, at S100 650
Attorney's fees and costs
Incidentals 3u
Total J-'.OIO
If you are tired of your wife, send
her out to Reno, Nev., and after the
divorce you will get a bill something
like the above. Cheap? In 1907. 860
out of every 100,000 married citizens of
Nevada paid the price the highest per
centage of divorces of any state in the
Union.
Practically a million divorce- have
been granted In the United States with
in the last 20 years. The exact num
ber for the years from 1SS7 to 1906, in
clusive. Is 945,625, as against 12.832,044
marriages. As far as new marriages
are concerned, therefore, there has been
nearly one divorce for every 13 wedding
I nxf nt tViii nnnnlllnr
LCI ITIIIUII ICS. UU. v m. -
total, 206,225 divorces, or not quite one
in four, have been issued on grounds of
cruelty. Only one cause has been more
productive desertion and the total of
decrees based upon that charge is 367,
602. Tliis ratio has held good in Ne
vada, and undoubtedly holds there sub
stantially today.
Friend of Cats and Doss Dies.
New York Sun.
Mrs. Laura A. Butts, who was known
all over Williamsburg and Greenpoint as
the friend of stray cats and dogs and
whose home at S3 Oakland street was
frequently an asylum for them, is dead.
She was the widow of Detective Ser
geant William H. Butts and after his
death, about 20 years ago, she turned
her attention to befriending homeless cats
and dogs.
Kor years Mrs. Butts paid children 6
or 10 cents for stray animals and at
times her home was filled with them.
The kindness she extended toward them
often brought, her before the public
through magazines and newspapers. She
knew how to treat them for their dis
eases' and she wrote many articles on
the care of animals.
Mrs. Butts suffered from rheumatism
for several years, but despite her in
firmity she never neglected the oppor
tunity to welcome a misused cat or dog.
She was 70 years old and for more than
40 years she had lived in Green point.
Exeunt Onines.
'And that inverted bowl we call the sky.
Ixiok not to It for help."
O solemn stars, that saw the first faint light
Reveal the hidden universe to sight.
That watched when alowly shrouding
clouds dispersed.
Showing our new born earth in glory bright,
you have seen Time turn every magic leaf.
For some Inscribed with Joy. for some with
AndBseon each generation in' Its day
Living its little life how pitiful, how brief!
You have seen empires rise and pass away,
you have seen king and chieftain play their
play:
Can you not tell us we who follow them
What happens when the curtain drops to
stay ?
Where wait we for our call to take the
stage.
Unknown the play, unknown our part or
Tet if we fall, no other chance remains.
The lights are out. and closed the prompter's
page.
Tell us. O stars that watch us from afar.
Unpittylng, uncnanging tnougn you
"Where go we when the ebbing tide or
T'me
Recedes and bears us with It past tho bar?
Tm thr anmA star unon whose lovely shore
We shall awake to end life held in store?
we come, we go, we wow nui wucui-o
where ' F
And all life's wisdom cannot tell us more.
Ninette. M. i-owacer ui now iw& ouu.
Life's SunnySide
Ethel, the youngest of a large num
ber of girls In a certain Philadelphia
family, recently entered upon the du
ties of amanuensis to a Walnut-street
lawyer.
'How do you like your employer.
Ethel?" the young woman was asked
upon her return home that night.
"Oh, he's very nice." said Ethel, with
faint praise, "but awfully narrow
minded." "In what way?"
"He seems to have the idea that
words can only be spelled his way."
Lippincott's.
' When a once famous member re
turned to the House of Commons after
a by-election for Knaresborough, his
unusually delayed appearance was
commented upon in the presence of Sir
Wilfrid Lawson.
The newly elected member, though a
wealthy man. was known to be ex
tremely careful about sixpenses.
"Isn't it odd." some one said, "Tom
Collins doesn't turn up?"
"Not at all. not at all." said Sir Wil
frid; "he's waiting for an excursion
train." Manchester Guardian.
A teacher of a downtown Sunday
school was so proud of her flock that
she Invited several visiting ministers
and elders to attend one of her classes
and be encouraged and uplifted by the
observation of Juvenile proficiency in
scriptural studies.;
The session opened auspiciously. Lit
tle girls with yellow plaits and little
girls with black braids lisped their re
sponse in a manner to gladden the
heart of any teacher of "young Ideas."
Then came the fall which invariably
follows pride.
Turning to a bullet-headed, freckle
faced little boy, whose ears seemed
about to carry off his head like an aero
plane, she asked him to repeat a verse
from the Scriptures, but her only an
swer was a vacant stare.
"Come, come." said the teacher, "do
you mean to tell me that you can't re
peat even one verse?"
"Naw;" replied the email boy, "I
know one."
"Well, then, let me have It," said the
teacher sharply.
"And Judas went out and hanged
himself," repeated the young unregen
erate. His teacher's lips wreathed
themselves in a cynical smile as she
said: "Very good, and can you give
me another?" The boy nodded vigor
ously. "Sure," he replied.
"Let me have it, then," responded
his teacher in her softest, purring
tones.
To her consternation, the little rep
robate said: "Go thou and do like
wise." He enjoyed a holiday the rest
of that afternoon. Philadelphia Times.
He was dining at a French restaif
rant. and while he was sipping his
black coffee and firing 500 glances to
the minute at a girl In a fluffy pink-and-white
dress, a stranger gracefully
commandeered his overcoat. He had
Just reached the door when the owner
tapped him on the shoulder.
"Pardtin me. sir." he said, meekly,
"but would you allow me to get an
other cigar from my coat pocket, in
case I do not meet you again?" Tit
Bits.
As a South Jersey country physl.
clan was driving through a village he
saw a man amusing a crowd with the
antics of his trick dog. The doctor
pulled up and said: "My dear man. how
do you manage to train your dog In
that way? I can't teach mine a single
trick." The man looked up, with a sim
ple rustic look, and replied: "Well, you
see, its this way; you have to know
more'n the dog or you can't loarn him
nothln'." Scranton Truth.
To the editor of a little Maine news
paper there came the other day an in
dignant elderly woman, who waved a
slip of paper in the editorial face.
'Lookee here," said she. "What does
this mean a bill for the Citizen to my
husband that's been dead two years?
You don't expect his widow to pay
debts o' his contracted long after he's
dead?"
"You say he has not been getting the
paper?" said the editor, after long
thought.
"No, ye donderhead!" screamed the
woman, "I tell ye he's been dead two
years."
"Strange," mused the editor. "The
Postofflce Department has not notified
me of his failure to receive them.
Quite sure you yourself haven't been
enjoying the Inestimable educational
values of the perusal of my sheet?"
"That ain't the point," argued the
widow. "You've been sending a noos
paper and a bill to a man that's dead.
It's your affulr, not mine."
"Well," said the editor finally, per
ceiving that he must be a loser, "in
future, madam, I will cause an extra
copy to be printed on asbestos, to in
sure that your husband receives his
Citizen regularly." Philadelphia Led
ge r.
Jean Paul Laurens, the famous French
painter, was the son of an honest cart
driver of Toulouse. At one time, when
tho painter was at the heijht of his
Parisian reputation, it- happened that
two old women at Toulouse were talk
ing about the Laurens family.
"Let me see," said one, "there wers
two boys, weren't there?"
"Yes."
"What became of them?"
"Oh. one's a grocer here in Toulouse.
He does a very good business."
"And the other one?"
"The younger one? He went off to
Paris and became an artist." ,
"Dar, dear! And his father was
such a good, worthy man!" London
Globe.
1 m
The Open Phensnnt Season.
Albany Democrat.
According to all of the reports the
hunters left the female birds. Not a
hunter admits having shot a female.
One tells of shooting a bird. Just at
sunrise, and thlnnklng he had killed a
female went and hid It, but when it was
lighter made an examination and found
It was a rooster.
A big Portland man, with a dog and
four men pheasants, at the depot last
night remarked:
"I hunt pheasants for the sport of it.
Personally I had rather have a good
Bteak, but it is lots of fun to tramp 40
miles over the coun try,' even if you can
only get five blrds
Lawyer Risley, trained at shooting
Filipinos, got his five birds. before noon,
all roosters.
Ben Clelan says he saw 15 roosters
and 300 hens, but he stayed with the
law, though his dog stuck up his nose
when the hens were allowed to go.
One lonesome looking hunter started
back for Portland without a bird.
J. L. Green, the Portland Deputy
Game Warden, who was here at the
opening of the season and inspected
about every bag in signc, reports a re
markably clean observance of the gamo
law.
Certainly the Limit. '
Hoqulatn Washlngtonian.
They are talking about a grand Jury
in Seattle to Investigate some of the
big men who were on the payroll of
the exposition. Now, isn't that the
limit?