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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1911)
rrk-ox-Tvn nppnnYT A V TTTTTHSTl AT. .TAXTJAIIY 19. 1911. lf ' : rat.r. at Portland. Orasoa, Poatofflca a c .) : Mattar. Kcri(Cut kataa Invariably ta Aflraaea, IRT U11LI Dally. jJar ta-iute4. on fttr. ..... "J L J . riai'imf in .WU--... m . i r .- - a..n.4- tnrlnilMl b r mm KOftthA. AJ I'ajly. liundar lnc;uiad. ona monla... -'Li .... . . . 1 .a T- BlIHniil Nil lft ? BOIIthl... S-U l'i.r. tlnoiit Sunday, tnra nwctlia. . 1-T1 Ia;.r. wunout funua. d momu llwktr ana r r un.lar. ana ,.r aanaar AM waakly. oaa yaar. -- (BY CARRIER) rarir. Hoarta Included, ana year...... J Ia! jr. Sunday lB--luia4. oaa month. ... TS ilmmw I. Kaaolt Hand Poatofflra IT""" rdar. txprrtt orjar or paraonal checa ao local tank. Ftampa. coin or curran-y a.-a at tha aradar-a run. OIa poatofSea ddrra la full, Includes county and aiata. Paataaa Kalaa III to It Bacaa. 1 cam. la zs (N. a caata; lu 10 4" oaaa. 1 eaole; to t o pacta, a canla. k'oralsa poataca 4onla rata. Eaatara Itnalaeaa nftlrea Varraa """V Itn Vora. Iirunawua buUdln. casa, bleaar bulldtna. roirruxD. tui-kdat. ja. . JAKK1NG IHORIW. tv rvriiii-riitlc harmony meeting In Baltimore on Tuesday night was perhaps more remarkable for It ab sentee than for those who aat on the staxx. To be sure, the pcrenlally ver Tl..n i-v Caxsowav Davis wa there, and so were Champ Clark. Gov ernor Harmon and dir. iwury Texas. But where were t.overnor Woodrow Wilson. Governor Dlx and Governor Koss, to say nothing: or ir. Their vacant seats must our cast a suspicion of gloom over the occahilon. though the orators seem i have done their best to be cheerrui. ir Hullev muds one or nis speeches, ana. as tuual. mannf-ed to mix a good deal of real eloquence with bud Judgment. Naturally the tariff was the principal theme of the occa sion. And Mr. Bailey took the ground that it ought to be revised gioDuiarr. .n.w in nthar words, he would have an old-fashioned orgy with all the trusts At the trough And the por cine squeal resounuuig ui urr country. Evidently the gentleman tmm T.Tti aanlras to have hl flllKer In another Wilson bill. The aulwtaii ttal prorits of that achievement attract Mrn more than its -perfidy and dis honor." Only In case the Repub.lcan Senate -i. .t.i a MhnlMulii ravllon r tivFM i . j - - - - would Mr. Italley consent to attack the tnrlff schedule by scneauie. inmp Clark is of a different mind. and. to our thinking, a groat deal more rn- -1 v. T tr-ln ilirAiiA nf antilnM rp. durtlon. ho favors the only practi cable way to get them. Instead of At- i.lln all tha anamv'a fortraps on the same day. he wishes to luy siege li inem ono py una. n w w done, that Is the way to do It. As thlncs develop, it become pretty vident that a man who &rivcnis wholesale revlnlon simply takes that euphemistic way of saing that he . . n p.,-l.l,in at all Thaj nlti method has been about as badly dis credited as a method can be. By Its fruits It Is known and has been Judged. Fortunately for the Demo cratic party, the country Is more In clined to take Champ Clark for Its pokesman than Mr. Bailey. IX;lLATt B tr. ArVORTtONMCST. The Legislature will discharge Its Secennlal duty of state reapportion ment at this srsloo. The Oregon con iMtuttnn clearly provides and as clear. (T requires that the counties shall have representation In both House nd Senate In exact proportion to their population. But it hiw In the last several apportionments happened Inevitably that Multnomah County has failed to get its due allotment In either House. In the Legislature now there are six Senators and 15 Repre sentatives from Multnomnh. and there should be at leut 10 Senators In the total of 50 and TO Representatives In tlm total of 80. Multnomah will as usual be gerry mandered out of lt constitutional membership under the 1911 reappor tionment. The members from the state at larice will combine against Multnomah because they ferlr Its pre ponderating power and Influence and because they want all they can get for themselves, whether the constitution stands In the way or not. The consti tution Is no barrier to the prejudice or desire or purple of the average legislator to look out for himself. Tet The Oregonlan Is not dispensed to Insist that the present constitu tional method of apportionment Is wholly equitable. With the growth of the state and the heavy centrallza- lon of population In Multnomah, the balances between city and county are not so evenly adjusted as In the early days and the remote and small -ountles have practically no voire In aginative affairs, except as they are ible to assert themselves In enmbina- Ion with others. In his message to he Legislature Governor Bowcrman suggested that the scheme of appor- lonment be changed by constitutional intendment so that each county would riven a member of the Legislature whether or not it had the proportion ate unit of population. The Orcgo lan approves the suggestion, so far as pertain to the membership of the xnrer House, or popular branch, but t would have the Senate apportioned At present on the basis of popula lon. A legislative apportionment of his kind would probably make it ecessary or advisable to enlarge the nembershlp of the House, so that the arger counties would get nearly an qultable membership, but the In- rease would not necessarily be more han 10 to IS. There are 34 counties In Oregon. Vlth A membership of 75 In the louse, the unit of apportionment In Oregon, with Its population of C7S.775. could be about sOOO. The counties -f Oregon having materially less than 000 Inhabitants are Curry. Gilliam, rant. Harney. Lake. Lincoln. Mor tis', Sherman. Tillamook and Wheel- r. These counties at present have Yny Indirect representation In the Legislature, and each of them ought have at Salem a member sent to present one. and no other county. !ood River, Klamath. Malheur and f.'alTowa have each lea than SOOO but tey are near enough the number to av A representative on the strict ist of proportional allotment. If the louse membership be Tt or perhapa f It should remain at (0. Multnomah nd the larger counties would not iffer by the practical working out of ils plan. Indeed. It is clear that sery county having In this manner cured a representative, the dlstribu en to the others would easily and Jr?r be made on the basis of popula tion: and the way would be cleared for Multnomah to get tne m enaior to which It Is fairly entitled and more than the 12 Representatives which It now has. It will take A constitutional amend ment to work out this Just and equit able plan; but constitutional amend ments nowadays are not difficult. The result will be. or ought to be, satis factory to every locality. SESATORIAI. EtlXTTONS. The season of Senatorial elections Is hero with some vtry striking and sig nificant lessons. In no state where there was a previous party primary was there the slightest difficulty or contest In the Legislature. In two or three of the states where the old method of Legislature barter, trade, bargain and log roll was followed there was or Is the usual tie-up and exasperating and costly in terference with legislation. In Iowa, where there Is usually a pop ular primary election, there Is a great scramble for the unexpired term of Senator Dolllver. No primary has been held this year, however, and the old game goes on. In Washington, California, Mich igan. Nebraska. Alabama and North Dakota. Senators have been elected without delay. There ha been the same result. Indeed, In other states, like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio, Maine and Connecticut, but In every one of these there ha been a party caucus and an immediate ac ceptance of Its determination. The popular clamor for abandonment of old methods ha undoubtedly had it effect in those states. But In New York Tammany has learned nothing. Boss Murphy care nothing for public sentiment. His hide Is thick enough to feel only the sting of outright defeat. He will take any chance to compass his ends. He must know that the election of Shee han greatly Jeopards the chances of Democratic success In 1813: but he would a soon have a Republican a Fhepard. Besides, ho ha proved re peatedly that no act, however out rageous, and no course, however of fensive, can much Injure Tammany in Now Tork City. Why should he worry except to hold on to the blr,d In the hand? No state has the Oregon plan of electing Senators except Nebraska, and Nebraska ha A Democratic Leg islature, so that Statement No. 1 was not put to the real test. But every state having a party primary through which the party' choice was ex pressed found that Its nominee was willingly and promptly accepted by the Legislature. JT-fcTTFTINO RATE ADVANCES. Argument submitted to the Inter state Commerce Commission in the case of rate advances in the West, like the testimony which preceded them, luave the public in the dark on many Important features of the situation. General counsel for the Chicago, Mil waukee A St. Paul In his argument pointed out that his company was making but little more than S per rent on the 12S5.000.000 valuation of the line. Counsel for the Illinois Cen tral stated that net returns on the property of hi company for 1910 were but 4.4 per cent, a figure not at all satisfactory to the people who owned the road. In submitting theso figures to show the necessity for advancing rates, the railroads Intimate that un less they are permitted to advance rate, and thus Increase the dividends. Government ownership will probably result. Experience of other countries with government-owned railroads has not been of a nature that makes such a change at all attractive to the Ameri can people. It is so well known that everything of an Industrial or finan cial nature that I undertaken by the government costs so much more than the same undertaking would cost when managed by private parties that the principle of government owner ship has never appealed to Americans. The case of the railroads, however, has not been proven to the satisfac tion of the people. It will be remem bered last year when the Illinois Cen tral was earning that beggarly 4.4 8 per cent, the road was being plundered to the extent of millions by dishonest employes. The man who is shipping freight over the line might be willing for the road to show larger net earn ings. If It were economically managed and the cost of service kept down to a minimum. Unquestionably, however, if the Illinois Central had held fast to the million which were so easily taken by the employes. It would have materially aided in Improving the per centage of net earnings. We are living In an age of inven tion and economies, and the standard of cost, per-ton-por-mile, should bo determined by actual performance on modern roadbeds with modern equip ment. In both motive power, and roadbed there have been tremendous Improvements In the past few years: the public that pa)- the freight is entitled to some of the resultant profit. It may be that higher wages, higher taxr and wholesale litigation, county, state and National, has absorbed so much of the saving effected by mod em Improvements that rate advance are A necessity. This, however, cannot be determined until the public la more fully Informed regarding the possible earning based on the actual value of a good modern road and equipment, well managed and operated. The Illi nois Central, In view of its painful ex posure, la not a good example, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, on account of It elaborate extension programme of the pat few years. Is also not the best example that could be found to show the necessity for advancing rates. FX CREASING TUB TOST OF TRANSFOR TATIOS. The Chamber of Commerce has In dorsed the New-land bill providing for the construction of 4 0 ships to be operated as an auxiliary naval fleet on completion of the Panama Canal. Thla project has some points of merit that were missing from the useless public dock bond issue which has been foisted on the Portland taxpay er, but. like the public docks. It will hare little or no effect on Pacific Coast commerce. The traffic through the Panama Canal will be carried, as the world's traffic la now carried, by the ship or train giving the best service at the lowest cost. It cost the Government more to build a ship than It cost the private Individual. It cost the pri vate Individual, if he Is an American, about twice a much to build or buy a ship a It would cost a foreigner to build or buy the same craft. It Is the foreigners, who are by our own absurd protective policy, thus enabled to carry freight cheaper than wo can carry it ourselves, who will handle the business after the canal is built. Forty ships will handle only a small portion of the business which will pass through the canal unless we bar out the cheap tonnage actually needed to handle our great Pacific Coast com merce. The extravagantly high-priced vessels can be supported only by an excessive freight rate or a Govern ment subsidy, neither of which is con ducive to commercial expansion on the Pacific. After our various commercial or ganizations get tired of rainbow chas ing after a Bhlp subsidy, no matter what guise it may be masquerading in. they might try a few resolution favoring a free ship bill, the only natural, legitimate method for secur ing the cheap tonnage which we will need as soon as the Panama Canal is completed. Incidentally, it might be stated that the I2.S00.000 of taxpay ers' money that is to be thrown away on public docks would have bought 10 of the finest modern freighters in Europe, and we shall need ships when the canal is built. ritomBrnov as rounrAi, rssiE. Recent developments in Maine indi cate that earlier analyses of the fac tors that caused the state to lead a stampede to the Democratic column lant year were correct. Insurgency, tariff revision, dissatisfaction with conditions that brought about the ex tremely high cost of living and other National Issues, perhaps played some part in bringing about the reversal In Maine of political conditions which had existed for more than a half century, but the main impetus to the movement seem now to be definitely identified in the liquor question. While the Democrats, 'who have been making a determined fight for resubmission of the constitutional pro vision prohibiting the sale and manu facture of Intoxicating liquors, have gained control of both branches of the Maine Legislature, It is by no means certain that an amendment will be submitted by the newly-elected hOUFCS. That there is a fighting chance for the prohibitionists at least to post pone resubmission Is Indicated by the Inauguration of a state-wide campaign of organization designed to keep check on and Influence the legislators, and also by attempt of the pres of the state to poll the members as to their views on the question. One may well Infer from the news that drifts out of the old Pine Tree State that the liquor question is recognlxed as the paramount issue before the Legisla ture, and that it was principally on that issue that a Democratic Legisla ture was elected. The hope of the prohibitionists, it is conceded, rest in the prospective in ability of the opposing clement to poll two-thirds of each house on the re submission resolution. In Maine, while an amendment to the constitu tion must be approved by two-thirds of each house, merely a majority of those voting on the question is re quired to approve it in the election. Inasmuch as Maine went Demo cratic principally because the Demo crats promised resubmission, it will readily be realized that the Prohibi tionists have more cause to fear a vote by the people than they have a vote. by the Legislature when It is also known that in the Senate the Demo crats have but a bare two-thirds of the members and in the House are four teen votes short of two-thirds. There Is an under-surface hope, too, among the Democrats that the Legis lature will fall to resubmit the amend ment. It Is reasoned that if this fail ure can be charged to the. Republi cans, the Democrat will be able to carry the state again in 1912. This is after prohibition has been a constitutional provision for twenty eight yenrs. All of which goes to show that prohibition is not removed as a political Issue even when placed In the fundamental law. THK BACKWARD IXKK. Memories of a pioneer family of Yamhill County, old-fashioned a to size and of sturdy Integrity, are re called In the recent death in Snn Francisco of Mrs. Divight O. Rogers a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Burton, who came over from Tas mania with Captain Couch's second expedition "and settled on a donation land claim near North Yamhill In tho early period of the Thurston donation land law. late In the '40s. Of the large family born to Mr. and Mrs. Burton In the old Yamhill farm, nine still survive. The pioneer history of Yamhill County, If It is ever writ ten, would be Incomplete without the simple annnls of this family a plain, unassuming English couple and their full dozen or more children, born and brought up on a farm In the beautiful Oregon wilderness. A dream of the past is in this and many another old homestead set up by the over-generous bounty of the .Government upon 640 acres of land In the middle years of the nineteenth century a dream the shadowy out line of which reappears In wavering lines every time death claim a mem ber of one of the families whose names are associated with the early settle ment and later development of the Oregon Country. These old homesteads, weather beaten and unsightly In the modern view, were synonyms of frontier hos pitality the hospitality that always found room at the family board and a "shake-down" in a cosy corner. If no better sleeping accommodations were available, for the weary and perhaps homesick wayfarer. Crudely built of such material as was avail able from the woods and by long haul with oxen or farm horse from a saw mill perhaps fifty mile away, most of thse old farmhouses have disap peared from the landscape. Having served well their day and generation, they. like their builders, have ceased to exist. The resting place of the latter are marked in rural cemeteries. sometimes In family burial plots. In a corner of the home meadow. The site of the former Is revealed to the curi ous by a heap of rubbish, of tumbling bricks and sagging, half-decayed sills and walls and possibly by an old well covered and marked by a danger signal. "Good old days" we are wont to term the day in which these primi tive dwellings were bullded and occu pied; "good" Indeed they were in their time and place, yet there are few among us who would care to return to them except wistfully and reverent ly, as In duty bound, when the mortal remains of one whose eye opened to the light of life in one of these old homesteads are returned for burial in the family plot in the county grave- , yard. It is well even then to turn and repeat the adjuration of Whittier, Clasp, angel of the backward look And folded wines of ainen gray And voice of echoes far away. The brazen covere of thy book, since clearly nothing Is to be gained by living in and brooding in a sort of hazy hero worship aver the past. The splendid new ship Delaware is the scene of the latest tragedy In the Navy. If this carnage continues It will take a long hard war to cause as many deaths as have resulted from carelessness or structural defects In our new war ships. Disasters of this kind are not unknown in the navies of other powers; their alarming fre quency Is confined exclusively to the American Navy. In most of these un fortunate affairs the blame has been delicately shifted to the shoulders of some of the unfortunate men whose lives were snuffed out. The value of the lesson was accordingly somewhat diminished and thla, perhaps, to re sponsible for the frequency with which we still read of these terrible disasters. There does not seem to be any good reason why the United States cannot build a battleship or cruiser which will be as safe as one built by another country. Perhaps a rigid Investigation and the punish ment of all parties blamable for the tragedies might make the disasters less frequent. If Oregon, Washington and Idaho do not get ample, effective publicity throughout this year, fault will not lie with the 800 commercial organiza tions. In every direction the adver tising fund Is larger than last year. Only approved methods tested by wide experience will be followed. There will bo no going it blind in looking for homeseekers. Every dollar will bring results, large or small, as the case may be. There never was such general inquiry for Information con cerning the PacIHc Northwest as right now, and never so many reliable agen cies to furnish it. In this connection The Oregonian, with becoming mod esty, may say that Its Anniversary edi tion to be issued February 4 will not be the least factor in effective pub licity. Five full-rigged ships are fitting out t Portland and Astoria for the 1911 Alaska salmon season and a number of smaller craft will be added to the fleet before it starts north. The gen eral trade of Alaska has never at tracted much attention along the Co lumbia River, but some of the salmon canners who have made the fish in dustry famous on the river have al ways had a prominent part in the Alaska fisheries. Eventually, when there is less opportunity for capital near at hand, some of our business men will follow the example of the cannerymen and turn again to the Alaska trade field. It would be fool ish to presume that at least a good portion of that trade cannot be brought back to Portland if the proper steeps are taken to get it. The extreme of heat and cold were felt at Winnipeg last Sunday night for a few hours. With the thermometer at 40 degrees below zero, a 1400.000 conflagration for a time drove the frost line back with tropic heat and retreating when the costly fuel gave out, left the firemen moving icicles. Such extremes of temperature try human endurance to the utmost, es pecially if habitations of men are within its rapidly-shifting zone. Ma terial losses are scarcely reckoned under such conditions. Speaking of central villages for farmers, the objection is made that European peasants have them al ready. Shall we demean ourselves tr Imitate these baseborn hinds? The rejoinder seems to be that people of sense take good Ideas wherever they are to be found nnd make the most of them. We borrow Inoculation from snakes. Why not farmers' villages from European peasants? Strange indeed must the new politi cal world appear to the old-timers in the Senate at Washington. The good days when Aldrlch and Hale hazed La Follette are far in the fleeing past and the sad-eyed veterans are them selves hazed though only mildly we are glad to say. So the wheel of for tune turns ami Time brings his revenges. There is a way to escape the "tired feeling" which May Yohe says Is all there is left of life for her. The recipe includes a lump of conscience, half a cup of self-control and a large spoon ful of common sense. With these in gredients one can mix up a life which will be savory to the end. People who live too fast naturally get tired too soon. . Senator Aldrlch's plan for currency reform, an outline of which was re ceived in Tuesday's news, will prob ably never be fully understood until the new statesmen of Oregon voice their interpretation of it. Did not the people last November declare that there should be a branch Insane asylum in Eastern Oregon? Dare the Legislature thwart their will? Let the people rule. Perhaps tho subject of irrigation in the Willamette Valley at thla time may be regarded by some fastidious people as unseasonable. Let us assume that the bottom has dropped out of Chicago's cold-storage products. Is not any price too high to pay for such food? Unlike snow, rain does not inspire poets, but it is a deuced sight more comfortable, especially about this time of year. When he come to spread himself all over the State of New York, Boss Murphy may flatten out. Those suffragettes in session at Ta coma should have remembered there were ladies present. But reflect on the benefit the pres ent weather wjll have on next Sum mer's crops. At the present rate ' the deficit in the season's rainfall will soon be wiped out. Carnegie's Address. CRESWELL, Or., Jan. 15. (To, the Editor.) Please answer through The Oregonlan the home address in the States of Andrew Carnegie. A. C SMITH. Andrew Carnegle'a address Is S East Ninety-first street. New York City. 1 RECENT "FIXDERS" OF SORTH POLK Eskimo Meae Says Peary Get S Far ther North Than Cook. . Holland (Mich.) Dispatch to Phila delphia Inquirer. A curious letter from the Arctic cir cle, written by "Mene," one of the party of Eskimos which Peary took to the north 14 years ago, and who were used for scientific purposes In prepara tion for Peary's dash for the Pole, has been received by Royal A. Stanton, of Coblesklll. N. Y. Mr. Stanton, now a student in the Western Theological Seminary here, formed an acquaintance with Mene while the two were in New York, and they became intimate friends. Mene was the only one of tho Peary party of Eskimos who escaped death 14 years ago, and accompanied Peary on his 1909 journey. The letter was sent from Kjobenhoan, and Is dated September 2, 1910. In regard to the Cook-Peary controversy M.ne says In part: "I know you will expect something about Cook. Well, Bob, I have gone to the hnttnm nf thn matter, and nobodv I up here believes that Peary got much j farther than when he left his party. His name up here Is hated for his cruelty. Cook made a great trip north. He has nothing In the way of proofs here that I can And. I believe that he went as far as any one, but the pole Is yet to be found. Cook Is loved by 'all. and every Eskimo speaks well of him and hopes that he had the honor over Peary. Has he? I will know all soon and will Jet you know. Come up here and I will show you how to find the North Pole. I will make you King. Then if you want me, I will go back to New York with you. I will wait for you here, but come before I am frozen In the Igloo with the crow's head pointing west." Franchise I Exclusive, PORTLAND, Jan. 11. (To the Edi tor.) With reference to the efforts of certain residents of Irvlngton tp pre vent the Mount Hood electric road en tering the city through that quarter, it would seem to me that it would be an advantage to secure a competing service in that district, where the local streetcar service has been notoriously poor, and especially as the Mount Hood line Is expected to afford rapid transit to the downtown district. The recommendation that it come down Sul livan's Gulch does not seem to meet the case, as that would accommodate no city passengers west of East Thirty third street. In this connection I re quest to be informed whether the fran chise given the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company includes a common user clause that would permit the new road to lay an additional rail to make the Broadway line of the present street railway both narrow and broad gauge, so that both lines might use the same tracks from Broadway and East Twenty-fourth streets. , SUBSCRIBER. There seems to be no law to compel the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company to allow the Mount Hood Railway to use Its tracks on Broadway. There Is a popular misconception to the effect that the charter provides that any street railway company can be forced to allow another company to use Its tracks by being paid a share of the cost of the tracks. The only reference the charter makes to any thing of this kind Is In section 103, but it is limited to commercial railroads, and not to street railways. On the other hand, the Mount Hood Railway, being within the meaning of a commer cial railroad, could be compelled, it Is believed, to allow any other road to use its tracks in the city, subject to the provisions of the charter. The street railway franchise on Broadway, from Union avenue to East Nineteenth street, was a part of a blanket franchise granted the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company No vember 25, 1902, and Is effective until December SI, 1932. This blanket fran chise was a renewal of 30 old fran chises owned by various former rail way companies and which .had been purchased by the Portland Railway, Light & Power Company. The franchise on Broadway from East Nineteenth to Twenty-fourth streets, was a part of another blanket franchise granted the Portland Rail way, Light & Power Company over the Mayor's veto In 1909. This franchise Involves the right of the company to operate on 45 streets of the East Side until December 31, 1932. Neither of these franchises permits the city to allow another company to use the streets, with the exception of Burn side street. In common with the Port land Railway. Light & Power Company. Reason for Building Restrictions. PORTTIKn -Tan 17 f"Tv tha Trtl- tor.) Will you tell me the reason for the ordinance passed by the city, re stricting the height of business blocks to 1Z stories, or iso leetT vny may we not have tall buildings, like the Eastern cities? Are they not a sign of progress? INQUIRER. Restricted height for business build ings in Portland was favored chiefly because of the narrow streets. It Is argued that high buildings here would Increase the Are hazard and shut off light from the lower floors. Extremely high buildings probably denote pride on the part of the builder as often as they do progress. Many architects maintain that because of the necessary use of large space for elevators very high buildings are not so profitable as buildings of medium height, even when constructed on very valuable sites In congested districts. Familiar Sayings Newly Applied. Boston Transcript. "I don't like your weigh," remarked the customer to the dishonest grocer. "I hope I make myself clear," said the water as It passed throught the filter. "Reading makes the full man, but writing doesn t, complained the half starved poet. "My resources are all tied up," said the tramp as he placed his bundle on a stick. "The rest is silence," quoted the mu sician, explaining the meaning of that term to his pupil. "I call that treating a friend in a rather distant manner,'.' said the doc tor, as he hung up the receiver after prescribing over the telephone. Knew HI Limitations. Chicago Evening Post. "Old man," we say to our friend, "It's none of our business, of course, but why did you drtnk so much wine and eat nothing at all at the dinner?" "I know where I git oft," replies our friend, whose lack of refinement Is off set by his possession of riches. "I can't Ogger out where an' when to use all them knives an' forks, but I'm there when It comes to ustntthe glasses, kid." Sherwood Man la First. SELLWOOD, Or., Jan. 17. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonlan of January 15 Postmaster T. L. Ambler is men tioned as being perhaps the oldest post master In the Btate In point of serv ice, having been appointed in April, 189S. The postmaster of Sherwood, Or., L. 9. McConnell, was appointed in July, 189T. a M. KELSO. I BOMB COMI.VG OF "BILL" BA1LE Kentucky Bad Man's Death Not Fall of Popular Hero. Louisville Courier-Journel. "It is said that Bailey's body re mained where it fell for 24 hours. Bailey, it is said, was decidedly un popular in the community In which he lived." From a dispatch from Jackson. How Ignominious! Every "bad man" is. in his own opinion, a hero, envied by weaker spirits, admired by the crowd. Such a man. It seems, was "Bill" Bailey, of Breathitt County, whose home-coming is recorded by the Jackson correspondent in a manner that lightens with a touch of grim hu mor the pitiful tragedy of a causeless brawl with the usual termination. The title, "Bad Bill." bestowed by the community in playful recognition of the trait dominant in the character of their fellow citizen, had ministered to the pride of Mr. Bailey, a fatuous person, who won neighborhood noto riety by being free with his vocabulary, his cutlery and his shooting irons. He paid for It In the end all that could be collected from him by a neighbor acting, as it seems, for the Interest of his neighbors. Indirectly, although more Immediately in his own behalf and rep resenting, unconsciously, the. spirit of retributive justice, the shadowy pro tagonist In the drama of catastrophe through which the vain and unreflect ing swashbuckler moves toward the Inevitable climax. "Bad Bill" went out upon a bluff. A poker term Is permissible in discussing tha taking-off of one who made life a game of chance, not wholly unlike the game in which aces and razors some times win where the company is not polite, and In which deuces and savolr falre compel favorable results where the player Is a student of human na ture rather than of military tactics. The man whose heart he had once tickled with the point of a knife, in an effort to transfix It, called the bluff when Mr. Bailey, "fortified," no doubt. with an inferior brand of whisky, as well as armed with deadly weapons, announced, with his accustomed fatu ity, that he was the bitterest pill that ever trod shoe leather. His mixed metaphor, which was somewhat worse than his manners, had hardly escaped his lips when the man to whom the information was addressed a peaceful citizen, by all accounts, who "tended store" six days a week and attended divine services upon tha seventh rec ognized the exigencies of the moment and began to play a stream of lead upon "Bad Bill" with .intent to deter. With accuracy of aim becoming the dignity of a sober man of business, ac customed to giving methodical atten tion to matters of detail, the man with the pastoral patronymic Mr. Shepherd dispatched Mr. Bailey as a man sit ting upon his own front porch smashes the intruding mosquito with one of the works of Lord Byron and calmly re sumes his reading. And the body of. "Bad Bill," who slept well after the passing of life's fitful fever, cooled In the chaste em braces of the virgin snow for a day and a night. "Bad Bill" was unpop ular In the community in which he had lived. Men of the vicinage were care less of his passing, despite their geo graphical proximity to the decease and the neighborly relations they had sustained at some cost to patience as careless as the remotest stars that illuminated the stillness of the "night after the red sunset that marked the closing of "Bad Bill's" last Jay on earth. No one felt that a hero had fallen. The opinion of the majority was that a nuisance had been abated. The "bad man" Is a sorry figure in contemporary life. As an example of the ill effect of petty vanity and a con suming love of strutting a little hour or two, the lion of a piece played be fore a small audience, he Is without a peer. The list of the deluded Individ uals who have followed the ignis fatuus of bailiwick fame for badness in Breathitt Is long. The lives of the ma jority have been short. Their exploits have been uninspiring. Their end has been ignominious, but history has not recorded the finish of one who died more inglorlously than "Bill Bailey," who was extremely unpopular in the community in which he lived. America a Surprise to Hnmperdlnck. New York Evening Sun. It was at the public rehearsal of the "Koenlgsklnder." He was a small man with a gray goatee Humperdlnck, the celebrated composer. He sat alone and apart and gazed at the stage through a pair of binoculars of the variety known ae "days and nights." The empty case dangled and hung by the strap above a waistcoat hand-embroidered in yellow silk on a black background. The length of the strap was Injudi ciously such that the case was suspend ed just below the waistline, augment ing the prevailing rotundity. Between the acts a rush of Teutonic greeting swept about him. "Ach Hlmmel! How good to see' you here." "Have you been long In Ameri ca?" "Why did you not let u know?" "How goes It with your good wife?" "Will you stay long with us?" und so welter. The little man with the gray goatee beamed and answered "Ja wohl" and "eben so" to nearly every question. But to "How do you like America?" he shook his head. "What a surprise!" said he. "Twenty years ago I wrote a book on America." "And this is your first trip here?" . "Ja wohl. Eben so. What a sur prise! Never did I suppose I could endure the place." Plain English In One Houie, Youth's Companion. The knowledge of strange languages is a valuable accomplishment. Mrs. Banks was getting ready to go out. Her patient husband waited in the doorway, watching her complete her toilet. By the extraordinary con tortions of her neck he concluded that she was trying to get a glimpse of the back of her new blouse, and by the tense lines about her Hps he concluded her mouth was full of pins. "Umph goof suff wuff sh ffspdg?" she asked. "Yer, dear," he agreed. "It looks all right." "Ouff wun so gs mf ugh ight?" was her next remark. "Perhaps it would look better if you did that." he nodded, "but it fits very nicely as it is." She gasped and emptied the pins into her hands. "I've asked you twice to raise the blinds so that I can get more light, James!" she exclaimed. "Can't you understand plain English?" Nation's Fighting; Strength. WARREN, Or., Jan. 15. (To the Editor.) Would you please inform me through The Oregonian If It would be possible for the United States, In case of war, to organize an army of a m'Ulon men within 30 days and put them in the field? O. V. DDXDELU It depends on what is meant by the word "organize." The United States could probably recruit and put a force of 1,000.000 men in the field in 30 days, but it would be poorly drilled and about two-thirds .would not have standard equipment of arms. Portland'a Popnlation. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13. (To the Editor.) Please let me know what the population of Portland Is at present and what the Jewish population Is. G. W. BRUNNER The 1910 Census gave Portland's population at 207,214. The Jewish popu lation In Portland is estimated at 7500 by the Jewish Tribune. OPEN TRADE IX GAMBLING GOODS Annual Expenditure for Dishonest Tools Said to Be 500,000. Chicago Inter Ocean. If 'a manufacturer of dishonest gambling tools advertises them and sells them, and withal does a thriving trade in them, one who knows nothing of the subtleties and technicalities of law would Imagine that somewhere In the American legal code there Is a statute under which such a dealer can be punished. Dishonest gambling is merely a form of thievery. It is as much stealing as burglary. The burglar enters your home with a "jimmy" and taps you on the head with the butt of a revolver, if necessary, to relieve you of your wealth. The dishonest gambler enter tains you, buys you drinks, gives you cigars, tells you funny stories, and be tween a joke and an anecdote takes your money. The difference between a burglar and a dishonest gambler Is the difference between a mechanic and an artist. The law punishes them both as thieves, but it punishes the burglar mare severely. The law, you see, is something of a connoisseur. It ap preciates art. But since the law recognizes dis honest gambling as a felony, It would seem logical that the law should hold in the same esteem the manufacture and sale of tools that make the folony facile if not possible. For years there have been firms en gaged In the business of manufacturing and selling dishonest gamming goods. These firms have not been timorous little fly-by-night concerns hiding their plants in out-of-the-way corners and byways of the city. They have large plants In the heart of the city. The amount at which they are capitalized ranges from $20,000 to $50,000. The volume of business done by all of them is estimated at $500,000 annually. The business of one firm alone is said to reach close to $200,000 a year. These firms make no pretense at con cealment. They are frankly In the busi ness of manufacturing and selling loaded dice, marked cards, poker hold outs, cold-deck machines, fixed roulette wheels, crooked faro boxes, electrically and mechanically controlled games of all kinds. They advertise their goods like any other business concerns. There are set forth In glowing detail the excellencies of their wares in circulars, which are sent through the malls broadcast over the country to prospec tive customers. The circulars issued by these firms are curiosities to the uninitiated. They de scribe the devices and how to operate them. If they advertised burglars' tools and gave careful Instructions how to "jimmy" a front door and dyna mite a safe they could hardly be more Interestingly revealing. With one de vice you are told you may rob a card player by merely taking a deep breath or crooking your knee. With another you are informed you may steal poker checks artistically with the opon hand. One nicely controlled machine, rec ommended for home une, conjures up charming evenings devoted to Welsh rabbit and the Jovial robbery of one's friends. A circular which may be taken as a fair sample of tho literature of these unique businesses is full of delicious revelations. In a foreword. "To Our Patrons." this interesting information Is imparted: - "We wish particularly to call your attention to our transparent work. We load these goods in the bird's-eye spotwork, which is an inlaid spot com ing flush with the surface of the dice. We also load the common, ordinary concave spot dice. This work is so cleverly executed that they defy com petition. We also manufacture a trans parent -diefe for Klondike or bar dice, which are neither loads nor shapes, yet are much stronger than otther of the others. These goods have an advantage over loaded work for this reason: They do not favor your opponent when shaken on the square. If you have never used this work' you should not be without It for a single day. We also manufacture a shaped or buffed transparent dice that will go for square goods 99 times out of a hun dred. Our latest and onOj of our most clever productions in the transparent line is our adhesive dice. They are about the same strength as shaped work, but have this advantage they size up perfectly all around. Wise ones will stand for them lust the same as the novice. We guarantee every dice sold by us to be perfect in every re spect. All this work is made by prac tical dice men, who, upon receipt of vour letter, know exactly what you wish to have the dice do. No guess work about filling your order. All our dice are guaranteed to stand any rough usage you may wish to subject them to. No mercury or ehenp amalgams used in their construction." Varieties of loaded dice, listed sc. cording to numbers, are then described. Apple Tree One of Nnture's Wonders Los Angeles Express. "There ain't goin' to be no core." ii... far.f'jmil evnression of one of Mark Twain's oddest characters, "Huck" Finn, Is remarkably fitting as applied . r ur mirojt of horticultural freaks the apple tree of S. W. Alexander. The latest of us several ejirainuni.ii achievements is ine prnuugiMn ;rop of seedless, coreless apples. To say that this tree is steppinff lively in the way out ot tne oruinaiy feats is putting It mildly. Within tho ..oo- i hn nroilurnd two crops, each one greatly different from the other as o general cnaracierisins in -vonderful achievement and, equally th sinnl of the second crop grow In clusters liko grapes. Now as a climax, It turns out that the second crop Is composed, in a large part, of seedless, coreless apples. While one or two otner ireen inn im.o achieved one or tnese mines, iiui uuc, so' far as known, has accomplished them all. And the tree is only 3 years old. As all Its achievements are those of a ere youngster, wnat may n. not uu uj the time that it has attained maturity. xt nnlnn have been taken with the tree. It simply is one of Na ture's wonders. Famous Eccentric Toasts. Cornhill Magazine. Pitt, at Kidderminster, gave a toast compliment to the carpet manufac- rers. , .... ..f trarie of TCi ddermmster. sai id Pitt, "be trampled under foot by all the world. A more audacious toast, freighted with double meaning, has been vari ously attributed to Smeaton. Erskine and to some others. This after-dinner trade sentiment was delivered In this f"Dam the canals, sink the coal pits, blast the minerals, consume the manu factures, disperse the commerce of Great Britain and Ireland!" Appreciation From Hoqulnm. HOQUIAM. Wash., Jan. 16. (To tho Editor.) Allow me to express my en joyment in reading and my apprecia tion of The Oregonian's Sunday edi torial page, especially of the two arti cles on "A Sense of Humor" and on "How to Live Long." Full of delicious facetlousness and of sound sense, they compel me to tell you of the pleasure they gave at least one reader ot your exceptionally well-edited paper. FREDERIC K. HOWARD. Rector Trinity Church. Strong Peace Argument. Wall Street Journal. A stronger argument for peace than Carnegie's $10,000,000 Is our annual pension roll. 1