Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, April 27, 1912, Page 10, Image 10

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    rOBTTkAND. OBWiOX.
Entarad at Portland. Omon. postoftlca aa
Sx-ond-claa Matlr.
Subscription Ratae-InTartably In Advance.
(BT MAIL.)
Pally, fund Included. on yrr
t"all. Sunday lnrlu11. ala month ... 4
DHr. Ptm1r ln-lund. thw month..
Iallr fiunilaT I nr I ad ad. iM month.... J-j
tjlr. without Sunday, "no ?ar J"1
P.IIT. without Hunda. l months. . r
Iai:v. without Funday. hra montha... 1 J
tal'r. without Hundar. on month
Wskl. ona yaar ;- '-
Sunday. w r
Sunday and Vasly. on yar
(BT CARRIER.)
Tally. "'indaT Inctiidad. on yar...... .
tally. Sunday Included, on month
How la RentM Pnd Poatofflr mony ot
d." wr-a ordw or prn.l cWlc on your
rwal tank. Humpa coin or eirreory aro
ITTh .ndr-a riaaVoiva patmca addrea
In full. Includln county and flat.
Faalac Rolea 10 to 14 rar. 1 cnf. lo
to 2a pair. 2 cant.: x to V PM. TTn"
ft lo" pa-. 4 cent. Forln poatasa.
doubl rat.
Eastern BihImh Of fir Verra Conk-
ln Nw Tork. Prunawlca bulldln. t hl-
raan. Sircar bulldln.
tmiin Office No. 3 BfBt streat, 3.
W.. I.ornlon.
roRTXAn. battroay. afkii. fl.
WHT DIDVI TAFT "AY IT BKFOREf
The flnit thought likely to occur to
sincere but candid friend of President
Taft on reading Ms speech at Boston
la. Why did he not nay It before?
The misrepresentation of his opinions,
policies and relation with the loaders
have been repeated In numerous
speeches by Roosevelt and have been
largely Instrumental In enabling the
Colonel to earn Illinois, Pennsylvania.
Oregon and Nebraska. Not until af
ter those political battles had been
fought and lost, not until the false Im
pressions had become lodged in the
minds of tens of thousands of voters
and had become the Inspiring motive,
of their action at the polls does Taft
produce the conclusive proof that a
determined effort has been made to
deceive the people.
Taft was weighed down by a feel
ing of gratitude for past favors. pro
ably br a lingering remnant of that
friendship which had subsisted be
tween him and Roosevelt for many
years, also by a feeling that such per
sonal recriminations were unbecoming
the dignity of one occupying the high
office of President. No regard for the
dignity of the Presidency had re
strained Roosevelt, however, and Taft
must have known that such a man
must be fought with weapons of equal
effectiveness. His goodness of heart,
his Instincts as a gentleman, tri
umphed over his Judgment as to what
was due to himself. His reluctance to
engage In controversy In the only
manner In which Roosevelt can be
met on equal terms proves Taft too
good a man to be a good politician.
Roosevelt has repeated again and
again a garbled version of Taft's To
ledo speech, but It has been left for
Taffs defenders In the newspapers to
combat the deception. Hi principal
political stock in trade during the Illi
nois campaign was the assertion that
Taft was In sympathy with Lo rimer,
though he had in his possession Taft's
letter afflrmlng his desire to see Lori
mer ousted and recitlm? the efforts he
had quietly made to bring about that
event. Taft could then have exposed
the falsity of the charge. Taft has
long known of Roosevelt's co-operation
with Penrose, Aldrich, Cannon
nd the other regular Republican
leaders and could have made his
erushlng retort to the charge of alll
ince with the bosses before the Penn
sylvania primaries.
The President has learned at last
that the game of politics Is fierce and
relentlws and that. In order to win. no
sentiment of gratitude, friendship or
dignity must prevent a man from
ulng every fa'r weapon that comes to
his hand. Henceforward the cam
paign mill assume added bitterness,
divisions in the Republican party will
become, wider and deeper and more
difficult to heal. The President may
ttem the tide which sets towards
Jtoosevelt to such a degree as to pre
sent the Colonel's nomination, but the
growing acrimony b-.ween the two
factions may convince the convention
that his own nomination would be Im
politic and that a third man not yet
prominently before the people can
alone unite the forces with any hope
of leading them to victory.
SYxmrAM.HM.
1 Syndicalism Is the latest thing in
the labor controversy. It Is the guid
ing principle of the Industrial Work
ers of the World In the United States
and Canada. That organization dis
played Its methods of bringing about
the realization of Its Ideal by the
strikes In the Gray's Harbor mills and
en the Canadian railroads. The Law.
re nee strike was an outcome of syndi
calism. The same principle dictated
the French railroad strike, which the
government broke only by manning
the railroads with the railroad corps
of the army; also the British coal
strike and the simultaneous coal
strikes In Germany and Prance, the
purpose of the latter being to prevent
Imported coal from breaking the Brit.
Uh strike. ..
Syndicalism' wars first on capital,
but It also wars on labor unions of
thw old style, and even on Socialism,
which It Is designed to supplant. It
is a French word, describing a theory
first propounded by the French phil
osopher Sorel. and the principle was
first applied In France. It is defined
In the following paragraph from an
article by an anonymous writer in tha
Fortnightly Review:
What. thn, la tnla naw forra In tha labor
world T Briefly, tha aim of aynrtlcaliam la
tha overthrow of th praarnt capitalistic o
clatT. and tha auhatltatlon of union of work
IhIrikb. rontrolitn tha w hole of Industry.
Tha srndteaJlat advaaeea bayond political or
constitutional action. H works, not throusa
any parliamentary rroup. hut through Ih
rlaa war. waged by tha direct action of
worklng-maa. groupod la rnduatiial union
and employing tha triple weapon of tha mul
tiplied atrlk. the ayrapathetlc atrlhe. tha
general atrlk. "Tha pivot of ndlcallrm 1
tti general atrlka-
Tha workman la aaaorad that, onea ba
adopta arndlcajlat policy. Industrial capital
will Inevitably b trmnaferred from Its prea
nt owners to himself. Th abolition 'of
wagea la to form tha bast of tha union of
tsa futur. Tha workman la to control hie
own labor, producing tha naceaaarle and
luxuries of life for himself. Both th Utopia
aad tha method of syndicalism ar cloaaly
allied with th Utopia and tha methods ot
anarchism.
Syndicalism preaches ownership of
each Industry by tho laborers em
ployed In that Industry after the capi
talist has been forced to abandon it
by successive- strikes, the workmen
receiving tha profits and paying out
only the sura necessary for executive
management. Socialism preaches own
ership of all Industry by the state and
employment of both managers and la
borers by the state.
The Industrial Workers of the
World have Incurred the enmity of the
American Federation of Labor ever
aino their organization, von jearsj
ago. The arrest for dynamiting of
fifty-four officers of the Structural
Ironworkers Union is hailed by Debs
as evidence "that tne old unionism Is
dying and that a new and vital one is
springing Into life." Of this new
unionism Debs says:
The new unionism la absolutely bomb
proof arninst the detective and tha dvna
mlter of the corporation. It Is Ilia union
Urn that unltca all the workers, teaches
them to strike together, vote together and
make common causa together In the worlrt
wi.le struggle to emancipate themselves from
Industrial slavary.
William D. Haywood, whose name is
associated with dynamite in connec
tion with the Miners Federation, and
who later became known as a Social
ist lecturer, has become a leader of
the I. W. W. and as such managed the
Lawrence strike. He made open war
on the Textile Workers' Union.
That the Syndicalists will not wage
a bloodless war need not be expected
when they have such leaders as Hay
wood. We have exchanged the secret
resort to "direct action" by such men
as the McNsmaras for its open advo
cacy and use by this new revolution
ary force.
THK STEEI, TBI ST RKVORMl.
The steel trust has shown itself re
sponsive to public opinion by taking
steps for improvement of tho condi
tion of Its workmen. A special com
mittee reported to the recent- annual
meeting condemning the seven-day
working week, stating that It had been
abandoned except In two or three
plants and that it must be abandoned
entirely. The committee also con
demned the twelve-hour day as de
creasing efficiency and lowering vigor
and virility, as well as from a social
point of view. But the committee finds
that a shorter day could perhaps not
be successfully undertaken unless all
employers in the same Industry would
agree. The bonus system. ' which has
been criticised as tending to speed up
workmen. Is defended as an Incentive
to Increase output and efficiency.
The report of this committee is a
cheering sign that the greatest of the
trusts is disposed to consider other
factors relating to Its business besides
the profit to be made and to regard
Its employes as human beings rather
than pieces of machinery which repre
sent so much output. The trust's Im
proved attitude was brought about by
the running fire of criticism which fol
lowed the publication of the Pittsburg
Survey. It Is another victory scored
for publicity.
FATHERS DAT.
The second Sunday In May. as ev
erybody is well aware. Is Mothers' day.
On that precious occasion the whole
world wears a white carnation in its
buttonhole to commemorate the vir
tues of those who bore us. To show
what It Is willing to undergo for the
sake of Its mothers the entire male
sex dons a pleasant mood and cuts out
the ball game. Nothing could be
more heroic. Nothing could be more
self-sacrificing ly. beautiful. And yet it
must have occurred to every thought
ful mind that Mothers' day standing
all alone as It does in the calendar
looks a little solitary. Like Heine's
palm tree In the middle of the burn
ing desert. It looks as if It needed
company.
To supply this obvious want Mrs. R.
B. Logging, of Columbia, Tex., makes
a suggestion to the press In which we
heartily concur. It is that the Sunday
preceding Mothers day be celebrated
as Fathers' day. Mrs. Loggins points
out with touching truth the sweet
memories which cluster around the
name "father." Every son knows what
those memories are. the solemn
woodshed, the hickory withe, the pa
thetic old tobacco pipe. What en
chantment surrounds those visions of
the past, vanished, never, alas, to
return.
Let us by all means have a Fathers'
day and. if possible, let us select an
appropriate flower to wear during its
hallowed hours. Mrs. Loggins tenta
tively names a red carnation, but that
choice docs not exactly seem to suit
our fancy. On some grounds wa
should prefer the poppy, the large
variety which spreads out over a
whole dinner plate. For one thing,
there is such a tender suggestlveness
In the name of this engaging bloom.
"Poppy." Think of it. Does It not
sound paternal? The name almost
appears to have been Invented by
Providence to harmonize with Fath
ers' day. Mrs. Loggins shows a sur
prising contempt for the eternal fit
ness of things In preferring the red
carnation to the red poppy for that
sublimely pathetic occasion.
We trust the practice of setting days
aside for hallowed memories will not
stop with mother and father. Why
should there not be a stepmother's
day and a Sabbath devoted to melan
choiy meditation on mother-in-law?
In the sequel we see visions of a
grandma's day and a Sunday devoted
to Aunt Polly. Perhaps In the end.
since the calendar is likely to run
short before we get through with the
reverential process, we shall have to
set aside a Sunday for an "all-relations
day." Just as some of the
churches have an all saints day.
AS TO UMULT SCHOOLBOYS.
Some of the high school boys of Pa
louse, Wash. but a few. let us hope
are greatly In need of discipline of on
of two kinds. Either they should be
taken out of school and put to work at
plowing, grubbing sagebrush or at
trades, or they should be brought un
der subjection In -the old-fashioned
way by a liberal application of the
birch. According to a dispatch from
that place, a gang of boys of that
school. In order to humiliate the su
perintendent and properly discipline
him for having dared to expel one of
their unruly number, spilled foul
smelling liquid In , the classrooms,
threejr the laboratory Into disorder,
burned rubber overshoes In the fur
nace and made the building for the
time being untenantable.
It is worse than useless to try to
temporize with lads so lost to all sense
of decency and discipline as this. They
are beyond the reach of moral suasion.
Any attempt by mild means fo make
them decently ashamed of themselves
would only subject those In authority
to additional Insult and the school
property to added injury. And since
unruly boys, like unruly men who will
not hear, must be made to feel, these
obstreperous young rowdies should be
dealt with as suggested, either by put
ting them to work (the parents' duty)
and keeping them at It. or by cor
poreal punishment severe enough to
make them respect proper authority.
Penitentiaries are recruited from so
called educational Institutions that
condone and therefore foster lawless
ness. The punishment of the ob
streperous and boldly defiant school-'
boy with the rod is protested against
at the present time on ethical grounds.
So also Is the punishment of the older
criminal of high and low degree. Yet
tttt: TironT-nxo orcEGoyiAy. Saturday, artl 27, lois.
the experience Of the past goes to
show that measures which it has be
come fashionable in this day and age
to deride made men of sturdy char
acter out of unruly boys; while the
application of punishment to fit the
crime Is necessary for the protection
of society from men who are dis
posed to prey upon the lives, the rights
and the property of their fellow men.
There is a no more worthy and ad
mirable place in the scheme of civil
ized society than that of the respect
ful, studious and energetic schoolboy,
and there Is no greater menace to soci
ety, present and future, than the boy
who defies authority and studies mis
chief. Woe to the nation whose men
are too deeply absorbed In commer
cialism and in politics to give personal
attention to he training of their young
sons. Such a nation is certainly "a
land to hastening Ills a prey."
NO rtACB FOB DISCRIMINATION.
The possible menace to life to those
who go to sea In ships, however
stanch. Is noted In the fact that all
vessels carrying passengers are re
quired to carry lifeboats. This being
true, why should not every such ves
sel be required to carry enough life
boats or liferafts to take off, in case of
necessity, every human being on
board? Is It not inhuman, not to say
criminal, to subject people on ship
board to tho awful stress of picking
and choosing those to whom a chance
of life shall be given by taking to the
boats?
No company of shipowners has a
right to take a number of men,
women and children out to sea with
out making provision for the escape
from death of every one of them in
case of the always possible wreck.
Every man on the great ship that
foundered in mid-ocean a few days
ago had as good -a right to a chance
for his life as had every woman and
child on board. This Is not to say
that preference in disembarking in
such cases should not be given to the
more, helpless passengers: it la merely
to say that each and every on was
entitled, to a chance for his or her life
by opportunity, when his or her turn
came In orderly manner to take to the
boats, enough of which should be pro
vided for the accommodation of every
one on board.
If lifeboats are necessary to a ship's
equipment for the safety of those who
go to sea In her. why limit the num
ber below the requirement of safety
for every one on board? Life was as
sweet to our honored fellow citizen, V.
M. Warren, as It was to his estimable
wife. Was not the arrangement
whereby one was taken and the other
left an outrage against humanity,
against conjugal love, against life it
self to one of them? And John Jacob
Astor and Isldor Straus and William
T. Stead and hundreds of others for
whom no provision of safety In an
emergency was made were their Uvea
less dear to them, or of less value to
their families and friends and to the
world, than were the lives of tho few
for whom provision for safety was
made?
No question more, pertinent to Jus
tice and to humanity than this has
been raised by the late awful ship
wreck. If lifeboats are necessary to
guard against the always possible dis
aster at sea. should not enough of
these be carried by every ship to save
the life of every human being on
board? There can be but one answer
to this question before an enlightened
world. , Let there be enough lifeboats
carried to give each and every person
on board a chance for life. That Is
his or her right. No possibility of as
sessing the value of one life above an
other in such stress of circumstance
should be assumed, since none does or
can exist.
THK NEW MADRID EAJiTHQC AKF-
The correspondent whose Interest
ing remarks upon the New Madrid
earthquake are printed today in an
other part of the paper errs in saying
that "there Is little authentic Informa
tion to be had" about this remarkable
seismic disturbance. On the contrary
several excellent accounts of it have
been preserved and the phenomena
which it presented are perfectly famil
iar to the scientific world. The) New
Madrid earthquake waa one of the
most extensive of which we have any
accounts. The shocks were felt
throughout the entire eastern part of
the United States and probably as far
as the Pacific Coast, though "at that
time the country west of the Missis
sippi was largely uninhabited. Dur
ing the year 1S13. when the principal
shocks of the Now Madrid earthquake
occurred, seismic disturbances took
place in other regions of the earth.
For example, the City of Caracas in
South America was destroyed in that
year. We may therefore suppose that
the New Madrid earthquake was not
entirely attributable to purely local
factors. There is much reason, how
ever, to conclude that the main cause
of the shocks was the unequal settling
and deformation of the strata under
lying the Mississippi Valley. The ex
tensive faults which were formed in
the strata about New Madrid at the
time of the earthquake would confirm
this opinion. Some of these faults
measure four feet In vertical extent
and stretch over long distances.
No doubt unequal settling of the
strata sets up an enormous stress In
the earth."'To this stress the strata
finally yield with tremendous shocks
and vibrations which are propagated
over millions of square miles. For
some years before the actual occur
rence of the earthquake strange rum
blings were heard In the neighbor
hood of New Madrid, a small town In
the southeast corner of Missouri.
These sounds were probably caused
by partial fractures of the strata
which were not extensive or violent
enough to set up any marked trem
blings of the earth. It was on the
night of December 1. 1811. that the
genuine earthquake phenomena be
gan. At that time there was a fright
ful shock, accompanied with loud
subterranean thunder and an emission
of sulphurous vapor. Many subse
quent shocks occurred, the most ter
rific of all on February 7. 1812. Be
fore the disturbance subsided observ
ers counted some 1874 distinct re
currences. It Is even said hat the
earthquake is not entirely over to. this
day. Slight tremblings still disquiet
the population at New Madrid and
occasionally do some small damage
to property. Fortunately in 1812 that
part of the Mississippi Valley was but
thinly populated, so that tho loss of
life was negligible compared with
what it has been in some of the other
great historic earthquakes.
Most of the phenomena connected
with the New - Madrid disturbance
were faithfully recorded by compe
tent observers. The surface of the
ground was crumpled up Into long,
wavelike hillocks which split open
from the too and emitted spouting
of sand and water. The fissures thus
formed were often miles in length and
of profound depth. The sand and wa
ter came from deep-lying strata and
were forced out, of course, by the
tremendous lateral pressure which
caused the fractures at the surface to
yawn. As the strata spread apart at
the top they necessarily became
squeezed together at the bottom. In
some of these fissures, which still re
main open, flowing springs were
formed. The stratum from which the
water rises is overlaid by one of hard
clay. When this is pierced an artesian
well is obtained. According to the
accounts there were flowing artesian
wells near New Madrid at the time
of the earthquake, but the water was
drained off from some of them
through the fissures and they went
dry. Naturally this was not true of
all the wells. As tho deep strata of
the earth settled down It stands to
reason that the surface of the country
followed them. The general level of
the earth in the Missouri region was
depressed over thousands of square
miles. In some places lakes gathered
In the hollow areas. Rcelfoot Lake,
Tennessee, which our correspondent
mentions, was thus formed. It is
twenty miles long and seven wide. It
Is now a famous fishing resort and the
boats glide over the tops of cypress
trees which are plainly visible in the
depths. Another lake formed on the
eastern side of the Mississippi by the
earthquake is 100 miles long, six wide
and from ten to fifty feet deep.
On the other hand some ancient
lakes were drained by the earthquake.
This happened to Lake Eulalie. Fis
sures opened in tho bottom and the
waters escaped through them, leaving
a deep deposit of sand cast up from
the strata in the abysses. Through
the fissures during the whole continu
ance of the shocks there was a notable
Issue of sulphurous gas which colored
the air blue and was-perceptible by
Its odor. Much curiosity has been ex
cited In all ages by the mysterious
connection between sulphur and vol
canoes as well as earthquakes. The
Intimate relation between the mineral
and these terrifying phenomena has
even crept into theology and added to
the picturesquenesss of the various
Infernos. Science would hardly be
prepared to say that sulphur is actual
ly manufactured from other elements
by the forces working in earthquakes,
but how can we avoid the suspicion
that something of the sort happens?
Twenty years ago this suggestion
would have appeared absurd, but since
the discovery of radium and the ac
tual transformation of one element
Into another it seems reasonable
enough, though it has not been proved
by any means.
Parallel with the extensive subsi
dence of land there occurred near New
Madrid an elevation circular In form
and some twenty miles in diameter
which still exists. Part of this eleva
tion lay in the channel of the Missis
sippi and It was extensive enough to
turn back the current of . the river
for five or ten minutes. During the
great shock of February 12, 1812, the
water of the Mississippi was first
heaped up in the middle of the chan
nel, leaving wide stretches of bare
sand on either side. Then the current
swept far Inland, carrying destruction
before it, and, on its return, snapping
off the trunks of huge trees. One
grove was cut down so neatly that it
seemed to have been done with an
axe. The New Madrid earthquake is
Interesting In connection with the re
cent overflow of the Mississippi, since
the "sunk lands" which It accounts for
gave ready access to the devastating
flood.
When the State Commission has
regulated the sale of liquor on trains
to Its satisfaction, that body would
well stop promiscuous and too fre
quent drinking from bottles produced
from pockets of boozy youth who have
spent the day in the larger cities and
are going home in a state of more or
less hilarity. Some overgrown boys
think it makes them "tough" to carry
a bottle of whisky when traveling, but
they deceive nobody but themselves.
Some day there will be international
law to punish skippers who ignore dis
tress calls, with plenty of power to en
force it; but before that time there
is need of law to punish owners and
directors of boats that go to sea in
similar condition to the Titanic. In
this view the protracted examination
to fix blame may be of benefit to humanity.
Douglas' confession that he simu
lated insanity in order to escape the
rigors of penitentiary life should serve
as a warning to courts and Juries
against giving too ready credence to
the Insanity plea. The statement of
Douglas that It was suggested to him
by his fellow-prisoners shows that it
is a favorite dodge of criminals.
The Colonel should be satisfied with
the attention he received on Thursday,
with Taft excoriating him all over
Massachusetts and Williams piercing
him with the rapier of satire in the
Senate.
The American coal strike has
proved to be no more than a Spring
vacation, and. unlike the British
strike, was settled without causing
distress or revolutionary legislation.
Moorish fanaticism In Fez brings
the same results as Russian fanati
cism in Kichineff. but France deals
with the fanatics somewhat different
ly from Russia.
When a steamship runs amuck it Is
well she chooses Seattle harbor for a
stage setting, where she can do large
damage with small cost in lives.
To arms! To arms! The Adjutant
General of Oregon has been called to
Washington for a war conference.
Those poor victims thought relief
was in sight when they climbed the
Iceberg only to freeze to death.
Barney O'Nell Is becoming an Inter
national Incident, and must have
money left for the lawyers.
The Portland excursionists are see
Ing some of the finest country made,
at Its show season.
The Presidential campaign is be
coming acute because many are ob
tuse. The Olympic's striking crew won the
contention but lost the Jobs and are In
Jail.
Hillman, the promoter, has a check
ered past as well as a striped future.
Tom Word Is "out."
time since he was "in.
It's a long
At the Cafeteria
By Addison Bennett.
BY ADDISON BENNETT.
"You are a liar, a cheat, a swindler,
and everything else that is mean and
contemptible. You have made me more
trouble than the boils made for Job,
and if I had a hammer or an ax I
would smash you into a thousand
pieces, little bits of pieces, so you could
never make any more trouble for any
body." It was the Monde cashier giving the
state of her mind to the cash register,
which had again called for consider
able more money than there was in the
drawer, and the proprietor had again
been persistent in his Inquiries and
aggressive In his expressions of confi
dence In the machine and lack of faith
In the infallibility of the blonde. Fi
nally, to wind the bickerings up for
good and all, he said to her: "The
next time the cash is short you may
consider yourself discharged without
any further arguments or explana
tions." Then he went back to the kit
chen, and the blonde expressed her
opinion of the register in the words
above.
Just as she was at tha height of
her anger the members of The Cafe
teria Poultry Company, Limited, crossed
the threshold and gathered up their
food. Soon they were seated at their
accustomed table, but for a few min
utes not a word was said. The little
blonde was eyeing them. Noting their
reticence, she remarked to herself in
an undertone: "Them three guys look
like three-time losers; I wonder if they
had some money down On the Beav
ers?" a a
After several minutes of silence tha
fat man remarked that In the 40-odd
years of his life he had run up against
several and divers kind of blamed
fools, but "you two derned idiots beat
all of the chumps I ever made connec
tion with. You two fellows ought to
go down to the City Jail and have
yourselves locked up before you blow
In every cent you've got and have' to
call on me or some of your other
friends to pay your board. Wise guin
eas you are, wise guineas wise and
otherwise. You went out to that poul
try ranch and let them two fine fel
lers, them two honest country fellers,
them two reliable farmer fellers, shet
your eyes up as if you was Infants-inarms,
as teethless as them hens, with
mush In your heads where us sensible
folks have brains."
The blonde heard these remarks, for
they were not made in a whisper by
any moans, and she remarked to the
cash register, as she gave the machine
a malevolent look: "I wish I had that
fellow's flow of language so I could
tell you and your owner what I think
of you."
when I got out to the ranch," con
tinued the fat fellow, "I found a guy
there who was nosing around and
watching some fellers unloading a lot
of roosters, them 300 roosters that Veg
had ordered from town. When they
waa unloaded and put Into the pens
there was 600 hens and 602 roosters.
This guy who was nosing around re
marked that we had a choice lot of
poultry, mighty nice, evidently all high
bred stock, all full-blooded. 'And,'
said this feller, 'the beauty of that
flock of poultry Is that of the 196 vari
eties of chickens laid down in the dic
tionary you have a specimen or two,'
he called It speclment, 'you have a
speciment or two or three of every
known and every named variety what
is or ever was or ever will be. There
are Jerseys and Cotswolds and Ham
miltonlans and Durhams and Shrop
shirea and Berkshires and Fantalls
and not a derned one of them breeds
is good for anything but to set on
eggs and raise chickens. Over there
In the far corner there is two hens of
the celebrated Duroc breed, famous
layers, and loafing around in other
parts of the pen T see four more, mak
ing six. undoubtedly the hens had
layed the eggs you got yesterday. So
you can see where you are at. You
have six laying hens to support 1196
worthless hens and roosters.'
"Come to inquire into it, I found
this guy to be a poultry sharp what
has made a snug little fortune out of
the poultry business. When I cornered
him he admitted that he was a cele
brated breeder of the Buff Durocs, any
how, he half admitted it- And then he
went in among the hens and finally
caught one of them Durocs and brung
her over to me and said he consid
ered her the finest speclment of a hen
he had ever saw. He looked her over
carefully and said that some book,
called a book of perfection, showed how
a perfect Duroc should have 17 differ
ent colors of feathers and that hen
had 18 different colors.
"To make the story short, that fel
ler offered me 425 per each for them
six hens. Or he said he would do
better he would sell them to a cele
brated hen sharp for $100 per hen and
split it up with me. Finally, he made
another proposition, one that I snapped
up pretty quick; he said he had a
rooster at home just as perfect as
them hens, he thought maybe the
daddy of the daddy or mother of them
hens, and he would sell me that roos
ter for $125; then we could start a
breeding pen of them Durocs and sell
every chicken we could raise from
them for over $50 per each and I
made the deal with him and he went
home and brung the rooster over and
I paid him the $125.
"Now, suppose we only get four eggs
a day from them hens, or 360 for the
next two months. That is a low esti
mate. And suppose we hatcli them
360 eggs into 360 chickens, and then
three of them dies, for chickens are
apt to die. That would leave 354 chic
kens tb sell, say at only $50 each see
what a rich and Juicy deal I have
made? You fellers are pikers, num--skulls,
haii-brains. You fellers go out
to that ranch and get took In by them
honest farmers, and we have to punglea!
up another thousand; I so out and in
two days start something that will net
us $10,000 or $12,000 before the snow
flies."
a
Just after the poultry sharps went
out, a hustling-, rushing, excitable indi
vidual came Into .the cafeteria and
grabbed so many different kinds of ed
ibles that the little blonde wondered If
he was going to devour them or carry
them off to start a rival feedery. But
he devoured them. As he came up to
the desk to pay his dollar sixty he
tendered a check for $125 drawn by the
Cafeteria Poultry Company, Limited,
said check being certified. The blonde
had to send for the proprietor to close
the transaction, as her official duties
did not extend beyond the cash reg
ister, the safe being closed to her.
As the stranger waited, he told the
blonde that some guys were starting
in the chicken business out his way,
and he had sold "em a rooster, breed
and pedigree unknown, for the amount
of the check, said rooster costing him
six bits and dear at that.
Not the System's Fault. ,
Chicago Record-Herald.
"I used to think I would, know just
how to manage my wife when I got
her." .
"Has your system proved to be a
failure?"
"No: the system may be all right, as
far as I know. She has never let me
try it."
Just a Maiden's Prayer.
Detroit Free Press.
"Has she entirely recovered from the
efTects of her operation T'
"No. She's still talking about it."
Meaawrlns a- Woman's Affection.
Judge.
Many a woman's affection is but in
creased by receiving a check.
FRATERNAL IXSIRAN'CE AFFECTED
Increased Woodmen Rates Has Wide,
spread Significance.
EUGENE. Or April 25. (To the Ed
itor.) Some time ago The Oregonlan
made editorial mention of the change
of rates recently adopted and to be put.
in force next year by the head camp
of the Modern Woodmen. In news items
mention has repeatedly been made re
garding the controversy that has thus
been made among the members of this
order. It seems to me that the basis
of dissatisfaction has not been very
clearly stated in the public prints, and
as the matter is one that in reality
affects all fraternal insurance, a word
regarding It may not be amiss.
It may be admitted that the rates
formerly in use by. this society were
too .low to permit the society in the
long run to meet the demands upon it.
It may, I think, be also admitted that
the members of the order as a whole
are willing to submit to an advance in
rates. Division has arisen, not over
future rates for new members, but over
special rates that are made to apply
to existing members. These vary from
an advance of 50 per cent for some of
the younger members to 500 per cent
for the older members, and of course
it is the latter that feel aggrieved.
Members that have just been admitted
receive in most cases the more favor
able rates, while those who have been
long with the order and have labored
most for it receive the least favorable
rates. This comes from the fact that
the head camp disregarded the funda
mental principle on which rates in all
Insurance concerns are based, namely,
that the rate is fixed upon the age of
entry into the society, and adopted as
the basis of the new rates the present
attained age of the members. It is not
difficult to Imagine the outcry that
would be made if one of the great old
line insurance companies should re
rate its members, raising the straight
life premiums of their old members to
rates fixed for their attained ages
after 10 and 20 years' connection with
the company.
The change is especially hard upon
the older members of the Modern Wood
men because for the most part they are
men who work for daily or monthly
wages, and these older members are
past their prime and unable to meet
the new demands upon them.
The Pacific Woodman intensifies the
difficulty a little by saying that for
merly there were eight assessments per
year. While this was true, assessments
of late have numbered ten per year,
that being sufficient under -the old
rates to meet all death claims, but there
are In all cases hereafter to be 12 as
sessments per year.
It would seem at first sight that the
head camp would have adopted some
scheme that would not have violated
the general principle of basing rates
upon date of entry into the order. It
would seem that they have violated the
fraternal principle when they put tha
heaviest burden on those who have
served longest and are least able to
bear it. If this experiment succeeds,
the same will be done by other frater
nal orders and will eventually destroy
them all.
The reason for its adoption is n-i far
to seek. There are three parties af
fected by changes in rates: The offi
cers, who wish to maintain their posi
tions and their salaries. Horizontal
raises have proved unpopular and have
generally resulted in the deposition of.
the officers making them. The officers
must make friends with the majority ot
the members. Second, the young mem
bers who always constitute a majority.
The cheap rates offered to them bring
them in, and with lapses keep them in
the majority. They must be reckoned
with. They are still of an age when
insurance is practicable so far as cost
is concerned, and if not treated tender
ly they will seek other orders or the
old line companies. Third, the old
members, who are soon to die, and
who are a menace to the order. They
cannot by reason of their attained age
enter other companies at rates tnat to
them are practicable. And so there will
be put upon them a burden Just a tri
fle better than a new company will
give, and in this way the order as a
whole will deem it has discharged its
duty to them, but the rate will still be
beyond their reach.
There are, it is said, 50,000 of these
members in the Modern Woodmen. The
society, having 1,200,000 members, will
not miss them. The only question is,
can it survive the reputation" of having
raised them out in their old age? This
Is the question that affects all frater
nal insurance, for the time of peril will
come to all, and in the time of peril
those less able to protect themselves
will suffer.
Ismay on Carpathla.
PORTLAND. April 26. (To the Edi
tor.) The writer under the name of
"Shipmates" who attempts to justify
the action of Mr. Ismay when the
Titanic went down, very carefully
avoids any reference to his actions
after boarding the Carpathla. where
he was at once shown a comfortable
stateroom and remained incommunica
do, showing no concern for the women
and children who had been rescued suf
fering from exposure, and some of
them having no better quarters than
the cabin floors. Such concern for his
passengers certainly shows the selfish
side of his character, and somewhat
modifies his statement of activity in
getting women into the boats. L.
Happier When He Was Poor.
Chicago Record-Herald.
"I am telling you the truth when I
say that 1 was much happier when I
was poor than I am now."
"Then why don't you let your millions
go ani be poor again?"
"Why, I should be miserable, think
ing of the people who got the money."
Beauty and T'cllness.
Exchange.
Beauty Is only skin deep, but ugli
ness can sink all the way in.
New Special
The Sunday
Roadbuilding, Least Known of Sciences Samuel Hill, noted author
ity on this big topic, gives his ideas on a work that is of greatest im
portance in Northwest.
Stopping Child Marriages This is a stirring: account from a Bom
bay correspondent of the plucky work of an American girl in India.
Illustrated with splendid photographs.
Portland's Nearby Trout Streams An illustrated half page on the
haunts of speckled beauties close to the heart of the city.
Science Probes Love Laura Jean Libbey writes of the efforts to
dissect and analyze the tender emotion.
Looking After the Children Uncle Sam at last establishes a
bnreau that will seek to wipe out the scourges of our social evils
among the little ones.
Gentle Eeroes They are fhe leper-tenders who rule the islands of
horrors. An article of the deepest interest, profusely illustrated.
Two Complete Short Stories.
The Jump-nps Jim goes into the shoe business with dire results.
Sambo loses his commissary, Mr. Boss meets with a mortar bath,
Hairbreadth Harry becomes King, Mrs. TimekiUer wins another vote
and Slim Jim is received at Grassville.
New cut-out clothes and a donkey puzzle in colors for the children.
MANY OTHER FEATURES
Order Today From Your Newsdealer.
Half a Century Ago
From The Oregonlan of April 28. 1862.
Multnomah Countv Union Ticket
For Sheriff. R. J. Ladd; County Clerk,
J. M. Breck; County Judge, P. A. Mar
quam: Treasurer, W. P. Doland; State
Senator, John H. Mitchell; Representa
tives, A. J. Dufur. Philip Wasserman;
Assessor, Thomas Frazer; County Com
missioners, William Kern, S. J. McCor
mick; School Superintendent, P. S. Cof
fey; Coroner, John Ewry; Surveyor, C.
W. Burrage.
The Government blacksmith shop at
Vancouver was burned on Saturday
evening, April 19th. Nearly all the ma
terials, tools, etc., were saved. Mr.
John McMuIlan, in charge of the shop, .
had $1500 in coin in the building. Of
this he has recovered $1100 or $1200.
melted by the heat. His loss will be
about $500.
Judge Williams delivered an able Union
speech at Eugene City on Wednesday,
the 24th.
Messrs. Overhold & Co., from Yam
hill County, crossed the river at this
point yesterday afternoon, having in
charge some 28 pack animals destined
for the Salmon River mines.
The people about Vancouver seem to
be going to the mines en masse. The
Telegraph says: "If our citizens con
tinue to depart for the mines in the
same proportion that they have been
for the last week, we shall be left al
most alone, with the streets of our
town and the farms and homes of the
country adjacent deserted and forlorn."
The city election takes place at Ore
gon City today. Will some one send
us returns?
As "Ed" Howe Sees Life
You must have noticed that a wise
man keeps his mouth shut a good deal,
Most people make the mistake of
underestimating the strength of the
enemy.
When there is a strong but lazy
young man in the neighborhood, peo
ple always ask: "Why doesn't he join
the Army-"
It may not be possible for you to be
agreeable to some people, but you can
keep away from them.
You can be tolerably effective and
not be a hero.
If your neighbors talk about you, it's
a shame people gossip without reason
about a man who always wants to do
what's right with everybody.
Newspaper readers become so tired
of the noted people.
To celebrate your victory only un
necessarily annoys the enemy.
If an honest man admits that he Is
weak, people who are weaker, and less
honest, will abuse him because of his
lack of what they call "idealism." Some
people seem to think that "idealism"
is refusal to admit the truth.
People who have a good thing are
very apt to ask for a better.
New Madrid Earthquake.
VASHON, Wash., April 23. (To the
Editor.) This year of 1912 Is the 100th
anniversary of what is known as the
New Madrid earthquake of 1812, that
sunk thousands of square miles of land,
now comprising a score of counties in
Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. The
entire region. is suffering more or less
from the Mississippi overflow, that
promises to be as well remembered in
local history as the earthquake.
There is little authentic information
to be had about the earthquake, but its
results are still apparent in numerous
shallow lakes and sloughs, the most
notable of which are Reelfoot Lake,
Tennessee, and the St. Francois River
region of Missouri and Arkansas
Millions are being spent in convert
ing these sunken lands into one of the
most fertile agricultural regions of the
Madrid, Mo., an old French set- .
tlement. Is the oldest town In the state,
having a population of 800 at the close
of the revolution. It was an important
river town, but has lost its commercial
prestige since the coming of the rail
road. ZELLA D ALTON.
"The Kaiser" Their Death Cry.
New York Tribune.
' The bravery displayed by the musi
cians on the Titanic and the similar
exhibition on the English ship Birken
head recalls also the patriotic conduct
of the band on Ifoard the German gun
boat litis, which went to the bottom
of the Chinese Sea, August 25, 1896.
The scene was at that time described
by one of the few survivors of the
disaster, which claimed 118 of the
litis' crew. He said that the men stood
at parade, the band played "Heil Dir
im' Siegerkranz" with all the precision
and force of which they were capable,
and, swinging their caps, vhe officers
and men went down cheering the
Kaiser.
A Definition of "Thick" Miles.
Chicago Tribune.
"How far Is it to the next town?"
inquired the traveler in the mud
bespattered buggy.
" Bout ten mile, mister." said the
farmer by the roadside.
"Long miles, too. I suppose.
"No, sir, they're not so very long,
but you'll find them pretty blamed
thick."
You Seei She Had Met Jack.
Boston Evening Transcript.
Kitty There is something that
draws one to Jack: I wonder what
it is. ,
thel I know: it's his arm.
Features of
Oregonian
t