Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, April 30, 1915, Page 8, Image 8

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    8
TTIE MORNING OltEGOXIAN, FRIDAY, APRIL
30, 1915.
PORTLAND, OKEGOX
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POBTUXU, FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1915,
AX tTOCH IN NOKTHtVENT HISTORY.
An event of transcendent importance
in tha history o the Columbia River
basin la the passage of the first steam
cm through the Celilo Canal between
the upper and lower rivers. It marks
the realization of the hopes entertained
lor decades that uninterrupted naviga
tion would become possible from the
ocean to the Inland Umpire. It gives
the people of the Columbia basin an
opportunity to achieve their independ
ence of railroad transportation. They
need no longer rely on the water grade
or the railroads; they have only to
make use of the water itself.
Most significant is the fact that the
first steamer which came down the
river by way of the canal was loaded
with wool. This fact, taken in connec
tion with the establishment of wool
warehouses in Portland and with the
beginning: of wool shipments through
the Panama Canal to the Atlantic
Coast, is eloquent of the possibilities
opened up to Portland and its tribu
tary country by the Celilo Canal. As
Oregon has entered into successful
competition with New England in
manufacture of woolen goods, Portland
Jias entered into competition with Bos
ton as a central market for raw wool.
This city should become the market
and chipping point for the wool, not
only of Oregon and Washingotn, but
also of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and
Utah, Wool should be scoured, sorted
and graded here, and Eastern manu
facturers should make their purchases
here instead of at Boston.
What is already true of wheat and
what promises soon to become true of
wool should be made true of fruit, live
stock and minerals. We have taken
wool merely as an illustration of what
Is in store for us, if we but use -our
opportunities. This requires modern
tugboats and barges, modern wharves
with every facility for cheap and rapid
loading and unloading of vessels, and
connecting transportation lines from
the river to the back country, which
will serve as feeders to the main line
the river. If we thus take advan
tage of the opportunity given us by the
construction of the Celilo Canal, we
shall have advanced the strongest pos
sible argument for extension of the
navigable channel farther up the Co
lumbia until It reaches the boundary,
where it will join the channel improved
by the Canadian government. The Co
lumbia basin will then be as great a
hive of industry as is the heart of Ger
many, and Portland will become the
great entrepot for the exchange of its
products with those of other states and
nations, performing the same function
which Hamburg performs for the Elbe
valley and for all Germany.
The event of last Wednesday, which
is to be celebrated throughout the Co
lumbia basin next week, marks an
epoch the importance of which is to be
measured by the action of the people
themselves. The way has been cleared
for them. It is for their own energy
and enterprise, guided by wisdom, to
do the rest.
SUBSTITUTES FOR WAR.
The Harvard professor of physiology
thinks that in case war should be abol
1 lshed mankind might find a" sufficient
outlet for Its military ardor in ath
letics. Even at present it is a little
difficult to see much difference be
tween some forms of athletics and war
as far as danger is concerned. Moral
ly, too, they are upon about the same
level. The employment of "ruses," the
doctrine that "all is fair that wins"
and the like find as much favor on
intercollegiate athletic grounds as on
the bloody fields of Belgium.
The erudite professor, who confirms
our belief that athletics may well serve
as a substitute for war in its more
hideous aspects, discerns another. great
value in the discipline which sports
inculcate. Exercises such as the an
cient Olympic games would, he thinks,
"do for our young men much that is
now claimed as peculiar to the values
of military discipline." No doubt. But
why not also for our young women?
It is not men alone who need physical
robustness in these latter days. The
time has gone by when a woman ful
filled her duty to the race or to her
self by languishing, sobbing and swoon
ing through life.
The modern woman needs outdoor
exercise as much as the modern man,
and any provision for the well-being
of the race which leaves her out Is to
that extent, at least, defective. The
Harvard professor thinks in terms of
men only because his environment has
circumscribed his mind. But people
free from the limitations of the college
campus may take broader views of
things. Nor need we depend wholly
upon athletics for the development of
wholesome vigor in human beings.
That is another college superstition.
Riding the range in cowboy times pro
duced as much courage, hardihood and
chivalry as fighting ever did. The men
who work on modern iron- buildings
must have all the courage of soldiers
with a great deal more poise and skill.
War as it is waged now develops in
the soldier nothing but dull obedience
to orders which he does not under
stand and stolid endurance of hard
ship. The romance and glitter have
all vanished to be succeeded by the
mud and sordldness of the trenches.
The European war is much more likely
to cause the troops to revert to the
habits of prehistoric cave dwellers than
to make civilized heroes out of them.
For any effect of that sort we must
resort to the romance, the emergencies
and the peril of modern industry. It
were well Indeed ' if war could be
stripped once and for all of the false
glitter of romance which surrounds it
and shown up in its hideous naked
ness. In olden times it bred heroes
because It called strenuously upon in
dividual initiative. Now It calls for
the utter submergence of the individ
ual and represses the heroic qualities.
The Harvard professor is wise to
prefer the Influence of athletics. He
would be wiser still if he would speak
a good word for the hero-making
properties of the perilous arts of mod
ern life.
OTENING COLLEGE DOORS. .
. The excellent courses of study which
the Agricultural College offers at Cor.
vallls this Summer exemplify the won
derful advances which have been made
of late in popularizing education. The
old notion that a college must pain
fully guard its doors against the en
trance, of uninitiated persons has Just
about disappeared. In place of It we
behold a hospitality to aspiring youth
which is far more humane and at the
same time more genuinely scholarly.
The so-called "preparation" which
young people acquired at fitting
schools and under the tutelage of
adept "crammers" signified precisely
nothing as far as education was con
cerned. It was like the "eenty, minty,
cuty corn" with which children begin
their games. The colleges laid im
mense stress on what a young person
seemed to know when he entered and
cared but little how much he might
have forgotten by the time he left.
Now there has been a total change of
spirit. With their accustomed calm;
assumption of everything in eight the
New Yorkers claim the credit for all
this progress.
They chant the praises of Columbia
University as if she had been the great
pioneer in popularizing university
teaching. But she was nothing of the
sort. Columbia has carried the good
work farther, perhaps, than any of the
other big institutions, but in doing so
she has been a faithful, if not modest,
imitator of the Wisconsin State Uni
versity, the Chautauquas and other
Western forerunners. Most new edu
cational ideas originate in the West.
The East takes them up when they
hae been proved successful and
promptly lays claim to the credit of
inventing them.
Hut no matter who invented the no
tion of making the universities popu
lar institutions or where it first saw
the light. It is now becoming the rule
everywhere. Columbia admits stu
dents to some of its classes without
the entrance incantation which was
once deemed so essential and other
colleges will presently follow suit.
Educational standards will not be
lowered by this liberality. On the con
trary they will be raised, since we shall
now see the emphasis placed on what
the student learns at college rather
than on what he knew when he
entered.
EGGS IV ONE BASKET.
We have patiently examined in vain
the ninety -six-page report of the Port
of Seattle Commission for some infor
mation that justifies a city in incur
ring an extravagant debt in anticipa
tion of a growth in water-borne com
merce. The nearest approach is a quo
tation from an unnamed engineer who
dogmatically asserts that facilities cre
ate commerce. It appears on the other
hand that considerable business was
transacted at the various new port im
provements in Seattle in 1914, but
whether any part of this business was
new business traceable to the existence
of public docks and warehouses is left
to conjecture.
The report also gives in tabulated
form a variety of statistics as to re
ceipts and disbursements and cost of
mprovements, but no explanation is
given as to the possible bearing the
apparent incompleteness of some of
the improvements had on the income.
As the figures stand it appears that in
1914 the earnings exceeded the dis
bursements by $17,309.87. But the
improvements to January 1, 1915, had
cost $4,412,226.15. The latter sum had
been raised by the issuance of bonds
at 4 per cent and the interest charge
is therefore nearly $200,000 a year. The
deficit, not taking Into account provi
sions for a bond sinking fund or de
preciation or plant, was more than
$180,000.
Certainly some assurance that this
deficit will not continue year after
year, beyond that of mere assertion.
would be valuable information to other
ports, and we should think the people
of Seattle would appreciate it, too, as
a future guidance. The sum in excess
of $4,000,000 already expended is not
the total cost of the improvements un
der way.- One member of the port
estimates that they will ultimately rep
resent an expenditure of $6,500,000.
An estimate as to how much operating
expenses would increase with volume
of business, and another estimate of
the magnitude which Seattle's com
merce would have to reach in order to
pay interest on the investment would
be interesting. If one year's business
hows an excess of income over oper
ation of $17,000 and that that profit
falls $180,000 short of paying interest
on a bonded indebtedness of $4,400,-
00, we imagine, offhand, that it would
require at least ten times as much
business to provide the interest on a
bonded indebtedness of $6,500,000.
If Seattle is going into the public
dock business on a scale which con
templates a ten-fold growth in water
borne commerce within a reasonable
lapse of time it is certainly a city of
optimists. In commenting on the sev
eral failures of municipal ownership in
Seattle the Argus, a weekly newspaper
of that city, says of the public docks:
Of the millions which have been spent In
docks not one property Is paying a fair in
terest on the investment, and several will
not pay a decent rate of interest for vears.
If they ever do. Nor have these docks re
duced the rate of doing business, or brought
one cargo to this city which would not have
come had they never been built. All that
they have accomplished is to divert from
private docks enotigh business to make the
latter losing investments.
This information, or the contrary if
the contrary be true, would have made
the report valuable if contained there
in. The careful analyst will probably
concede that a direct profit on public
docks is not the sole index of their
value just as direct profit or lack of
direct profit on the investment in the
Panama. Canal is not the measure of
its benefit t6 the country. But direct
losses must be offset somehow. The
statement goes unchallenged in face
of an enormous deficit that the Seattle
docks have not brought one cargo to
that city that would not have come
had they never been built.
The record speaks for moderation
and common sense. The port which
keeps abreast of the times in dock fa.
cilities, encourages development of rail
feeders, aids in building up its produc
tion and consumption field and In gen
eral distributes its aid over all the 'ele
ments that produce commerce, will
sooner or later distance the port which
applies all its energies in one direction.
WAR'S LEW ON HORSEFLESH.
From various sections of Oregon
come reports of tha activity 6f horse
buyers, men who are supposedly pur
chasing horses to fill contracts for
mounts and artillery animals for some
one or more of the armies now op
erating in Europe. Horses of vari
ous weights, ranging from 950 to 1.100
pounds each, are sought, and of ages
from five to eight years, though good
animals far above that age find ready
sale. The animals need not be broken
to drive or ride. If halter-broken they
are accepted at the full price.
We take the following from the Con
don Times, which shows how the
money is pouring into the pockets of
Oregon horsegrowers:
Campbell Brown made an advantageous
i nurnes last ween to u. j-l. Turner,
the noted horse dealer from Caldwell. Idaho.
Mr. Brown sold 107 horses, for which he
got close to SlOO a head. He bought the
horses in Wheeler and Killlam counties last
Kail and has done well in the matter of
profit. Mr. Turner has oontracta from the
British, Fritnch and American governments
for cavalry, artillery and transport horses,
which enables htm to take almost any sized
horse that is sound in wind and limb.
Various other exchanges, both in
Eastern Oregon and the Willamette
Valley, mention the sales of bands of
from ten to a hundred head at about
that price for range stock, and far
above that for heavy animals well
broken. So here is one phase of war
activity that is redounding to our
benefit.
AN ESKIMO BOOK.
From Greenland's icy mountains
comes a book by an Eskimo author.
Mathias Storch is his name and his
book is the first ever published in that
forbidding clime. It is In the Eskimo
tongue with the engaging title of
"Singnagtugag," which means nothing
more portentous than "The Dream."
The author, who is a Church of
England clergyman, relates his boy
hood experiences and closes the tale
with a dream of a time to come when
his beloved Greenland shall be free
and independent. Patriotism flourishes
in the roost unpropitious environ
ments. It burns as ardently on Tor
no's cliff as on Pambamarca's side.
Mathias Storch's vision Is not neces
sarily illusory. If Europe keeps on in
irsa nriidnt .nlirecc 'ivilivatinn n-1 1 1 V, n
blotted out there before, a arr.n.t. while,
and must seek some other land for a
chance to rehabilitate itself. Why not
Greenland?
Science can doubtless devise ways to
melt the ice cliffs. The soil is likely
enough to be fertile, once it is thawed
out, and who can deny that the nat
ural resources of the country are lim
itless? Greenland may one day be the
focus of. the world's life. Stranger
things have happened.
MORE ABOUT EXTRAVAGANCE.
A communication which we publish
in another column about the Govern
ment debt and expenses illustrates
how easily figures can be quoted to
produce a false impression. Without
any desire to reflect on the accuracy
of the World Almanac we have gone
to what will be admitted as a better
authority for statistics as to Govern
ment revenue and disbursements,
namely, the Statistical Abstract of the
United States, published by the De
partment of Commerce and Labor. We
give in the following table the reve
nue and expenditures, surplus or de
ficit for the years selected by our
correspondent and also for the Inter
vening years: -
Fiscal
Year. Revenue.
Dis
bursements. $ 748.0tiS.0P8
Surplus
or Deficit.
$2,374,077
35.214.Sti3
l1.372,0yi
2tt,MIJ,07
1S.795.01U
19.480,753
83.501,309
2U.975, 552
11103. .$719.DII4,0'.'1
lilOS. . 708,315,771
I3,1U3,U0S
IU0 7
oos.13.2::8
S7,t70.70
8S.1,7,1:!1
31. 314. litis
9tl7.5Stt.M4
818,541,147
924,5116, 8H9
1,002.303,040
.i0.705,418
9B4. 083,555
iU5,273,7S
lltOS.
laou.
1810.
1911.
1912.
Totals: Surplus $187,0113.875
Deficit, 1)1,740.846
Net surplus 95,323,029
Deficit. ' -
Expenditures on the Panama Cana
to June 30, 1912, were made as fol
lows: From bond sales, $138,600,869;
from ordinary revenue, $137,886,359;
total, $276,487,228. That explains
the deficit in all of the eight years
In question except 1905. Had bonds
been sold for the entire Canal expendi
ture, there would have been a surplus
in those eight years aggregating over
$230,000,000, and the only year in that
period actually showings a deficit
would have been 1905.
-The figures as to the public debt
quoted by our correspondent include
gold certificates and other currency
issued against cash in the Treasury,
which are, of course, offset by such
cash and which the Government terms
debt bearing no interest. The Gov
ernment arrives at the total of its
debt by adding together the interest
bearing debt, debt on which interest
has ceased since maturity, consisting
of bonds which have been called but
not presented for payment, and debt
bearing no interest. From this total
it deducts cash in the Treasury and
reports the balance as the net debt.
The nearest dates to those cited by
our correspondent for which- we can
find figures in the Statistical Abstract
are July 1, 1900, and July 1. 1912.
The interest-bearing debt on the for
mer date was $1,023,478,860; on the
latter date, $963,776,770, a decrease
of $59,702,090. During the same per
iod debt bearing no interest, that is
currency, grew from $1,112,305,911 to
$1,902,836,653, an increase of $790,
530,742, but cash in the Treasury grew
from $1,029,249,833 to $1,840,799,176,
an increase of $811,545,34 3. The debt
less cash in the Treasury shrank from
$1,107,711,257 to $1,027,574,697, a de
crease of $80,136,560, notwithstanding
the issue of Canal bonds.
As to the necessity of a direct tax
when this country is at peace, that
requires a comparison of customs rev
enue under the Payne and Underwood
tariffs. In the fiscal year 1913, the
last full year under the Payne law,
the customs revenue, as stated by the
Statistical Abstract, was $318,891,396.
In the fiscal year 1914 (during the
first three months of which the Payne
law was in operation), customs reve
nue is stated by Representative Fitz
gerald to have been $292,320,014 and
would doubtless have been less had
the Underwood tariff been in opera
tion throughout the year. In order to
recoup the Treasury for the loss of
revenue due to tariff reduction the
Democratic Congress extended the
corporation tax to all corporations
and imposed the personal income tax.
Had the Payne tariff remained in op
eration or had a tariff law been passed
producing as much revenue as the
Payne tariff, no addition to the. in
come tax would have been necessary
before the war and such a tax could
have been held in reserve to meet the
emergency created by the war.
Almost certainly the decrease in im
ports due to the war would have di
minished the customs revenue had the
Payne tariff remained in operation,
but In that case Congress would have
had the income tax to fall back on.
Having used this emergency resource
before the war began in order to sup
ply the deficiency caused by the Un
derwood law. Congress found neces
sary the imposition of new emergency
taxes. We are therefore justified in
asserting that the Underwood tariff
was largely responsible for the emer
gency taxes.
The rest of the responsibility rests
on Democratic extravagance. Our
correspondent aeems to imagine that
I the $1,115,000,000 of appropriations
unaer discussion is all the money
which the Sixty-third - Congress ap
propriated. ' That was the sum ap
propriated at the recent short session
for the fiscal year IB 16.- That Con.
gress also appropriated for the fiscal
year 1916, according to Mr. Fitzgerald,
$1,116,118,13$. Our correspondent
also appears to harbor the delusion
that the longer Congress remains In
session, the more money it appropri
ates. The facta ca.re precisely op
posite. In a short session appropria
tion bills are rushed through in the
closing days with inadequate consid
eration. The $1,089,000,000 to which
we referred was the total for a single
fiscal year. The difference between
that sum and the sums we have quoted
are the measure of Democratic ex
travagance. A popular delusion seems to be
shared by Our correspondent, namely,
that the more money the Government
spends, the more is in circulation. If
the money unnecessarily paid In taxes
had remained In the people's pockets,
it would have been circulated by those
people. There was waste both in the
cost of collection and expenditure of
the money. The people would have
got more for It If each had expended
or invested in his own way the amount
he paid in excess of the real needs of
Government. In taking up the "Buy-It-Now"
campaign, we did not advise
the people to buy things they did not
need, merely for the wake of putting
money in circulation, but to buy now
things they do need.
The "pugnacious things" we have
been advocating are the same things
which peace-loving Switzerland does.
They are not pugnacious at all. Switz
erland does not go out in search of a
fight, but keeps amply ready for a
fight if any other nation brings it to
her. We propose that the United
States do the same. If our corre-
, spondent had carefully read The Ore
t iiv . w uiu ill! . . i XI M U V, 11 LU i
This country could amply provide for
its defense with little, if any, added
expense, if useless Army posts and
Navy-yards were abolished and the
sites sold, and if our Army were re
organized on the lines we have recom
mended. The Oregonian is opposed to
militarism, but it is also opposed to
Impotence. We do not share the de
lusion that because we desire peace,
no other nation will attack us.
Fritz Kreisler, the violinist, describes
his war experiences in a book called
"Four Weeks in the Trenches." We
dare say the time passed a little more
drearily for him than for the other
units of common fedder because of his
temperament, but upon the whole he
probably felt and acted as his com
rades did.. Trench life rather blurs
distinctions.
Readers who like poetry that deals
with real things will miss something
good if they fail to look into Brinin
stool's "Trail Dust of a Maverick." He
sings of the range life that, is almost
gone and his notes, ring true. He does
not spoil the cowboy by romanticizing
him, but gives us the real ."puncher"
with his crudeness, his bravery and his
poetry.1
W wonder if Montague Glass can
create any characters which do not
more or less closely reproduce his Abe
and Mawruss. If he can and ever does.
he may be a great master of Action.
If he cannot, he simply adds one more
to our National collection of literary
skyrockets which, after a brilliant
flash, go out forever. ,
- Some oppose "birth limitation" for
good reasons, some for bad. Rational
people will, as a rule, prefer the new
methods of limitation to the old. What
the old methods were Is vividly shown
by a current cartoon which depicts a
distracted mother hurrying to the
river at night with her undesired baby
in her arms.
The policemen's band, the firemen's
band and the lettercarriers' band each
has a warm spot in the hearts of the
people of this city. While "every kid
on the street" does not get lost for a
week when they turn out, a great many
men and women drop work and busi
ness to look and listen.
The manager of Diego Garcia Island
will never recover from the chagrin he
must have felt on learning that in wel
coming the Emden he entertained an
enemy unawares.
Germany cannot expect a speedy end
of the war, since it is listening to a
proposal to put its million prisoners
into wooden shoes to save the leather
for its armies.
There are ten women applicants for
every job suitable to the sex at the
Panama Exposition, and the warning
to keep away has gone out.
Lloyd-George's plan to put an enor
mous tax on spirits will lead the Brit
isher into drinking something cheap
and much worse.
Again are the official press bureaus
proving their unreliability by their
contradictory versions of the battle on
the Dardanelles.
In the Colonel's estimation a boss is
a very useful institution, so long as he
does not try to do too much bossing.
Railroads do not put on trains until
there is business for them, and the
railroads are adding trains now.
Go up to "Champooick" tomorrow
and celebrate the time when Oregon
broke into the United States.
Dancing as a remedy for the divorce
evil will be far more popular than any
of the many others suggested.
Rear-Admiral Moore insists the F-4
was in good condition. Nobody can
prove it otherwise just now.
Villa should take warning from his
last experience and beware of sur
rounding Obregon's army.
This is Raisin day. Tomorrow, too,
will be a raisin" day when a man gets
his monthly bills.
The indications that point to an ad
vance in sugar are such as appear with
the berry crop.
The Dean .of Canterbury has tried
the "water wagon" and it does not ride
easy.
Northern California is still covered
with ashes, though Lent is past.
Italy is taking a long time to decide
on stopping the war,
April weather is doing its best with
the calendar.
Early-Day "Custom Milling"
in Oregon Recalled.
Illaenlta Made From Grist Ground In
Crude Plant Linger In Memory
of T. T. Cieer Yet, au. He Delves
Into Pioneer Lore of State.
BY T. T. SEER.
OWELL'S PRAIRIE, lying seven
miles east of Salem, ten miles in
length and varying from one to three
miles in width, is one of the richest
bodies of land on the Pacific Coast,
and. naturally, was "taken up" as soon
as the earliest American pioneers
reached Oregon. Many of the "claims"
consisted of a full section and each of
them contained at least 320 acres. Those
first settlers were forceful and strong
men and women, had traveled 2000 and
3000 miles to reach the country of
which they had heard so many favor
able reports, and as far back as the
early o0a that locality was all in
fine state of cultivation.
Among the first pioneers of Howell'
Prairie was Hardin McAlister, whose
death was announced in The Oregonian
a few days ago, his demise occurring
at the home of hi son. W. B. McAlis
ter, near the old homestead. He had
reached the ape of 87 years.
. .
In some of the published accounts of
Mr. McAlister's career it has buen
stated that in the early 'AOs he built
tho pioneer mill at Pratum which
still in successful operation. This is
not true, so far as that particular mill
is concerned, but, delving a little fur
ther into Marion County history, it is
well to say that the first mill built at
that place, and at that-exact spot, was
by Captain Leven Nelson English, in
isb, somewhere near 40 years prior
to the erection of the McAlister mill.
My birthplace waa within two miles of
Pratum. and English's mills were In
operation long before my notice of
earthly things began.
Captain English was an Oregon pio
neer of 1S15. He was born near Balti
more, Mi, on March 25, 1792. and waa
taken by his parents to Kentucky Ter
ritory in his infancy. Afterward he
served in the War of 1812, upon the
conclusion of which he moved to Ma
coupin County, Illinois. At the break
ing out ot the Blackhawk War, he
raised a volunteer company and was
chosen its Captain. In 1836 he moved
to Iowa Territory and built a grist mill
which he conducted until another West
ern fever possessed him and he made
the trip to Oregon Territory tn 1845, as
stated.
English's mills supplied much of the
lumber used in the first buildings in
balem and surrounding country, though
its quality was as varied, from second
rate downwards, as the mill Itself waa
primitive. In fact, there were two of
the mills, one converting the adjacent
forest into lumber, and the other a
grist mill where flour was manufac
tured for the sustenance of the dodu
lation of the new country. This mill
site is on a "prong" of Puddine: River.
a half dozen of which, draining differ
ent portions of the Waldo Hills, cul
minate in a get-together programme
near Parkersville and the "river
empties into the Willamette near
Aurora. Captain English conceived the
idea of yielding to the local demand for
both lumber and flour after censtruct-
lng a dam across the unpretentious lit
tie stream, built his grist mill on one
bank and the sawmill on the other. The
dam served to back the water into a basin
above, and the "accumulated surplus"
was sufficient to run one of the
mills, not both, for a half day. They
were "custom mills" in the strictest
use or that term. Patrons would not
only take their wheat to be ground,
but would haul their own logs to be
sawed. A man would take his log to
mill, unhitch his team, feed it and par
take of his own dinner while the up-and-down
saw tackled Its job with such
vigor and uncertainty as the circum
stances might determine. If everything
went well, if none of the wooden cogs
gave way, and if the cowhide belts did
not stretch too rapidly, perhaps the
16-foot log might be converted into lum
ber of varying widths and thicknesses
within two hours but this streak of
good luck seldom attended the entire
operation. If a man took both a log
and a sack of wheat to the mills he
was good for a whole day's outing:.
After the lumber had been piled out,
the Watergate leading to the sawmill
was closed and the scene of operations
was transferred to the opposite side of
the stream, where the home-made burrs
were turned loose on the unsuspecting
grain, and with the most disastrous
results certainly to the" grain and fre
quently to the mill itself, all of whose
cogs were made of hard wood and In
such varied degrees of decrepitude
that the supply of water was largely
maintained through the accumulation
gathered while repairs were prosecuted.
And yet, so far as I can remember,
the biscuits and other forms of bread
made by my mother and grandmother
of the flour from that old rattle-trap
of a mill surpassed in excellence and
contributed more satisfactorily to a
long-felt want, than anything turned
out in these times by the most im
proved methods of the roller process.
Captain English was one of the best
known of the early pioneers of the
Willamette Valley. He came of a vig
orous stock of the Revolutionary times,
and, though deprived of the advan
tages of an education, manifested his
originality and pluck in many ways.
He was a second cousin to William II.
English, several times a member of
Congress from Indiana, and Democratic
candidate for Vice-President on the
ticket with General Hancock, in 18S0.
Upon the breaking out of the Cayuse
War, he, with several of his eons, re
sponded to needs of the time and did
their part in subduing- the Indians in
that uprising, thus having made a good
record in three wars.
For many years Captain English
owned a race horse which he called
"Veto,"' and his competitor for the
speed record was another owned by
Lute Savage and known as "Georere.'
The last waa the sire of the strain of
"ijeorgre ' horses which, for 20 years,
bore the pennant as the most popular
norses in Oregon. I suppose there were
few crossroads in Marion County where
"Veto" and "George did not make the
trial for first honors in those days be-
lore tne assemoiea pioneers. They
were both known as "quarter horses,"
but the vjctory usually went to old
"George," as "Veto'Vwas of that allur
ing and seductive class of "race" horses
which run fast enough to encourage
their owners, but are seldom able to de
liver the goods. Captain English would
always bet on a horse race, at the state
fair, or elsewhere, but had a fixed rule,
of which he boasted, of betting on the
horse of a friend, merely to show his
loyalty and chivalry. He was raised
in Kentucky.
At the age of 20 years, in 1812, lie
was married in Kentucky and by that
union had 12 children. His wife died
In Oregon in 1S51, and in the same year
he married Mrs. Mary Daly, a widow
with two children, by whom he had
seven others, making 19 of his own. He
died in Salem on March 5, 1876, aged 84
years lacking 20 days, having been an
active, rugged, forceful type of man
upon whom the development of terri
tories Into states and wildernesses Into
fields, gardens and orchards so much
depended during the greater part of the
last century. v
Pride Attends In Still.
J udgre.
Mrs. Crawford How do you
like
your new apartment?'
Mrs. Crabshaw It Isn't as nice as
the one we left, but the neighborhood
will never know that our car is merely
the old one repainted.
DEMOCRATIC WASTE 19 DJSFENDKD
Champion of neurit Party Figures
Thine Out to Hla Liking.
PORTLAND, April 27. (To the Ed
itor.) your interesting editorials on
Monday last, particularly those eu-phemlstii-ally
headed "Dilemma of the
Democracy" and "The Spendthrift,"
aroused my bump of Inquisitiveness
and after a little research in that great
reservoir of knowledge, the World Al
manac," I am prompted to submit the
following questions, which I trust you
may find the time to answer:
The figures show a deficit, repre
senting excess of expenditures over
receipts in 1905 of $18. 75.1. 000; In 1908,
$-'0,041, 000; in l&Otf, $58,735,000. Durlnt;
those years prosperity was at a hish
ebb, there was almost universal peace
and the Republican party was in ab
solute control of the Government.
Why these deficits?
On November 1, 1900, the public debt
of the United Uttttes was $2,132,375,000.
On October 1, 1912. it was $2.906.750.
000 an increase during 12 years of
unexampled prosperity, beneficent Re
publican rule and world peace amount
ing to $774,375,000. I presume the
construction of the Panama Canal will
account for a portion of this Increase,
but nearly every year durlns that
period showed an exces of receipts over
expenditures, so why this stupendous
increase?
You refer to the necessity of levy
ing a direct tax when this country Is
at peace. As a matter of fact, don't
you think that, with the farreachlng
consequences of the strusgle in Europe,
this country has had a preater crisis
to facet than any since the Civil War?
ouiu tne fayne-Alorlcti tarirr have
produced greater revenues than the
Vnderwood tariff under the present
chaotic conditions of the world's com
merce, and do you think the Repub
lican party, if in contro! of the Gov
ernment at this time, could have avoid
ed passing an emergency tax?
And as a final question: If the last
Republican Conarress appropriated
$1,089,000,000 in a session ot ordinary
length, how much do you think it
would have appropriated if it had been
in session nearly two years, as was the
Sixty-third Congress? Don't you think
it would have made the Democratic
expenditures of $1,115,000,000 look a
trifle cheap?
And now a Word as to appropria
tions. I don't believe in extravagance
and pork and firmly believe that the
Government's business should be as
carefully conducted as that of a pri
vate concern. But Just think of what it
means to put over a billion dollars In
circulation. You said the other day
that now is the time to buy and that
one aoii.tr expanded at this time will
perform the work of five. If Jt is a
good time for the individual to spend
money, and I think it is, there Is no
reason why the Government should
not set a good example in that direc
tion. I don't moan extravagantly, but
legitimately. You truthfully say that
money is plentiful and that there is
no time like the present for launching
legitimate enterprises. If everyone
waited until his own resources were
available there would be little progress
in trfts country. Credit is the main
spring of business and if the individual
and corporation are justified in going
out and borrowing money to keep the
wheel of industry going, I do not fear
the Government ia going to the bow
wows because it happens to work Its
credit Bomethlns like $100,000,000,
which you say will be the denicit by
June 30.
O. yes. How would you to about
paying for Increase.! armaments and
preparations to forcibly enforce peace
and taking enro of every American
concessionary in Mexico r.nd all those
other pugnacious thinsrs
advocating, without tremendouslv in
creasing our deficit? L. l. H.
A Dear and Ills Home.
VANCOUVER. Wash.. April 29. (To
the Editor.) Will vou kinril
the following: A owns a doar. B rnmea
and boards with A for a. short tm
while doing work on his place n hrrt
distance away, and while there the don
takes to following him. Later B leaves
As place and establishes a hrfme at
his own place. The dog goes to Bs
place and remains there for Severn 1
months, returning to A's nlnm a few
days before A moves to another state.
ana, upon moving, A takes the dog with
him. B contends that by reason of the
foregoing the dog Is his.
(l) What title, if anv. has B tn the
dogv-
2) If none, what legal right, if any,
has'B to recover for care bestowed
upon th
dog while staying at -his
SUBSCRIBER.
place?
A. (1) B has no title to the dog.
(2) None, unless there was an ex
press contract that B should feed the
dog. In some states, Oregon and
Washington Included, a dog la a subject
of larceny and B might be prosecuted
for stealing the animal. A dog is not
subject to the law of consent, and the
fact that he Went with B voluntarily
would not lessen B's responsibility.
Property Risen ta.
PORTLAND, April 29. (To the Edi
tor.) If a widow having children mar
ries, what share of her property can
the husband hold? What share would
he be legally entitled to if a will was
made' READE1L
If she dies the husband would be en
titled to a dower right, or one-half
the real property during his lifetime.
(2) A dower right, or curtesy.
Private Road Width.
ROLYAT, Or., April 29. (To 'the
Editor.) What is the narrowest width
the law allows for a private road?
READER.
A. The law cannot regulate the
width of a private road any more than
the law could designate what size shoes
a man should wear
KIXG OF KXOWXOTHI-NG LAKD,
Ignorami lived in distant clime.
In distant age as well;
With awe he viewed the hehvens sub
lime. Where mystery, deep, did dwell.
In fear he spent his days on earth
(For here was mystery, too).
While from the day that claimed
birth
His weird imaginings grew.
his
He
fancied , frightful gnomes and
sprites
In regions dark must be
Dread things that prowled around
o' nights.
But in the morn did flee.
This worthy knew naught of his kind
Just how they came, or why;
Of future, too, was Just as biind
Thought could no truth supply.
At first his mind was all a blank,
'Twas instinct led the way;
With quadrupeds he still must rank.
Through lack of matter gray.
His skull was low and slanting, quits
(Like Anthropoid, today).
Some claim he was an ape by right;
As to this we would not say.
But sure the fact is very plain.
His wits were much like theirs.
While ages were required to gain
The quality that wears;
When this result had been attained
You'd be surprised to know
How he in self-importance gained.
And how conceit could grow.
Now he had found that he was king
O'er fish and fowl Hnd brute;
Through wondrous skill a stone could
fling.
Or with an arrow shoot;
And with a hook could land his fry;
With pitfall trap a bear;
Could wing the eagle, soaring high
He'd conquered earth and air.
E. PLACKETT.
Twenty-Five Year Ago
Krum The Oregonian April 30. 1890.
For several days past thcra has been
a great iteaWof trouble between the
Columbia itlver fishermen and the cannery-men.
The fishermen rut use to tlsh
unless they receive $1.25 for each fish.
There has been u tjuotl run and non
union men have been selling fish which
they caucht for 3 cents a pound, aver
auinir about 75 cents a llsh and mak
ing Ijijt wages.
KllensburK. Wash. Tomorrow will
be the opening of the eighth annual
encampment ifhe Grand .rniy of tho
Republic of the State of Washington.
About 200 veterans have already as
sembled and General Alirer will ar
rive in a special car tomorrow. It in
rumored that he will I.e. IndorvM for
tho nomination of 1'reaidenl of tho
United States In the campaign of 1892.
The towns of Whatcom and Kehome.
Wash., have agreel to consnlidnln
umier the name of New Whatcom, with
a population of r.000, and the towns of
Falrhaven and Hellinnham will amal
gamate with a population of 700o.
During the month of
March Coot
Bay exported 8200 tons
of coal and
5,264,000 feet of lumber.
W. A. Grondahl, Southern Pacific en
gineer uikI a very capable man, will
superintend the building of the new
bridge at alem.
Levi cott died In Malheur County
April 21 at the age of 95 years. He
came to Oregon in 184 8 and hold a,
prominent place in the frontier life of
the Northwest.
"A Gold Mine," with Nat C. Goodwin
as the principal character, will bo
shown at the Uarquarn. Grand Thuat r
next week.
Collis I. Huntington, the railroad
magnate, was greeted at Silverton yes
terday by the famous Silverton trom
bone band. When asked if tho pres
ent narrow-gauge road would be made
standard cause he intimated that it
would. Mr. Huntington also visited.
Cohurg.
A number of hotel men arrived at
the Portland Hotel yesterday from San
Francisco. They are: John B. Drake,
of the liranil Pacific; Hotel. Chicago;
A. IS. Darling, of the Fifth Avenue
Hotel. New York; G. Wetherbee, of the
Windsor Hotel, New York, and J. E.
Kingsley, of the Continental Hotel.
Philadelphia. They will make a trip
to Cascade Lock by boat and take
the train east from there.
Major Sears, who left here for Lon
don to dispose of some Peruvian bonds
for land, has written that he will soon
leave London for Peru and will stop
In Portland cn route.
C. S. Schenck. better known as "Bosa"
Bchenck, United States Appraiser, has
returned to Portland after a year's ab
sence in pursuit of health. He visited.
San Francisco and New York on his
tour and returns in fine shape.
John McMahon, the circus man, while
at Vancouver, Invited the mules In
the school there to attend the circus
free of charge. The invitation was
accepted by Professor and Mrs. J. Wat.
son, who are tn charge of the school.
OX PAYING FOR "LITKV KTOXKS"
Xear-Ilellevrr
"Time" and
TORTLAXD,
itor.) I read
Would Iluy Tbem on
Pay If Taey Worked.
April 28. (To the Ed
in editorial In The Ore-
gonian about Captain Rand's lucky
stones. I receive his letters. In shape
of advertising circulars, quite often.
Once, when I was somewhat needing
a change for the better In my affairs,
I answered one of these pamphlets
and asked him if he would kindly semi
me a "lucky stone" ami trust me to
pay him as soon as things bepan to
come my way. I was In earneitt and
would have paid him the dollar th
first Installment of "booiI luck" that
struck me. but, would you believe it?
he never even answered my letter, ex
cept by sending more printed matter
to tell of the wonderful results of the
' stones."
Now, don't you think It would be a
good idea If the department stores
would keep them, and wo could have
them put on our charge accounts? If.
they did not bring the promised "luck"
we could take them back and not have
to lose the dollar; or could at least
change them. A READER.
Ditch and Creek Problem.
KEATING, Or., April 29. (To tho
Editor.) A puts In a reservoir and
ditch and has it recorded by a nur
veyor. Afterwards ho changes tho
ditch by taking the water down a creek
part way and making a 'new ditch, tak
ing with it what little water was In
the creekv The ditch crosses a private
road which A leaves impassable in
cleaning out the ditch. B takes up a
160-acre homestead, two forties of
which the lower ditch cuts in two. He
proves up and gets a patent to the full
160 acres. Can B compel A to put his
ditch back on this recorded right of
way? It not, has A a right to leave
the road Impassable when cleaning tho
ditch? The road has been In us for
15 years. A. G. DALGL1EST.
A. Yes. if B is Injured through the
negligence of A. or if A is encroaching
on B's property without authority.
Your case is somewhat complicated anil
the facts are not exactly clear. Better
consult a good attorney.
Ksport Knameled Ware.
New York Times.
Urgent inquiries have come recently
to several American makers of enam
eled ware from England, Australia.
Cuba, South America, Africa and China,
and, as r result, these manufacturers,
together with those In Canada, have an
opportunity profitably to export their
poods for the first time in the hiatory
of their business. Heretofore the de
mands of these countries had been sup
plied mostly by the German and Swed
ish manufacturers, who have been able
to undersell Ihe Americans because of
their lower labor costs. The war has
changed the situation, and, though
some German ware is still being sent
out through Holland, the volume of
both German and Swedish exports of
these goods has been so greatly re
duced that a number of commission
dealers In the countries named above
have turned to North America for their
supplies. Negotiations ure now under
way for large shipments.
REPORT OF t'KLlI.O CANAL
OPEllMi l TI11J IIIIKI.OMW,
Arrangement have been made by
The Oregonian to report the cere
monies connected with the formal
opening of the Celilo Canal in a man
ner commensurate with Importance
of this event to the Pacific North
west. A staff writer left last night
on the steamer Undine and will give
The Oregonian readers dally reports
of the celebrations along the Colum
bia and Snake Rivers, culminating
In tho programme at Big Eddy next
Wednesday. Cartoonist Reynolds Is
also on the Undine and will sketch
the people and places connected with
the Celilo dedication. The Orego
nian is alfco represented by a pho
tographer. Next Sundav more than two pages
of news and tllustrat ions will be de
voted to the Celilo Canal, and in the
week-day iseues adequate space will
be set aside for this event of first
importance to the Columbia Basin.