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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1915)
6 THE MORNING . OREGOSTIAX. MONDAY, MAY 24, 1915. , PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. postofflce as aecood-clasa mutter. Subscription Kates Invariably In advance: iBv Mall.) Tslly, Sunday included, one year $8.00 Jiafly. Sunday included, six mouths ..... 4..J-0 IHily, Sunday Included, three months ... 2 -r liully, Sunday Included, one month ...... -75 J'aily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Xally. without Sunday, six months ..... ti.-o Ially. without Sunday, three months ... 1.75 Daily, without Sunday, one month 0 "Weekly, one year 3.50 uiuiay, on year ............ 2.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year J. ( Rv rarrlsr.l Daily, Sunday included, one year 9.00 Xally. Sunday included, one month ..... .75 How. to Kemit Send Postofflce money or der, expiess order or personal check on your jocai Dank. Mampi, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postofflce address in full. Including county and state. Postage Kales 12 to 16 pases, 1 cent: 18 1o 3J pages, 2 cents; 84 to 48 pages. 3 cents; 60 to Ho page. 4 cents; tW to 76 pages, 5 conts; 78 to 92 pages. 6 cents. Foreign postage, double rates. f astem Business Office Veree & Conklln, New York, .Brunswick building; Chicago, btenger building. Ban Francisco Office R. J. Bidwell Com pany. 742 Market street. rOHTLAND, MONDAY. MAY CI. 1919. ITALY'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WAR. Italy's chief contribution to the cause of the allies will be an army and navy on a war footing, prepared and equipped In the light of the latest ex perience gained from the military op eration of- the last ten months. Italy lias learned the importance of artil lery, of abundant supplies of ammuni tions, of entrenchments, motor vehicle and aircraft In land warfare and of mines, submarines and torpedo .craft in naval warfare. She knows that range and weight of gunpower and epecd are the chief elements of suc cess at sea. She has observed the rela tive merits of mass attack and open order attack on land. Her army and navy are not "green," for fully 100,000 veterans of the Tripolitan war will In spire confidence In their comrades. The active army and first and sec ond reserves of Italy are estimated at about 1,250,000 men, but from Its pop ulation of about 35,000,000 the king dom could probably double this force. The navy, being overwhelmingly su perior to that of Austria, will add still further to the predominance of France and Britain in the Mediterranean and may enable Britain to transfer some ef its forces to the North for protec tion of commerce. Financially, Italy is less equal to the strain of war than any of her prin cipal new allies. Her imports In 1912 were only about $690,000,000 and her exports about $450,000,000. Her na tional debt is $2,852,148,000 and her people are so heavily taxed that It is difficult to conceive how they can en dure any addition to the load. Britain will probably have to supply the funds to keep the Italian army and navy in the field, as she is already doing to come extent for France and Russia and almost entirely for Belgium and Serbia. Taking imports and exports as a meas ure of available financial resources. Britain surpasses all her allies com bined. The total for the mother coun try, the v principal colonies and India Is $16,616,474,465. -while that for France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Japan combined is $12,421,750,000. Add about $1,041,000,000 for Italy to the total of Britain's allies and It is till far below that for the empire Itself. As in 1813 Britain supplied the funds to put the allied armies of Eu rope in the field against Napoleon, so In 1915 she will do the same for the armies arrayed against the central em pires and Turkey. From the standpoint of the allies, the chief service to be rendered by Italy will be the division of Austria's army between the northern and south ern ' frontiers and the hastening of operations against Turkey. If the al lies accomplish no more this year than the practical elimination of Tur key as a combatant, they will have done much. By drawing Turkey into the war, Germany made a great stroke of genius. She compelled her ene mies to divide and scatter their forces for hostilities in widely separated fields of action. If the allies can dispose of Turkey and can merely hold their own on the two main fronts, they will have done much toward the final over throw of their principal foes.. They iwill have released a total land force of not less than 500.000 men and a powerful fleet for service elsewhere, will have reduced Kihe enemy land forces by an equal number, will have Increased the effectiveness of the Rus sian army by enabling it to procure ample war material juid will have in creased their available . food supply. Should they succeed against Turkey, they can close in on Austria and Ger many. The war would then resojve itself Into a gigantic siege of those two empires by Russia on the east. Italy and Serbia on the south, France, Brit ain and Belgium on the west and the British navy on the north. Italy's accession to the ranks of the allies closes the most important gap Jn the ring around the Teutons. Rou xnania may close another gap on the cast .and the only remaining opening would be on the Ianish frontier and the Baltic coast. Italy lacks the money to fight, but every man she puts in the field will be well -worth his cost to the allies who will supply the funds. SENSE TALKED AT LAKE MOHONK. The impractical idealists of Lake Jlohonk were startled by hearing prac tical common sense talked by Secre tary of War Garrison, General Leon ard Wood and President Hibben, of Princeton, about National defense. Naturally, the old cry of "militarist" and "Jingo" was raised by Norman An gell and his like, but they were com pletely answered hy General Wood when he said: We soldiers and sailors are merely your trained servants. You create wars; we try to terminate them. Nino out of ten wars are based on trade. The trouble with most conferences of this kind lathat they do not look, conditions in the face. General Wood's statement marks the difference between militarism and National defense. In a democracy such as this the people make the wars and employ the trained soldiers and sailors to fight them. The people of Italy have commanded their govern ment to make war on Austria. The people of France, as on man, ac claimed the decision of-.thelr govern ment to defend their frontier. The people of Switzerland, trained to arms, are defending their country against war, not making war. They are armed for dofense, and, because they are armed, the storm of battle sweeps past their borders. Mr. Angell's speech is a proof that 'conferences of this kind do not look conditions in the face," as General "Wood said. Mr. Angell declared that increased armaments offered no solu tion of the problem. No reasonable man says it will, but in 'opposing arm ament for that reason Mr. Angell does not look conditions in the face. The conditions are that the old challenge, "Might is' right," has been thrown down again and that no means other than might exist for upholding right. Until some other means are provided. it is necessary to our National safety that we provide sufficient might to maintain our rights. If we refuse to do so, we risk National extinction. While we do this, by all means let us do all In our power -to dethrone might and to make it everywhere the serv ant of right, in the sense that, ac cording to General Wood, our soldiers and sailors, are the trained servants of the people. So loftg as the people retain the power, they cannot be used against right. Let us do our utmost to induce other nations to :Join us in endling the rule of might by.( estab lishing a world court and'bjl placing the might the armies and navies of all nations at its disposal. Do not let the nations which love peace lay down their arms while those which love -war retain theirs. Xhat would lea-e the just a helpless prey to the unjust. - MR. DALY AND A CLEAN KLECTION. This is the circus season, but it is not becoming to Commissioner Daly and his newspaper supporters to ride two horses at once in the meter race. They endeavor to gain approval of the referended ordinance with glowing promises of lower rates and much economy through installation of me ters on all services and they also point out emphatically that the ordinance does not provide for meters for all services.'but for only 5000. Mr. Daly can secure the adoption of his ordinance by a practically unani mous vote if he is willing to ride only a particular one of his two horses. If he will present a resolution to the City Commission in which It is declared that the universal rtieter policy is not understood by that body to he involved in the election; that that policy is op posed by the Commission,' and that the object of the ordinance is solely to obtain the lower price incident to quantity purchase on meters for in stallation where there is actual, dem onstrated, not theoretical, waste '-if such a resolution is presented by Mr. Daly and approved by Mayor Albee and Mr. Dieck, who are publicly op posed to universal meters and are also hi-Hovers, the opposition to the ordi nance, including that of The Orego nlan, will disappear. It ought to be presumed, and it la presumed, that Mr. Daly is honest enough not to prefer to win his fight for meters if he has to win it by false pretense. If approval of the referend ed ordinance is to be considered by him and the others of the. Commis sion as an indorsement of a universal meter policy, the effort to catch votes by emphasizing the small number of meters mentioned in the initial pur chase is false pretense, nothing else. In view of what Mr. Daly's handy newspaper support is saying about the comparatively small, number of me ters involved on the one 'hand, and In support of the purchase of enough meters for all services on the other hand, Mr. Daly owes the public a re pudiation of one of the two arguments which misrepresents his policy. THE WEALTH WE BURN. The annual fire loss of the United States and the cost of maintaining fire departments la estimated to be equiv alent to a tax of $6 per capita of the entire population. This is nearly ten times the average for the ten leading countries of Kurope. John 'Trlx, of the National Association of Manufac turers, says the fire loss could easily be reduced 75 per cent. v Whose fault i3 it? Almost every body's. We are careless in handling nre, careless jn observing Duiiding laws and careles in enforcing the pen alties of arson. It has become pro verbial that the conviction of a fire bug is almost impossible. Trie nature of the case renders direct evidence un obtainable in the vast majority of cases, and judge and jury alike are un willing to convict on circumstantial evidence. - ' The remedy is not to; abandon lumber as building material and thus further injure an almost, pros trate industry. We are too prone to rush from one extreme to another. Thus many may jump to the conclu sion that the only way to prevent fires is to build of brick, stone and con crete. Europe, with one-tenth of our fire loss, still builds largely of wood, but it treats -the wood in such a way as to make combustion slow and it traces responsibility for fires, whether due to carelessnes or design. It en forces building laws, and, when their violation causes fire. It punishes the guilty. There is no need for the United States to abandon our most abundant building material. We need only to use it in such manner that opportunity for fire to reach it will be reduced to a minimum. MACHINES AND BRAINS. A curious railroad accident hap pened at Devon, Conn., on March 23. It can be studied with disinterested attention because nobody was injured except an engineer, and he would have been safe if he had not jumped from his cab. As it was, he suffered nothing wdrse than a broken finger. A distant danger signal had been duly displayed and the engineer admits that he saw it clearly. This la all the more interesting when we learn fur ther that he was a man of long ex perience and tested carefulness. Why did he fail to obey the warning of the signal?' The terrible consequences that might have followed upon his inat tention were averted by an automatic safety device which "gently derailed the train" and thus prevented" a col lision. This has led to . discussion in technical journals of the possibility of substituting automatic Rafety de vices for the extremely fallible work ings of the human brain in railway emergencies. It is well known that the most competent engineers may overlook perfectly distinct signals, and that again they may see and heed them not. It all depends upon how their men tal machinery happens, to be working at the critical moment. Weariness, the burden of sad thoughts, interest In some problem, any of these things and many others may so distract the engineer's attention that he becomes for the instant as unreliable as one born blind and deaf. The lapse is but momentary. He quickly regains his normal state of alertness, but in the meantime a train may have been wracked. The advaptage of automatic devices over the human brain is that they never suffer from absent-mindedness. They have no love affairs, do not worry over the loss of property and have no families to fall sick and die. A machine, if it is properly cared for, always works with its maximum effi ciency, something that cannot be said of a man. The difficulty 'with auto matic contrivances is usually their delicate and complicated construction. They require incessant attention or they will get out of order. So, aTter all, we are finally thrown back upon the fallible , human brain. There seems to be ho escape from it, with all its faults. Perhaps when it is bet ter educated it will do better work. TODDY NOT ABOLISHED. It is a well settled rule of law that when a statute sets out the form of a legal document the form itself is not legislation. It is merely illustra tive or directory. This rule disposes of the cruel effort of a contemporary to distress some of the public with the idea.that they will not be able to get their toddy after the prohibition law goes into effect. The prohibition -law limits the quan tity any one person or family may re ceive by common carrier from with out the state to not more than two quarts of spirituous, or vinous liquors or more than 24 quarts of malt liquors within a period of four consecutive weeks. Before the carrier may deliver the shipment of liquors the consignee must sign an affidavit the form of which is "substantially" prescribed by the law. This form contains the dec laration that the liquors are to be used for sacramental purposes only. There fore, reasons the newspaper legal luminary, no person or family can ob tain delivery of any quantity for household Jse without committing per jury. Fortunately the courts apply more common sense than quibblers or sen sationalists in construing such appar ent conflicts. They do not go to a prescribed form or illustration to .de termine the intent of a statute when that intent is plainly expressed in the body of the act. Clearly the affidavit form was designed to fit the case of either householder, priest, minister, or commanding officer of a fraternal or ganization. The keeping of two reg isters by the county clerk is avoided and the householder, when Tie signs his affidavit, will merely draw a line through the statement that the liquor is intended for sacramental purposes. The case is is plain as day to per sons of ordinary intelligence, but those who habitually contract nightmare upon perusing any act of the last leg islature would better avoid reading the law and await its operations with as much calmness as their infirmity will permit- THE FATHERLAND. President Wilson has sent to the German Catholic Union of Baltimore an appreciative and appropriate let ter thanking its members for their ex pressions of loyalty and pledges of support in the present international crisis. It is to be expected that Americans of German derivation and ancestry have and would declare their unqualified and unwavering loyalty to the flag of the United States when ever national danger of any kind loomed on the internationat horizon. We have heard from Herman Ridder, leading advocate of pro-German thought, that he has no divided al legiance. From our own Dr. F. H. Dammasch, president of the German Speaking Societies of Oregon, we have iearned that where America is there his organization will be always. It could not be doubted. It never was doubted. It is realized that the large body of so-called German-Americans men and women of German birth, or of German parentage, but now American citizens have been in a peculiarly trying situation. It was natural and indeed proper that they should sympa thize with Germany in her titanic struggle against her enemies. Ger many is the Fatherland, and her sons and daughters have spread through out the world. There are millions of them in America, and, while they have assumed in good faith new duties and new obligations in the land of their adoption, they have not forgotten, and they should not forget, the ties of memory, affection, race, and tradi tion that bind them to the old coun try. Nor can any one find justifiable fault with the pride every such Ameri can has in the amazing advance of Germany in the past half century an unexampled national achievement, not excelled even by the astonishing progress of America. In making any comparison of Ger many and America, no informed stu dent of current history would fail to admit that, while the expansion of the United States has been chiefly industrial, political and educational, the achievements of Germany have overed industry,- education, science, letters, and government. It has come to be the first military power of the world an accomplishment, however, all do not acclaim and it has given an object lessor, to all, other countries of the strength that exists in a united and determined patriotism. If there is any faltering or faint-heartedness in Germany, or any dismay that it is face to face with a staggering combi nation of powerful enemies, it has given no sign. It is enlisted for the war, and what it conceives to be the greater service of Germany, and it will go through to the end. It is true that the loyalty all Ger mans have given to Germany men of the . same strain in race and blood have in America given to the United States. It is no mere term of compli ment to say that such men and women are good citizens. They have been, they are, and they will be, among our best citizens. There is a natural and instinctive devotion to country among men and women reared and educated in a German atmosphere that has been a great asset for the United States. They have proved it time and again. In the civil war they were among the most valiant soldiers of the Union, and in every other war they have been among the first to enlist and the last to leave the field of ac tion. Of conservative temper and steady processes of thought, they have been a great balance in times of do mestic agitation or partisan stress. They fly off at no tangents. They stand tor reasonable and safe meth ods in government. They are law abiding, and they respect authority. They buUd homes, and they. live, in them; they marry wives and they live Trith them; they have children and they rear them In the fear of God, in love of parents, and in duty to country'. ..."' If any man fancies that the perils of the Fatherland, and the possibilities of a collision with their Adopted coun try have not been matters of grave and proper concern for our American neighbors, who have relatives and friends in the trenches, ,and who have a treasufe of tender thoughts for the Fatherland, let him put himself in their place. Yet they have seen their duty, and they will do it. "No more could they do; no less -were they ex pected to do. A Tacoma woman who whipped a 3-year-old boy so severely that he died was found guilty of murder and a Se attle barber who choked to death his 11-months-old baby because it cried was found guilty of manslaughter, both the same day. The nearest ex cuse was in the case of the man, who is a chronic inebriate. ' PLUNGING pS WHEAT. Government crop reports -forecast a Winter wheat crop for the Pacific Northwest showing a larger percent age .of increase over the 1914 crop than the crop for the entire United States shows.- While the acreage for the whole country has increased from 36, 008,000 to 40,169,000, the estimated yield is only 9,000,000 bushels greater than last year's actual yield, namely 693,000,000 against 684,000,000. The respective figures for the four Pacific Northwest states are: ' 1915. 1914. State. Estimated. Actual. Oregon l&,3uu.tMK 13,684. 0x Washington .. SO,W0.U0O 23.440.OOO Idaho ". 10.600,000 9.32a. OOO Montana 16.800,000 11,068,000 So far the prospects are for a much larger Spring wheat crop throughout the United States than that of last year, sowing being farther advanced, acreage larger and soil and 'moisture conditions better. Were the Spring crop only to equal that of 1914 206, 000.000 bushels it would, added to the Winter " wheat total, bring the year's production beyond that year's grand total, but it may equal the 240, 000,000 bushels of 1913 or even the record 330,000,000 of 1912. . . The farmers are plunging on -wheat, and the average farm prices reported by the Government seem to Justify them. These were on May 1, this year and last year, for the four Northwest states:. state. 1D15. 1014. Oregon $1.16 .S- Washington 117 .') Idaho .. , 1.07 .7-1 Montana 1.46 .73 That increase in price is tempting, but suppose the opening, of the Dar danelles should release a great supply of Russian wheat; suppose Canada, India and Argentina should come for ward with record crops. Then sup pose peace should come suddenly in mid-harvest or ' before the crop is marketed. What a tumble the market would take! Any. one or" all of these things are possible. Some of them are extremely probable. We know that the Canadian Government1 has offered a premium for increased acreage in the hope of enlarging the yield 60 per cent. Other countries have the same temptation to enlarge acreage as the United States has. Kurope is doing its utmost under the handicap of war to increase production. The wise farmer may once more prove to be he who did not plunge on one crop because of an artificial boom, the causes of which may disappear. at any moment and leave the market in the condition of a collapsed balloon. He is likely to be the man who, to gether with a fair proportion of wheat, continued to grow root crops, fodder, livestock and hogs and to keep up his dairy herd. If wheat continues high, he will not make quite as much money as his plunging neighbors, but if the bottom falls out of the wheat market, he will still be' safe and .pi ay buy his neighbor's wheat to feed to his hogs. The Oregonian minks The Argus is wrong, and that Portland will escape from the water meter peddler. Perhaps she will. But if she does it will be by reason of The Oregonian pointing out that m quarter of a million dol lars stolen is no worse than the same amount of money wasted. Seattle Ar g us. The taxpayer foots the bill In' either case. It is best that Italy draft Marconi, and stop his inventive mind. His lat est device, to enable people to see what is happening behind a brick wall, puts a great weapon in the hands of a jeal ous wife or husband. Battle Creek is famous for its health foods and the manufacturer who re fused an order to make $3000 worth of shrapnel a day is not going to de stroy the fame of the city's best known product. California should not be despondent about the outlook for her grape , in dustry. Let her consider the demand for grapejuice when the Bryan style of diplomacy has been universally adopted. Oregon hens are In second place in the laying contest at San Francisco, which is very good, but not enough. They belong at the head of the list. If Austria had only known last July how often she would be pained in the succeeding year, she would never have sent that ultimatum to Serbia. If a grandmother is dangerously ill on the day of a big ame, nothing less than death is the excuse when Buffalo Bill oomes to town. The estimated cost of the war for a year, $17,400,000,000, is too big to be comprehended. This is the season of the batting average. . If spots on the sun are responsible for Lassen's outbreak, why not charge family troubles to the same cause and let it go at that? The deficiency of rainfall is hanging around 'fourteen inches, which Port land will throw off gladly to clear the elate this week. The citizen handy with the pen who does not write his ideas to the news papers Is not living up to his rights and Mights. Political bosses have been added to the category of those who cannot be libeled, having no reputation to main tain. - . ' - A convention of the deaf must be restful to those whose ears ring with the discordant sounds of the streets. Mount Lassen looked over to Eu rope and blew off its head in .an out burst, of professional jealousy. ' King Albert has decorated Kitch ener, but did the Earl 'stand for being kissed on both cheeks? , Perhaps in other places besides Syracuse dynamite is being carried in automobiles. There was not much thought of the Prince of Peace in Italy on Sunday. The. Beavers will be home tomor row. et all forget, and forgive. Roosevelt made even the polling of the jury spectacular. . The coupon clippers had an unex pected day off. The war microbe is now working on Rouniania. " ' BACK PRATER WITH ARMED FORCE Correspondent Doubts Efficacy of Meek Spirit AmoDff Nations. RENO, Nev., May 19. (To the Edi tor.) Commenting on the remarks of Professor Coleman before the Y. M. C. A. in Portland a few days ago, I don't think there is an officer or enlisted man In the Army or Navy but would like to see the war in Europe and any trouble in which we might become in volved settled according to his plan. But all men in or out of the service with good common sense are aware of the unfortunate fact that it Is a diffi cult matter to, settle trouble in this way. The saying, "In time of peace prepare for war," is a very true one, and can be construed to mean: "Prepare for peace" as well, for the stronger we are the less likely are we to have trouble or be imposed upon. We notice in In sects, animals, etc., the weaker ones always lose out, and It is the same with men. If we know a man to be strong and handy with hla fists we are careful about provoking him. Now, as regards settling trouble in a Christian way, with .all respect for those so inclined let us assume that we have a troublesome neighbor, and wo all run across them at times. Our dog or chickens get through the fence into his yard. Instead of coming to us and reporting the matter, he ltjlla our dog or chickens and throws them over the fence. They may be valuable or we may think a lot, of them and would willingly pay even more than they were worth rather than lose tliem and to keep peace. We try to explain and smooth It over, which gives the fellow the im pression that we are afraid of him, and, instead, of making peace, he becomes more insulting perhaps to the extent of Insulting our wife or children. I do not know Professor Coleman, but, under the last named conditions, I venture to say that he would gtve this fellow what was coming' to him a sound walloping and he wouldn't be likely to burden himself with his bible or try to put any prayers across either, unless it might be prayers? for the fel low's -recovery after he had finished with him. Hundreds who have tried the Chris tian way have prone down to martyrs' graves. Dr. Whitman tried it years ago at Walla Walla, and apparently had the love and respect of the Indians, but they got him and his family. General Canby tried it with the Modocs in 1873. He went out with members of a peace commission for a conference with the Indians unarmed, against the best of advice, but he was a Christian gentle man and had given his word to come unprotected, for which he forfeited his life, after which followed one of the worst Indian campaigns in the history of our country. It might be a good idea, however, to have the professor, in case of war, mus ter all who think as he does and. armed only with bible, let them go out and meet the enemy and try prayers on them. But I would advise as a precau tionary measure to have three or Sour army corps, well drilled and equipped, to bring up the rear, in case the plan failed. T. F. FITZGERALD. LOVE-MAKING IX THE PICTURES Movie Actress Not Type That Dickens Loved to Portray. PORTLAND, May 23. (To the Edi tor.) Some days ago you printed on your editorial page such a "slam" at women of the Dickens and Thackeray type, indeed, at any woman who pre sumed to be sentimental in either a novel or a movie, that somehow I have not been able to forget it. Of course, it can't be that the writer of that might I call it a philliplc? has Just been divorced for Incompati bility of temperament, or been turned down by his best girl, so I want to enlighten him as to just what was the matter with the Dickens-Thackeray type of woman, and how the movie actress, no matter how sentimental she may have to be on occasions, dif fers. The swooning, tearful, heart-broken female, who must crawl into a corntfr and die if the man she imagined her self in love with didn't take her to ils manly bosom in holy wedlock, was purely a creation of men's ideals of what a 1 woman ought to "be. They wanted to be sure she was sufficiently weak-minded and sufficiently good for nothing physically, so that by con trast, the man would appear like a demigod. For the consolation of the editor who doesn't like that type of woman, let me say that women don't like her either, so there are practically no more of her left. As to the movie woman see the dif ference. She may fall in love now and then but that's merely an incident in her career. Her real business is deep sea swimming, jumping from the sec ond story of burning houses,' hanging to the timbers of a bridge while a train thunders, across, and such genteel little stunts, which mark her as no more like the weepy, fainting female of dear old Dickens than she is like the extinct dodo. Besides, I don't be lieve that editor hates to see a little love-making at the' movies half as much as he tries to make out. A WOMAN. HARMONY. Live every minute you have to lei Love everything you can: Do every task that is good to do; Plan what is good to plan; Smile every minute you have to smile And, like immortal Pan, Music will follow where'er you go. Then you will be a man. .. See everything that is good to see; Hear what is good to hear; Dream when there's plenty of time to dream: Cheer when there's aught to cheer; Praise everything' that deserves your - pj-alse; Flatter not those most dear; Treat every fellow you know the same; Each is a brother here. Better know little than far too much; Never condemn the low; Treat every prince of a man as such. If you honor him. tell him so: Be not a friend to a rich man's gold; Sow what you have to sow. Trust in the wealth of your head' and heart; There's plenty of time to mow. Grin when you feel it is good to grin; Shun what is good to ehun: Keep lots of sand for the slippery way And powder to fill your gun; If each of these virtues abide In you. If you cherish them, every one. Go -to your mother, for you are much Too perfect for me. my eon! . , LOUIS J. BALLBACH. "THE LIGHTS OK THE CITY. See the little lights come dancing. Just like baby stars a-glanclng; Dancing here and dancing there; Dance and glimmer; Dance and glim mer! Now they're dancing everywhere. Little lights that come a-wlnking. Up and down the streets a-blinking. Shining over hate and love: Winking, blinking, all a-twlnkllng. Rivalling the sky above. SARA B. WRENN. Who Was Ploseer Quartermaster f PORTLAND. May 23. (To the Edi tor.) I am very anxious to find out the name of the Quartermaster under Coloney Kelsey, of Corvallis, in the Rogue River Indian War,- in 1855-6. Your help to the above information will be appreciated by the widow of one of the soldiers. M. M. EDRIS, 141 E. Morrison street. Half a Century Ago From The Oregonian of May 24, 1805. The Hon. J. W. vNesmith, United States Senator from Oregon, may be expected upon the arrival of the steam er from Oregon City this afternoon. Mr. Nesmith has ever been a warm and energetic supporter of Mr. Lincoln's measure for putting down the rebel lion. If there be a nuisance more deserv ing of attention in this eitv. than that of the hundreds, thousands, yea. mil-'j lions or billions of dogs, we should like to see where it comes in. General Grant, it is said, has cap tured more prisoners than any general of modern times. Including the com mands of Buchner at Fort Donelson, Pemberton, at Vicksburg, Lee in Vir ginia, and the smaller captures made by him, will run the number of pris oners he has made to fully one hun dred thousand. The horrors of the LIbby are not yet wholly past: it is a horrible place even now. Not a few of our officers and men confined there at different periods during the war have visited it since to recall a series of shuddering, experi ences in the presence of kindred facts. A porter engaged at Richardson's Auction -and Commission House In stowing away flour was yesterday acci dentally buried underneath a pile of some tons which fell upon him. It is no longer doubted but that the Snake River "can be navigated from a point about 125 miles overland above Umatilla, and plans are now nearly ma tured in this city whereby steamers will make their way to the region .of Salmon Falls. Twenty-Five Years Ago From Oregonian of May "4. lMtit. President Spalding, of the Chicago League club, expressed himself on the baseball situation again yesterday. .He dwelt on the poor attendance at the games so far, and saw no Balvatlon for baseball. East Portland will have a surfeit of political excitement and enthusiasm this evening. The Democrats will have a meeting in Armory Hall on N and Fourth streets. David Dudley Lynch will addresa the meeting. The Repub licans will have their grand rally at the corner of Fourth and 11 streets. Captain Zaiinskl, of dynamite gun fame, returns from a tour of Europe, filled -with news that a great conti nental war la impending. He found, all the European powers straining every nerve to prepare loj war. The isolation of the Pacific States from the other seaboard states of the country has found forcible illustration in the condition of the grain tonnage market in' the past few weeks. Governor Pennoyer and Treasurer G. W. Webb addressed the people in this city yesterday afternoon. Governor Pennoyer touched upon one question Heretofore left out of his speeches, that is, the silver question. He eulogized ' Senator Mitchell for favoring free coinage of silver. This is the last week but one of the political campaign. The election will take place June 2. The only betting so far has been on the Governorship. It is estimated that about $10,000 has been put. Gunst & Co. hold S 4000 which has been wagered on even terms. A. M. Hamilton, the bookmaker, and Woods, the hatter, put up $300 each on Mr. Thompson and Governor Pennoyer, re spectively. " Measures on Ballot No. e. Correction of a peculiar wording of the city charter which makes It pos sible for a new city employe to take the place of a man longer in the serv ice, is the purpose of a proposed charter amendment to be voted upon at the city election June 7. As the charter stands now It provides that reappointments to the service after employes have been laid off on account of lack of work, shall be made in the order of dismissal, the first to be laid off being the first to be taken back to work. It is proposed to change this so that reappointment will be on the basis of original appointment, or, in other words, on the basis of seniority in service. The following example shows the Intent of the proposed charter change: A haa been in the service for five yearsK has been in the service a mont-lti itjjlack times come and the men are larr-bff. B being the first. When work starts again B. who has been em ployed only one month, goes back be fore A, who is one of the city's regular and older men. Under the change A would go back first and B second. COPPERHEAD l0 IS CHALLENGED Neutral-Bred Canine Available to Set tle Lnaltanla Controversy. KALAMA, Wash.. May 23. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonian recently the editor was courteously invited by a correspondent to a fight with hla bulldog. Truly a clearer insight I.ito German military reasoning could not be had. The whole pith or German war. policy Is there brutal, selfish force against manhood and the rights of others. If your correspondent can get away from his "cultured" reasoning a mo ment he will admit the cowardice of siring a beast on a human being. Be fore resorting to such a "military ne cessity," a la Belgium, I have a neutral-bred bulldog that will be pleased to call on your correspondent's bull dog to satisfy any hunger pangs the latter may feel and to Impress on his master, if possible, the fact that bully ism can't succeed. ROBERT E. MORGAN. Population by Continents. TORTLAND, May 23. (To the Edi tor.) Kindly publish the estimated population of the world by continents. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. A SUBSCRIBER. Africa. 180.000,000; North America, 130,000.000; Bouth America, 35.000.000; Asia. 800.000,000; Australiasia, 8,000.000: Europe. 450,000,000; polar regions, 300.000. - Challenge of a Recruit. London Sketch. The officer (having been challenged by1 a recruit and seeking to improve the occasion) I say, you know, that was quite right; but you left out "All's well!" The Recruit "All's well." is it. sir? An' me two feet like a block of ice! CrltlrUm of Cheerful Giver. Chicago Herald. "De Lawd loveth a churful giver!" solemnly said Parson Bagster. after the collection had been taken up. "But" the good old man darted a glance at the well-nigh empty plate "1 dunno whun he finds any of "era!" I Marriage la Legnl. PORTLAND, May 23. (To the Edi tor.) Please tell me if a marriage is legal where both parties give wrong names. E. H. K. PROHIBITION IS ' IMPRACTICABLE. Kansas Falls to Attain It In 35 Years' Effort, Sayn Mr. f.llmore. LOUISVILLE. Ky May 19. (To the Editor.) Among the letters published by you in connection with the inter change between the Rev. R. p. Hutton. of the Anti-Saloon League, and myself, is. that of E. T. Johnson, of Yrcka, Cal. Mr. Johnson very frankly confesses that the present Oregon amendment 1 but a stepping-stone to real prohibi tion an admission that I believe th anti-saloon leaders In Oregon art rather chary about making. Mr. Johnson promises that liquor will be shut out completely after a while. But we "have nothing but Mr. John son's word for It. Kansas is boasted of by Prohibition ists as an example of what prohibition can do. We are told how practically everyone' in Kansas is for prohibition. And yet. In spite of this supposed overwhelming sentiment, .which leads Governors, Senators and other high of ficials to make prohibition speeches In all sections. Kansas has no ril prohibition today. And Kansas has been in the prohibition ranks since, 10. Why are we to expect Oregon's case to be different from that of Kansas? Oregon 1ms voted to wipe out a bis: business interest, to confiscate prop erty worth millions, to put all legal dealers in wine, beer and whisky be yond the pale. And all to what pur pose? That men outsido the fctate, who pay no taxes, may sell these arti cles to her citizens or that men inside the state who choose to become out laws may accomplish the same, thing. But." says Mr. Johnson. "Just wait! When the time comes we will cloae up the chinks and make it really dry." All very fine, but how has Kansas closed up the chinks? At the last ses sion of the Legislature, held this year, the Kansas Scnatu failed to pass a bill already .passed by the House, intended to make the Federal Webb-Ken von law effective and shut off liquor ship ments from outside the state. If this happened in Kansas, after 35 years of prohibition, with all officials com -pletely under the thumb of prohibi tionists, how soon is Oregon to see the result promised by Mr. Johnson? Mr. Johnson's frankness lays bare the Impracticability of the entire prohi bition idea. It places too much reli ance on the Idea of reform by statute instead of by Individual education. I believe Oregon has made a mis take in listening to such visionaries. With a model license system she could regulate the sale of liquor, or alter its form. If the people think the saloon must be done away with, the way to real temperance Is through some sub stitute sales plan, such as the hotel-and-cafe Idea of sales at tables (the bar to be abolished) or the merchants' license system, with all sales in pack age form. Prohibition has never given any per manent progress in the fight for renl temperance because It strikes at the problem In the wrong way. Regula tion can point to present results in stead of offering promises for tha future. T. M. GILMORE, 1'reMdent National Model License Dcaguc. SPELLING AS IT IS I MII, IKIED English Soelrty Outdoes Ml Others In Orthographic Reform. PORTLAND. May 23. (To the TMi tor.) An editorial appearing in The Oregonian, May 21. anent the spelling of "dispatch" or "despatch" states "the charm of our language Is its uniform and scientific orthography." Those who have given the subject thought are of your opinion In this matter. Learn ing to s.pell in our language is an arduous scientific task, and no cither tongue approximates it in the uniform ity of writing words one way and pro nouncing them In another. Spelling reform societies, both here and In Kng land, are engaged In devising reforms to make the acquiring of English less scientific and easier. The following, from th April Issue of the Pioneer on "Simplified Spelling." shows to what length the Britinh would go to. reform the language: The spell ing fa that of the Simplified Sp ling Sosieti, 44 Great Russell street, Lon don: Erven In theer tiems Aur fcnnteinporMrl The filobe liaz lost nun ov In nokturnal irietll ne. IiliKllnli spelinit Iz a faivorlt but "r lis wit. We kwoet tho fololn frunl reeent Isyus: "I'risemysl for the lasnt fvu dsls mat b sed tu hav held thi! wurld pl -tnJund." "Mr. .Iwsies IiourIhs In a re,snt urlikl tsuks shout -returning llermany'i lend." That ir. the wurt or our KnKilnh spelinic: the hoej thlim depends on whether the laat wurd rlcrni with -feed" or 'fed.'" The Englishman's readiness for in dulging in furious controversies over matters of pronunciation and orthog raphy is characteristic, and the British spelling reformers' are bent on start ing something which may make the present war appear an Insignificant conflict. HERMAN LOLDING. GOOD SliKX IN nilLDIJ CIIANCiE Mill tonslruollon In Two-Story Hnlld lng In Eire Limits I raed. PORTLAND, May 23. (To the Edi tor.) A big reduction of the fire haz ard in the down-town district can b? made by allowing two-story mill "0n structed buildings to take the place of old frame shacks. Aside from the discussion of whether mill construction with automatic sprinklers is as safe as concrete and steel for two stories, tlia fact that wn are doing away with the dangerous old frame building will lessen the Are rUk to u great extent. Kurthermore, it would beautify our city by making the streets look uni form, in place of what we have now: an old cottage Jacked up about 16 feet high with a store under it. These old frame buildings are always untidy: they need repairing and re painting, but they aren't worth it and so the owners never do It. 1'nder the present building ordinance these build ings. If torn down, must he replaced with concrete and steel buildings if at all. The time Is not ripe for a perma nent building that the site demands, so why not let the property owner Im prove with a good mill-constructed building, so that he may get some re turns on hla investment, until business demands a taller and better building? It will help Portland In many ways If this section of the building code Is modified so as lo allow two-story buildings of mill construction. CHARLIOS W. ERTZ. Deduction and Pay sir. Dallas (Texas) News. Doctor "Why have you deducted a quarter from my bill?" Patient "That is for the lx clgara you broke when you thumped my chest." Help Your Own Pocketbook, f Mr. Retailer It's the dollars that go Into your cash register that count for you. When the manufacturer talks to the people of this city through the advertising columns of this news paper he rsi talking to your cus tomers. They will want to see his goods and some of these will come to your store and ask for them. At the time the manufacturer's newspaper advertising is running, co-operate with it by showing the goods and pushing them. Help the manufacturer and your self at the same time.