8
TUT! OTJFr.OXIAN. TUESDAY. MARCH
II, 1016.
PORTLAND, OEBGOS.
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rOBTUM), TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 1916.
SLANDERS HUT HCF.T.
Secretary of the Navy Daniels re
fusal to send the cruiser Pittsburg up
the Columbia River is but the latest in
a long series of acts by which it is
sought to ignore the Columbia River
as a navigable channel for ocean
going ships and to discredit Portland
as a port. Only by a determined, united
and aggressive fight on the part of the
people of the entire Columbia Basin
can the Columbia River secure fair
treatment from the Government and
from the shipping interests.
The action of Mr. Daniels in the
Pittsburg affair is a good illustration
of the manner in which this discrimi
nation is practiced. The Twenty-first
Infantry Regiment was to be trans
ferred from Vancouver to San Diego.
The natural, easy, direct and therefore
economical way to make the transfer
was to send a ship to Vancouver or
Portland, to embark the men there and
to carry them direct to San Diego. Or.
ders to this effect were actually given,
but the detractors of the Columbia
River, by the occult means at which
they are adepts, set about having ar
rangements changed. They raised
doubt in Mr. Daniels' mind whether
the water was deep enough for the
Pittsburg, and he made inquiry.
He learned that tho low-water depth
In one channel across the bar is twenty-six
feet and in the other thirty-five
feet and that the least depth at zero
stage in the river channel to Portland
Is not less than twenty-six feet, al
though Port of Portland authorities
insist that the governing depth is
thirty feet. In considering these
facts he ignored the deeper of the
two bar channels and fastened his
attention on the shallower. He also
ignored the additional depth gained by
high tide. As to the river channel he
assumed twenty-six feet to be the full
depth of water available and gave no
thought to the fact that the river has
not been down to zero in March in
thirty-seven years and is now ten
feet above that point, plus the addi
tional depth given by tide. He did rot
consider the fact that the Maryland, a
sister ship of the Pittsburg, and the
battleship Oregon have safely come
into and gone out of Portland harbor.
In fact, he eagerly seized upon every
fact which could be used to Portland's
disadvantage and sought no further in
formation which might turn in the
city's favor.
He ordered the Pittsburg to make
the long circuit by sea to Tacoma and
caused the troops to be sent by rail
to that port, abandoning the direct
route at the instigation of the ever
busy knockers. Thus he shows that
ihe North American Review correctly
describes him as "a pottering country
politician."
It does not appear that in any of the
proceedings either Senator Chamber
lain or Senator Lane exerted himself
to see that Mr. Daniels had correct
information for his guidance, though
the state which they represent is most
Vitally interested in all matters con.
cerning the Columbia River. Mr.
Chamberlain, as chairman of the com
mittee on military affairs, holds a po
sition which would command atten
tion to any requests he might make'
regarding the movement of troops, but
he appears to have done nothing. He
does well to occupy himself with the
reorganization of the Army as a great
National duty, but he might also find
time to protect the interests of his own
-state In military affairs. Dr. Lane, we
know, has taken the Oregon aborigines
under his special care, but he need not
entirely neglect his white constituents.
There are other things in Oregon re
quiring the attention of a Senator be
tides Indian reservations.
A glance over the situation will
prove the anomaly of it. The Colum
bia is the second greatest river in the
United States. It drains a watershed
of 250,000 square miles, as against 18,
000 square miles draining into Puget
Sound and 80,000 square miles Into
the San Joaquin Valley, which is trib
utary to San Francisco. It is the only
river which cuts through the Cascade
Mountains In the United States and
hence gives the only water grade from
the interior to the coast. Nature de
signed that the products of its water
shed should drain to market over the
same route as its waters and that its
Imports should enter by that route.
The Government has made a ship
channel thirty-five feet deep at the
mouth and twenty-seven to thirty feet
deep at low water through the rest of
its length to Portland. It has made a
navigable waterway reaching 400 miles
farther Inland. Thl3 area can supply
many of the staples which an Army
and Navy need and it haa the cheapest
route for Importing all other supplies,
either by land or water. Being en
tirely within the boundaries of the
United States, the Lower Columbia is
superior as a naval base to Puget
Sound, where the navy-yard is reached
by straits, one side of which is foreign
and possibly hostile territory.
Before the high-water season of 1916
is past, the present dredging opera
tions will have given a minimum depth
of forty feet on the bar and thirty
feet In the river. The stage of water
being rarely down to zero, this Is suf
ficient depth to float any ship in ex
istence. That fact makes the Colum
bia River superior as a naval base to
Mare Island, which is reached by a
creek originally too shallow for battle
ships. Notwithstanding these facts, troops
never embark for foreign stations on
the Columbia River, and military sup
plies for the Army are loaded on ship
board at either San Francisco or Puget
Sound ports. The Columbia Basin Is
the great reservoir of gTaln, hay, live
stock and lumber, but the War Depart
ment asks bids for supplies delivered
at other ports and buys chiefly from
merchants at other ports. The reason
is that a systematic campaign of de
traction has fostered the belief that
ships cannot navigate the Columbia
and by thus preventing many from
coming here has strengthened that be
lief. The falsehood can only be dls-
1 proved by causing1 bis ships to come
in and by spreading- accurate informa
tion, obtained from Government engi
neers, as to the depth and width of the
channel. Oregon Senators can see that
this information, constantly brought
up to date, is supplied to the Navy De
partment. The Portland Chamber of
Commerce can supply It to every port
and every shipping- firm in the world.
Tho Oregon delegation in Congress can
constitute Itself a vigilance committee
to foil the efforts of the knockers to
prevent the Government from learn
ing, acting upon and disseminating the
truth. The activity of the knockers is
the strongest evidence of the intrinsic
merits of the Columbia as a port, for
it is prompted by fear lest the truth
should become known and lest the Co
lumbia come into its own.
IKDEB WHICH FIAOT
A body of ministers of the gospel of
Christ yesterday In Portland made
known to the world their loyalty to
their country by the following:
To the President: The Portland Metho
dist preachers' meeting heartily sustain you
and the National Conaress In your efforts
to care for the safety and peace of the
country, to protect American citizens and
American Interests at home and abroad, on
land and on sea and In all necessary prep
arations to maintain the honor of the Na
tion's flag.
It is not easy to see how any pa
triot in the present grave situation of
our foreign relations could say or do
less; it is amazing to learn that there
are preachers who do not subscribe
to sentiments so moderate and cor
rect. Such men resent the charge that
they are not patriotic, or that they
are for peace at any price. They are
not for preparedness or are" for only
a little preparedness.
But if preparedness Is not to be ade
quate, why any preparedness?
There is no middle ground between
peace as an ideal to be sought in every
emergency and under every kind of
provocation, and safety to be had
through suitable equipment to meet
any foe.
The American who is a patriot and
the American who says he is a patriot
must alike elect to take their stand with
the group which would have peace at
any sacrifice or the group which would
preserve the National existence at any
sacrifice. He Is but fooling himself
and imperiling his country when he
says he will stand with neither, but
between them.
THE ASXCAL ROW.
The Portland schools have again
passed, and have again somehow sur
vived, the annual altercation over elec.
tion of the City Superintendent. The
disturbed public, which is interested
but little less in school decorum than
In school efficiency, ought to be
spared the periodical spectacle of a
great row over the superintendent. To
be sure, it has not heretofore found
expression in ugly taunts and open
personalities, but there has nearly al
ways been a sharp controversy over
the election of a director because he
favored, or was supposed to favor, this
or'that candidate.
Through many years the previous
superintendent continued to hold his
Job by his expertness in practical poli
tics as well as by his exceptional quali
fications as an educator. The Ideal su
perintendent ought not to be a poli
tician, of course; but he cannot other
wise last long, under the system of
annual elections, provoking and in
volving always an issue which sensa
tional newspapers and notoriety-
seeking busybodies seize with infinite
gusto.
We can think of but one method of
procuring a superintendent worse than
the present. It is to abolish the board
of directors and to invite all aspirants
to enter a popular contest for the Job.
The Oregonlan does not at all assert
that Mr. Alderman is the best obtain
able talent for superintendent. But
it Is willing to be shown. It is decid
edly of opinion that he has not had a
fair deal. The essence of the charges
of Director Lockwood appears to be
that at least two of the directors who
were voting for him did not have pure
motives because they were under ob
ligation to the superintendent for fa
vors rendered. It seems to us that
the specifications cited by the com
plaining director resolved the whole
dispute into something quite triflinsr.
The large question, and the only ques
tion worth considering, 13 Mr. Alder-
mans competency.
v e will not refrain from saying in
passing that Director Munly met the
Lockwood assault with as much firm-
ness and coolness as the occasion
called for and he certainly made a
good defense for the board. But what
business had anyone to introduce re
ligious matters?
PERSISTENT "PATIENCE WORTH."
Whatever the explanation of Pa
tience Worth may be, she is a persist
ent jaae. After two years of third
degree cross-examination by experts in
psychic research and lay doubting
Thomases, Patience patiently persists
in pressing her primitive poems over
the ouija board with the kindly assist
ance or Airs. John H. Curran. a sub
stantial St. Louis matron, who first
discovered Patience. All efforts at so
lution of the puzzle by cross-examination
have failed. Mrs. Curran stands
by her guns. In 1913 she was toying
with the ouija board when it began
clicking a signal from the spirit world.
"I am Patience Worth," read the in
troductory message and thereafter
Patience proceeded to dictate poems,
blank verse and stately prose.
Although the messages were In old
English, Mrs. Curran persisted trial-
she knew nothing of old English. Al-
tnougn tne writings revealed consid
erable knowledge of rural England,
Mrs. Curran. proved that she never
saw rural England and was not
equipped to provide the peculiar at
mosphere and literary flavor of the
oulja-board writings. Hence it all
must emanate from the spirit world,
possibly from some suppressed writer
of sixteenth century days whose pas
sion for publication had been denied
her during mortal existence. Here is
a specimen of her verse:
The moon doth, at the even's creep.
Reach forth her whitened hand and soothe
The wrinkled brow of earth to sleep.
Not bad at all. Tet Mrs. Curran
might have written, it without the aid
of PaUence Worth, one suspects, even
as she might have written all else that
Is accredited to the eternal memory of
Patience Worth. One need not doubt
her statements concerning Patience.
It is possible that Mrs. Curran Is
wholly sincere and believes implicitly
in Patience Worth. The mere per
sistence of her contention implies
sincerity. But then Mrs. Curran may
be deceiving herself. She may be the
victim of suggestion which causes her
to believe the ouija board 13 transmit
ting messages which, in fact, proceed
from her own mind. The development
of such a susceptibility might easily ex
plain tne fact that she is unable to
produce a single line except when In
communication with Patience Worth
across U ouija board, n brief, she
interprets as a spirit the same influ
ence, the same conscious and subcon
scious processes, that a normal writer
would regard as his muse. The ouija
board likely corresponds to tho yellow
ribbons that one writer had to have
before him in order to write, or the
faded smoking-jacket without which a
certain writer was unable to produce.
Rather than a caso for psychic re
search societies, one is led to suspect
that alienists and specialists in disor
ders of the nervous system would
reach the true solution of Patience
Worth's baffling mystery.
PLAINT OP THE POOR RICH MAN.
A writer in an evening paper, who
signs himself "A Man in the Ditch"
and talks feelingly of "us fellows dig
ging in the sewers," has attracted our
interested attention. A sewer-digger
who, after washing up after a hard
day's toil, changes the habiliments of
labor for something that will not soil
the leather upholstery of his home,
takes fountain pen in gnarled hand
and writes learnedly of the number of
wage earners in the country, per capita
tax, cost of Government and standards
of civil service all in good diction, cer
tainly deserves attention. Still it
would be more interesting to bo told
how a man of such attainments hap
pened to be working in a sewer trench.
Need it be said that we suspect that
the only digging he does is with a neat
little trowel in. the flower beds that
grace the lawn of a comfortable home?
The letter is a protest against re
tirement on half pay of superannuated
postal employes and an editorial in
dorsement by The Oregonlan of a bill
to that end. This laborer with lily
white hands is aghast at the added
burden of taxation that the bill would
impose upon the working classes. Ac
cording to actuarial estimates tho first
year's cost under the retirement bill
would be $362,000. which would Im
pose a tax upon the 10,000,000 wage
earners in the country of 3.6 cents a
year, provided no one else contributed.
But the wage earner is taxed for the
postal expenses chiefly in the postage
stamps he buys. His contribution Is
but a small part of the postal revenues.
There is no proposal entailed to in
crease postal rates.
But if our friend will leave his imag
inary ditch long enough to contemplate
a few other conditions Jn the postal
service ie may discover where a sav
ing could be made In directions that
would a great deal more than off
set the little worthy consideration car
riers and clerks are asking. The post
mastership, except in minor offices, is
a political job, sought and obtained
by men who know nothing of the busi
ness. The wage earners are taxed
yearly to educate thousands of swivel
chair martinets, whose duties so far as
real work is concerned are, at that,
performed by civil service employes at
small salaries.
The department is topheavy with red
tape and inspection. We are told of
one instance where a special agent
made a trip from Seattle to Portland
to trace the loss of 3 0 cents from an
envelope, when the money had already
been found and had been turned in to
the proper official to await inquiry.
The department's attitude toward Its
under-employes Is. niggardly and one
of suspicion and distrust. A dime lost
behind the railing is subject for ex
haustive inquiry, but the robbery of
a Portland sub-station of $200 by an
outside sneak thief the other day
quickly proved unsolvable, the clerk
in the sub-station was charged with
the amount and her fellow-employes
by popular subscription made good
most of the loss.
The expense of politics and exag
gerated espionage is more cause for
an arousing of the masses, which the
amateur ditch digger predicts, than In
auguration of a retirement system af
fecting the workers in the postal serv
ice. " Pensions for superannuated em
ployes are looked upon by private cor
porations that have installed them as
In part measures of economy. It is
recognized that an employe's value to
his employer deteriorates with age. It
would, of course, be cheaper to kick
him out in the cold when old age or
disability renders him worth less than
his pay. On the other hand, it is
economy to pension him rather than
keep him on the payroll.
The same alternative that confronts
the corporation confronts the Postal
Department. If it would give good and
economical service it must do one of
two things: Revise the civil service
rules so that a man may be dismissed
when he has worn himself out at long
and faithful service, or retire him on
part pay. The humane method, we
imagine, will appeal to the broad
minded citizenry of the country.
CAR SHORTAGE AND ITS CAUSE.
The shortage of railroad cars is due
to a variety of causes. One is the rush
of export freight to a few ports on the
North Atlantic Coast, which has been
beyond their shipping capacity and
failure to distribute this traffic more
widely, so as to use the southern ports.
Tet another is tho sudden boom in
buying by merchants whoso stocks
were depleted during the time of de
pression, and by consumers whose
buying power has been increased by
prosperity. The influence of the lat
ter cause is seen in the statement that
not only are Eastern roads congested
with traffic but conditions on West
ern roads are intolerable.
However, the worst congestion is in
the East for the Eastern roads have
on their lines 13.12 per cent more cars
than they own, while the Western
roads have 10.5 per cent less than they
should have. The evil is progressive,
for the worse the congestion becomes
the slower is tho movement of cars.
Before the rush began, a freight car
moved between New York and Chicago
in seven or eight days; now the trip
takes twenty days, and occasionally
as much as two months.
The West is experiencing perceptible
relief through the action of Eastern
roads in sending 20 per cent more cars
west than arrive eastbound until the
balance is restored. Railroads demand
that free time for holding cars bo re
duced. Shippers retort that more cars
and locomotives should be provided
and that delays are due to inadequate
lighterage and to faulty methods at
Atlantic Coast terminals, which require
increased forces of workmen.
The summing up of the whole story
is that our transportation facilities,
and particularly terminals, have been
outgrown by the development of busi
ness. We are planning for a great
permament increase in foreign com
merce after the war as compared with
pre-war times, and we must perma
nently Increase our means of handling
It. The Panama Canal will help much,
when reopened, but it will also swell
the volume of our commerce. A sys
tematic development of all our means
of transport rail and water and of
all our ports is necessary to unob
structed flow of commerce. Water
ways must be developed and used;
railroads must be put on a footing
where sureness of earnings will enable
them to obtain capital for expansion
of fatalities; pooling of traffic should
be legalized, in order that it may be
divided among all ports instead of be
ing forced through one choked passage
to New York; and the United States
should carry its commerce in its own
merchant marine. The car shortage
is only one feature In the broad prob
lem of transportation, the solution of
which demands the talents of a busi
ness statesman. -
The Pittsburg incident serves to im
press on us once more a fact which
has been borne in upon us often
enough that the Columbia River can
get its deserts only by fighting. It is
one of the three great natural har
bors on the Pacific Coast, the others
being Puget Sound and San Francisco
Bay. Its people have no desire 1 to
take away- from the other ports any
thing which rightfully belongs to them,
but it should fight without respite for
all that which rightfully belongs to it.
Much has been taken from the Colum
bia and given to other ports, and much
has been denied to it which it should
have. The Columbia River Basin, and
Oregon in particular, as the state most
interested, must ceaselessly use for
their interest the same weapons which
have been used against them. We must
galvanize into action our Senators and
Representatives and our Chambers of
Commerce, and must keep them at it.
We should enlist the aid of the Con
gressional delegations and cominercial
bodies of the entire intermountain
country. Since others seek to "down
us" by resort -to political pull and se
cret lobbying, we should combat them
by like means.
The story Is told that at a conference'
of Methodist ministers in Iowa, pre
sided over by Bishop Ames, some years
ago, a member who posed as a con
verted burglar, or reformed gambler,
or something equally reprehensible in
his past, began togive testimony as to
his many misdeeds. He was inter
rupted by the bishop, who silenced him
by saying: "Brother, if I were as bad
as you have been and as good as you
evidently think you now are, I would
say precious little about my wicked
ness and let others testify to my good
ness." There are others besides the
bishop who think that the place for
converted gamblers is not in the pul
pit, If they are to pose merely as con
verted gamblers.
Appointments of West Point cadets
from the ranks of the Army, as pro
posed by Senators Reed, Gallinger and
Smith, of Michigan, would help to
democratize the Army, which draws
the distinction between commissioned
officers and enlisted men from the
monarchist countries -of Europe. In
republican France the democratic
Ideal of equality Is preserved, and It
does not seem to weaken discipline.
The greatest incentive to efficiency,
next to patriotism, is the possibility of
attaining the highest rank.
The up-to-date Duke of Westmin
ster charges into a panic-stricken
swarm of fuzzy-wuzzies in Egypt with
an armored automobile. The Dukes
of a few centuries ago carried the ar
mor around on themselves and their
horses and charged with lance at
thrust. It Is far easier and more ef
fective to let an engine do the carry
ing and to let a machine gun do the
fighting.
Douglas County is specializing in
broccoli, just as part of Lane does in
asparagus and Washington in onions.
It takes 405 crates to fill a car. The
yield is about 270 crates to the acre,
and last year the growers netted a
dollar a crate. Brains and energy are
needed to make a profit of $270 an
acre, but some men are doing it and
others can-
Young fellows in Germany will be
taught thrift by official edict and have
money on which to marry after the
war. They can use but small part of
their wages and must salt the rest in
savings banks to remain until peace
comes. More than likely the first buy
will be a steamship ticket.
The railroads do well to cut no mel
ons when cars, locomotives and termi
nal improvements are so much need
ed, when the cost of materials has ad
vanced and when employes threaten
to strike. Under the circumstances a
full treasury is the best defense.
A few days more and the eleventh
hour squad will be shut out from vot
ing. But then a man who hasnt the
ambition to register probably lacks the
intelligence to vote advantageously.
It must be fine to be the biggest
thing in the land and without a boss.
The Supreme Court began another two
weeks' recess yesterday.
It is charged that Mexican regular
soldiers let Villa escape them. And
anon we may find them arrayed under
his banner.
In a few weeks the fight for the
Presidential nomination will pale be
side the contest to reign over the Rose
Festival.
The Governor of Missouri wants
Marshall's job, although the Vice
President has not signified a desire to
quit.
So far we have5 heard of no cele
bration being planned of the annual
Spring opening of the Panama Canal.
Officially just a fraction of an inch
of rain fell yesterday morning, but
people going to work think otherwise.
New and stricter regulations on but
ter and potatoes are in effect in Ber
lin, but nothing is said about gravy.
Cow trails started the streets of
Boston, while out here the' logging
road develops Into a railway.
A woman who has Just escaped says
the Mexicans respect only the British
flag. The campaign is young.
August Paulsen will soon know all
the tricks of the blackmailers and be
able to catch them himself.
The dog who steals the daily paper
at Vancouver has a discriminating
sense to get the best.
Now that Taggart is a Senator,
"Tom" must be displaced by the more
respectful "Thomas."
Time is limited for performance of
two civic duties by the citizen pay
the tax and register.
The foundling who reaches the right
doorstep was born a lucky child.
Old Sol Is having a hard time cross
ing the line.
It is not good -war to torpedo a hos
pital chip.
PRnCll'LES BEFORE PERSOXALITV
Republican Una Pometblnjr to Soy of
Psrty Fealty and eiT Freedom."
KLAMATH FALLS, Or., .March 18.
(To the Editor.) John M. Watson, 510
Gilsan street, in The Oregonian, March
12, claiming to speak for the younger
generation of voters, professes to find
considerable amusement in the fact
that some "elderly rock-ribbed" breth
ren are prating that they have not
scratched a ticket for a quarter of a
century or longer. And proud to state
that the "younger generation are in
terested no longer in party pollticis,
but in political principles that the
party espouses." claiming that his state
of mind (common, as he says, to the
younger generation) is both analytical
and synthetical. Isn't it just possible
that this young man voter is of that
class of philosophers who hasten too
much and often from the analytic to
the synthetic method? That Is, draw
general conclusions from too small a
number of particular facts, observa
tions and experiments? x
Under his own statement "that tho
younger generation of voters are in
terested not in party politics, but in
political principles espoused by polit
ical parties," the elderly rock-ribbed
brethren are at least partially justified,
if not glorified, in their record of a
quarter of a century of "voting her
straight." They, at least, should stand
accredited with fidelity to the political
principles "finding expression in the
policies advocated by the Republican
party.
It is possible, of course, that the
young man. if he succeeds in finding
that "big, broad and strong man" (and
I presume it won't make any difference
whether, he stands on a platform of
his own or that of the Free Silver
party) he will be found supporting him
in preference to a standard-bearer se
lected by the Republican party to carry
out a well-defined governmental policy,
expressed in a platform publicly pro
claimed. It Is unquestionably the belief of
this "dead timber cluttering the Re
publican party" that well-defined gov
ernmental policy is expressed in such
a piatform to be carried out and stood
upon by the selected standard-bearer is
safer and saner, even for a quarter of
a century, than individualism, even
though personified by the big, strong
man of our youthful friend's idea as a
political substitute.
Mr. Watson announces "that when
the time comes to pick a leader. In the
Nation's affairs the younger voters are
going to do it regardless of party
lines." Well, may be so.
But Isn't it just barely possible that
there will be thousands of tho younger
generation entertaining advanced but
sane Ideas of goverrment who will
line up with the G. O. P. without re
quiring the "old guard" to submit to a
sanitary treatment in advance?
The "new-freedom" idea has its ex
potent in President Wilson, of the
"new school," and a goodly number of
the younger generation of voters have
been successfully innoculated. Be
cause a member of the Republican
party has seen fit to cast his ballot
for its different standard-bearers in
the past in preference to the Demo
cratic. Prohibition, . Populist, - Free
Silver or Progressive advocates, in no
wise stamps him irrevocably or other
wise as a reactionary. Neither does the
fact of his refusal to follow Roosevelt
in his bolt and attempt to form a new
party with himself as standard-bearer
stamp him as a reactionary. Neither
does the mere fact of Roosevelt's new
party assuming the name "progressive"
give its adherents any greater claim to
political progressiveness than thev en
Joyed before. A. L. LEAVITT.
THE POET HUSBTER.
"Them poets," said the editor.
"they
make me sick a ad sore;
"Here's another elevatorfull a-stoppin'
at this floor.
Boy, get the poet-husher out we're
goin' to see some fun
Set that there door Just on the 'Jar,
and swat 'em one by one!"
Soon sounds of many shuffling feet the
office entrance neared;
Then through a narrow opening a
poet's optics peered.
"Good morning, Mr. Editor; I have an
odo on Spring."
The poet-husher dropped on him, as
quick as anything.
"Just kick him in that porner," cried
the editor with glee, '
"His MS. is declined with thanks. Boy,
have a smoke on mo.
Now get behind that door and lay for
poet number two."
Soon in he peeped, with bow and smile:
"I'm bringing, sir, to you,"
Said he, "a thing I've just dashed off
a verse or so on love."
Just
And
then the poet-husher fell from
somewhere up above,
suddenly the poet dropped and
crumpled up and died.
"Good work!" sang out the editor, who
laughed until he cried.
A solemn looking visage next was
thrust in at tne door;
A voice sepulchral said :"Here are some
lines denouncing war.
War must be stopped! War shall be
stopped! We want not war nor
blood "
Then that sad voice was silenced by a
sickly sounding thud,
editor, he capered, as the blood
oozed on the floor,
' cried he, "I'm happy, happy as
The
"Oh,
I've never been heretofore!"
He was not really cruel, but he'd suf-
ferred much, I guess.
From poets swarming in on him and
from their MSS.
An ordinary man, as good as either
you or I;
Kind hearted, somewhat timid, of good
grammar even shy.
Yet as dead poets dropped and dropped,
xut rang his joyful laugh;
Sometimes he shook hands with the
boy sometimes with all , the
staff.
Thus he gloated o'er dead poets thus
the busy hours wore.
Till through the pane the setting sun
lit up a slippery floor.
"It grows! It grows!" cried out the
boss. "It grows that poet pile!
But to clean that mussed up floor will
take the woman quite a while.
Bqy, is all them poets coppered?" asked
the editor at last.
The boy said "Yes." "Then," said the
tbosn, "our day is done and past;
But search the elevator once, and look
along the stairs;
Be euro there's not one poet left no
poet anywheres.
Oh, what a buBy day! Our work will
bring -us great renown.
Arid now, let's measure that heap,
where them poets was chucked
down."
But suddenly those poets all leaped up
on nimble feet.
And bent on him such glances as I
should not care to meet;
Then marched out of that office with
their heads held firm and high.
"I thought o," sighed the editor.
"Them fellers never die."
F. P. WILLIAMS.
La Grande, Or.
AC POO TAIT. '
(Mount Hood.)
Cold, beautiful and sublime.
It stands a sentinel, capped with snow.
Its base well serened with lofty pine.
An ambush for the gorge below.
Storm swept by many a chilly blast,
For all the ages that have past.
Yet still, on every sunny day.
It starts the Hvuleta on their way
To fill the mighty gorge below
With melted waters from its snow.
Could It but speak of years gone by,
Of battles fought, of shrill war cry.
Of thousands slain, as it stood nigh.
Until It burst Its sides with fire.
This, for the dead, a funeral pyre.
P. G. REYNOLDS,
Portland.
Dublin, IN. II-
LA GRANDE, Or., March 18. (To the
Editor.) Please give the adl."os of
George do Forrest Brudh, American
painter. H. J. RITTR.
FIRST MILITARY FORCE f.V 1840
Fort Vancouver Lost Many First Sol
diers to Gold Fields.
PORTLAND, March 20. (To the Ed
itor.) In The Oregonian, March 15, is
tho picture of John Dowd, said to be
the "Oldest man in Oregon 104 years
old." It is also said that "Mr. Dowd
came to Oregon In 1840, was a regular
soldier and was stationed at Vancou
ver Barracks." Historically these
statements cannot be correct. In 1840
and for nearly a decade thereafter.
Fort Vancouver was held by the Hud
son's Bay Company as one of its for
tified trading posts. It had been
built by the company a score of years
before, and its possession had never
been questioned by anybody, although
our Government, as well as that of
Great Britain, had claimed the right
of possession ever since anyone had
begun to think the country would ever
be worth claiming by any nation.
At the time of which I write. Fort
Vancouver was held by right of the
treaty of joint occupancy between
such time as this treaty should be ab
rogated the company had undisputed
right of possession. It also had such
defenses and armament as made it
appear strong enough to copo with
any such force as was likely to ap
pear before it.
Again, at the date of "1840." there
had never been a United States mili
tary force in sight of Fort Vancou
ver. The first United States military
expedition that came across the
"plains" was at the close of the war
with Mexico. It arrived at Vancouver
in the Fall of 1849. I think this was
the Fourth Infantry, commanded by
Colonel Loring.
In the meantime, the ownership of
the country had been settled by tho
treaty of 1S46, and the military com
pany took possession of the place.
But they did not find any "barracks,"
only a stockade fort and a lot of
buildings which Uncle Sam afterwards
paid for at a good round price. In
the next year, 1850, Vancouver Bar
racks was built. So that up to that
time Mr. Dowd could not have been
stationed there.
. Upon examination on their arrival at
Vancouver it was found there was
not sufficient shelter, ' as an abiding
place was found for a part of them
at Oregon City for the remainder of
the Winter. But as these soldiers had
spent a year or two in Mexico and
many months in tramping from there
to Oregon, the tramping habit had
become fixed, the "wanderlust" was
upon them. The California gold
mines had Just been discovered and
it was not an uncommon occurrence
for the "boys" to straggle away from
camp and fail to find their way back.
Had the Sergeant wanted to call
the roll of the Fourth Infantry he
would have received more hearty re
sponse had he stood on the: banks of
the Sacramento River than he would
have received in Vancouver Barracks.
ED C. ROSS.
"MOTTIEH, TUCK MB UP IX BED."
When the nights were wide with won
ders. And the moon shone faint and new;
Then your years were few in numbers.
And your heart few troubles knew;
Yet when weary eyes grew droopy.
And the last good-night was said;
Slumber came not 'till you'd trebled
"Mother, tuck me up in bed."
Little hurts and paltry bruises
Left their scars at close of day;
Greater pain, and growing heartacnes
Came to fill you with dismay;
Still, when Btars peeped through the
window
At a frowzy pillowed head.
All was well when you had whispered:
"Mother, tuck me up In bed." ,
Older grown, life's burdens pressing.
Vexed a soul yet immature;
Nameless fears the heart compressing.
Filled long nights with goblin lure;
But because a hardy youngster
Should outgrow his childish dread.
You were .checked by pride from cry
ing: "Mother, tuck me up in bed!"
Then sometimes while others slum
bered. Mother tiptoed to your bed;
Seemed to know your heart was aching
For her cool touch on your head;
Then, ah, then! your fears all vanished;
Babe again, you sobbing said:
(Kindly night the scene concealing)
"Mother, tuck me up in bed."
Manhood comes, and time has severed
Earlier ties; new loves are born;
Strife for bread and fight for power
Bring new hurts, and crown of thorn;
Life's mistakes bring shame upon you
'Till your way looms black ahead;
On your knees your spirit whimpers:
"Mother, tuck me up in bed."
Comes the end: Life's story finished;
Loved ones softly gather near;
Note the smile light up your features.
Breathless stoop your words to hear;
But they cannot grasp the meaning
Ere the soul from body fled;
For this message rose to heaven:
"Mother, tuck me up in bed."
HERBERT A. WATTS.
THE PLANTERS.
I found two tender vines in early
Spring;
They grew, one by the other. In the
quick'nlng sod.
The sun's warm rays had. kissed them
both alike
Both were created by the breath of
God.
Mere fancy prompted, me to dig them
up.
I planted one upon a hill where
thistles grew;
Its mate in fertile soil beside my door
I set.
Where It was nourished by the light,
sunshine and dew.
The weeks went by. Rare blossoms
cheered my sight.
Gloaming In varied colors there be
side my door.
Green leaves and op'ning buds the Sum
mer through.
That well-nursed vine In richest
beauty bore.
In spirits high, I climbed the rocky
hill.
To view the other, planted long be
fore; The mullen leaves and. thistles growing
thick.
An hour had passed e're nij keen
search was o'er.
And when at last I found that once
green vine.
The leaves hung withered and the
stalk drooped low.
No bud nor bloom adorned the shriveled
thing
'Twas dead; for want of love and
care, I know.
I pondered long, and marveled at my
Ignorance,
In planting vine midst rocks and
thistles' shade.
Yet strangely do we so with human
flowers.
Then punish them when progress Is
not made.
Mark Dalrymple, Salem Or.
Montana Hears, of Oregon Hen.
HELENA, Mont., March 18. (To the
Editor.) I thought you might be in
terested to know that the fame of your
Oregon hen has reached this place.
This morning's Independent carried
an item to the effect that a hen at
Corvallis, Or., had broken the world's
record by laying 1000 eggs.
Immediately on the perusal thereof
the writer was much moved and broke
out in a poetical frenzy with result as
follows:
A frisky old hen at Corvallis.
Quite up at th top of them all is.
How she strutted and hopped.
When the thousandth eprgr dropped.
fht aur ia a red-hot tamallla.
N. N. !,
In Other Days
Half a Ccntnry Ago.
From Tl-.e Or.-Konian of iinreh '.'I. 16.
There are constantly recurring re
ports of Indian depredations on the
Canyon City road, ijhe Mountaineer of
the 18th, referring to the fact, says
there has not been a day in the last
four years in which the road could be
traveled in perfect safety. There is
too much truth in that statement.
General .Tool P.ilmrr arrived in this
city yesterday from Dayton, having in
charge several well-preserved parts of
the mammiferous animal known as the
mastodon, now extinct, and only rep
resented by fossil remains. The dis
covery was made one day last week
while excavating on the west bank of
Palmer's Creek, about 300 i-ards from
the Yamhill River.
Yesterday afternoon a man having
more whisky than brains in his head
was seen embarking ia a skiff at the
foot of Salmon street with a little
girl. After maneuvering badly and up
setting the boat, the child was taken
from him and he was sent away to
sober up.
The steamer Alert, of the Willamette
Steam Navigation Company, will leave
her wharf in this city today at 1
o'clock and remain at Oregon City over
night, which will in tho future be the
arrangement as the result of the com
bination between the company and the
People's Transportation Company.
The steamship Sierra Nevada, which
is supposed to have left San Francisco
yesterday, will bring 2000 feet of sub
marine cable to replace that now in
the river at this city connecting the
telegraph to Vancouver and then north.
The Corvallis Gazette announces that
a plowing match is in contemplation
in Benton County some time this Spring
to be open to the competition of all
parts of the state.
Twenty-five Yearn A (to.
From, The Oregonian of March 21, 1801.
Millard O. Lownsdale, who has jirst
returned from an extended trip to the
wildest parts of Mexico, disgusjed with
tortillas, frijoles, carnisica and Mexico
and Mexicans in general, started for
Bachelor's Island yesterday with the
avowed intention of slaughtering a
million canvas-back ducks.
The Portland & Oregon Railway
Company, incorporated a short time
ago, haa organized by the election of
Dr. L. M. Davis, president; H. M. Wasco,
secretary and treasurer, and A. D.
Rockfellow, superintendent. They will
put surveyors in the field next Mon
day to locate the line to Oswego.
The stone work at the Armory is
about completed and Contractor George
Langford says he will begin .. to lay
brick next week.
The rock for the jetty at the mouth
of the Columbia is being furnished as
fast as it can be used at present from
Joseph E. Smith's quarry above Os
wego. With tho close of the Lenten sea
son, the sturgeon fishery on the Co
lumbia will come to a close for tho
Summer. The amount of these fish
caught this season is enormous. Will
iams Bros., at Kalama, have landed
more than anyone else on the river,
having taken as high as 18 tons a day.
The connection of Charles N. Stewart
with the Metropolitan Street Railway
Company as superintendent has been
severed and the duties of the office
will be attended to by George A. Steel.
An equinoctial gale may be expected
any day now, as this is the vernal
equinox and the sun has entered Aries.
CONDITION ClIAItGI.il TO WILSON
If Villa Escapes It Will Be Due to
" "Sissy, Spineless Tactics." "'
MARSHFIELD, Or.. March 18. (To
the Editor.) I read with interest your
editorial March 13, "Getting Ready in
a Hurry."" Quite so, and then some.
Everything is left in Funston's hands
and Funston says, "be patient, we can
not do this thing In a hurry." Cer
tainly not, thorough preparation must
be made, for it is no small task to go
into that country with hostility on
every hand and capture this murderer.
Villa the same Villa that "Watchful
Waiting Woodrow" gave arms to only
a few months ago, that he might clean
up that other murderer, Huerta,
But about this preparing business.
What has Funston been doing ever
since he went down there? What has
this Administration been doing in the
last three years on the border? Now
they arevsaying, "be patient"; wait un
til Villa is lost in the mountains and
his band of cut-throata are securely
hidden where they can do serious dam
age to an invading army.
All these things are the result of one
man's sissy, spineless tactics, supported
by a bunch of good-fellow politicians.
And I notice some self-styled Repub
licans are bragging that they will vol i
to continue this programme if they
cannot have Just the particular nom
inee they fancy. Pah! Such Repub
licans. They are fellows who, with
one hand behind their back in "George's
hand," with the other jammed a knife
in Booth's back at our last election.
G. W. WADS WORTH.
Wronc Idea Entertained.
PORTLAND, March 19. (To the Edi
tor.) The letters of the Rev. U. S.
Crowder and the would-be mother of
14 seem based on a misunderstanding
of the birth control idea. Those who
advocate birth control do not wish to
dictate to anyone the elze of their
families. If parents wish to have two,
four, 14. or 30 children and do not
burden the rest of society by so doing,
these parents have a perfect right to
do so.
On the other hand, those who have
this large family wish or ideal have
no right to impose this ideal upon
those who are phyeically unable to
bear large families, or who cannot
provide for large families, or who
really do not wish large families.
A child has the right to be born
of willing parents. Even those who
wish large families might have much
healthier families by use of birth con
trol so that children might be spaced
out and mother strength conserved.
F. ANF1NDSEN.
Position on New B rid ate.
PORTLAND, March 20. (To the Edi
tor.) Can you tell me how the po
sitions on the new Columbia River
bridge are to be filled? READER.
Already 100 applications have been
made for the dozen positions available.
The positions will be filled by the Inter
state Bridge Commission, Courthouse,
Portland.
The Why of It
National manufacturers find news
paper advertising the easiest and
most efficient road to the market.
It Increases sales and lessens costs.
Certain looal dealers are going to
profit greatly by this market-making
work of the manufacturers.
They are the ones who will be
alert to their opportunities and who
will have the goods ready when the
public begins manifesting an inter
est in them.
They are going to reap their share
of the dollar crop which the man
ufacturers are sowing through
newspaper advertising.