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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1916)
lO THE MOItXIXG- OREGOXIAX, FRIDAY, MAT . 26, 1013. . PORTLAND, OBEGOS. Enterel at Portland (Oregon) Postofflce a second-class mail matter. Subscription Rates Invariably in advance: (Ey MalL) Tally. Sunday Included, one year Dajiy, Suaday included, six months f--5 luilv, Sunday Included, three months ... -5 Daily, Sunday included, one month ..... -j laily, without Sunday, one year ........ 6.0O Daily, without Sunday, six months 8-t? Daily, without Sunday, three montha .. !."'- Daily, without Sunday, one month w Werkly, oris year l."" funday, one year 2.50 Sunday and Weekly, one year f 8.50 (By Carrier.) Dally, Bunday included, oire year V.OQ Daily. Sunday included, one month ..... -73 How to Remit Send postoftlce money order, express order or personal check on our local bank. Stamps, coin or currency arc at sender's risk. Give postofflce address in full. Including county and state. ' I'ostage Kate 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18 to 3 pats. 2 cents; 34 to 4 8 pages, S cents: to 60 pastes. 4 cents; 62 to 78 pages, o cents: 78 to 82 pages, 6 cents. Foreign, post age, double rates. Eastern Bnsiness Office Verree & Conk lin, Brunswick building. New York; Verree & "onklin, Steger building. Chicago. San Francises representative. K. J. ma well. V42 Market street. PORTLAND. FRIDAV, MAT 26, " 1916. VICTIMS OF THKIK OWN SCHEMES. Let us see what Oregon -will get from a benevolent Government out of the O. Si. C. land, grant, if the bill passed by the House 'at 'Washington becomes law. The lands. In the heart of Oregon, nearly 2,500,000 acres, once granted to a railroad company for the benefit of Oregon and Its actual settlers, are taken back for the benefit chiefly of the Federal Government. The railroad company is first to be paid $2.50 per acre. Bade taxes must also be paid, so that title may be cleared; otherwise we fancy the coun ties and state of Oregon would be re quired to pocket their tax losses. After J 6,0 00,000, or more. Is thus realized from sale of land and timber, then, and not till then, the counties are to get 30 per cent and the school fund 20 per cent of the proceeds, and 40 per cent will go to the Federal reclamation fund. ' Why anything to the Federal rec lamation fund? "Why anything from these Oregon lands to any Government fund? Because the "'conservationists' from states which. Ions ago dissipated their lands now propose to capitalize Oregon lands for their profit. Be cause the Federal bureaucracy, en trenched in its policy of reservation by the widespread sentiment to withhold from the states the public lands and the water powers, is In control. The Oregon delegation in Congress has been up against a well-nigh in vincible purpose by the conservation ists to take advantage of an unex pected opportunity to exploit Oregon in the interest of centralized- Federal control. To be sure, two bones are to be thrown Oregon one labeled "30 per cent for the counties" and the other "20 per cent for the school fund" .bones to be gnawed some time in the future when $6,000,000 or more has been accumulated for oth ers. Even the bones are shadowy. So far as its public lands and water powers are concerned, Oregon Is a vas sal state a province of the Federal Government. But conservation is king, crowned by hands which have sought to throttle state control; yet now those same hands in Oregon are reaching for the phantom bones to be -tossed to the state some day. The conservation boosters are hoist by their own petard. For its $3,000,000 or so the Govern ment contributes nothing except a loan of tax money and administrative ex penses. It makes no large appropria tion. The land is to be purchased by settlers and. timbennen. The Govern ment acts as a sort . of banker or ""agent. All that Oregon has lost in the past by non-settlement of the grant is no greater claim in the eyes of the Government than Its services as real estate agent. POUT1CAL NAVAL PROGRAMME. The naval expansion programme submitted to the House will be the subject of a contest between those members who accept the judgment of politicians and a compromise be tween two opposing groups of politi cians at that as to how many cap ital ships shall be built and . those members who would accept the Judg ment of experts who have been trained to decide such questions. The com mittee's programme was adopted by the votes of the thirteen Democratic members and is a political compromise between the big Navy and little Navy advocates. These politicians rejected the five-year programme submitted by that other politician. Secretary Dan iels, and substituted a one-year pro gramme of their own. The eight Re publican members accepted the judg ment of the naval experts composing the General Board of the Navy as against that of the compromising poli ticians who compose the majority and that of the politician who misrules the Navy. The General Board was guided by experience and study of the uses and performance of various types of ships. In the light of events In the present war it admitted that "a Navy of the size recommended by this Board in previous years can no longer be- con sidered as adequate to the defensive needs of the United States." It gave full weight to the performances of battle cruisers and submarines, but it was not stampeded by the spectacular into minimizing the importance of other types of ships. It remembered that the very inaction of the opposing battle fleets was indisputable proof of the superiority of the allied navies. It recognized the value of battle cruisers, but that of scout cruisers and destroyers also. It neither under valued nor overvalued the usefulness of submarines. It recommended a programme the execution of which should accomplish the purpose which it thus stated as the one which the Nation should pursue: The Navy of the United States should ultimately be equal to the most powerful maintain. -d by any other nation ol the Tniid. It should be gradually increased to this point by such a rate of development irar by vear as may be permitted by the facilities of the country, but the limit above defined should be attained not later than 1025. ' With this purpose in view, the Gen eral Board recommended a construc tion programme, of which the part for 1917 is compared with that of Sec retary Daniels and with that of the House committee in the following table: 1 n o o n I ?3 si M I ships. 5 3' I- 1 w --- re ' Di eadnoupht - .. 4 2 2 Hat lie cruisers 3 2 5 S.-outs 4 3 4 7 Mi-strovers 10 15 10 7 Submarines 22 SO 20 SO . The principal point as to which the rnmmittee's programme differs from that of the General Board Is the sub- stitution of five battle cruisers for the latter's four dreadnoughts uid three battle cruisers. The minority of the committee is content to build a Navy second to that of Britain, but to build faster than the General Board pro poses. It would provide this year two of the four dreadnoughts which the latter proposes and would begin now all six of the battle cruisers which the Board would distribute over the next four years. Thus it is Influenced to a large degree by that body's advice, which 'the majority utterly rejects as to capital ships though following it closely as to other types. The majority report is regarded- as a victory for the little Navy men both by their opponents and themselves. That arch-pacifist, Representative Kitchin, hails it as "a victory against useless expenditure." The pacifists had so large a part in framing the report that they injected Into it the irrelevant proposal for a universal court of arbitration a proposal which everybody approves but which has no place in a Navy bill. They claim a victory for economy because they have saved some money from the first es sential, defense, to be wasted on river and harbor pork and. other doles to their own districts. Rejection of the Daniels continuing programme and adoption of a one- year programme may be a source of gratification, but not as a measure of economy. The General Board is con vinced of the great advantages of a continuing programme, "both mili tary and economic," but not such a programme as Mr. Daniels recom mended after causing the Board to cut down its own continuing plan. A sat isfactory plan is not to be expected from this Congress; all that we can hope for Is a makeshift. For a well-worked-out continuing plan we must look to the next Administration and Congress. NOT DESERVED. Vv'ill umfl of the many thousands of Re publicans who voted for William Grant Webster, of Illinois, kindly explain who he is and -what he has done to make him their choice for Vice-President of the United States? . This sneer is from a Democratic newspaper of Oregon. It is not de served. It does not come with pro priety from any journal which has held up the direct primary to the world as the perfect vehicle of ex pression for the popular will. Now we are told that it Is not, for citizens by the thousands have voted for a man they do not want to be their can didate for Vice-President. This man Webster, whoever he is, forced his name on the ballot for pur poses of notoriety and self-seeking, no doubt. On the other hand, it was only through the act of a group of citizens in placing the name of Hughes on the ballot, against his expressed will, that the Republicans of Oregon were able to say whom they want for President. Except for a somewhat ar bitrary arid surprising ruling by the Supreme Court, the Oregon delegation at Chicago would have found its hands tied and its mouth gagged by an. in struction for an also-ran for Presi dent, as It Is for an also-ran for Vice President. NEUTRAIXTS". OREGON CITT. Or., May 25. (To the Editor.) Would you kindly state, through The Morning Oregonlan, for the benefit of many of your readers, if The Oregonlan is neutral in this European war. or if you take one side. 1 am unable to Judge, as 1 am Just returned from Alaska. T, M. GRAHAM. The Oregonlan has striven to view impartially the Issues between the bel ligerent nations; and It has particu larly sought to give the news as it is and should be and not as the sym pathizers of one side or the other want It to be. That our Oregon City friend has been unable to see any leaning or bias in the columns of this paper is excellent testimony -that Its self-assumed - position of neutrality is fairly well sustained. The Oregonlan has heard many times from one side or- the other that it is pro-British or pro-German. It is neither, for it is all the time pro American, and nothing else. If Am erica had been able to go through the troubles of the war without any kind of collision or disagreement with the central powers, our German-American friends would doubtless have been less critical. If America would permit Great Britain to hold up our mails, seize our cargoes and destroy our ships, your pro-ally would be well satisfied. But American interests and American duties have been Inextrica bly Involved in the war,, and America has had no alternative but to declare its rights and prepare to protect its own on the high seas and even on belligerent soil. It is no wonder that tender sensibilities have been offended, and that America has been accused of shaping Its course to benefit one or the other group of warring powers But the truth is that America has a. profound desire to keep out of the war, and to let the belligerents fight it out; and in that sentiment The Ore gonlan shares. But it would prepare for any eventuality. T1IB AMATEUR OPERA, One way of making Shakespeare In teresting and inviting to younger, un educated minds is the amateur pro ductions of some of his plays. .How ever tiresome these productions may be to older heads, it cannot be denied many high-school and college stu dents have had awakened in them a love for the immortal one by an ama teur production in which he or 8he took part. Once the appetite is sharp ened in this way voluntary reading and conscientious study of the plays follow. Perhaps this explains why school authorities have encouraged amateur productions and why Little Theater movements progress. Not only are the productions Shakespeare's, but they are of other playwrights. The result is all good.. The youths" are taught in this entertaining and some times novel way of the .drama, the stage, literature and of periods in his tory; and the result is in a large meas ure what cramming of books will not produce. The community production of the comic grand opera, "Fra Diavolo," last night at the Baker Theater by the Portland Opera Association, is an equally good sign. It is evidence of community growth; of an interest in the better things in life, of art, music and of attainment. The performers are amateurs, to be sure, but their work is creditable and their zeal prom ising. They were rewarded by good attendance and will be again at the matinee Saturday, no doubt. Besides giving the participants an Insight into the mysteries of the stage, such community amateur productions serve to uncover genius. Often ability to write or construct plays or opera grows, from the tiny seed of interest planted at one of these performances. Often unusually good actors or sing ers are discovered. Not less impor tant is it that frequently misguided genius finds itself. "Stage-struck" girls and boys learn a little of the labors and hard work that go with a stage career and they are started off into pursuits for which they are better suited. Only those with unyielding de. termination or iron will, or, as some one else has said, "inordinate vanity," persist. Portland possesses among its young and old musicians many who, under proper direction, are well qualified to stage an entertaining story of the Italian bandit, Michele Pizza, in Au ber's opera, and it is reassuring that they have, willingly and without recompense, struggled and worked to put on "Fra Diavolo." The leaders in such things should be encouraged. JC8T GIVE IT A TELU. One of the greatest boasts of Secre tary Daniels is that he has forced a reduction in the price which the Gov ernment pays for armor plate. One of his fondest ambitions Is to have armor plate and other war material made in Government plants. He harbors the morbid suspicion, common to most Democrats, that the movement for preparedness was inspired by men wlio hope to make a profit by selling war material to the Government. He also shares the opinion peculiar to Demo crats that there is something criminal about making profit on anything. In his annual report he said: In the light of past experience there seems to be no hope for better prices for the Government except by the erection of a plant of its own. Under these conditions there is little probability of securing armor plate at a reasonable price from private com panies unless the Government itself erects a plant. The Bethlehem Steel Company has grown weary of being charged with gouging the country, acknowledges that its policy of silence was mistaken and has taken up the cudgels with Mr. Daniels. The latter having de nounced as exorbitant the price of $425 a. ton now paid by the United States, the Bethlehem Company, over the names of its president and vice president, states that "under condi tions prevailing Just before the Euro pean war" this price was lower than that paid by any other first-class power and states the prices paid by other nations to have been: Great Britain $503, France $460, Germany $490, Japan $490:' It also offers to "manufacture armor at any price which the Government Itself shall name as fair." Mr. Daniels estimates that the Gov ernment can manufacture armor in a 10,000-ton plant at $262.79 a ton. The Bethlehem Company says this esti mate covers "mere shop work" and makes no provision, for administration and general expense; insurance, taxes and depreciation of plant; interest on investment and working capital. The estimate assumes that the plant would, be run at full capacity. Under that condition. It says, a private plant could make as great economies. The Beth lehem Company says it "can and will manufacture armor at a price cheaper than the Government can possibly do It" and offers to "produce armor at the Government's own price." The Oregonlan has no means of verifying the conflicting statements of Mr. Daniels and the Bethlehem Com pany, but it considers that the con troversy calls for a showdown. The company says: We offer to place all the cards on the table to open our hooks to the Federal Trade Commission and to put our experience, our facilities and our economies at the serv ice of the Nation upon such terms at the government itself snail name a lair. Mr. Daniels may think Bethlehem is bluffing. He can easily find out. Let him call its bluff. Before investing $11,000,000 of the people's money in a plant which may prove useless, let him give Bethlehem a trial. In these days of deficits and emergency taxes the American people have not $11,- 000,000 to squander on what may prove, in Mark Twain's words, "a darned experiment." A MILLION'S IX CRAWS. Seven million dollars' worth of grit. gravel and decayed food was pur chased last year by fastidious New York shoppers who thought they were buying choice poultry for special din ners. Wise New Yorkers have been told the worst by the State Commis sioner of Foods and Markets and, while they may not mourn the loss of the money they are certain to resent the reflection upon metropolitan in telligence. No verdant Westerner was ever duped with more auda cious lack of cunning than these same New Yorkers when taken in by the poultry trust. It appears that two chicken com bines bid for New York's favors. The independents were forced out of busi ness slowly but surely. They could not meet the poultry prices of their organized competitors. And It was small wonder, since the chicken trust resorted to the foul trick of stuffing their fowls with grit and sand. Twenty per cent was added to the weight of a fowl merely by stuffing its -craw. Naturally the trust was able to re duce prices accordingly. It is now revealed that of the 140, 000,000 pounds of poultry sold, prob ably 30,000,000 pounds were gravel, grit or decayed food. Chemists have found that the quality of the chickens was injured by the stuffing of de cayed foods Into the craws, and doubt less many cases of ptomaine poison ing resulted from this cause. New York's chicken bill was $35,000,000,, at least $7,000,000 of which went as the penalty for lacH of vigilance in chick en market inspections. Now that the fraud has been detected prosecutions will follow and the whole country will be watching the craws of chickens when they order a fat hen from butch er or- poultryman. The incident is merely another reminder of the fact that rogues scheme while honest men slumber. HELPING THE NATIONAL GUARD. During recent discussions and argu ments over the Army bill much has been said for and against the National Guard of the country. Extremists on one hand have contended that the service is all it should be, while those on the other side have urged that the Guard ought to be abandoned as hope less. Congress finally came to the conclusion that what the Guard needed was helpful co-operation and support from the Government in order that it might grow Into full military effi ciency, and this is the purport of the militia section of the Chamberlain Army bill now in the hands of the President. - The case of the National Guard Is intelligently handled by Rupert Hughes, in the current Collier's. Mr. Jiugnes, wno used to command a Guard company before he developed a writing practice and could not give the necessary time any longer, makes no effort to prove that the National Guard Is wholly efficient. But if it is not, . he' wisely concludes that the blame does not attach itself to those who are in. the service. They are giv ing time, energy and patriotic atten tion to military work under conditions that are highly discouraging. Not only does the officer receive ho compensa tion at present, but the service is an expensive luxury in its demands upon his energies. The Guardsman goes to drill once a week. Some of them go twice and three times a week. Hun dreds of officers and non-commissioned officers devote every minute of their leisure time to the service, for which they receive neither thanks nor other reward. Too often employes lose their positions in going to camp; and the few dollars they receive in camp pay Is more than offset by carfare to and from armory. drills. - All of this is to be changed July 1 of the present year, it Is understood. Compensation for attendance at drills will be given to all in the service who apply themselves. More than the money will be the moral backing that Federal recognition and pay will give the Guardsmen. For moral backing is certain to be stimulated in commu nities which will see a new glitter in an organization backed by a substan tial payroll. Mr. Hughes suggests that if JLhe National Guard of the past has been only 50 per-cent efficient the principal critics have been of a minus efficiency. While the National Guards men have been doing the best they could under rare difficulties, the volunteer critics have been content to mobilize on street corners or in ban quet halls and tell what should be done to prepare the country against war. It is fortunate that Congress has decided to encourage the men who have been drilling while others have been talking. As Mr. Hughes sum marizes the situation, "If you throw your National Guard regiments over board you Jettison your lifeboats in order to pray for flying machines." Oregon City citizens will be engaged in a fine work tomorrow, when their annual Booster day is celebrated. The object is to bring country and town people into closer association than is convenient under ordinary circum stances; a. harmony celebration. Ore gon City business men are to spend something like $1500 in the day's fes tivities. For the first time, Portland has arranged to co-operate. The Ad Club'will send a uniformed delegation and the Royal Rosarians will attend with their band. This is as It should be, this year and in other years. Ev eryone who can should take hold and make these get-together affairs be tween the urban and rural peoples genuine successes. Oregon can not only build ships but can supply timbers for those to be built elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. Yet why pay freight on the timbers when they can as well be framed here into. a ship which will earn . freight as soon as it is com pleted? iTapan is making fast progress in dividing the lion's share of American ocean-carrying trade with Great Brit ain, pending Germany's return to the field. They are ably assisted In ac quiring the monopoly by President Wilson's shipping policy. The heavier the fines paid by boot leggers, the poorer the quality of whisky they sell. They must com pensate themselves at the drinker's expense. Prohibition certainly deteri orates whatever firewater Is sold. The dog pound Is not wanted near Lents, nor is it desired anywhere. It may have to go to the crematory neighborhood, after all, where it would have the advantage of the short haul of the dead animal. The epidemic of matrimony which has spread through the White House has reached the President's physician. When the Wilson Administration re tires, it will at least be well equipped with wives. This is Visiting day in the public schools and parents should make' an effort to observe it. The small boy is filled iwith pride when he sees his mother on the platform with Teacher. That Montana woman who with an ax chopped off her husband's head when he took to drink is too radical In her views to be a good wife; but the man was worse as a husband. Dr. Stelner is a good manager to turn back part of the Asylum appro priation. Most managers of public In. stitutions run the concerns as close to a deficit as they know how. People who cannot march in, - the preparedness parade can show their enthusiasm by letting the porchllghts shine at the tlrffte. The glow on the clouds will be a beacon. The allies were much pleased with the last notes President Wilson sent to Germany much more so than they are likely to. be with the one addressed to themselves. In the eyes of the East, South and Middle West, Oregon is a rich source of Federal revenue, to be bled as the remote provinces were bled by Roman proconsuls. Whafs the matter with that hand picked. Democratic candidate for Con gressman from the Third District, who is hesitating about and between drinks? ' There is no suggestion of peace in the proceedings around Verdun. The only persons who do not talk of peace are those who do no fighting. Senator Smoot put to sleep the pro posal of a Junket to see the Columbia Highway opened by frosting the ap propriation for expenses. A man was given two years in a Federal prison for impersonating a Congressman, and he was not crazy, either. It Is about time a policeman re sented being called a "minion of the law." Many an officer is a nonpareil. It is noticeable that i'Palnless" Parker did not address the large body of graduates of the dental college. Favorite sons are opening head quarters at Chicago and the Indlanians soon will be along with the Ice. A building restriction does not ap ply to a tent, which is a tenvnprary affair at best. Chicago permits racing and forbids bookmaking, but the initiated will find a way. There are two bodies and two mur ders. Now find the motive. Sardines are rising, while suckers are at the old quotations. The Wolf of Wall Street is to be caged. How to Keep Well By Dr. W. A. Kvan. Questions pertinent to hygiene, sanitation and prevention of disease, if matters of gen eral interest, will be answered in this col umn. Where space will not permit or the subject la not suitable, letter will bo per sonally answered, aubject to proper limita tlona and where stamped, addressed en velope Is inclosed. Dr. Evana will not make diagnosis or prescribe for individual dis eases. Requests for such service cannot be answered. tCopyright, 1916, by Dr. TV. A. Evana. Published by arrangement with the Chicago Tribune.) Pink Eye. ABOUT this season of the) year many people suffer from an acute in flammation of the outside of the eye ball and inside of the eyelids, called pink eye. These structures are lined or covered, as the case may be, by a Bklnlike membrane called the conjunc tiva. Inflammation of this membrane Is called conjunctivitis. Inflammation which causes pus is called suppurative conjunctivitis. In many states and cities there are laws which require that every case of rodococcus infection of the eyes shall be reported to the health department at once. In some places the authorities furnish a 1 per cent solution of nitrate of silver to be dropped Into the eyes to cure or to prevent this disease. In some places the law requires that this silver solution shall be dropped into the eyes of every newly born babe as a means of preventing the disease. Gonoccucua Infection of the eye causes a violent inflammation which produces permanent blindness within a day unless some form of silver lnjee tion is used. In this form of infection the drops- must be put into the eyes at once. A man an a policy will not save the eyes. A decision tomorrow will mean blindness. There is a rule, and it Is a good one. that whenever there is pus in the eyes bacteriologic examination should be made. If the Infection is with the gonococcus, some silver in a fairly strong (1 or 2 per cent) solution must be dropped in the eye at once, and the application must be repeated according to directions. If the suppuration is due to pneu mococcus, the coccus of pneumonia, a solution of quinine must be used. A salt of quinine now in great favor for this purpose is ethyl hydrocuprine hy drochloride. A 1 per cent solution of this quinine chemical will stop a pneu- mococcus suppuration of the eyes in a day or two. If the suppuration is due to the Mor al Axenfeld bacillus, sulphate of zinc Is as much of a specific as quinine is for chills and fever. If the Koch Weeks .bacillus Is the cause, a weak solution of nitrate of silver (4 per cent) is the proper solution to use. . If there Is no pus In the secretions & saturated solution of boracic acid is as good a wash as there is. - Medical schools have been teaching bacteriology for 25 years. The exam ination of a smear under the microscope is a. simple matter. Practically every town now holds at least one physician or can reach a physician capable of ex amination. In these days of good roads and automobiles it Is safe to say that anybody can reach a physician capable of examining a smear in not more than half an hour's ride. The physician end of the proposition, then, is not pro hibitive. The treatment for one of these In fections is not the treatment for an other. I know of a man who was treated for weeks with silver solution. Then his physician examined a smear. found Morax-Axenfeld bacilli, gave him a solution of zinc, and he was well in a day. Whenever the eyes discharge pus the pus must be examined bacterlologically. Anemia. A. T. writes: "1. Will you kindly tell me if beer would be of any benefit to a young lady of 22 who Is pale, thin and has anemia, but seems to be well otherwise? 2. If she took it regularly as a tonlo would It increase her weight and give her a more healthful color? 3. Would it have a tendency to weaken such a person's heart by being too stimulating?" Reply. 1-2-3 No. Have the youwr lady eat more cream, milk, bread, rice and candy, as a means for increasing her flesh. To overcome her anaemia have her take more open-air exer cise and eat more spinach, lettuce, salads, greens, meat and eggs. Walks Before Meals. E. C. T. writes: . "I have been in the habit every evening after work of walk ing home and sitting down to my din ner. Now several people have said this was wrong, that I should not walk be fore eating. Would you kindly advise me If it would be better to walk before my evening meal Instead of before? The distance I have been walking is about 60 blocks." Reply. Stick to your walk. Eatsj Raw Potatoes. Mrs. M. V. D. writes: "la It harmful to eat raw vegetables, especially- pota toes, and fn what way is it harmful? Some time ago, while in poor health, I craved something cool, and contracted the habit of eating raw potatoes, as one might an apple, and have since found it difficult to break myself of the habit, even though some have said they are not good for one to eat. I eat as much as two or three small ones daily." Reply. There ere two possible Objections to eat ing raw potatoes. First, there la a little dancer of typhoid. If the potatoes are first washed in pure -water this danger will not exist. Second, some people cannot digest as much raw starch as la contained in a raw potato. ITS ALTAR AGLOW 10IMJ YEARS St. Michel's, In Nantna, One of the Old eat Churches In France. Albert Bigelow Paine In Harper's ' Magazine. Before dinner we walked for a little In the gray evening and came to an old church one of the oldest in France, it is said, built in the ninth century and called St. Michel's. (At Nantua, in the French Jura) It is more than 1000 years old. and looks it. It has not been much rebuilt, I think, for Invasion and revolution appear sejdom to have sur mounted the natural ramparts of Nan tua, and only the storm beat and .the erosion of the centuries have written the story of decay. The hand of restor ation has troubled it little. We slipped in through the gathering dusk, and tiptoed about, for there were a few lights flickering before the altar, and we saw the outlines of bowed heads. Presently a priest wan silhou etted against the altar lights as he crossed and passed out by a side door, lie was one of a long line that stretched back through more than half of the Christian era and through most of the history of France. When the first priest passed In front of that altar France was still under the Carlovigian dynasty under Charles the Fat. per haps, and ' William of Normandy was not to conquer England until 200 years later. Then nearly 400 years more would creep by dim, medieval years before Joan of Arc should unfurl her banner of victory and martyrdom. You see how far back into the mists we are stepping here. And all those evenincs the altar lights have been lit and the ministration of priests has not failed. Voter's Residence Qualification. PORTLAND. May 24. (To the Edi tor.) What is the law in Oregon in regard to voting? How long do you have to be in the state or the county? C. M. E. Six months in the state. There Is no time requirement on the residence in the county. MYSTERY SOLVTION NOT OFFERED J. Harold I'awUliK to Believe It Em anates From Unnatural Source. VANCOUVER. Wash.. May 23. (To the Editor.) In The Oregonian, May 20, appeared a letter by J. R. Kendall al luding to one presented by me through The Oregonian, May 14. He writes, "I may hot understand exactly what Mr. Harold means by these words (plan or scheme), but to me they mean a way of doing things or accomplishing re sults." In all sincerity I had no desire to convey such thought as your corre spondent apprehends; had it been my intention to convey such thought It is more than possible that I would have chosen such words aa method and sys tem rather than plan or scheme. I may have been unhappy in my choice of words, but I -sought to use these words in their precursory aenae. To me a plan is precedent to Its ac complishment, as a scheme is precedent to its consummation. Thus to one who holds nature as eternal, sans commence ment, sans fin et. sans raison d'etre, no precedent, plan, scheme or cause, can be conceivable. It is quite true that I offered no so lution to the mystery of natural in stinct, nor have I any to offer. I know of none, yet I cannot bring- myself to believe that It emanates from some unnatural source. Recently I watched boys at play throwing pebbles upward, in the air. These pebbles fell back to earth. Years ago in Delhi. India (which is practically our antipode), I remember seeing boys engaged in this same play and the Delhi pebble fell back to earth as did the Vancouver pebble. Is not this Instance of mineral Instinct fully as mysterious as are the habits of the squirrel and the wasp? But we only trespass on your space by presenting mysteries which are evident to all, and solving none. ' My sole hope through this lengthy controversy is to establish the head quarters of the power which guides nature. "Whence is it?" Is It a "force from without?" or Is it "a force from within?" J. HAROLD. HOMER DAVENPORT MOXt'MEST It Is Recalled Erection of Memorial la Left to People vof Oreros, LOS ANGELES. CaU May 22. (To the Editor.) It was the expressed wish of my brother, the late Homer Daven port, that he be burled by the side of our father in the little cemetery at Silverton and It was through the kind offices of William Randolph Hearst, who knew of this desire,- that Homer was brought back to his old home to rest. Addison Bennett says: "Of all the graves in that cemetery now, that of Homer Davenport Is the one most his toric In the years to come many peo ple will come from afar to visit his tomb. They will come generally ex pectlng and having a right to expect to find a grave marked by something more than a bit of wood. Perhaps Mr. Bennett does not know that only a few days after the inter ment of all that remained of Homer, I was visited by some of the prominent citizens of Silverton. who were in cor respondence with some of the then state officials, relative to a fund of ample amount to erect at Homer's grave, a monument of considerable size and beauty, and asked for our perraia sion to do this. When I consented on behalf of the family, of course, we left the matter of the monument and the time and the selection, to the pleasure of the good people of Oregon. feeling that it was a very sweet tribute to the memory of one. who, as Mr. Bennett truthfully says, "Never forgot Silverton. never forgot the Silverton people, never forgot the Waldo Hills of Oregon." ADDA DAVENPORT-MARTIN. THE WIXULESS OX. As he leaned on the fence. The poet, from thence. Saw fields and things starting to sprout there. With a man near to hoe em: "I will now make a poem." Said the poet. "My aubject that lout tnere,," "What gulfs between him And the bright seraphim! Those heavenly, winged aviators. How dlff'rent his station This ox's relation . He spends his life hoeing pertaters, "Oh, the shame and the sin! He never could win A sweepstakes for heavenly flying; For he has no wings Only legs, feet and things That help not, but hinder his trying. "Oh. the wrong If it all! ' v The ox In his stall The seraph in cloudland. unheeding. I'd change all such things The ox should have wings. Injustice! It sets my heart bleeding, "If I had my way. He'd be flying all day And seraphs should have nothing on him." Then the man with the hoe , Felt better. I know. For the good that the poet had done htm. F. P. WILLIAMS. DOLORES. Scatter thy poppies, fate. For love hath proved a lie: And laughter fled with her fickle mate. Nor paused to say "good bye. Scatter thy popples, fate. For happiness hath flown: And star-eyed hope will not await. When all the rest are gone. Scatter thy popples, fate. For memory wakes too long; The music she makes Is desolate. And I tire of the same sad song. For what Is left to ono bereft. Of all that made life dear; But the bitter draught for one who laughed, When the skies of life were clear? Then welcome fate! If not too late. Perchance from the funeral pyre. My spirit may rise through azure skies To the land of heart s dcwlre. J. K. PEARCT. 115 Willamette Bo-jlward, I'se of Exquisite. CATHLAMET, Wash.. May 23. (To the Editor.) A is a man wh is very particular abont his work; everything has to be Just so, ana J makes the following remark: "A Is very exquisite about his work." C says the use of the word exquisite ts not proper In this sentence. ill you decide with mig gestions? A READER. -, The use of exquisite in the sentence may be defended for its grammar, as exquisite may be either an adjective, a noun or a noun substantive, but The Oregonian would not recommend it as good usage for the meaning intended Does. B mean that A Is an exquisite workman or that merely in manner or method he is fastidious, painstaking or particular? There is an obsolete usage of exquisite which allows or allowed it to mean careful. The Oregonlan be lleves B has sacrificed good usage for variety or expression, which is not a good thing to do. For Asaay Information. ' CORBKTT, Or, May 22. (To the Ed jtor.) Will you kindly inform me where I can find a suitable and com petent assayer for chrome steel or iron ore and for aluminum clay? F. P. Write to H. M. Farks. director of Oregon Bureau of Mines and Geology, Corvallls, Or. In Other Days. Half m Century Aco. Prom The Oregonlan of May 2. IS68. Yesterday the scholars of the public schools devoted a portion of the day to recreation by taking baskets well filled and having a picnic a. short dis tance west of the city. Mount Hood was belching forth black smoke in large volumes at different intervals of yesterday afternoon. Hon. David Logan will address the citizens of Portland tonight at the Willamette Theater. Everybody ought to go, and a big crowd will go, to hear him. Virginia City. Mont, May 25 Flour, we think, has reached its lowest fig ures. We have heard of sales made at $12.50 per sack, which is the lowest fig ure that flour has ever been sold at in this market. The Dallea and Canyon City Stage Company are preparing to extend their line through to Boise City. This will shorten the travel two days between The Dalles and Boise. s Twenty-five Vein Aico. From The Oregonlan of May 16. 1SR1. New York. May 25. It was rnmored this morning that J. Plerpont Morgan, of Drexel. Morgan & Co.. now in Lon don, was to become chairman of a com mittee of b an kern to untangle the af fairs and reorganize the Argentine Re public, an undertaking that means much to English capitalists. The committee appointed by the citizens of Portland Heights to recom mend a plan for furnishing the Heights with water will report tomorrow even ing at 8 o'clock at the cable road powerhouse. The artesian well for supplying water for the Marquam block was completed by the contractor. Mr. Corbett. yester day. It Is 160 feet deep and furnishes a copious supply of fine water. If the owner of a stolen garden hose will call at the city jail he can recover his property. Detective Joe Day last night found the hose and two arm chairs in a second-hand store on Jeffer son street and he knew at once that they were stolen property. A rousing consolidation meeting was held at Armory Hall last evening. About 400 people were in the room and many of them had to stand up. But they were patient and remained until the close, and applauded and cheered every sentiment that indorsed consoli dation. Family Aime of Enicliah, Royalty. KELSO. Wash, May 24. (To the Editor.) Will you please inform me of the family name of the King of England? MISS IONE MEDLOCK. The prevailing idea is that the sur name of the royal family is Guelph, but the late Clarenceux. King of Arms, dismisses the idea as absurd. Guelph constituted the Christian name of a medieval Duke of Bavaria, whose sister in 1040 married the Marquis of d'Eete. It is from that couple that the Hanoverian line is descended. Hence D'Hfete, which the Duke of Sussex adopted for his children, comes nearer to being the correct name than Guelph. Some authorities maintain that Guelph d'Este ts correct. But neither of these names can hold good any later than the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha and descended from the ancient Count of Wettin. This event changed the present line of royalty to that of Saxony or Saxe-Coburg and made Wet tin its surname if it possesses one at all. The words Wettin and D'Este in reality, too, are local titles. - Bits of Knowledge. Of the 23.332 miles of railways in the United Kingdom, 10,306 miles are single lines. Wireless waves have been utilized to light and extinguish gas lamps in Ger many. At the present time the United States produces more than half of the total copper output of the world. Unable to open his safe for eight years, despite the aid of experts. Gus tav Engel, of Stamford, Conn., finally permitted the safemakers to cut the combination away because he needed important papers that were inside the safe. Professor J. C. McGregor, of Wash ington and Jefferson College, Wash ington, Pa., asked one of his classes questions about men and current events, and among other answers was tcld that Percy Haughton was presi dent of Harvard. Fifty-seven ocean "deeps" of more than 18,000 feet, based on 500 sound ings, are now known 32 in the Pacific, 18 In the Atlantic, five in the Indian Ocean. The total area covered by these deeps altogether is only about 7 per cent of the ocean floor. Seisins; Dsg for License. BROWNSVILLE. Or.. May 22. (To the Editor.) If I keep my dog chained up in my own yard and it is not allowed to run the streets can a city marshal lawfully come and take said dog off my premises and kill it for non-payment of dog tax? SUBSCRIBER. It would depend upon the ordinance at Brownsville. In Portland the ordi nance makes subject to license any and every dog regardless of whether it roams the street or is kept tied in the yard or is confined within the house. The dog catcher would be within the law if he forcibly took the dog. but city authorities usually swear out a warrant for a recalcitrant dog-owner. Confer with the license Inspector of your community or your City Treasurer. Secret Service. FOREST GROVE. May 23. (To the Editor.) Kindly print in The Orego nian information as to where to apply for direct information regarding the United States Secret Service. Do the.v employ women and what are the qualifications required to receive nn engagement? W. F. D. Write to William J. Flynn. chief of the United States Secret Service at Washington. D. C Conarreg-ational. PORTLAND. May 23. (To the Edi tor.) Will you state In The Oregonian if the K. B. MacNaughton out for school director is a Catholic, if not what church does he attend or belong to? INQUIRER. Nothing Takes Its Place! Merchants and manufacturers can read this message with equal advan tage. When you advertise you want to re.Trh the public What do they, the people, read every dsyf What do you yourself read every day f Any way you look at this question the answer is always the same THE NEWSPAPERS. The modern dally newspaper with its definite, concentrated circulation. Is the best medium in the world to day for getting news of goods or service- before the buying public. Nothing takes its place as many have already proved for themselves.