Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, December 15, 1916, Page 12, Image 12

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THE MORNING OREGONIAN, FRIDAY. DECEMBER 15, 191G-
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Vi - G tfftir'T.Avn, OREGON.
Efjore4 at Portland (Oregon) Postofflce aa
Second-class mall naatter.
adaption rates Invariably la advance.
I-.ilylffliy Included, one year
,JfcAi Vu'iriay Included, six months .
' J Iua, jhMtjr included three months.. .J
s likely, isnnay included, one montn.
.75
-jinny. v?-9iit bunouy, one year..
6.00
1.73
.BO
Jv.ly. iTHm Sunday, three months.
'1isiiy, wLhaut Sunday, one month...
V. klyjlinift year
... 1.30
. .. 2.50
.., 3.50
rw Qiy, one year .............
fciduy and Weekly
M , . (By Carrier.)
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. 'JH'nv to Kemit Send postofflce money
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Postage Kates 12 to 16 pages. 1 cent; 18
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cents; 78 to to pages. 6 cents. Foreign post.
aj?, double rates.
Eatitern Business Office Verree & Conk
II i. Hi unswn:k building. New York; Verree
r Conklln, .Steger building. Chicago. San
Krancisco representative, R. J, liidwell, 742
Market street.
POSTLAXD, FRIDAY, DEC. 13, 1916.
WHY MEN DRINK LIQUOR.
A professor of philosophy in the
University of Iowa, Dr. G. V. T.
Patrick, has a curious article in a
medical journal on the reasons men
drink tea, coffee and alcohol and
smoke tobacco. The startling-, though
familiar, fact is presented that the
American people consume annually
two thousand million gallons of alco
holic liquors, half a thousand million
pounds of tobacco, a thousand mil
lion pounds of coffee and nearly a
hundred million pounds of tea.
Dr. Patrick does not undertake to
answer his own question as to tea
and coffee, and it does not seem im
portant that he should; but he offers
the interesting and more or less satis
factory theory as to alcohol, that men
take it as a "short cut to relaxation."
The "so-called higher and more re
cently developed areas" of the brain
are directly affected by alcohol. They
are the centers of attention, concen
tration, thinking and anaylsls, and
they are earliest to become fatigued,
and alcohol first stimulates them and
then puts them to sleep. Tobacco has
somewhat the same effect.
The learned professor's idea Is
doubtless correct as to many drinkers,
but not as to all. We wonder how
many men have begun to drink mere
ly to relieve fatigue or for relaxation?
Doubtless in a sense all social drink
ing is for relaxation: but certainly
Jt is not merely to relieve fatigue, and
not much of it is purposeful except
to satisfy the demands of .appetite or
to stimulate pleasure or to relieve the
day's tedium. Few imbibers get
drunk deliberately; but they progress
into intoxication through several
stages.
Is prohibition a remedy for the con
firmed drinkers? Nobody saya so;
but it is hoped that it will help the
merely social drinker. When he is
reformed, in the course of years, there
will be few habitual drinkers, for
sobriety will then be a fixed habit,
and the social drinker will sot grad
uate into the advanced and regular
imbiber.
If men drink merely to relax, what
Is to take the place of alcohol? What
Is offered?
ADVISERS WHO WASTE TIME.
The River and Harbor Congress, as
an Institution, seems to be about
through. After thirteen years of
activity, it is dying of inanition. In
Its prim It attracted to its annual
sessions in Washington some 2000
delegates, men and women Interested
one way or another in waterway im
provement. At its recent and thir
teenth session It was attended by a
scattering 100 delegates.
There is no particular reason why
the River and Harbor Congress should
live; it has no particular mission to
perform. Without official standing,
it has never been more than a volun
teer body of people ready to advise
Congress, and Congress has never
given the slightest indication that It
had heard of the River and Harbor
Congress.
At the outset the River and Har
bor Congress worked for an annual
river and harbor bill; it maintained
that appropriations for waterways
should be made annually instead of
biennially or intermittently. Con
gress is now passing annual river and
harbor bills, though it may skip one
tbis session for the first time in a
decade.
Of late, the River and Harbor Con
press has had no particular aim; it
has talked of waterway improvements;
it has talked of flood control, and it
has been a staunch supporter of the
old method of river and harbor ap
propriations. It also has deprecated
the cry of "pork" in river and harbor
bills, and has sought, by resolving
every year, to make the country be
lieve there Is no "pork." But In this
it has failed.
The last River and Harbor Con
gress advertised in advance that it
was going to get at the facts about
"pork." Word went forth that every
one having knowledge of unjustifiable
river and harbor appropriations would
be asked to attend the congress and
lay bare his -information. But none of
the men who know about "pork" and
who have gone to the pains t6 get
the facts were invited; rather, the
congress left to its 100 delegates the
task of finding "pork." As these dele.
gates contend there is none, none was
aiscovered. The exposure, promised
by the advance notices, did not ma
terialize; in fact, nothing else worth
while materialized, and the thirteenth
annual session proved an abject and
dismal failure.
Even the delegates themselves seem
to realize that there is no reason for
.continuing the congress, unless it be
to allow Senator Ransdell, of Loulsl
ana, to hold a life job as president of
the congress. Senator Ransdell In
spired the congress in the first place
he. was its first president, and has
been president every year since; no
one else has had a chance at the
presidency, and naturally interest has
died out. Thus is one more self
appointed citizens advisory body pass
ing into history.
It being conceded generally that'the
" ! crying need of Mexico is a system of
.; education reaching all corners of the
' republic, especial interest attaches to
the recent renort of the rma.ee com .
1 mittee at the yearly meeting at Phila,
delphia of the Society of Friends, that
' provision be made for a" number of
Mexican students in American col
leges. Haverford College has started
the movement by awarding two schol
arships to suitably prepared Mexican
students, by which is meant young
Mexicans'having about the equivalent
of the average high-school course in
the United StatesJ The hope of the
movers in the new plan is that other
colleges may become Interested and
that within a few years there may be
In various parts of Mexico several
hundred able young men who can look
back on the -United States as their
educational home. It is believed that
permanent friendly relations would
thus be brought nearer. The edu
cated classes in Mexico have hereter
fore shown preference for European
institutions of learning.
PROVINCIALISM.
In Benton County our main highway from
Albany to Linn County Is' worn out by
transient autos, by parties poing south to
California and north to Portland.
Year after year the county dumps a pile
of money, and gravel, onto this road and
Summer after Summer the autos tear
through and tear it up autos whose own
ers do not pay a dollar of taxes in the
county. It always seemed ' to the Courier
that it was dead wrong to take the money
of a property owner far back from these
main roads to maintain them. If the tourist
and the state want interstate auto roads,
let the tourist and the state pay for them.
Benton County Courier.
Benton County roads for Benton
County vehicles! That's the stuff.
It might be a fine idea to put up
at the county boundaries a sign many
signs warning the incoming tourist
to come in at his peril. Let him pay
for the privilege. Let everybody from
everywhere else pay.
Or perhaps it would be more prac
ticable to build a board fence around
the county and erect toll gates at all
the road entrances and exits and tax
everybody who wants to get in. Thus
a large revenue, might be obtained
from the outside visitors to the Government-supported
and state-endowed
agricultural college at Corvallis. Tax
payers who wanted to use the county
roads to drefp in on the college at
Corvallis would be especially pleased
at this exhibition of provincialism,
or of local thrift, or whatever it might
be called. The many thousand Sum
mer sojourners at Yaquina Bay who
go and come through Benton County
would also be quite happy to pay.
This selfish and impossible pro
posal is mentioned here, not because
it reflects Benton County's or any coun
ty's state of mind, but because It is
typical of a small spirit that has crone,
and is doing, much harm to Oregon.
CONGRESS SHOULD STAY AT WORK.
Congressmen do not take kindly to
Speaker Clark's proposal that they
take no Christmas vacation. The
members of the present and the last
preceding Congresses feel that they
worked unusually hard and are en
titled to all the usual rest. They were
n continuous session from the be
ginning of last December until well
along in September. They interrupted
their labors only to attend the Na
tional conventions and, when they ad
journed, they plunged right into a
campaign. They call that work, too,
and they are intellectually dextrotuj
enough to reason that it was work in
behalf of the people.
But Congress began this session
with a large amount of important
work to do and had only three months
for the job. Whether the work be
finished or not, its power to legislate
will end at noon on March 4. In ad
dition to the regular appropriation
bills, it must dispose of the immigra
tion, water-power and Webb foreign
trade bills, held over from last session.
and must legislate regarding railroad
wages and hours. This legislation Is
imperatively necessary and, with small
prospect of an extra session of the
newly elected Congress, should be
acted on at this session.
If Corfgress were to dispense with
Its Christmas vacation, it would not
be seriously overworked. The mem
bers who have been re-elected will
have a vacation at full pay from
March 4 to December 3, 1917. Those
who have not been re-elected can
hereafter attend to their own affairs.
Whether they go into business, prac
tice some profession or enter the em
ployment of some other person, they
will not be able to vote themselves
nine months' vacation. If they be
come somebody's hired men, they may
have to be content with two weeks.
If they should go Into business, their
own interests will forbid any such
prolonged leisure.
As Congress has authority to decide
on what days it -will work, it is not
likely to forego its vacation, but if it
intends to give proper attention to
the Nation's business ft will adopt
the Speaker's proposal. .
' FIGHTING THE DBCO EVIL.
Confidence in human nature is put
to a severe test in the fight now being
waged by the United States Govern
ment and by many of the states
against the use of habit-forming
drugs. The United States Public
Health Service, according to the news
dispatches, has just issued a special
warning against the growing use of
heroin, which, it says, constitutes a
serious menace to the health of the
people of the United States. All phy
sicians in the service are ordered not
to dispense the drug henceforth on
any account. Hope is expressed that
the example set by the service will
have a wide Influence among general
practitioners.
Meanwhile the state of New York
is grappling anew with the problem.
Testimony given the other day be
fore a joint legislative committee ap
pointed to investigate the habit-forming
drug traffic revealed that the New
York statute, which had been counted
on to stamp out the evil, had failed
of its purpose, and that as a matter
of fact it had operated as a bulwark
for unscrupulous physicians and drug
gists. The physician in charge of the
narcotic wards of the workhouse on
Blackwell's Island said that there were
200,000 narcotic addicts in New York.
He favored providing "honest ad
dicts" with the drugs they needed as
a means of preventing them from get
ting their supplies through the un
derworld, as they do at present.
Much hope was entertained when
the Harrison law was passed by Con
gress that it would be effective be
cause of the machinery it supplied for
tracing supplies of restricted drugs
from the point of origln to the con
sumer, but it has been made clear
that a great deal more depends on the
vigilance and persistence of local
authorities. The Federal Government
does much through its internal rev
enue department, but the ramifica
tions of the illicit traffic are so ex
tensive that it is virtually impossible
to trace them all. The evil is so
great that It is necessary for every
community to join whole-heartedly in
the task of discovering it and stamp
ing It out.
Under the Federal law, records are
made of all purchases by retailers
from their wholesalers; there are nu
merous restrictions as to -sales, a rec
ord, of which is kept, and the drug
gist must account for the drugs he
has purchased or suffer a penalty. In
the Eastern states, however, the prac
tice is growing of buying morphine,
cocaine and kindred drugs and ex
porting them to Canada, from whence
they are smuggled back into the
United States and sold by persons who
are not required to keep a record of
them. A recent decision by a Federal
judge in a Pennsylvania district that
the penalty for possession of the
drugs by an unregistered person ap
plied only to persons eligible to regis
try, and that the keeper of a Chi
nese laundry might possess unlimited
quantities, though the legitimate drug
gist was hampered by restrictions of
many kinds, has been an embarrass
ment to officials in enforcing the' law.
It is clear that the battle has not
been fought to a. conclusion. There
still remain an appreciable number of
evilly disposed individuals who will
ruin their fellow-men for profit. In
its effect upon society as a whole the
drug habit presents the most serious
problem of the day. Not only Federal
laws but state laws supplementing
them, and not only Federal enforce
ment but state and county and city
enforcement, and persistent and consistent-work
by all these forces will
be needed if the issue Is to be met.
DECLABB' WAlfT OX BATS.
Why not-swat the rat as well as the
fly? He Is a far worse enemy of the
human race. He disseminates bu
bonic plague, tapeworms, trichinae,
flukes, roundworms and other para
sites and is suspected of carrying
leprosy and infantile paralysis. He
gnaws through walls and furniture,
being ; stopped ouly by stone, - hard
brick, cement, glass or iron. He eats
our food and defiles what he leaves
behind. He steals our clothes, even
furs and laces, to make his nest. He
causes many fires and in the days of
less perfect insulation he caused the
wreck of a telephone exchange, a great
city being left without service for six
weeks through his ravages. Rats
swarm in the holds of ships, damaging
the cargo and carrying disease around
the world. The female rat is more
fecund than the rabbit, giving birth
to a litter at intervals of a month.
The food devoured by rats in a year
in the United States alone is estimated
to be worth $160,000,000 by Mary
Dudderldge, writing in the Forecast,
but that is only one of the Items in
the account against them. It has be
come necessary to make buildings rat
proof as a precaution against fire and
pestilence as well to protect food,
clothing and furniture against their
ravages. In order to shut out the bu
bonic plague, San Francisco In 1907
laid nearly 6,500,000 yards of con
crete In sidewalks, basements,-areas,
stables and chicken ,yards, says Miss
Dudderidge. New Orleans expects to
spend millions in the same way and
has had to tear down the historic St.
Louis Hotel, because the cost of rat
proofing was prohibitive. But rats
must also be deprived of food and
nests outside of buildings. This re
quires sanitary disposal of garbage
and manure and abolition of wooden
sidewalks. If they get inside a rat
proof building, they must be trapped
or poisoned.
Perfect sanitation demands that the
crusade that has been made against
the fly and the mosquito be extended
to the rat. The waste and slovenli
ness which "permit piles of garbage
and manure to accumulate must be
stopped, both because there is a good
use for these materials and -because
they feed and harbor rats. Wharves
and docks with concrete seawalls
would prevent rats from swimming
ashore'from ships. Concrete or stone
basements and floors for warehouses
and stores would keep them out. Rats
should be starved out. Let war be
declared on them.
AS IT IS DONE IX DENVER.
Last May the city of Denver over
threw commission government -after
an unsatisfactory trial, and restored
councilmanic government in modified
form. , In the main the objections
there to commission government were
the same as those voiced in Portland.
There was lack of centralized author
ity. The city had several Mayors in
stead of one. Each was engrossed in
building up a department of his own
and the cost of municipal government
was mounting higher and higher.
In considering the new Denver
charter it must -be borne in mind that
the city and county of Denver have
been consolidated. The county bound
aries are congruent with city bound
aries, but area of county and city is
somewhat smaller than the area of
Portland. Population is about the
same.
The change in government was at
tained by adopting an amendment to
the existing charter. The amendment
dispenses with all commissionershlps
as elective offices, and, in brief, estab
lishes the office of Mayor and em
powers hlmfcto appoint all heads of
departments. Administration Is wholly
centered In the Mayor and several de
partment heads who constitute his
cabinet. A legislative body of nine
Councllmen, elected by wards or dis
tricts and paid $1200 each a year,
is established.
The amendment creates the follow
ing departments: Department of Im
provements and Parks, Department of
Revenue, Department of Health and
Charity, Department of Safety and
Excise, In addition to which are the
offices of City Attorney, Clerk and
Recorder and Commissioner of Sup
plies. All heads of departments, City
Attorney, Clerk and Recorder, Com
missioner of Supplies, and in additiott
thereto, two Justices of the Peace are
appointed by the Mayor and may be
dismissed at his pleasure.
The Department of Improvements
and Parks has under its control pub
lic improvements and parks and park
ways. The manager of this depart
ment apparently has duties similar to
those . that would be established in
Portland if the departments of Com
missioners Baker and Dieck were com
bined. The former Denver charter
provided for a public utilities com
mission which is retained.
The manager of the Department of
Revenue performs services equivalent
to those of County Assessor and Treas
urer. In the Department of Health and
Charity are lodged control of poor
farms, markets, hospitals, charities
and corrections and the duties of
County Coroner.
The manager of the Department of
Safety and' Excise has supervision
over police and fire bureaus and
licenses and also performs the duties
of Sheriff.
The office of Clerk and Recorder
is. practically equivalent to that of
County Clerk and Recorder. The of
ficial in charge is also a member of
the election commission.
The Commissioner of Supplies is
purchasing agent and custodian of
buildings.
The office of City Auditor, created
by the former charter, and the offices
of two elective election commission
ers are retained.
The Mayor has the regulation -veto
power as to ordinances, two-thirds
vote of the legislative council being
required to override his disapproval.
His cabinet consists of the managers
of the Departments of Improvements
and Parks, Revenue and Safety and
Excise. The Mayor and cabinet are
charged with the duty of formulating
administrative policies and of carry
ing them out. All inspectors are em
ployed by and are" under the control
of the Mayor and cabinet and they
may be assigned to departments' or
their duties consolidated. The Mayor
and cabinet may reduce or Increase
the number of city employes, provided
they do not exceed appropriations.
Classified civil , service is retained
only In the fire and police bureaus.
In all other departments the Mayor
or responsible head makes appoint
ments and dismissals, except that ap
pointees must be examined by the
Civil Service Commission, and If found
unfit the appointment becomes void.
The Civil Service Commission has
been wholly detached from Mayoralty
or Councilmanic Influence by vesting
appointment of the members In the
District Court.
One marked difference that will be
observed between the Portland and
Denver charters is that, whereas the
Portland charter permits the Mayor
to be an autocrat if he so desires, the
Denver charter requires him to be one.
The Denver plan, in a way, approaches
the' city manager system, with the dif
ference that the manager is elected by
the pople instead of being appointed
by the legislative council or commis
sion. The salaries. ef the Denver head
officials and Councllmen, not includ
ing those of City Attorney, Auditor,
Public Utilities Commissioners and
Election Commissioners, foot up to
$38,000 a year. . Portland pays its
Mayor and Commissioners $26,000. It
should be observed, however, that the
manager of one Denver department
is In fact health officer, which is an
additional office' at $3600 in Portland.
Portland also In 1916 paid 96.4 of the
taxes ofMuItnomah County. It there
fore paid 96.4 of the salaries of Sher
iff, Treasurer, Assessor. Clerk and
other county officers that are merged
with city offices in Denver and that
percentage was upwards of $28,000.
Comparison of totals paid executive
heads do not signify much unless
there is the same relative difference
as to department organizations. But
there is good ground for reflection
In the Denver system, not only as to
advantageous changes In city govern
ment but also as to financial bene
fits to be obtained from consolidation
of city and county governments.
A fund of $500,000 is being raised
for Atlanta University, an institution
for the higher education of colored
men and women. That way, as well as
by way of Tuskegee and Hampton in
stitutes, lies the road of the negro
race to efficiency and respected citi
zenship. The negroes should hae
teachers and professional men of their
own race, as well as the farmers and
skilled mechanics that are being
turned out at the technical schools.
There are plenty of negroes having
the capacity tobecome good lawyers,
physicians, surgeons, dentists, chem
ists and engineers, and they should
find plenty of clients among their own
race. Such people would become the
social leaders of their race and, while
Inspiring respect among the whites,
would- turn the negroes' minds from
that social equality which is some
thing entirely apart from political
equality.
Concrete evidence of the value of
good roads Is given by the Depart
ment of Agriculture, which records
specific instances of increases in the
selling prices of farm lands in coun
ties in which the roads had been ma
terially improved in a short period.
In Spottsylvanla Ccunty, Virginia, the
value of the tillable lands along the
improved roads increased from 63 to
83 per cent, while in Dinwiddle Coun
ty, in the same state, the increase was
from 68 to 104 per cent. Estimates
were made on the basis of lands with
in a mile of the road on either side.
The evidence Is important because it
meets the chief objection heretofore
urged against road 'improvements the
cost. When it Is shown that the ex
penditure made is returned in dollars
and cents, a powerful propaganda will
have been set In motion, for the ar
gument is well-nigh irresistible.
There is money In being janitor of
a New York apartment-house, and
that money helps to explain the high
cost of living. A janitress testified
before the Wicks legislative commit
tee that every time she moved to a
new house the milkman gave her $10
to $20 for turning the milk business
of the tenants to him, while the ice
man and bakers give her free ice and
bread the year around. Of course the
tenants pay for these things in the
end.
The House of Lords stamps the bar
sinister on the alleged Slingsby heir
and the case cannot go further. A
half century ago Charles Reade ex.
plolted substitution in his novel, "A
Terrible Temptation," through half
flie book until the natural course of
events made a bogus heir unneces
sary. tSome things told of in fic
tion cannot happen in, real life, for
always some unobtrusive detail is
omitted.
Actors and acrobats did some fine
life-saving stunts at a recent fire in
a New York boarding-house. What
a waste of good material for the
movies, if no camera man. was on
hand. .
Mr. Roberts was once a director of
the Mint and knows what he is talking
about In saying too much gold is a
menace; but the popular mind Is Mls-
sounan and needs a demonstration.
Any probe that includes the income
and statement of expenses can un
cover "a good solution of the prob
lem of high cost of living.
Russia, who was given a quit-claim
deed to the Dardanelles a week ago.
is preserving ominous silence on the
peace idea.
A Belgian may teach a Briton to
eat horse meat, but he cannot make
him relish It. Mr. Bull knows beef
too well.
Bend's business has solid growth.
but hysteria is in the newspaper field
Both papers are Issuing daily editions.
, Bonar Law intimates there are too
many figures in red Ink to permit
consideration of peace proposals. -
The milkman is the most trustful
of dealers and, like all over-confident
people, gets the worst.
If womenfolk only knew it, most
men prefer to buy their neckwear but
submit.
Japan takes little stock in the pro
posals from the Honorable Germany.
Lloyd George's counter proposal is
a call for 1,000,000 more rnen,
How to Keep Well.
BY DR. W. A. EVANS.
Ounllnii nrtlnint n hvrlene. sanitation
and prevention of disease, if mattera of gen
eral Interest, will be answered in this col
umn. Where space will not permit or the
subject is not suitable. letter will be per
sonally answerea. subject to proper
1 1 . .r, -nri V. . .- . f n Ti H a ri m Ulfri enVelOPO
Is Inclosed. Dr. Evans will not make diagnosis
or prescribe for individual diseases. Re
quests for such services cannot be answered.
(Copyright. 181o. by Dr. w.
Published by arrangement with ho Chicago
Tribune.)
MA.LARL4. IX SCHOOLS.
Dr. Jere Crook, of Jackson, Tenn.,
sent his boy to Vanderbilt University
last September. He spent Sunday, No
vember 12, with him in Nashville. He
found the boy having chills. He did
some Investigating and then he called
on Chancellor KIrkland. The chancel
lor was glad to see an alumnus and
patron of the school. Dr. Crook was
glad to see the chancellor, especially
as he wanted to tell him something
that would, be for the good of the
school.
"Chancellor, I am an alumnus of
Vanderbilt. I root for your ball teams
and talk of the university. My boy got
old enough for college and I sent him
here. He never had malaria In his life.
I sent him here for you to take care
of. I come to visit him and find him
having chills. He is living In the same
dormitory with boys who are Infected
with chronlo malaria. ,
"There is not a screen on a window
In this dormitory. Mosquitoes have bit
ten the Infected boys, my boy among
them. I don't think that's treating an
alumnus right. Your team lost Its foot-
ball game to the University of Tennes
see last Saturday. They have no license
to beat us. I think malaria did It. To
morrow screens go In my boy's room,
They are a contribution from this
alumnus to his alma mater. I want
you to persuade other alumni to screen
the remainder of therooms.". -
I do not know about the football
end of this statement, but the balance
of the story Is right,.and the remainder
could be easily. When a few thousand
people are gathered together from dif
ferent parts of the country some ma
laria carriers are reasonably certain to
be among the number. Anophelene
mosquitoes, themalarla variety, are
found In every part of the country
Unless the rooms are screened the per
sons suffering from chronic malaria
are reasonably certain to infect others,
It would be unkind and unjust to
Vandertillt to print this story without
referring to other universities. So long
as we have Introduced football and
football has the center of the stage,
we might as well draw on Illustrations
from football.
A few years ago the University of
Chicago had an epidemic of smallpox
among the members of its team. An
Eastern university had the came ex
perience this Fall. The system of
health insurance at present In opera
tion at the University of Wisconsin
and so highly recommended by Dr.
Cabot had its beginnings in an epi
demic of tynallpox and one of typhoid
among the students.
mallpox and typhoid are prevent
able, as much so as malaria. AVhon a
parent sends his boy to the university
he has a rigrrt.to expect that he will
bo protected against preventable dis
ease. A costly educational machine
may be effective because the students
are below par from malaria, smallpox,
typhoid or some other preventable dis
ease. Varicose Veins.
J. W. writes: "what are varicose
veins and what causes them? Are they
curable, and, if so, how? Would ex
ercise, diet or rubbing be of any ben
efit? I am a young man 25 years of
age and notice some large veins in the
calf of one of my legs when I put all
my weight on that foot.- I also have a
tired feeling in that leg- Where I work
it is dusty and when I sit down I can't
notice the veins, but there Is one spot
that is black, as if It had been sticking
out and rubbing against my pants.
"2. What would cause a person to
wake in the morning with a severe
pain over his heart and make it diffi
cult to take a deep breath?"
REPLY.
1. The walls of the veins are much thinner
than Lhose of the arteries. The pressure of
the blood in the veins la considerable. Soma
of the veins are so located that the tissues
around them do not lend much support to
their wallSi The pressure of the blood in
some of these unsupported veins Is increased
at time by contraction of the muscles. For
these several reasons the veins are liable to
eilate. Dilated veins are - called varicose
veins. Clearly you have one or more vari
cose veins. .The vein wall la thin and near
the surface at the black point.- The only
speedy cure for varicose veins of the leg is
operation. PosSlbiyyou should change your
work, you may get relief by using an elas
tie stocking. X do not think massage, diet
ing or exercise will help your leg.
2. The probability is that this pain 1 due
to neuralgia or rheumatism In your cheat
wall. Do you sleep with enough open win
dows? " ' Headaches.
Mrs. M. L. writes: "All my life I have
been a great sufferer with, chronlo
headaches. For the last five years I
have had to spend one day a week in
bed, with the most violent headache.
I have doctored, but with no results.
Can you advise me? I am 42 years old
and otherwise in good physical condi
tion." REPLY.
Tou can be helped, yet I am sure you will
be disappointed in what I tell you. t
There are many different kinds of head
ache due to many different causes. What
would help one will not help another. Some
where in your dally habit you are at fault.
The fault Is to be corrected. But first you
must find out what the fault is. It may be
an eye defect, constipation, high blood pres
sure, lack of exercise, wrong diet, or some
constitutional state such as rheumatism or
gout. You say you have doctored, but with
uo result. You probably mean that you have
taken different kinds of medicine. What
you heed is a thorough physical examina
tion, an anaylsls of your headache and a
plan for prevention based upon the fault
discovered.
60.
E. P. W. writes: "1. Is there any
question of the possibility of a positive
cure for syphlllls by the 606 method?
"2. Is tbis treatment dangerous to
the future health of a man who has a
slight leakage of the heart?"
REPLY.
J. No. Most cases require treatment In
addition to 606. but cur follows where in
telligent treatment is persisted in.
. 2. There1 is a little danger In the use of
606. but the danger is no greater where the
patient has a heart leak.
I '
Unskilled Labor on Tbis Jab.
Industrial Management.
In this particular, job (welding) It
was found that the production by
skilled welders was not more than half
that by unskilled operators who were
merely trained to carry out this one
operation. Bo the work was performed
at piece rates, at so 'much per hun
dred for the different operations.
DRESS REFORM MORE IMPORTANT
Sartorial Competition Greater Evil
Than Co-Education in High Schools.
PORTLAND, Dec. 14. (To the Edi
tor.) As a special student, not long
ago. at Lincoln High School, older
than any of the other pupils, I had
an insight Into school life and condi
tions there not usually obtainable by
a teacher; and it has occurred to me
that my strong convictions resulting
from that experience may be of some
interest and service to those con
cerned in the proposed high school
changes.
No one who- had the opportunltltes
for observation which I had could avoid
the conclusion that something should
be done to check the evils of which J
was a witness. The splendid school
and equipment, the capable teachers
and the wonderful educational oppor
tunities afforded stood in marked con
trast to the much-needed social re
form. With the excessive dressing and ever
lasting round of gaities. there is little
time or strength left for study. I con
sider the girls the worst offenders.
Among the seniors, at any rate, the
social relations between the boys and
girls in short, their flirtations seem
to be the sole interest of life, and
learning Is decidedly a side issue. 1
rarely overheard a conversation upon
any subject other than these relations.
The dressing-room of the school, be
fore the bell rang, suggested scenes
behind the stage of a theater when the
curtain Is about to rise and the ac
tresses are "making up." A few of the
wealthier ones set a pace for extreme
dressing, and exaggerated the facta of
fashion, and these were Imitated by
others all down the line, until. In the
pathetic and most natural attempts of
the poorest to keep up, some of them
were mere caricatures. Several, to my
knowledge, have given up the struggle
and gone to work to earn money with
which to satisfy their longing for
clothes which they could not otherwise
afford.
The whole thing Is undemorcatlo In
the extreme, cultivates bad taste and
defeats the objects of the school. Uni
form dressing Is, to my mind, even
more Important than segregation of the
sexes. Why not make the rule that
all the girls shall wear white middy
blouses and dark blue' skirts, with the
choice of all white in Summer? Nothing
could be prettier or more becoming,
and what heartaches would be spared
the girls, and what- anguish the
mothers! The blouses could be pur
chased by the school authorities. In
quantities, and sold at a price within
reach of the poorest; and during school
hours, at "least, the appearance of the
rich and poor would be the same, and
the spirit of rivalry would be devoted
to more important things. Many would
go to school who cannot now afford
It, the scholarship average would be
raisea, ana certainly the girls would
present a more pleasing appearance,
and would be happier, with the possible
exception of the more affluent leaders
of fashion.
The separation of the boys and girls
v.ouia oe a great Improvement, and
would put a damper on the general
frenzy of the girls for finery, but an
economical and pretty uniform In ad
dition would bring about an almost
periect public school system.
ELIZA SCOTT PARKER.
AUTOMOBILES IX Ml'MCIPAL fSE
Number la 41, Not Including; Trucks
and Fire Machines.
PORTLAND. Dec. 14. (To the Edi
tor.) I have been Informed that the
heads of the departments In the city of
t-ortiand nave in their emo ov 40 auto
mobiles. Is this so. and if it is, what
is the occasion for this number, and
woai is tne cost to the city?
1L II. NORTHUP.
There are '41 autos In the city service,
exclusive of trucks and fire machines.
These are used as follows:
Health bureau One Ford used for
gathering milk samples, one Ford used
for visiting dairies on inspection work,
one Overland used by Health Officer in
contagious disease work, one Ford used
by meat Inspectors, one Ford used by.
quarantine officer. ' .
Purchasing bureau One Ford used
for general utility work.
Weights and measures bureauOne
Ford used for visiting stores through-
kout city. ' '
Park bureau One Ford used by park
engineer, one Ford used by park su
perintendent. Public works department One Hud
son used by Commissioner Dleck and
others for visiting municipal projects.
Sewer bureau Two Fords used for
engineers and Inspectors to visit sewer
projects.
Bureau of highways and bridges
Three Fords used by district street and
bridge maintenance Inspectors.
Bureau of standards One Ford used
for gathering paving samples for testa
Bureau of surveys One Ford used
for transporting survey parties.
Police bureau One Pope-Hartford
used as general utility car, one White
used by Chief of Police, one Ford used
by women's protective division on In
vestigation work, five Fords used for
patrol cars.
Fire bureau Six. cars used by battal
ion chiefs on fire runs.
"Street-cleaning bureau One Ford
used by West Side foreman, one Ford
used by East Side foreman, one Max
well used by superintendent of bureau.
Mayor and Commissioners One Oak
land used In general work, principally
by Mayor. "
In addition to( these there are 22 fire
trucks, two patrol trucks, 10 water,
trucks and six other trucks elsewhere
In the city service.
No figures are available as to the
cost of operating these machines. A
report is now being compiled.
GREAT HAIR WORM CONTROVERSY
This Independent Investigator Supports
Side of Scientists.
FOREST GROVE, Or., Dec. 13. (To
the Edlor.) As no scientist seems in
clined to explain about hair snakes or
hair eels, mare properly speaking, 1
will tell what I once really saw.
This nematode lives in stagnant
pools or any quiet, unmolested water,
hence M. J. P. had an ideal breeding
place for them when a child. I was
taught as he was that horse hairs
turned into hair snakes and patiently
kept a hair in water in the house for
months, but it remained just a hair.
If I had put it anywhere, in reach of
a cricket I might have succeeded, as
after reaching adult age one day 1
saw a cricket hop upon the edge of
a box holding stagnant water near our
spring, and expel a long hair eel from
Its body. I kept the creature and ex
amined it with a small magnifying
glass. It was. twice as large around as
a horse hair and its mouth .could be
plainly seen. The books say they usu
ally come from the bodies of water
bups which eat the esters.
It certainly is strange the way
mother nature has of increasing her
queer families. The Department of Ag
riculture at Washington published last
year a very Interesting article on
nematodes. It would pay. to have It
read in our schools, although I doubt
if any of our young Americana could
be made to believe that a horse hair
could in any possible way be trans
formed Into a hair eel.
MRS. J. A. R.
- Fine Old Family.
Judge.
"Your wife came from a fine old
family, didn't she?" - "No; she brought
them with her."
In Other Days.
Twenty-Five Years Aaro.
From The Oregonlan of December 15, 1891.
M. Baum, the senior member of the
firm of Baum & Brandes, died at his
home last night from the effect of a
pistol wound.
H. E. Mitchell, son of Senator Mit
chell, haa returned from an extended
trip to the East and South and is at
the Portland Hotel.
The funeral of the late Captain Chard
was held from the chapel of Good Sa
maritan Hospital Sunday afternoon. It
was largely attended, the master of
every vessel in port being present.
O. N. Denny, former adviser to the
King of Corea and director of foreiirn
affairs, in an interview here yesterday
aiscussea conditions in the Far East.
H. W. Corbett, Donald Macleay. Henry
Weinhard. W. S. Ladd and C. H. Lewis
have each subscribed (1000 to help pay
for a horticultural and forestry ex
hibit at the Columbian Exposition.
' Half a Century Ago.
From The Oregonlan of December 15, 1P6G.
Washington, Dec 13. Forney has
declined the nomination for United
States Senator in Pennsylvania and
suggests the election of Thad Stevens.
Bonnets the shape of stars, with jet
black stars In the center, are the latest
London style.
James Bell, of French Prairie, and
Miss Mary A Bullock were married at
the home of the bride's father in Ore
gon City December 13 by Justice of the
Peace Trullinger.
G. A. Warner, of this city, has pat
ented an Invention for rapidly sacking
flour.
CITY -MANAGER HELD SOUITTON
Mr. JosselynRccalls Suggestion Made
Five Years Ago.
PORTLAND, Dec 14. (To the Ed
itor.) Your editorial Tuesday on the
subject of municipal government is
most timely and should be heeded by
the taxpayers of Portland.
About five years ago, when the com
mission form of municipal government
was being discusssed, the writer was
Interviewed on the subject and it is
interesting to refer now to that Inter
view and see how little if any change
in that plan now suggests itself, in
view of our experience with the pres
ent form of government Tn Portland.
The Interview among other things
outlined a plan for the election of
non-salaried commission of say Ave
members, who would be self-perpetuating,
but subject to the recall. This
commission to be named in the charter
amendment, so the voters would know
who was to administer the legislative
affairs of the city and select the man
who would be charged with the admin
istrative government under the title of
city manager. I mentioned for the
positions of Commissioners such men
as T. B. Wilcox, W. B. Ayer, W. F. -Woodard.
W. M. Ladd. Adolphe Wolfe,
A. L. Mills or others who have demon
strated their success as business men.
The city manager to have the appoint
ment of all other city employes, sub
ject to approval of the Commissioners,
with possible exception of City Treas
urer and Auditor, who might be elect
ed by the voters aa watchdogs of the
city affairs.
It is my Idea that safe, economic and
businesslike government of municipal
affairs should follow the lines of what
has been considered best In large busi
ness affairs, which, if good for the In
vestor, should also be good for the tax
payer. The City of Dayton, Ohio, has
had a city manager form of govern
ment for several years and in February
while there I inquired of many people
what they thought of their plan and
without exception every man inter
viewed was loud in' its praises, most
of them stating that a better manage
ment had been obtained, the city kept
in better physical condition and at a
less" cost than formerly. Now Cleve
land, Ohio, is arranging to adopt the
same plan of government, the Realty
Board Of that city being behind tho
movement. The only opponents to the
plan in any city where it is proposed
are the. politicians or those with some
special axe to grind. Push the city
manager plan along.
B. S. JOSSELYN.
TEACHER HELPLESS WITHOUT LAW
Tenure of Office Statute Necessary
From Instructor's Standpoint.
PORTLAND. Dec. 14. (To the Edi
tor.) As an interested spectator dur
ing the numerous hearings of the
charges filed against Mrs. Alevla Alex
ander by Superintendent Alderman, I
would like to make a word of com
ment on the proposed modification of
the tenure of office law, as espoused
by the School Board.
If the present , law should be abol
ished or so amended as set out in your
article Thursday, what would be the
status of a teacher's employment in
the Portland schools?
In the first place, the trial is held
before the Board, who act not only as'
Judge, Jury and executioner, but are
In every respect, through employes
acting under their authority, prose
cutor, detectives and witnesses against
a teacher placed on trial before Uhein.
They have complete access to any
and all records of the schools, which
they cau use to the exclusion of the
teacher on trial.
The facts brought out during the
trial of Mrs. Alexander, concerning em
ployment of teachers without the ac
tion of the examining board as pre
scribed by law, led me, as well as all
others who have followed the trial
closely, to believe that, without the
present tenure of office law a teach
er's Job in the Portland schools would
be a very uncertain affair.
The present trial, which has hung on
so long, has been crowded since the
first with Interested spectators, and I
believe the entire assemblage at the
hearings will bear me out in the state
ment that these protracted sessions
have shown how helpless . a taacner
would be without redress other than
the decision of the Board on charges
brought and pressed by itself.
MRS. JAMES M. REEVES.
ALPHALPHA.
There's zomethig gode wrog Juzt zee
if uou please.
We've buzted a few of our typwryter's
keys;
Zo dode be embarrassed If words are
amlzz.
Just ubdue your patiezg while de--cipherlg
this.
We kadt plaze the forms of those let
ters dowd here.
We kadt spell sutzh words as zhlldlsh
t or klear;
We kadt help admittlg we're Id a bad
' fix,
It's awudder to us that the dard thig
ztill klikz.
Well dow. we have phraktured Juzt
phour of the staph.
The key of E midor is almost id halph;
Ad zo we are wudderig where we
would be
If we ruptured the a, the I, or he e.
Thair roi the phlphth wug, a vowl ad
that,
Wu'v blow out addodur typwrytur
slat.
Zo wu'll kloz dowd th" kovur ad lat
! th' thig b.
B 4 thay'r all broak O, hully G.
.PHfUTZ PHULGRAJPH. .
1