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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1916)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1916. 0 1'OICTLAXD. OREGON. Entered at Portland (Oregon) Postoffice as pcgna-ciass mall matter. Subscription rates Invariably In advance (By Mall.) Pally. Sunday Included, one year S8.O0 Dally. Sunday Included, six montha 4. 25 i-)all , Sunday Included, three months . . M2m J 1 H 1 Li . Sunday Included, tin. month 75 Jally, without Sunday, one year 8.00 Dally, without Sunday, three months ... Lid Dally, without Sunday, one month 00 weekly, one year LoO fcunday, one year ...................... 2.50 bund&y and Weekly 8.50 (By Carrier.) Dally, Sunday lncludled, one year 8.00 Dally, Sunday Included, one month 75 How to Itemlt Send nostofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local Dank, stamps, coin or currency are at sender's risk. Give postoffice address luii, ijiciutung county ana state. Postage Rates 12 to 16 pages, 1 cent; 18 iu o liafo-es, ' cents; a to 8 pages, o cent-, CO to u pages. 4 cents 62 to 76 pages, 6 cents. 78 to 82 pages. 6 cents. Foreign post age, double rates. Eastern HuMinpg Office Verra A Conlt Jin, Brunswick building. New York; Verree V Conklln, stenger building, Chicago. San Francisco representative, R. J. Bldwell, 742 tarKet streeu rOKTLASl), WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27. 1916. AGAIN. Mexico is seething with turmoil and fratricide. Revolutionary movements continue to crowd in upon the totter ing regime of Carranza. Villa, Zapata, Felix Diaz and still other independent leaders now control eome of Mexico's most important cities and districts. Villa within a few weeks has cap tured Chihuahua, Santa Rosalia and Jimenez and now holds the important city of Torreon, where his principal forces are reported to number nearly 30,000 men. Felix Diaz, at the head of a con siderable movement, has within the month taken Puebla, most Important city on the road from Mexico City to Vera Cruz. His forces also have occu pied the city of Orizaba. Jalapa, just northwest of Vera Cruz, Is in the hands of an Independent rebel force in opposition to Carranza. Zapata, like a specter, haunts the very suburbs of Mexico City and seems to be in control of the state of More Jos. Still other Independent revolu tionary bands are operating on the west coast. Truly the new year finds Mexico In the same throes of anarchy that have prevailed for the past six years. Rapine, bankruptcy and sudden death .are still the order of the day and of the now year. Yet we have no Mexican policy, ex icept to '"ultimate" vainly and to wait watchfully and impotently. How long, oh, how long, until we all shall be obliged to agree that a problem avoided and postponed is not a prob lem solved, and duty merely rhetorl cised is not duty done? LET GASOLINE DO IT. Suggestion is made by Representa tive Bean that in lieu of increasing motor vehicle licenses in order to aug ment the road fund a tax be placed upon the sale of gasoline. Insofar as a gasoline tax would af fect automobiles the tax has attrac tions. Assuming that the consumer would pay it, it would more nearly graduate taxes upon autos in accord ance with their use of and wear upon roads than possibly any other device. Objection would arise, however, from launch owners, operators of gasoline tractors, farmers who use gasoline for miscellaneous power purposes and others whose employment of gasoline has nothing to do with the highway problem. But even so, it is apparent that Ore gon could raise a large sum by taxing gasoline without imposing an addi tional burden upon any user of gaso line. The Oregon tourist will have ob served that in the state of Washington gasoline is uniformly one cent a gal lon cheaper than in corresponding places in Oregon. The cause ascribed for this Is a law passed in Oregon in 3 913 prohibiting the sale of gasoline that does not test 60 degrees gravity at a temperature of 60 degrees. It is also said that this extra cent a gallon charged Oregon users pays for an additional refining process which does not perceptibly increase the combustion qualities of the prod uct. If this be true, we pay the oil companies annually, for a mere fancy, a sum which far exceeds the proceeds from the state road levy. Repeal of the gasoline test law and Imposition of a cent-a-gallon license tax on its sale would cause the con sumer to pay no more for gasoline, yet would produce a large revenue for road-building purposes. One cent a gallon on gasoline mounts rapidly. A light car of, say, 24-horsepower, if modern, will make under careful driving about twenty miles to the gallon. Six thousand miles Is a fair annual mileage. Reduced to gusoline that means consumption of 800 gallons a year, or a tax of $3. The sum is the exact equivalent of the license charged the owner by the state. Licenses "now yield about $200, 000 a year. Eut the gasoline tax would more than double license revenues, for cars In commercial service and many pri vate automobiles are in constant use. They would pay, if a gasoline tax were Imposed, In proportion to the use they made of highways. Tourists from other states, who now pay nothing toward upkeep of Oregon roads, would contribute also. If there is question as to the validity of a gasoline tax there is graver ques tion as to the validity of the proposal to increase motor vehicle licenses. There is good ground for holding that the motor vehicle license has already reached the status of a property tax and comes within the inhibitions of the 6 per cent limitation. The matters herein mentioned are at least worth careful consideration. MAKING THE AIRPLANE SAFE. The completion by Orville Wright of an airplane stabilizer leaves no ob stacle to our becoming at last a Nation of aviators. The promise held out by Mr. Wright is a rosy one, and we are Justified in taking him at his word by the fact that he never has made a vain boast before. He says himself that he has made the airplane fool proof, and it would seem that nothing more coOld be asked. Americans have lagged behind the rest of the world in perfecting them selves for the mastery of the air. It is true that we have some exceedingly capable individual fliers, and that an American woman now holds the non stop record for her sex in & cross country flight, but as numbers go we are a long way in the rear of the procession. We have developed cau tion as one of our National traits and it is one that would seem to be wholly new to us. If we found jjur melves suddenly on the verge of war, lack of men for our air service would instantly prove to be one of our prin cipal handicaps. The new stabilizer ought to change all this. Details of its construction are not made public, but no doubt thev (will come in time. It is enough to be assured that travel by airplane is to be made as safe as automobiling, if not safer. It will have no grade cross ings to contend with, and no bad roads and fewer chances of collision. In a few years every young man who can afford it will own his own air machine and will operate it as a matter of course. Mr. Wright's Invention has brought the day nearer; it probably win arrive within the present genera tion. NERVES WORTH SOMETHING. x ne eaeral Health Service says that animals are free from nervous disorders, and adds in explanation that they do not shorten their lives by try ing to get more than their neighbors. No. they just "rustle their grub," eat and sleep, build nests or make bur rows for the immediate present, and that is all. Any person who is willing to purchase immunity from nervous diseases by living such a life is wel come to it. Man uses up nervous energy by worrying about the future, but while with some this worry is only comparable to the building of a nest which would last ten years instead of one, or the laying up of ten years' supply of nuts by a squirrel, it prompts others to think and write noble thoughts which inspire future generations, to erect great buildings and-to execute great public works for the benefit of posterity, to fight long wars that one's children's children may enjoy liberty and peace. We prefer to keep our nerves, even if they do sometimes get frazzled. THE BLAME. The usual outcry that the pistol and not McCall was primarily to blame for the murder of his fellow-barber and former friend. Shaner, is being raised. But the indictment lies against the murderer and not against the weapon. It is shallow to say that if McCall had not had a revolver Shaner would not have been killed. There are a thou sand "ifs" which might be suggested as preventive conditions. The only if" worth serious or thoughtful con sideration is that if McCall had not sought to kill Shaner he would not have been killed. The motive for the homicide seems quite inadequate; but even more per plexing and astonishing is its method. The slayer appears quite deliberately and calmly to have gone to the barber shop and, after the usual tonsorial service by a friendly attendant, to have approached his quarry without the slightest sign of passion or excite ment and to have drawn a pistol and to have murdered him. Then he un dertook immediately to slay a colored portor, who was discreet and scared enough to run. There was no quarrel, no obvious preparation, but there is now every evidence of premeditation. The mur derer manifests no contrition or alarm, but says his victim deserved death for offenses vaguely suggested and obvi ously of small provocative conse quence. Clearly the man is irrational, if not insane. But all such crimes have a phase of abnormality which does not excuse, while it may explain them, and acquittal on any such ground is Itself a crime against society. Clearly, a McCall, brooding over personal af fronts, who would kill once for ven geance would kill again. McCall had the notion that it is no crime to slay anyone who deserves it. Where did he get that idea, except from the frequent acquittal of men and women accused of crimes of the blood? PORTLAND'S SHARE. Why did not Multnomah Countv build it (the Interstate bridge) Instead of tax ing the whole state of Oregon to help pay for It? Benton County Courier. This is the same narrow and self- centered soul that not long ago made the surprising suggestion that tourists from Portland and everywhere else should be kept off the Benton County roads. Let us restrain an impulse to retort by inquiring why Corvallis does not tax itself to support the Agricul tural College and not tax the whole state to pay for it? The reasons are of course obvious. The college, if maintained at all, must be somewhere in Oregon. Why not at Corvallis? But our chief purpose in noticing the query of our ignorant friend is to say that Multnomah County is pay ing for the Interstate bridge (jointly with Clarke County, Wash.) and that not a dollar for that purpose will come from the state treasury. But the state agrees to pay the interest on the $1,250,000 county bonds issued for construction under a general act which makes a similar provision for all interstate bridges. We should be pleased if the be nighted Courier would look over the state appropriations of the past and the state budget of the present an report what proportion of state funds is devoted to the support of state institutions located in Multnomah County. We may add the observation, with out any feeling of prejudice or any desire to change the condition, that Multnomah contributes a far greater amount in taxes to the Oregon Agri cultural College than the county in which it is located. WAR WAGES NOT SO LIBERAL. Allusions in general terms to war wages in Great Britain may have given rise to an impression that the advance has been sufficient to bring the scale prevailing in that country to an equal ity with that paid in the United States. Any such impression, as regards the textile industries at least, will be dis pelled by an award of the chief indus trial commissioner of the British Board of Trade granting an increase of 15 to 20 per cent in textile worker-' wages. Under this award workers who re ceive not more than 10 shillings ($2.43) a week will receive 73 cents additional; females not included in that class, an increase of $1.09 a week; all males earning between $2.43 and $4.86, an addition of $1.09; and all males receiving over $4.86, an addi tion of $1.70. As compared with the new mini mum wage of $3.16 paid in the British textile trade, Oregon has fixed a mini mum for women workers of $8.65 a week. This exceeds the increased minimum of $6.56 to be paid to the highest class of skilled male workers in British mills. In the British Isles factory hands work 60 hours a week as compared with the maximum of 54 hours permitted for Oregon women, while a bilj is to be introduced fixing the limit at 48 hours in Oregon. Even war wages in Great Britain are materially below the wages which were put in effect before the war under the Oregon jaanimum wage .lawt and they are not likely to be main tained after the war releases a large supply of labor from the army and the munition factories. If exposed to unrestricted competition with people working under such conditions, the in dustry will be at a severe disadvantage in this country. FATHER'S WANING AUTHORITY. The case of Grace and Marie Nelson, of Chicago, aged, respectively, 15 and 19 years, presents certain aspects that have been overlooked in the prosaic record of the news. It has been chron icled how Grace and Marie caused the arrest of their irascible father for the offense of kicking incontinently downstairs and into the street two young men who were "keeping com pany" with the girls, and who Insisted on sitting in the front parlor far be yond papa's retiring hour. The charge, we presume, was assault and battery; or perhaps it was interfering with the prerogatives of daughters, or some thing like that. At any rate, it seems to have been effective in stopping Papa Nelson from doing anything rash. Notice has been served on him that the girls are going to have their company and that he must not inter fere. His first attempt to assert parental authority having cost him some $10, which an unfeeling police judge assessed against him, he is not likely to break out of bounds again. The case therefore rises above rou tine of the day's police court proceed ings. It may be said to be epochal, for it is the entering wedge to that higher freedom for our young women and why not our young men, also? toward which the world is so rap idly and so obviously tending. Free dom! The very air is redolent of it. Away with bondage and slavery! And authority! To be sure, the1 majesty of the higher law had to be invoked in this instance, but it is not too cer tain that violence has not been done to it by the judge sitting in the case. We are to have less and less restraint. The aspirations of the individual must not be curbed. And what aspiration is more sacred than the desire of the maiden of 15 or 19 to have a "beau"? There is room for speculation as to what is becoming of us. Father, espe cially, has ground for wondering. First, they have so circumscribed htm with laws that he Slnnot safely refuse to support his family. First one min ister and then another refuses to in clude "obey" in the marriage cere mony when he embarks on the sea of matrimony. If he remembers the ad vice of Solomon and spares not the rod lest he shall spoil the child, the welfare associations and the societies for the prevention of cruelty to chil dren get after him. Now he cannot even tell Marie's young man to go before he sets the dog on him, and follow his words with deeds. For father It is a sad, If a new-fashioned, world. NATIONAL CONTROL ALONE EFFECTIVE All recent Democratic legislation has taken the direction of greater central ization of authority in the Federal Government and of breaking down state control over activities which are interstate In their nature. The belief is growing stronger In both parties that effective regulation of interstate commerce is possible only by concen tration of power in the hands of the Nation, but Mr. Bryan expresses alarm at the possible consequences. He pre dicts that the Federal authorities would be -overwhelmed with work, that efficiency of Federal supervision would be decreased, that railroad in fluence at Washington would be in creased, that state lines would be ob literated, and that the result would be "a centralization which would threaten the very existence of our dual form of government." Under our present dual system of regulation the public is deprived of the benefits to be derived from efficiency, while the railroads are subjected to the burden of conflicting laws, some of which are incapable of enforce ment. States legislate in their own selfish interest as against that of other states. Conflicts between Federal and state laws and between the laws of various states obstruct good service and the improvement and extension of roads. The states have advanced from their original purpose of regulating rates to control of operation. A rail road traversing several stales is sub ject to several different laws as to train crews, hours of service, de murrage on cars and issue of secur ities. In the last respect in particular, these conflicts seriously obstruct im provement. The consent of the com mission of each state is often required, and in many instances this is condi tional on ratio of bonds to mileage or on the expenditure of money in the particular state concerned, no matter how urgently It may be needed In an other state for the good of the road and of all the states concerned as a whole. The extent to which state laws con flict is little realized. Fifteen states try to favor their own traffic by re quiring a daily minimum movement of freight cars. Some fix the minimum at fifty miles a day, though the average for the whole country is only twenty six miles. Twenty states fix hours of service, the limit ranging from ten to sixteen a day. Twenty-eight make varying requirements as to headlights and fourteen demand dissimilar safety appliances. During the year 1907 laws were passed by thirty-four states to regulate railroads, each without re gard to the laws of the others and of the Nation. Car demurrage was fixed by one state at $1 a day, by another at $2 and by others at $5. Between 1912 and 1915 Congress and the sev eral State Legislatures passed 440 laws affecting railroads. To the burden imposed by a chaos of regulation were added those of increases in wages, which since 1906 have amounted to 32.5 per cent, and of Increased taxes, which In the same period have amounted to 69 per cent. All these additions to expenses have been ac companied by enforced reductions in rates. The result was that in the eight years ending June 30, 1915, al though an average of $600,000,000 a year was spent in improvements and thus was added to Investment, net operating Income was $21,000,000 less in 1915 than in 1907. and eighty-two railroads of 42.000 miles and with a capitalization of $2,264,000,000 went Into receivers' hands. Many railroads have striven to make good the amounts spent in compliance with the multiplicity of regulatory laws by effecting economy in opera tion. They have reduced curves and grades, adopted improved brakes and couplings, bought engines which haul heavier trains and made other im provements in the same direction. Then arose a demand for larger train crews, and full-crew or extra-crew laws were passed In twenty states, while twenty-one states refused to pass such laws. la gome of the latter States an attempt was made to secure enactment of laws limiting length of trains. Either restriction deprives the roads of the benefit of the economy they have effected at heavy cost. By Its decisions in the Shreveport and Minnesota rate cases the Supreme Court has removed doubt that Con gress has authority to assume jurlsdic tion over intrastate rates and opera tlon and to delegate that Jurisdiction to the Interstate Commerce Commis sion. In its opinion on the Minnesota cases the court said "the full control by Congress ... is not to be de nied or thwarted by the commingling of interstate and intrastate opera tions"; that "as to those subjects which require a general system or uni formity of regulation the power of Congress Is exclusive"; and that in other matters "states may act within their respective jurisdiction until Con gress sees fit to act, and when Con gress does act the exercise of Its au thority overrides all conflicting state regulation." The entire course of legislation by Congress during the last ten years proves Mr. Bryan's fear of railroad influence at Washington to be base less. The tendency has been and still is so strong in the other direction that the railroads have been powerless to prevent the enactment of surch fla grantly unjust class legislation as the Adamson law. The railroads long ago abandoned lobbying; they now make frank appeals to the reason and jus tice of the people. Centralization of power would not hamper effectiveness if the membership of the Interstate Commission were increased and if It were given power to sit in divisions. The railroads would be brought far more effectively under control by this means, their operation would be less hampered, their ability to raise cap ital would be Increased, and the pub lic would benefit in every way. A broad field would remain open for the state commissions in regulating utilities that were strictly intrastate and in representing their states before the Federal Commission. The tremendous growth of manufac turing in the United States is shown by comparison of the first censhs, taken In 1809, with the figures" a century later. It was estimated In 1809 that the whole of our manufactures were worth probably $173,000,000. This grew in a century to $20,672,000,000. More striking, however, is the change in the nature of the work done. In the first census reference Is made to the manufacture of something more than 67,000,000 yards of textiles, in cluding woolen, cotton, flaxen and "blended and unnamed cloths and stuffs," practically all in homes and little shops of the people. The value of the textile output In 1914 was $1, 696,000,000, and practically all of it was made in factories. The value of all the manufactured products of the country has Increased 120-fold in a period in which the population has become only thirteen times as great. Massachusetts has been experiment ing in the employment of convicts in outdoor work, unshackled and un guarded. It put thirty-two to work on a large drainage operation at Sherborn for six weeks ending December 18, and the Boston Transcript says not one of them attempted to escape and their work was admirable. The key to the success of the experiment may be found In the statement that "It Is ex pected that they will all be released on parole to spend Christmas with their friends." Further explanation may. be found In careful selection of the men to be thus trusted. Results in some other states whereof we know show that the person who picked the outdoor gangs were poor judges of convict character. The Brooklyn Eagle suggests that, when New York gets aero mall serv ice to deliver letters In Chicago in eight hours, "we may be able to send a letter to Tonkers with some hope of its reaching there inside of twenty four hours." But Chicago people are in a hurry to get their letters. What hurry need there be about delivering mall at Yonkera ! Some people al- ways want more. Boston is Indignant at Postmaster Burleson's proposal to deprive It of pneumatic tube mall service and sub stitute auto trucks. If It Is a question of power, there should be no diffi culty; Secretary Daniels could blow the mall through the tubes. The connection is rather obscured, but It must be there. Frank Gould haa given $100,000 to rebuild a Prot estant church in a section of France where there Is an American colony that devotes most of its time to the racing stable. New York will have 300,000,000 gal lons of water a day when the new aqueduct Is finished next April, but that will not be enough when the town goes dry. The big city will have one of those awful "morning after" thirsts. Husbands will please call wives' at tention to the news that a man in Washington fell dead while chopping the day's supply of firewood and in sist on burning coal. Fatal wounding of a Troop A man brings the Mexican affair closer to Oregon.- If ever the troop gets into action. "RememberRedfield!" will be a battlecry. The daughter of the milkman at Maiden, Mass., who Is going to marry a young fellow with $7,000,000 will not worry about cream for breakfast. Another discovery of high-grade ore in Baker County etonflrms the belief of many that there are millions in that region waiting to be found. Boys at Carlisle are subsisting on a little more than 16 cents a day. but the blanket Indian can do It on less if the dogs are plenty. French horse doctors have produced a brayless mule, as if the hybrid with out power to bray could be called a mule. A break with Carranza Is Villa's op portunity, despite the anxiety last Summer to get him dead or alive. Commissioners should get more work out of the help, rather than ask for more help. Minister Gerard saw the Kaiser yes terday, but could not go him one better. McCall's plea will be self-defense. It Is a fact the dead man had a razor. Monkeys are higher, but who wants to buy a monkey? Southern Nevada must stay in bed to keep warm, ' How to Keep Well By Dr. W. A. 1 Anna. Questions pertinent to hygiene, sanitation and prevention of dlacaae. if matters 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 answered, subject to proper limita tions and where stamped addressed envelope Is Inclosed. Dr. Evans will not make diagnosis or prescribe for individual diseases. Re quests for such services cannot be answered. (Copyright. 1918, by Dr. W. A. Evans. Published by arrangement with the Chicago Tribune.) HERNIA. JAMES BURRY. of the Illinois DRS Steel Company, speaking before the National Safety Council, stated that the theory that straining caused hernia should be consigned to the scrap heap. This is his reasoning: There cannot be a hernia without a hernial sac. The hernial sac Is formed from the peritoneum. Persons who later in life develop hernias are born with hernial sacs. However, these sacs are shut off by constricting rings. In the formation of a hernia some parts of the abdominal content, usually a piece of omentum or a loop of intestine, is driven against the opening of the her nial sac. It Is pushed In a Bhort distance, then it pulls out. Again it is pushed In a little way and then pulled out. After being repeatedly pushed in the opening Is found to be larger and the opep part of the canal to be longer. The pushing process Is repeated a great many times and the canal gradually gets larger and deeper. Presently the mass is large enough and extends Into the canal far enough to be noticed by the patient. Probably he first notices it after a hard cough ing spell or after some heavy lifting. He jumps to the conclusion that the strain ruptured him. What the Btrain did was to reveal to him a hernia which had been present for a long time. Dr. Burry quotes Paul Berger as say ing that in closely examining 130 peo ple with hernias, 34 had only one her nia, while 96 had one or more undis covered hernias in addition to the her nia of which complaint was made. The 96 had 196 hernias, 100 of which were unsuspected. He quotes Surgeon Tlllmans. of Aus trl;i, and Surgeons Sheen, Langlon and Dunn, of England, as saying that tjer nla is not caused by muscular strain. I infer that Dr. Burry's explanation of the greater frequency of hernias among men who Hit heavy weights and carry heavy loads is that these men discover their hernias, whereas office workers do not. There is no question about the origin of the hernial sac. It is formed con- genitally. Straining docB not make that. To my mind it is equally cer tain that hernias when found are not newly formed. They have Deen grrad ually forming for a long time. The un usual strain discovers the presence of previously overlooked but usually gradually enlarging hernia. However, I do not think that the lifting of heavy weights persistently or any other strain frequently repeated can be eliminated from the causes of hernia. They Berve to push the omen turn or intestines into the hernial sac little by little. Hernia is In some in stances in part a result of occupation. It is not an accident. As to the treatment of hernia, Dr Burry is strongly in favor of an opera tion. He says: "It Is generally held that a properly fitting truss carefully applied and worn continuously while out of bed will enable a man with a hernia to work." But that. In his Judgment, is not a satisfactory solution of the her nia problem. For the employes of his company and perhaps for most men operation is much more satisfactory. The danger from operation is slight. There are some recurrences, it is true, but the chance of a man having a re currence Is slight. The average man is 14 times as apt to have a hernia as the man who has been operated on to have a recurrence. is Heavy and Healthy. Mrs. E. J. writes; "I am 5 feet 24 Inches In height, weigh 240 pounds, age 40. I am the mother of 10 strong. healthy children. My mother, who died at the age of 70, weighed 280. An aunt who died at 65 weighed 300. An aunt living at 66 weighs 250. All the women of the family are heavy; the men are stout, but not ungainly. My brothers and sisters who do not diet seem to be well, while those who have dieted down to what Is nowadays the correct weight are a sad-eyed, irritable, nerv ous lot. As a rule I enjoy excellent health, but when I tried to diet, even under a physician s care. I became yel low In color, weak, cold and listless. "I do my own housework, therefore I must eat. And even you will admit that the bearing of children is not compatible with dieting to the correct weight. "I it dangerous for me to carry so much weight? What do you suggest It is anything but pleasant and very humiliating. Is not this popular anxiety to be lithe something of a fad! In the country of my ancestors, Hol land, are .there not many generations of fat folks? Do statistics show they are short lived? And the women of the South American countries, where child prevention Is not the rule the women who grow heavy and take to theii rocking chairs at 40 aro they short lived?" REPLY. Insurance statistics show that fat people are bad risks. The consumption rate among fat people la low, but all other rates are high. But you are in a peculiar position. You are 10O pounds overweight. You belong to a family the members of which are naturally big and fat. Furthermore, when they diet they are hard to live with. This la what 1 would advise for you: Flan a ten years campaign on a basis of loss of ten pounds a year. By dieting and exercise you can lose ten pounds a year without much strain. Tour heart and other organs can readjust themselves to the roomier Quarters left by the vacating fat. By cold baths and massage you csn take up the folds In your skin. Were you to lose 100 pounds in a single year you would be Irritable, your skin would be wrinkled, and your Internal organs would rattle around. The essential of reducing Is dieting. Above all. eat little or no ordinary starch bread and no sugars or other sweets. Live on moderate quantities of fruit, watery veg etables, lean meat and gluten breads. Have you the stick? Well Worth It. From the Birmingham Age-Herald. "When we were In Egypt Mrs. Twob ble stood speechless before the Pyra mids," remarked Mr. Twobble. "I don't remember what the trip cost me, but it was worth the money." Craae In Art. Life. "How do you painters feel about this craze for old masters?" "It makes us wish we were dead." CLASSED WITH Unit l .11 I It WORM Joint Snnke and Hoop Snake Hrnlly Saw What Nature Cnst Do. ASTORIA. Or.. Dec. 24. (To the Edl tor.) I note that some of your read ers are skeptical about a horse hair turning Into a snake or worm when left in water for some time. Some people seem to be hard to con vince of wonderful facts in nature i'ian t one correspondent nlainly say that she had placed a hair in water and had seen It turn Into a anake or some thing? What more do you want? Perhaps some of your readers wouldn't believe In the existence of the Joint snake. Some may even have doubts about the hoop snake. The former, as its name implies, is made up of joints of sections. If one is broken up into two or more pieces it will, after sundown. Join together again, and oy morning will be as good a snake as ever. As to the hoop snake, nis peculiarities are not quite so re markable, but perhaps even more in teresting. The hoop snake is armed with a spear on me tip or his tall, which he uses as a weapon either of offense or de fense. When chafing a person, for In stance, he takes the end of his tall in his mouth, forming a perfect hoop, then rolls over the ground after his luckless enemy, whom he strikes' with the spear when ne overtakes him. It la said they attain great speed, perhaps greater than a speed maniac in a modern auto I never exactly saw the above-de scribed reptiles with my own eyes, but was told about them when I was a little boy in Florida by negroes who had seen them. One negro told me of a narrow es cape he once had from a hoop snake when he was only saved by his superior strategy. He was pursued by the snake. which was gaining upon him rapidly when Sam suddenly Jumped behind a tree. The pursuer buried his spear in the tree and the darky was saved. ham offered to show me the tree (which had died from the wound) If doubted his story. C. W. BURGESS. UNCLE SAM SQUEEZES PENNIES Postal Rales Mny Enlarge Income, hat They CmiNe Inconvenience. GILBERT, Or.. Dec. 25. (To the Ed Itor.) "Wish you merry Christmas.1 the sentiment with which the air Is surcharged today, is not always thus expressed, but speaks a various lan guage. I mention one Instance only I wonder If Uncle Samuel has reached his dotage and become Ill-tempered Time was, when the anniversary ar rived, the postman brought to one s door his pack and if nny mall lacked postage the payment of 1 cent or more settled the matter. On December 23 a simple postal "card dated the 18th constituted a Christmas greeting bestowed upon a doting niece, as, figuratively. Uncle Sam placed a loving hand on her head a very unos tentatious gift. quietly forwarded, postage free, from a Mississippi Valley town, expressive of great solicitude, lest, by some chance, an error might delay the delivery of "a piece of mall" beyond exactly two weeks, at earliest from the time of mailing of the postal card! To quote: "If you wish It forwarded to you, return this card with loose postage stamps to the value stated above (1 cent). In a sealed envelope, 2 cents postage prepaid ... Do not attach the stamps to the card. Following further advice ana the Bignature, the card th s con cludes: "Two cents postage is required on the envelope in which this card returned." v A delicate question arises In a late acknowledgment to the sender of the "piece of mall" of its receipt with out implicating the Portland office nor mentioning postage due. The chief reason, perhaps the only one, for the method Is that the Post office Department "sticks" the victim for 2 cents postage without value re ceived. Another reform is omission of the return request on stamped envelopes. That style is not for sale now. Formerly the stamp of the recelvln onice told at what time a letter ar rived. Now that stamp is obsolete. These changes make for economy, but whether the saving Is commensurate with the public's inconvenience might admit of discussion. W. B. EMERSON'. LET SHOOTING BE WITH CAMERA Plea Made for Wild Life and Feathered Enemies of Inaeets. PORTLAND, Dec. 26. (To the Edi tor.) In one of the editorials of last week under the heading "Reflections on Hunting." you struck a responsive chord In the minds of every lover of wild life who desires to stop the use less and willful destruction of our feathered friends. Would it not be far better if we were to pro-ido our youth with more useful and elevating recreation that would promote the humanities of life instead of the brutalities? Teach them that the proper way to hunt and study birds and animals Is not with dogs and guns, but with the photographer's lens. The old theory that "a bird In the hand is worth ttsfp in the bush is false, for we all know that one little feathered singer flitting from bush to bush while feasting upon the larva of Insects and other fruit pests us worth a hundred murdered songsters in the hand. Instead of supplying our boys with 'Implements of torture." let us pro vide them with a modern camera hav ing a good MM and rapid shutter, also with field glasses and notebook. Thui- armed they may shoot hundreds of birds or other animals without either taking life, causing pain or endanger ing the lives of others, and retain a clear conscience. A. W. MILLER. LOT OWNERS ARE IN SYMPATHY They Show Wllllnirnexa That Vacant Property Be Used for Gnrdrna. PORTLAND, Dec. 26. (To the Ed itor.) In this morning's paper you vail attention to Mr. Barbur's plan of mak ing gardens on vacant lots as merito rious. Two years ago we strongly urged tenting on vacant lots and converting empty shacks adjacent to vacant lots Into temporary homes. This plan ap pealed to men and women of stout and independent hearts. Many families were placed in different parts of the city. Others secured lots near their homes for gardening. A movement to start local markets and canneries to save the surplus Is what is needed to encourage the cultivation of idle lands in and out of the city. Our experience has been that owners of vacant lots, with few exceptions, are only too glad to donate the use of lots for raising vegetables and flowers and will sign a contract to secure the crop to the producer. Effort toward the use of lots with trees on for pri vate playgrounds and parks and en couragement of older children in beau tifying them are well worth a tryout. JOSEPHINE R. SHARP. Doorkeepers In Washington. Richmond Missourlan. To a Missourlan scurrying through the National capltol and department buildings there is one thing that stands out like a sore thumb in corn gathering time the "scarcity" of doorkeepers! In some Instances you may find a door left alone and helpless, without even one husky fellow to defend it from the mob that might tear said door off its hinges and carry it away! Other doors are better cared for. having as many as three flunkies perched on guard, a trio of patriots vigorously drawing their pay and saving the Government. This army of doorkeepers and hangers on are under "Civil Service" and cannot be removed and though their teeth drop out they never drop off the pay roll except to answer the rollcall of Gabriel! Foreigrn War Primer. By -National Geographic Society. There are few more picturesque spots in Southeastern Europe than that region which lies adjacent to the Ar gesch River, and which has been feel lng the heavy hand of war latterly. For beauty of landscape, picturesque ness of native costumes, attractive ness of the peasants' cottages, there is no section of Southeastern Europe more pleasing that the Argcsch River Valley. The cottages are simple, little one storied affairs, with broad verandas, covered by roofs projecting over them and supported by wooden pilasters. The windows are small, but the Wal iachlan housewife attests her love of beauty and color by the window boxes of flowers and the blossoming creepers, for which the whitewashed walls af ford such a simple setting. As one wanders out of Bucharest in times of peace and turns his face to ward the northwest and Kronstadt. there is first a dreary plain to be crossed, with that unending sameness that one encountered on our own prairie land in generations gone by, and that is met with when one sails close Inshore along the coast of West ern Mexico. But ere long the plain begins to be come green, undulating, pastoral, that delightful Piedmont type of country that lies always between the unbroken plain and the rising mountains. Vil lages and homesteads encompassed with trees dot the surrounding hills, great cornfields are encountered, and every prospect pleases. Down to the way stations troop wom en and girls In their native costumes. If it be Summertime, they have berries and fruits to offer the traveler; If it be Winter, hot drinks and tld-bits. As one travels on. the reflection can not be escaped that Roumania Is a land of wells, for they are to be seen every where, most of them with a forked stick set up and surmounted by a long sweep. Few force-pumps are to be seen, for Roumania peasantland gets along still with the primitive equip ment America used 100 years ago, and. above all. It Is a land of "the old oaken bucket" still. In the heart of this region lies the village of Argcsch, ones the proud capital of Wallachla, but now content. In normal times of peace, to be the queen city of a beautiful little valley. There are encountered the ruins of the ancient castle of Radu-Negru. the foun der of Wallachla. In the 13th centruy he removed his castle from Klmpolung to Argesch. The town Is richly endowed with in terest by the ecclesiastical role It played in the earlier centuries of Wal lachian history. Here Is a cathedral which is the pride of Roumania. It stands at some distance from the town, bare upon the ground, without setting, but none the less grand and Imposing. It was restored and re-dedlcated to the Most High In 1517, A. D., on which oc casion the patriarch was assisted by five archbishops and nearly 1000 priests. But the magnificence of the struc ture had entirely overtaxed the reve nues of the Wallaehtan treasury avail able for ecclesiastical purposes, and It was only by the munificence of Milltza. daughter of the King of Serbia, and wife of the King of Wallachla. who gave her jewels to the cause, that It could be completed. War seems supremely out of place in such precincts of pastoral peace as the Argesch Valley, and whoever has trav eled through that valley and has be held Its simple peasant folk, bright, sunny, industrious, will regret the desolation and the consternation that war brings to such a people. In Other Days. Twenty-Five Yearn A(s. From The Oregonlan of December 27, 1801. Census Superintendent Porter's offi cial bulletin, giving the population of Oregon in detail, has finally reached Portland. The population of the state is returned as 313,767. "Christmas comes but once a year." said Judge Carey to himself as he took his seat in Police Court yesterday and faced the largest array of offenders in a year. Not only was the dock crowded to Its utmost capacity, but several benches and a number of chairs had to be pressed Into service as well. There are prospects of the appear ance In Portland of the world s great est prima donna, Mme. Adellna Pattl. A petition is being circulated In Kla math County to have the name of Llnkvllle changed to Klamath Falls by the postoffice authorities. Snow Is falling in Eastern Oregon and the railroads are finding great trouble In getting their trains through. Ilnlf a Century Aro. From The Oregonian of December 27, lPCiV We are the recipients of the cake. ejtc, usual on such occasions. In honor of the marrlnge of George H. Hlmes. '(Jo thou and do likewise." Owing to the nonarrlval of the steam er from San Francisco, on which a large number of fancy costumes for the Intended masquerade ball to have taken place tonight were expected, it becomes necessary for the committee to postpone the ball until Tuesday next. The people of Oregon City are dis cussing with much earnestness the ne cessity of having a fire department. Admiral Farragut gets-$19.000 for his share of the Mobile prize money. PEACE DOVE'S Fill I TLESS FUfilli By James Barton Adams. Borne on the breeze the peace dove heard a call come to Its cote, and step ping forth, the eager bird trilled a sweet answering note. lthin that cote beyond the seas where it had slept for years the gun-smoke tainted every breeze and dead were piled In tiers. From Teuton statesman, stern and bluff. It heard an earnest plea and quickly answered: "That's the stuff! It now Is up to me." It sped to this great hemisphere, to this peace favored shore, and chirped In Uncle Sammy's ear te message that It bore. As mes senger again it sped to distant land afar, to old historic Petrograd, where dwells the mighty Tzar. "Skidooski!" growled the Russian bear, "back to se clusion bike: no peace palaver will I hear till foes their colors strike. 'Tis not a no-declslon scrap. Just take from me the hunch; 'twill go until that Kai ser chap receives a knockout punch." Somewhat discouraged flew the bird to famous London town to see the Bull that leads the herd and wears the gild ed crown. The bovine pawed the yield ing earth an ' bellowed angrily, then laughed In w J. volcanic mirth at the absurd 1-dee. "When your white wings again are spread o'er fields with car nage fraught 'twill be when William's sick abed with broken heart! That's what!" Again the dove hid in Its cote with teardrops in its eyes, a wad of sorrow in Its throat. Its bosom oozing sighs, and said: "My hopes have flown up the traditional old ssjout; the marble heart you handed me; now, darn you, fight it out!" But It Didn't. From the New York Tribune. This is what might have happened to a celebrated poem if the print paper shortage had prevailed iu Longfellow's time: P. REVERE S 12 P. M. RIDE. April eighteenth, sev'nty-f Ive. was when Revere warned the Middlesex Minute Men; And on the following day was won The Battle of Concord and Lexington.
