13
TIIE jymXIXG OREGOXIAy, TUESDAY. JAXTJAET 2, 1917.
Qfyt Bx$$omxt
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l'OKTUN I, TUESDAY, JAXCABI 8, 1917.
TEACHING EVERYTHING.
One obtains the impression from
addresses delivered by educators last
weeff at the meetings of the Oregon
State Teachers' Association that vo
cational and pre-vocational studies,
manual training and domestic science
are gaining doubtful distinction as
fads in the public schools. The little
districts follow the big ones to the
best of their ability and often with
distressing results.
One teacher cited a school in which
the time spent in manual instruction
In an entire semester was equivalent
only to the ordinary hours of a me
chanic for a single day. Another,
from Eastern Oregon, complained that
In rural communities pupils, instead of
being trained to perform the mechani
cal tasks that devolve upon the farm
er, were instructed as though all were
destined to become cabinet-makers
or draughtsmen.
Dr. Suzzallo, who seemed . to have
the larger and better equipped dis
tricts in mind, cautioned against cram
ming the youthful mind with too
many facts. Yet. somewhat to the
bewilderment of the lay listener, he
cautioned likewise against neglecting
cultural instruction of those acquir
ing vocational learning, and against
neglecting vocational instruction of
those engaged in cultural studies.
Clearly there is a great deal to bo
learned in school if one is to fit him
self there for any vocational con
tingency. The schools attempt to turn
out scholars socially fit to meet all
life's uncertainties, and in doing so
try to cram a maximum of instruction
into what is really a minimum period.
But how is cramming to be avoided
if the theory is to be upheld? Clearly
the schools must cram or else guide
the child into a vocation before he ac
quires judgment of his own as to his
fitness or inclinations.
Prom the latter process we should
acquire a great many mechanics who
would have made better preachers or
lawyers, or doctors, and a great many
doctors, lawyers and preachers who
would have made better mechanics.
There are misfits now, alas, but not
so many as there would be In a groove
system of education wherein the school
patron trusted to the educator the en
tire vocational future of his progeny.
Mental training or cultural instruc
tion, unlike the manual, is an asset
in any walk. Dr. Pearse, who dwelt
on that subject, quoted statistics to
show the greater earning capacity of
farmers who had received high school
or college education over those who
had been content with grammar
school rudiments. It is quite appar
ent that there must be a greater ef
ficiency produced by mental training.
What farmer's boy would not be more
deeply Impressed by college advocates
of seed selection if he had read in
Vergil, nearly two thousand years old,
of this fundamental of scientific agri
culture? Yet knowledge, of draughts
manship or of cabinet-making would
not profit him greatly when the cream
separator was out of repair or the
mower needed sharpening.
Under our present system the fann
er's daughter may have learned ex
actly how to make chicken croquettes.
only to find upon returning home that
the hired men lick the platter clean,
leaving nothing available for cro
quettes. The lawyer s son may
have spent hours in cabinet work
that well equips him to repair
a broken window frame, only to
find, when he comes to apply his
knowledge, that it is cheaper to sum
mon the carpenter from around the
corner than it is to buy the tools he
needs to do the job himself.
There is no inclination herein to as
sert that proficiency of hand has no
advantages, but in providing' it the
danger is that we are losing sight of
the superior needs of mental profi
ciency. An intensely practical illustra
tion was given by Mr. W. F. Wood
ward. He did not deal with theories,
but with facts. He had inquired of
. thirteen large employers bankers and
business men as to the quickness at
figures, legibility of handwriting, abil-
' ity to spell correctly, and proficiency
in expressive reading of the youths
who came to them from the public
schools seeking work. The answer of
' all thirteen employers was that the
general rule was-deficiency.
As already remarked, there Is too
much to be learned in the world to
hope to cram it all into the youthful
mind during school hours. A little
' knowledge about everything and not
much about anything is poor equip
ment for life's work. The growing
cost of the public schools is traceable
; to their spreading paternalism, and
It is doubtful if all the Increase Is
well spent.
VICTIMS OF A BAD SYSTEM.
The declaration of Oregon National
Guard officers in favor of universal
military training should have the more
weight because it comes from men
who have, at great sacrifice and from
a sense of patriotic duty, given the
Nation an object lesson in the utter
: inadequacy of the voluntary system.
They have most unjustly been made
the "goats" of a system for which
they were not responsible, but of
which they have been the victims. All
the criticism which has been leveled
at the mobilization and its aftermath
was aimed, not at the Guard, but at
the preposterous Hay law; in fact,
much of it has come from the Guard
or has been indorsed by spokesmen
for that organization.
The men who compose the National
Guard have earned a high place in the
. esteem of their fellow-citizens by vol-
' untarily performing what they deemed
a patriotic duty, while the vast majo
rity of Americans shirked that duty
because there was no compulsion. The
' failure of the Guard to come up to the
requirements for the Nation's sec
ond line of defense is not the fault
of the men who composed it; it is due
to the manner In which the Guard Is
organized and to the terms of its
service.
Every event and all discussion' of
our military system add force to the
overwhelming argument in favor of
making military service a part
of every able-bodied male citi
zen s duty, to be performed as
surely as he pays his taxes. It
would provide us with ten times as
many trained men as were provided on
paper by the Hay law, and would do
so at a fraction of the cost. It would
not only train men as soldiers but it
would improve them as citizens; that
has been the experience of every Na
tion which has practiced it. If our
statesmen would but have the courage
to face the facts they would end their
perplexity as to how money can be
raised for our mounting military
budget by cutting the knot with the
knife of compulsion. They are afraid
of the bogey-word "conscription,"
which is the instrument of a despot
and bears no resemblance to the duty
of National defense which is performed
by the citizen of a democratic state.
DEVELOP THE FACTS. .
Nellie Miller, a comely and healthy
woman, twenty-one years of age, was
persuaded by LeRoy Kerns, a married
man, to impersonate Mrs. Kerns and
sign certain papers which enabled
Kerns to get possession of $300, in
which the real Mrs. Kerns had a right
ful interest. Mr. Kerns and his young
companion are In Jail on a charge of
forgery, with a definite prospect of a
prison term if the accusation shall be
found to be true.
It is not an uncommon story, nor
an exceptional experience. But Miss
Miller, in her version of her recent
adventures, touches uon a phase of
life in Oregon which deserves a little
attention. She scorns society, or pre
tends to scorn it, and seeks to hold
it accountable for her plight. All that
is the familiar plea of the wrongdoer.
and is entitled to whatever weight it
deserves; but the comment of Miss
Miller on the working of the mtnlmim
wage law ought not to be dismissed
lightly. She says it is responsible for
her failure to get, or rather to keep
a living Job.
With the intent of the minimum
wage law to give women a decent
wage, with reasonable hours the
public is In harmony; and so is The
Oregonian. But is it accomplishing
these aims?
How many women have been dis
placed in Oregon industry for men?
How many employers have women as
apprentices and have others in their
places at the end of the apprentice
period? How have merely seasonal
employments, like the canning of
fruit, been affected? Has the scale
of wages for women been generally
raised? Have conditions surrounding
female employment been Improved?
Has industry been aided, or injured?
These and many other questions ought
to be fairly and fully answered.
The Oregonian would like to see the
whole question Investigated with the
purpose of developing all -the facts,
and not to support, not to disprove.
mere theories, humanitarian, eco
nomic, social or otherwise.
MERE BIGNESS.
The most curious phenomenon in
population growth throughout the
United States is the struggle for size.
Mere bigness is assumed to be all
inclusive of everything. The cities
have the notion in highly aggravated
form that there is something vital
in the census figures. New York takes
in Brooklyn and all the adjacent sub
urbs and proudly announces that It
has 5,260,000 inhabitants and is the
greatest city in the world which it
is not. Chicago noses out Philadelphia
for second place in the American con
test and makes no secret of its pur
pose to surpass New York in time.
Cleveland rises from ninth position in
1890 to seventh in 1900 and sixth in
1910 and San Francisco drops from
ninth in 1900 to eleventh in 1910.
Seattle makes a long leap from forty
eighth city in 1900 to twenty-first ten
years later, and the din made (by
Seattle) over the achievement has not
yet subsided (In Seattle). Portland
at the same time Jumps from forty
second to twenty-eighth and has made
less noise about it than Seattle only
because the feat was not so stupen
dous. ,
Let us not underestimate the value
of population growth as a mark of
progress. But let us also understand
that it is only a small part of the
story, so far as it affects the indi
vidual citizen. How greatly is the av
erage person affected by the fact that
New York has 3.000,000 or 6,000,000
or Portland 100,000 or 500,000?
The census bureau at Washington,
conscious of the craze for bigness, or
the appearance of it, recently perpe
trated certain population estimates.
The population of continental United
States was placed at 102,017,312. and
of New York City at 5.602,841. These
estimates may" not be far wrong, but
wonder arises at the fact that Seattle
is given 348.639 and Portland 295,463.
Is there anyone in either city who
fancies that these high totals have re
cently been attained?
The mind is perplexed at the meth
od taken to reach such extravagant
figures. For example, the census of
1910 gave St. Paul (Minn.) 214,744,
and Portland 207,214, but these amaz
ing current estimates credit St. Paul
now with 247.232. Tlie United States
Government, through its census bu
reau, thus becomes responsible for a
statement, or a guess, that since 1910
Portland has gained 88,000 in popula
tion, in round numbers, and St. Paul
but 33,000.
Evidently the census bureau is striv
ing to give a reason for its existence
from decade to decade. But it really
ought not to be either necessary or
excutHiuie lor a uovemmeni oureau
to perpetrate palpable absurdities
merely to keep on the payroll until
the time of the next Federal census
polls around.
One of the points made by the late
Professor Munsterberg in his psycho
logical estimation of a class of 340 stu
dents in which he found only one
"mentally perfect," and advised that
one to go into the canning business, is
that few men make full use of the
intellectual powers they possess. In
other words, they are mentally lazy,
which is almost as bad, in its ultimate
effect, as if they were stupid. They
are likely to be passed on the road to
"success" by individuals of relative
mediocrity, because those latter indi
viduals are possessed of determination
quite out of proportion to their bril
liancy. There is no doubt that an
80-per-cent man who gets full meas
ure out of himself is going to outstrip
the 100-per-cent man who only half
tries. Those who take Professor
Munsterberg's lesson to heart will.
therefore, be insistent that habits of
application and industry be instilled
into even the most intellectual of their
children, and will not trust too much
to native powers to overcome the
handicap of indolence. It Is the
old story of the hare and the tortoise
over again. If the hare had kept
awake there would be a far different
tale to tell of the incident.
HAIL THE OREGON MIST.
It is natural for the rain to fall in
January In Western Oregon. Snow Is
pure and beautiful. The sunshine
which followed it Sunday was gor
geous. But the East wind had brought
its aches and snuffles. The human
body seems to adapt itself to Nature's
normal mood. So it is that aches and
snuffles, which defied drugs and phys
ics when Oregon nature was on" a holi
day, are dissipated by Oregon Mist.
Let us hope that Indian George
whoever he may be who predicted a
hard Winter, misread the signs. To
make an honest confession, we have
small faith in Indian weather lore.
Indian weather predictions come about
something like this:
White Brother- "Good morning,
George."
Indian George "Ugh."
White Brother "Going to be a hard
Winter, George?"
Indian George "Ugh."
White Brother "Good day.George."
Indian George "Ugh."
When this edifying conversation
reaches the public it appears that In
dian George has said that the fish
are seeking deep holes, that the rab
bits have taken on an extra coat of
fur, that the squirrels have laid by
great stores of nuts, that the bears
went, to bed three weeks early, and
that the moss crop is unusually pro
lific all being certain tokens to the
observant Indian that snow and ice
are to seal land and stream.
We are not acquainted with Indian
George. But if we were we doubt
that we would place more credence
upon his prophetic powers than we
do upon those of the Rev. Irl R.
Hicks. The thing to be admired
about the Rey. Hicks is that he gives
us variety. But whoever heard of
Indian George predicting anything but
a hard Winter?
Anyhow, thank God for the rain.
WASTE FROM AN EMPTY BARBEL.
Although the Government faces the
prospect of a deficit on July 1, 1918,
which is estimated by Secretary of the
Treasury McAdoo at $185,000,000, and
by Chairman Fitzgerald, of the House
committee on appropriations, as high !
as $300,000,000. the Honse threatens
to spend $120,000,000 on pork barrel
bills. Bills have been reported appro
priating $35,000,000 for public build
ings and $45,000,'000 for drainage of
16,000,000 acres of land in the Missis
sippi Valley, and a river and harbor
bill is being drafted which is expected
to appropriate $40,000,000. In times
of financial stress the drainage bill
could well be deferred, and the
amounts carried by the other two bills
could be cut In two. if all worthless
schemes were abandoned. The deficit
would then be reduced by $82,500,000.
But the men at the head of the
House committees show no disposition
to save in any such way. The public
building bill has been shown by Rep
resentative Frear to be stuffed
with pork. In- a thorough analysis he
showed that it contained 400 different
items distributed among more than
300 Congressional districts "to enlist
the support of enough votes to pass
the bill." The committee professed
to have made a rule to recommend
no appropriation for a town of which
the postal receipts were less than
$10,000 a year, but it violated that
rule in many instances when it drew
the bill of 1913, the first after adop
tion of the pretended rule. When the
rule was offered as an amendment, it
was rejected by a majority of over a
hundred. That bill provided for over
400 projects in more than 300 districts,
many of them for towns of less than
3000 population, and the present bill
is of the same character.
No principle of business was fol
lowed. The 1913 law established a
Public Buildings Commission, which
recommended ' that no building
should be erected where annual
postal "receipts were less than
$10,000 nor until a comparison
had been made between rental value
of suitable premises and cost of main
tenance and operation, including In
terest at 3 per cent on the proposed
investment. Postmaster-General Burle
son went farther and proposed that no
building for postofflce purposes be
authorized unless the Government was
paying rent of $1000 a year, and then
only when postoffice . receipts were
$15,000 a year or the population
5000. He also proposed that space be
provided for United States Courts only
where- court had actually been in ses
sion at least ten days.of the preceding
year, and for other branches of the
Government only where there was real
need of the accommodation at least
one day of each month. Had Mr.
Burleson's plan been followed, over 80
per cent of the projects in the bills of
both 1913 and 1916 would have been
rejected, and one-half of the Federal
courthouses would not have been built.
The waste does not stop with the
erection of useless buildings; it is con
tinuous year after year in excessive
cost of operation. The average annual
operating cost of 436 postofflce build
ings, including 2 per cent interest on
the investment, is $3315 for $50,000
buildings and $4570 for $75,000 build
ings. The highest rent paid by the
Government for any one of the post
offices having over $10,000 In annual
receipts is $2580 and the lowest $161,
while the average for 4320 in 1913
was $824. In such towns Government
buildings are run at a loss equal to
the difference between $824 and
either $3315 or $4570.
But the committee - proposes hun
dreds of buildings at Just such places.
It does not stop at places of 5000 peo
ple, as proposed by Mr. Burleson, but
frequently goes below 2000. Florida,
having among its four Representatives
the chairmen of the two great pork
barrel committees, is especially well
taken care of. Having had eleven items
in the last bill, it has seven in the new
one, providing for three of its four
districts. Klssimmee, the village on
the river of the same name, which has
been given much river and harbor
pork, is given $35,000 and Clearwater,
a village of 1171 people, gets $40,000.
That is how it runs all through the
list of Southern states. Places of fewer
than 3000 people are given buildings
In North as well as South, but more
so in the South than in the North
Few districts are left out, but the
South was already so well provided
that allotments to much smaller places
In that section than in the North were
needed to cover the majority of dis
tricts and thus win the votes of their
members. Texas has sixteen items, of
which three-fourths are for towns, of
fewer than 4000 people, one-half in
places of fewer than 3000, and one
quarter in villages of fewer than 2000.
Kentucky has Items for thirteen towns,
the largest of which has 4968 people,
only two others are over 3000 and one.
Hazard, has only 637 people.
The effect of this parceling out of
the funds among the states and dis
tricts to catch votes has been to give
buildings to many towns in the South
where they are wasted, and to deny
them to much larger towns in the
North where they are needed. Having
far fewer large towns, the South was
sooner equipped for all its genuine
needs. Buildings are now voted for
Southern villages, while much larger
Northern communities still wait. The
Public Building Commission reported
that 508 cities having postal receipts
over $10,000 occupied rented quarters,
but none of them has been provided
for in the six bills passed since 1902,
which distributed over $150,000,000,
and 284 cities of over 5000 population
are in the same situation. None of the
508 are in Arkansas, Georgia, Ken
tucky, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia,
only one is in Alabama and two each
are in Florida and Louisiana. That
is a total of only five in eleven South
ern states compared with 877 in eleven
Northern states.
This is no cause for surprise, when
It Is recalled that thirty-one of the im
portant committee chairmen in the
House, including the heads of the
great spending committees, are from
the South, and only one is from the
North. He is Chairman Fitzgerald,
of the appropriations committee, who
has vainly striven to restrain the ex
travagance of his associates and who
said of them:
They have unnecessarily plied up- pub
lic expenditures until the Democratic party
is becoming the laughing stock, of the
country.
Mr. Frear proposed a simple remedy
for this shameful abuse. It is the
creation of a commission which shall
lay down rules governing the charac
ter, cost and location of buildings and
which shall report its recommenda
tions to Congress, and the cost is to
be included in the estimates of the
Secretary of the Treasury. Passage
of such a bill is not as hopeless as it
may seem, for many members of Con
gress have lost their taste for pork
since it became the subject of much
adverse comment. Mr. Frear pointed
to his own re-election as proof that
pork is not necessary to get votes. He
recalled that the Democrats declared
his district vulnerable and poured
money and speakers into it, yet he was
re-elected by more than double his
usual vote. The people do not ask
their Representatives to support dis
honest bills in order to get pork. When
Congress begins to impose new taxes
to pay the bills, the voters will show
more interest in economy and will turn
against the men who trade their votes
for pork.
The two belligerent nations which
have been slowest to attack the liquor
traffic as an obstacle to national ef
ficiency in war are the leading alco
hol-consuming nations of each party
to the war Great Britain and Ger
many and they are also the most
powerful members of the rival alli
ances. Should one put alcohol under
the ban, while the other retains It in
common use, we should have an op
portunity to judge of its effects on
national endurance in war.
So many times men about to die
leave a handicap to their widows in
wills pauperizing them If they re
marry that when one is circumvented
there is a general chuckle of satis
faction. Jocularly speaking, most men
would be pleased to know their widows
would soon remarry and learn that
old man- No. 1 was not such a bad lot
after all.
The time-honored custom of the
Democratic party leaving a big deficit
for incoming Republicans to meet has
been broken and the party that spent
the money must arrange to foot the
bills. It is only $279,000,000. but it
is all "old hoss" and must be raised
somehow.
Statements to the contrary not
withstanding. New Year's day dates
from the time of Noah, who disem
barked on the first day of the first
month of the 601st year. If that was
not observance of a new year it was
very close to it. Even Ham was over
come.
The statement that cigarette-smok
ing women are undermining the move
ments for civic betterment In New
York may be taken with much al
lowance. The woman who smokes
cigarettes cannot naturally aid in bet
tering anything.
Thomas W. Lawson's pretended rev
elations would receive more attention
if he had not on former occasions
promised to enlighten the people In
similar ways, but failed to make good.
Sighing for someone to conquer.
Captain White has girded himself up
and gone right after D. Rum. P. Villa
and V. Carranza will take notice that
their turn may come any day now.
If the Filipino is neither fish, flesh
nor fowl, he must remain a political
burden until somebody goes to war
with us and assumes and assimilates
him.
Carranza's government of Mexico
becomes less de facto every day, as
Villa knocks the defactoness out of It.
There are 49,000 acres of mountain-
top homestead sites in Oregon await
ing the man who would rise.
With assurances from both sides. It
is going to be a peaceful strike. No
policeman need apply.
Three long years until leap year.
but that is not a handicap In an equal
suffrage state.
If Portland cannot have "sleet" why
not exhibit a crust and pronounce it
"glawze" ?
The man with an armful of Annual
Oregonlans was met on every corner
yesterday.
Once upon a time the Oregon Ag
gies traveled abroad and walloped the
foe, too.
The slacker foams at the mention
of conscription and it is for him it is
devised.
Living In London may be cheaper
than here, but Oregon is good enough.
Tom Lawson could write the best
seller if- he went into real fiction.
All over the state the new brooms
begin sweeping this morning.
It was a funny New Year's day, even
If it was a happy one.
Just 'show the Oregons something
they cannot beat!
Poor old Pennsyl
Gleams Through the Mist.
By Dean Collins.
KINETEEN-SEYENTEEjr.
Backward, turn backward, O Time In
your flight!
At least you do seem to, when I try to
write.
For I scarcely have finished my greet
ings. I fear.
When I find that my pencil has skidded
a year.
And the letter I wrote with such care
to a friend
To wish "Happy New Year" and luck
without end.
Expresses correctly the greetings I
mean
But I've dated the thing under 1916.
Backward, turn backward, O Time, In
your flight!
I concentrate on you with all of my
might,
But my cheque book, it bristles with
scrlbblings strange
That show that my pen isn't used to the
change,
And I suddenly find, with a feeling of
woe.
That rm dating my checks all a whole
year ago.
For a habit once formed sticks quite
calm and serene
And my hand is accustomed to 1916.
Backward, turn backward. O Time, In
your flight!
There's many another who's in the same
Plight;
The old year Is dead and should learn
to behave.
But he clutches us still from the depths
of his grave.
And mixes himself with each date line
we write.
And backward, turns backward old
Time in its flight.
And we get as annoyed and as helpless,
I ween, '
As in 1916. when we wrote It '15.
"Sir," said the Courteous Office Boy.
coming into the office with an evil leer
on his face.
"What Is it. my son?" I queried
kindly.
"The Federal authorities have decid
ed to arrest the -corn-fed soprano we
heard at the movie last night," said the
C. O. B., spreading his net before my
innocent feet.
"And for why?" I remarked as I
walked into It.
"For piracy on the high C's.' ghouled
the C. O. B.. and fled yelping down
the hall, while I shattered upon him
my New Year's resolution to preserve
my serenity, no matter what atrocities
might develop.
It had been so long since the C. O.
B. had pulled a wheeze of that type
that I had almost come to hope that he
had attained riper age and discretion.
RCLG JAP AX I A.
(A national anthem that the Jlngoees
say may be written.)
When Nippon first, at Heaven's com
tnand.
Arose from out the deep Pacific.
This was the charter for the land
In Oriental hieroglyphic:
Rule Japan Is-, rule the wave.
And make Manchuria behave!"
The nations not so blest as thee
In time may rise to make a roar;
But sev'ral dreadnoughts on the sea
Should help to close the open door;
"So rule Japanla, rule the wave.
And make Manchuria behave!"
To thee belongs commercial reign
Exports and imports wax terrific;
All thine shall be the subject main
From end to end of the Pacific;
So rule, Japanla, rule the ware.
And make the hemisphere behave!
Thy merchantmen shall boldly dash.
While nations listen with amaze.
Each day or so. Unto the splash
Of dreadnoughts skidding down their
ways.
You'll rule. Japanla. rule the wave
And make the whole darned world b
have!
Reading the replies of the entente
powers to the peace note from the
United States, we might feel. If we
were more familiar with the scriptures,
that they are trying to quote to Uncle
Sam that text in the sixth chapter of
Jeremiah:
"They have healed also the hart of
the daughter of my people slightly,
saying: "Peace, peace when there Is
no peace!' "
BARDS' BOSE-DRT SAM.ERFEST.
The dry minstrel of the day is "W.
J. S.." who writes from "somewhere in
Washington."
He says. In connection with his verse.
"Please censor." but, gosh! we couldn't
do that and still print It, so we permit
him to whang his harp and carol un
restricted and uncensored, and we hope
the Gen. Pub. can stand it as well as
we can:
Tm going to enter your Sangerfest.
Ouess you think: "Here comes a pest!'
(Wild applause.)
Who's going to try to run a bluff
With some of that there' poetry stuff?
I know that I could be & poet. (Q. V.)
'Cause everyone says I'd ought to know
It:
But every time I write the second line
It's funny how the thing does rhyme.
(Ha-ha! Said, the villain!)
Now of your knowledge please Impart.
Right from the bottom of your heart.
And tell me how Oregon can be dry
With so much above here In the sky?
And everytlme that Old Jupe spills.
He tries to wash out all the hills;
And every time he takes the notion.
He even tries to flood the ocean.
Why do you say she Is bone dry.
Just because you can't get your rye?
You have the very best under the sun-
She 'answers to the name of Old Bull
Run.
(Note.) Wild applause injected by
ourself to Indicate that the pote has
guessed rightly.
('Nother note.) Q. V, meaning "qui
vive." 4ndlcatlng that we are willing to
be shown
( 'Nother note.) but he dldnt
show us.
Farthest Land West.
' SOUTH BEND, Wash, Dee. 31. (To
the Editor.) (1) Please publish which
is the farthest point west in the United
States, not Including Alaska. (2) What
is the latitude of Cape Flattery? (3)
Point Blanco? WM. KETES.
(1) Cape Flattery. '
(3) Cape Blanco, latitude 42 de'g. 60
mln. N, longitude 124-27 W.
(3) Cape Flattery, latitude 48 deg.
2SH mln. N, longitude 124-44 W.
NEWSPAPERS IX HOLIDAY DRESS
Northwest Press Observe Season with
Special Editions.
Pilot Rock is a town of probably
1500 people, possibly not that many.
The Record is in ordinary issues an
excellent weekly paper, well patron
ized by business men. The "Annual
Christmas Edition" of the Record is
remarkable in that it consists of 36
pages, of which 21 are advertisements.
The reading matter Is divided between
holiday literature and reviews of the
home city and a few neighbors.
A disinterested man would say the
Marshfleld papers are many laps ahead
of that city, and he would voice a
truth; but the holiday number of the
Coos Bay Times, an issue of 24 pages.
Is convincing testimony that the busi
ness men certainly appreciate the work
or Mr. JIaloney and are doing great
things in the advertising line.
The printer's ideal newspaper in Ore
gon is the Gresham Outlook. It is al
ways clean and neat and well handled.
The spirit of "go" about the office, and
the capabilities of its equipment, are
snown in the handsome holiday edition
in a cover of two colors and a com
prehensive"" write-up of the little city,
all done, as the editor boasts, within
three days. He modestly omits to state
it was all well done.
It would not be Christmas in Union
if the Scout did not come to the bat
with its holiday edition to tell what a
place Union County is for the farmer
and stockman. That is what the cur
rent issue does, and it tells it in a
convincing manner.
If an ancient joke will be pardoned.
it may be said the holiday number ot
the Newberg Enterprise will be read
all over. Without ornate trimmings
and with an austere omission of the
floss that usually accompanies a
Christmas splurge. Editor Bell tells
why Newberg is the best place in Ore
gon in which to live and do business.
Sent into a community of restless peo
ple, this number will produce results.
The man who would get a line on
Coos County outside of the big city
must procure a copy of the Christmas
number of the Western World of Ban
don. There are resources untouched
and possibilities undreamed in thai
section, and the issue at hand sounds
the call to them.
The "Christmas Number" of the Med
ford Sun is like its predecessors, all
advertisements, with the saving grace
of being well set and made attractive
by the hands of an artist. The illum
inated cover, by the way, throws light
on the mooted question of temperature
at the time of the Nativity, for the
shepherds are depleted in scanty rai
ment, gazing at the Star.
The "Christmas Number. 1916" of the
South Bond (Wash.) Journal has the
seasonal colors of the holly in its cover,
but the other pages mostly are taken
by the business men of the city.
fiOOD WISHES ARE FOR EVERYONE
Portland Minister Offers New Year
Thoughts and Peraonal IMedee.
PORTLAND, Jan. 1. (To the Edi
tor.) Nineteen Hundred an,d Sixteen
is buried in the sacred graveyard of
the many yesterdays, and 1917. a child
of great promise, is with us. 1 wish
for the beautiful city of Portland, as
a corporate unit, a happy New Year:
and may 1917 be regarded as one of
the bet and most prosperous years
of our rapidly growing city. I wish
for the Mayor, the Judges and the va
rious officials and heads of depart
ments, wisdom to discerfi as to what
Is best for the welfare, of our Port
land, and courage to prosecute the
course that wisdom dictates.
I wish for the business men happi
ness and prosperity with God's special
blessing. I wish for each line of legit
imate business a year of unsurpassed
prosperity and growth. 1 wish for the
splendid (schools and excellent colleges
a year of the highest efficiency and
most noble achievements along educa
tional lines; for the teachers a most
pleasant year in connection with their
high vocation; and for the thousands
of students a year of culture of mind
and heart commensurate with the
splendid opportunities afforded them.
I wish for the churches a year of
great prosperity and the richest bless
ings of our Heavenly Father; for the
preachers of the various denominations
a year of great success in preaching
the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in
such manner as to lift the city of Port
land on a higher moral and ethical
plane, and to advance the kingdom of
Christ among men.
I wish for the homeless and friend
less the special providential care of
him. who cares for the fparrow and
permits not a hair of the head to fall
unnoticed. I wish for the sad and eor
rowful and the bereaved, from any or
every source, that divine consolation
that God alone can give to assuage
their grief and heal their sorrows.
I wish for the hospitals, with their
inmates, the various homes for the
aged and the unfortunate, every bless
ing and adequate contribution to make
possible the accomplishment of the
noble end for which these institutions
were founded.
I wish for the worklngman a good
position, a contented mind, and ade
quate compensation for his faithful
labor.
I wish for all I have omitted or
failed to remember just that blessing
best suited to the individual need.
As a pastor- of a church and as a
member of your society, as a citizen of
your commonwealth, and as a friend
and admirer of Portlsmd. I promise to
do all within my power to make my
wish a reality.
REV. ALEXANDER BEERS.
BONE DRY.
When the state gets dry and boney.
All our minds will bs so phony
That everything will drift Into a
whirl;
And we'll all be on the blink.
For we cannot get a drink.
And things will be so tight your hair
will curl.
And If -you've been a boozer
You're going to be a loser.
For the legislator says, as sure as
sin.
He'll obey the people's will.
Though It be a bitter pill.
And there'll be no more of ale or
beer or gin.
And we can't go on a lark.
For we'll have to toe the mark.
And the air is getting clearer every
day;
So no matter how you mutter.
The booze goes In the gutter.
In defiance of our personal liber-tee.
And now good-bye to Demon Rum,
He's been put upon the bum.
For the outraged voters finally made
him croak;
And the grog shop on the corner
Is left without a mourner.
Unhrss we overlook the poor, mis
guided soak. T. T. GEER.
Beet Sngar Reflnlnar.
LEBANON, Or.. Dec 31. (To the Edi
tor.) I would like to know how to
remove the beet taste from beet sugar
and what chemicals they use. If they
use any. RAY DAVIS.
Pure beet sugar and pure cane sugar
are Identical in composition and taste.
Raw beet sugar has an unpleasant fla
vor, but the process which produces
the refined product is the same as that
employed with cane sugar. It is only
a matter of separating the ujr crys
tals from other substances. We must
refer you to the encyclopedia or some
work on sugar for details on refining.
In Other Days
Twenty-five Y'ears Ago.
From The OreKoaian of January 2. 1832.
Albany, N. Y Jan. 1. Roswell P.
Flower was inaugurated Governor to
day. City of Mexico, Jan. 1. Telegrams
received today say that the force of
Mexican revolutionists, which a few
days ago attacked a body of l?nited
States soldiers, numbered only 10 men.
Berlin. Jan. 1. The Kaiser made no
New Y'ear's speech today. It had been
expected that he would seize the occa
sion to utter his views on the condi
tion of Europe and prospects of war
or peace, but the day passed off with
out any sensation.
Berlin. Jan. 1. Prince Bismarck's
New Year's day reception indicates
that his hold upon the German people
is ss strong as ever. He has been
overwhelmed all day with letters, tele
grams and flowers. The Kaiser did
not send any of them.
Henry Fleckensteln's two double
dwellings on West Park. between
Montgomery and Harrison streets,
were damaged by firs to the extent of
$10,000 last night.
NEW YEAR.
BY DEAN COLLINS.
When Janus weeps o'er the Old Year
dying.
Then Janus smiles on the New Year
born;
The ashes of snow from the cold pyi
nying
Are feathers from wings of the
Phoenix torn;
The midnight toll for the Old Year
dead.
Is a herald front o" the New Year sped.
A herald out of the tower crying
Youth and hope and the New Y'ear's
morn.
Brave, bright hopes of the past year
wither:
Stubborn vows of the past year fall;
Dear dreams vanish, wo know not
whither.
Into the past, which swallows all.
But brighter hopes have been born
anew.
And dearer dreams, that may all come
true.
For the prophet of hopes and dreams
comes hither.
The New Y'ear knocks at the festal
halL
Light leaps up to the roof and rafter;
Life leaps up in the heart again:
Bubble the founts of wakening
laughter
Over the arid plots of pain:
And the New Year, born in the mid
night chime.
Has baffled the ancient arts of time.
And we laugh In the eyes of the
veiled hereafter.
For wo now that our hopes shall bo
not in vain.
What is the gift the New Year's bring
ing? ,11 t l. a .Vin1, ...... .nl..-
All of your dearest dreams, upspring-
Bright as a cloud of flying fire;
iavo aim in u f. 1 1 . v i ii.. j j - - - - . . r
The New Y'ear reads in your horoscope.
, . . . -
uecas won n uoing ana duuss . i 1 n
ringing.
The rainbow's end and your heart's
desire.
Ills Bone-Ury New Y'ear Calls.
PORTLAND, Or.. Jan. 1. 1917 In
damper days, now past, when we were
not so bloomin' dry, togged In his
gladdest scenery from shoes to Christ
mas tie. our nelehbor Just serous the
street would leave his chamber walls
and hike him forth on gladsome feet
to make his New Y'ear calls. The ladles
gladly welcomed him In hospitable way
and filled the glassware to the brim
with punch or Tom and J. and when
he'd made the calling rounds his legs
had lost their pep, his feet weighed
forty-seven pounds, and wobbly was
his step. The brains were scrambled
in his head, his eyes seemed glaz-ed
o'er and when he tumbled Into bed his
clothing strewed the floor. He saw
things in his troubled dreams that ain't
nor never were, and oft his frightened
nightmare screams tore tatters in the
air. 'TIs different now; but yesterday
at dawning of the year he blithely
started on his way. hU spirits in high
gear. He made full many New Year
calls and was a welcome guest and
something dlff"rent from highballs wan
chambered In his chest. The ladies'
smiles were Just as bright. their
greetings Just as warm, their eyes as
full of welcoming light and sweet their
every charm as when the portal of his
head gave ingress to the booze, and
when at night he souRht his bed de
lightful was his snooze, and when he
rose at morn his brain was free from
boozy stings; instead of harboring dire
pain It harbored pleasing things, and
as he took his morning bath glad song
his lips turned loose: there is no pain
ful aftermath of loganberry Juice.
JAMES BARTON ADAMS.
Declaration of Principles.
PORTLAND, Jan. 1. (To the. Edi
tor.) Here are my Ten Command
ments for 1917:
1. I believe in today in the world
of now.
2. I believe in action.
3. I believe In today's people and to
day's opportunities.
4. I belTeve In myself as part of to
day and the work I have to do.
5. I believe that diligence Is tho
mother of good luck.
6. I believe In thinking, working, do
ing, playing, appreciating, contribut
ing, enjoying today.
7. I believe in the kingdom and ths
gospel of now. ,
8 I believe that goodness cherished
now Is eternal life already entered
upon. .
9. I believe In thinking each and
every moment as though my thoughts
were visible to all about me.
10. I -believe that nobody has any
right to find life uninteresting or un
rewarding who sees within the sphere
of his own activity a wrong he can
help to remedy, or within himself in
evil he can hope to overcome.
Do it now. J. A. C.
Business Methods.
Life.
An elderly lady entered a shop and
asked to be shown some tablecloths.
The salesman brought a pile and
.kiautah them tn her. but she said she
J had seen those elsewhere nothing
suited her.
"Haven't you something new?" she
asked.
The clerk then brought another pile
and showed them to her.
These are the newest patterns." he
said. "You will notice that the edge
runs right around the border and the
center Is in the middle."
"Isn't that lovely!" said the lady.
"I will take a half a dozen of those."
Government and Can a la.
NEHALEM. Or.. Dec 31. (To the
Editor.) I would like to know If the
Federal Government has any control
over a canal that Is under construction
within a state.
JOSEPH S. BOY AKIN.
Or&iaarlly. no; in specific Instances,
such as one in which navigable waters
are diverted, or National forests en
tered upon. yes.
Not Legally.
PORTLAND. Jan. 1. (To the Editor.)
Can a person, man or woman, di
vorced In MuRnomah County. Oregon,
marry again within three months. In
Oregon? A SUBSCRIBER,