Morning Oregonian., August 28, 1917, Page 8, Image 8

THE 3IORNING OREGONIATT, TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1917.
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PORTLAND, TTTESDAT, ACGTJST 8. 1917.
CHANGE IN GERMAN TACTICS.
Perhaps the most significant devel
opment in the military operations in
the western front in recent months
has been the changed tactics of the
Germans in defending their positions.
Reliance is no longer placed in the
so-called "impregnable trench" which
has served so long-. The shell hole is
taking: its place, and it is also signifi
cant that these improvised positions
are being- equipped with rear exits in
every instance where time serves the
defenders. What a change has come
over the spirit of the army which be
gan the war with no provision for
escape or retreat! And how different
must be the morale of the men who.
from relying- on the crushing weight
of numbers and the overwhelming- su
periority of all the mechanism of of
fensive war, have come to incorpora
tion of the retreat definitely into their
Etrategic plans!
This war is continuing to demon
strate that, in the end, it is the per
sonnel that counts as much now as
in the times of the ancients. The
impregnable" fortresses of Belgium
which fell before the mighty German
howitzers, as did the walls of Jericho
when the trumpts blew, showed the
futility of steel and concrete and
barbed wire against cannon backed up
by men who were willing to die to
achieve their goal. Then the "im
penetrable" line was fashioned from
the sea to Switzerland, and supported
by other lines, equally "impenetrable."
The German people have been fed for
the better part of three years on the
statements of their military leaders
that Hindenburg's trenches could
never be taken. But now those
trenches are being abandoned, too, as
were the forts at Namur by the Bel
gians. Nothing is so out of date as a
method of warfare that fails to meet
requirements.
The fortified shell-hole has the du
bious advantage that part of the work
of making it has been done by the
enemy, and a more apparent element
of safety in that its range has not
been obtained with precision 'by the
artillery of the attacking- forces. But
by comparison with the old system of
trench units and bomb-proof dugouts,
the new method is as sniping from
treetops to Pickett's charge at Gettys
burg. In the former there were sense
of unity and cohesion of command. In
the latter each detachment must rely
to a great extent on the individual
bravery of the soldiers. And courage
is apt to suffer from Isolation.
The stamina of German troops, ad
mittedly high in the flush of early
victories, has been declining, as is
shown by the number of unwounded
prisoners captured in the latest west
ern drive. Shell-hole tactics, there
fore, come at an unfortunate time for
the Prussians. In the hour when
every bit of mass psychology is needed
to preserve the morale of the whole
army, it is being cut into guerilla de
tachments, some of which will con
tinue to fight with the courage of
despair, but increasing- numbers will
be inclined to surrender when the
chance is given them, as they have
oeen aoing at Verdun.
The fact would seem to be that the
wrman army is being thrashed. At
any rate, it is out of its trenches and
no doubt glad to be where some of
the overpowering; shells of the French
ana British may miss. Another
cherished notion of the Inconquerable
nature of everything devised by a Ger
man is going the way of the Zeppelin
and the submarine, which were to
have frightened to death the English
at home and driven their commerce
irou im seas. una tjerman army
seems to have wholly lost the power
or initiative, which was the cardinal
principle of the German system two
or three years ago. Shell-hole defense
is a Droken reed to lean on. First
the soldiers, and then the people at
nome. are certain to find that out
It would be overstating- the case to
say that resistance is at an end, or
even inai oreaKaown is comlns: soon.
but it is quite clear that the allies
are making encouraging progress in
the war of attrition. The end is likely
to come when superiority in the air
also has been established, not only at
certain points and at certain times, but
everywnere an the time. Then ob
servers in airplanes will be able to
direct the fire that is to demolish not
only trench but crater, and destroy not
oniy masses of men but isolated de
lenders or rorlorn hopes. The cost in
explosives will be tremendous, but the
auies win conserve a growing propor
tion of their own men. Constant ham
iutj' mil tuunu, in a material as
wen as a moral sense. And the ereat
cr the amount of material we are able
to supply while we are training our
own armies for the combat, the easier
will be our task when the hour comes
for putting the finishing touches to the
aeieat 01 .frussiantsm.
A point that la being emphasised, in
reviews of the campaign to "place" the
recent liberty loan and it will serve
us well to bear in mind in the next
Bimiiar campaign is that personal so
licitation was the dominant factor in
making- the loan a success. A writer
in the Nation's Business says that was
strikingly shown by the invariable suc
cess of the small-town banker in his
quest lor subscriptions. Wherever an
organization was perfected and well
' advised plans were followed the result
was always good, whereas in other
communities whose patriotism was not
to be doubted, but in which something
was left to chance, there) was a de
ficiency in the returns. This is be
cause, as is well known to salesmen,
the "sign-here stage of every transac
tion is one of the most important of
all. Even after desire has been cre
ated, and the value of the goods dem
onstrated, there is a certain amount of
inertia to be overcome. No letter
writing system has ever been devised
that can quite take the place of the
personal appeal at this point. It was
largely for this reason that the recent
loan was taken more largely in the
cities than in the rural districts, in
which a special effort will be made
when the new loan is issued.
STUDYING NAVIGATION.
Opening- of the Government school
of navigation in Portland and Astoria,
gives new opportunity to young men
who have heard the call of the sea.
Tho theory of navigation is fascinating-
enough to hold the attention" of
any student who likes mathematics,
but the practice is not beyond the
reach of the men of average intelli
gence and determination to learn.
There is no black art about "shooting
the sun," but there is enough more
In the fine points of ascertaining one's
position by the stars so that the pupil
can go as far as he likes.
The pendulum has swung- a long
way since the "hell ship" was so com
mon that it did not excite much com
ment. Seafaring is now a vocation
well suited to men who value both
their personal safety and their self
respect. It is a fine, up-standing ca
reer, fit for the born leader of men,
and gives promise of decent pecu
niary reward. There is no prospect
that there will be an oversupply of
navigating officers who have mastered
their profession in the next genera
tion. The old way of reaching the after-
cabin via the forecastle was slow and
painful, although it did make men.
good deal that is now being taught
the Government schools was for
merly picked up at random by deter
mined youngsters, who had the stuff
in them to overcome obstacles. The
result was that the American sea cap
tain was a man of whom the Nation
might well be proud.
But the old process, advantageous
as it was in the selection of the best
men and In the development of char
acter, has proved too slow, we are
building ships by the hundreds and
have no officers to navigate them.
Every possible legitimate inducement
being offered to young Americans to
enter upon the life again. The young
man will have, of course, his own no
tions as to whether he is fitted for t'-ie
profession, but if he has the sea-longing
in him at all his chance has come
now. There never in all the history
f the world was so splendid a hand
made opportunity.
THE SEASON OF THE FAIR.
Now comes the fair season. The
pening grun in the Northwest is to be
firetl at the grounds of the Southwest
ern Washington today. These grounds
lie midway between Chehalis and Cen
tralis, and are easy of approach from
every direction. Eighteen passenger
trains pass the grounds daily, the
streetcar lines between Chehalis and
Centralia has trains every few min
utes and the main gates are on the
Pacific Highway. The grounds are
well equipped with buildings, the track
is above the average and year after
year the fair held there gains in point
of attendance, in the number and
value of prizes given but principally
does it grow in the number and qual
ity of the livestock exhibited.
It was noticed by some that on the
badges of the late editorial convention
held at Chehalis was the picture of a
dairy cow. Many wondered what con
nection there 7?s between a newspa
per and a cow. Some were irreverent
nough to suggest it was that the
cow, like the newspaper, is easily
milked. In reality, the people of the
state of Washington see that the dairy
business in that state is coming to be
one of the greatest assets of the state.
The same is true in Oregon. Within
a few years Oregon and Washington
will outstrip all other portions of the
country in both numbers and quality
f dairy stock. For in these states
lie the dairy cows' heaven. On the
slopes of the Cascades lie the chosen
fields of the world for success in the
dairy business. Its proof lies in the
fact that our dairy business is growing
more rapidly than any other business
conducted on the farm.
But principally it can be shown by
the quality of dairy stock, and a
mighty good insight can be gained of
this by going to Centralia or Chehalis
this week and looking over the Jer
seys, Holsteins, Guernseys and other
pure-bred, bred-in-the-purplo stock
exhibited there.
MEAT FOR THE FARMERS.
The way the prices of all meats are
soaring, it behooves us all to limit con
sumption, as no doubt all will. In
deed, the housewife made frugal by
financial necessity is far on the road
to a no-meat menu for at least four
days of the week, and the time will
soon arrive, if the war continues, when
the meatless days will perhaps number
five or six in many families and the
full seven in others. When an ordi.
nary roast of pork or mutton costs
nearer than $1, the breadwinners
will remember the days when mutton
cost as little as two bits a quarter and
good beef was less than 10 cents
pound. Double prices might be en
dured with complacency, but when the
prices go up 800 to 400 per cent many
meatless days are bound to come in
the families of the rich as well as in
the families of the poor.
It may be well to call attention to
the fact that the farmer may have a
never-ending supply of choice meat at
a trifling cost and very litttle labor by
raising rabbits, or hares, if you like
the name better. To get started on
the road to good and cheap meat, the
cost need not exceed a dollar or two
We have in mind a small farmer in
Columbia County, near Goble, whose
start was one doe that cost $1 and
about as much for a little screen wire
and for hinges for three or four
hutches. The latter were made from
old lumber, picked up around the
place, and of so little significance as
to be overlooked in the bill of ex
pense.
The start was made about a year
ago and the "herd" of rabbits now
numbers about twenty, while a dozen
or so have been eaten and more than
enough sold to pay all expenses of
original stock, hutches and feed-
provided no account is taken of the
clover, hay, alfalfa and such green
truck as is constantly kept before
them. The only money outlay could
be summed up in one sack of oats for
the year, used for the does when
nursing the young- and for fattening
rabbits to be killed. Leaving out of
account the stuff fed to them that the
owner never missed and which could
hardly be called an expense, the cost
of this man's rabbit meat was not to
exceed 8 or A cents a pound. What
he has done is only what any family
having a small piece of ground can do.
As to the value and desirability of
rabbit as a food product, it can well
be compared with chicken, as any
person who has eaten both will verify.
It is all folly to say, as some of the
unknowing do, that they will not eat
cooked rabbit, when they have never
tasted the flesh of one properly pre
pared. The slogan of "Eat what you can
and can what you can't" is a good one,
and our agricultural colleges have
made great strides for the people in
hammering away at the canning
game; but we would suggest that an
other slogan, "Get the habit, eat rab
bit," is also a good one. If the lec
turers would talk more rabbit and less
poultry, or, rather, give the rabbit
only a. tithe of the recognition it de
serves, they would g-O far toward relieving-
the people of a meatless pros
pect. "
OCR ENEMY; THEIR FRIEND.
The following from the Boston
Transcript Is reproduced just for the
contrast it offers to the Portland con
ception of the thing- known here under
the same name:
It is fitting- that the east wind should
place its cool hand of welcome on the
brows of the visiting- veterana and their
friends. Boston in August would not be
complete without it. Our August heat is
often oppressive. Men are here who know
the cactus deserts of California and Utah,
the sun-scorched Kansan plains, the Ari
zona alkali and the rarefied air of the
Montana mountains and they find their
higher Summer temperature easier to bear
than the wilting humidity which our worst
days here in the East often bring. Fortu
nately they had but a touch of this ear
lier in the week, a smear now for two
days erased by the cool breath of the
east wind, bringing with it the odors and
ozone of the deep sea. This is the sea
board Summer's saving grace. It is not
alone that it lowers and evens the tempera
ture. It brings in its moist molecules
something of tonic and inspiration which
the chemist's retort falls to isolate and
hich the analyst has not named. At its
touch the head lifts, the lungs draw deep
into their uttermost cells the reviving
draught and the drooping life within us
arises and exults and goes forth to con-
uest once more. Under the east wind a
houaand miles of surges have tossed to-
ether. currents chill with polar lea
have met and mingled with the flow from
tropic seas, with gulf weed and kelp from
the varied gardens of under-sea shoals. All
have given a subtle something to the tonic
which It brings, one of the many unique
attractions which Boston offers to visiting
friends.
Who that lives in Portland could
hold the east wind a blessing? Its
possible advent is now dreaded. It
would fai incipient forest fires into
conflagrations and it would sear the
lawns and burn the crops. In Winter
its name is hated as that of a villain
and a liar. It swears in every breath
that it is twenty or thirty degrees
colder than it actually is.
AS coiners of words and terms we
are not at all a backward people, but
we have never applied our talent as a
Nation seriously to the elements. Thus
it is that a name given in the Far
West to one of nature's Inflictions is
the same name as that given in the
East to one of nature's blessings.
In some particulars locally we have
been a trifle more forward. The
Northwest has its beneficent Chinook
and Southern California its pernicious
Santa Ana. But there are no words
accepted everywhere for the cool, re
freshing breeze, the hot, dry wind, and
the searching gale of Winter.
THE HARDEST JOB.
WALLACE, Idaho, Aug. 22.-(To the Edi
tor.) Have Just read your editorial com
ment on the collapse, as you term it, of the
I. W. W. I do not belong to the movement
myself, but am an interested observer.
So you are not on the side of labor in
this struggle, are you 7 Do you like potatoes
produced by labor, and other good things
produced by labor If you do, why not, in
stead of attacking labor, as you continually
do, publish a few facts about the other side?
Is it possible labor has no grievance? Is
all the great class struggle just an ugly
dream?
Let me ask you, did you ever work Just
one day in the grain fields In July? Did you
ever pack a blanket roll down a muddy road
in December? Ponder these Questions.
GEORGE H. SAND3.
The foregoing- letter Is from an old
friend who, when in Portland, used to
send us poetry which we usually pub
lished, for it was pretty good poetry.
But poets are often emotional and im
pressionable. Brother Sands seems
somehow to have gained the impres
sion that all newspaper editors were
born to wealth and obtained their edu
cation in the time they could spare
from social functions. It is our ob
servation that many editors have
knocked around and been knocked
around quite a bit.
As for our own case, if being- on the
side of labor means being- on the side
of the I. W. W.. we are not there. But
it is not herein conceded that the I.
W. W. is on the side of labor or of any.
thing- else except industrial disorder
and demoralization.
That opinion, moreover, Is not
created by lack of experience in the
harvest field or in similarly arduous
work. Every writer who contributes
to this page has at some time been
employed at hard, manual labor. Prob
ably among these editorial writers on
The Oregonian the most intolerant of
the I. W. W. and professional ma.
lingerers is one who first saw America
from a side-door Pullman one who
has been a peregrinating farm hand and
has traveled, eaten and slept with
hobos for days at a time.
We venture to say that Mr. Sands
can hear more truthful reminiscences
of really hard work in the editorial
rooms of The Oregonian than he can
among any group of I. W. W. he ever
saw, which may not be saying- very
much, at that. There is one here who
can relate personal experiences of life
before the mast in the days when
sailors were dogs and the captain his
own law and universe. He can tell of
the joys of passing coal in the hole
of an Australian liner with the ther
mometer at 140. . Harvest fields in
July? Pooh! Pooh!
There is another who once worked
as day laborer because he was flat
broke, who has tramped from place
to place peddling tea to coal miners
and who, out of bitter experience, will
aver that the meanest job going- is
that of book agent.
There is another who has worked
in the harvest fields, as a common
laborer in building construction, as
roustabout in a flouring mill, as back
flagman and general packhorse in
surveyor's crew. He will say that
pulling a Washington handpress is as
hard as any of the foregoing- Jobs, pro
vided the paper has a decent circula
tion. Furthermore, it is his opinion,
gained by personal experience, that,
with all its blisters and sore muscles,
harvesting in July is not in it for dis
agreeableness with teaching: an lso.
lated country school.
It is not the purpose herein to boast
of personal physical prowess or for.
mer hardships, but rather to illustrate
a point or two that 'newspapers are
no', usually conducted by bookworms
and bespectacled theorists, but by
practical men; that mental strain an
responsibility sometimes ride harder
than muscular soreness; that discon
tenUmay be born of unfitness for the
task; and that nearly everybody, no
matter what he does, has a real or
fancied grievance laid up against his
Job.
Not all the workers in the world
are workers with the hands. That is
the false idea nurtured by the I. W. W.
They don't " know the boss' troubles
because they have never been boss.
They contrast his roll-top desk with
their pick and shovel and that is as
far as their intellect takes them. They
have not the knowledge of rates, y
transportation, markets, material costs
and the dozen other- things necessary
on the intangible side required in all
successful industrial enterprises they
have none of these things to enable
them to continue the life ofthe in
dustries they say should be turned
over to them. They propose Industrial
chaos. They are not on the side of
labor. They are labor's worst enemy.
GROWTH OF ELECTRICITY.
The past year has not been note
worthy for any sensational electrical
inventions, but has been marked by
remarkable progress in the use of
some devices, such as electrical cook
ers, that have proved adaptable to
home use.
Development of electro-chemical
industries, in which electricity is not
merely an economy or a convenience
but an absolute necessity, has also
progressed to such an extent that
many electrical plants have been
taxed to their utmost capacity.
A report by W. Rawson Collier,
published in the Municipal Journal,
says that the increased demand for
electrical power is illustrated by the
fact that a single manufacturing con
cern now turns out more than 3000
standard motors, each differing from
every other in some radical feature.
Since those who have used elec
tricity seldom return to more primi
tive methods, it is predicted that we
are at the dawn of an electrical age.
We have vast resources of undevel-
ped power enough to meet the de
mands of a growing population for
centuries.
The plan of having one meatless day
week in hotels and restaurants prob
ably serves the purpose of food con
servation hy putting- saving on a sys
tematic basis, but it really does not
matter so much whether we observe
certain day in that manner, so long
as we keep in mind the fundamental
rinciple that nothing- should be
wasted, whether meat, or fish, or vege
tables, or bread. We should continue
to eat enough of those things we are
best able to assimilate to keep up our
bodily strength, but be careful not to
order more than we need, and not
destroy anything we do not use. It is
estimated by the Food Administration
Board that there are 17,000 hotels and
50,000 restaurants in the country
which can be reached by the economy
propaganda. If each one were able
to accomplish an average saving" of
only (1 a day and the saving- ought
to be greater than that the total
would be more than- $60,000,000 a
year. This saving- should be made, if
possible, without regard to the weekly
meatless day which is now proposed.
If General Maitrot, of the French
army, called captive Prussian officers
bandits and pigs and otherwise
abused them, which he denies, he had
incentive enough when he recalled
Prussian treatment of non-combatants.
German threats of reprisals are likely
to be fulfilled with the shadow of ait
excuse.
Secretary Lea has selected a num
ber of great men in the thoroughbred
cattle industry for judges at the State
Fair. There is no disputing- each is
tho be6t in his breed and the grower
who carries away the ribbons will
know he gets them on merit.
Organized labor has agreed to co
operate with the Government, as every.
ono believed it would, and now it
needs only a united-drive at the I. W.
W. to establish complete industrial
unity in the country.
Grand Army veterans recall the days
of the '60s when they got along- with
out dish cloths and other adjuncts of
civilization and did some getting: while
at it; but times have changed in half
a century-
According to Judge Gary, twenty-
five years will see aerial transconti
nental passenger traffic, so arrange to
defer the farther Journey until at least
one visit to the East by an air route.
It is Just as well the news Is given
out as the season closes that a man
made $7260 fishing- for salmon. The
man who always complains of his lack
of opportunity can have a new grouch.
Congress is about to take up an
eleven-billion-dollar financial measure,
but, to paraphrase slightly the remark
of the late Speaker Reed, this Is an
eleven-billion-dollar war.
In considering the number of chil
dren on the Continent facing- starva
tion, the charitably inclined man will
almost throw up his hands in despair.
One must admire the Butte board
that Ignores higher authority and says
all aliens drafted shall serve. Butte
knows what "alien" is and means.
Same old parade with the same old
elephants and steam piano, but not
the same old crowd to watch. Did
you note the new crop of babies?
There will be no organization of
Veterans Who Escaped Duty Under
the Selective Draft after the war is
The Crown Prince's prospects of be
ing the next Emperor of Germany are
fading rapidly on the Verdun-front.
Wool growers are refusing 63 cents
and the poultryman yet may turn
down a dollar for "henneries."
Being packed by girls and women,
Hood River fruit will be better than
ever this season.
Will man ever get a rest? There's
the dog license coming due in a few
days.
The pall of smoke tempers the heat
of the sun, and that is a little comfort.
Sure sign the vacation season is end
ing when the clergymen come home.
A victim a month is not distressing.
but the tongs must not crowd.
Knowing Culdesac, Idaho, the won.
der is how the fire got out, '
Gleams Through the Mist.
By Deal Collins.
PROLOGUE.
I cannot sing the new song
I planned to sing- today;
I cannot sing the new song
The circus came my way.
I cannot sing- that new song
I had upon my tongue
Besides it was a blue song
That shouldn't have been sung.
I'd planned to sing a war song,
All full. of fighting dope;
But ere I sang that war song-,
I heard a "calleyope";
Oh, who should sing a war song
Of battle flags that fly?
I'll make nor verses, nor song.
While elephants go by.
I couldn't sing the new song
When by my door they played
A turi-lurl-loo song
And held a big parade;
I could not sing- a new song;
I knew that it would Irk us
I'll sing a turl-loo song,
A song about the circus.
a
BALLAD OB" SIR JOHX
or
The Bachelor's Circus.
(Which was alt that occurred to me,
while the calleyops whooped out under
my window.)
The good Sir John was a. bachelor bold.
Who lived in the Rose Citee,
In a flat far up, where the rooms were
cold.
And each day he went where the stocks
are sold.
And chaffered a bit for the yellow gold.
For a business man bright was he.
Sir John was gay and Sir John was free.
As gay and as free as the air;
For nobody scolded when he came in.
Nor spake when he went out, harsh and
thin;
He had no wife, neither kith nor kin.
And his life, it was free from care.
But once, I wist, as he paced the streets,
The streets of the Rose Citee,
He heard, afar off. the music sweet
Of the oom-pah band and the bass
drums' beat.
And the trample of many trampling
feet
A circus parade heard he.
He paused and waited upon a stoop.
As they .passed him by in a row.
The hippopotamus in his coop,
The calleyope with its merry whoop.
And he sighed: "Gadzooks! 'TIs a jouous
troupe.
And 'sdeath, but I'd like to go!"
Sir John he knittted a puzzled brow,
And stood with a thoughtful face:
"Forsooth, I should Mke to go, I vow;
But to go alone it might make a row,
For an unescorted adult somehow
Seems horribly out of place."
And as he puzzled, the lady Jane,
A buxom matron and fair.
Sir John observed through a window
pane.
And he saw when he looked at her
again.
That she held on her knee he saw It
plain
Wilbur, her son and heir.
Sir John was bold and Sir John was
stout.
And a resolute man was he!
With eyes full eager, he cast about
For a Belgian block,, and he gs-ve
shout
And shattered the pane of the window
out
And snatched, the child from her
knee.
And fast he fled and without a stop.
While the lady screamed behind;
He heard her clamoring: "Call a cop!
Kidnaper! Robber! Black-hand wop!"
He ran till he came to the circus top.
He ran as the fleeting- wind.
And then with Wilbur, the large of eye,
While the gatekeepers broadly grin,
He hath proffered his tickets and
"passed them by.
And takes him a seat reserved and high
And: "Ho, by my faith," you may hear
him cry,
"At last I won safe in!"
And loud at the merry clown laughed
he.
Who leaped on the sawdust track.
And watched the riders and screamed
with glee.
Applauding the acrobats merrilee
But Wilbur, the woeful, could not see
Because of a fat man's back.
And now when the radiant show is
o'er.
Again to the street they go;
And he meeteth a friend beside the
door,
And he salth: "To us grown-ups 'ti
quite a bore,
But I thought I would go Just this time
more
For the sake of the kid, you know!
And Wilbur, who sat at the fat man's
back
And looked at the show In vain.
Sir John now takes by his collar's slack
And hales him forth on the homeward
track.
And him, and his hump-backed peanut
sack.
He restores to the Lady Jone.
And here have I told what I did begin,
Exact, as it did befall;
To show how a man without kith or
kin.
When the circus comes with its merry
din,
May kidnap a kid and yet win inl
God rest us gentlemen all.
THE LAST ANALYSIS.
C. L. Loveland, who knows where all
our money goes to in the LAST ANALY
SIS, has been on a scouting expedition
himself, and yesterday be came vol
planing back: on the Monthly Commer
cial Letter of the Canadian Bank of
Commerce and dropped this bit of in
formation, relayed from Sir Rober
Borden:
"The greatness of any nation rests,
in the LAST ajn alscsis, upon the char
acter of Its people as exemplified in
their ideas, etc"
The good ship EVOLUTION is still
sailing very rapidly under THE CIR
CUMSTANCES and preserving a direct
course for the LAST ANALYSIS. One
of the principal things that has been
delaying the progress of the voyage is
the inability of the ship to get entirely
clear from the PRESENT CRISIS,
see
"Sir," said the Courteous Office Boy,
with bated breath, "did you hear about
the divorce case in the courts the other
day?"
"Can't say I did," I replied. "What
grounds?"
"Her husband has hay fever," said
the C. O. B. piteously, "and he snores
the opening bars of 'The Star-Spangled
Banner,' and his poor wife is plumb worn
out from standing up all night long "
And then, drawing himself up to his
full height, the C. O. B. added impress,
ively:
"If this be treason, make the most
of it!"
IV DIETICIAN HAD FCLL CONTROL
Everybody Would Be Healthy and All
Would Get Enough,
PORTLAND, Aug. 27. (To the Ed
itor.) The Oregonian has this para
graph: "What a fine thing it would be
if the food speculators were forced to
enlist to earn a living!"
Why go but one-fourth of the way
in food conservation? Why net yoke
the food speculator, the gourmand, the
slacker and extravagant housewife to
gether for a double team to earn their
living and to curb their waste of food?
This would conserve sustenances equal
to doubling the present production.
There is no purpose here to be un
just to the housewife, for of the four
she would be the first to enlist, even to
stepping into the trenches.
. The following- is substantial proof of
my contention: Through an accident
which injured my esophagus I have
been forced since 5 years old to subsist
on a diet mainly of meat and vegetable
broth, milk, gruel and fruit juice.
Though I have worked hard since old
enough to follow a plow on the farm
where I was raised, I am physically
perfect at 50 years old where the gour
mand is a wreck at 80 years. Give me
my liquid diet and let the heavy eater
of rich, solid foods have all he will
gorge, and I will dare him to match
me on a forced hike for any number of
days.
Send to our allies every ounce of
wheat and every pound of meat until
the end of the war, except cows and
poultry enough to produce milk aud
eggs, and this Nation couia sun oe
well nourished on the other grain, the
vegetables, fruit, milk and eggs we
could produce. Give an honest and
humane doctor absolute control of our
diet and Mr. Hoover could go fishing
so far as his services would be re
quired for conserving food.
Alas, for our intelligence and our
strength for endurance in the face of
greed. CONSERVATION.
W. W. DUPES ARK NOT MANY
Many Grays Harbor Strikers Are Not
In Sympathy With Wobblies.
ABERDEEN, Wash.. Aug. 26. (To
the Editor.) In The Oregonian August
24 is a letter from a man who signed
himself "Grays Harbor Lumber Work
er" that I wish to answer.
This man, evidently, from the run
of his letter, is one of the so-called
dupes of the I. W. W. of the Grays
Harbor district. He says ne went to
Portland to investigate whether the
statements in The Oregonian concern-
ng the I. W. W. and the strike in Ore
gon were true.
I believe The Oregonian is a renaDie
paper, and no doubt most of the duped
lumber workers, as this man calls
them, also consider The Oregonian re
liable without going to Portland to in
vestigate.
It is true that there are a large
number of "wobblies" on Grays Har
bor, but they are not the whole cause
of the strike that has closed most or
the mills and camDS. It was out of
sympathy for the Timber Workers'
Union and the eight-hour day that a
large number of honest workmen re
mained at home when the strike was
called by the Timber Workers' Union
Julv 16.
Whether anything will be gained ny
this strike or not, I do not know. But
I do .know that a large per cent of the
employes in the lumber industry of
Grays Harbor have not been duped by
the. I. W. W. They are good citizens
and desire to see a better class of la
bor take the place of the I. W. W. in
the mills and camps. SUBSCRIBER.
Rhubarb Leaves as Food.
BEAVERTON. Or.. Aug. 26. (To the
Editor.) I read an article in The Ore
gonian by Amelia Josephine Burr in
regard to the way to treat rhubarb
leaves, cooked as a vegetable. In Eng
land last Spring, when I waa there,
some ignorant people tried this meth
od (when vegetables were very scarce)
and some of the members or one ram
ily died of poisoning and the rest had
narrow escape.
This traeedy drew the attention of
tha medical authorities, who promptly
warned people against the use of same
The rhubarb leaf contains oxalio acid,
I believe, which, of course, is a deadly
poison. There were several other
cases of poisoning mentioned at that
time. A. PERCY MAKStt
This and another correspondent who
writes on the same subject refer to
what seem to have been authentic
cases of death resulting from the eat
insr of rhubarb leaves ana wnicn
caused considerable discussion in Eng
land. As fi. guess. The Oregonian
would say that the victims used the
leaves of a variety of rhubarb In
some favor in England as an orna
mental plant where bold garden ef
fects are desired. But it is unsafe to
rely on a guess in such a matter and it
is good advice to avoid use of any rhu
barb leave as greens so long as their
suitability for food is not established.
Juat Before the War.
PORTLAND, Aug. 27. (To the Ed
ltor.) To settle a dispute, will you
answer the following question? Isn't
it a fact that Russia started mobiliz
ing two or three days befpre Germany?
Also didn't the Kaiser wire the Czar
and ask him why he was mobilizin
Also didn't the Kaiser say "I will give
you until tomorrow noon to tell me
why you are mobilizing, and if you
don't stop, I will commence?
CONSTANT READER.
Russia began mobilizing the day
Austria declared war on Serbia July
28 but general mobilization was no
ordered until July 31. Tha Kaiser had
prior to the last named date Issued a
12-hour ultimatum to Russia to stop
mobilizing and had also ordered gen
eral mobilization in Germany. For ac
cess to the voluminous diplomatic cor
resoondence of the period, apply to
the reference department of the Pub
lie Library.
Meaning; of "Vigilantes."
IRVING. Or.. Aug. 25. (To the Ed
itor.) (1) What is the meaning o
significance of the word "vigilantes"
used in some of the news reports?
(2) What was the vote by parties on
the bill amending the rules on debate
In the Senate? HENRY HUSTON.
(1) The term originated in th
United States and in general is used to
designate members of volunteer com
mittees organized for the oversight and
protection of any Interest. It has had
a special application to members or or
ganizations organized to suppress and
punish crime summarily, as when the
processes of law appear inadequate
(2) If you mean tho vote by which
the cloture rule was adopted, there
were only three voted in the negativ
La Follette, Gronna and Sherman. All
are Republicans.
Branches of Service.
FREE WATER, Or.. Aug. 26. (To the
Editor.) You have been referred to me
as being the best place to get informa
tion as to how to get In touch with
people in the Army. I am a regis
tered pharmacist and graduate of
Highland Park College of pharmacy
and would like to know which would
be the best branch for me to Join or
where would be the best place for me
to write to find out about the dif
ferent branches of service. I. J. A.
Address inquiry to United States
Army recruiting station, Worcester
building, Portland. Or.
In Other Days.
Twenty-five Years Ago.
From Tho Oregonian of August 23. 1892.
The second day's session of the Ore
gon Methodist Conference opened at
8:30 yesterday morning at the Centen
ary Church with Bishop Walden in the
chair.
At a meeting of the Multorpor Repub
lican Club yesterday, a committee was
appointed to select a style of uniform.
The Multorpor will be a uniformed Re
publican club, with flambeau and ac
coutrements, and will participate only
in state and national campaigns.
Superintendent Campbell does not
confirm the report that the City & Sub
urban Railway Company is contem
plating an immediate substitution of
electricity for steam power on its
Mount Tabor line.
New York. The work of preparation
has virtually been finished by Corbett
and Sullivan, and each aims and hopes
to go into the ring the night of Septem
bre 7 in as good fettle as he is at pres
ent. A skin-grafting operation, performed
by a well-known surgeon of the city,
has proved to be a complete success,
and the result has brought a good
deal of attention to this new treatment
in the surgical line.
Half a Century Ago,
From The Oregonian of August 23, 186T.
In company with Mr. Goodwin, of
Ladd & Tilton's banking house, Mr.
jjuii, local editor -of the Herald, and
Mr. Scott, editor-in-chief of this paper,
we visited the iron works at Oswego
yesterday. The works have been in full
operation since last Saturday, and so
far every result has been most satis
factory. D. Monnastes went up to The Dalles
Saturday for a day's shooting of prai
rie cnicitens. He came back yesterday
loaded down with them. We are in
debted to Mr. M. for several fat chick
ens. We were shown, a day or two since.
a sketch of the steamer now in course
of construction by Captain Kerns at
Kalnier.' Judging from this represent
ation of her, the steamer will be a
handsome little craft.
Chicago. Grant, in. reply to the
President, earnestly urges, in the name
of a patriotic people who sacrificed
much to preserve the Dnim. that the
order removing Sheridan shall not be
insisted upon. It is the unmistakably
expressed wish of the country that
Sheridan shall not be removed from
his present command.
St. Petersburg. The Russian gov
ernment has ordered 100,000 Bierden
rifles from the United States.
A GREETING FROM ENGLAND.
The Outlook.
A correspondent has sent to us the
following verses, which, as the date
appended indicates, were written upon
the declaration of war between the
United States and Spain. That was a
time when we had few friends In Eu
rope. These verses well express Eng
land's understanding of our purpose
even before we had begun to ficht. It
is good to have this reminder at a time
when we have been, perhaps, more
slowly coming to a realization of Eng
land's purpose in a greater war. Eng
land's sentiment was expressed in deeds
after the battle of Manila wl.en Dewey
was threatened by the superior German
fleet of Von Diederichs. It is a satis
faction that we can express a re
sponsive sentiment by the deeds of Sims
and Pershing:
America! dear brother land!
While yet the shotted guns are mute
Accept a brotherly salute,
A hearty grip of England's hand.
Tomorrow, when " the sulphurous glow
Of war shall dim the stars above.
Be sure the star of England's love
Is over you, come weal or woe.
Go forth in hope! Go forth in mightl
To all your nobler self be true.
That coming times may see in you
The vanguard of the hoBts of light.
Though wrathful Justice load and train
Tour guns, be every breach they make
A gatew.ay pierced for mercy's sake.
That peace may enter in and reign.
Then should the hosts of darkness band
Against you. lowering thunderously,
Flanh the word "Brother" o'er the sea.
And England at your side shall stand.
Exulting! For though dark the night
And sinister with scud and rack.
The hour that brings us back to back
But harbinpers the larger light!
London Chronicle, April 22. 1898.
My Son and I.
To meet humanity's great need.
My son has gone afield.
Across the seas his banners wave:
There he may find a soldier's grave.
But never will he yield.
For liberty to high and low
His arms gleam in the sun.
That air shall have the right to life.
And nations know the end of strife.
.And world wars shall be done.
The cause Is righteous and the price
Is not too much to give.
For when the awful strife Is o'er.
And peace is won for every shore.
Democracy shall live.
For us at home who miss the thrill
Of deadly conflict with the Hun;
There still is left a vital part,
A task to try both purse and heart.
Till final victory's won. A. G. J.
Battle Lines In the West.
SHERWOOD, Or.. Aug. 26. (To the
Editor.) Please tell us how far the.
allies on the western front are from
the German line. We have no good
map and cannot get any idea how far
they are from thejine
The allies lice from the seacoast cuts
across Belgium, holding only the
northwest corner of that country in
their possession, dips Into : -ranee until
at its farthest point It is nearly 100
miles across French and Belgium ter
ritories to the German frontier; then
bends east and approximates the
boundary line between France and
Germany and at the southernmost -corner
of Germany enters the prov
inces of Alsace and Lorraine.
No Women Cooks for Army.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22. To the
Editor.) The Secretary of Wax is in
receipt of a letter, and by him referred
to the Quartermaster-General's office,
from a lady in Portland, Or., suggest
ing that women who have sons be ap
pointed cooks In the companies of
which their sons are members.
Her letter was anonymous, but sho
states that if published in The Ore
gonian the department's decision in
this matter will reach her.
I request that a notice bo printed in
The Oregonian to the effect that tho
department believes it impossible to
use her suggestion, but thanks her for
her interest
By authority of the Quartermaster-
General. 1- x. MAIUCJi,
Captain Fourth Field Artillery.
The Best Alarm Clock.
SALEM, Or., Aug. 26. (To the Edi-
tor.) Says The Oregonian:
"Wouldn't you like to awake at 5
A M. and hear the go .:ie patter, pat
ter of the raindrops on the roof
wouldn't you?" '
Yes; would wake up any hour ts)
hear that. AN OREGON FARMER.
Y1
t