TILE MORNING OltEGONIAX.
THURSDAY, AUGUST SO, 1917.
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PORTLAND. THIKSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1917.
AMERICA'S .REPLY TO THE VATICAN.
Except for the plain statement that
the word of honor of the present Ger
man rulers is worthless arid the sug
gestion that there shall be no "war
after the war." President "Wilson's re
ply to the peace message of the Pope
contains no subject matter that is new,
but it well serves the purpose of con
solidating: the issues before the peo
ple of the world, and restates concisely
and eloquently the fundamental prin
ciples for which wo are fighting".
Briefly, as outlined by the President,
our position is:
That this is, so far as we are con
cerned, a war to end war, and that
a mere armistice would be a defeat
of justice.
That we seek no material advantage,
press for no punitive damages and
will not insist on the dismemberment
of empires.
That we have no quarrel with the
German people, but are contending'
only against the hateful system of
military autocracy of which they, too,
are the victims. .
That there shall be no "war after the
war," no trade reprisals, and no "self
ish and exclusive economic leagues,"
which would be "worse than futile
and no proper basis for a peace of any
kind."
Upon these high grounds we stajjd
as a Nation, and with this reassertion
of our ideals we commit our future to
the fortunes of war. As to the is
sues which are properly the subject
of discussion and arbitration, our spirit
Is conciliatory. Cut we recognize the
principle that there are certain mat
ters upon which there can be no com
promise. We are willing: to lay upon
the council table the details of the
delimitation of boundaries, and the
extent to which nations shall disarm,
and the precise method of policing' the
world in the interest of permanent
order but we are unwilling; to say
that If the robber will give up tem
porarily his plan of looting the world
we will abandon for the present our
hope of a world in which such looting
Is not tolerated. There is to be no
temporizing as to the proposition that
"this agony must not be gone through
with again." There are some things
that cannot be compromised. Ruth
less disregard of the principles of
right and justice is one of them.
This war is at bottom a critical test
X the relative powers and values of
democracy and autocracy. One, as
Secretary Redfield has pointed out in
a letter defining his attitude toward
the LaFollette peace proposals, must
go down before the other. We cannot
ignore realities. A world, like a na
tion, cannot be half slave and half
free. If democracy is to be made safe
not only the physical power of the
Prussian military system must be
crushed but the idea must be eradi
cated that autocracy has justified its
existence. A victorious Prussian au
tocracy, or a partly victorious one,
or an autocracy to which had been
granted a breathing spell in which to
prepare for repetition of its efforts to
dominate would be a continuing -and
a growing menace. We will not com
promise with it.
There is, therefore, no inconsistency
in the statement that the American
reply is both unyielding and conciliat
ory. If jt does not touch the hearts
and appeal to the common sense of
the German people as a whole, it will
be because Germans are still blinded
to the -great truth. But it plainly
points the way to that people to ac
complish its own salvation. There is
no overstatement of fact in the refusal
to accept the word of honor of the
German rulers who have openly held
to the Machiavellian theory that the
end justifies the means, that treaties
are "scraps of paper," and that might
makes right. The crushing of Bel
gium, Serbia and Montenegro, the un
speakable atrocities in Armenia com
mitted with the connivance of the
Prussian leaders, the violation of all
the rules of civilized warfare in franco
and the murder of women and chil
dren and wounded soldiers and sailors
on sea and land are too plain an index
to the character of the arch-fiends
with whom we have to deal. It would
be the madness of Inexcusable weak
ness to give them time or opportunity
in which to recuperate their now fail
ing energies.
It is well that the President has em
ployed the word "punitive" in his
renunciation of purpose to demand
damages from the perpetrators of the
outrages with which all students of
the war news are so familiar. There
13 in law a distinction between mere
recompense and punishment: but pu
nltive awards are made against the
lnaiviauats directly responsible. If it
were possible to compel the Prussian
rulers to pay the bill, no sum would
be too great, for example, to exact in
settlement of the wrongs done to Bel
ium. But of the German people, who
must make the footing, we shall re
quire only that Belgium be restored
the principle applying Vith equal force
to the other countries that have suf
fered similarly. This is a legal and
a moral responsibility which the Ger
man people must accept as the price
of permitting themselves to be misled.
But it does not contemplate the crush
ing of Germany, does not require the
impossible, and gives only simple jus
tice to their victims. "Restoration"
means a return to the original state
of productivity, so far as possible, and
payment for physical destruction.
Mere surrender of sovereignty over the
lasd would fall far. short o equity.
would put a premium on lawlessness
and set a precedent not to be regarded
with equanimity.
Tho statement in the note that no
peace can rest securely upon political
or economic restrictions, or upon vin
dictive action of any sort, is especially
interesting and significant in view of
the belief in Washington that Presi
dent Wilson speaks for the allies, as
well as for America. Much has been
said concerning trade leagues and
commercial boycotts after the war.
One or two British and French com
missions have exchanged views upon
the subject, but there is no evidence
that any official action has been taken,
and it would seem that the nations
are willing to resume business rela
tions without reprisals. Perhaps so.
It would be a consummation devoutly
to be wished. After-war bitterness is
bad enough at its best, and individual
boycotts will be hard enough to over,
come. It would be too much to expect
of human nature that the people of
the warring countries shall resume re
lations of complete amity at once.Tjiut
no measure that will hasten the day
should be neglected, If, in fact, the
day of universal peace is to be brought
nearer in the world.
When the German people want
peace, they will have it. That is our
answer. But it must be a peace "based
upon the faith of all the people." The
"word of an ambitious and intriguing
government," already discredited, will
not suffice. And until the German
people as a people are willing to fur
nish the necessary guarantee, the war
must go on.
POOR JOHN.
The given reason the high cost of
gasoline for the shutting down of Mr.
Rockefeller's ice plant at Pocantlco
Hills is not so ridiculous as it seems.
Nor should the hard-hearted, in their
haste, say that it serves him right.
Mr. Rockefeller, without doubt,
could well afford to pay the losses his
Ice plant suffers In operation and
probably, too, mere deprivation of an
infinitesimal fraction of his income
would not greatly grieve him if ex
pended in some other way. But it
must be presumed that there is an
esthetic business sense, just as there
is an esthetic sense in art and a finer
sensibility behind the Lumanities.
A grotesque building is an offense
to the eye of the architect; warring
colors wring the heart of the painter;
the sufferings of a dumb brute appeal
to the humanitarian; bad Knglish is
the chief detestation of the litterateur,
and so it goes.
It may be supposed, therefore, that
a bad investment is something to
bo abhorred and put out of sight by
him whose life has been bound up in
money-getting. So let us not rejoice
that the chickens have come home to
roost at Pocantlco Hills nor pause to
ridicule one whose wealth might seem
impervious to the high cost of gaso
line. Let us rather shed a tear with
this old man who, after long years
of success in making beautiful dollars
grow where ugly pennies grew before,
has had this financial grief come upon
him.
MR. BRYAN'S DISCOVERY.
Mr. Bryan, perhaps, did not intend
the remarks that accompanied his re
port of discovery of the country's
patriotism 'as a criticism of the news
papers. Nevertheless, Mr. Bryan, for
a great man and statesman, has some
queer ideas.
W: believe that there is no sort of
general impression that it is not the
almost universal desire to support the
Government. Yet Mr. Bryan says:
The reason why a different Impression may
be Rained is that the newspapers publish the
exception rather than the rule. For instance,
a dispatch may report an unpatriotic utter
ance by a man in some town, but nothing is
said about ' nine hundred and ninety-uine
others who are patriotic.
of course. It is the duu' of the papers to
call attention to unpatriotto utterances that
those guilty may be punlb.ied. but the fact
that they do not give the number of the
patriotic may lead to a frilse impression as
to public utterances. I find the desire to
support the Government practically universal.
But the newspapers have said some
thing about the patriotism of the 999.
They have said a great deal. They
have been full of the response to the
Nation's need for volunteers, of local,
state and National contributions to the
liberty loan and to the Red Cross.
They have featured stories of the rais
ing of ambulance funds; of men giving
up private business to serve on exemp
tion boards and in food-control work;
of women organizing to knit for sol
diers and sailors and perform other
deeds of patriotism.
True enough, that which each of the
999 patriotic citizens has had to say
has not been published. If it had
been there would have been nothing
else In the newspapers. The bare fact
that unpatriotic utterances have been
the exception is the thing that has
given them their interest and news
value. That same exceptional quality
rather than headline prominence is
the thing that has impressed their ex
istence upon the minds of certain
newspaper readers like Mr. Bryan.
But, to give a concrete example, no
level-headed citizen assumes, because
he has read in his newspaper that the
postmaster at Ten Mile has been sent
to the Federal penitentiary on convic
tion of espionage, that all country
postmasters are disloyal, or that dis
loyalty is rampant among the people
of Ten Mile.
A WELL-MERITED REBUKE.
There is a hint for those who con
tinue to talk of immediate peace in
the statement made by Senator Lewis
after an interview with President W1I
son. The circumstances suggest, that
the same hint, perhaps a rebuke, was
given to Mr. Lewis by the President.
Admitting that he spoke at the
prompting of "very fair representative
German citizens of Chicago," to whose
loyalty he can attest, Mr. Lewis on
July 23 called the attention of the
Senate to the speech of Chancellor
Michaelis. He said that speech was
"a direct bid to the United States to
use its influence with its co-partners
in conflict to have them make a re
quest for peace." . He then described
as possible terms which would have
amounted to no more than a restora
tion of the conditions in Europe which
prevailed before the war.
Under those terms the nations
which are4 subject to the oppression
of autocracy in Germany, Austria and
Turkey would not be delivered, and
the sores which caused the war would
remain open to cause another war.
Mr. Lewis proposed that the nations
which are fighting for the deliverance
of Belgium Fhould contribute equally
with the nation which has crushed
her to a fund for her restoration. In
short, the criminals would go free,
simply deprived of their plunder.
The statement made by Mr. Lewis
after his interview with the President
was evidently a paraphrase of what
the President said to him. Mr. Wil
son was not deceived by the feelers
for peace thrown, put by tho Chan
cellor. He sees that they are not
genuine, but are designed "only to
serve the further cruelties of war,"
and he finds no change in conditions
which warrants him in paying atten
tion to them.
The American people will be wise
not to be caught by the specious
phrases of such men as Mr. Lewis,
who are the worst counselors they
can follow. The Senator is trying to
perform a difficult feat to keep up
a show of loyalty, yet at the same
time to keep in the good graces of
his pro-German constituents in what
the copperhead Mayor Thompson has
called "the sixth German city in tho
world."
The time will not have come for
peace talk until the Prussian autoc
racy is so thoroughly beaten that it
openly acknowledges the fact and
asks for the allies' terms. These
peace feelers through German citizens
of Chicago are simply German propa
ganda in a new guise. Mr. Lewis'
appearance as the medium through
which they reach Congress and the
people is the best of all possible rea
sons for receiving with distrust any
similar suggestions which may come
from him or from any person like
'him.
GO TO THE PAIR AND LEARN.
The fair season is upon us and the
duty to go is laid upon all. Many go
to be amused, and for them is pro
vided the Midway under any old name.
Many attend to be entertained, and
find it in the speed contests and af
fairs that include other activities. The
bulk of the people pay their money
at the gate to see and learn.
Nobody knows it all, as a day or
two at the fair shows. Whether it be
the state's exposition in its grandeur,
the county assemblage of the best of
the kingdoms of nature, or the little
"local" fair that exploits a specialty
or two, everybody knows more when
he departs than when he entered.
There are texts in the textiles and
sermons in the stock, plain to the
passerby and convincing to the ex
aminer.
The biggest pumpkin is an inspira
tion and the biggest bull a delight.
Every man believes he could raise
something better if he had the oppor
tunity and finds comfort in the dream.
Every woman knows she could, and
that settles it for her. So the time
spent at the fair by the two, who are
multiplied by thousands, is not time
wasted.
There will be a matter of half a
hundred fairs in this Oregon Country
in the next two months. Let it not
be said that any failed to go to at
least one and, if able, to more.
ETHICAL DENTISTRY.
A strange confession is made by a
Nevada dentist, who testified before
a local exemption board that he ex
tracted the teeth of a patient who in
sisted upon the operation, although
the teeth were so sound that he at
first protested, and consented only
when the man, who was seeking a
way out of serving his country, refused
to take no for an answer.
There is probably no law covering
the subject, but there is a rather defi
nite code of ethics which most den
tists and physicians consider as bind
ing upon them. It is the spirit of oath
ascribed to Hippocrates, part of which
runs: "I will follow that system of
regimen which, according to my best
judgment, I consider best for my pa
tients and abstain from that which is
injurious to them. I will give no
deadly medicine to anyone if asked,
nor suggest any such counsel." The
ancient doctor, whose memory is still
hell in reverence, also pledged him
self to "abstain from every act of.
mischief or corruption."
There is a close relationship between
the ethics of the dentist and the doctor
of medicine and surgery, and at any
rate it is fair to the profession which
the Reno man discredits to say that
he has few colleagues who would ex
tract a full sej; of sound teeth for the
relatively small fee he would receive.
As to the slacker himself, his pun
ishment is automatic. He is destined
to serve in the Army in the usual way,
masticating his rations as best he can,
and forever beset by the reflection that
he has mutilated himself to no pur
pose. SUGAR NOT ALWAYS A NECESSITY.
Sugar is now so far regarded as a
necessity in the Ciet of civilized man
that it is not easy to realize that our
ancient forefathers knew nothing
about it, or that for two centuries
after it became generally known it
was chiefly employed in the arts and
sciences, being regarded as too val
uable for food. These facts are
pointed out by Truman G. Palmer,
secretary of the United States Sugar
Manufacturers' Association, who says
that Queen Elizabeth introduced sugar
as an article of diet in her household
In the middle of the seventeenth cen
tury, but that the continued high
price precluded the following of her
example by her subjects for a long
time.
When, In 1750, the price had fallen
to 17 cents a pound, demand for it
among the wealthy classes increased
so rapidly that the price rose to 31
cents in 1806, despite the importation
of moro than a million tons that year.
Evolution of sugar from a luxury to a
necessity has come about within a
century. Since our ancestors were by
all accounts a rather healthy lot, this
indicates that we could go without
sugar under compulsion, but it is hard
to see how this could be done without
real hardship. We not only use sugar
on the table, but it enters into nearly
every manufactured food product.
The constitutional lethargy of peo
ple who live in the tropics held back
development of the sugar industry
hundreds of years. Growing demand
and increased profits did not stimu
late production, as they would have
done in the case of any commodity of
the temperate 'zone. So it was prac
tically the sugar beet that brought
about the - final change. Frederick
the Great gave financial assistance to
early field and laboratory experi
menters, and Napoleon encouraged
research that resulted in discovery
that sugar-beet culture increased the
yield of cereals in the crop rotation,
the work of two nations now at wai
thus showing that science is interna
tional. Napoleon's example put the
sugar-beet business on its feet. Its
effect was even more far-reaching, for
it also awoke cane planters to the
need of improved methods. No civil
ized people would now view with
equanimity the prospect of having no
sugar to eat.
An important secondary result of
sugar 'production has been increased
productivity of land for cereal crops
Mr. Palmer shows that In forty years
Germany increased the acreage yield
of her four principal cereals more
than 80 per cent by rotation with
sugar beets and other hoed crops. In
1379 that country .cropped 32,431,000
acres to wheat, rye, barley and oats,
and harvested 693,187,000 bushels,
while in 1909 the yield from a like
number of acres was 1,247,000,000
-bushels, an increase of 654,550,000
bushels. It is not hard to believe that
this increase has made possible the
postponement of German defeat that
otherwise would have been inevitable.
Americans, on the other hand, have
not shown appreciation of the value
of the beet crop in increasing cereal
production. We have had so many
years of plenty that we have become
negligent. Although we have 274,-
000,000 acres of land adapted to sugar
beet culture, only 669,000 acres were
planted to beets last year, supplying
tho raw material for seventy-four
beet-sugar factories. Germany, which
is the largest beet-sugar producing
country in the world, ha 342 beet-
sugar factories, and one-fourth of her
entire arable area is planted to sugar
beets or other hoed crops. .
Mr.' Palmer's conclusion is that if
the beet-sugar industry were expanded
in the United States in the same pro
portion as in Germany, this country
would today be, producing double it.i
present yield of breadstuffs, in addi
tion to the increased quantity of sugar.
If this condition prevailed, we would
not now be worrying about our abil
ity to supply ourselves and our allien
with grain from the scorning harvest.
The lesson probably will be learned,
as- so many economic lessons aro
learned, under the pressure of neces
sity. TILE LAST TON OF COAL.
Switzerland would not now be in
the position of a supplicant for fuel.
and threatened by Germany with a
fuel famine unless certain conditions
are complied with, if it had not been
for the abundance of cheap German
coal in years past. Switzerland is
ideally situated for the development
of hydro-electric power. Mountain
streams are numerous and water is
abundant. But Germany has had
plenty of cheap coal, much of It in
tho regions bordering on Switzerland,
so that transportation was easy, and
it has been the German policy to dis
courage development of Swiss water
power. This has been done by con
cessions as to price that have made
it unprofitable for Swiss capitalists to
develop the resources of their own
country.
If the outcome of the war depended
upon the last ton of coal, Germany
could contemplate the future with
equanimity. Without possession of
the coal measures of Belgium and
Northern France, she would be inde
pendent. This is the result of a far
sighted policy adopted at the close of
the Franco-Prussian War," by which
the fuel measures of the country
were developed on a large scale. The
German coal output in 1871 was only
33,000,000 tons. This was increased
to 270.595,000 tons in 1914, compared
with 297,698,000 tons for Great Brit
ain, while France in the same year
produced only 45,200,000 tons. France
since then has lost possession of val
uable mines, but the purpose of the
Germans in seizing them was not so
much to increase their own supply as
to handicap their enemy. Germany
undoubtedly has as much coal within
her own borders as she can spare men
to dig.
Norway and Sweden saw farther
into the future than did Switzerland
when they proceeded to harness their
waterfalls without reference to the
German coal supply. Both those
countries are now measurably inde
pendent of fuel imports, and ultimate
ly will bo entirely so. No doubt the
Swiss will lea-n their lesson, and a
boom in hydro-electric development
may be expected. The experience of
the northern countries has shown that
it pays to conserve every home re
source. It is comforting to know, however,
that in the remote event that the war
were settled on the "last ton of coal"
basis, the United States would be an
easy victor. Our production in 1914
was 513,525,000 tons, or nearly double
that of Germany; but the most strik
ing comparison is found in the re
serves. Our available supply is esti
mated at 3.500,000,000,000 tons. This
Is many times that of Germany, which
is estimated at 164,000,000,000 tons.
And we and our allies would have
large measures, to draw upon, chief
among which would be 1,500,000,000,
000 tons in China which are open to
us but closed to the central empires.
But in any event it will bo the devout
hope of all the world that the war
will not last until even the relatively
small coal supply of Germany has
been exhausted.
Portland has lots to be proud of
but the greatest is the bunch of con
servative workers who swing the city
out of strikes and industrial troubles.
They get few bouquets and little re
ward, but they have the gratification
of knowledge of the best deed ever
done for Portland.
A hen cannot lay a four-ounce egg
every other day, or every other week,
for that matter. She Isn't built that
way. The story from Eugene to the
contrary needs proof that cannot be
obtained.
Motorcycle officers are human and if
one baits a speeder into exceeding the
limit he is not to be blamed for the
subsequent arrest. The man who takes
a dare takes chances.
That fellow in Nevada who had all
his upper teeth extracted to avoid the
draft is going anyway and may never
get a scratch. It will be his grievous
luck.
A man has a right to leave a good
job for one he thinks has better hours
and pay, little heeding the future, and
therein sometimes he makes his big
mistake.
A professional model wearing $315,
000 in jewels may inspire awe, but
one in camisole and knickers will draw
the bigger crowd.
Before the dairymen get through
tilting the price of milk, somebody
will lock the pumphandles.
The ' cow cannot kick the pall In
thw days of 15-cent milk without
blushing at her temerity.
Women are to wear half-hose this
Winter, but many men will use the
"hole" article.
Next thing will be Hoover parties
where they lock the pantry to conserve
tho cake.
In the matter of pay, money Isn't
everything, but it's a whole lot in
1917.
The only difference between bathing
suits and street dress is in the edges.
Stars and Starmakero.
By Leone Casa Baer.
BILLINGS, Mont., Aug. 27. Billings
citizens herded together $S00 to get a
flock of stranded esthetic dancers out
of town. As yet I can't figure out
whether it was charity or self-defense.
Every thing must pass away.
That Is what tho preachers say;
In Billings there's the deuce to pay.
The Mayor's squelched the cabaret.
Teh, the Mayor did it. The afore
mentioned cabaret packed her trunk
and went to Butte. It has made a great
dent in the wild night life of the city.
Borne women are born great, some
have greatness thrust upon them and
others try to imitate the movie ac
tresses. Just heard of a local man and his
wife who had a fist, fight at a recent
election. Huh: Who said women do
not understand politics?
A local man asked his neighbor,
"Well, what do you think of the war
now?" Whereupon the questioned one
shot him dead. I predict that after the
homicide's acquittal the foreman of the
jury will say, "No, we did not consider
him insane at the time of the killing,
but looked upon the act as justifiable.
Henrietta Crosman Is booked to ap
pear here this next month in a new
comedy, and she's going on out to the
Coast with it.
Informing her mother in a note
pinned to the kitchen table oilcloth
that she's "tired of housework," the
Billings girl who wrote it adds la
conically, "So I've married." Strikes me
as a bit inconsistent for a girl who is
aweary of housework.
Donald Bowles, who recently came
out of a. Los Angeles hospital after a
brief illness, has been offered the post
of general manager for the Western
interests of the Oliver Morosco enter
prises. Bowles will probably accept.
Local reformist (female, of course)
Is agitating around to have "Hop o' My
Thumb" expurgated or banned from
the children's room at the Library, on
the theory that Hop is now generally
recognized as a descriptive for opium.
Licensed by a clerk in a bathrobe,
and wed by a Justice of the Peace in
his pajamas, a pair of stock actors in
New Jersey are now ready to begin
life on a most unconventional basis. I
suggest that they adopt some natty
costume such as a bathing suit, for
daily use, with a swagger stick, and a
group of filberts or Bermudas pinned to
the corsage for church and theater
wear.
Mrs. Leslie Carter, who once created
a sensation In London in "Zaza," Is now
appearing at tho Coliseum, a London
music hall. She Is presenting a playlet
by Gertrude E. Jennings, entitled, "The
Lady in Red," and in it she Is said by
the reviewers to display her familiar
talent for effective emotional outbursts.
Mrs. Carter's rOle is that of a wicked
woman who plots to obtain the secret
formula of an explosive by playing on
the feelings of the Inventor's Jealous
wife. . Throughout the action she is
dressed in a blazing red cloak.
Actress who pines for kisses Is suing
her husband. Gee doesn't she know
that kisses are not obtained that way?
Henry W. Savage has commissioned
Edgar Allan Woolf and Jerome Kern
to supply the books and score for the
musicalized version of "Excuse Me,"
which he will present this Fall.
I am absolutely in favor of any high
cost of living that will deplete the
delicatessen supply of caviar sand
wiches, either with or without onions.
Nan Bernard, the wife of the late
William (Billy) Bernard, 13 appearing
in stock in Oklahoma City at the Palace
Theater. Nan Bernard was Billy's sec
ond wife, and a young stepmother to
Dorothy Bernard Van Buren. She came
to Portland with her husband four sea
sons ago and while he was director of
the Baker Stock she appeared in small
bits. Since his death she has adopted
the stage as a means of livelihood and
is successful.
William Rock and Frances White
have signed a three-year contract with
Messrs. Elliott and Comstock, which
will go into effect some time this sea
son. It provides that their first ap
pearance under the new management
will be as stars In a new revue at the
Princess Theater, wherein they will re
ceive an obese salary, and a percentage
of tne profits. This piece is likely to
be produced In March.
"High and noble entertainment,"
opines a scientist, "can be found in
close communion with the stars." Yep,
it can. But then, again, there Is often
quite as much entertainment in com
munion with the chorus or the fat
comedian.
Dillingham and Zlegfeld have signed
contracts with Bessie McCoy for her
appearance in an important part in
their forthcoming production at the
Century Theater. Since the time of
her marriage with Richard Harding
Davis In 1912, Bessie McCoy, then idol
of the New York devotees f comedy,
has not been seen on the stage. At
that time she was a featured attraction
in the "Ziegfeld Follies."
Harry Askln, who is now manager
at the Century for Dillingham and
Ziegfeld, is authority for the state
ment that Bessie McCoy is more nimble
and beautiful than ever and that the
brief and happy experience of her mar
ried life with the famous novelist has
added to her native ability and her
broad understanding of life. She is
yet almost a girl in years and comeli
ness, and H Is forecast that she will
prove again to be one of the foremost
personalities in the big show at the
Century. She has a little daughter
named Hope.
Mrs. Castle appeared in "Watch Your
Step," and subsequently . entered Into
motion picture work. Lieutenant Ver
non Castle Is now in Canada as in
structor in aviation.
Local reporter, of the species sob
squad, beseeched in headlines ' that
"Girls Select Their Fall Trousseau,"
and the printer got it "Fall Troupers."
A few seasons ago, when skirts were
the fashion, this would have been a
journalistic faux pas.
I predict that within a year there
will be so many of us girls running
around in these haremesque pants that
the sight will be neither sensational
nor interesting, -
CONSUMERS WILL GET BENEFIT
Competition Bound to Pass Along Mer
chant' Savins on Deliveries.
PORTLAND. Aug. 29. (To the Edi
tor.) Tho contrariness of things seems
to stand revealed in the habit of peo
ple writing "learnedly" of things of
which they know nothing.
The letter of Thomas McCusker rela
tive to the one delivery question Is a
glaring example. In that letter we are
advised of impending conservation
hysteria, warned that merchants will
profit by the saving and told that our
man power is equal to the demand for
men.
How do such obstructive statements
square with the facts? Let's see.
The need for curtailment of delivery
service did not originate with the mer
chants, but came directly from the Na
tional council of Defense. The request
is tantamount to the President's com
mand. Had there been no necessity for the
reform would the National Council
have brought It forward? Was it not
the result of investigations which re
vealed colossal waste in the sale, de
livery and return of goods and in
preparation for the drafts that are to
follow?
Mr. McCusker speaks of Oregon's
quota being only 715 men in a way
that indicates that our state has given
less than 1000 men to the flag. That
number Is but a fractional part. Think
of our state troops now in the service,
the recruits sent to tho Army, Navy,
marine, aviation and hospital corps, to
say nothing of our contributions to
Governmental work.
Suppose the merchants benefit by the
one delivery. Will competition not pass
the economy along to the ultimate
consumer? It most surely will. Is it
not a fact that we are service mad?
Compute the cost of manufacture and
see if selling and service charges are
not very nearly equal to the cost of
production.
There must be reform of this ex
travagance. It is mainly responsible
for the high cost of living, and has
resulted in hand-to-mouth buying at
the expense of the buyers.
Men may be plentiful at the Em
ployers' Association offices, but we are
daily asked to furnish men we cannot
supply. Grocery clerks can find work
at good wages by applying at our of
fice. We have more jobs than men.
And as for wages, we sent out three
men last week at wages of $100 per
month rare pay for grocery clerks.
The grocery business feels the pinch
now. Later along when more men are
called out the strain will be greater,
higher wages will obtain, and then we
shall see whether, food prices can be
held down to the present high levels
with even one delivery.
This is no time for obstruction, no
time to talk. Every possible economy
must be practiced, energy must be
utilized in productive fields If we are
to get three scant meals a day.
And as for hysteria, it is about time
we learned by some sort of mental
spasm that delivery of 10-cent sales is
nothing short of economical anarchy,
ROBERT G. DUNCAN.
NEED OF VOLUNTEER. AID EXISTS
Relief Undertaken by Government Con
fined to Belgians in Belgium.
LONDON, July 31. (To the Editor.)
The "National Committee for Relief
In Belgium" recently announced that
they were suspending their appeals
In this country, as the United States
Government had taken on itself the
work of relieving the Belgians in Bel
gium.
This announcement, although quite
clear in itself, has left a widespread
Impression that all other Belgian char
ities had also stopped, and in conse
quence there has been a marked fall
ing off in the subscriptions to other
Belgian funds.
I shall esteem it a favor if you
will kindly make It clear to your read
ers that the work taken over by the
United States Government is that of
relieving Belgians in Belgium, and that
there are other numerous charities
which are still being carried out in
this country. The objects of some of
these may be mentioned:
1. Care of the broken-down Belgian chil
dren, brought from Belgium into Holland
for treatment.
2. Care of the wives and children of war
prisoners and Interned Belgian men in
Holland.
it. Instruction of Mind and maimed sol
diers in new trades, in England, France and
Switzerland.
4. Provisions of elementary comforts for
Belgian soldiers in the trenches, who are
cut off from their families in Belgium.
5. Care of the soldiers In the training
camps and the wounded In the hogpitals.
6. Care of the men who have escaped
from Belgium to enlist in the Belgian army
and who are without means.
7. Provision of necessities and comforts
to Belgian interned soldiers In Holland.
8. Provision of necessities and comforts
to Belgian prisoners of war in Uermany.
The above are all cases in which it
Is impossible for aid to be obtained
from Belgium, and unless these char
itable institutions are assisted by the
public, the Belgian soldiers will not
have the necessary comforts and the
plight of the poor unfortunate Belgian
civilians will be miserable in the ex
treme. The work undertaken by the
United States Government does not
cover these cases at all.
We trust therefore that the generous
public will continue their subscriptions
as before.
EMILB VANDERVELDE,
Belgian Minister of State. .
How to Have Band Concerts.
PORTLAND, Aug. 29. (To the Edi
tor.) Having read several articles of
late regarding the city band concerts,
one to the effect that one of the City
Commissioners favored having only one
concert a week next season, owing to
the fact that the public does not ap
preciate music, I would like to say as
a musiclover that the City Commis
sioners are in error. Such a remark
is not very flattering to Portland from
a musical standpoint.
The fact of the matter is Portland
citizens are appreciative and do patron
ize good concerts. They also know
good musio when they hear it. But
who wants to waste the time going a
long way to one of the parks to hear
a concert when they are little, if any,
better than several of the local ama
teur bands could render.
With complaints coming from all de
partments of the city government re
garding the lack of" funds, a sugges
tion might be offered for next season.
Let the Portland Police Band (which
department is supported by the tax
payers) play the Sunday concerts, and
there are several societies who sup-'
port first-class amateur bands who un
doubtedly, until the world's financial
situation clears somewhat, could be
induced to furnish, say, one concert a
week. That would give the city sev
eral concerts a week, and they would
be nearly on a par with the season
just closed.
BLAIR SCOTT KENINGTON.
Rolei for Solitaire.
NORTH POWDER. Or., Aug. 27.
(To the Editor.) Kindly Inform me
where one can get the official rules
and directions for playing Napoleon
solitaire. OLD SUBSCRIBER.
"Hoyle's Games' contains a chapter
on Napoleon solitaire. This book is on
file at the Portland Central Library; it
can also be purchased of A. W. Schmale
& Co.. J. K. Gill & Co. or any other
Portland bookstore.
Remember Thin In Wooing.
Tit-Bits.
"I'm glad Billy had the sense to
marry an old maid," said grandma at
the wedding.
"Why, grandma?" asked the son.
"Well, gals is highty-tighty. and
widders is kinder overrulin' an' tip
settin.. But old maids is thankful and
n illia' to. p.lease,"
In Other Days.
Twpnty-flve Years Aaro.
From The Oregonian of August SO. 189S.
vw Ynrir Tnhn T. Sullivan raeeivea
a great reception on his arrival at tne
Flatbush avenue depot today from hla
training quarters.
Hon. W. R. Ellis, of Heppner. Congressman-elect
from the Second Con
gressional District, is at the Perkins.
Mr. Ellis Is still walking with crutches
as the result of the stage runaway five
days before the election.
The Oregon Conference of the Meth
odist Church resumed its labors yester
day morning at 9 o'clock, with Bishop
Walden in the chair. Attendance was
large. Rev. E. L Thompson conduct
ed devotional exercises.
Salem Several plantations in this
vicinity commenced hoppicking today.
Picking is in progress on over 200 acres
and prospects for a good yield are
bright.
Corvallis At the last session of the
Legislature the Corvallis charter was
amended granting power to bond the
city for water works, sewerage, elec
tric lights and a bridge across the
Willamette River. A special city elec
tion, which was necessary, carried all
propositions excepting the bridge.
Half a Century Ago.
From The Oregonian of August 80, 186T.
Paris The first train of cars passed,
over the railroad at Mt. Cenis today.
Late advices state that General Grant
wrote an earnest protest to the Presi
dent against the removal of Stanton.
The President replied to this remon
strance in his usual style.
David Monnastes, at his foundry, east
on Wednesday evening several pieces
of machinery for the flouring mill of
Mr. Kinney, at McMinnville. using only
Oswego pig iron. The universal ver
dict is that the castings are excellent,
combining both smoothness and
strength.
We learn that the Tumwater baseball
club, of Oregon City, will come down
on Saturday for the purpose of playing
a match game with the young Pioneer
club, of this city.
The up-country papers contain ad
vertisements of the coming of Lee &
Ryland's great circus and menagerie,
by which it seems the show la on its
way north and will arrive the last of
next week in this city. Among other
wonderful things, it has a performing
buffalo.
HOW CROPS COULD BE MADE SFltEj
Failure to Use Available Water In Val
ley Is Almost Crime.
PORTLAND, Aug. 29. (To the Edi
tor.) I am not a farmer, nor the son
of a farmer, neither was I ever a pro
fessor or a student In an agricultural
college, but I have lived in both East
ern Oregon and the Willamette Valley
and know something about water and
water rights and the soil and products
of this state that wherever there is
water and sunshine there should bo
green pastures, fine gardens and or
chards and large crops of grain and
grasses. Wherever there is sufficient
water there is never a failure of any
kind of a crop in Eastern Oregon.
The Willamette Valley is well
watered, and a large portion of Its
land3 could be easily irrigated at a
nominal expense. Shortage of any
crops in this section is due to the want
of water. A forcible illustration of this
Is seen In the difference between a
well-watered lawn and a lawn which is
not watered. Nature has done much
for the Willamette Valley and yet for
some unknown reason the waters of
Its many streams continue to flow In
their accustomed channels, and - in a
season like this its gardens, orchards,
grains and grasses wither and dry up
for the want of water.
In many seotions of Eastern Oregon
land is of but little or no value with
out a water right, and with a good
water right that same land Is very
productive and there is never a failure
of crop.
While this has been an unusual sea
son, it is almost a crime to see such a
shortage of crops and gardens while
the waters which nature has kindly
provided are going to waste. There
should be no shortage of any kind of
a crop along the channels of any
stream in the Willamette Valley. The
remedy is simple. The expense is nom
inal. Appropriate the water rights,
dig a ditch and in a season like this
divert the waters onto your field and
garden and put them to a beneficial
use. Then you will not have any fail
ure or shortage of crops.
CHARLES A. JOHNS.
Order of the Bath.
PORTLAND, Aug. 29. (To the Edi
tor.) Please inform me what services
England requires In exchange for the
Order of the Bath, the high distinc
tion James W. Gerard has received
from His Majesty the English King.
Does the Order of the Bath entitle the
holder to free and first-clasa accommo
dations in an English watering place
frequented by the distinguished Lord
ship of the empire, or does it entitle
the holder to a first-class free bath,
if he feela or needs such a bath?
Is there any material benefit derived
like a certain amount of money or pen
sion? J. ARNOLD BENEDICT.
The Order of the Bath Is the name of
the largest English order and it Is the
highest to which a commoner, can at
tain. Its name is thought to have been
derived from the initiatory ceremony
of bathing, which used to be practiced
at the installation or a knight, as an
emblem of the purity thenceforth re
quired of him by the law of chivalry. It
carries no pecuniary emoluments.
Membership in the order is conferred,
as a mark of the sovereign's esteem or
in recognition for services of any kind.
Danger In Rhubarb Lutes,
YAMHILL,, Or.. Aug. 28. (To the
Editor.) There has been some discus
sion of the use of rhubarb leaves as
food. You expressed a guess that the
leaves were of an ornamental variety,
but I can tell you that our family
tried the leaves of the "Mammoth"
rhubarb, grown in Oregon, and &
brother came near losing his life. The
rest were very ill.
We eat a great deal of rhubarb every
year, but as "greens" they are a dan
gerous food. We have heard of others
being poisoned also, and it seems too
bad that anyone should advise using
them as "greens." A small quantity
mixed with other weeds, dandelion,
dock, etc., is sometimes used, but you
must know whnt you are doing. X
should not want to try it.
EDNA B. LAUGHLIN.
t'nrl So burs a Pattern.
MEDKOItn. Or., Aug. 2S. (To the
Editor.) The editorial tribute to Carl
Schurz Sunday is most timely and
commendable and does due justice to
his splendid record of true American
patriotism. As a resident of Chicago,
in years agonp, 1 became Intimately
acquainted with his views and works
and since the IT. S. became a party to
the war I have frequently presented
his record as one most worthy to be
followed by all who, by reason of birth
or ties of ancestry, are inclined to en
tertain soft spots in their hearts for
Germany and her conduct in the war.
Mr. Schurz was as Consistent an
American as have been any of my an
cestrial tribe, some of whom foui-bt
for the flag in the Revolutionary aid.
Civil .wars. A. A. LATHUOP,