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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 1917)
8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, JDECE3IBER 25, 1917. " PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland (Oregon) Postofflcs aa econa-claas mall matter. Subscription rales Invariably la advance . Dv VI II t pally, Sunday Included, one year 88.00 ' f ouaua; inciuaea, six iqodidi Daily. Sunday Included, three months... 2.2 - Daily, Sunday Included, one month...... .75 , Daily, without Sunday, one year .". 6.00 JJai.y. without Sunday, alx months 3.2 " Daily, without Sunday, three months.. 1.7; '.' Daily, without Sunday, one month... ... .60 , Weekly, one year 1.00 Sunday, one year 2.50 f Sunday and weekly 3.50 iy carrier.) ,' Dally, Sunday Included, one year $9.00 Dally, Sunday included, one month. ..... .75 Dally, without Sunday, one year 7.80 . Daily, without Sunday, three months.... 1.05 Daily, without Sunday, one month 65 How to Remit Send Dostofrlce money or der, express order or personal check on your local Dank. Stamps, coin or currency are al ' owner's risk. Give poaioffice address in full, , inciuaing county and state. ; Postage Kates 12 to 16 paces, 1 cent; 18 to 32 pages, 2 cents; 34 to 48 paces, S cents B ou to bii pases. 4 cents; 62 to 76 pagea. j cents; ,s to SZ pages. y postage, double rates. 6 cents. Foreign Eastern Busmen. Office Verreo & Conk lln, Brunswick building New York; Verree c onkiln, steger building, Chicago; San . Krancisco representative. K. J. Uidwell. 742 xarKei street. I . BEMBEB OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, !' The Associated Press fa vlnfllvl v mn. - titled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited In this paper, and also the local tr. tews published herein. - All rights ot republication of special dis- . &wues Herein are also reserved. PORTLAND. TCESDAY. DEC. SS. 1917 r i THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The Spirit of Christmas is generated , within.! Whether this is to be a-day of forebodings and of gloomy com . parisons with other days, or an oc " casion of sacrifice and service that 'bring Joy, will depend upon ourselves. "The self-centered will be the pessi ' mists. To others there will be in- ' tense satisfaction in the opportunities ' that the day will produce. There Is a way to make this Christmas truly a "merry Christmas," and that way ' is to absorb the sense of its reality and the truth that its root idea is sacrifice as taught by the Incarnation. No man who lives for himself and in himself can possibly appreciate Christ mas, least of all today. When Tennyson developed his phll--osophy of life and death in his im mortal tribute to his friend. In "In Memoriam," he marked a path for a worio to ronow. ine lines long: ago outgrew any restricted application They are especially appropriate now, after sixty-seven years have passed. For example: .This year I slept and woke with pain, l i I almost wished no more to wake. I And that my hold on life would break; I Sefore 1 heard those belis again. :" Tet the preparations went on, de spite the absence of the guest. Holly . boughs and wreaths were hung. .With trembling fingers did we weave The holly round the Christmas hearth; "i A rainy cloud possess' d the earth. And sadly fell our Christinas eve. But by degrees the spirit of the day inspired the company. "Our voices took a higher range," sang Tennyson. "Once more we sang": . . . They do not die . Nor lose their mortal sympathy. Nor change to us, although they change; ! Rapt from the fickle and the frail ; With gathered power, yet the same. Pierces the keen seraphic flame. Prom orb to orb, from veil to veil. And so it unfolded a deeper sense ', of real values bringing peace: J Rife, happy morn, rise, holy morn. Draw forth the cheerful day from night: O, Father, touch the East, and light . The light that shone when hope was born. The birth of hope and the spirit of sacrifice are the lessons of the day. Perfunctory gift-giving widely misses , the mark. Those who have put them ; selves into their gifts will have found joy In the giving, and those who have measured up to the full demands of this especial year will have had no - time to wrap themselves in pessimism. -If there are sorrow and affliction and Buffering in the world, there is all the ' greater opportunity for ministering ; to them. Only the man or woman ' who has done everything possible to ; help humanity this year can enter upon the day with the good conscience which is indispensable to its enjoy- Bent. We shall take out of Christmas no more than we put into it. It will be a merry Christmas or a sad one ; for us according to what we do, our selves. TOO LATE WITH PROMISED HELP. There is well merited reproach for the United States in these words of ' Lieutenant Bruno Roselll, of the Ital ian army, which were published In the Sunday Oregonian. The mission returned to Italy laden with honors and with promises with promises which, alas! were never ful filled. To the nonfulfillment of these promises the Lieutenant directly traced the disaster which befell Italy. After the army had fought its way up pre cipitous mountains and had scaled great cliffs in the face of a storm of shells and bullets, it came to a standstill for lack of the things which America had promised but had not supplied coal, steel, gasoline and food. For five . months Italy waited and pleaded, and j American correspondents sent warn ings that Italy could not fight on un less these pleas were heeded. They were not heeded by the United States Government, but the German General ' Staff gave good heed, and the very ' prayers, the answers to which should ' have saved Italy, proved her undoing. Germany found the weak point in . the line, weakened it still further with Insidious propaganda and broke . through. Thus were the fruits of two and a half years of heroic warfare lost in a few days and one of Italy's richest provinces was befouled by the invader, because America was too late. Then, and not till then, was help given... A big loan was made and ships were assigned to supply Italy twith food, fuel and steel. War has now been declared against Austria, the Nation finally realizing that every friend of the enemy is our enemy. But during those months when Italy was calling for help, America, to quote Lieutenant Roselli, was "so deeply engulfed in disputing whether the ships so urgently needed were to bcbuilt of steel or of wood, that she did not hear the appeal of her ally." Not only that, but the Croziers were . wasting time in changing -the type of rifles and machine guns and were preparing to make field guns in .as leisurely a way as though time were of no consequence in war, and the Reeds, Hardwicks, Gores and others of their kind were holding up food and fuel control. That is not the way wars are won. It Is the way they are lost. We can win only by investing men of the Hurley and Hoover type with powe to decide, unhampered by those checks which may have some excuse in peace but which are insuperable obstacles to success in war, To say that this is autocracy Is absurd, for in Germany such powers come from the Kaiser, while in America they would come from the people, who will promptly end them as soon as the occasion for their exercise has passed. AM I BIT BROTHER'S KEEPER? No trumpet-blast profaned The nour in which the Prince of Peace was born. No bloody streamlet stained i Earth's sliver rivers on that sacred morn. Bryant. Christ and Paace -Christmas and Joy these are the messages of the day. But for three successive Christ mas days the world has been con vulsed by its most tremendous tragedy. True we have as yet given only of our money and sympathy, but who can foresee tl-e end? Only last Sunday nineteen hun dred and more years after the gentle Christ had been born, and had thirty odd years later died to save the world six hundred orphan children .were gathered together in ono placo in France and were made happy for a time by kind-hearted American sol diers. Their fathers had died in bat tle. "Not a few of them," says the story, "had been found wandering aimlessly about the war zone, unable to tell who they were. The parentage of numbers of them still remains unknown." If any good can come out of a thing so horrible as war and we think it will it will be to teach the typical American that, though he may not be his brother's keeper, he is the keeper of his brother's lost and help less children. BARNABEE AS A COMEDIAN. Henry Clay Barnabee, who died near Boston recently at the ripe age of eighty-five years, left memories of his complete art as a comedian and pub lic entertainer. Nobody who ever saw him will forget him that is to say, nobody who had the rare fortune to see and hear that delightful artist when he was at his prime and when he (the aforesaid nobody) was at the age of fresh enjoyment of genuine stage fun, plus real intelligence and minus old-fashioned horse-play. The maturity of Barnabee as a comedian must have extended from youth to old age, for there are persons who heard him years ago and who heard him after, and they will testify no doubt that age did not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety. tfarnabee was identified with tho early development of comic or light opera in America. He was content poraneous with the Gilbert and Sulli van era. beginning with the appear ance ot the immortal "Pinafore.1 wherein be -played Sir Joseph Por ter; but it is true enough that he was best and longest known for his association with The Bostonians and with the never-to-be-forgotten "Rob in Hood." The Sheriff of Nottingham was the Barnabee role, and to most of the American people the Sheriff of Nottingham died with tho pass.ng ot Ba rnabee. The Bostonians Company was or ganized in 1887 with Tom Karl as tenor, William H. Me Donald as bariton, Henry C. Barnabee as comedian, Marie Stone as prima donna, and Jessie Bartlett- Davis (either then or later) as con tralto. Barnabee stayed with the or ganization from first to last. He was its chief artistic stay during its money-making days, and he was its leading financial resource when the box-office needed strengthening from the Inside. There the savings of his prosperous years were spent, and there is the reason why this fine old comedian died in comparative pov erty. The Bostonians came along after the amazing success of "Pinafore" and "The Mikado" both here and abroad, with "Robin Hood" and with The Serenade," "The Ogallalas." and others not so easily recalled But it was in "Robin Hood" that the organi zation found its chief appeal to the public. It is said that the music of De Kov- en was too reminiscent and that it did not deserve Its name or fame as an original American light opera. It may nave been so: but it Is quite true that the audiences enjoyed its beau tiful songs, its sprightly ensembles, its amusing situations, and its fetch ing humor, because they were not over the heads of the average appre ciation, and because they were not vulgar, boisterous, nor cheap. It is. easy to suspect that the reason of the failure of many operatic productions, seeking a place as American opera, is that they are not reminiscent of anything anyone ever heard before: and some of them no one in his right mind ever wants to hear again. We suppose that "O Promise Me" has been sung many million times by those who heard It first from the statuesque and lovely Jessie Bartlett Davis in "Robin Hood." We will not venture a guess at the number of times it has been sung at weddings, nor why it has come chiefly to be as sociated with happiness and a roseate future; but so It Is. Probably it is because it breathes faith, love and tenderness, though other songs do that, but none in tones quita so ap pealing or reminiscent. It is not easy to classify Barnabee as a comedian. He was a master of diction, with a quaint twist of humor, impregnated with an atmosphere of pseudo-melancholy. He was tall and lithe and all-pervasive, wlien on the stage. He gave every -word in song or speech Just the right emphasis. He could, and did, create laughter with out horseplay; he could, and did, create always the illusion of genuine ness in his most grotesque character izations. The Sheriff of Nottingham was quite a real person, whose troubles were made for the world to enjoy through Barnabee. The Bostonian group flourished In the days of stars; but the productions as a whole were singularly complete. It had no foreign prima donnas, no Im ported chorus, but it sought to make its effects by legitimate and straight out methods. It carried with it an atmosphere of Americanism, though in "Robin Hood" there was really lit tle of America. We suppose Barna bee did not succeed after The Boston ians had passed on because he did not belong In the environment of the modern musical comedy. But surely there is a place in the American in terest and pride for some such organ ization as The Bostonians and for such another comedian as Barnabee. The Christmas season seems an es pecially appropriate time for the an nouncement, made by an investigator in forest pathology of the ' United States Department of Agriculture, that the mistletoe is now wholly a parasite, as we have been led to believe. It is not disputed that the mistletoe fas tens itself upon its host and draws nourishment from it and saps its vi tality, but while it is doing this It also constructs certain orcanlc food- stuffs, such as starch, out of inorganic substances, such as carbon dioxide and water, utilizing sunlight as a source of energy. So far as it is able to do this, it clears itself from the charge that it does nothing but steal the energy of the host-tree for its living. The scientist makes his deduction from the presence of chlorophyll in the leaves, giving them their green color, and holds that no plant that is green is a parasite in the complete sense of the term. PRCSSIAX CHRISTMAS. The Prussian Santa Claus rides a war horse this year. Instead of the tinkling of sleighbclls, the clanking of sabre on spur is heard. The inter national figure of the old saint has been rejected for a model "made in Germany." News dispatches recently received by way of the Swiss frontier tell of the new direction taken by the genius of German toymakers, once among the most famous In the world. Noah's arks are no longer popular in Ger many. A skilfully executed counter feit of a ruined French chateau is now offered Instead. Building blocks have given place to demolished enemy farm he ses. Factories that formerly turned out animal puzzles now do a more thriving business In effigies of wounded soldiers in the uniforms of the entente allies. The art of the wood carver is said to have surpassed itself in producing the expression of ageny on the faces of the counterfeits of Prussia's foes. This denotes the psychology we are called upon to combat In this war. The Prussian leaders are not only de void of mercy, and tolerance, but also of all sense of humor. Not even the season of good will tempers their propaganda. They would make even the children into beasts if doing so would help them accomplish theit will. It Is their idea that there can be no Joy In the world but the joy of crushing those who oppose them. The fashion in German toys this year is not an accident. The military system there reduces chance to the minimum. It undoubtedly has been dictated by powers that stop at 'noth ing to gain their end. A BULLION TONS A'I THIS SOME. The contract for twenty steel ships with a Portland company is substan tial proof that a new spirit moves the Shipping Board. If the Board con tin ues to co-operate, Oregon will increase the tonnage promised for 1918 to an even million.' Washington will doubt less do as well and with what Call fornia can do, the Pacific Coast should supply half of the 6,000,000 tons to be produced in that year by the whole country. But that tonnage should be in ser vice before July in order that the American army may do its share of the work ahead on the western front. Construction should be speeded up by addition of second and third shifts on steel and wood ships, and -work should begin on concrete ships if the experimental vessels prove a success as ocean-going craft. There is need of much more than the tonnage which the Board has set as its goal. HOUSING WORKERS. Rapid growth of new industrial cen ters attendant upon the development of new war Industries and peace in dustries which have been stimulated by war conditions has moved the Na tional Housing Association to address a petition to the President asking for the appointment of a "housing ad ministrator' to cope with the impor tant problem involved. The temptation to build "shacks" for the accommodation of workmen in new districts is easily accounted for. n view of speedy construction re quired, companjUively high rents ob tainable and uncertainty of permanent returns. There Is general desire wherever possible to get away from the barracks plan of constructing these new towns which are springing up on every hand. Houses made after a single pattern. however desirable, have a depressing effect, and they are not necessary. But It Is the belief of architects that va riety could be obtained without much extra cost by the adoption of standard plans and specifications, which would offer wide choice and could be dupli cated in various cities, and which would reduce the fixed costs of build ings to the minimum. Centralization of war work offers opportunity for co operation on an extensive scale which would not exist in normal times. It is -realized also that the esthetic element should not be neglected. The Old days when all that a family re quired was a roof to keep out the rain and walls to shut put the cold are gone. It is found by experience that the workman who lives in a house in which he can feel pride is a better workman during shop hours. We are advancing, too, in our knowledge of ventilation and sanitation, and have found that both are essential to the highest efficiency. The luxuries of yes terday have become the necessities of today. It would not be surprising if the "model city" movement- should re ceive impetus from the war building boom. THE CASE OF AUSTRIA. President Wilson's view of Austria's position in the war, as expressed in his address to 'Congress, and the discus sion in the Senate and House on the declaration of war on that country, reveal a lack of understanding on that subject which may thwart the pur pose to lay firm foundations for per manent peace after the war. Atten tion has been so centered on Germany as the chief villain in the plot, as the outspoken champion of' the divine right of might, and as the perpetrator of the worst barbarities; that Austria has come to be regarded as an un willing tool who is to be pitied rather than blamed. Hence, the President's naming of Austria as a nation in asso ciation with Serbia and Poland and his statement that "we do not wish in any way to impair or to rearrange the Austro-Hungarian empire," has called forth little, if any, protest. The truth is that Austria was a principal In the plot which brought about the war, and is as great an of fender as Germany under every count in the indictment. Austria insolently violated the Berlin treaty by annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina. By that act and by the brutal ultimatum to Ser bia she violated the rights of small nations and proclaimed that might makes right. It has been proved by impartial Swiss testimony that Aus trian troops used explosive bullets made In the government ammunition factory, massacred prisoners of war and wounded, and perpetrated whole sale massacre of women, children and unarmed old men. The massacre of the passengers of the steamer Ancona by an Austrian submarine has not been surpassed in barbarity by the Germans; the only difference is that the Germans, have 1 done it oftener. Mutinies of Czech troops have been suppressed by whole sale executions, and it is reliably re ported that 80,000 persons have been executed by Austria during the war in order to silence criticism and demands for liberty. Nor can the affairs of Europe be settled in accord with the principle of "consent of the governed" unless the Austro-Hungarian empire is not merely impaired and rearranged but actually dismembered. By compart son with Austria, Germany has hith erto been a mild -offender in bringing other peoples under her yoke. Of the 68,000,000 people in Germany, Andre Cheradame in "The Pan-German Plot Unmasked" says that only 6,700.000 are non-German, but of the 50,000,000 in Austria-Hungary 28,000,000 are -of Latin and Slav races which look with fervent hope to tho allies for deliver ance from subjection to 'the German and Magyar races. . These are the proportions shown by Austrian official statistics, which Mr. Cheradame says are falsified in the following manner: In the whole of Austria every Slav or Latin who! merely' knows a few words of German Is styled, much against his will, a German. Now all the Slavs who live In Vienna (one-third of the population) know a few words of German. This allows the German statisticians of the Austrian gov ernment to conclude that there are no Slavs In Vienna, and to set down the Slavs In all the rest of Austria la a figure considerably below the truth. Of the 12,000,000 Germans in the dual monarchy,- as shown by garbled statistics, probably a million are really Slavs, while 3,000,000 are scattered through Slav and Magyar provinces where they constitute a minority of the population, leaving only 8,000,000 as a compact body entitled to decide the government of any part of the country. Of the rest of the popula tion, Mr. Cheradame says that 6,000, 000 Poles would Join Poland; 4,000,000 Riithenians would join Russia; 3,000, 000 Roumanians would join Roumania, and 1,000,000 Italians would join Italy. The 6,440,000 Czecho-Slovaks desire to restore the independent kingdom of Bohemia and the 4,200,000 Serbo-Croats wish to join the kingdom of Serbia in forming a strong Jugo slav state. As to the more than ten million Magyars ' of Hungary, Mr. Cheradame says that about nine mil lions of them are "poor laborers, cynically exploited by the Magyar no bility, who possess nearly all the land" and who "with the Magyar function aries whom they nominate, are Prus sophile." These "unhappy peasants by no means love the Prussians," but "are quite ready to fraternize with the other democratic masses repre sented by the nationalities which sur round them." So passionately do the Slavs hate the Hapsburg monarchy that entire regiments of Czechs mutined rather than fight against Russia, and were decimated in punishment. Other regi ments surrendered or deserted bodily, and have since fought in the Russian army, and still others are only held in line by the mixture of 40 per cent of Hungarians with the Czechs. It is estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 Slavs who have fl 1 from Austria are fight ing with the French. . The Poles and Bohemians of the United States have asked to be enrolled In 'distinct regi ments of the American Army, and many Slav subjects of Austria who have not been naturalized? in the United States protest against being classed as alien enemies when their most fervent hope Is that the United States will defeat Austria and liberate their native country. Reasons of policy combine with those of principle to dictate that the Hapsburg monarchy be dismembered At present Austria is in a state of vassalage to Germany, for the Pru sian oligarchy controls its army, has forced it into an economic union and by means of war loans holds it in financial subjection. This practical annexation of Austria-Hungary is the first step in the realization of the Pan German scheme of empire extending from Hamburg to the Persian gulf. With Austria in her power, Germany could work her will with Serbia and Roumania, even if they were nomi nally restored, and Bulgaria would form the bridge connecting with Tur key, whence she would reach out through Asia and Africa. If Germany were firmly in possession of thoxe countries, which she already holds. she, would quickly develop their re sources in men ana material until sne would have an empire against which no nation could stand. Herein lies the danger to democ racy and future peace of the decep tive slogan: "No annexations and no indemnities." If Germany were to give up all occupied territory, but were to retain Austria-Hungary, Bui garia and Turkey in their present state of vassalage, the nucleus of Pan-Germany would have been formed, the Hamburg to the Persian gulf em pire would be an established fact, and Germany would begin preparation for the next war. It is essential both for realization of the principle of national rights, to which the United States and the allies are pledged, and for future peace that the non-German races of Austria-Hungary be set free and formed into a confederation of Inde pendent states, which would form an impassable .barrier against future Ger man aggression. Do you remember a Christmas morning when you got up in the dark and felt for "-the stocking you had hung up and realized you were the one boy St. Nicholas had forgotten? If -you do, hunt up some little chap today that you think .has had the same experience and make the sun shine for him. The young woman who stood behind the counter yesterday and preserved her equanimity with a smile deserves the best in the land by next Christ mas, and here's hoping she has him. It Is devoutly to be hoped the male "sect" let the womenfolk sleep this morning, for yesterday certainly was the most trying day for belated shop ping. How would you like, today, to be Sheriff Tom Hurlburt, with a handful of "wards"? Tet he's equal to It. Here's wishing a Merry Christmas to the man with the -hardest job in the Nation Wood row Wilson. Patience on a monument is out of date. Kick him off and substitute a post-office clerk. Very late the'night before Christ mas is the only time a man enjoys being ' broke." If you don't get what you want to day, grouch. Why not make it a Merry Christ mas? Watch those candles tonight. What My Mother Wrote the President. " By Julia M. Llppmam. VlarUantes. f the No doubt there are numberless German-born Americans who have suffered indescribably since the outbreak of the war. torn between their instinct of loyalty to the ideal "Vaterland" as they conceive it, and the actual fact of it. in its Prussianized form, as It exists today. My dear mother, now dead, was one of these. At first she roundly denounced the aiues "Perfidious Albion." "Degener ate France" Russia, really the friend or termany, treacherously led to mob ilize across the border. It was impossible to make my mother believe that Germany was not the poor unaer-aog Hounded and set upon by a pack of ravening curs ready to tear her limb from limb. Often and often I waked at night to hear her crying, as she lay in her bed next to mine. I entreated my friends and hers to spare her. Not to talk about the war in her- hearing. But I could not man age to keep her in ignorance of what was going on. Day by day she reau the papers, the magazines, the letters that In those times still used to arrive from relatives and other dear ones on the other side Germany, Belgium, England, France. Months passed and years. Then one day to be exact, it was on the 28th of last March my mother came to me with a sheet of note-paper in ner nana, and I read: "New York, March 28. 1917 Mr. Pres lden: I, Marie S. Lippmann, born In Aix-ia-(jnapelle, Prussia. December 11 1836 (therefore 80 years old), a natur alized citizen of the lnited States since 1860, am writing you in my, own name as well as in that of my late husband. Adolph Lippman, who came to this country In 1848, and who, in this hour of peril would stand for human and natural liberties as loyally and unre servedly as he stood for them during tne war of 1861. "We implore you, Mr. President, to use the great power vested in you by the people for the preservation of American honor and American rights which are the honor and the rights of Humanity throughout the world. "Since the Prussians make present peace impossible, let us a-ive them WAR that under God-there may be ultimate pea.ee, before which our coun try may not stand disgraced. Respect fully. . MARIE S. LIPPMANN. "To President Woodrow Wilson, the vvnite House, Washington, D. C" METHOD OF SUPPRESSING VICEi Correspondent Indorses Detention Flan Now In Effect In Portland. ST. JOHNS, Or, Dec. 24. (To the Edi tor.) Why do city, state and Federal governments persist in trifling with the vice traffic, instead of suppress ing it? I am led to ask this question from reading the "rigorous ban" to be in augurated in Portland. There have been so many bans put on vice, with little or no practical results, that one Is almost justified In concluding that they are camouflage, designed to in fluence the public mind into the be lief that something is really being done to suppress the evil. Perhaps In times o peace bluffing the people may be a harmless vocation, but in times like the present, sadly wasted. Portland's ban on vice is a military necessity and to be efficacious it must cut clean to the source. The plan of eternally arresting and releasing the Magdalenes so long as they can furnish bonds will undoubtedly bankrupt and remove the men who furnish them from this .sphere of activity. But this will not suppress the vice, because the real danger has not been removed. The real danger lies In the presence of diseased women.- We have but to acknowledge this and the solution of the vice problem becomes obvious. The problem is simply this: The Government has righteously called its young men to the defense of the Na tion. Many of these young men have come from homes where this vice was practically unknown and where it was known the respect which the environ ment inculcated invariably preserved them from the vice. The Government has taken and placed them in camps and cantonments and In the rush and haste of early- preparation for war probably has not been able to supervise their environment. The result has been what anyone who studies the matter would expect. Venereal disease has become rampant. Military authori ties are alarmed and appeal to civil authorities to assist them in stamping out the disease. For where the civil authorities are delinquent the military efforts are almost futile. The Portland ban aims to stamp out the disease, but really only prevents men from making money out of the traffic I hold that it is imperative in the National Interest as well as In the humanities, that these young men should be protected from this vice. And I would suggest as a supplement to the Portland plan that all Magdalenes arrested for, plying their profession, instead of being immediately released on bond, should be detained until such time as the medical officer of Portland certified, them to be free from disease. Then they could be released on bond. This would have the triple effect of disorganizing the traffic, bankrupting the organizers and safeguarding our hopeful defenders. I am quite aware that this is some Job, but so Is the war. . JAMES G. CLARK SON. . The foregoing communication is pub lished for the reminder it offers of the measures taken by Portland authorities to suppress vice. The plan suggested is exactly -the one now being carried out. Immoral women arrested are not released on bond If diseased, but are sent to the detention camp at Kelly Butte. Tne Service Flag-. Oh! bright, blue stars of loyalty, On ground of red and white. We see you in ten thousand homes Throughout our land tonight. Tis with a thrill akin to awe We note you everywhere. Mute, terse reminders of the boys Who are no longer there. i And If we have none of our own We tell the thrilling story Cf neighbors' boys, or lrothers sen Who re fighting neath Old Glory! The home-fires burn and flags that h-ng In windows, day by day Keep fresh the memor; in our minds Of heroes far away. Each servic-i flag is honor-badge. By relatives held dear; Though hearts may ache at sight of it. Yet has it power to cheer. For who would wish to bear the shame Of those who d shrink or lag?" All hail the men whose homes today Display- the service flag! GRACE. E. HALL. Cost of Public Life. Washington (D. C.) Star. "A man of small ideas should not go into public life." "That's right," com mented Senator Sorghum. "When you mention expenses now and don't want to begin figuring with anything less than a billion.': NEWSPAPERS OBSERVE HOLIDAYS Number of Northwest Journals Out la Seasonal Garb and Size. Perhaps L'dltor Brodle has authority for calling .the issue of the Morning Enterprise of December 18 the "Fifty first A-.nual ECition." The custom may have extended as far ba -k and there at few of the time now dis pute. Nobody will challenge the gen eral xcellence of the number at hand. There are 48 pages, a great deal of dis play advertising, yet much that tells of that city and smaller cities and, of Clackamas County. Oresron City is an industrial community and the Enters prlso reflects it. The Issue of the Gresham Outlook of December 14 calls Itself a "Patriotic Christmas Number" and colored inks a-plenty sustain the assertion. There Is the fragrance of khaki to it that makes it seasonable. Editor St. Clair always is doing something better with his equipment of brains and machinery. The iwnrlstma- issue cf the La Grands Evening Observer was dlted mostly by the advertising tianat r assisted by artists in typorapi The results aimed at were attained. La Grande is well up in the list of coast cities with men who know the value of ink. The Silverton ppeal of December 21 has 36 pages that include a Santa Claus cover in holiday colors. It is a combl .ation oi information of the city of the silver fall and adjacent country and a great display by tl e merchants. It may ba that Sllverton enjoys special advantage of res ires it certainlj has it in its busin- 33 men. The Christmas issue of the Ashland Timings is a symposium of '-.r- dis played advertisements within an Illu minated cover with the saving merit of a job w. 11 done on the office equip ment. Editor Greer 3 as r on for self gratulation. It would not to a proper Christmas on Coos Bay if V. C. Maloney did not come to the bat -with an tensive issue of the Marshfield Times. The number at hand. December 15, exploits the Coos Biy region to rone extent, but' its main claim to perlority is in a shoppers' and buyers' ,-uide to the best of the st-'1 's bargain?. A long-range view might place Pilot Rock as a town in the shadow of Pen dleton, but a glance i'. the "Holiday Number" of the Pilti Rock Record will dispel the Illusion. Nothing d Ing of the kind. In t te 28 pages within a Santa Claus cover are displayed the "talks" of bucir.ess of every class and in large number. Pilot Rock differs from Oregon, wh- "flies by her own wings" she stands on "her own sturdy legs and the ? ord pro It. The' Ann- al Xmas Shopping Num ber" 6f tne Oreg n Cit Courier is Just that a buyers' guide for the holiday season, and. Judging by the stores rep resented in its unusual el of 2, pages, OrsJgon City peo; le had little need to come to the me'-orolis for the good things for- Tlmas (which Is the Courier's and 1 .zy people's wcy of misspelling a day sacred to dignity as well as Jol lity). ' y "Oisgon, . Through the East Window" Is the text of the "Holiday NumLer" oi the Silverton Tribune. Ed itor Brown i could as well have eaid "Silverton Seen Through the Front Win dow," for It Is all there, some of It in the color tones of rry and mistletoe In a pleasing comb'netion. Tha busi ness houses seem to be maktny up the advertising deficiency of the year. Ambl n led the "ickamas Jounty News to get out a "Christmas Edition," and that it succeeded is to the credit of the perseverance of Editor Clark, for Canby is not a .-.r. i cit" nor has It many business hc-ses. rinowing Canby, it may be said the News did well. Av-ora Is another town with a news paper fi.r in "he lead. The Observer observed th season with edition that docs it crec'.t. Its eature is a cover In colors and some vertise ments li "thr usual. Probably the term "Good Old Scout did -- originate it Union, yet it ap plies a.i -- 'ient weekl; paper mere, tne union scout, now in its 37th year, which celebrates the holiday sea son in enlarged form and lots of busi ness. Editor Maxwell is to be con gratulated on good work dona "be tween Issues." That the holiday season should not pass unnoticed, the Baker Herald of December 19 doubled its size to accom modate the demands of advertisers. From the viewpoint of a big brother, there should have been very much more. Business men of St. Helens seized the opportunity last Friday to say more than usual in larger space in the Mist, which Editor Heilborn improved with a colored cover featuring the good -old saint who today cheers the hearts of young- and old. The "Christmas Edition" of the Walla Walla Bulletin this year is like its pie decessors in respect to size, 48 pages. It is more of an annual number, in that it contains articles of historic as well of current interest and much that pertains to Walla Walla's part In up holding America in the world war. JNeignDoring towns are discussed to their advantage. Undoubtedly South Bend Is the best advertised small city in Southwest Washington this year, judging by the "Christmas Number" of the Willapa Harbor Pilot of 28 pages in a St. Nich olas cover. Much of the text Is liter ary matter, but the advertising display tells a tale of prosperity. In the eighth annual holiday edition of the Goldendale (Wash.) Sentine Editor Bath tersely says he lets it speak for itself. It does. In fact, it almost shouts. It points with pride to being all done at home, colored cover lnclud ed, and It speaks well for equipment and mechanical ability. The literary leatures complement the other work The Welser American sends Yuletide greetings in doubled size within a sea sonal cover. This issue will attract at tention toward the old Idaho city as a good place in which to do much busi ness. The South Bend (Wash.) Journal escnews tne patent cover tms year by printing the first page of Its hoi day number in green and red, doubling its size to accommodate the increase of advertising'. The literary feature is ot a Christmas nature. The ML Scott Herald, the local paper at Lents, calls Its issue of December 20 an "Anniversary and Christmas Num ber," the same being No. 51 of Volume 15. Business houses of that community who seldom use its columns to much extent figure largely in this birthday paper and Editor Fox meets them with Christmas color and pictures. The Her ald is a husky youngster "going on 16." Forty-four of the three-score busi ness and professional men of Union are represented in the holiday edition of the Union Republican which Editor Sciblrd calls "a modest effort." A dis interested opinion gives it a higher degree of merit. There are data in this issue that will be of value in after years, especially Its honor roll of Union County boys in the service. The Ontario Democrat of December 20 bears "Christmas Greetings" in in creased size, and it might be called a Red Cross number, the current wave of patriotic endeavor being given prom inence. The people of that far-off end of the state will be ungrateful if they fall to give Editor RiddJe due praise. In Other Days. Twenty-Five Yeara Ago. From The Oresonlan of December 23. 1892. Portland Is" a sea of slush. The pre dicted Chinook arrived on schedule time and for four hours it has steadily thawed the 26-inch snow mantle that awaited its advent. Washington It Is not probable that the Senate will take any action on the alleged part of Great Britain to strengthen her armed forces on the Great Lakes with war vessels, under the pseudonym of revenue cutters. Berlin Misery prevails among the poor. While there is plenty of carefully nourished game in the forests and In the, domains of the aristocrats, work ingmen are allowed to die of hunger. Sleighs were numerous on the streets yesterday and drivers were rather careless but no serious accidents oc curred. New York It looks now as if James It. Keene Is the man who will take the Place in the racing world made vacant by the death of August Belmont. Half a Century Ago. From Tho Oregonian .of December 25, 188T. The Daily Oregonian will not be is sued tomorrow, the proprietor, editors, printers and everybody else hovlng in vitations to attend Christmas festivi ties. The Unitarian Society will hold a social gathering this evening st their chapel, corner of Yamhill and Seventh streets, to welcome their new pastor. Rev. T. J. Eliot. It is hoped that everyone will re member the hall tonight, given by Pro tection Engine Company, No. 4, In honor of the arrival of their new steam engine. Everything possible has been done to insure a fa v 'fr.tiv Q h van time. - " "iimmcHo, ior tne past rew days, has been rising and yesterday it came up rapidly. It Is the opinion of boatmen that there Is a fair prospect for a higher stage of water than we have yet had. The trial of Jeff Davis was post poned until March, In order that the. Chief Justice might preside. The Chief Justice's other engagements rendered the postponement unavoidable. DOYLE PHILOSOPHY IS NOT NEW Writer Recalls Rearins; Same Theory of Future Life Expounded In 18T.5-8. SALEM. Or., Dec 23 (To the Edi tor.) Referring to the editorial in The Oregonian relative to the conver sion of Conan Doyle to the doctrine or philosophy of Splritualisn and to his article in the Metropolitan, I wish to say that there is nothing new In the doctor's discovery, if it be claimed as such, other than his conversion. In the Winter of 1855-6 I attended a week's discussion held In Cleveland, O.,- between Professor Mahan, opposing, and Professor Rhen and Joel Tiffany, a prominent lawyer of Albany, N. Y., advocating and defending Spiritism. In that debate both Rhen and Tif fany advanced practically the same doctrine as is presented by Dr. Doyle. During that Winter I made my home with a relative in that city who had many acquaintances among the mem bers of that cult, among whom was a young man who had developed as a writing medium. This young man had but a common school education, and had never been Interested in literary matters, and had never aspired to authorship of any kind. He would sub mit himself to the "influence" and then write rapidly concerning matters of which he was entirely ignorant, and when he "came out of the influence" would know nothing of what he had been writing. '"w"8 wiiijiigB was a manu script entitled "HoDkina' RxDnrienea in the Spirit World." This Hopkins was a prominent physician who had re cently died in Cleveland, In a fit of de lirium tremens. He 'was, however, rec ognized as an able man and scholar much above the average of his pro fession. Dr. Hopkins began his experiences by saying that his passing to the next life was painless; that he remained with eyes closed for some time after his spirit had left the body, fearing to open them, as he fully expected to open them in hell, as he had been a firm believer in the orthodox doctrine of the day. But, after thinking the matter over awhile, he concluded to make the plunge at once, and opened them to find that he was yet in the room where his lifeless body was sur rounded by wife and relatives. He at once realized that his religious training had been wrong, and began looking about to see what his next experience was to be. In addition to the friends and relatives he saw in the room, he Baw spirit forms above him reaching and beckoning to him to come to them. From these spirits he learned that he need not remain in the low sphere in which he found himself, but that it lay within his power to progress and to rise to still higher spheres as he prepared and fitted him self to fill them. He at once deter mined to take the upward course, for be it known that he also understood that there was no compulsion in the matter, but that he could remain where he was or could go still lower If he chose to do so. This progression was to be endless, as we reckon time, and he then re lated his- experiences as he entered each new sphere, and gave the names of great reformers who had preceded him. Above all others was the name of Jesus. It Is so long ago that I have forgotten particulars and names, but I well remember the surprise that was felt by his naming, as one of the lead ing reformers, Thomas Paine. This manuscript was never published so far as I remember, but the reading of it made a very deep and lasting Im pression upon my mind, and I yet think, as a philosophy applicable to the future life, it is much more attrac tive and in accordance with the will of an all-powerful and loving creator than is that of the orthodox creeds. D. WEBSTER. Godmotherlng Not Approved. PORTLAND, Dec. 24 (To the Edlw tor.) Kindly tell me if you know any thing of the Godmother's League, an organization which, through its mem bers, writes to soldiers at the frontT If there is a Portland address, will you kindly print it? If not. will you print the New York address, which was given last year? I C 11. We are unable to furnish the ad dress. Military authorities do not ap prove of the godmotherlng plan. RldiiME the Storm. People's Home Journal. A hunted, driven creature beneath the mid night sky. ... The good ship strains abovs the crests of billows piling men. A ruffling sea before her and a tearing- sale behind. And every naked a-leamlng spar a-qulver- lng- in tne winu. Her riven shrouds and halliards are trail ing In ner a-aKe As on her gllFtenlng wind-swept deck the great green waters break. She lunges and she plunges and she reels adown the night: Tet still her heart of seasoned oak Is sing ing through her flight. For all her groaning timbers, for all her empty spars. She'll ride the storm to harbor beneath, the morning stars.