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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1921)
8. THE MORNING OREGOMAN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, .1921 ESTABLISHED BY HENRY I- TITTOCK. Published by The Oregonian Publishing Co.. 135 Sixth Street. Portland. Oregon. C. A. IIORDEN, E. B. PIPER. Manager. Editor. The Oregonian Is a member of the Asso ciated Press. The Associated Press is ex clusively entitled to the use for publication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reaerveed. . Subscription Kates Invariably In Advance. (By Mail Dally. Sunday Included, one year .....80O Iaily, Sunday Included, six months ... 4-25 Iaily, Sunday Included, three months.. 2.25 Dally. Sunday included, one month. ... .75 Daily, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Daily, without Sunday, six months .... 8.25 DaMv. without St nca. one u onth Weekly, one year 1 00 Sunday, one year 2.50 (By Carrier.) Dally. Sunday included, one year 9 00 Daily. Sunday Included; three months. 2.25 Daily. Sunday Included, one month... .5 Dally, without Sunday, one year J" Dally, without Sunday, three months. 1.95 Daily, without Sunday, one month 65 How to Remit Send postoffice money order, express or personal check on your locsl bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at owner's risk. Give postoffice address in lull, including county and state. Postage Kates 1 to 16 pases. 1 cent: 1 to 2 pases. 2 cents; 84 to 48 pages, 3 cents: 50 64 pages, 4 cents: 66 to 80 psjres, 5 cents: 82 to 06 pages. 6 centa foreign postage double rate. Knstern Business Of fice Verree Conk lin. 800 Madison avenue. New York: Verree & Conklin, Steger building, Chicago: Ver ree & Conklin, Free Press building. De troit. Mich.; Verree & Conklin. Selling building. Portland; San Francisco repre sentative. R. J. Bldwell. XCMBER'S CLAIM TO PROTECTION. The worst blot on the Fordney tariff is that, though it is declared ty its sponsors to be protective and Is lathered by the party which has always championed protection, its lumber section refuses protection to one of the greatest industries. This is a concession to the farmers, to whom the bill gives a larger meas ure of protection than ever was known. Apparently the theory of free lum ber is that Canada is the only coun try that seriously competes with the United States, that cost of produc tion 'in the two countries is about equal, that for this reason Amer ican lumber needs no protection, and that there is great need of cheap lumber for farm buildings and housings, which would be met by widening the source of supply to include Canada Cost of producing lumber Is not ejqual. In Canada the government owns the timber, and the lumber man pays for it only as he logs it. Hence the Canadian lumberman, as sumes no risk of loss by fire or utorm, makes no heavy investment In a reserve supply of timber and pays insignificant taxes. In the United States the lumberman must buy timber land, must pay taxes on It during the years that pass before he logs it, must pay for fire protec tion and must add these charges and interest on his investment to the cost of manufacturing lumber. How great is the risk of loss by fire and storm was strikingly demonstrated by the great storm on the Olympic peninsula, which destroyed six bil lion feet of timber. The Canadian has a further advantage in the de preciation of Canadian money, for he pays cost of production in Cana dian dollars and sells in the United States at a price measured in Amer ican dollars, making a profit of ,2 a thousand feet on exchange. Can ada has such attractions that many American lumbermen have gone Into business there and now send their agents to congress to plead for free import of lumber produced with their expatriated American dollars. Of course they are moved by tender sympathy for the Ameri can farmer and homebuilder. But the Canadian lumbermen do not sell in the American market at prices materially, if any, lower than those of American lumber. The great economy in production that they effect as compared with Amer ican lumbermen is appropriated as excess profit. No benefit to Amer icans in the shape of cheaper build ing material results. It is pretended that by admitting Canadian lumber free we shall-conserve our fast disappearing forests while devouring those of Canada. In fact Canada's annual output is less than one-sixth of that of the United States, and only 30 per cent of that sixth is exported to this country. All that Canada can do to relieve the housing shortage is to cut under the bedrock American price in or der to dispose of its surplus, yet to make fat i profits. This condition artificially stimulates expansion of the industry and transfers more of the American market to Canadians without benefit to American con sumers. The provision of the Fordney bill that the president shall negotiate for removal of the 25 per cent Ca nadian duty on American lumber and that, if he should fail, an equal countervailing duty shall be levied on Canadian lumber would secure no protection. Little American lum ber is exported to Canada, so little would be gained by removal of the Canadian duty, but if Canada should accede to our proposal, it would be free to enter our market with its low-cost product duty free. The onlyi effective protection is to be ob tained from a duty that is not con tingent on what Canada does.. AX HISTORIAN OF SCIENCE. Fame has always been more or less transitory, but the fame of Caruso will endure beyond the lim itations of the past. The records. or his voice are imperishable, and it is logical to assume, that many centuries from now listeners will thrill to the songs he sang lacking only the visible presence of the great tenor to make for entire reality. For twenty years prior to his death Caruso had been making records. So it appears that the Italian fruit peddlers of Mulberry street, who re fused stubbornly to believe that he was dead, were not far from right. . Since 1906 his income from this source alone is estimated to have been in excess of $1,500,000. His hairs will now receive these royal ties, which are certain to continue" for many years. But that is im material. The fact which really matters is the preservation of a great voice for the delight and in etruction of- the future. We are in clined to be somewhat cynical as we consider the appraisals of the past, to say that this or that man of renown was judged by the lenient standards of his time, and could not by any possibility be tomparable to our gifted ones of the present. There will never be any question about the fame of Caruso. The voice of the tenor will challenge comparison in days unthlnkably remote. What the phonograph will do for the voice of Caruso, accepting trust for many generations to come, it will henceforth do for others jv-hose gifts of genius, in art or statesmanship, render them worthy of the tribute. Once-upon-a-time, and not so long: ago, a lightly re garded toy, the phonograph has now become a gravely capable historian, exact and errorless. Together with the filmed motion picture records of contemporaneous events it will afford to the future an invaluable record of the past. TTTE SEASON Or FOREST FIRES. -That dim blue haze at morning, resting so gently on the hills, is pretty enough if it weren't so high priced. It is the evidence that tor est fires are taking their, annual toll of the Oregon timber. A lot of our dreams for the future are with that same timber. Not only is it vacation land, but it is the great est stand left on the continent. Some day, and soon, it will make Oregon the lumber center of America. Kvery fire that races through it robs. us of future pleasure and profit. The advent of the forest fire is always coincidental with the season of vacations, when the fire hazard is greatly increased by outing parties in the forests. But it is also timed to arrive near, the close of the sum mer, when a protracted season of dry weather has made highly In flammable material of the under growth and debris. .Wo would have forest fires, unquestionably, if all forests were closed against camp ers and the general public. But the fact is that all, or most of them, are due to human agency and largely to carelessness. Every vacationist in the timber should, remember at all times that the trees are his legacy. They guar antee to him many pleasant days to coma, and the direct or indirect profit that arises from a great in dustry. Be he ever so cautious in his handling of fire when on an out ing, he cannot overdue his caution. A glowing match in the pine needles, a single ember left in the camp fire, a bit of burning tobacco, may loose Buch a forest fire as will be long and ruefully remembered. SET THE MERCHANT MARINE FREE. Whether tying up of the shipping board vessels is a necessary prelim inary to their sale or charter or not, unquestionably A- F. Haines is right in the opinion that the sooner the board gets outof the business of op erating ships the less money it will lose. Former boards were reluctant to take the loss represented by the difference between what the ships cost and what they were worth at any given time. They continued to operate on terms which could not fail to involve loss, and wfcile they did so the selling value of their fleet fell, so that1 they lost doubly. Shipping history should have warned the government that ship ping is the last business in which any government can hope to engage profitably. It must inevitably be conducted in open competition with the ships of other nations with which we trade, for the traffic is as much theirs as ours. Laws discrim inating in favor of our ships cannot be effective, for other nations can retaliate in kind. Our only chance of success lies in the combination of strictest economy with constant vig ilance to take advantage of every economic change, and with the highest enterprise. This is pos sible only when ships are in private hands, free from legal restraint ex cept such as is dictated by regard for safety of life and property at sea and for just, humane treatment of seamen. It is utterly impossible with a government bureau, which has an intuitive antipathy to econ omy and is so slow in action, so bound up in formal restrictions as to be hopelessly outmatched in com petition with a quick-witted busd ness man.' Amercians have a hard enough task at best to get back into the shipping business to stay, for with comparatively few exceptions they have been out of it so long that they have to learn it again. When the nation was young, it half lived on- the sea, for across the sea It came to America, and In its' youth it outdid the mother country in building and sailing ships. For more than half a century it has been mainly occupied in traveling across the continent, in effect making a portage from ocean to ocean so long that it has almost forgotten how to launch its boats in the Pacific. It can learn again only as the English Dutch and Norsemen, from whom it mainly descended, learned, and its achievements in other fields have proved it not only quick to learn but to excel. The first requisite to success is that the merchant marine be emancipated from the numbing effect of bureaucracy and be set free to fight its own battles in com petition on an equal footing with the world. WEARY OF WAITING. Still fit for service is the old adage that they who help themselves are helped by providence. It finds its most recent exemplification in the attitude of the administration, which holds that economic recovery in America shall not wait upon the slow enlargement of the European market, but shall result primarily from improved domestic conditions. In other words the administration believes that the slack is gradually being taken In, the slack that devel oped into a careless sag during the period of war prosperity. The proc ess does not mean a shortening o employment or wages, necessarily, but rather a natural reconstruction of business, in which carelessness and waste will have no part. An instance in point is that of a certain automobile manufacturer, wno aiscoverea mat the war "era had placed upon his enterprise var ious excrescences, alike expensive which had outlived their temporary usefulness. They were ornamental and from that viewpoint desirable One might even find basis for an argument in favor of their retention But he lopped them off withou mercy, won through a critical finan cial situation, cut the cost of hi cars and stimulated sales all over America. His business is thriving. He did with his own. affairs pre cisely what the nation expects Mr. Dawes to do with ours. We are back again to the time when close figuring counts for suc cess or failure. -.Advices from South America are to the effect that the invasion of German commercial agents, with low-priced wares, al ready is forcing out American en terprise. The German competition was to be expected, but it was also to be expected that American manu facturers would make ready to meet changed conditions and enter the markets of the world on something like a parity with their competitors. When American business shall have completely readjusted itself, admit ting that the fat and easy days are done with, sound prosperity and gene'ral economic relief cannot fail to follow. Such Is the hope of the administration. As a nation we have little to plume ourselves about in a business way. We hold the greater portion of the world's gold, as Lord North cliffe recently reminded) us, but we seem to have forgotten how to make it produce. Instead of turning at once to the work of rehabilitation, we served notice that we would wait until a rehabilitated Europe bought so heavily of us that we would have nothing tor worry about. This was a fallacy' and a dangerous one, but the evidences of a return to sanity are plentiful. The European busi ness will come to us, but in the meantime we shall have attained confidence through the readjust ment of our own domestic affairs. DIVORCE PERCENTAGES. We take it from a valuad con temporary, the Blue Mountain Eagle, that there is going to be a "wailing and gnashing pf teeth ahead" when the people of Oregon awake to the facts concerning marriage and di vorce in this state. There are, says the Eagle, two divorces to every five marriages in this state, while a few years ago there was only one divorce to every twenty-five marriages. Then j our contemporary proceeds to dis-! cuss the cause, as follows: j Downtrodden women have been making their fight upward. She has been striving to be the legal equal of man. She wanted equal suffrage, prohibition, serve on 3ui.es, run elevators, wear coveralls and hav a double standard like men and our mone tary system. It looks like she ia going to get it. Maybe divorce don't mean any thing to women. We can't speak on this subject; we don't know. But we do know that ordinarily it don't mean anything to a man when he views women in overalls, running elevators, on Juries, smoking cig arettes and getting married every three weeks, and petting a poodle dog instead a kid. We have no remedy. Grave as the situation is, it un- oubtedly deserves discussion on the basis of authoritative statistics, and It is going to bother the statisti cians a good deal to prove that di vorce has actually increased as much in Oregon as has been pop ularly assumed, if marriages which ought to be credited to Oregon as well as divorces are counted- It is well known that a considerable proportion of Oregonians who marry do so in other states, by reason of restrictive law which many re gard as an infringement on their liberties, or a violation of their sense of privacy, and these are lost to the Oregon marriage column, while relatively easy divorce laws and complaisant judges offer no sim ilar incentive for seeking elsewhere, for legal separation. The result Is obvious, that the proportion of di vorces to marriages is artificially increased, and It is this artificial in- rease which is the basis of the misleading statement that there are two divorces to every five mar riages" in Oregon. There is indeed a tendency In some quarters to ascribe the in creasing tenuity of the marriage tie to the extension of suffrage to wom en, but those who think that the two tacts, if the first is a fact, con stitute a mere coincidence have quite as much authority for their belief as any others, for it is based at Dest on guess worn, it is never theless worth while to speculate upon whether the broadening of the field of women's work, particularly that of young women, may not have presented opportunities for associa tion of the sexes without the old time supervision of parents and the restraining influence of the old- fashioned home, thus favoring over-nasty unions ana the evils that attend them. It has been observed that the ancient maxim about mar rying in haste and repenting at lei sure has lost none of its force with the passage of time: and it may be more than a coincidence that a growing disposition to shorten the period of courtship and a large In crease in the number of divorces in the country at large have oc curred at the same time. THE SILESIAN SETTLEMENT. Agreement among the allies on the division of upper Silesia between Germany and .Poland will remove the last of the questions that re mained open under the Versailles treaty. The compromise seems to award the greater part of the min ing section to Poland and to divide the industrial districts between the two countries. It is far more liberal to Poland than was the division pro posed by the British and Italian members of the plebiscite commis sion, and may be expected to pro voke vehement protests from Ger many. Finality of. the settlement will hinge on unison and vigor among the allies in enforcing it. The state of civil war between Poles and Ger mans which has existed since the beginning of May was caused and prolonged by the discord between Britain and France, the former showing mild partiality to Germany, the latter decided partiality to Po land. Having at last agreed on an award, they should now work to gether In breaking down all oppo sition by force exerted impartially on both nations. When the contend ing nations realize that the allies cannot be played off one against the other,' they may become reconciled to the verdict as final, through sheer despair of overturning it. Germany has striven to retain this province more tenaciously than any other conquered territory that the allies proposed to liberate. It ranked with Lorraine and the Ruhr basin in importance both to militar ism and industry. Having lost Lor raine, Germany would have to rely on the Ruhr for domestic coal and iron if it should lose Silesia also. Hence the German delegates at Paris said their country could not live with out this province and they threat ened to refuse pointblank to sign the treaty if it should' be given to Poland. Lloyd George professed to take this bluff seriously and induced President Wilson to join him in urging that a plebiscite should de cide. They carried their point, pay ing no regard to the fact that Sile sian coal and iron were as necessary to the economic life of Poland as to that of Germany and attaching no value to their own stipulation in the treaty that Poland if successful should supply Germany with an al lotted quantity of these minerals. . Their game of bluff having won one point, the Germans continued it. During the summer of 1919 they goaded the Polish workmen to strike and rebellion then inaug urated a reign of terror, which did not end till the allies occupied the province. Another anti-Polish out break occurred in the summer of 1920 when the bolshevist invasion threatened -to exterminate independ ent Poland, but by this time the Polish population had secured arms and found leaders, and it made a stand against its oppressors which forced them to agree to a truce. When the adverse report of the plebiscite commission became known last spring, the Poles led by Kor fanty played the game of bluff at which the Germans had won. Joined by thousands of volunteers from the republic, they occupied in force the territory they claimed, successful ly resisting the Italian and the small British occupying force and meeting no opposition from the French. They were driven back by large, newly or ganized German forces and a war in which Germany and Poland would , have been involved seemed to' Impend when British reinforce ments were - sent, and the allied troops extended across the debated land and pressed back the two arm ies, Germans to the -north and west, Poles to the south and east. The latter still held much ground which it had been intended to give to Germany. They thus confronted the allies with an accomplished fact, which could be changed by armed force alone. None of the al lies was willing to engage in a war by which they could not profit but by which Germany would be the only gainer; Comparison of the boundary fixed at Paris with that proposed by the plebiscite commis sion shows that the Poles have gained much, by their defiance, while the allies have lost much pres tige. No doubt Ambassador Harvey played an important part, as a mem ber of the allied supreme council, in bringing about an agreement. There has been such sharp differ ence of opinion between Britain and France that at times there appeared to be danger that the alliance, on which Europe chiefly relies for peace, might split on the Silesian rock. This would do grave Injury to American interests, for we must look to recovery of Europe from ef fects of the war for return of our prosperity. The American people are equally the friends of both Brit ain and France and our Interest Is served by their close co-operation in preserving European peace. Know ing that Mr. Harvey's mediation would be disinterested, they may be presumed to have accepted sugges tions from him. His presence at the conference would also constitute notice to both Germany and Po land that they would do well to ac cept its decisions without cavil. Settlement of the Silesian con troversy may expedite conclusion of a treaty between the United States and Germany. It effects the last territorial adjustment in a manner that President Harding and the senate can approve, and leaves the economic, reparation and disarma ment clauses to be arranged. As to the first the president will prob ably desire slight modification of the Versailles treaty and as to the two latter he has already called on Germany to submit to the allies' de mands, thus in effect endorsing them. Then there should be little difficulty In arranging terms with Germany to which the allies would assent, either by acceptance of the Versailles treaty with reservations or by a separate treaty embodying those parts which we accept. Failure of honey production in the4 United States to keep pace with the increase of population is a fact of importance when taken In connec tion with the opinion of food ex perts that honey is a peculiarly val uable food, inasmuch as some of the changes which sugar and starch are required to undergo in digestion have already been made in the nat ural ' process of creation of honey by the bee. Consequently the figures of the 1920 census, which show 3,476,346 hives in the country in 1920, by comparison with 3,445,006 in 1910, an increase of only 0.9 per cent, contains some of the elements of a food calamity. The increase in honey production, meanwhile, from 54,814,890 to 55.261,552 pounds, or 0.8 per cent, shows that the bees have been doing their duty in the main and that It is their owners who have been at fault. Spreckels Junior was making a curve when his car turned over and injured him fatally. As he was alone there is no evidence as to speed; but a car negotiating a curve gently does not often turn over. Mr. Wells has switched the winds to "westerly," and by and by they will be sou'westerly and southerly and ah, the soothing sough of them! Think of the noble self-sacrifice of those senators who had the cour age to pass the anti-beer bill in weather like this. The senate has passed the medical beer bill and sent It to conference, but that is little comfort during a hot spell. Government will Investigate the Blunts Reef wreck, but nothing can come of it. The captain gave his life. In weather like this even an Ore gonian will take pleasure in admit ting that it sometimes snows in Ore gon. ' Before famous opera stars decide to marry, they ought to be certain that they can sing in the same key. If the Alaska's lifeboats were not in proper condition, as survivors say, why do we have inspectors? - "Poverty," says a psychologist, "is a condition of thought." Its a mighty serious thought at times. If Mount Hood really is in erup tion, then Oregon has still another first-class tourist attraction. Tourists note the absence of flies In Portland. . Judicious swatting did it in the years past. Hopgrowers are hoping for rain and they will get them in picking time, as usual. People with . vivid imaginations can see things on Mount Hood. No woman is happy until she has owned a davenport -once. - The Tellegens needed a little fairy in the home. BY-PRODUCTS OF THE PRESS. lledford Meat Report Savage Battle Between Huge Rattlesnake. Tou 'can talk about your bull fights being ferocious, vicious and thrilling, i but the most fascinating and thrill ingest thriller ever witnessed was a battle between two large rattlesnake on the Crater lake road near McLeod, witnessed by Court Hall and Frank Isaacs and described la the Medford Mail-Tribune. Hall and Isaacs were visiting some campers, when of a sudden they heard the brush cracking and saw rolling stones coming from a point 70 yards up the hillside. To their astonish ment they then saw two rattlesnakes lnterwined around each other standing- on the end of their tails, battling viciously. - "As we neared the battling rattlers they disdained to notice our approach, seemingly fighting more vicious than before," says Court Hall in describing the novel conflict. "Wrapped around each other to within eight or ten I inches of their heads, sometime standing on their tails and some times rolling down the hillside for five or ten feet only to arise again on their tails ends, drawing back their heads, striking again and again at each other with their forked tongues and their eyes glaring balls of fire. "With the larger rattler at times seeming; to have an advantage only to have this advantage overcome again by the agility of the smaller one, the battle was becoming more fascinat ing and thrilling all the time, and after watching the ' almost even struggle for eight minutes Mr. Isaacs ended the affair with a shotgun, emptying four loaded shells into the combatants.' "The rattler were found to be unusually large, one measuring 44 inches In length with 13 rattlers, the other 42 inches with 12 rattlers. It is seldom mat two rattlers are ever seen fighting, but the dry season and hot weather eeems to have made them more vicious this year, as well as more plentiful." "Old country" traffic rules, as prac ticed in British Columbia and but one other place on the . American continent,-called for left-hand instead of right-hand passings. Now the provincial legislature has passed a law, and "keep to the right" will be the law in British Columbia, leaving Nova Scotia the only real "Blimy" place on this continent. In Victoria and Vancouver the American has a hard time of it in getting accustomed to the left-hand traffic, with both street cars and vehicles on the op posite side of the street to that in his country. The British Columbia Electric Rail way company is faced with the great est problem in connection with the "turn to the right" plan. The com pany finds It will have to spend 1,0-00,000 to alter Its equipment to meet new conditions. ; Of this amount, however, the provincial gov ernment has agreed to contribute ,350,000. On August 1 Ellis island found itself caught "long" on Poles, Turks and Greeks. The July quotas from those countries were filled long be fore the end of the month, and the surplus is being held under bond awaiting a ruling on their importa tion. The restrictive immigration law went into effect June 3, . and thus far has barred no newcomers able to reach these shores. Ellis island reports that European embarkation has been curtailed and that there have been some delays in admission here, but that the only persons turned back were the re jected for the us'ial causes. Greece's July quota called for 657 and by the 20th of the month there were 49 surplus Greeks, and on the same date Palestine had filled her allowance of 11 persons. Rulings from Washing ton are being eagerly awaited as to whether nationalities "long" in any one month are to be admitted and charged against the next. The Knickerbocker suit for women is beginning to "take" with the girls of Boston. Mayor Peters, after re ceiving Miss Hazel Sears, a petite brunette, who was wearing 'em, said he quite approved. Business men have said they'd have no more ob jections to stenographers In knicker bockers writing- their letter than they have to "stenos" in knee-length skirts. Anyway, the news that Fifth ave nue was presenting Knickerbockers for women has led to their byng given a trial by attractive young women in the downtown shopping district and in the parks. And the tone of the letters . received from other women who saw Miss Sears swinging down the streets with a free stride and carrying- a swagger stick are more envious' than critical intone. The first young women to wear 'em in public were leading an impromptu parade before they had gone a block. Traffic policemen had to break up the procession the first day. But since then the 'men of Boston apparently have realized there is no more expo sition of feminine calf with the knickerbocker suit than with the ultra-short skirt of the day. For dancing purposes, however, Bos ton girls are still observed wearing chiffon and such like, thus obviating male threats to adopt corsets, flower pot derbies, perfume and V-neck shirts by way of reprisal. e While the bull cook at - Nine-mile was building a fire in order to heat tea for the tram crew's lunch, a big black bear slipped up behind him and swiped the full grub box. then went back in the brush a few yards, sat down on a log and proceeded to enjoy himself, says the Hyder (Alaska) Miner. The lad did not try to take the box away from his bear ship, but went to camp for more grub and the foreman's rifle. On his return the foreman shot the bear four times, hitting his vicinity with " the first shot and sending the other three bullets into the same place. Having finished his repast, the bear then went away for his noon siesta, leav ing the grub box to be refilled. If You Could Sec. With regal mien and icy glances You spurn my innocent advances: The queenly pomp that you affect Would e'en the stanchest heart deject; The frown you wear upon your face Chills my attempt to win your grace; Your stately gait, your royal walk Scorns every effort to make talk; My pleas, I'm sure, you wouldn't be mocking If you could see that hole In your stocking. New Tork Globe. Those Who Come and Go. Tales of Folk at the Hotels. "Coffee and overtime play a prom inent part in the fish industry in Alaska." observed Frank M. Warren, chairman of the Port of Portland commission, who has returned from a seven week trip in the north. "During the "run' tba men are given coffee and.fooa six times a day. They start at 4 A. M. and work until 6 P. M. with -rest periods, I saw red salmon running as thick as smelt in the Sandy. And as for trout fishing. It was eo easy to catch them thai all the sport was knocked out of the game. Andl gulls! Whoppers! When a cannery opens the gulls are re spectful and appreciative of the refuse thrown away.- In a short time, however, they become- very fat ana- heavy and begin grumbling about the grub. Then there are the gull hawks, who are too lazy to get their own feed. They wait until they see a gull with a fish and they dart at the gull, catch the gull by the neck and shake it until the gull lets go and then the hawk picks up the fish and eats it, while the gull goes out to look for another meal." In gen eral, Mr. Warren found conditions" in Alaska very slack. Aside from the prospeot of an oil excitement at three or four places, there is little going on. Most of the towns which used to be lively are now going to seed and more people are leaving Alaska than are going in. At Anchorage the town lives on the government payroll and the main street is a succession of restaurants and poolhalls one after another. At Anchorage Mr. Warren was informed; that all the place needs Is a steamer to arrive every other day and T3-a-ton rate for freight. American business concerns are not going- much in. the Australasian mar ket on account of the rate of ex change, and American automobiles are not as numerous there as formerly, asserts F. J. Carter of Dunedln, N. Z., registered at the Multnomah. Be cause of the rate of exchange with the United States, this country is losing business and the European countries are reaping the benefit. Italian and British automobiles are being purchased in preference to the American machines. The same holds true of other manufactured articles. Mr. Carter, who is making an ex tended trip through the United States In the interest of his lumber busi ness, states that conditions at home were fair until lately, when the high rate of exchange began to have a depressing and retarding effect on business. Being on the Pacific highway, where the tourist traffic is thickest, is not without its defects, according to J. Henry Booth, Roseburg banker, who, with his family, was at the Imperial yesterday. One of Mr Booth's ranches is on the highwaj south of Roseburg. and he has dis covered that campers steal chickens steal his turkeys and steal his sheep. And, by the way, the discovery of Mr. Booth has been duplicated by others who have farms on the state high ways, so that farmers are getting to view the tourist camper with an eye of distrust. It was on the highway near Mr. Booth's farm that Dr. Bruro field is alleged to have murdered Dennis Russell, and the doctor was seen passing the farm the day of the crime, when he drove to Myrtle Creek to ship a box of odds and ends to Seattle. "There is no need to fence .the state highways with unsightly tele phone poles," says J. M. Devers. at torney for the highway commission. Mr. Devers was on his way to As toria yesterday to see about the poles which the Postal Telegraph company is putting In on the river side of the highway. These are cedar poles split into four and are as elegant as the rails of a worm fence. Twelve miles of this line .have been, strung since Mr. Devers and the telegraph people had an Informal hearing. The next step Mr. Devers will take will be to apply for an injunction in ait prooa bility. The commission is of the nninion that the Postal company can put its poles on the south side of the highway, where the Pacific States telephone line is located, and Mr. De vers suggests that a common user arrangement should be made between the Postal and the Pacific States to use one set of poles. When Clvde Miller o-f Uniontown. Pa., registered at the Multnomah yes terday, he found an old acquaintance in Mr. Jonasson, clerk at the desk. It had been many years since they last met. Mr. Miller says that con ditions are quiet in that famous coa and poke center, which is very ex ceptional on account of the great de manrl for this fuel by the big blast furnaces. Although the town has only 18.000 population, there are 22 millionaires, which makes Uniontown one of the wealthiest cities of its size in the United States. Natural springs of hot water, and for contrast, springs of cold water, are in the neighborhood of Beulah, In Malheur county. There are about 50 people at Beulah, and Dave Glenn, who gets his mall at that postoffice, is at the Hotel Oregon. Beulah Is on the road to Burns and is within a couple of miles of the Harney county line. It Is a fine range country for stock It has an altitude of 3269 feet. The oil situation in Texas has now reached the stage where it is a matter of pumping and producing and the boom period is a tning oi tne past, according to R. B. Ellifritz. who, with his wife, is at tne Muitnoman. Air Ellifritz is managing director of the AdoLphus hotel of Dallas, Tex. and Is spemHng a month visiting the cities of the Pacific coast. Once upon a time Twickenham, on the John Day river, aspired to be the county seat of Wheeler county. After a hard fight Fossil won ana nas neia he honor against all comers. Now Fossil has a population of about ten to every one ir Twickenham. J. K Berry of Twickenham is a sheepman and is at the Imperial. William Mahoney. vice-president of the First National bank at Heppner Is registered at the Hotel Oregon Turkey red wheat is running 25 bush els to the acre, says he. and there is an- average yield of other wheat at 33 1-3 bushels to the acre. The only wheat sold so far this year has been at a dollar a bushel. Mrs. Charles G. Miller and daughter arrived at the Hotel Portland yester day from Government Springs on their wav to San Francisco, where her husband is to be in the hotel business Mr. Miller was formerly manager of the Marion at Salem. Citv Attorney Gavin of The Dalle Is registered with other members of her family at the Imperial. Miss Gavin is always specially honored by the democratic party whenever thert is an opportunity. As a matter of fact. M. H. Stone- man's place is near Lone Rock, bui instead of registering at the Imperial from that dot oi the landscape, he registers from Condon. Mr." Stone man is in the sheep business. R. R. Canterbury, president of the International Timber Workers. Is reg istered at the Perkins from Seattle. H. B. Moses of the emergency fleet corporation Is registered at the Hotel Portland" from. Seattle, Burroughs Nature Club. Copyright, HeaKHton-Mif flln Co. Cam You Ainrn Tkru Quratlonaf 1. Do rattlesnakes lay eggs? ' 2 What Is the, best food for gold fishes? . 3. Is the female flicker marked like the male? Answers in tomorrow's nature notes. m ' m Amawrra o Previous ftueatlousj. 1. What class of refuse turned into our streams i-s most destructive to vegetation, and what is its particular action on such vegetation? As there is so much refuse and of so many yarieties, from different manufactures, etc, that can be turned destructively into streams, we can hardly elect the worst. Anything with strong chemical properties would in jure vegetation and also the fishes. Using streams for dumping grounds is a deplorable practice. - a 2. How can i start a rose hedge from one bush? A Blow process. Take shoots, cut ting cleanly and diagonally. Root in sharp sand and water, in strong light. Set out when rooted in good soil. Bone meal, 6tlrred near, but not on, the roots, is stimulating. Better plant your small cuttings near the old bush, making an expanding clump, rather than a straggly row. 8. What i-s the chief diet of sea gulls living around Great Salt lake? Do they eat the wormlike scales on the shores of the lake? The Franklin gull is common in Utah, and a great eater of insects, long-horned grasshoppers, etc Read ers outside Utah may not know that arly settlers in Utah were almost ruined by a cricket pest that ate the crops, as fast as planted. Seagulls appeared in great flocks, however, and consumed the insects. A beau tiful monument commemorates this. We do not know what "the wormlike scale" refers to, but probably the birds do eat it. THANKS GIVEN FOll EXCEPTION Sareastlo Writer Pleased That Mr. Fergus M ould Let Women Seek Stage. OLYMPIA. Wash.. Aug. 8. (To the Editor. Friends, the divorce ques lton is settled- at last. At one ien swoop of Fergus" pen tne gnosi is aid never to walk again. Alone ne done it," and the whole world stands breathless to applaud. The logic of FerKus is flawless (note the orderly array of firstly and thirdly) just as his humor is matchless ne nas none to match! As in the beginning, so In divorce he tells us, the fault is solely wom an s. No less an authority man Father Adam could be cited did Fer gus think his own bare .assertion In adequate. Therefore it is woman who must be punished and she alone. To bring this about and clip her claws for good and all, Fergus would turn the clock back 150 years a stilt sen tence. surely! This, according to Fergus, would bring us: Firstly (and foremostly), the return of male supremacy; sec ondly, unwilling child-bearing wom an must perpetuate her lord and mas ter's faults in offspring willy-nilly; thirdly, woman's mental flights kept well under the lid of the family sauce pan, i. e., woman's education confined to the kitchen; fourthly, woman's economic status reduced to that of dependent female with two exceptions, the theater and domestic service. Ah. friend Fergus, your exceptions are the one bright ray piercing the night into which you have pitched us! They give us courage to go on living, for they afford a way out: If the chains which bind us gall too sorely, we can all become chorus girls and divert Fergus" masculine mind while his good lady struggles along through a welter of child-birth at home. Failing this we can all be scrubwomen. The Amy Lowells, the Jane Adamses and Zona Gales among us will be given a chance to strangle the beauty of their souls" individual ism in dishwater in the kitchen of Mrs. Cominsky, who has observed Fergus' fourth commandment "in the making of a favorable marriage con nection" with Cominsky, political boss of the B9th ward. If Fergus' auld mither finds life Impossible under the thumb of Fer gus" blood father in the regime pro posed, her only chance of relief will be to steal away some dark night to parts unknown, there to work out her own salvation by blacking boots t 15 cents a shine. But no! Boot- blacking is not sufficiently menial to be classed under domestic service. She, too, will have to scour kettles and pans for Mrs. Cominsky of saintly odor. Ah Fer-r-gus, Fer-r-gus you be saer credit to this auld mither of yours-. Surely, she has de served better than this at your hands. ANN LAZENBY. REVERSION TO ADAM'S EXCUSE Man Still Prone to .Blame Oman for Troubles, Including Divorce. PORTLAND. Aug. 9. (To the Ed itor.) I notice a letter in The Ore gonlan signed Donald M. Fergus. After reading it over I realize that the "cave man" is still with us. The cave anan dates back to Adam's time. When Adam fell into sin he laid it onto "the woman thou gavest me," and the same excuse has been exer cised ever since. How many of this ancient type have you ever known who had the backbone to come out and say "It is my fault. I am the stronger sex. I had no business fall ing for the weaker character." I for one am glad the "good old days" are passing; glad women can work and make an honest living if they want to; glad- they don't have to put up with the drunken husband, the beating, the double standard of morals; glad they refuse to dump children into the world like so many cats or rabbits, with no thought of their support or education: glad they are not a burden to their parents, sitting around in idleness waiting for some man to come along and marry them any old thing as long as they get their clothes and board. Many men seem to think it neces sary for the good of their health to drag themselves through the slimes and sewers of life, but when they marry they expect to get a girl who has always lived straight. There have always been some bad women. How could we expect It to be other wise when men start out to "sow wild oats" when they are scarcely out of short pants. Out of the working women today two-thirds have been married. Almost one-half .are supporting children. Where are the fathers of these chil dren, the husbands of these women? Ask any of the army of women in our large department stores, in our factories and other places where hun dreds of women are employed. They will tell you drink, bad temper, cruelty, non-support, too much other woman. Divorce is a great blessing to most of these women. SUBSCRIBER. Aunt Gets a Hint. Buffalo (N. Y.) Express. Willie (doing his home work) What Is the distance to the nearest star. Auntie? Auntie I'm sure I don't know, Willie. Willie-r-Well. 1 hone then, you'll feel sorrv tomor row when I'm getting punished for! your ignorance. More Truth Than Poetry. By James) J. Montague. A KEW ONK. "I could find no excuse for refusln-g it." A state senator's apology for taking a bribe. "My motives are honest," the burglar observed. As he entered a dwelling by stealth. "I can hardly express my consuming distress At taking your visible wealth. I can well understand how you value the saime. And how you will suffer by los .ing it. But It's perfectly clear that as long as it's here I can find no excuse for refusing "I don't want your mqney," the fllm flammer said. As he juggled the galloping cubes. "I wholly disclaim any criminal aim In fleecing these innocent Rubes. A singular trade 19 this calling of mine; There are different methods of viewing it; It gives me no thrills when I pry loose their bills, Tet 1 find no excuse for not doing it." "I would rather sell cheap," said the fat profiteer; "I think, with a sorrowful eigh What people must say when I force them to pay A price that is ten times too hierh. But. although the suckers complain and protest. And loudly accuse mo of Jobbing them. In spite of the fact that tut con science is racked. I can findi no excuse for not rob bing them." "I'd rather." remarked the political crook, "Not take any species of bribes. It injures a mam when, he's put on the Pan . By these fault-finding newspaper scribes. Moreover, the voters are prone to get sore. And say I am basely forsaking 'em But when bribes are passed 'round, why. 1 always have found 1 could find no excuse for not tak ing "em." Insuring Prosperity. Congress will better the business situation by passing a few buy-laws. The Only Exception. After all, this is a country ia which everybody gets a fairly square deal unless he happens to be a disabled war veteran. A Total Stranger. Evidently the Irish object to peace as an undesirable alien. (Copyright by the Bell Syndicate. Inc.) Wo men. By Grace E. Hall. Live purely! the world is sick t. death Of ills that .you alone can ever cure; There is a poison in the fetid breath Of moral wantons. Woman must endure The blighting evil that has widely spread, Until she lifts the standard of her kind. Must see in time her own go forth. In dread, Well knowing what those dear ones, too, shall find. There is no justice in the wild ac claim That sin is rampant in the world today Because mankind has brought a bit ter1 shame " On trusting ones who weakened to obey; So few there be who blindly follow now! So few indeed who are not old in youth! Then let each human being bare the brow And face the light of unrelenting truth. Man ever was and will be prone to err r To test his strength against an other's power; But woman may be master, for to her He will bow down in her trium phant hour; There is a force that no man e'er withstood In simple sincere purity's appeal: Ah. women! you alone can make men good. And wake respect for traits that you reveal. In Other Days. Twenty-five Years Ago. From The Oregonian of August 10. 1898. Chicago. William Jennings Brjan, the democratic presidential candidate, spent the day yesterday in kissing babies and otherwise promoting his campaign Monterey, Cal. The Pacific Coast Steamship company's steamer St- Paul, bound for San Francisco, ran ashore last night near Moss Beach. All passengers- were saved. Astoria. Bad blood, has been brew ing between the fishermen and the cannerymen for several days, due ot the fact that the canneries have served notice that they would pay but 3 cents for salmon. The first party of Mazamas will start for Ashland on the Crater lake excursion tomorrow. Fifty Years Ago. From The Oregonian of August 10. ISTt. Paris, Aug. 8. The Germans have commenced the evacuation of Jorts north and east of Paris. A road has been cut out connecting the old Barlow road near the old gov ernment camp with the snow line at Mount 'Hood. Goodnough & Tribou have just taken contracts for the erection of two fine store buildings in llolladay's addition. Though the season for game birds is just now getting at its height, there Is a remarkable scarcity of game in the market. Sportsmen say that birds of all kinds are scarcer than ever before. Automobile or Homef PORTLAND, Aug. 9. (To the Edi tor.) At this very time are dozens of people frantically hunting home bar gains. They nervously scan the lists of advertised homes. They want a home, are tired of paying out rent, but they first bargained for an auto mobile. All the spare money must be paid out for their car! They look for a house which they can buy with simple monthly pay ments and practically nothing down. Such bargains are scarce, but they cannot go without the automobile even if they have to give up the idea of owning their own home. In the days ot old the home came first. CICELY.