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T1TE MORNING OKEGONIAN, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2G, 1921
USTAULIMHSD BIT HE.NKt I. PITTOCK.
Published by The Oregonian Publlehlna; Co.,
13J Sixth Street, i'orliand, Oregon.
C. A. UOHOEN, E. B. PIPER,
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ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
The filing of the city's reply brief
in the telephone rate case brings a
protracted re-hearing to a close. If
there Is anything: more to be done
before the public service commis
sion settles down to consideration of
the testimony and arguments we do
not know what it can be. The tak
ing of the testimony consumed
about six weeks; the city filed its
brief; the company answered and
the city has now replied. Through
out it all the public has gained per
haps a little better knowledge than
it had of the interlocking system by
which the local company is financed
and controlled, and some of the
more ardent readers have no doubt
learned what they never knew be
fore about selective ringing, auto
matic disconnections, and that the
jack on a switch board is not the
plug but the hole into which it Is
inserted or is it the other way
round?
It is apparent from a review of
the briefs that notwithstanding the
great volume of testimony, expert
and otherwise, and the learned dis
cussions of counsel, scientific rate
making, so far as this utility is con
cerned, is a trifle more complicated
than international disarmament.
The telephone rate which was
fixed by the state commission witt
design to yield the company a bet
ter return on its investment is
founded on a variety of specula
tions, assumptions and calculations.
The valuution of property is in it
self more or less of an arbitrary cal
culation. Part of this property and
part of employes' time are devoted
to long-distance or toll work. The
adequacy of toll rates not being in
question, the value of property and
labor devoted to exchange purposes
must needs be segregated, and that,
too, can be done only by assumption
and calculation.
To determine net returns one of
the elements deducted was a 'per
centage for depreciation and this
deduction was arrived at also by a
system of speculation.
The local company pays out of Its
gross receipts 4 per cent to the
parent company for certain "serv
ices," and to determine the actual
value of such services for purposes
of deduction from gross receipts an
other complicated calculation, re
plete with assumptions, was re
quired. To cap it all, further speculation
was required as to what an in
creased rate would yield.
Out of this series of speculations,
calculations and assumptions the
commission arrived at what it
deemed to be a proper charge for
exchange telephone service. That it
earnestly devoted itself to the prob
lem Is not herein denied, but the law
put upon the commission an impos
sible task when it assumed that a
commission with human limitations
could determine a scientific rate for
a, company which seems to have
been organized for the purpose of
defeating any such attempt. But
the law is the law and the commis
sion acted.
Now the city has St. George
against the telephone dragon with
a great deal of valor, determination
and learning. But the main things
It has presented have to do with the
accuracy of the commission's specu
lations, assumptions and calcula
tions. It has indeed endeavored to
show that the company is top-heavy
with officials, extravagant In its op.
erations, unprogressive In installa
tion of Improvements and labor
saving devices and withal, con
trolled and manipulated by a parent
company with headquarters 3000
miles away. But the finger cannot
be put on a single definite element
that discloses error In the rate.
If a short cut were possible, and
legal, the state commission, in view
of the admissions and showings
made, would be Justified in throw
ing overboard most of record and
in deciding the case on general
principles.
A utility which so scrambles its
affairs that it is immune from that
positive determination of net profits
by a publicly created body, to which
other utilities submit themselves, it
would seem, is not entitled in justice
to apply for relief until it has un
scrambled. To unscramble the tele
phone properties would not dispose
of all necessity for, calculation, but
a vast amount of obscurity would
be relieved and if it were then
found to be deserving of higher
rates they would be paid with better
grace. The suspicion, whether Jus
tified or not, that large profits to the
Western Electric company, which
exclusively furnishes the local com
pany with its supplies, and undue
profits to the American Telephone
& Telegraph company, which owns
73.5 per cent of the stock of the
local company, as well as the profits
of the local company, are assured
out of the rates charged subscrib
ers to exchanges this suspicion
would be definitely allayed.
There are certain general aspects
of the case that stand out above all
the technicalities and learned dis
quisitions presented by experts and
lawyers. They are that at a time
of declining prices telephone rates
were increased 50 per cent; that al
lowance had been made in earlier
findings of the commission for ad
vanned costs of labor and materials;
that Portland rates are higher than
In a great majority of cities in
its class; that these rates are
greater than the company ever re
ceived in its history; and that its
income is as great as during the
eight or ten years preceding state
regulation, during which time its
rates were of its own making.
rne law may we are not sure
that it does tacitly enjoin the cpm
missioners to disregard the general
aspects of the case, take pencil in
hand and calculate upon reams and
reams of paper what this amount
to under company assumptions and
what that foots up to under other
assumptions, and then strike a bal
ance with its own calculations. It
may require that this be done so
that in the end we may enjoy the
appearance of learned and scientific
findings. If this be so, the law
as some one remarked on another
occasion the law is an ass. Wh
wants his telephone rates deter
mined by competitive mathematics?
CHARLES AT MADEIRA.
Madeira is a pleasant and comely
little island, with frosted mountains
and valleys of green fertility. Its
principal city, Funchal, has a' popu
lation of 25,000, ranging In hue from
tan to ebony. One might go there
as a tourist and spend delightful
weeks, for the island has unmistak
able charm, for the outlander. There
are even worse places, on the conti
nents, to spend one's life. But cir
cumstances alter cases, and to Ex
Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary,
and to his wife, Zita, the pic
turesque loveliness of Madeira will
never quite avail to bring forgetful
ness. Even an enchanted prison has
its disadvantages, and is no less a
cell because it is a prison of fields
and roads and wayside flowers. One
imagines them gazing toward the
lost land of Europe, from the crest
of the Pico Kuivo.
Poor Charles and Zita! Some very
gallant young men died at their
whim, and the heart warms toward
the humanity that bade this prig of
royalty to weep for the sacrifice. He
seems not so different from the rest
of us, save that there was bred in
him a belief in birth and kingly priv
ilege. Birth has little to do with
the right to rule, birth as it is es
teemed by kings, but privilege enters
the world with the advent of each
child. It Is the privilege of eaeh to
justify the badge of manhood. There
were signs all round the tumbling
house oft Hapsburg portents that
made plain reading. The world was
ready for democracy. His error was
in fancying that the ambition of one
prince could hold back the tide.
If Charles had, as the years went
by, given substantial pledges of his
patriotism, of his love of country, he
might have found in the land of his
fathers some place of prestige and
honor. There was work for men to
do, toil enough for a century. For
no other reason than that he could
not and did not measure up to his
manhood, this Hapsburg is a man
without a country.
HENRY FORD'S FORTE.
One of the puzzles of the day has
been Henry Ford. He was no sooner
acclaimed as a great mechanical
genius than he proved his blank ig
norance of the war issues by placing
himself at the head of the pacifists
and taking a cargo of them to Eu
rope. His business success was as
cribed to his partners, but he dis
proved that by buying them out and
making the business bigger than
ever. The air was full of his do
ings when he brought a libel suit
which displayed his deep ignorance
of things that every schoolboy
knows. The nation had just finished
laughing at him when he put to con
fusion a group of New York bankers
who thought they had him in a
squeeze, but he raised new doubt of
his sound sense by starting an anti
Jewish crusade.
The key to the puzzle Is contained
In an article by Judson C. Welliver
in the Review of Reviews. Mr. Ford
has in an unusual degree the faculty
of thinking to a conclusion in a
straight line, as it were, regardless of
all precedent and custom, instead of
wandering off on numerous bypaths
as a man of mediocre talents is
prone to do. He has a genius for
mechanics, . and retains and has
added to the knowledge of agricul
ture that he acquired on his father's
farm. He has patience and perse
verance, homely virtues but rare, for
he says:
It ai twelve years from the time I
turned out my first motor car until 1
manufactured any for sale. In all that
tune I built only five. 1 was getting reaay.
preparing for the thing 1 had in mind.
The thing he had in mind was
quantity production by use of the
most labor-saving, time-saving de
vices that could be invented. This
did not mean throwing men out of
jobs, for he employs 80,000. He
must have the faculty of judging
men, and of applying what they
know and do, but when they find a
fact that is relevant to his business,
he shoots straight to the use of it.
He makes short cuts that seem ab
surdly obvious but which never oc
curred to men who have been doing
things in the old way for centuries.
For example, the' custom has been
to melt iron in a blast furnace, mold
it into pigs, then melt the pigs in a
cupola and pour the iron into molds
In a foundry. He takes the molten
Iron direct from the blast furnace to
the foundry and pours it Into the
molds, losing only a small fraction of
the heat. He no sooner gets anything
Into his hands than he takes it to
pieces and finds what's wrong with
it. Thus he buys a railroad, finds
the .engines and cars are tbo heavy
and too slow and is designing new
ones that will be light and fast. His
plans to revolutionize industry and
farming seem fantastic. To his mind
the time spent on raising cattle is
wasted; we can make as good beef
by chemically compounding Its in
gredients. Reminded that a short
age of fertilizer would result, he pro
poses to make it with Muscle Shoals
power.
Though he is making money per
haps as fast as any man In the coun
try, he seems to work for enjoyment
of work itself, of having things done
efficiently, rather than for money,
though the result of his methods is a
steady stream of money. He pays his
employes more than going wages
and a bonus in addition, conse
quently is not troubled by labor
unions, but he insists on a full day's
honest work, and he gets it. When
he asked the price of that railroad,
he Baid It was too low, that It left
nothing for the stockholders, and he
paid more. He does not throw money
around on extravagant fads, but he
built a $5, 000, 000 hospital and main
tains an industrial school for 500
boys.
An old saying is that the shoe-
maker should stick to his last. Mr.
Ford's last seems to be mechanics,
organization, short cuts which do
away with waste. If he sticks to J.t,
he may effect economy, increase
production and discover wasted
sources of food and comfort which
will astonish the world. Then kind
memory may wipe out the record of
his excursion into peace propaganda,
politics and race antagonism.
COLD RESERVE SYSTEM FOR EUROPE,
A cure for the paper money dis
ease from which central Europe is
suffering has been proposed by
Frank A. Vanderllp, who was the
first noted American to study eco
nomic conditions after the armistice
and to tell the American people that
their own prosperity depended on
finding a remedy. He proposes to
establish, probably under charter
from the league of nations, an in
ternational gold reserve 'bank with
branches in all countries of central
Europe on the same general plan as
the federal reserve banks of the
United States. .
According to a Vienna dispatch to
the London Times, this bank would
obtain . its capital in gold chiefly
from this country and would issue
notes in a fixed ratio to its gold
reserve. It would dal only with
governments and other banks, its
profits would be limited and the sur
plus over the limit would be paid
to the governments. It would be
tax-free and would be guaranteed
against legislation interfering with
contracts payable in its notes. Its
notes would be Jegal tender, in all
countries where it operated and
would be likely to maintain a stable,
uniform value. They are expected
to replace the present depreciated
currency in circulation, but how the
latter would be redeemed is not
stated.
If this plan should be put in
operation, it should have great influ
ence in reviving trade with Europe.
Federal reserve banks have a great
surplus of gold, which could not be
put to better use than to provide
central Europe with sound, stable
currency. An American exporter
cannot sell goods to be paid for six
months hence in depreciated cur
rency, for he cannot foresee how
much the latter may be "worth in
dollars; his sale is practically a
speculation in foreign exchange. The
effect is the same on Importers and
on European business, whether im
ports or exports. Money of which
the value would be stable would set
business moving.
AN EXPERIMENT WITH POSSIBILITIES
The results of the experiments
now being conducted by the battle
ship Ohio in New York harbor are
fraught with possibilities for the
safety of commerce such as have at
tended no development in navigation
since the radio was invented. The
Ohio moves on no warlike mission as
she steams through the tortuous
channel from the ocean into the bay.
She has been stripped of her guns
and has been converted into an in
strument of peace. Through her per
formances it is that ships will be en
abled to find their way in and out of
bort in the densest fog.
The principle of the new device is
simplicity itself. A cable is Uud on
the bottom of the channel longitud
inally along the course, that vessels
ought to follow. From a powerful
generator on shore a current is sent
through the cable that causes a
rumbling sound such as Is sometimes
heard from telegraph wires in city
streets. But since the sounds cannot
be measured with precision by the
human ear, especial detectors are
employed an adaptation ot the de
vice used during the war for spotting
submarines. ' With one receiver on
each side of the vessel's keel, the
pilot is able to keep the vessel on her
true course and bring her safe to
port. -
The success of the submarine cable
and the recent high development of
sound - amplifying devices suggest
uses for the new fog cable almost as
extensive as that of the lighthouse,
which in some thirty centuries has
hardly kept pace with the progress
of invention in other fields. It is
practicable, for example, so to guard
our dangerous headlands and shoals
with fog cables as to give every ship
approaching them full w.arning of
their proximity. With such a device
Installed at a few points on the Pa
cific coast, and with a law requiring
passenger vessels to equip them
selves with sound detectors, as they
are now compelled in certain in
stances to carry radio apparatus,
wrecks like those which have been
so destructive of human life off the
Oregon and California coasts ought
to be rendered wholly inexcusable.
Fog has its' terrors for shipmasters
elsewhere than at harbor entrances,
as tragic event3 have proved.
NEMESIS IS AFTER WELLS.
H. G. Wells, the priest, prophet
and scribe of socialism, collectivism.
Internationalism and all the other
isms which, compounded together,
make up what he calls "the coming
sanity," has aroused a Nemesis not
the furious, scowling Nemesis of
mytliology, but a good-humored.
bantering, sarcastic, satirical Nemesis
who makes the whole world laugh
as he uses Wells for a butt. He play
fully tears holes In the solemn pre
tensions with which Wells has robed
himself and exposes the Wells philos
ophy as "preposterous fallacy and
vastly vagueness." This is done in
letters addressed in friendly fa
miliarity to "My dear Wells," which
was justified by former friendship.
The Nemesis is Henry Arthur Jones,
the English playwright and author.
The first of the letters were pub
lished in the London Evening Stan
dard and1 New York Sunday Times.
All are now published in book form
under the novel title, "My Dear
Wells."
Very early in the controversy,
which began with Jones' dissection
of Wells' "Russia in the Shadows,"
and continued with similar treat
ment of Wells denunciation of a
speech on bolshevism by Winston
Churchill, Wells lost his temper and
began flinging epithets at his tor
mentor. He said Jones lied and
ranted, was an "excited imbecile,"
"an out-and-out liar," "a damned
thing," "a barking cur," "disin
genuous and muddle-headed." Jones
collected his letters for publication
In book form and sent' the preface
to Wells in advance. Wells wrote a
letter to the publishers which they
took as a threat of suit for libel.
and they deferred publication while
Jones considered their request that
he assume liability for the result of
such a suit and carried on a further
lively controversy with Wells; which,
put the world reformer is the pillory
of public ridicule and suppressed
thought of legal hostilities.
In the letter which doubtless
prompted Wells to be thus discreet
Jones refreshed Wells' memory as to
the "vivid terms of personal abuse"
the philosopher had used and re
minded him that he (Jones) "took
it all very good naturedly," "did' not
retort in kind" or threaten action for
libel, but "treasured your epithets
as examples of your method in con
troversy, as a measure of your
prowess in argument." He said:
I vainly Implored you to substitute rea
son fjr abuse. I continued to coax and
admonish you, and I patted you on the
bck whenever you ahowed some glimmer
ing of insight ir.to the social problem
tt.at J-rt perplexing the world.
Jones cannot believe that after
Wells' own "magnificent perform
ance in vituperation," he intends to
sue. Wells might be asked to justify
his "vicious personal attack on"
Winston Churchill and his "succinct
ly libelous definition of your emi
nent statistical Fabian brother (Sid
ney Webb) as 'a rotten little inces
sant, egotistical intriguer.' " Then
tiftS tormentor said:
Think of your pockets, my dear 'Wells,
in these straitened times. The last way
iu which I wlah to spend my substance la
to fee some eirlinent counsel to make you
look ridiculous In the witness box.
Jones would never hesitate if
challenged to appear before a Brit
ish or American jury, but to avoid
an anti-climax he offered Wells his
full permission "to stand in any
public place and at the top of your
voice and for as long as you please"
to call him all the opprobrious
names already quoted, "together with
any further ultra-mentionable vilifi
cations of me that may serve to re
lieve your feelings," and he adds:
"And I solemnly pledge myself not
to take the least notice of you." He
also offered to withdraw from his
book "any passage which in the
opinion of some unbiased and quali
fied judge is clearly beyond the
limits of legitimate argument, fair
comment or admissible satire."
This offer was not accepted and
Jones placed Wells in the literary
pyiory with the latter's tacit con
sent. He adopts the attitude of a
kind, patient but unrelenting tutor
to a muddled schoolboy and turns
the prophet and his theories inside
out. The tribute of an enthusiastic
admirer that "Wells today is think
ing for half Europe" is construed
to mean that Wells is thinking for
the half of Europe which Is incap
able of thinking for itself. This
moves Jones' friend, Spofforth, to
remark: "Now we know why Eu
rope is in such a mess," and that
'if you are thinking for half Europe,
it doesn't leave you much time to
think for yourself." Jones defines
Wells' thinking as "a' flatulent com
pound of vasty vague phrases and
enticing catchwords," and he pro
ceeds to prove it by picking to pieces
the Wells theories and the inside of
Wells' head.
Wells has long been the vogue and
is hailed as a seer by those who do
not think for themselves. Jones
brings him up short and shows him
up as a very fallible human being
who frames' theories without the
least regard for facts and who passes
them off on the unthinking by dress
ing them up in high-sounding but
unmeaning phrases. Jones will help
Europe to think its way back to nor-
1 malcy.
The governor, who has called the
special legislative session, the 1925
fair management which asked that it
be convened, and the public need not
be thrown into any special fever of
excitement over the astounding dis
covery of a contemporary that the
session cannot be held until the
vacancy in the senate caused by the
death of Mr. Hume is filled by spe
cial election. It is no new situation,
but the government has continued to
function in similar oases. There is
no constitutional provision that be
fore a legislature may meet ninety
duly qualified members shall be eli
gible to seats, or in their seats; but
the constitution explicitly authorizes
the governor to call a special session,
under designated conditions; and
this he has done. If he chooses to
postpone for the present any plan for
un expensive and useless special elec
tion to fill a vacancy, he will have
acted wisely and within his preroga
tives, and there is nothing to-be done
about it.
The sudden death of Mr. Fred S.
Stimson will be noted with deep re
gret throughout the Pacific north
west, for his useful activities covered
a wide range and he was well known.
In Washington he was a breeder of
pure stock, a farmer, a dairyman, a
lumberman, a financier, and a leader
of affairs in city and state; in Ore
gon he was president of the Pacific
International Livestock exposition
and a dominant force in its organiza
tion. The Oregonian had recent oc
casion to commend the service of Mr.
Stimson in connection with the ex
position and the livestock industry,
for it disclosed the breadth of his
vision and the great scope of his in
terest. It should be said now that
his loss will be seriously felt here, as
it will be at his home.
Some people have more to be
thankful for after Thanksgiving day
than before it, depending somewhat
on their over-size capacity for tur
key. The latest woman to sue for heart
balm gives -a bill of alleged particu
lars that is calculated to draw a
crowd to the hearing.
By calling the session for Decem
ber 19, Governor Olcott plans to get
the members out of the Capitol by
Christmas.
New Orleans has worse than a
silver thaw; 15,000 dockmen are on
strike, with seventy ships awaiting
cargoes.
While the term covers almost
everything, there are no bargains of
fered in "used"turkeys.
Representative Herrick's education
is finished. One of his "beauties" is
suing for breach of promise.
Almost any kind of a tax is good
if the other fellow has to pay it.
Nobody cares now how high the
price of turkey may have been.
A month to Christmas!
the war chest coming on?
How's
Attendance at a friend's funeral is
a tribute that all can pay.
Tong wars are about the only sport
taat has no oft season,
EAST INTERESTED IN 195 FAIR
Portlander Writes From Washington
of General Desire to See West.
WASHINGTON. D. C, Nov. 19. Be
fore leaving Portland I obtained from
the exposition committee its booklet
on the proposed exposition, to digest
on the way east, and was also supplied
with the stickers "Oregon 1925." I am
wearing a silver' pin "1925" given me
by Paul C. Murphy and am armed with
literature supplied by the Chamber of
Commerce.
The stickers I am' using to good ad
vantage on every conceivable oppor
tunity and it is surprising how results
are produced. I dined at the Occi
dental, the famous hostelry where
photos of all celebrities with auto
graphs attached surround joy, and I
put a sticker on the "meal check."
Several days later the floor manager
asked if I put it there and then sat
down and took notes about the pro
posed exposition and Portland and the
Oregon country and said he would use
the information on every possible oc
casion.
The people are most anxious to
know about our mountains and trees
our Columbia highway and the natural
resources and opportunities. There
no trouble to get an audience but
there is trouble getting rid of one as
they want all the information you can
give them and never seem to tire of
looking: at the beautiful views as
depicted in the books I have with me.
There can be no question that
America is ripe for such an exposi
tion as Portland purposes, and Oregon
should exert herself to the utmost to
carry out on broad lines the contem
plated project.
We in the west, as a people, cannot
see as do the people of the east, what
a strain the world war placed on the
country and how even at the present
time the nervous tension has not re
laxed. You cannot go out here with
out being reminded in forceful ways
of the cost In money and human ur
fering and, even though there seems
a desire to relax and settle down to
the old ways, something on a grea'
scale is necessary. But we need some
thing immediate, tangible to the com
mon every-day person to settle us
down to work, and what more allur
ing thing can the people of the east
have than an opportunity to see the
great west, with its enchantingly ex
hllaratlng climate, its heavenly .in
spirational scenery and its strong and
loving arms open wide to an who de
sire opportunity for work, peace,
health and rest.
The people of the east are yearning
to come out west. They are simply
wanting the opportunity and excuse
to come. They have heard about our
Columbia highway, our good roads
the Shriners are eplendid reporters.
They have heard of our resources,
Mr. Riley, the chamber of commerce
and some ofour leading banks and
business institutions are good adver
tisers. They have heard that the
west produces great big, broadminded
loving-hearted men and women Mr.
Hoover Is right here. They have heard
that Oregon was first in this drive
and that drive, first to try the in
itiative and referendum, that Port
land's atmosphere is permeated with
the fragrance of her roses, that every
home has a 'vision of 10,000 square
miles from its backyard and all the
other nice things. They want to see
and know those things for themselves.
The people of Oregon and the west
also want the exposition but are like
the' Scotchman who couldn't enjoy
his smoke for "thinkin' o' the ex
pense." Do any of us r?gret the
money we spent on the Shriners? No!
Why? Because it was such a delight
preparing for their coming. How we
did work beforehand and how easily
our work seemed to proceed. Yes, and
we did a good deal more work then
in a day and with content than we
are doing now without the content.
How we cleaned up the city and tha
yards and parks, how congenial and
efficient all the policemen became,
how courteous we were to one an
other, aye. and how happy we all were
"before and after taking." What did
we lose by that experience? Will any
body say they lost? What did we gain'
Self-respect, health, happiness, friend
ships, business acquaintances, more
business, and Portland was put on the
map as the convention city Buperb.
We have now the opportunity to make
It "Portland, the Exposition City; Ore
gon, the Garden of the World."
ALEX C. RAE.
BOXE-DRY LAW HELD FAILURE
Correspondent Believe Government
Dispensaries Are Better Solution.
PORTLAND, Nov. 25. (To the Edi
tor.) I wish to say that I most heart
ily agree with the views of A. J. J. as
expressed in a letter in The Orego--nian.
There are some things which can be
regulated by law, but cannot be pro
hibited, and the quicker some laws
are changed to suit that fact, the
quicker will our people get back to
normal.
"Contempt of one law Inspires con
tempt of all," Is right. We have too
many laws, which is nothing new.
either, as they had the same trouble
in the days of Moses, thousands of
years ago. We are supposed to be
far advanced in civilisation and en
lightenment of the people of those
days, yet when we look upon some
of our dede we are likely to doubt
that the advance is as great as we
would like to think it is.
I can remember when prohibition
first came up in Iowa, about 35 years
ago. My father thought It would be
a good thing and voted for it, as did
a majority of the voters or that state.
However, after seeing how it worked.
he did not consider that it would ever
be a satisfactory solution of the liq
uor problem. He then came out in
favor of high license, one so high as
to do away with all low "groggerles"
and "dives," and put It on as respect
able a business basis as possible.
After watching the different phases
of the matter for 0 years since then,
I am of the opinion that pure liquor
should be honestly obtainable, but not
In saloons or places where people
would congregate to drink, but in
stores, under government control, all
goods government tested for purity.
Some of the prohibited and intox'
eating liquors are the best of medi
cine for many human ills. They have
been and would again. If obtainable,
be prescribed by our physicians.
I have never used liquor as a bev
erage, but as a medicine it nas aone
me much good at different times in
my life. However, I have been per
fectly willing to give it up, hoping
that by so doing it would help some
fellow man.
It was supposed that prohibition
was mainly to keep liquor from those
who could not control tneir appe
tites. But Is it not a fact that those
are the very ones who have been, and
still are, unlawfully obtaining it?
I cannot see how any thinking man
or woman understanding the existing
conditions can claim for prohibition
even a partial success or that it ever
will be such. Has the moral tone of
our people strengthened since prohi
bition? Has crime of any kind de
creased? How about the vast increase
in drug addicts, in the past few years.
many of them young men, log: iet
us stop making criminals by the mil
lions every day and get behind a common-sense
regulation. L. P. M.
Baby Bosses the Home,
New York Evening Post.
"Can your little baby brother talk
yet?" a kindly neighbor inquired of
a small lad.
"No; he can't talk, and there ain't
no reason why he should talk," was
the disgusted reply. "What does he
want to talk for, when all he has to
do is yell a while to get everything
in the house that's worth having?"
Those Who Come and Go
Tales of fcolka at tha Hotels.
"We will not know the condition of
the Columbia river highway In the
gorge for some time yet," says Charles
Wanaer, of the engineering depart
ment of the state highway organiza
tion. "I was caught in the storm Sat
urday and could have managed to
get through to Portland had it not
been for the troubles of others on
the road ahead of me. The snow was
falling fast and was banking up. A
machine would hit a drift and the
snow would fly In all directions, for
it was very light and dry. There
were trucks and machines not
equipped with chains and they kept
getting into trouble, so all hands
would have to get out and help.
There were 70 cars in the parade,
but with truck in front progress
was so slow that finally the snow
became too deep and the machines
had to be abandoned. There was a
long chain In the crowd and this
would be hooked onto a truck or a
machine and with 100 men pulling on
it we would manage to get the truck
or car righted by main force. Suit
ably equipped cars, however, could
not pass and as they were heldvback,
the result was that everyone was
stalled. I never saw snow fall so
fast or thick, and every once in a
while there would be a slide. There
were a few tourist campers In the
crowd and they announced that they
would pitch tKeir camp and weather
the storm, figuring it would be over
In a day or two. I don't know what
became of them, for after the snow
came the sheet of ice which put ths
finishing touches on travel. About
150 men, women and children huddled
under the shed at Eagle creek for
three hours. The girls who wore
slippers and silk stockings and thin
dresses must have suffered severely,
for they were moaning with the cold.
We all piled on the last westbound
train that got through the gorge."
T, hmir 90 miles along the Tllla-
mnnu- railroad there are signs telling
the distance to Tillamook and telling
the traveler to buy camera supplies
ot rioinrh'a druar store, aerore me
traveler gets to the beach resorts he
known the najrie by heart, even if he
rioon't know how to pronounce It
C. I. Clough arrived at the Multnomah
vrsterriav from Tillamook, where
there have been some heavy gales In
th naRt week aamDles of the same
tnrm which have been sweeping the
northwest coast. In the day before the
rn mad a storm forced everyone to
remain InTTillamook. for the steamer
Sue Elmore would not leave port.
Now, with the railroad and highway,
o Tiiininnnker can tret out any time,
unless there are slides on the highway
onrt railroad in winter and these
happen.
C. E. Wells, president of the Ore-
crn T.ncal To pnhnnft association, anil
r. E. finff. secretary and treasurer,
are at the Multnomah, making plans
for the yearly convention of the asso
ciation to be held December 9 and 10.
If la exnected that about 65 out-of-
town delegates will be in attendance,
While Portland was touched w-lth a
silver thaw, the section of tne coun
try around Hlllsboro was affected
only by high wind and rain, according
n Mr Wells, and farther down the
vallev. in Newberg. there was no evi
dence of the severe storm, so that the
riamaee done to the property of the
Oregon Local Telephone association
was very slight.
"By Independence Is the only way
that automobiles can travel going
north and- south now," triumphantly
declared D. E. Fletcher of Independ
ence. who, as representative of I'om
county, has been fighting in the legis
lature and out of It for the highway
commission to build the highway
south from Independence rather than
south from Monmouth. Discussing
the special session, Mr. Fletcher says
he Is not prepared to say at this time
what he will do, as he has not had
time to consult his constituents, but
when he gets to Salem he will speak
right out, so there will be no misun
derstanding bis position.
"Mills are all operating and there
Is apparently no intention of their
shutting down during the winter, all
cf which means that Klamath Falls
is finding conditions steadily im
proving," said Charles Stone of Kla
math Falls, former member of the
state fish and game commission, who
I registered at the imperial. "We
ave had beautiful weather, except
for a warm rain, and none of the
severe storm which swept the north
ern part of the state hit us. Usually
we are the first part of the state
to get a blizzard, but up to the pres
ent time there hasn t been a sign of
such a thing." Mr. Stone is an at
torney and is also interested in bank
ing. among other activities in Kla
math ceunty.
F. H. But-master, a timherman of
Nehalem. Or., is at the Perkins. Dur
ing the coming year it is believed
that a . new highway bridge will be
built along the top of the Nehalem
bay dike, which will make that old
settlement more accessible than it
has been in the past. N'ehalem la
best known for the beeswax sub
stance which has been louna in
quantities near by and which some
people maintain comes from a Spanish
ship which rvas wrecked there several
centuries ago.
Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Bean of Eugene
are at the Imperial for a oouple of
days. Mr. Bean is here for medical
treatment, but has also found time
to talk a little politics, as he is the
speaker of the house of representa
tives, which has been, called for a
special session December 19. Mr.
Bean has the unique distinction of
having been elected speaker without
opposition.
Mrs. William Hanley of Burns ar
rived at the Hotel Portland yester
day. Burns Is not cut off from Port
land, as the people there who want
to get to the Rose City can make
the trip by rail In a circuitous man
ner, instead of trying to get across
central Oregon to Bend.
After a dead market for many
months, there is some activity In the
wool business. W. C. Donald, buyer
for one of the big concerns of Boston,
arrived at the 'Hotel Portland yes
terday arid Is negotiating for the pur
chase of wool from the Columbia
Basin Wool Warehouse company.
John Anderson returned to the
Perkins and registered yeBterday. He
went to Reliance to return to work
in the logging camp, but the snow
was so deep in that part of the Coast
range mountains that operations
have been suspended.
Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Anderson, have
arrived at the Hotel Oregon from
Walla Walla, Wash., being among the
first to get to Portland from that
part of the Inland Empire since the
storm struck the section a week ago.
C. P. Bishop, In the clothing busi
ness at Salem, Is among the arrivals
at the Hotel Portland. For many
years Mr. Bishop has taken a lively
Interest In the republican politics of
Marlon county,
R. R. Bartlett. connected with the
port development at Astoria, Is
among the Multnomah arrivals.
Bert Tongue, district attorney for
Washington county, was in Portland
yesterday. .
Burroughs Nature Club.
Copyright, Homrnton-MIfflln Co.
Can Yon Answer These Questions f
1. How old must an ostrich be to
mate, and how old to yield feathers?
S. Are bears counted in the carnlvo.
rous animals?
1. Is it safe to handle garter
snakes?
Answers In tomorrow's nature notes.
Anan-era to Previous Questions.
1. How can you tell male and female
canaries apart?
The average person cannot tell
which is which, as they look about
alike, and the female sings. The
male has much the fuller voice and
more of a song, hers bring a sweet
twitter. The male looks, to the prac
ticed eye, bolder and more alert, and
is said to have a fuller, brighter eye.
When buying, go to a reliable dealer,
and get a receipted bill Jir a male
singer.
e
2. Can alligators feed under water?
They can seize prey undVr water,
thanks to a fold of skin that forms a
valve in the throat, and can crush the
prey Without coming to the surface.
They appear to lift ths head out of
water when actually swallowing,
giving the head's sort of toss or Jerk.
e
3. Why s It bad to eat oysters in
summer?
Recent biology claims the oyster is
not essentially unwholesome In sum
mer. The reason for the wide-spread
prejudice against eating them in the
"months without an K" probalMy is
partly the chances of the oyster's
spoiling while getting to market in
summer. Also, the body is soft and
thin n summer, after spawning, and
not as good eating.
FEMINISM CARRIED TO EXTREME
Women on Jury In Arbnrfcle Caae Held
to Be Disturbing Example.
PORTLAND. Nov. 25. (To the Edi
tor.) It seems to me, and I believe
that all men and most women will
agree with me, when I say that women
of today are losing their refinement
since they have gone Into politics and
are turning away from the home, the
raising of a famnv, which God In
tended they should do, and are put
ting on men's clothes and doing men's
work. To illustrate, take the Ar
buckle trial. There are several wom
en on that Jury. It seems to me that
a refined, tender hearted, tender feel
ing woman, and especially mother,
must feel rather humiliated and even
degraded when she would get into the
jury room with a lot of men and talk
over the contaminated, filthy things
that happened at the Arbuckle party.
Personally I feel that a woman who
would serve on such a jury has al
ready lost her refinement, and I go
further yet and say that If I had a
wife who would undertake to dabble
in such filthy business, I would want
to get a divorce from her.
God never intended that woman
should do any such work; it Is en
tirely contrary to the biblical teach
ings. If man could have and bring
up the children, it would he different,
hut man was made to provide for the
home, and take care of all the mu
nicipal affairs of the country. No one
has a better chance to bring about re
form, in every line, than the mother
at home, and the country Is suffering
today for the lack of good old-fashioned
mothers at home.
Now don't misunderstand me, I don't
mean that a mother should stick In
the home all the time. Neither do I
believe that she should come to the
husband and ask for pin money. I
was a husband at one time myself,
and if I ever "marry again I will ex
pect my wife to run the house. Fur
thermore, after the debts are paid I
believe that she should have half of
the profits, that she can call her own,
and if she spends it foolishly she
alone should suffer.
I believe it is a blessing that women
can have the vote, but there is such
a thing as carrying things to ex
tremes when there is a happy medium.
A. J. CLARK.
Impatient of Delay.
PORTLAND, Nov. 25. (To the Edi
tor.) The' Tumulty autobiography
running In The Orcaronlan Is a bit In
teresting and two bits amusing.
When Is the Wilson biography to
begin?
Pilgrimage to the Old Oregon
This account of a trip to the famous old sea fifihter, lyinjr in
Bremerton harbor, is to be found illustrated in colors on the first
page of the automobile section of the Sunday issue. It was written
by William T. Perkins and H. W. Lyman, automobile editor of The
Oregonian, and iB both a tribute to and a description of the ship
that made history in the' American navy the ship that citizens of
this state, believe should spend a splendid old age in Tortland har
bor. The story should appeal to you it answers many current
questions and it stirs a common sentiment of pride and patriotism.
Big Game Rivalry of East and West A generation ago the wise
acres rather sorrowfully said that soon there would remain no sport
for the hunter in the forests of the eastern states. A pity it is that
those fine old marksmen have not lived to witness the practical
denial, by abundant four-footed proof, of their pqssimistic pre
dictions. In the Sunday magazine section, illustrated in colors,
there's a story of how the sensible conservation of wild life in the
east has made the Rockies, king grizzly and all, look well to their
.laurels.
"Shower" That Shattered Mermaid Friendship Here, readers
all, is another of those enjoyable yarns of feminine athletics nar
rating how Charlotte Boyle's wedding indirectly caused a break -in
the ranks of the Women's Swimming association, and the loss of it?
long-held monopoly in world's records all because Ethelda Bleibtrey
wasn't invited to a pre-nuptial party. Gossip, of course yet most
of us like a quiet half hour at that favorite in-door sport. Told in
the Sunday issue.
Ex-Soldiers, Oregon Has Your Fortune This presentation of
a much discussed subject, that of land settlement by former serv
ice men, is given tomorrow by De Witt Harry in a clear and com
prehensive manner. It answers many questions regarding the pro
posed land settlement in Oregon, and evaluates its probable benefits
to the men who followed the flag and to the state itself. Every
citizen owes to himself and the commonwealth the duty and pleas
ure of reading it.
In the Case of Bill Whenever the reader's eye falls upon the
"by-line" of Josephine Daskam Bacon there follows the thought that
here is a story well worth reading a delightful yarn, inimitably
told. That is why, doubtless, the Sunday editor lost no time at all
in purchasing this hitherto unpublished short story, which will ap
pear in the big Sunday issue the story of a brother who just
couldn't settle down, and who gave the whole family the shock
of its life.
Jack Dempscy and the Shimmy Queen You may or may not
have speculated on the rather meager reports of the "champ's"
entanglement with the fair Bee Talmer. At any rate here's the
entire affair, narrated in the Sunday issue, magazine section. His
shoulders brought the world's championship; hers brought electric
lights on Broadway, and it was a shrug that brought an action for
a quarter of a million dollars. Illustrated.
Modem Girl on a Pedestal That's where Miss Grace Abbott
places her, and inasmuch as the said Miss Abbott is chief of the
children's bureau of the United States government it i3 presumed
that she knows whereof she speaks. Told in an interview, written
by William Atherton Du Puy, in the Sunday issue.
All the News of All the World.
The Sunday Oregonian.
Just Five Centa.
More Truth Than Poetry.
By James J. Montague.
VKSTEUDAV.TODAY AM FOHEVEIl
Where Is the foolish and fatuous
crowd
That thronged to the Kili-n Must-e,
Where pasty faced figures were
thickly endowed
With mmton-chop beard and
goatee?
Where are the come-ons who paid
their 10 cents.
Who poured through the doorway
in parks,
To w'tness the effigy march of events
Portrayed in emotionless wax?
If you happen to go to a movie to
night And will Just look about you, you'll
find them, all right.
Where is the morbidly curious mob
To whom Mr. Harnum purveyed?
Whose souls with delightful excite
ment would throb
At the freaks which the Hide show
displayed?
The folks that the lady with whisk
ers would fill
With feel'ngs of soul stirring awe.
Whose hearts with sengutions of
wonder wonirt thrill
When the two-headed chicken they
saw?
If you're wrtnderlng still, you will
ftnrt them today
in all of the show ehopa that front
on Broadway.
Where are the farmers that used to
flock out
When the medicine venders extolled
The cures for consumption and
measles and gout
And which they successfully sold.
Who paid out their dollars they got
, for tlulr crops
As over each other they fell
To purchase the lotions and cough
cures and drops,
That had lately been dipped from
the well?
You think they are still out In Cats.
mount Fork?
But they're not. They are most of
them right in New York.
e
Maklnir It Snappy.
It's about time to start your Christ
mas shopping for 19J5.
a
lot Ss Had.
While you're growling about your
income tax, remember that there are
3,000.000 more or less people in this
country who would like to be paying
one.
I'nliieklly.
Canada hag 6000 superfluous buf
falo, and unless some way can be
found to convert them Into whisky,
there is no demand for them on this
side of the Una.
(Ccpyrlsht by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
In Other Days.
Twenty-Five Yrnra Ago.
From The Oregonian of November n.
New York. Passengers returning
from Havana say that a state of ex
treme fear exists there and that it
looks as though Cuba will be lot to
Spain.
No less than five burglaries were
reported to the police station in the
past 1!4 hours, to say nothing or tne
daring holdup of a butcher shop on
the east side and another in the
northern part of the city.
The Multnomah Amateur Athletlo
club's vaudeville show last night at
the Marquum made a big hit Willi
audience.
One l.nwyrr Is Cenaiired.
Hirmlntf ham Age-Herald.
"The fair defendant has a smart
lawyer, hut it seems to me ne nas just
been killing time since he produced
her In court."
"He's giving the women of ths Jury
,-huni-e to take In the details or tne
rf.fr. iidMnfH costume, so they will then
be able to pay some attention to ths-
ttstlmony. '
Woman's llreM Criticised.
Kxchango.
Marcella Don't you think my dress
in artistic?
Waverly Especially so in one prin
ciple of art.
M.-ircella What's that?
Waverly The elimination of essen
tials