. 12
THE &TORMXG OREGOXTAX. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7. 1921
J-.M Ml! -1 1 1 I i BV HENRY I . FITTOCK.
baiWr
C. A.
11UKD.IN.
B B PIPER,
editor.
Manager
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IBI WAVtm OF PROHIBITION.
It must be admitted that prohibi
tion is not functioning sasisfactorlly;
that violations of the federal law are
common, and that much liquor is
being manufactured and sold in de
fiance of the Volstead act. Yet it
also is true, though the attendant
circumstances may be neither so ag
gravated nor apparent, that other
laws are conspicuously violated the
white slave act, for Instance. T.aws
strive to create a moral condition,
and If they are violated by the
thoughtless or the rebellious or the
criminal the fact of their violation
cannot be considered proof that the
law Itself Is unworthy and ill-advised.
Yet in substance this is the
contention of a correspondent who,
having no sympathy with th'e liquor
traffic, nevertheless asserts that a
regulated legal sale is preferable in
every way to prohibition.
Since he Is so positive of his proof.
so certain of the validity of the'
charges he makes, The Oregonian
would remind him that his first duty
as a citizen is to see that these
charges, together with their support
ing evidence, are brought to the at
tention of the proper authorities. He
Is assured that the law itself has no
intent to protect the offenders, and
that the public prosecutors will press
each case and probaWy secure con
victions. The correspondent inti
mates that his own son, a minor, is
able to procure liquor. It is perti
nent to remind him that, If this is
true, there rests upon him a double
obligation that of the father as well
as the citizen. Fifteen-year-old boys
have no business with liquor, moon
shine or bonded, and if they procure
it more than once there would seem
to exist some degree of parental
fault
Then, too, the opponents of pro
hibition continually reiterate their
opinion that more people are drink
ing than ever before. This is an ap
parent generality, .based upon the
vaguest personal viewpoint, and like
all other generalities. Is to be mis
trusted. It Is true that prohibition
did create a psychological condition
of mischievous rebellion against the
law, and that it came to be consid
ered "smart" to introduce liquor into
social gatherings. But to say that
this is true of all such events, or to
say that more people are drinking
than ever before, is to fly in the face
of any number of plainly apparent
facts. Quite obviously it is impos
sible for illicit liquor sales to attain
the volume, or even an appreciable
percentage thereof, that was record
ed in the days of the open saloon.
The correspondent mistakes the
public attitude. He perceives, as do
other complainants, the surface evi
dences of violation which, from the
very fact that they are unlawful, oc
casion comment and publicity such
as drinking bouts and minor crimes
never gained In the old days when
John Barleycorn ruled. He is not
taking into account that vast major
ity of the American people which no
longer bothers with liquor, and
which Is quite content to accept arid
ity. The lawful compliance of these
is not news, is not spectacular, does
not obtrude upon the public atten
tion, and therefore is largely unre
garded. Yet it is true beyond dispute
that in the days of the open saloon
nearly every American family, and
some with disastrous results, paid
toll to liquor.-
One need not defend the deadly
concoctions of the moonshiner to re
fute the empty argument that regu
lation would provide "good" liquor.
Deadly, villainous, drug-compounded
whisky was sold In the cheap saloon,
and Sold by the barrel until each
slab in the morgue had Its sleeper,
and every police court docket was
filled with the record of crime. The
advent of prohibition was forced by
a conviction that liquor could not be
regulated, and the difficulties that
prohibition now encounters are but
renewed proof. But they are not
proof, In any sense, that prohibition
has failed. They indicate rather
that there must be no concessions, no
truce.
Let those who assail prohibition as
a conspicuous failure turn to the
proper sources for evidence. Let
them inquire of the police. They
will be told that crime has dimin
ished and that drunken men, while
yet no novelty, are far'fewer in num
ber. There was a time when the
first two days of the police court
week were devoted to clearing the
docket of such charges and in this
connection It should be remembered
that the police, during the regime of
the saloons, did not arrest a man for
merely being drunk. Thut was his
unquestioned privilege, his American
prerogative, and he was not molested
by the police unless Tie slumbered in
the street or raised a riot. Despite
this fact the arrests for drunkenness,
when every drunken offender is
promptly Jailed, are few in compari
son. Let them confer with the mer
chants, and ask regarding collections
and sales to discover that men whose
credit was not wanted are now rated
as desirable credit customers, and
that bad bills are no longer the bane
of the grocer. Let them Inquire of
the butcher to be Informed that Sun
day roasts are popular nowadays,
and have been since the Saturday
pay check was no longer cashed by a
jovial bartender. Let them make
similar research regarding the in
creased number of home owners.
And then, in the light of, the evi-
dence they have gathered, let them
confront the question: Is prohibition
a failure?
There Is danger in the loose think
,f thse wh wo"ld return- for
' Pll'l CtUIIUIUll, ' 1 I . 1 V J . HI
! the old regime danger that this un-
' representative sentiment may discard
I a reform tnat i9 but weIi begun.
. , ,,
(through the tendency of the public
to receive as gospel the specious
. . . . , . . , .
suiucuuj ui mo . un.rn-i.-.
Those who believe in moral better
ment can apply their own moral
force to no better cause than the
furtherance of the prohibition law.
it is a reform that. was not lightly
nor idly assumed, and it has behind
it the pressure of centuries of bitter
and costly experience and sadness
and human misery. It was not in
tended for this generation, mit for
the next, and for those that succeed.
It deals as yet with human materi
als that were accustomed to liquor.
It cannot be said to have been tested
until a Heesiri,. has na kcpH nnil we
k , . , ,., ,,,,i, j
omen m iiou ,vU.u
i the effect of prohibition upon the
i . . j t j . .
auuM-miBiu tinci aciuu. xu ucui it
now is to align oneself with those
evil forces that thrive upon the
wreckage of youth and mortal hap
piness. The darkest day that ever
dawned for this nation would be that
which opened the saloons again.
A MANDATE.
The Multnomah delegation to the
legislature permits it to be known
that it Is solid for the 1925 exposi
tion and practically all the members
are in harmony with the proposal for
submission of the plan to referen
dum of the state. It was to be ex
pected. It has been said that the recent 4
to 1 vote in Portland was a mandate
upon the Multnomah delegation,
every one of whom resides within the
city: and The Oregonian thinks such
an interpretation of the vote is cor
rect. If a' legislator has a duty to regard
the instruction of his constituency as
worthy of consideration and he has
how may he say that the deliber
ate verdict of Portland means noth
ing to him. We think ho will say
nothing of the kindr.
What is he asked and expected to
do? He is not called on to vote the
tax. He is asked to give the people
an opportunity to say whether they
will tax themselves. Certainly no
legislator from Mutnomah can give,
or desires to give or find, a reason to
stand in the way of his constituents.
DANGEROUS BUSINESS.
It is only fair to give notice to the
lawless and murderous gentry that
"sticks-up" citizens and holds up
banks that the risks of their nefar
ious calling in Portland are great
and evidently growing greater. One
outlaw is dead, and two others are in
jail as a sequel to the audacious ex
ploit at the East Side bank yester
day. The precious three ran into a
bank official with a pistol and the
will to use it. The odds of three to
one are considerable, but what did
superior numbers mean to Assistant
Cashier Alt? He was thrice armed
with a just cause, a sound nerve, and
a proper target. His score Is perfect.
The robber and highwayman indus-
try has not thriven in Portland lately.
Several episodes are fresh In the
public mind wherein the jackals of
evil have come off badly. It is easy
to recall what happened to those bad
men on the Riverside road, and to
that other misled gang which in
vaded the Liberty theater. In sev
eral instances timid women have
bagged malefactors who had made
the mistake of intercepting them,
and stealing from them, and the po
lice we speak a good word for the
police, who have not had the best of
luck are on their toes, and ready
for action. There are other inci
dents highly discouraging to felon
lous enterprise; hut these will do.
Petty crime is, more profitable
here. At least it is safer. But the
fellow who ties a cloth over his face
and starts out to take what he can
at the point of a pistol invites im
mediate and deadly reprisal. It is
just as well for the sinister fraternity
to understand it.
SAFETY FIRST.
The decision rendered by the su
preme court of Minnesota, that an
automobile driver ts not entitled to
damages If he attempts to cross a
street at a corner where he tech
nically has the right of way, and
falls because another driver who did
not have the right of way was ap
proaching at a dangerous rate of
speed, is in all probability intended
as a recognition of the principle that
it is the duty of all motorists to co
operate to the fullest possible extent
in promoting safety in traffic zones.
It makes no difference, says the
court, that the first driver would
have had time to cross in safety if the
second driver had been traveling at a
lawful rate of speed. The full text of
the decision is not available, but it is
assumed from the news accounts
that the crossing was an open one
and that each driver had ample op
portunity to see that the other was
approaching.
The decision Hs not likely to be
popular among automobllists, nor is
it binding upon the courts of other
states. It will seem on cursory ex
amination to have placed the burden
of damages on a law-abiding motor
ist, where, since someone is bound to
fose, it ought to rest on the law
breaking one. But the majority of
the Minnesota court holds that the
first driver was also negligent and
that by his negligence he forfeited
his claim. A single judge renders a
minority opinion to the effect that
the first driver had the right to ex
pect that the second would slow
down in obedience to the law, even
though he was clearly violating the
law when he was first seen.
As between the two drivers In
question, it will at first appear that
the second ought to pay the bill. But
a reading between the lines will sug
gest the thought that the court has
attempted to view the problem In its
relation to the public as a whole.
Perfect safety on the road depends
on two factors, on the equal caution
of both parties to a controversy pf
this kind. The principle Is often ex
pressed in literature of warning is
sued by automobile organizations,
when they advise drivers against
taking chances on what the other
fellow may do. The latter may not
always Intend to violate the law; he
may merely be exercising bad judz-
J ment, or his brakes may fail to oper
ate at tne critical moment; and there
is not much solace In a post mortem.
The court recognizes the principle,
too, that the first driver has a duty
to the public, to pedestrians who
may be passing, as well as to him
self, and that this is not performed
by a foolish insistance on a technical
right.
Our feeling that the second driver,
admittedly at fault, ought not wholly
to escape the consequences of his
misdeeds is partly satisfied by the
court's holding that he is subject to
prosecution under the criminal laws.
He may be taken up and fined or
Jailed, according to the degree of
his culpability, for violating the
speed ordinance. But before com
pensatory damages can be wrung
from him, the plaintiff must show
that he himself exercised all reason
able precaution. Whatever automo-
bilists may think of this doctrine,
the man afoot is likely to approve it.
He would be just as dead, whichever
motorist was to blame.
The point has also been covered
generally by our own state supreme
court, in enunciating the general
principle that "if the evidence of the
plaintiff when fairly judged from the
standpoint of a reasonable man
shows that he himself was guilty of
negligence which contributed to his
injury, he cannot recover," and quot
ed with approval the opinion of an
other court that "if there is any
point at which . . . the person
injured could have avoided the acci
dent and he failed to do so, then his
contributory negligence defeats a re
covery." But the thought which will
be in the mind of most persons con
cerned, including the public at large,
was tersely expressed in a rhymed
epitaph which was one of a series
that had a wide circulation a few
years ago. It ran:
Here lies the body of Thomas Oay,
Who died while maintaining his right-of-way.
He was rirht. dead right, aa he sped along.
But he's Just aa dead aa if he were wrong.
FERTILIZING WITH GUNPOWDER.
The reluctance of Clarke county
farmers to commit themselves to a
large cash outlay for picric acid to
be used as fertilizer is easily under
stood, however strongly the idea of
making a peaceful use of a powerful
war material may have appealed to
them. For the chemistry of ex
plosives is highly complex and the
science of agriculture is but in the
empirical stage. One would like to
know, for example, not only that
picric acid is in the main a nitro
genous cbmpound, and that nitrogen
is valuable as an accelerator of plant
growth, but also just how the acid
is likely to affect a particular crop.
Knowing, as most farmers do, how
wide is the margin between theory
and practice, they ask to be shown
first. But the government, it seems,
demands its cash in advance, and the
deal has been called off.
T,he government usually functions
inefficiently in affairs of this kind.
If a large private enterprise had
found itself with an overstock of ma
terial for which it desired to create
a new market, it would begin by con
ducting an advertising campaign
backed up by practical demonstra
tions in the field. Prospective cus
tomers would be instructed in the
uses of the product, and at strate
gic points a showing would be
made as to precisely what it would
do. This, in advertising parlance,
would be known as creating demand.
Once the urge to buy has been stimu
lated, the rest is easy enough. The
government has missed a funda
mental point. It must have "been
rendered over-confident by its post
war experience in disposing of its
commissary stores of corned beef,
army shoes and loganberry jam.
Now there are not only great
stocks of picric acid in the arsenals
of the country which cannot be used
in the manufacture of beer, as might
be done if it were not for a recent
amendment of the Volstead law, but
there is also an enormous accumu
lation of sodium nitrate, another of
the raw materials of gunpowder. Ni
trate of soda, too, is a valuable fer
tilizer, which at a fair price could be
used profitably by some millions of
farmers, and there are other ex
plosives on hand which contain
potash in its various salts, also use
ful in farming and particularly in
the production of fruit. It would be
a pity for any of these materials to
be wasted. We particularly like the
idea of turning swords into plow
shares on so extensive and practical
a scale.
With flammenwerfers cutting
through the snow-gorged highways,
and pipric acid gunpowder spread
over the fields, and with battleship
hulks serving as canneries for fish,
how contentedly the dove of peace
would hover her human brood! But
we are a practical people, and not
many of us will be satisfied with a
pig in a poke.
GUARDING THE GATE.
Examining at random a list of
names of chronic offenders against
our criminal laws, one is likely to be
impressed again with the importance
of a sound immigration policy and
its strict enforcement. The prepon
derance of aliens of a certain type
will not be taken as an indictment of
all who live In the country from
which these forelgnSrs come, but It
is at least a sufficient ground for
vigilance. It has not been absolutely
demonstrated that a literacy require
ment is all that could be desired,
but undoubtedly It has done some
good. Intelligence tests such as are
employed at immigrant depots in ex
treme cases have a certain value.
Provision for the deportation of
those who violate our hospitality is
good as far as it goes. All three,
however, enforced as loosely as they
are, have failed to obtain complete
results.
The idea that temporary poverty
or some other misfortune confers on
the victim a license to rob the more
fortunate or the more provident is
peculiarly alien. It is in direct con
trast to personal pride, which dis
tinguishes those who have been bred
and reared in the atmosphere of in
dividualism. We used to hear of
people who only redoubled their ef
forts to make good when misfortune
overtook them, who never admitted
defeat, who would not accept alms,
who would starve rather than steal.
It would be absurd, of course, to
contend that these people do not ex
ist now, for there is no evidence that
the sturdy character of the men and
women who peopled the wilderness
has not been transmitted in full
measure to their descendants. The
type that has made America great
and particularly the type that has
pushed back the frontier until the
whole country is safe to live in and
ready for the plow is as virile as
ever.
A seeming decadence is due, not to
any attenuation of the original, but
to the infusion of a new element for
which the original is in no way re
sponsible. One who has followed the
fortunes of the pioneers of America
will have observed that while they
did not always find what they want
ed, or expected, in a certain locality,
they either made the best of what
they had or moved on. They wasted
little or no time bemoaning their
fate, they stole no neighbor's sheep
because he was luckier than they,
they asked no man to lay the foun
dation for them to build on. Periods
of industrial depression almost infin
itely more disheartening than any
that the country has experienced in
recent years only left them more de-'
termined to solve their own prob
lems. At least there was not a crime
wave every time someone raised the
cry of hard times. It did not occur
to anybody that murder, theft, arson
and highway robbery were a cure for
social ills, or even that in the long
run they could possibly benefit tile
individual. It was not, In all prob
ability, by accident that this was so.
It was the American way of looking
at things.
For a good while the bars were
down. A good many desirable immi
grants, who have made excellent
Americans, came in, and "with them
a very considerable number who
were not 'desirable, because' they
were not alone alien by birth but
also alien in their conception of indi
vidual responsibility. The great' pre
ponderance of this particular type on
the blotters of police stations and on
the court dockets of the whole
country is sufficiently illuminating.
Names do not tell the whole story;
many pf these aliens Americanize
their names, which is about as far
in .Americanization as they ever get;
but show "by the excuses they make
for crime, and by their refusal to
adapt themselves to our conditions,
and by their defiance of laws that
are vastly more benevolent than
those of the. countries from which
they came that they do not deserve
to profit by the sacrifices that were
made by better men than they are to
make America safe for them to
live in.
The fact that most of the quotas
for the entire immigration year,
which does not end until next July,
have already been exhausted under
the present law Indicates how anx
ious the people of other countries are
to begin life over again in the United
States. This "country Is In a position
to pick and choose. No fairer
method of selection could be adopted
If the thing were humanly possible
than one based wholly on merit.
The best may well make good citi
zens, the worst are not wanted, even
as material for the much over-estimated
"melting pot." The decreased
allowance of immigrants should per
mit more thorough examination,
much of which might preferably be
conducted at the point of sailing. But
since every precaution that has yet
been devised is fallible, there is also
merit in the proposal that th'e period
of probation be extended. There is
almost no doubt at all that the se
verest punishment that could be
meted out to the ordinary alien
criminal would be to compel him to
leave the country for whose laws he
exhibits so much contempt.
The curious immunity to the effects
of strychnine possessed by gallina
ceous fowls and birds which Is
pointed out in a recent bulletin of
the Oregon Agricultural college, will
be taken into account in ridding the
country of rodent pests. A general
reluctance to spread poison in fields
infested by field mice and ground
squirrels will be measurably over
come by knowledge that an adult
valley quail has been known to eat
enough poisoned bait to kill twelve
ordinary squirrels without experi
encing discomfort, while chickens
have been fed on the poison at an
Oregon experiment station without
suffering any Injury. It is found
here as elsewhere, however, that a
little knowledge may be a dangerous
thing, and too much ought not to be
taken for granted. Turkeys, for ex
ample, do not possess the same de
gree of immunity, and the same is
true of ducks and geese. The infor
mation is particularly timely because
rodent depredations have been heavy
durlng the past season and the best
season for a campaign against them
is early in the spring.
Judging by allegations, in suits for
divorce, some women can not get
used to seeing their husbands acting
familiar with "other women. Some
men are gay dogs at best, but they
may be harmless. Their wives should
know.
There should be a near- Christmas
or a little Christmas a few days be
fore, so the person who does not
know what to give can do it with
money or order and let the recipient
do the selecting.
The returns are about all In in
the case of looting the Liberty the
ater. Much of the money, however,
is missing. There was too much for
the "chffd of nature" to handle in
each case.
Nobody is asking to have the
trucks put out of business, but on
the other hand, the public cannot
permit the trucks to put the rail
roads out of business.
Women who carry purses in out
side pockets are liable to lose them.
This is one of the misfortunes of the
sex. They must envy man his hip
pocket.
The commission has decided that
wages of city employes shall not be
reduced, which is satisfying news to
employes just before Christmas.
Roy Gardner says he was crazy
when he held up his last mail train.
And that's the first evidence he has
shown of being in his right mind.
Next to being a professional pugil
ist, being a member of the school
board seems tp be the most exciting
profession.
Judge Wolverton sent a booze
prince to jail yesterday and the buds
will be swelling before he is out.
San Francisco seems determined
to hang onto Fatty Arbuckle as a
permanent drawing card.
Are you putting the little seals on
letters and packages? That is what
they are made for.
If the big stores were twice as
large the buying crowds would be
twice the size.
Wonder whether the new Irish
stat-i will Include the New York po
lice force?
Wiritry weather, yes; but this Is a
winter month.
The shamrock now can grow on
Irish ground.
BY - PRODUCTS OF THE! PRESS.
Creasy Finds Flea Noteworthy Cali
fornia Product.
Will Creasy, actor and I sketch
writer, blossoms forth In the Oakland
i Enquirer with a humorous arraign-
ment of California conditions as fol
lows: 1
You wake in the morning to the
music of a Connecticut alarm clock
You button your Boston garters Into
your Paris socks, your Baltimore sus
penders onto your Duluth overalls)
put on your Lynn shoes, and your
Danbury hat, and you are up for the
day.
You alt down to your Grand Rapids
table and eat your Hawaiian pine
apple, your Quaker oats and your
Aunt Jemima flapjacks swimming in
New Orleans molasaes.
Then you go out and put your Con
cerd, N. H., harness onto your Mis
souri mule, hitch it to a Moline, III.,
plow and plow up a couple of acres of
land covered with Ohio mortgages.
At noon you live on Cincinnati ham,
cooked in Chicago lard, on a Detroit
hstove, burning Wyoming coal.
And then as the twilight falls you
fill up your Pride of Detroit with
Mexican gasoline and dash out to the
beach, and while sitting in a Greek
restaurant, smoking a Boston-made
cigar, you watch a New York girl
dance th Memphis shimmy to the
music of a. New Orleans Jazz band.
And then you go home, eat a Mexi
can tamale. smoke a Turkish cigar
ette, read a chapter of a Bible printed
in London, England, say a prayer
written in Jerusalem, put on your
China silk pajamas, crawl in between
your Fall River sheets and fight all
night with fleas the only home
grown product on your whole darned
ranch.
Carpenters sometimes use a piece
of chalked string for marking off a
straight line; but the Chinese car
penter prefers his string greased,
says an exchange. He makes a small
wooden reel and mounts It on the
large end of a cow's horn. He fits
wooden plugs into both ends of the
horn. Then he runs a cord through
holes In the plugs and winds it on
the reel. Finally, he pourg black
grease into the horn through a hole
In the top. Now when he wants to
mark a straight line on a board he
pulls the desired length of cord
through the grease In the horn,
stretches the line taut upon the board
and with thumb and forefinger snaps
the cord. The heavy black line of
grease that results not only guides
him as he saws the board but per
haps also makes sawing it easier.
Ode to Dad.
T. H. McCracken in Los Angeles Times.
Life's a better place, it seems,
When you, dad, fill my dreams.
Though there's many a man that's
good,
You are better!
Your rules for me were strict,
And frequently you licked
Me Just to teach the code right
To the letter.
But it's made me more like you.
And when the game is through,
The books will show, you bet, that
I'm your debtor!
In his book "Little Journeys to
the Homes of Great Philosophers,"
Elbert Hubbard recalls a device of
Herbert Spencer's for securing his
thoughts against interruption when
living in a boarding house. The great
philosopher, he says, devised a pair
of ear-muffs; which fitted on his
head with a spring. If the conver-
satlon took f. turn
no interest, he woul
In which he had
Id excuse himself
to his nearest neighbor and put on
his ear-muffs. The plan worked so
well that he carried them with him
wherever he went, and occasionally
at lectures or concerts, when he would
grow more interested in his thoughts
than in the performance, he would
adjust his patents. Brooklyn Eagle.
"A citizen of a nearby town died
recently and everybody wondered why
It was that just bankers were the
pallbearers," says the Norcatur
(Kan.) Dispatch. But on due investi
gation, the Dispatch has discovered
the bankers carried him all through
life, and they thought they might as
well complete the job. Capper's
Weekly.
Two pungent thoughts from far-off
India:
MOney will buy a dog, but only love
will make him wag his tall.
Different women are kissed In dif
ferent way's. Some let It happen;
others help It to happen. Boston
Transcript.
More than 1.000,000 marriages will
be the record of 1921 In the United
StateB. establishing a new high mark,
according to Indications in reports re
ceived by government bureaus. The
number may go as high as 1,500,000
by December 31. New York Herald.
The controller of the currency, re
porting condition of all the national
banke of the United States as of June
30, 1921, gives out the following big
figures:
Banks retorting 8.154
Capital stock $1,278,880,000
Surplus 1.026.25B.00O
Undivided profits 40155. 0OO
Circulation 704.147.0O0
Depoalta IS. 142.331. 000
Bills payable 602. 503. 000
Re-discounts 87S. 344.000
Total resources 19.638.446.000
Kansas Banker.
An English dancer says that sleep
ing outdoors makes one beautiful.
Dorothy Dlx in Memphis Commercial
Appeal. At last we are able to account for
the charming appearance of the aver
age hobo. Arkansas Thomas Cat
"A woman who shuts her eyes with
horror every time she swats a fly,
killed her engine four times yester
day and said damn before she finally
got the blamed thing going." Fair
bury, Neb., Journal.
Voltaire' Get-Rleh-Qulck Scheme.
Youth's Companion.
The famous French satirical writer,
Voltaire, was worth 9500,000 at 40
years old. But he did not earn his
money from books. He made most of
it by lending money to needy noble
men. . ,
He would lend an heir to an estate
a large sum on condition that the
heir should pay him 10 per cent In
terest on the amount as long as both
of them lived. The heir would be
neither required nor allowed to pay
off the principal; and the agreement
ended only when Voltaire died. Vol
taire picked only younger men and
because of his tubercular appearance (
had no difficulty in getting clients. It
Is said that when a prospective bor
rower hesitated the satirist could
cough In a way that always closed
the deal. The scheme was very suc
cessful for Voltaire.
Those Who Come and Go.
Talea of Folks at the Hotel.
"Long Creek, In the heart or the
cattle country. Is the only Interior
town that I know of which Is show-
ing signs of progress, for the town
ia getting now sidewalks and there
is some building going on," observed
A. T. Meier, who had to drive over
I 100 miles in sleet and rain before he
I could get to a railroad. Although In
a cow country, Mr. Meier does not
wear a cowboy hat and boots, so he
does not looK the Dart. A man has
to have a No. C foot to look good in
boots and Mr. Meier has a No. 9. so
after wearing a pair for a short time
he discarded them. For a time Mr.
Meier was In the mercantile business
at Long Creek, a town with a hotel,
a couple of large general stores, a
good drugstore and several "pas
times." Ranchers used to bring in
a long list of things wanted and say:
"Fill this and I'll write you a check'
Now the ranchers study the cata
loguea and have stuff sent by parcel
post from Portland. It Is not uncom
mon for ranchers to have a ton of
salt sent to them by parcel post, a few
pounds at a time, ftie salt arriving
for about a year. Money shortage Is
responsible for the change In the
methods of doing business at Long
Creek, Grant county. Mr. Meier de
clares that the finest bunchgrass in
the state is in the Long Creek coun
try. Despite It being a range, there
are many automobiles In use, for the
hurricane deck of a cayuse was dis
carded as soon as possible for a cush
ioned seat. Gasoline In Long Creek
is around 60 and 60 cents a gallon,
the high cost being due to the cost
of transportation.
Speaking of'conditlons in southern
Idaho, E. R. Robertson of Nampa
states that business shows some im
provement. The fact that cream
eries and condenserles have been
running has been of material assist
ance to the farmer, as there was an
overupply of hay In that section of
the country, and in feeding it to the
cattle and selling cream they were
able to get results. "I believe, says
Mr. Robertson, "the future welfare
of that country depends upon diver
sified farming. This year the farmer
who planted early potatoes and then
lettuce made good returns. A year
or two ago a farmer started planting
lettuce at the suggestion of some of
the farm experts of the Oregon Short
Line and today there are' more than
1000 acres devoted to that product,
which is shipped all over the United
States, and the demand is constantly
Increasing. So great an amount of
this product was shipped out of
Nampa under refrigeration this year
that Ice was shipped in from as far
as HouBton, Tex., to ice the cars.
As ;he farmers are taking up diver
sified farming, the larger tracts are
being cut up into smaller farms."
Mr. Robertson, who is registered at
the Multnomah. Is with the Independ
ent Lumber company of Nampa and
Is in Portland looking over the lum
ber situation.
"I never saw people so crazy about
swimming as at Hayden Lake, Idaho."
declared Dan J. Moore, who returned
to Portland yesterday, Mr. Moore be
ing proprietor of the big resort at
the lake. "When I was at Seaside
Ithought people liked swimming, but
they were not a marker to enthusi
asm for this sport at the lake. The
water, by the way, Is 500 feet deep
in spots. I dropped "a line 300 feet
and didn't touch bottom. Golf Is be
coming popular. A year ago by a
strenuous campaign a golf club was
organized with 30 members. Thin
year there are 100 members, and the
membership will be even greater next
year. We have an 18-hole course. In
addition to the hotel there are cabins
and there are also some very fine
summer homes, built by wealthy Spo
kane people, one of these homes cost
ing 950.000."
"They're getting quite excited over
the cattle situation," said B. H. Cam
eron of Harney county at the Impe
rial. "Yearling steers which were
selling at 925 are now 930 and fat
cows which were 930 are now 940.
There isn't much stuff being sold be
cause everyone is holding, expecting
things to get Jjetter. You can buy
cattle In the yards in North Portland
and ship the stock to Harney county
as cheap as you can buy the stuff
there. The average cattleman, like
the sheepman, is in debt, and fig
ures that the only way he can get
out Is by the natural increase of his
herd and flock." Winter weather is
mild in Harney and the stock hasn't
come down from the mountains yet.
The recent snow- storm which swept
the northern part of Oregon did not
bother Burns.
Greatest harvest of clams In years
is reported at Warrenton. where
S G. Wilson Is registered from at
the Perkins. It was thought some
time ago that the clams had about
been exterminated, but this year they
returned more plentiful than ever,
and the canneries are still mincing
them and packing them. The habits
of the clams are not very well known.
No one has been able to' track them
to their lair and make a 'study of
them, which is why there Is no ex
planation offered aa to the unex
pected profusion of the bivalves this
year downClatsop county way.
"Historians of Wallowa county do
not agree on many things," Mild J. L.
Maxwell, stockman of Wallowa. Or.
"The white historians hold different
views as to where Chief Joseph is
buried, but the Indians, who ought
to know, have their own Ideas on the
subject. The history of Wallowa
county should be written on the in
formation furnished by the Indians."
It is claimed that there Is no more
beautiful spot In Oregon than Wal
lowa lake. Mr. Maxwell Is at the
Imperial.
Ernest J. Hunter, registered at the
Multnomah. Is a representative of the
Hotel Red Book, which Is the hotel
men's directory. Speaking of his an
rual Journey across the continent. Mr.
Hunter says that he finds business
tetter on the Pacific coast than else
where. At present the middle west
seems to be harder hit in a business
way than any other section. On the
whole, there Is a more optimistic
feeling than for a long time.
W. R. Clark, who ha. 3 a garage In
Prairie City, Grant county, on the
John Day highway, is registered at
the Imperial. So much work has
been performed on this highway that
it is now possible to drive from
Prairie City to Arlington, on the
Columbia river highway, although the
section between Condon and Arling
ton is anything but a picnic, as it
has not been Improved.
F W. Yarrelman. member of the
city council of Reedsport. ia at the
Multnomah. J. R. Browne, who is
elso a councilman and In addition
is secretary of the port of Umpqua
commission, is with his fellow towns
man. J. K. Hough. G H. Barmore and
Y. Osterloh. connected with a prom
inent automobile tire company, are
at the Benson. They are here to
hold a conference.
C. C. Hall of the United States
forest service, with headquarters at
Eugene, is among the arrivals at the
Imperial.
T. B. Johnson of La Grande, a
stock buyer In the Grand Ronde val
ley, checked' out for home yesterday.
Burroughs Nature Club.
Copyright, Houahton-Mlf f lin ( o.
I Can Yon Answer These Questions f
' 1 I Ken rn IIva all ftvftr?
2. Do fishes look after theii
young?
3. Has the wild turkey, Mcleagr's
gallopavo silvestrls, ever been known
In the western provinces of Canada'.'
If not. what is the bird called "wild
turkey" claimed to "have been seen in
huge flocks in Saskatchewan in re
cent years?
Answers in tomorrow's Mature
Notes.
Answers to Previous Questions.
1. Do any birds ever attack worm's
nest in trees'.'
Yes. cuckoos do. both black and yellow-billed
varieties. They are rare In
their fondness for hairy and spiny
caterpillars, which most birds avoid,
and eat so many that often their
stomaciis become coated with balrs.
A cuckoo has been known to take Its
stand next a caterpillar web and eut
from three to four dozen caterpillars
a meal.
2. How often must old alligators
be fed?
Captive specimens in zoos are
usually fed about three days apart.
They take fowl, large tisues and
hunks of raw beef. Their feeding
normally depends on temperature,
and in the well-equipped tank the
water Is kept tepid, as near as pos
sible to the natural temperature of
the alligator's native bayou.
s m
3. How often should plants be
watered'.'
According to their needs, and the
condition of the atmosphere. Plants
absorb moisture by their tiniest root
hairs, and it Is better to keep them
constantly and moderately at work
than to let them shrink from dry
ness, and then suddenly dilate with
quantities of moisture. The porous
common flower pot dries out very
rapidly and dries the root with it.
A pot sunk in dirt in a larger recep
tacle will do better, but one stood in
a jardiniere, with a layer of air and
darkness, will usually mold. -
s
4. Is there a species of wild duck
about the size of a teal, bright red or
blood red in color, with bill of dark
color? Also one about same size ca
nary yellow, with a little gray on
the buck and breast?
The red one is the clanamon teal,
Querquedula cyanoptera, presumably,
whose color is more chestnut or ru
fous il. ,m "blood" red. In certain
lights It might look very bright. We
can get no Identification for the yel
low one, beyond the suggestion it
might be a freak.
6. Is the badger a harmful ani
mal? Not in the sense of being ferocious;
but it makes trouble Incidentally
sometimes, when In the search of
food prairie dogs, ground squirrels
and similar pests It tears open the
holes of these beasts and uninten
tionally provides a pitfall for the
mounted cattleman. Its food habit is
valuable, and the badger should be
protected as a check on rodents.
6. What are the little lizards that
live fn our caves and other damp
places? Do they hatch from eggs
lke frogs and toads?
If found In damp places, probably
not lizards, but salamanders. Lizards
are mostly hatched from eggs, like
snakes, but a few bring forth live
young. They have scaly skins and
live in dry places. Salamanders are
amphibians, like frogs, breathing
both air and water. Common in llmo
stone caves of the south. Some fre
quent beds of brooks, or live near
cold springs. Beautlfuly colored yel
low, rose, copper, some with black
bands. Hatch like frogs.
VIOLATIONS DBGstADal UUY LAW
Because Enforeenient Lags Writer
Would Legullae Intoxirunts.
PORTLAND, Dec. 6. (To the Edi
tor.) 1 want to say a few more
words re the functlonings of prohibi
tion. Mr. C. E. Smith, also The Ore
gonian, intimate that I have taken a
Harrow view of the question. Maybe
so, but If either one had a 15-year-old
son who can get all the moonshine
that he wants at any time your com
placency would be somewhat dis
rupted. How is a law functioning when cer
tain churches are allowed all the wine
that they care to order and retail It
to their members for 96 per gallon?
It is port wine and can be had by
anyone who will pay 910 per gallon
all 'you want. This is known among
the trade as "church wine."
A bootlegger Is usually a for
eigner, ignorant and dirty, and as the
penalty Is the same whether he sells
to a minor or adult he does not hesi
tate to peddle his vile concoctlonB to
anyone with the price. Now I am
using the word bootlegger In refer
ring to the one who distills. The
agents are drawn from all classes.
Here is part of a headline from a
Philadelphia paper of last week:
"Booze Scandals Get Worse Daily;
Crooked Agents. Teachers. Business
Men and Even Clergy Are Being In
volved; Penn Professor Held; Rabbi
Kails to Show Up at Hearing and
More Warrants Will Be Issued; Seise
Huge Store of Booze. Which Was
-Released on Religious Permits."
There may not be as much liquor
Bold in Portland as before prohibi
tion, but there are more people drink
ing. Anyone giving a party is sup
posed to have some booze to put pep
in the participants. I know of dozens
of people who never had a drop In
the house until Uncle Sam said they
couldn't have It, and Immediately a
thirst was created. Anyone who has
ever studied psychology will under
stand the reason.
Bootleggers and fanatics believe In
the Volstead law, one as a matter
of business and the other as a mat
ter of principle, but no one but a
dyed-ln-the-wool optimist can be
lieve that It will be a success until
the world ib dry and until that time
comes we will have the rotten poison
peddled by all and sundry, and more
people killed from the effects than
ever were in the wet days.
You can dam up a stream, but un
less you have a spillway something
will happen. Government supervision
would eliminate bootlegging and
would also mean that you would get
real whisky or wines or beer. I don't
say good whisky, for I do not think
there is such an "animal."
Prohibition laws have corrupted
every class of people. There Is some
thing pernicious abo'ut "easy money,"
and it never does anyone one partlcU
of good. a. j.Jons.
Wife Tnmes Her Husband.
Kansas City Star.
u .. .-..in,.. li iii handeH him .1
ji.i. ... - -
sealed letter which he was not to read
until he reached hie oince. wun lore
bodlngs of trouble he tore open the
envelope.
"I am obliged." the mlsclve began,
"to tell you something that may give
you paiii, but there Is no help for it.
I....- tin. nnr week I have felt it must
come to this, but I have waited until
the last extremity ana can remain
silent no longer."
Cold perspiration stood in thick
drops on his brow as he turned the
page, prepared Tor tne worst.
"Our coal is all gone," he read on.
Dl.,1. order ft ton tn be sent this
afternoon. I thought you might for
get for the seventh time and therefore
write you this letter."
But he didn't forget that time.
More Truth Than Poetry.
By James J. Montague.
ALMOST Itl AVERAfJB MAN.
At' ten he arrives at the office.
Reads the papers with gasps of
alarm.
And says he don't know why those
dubs are so slow
In getting the world to disarm.
He runs through his mail a few min
tues. ,
Calls a friend or two up on the
phone,
And remarks that perhaps we could
deal with the Japs
If England would let us alone.
He languidly presses the buzzer
That summons the managing clerk.
Whom he tellH that he's sore on this
talk of more war;
What is needed,' he adds, Is more
work.
He goes to his lunch at twelve-thirty.
And over a porterhouse steak
He stoutly contends to a couple of
friends
That this conference thing Is a fake.
He says that all statesmen are bone
heads; They do nothing according to plan;
They are creatures of schemos and
delusions and dreams;
What they need on that Job Is a
man.
He takes two friends to the office
To skim through the afternoon
news.
And till four they discuss how they'd
settle the muss '
If thoy could trade places with
Hughes.
To the boys at the club, in the eve
ning, He curses the folly of France;
He says she's sfrald to promote the
world's trade
By giving the Germans a chance.
If he were the other two powers.
He'd make tho frog army disband;
Then, with industry freed from op
pression and greed.
The thing would be solved out of
hand.
"We'll always have war," he an
nounces, "Till hatreds have all been forgot
ten." Thon he goes home to bed with a
pain in his head,
And wonders why business la
rotten.
a
It Isn't.
If the pen were really mightier
than the sword a good many Wash
ington correspondents would be
asked to scrap their typewriters.
Getting: Searee.
Owing to the shortage of kings,
Princess Mary had to marry an or
dinary noble,man.
Keeping the Iare.
Now Venice is to admit motor ve
hicles. She was determined that she
wouldn't let Nantucket get ahead of
her.
(Copyright by tua Bell Syndicate. Inc.)
A Little While Alone.
By Grace E. Hnll.
What would we ever do. In brain and
soul endeavor,
If we had never a little while alone?
A little while, when others are away,
To give our real selves chance to
think and pray;
To dream, to vision and create at will.
Let inner voices speak that are so
still.
When we must faco the world and
play a part,
Keeping our glow-thoughts hidden in
the heart.
What would we ever be. or think or
fashion.
If we had never time In secret pas-
slon
To live the visions of our better
thought,
From which the treasure-things of
life are brought?
To moid, as does the sculptor, deft and
sure.
Our Ideals Infb forms that may en
dure? To look sometimes, through rain of
cleansing tears,
And see new purpose In the empty
years?
We vie with others in the scheduled
race,
Run well the course, perhaps, and
plaudits gain.
Keeping a smile of courage on the
face,
But In the secret hour we face the
pain, .
Count o'er the heartaches that we
never told
As misers guard the secret of their
gold
Fight our own battles that we never
own;
Ah. yes. Indeed, we need a little while
alone!
In Other Days.
Twenty-five Yenrs Ago.
From The Oresonlan of December 7. 18!
Chicago. John D.' Rockefeller Is
seeking to outdo Andrew Carnegie
as an Iron king, and his plans are
already matured and ready to be car
ried out aiming at that end.
Justice McDevitt Is endeavoring to
learn how much the reputation of
Oiarles W. Kimball as a musician
has been damaged by being dismiss1'"
as choirmaster of the Centenary Wil
bur Methodist church.
The first boU of worsted goods
ever made west of- the Mississippi
river and placed on the market for
ale was turned out at the Salem
woolen mills last week.
"SI Perkins" last night opened to
a very good house at the Park the
ater. It Is a play of the down-on-the-farm
kind, with a skeleton plot.
Fifty Years Ago.
From The Orezonlan of December 7. 1871
Mr. Helple. one of the board of
trustees of East Portland, stabbed a
man named Taylor in the leg yester
day. ,
The board of police commissioners
have allowed a bill of 9243 for board
ing prisoners during November.'
New York Tweed and his fellow
thieves have atoien aa much aa 32.000
laboring men could earn In a life
time at 91600 a year.
OHSt I HITV.
Dim. shadowy griels and dark ob
scurity. And cloudy isorrows. stlll to spend
their rain
In mists, that rise as doubts to come
again
With dull despair, and anguish yet
to be.
Yet patience! Through the darkness
I can see
That tempests have not spent their
strength in vain;
And calm reveais at last another plain
Of mighty truth spread toward In
finity. In patience I will wait for him who
sees
Both calm and tempest work their
secret good;
Who holds within his hand the mys
tic keys
Of blessing only dimly understood;
Content to leave the darkness of my
day
To him who Is both Light, and Truth,
and Way!
MARY ALETHEA WOODWARD.
t
I