Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1922)
8 THE MORXIXG OREGONUN, WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 4, 1923 IVI ABLISIIKI) SI IIKNRY 1.. FITTOCK. ob!lih;1 by Tha oregonian Publishing Co, rtixlu Mreel, rortla4d, Oregun. C A. iluiiOKN. E. B. PIPER. Maaacer. Kuiior. Ts Oreronian la a member of the Aaso- riatod l ma. T1 Associated Press la ex clusively entitled to tne use tor publicatloi rr ull nwa dispti.es credited lo it or not ttberw:9 credited in ttlla paper and also the iocai newa pjo.it-ked hereiu. All rig-his ,f pH9i;.;ation o: apeuial diapatches hereto sir aiso reaerveu feubscrlotlon Batea Invariably in Advanca, ,liv Mail.) ally, Bunilay Ine uled, one year SS It J-aliy, Sunday lnc.t-jded, six montba ... 4-1 y al'y, a l iday inj.'t-f-d, three months. . -'lUiy. Sunday in'.,uded. ona month.. Iaily. without Jii'iay. one year -00 Ualiy, without Sinday, six month .... 3. il l'aily, winout Sur.di.y. one month .... 60 WeeKly. one year I OC krUay, one year 2 u'i tir Carrier.) Tally, Sunday In U.Kd. one year !.M J-ai.y. Kunlay lac.udt-d. three months.. 2.-3 I'iKly, Sunday inc.ucled. one month ... .75 1-aily, w.hout Sujday. one year 7.89 JJally, W.liout Sunday, three months.. J-aiiy. -without buntiuy, one month.... Mow to liem't- Send postofflce mone etder, express or personal check on your local uaiK. stairi t. coin or currency i ar owner's risk, love postotfice address la li'.II, including county and state. PnstarA Itutes I to Jfl panes. 1 cent: 18 to 3 p.ixes, 2 cei la: 84 to 48 pases, 8 cents; OJ to (H purr. 4 cents; utt lo H x-wKes, 3 ccnta; b2 to 96 patfes, U cents. 4-c.reig-a poataKe couble rale. Eastern Business Office Verreeft Conk- jln. 300 Jtlailinan r.vtnuc, New York.: Verree t Cunkii.i. steicer building. Chicago: Ver :te & Dunklin. eree Press building. De- rolt, Mich.: Vc-ree & Conklin, toclliiu running, I'ortlana. FOB A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. The Oregonian has a letter today from Pendleton, bearing on the re lationship of Multnomah county to eastern Oregon, which appears to call for a brief review of the record. If Multnomah and Umatilla counties Jiave worked In harmonious relation ships In the rast, the reason is un doubtedly to be found in the ad vantage of both. We have no Il lusions on that subject, and doubtless our Pendleton friend has none. Tet, in view of the fact that the proposed I:.ir legislation ha3 had the unhappy ffect of reviving old prejudices, t-nd creating new misunderstandings, which have taken the form of at tacks on Portland from various di rections and on equally various .rounds. It Is right that Portland's position be measured for whatever ii is worth. ' Iet us take the one matter of the attitude of Multnomah county In various affairs of state concern which have gone to the. people through the referendum. It is there that Multnomah makes Its best show ing, for It has with great consistency fallen In line -with proposals that were, of special importance to the etate, or to certain other com munities than Portland. There is no Instance so far as we can recall, where any measure affecting the material interests of any section has been vetoed try the vote of. Mult nomah. Let us have the record, and eee what our critical friends can do With it: In' 1908 on a referendum of a legislative act increasing the ap propriation for the state university, Multnomah county gave a large enough favorable majority to offset a negative majority in the state at large. The bill was carried by Mult xiomah's vote. In 1910 Multnomah county, with ' one-third of the state vote, gave 6600 of the 8600 favorable majority for the eastern Oregon hospital for the Insane, at Pendleton. In 1910 Multnomah county ap proved the bill establishing a state normal at weston, Dut tne Dill was defeated by the state at large. In the same year it contributed less than 300 of the 10,000 adverse majority against the Ashland normal school. In 1910 it contributed 6000 of the 10,000 favorable majority to the Monmouth normal school measure. In the special referendum election In 1913, it contributed 8400 of the 16,000 favorable majority for the referended university building re pair fund. In the same election It contributed nearly 7000 of rfce 10,000 favorable majority for the referended univer sity building fund. t In 1914 Multnomah county ap proved the bill re-establishing a state normal at Ashland but an adverse vote In the state at large defeated the measure. In the same year it ap proved the bill re-establishing the normal school at Weston, but the bill failed by the adverse vote of other counties. In 1916 Multnomah county gave a favorable vote to the Pendleton nor mal school measure, but it was de feated by other counties. In 1916 Multnomah county gave a favorable majority of more than 7000 to the state rural credits meas ure. In 1917 the favorable majority of Multnomah county overcanVe the ad verse vote of the state at large .on the first highway building pro gramme: this despite the fact that while Multnomah county contributes more than one-third of the state lighway cost it receives nothing from the fund. The action of Mult nomah county started an enterprise, the enlargement of which has on more than one occasion since then received the enthusiastic endorse ment of the entire people at the polls. In 1918 (during the war) Mult nomah gave its first distinctive ma jority against creation of additional normal schools. The adverse vote in this county was only 1208, but the measure was beaten by a majority of more than 16.000. In 1919, with one third of the vote of the state, Multnomah county con tributed 8000 of the 8000 majority accorded the measure to guarantee interest on irrigation district bonds. In 1919 Multnomah county gave the Roosevelt Highway proposal a majority of more ' than 12,000. It cartied by a total majority of 27,000. In the same year this county voted by a majority of more than 7000 to tax itself for market roads, the bill providing that a large share of this county's revenues therefrom be ex pended in other counties. It is important -'it is vital to the welfare of the state as a whole that the metropolis and the state at large be in accord on the larger interests of the commonwealth. A sound basia for concert of action is mutual un derstanding. In that spirit, this brief offering of the record is made. Salem Is a quiet, neighborly city, where everybody knows everybody and each tries to know nothing but good of the other. So what matter if "a prominent citizen" in confine ment for possessing something "on the hip" Is released by a chief of po lice to attend to important business. if he .returns to his cell on time? Murderers and rubbers have been j furlougbed from higher institutions to attend funerals of grandmothers or other female relatives upon oc casion. FISH OF ONE: FOWL OF THE OTIIER. Tina drab dullness of the post-holiday season alone is our excuse for noting the newest outbreak of our cantankerous contemporary, the Eu gene Guard. Here it is: It Is funny to have Senator Lodge, the editor of The Oregonian and othera. who held up world peace for two years and defeated the only tangible pian for pre vention of war ever auegjested, abuse those who are opposed to an alliance between this country and Japan because they fear the cause of peace will be Injured. A great many Americans are very much op posed, and honestly ao, to guaranteeing, by foroe of arms If necessary, Japanese supremacy in the orlunt and throughout trie islands or the Pacific. Among the Americans opposed to any guaranty, by force of arms or any other way, of Japanese supremacy in the orient and the islands of the Pacific is The Oregonlan. Will the Guard quote a single paragraph, or line, or sentence, or syllable from the proposed four-power pact that would "guarantee by force of arms, if nec essary," Japanese supremacy any where ? It must be said In candor that the autonomy of Japan and of every other signatory to the Versailles treaty was to be preserved against external aggression (see article X); and papers like the Guard accepted the commitment of America to an extensive and complicated pro gramme to preserve against external aggression by force of arms if nec essary the national boundaries of nearly fifty nations, including Japan, Now they whine and squeal about- foreign entanglements, the yellow peril, the Japanese invasion and the like, when four of the great powers agree to communicate with one an other "fully and frankly in order to arrive at an understanding as to the most efficient measures to be taken, jointly and separately, to meet the exigencies of the particular situa tion" viz. aggressive action of any other power. Let it be noted that the essence of this agreement is that the four pow ers will "communicate with one an other fully and frankly." If there Is any Implication that in honor binds them to act together, it certainly contains no guaranty to preserve by force of arms, If necessary, Japanese supremacy in the orient and the islands of the Pacific. But let us assume that it does. On what ground can one who swal lowed Article X, hook, bait, sinker and pole, in the Versailles treaty, re fuse to accept Article II in the four power pact? The explanation is that the one was President Wilson's plan, the other Is President Harding's. WI LI. MORE OF US TRAVEL? Repeal of the 8 per cent tax on passenger fares may soon give us an opportunity to judge of the accuracy with which Vice-President Edward Chambers, of the Panta Fe railroad, judges the effect of advances or re ductions in rates on traffic. Testify ing before the interstate commerce commission he said: It is our Judgment that the present level of passenger fares is not unreasonable, and that a reduction in the present basis would not stimulate traffic to the extent that the possible increase in travel would off set the losses In revenue that would result from the present charges. That opinion is flatly contrary to the well-recognized principle that the cheaper a commodity is, the more people buy It, which surely must apply to transportation as well as other commodities in general use. When a man contemplates a trip, he will more readily take it if it costs $10 instead of $10.80, especially if his funds are limited, as many peo ple's t.re nowadays. The principle of small profits and large returns must apply to railroad travel as to other things. When passenger fares are reduced, as is very likely before this year ends. It will be necessary for rail roads to stimulate travel in order that by selling more tickets they may compensate for the smaller profit on each ticket. Then the railroads will advertise how much cheaper a trip is than was formerly the case, and Mr. Chambers' eyes will glow with satis faction when he sees cars loaded full. Then he will find it 'ery con venient to forget what he told the Interstate commission. THE WORLD'S OI TT.OOK ON THE NEW YEAR. This year seems destined Co be one of reorganization and reconstruction in the world's affairs, in which the United States i s deeply interested and will hold a dominant position. Before January ends the Wash ington conference will result in treaties for limitation of navies, for restoration, at least in large part, of the Independence and integrity of China, for definite establishment in practice as well . as theory of the open door policy in that country, and probably for withdrawal of Japanese troops from Siberia. Before the conference at Washing ton ends another will have begun at Cannes, in which the United States may join the allies in revising repa ration terms with Germany, and may arrange to fund the allies' debt to this country in conjunction with ad justment of their debts to one an other. This will involve pressure on Germany to make its government not only financially self-supporl-.ig but able to make payments; on France to moderate its demands and to act with the other powers, not inde pendently, and on arrangement for financial help to other European states on the strict condition that they make their revenue and ex penses balance and stop issuing wild cat money. These are essentials to revival of industry and commerce for this as well as other countries. At Cannes the allies may attempt a new treaty with Turkey which will end the war with Greece the only war remaining from the world war and will restore the unity that Franco broke by making a separate treaty with Mustapha Kemal's gov ernment. The transformation In Russia that began a year ago Is likely to continue at much accelerated speed. Famine which the soviet ishelijless to com bat alone.has driven it to abandon commdnism aliuost entirely, to per mit foreign relief under foreign con trol. to admit foreign capital and to abandon world revolution as Its aimi Though Lenin and his red oligarchy are determined to rule, whether un der a communist or capitalist sys tom, the people may not submit to a tyranny that was imposed by terror ism after they recover enough free dom of action and enough physical energy to overthrow it. Whatever the political development in Russia. freedom to buy and sell will increase production and revive foreign trade, with a. stimulating effect on the in - dustry of thi and Kurope&n coun tries. The prospect is that within the year thevlrisb Free State will become a fact, and that there will be stopped a source of disturbance, of which the effects reach far beyond Ireland. But the world will not yet be at peace. Egypt still demands independence, and there is passive rebellion in India for the same purpose. Portu gal is in a state of chronic anarchy, and armed Intervention by mandate from the league has been suggested. China has several rival governments, no one of which is able to overcome the others, t-nd has intermittent civil war. Great progress In restoration of peace, order and prosperity may be expected in 1922, but only the most sanguine will expect that this turbu lent old world will settle down to rest before the year ends.' ODD JOBS HELP. Out of a multitude of measures adopted by the people of various cHties of more than 20.000 "Inhabi tants which have been reached- by President Harding's conference On unemployment, a few impress us as being eminently practical. These are uniformly characterized by organ ized effort to create jobs in quarters where not jinuclMhought had been previously given to the subject by personal contact between members of committees and potential em ployers, and by emphasis on the fact that even the small jobs, if there are enough, of them, are worth consid ering". . Dallas, Texas, for Illustration, has taken a. church census of its 190,000 inhabitants, in the course of which each householder was asked to fur nish some special odd job, painting, gardening, carpentry, cleaning, and the like, and records were kepi of the replies. The result was that a large amount of work was obtained for the needy. Chicago made a double canvass. The fire department ordered a gen eral clean-up of all aombustible ma terial and refuse, which served the purpose -both of reducing the -fire hazard and making a considerable number jgt small jobs, while the Woma-rfs City club has divided the city Into districts, each in charge of a chairman, whose assistants are making a house-to-house canvass with a purpose similar to that 'of the Dallas campaign. RockforVi, 111., has a committee in each ward, with cub-committees which have established personal touch with every citizen. The Rock fotd effort is reported to have been particularly 'successful. Atlanta, Georgia, has a club of five hundred citizens, each of whom is pledged to build a dwelling to be rented at a reasonable figure, thus killing two birds with a single stone by relieving unemployment and the housing situation at the same tlm. So-called "large employers" are solicited in many towns to increase their payrolls whenever it appears that men can be utilized even with out much profit, and these larger es tablishments have quite generally responded. There remains, however, a considerable residue of unemploy ment to whom odd jobs would be a boon. There are perhaps few house holders who could not discover a job or to that needs doing, and who, if they realized the aggregate importance of little things, would be willing to make some work. A few days' employment thus created at this particular time by each citfzen would in all probability relieve a critical situation and aid immeasur ably in tiding over the period until industry is generally resumed. We surmise that there is not so much unwillingness among the peo ple to help in this matter as there is want of appreciation of the part that small jobs are going to play in the crisjs and a general spirit of waiting for someone else to take the initia tive. A well-considered and thorough personal canvass by an active and patriotic committee might conceiv ably develop surprising results. THE EMBRACING ITT. A- goodly number of fond human memories cling to the ivy, as its vines to the wall. Botanists call it by an ugly name and reproachful, but parasite though it is, men have loved it and shall continue to ap praise it fondly, with its gentle min istry to old walls, old dwellings. Against this traditional sentiment have been turned of late the re proaches of practical folk In Eng land of all places who indict the storied English ivy as an insidious foe to the structures that harbor the vine. Magdalen college, Oxford, finds itself the center of a staid but persistent vortex of criticism, jvith the Times serving as a forum for controversy. The oddity of this quarrel is that the claims of either faction those who defend the ivy and those who condemn it constitute a direct and particular denial of either conten tion. Thus it Is discovered that whereas Edward Warren has for some years been consecrating hisj ULC iu kilt ciiiuiiiaiivu ui Luc mc, holding' that the stones of Magdalen must crrimble unless they be stripped. a certain it. x. uuntner, no less pledged to his purpose, vows that the removal is not only a sacrilege of tradition, but that architectural, ruin must follow. "Ivy is a terrible foe to architec ture." asserts the one. "Its acid se cretions destroy the mortar of the joints, reducing it to Incohesive sand. Its fibres and tendrils push their way between the joints, bursting ancient mouldings and shattering carvings, steadily disintegrating the work of man's hands, while it smothers pro portions and beauties." "The wall face," retorts the other, "which has been kept dry for longer than living man can remember, is now exposed to the rain and humid ity of the Oxford climate. Frost will complete the disintegration of the surface, rendering wpensive repairs necessary in the future. Old mem bers of the college know the services which plants, properly kept, can render to old buildings." Old members would know how much the ivy means and shrink to see profane hands laid upon It in the name of the practical. They would not like to see its green and comely embrace removed from walls that had known tha,t clasp before the young iconoclasts were born, or their fathers, for that matter. Yet it is well for the good of their cause that they summon the stout argument of service to the support of sentiment. If it can be proved that ivy shields the stone and prolongs its years, then the upstarts are confounded, as they should be. Alde Irom, that, must .we measure 'service always by the yard-stick and the hour-glass? Vine-clad cAslles and abbeys and old dwellings would seem to have the knack of enduring for longer than any man's tenure on life, or for longer than the lives of many men. So intimately has the Ivy clothed them and hidden or soft ened the brigandage of time that it has become a part of the structure Itself. To strip it off would but be to reveal ruin and sadness, saved by no kindly touch of nature from the stark aspect of death. Though it be granted that a vestment of Ivy short ens the life of the stone it graces, it were well to remember that we are dealing with centuries. Counting the gain of all those decades, the glad ness with which men have gazed upon tne lovely parasite, the eyes that have turned to it and received rest, H is fair to assume that we owe the ivy some trifling cbobt and that it has more than repaid its tavern toll. After all, the assault upon ivy is much ado about nothing. Impicufls hands may have tneir way and tear It from the walls of Magdalen col lege, carrying their crusade wherever the vine, lifts its e&ger leaves to the coping. The " years will amend. Other hands will plant It and other folk, given to sentimental common sense for there is such a blend will guard it tenderly and find the sight of it most soothing and satis factory, TIIE STORY OF POLISn MARKS. The man who sent $250 to his brother in Poland and received- $12 back after his money had beeft con verted into Polish marks and had in vain sought the lost brother for two years may console himself with the thought that it might have been worse. When the $250 reached Po land -t was changed into about 12,500 marks, so the dollar was then worth about 60 marks. At the end of September, 1921, the mark reached its lowest point, 7000 to the dollar. At that rate the 12,500 marks were worth $1.78. The money must have been returned before the rapid fall which began in June. If the American brother who sent the money had been willing to back his confidence on the economic re covery of Poland he might cut his loss materially. Since September Po land has won valuable territory by the Silesian award, which brings within its own borders .much coal and other commodities that formerly figured as imports from Germany and thus helped to depress the Polish mark. The Polish diet is working on a bill greatly Increasing taxes, which is expected to go far toward balancing the budget. In conse quence the value of the mark dou bled between the end of September and the middle of December. Excess of imports over exports has been a factor in depreciation of Polish currency, causing a demand for foreign in excess of Polish money. Until recently Imports were several times exports in value, but there has been a marked change during the last few months. The grain crop was so much larger than in 1920 that imports of American wheat have stopped and there is a surplus of 200,000 tons for export. Exports of lumber have increased materially and the govern menthas lifted the embargo on exports of oil. But even a balance between exports and im ports could not offset the great in crease of paper currency. The amount in circulation grew from 100,000,000, 000 marks on July 1, 1921, to 207, 000,000,000 on November 30. At the September rate of exchange those 107 new billions were worth only be tween fifteen and sixteen million dollars. The manner in which Poland has begun to climb painfully up the hill to solvency is typical of what all central and eastern European coun tries must do. The hardest part of the journey is the start and HMs slow and painful, but each step Is easier than the preceding one. The man' who expected a quick profit by spec ulating in foreign exchange Is doomed to disappointment, but if he is willing to make it a slow invest ment by waiting fo'r the recovery of nations that are basically sound in physique and character he should win something, though probably hio more than he could- have earned in eome productive enterprise. The safety first organization of an eastern railroad recently set a watcii on one of the most dangerous cross ings along the line and proceeded to check the actions of approaching motorists. It was then discovered that the average' speed of all cars, including those which observed due precautions, was thirty miles an hour and that the lowest was nine teen -miles. Few stopped before crossing the track and many did not look to see whether the way was clear. The numbers of the cars were noted and friendly letters were sent to the owners earnestly requesting them "to approach all crossings with far under control and look in both directions before crossing the tracks." The method commends it self as less provocative of friction than arresting men and fining them, but it may be wondered whether any conceivable plan will be effective. The grade crossing peril is one of the best-advertised occurrences in the world, and the number of these acci dents in 1921 showed an increase over 1920. Grain and' flour exports from the port of Boston decreased about 80 per cent last year. Still, sne has her codfish and can do a good import business in sugar as well as rum, if she can get it by. The man who makes good whiskj in Great Britain has been made a peer.and James M. Barrie is given the order of merit. Honors lie easy over tere. Chicago doctors Issued 2,189,000 liquor prescriptions last year, which hardly jibes with Chicago's claim of being the healthiest city in the country. Dilatory autojnts are being'glven a few days of grace in getting licenses, svhich is a kindly act, but something may break any day. There Is a pent-up Utica in Tork state with a temperature of 27 be low. Being ice-cutting time, she needs that weather. , Each colored gentleman who as pires to challenge Dempsey should wear a horseshoe in his mit next time. Land is started the easy jobs at big pay, but Hays is flirting with some thing twice as cood, The Listening Post. By DeWitt Harry, HOTEL lobby loungers present a difficult problem. Not only the male with his drooping cigarette and his counterpart gnawing a strong cigar, but the women as well. Just a few weeks ago the management of one of the large hpstelrie-fn the city had toall in the police to relieve them of a persistent and non-paying guest who held down a well-upholstered chair all night. In one of the marble lobbies on a busy street nearly all the chairs have been removed, for it was, found that loafing was restricted to a great ex tent by discomfort. Most of these places have their house detectives, but even they havr round It impossi ble to keep objectionable characters awr.y. There are numbers of regular lobby attendants well knov-n u hotel staffs, for many men find their club and so cial lfte there. While it is not the intention of the hotels to run free clubs, they cannot help a certain amount of this, and they do not de sire to offend any who might have possible business there or to drive away friends of patrons or cause 111- feejingr These many considerations help to create a very delicate situa tion. ' Then as additional complications are the women flirts. There are a number of these who play the hotels regularly, like to pose In the lobbies and attract attention, and some are far from averse to making chance ac quaintances. In the handling of the woman lobby pest the hotel managers have f.n exceedingly hard task, 'for they must exercise every care to see that there is no insult offered. Dam age suits have not been unknown from this cause, and for this reason a new hotel is planning a small lobby w' !tout any chairs. e What doyou read? A sweet-faced grandmotherly crea ture occupied a seat in the reading room at the public library. She was reading Karl Marx. Watch the crowds in the circulating room. Many of the people taking books home refuse to run true to form. Here comes a great, rough creature, flannel shirt open at the neck, face unshaven, clad in overalls, with greasy hat under his arm. He draws 'Old Pottery and Porcelain." Right behind him comes the woman bent on improving her mind. She takes four bocks home each week in dutiful order. Of course she may not be able to understand much of their contents, but they make a splendid showing on the living room table be tween the book racks. Sitting in a quiet corner is a well- dressed man, a professional or busi ness success, judging from his clothes and appearance. He should be read ing a treatise On lumber or some trade digest or business Journal. Let' peek Nit the volume. "Bab A Sub- Deb!" An old man with faded umbrella, muffler and rubbers asks the page for a rhyming dictionary. A large woman, weighing in the neighborhood of 230 pounds, is feverishly reading a book on mountain climbing. Wear ing his derby hat is a small brown Japanese student carrying a great thesaurus. And in the magazine room the types, the poorly-clad men evidently down on their luck saturating them selves in romance while they bask in comfort. In the reference room is a totally different c'&ss of patrons. In the children s department, tense little faces are upraised as the chil dren take In the fascinating tale the "story lady" is relating. Most superstitions "Veil their birth in vague antiquity. We all have our pet aversions. Many a woman will not wear opals. Ask her and she save they are "unlucky" and when pressed for an explanation the chances are that it will be the logical feminine one, because. Admittedly the opal is one of the most beautiful of semi-precious stones. Its variegated colorf have no equal and some of the well-cut stones take high rank in fine world collec tions. So far as is known no curse has ever been laid on the opal that can be verified, and well authenticat ed Instances of dire disaster attend ing its wear are difficult of proof. A local lapidary who bears an ex- client reputation at his craft, and who has made a study of stones and their attendant legends, lays the unlucky opal superstition at the door of the stone-cutters themselves. An opal In matrix is a difficult thing to handle. The crude stone comes imbedded in hard rock and their form Is fragmen tary and odd. In addition to this the opal is a mass of tiny fractures and its structure thus presents a difficult task for the workman. Under old-time shop rules workmen were forced to stand a portion of the losses through breakage of materials. In this manner, as the opal presented many chances for loss, the opal made many enemies. The local stone cutter thinks that most of the superstition against opals came from careful fos tering of this belief by the lapidaries themselves. A family were having a great dea4 ofe'ifflcuUy in getting a lawn started ir. one of the newer residence dis tricts. The house, on a corner, sat on it level with the street. In old days a short-cut path led across the lot occupied by the new house. Usage had made this path a neighborhood convenience, and small boys found it difficult to break the chains of habit. All this leads to the discovery of the paragon of politeness. "I don't want to catch you running across my lawn again," the lady of the house warned a seven-year-old,- "I beg your pardon, ma'm, but I never run across your lawn." "Why I saw you," exclaimed the woman. The boy lifted his hat as he deliv ered his last polite and pleasant re mark and turned to leave "I beg your pardon, ma'm, you're a liar, ma'm." i In an old curiosity shop a few days ago a second-hand etore littered up with unassorted Junk, the writer dis covered a real antique, a foot-scraper. Remember them? Before the streeW were paved no home was complete J without the scraper on the iront steps and the "welcome" doormat. It was not , considered good etiquette then to enter any house without scraping the mud from your feet. Possibly people are not as particular as they used to be, but those scrapers served a mifchty good purpose, j Those Who Come and Go. Tales of Folks at the Hotels. In 1846 the father of George Fin ley came to Oregon. -'This was three years before the gold rush to Cali fornia. The elder Finley established the first flour mill in Oregon south of Oregon City and he had customers ss far away as Jacksonville, which In those day was a rip-snorting gold camp as wild and as picturesque as anything that the gold diggings of California could produce. Geo.-ge Fin ney was in town yesterday from his home at Cra wfordsville, Linn county. He says the old-timers of Linn county are being "written up" and that these personal sketches are . to be Jiled with the Oregon Historical socle so that they will bsavailable for future historians. While here Mr. Finley wanted Jefferson Myers to Jot down some data for the historical compila tion. "We shipped our last cranberries last week and there are no more to be had from Pacific coast cranberry growers until next fall," said S. A Moore, secretary and manager of the Columbia River Cranberry Growers' association, of Ilwaco, Wash. "Our crops have been good this year, and on account of the shortage in the eastern crop our prices have been very satisfatory during the entire season. Growers are well pleased with the results, particularly those who marketed through the Taclfic cranberry exchange. The cranberry industry has emerged from the infant and experimental class and Is now the real thing." The association of which Mr. Moore is manager operates a large acreage and packing plant Mr. and Mrs. Moore are registered at the Hotel Portland. "The automobile tire business Is good and will steadily improve, be cause the automobile is here to stay. Cars are becoming more plentiful each year and, of course, that neans a constantly widening market for tires," states Walter J. Gray, tire man from Mansfield. O., at the Multnomah. "It has come to the point where the general merchandise stores In the country places carry a stock of tlrea Farmers come in to trade and among other requirements are shoes for their cars.' The cross-roads merchant of today is right on the job to supply the demand." "During the recent tie-up caused by snow in the Deschutes canyon and the Columbia river gorge there was scarcely even a light frost south of Madras and the roads were dusty. We were not isolated it was the outside world that was," declares Fred N. Wallace, president of the Oregon irrigation congress, who is in the city and is registered at the Im perial. Mr. Wallace, one of the best known citizens of central Oregon, is being mentioned as a possible candi date for representative from the dis trict composed of Jefferson, Des chutes, Crook, Lake and Klamath counties. In the clothing line business has not been as good as the dealers would have liked in Idaho, and particularly in Boise. The reason for this is that there has been an open winter, de cidedly mild in character, so that the people have not had to invest in a lot of nice, heavy, warm clothes. J. G. H. Graveley of Boise, where he Is a commission merchant, is among the Idaho arrivals at the Multnomah. The Pacific Northwest representa tive of one of the best-known shirt and collar concerns in America is at the Benson and has decided to make Portland his headquarters in the fu ture rather than Seattle. He explains that business declined so in the Puget sound country that he can do better by locating In Portland and working the Willamette valley. "Few nAonlA rpnltzp Hint nnp nf th biggest military plants in the state is at fnrvallls I rfpr to the Ore srnn Agricultural college," explains W. It. Reld. secretary of the commercial club at Corvallis. "Twenty men can be commissioned each year Into the regular army from the college. This maKes It a sort or miniature West Point." Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Knox of Fos sil are here while Mrs. Knox has her eyes treated. Mr. Knox. 70 years of age. and doesn't look it, is an old timer in the" Fossil country, where he is a large land owner and has cattle and sheep. He has. been rais ing hogs as a sideline, but discovered the past year that this ajde-line was his main line in so far as 'cash profits were concerned. Some of the finest storms that ever broke -against Jhe precipitous cliffs of Neah-kah-nie mountain were on ex hibition this winter and the patrons of the big tavern nearby had what Might be considered ring-side seat" at the show. . O. Heed, manager of the tavern, has arrived at the Mult nomah, registering from Nehalem, Or. Walter Meacham, ex-secretary of the Commercial club at Baker is in town attending the State Chamber of Commerce meeting. During the spe cial session of the legislature Mr. Meacham bombarded eastern Oregon legislators with telegrams urging them to oppose the 1925 exposition measures. "Men who bought sheep recently are going to make money, for the prices will continue to rise," is the optim istic view taken by H. A. Roman of Boise at the Multnomah. "The men who bought sheep a year or two ago. when the prices were sky-high, how ever, are still In the stnancial dol drums." With two carloads of steers, Joha Palmers came to town from Fossil and Is at the Perkins. He received 6 cents a pound and isit overenthused by the price eince he discovered what the consumers have to pay for beef in the retail butcher shops of Portland. Wilford Allen of Grants Tass. where he is connected with the irrigation project a few miles south of the town, is in the city talking to fellow irri gators, like James Kyle of Stanfield and Fred N". Wallace of Tumalo. Charles Berkley, manager of the Hay Creek company, one of the big land and cattle companies east of the Cascades, is In thev city conferring with the directors of the corporation. S. K. Sykes and A. It. Marsh, regis tered at the Benson from Uoseburg, made the trip to see the boxing fiasco at Milwaukie when the main event was over in less than three minutes. Sam Brown of Gervais. Or., In the heart of the French prairie country, is in the city. He is interested in a drainage project for the valley. It. 15. Bean, speaker of the house of representatives, is at the Imperial. Mr. Bean ls.1tere as a delegate to the State Chamber of Commerce confer ence. William F. Gratke and L. T. Drake newspaper men of Astoria, are regis tered at tjie Hotel Oregon. J. W. Lillie, formerly sheriff of Gilliam county, is in Portland for a few days. Maybe Her Mother Was. Everybodys. - Lucy heard her mother and soma callers discussing a neighbor's rug. She quietly slipped out of the room, rang the neighbor's door bell, and asked to see the new rug. 1 After looking at it for some lime, she solemnly said, "Well, it doesn't make me sick.' Burroughs Nature Club. Copyrlicht, Houghton-Mifflin Co. Can You Aiiiicr,Tbff Questions: 1. How many musKrats are there to a litter? i 2. I have a mud turtle. Should I keep it in water a good deal of the time? 3. Please describe the linnet, over common In parts of California. A re cent question in your notes makes me think the bird therein described was a linnet, and not the sparrow suggested as reply. (Answers in tomorrow's Nature Notes.) . Answers to Previous Qnentluns. 1. Do mosquitoes of both sexes bite? No, only the female is a blood suck er Ths male lives'on plant Juices But the male yellow fever mosquito, Stegomyla, will settle on man. Its object, however. is to Imbibe perspira tion, not to suck blood. 2. Are black bass, or nny of our scale game fishes, infested with worms under the skin along the back during the months of July and August? We cannot say positively not, but skin parasites are not the rule with fishes. The alimentary tract is com monly the area infested mouth, stomach and intestines. The small mouthed bass, hewever, has a skin parasite, one of the Trematoilo. The butterfish has a flesh worm. In ex ception to the rule, and this parasite is said not to hurt the edibility of the fish. Many flsh-s carry Crusta cea on the fins and outer parts of tho body. - 3. My canary's claws are constant ly troublesome, getting too long. Is there anything to do bui cut them? In nature birds' claws wear off gradually from hopping on rouith bark, stones, etc. Of course, this is missed in a cage. A sheet of rough sandpaper in the bottom of the cage will help; or try putting In a good- sized piece of bark to scratch onk rresent airncuity may ne helped Dy filing the claws frequently. Blackbirds. By Grare Iv. Ilnll. I heard a blackbird chorus In a tall and leaf-bare tree. On a day when winds were moaning Of the winter's tragedy; And tho colored songsters' rapture Was a symphony to me. They sang of flight untrammelcd. Through space when skies were fair. They sang of lacy tree tops When spring was everywhere; They sang of baby fledglings And Joy was in the air. Their song was rife with fredeom, Kach singer strained his throat. As. on a bare bough swinging. He trilled his given note; And wild and true that music That masters never wrote. But greater than the music, Far clearer than the la-. Was something that they taught ra( Before they winged away: That I thould sing my sweetest When skies are drear and gray! VOl'XG MEN WANT TO HE HlSllKD Modest Middle-Clnss .lrl Have Dull Time in Portland, Says One. PORTLAND. Jan. 2. (To the lOtl itor.) Since Eve's problem has ap parently been settled through the medium of T'te. Oregonian, I am won dering if there won't be some solu tion of mine, too? I am not, as Eve, asking for "a husband, a little hqmo and some chickens," but I am asking for an answer to the following ques tions: Is it true as has often been said that Portland men have a reputation for being poor mixers? That Port land is the worst pli.ee on the coast to have a good time socially? That the girl who is a good "spooner" and who rushes the men will be popular, while the one who doesn't will be un seen and unnoticed? Perhaps these questions may sound foolish, but what if you were a girl of good family, fairly attractive and wanted a pal but were forced to stay home and watch the others play? Pounds like some old "lemon" who wants to be popular and can't Then there are many in my same class and Portland certainly isn't noted for the abundance ofsuch. It is not such a difficult problem for the shop girl it Is easy for her tt meet men of her own class through community service clubs and through street acquaintances, for there Is not so much reserve, there Is an absence of social conventions. The societj girl attends many social function! where there are countless opportuni ties for meeting people. But. what about the girl of the so called middle class? She seems to be in a class by herself. She does not belong in the shop-girl class; neither is she In society. Where has she the opportunity of meeting the right kind of men? I have heard numberless remarks along this line by colleere girls who are capable, attracttr and accomplished. Doubtless the question will be raised rat if these girls are attractive why aren't they having a good time? Generally, they don't have the chance of meeting people; they aren't consistent "spooners" and, what Is more, they aren't continually rushing a man by calling him up every other night and making a date. - After an absence of nearly three years I have returned to Portland only to find that the mnjorlty of my friends ha,ve spattered. How will new ones be mad"? Join some of tho community clubs, you say. Mo: t of them are made up of cither the ex tremely young set, the younet- mar ricd or the older people. Then, too, you can't go around by yourself, neither do you want to decorate the wall. What Is the solution? In many of the larger cities clubs are being organized to deal with this problem, to see that those girls who can present the proper qualifications meet the right kind of professiona' and business men. I have finally come to the conclu sion that Portland men prefer the new type of girl who does the rush ing herself. Or are there those who do admire the old-fashioned girl who wants a good time but In the right way and under the right circum stances? MARY SIT-B Y-THK-F1KK. Inxtrurtlon In Wireless Telegraphy. SILVKBTON. Or, Jan. 2. (To the Editor.) I am Interested in amateur wireless and would like to know where I could obtain any informa tion at reasonable cost. DAILY READER. The radio department of the Ore gon Institute or technology. Y. M. C. A.i Portland, furnishes instruction at a low rate of tuition and will be glad to furnish you with information about the course. The department would also put you in touch with the Amateur Radio Operators' association and advise you regarding the merits of a number of hiagasihcs published iu the Interest of wireless telvg rPfcy . j , More Truth Than Poetry. By James J. Montaarne. NOT SO ATTRAt TIVK. In the days when a kins of a Balkan domain Lived the life we ascribe to one Reilly, When people delightedly basked in his reign And valued their potentate highly When he dwelt In a palace where care was unknown And woe not allowed to Intrude there. You will find that he clung to his little old throne As if he were actually glued there. When one day he sickened, and pres ently died, And it fell that another was needed. There always were plenty of prhicca outside All ready to rule the way he did. And on every train that was bound to the town Came nobles of unquestioned merit. All willing and eager to beg for thu crown And establish their fitness to wear it. I Today, though the throne has been vacant a year A throne that men once would have died for And want-ads sent out through the land far and near. It hasn't been even applied for. All the princes they've offered it t over there Have haughtily muttered "No thatikec!" And so the Albanians, quite in despair, Have hurriedly sent for a Yankee All Yankees supposedly long for a throne With a fierce and Incurable mania. They yearn for a sceptre and .rovn of their own. Although they are both In Albania We don't want to pose, in this sapient song As a sceptic, a scorner or scoffer, But we feel that this throno has been vacant so long That there must be some string to the offer! Too nrnstle. Certain members of the bouse will never approve of an antl-Iynchlng hill which does not at least provide for ;i brief open season. Carious Phenomenon. n False teeth cost more than for merly, yet they tire not a bit falser than those bought 20 years ugo. Kdueallonnl. The discussions about the open door have taught a lot of our fellow cm sens that there is something in China, bisides laundries. tfopyrlFht hy tha Tlfll Pymliatp. Tne In Other Days. Twenty-five Yenrs Ago. From The Oroicnnlan of January 4. 1SII7. Salem. Although the fee system is flHKrantly abused and responsible for extravagance that meets with the general condemnation of all but it' beneficiaries, the legislature will be asked to perpetuate it. Work will be begun this morniner by Wolfe & Zwu-ker on the two tor pedo boats which they have contract ed to build for the government. The representatives of th. several hop-buying firms who have in the past made Salem their headquarters have moved to this city. A. Riehley. the well-known buililt-r end architect, speaking of the plan of the new federal building soon tn be erected in Portland, expressed himself as not very favorably im pressed with the design. Fifty Years Ago, From The OroR-onlan of January 4. ts;j A deep ravine on First stre t above Hall, which was filled up la!"t year, has be-en partly washed out by recent rains. Frank Warren, who has been for a long time connected with Wells. Fargo & Co. in this city, has sev ered connections and gone over diagonally to the Ladd & Tl'ton bank. At the council meeting last nilit a petition was received asking prr mission for cows to run at lartu back of Eighteenth street and be tween D and Jefferson. ROl'SD-l'P ASKS NO TAX 1IKI.P lr. Illlnrr Replies 1a I'miioanl to Retaliate on Ientlleton. PENPLETON. Or.. Jan. 2. (To the Kditor.) A man who designates him self as "Fair Play liaci published in The Oregonian last Friday a letter proposing a boycott on the Pt-nilleti'ii Itound-l'p on account of the opposi tion of eastern Oreron to being taxed for the 1H25 fair. I would liko to rail this gentleman's attention as well as the attention of Portland peoplo In general to the fact that the Pendleton Kound-Cp has not and never will the state to levy a tax to support lh Pendleton show. I would also call the attention ' the gentleman to the fact that a Imy cott sometimes acts as a two-edm-d sword and sometime es a booinei - ang. Seattle, Tacoma. Spokane and Salt Lake have some very I r' wholesale houses who would I mighty triad to get the business .' the Pendleton merchants should tl" wholesalers of Portland refuse t'.' to accept our business. The "active and Influential cilisen" who prefers to make his criticism' from behind the shelter of the nanp "Fiiir Play" Insinuates that the satr' brushers do not know what the nan means. Be that as It may. but we d have the courage to sliin our ic.l I names to communications which we send to newspapers. UOV W. niTNKK. WHAT HELP HAS CITY .ll:f Correspondent Dors of Meruit Port land Aid to OntKide KnterprlNCH. PKNULKTON. Or., Jan. 2. (To the KHitnr.) I sin one of that numerou? class who live outside of Portland hut who are not unfriendly to I'oit land. Yet 1 am bound to s;iy thai ! consider It no friendly act on port land's part for it to try to ninke state pay for a Portland fair. Not do 1 think there is great merit in thi statement that the state nwrs iiim'l t Portland, since Portland has done a crc.it deal for the stale. I do not believe that Portland has done any thing for Oregon which did not have in view the immediate benefit "f Portland. If I am mistaken I should like to he shown. I believe I am correct in the state ment that the Umatilla county del' -gallon In the legislature has usually worked with Multnomah. Now that our delegation has not found it pos sible to go with Multnomah, is tb whole record of past harmony to 1" forgotten? It takes two to 1-t friends, and the obligations an mutual. X. Y. Z. An article on 'bis page gives :. record of Portland's asslstan e It measures nf i.nriorlance to M'.e s:: and in thone of especial iiiiiiui u to other localities.