HE SUItfDAY OEEGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER lGr 1900.
t vgoxtvcm.
Entered at the Postclflce ut Portland. Oregon.
&s secosu-class iratt-r.
TELEPHONES.
Sdliorlal Rooms. ....100 I Bat in ess Office... CCT
REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
By Mall (postage prepaid). In Adiance
Daly, vlth Sunday, per month $ S5
Dally, Sunday rxcepted. per jear 7 SO
Dally, with faundaj. per ear fl 00
Sunday, per ear 2 00
The "Weekly, per vear 1 50
The Weekly. 3 montas 5t
To City Subscribers
Dally, per -week, delivered. Suadiys exceptcd.l5c
Dally, per "Reek, delivered. Sundays neludM.SOc
POSTAGE RATE&
United States. Canada and Mexico:
10 to 16-page papr lc
10 tc 22-pase paper 2c
Foreign rates doublK
News or discussion intend! .lor publication
In The Oregontan should be addressed Invaria
bly "Editor The On Ronton." not to the name
of any individual Letters relating to advertis
ing, subscriptions or to any business matter
should be a4dresI simply "The Oregon an."
The Oregon'an des not buy T-oem or stories
from Individuals, and cann-t undei-sske to re
turn any manuscripts nt to It without trWcl
totlon. No btajeps should be inclosed for this
purpose.
Paget Sosmd He-ciu Cirt-in A- Thonxon.
office at 1111 Taclac aeuc, Tacoma. Box 055.
Ta'vsir.a PoctoJUce
Eastern B&ftiness OfTceT'ie Trbur.e bul'd
tng. New Tork Cltj : "Toe i:o"kry." Chicago;
the S. C. Eeckw h. spccUI ai;crcy. New York.
For talc In San Fran-lco by J. K. Coojr
74P Markt at-Ct. near tV Talie KotM; Gold-8-ntth
Ero. 23 Sutte- street: F W. Tltts
JOOS Mnrkct stret. Fost-r & Orear. Ferry
News stand
For Eale In Los Aire' by B. F. Gardner
S5D So Earing rtreet, arJ Oliver i Haln'. NHS
So Faring- str"t
Tor sale In Chlairo by the P. O. News Co.
217 D3-b"ra street v .
For Ftla In Opal a by IT. f Shcn. 105 N.
B Et-",h street, and Itorkslow Bros.. 1012
Fa'nam Etrwi.
For Fale in Salt T tH hy the Salt Lp):" News
Co 77,W 5e-ond South street
Frr Fale In Sen Cr'eaos by Ernest & Co ,
115 Real rtreet
On ' in Washington. D. C vlth A. TV.
Du'ii, f 14th N W.
For sale In Do-ivr. Co'o . by Hamilton f.
KendrMc 00C M2 Fe.MitH ctreet.
TCDVTS A EATfTER Pntn with brlk to
high cbVJv mlheTl windc
roKTHM), q'ADn', ukccmher io.
Secretary Root seems, innocently
enough, to have tipped the hand of the
prohibitionists. In his testimony before
the Senate committee on military af
fairs he dwells upon the impracticabil
ity of carrying on an army of volun
tary enlistment under too rigorous reg
ulation of personal habits. "He feared,"
the report says, "that it might be diffi
cult to secure recruits with the canteen
abolished " Now if you should show
this to a prohibitionist, he would be
likely to exult on this wise: "Ha, ha!
That's just it That's just what we
want. Better have no army at all than
an army of drunkards!" This exactly
represents the prohibitionist view.
They belong to that order of cranks
who set their peculiar crotchet above
all things else in the moral universe.
In the campaign It seemed a highly
proper and rather enjoyable prospect
that their glowing pictures of vice in
the Philippines might embarrass the
Government and cripple the Army. No
erd In this world is desirable to them
if so be It conflicts with their pro
gramme of denial of intoxicants to any
and all, in excess or in moderation.
There is no selfishness, no cruelty, so
abandoned and relentless as that of the
idealist He will stop at nothing for
his theory. On the altar of that con
suming fever of crankery he will sacri
fice family, country and life Itself. So
long as he can have vengeance on the
liquor dealer and the liquor defender,
upon whom he has sworn persecution
to the death, the success or failure of
his country's cause, or the rights of
man, or the peace of society, matters to
him nothing. His distorted vision has
no sense of proportion. He is a blun
derer of the first magnitude, and in
the .moral realm blundering becomes a
crime.
The cultured City of Evanston owes
Its reputation the prevention of future
hazing affairs like the one just reported
from Northwestern Academy. To ig
nore the criminal aspect of the episode,
the act of the students, who stripped
a young man In the freezing winds of
the lake shore, daubed him with ink
and soap, buffeted him about until he
lost consciousness, and at the door of
his lodgings abandoned him to his fate,
would be a blot upon the civilization
of a backwoods village, to say nothing
of a place that prides itself upon its
light and learning. Where is the refine
ment of these creatures, who take
pleasure in the sight of a naked boy
shivering in the Winter wind and trem
bling with fear? Where is their cul
ture, who fina enjoyment in the spec
tacle of a nude body bedaubed and dis
figured with ink and soap? Where
their taste, who forget the part of am
ity toward a homesick youth among
strangers and add to the misery of his
lot? Where their humanity, who com
bine hands against one, reverse the
code of chivalry, and offer a compan
ion violence and exposure that may
easily end in loss of health, reason or
life Itself? It would compliment these
young hoodlums to call them barbari
ans they are savages in the lowest
scale of development. The evolution of
thousands of years, the uplifting labors
of religion and education, are lost upon
them. They should be forbidden their
school and any school. The net result
of education upon such villainous stock
is tad. it makes its evil more potent.
Any man thnt knows enough to pursue
a ccllegiate education should know
enough to be decent and manly.
What parr do justice and fair play
held in the theory of organized labor,
to say nothing now of its practice? The
Fed-ration of Labor's convention at
LiCUisUlIe goes on record with this one
sided declaration of the rights of labor:
Twa r.ght to quit work Is an lmloteble pre
rcga'he of ever American workman, and a re
atr -rn of that right Is an outrage on the lib
er s .t the American people.
There is an omission here and a lie
by Implication which Organized labor
must disown If it aspires to sympathy
or even tolerance from fair-minded
men. If the workman has the "inviola
ble prerogative" to quit work, he also
has the "inviolable prerogative" to go
to work. This resolution affirms the
one" and suppresses the other. The
right of the union man to quit work has
precisely the same standing, in justice
and in law, as the 'right of the non
union man to go to work. It is a sick
ening hypocrisy that prates about In
violable rights to quit work and denies
the right to go to work. This resolu
tion also says by implication that legal
Interference with strikes restricts the
right cf the workman to quit work. It
Is a lie. The law and the courts and
the prllce power of society do not inter
fere with the workman's right to.qult
work. What they do Interfere with
is one workman's assumption of the
righ to prevent another workman frOm
going to work. The "outrage on the lib
erties of the American people," there
fore, is not the protection of non-union
men anxious to work, but In the restric
tion of the "Inviolable prerogative of
every American workman" to go t to
work when he can find a job. The fal
lacy of the resolution's standpoint is in
the idea that a man can quit his Job
and hold on to It at the same time. Its
spirit is sadly at variance with the
honorable record made by President
Mitchell, of the Mineworkers, In the
recent anthracite troubles.
The Oregonian would not seem un
gracious in criticising the noble utter
ances of Rabbi Wise on religious toler
ation; for it wishes liira and all other
apostles of liberty the very fullest
measure of success In. their campaign
against the relics of race superstition.
Yet some of his comparisons have
clearly been made upon insufficient re
flection. His approval of harmony in
the realms of art, poetry andt philoso
phy is admirable In a strategic sense,
enabling him to fall with telling effect
upon religious controversy, but its basis
in fact is inadequate. The wars of
artistr. authors and musicians are
usually bloodless, but intolerant and
vindictive in the extreme. Who has
not heard of Jeffrey and poor Keats, of
Byron's "English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers," ot Poe's bitter conflict with
the literati of New Tork and New Eng
land, of the row Ruskln raised among
devotees of ancient art? Had Sir Will
iam Hamilton in philosophy, or Walt
Whitman In poetry, or Burne-Jones in
painting, no cause to complain of intol
erance? Men continue to fight their
vaiious battles of thought, secular as
well as religious, alas, more by London
prizerlng than Queensberry rules. If
the contests of the churches seem more
virulent than others, we must remem
ber the intensity of religious convic
tions, and we must not forget tHe tri
umphs of harmony, also, exhibited in
parliaments of religions, and Increas
ing fraternltv among variant pulpits.
But every art and science has Its
anathenias anc its ostracism. Is It pos
sible Dr. Wise never overheard the ses
sions of a church choir?
In another column will be found a
sort of official pronunclamento oh the
Hertzka case from the Boston head
quarters of Christian Science, so-called.
We.look through it In vain for any as
sumption or denial of Hertzka's au
thenticity as a "Scientist," or for any
light whatever on the merits of the case
in question. This is gratifying, on the
whole, for it would be disconcerting to
come across an exception to the well
established rule that actual occur
rences of whatever kind are wholly Ir
relevant to discussion of this peculiar
creed. Suppose, at the worst, that
Hertzka was a Christian Scientist in
good and regular standing; that the
patient (probably not the case In the
Oregon City episode) was curable, but
that under Hertzka's treatment he died
then what? Then is Christian Sci
ence In any way culpable? By no
means. Well, then what? Why, you
are attacking my religion, that's all.
I am a healer; well, that's the samfe
as a clergyman. I am a Scientist
teacher; well, that's the same as a dea
con. So, if I go out and kill people
with malpractice, that is merely the
pursuit of my inalienable right to wor
ship God according to my conscience.
Unless we are seriously misinformed,
Mr. Farlow errs in his assertion that
no Scientist claims Immunity from dis
ease. Lots cf them claim not only that,
but to have performed miracles by "ap
plying the truth." And there need be
no doubt whatever of the fatuity of his
assumption that immunity from dis
ease or death, to which Scientists look
forward when the race is sufficiently
elevated in thought, is the reward of
"a stage of spiritual growth." The
goal to which the ardent Scientist .is
tending Is either the penitentiary or the
insane asylum.
O for the power to put the divine
scheme of evolution In such attractive
guise and compelling power that its
native simplicity and beauty should
conquer the hearts of those noble souls
now standing averse from ft in jeaious
fear and rage! For it must be con
fessed that the Incompleteness of Its
recognition is due as much to the Im
perfect methods of Its exponents as to
the blindness -of Its unbelievers. When
Demosthenes stood before the Athen
ians, It was because of the clearness
of his presentation that they rose up
and cried. "Let us march against
Philip!" The work of the.raaster mind,
Jesue, Euclid, Newton, Franklin, was
simply to make things plain. Men un
derstood astronomy after Copernicus
and war after Napoleon, and the drama
after Shakespeare. Some one Is want
ing to do suvh a service for gvBltitldn.
The truth, we know. Is not at fault,
but we are slow to find It and clumsy
in the telling. This is the obvious com
ment on the discussion now raging
hereabouts between friends and foes
of history as man has derjved it from
creation. The truth as he sees It Is
served by each party to this contro
versy. The churchman's embattled de
fense agalns scientific evidence and
reason grows out of his devotion to re
ligious and moral truth, which seems
to him imperiled by the conclusions
of the evolutionist When such shall
have been shown the error of this fore
boding, they will welcome the God of
orderly development with fuller confi
dence than blind faith was ever able
to accord the God of special creation.
Perhaps some colossal Intellectual fig
ure will arise and do the work for all
Christianity that Fiske the Unltariari,
Drummond the Anglican and Abbott
the Congregatkmalist have done imper
fectly In Isolated fields. And if not, we
must patiently await the day when the
leaven of Christian evolutionism has
leavened the whole lump; we must be
contented, even here, with slow meta
morphosis rather than sudden trans
formation "first the blade, where we
are today; then the ear, whefe we shall
be tornorrow; then the full corn In the
ear. which will be for our children's
children, and which we live to hasten."
The difference between the actual
and the variously estimated values of
the estates of wealthy men is noted as
often as these men die and their es
tates are brought to probate. The es
tate of the late Corneltus Vanderbilt is
the latest in evidence of the difference
between actual values and wild esti
mates. At his death some months ago
he was reputed td be worth anywhere
irom SIOO.OOO.WO to 5125,609,000. After
long delay an appraisement of his prop
erty has been made by the State Con
troller, which shows it to be worth $53,
500,000, or but little more than half of
the most conservative estimate made of
it at the time of Mr. Vanderbllt's death,
The actual value Is great enough to
satisfy the dreams of avarice or to feed
the' animadversions of envy. Its.
Shrinkage from the estimates repre-
sents the old-time differencebetween
fact as represented by figures and fic
tion that draws upon the Imagination
for its statements.
THE OREGOX TRAIL.
Henry M. Stanley, was lifted from ob
scurity to high and permane'nt fame by
his daring exploration of .the Congo,
the great river of equatorial Africa,
from Its source to fhe sea. Stanley was
more "fortunate In his opportunity and
time than were Captains Lewis and
Clark, the, during young Army officers
who made the first overland journey
from St. Louis to the mouth of the Co
lumbia, but the simple record of their
exploit stamp's them as men who, for
their day and generation, were equal to
Stanley in the Inflexible resolution, the
lofty courage, the boundless tact and
self-command that are necessary to
constitute the great and successful dis
coverer and explorer of new countries,
inhabited by dtrange and naturally hos
tile people.
The prompt exploration of the newly
acquired Territory of Louisiana was
rnrf hr ,, nnii.hBn tr.foiio.nf , i
Jcfrerson. who. after practicing all the
arts, high and ldw, of a versatile dema
gogue to obtain the Presidency, rose to
the level of superior statesmanship in
the administration of his great office.
In nothing was Jefferson more saga
cious than in his decision nromntlv to
explore the new Territory of Louisiana Profundity and subtilized passion dem
and In his choice of men for this great PhasIzea but a good many of us do
adventure. Captain Zebulon Pike was not reca11 (hat Edwin Booth was a
appointed to trace the Mississippi to sreai aor lt all In any part save
its source, a work accomplished In . Iag0- He "vvas a flne Don Caesar, a
1S05-6, and in 1S05-7 Gaptaln Pike
pushed west of tfie Mississippi until he
discovered Pike's Peak and reached the
Rio Grande. To the command of the
exploring expedition to the mouth of
the" Columbia, President Jefferson ap
pointed Captain Merrlwether Lewis and
Captain William Clark, of the United
States Army. Captain Lewis was a
Virginian, a great-nephew of Fielding
Lewis, who married a slsler of Wash
ington. He nad Inherited a fortune,
had been Jefferson's private secretary,
and was Indorsed by Jefferson as a
man of distinguished courage and teso
lutlon, thoroughly acquainted with the
Indian character. Captain Clark was
also a Virginian, a brother of the fa
mous General George Rogers Clarlt, one
of the most Illustrious founders of the
Middle West, that Includes Ohio, Indi
ana and Illinois.
This famous expedition of Lewis and
Clark. 4n commemoration of which a
celebration Is planned at Portland for
1905, set out in the Summer of 1803, and
included, besides its commanders, a
company of nine young men from Ken
tucky, fourteen soldiers, two Canadian
boatmen, an interpreter, a hunter. aritT t
Captain Clark's negro servant. The
Missouri River was ascended in the
Spring of 1804. The second Winter was
passed among the Mandan Indians, in
Montana, latitude 47 degrees 21 minutes
north. On April 7, 1S05, the expedition
went up the Missouri to the great falls.
Jefferson River, one of the tributaries
of the Missouri, was ascended to its
source. From this point the explorers
traveled by land through the moun
tains until, on September 22, they
reached the plains of the Western slope.
In October, 1805, they embarked in ca
noes on the Kooskoosky, or Clearwater,
River, a branch of the Columbia, and
on November 13 reached the moutfi of
the great river of the Pacific Slope,
4000 miles from St Louis, their start
ing point. The explorers passed the
Winter on the south bank of the Co
lumbia, in fortified camp, and in March,
1806, began to ascend the Columbia. In
Mas they left their boats and made i
very difficult horseback journey to the
Missouri River, re-embarked in August,
and reached St Louis In September, af
ter an absence of two years and four
months. The explorers were warmly
recelvad by President Jefferson. Con
gress voted Captains Lewis and Clark
a handsome grant of public land, and
Captain Lewis was appointed Governor
of the new Territory of Missouri. The
journals of tne explorers were pub
lished, and by 181i Jo"hn Jacob Astor,
the "great New Tork merchant, had
founded Astoria at the mouth of the
Columbia. .
This Is but a brief outline ot an expe
dition that for its success needed quite
as high and remarkable qualities as
those manifested by Stanley In his ex
ploration of the Congo from Its source
in the Lualaba River to the sea. The
exploits were Identical in this respect,
that both were achieved with a small
party of followers working their way
through a vast wilderness Inhabited by
presumptively hostile savages. Success
was to be, won, not by forge, but by
tact nerve and sagacity; and with
these, weapons of natural wit and will,
Lewis and Clark were fortunately as
well endowed as was Stanley; and to
this fact we owed the early successful
overtand expedition to the mouth .of the
Columbia and its safe return. When
we remember that In 1803 there were
no steamboats, no railroad transporta
tion, no mail staces: that from St
Louis to Astoria and return it was a
L primitive wilderness, peopled by wild
beasts and wilder men; when we re
member that this great journey of 4000
mlles to Astoria was made largely in
frail boats and canoes up and down I the past decade In Massachusetts. The
the Missouri and the Columbia and f Prohibition party Is no longer large
their tributaries, hefore any maps' had enough to be recognized In the state,
been made or soundings taken, It Is ' and In the city the same tendency to
Impossible not to admire the hardihood I decline Is very apparent The older
of these first great explorers of the Co- , generation, which devoted Itself to the
lumbla from its source to Its mouth. ' cause with the belief tbat it was to
It is true that both Lewis and Clark ' prove the successor of the great slavery
were soldiers by profession, but the issue, are rapidly decreasing In num
work they wrought as explorers sur- , bers, and they have raised up no gen
passed In hardihood and peril all the I eratlon to succeed them, from present
-ordinary dangers of the military pro- appearances. The tendency In that city
fesslon. It was the bold blood in their j has been for the past 10 years to make
veins inherited from their ancestors, the city more and more certain for
who had settled Virginia and helped license. The majority of 3007 of this
wresf Kentucky from the Indians. year the largest in the history of the
These Virginians came of the same city may be considered as due to some
stock of pioneers wlio, under George j special conditions. Yet the fact re-
Rogers Clark, John Sevier and their
comrades, had 'founded the States Of
Tennessee and Kentucky by their mili
tary success.
Simple they were, not savage, and their rifles,
Thengh ery true, were net yet used for trifles.
Severe, not sullen, were the solitudes
Of this unslghing people of the woods.
Despite the early exploration of the
Columbia, wrhlch had made known the
fact that the country west of the Rocky
Mountains was as fertile as that east
of the Mississippi, the settlement of
the-codntry was slow becatise the coun
try between tl e Rocky Mountains and
the Mississippi was believed to be a
comparative desert In the first edi
tion of "The Pi&irie," published in 1827,
the novelist Cooper, thinks this "Broad
belt of comparative desert will Inter-
I pose a barrier to the progress of the
' American people westward," but in
his last edition he says "fche boundaries
of the Republic have been carried to
the Pacific, and the settler, preceded by
the trapper, has already established
himself on the shores of that vast sea."
The real obstacle was not "the com
parative desert"; it was the uncertainty
of title. Wheri our title to Oregon -was
finally quieted by treaty, with Great
Britain, the Oregon pioneers started on
their march to the Paciflcin increasing
numbers, arid never stopped until they
watered their horses in ihe Columbia.
These Oregon pioneers vferc fitted to
their work; for
.1
Tall and strong and swift of foot were they
Beyond Ihe dwarfing city's pale abortions;
No sinking snlrlts told them they grew gray.
The free-bom forest found and'kept them free.
An iresfi as lsa torrent or a tree.
RECOLLECTION'S OP BOOTH.
Elizabeth Robins, In the North Amer
ican Review, thinks Sarah Bernhardt
played the- part of Hamlet very dlsap-
Polntingly, riot entirely because as a
woman her voice arid physique were In
adequate to the part of a thoughtful,
dignified Prince, but largely because
her conception of Hamlet was weak
compared with that set forth by Edwin
Booth, whose personation Is Miss
Robins' standard of the hishest hfstrl-
omc Penormance of Hamlet on tne
American boards. A good many of us
are old enough not only to have read
the text Of Hamiet. biit to have seen
Edwin Booth play the part Miss Sob
ins recalls that Edwin Booth played
"Hamiet" with ail his sensitiveness,
most admirable Iago, a fair Richard,
a good Pescara, a good Richelieu, but
his cold temper was not backed by
robust Intellectuality enough to play
strongly any of Shakespeare's men of
heroic passion or eloquent sentiment.
He was a man of histrionic talent; the
sofa of a great actor, but not a great
actor himself.
A man of talent, a man of industry,
a man of taste, a handsome man, whose
melodious voice and graceful elocution
made him d most agreeable actor and
eloquent declalmer, Edwin Booth had
not a spark of the divine fire of his
trionic genius which moves, sways and
awes a great audience from Its top of
culture and artistic taste down to its
bottom of rude passion rind uncultured
heart. Anybody who ever saw Charles
Fechter plaj Hamlet will not fail to
understand the difference between a
man of histrionic genius, whd as a
mere "barn-stormer" on a hay mow,
with the crudest dramatic and theatric
accessories, could have thrilled and held
his audience in a mood of unmixed ad
miration and awe, and a merely grace
ful actor of fine' elocution, destitute of
the genius necessary to make you feel
great tragic part Fechter spoke
with an unpleasant foreign accent, but
he made you feel "Hamlet" as Booth
never did, because Fechter played
"Hamlet," not according to the tradi
tions of the stage, but according to the
form and color of his dramatic portrait
as executed by Shakespeare.
Hamlet Is drawn by Shakespeare as
a Prince, the first gentleman of his
court His every word and action when
fie is filmself with Horatio are tfiose
of a high-bred, genial, fine-spirited
man, full of grace, kindness and cour
tesy. To those wno had read the play
It was a sorry sight to see Booth stalk
through the scones with the old tradi
tional stage stride. Of course a gal
lant young Prince, like Hamlet, did
not stalk td and fro like a Sulky Sioux
warrior. Hamlet could not possibly
have entered or left a room, or stalked
up and down In his inky cloak, with
the stride of a Metdmora who had
bartered his blanket for tne court dress'
of a great white chief. When Fechter
playfed Hamlet fie never played It as
if he was playing "Uncas, the Last of
the Mohicans." He walked like a gen
tleman. He did not stalk about the
stage like an Indian warrior full of
melancholy becausejie had not recently
taken any scalps. Booth played Ham
let, Othello, Romeo, according to the
absurd traditions of the stage, and he
brought to these great, passionate parts
nothing Tut a handsome face and fig
ure, a very melodious -voice and ixcel
lent powers of graceful elocution. His
conception of Romeo, like his concep
tion of Hamlet and Othello, was" that
of ari actor destitute of superior pow
ers of reflection, for In the scene when
Romeo climbs the balcony to kiss Ju
liet, Booth went over the balcony with
all the correct form of a gymnast In a
circus. Of course, a great actor knows
that an ardent young Italian would
not stop to think of formal' gymnastics
when he wanted to climb quickly up to
"his "best girl" on the balcony. Fech
ikf, on the cftheT Barid, rdse above the
trammels of stage traditions -when he
played a great part, and' swept his au
dience with, him In Ruy Bias as com-
. pletely as if he were a great harper
i sweeping tne strings or tne Human
' heart with supreme skill and power.
Booth had a finer voice and more agree
able elocutloV than Lawrence Barrett,
but he was of about the same grade
I of drathatle talent
The Springfield Republican says that
there has be-n evidently & great de-
J crease In the temperance agitation in
mains mat uiere nas Deen a constant
tendency to growtn in tne excess or. tne
'"Yes" vote. In the first two years of
the decade the majority was in each in
stance under 500. In 1890 it was 457,
and in 1831, 353. Since. 1894 it has been
constantly over 1000, and has averaged
nearer 1500.
Another bark complete In spar, mast
and sail, and without Injury of any
kind sits hlgli and dry on the Wash
ington beach The public is assured
that the vessel -lies in an easy position.
within the breakers, and that she can
j be floated when the tide is right and
proper appliances are at hand; but, re
membering the fate of the Genmorag,
stranded at no great dlstitricg frdrn the
place where the Poltalloch lies, these
assurances are received "with some
doubt as to the outcome. However, It
may be hoped that the judgment of
thOse who bel'eve that this trim and
stanch Britisher may be returned to
the water Is well based, dnd that It
will soon Be proved. Whatever fs done
must be done soon, as the tireless sands
are busily forming' a cradle of Immov
able substance which may well prove
the grave of the vessel.
The late Mrs. Harrison, first wife of
ex-President Harrison, was a practical
as well as an attractive and amiable
woman. Her life of nearly four years
in the White House taught her the total
inadequacy of that building as an ex
ecutive mansion, and she left plans for
Its extension that are said to be supe
rior in conception and detail to any
others that have been submitted. Sen
timent cannot, of course, govern a mat
ter which involves the expenditure of a
million dollars or more, but, since Mrs.
Harrison's plans are indorsed hy the
Superintendent of Public Buildings and
Grounds as maintaining the-present
openness to tne sun toward the south
and southwest a vital necessity In the
malarious atmosphere of Washington
preserving the beautiful view to the
south, and the architectural harmeny
of the structure, and supplying all the
requirements of additional room, tney
may well be considered as worthy of
acceptance. .It Is seldom that sentiment
and utility go hand in hand; but in
memory of the gentle woman who sac
rificed the privacy of her home life for
a grandeur, the duties of which proved
too much for her strength, and who
dletl while mistress of the "Nation's
manse' it may be hoped that an excep
tion can and frill be made In this" case.
The statement, supported by careful
analysis of the produdt, that coal of a
quality Superior Jo that; heretofore
mined on the Pacific "Coast, is found in
practically unlimited quantities on Ne
halem Bay, is exceedingly gratifying.
Cheap fuel is a prime necessity for the
increase Of manufactures In this sec
tion. When competent evidence sup
ports the statement that thrpugh the
development of the cpal nelds of Ne
haiem, coal of a superior grade can be
laid down In Portland at less than $2 50
a ton, bxir citizens may well feel that
the dawn of a prosperous mantifachir
lng era is at hand. The testimony of
members of the United States Geologi
cal Survey upon the quality of Lower
Nehalem Bay coal and of the area of
coal lands of that section leaves noth
ing to surmise. The coal is there to the
extent of millions of tons; Its quality,
as shown by the terits, is superior to
that of any Pacific Coast coal hereto
fore mined. Development o these
properties in the Interest of commerce
and manufactures cannot be long de
layed. The Order of Chosen Friends was at
one time quite prosperous in this city,
especially on the East Side"; whe're It
numbered among its members many
prominent citizens, both men and
women. But that was nearly twenty
years ago. After a few years of pros
perity It became evident 'that In choos
ing members the Friends did not al
ways make a wise choice, and the order
fell Into decline and later into decay
here, so much so that the mention of
its late financial troubles elsewhere re
calls the name "Chosen Friends" as
belonging to ancient history. A purely
social and beneficiary order, it failed
to make and hold a place for Itself In
the community, perhaps for the reason
that there are not nights enough in the
week to serve organizations of this
character.
The best wishes of loyal Oregonlana
go out wltli the new commander of the
state's namesake battle-ship, now on
his way eastward across the Pacific to"
take charge of the vessel and bring
her to her construction port for greatly
needed rerialrs. While the name ot
Captain Clark will ever be associated
with the dregon, as urging her on to
and through her grand achievement at
Santiago, that of Captain Dickens will
be duly honored when the task Is done,
for bringing the service-scarred battle
ship safeiy home, across leagues of
stormy seas.
If the legal fraternity did not have
so much business to make afld to do, It
would not warit so strenuously In
creased facilities for making and doing
business. We need fewer facilities
worse than more litigations. The Su
preme Court Is more coirifortable than
taxpayers' would be with more facili
ties. The Chicago Triburie credits' the au
thorship of "Woodman, Spare That
Tree," to the late Henry Russell, the
famous English song writer, but every
schoolboy knows that it was written
by the American poet, George P. Mor
ris' who, with N. P. Willis', edited the
New York Horiie Journal fifty years
ago.
Hon. L. F. drover's recollections of
the men who constituted the bar of
Oregon fifty years agO, published else
where In this Issue, form a valuable
and Interesting supplemental chapter to
the history of the state. Mr. Grover's
contribution is well worth preserving.
The struggle bf the Boers li to hold
out until they can cause" a rising of
their Afrikander kinsmen in Cape Col
ony. A riBlng of Cape Colony Is en
tirely unlikely, but If It should take
place It woufd probably swell the Boer
Army to at least 80,000 men.
The bigger the Interests of Oregon
at Washington the harder for little
Congressmen to attend therh easily. The
next Senator should be a big man of
the caliber ot big Interests, so that he
will not easily be overwhelmed with
hard work.
Roberts Invokes God as well as dees
Kruger. Evidently God is dual. To
one he Is mercy, to the other might
KrUger Is learning that God loves
might above all things.
There's no evidence to prove that the
prehistoric bone unearthed near Oregon
City is one of an anti-expansionist who
opposed acquisition of Oregon. Not the
slightert
Fathers are made "prominent" and
families "best" by the vandalism and
rowdyism of their sons. Thrice blessed
.the fathers of hoodlum sons.
The "British have great admiration
for Dewet They might have less if
the tables were turned.
It Is a great" drawback to progress
that we canont have as many counties
as ambitious towns.
our Literary birthright.
Among the books that have Seen enjoy
ing an exceptional vogue among Portland
readers during the past few months, Is
one whose large circulation throughout
America must have been a source of
considerable surprise fo the publishers.
It Is not a book 6f adventure like "Janice
Meredith." It does not depict any Ameri
can type of character euch as found In
"David Harum." It fs not a love story
like "When Knighthood Wasr in Flower "
It Is not even a novel, but jrist d sunny,
whirdsical book about a garden.
It is such an uncommon thing now-a-days
for the people and the critics to
agree' upon a book that-is really worth
the reading, that It Is 'Jrorth while ana
lyzing thfe cause of this surprising occur
rence. What Is there In a garden to en
thrall American readers particularly a
German garden, which Is apt to call up
ugly visions of beer bottles planted
upside down? Apart from the witch
ing Humor of the b6ok, which Is of
that irrepressible evanescent sort that is
more peculiarly characierlstic of bright
women than ot bright men woman's hu
mor being more spontaneous than man's
htimor apart from this, the secret of the
book's popularity must lie in S. common
feeling of kinship with nature that is
burled away somewhere in fhe practical
Yankee soul. For Elizabeth's garden,
with all Its glamorous Illy thickets and
poppy jungles. Is thoroughly rebellious to
the conventional art of the gardener.
In this respect it Is truly Anglo-Saxon.
No such wilderness of bloom and entranc
ing disarray of silver birches reaching
into periwinkle-starred meadows would
be tolerated under thi name of "garden"
In the south of Europe. It recalls tha
philosophizing of Paul Bourget's" dllle
tante hero In "Cosmopolis":
"Castagna Palace. Rome. Enjoyed fhe
view of the garden within, so shut up,
fehceel in, and designed that the red
clumps of flowers, the dry regularity of
tho evergreens, the straight lines of the
sanded and graveled walks look like sO
many lines in a face. Latin garden, op
posed to German or Anglo-Saxon garden,
the latter regarding the Indeterminate in
nature, the other all In order, all by rule,
humanizing and organizing down to the
flower beds. To render the complexity
of life submissive to a tnought of unity
and clearness, a constant mark of the
Latin ceniuS, for a clump of trees, as for
a whole people, for a whole religion
Catholicism contrary in the" northern
races. Profound thought In fhe words,
Forests taught men freedom."
And certainly there Is a whimsical at
mosphere of personal Independence in
Elizabeth's garden freedom from arti
ficiality, affinity for nature that goes far
to explain the sucoessful appeal of this
book to American readers.
Close observers of the ups and downs
of the literary market In America and
Europe assert that nowhere else, not even
In our mother country, England itself, do
books dealing exclusively with, nature and
her moods have such vogue as In Amer
ica. A recent illustration of this may be
cited In the charming Idyl in prose, "Con
tent In a Garden," that was running in
the Atlantic during tho Summer months.
Then there Is the companion, book to
"Elizabeth and Her German Garden,"
viz., 'The Solitary Summer," which has
gone through nearly a dozen editions In
Its year and d. half of existence. And a
goodly l'brary" might be made .out of the
books of Thoreau, John Burroughs, Will
iam Hamilton Gibson, Wilson Flagg,
Frarik Bolles, Maurice Thompson, Brad
ford Torrey and Olive Thome Miller. This
does Hot include Charles Dudley Warner's
''My Summer in a Garden,'' nor any of
the poets of a past or passing generation
who might stretch the list beyond the
boilrids" Of patience.
No ddhbt much of th!3 inlimaje knowl
edge and love of nature may be traced to
ihe Influence of Agasslz, the mail who
made friends with jewel-bodied, glitter-Ing-eyed
snakes, and kept them lovingly
near him in his bedroom, alongside nests
of hornets and furry caterpillars. To
fhe thousands of pupils that came under
his teachings during a quarter of a cen
tury, nature became a palpitating, living
entity to be studied with as much rever
ence and affection, as the Bible. Thls
great teacheY, who used fo say that he
could "never find any time for getting
rich' has left fhe impress ot his char
acter upon the American people. We are
less sordid and self-tentered for his life
among us, for we have learned his secret
of loving the -shy, wild things of forest
and brookslde.
Bdt before Agasslz came to Boston
from his home among the Swiss moun
tains, ''Snowbound1' was living In Whit
tier's brain, and Bryant the first to intro
duce into American poetry the grandeur
of New England scenery, had sung the
circle of the year, from the sparkling
frdst work of December to the golden
Hints of June, and ihe flame-touched
shadows' Ot October.
This love of nature is our legitimate
Iriheritance from a iong line ot English
poets, reaching back through Keats and
Wordsworth, and Shakespeare and Chau
cer, to fhe fierce arid gloomy pictures of
sea and land given us In the pagan ele
mental poem of Beowulf. The magic of
reading Nature's most tender secrets be
longs peculiarly to the poets In whom
there li a Celtic strain mingling with
the Teutonic. For this reason Shakes
peare's fairy songs, Keat's "Ode to a
Nightingale," Shelley's "Skylark," Ten
nyson's "Lotus-Baters, breathe a very
different spirit from the somber Danish
sea-passion of our first English epic
With such a legacy rrom the English
poets, we Americans are Indeed richly
endowed. If, as Talnfe argues, environ
ment has so much to do in shaping a na
tional literature, then surely we shduld
In time produce poets of nature that will
rank with the greatest England has yet
begdt In no other part of the globe Is
to be found nobler Inspiration of theme
for nature's poet than In America. And
in no part of it than here In Oregon. This
has been the scene of cataclysmal up
heavals of lire, rock and river bed, the
most Titanic and awe-lsplring that are
known In the entire history of the earth.
Nowhere else can be found such tragic
grandeur of landscape, softened bj such
glamorous, shifting cloud lights, such
mossy depths of sward, such sweef-scenf-ed
tangle of wild bloom, such sun-gleaming
waters, tossing themselves to spray
over age"-scarred precipices. Shall not
these be made Into literature?
GERTRUDE METCALFE".
"WHEN X WAS A CHIM.
Wfien I was a child the moon to me
Through the nursery curtains seenied Uf bo
A thing of marvel and witchery.
The sllnl white crescent floating high
In the lucid gren of the western" sky
Was a fairy boat, and the evenlns star,
A light on. tha land where the fairies are.
AtlaaUc Monthly.
SLIN'dS AND ARROWS.
The Whisky Men's Gratitude.
Here's the health of John G. Woolley. drink It
it down, and fill asaln;
May his memory be ever fresh and green:
He's a little rough on whisky, but a friend of
whisky men.
And he's helped us to abolish the canteen.
HfV5 the Health of Jill the ladles who assisted
in the fight,
Tor they loed the poor enlisted soldier so.
And they thouffht tfik bee'r was bad for him.
(we're sure that they were right).
And they declared the dread canteen, must go.
Then here's to you. John G. "Woolley; we ar
glad you made a. fuss
When the Goernment sold liquor, for that
trade belongs to us.
We, too. lovo the jolly soldier, for he spends
his monthly pay
Like a sailor, when he goes upon ji tear.
But we Ions ego disco efed" ihe canleen was
In our way.
For tho customer we looked for stayed right
there.
if they'd only sold him whisky, we""d have got
him soon or late.
He'd hae to leave the" barracks for a spree;
But with beer and wine he never rot on half
d decent skate:
It was wrong to sell him those things, you'll
agree.
Thes here's to you. gentle ladles, with your
badges gold and white;
TJnCIe Sam should not sell liquor, you are very.
-very rlghL
Ask the barkeeps near a barracks If the fes
tive boys In blue'
Blow their .money there is In the days
gone by;
They will tftll you with a mournful look that
shows ihe story's truS.
The blanked cant-en has knocked that trade
sky high.
Thus a larzo and handsome business we were
losing ery fast.
But of course wc soon will get it back again.
And we'll show you. Mr. Woolley. when the
Army bill is passed.
That you're held la love by all the liquor
men.
Then here's to jdu. Mr. Woolley; may your
blessings have no end;
Though you shout for prohibition, you're the
liquor man's best friend.
We've petitioned eery Congress to abolish tho
canteen,
W6 hae spent our money with a lavish
hand.
But we always were defeated till you stepped
out on the scene.
With the ladles of the, bold whlte-ribboa
band.
Then we saw we had an ally that would help
our cause along;
Hand in hand we braieiy sallied to the.
fight.
And when Congress saw us coming, and beheld
that we were strong.
It acted as we all ot us thought right.
Then here's to you, genUe ladles, and to John
G. Woolley. too.
And here's hoping that we some flne day may
do as much for jou.
Answer to Correspondent.
Footpad Sand bags are just as effective
as Krupp cannon, and do not make so
much noise. Your desire to be up to
date In your profession is commendable,
but there Is such a thing as being ahead
of the times.
Sir T-m-s D-pt-n No, not a ghost of a
sho'v.
Frlncp of W-I-s Some women havo lived
to be 113 years old.
W. J. B-y-n To become a plumber one
must serve a four-year apprenticeship.
Senator C-r-s A. T-wn-e Better let pol
itics alone. t
K-ch-d Cr-k-r If you prefer crooked
racing, j ou had better come to a country
that you own.
P-rKr-g-r No personal slight He only
Intended to hint that he didn't need you
In his business.
D-ke of M-nch-st-er Better spend it
now. No felling when the old manwIU
ehange his mind.
L- H-ng Ch-ng Portugal seems to be
In need of a man of the qualifications you
enumerate.
S-nt- Cl-s A check for $100,000 would be
acceptable.
A Christmas Soliloquy.
That there new boy that's come t' town.
He says I do know nothin. 'caue
I tot him 'bout the presents I
Was goln' t get from Santa Claus.
He says THET AIN'T NO SANTA CLAUS!
That only silly little boys
Believes fie nils their stockin's up
With choe'lato mice, an' knhes an' toys.
He says his mamma says it's wrong
T tell a child a Iof of lies.
An' all the presents that we gets
Is only what the big folks buys.
I'm awful sorry fer that boy.
Fer he. ain't never laid in bed
T hear ole Santa Claus' slelgn
Crunch on the chimlcy overhead.
I somehow always get t" sleep
Before he comes, but then I know
He's been there in the mornin'. whei
My Stockin's full, from top t' toe.
An' then, beside, I alway write
An' tells him all absut the things
I wants; an" jui' the ones I say
Ole Santa Claus mos alwajs brlni
An' once we had a Chrlsmus tree
Set In tho parlor, on a chair.
All fall of popcorn itrlngs and lights.
An' Santa Claus himself was there.
He took a lot of presents down
(They all was nuns up on the tree).
An' passed them 'round amone the folks.
An' some of them he give t me.
I guess if that there little boy
Had seen what I hae seen h'd know
That all the stories that they tell
About olo Santa Claus Is so.
I'm dreadful sorry fer that boy.
An' wish he was like I am, 'causa
A feller mos' feel miserable
To think they ain't no Santa Claus.
J. J. MONTAGUE.
The Microbe ol Tuberculosis.
Contemporary Review.
Tuberculosis Is by far the most preva
lent and fatal of all bacterial affections.
Attacks increase susceptibility, and If
anything Is Inherited in a consumptive
family it is a predisposition, not a power
of resistance. Yet the microbe is every
where; vast numbers of people must bo
exposed to It every day with Impunity.
In this case the power of resistance can
not depend on any acquired property ot
a specific character; It must He In the
natural healthiness of the tissues. That
it is sd IS proved by the new method of
treatment by pure air. As soon as tha
tissues are rendered healthy they are
ablfe to resist the attack. If la exceedingly
probable that the same simple condition
of healthy tissues constitutes an affective
protection against many other Infective
agents the pneumo-coccus, for In
stance, and fhe whole race of bacteria
that affect the Intestinal tract, and cause
the various forms of disease raging from
simple diarrhea fo enteric fever and chol
era. It has been repeatedly observed that In
great epidemic outbreaks of these diseases
there is a general prevalence of similar
but minor symptoms among those who
are not counted as actual cases. I sug
gest that such persons do not escape in
fection, but resist It by virtue of having
more healthy organs than ihnse that suc
cumb, and that persons with perfectly
he Ithy organs show no symptoms at all.
When I was In Hamburg studying tha
great outbrpak of cholera in 1892, I con
vinced myself that no one escaped infec
tion, and that every one iho could have
the disease did have it in some form or
another. The great protection is a healthy
stomach, the acid secretion of which im
mediately kills the micro-organism. On
the other hand, the extreme susceptibility
of habitual drunkards, whose stomachs
are ruined, is well established. It was
dbserved at the post-morten examinations
made in the St Petersburg hospitals that
all the fatal cases suffered from dilation
of the stomach, indicating chronic dyspepsia.