The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, January 26, 1902, Image 4

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The Sunday Oregonian., January 26, 1902, Page 4, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextTHE SUITOAY OKEGONIAtf, P0ETLA2O), JANUARY 26, 1902. he VBgovaaxx Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, as second-class matter. REVISED SUBSCRIPTION RATES. By Mall (postage prepaid). In Advance Dally, with Sunday, per month j Dally. Sunday excepted, per year 7 do Dally, with 'Sunday, per jear Sunday, per year - "r The Weekly, per year. ; The Weekly. 3 months w To City Subscribers . , Dally, per week, delivered. Sundays excepted.l5c Dally, per week, delivered. Sundajs lncluded.-Oc POSTAGE BATES. United States. Canada and Mexico: 10 to 14-pago paper 14 to 28-page paper -c Foreign rates double. News vor discussion Intended for publication In The Oregonlan ehould be addressed Invaria bly "Editor The Oregonlan." not to the name of any Individual. letters relating to adver tising, subscriptions or to any business matter ehould be addressed simply "The Oregonlan." Eastern Business Offlce. 3. 44. 45. 4". 48, 49 Tribune building. New Tork City; 4C9 "The Rookery," Chicago; the S. C. Beckwlth special agency. Eastern representative. For sale in San Francisco by I. E. X-ee. Pal ace Hotel news stand; Goldsmith Bros.. 38 Butter street; F. W. Pitts, 100S Market street; J. K. -Cooper Co.. 740 Market street, near the Palace Hotel: Foster & Orear, Ferry news stand. For eale In ios Angeles by B. F. Gardner. 259 So. Spring street, and Oliver & Haines, 100 So. Spring street. Fpr sale in Sacramento by Sacramento News Co., 429 K street, Sacramento, Cal. For sale In Chicago by the P. O. News Co., 17 Dearborn street. For sale in Omaha by Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnarn street. For sale in Salt Lake by the Salt Lake News Co., 77 TV. Second South street. For sale- In Ogden by W. C. Kind. 204 Twenty-fifth street, and C H. Myers. On file at Charleston. S. C. In the Oregon ex hibit at the exposition. For sale In "Washington, D. C, by the Ebbett House news stand. For sale In Denver, Colo., by Hamilton & Kendrlck, 000-912 Seventeenth street: Louthan & Jackson Book & Stationery Co., 15th and Xawrenoe streets. TODAY'S "WEATHER Fair and continued cold; winds mostly northerly. YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem perature. 22; minimum temperature, 13; pre cipitation, 0.01 Inch. I PORTLAND, SUXDAY, JANUARY 20. TEE ELECTRIC RAILROAD. Those who are planning to build an electric line of railroad up the Klickitat River from the Columbia to Goldendale have hit upon the best and surest means for the giving of transportation facili ties io what may be called the "side districts" of Oregon and Washington. It has been demonstrated that if regions JIke the Klickitat Valley are to wait upon the coming of standard lines of railroad they must wait long. The cre ation of suqh lines is a slow business. Neither the enterprise nor the capital for extensive railroad projects is easily found, and their cost makes them, In many Instances, Impracticable from a business standpoint. But the electric road is quite another thing. It is lighter of construction, it 19 simpler and cheaper to operate, and It is in all respects calculated to an swer the requirements of districts whose main necessity is to be brought into connection with some through line of railroad comparatively at hand, or with one or another of our many nav igable water courses. For the creation of roads of this kind, Oregon and "Wash ington have an especial advantage in their almost universal resource of water power. "We know of no district large enough in its productive character to make traffic for an electric line which has not a water power available for its operation. Power which elsewhere is a costly thing is here very cheap, or may be made so, for it now runs to waste down every canyon and almost down, every hillside. The Klickitat Valley Is only one of many similar districts which might be brought into immediate connection with general markets by the construction of relatively cheap electric railroads. The eastern part of Clackamas County, the Nenalem country and other regions be yond number which make little or no progress under present conditions have the means of development in their own hands if they would strike for relief through the relatively cheap electric road, rather than hope against hope for the standard road, which is wholly be yond their reach -unless some great cor poration may chance to look their way in connection with larger projects. The electric road is plainly the practical thing for such communities, affording, as it does, an absolutely efficient means of transportation at relatively small cost for construction and for operation. There is no more Interesting phase of secondary development In the older sections of the United States than the growth of electric railway lines. East and "West, they are spreading every where, and very commonly in districts already occupied by lines of standard road. With one break of less than three miles, it is now possible to travel all the way from New York to Boston by trolley lines; and the Journey could bo almost indefinitely extended in half & dozen directions north from the last named city. Right alongside of the Erie Canal, and of the many lines of standard railway which web over the region of Central and Western New .York, there are many local electric lines, and all do a good business. The relative cheapness of their construction and operation makes them formidable rivals of ftie standard roads at all points where they come into competi tion; and they are proving to be of lm- mense advantage In the power which' they exert to reduce and hold down general transportation rates. Chicago is coming to be a center of electric railroads rivaled only In its character as a center of standard rail road lines. There is scarcely a village anywhere within 25 miles of the city which may not take Its choice of riding by standard road or by trolley; and it is to the facilities which the trolley lines afford that many of the newer of Chicago's suburbs owe their existence. And something like the condition at Chicago Is repeated In connection with pretty much every enterprising city in the West. At Milwaukee, Pittsburg, Cleveland everywhere it is the same. California, too, is doing a good deal in the way of electric road building, in spite of the disadvantage due to lack of water power and to the high cost of coal, which Is there the only availa ble reservoir of motive power. Santa .Monica and Sac Pedro are connected with Los Angeles by electric roads, which carry both freight and passen gers, and there are similar connections between Los Angeles and Pasadena and other neighboring cities. Oakland has long been connected with its suburb of Haywards by electric road, and it has been found so profitable that the line Is being extended dowmnto the Santa Clara Valley some 50 miles or more. The electric road which connects San Francisco with Millbrae Is also build ing south to San Jose, where it Is planned to make it the trunk line for a web of ': electric feeders extending throughout the country about the last named town. Everywhere the electric road la com ing Into extensive use, not merely as a, mcans'to overcome Isolation, but In dis tricts already served by standard roads. It thrives alongside the standard road because It is able to do business at lower rates, Its relative cheapness makes it w.ithln limits, a far better agency of v transportation for small dis trlcts than the standard road, which must earn Interest upon a large basis of Invested capital. For reasons stated ibove, and for many others, the elec tric road Is especially suited to the ne cessities of this country, and their mul tiplication hereis only a matter of a little time. HIGHLY BENEFICENT TKJN." "PROTEC Relatively new countries like Oregon and Washington, whose development Is dependent largely upon the extension of railroad lines, have just now an es pecial grievance against the system which holds the materials- of railroad construction at abnormal and unreason able prices. One condition, unquestion ably, which holds back railroad enter prise here is the high price of steel rails, and for this the great steel trust Is directly to blame. We say that the steel trust is to blame because' In mak ing a price upon rails of $2S it is charg ing more than the legitimate value 'of the product, and more than pioneer railroad construction and all railroad construction with us is as yet relatively pioneer work can afford to pay. The conditions of the steel rail mar ket in this country and on the other side of the Atlantic are extremely sig nificant In our Eastern markets, as stated above, the current price approxi mates $28, while the price of the same rails in England, with freight paid, is only $22 50 per ton. Ocean freight alone Is $5 11 per ton; so that American rails are being sold in England at $17 per ton net. The power to thus discriminate against home buyers and In favor of foreign buyers rests, of course, upon the leverage which the so-called protective tariff puts Into Its hands. In this case, as In some others, It does indeed "pro tect," but the results of Its protection are hardly of a kind to charm the thoughtful student of public interests. The New York World, from which we take the figures above quoted, has still further interesting Information illus trating the "cinch" which the steel trust holds upon the country, and its man ner of malcing the most of it. It finds that 2,000,000 tons of steel rails are con sumed in this country annually, and by multiplying this sum by the differ ence between the English price and the American price, it finds that the trust is collecting from its American custom ers $22,000,000 in excess of what it would gladly accept from its foreign cus tomers. It will, of course, be urged by those who speak for the steel trust that It could not profitably sell the whole of Its product at the low price made to its foreign customers. This may be so, but even being so, it does not explain or justify the wide difference of $11 per ton between the domestic price and the foreign price. There are, to be sure, economies of production in manufacture upon a scale which permits the sale of the excess at a price yery far'below the rate which would be profitable for the whole product, but in this case the .ar gument will not apply, for, while cater ing to the foreign trade .ny making an extremely low price, the trust has de liberately established a domestic price which prohibits railroad construction in large sections of the United States, and so limits its own home market Fur thermore, we have in the public record of the dividends paid by the trust to Its own shareholders proof positive that the business Is largely profitable, and that It would still be profitable even if the vast sum exacted from the Amer ican market for steel rails in excess of the price made for the -foreign trade were eliminated from its receipts. To be specific, at the last quarterly meeting of the combine, held about two weeks ago, it was announced that the earnings for the preceding nine months were $84,779,298, or a sum equivalent to 8 per cent per annum upon the cap ital stock of the company. This would not seem seriously unreasonable, though it is a pretty good business these days which will net this rate of profit; but it becomes highly unreason able when it is remembered that the company is Itself a combination of highly inflated small companies and its "capitalization" probably represents double or three times the money actual ly employed in the business, and when It is further remembered that great for tunes are taken out of the earnings in various forms before the dividend ac count is made up. MUST CUT THEIR HAIR AND SHED THEIR BLANKETS. Commissioner Jones, of the Indian Bureau, has decided that If Indians are to be civilized they must conform to some of the more common rules of civ ilized life in their dress and customs. In this view an order has been Issued to the noble red man to have his hair shorn, to cease painting his face and to refrain from Indulgence On the sacred dances, the last of which unfit him for the ordinary duties of even an Indian camp. To accomplish the Intent of this order agents are directed to employ all the means at hand to suspend rations and other supplies, to confine the younger Indians who resist in the guardhouse at hard labor, and by tact, perseverance and firmness to Induce the old men to relinquish customs that bind them to barbarism and its traditions. Furthermore, the blanket Is to give way to the clothing of American civiliza tion. Some of the morev tractable and enlightened Indians have voluntarily given up these adjuncts of nomadic life, but by far the larger number cling to the customs and costume of their race. The wisdom of this order is apparent The encumbering blanket and the long hair of the Indian are not only insignia of indolence, filth and savagery, but they are the instruments thereof. Work Is Impossible, self-respect is Impossible, cleanliness is Impossible, as long as these customs are adhered to; and without work, self-restraint and a de gree of cleanliness, civilization is Impos sible. These indeed constitute Its al phabet In its paternal dealings with the Indian It Is surprising that the Government has not long ago promul gated and enforced these simple ele mentary rules of civilization. A blanket Indian is a blanket Indian; nothing more until he sheds his blanket and gets Into clothes, which, as he walks abroad, at least proclaim; him to be a human ' being with , an untrammeled bpdy. Anticipating sullen refusal or fiery remonstrance, the department iejry cautions agents against proceeding with undue haste In carrying out this, order. They are to rely upon tact rather than foxce, .and in no case to use harsh means ,untll milder measures have been exhausted. Political history does not support the Idea that the Indian agent is a tactful person, hence If dark threats, of "Indian uprisings" are heard as con sequent upon this order, it may be taken for granted that "Poor Do" has not been tactfully dealt with In the- attempt to make him cut his hair, wash the paint off his face and shed his blanket, In the Interest of; civilization. aiATHEMATICS IN WAR, President Roosevelt, in his "message, referring to West Point education; said: Too much stress should not be laid, on math ematics, nor should proficiency therein bo held; to establish the right of entry to a corps d'elltc. Tho typical American officer of the best kind need not bo a good mathematician: but ho must bo able to control himself, to control others, and to show boldness and fer tility of resource in every emergency. Admiral Melville, in the current num ber of the Forum, under the title of "The Military Duty of Engineering In stitutions," shows clearly that what Is most needed In both the Army and the Navy are plenty of officers who are trained engineers. The working of a fleet of modern battle-ships has become largely a matter of steam engineering, so that Admiral Melville's views con cerning his own branch of the service will hardly be contradicted, but It Is also true of land warfare when con ducted against a highly civilized enemy armed with modern artillery and small arms. The engineer will be the great factor In modern warfare whether 'waged by land or sea. The engineering or mathematical mind has always been conspicuous among great commanders, who have employed it for the accom plishment of strategic and tactical movements. It was the salient quality of Napoleon, who was distinguished for skill as an artillerist, for his eye for the strength or weakness of a position and for his laborious calculations resting on his topographical knowledge of the enemy's field of operations. General Scot$ confessed that he owed his vic tories In Mexico to the engineering skill and ability of Lee, Beauregard and Isaac I. Stevens. The ablest officers of the Confederate army, Lee and Joe Johnston, were en gineer Generals. Grant, who on the general course stood about the middle of his class, ranked as the finest mathe matician In his class. Professor Davles, a famous mathematician, said Grant was so fine a mathematilcanthat his real ambition on leaving West Point was to resign in a few years and be come a professor of mathematics In some college of repute. General Sher man was distinguished for his mathe matical ability and knowledge of mili tary engineering. General McPherson and General Schofield, Sherman's ablest subordinates, were distinguished for their mathematical scholarships. The war found Schofield professor of mathe matics at St. Louis. General Humph reys, who succeeded Hancock in com mand of the Second Corps of the Army, of the Potomac; General Warren, who commanded the Fifth Corps, and Gen eral Wright, who led the Sixth Corps, were all distinguished for their knowl edge of military engineering, and so, too, were Generals Meade, Pope, Frank lin, W. F. Smith, Porter, I. I. Stevens, Rosecrans, Slocum, Getty and Couch, Other things being equal, the soldier who is-an accomplished military engi neer win beat the General who Id noth ing but a master of Infantry tactics, but of course other things are not al ways equal, so we sometimes find men like Hancock, Longstreet and Sheridan, not conspicuous for their scholarship in military engineering, who proved brilliantly successful commanders. But since the days of our Civil War the Introduction of Improved rifles and cannon has so completely revolutionized modern war that a knowledge of mili tary mathematics is far more important and essential to an Army officer than it was thirty years ago. President Roose velt admits that the future naval offi cer "must be a fighting engineer." It Is equally true of the Army officer who assumes to conduct operations of any importance against a civilized foe. Of course,- If the American soldier was never confronted with any more for midable enemy than a Filipino or a Chinaman, he would need nothing be yond discipline and ability to use his rifle, but if we ever meet a highly civ ilized foe. we shall badly need the ser vices of the officer of mathematical training, the skilled artillerist and the fighting engineer, which is exactly what General Kitchener has to be today in South Africa. It took 10,000 American regulars nearly all day to overcome the resistance of 1200 Spanish regulars on San Juan Hill, at a cost to us of nearly 1800 killed and wounded. Suppose the 100,000 "Spanish regulars fighting behind the splendidly fortified lines of Havana had obliged us to lay siege to that city, we should have soon found out that the modern 'Army officer needs above all things to be "a fighting engineer. Granting that the Spanish garrison could have secured ample supply of food, Havana might have proved as costly a nut to crack as Sebastopol. Defended by modem rifles and artillery, Sebastopol would be impregnable today. The French storming column that with difficulty took the Malakoft in 1S56 could not possibly have succeeded against riflemen who could make their fire very deadly at half a mile and coulS be effective at even a much longer dis tance. The capacity to measure the strength and weakness of a position; the capacity to construct field defenses and shelters from the enemy's fire; the capacity to protect your own men while circumventing the enemy, is the prob lem before the modern military com mander, and he cannot solve It success fully unless he Is an accomplished ar tillerist and a skillful military engineer. Thirty years ago large masses of men could sometimes carry a line of In trenchments, but today this is out of the question. The more men in the col umn of assault the greater the loss to the attacking party, because the mod ern rifle is not only of increased range, but is a repeating gun. The modern Army officer must be a .man who knows how and where to plant his field artil lery, and must be an adept in his knowledge of the construction and de fense of all forms of field intrench ments. Thfe bulk of the modern Army will be mounted riflemen, supported by trained field artillery, and defended, .when necessary, by extemporized field defenses, whoso lines will need to be quickly and skillfully established. No man can be quickly made an accom plished artillery officer or military en gineer. Therefore, for modern warfare there Is need to 'lay special stress upon the military student becoming profi cient in military mathematics as ap plied to artillery, fortification and nalll- tary engineering generally. The able Army commander will have to be & fighting engineer. LIQUOR LEGISLATION. Bishop Potter, of New York, in a re cent address before the Church Club of that city, declared that "wherever pro nlbition has triumphed It has educated a race of frauds and hypocrites. Prohi bition Is an impudent fraud; ltjs an Impudent failure; It permits the sale of sarsaparilla with 17 per cent of alcohol in it and prohibits the sale of claret with only 10 per cent of alcohol In It" Answer to- Bishop Potter is made by William W. Smith, once Prohibitionist candidate for Governor of New York, who sys: "I would like to stick both my. fists in Bishop Potter's face and eyes for" what he has said against the W. C. T. U. and prohibition. I would like to be locked In a room with him and have it out I would take both him and Ralnsford, but not at once, as they might get the best of me." x Mrs. Clara Hoffman says of Bishop Potter: "When he opposes prohibition he takes the part of the rumseller and places himself on a level with the people of the saloon, which he champions." The intemperate abuse would appear to be with the prohibitionists, while the facts and the argument which rests on the facts would seem to be with Bishop Potter. Prohibition has been tried In all the leading states of the Union dur ing the last fifty years. It has broken down in Massachusetts and Iowa, The only states In which it nominally pre vails today are Maine, New Hamp shire, Vermont, Kansas and North Da kota. In nearly all the other states local option generally prevails. The license fee is large in moat of the states. The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott supports Bishop Potter's view that prohibition as a means to the end of abating the drink evil is a hideous failure. Perhaps Bishop Potter was too sweeping In his denunclatlouof prohibition as a "breeder of hypocrites"; it la rather a breeder of people puffed up with that kind of self righteousness which vents Itself In senseless vituperation of everybody who Is not a prohibitionist as a "rummy." When the United States battle-ship Mis souri was launched at Newport News on December 2S Miss Marlon Cockrell, daughter of United States Senator Cockrell, christened the ship. Miss Cockrell just before the launching re ceived this telegram: Kansas City. Mo., Dec. 2S. 1001. Miss Ma rlon Cockrell, Newport News, Va.: We appeal to you In the names of Christian men and women to use this God-given opportunity to redeem the namo of poor old Bourbon-soaked Missouri by using water Instead of wine for christening the battle-ship Missouri, Yours in Christ's kingdom. FANNIE J. HENRY. M. D. This kind of Invocation of Jesus, who both made wine and drank It, smacks of stupidity or sanctimoniousness, and is probably the kind of stuff that has the note of hypocrisy in it referred to by Bishop Potter. The truth is that the world will not deal with the drink habit through sentimental legislation. It will '.test all legislation looking to the abatement of the drink evil by a com parison of results. Tested by experi ments prohibition is thoroughly discred ited in nearly all thestates of the Union. It is not discredited because the people drink more than ago, for there nev ey did fifty years was a time when , politics and the the leaders "in soc, church were m abstemious; there never was a t when there was a strongeV publl opinion against latem- peraace. At Cubs there Is far less drinking of arden spirits than formerly. Wines are sparingly used at dinner, and visible excess) Is sternly frowned upon as a violation of social decency and propriety. 'And this change ha3 taken place in twenty years in New York State,, where prohibition has never prevailed. It Is due to enlightened pub lic opinion. On the otherhand, in Maine, whenever there Is a .transient crusade- of law enforcement, the only result Is that much larger quantities of liquor are received in express packages for private persons from outside the state than before, and that the sales at the city liquor agency have been trebled. The Interstate business Is done legally under the Interstate commerce law, and "the original packages" decision of the United States Supreme Court makes it easy to obtain a supply of liquor amply sufficient to irrigate the arid stomachs of the State of Maine. The conclusion of the whole matter Is that the princi ple of prohibition as expressed In sumptuary laws Is a survival of New England Puritanism; it was a failure even under the spiritual terrors of a theocratic government; It was a failure under the ablest, sternest and most des potic of the warrior Plantagenet Kings of England. It Is a failure today, and always will be a failure, because its creed is that "clubs are always trumps," when, as a matter of fact. In a country of absolutely free Institutions clubs are never trumps; that Is, when a Jaw has no public sentiment of self-interest be hind It, that law is sure to be nullified and become essentially obsolete. You can gradually educate the people up to the level of abstemiousness, but you cannot legislate them into a state of en forced total abstinence. A number of eminent clergymen have at last found out that the best remedy for the drink evil is not enacted Idealities, sermons cast into statutes; it is the best working law that the greatest number of people will fairly support The public opinion incarnated by the saints forms but a small part of the ruling forces of soci ety; and this fact must not be forgot ten when liquor laws are made. ARID IAND FILINGS. It Is the opinion of Hon. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, that there Is no one question nbw be fore the American people of greater Importance than the conservation of the water supply looking to the reclama tion of the arid lands of the West and their settlement by men who will actu ally build homes thereon and create communities. The question, as thus stated. Is a com pound one, the value of Its solution de pending upon the extent to which its latter clause is carried out Applica tions covering nearly 200.000 acres of arid lands in the eastern section of our state haye lately been filed at Salem under the Carey act, the purpose of which is to insure the settlement of reclaimed lands through terms and guarantees that will make such settle ment possible and profitable to home seekers. Homeless areas, though yellow with wheat at the harvest season, or dotted with flocks and herds, "do not fulfill the dream of occupation which has long hovered over these lands. Homes and families, schoolhouses and churches, neighborhood .amenities and festivities these,. -fulfill the Ideas of occupancy conceived by "th first explorers who made their way in the early years of the past century over the beautiful wil derness to the Pacific Ocean then, but for the Indian and buffalo trails, a trackless waste. If, under the Carey act, these ideas may be realized, we should welcome the perfection, not only of eight, but of any number of applications for arid land at our state capital. Individual settlers cannot reclaim this land, for reasons thato are obvious. Capital Is required, ana system which Involves competent engineering and a greatXamount of la bor. Private corporations cannot be trusted to defend at all points the set tler's Tights against their own all-absorbing interests. To meet these diffi culties, which have made the occu pancy. In the sense of home-building, of these vast arid lands impossible, the Carey act was framed. Closely scanned, It became a law, and Its operations so far as tested have justified the Intent of Its author and sponsors. With applications covering many thousand acres in sections of our state, easily accessible and of proven fertility, our people will in a few years witness a practical and conclusive test of the efficiency or Inadequacy of this law. A very cheap little parasitical paper printed In Portland says: "Mr. Scott, as a candidate for Mr. Simon's seat in the United States Senate, is not an im partial Judge of Mr. Simon's acts." In the first place, It Is not Mr. Simon's seat, but a seat belonging to the State of Oregon, which the people of Oregon will have opportunity to fill soon, as they may think fit In the next place, Mr. Scott Is not a candidate. actual or possible, for It Finally, The Ore gonlan Will exercise Its right of judging as to public men and public measures without asking the consent of any poli tician or boss, or of the little organs that may be hired for any paltry serv ice. As for Mr. Simon, .if the people of Oregon want to return him to the Sen ate, they will have full opportunity to do so. He now puts himself directly before them as a candidate for that po sition, and asks that a Legislature be elected on that Issue. He never has done this before. All his efforts In that behalf hitherto have been made by In direction. It is to be a plain, straight issue now; and The Oregonlan thinks the people of Oregon have a right to all Information about It. If, upon full consideration. It shall appear that they desire Mr. Simon's election for another term, he will be entitled to it But let us have things done in the open. Habitual drunkenness Is a direct cause for divorce In 33 states of the Union. It could be extended to the re mainder with great justice to women who occupy the unfortunate and hope less position of the drunkard's wife. The Supreme Court of West Virginia recently decided a case of this kind In favor of the wife, the deciding Jus tice saying: "No woman Is compelled to live with that worst of all brutes a drunken brute to the peril of her health and life." While this provision In any state will not effect the release of martyr wives who reject all relief that cornea through the divorce chan nel, It opens the door of escape to suf fering women who have a sense of the dignity and Individual responsibility of true womanhood that will not permit them to sink their own and their chil dren's happiness In another's uncon trolled appetite for strong drink. What ever may be said of the scriptural ground for divorce. It falls far below In capacity to inflict degradation and suffering upon wives and homes, the condition known as "habitual drunk enness." One point made' In yesterday's edi torial on the Lockwood primary law was Incorrect, In so far as based upon the Idea that the several factions of a party are to have separate ballot boxes. There Is only one ballot box for each party, and only one official ballot for each. When the voter calls for a Re publican ticket, he gets an official Re publican ballot, which contains all the various regular and independent tick ets that have been properly accredited with the County Clerk. This fact mod ifies In an Important degree what was said yesterday about the Lockwood law putting it in the power of the judges to destroy the secrecy of the ballot. The voter must declare his party open ly, and to that extent he Is denied the secrecy afforded by the Australian bal lot at general elections. But he Is per fectly free to exercise his secret choice among the various lists of delegates. This Is a good provision. It Is in the interests of purer politics and larger participation in the primarlea Seth Low has been Mayor of New York for more than half a month, and yet he has not purified the city. Dr. Parkhurst Is both indignant and impa tient at this unseemly delay in effecting municipal reform, and advises the Mayor in an open letter that "there Is not much to choose between .a Tam many administration that has bad prin ciples and a reform administration that has good principles, but Is afraid to use them." This rebuke Is Intended fd bring about municipal reform while you wait, but it can hardly fail to give cheer tq! the defeated Tammanyltes, who will see" in it the entering wedge of discord In the ranks of reformers that, driven home, will make a gap through which Tammany will return to power. There Is said to be a "pickle famine" impending, the plckle-produclng area of the United States having suffered from drouth last season, rendering the crop short. One might as well speak of pov erty in connection with a serious falling off in the output of diamond mines as of famine In connection with a shortage In the pickle crop. There are some things In general supply and use that people can do without and still not feel the pangs of hunge or the sharp pinch of cold. Farmers of Eastern Oregon, miners of Southern Oregon and fruitgrowers of the Willamette Valley are rejoicing in a fall of snow of from two to 10 Inches, accompanied by a 'temperature below the freezing point In the city the voice of the plumber and the fuel ven der Is added to the chorus of rejoicing. The weather is seasonable. Even the anxious householder admits this, while be struggles with the waterpipes and looks apprehensively at the vanishing woodpile. At last the Danish West Indies may be said to belong to the United States. Denmark had no use whatever for the islands, and they will be valuable to us as coaling and other supply stations. The price paid for them has not been made public, but no doubt it ,was all they were worth. n IDOLS IN ECLIPSE. Two Idols are entering eclipse. They are the grammar and the diction-try. And the sacerdotal caste of pedmts and pro fessors finds Its authority on the wane. We have reeked with the sweet smoke of rhetoric for a- long time. The world haa been the vassal of martinets for gen erations. This is the reversion that follows everj crystallzed religion. The grammar and the dictionary were once deml-gods. be cause In them were the rules of good usage. Whatever was In the grammar or the dictionary the high priests pro claimed as absolute. The question no longer was "Whence cometh wisdom and where is the place of understanding?" The martinets answered It. Therefore, when we see an apostate like Professor Sheldon, of Harvard, it Is delightful. He declares the dictionary is not infallible. Here indeed is temerity, which will have to brave the thunders of a sicerdotal caste. If Noah Webster knew how his suc cessors have used him, he would turn over In his grave. It Is absurd to regard a dictionary of a living language perfect. Speech Is a living organism, the standard of which Is usage. A dictionary is but as a photograph, and no photograph is perfect except for the Instant it Is taken. A pedant, ossified in rule, of course can not admit this. He has a religion of cere mony and ritual. A violation of gram mar or of pronunciation, or a use of a word contrary to the code of his morals, is a breach of the peace. With him, the rules of grammar and the laws of pro nunciation are the shibboleth of Intel lect. Solecisms and Improprieties are his food. It has come to such a pass that each succeeding dictionary makes Its predeces sors antiquated. The assiduity of profess ors is so great that our vocabulary num bers, we are told, over 200,000 words, and Is still spawning with frightful rapidity. Tho latest dictionary contains thousands of words not in any preceding book. The dictionary Is thus becoming more and more a museum for curios and freaks. Words and definitions are multiplied to lengthen the catalogue. They troop after each other not in squads nor close array but In Indian style, so as to impress with their numbers. For example, in the latest Webster's dictionary, although the verb "run" Is the first that children use, it is mystified by a catalogue of about 60 different Intransltivo meanings, all martialed one after the other, and about 30 transitive. Such stupendous research as this should put even Coleridge to shame, who, when he visited Cologne, counted two-and-seventy stenches, all well defined, and several stinks. And the servile Intricacies which dic tionaries attempt to reach, so as to make their learning as imposing as possible, are set forth In menial fashion. It Is an in sult to an average person's understand ing to have his eye afflicted by such a mass of superfluity and iteration. Com pilers go Into etymology with pompous ado. Eut Inasmuch as etymology never did anything but substitute one word for another, our scholars seem to be unmuz zling their wisdom to poor advantage. When we were children In school an error In definition, pronunciation or ety mology sent us bounding to the dictionary. Since we have grown older, we have' learned that, although the freight of tho dictionary is heavy. It Is outweighed by usage. The laws of usage are more per fect than those of pedantry. But for the former, all understanding would be Impos sible. Human intercourse is based on tac itly accepted laws. One set of them has made development of speech possible. This set Is classed under the head of usage. Usage Is Infallible, not the dic tionary. As to grammar, any one who Is ac quainted with other languages knows that English is pre-eminently grammarless. The classic tongues had an elaborate grammar. We have no Inflections, no conjugations, no declensions and no gen ders of nouns. However, to satisfy our pedants, we have all these. And pedants lament that they .cannot make English more accord with the classic models, whereas they well know that the English, a grammarless tongue, is more supple and plastic than any language dead or living. We are taught by our martinets that a verb agrees with its subject in number, in person; that pronouns agree with their antecedents in gender, number and per son: that prepositions take the objective or accusative case; that one verb gov erns another In the Infinitive mood, and many other things obviously untrue. Eng lish relies on sequence and arrangement, and on inflections almost not at all. This Is what makes English so simple. The Greek verb has between CC0 and TOO forms. The English has less than l-100th as many. Example: Make, makes, made, making. As children, we were put through the throes of parsing. This is as absurd for English as for Chinook,jargon. Our wise acre teachers fastened upon our memories nominative, genitive and accusative cases and active and passive voices. But inas much as our language also conveys tho meaning of the dative, vocative and ab lative, and also the middle voice, why do we not load up our language with mora "grammar"? If "I am washed" Is pas sive, why Ja not "I wash myself the mid dle voice? If "Harry strikes Bob" and "Bob strikes Harry," of course it la all "very fine to get the young mind tangled up by teaching that In one case "Bob"' la nominative, and In the other accusa tive, even though there Is no visible dis tinction. As to our ambitious teachers, even although their wisdom is superior to that of their pupils only liV- their abil ity to handy with awful grammatical terms, let us, pamper their vanity. "Ah, It's me," saldMr. Squeers, "and me's the first person singular, nominative case. agreeing with tHk verb it's, and governed by Squeerg understood as a acorn, a hour; but when the 'h resounded the 'a only Is to be used, as a amj. a 'art, a "Jghway." And we may flatter our teachers who used to fret our juvenile "uas with the mys teries of English grammar that they know fully as much about it as' Mr. Squeers. Pedants will not get nearer, happy ex pression by encrusting themselves in a petty theory. If speech were ah!lolog Ical plaything, it might be different; but it is an instrument. Reason is the rule of the English tongue. Ahd'ecause xhls is pre-enfinently so, our language has dis carded grammar. But for a few excep tions our words have only one form. Complicated grammar Is not an accom paniment of civilization or of literary skill, because grammar has ajways been growing more simpler The deeper we go into history, the more elaborate grow the forms of words and sentences. The human mind has learned to express Itself with out grammar, so called. John Bunyan knew no grammar at all. This Is the great triumph of English speech. It is analogous to the triumph of the alpha, bet over the idlograms and phonograms of thfl ancients. Onp of nnr children ! D years old can read ag well as a Chinese who has spent his whole lifetime learning J the Chinese characters. , SLINGS AND ARROWS. The Glorious Fifth. Act. Behold the "poor inventor, of whose genius there's no doubt. But who has not the common sense; to take a. patent out; For yeara and years he wean bum clothes, but never makes a. moan Or howl because chill penury has marked blm for her own. Meanwhile the villain's drawing down the caln3 from the device Which said inventor worked upon with toll and sacrifice. It looks as If against him all the deck was smoothly stacked. But wait and sec him triumph In the glorious firth act. Observe the smooth young fellow who's a con fidential clerk. "Who's caught his old employer la some rather shady work. He takes the center of tho stage to brazenly demand From that same scared employer his most love ly daughter's hand The daughter speaks to him as "Sir!" with scorn In her dark eye. But still it looks as It the clerk would .land her by and by. But let the audionce not bank upon that seem ing fact. Just wait and see his finish in the glorious fifth act. Now look upon the lady with swell dresses and a cast. At whose expensive wardrobe all the women stand aghast: She comes to warn the hero's young and sim ply trusting wife. That she should have some pointers of her hus band's early life. And Intimates that, though he draws but 14 30 per. He once blew barrels full of coin on necklaces for her. She manages to raise a row with admlrablo tact. But gets a fatal knock-out In the glorious fifth act. Behold tho low comedian, who frequently Is short Of funds, and has no visible employment or support. Who tells gray-bearded Jokes as If he really thought them new, And neier fails o flash coin when the hero's note 13 due. Whose faculty for helping folks Is by the vil lain cursed: Who always happens to float In Just when he's needed worst: He's making love to the soubrette, and though ou think he's sacked. Just wait and aee her squeeze him In the glo rious fifth act. Tou often think the dramatist has got tho plot so mixed That not a man upon this earth could ever get things fixed. The hero languishes in Jail, his wife Is lured away. His property is all burned down, his daugh ters go astray: The villain wears the gladdest clothes and smokes the best cigara. And everything upon the stage goes wrong to beat the cars. But don't believe, whate'er betide, the drama tist has lacked Tho means to make all happy In the glorious fifth act. Trouble of the Drama. PADUCAH, Ky Jan. 25 The citizens of this place are highly indignant be cause a traveling company has insulted the South by playing "Uncle Tom's Cab In." The revolver market has jumped several points in the last six hours, and Is still soaring. NEW YORK, Jan. 23. The cable trusts are much Incensed at the authorities for permitting the performance of "A Mess age from Mars," which, they say, is an Infringement on their privileges. CHICAGO. Jan. 25. The people of Chi cago have decided not to allow another production of "Hamlet" In this city, on the ground that the title of the play Is a covert allusion to the sire of the town. SANTA FE. N. M., Jan. 23. It has been learned that "Arizona" is soon to bo presented here, and measures will be tak en to keep it out of the Town Hall. New Mexico Is a far better state than Arizona, and a play that is not good enough to be named after It I3 not good enough to1, be presented here. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2a. The major ity of the patrons of the local theaters have consented to bring a restraining In junction against the next manager wno undertakes to. give "Ten Nights In a Bar room" In this city. The residents of San Francisco reserve the right to do as they please, without belng lectured by tem perance plays. TACOMA. Jan. 25. The forthcoming pre sentation of "A Hole in the Ground," by a bunch of bum hams from Seattle, will not be staged here. No Insults to Mount Tacoma of that character will be tol erated by our patriotic citizens. TUe 6oll Wave Flnpr. Tou may call the weather prophet Names that are both hard and long. You may say that his predictions Are Invariably wrong, Hli blue flasr. you're fond of telling. Shows the weather will be fair, But ou shudder at the banner With the biff black square. t Though at every other forecast You are always wont to scoff: You will hasten home at sunset And you'll turn the water on. You will order loads of fuel. And for Winter you'll prepare. When you see the flag Is flying With tho big black tquare. There is something In that signal That betokens certain fate, You can read In its dark features "Dangerous. Immediate," And although It's mild as noonday, And no frost Is in the air. You don't liko to see that banner With the big black square. -J. J. MONTAGUE, '' Blindfolded and Alone, I Stand. Helen Hunt Jackson. Blindfolded and alone I stand With unknown thresholds on each hand; The darkness deepens a3 I grope. Afraid to fear, afraid to hope; Yet this one thing I learn to know Each day more surely as I go, That doors are opened, ways are mad, Burdens are lifted or are laid. By pome great law unseen and still, Unfathomed purpose to fulfill, "Not a3 I will." Blindfolded and alone I wait; L033 seems too bitter, gain too latoj Too heavy burdens In the load And too few helpers on the road; And Joy Is weak and grief Is strong. And years and days so long, so long. Ye,t thU one thing I learn to know Each day more surely as I go. That I am glad the good and 111 By changeless law are ordered still, "Not as I will." "Not as I. will;" the sound grows sweet Each time mj lips the words repeat. isot as 1 wui-" the darkness feels More safe than light when this thought steals i.iKe wmspered Aae to calm and bless All unrest and all loneliness. "Not aa I will," because the one Who loved us first and iest Is gone Before ua on the road, aid still For ua must all his love fulfill. iot as wa wUL."