4
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, ' PORTLAND, JANUARY 25, 1903.
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I
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, JANUARY 25.
A VERY STRIKING CONTRAST.
It goes without saying: that Governor
McBride'e loner and bitter agitation for
a Railroad Commission in "Washington
will come to nothing:. It was practical
ly beaten before Seattle entered the
fight in support of Mr. Hill's wishes;
and the appeal of the business men of
Seattle to the King County delegation,
made in effect to the whole membership
of the legislature, has given It the final
blow. For not only Seattle, but every
other considerable town of Washington,
is in. Its prospects or In hopes, at least
tied up to railroads. To Its railroads
"Washington owes the extraordinary
advances of the past ten or fifteen
years, and Immediate hopes for the fu
ture are everywhere involved In the
same connection.
In a way hardly conceivable in Ore
gon, or In any country of eelf-dependent
habit, the railroads of "Washington
stand allied with the business life and
prospects of the state. They have cre
ated the chief towns of Washington; and
with one or two exceptions railroad pol
icy is their main support. Rob Seattle,
Tacoma or Spokane not to mention EI
lensburg, North Yakima and a dozen
other secondary towns of railroad
favor and they would fall back into
mere wrecks of their present selves. It
ie the railroads that make Seattle the
chief commercial city of Washington;
it Is the railroads that make Tacoma a
manufacturing center; it Is the railroads
that make Spokane the city of the great
interior. And to the railroads these
cities look for continued favor and for
support in great ventures, as witness
the dependence of Seattle upon Mr. J.
J. Hill in the recent transport affair
end in Its operations with respect to
Oriental commerce.
The career and attitude of Oregon
with respect to its railroads is In strik
ing contrast to all this. The essential
"making" of Oregon was accomplished
before the railroad era; and when the
railroads came into the" country they
did not even make new paths for com
merce, but followed established routes
and dealt with established centers. No
town of any consequence in Oregon
owes its existence to the favor of any
railroad. On the other hand, resolute
-efforts to break down established towns
and create new ones In their stead have
only resulted in defeat and confusion.
In Oregon the people have been strong
er than the railroads; in Washington
the railroads have everywhere been
stronger than the people.
Today, byher own confession, Seattle's
dependence In her commercial ambitions
is wholly upon the railroads, which un
der Mr. Hill are "fighting single-handed
and alone" In an interest deemed vital
to the city; and in this desperate fight
Seattle can contribute nothing but
"sympathy and support," coupled with
a supine subservience to Mr. Hill's will
in her domestic policies. Her whole de
pendence, as her business community
makes public confession, is upon the
strength of her railroads and the non
resident master of her political as well
as her commercial life. On the other
hand, Portland, which Is a real factor in
the trade over which this agonizing
"struggle" is being wrought, In
that her initiative, energy and
capital supply the bulk of west
bound trans-Pacific freights even
iocludlng much of what takes ship at
Seattle gets small aid from her rail
road connections. The interests of the
combination of which her railroad sys
tem is a part center at San Francisco.
In every way possible the commercial
interests of San Francisco are served in
preference to the Interests of Portland.
Of course, at the points where there Is
actual discrimination Portland does
not like it. She criticises, and with jus
tice, a railroad management which,
while gaining a great Income from her
business, gives small heed to her inter
eats. But she does not, through her
displeasure with respect to this policy,
abandon her plans of commercial ex
pansion and accept the bitterness of de
feat. Indeed, no; Portland does not like
It that while forces largely supported by
herself stand arrayed against her In the
rivalry for Oriental commerce she must
make the, fight unaided. But she does
not on this account shrink from it; she
does not consent that she can do noth
ing of and for herself. She is making
her own bid for Oriental commerce in
her own way, and up to this time she
finds no disappointment with the result.
Bo long as three out of every five ships
which sail from Pacific Coast ports for
the Orient bear Oregon flour or other
Oregon products, she will not feel that
le can contribute but a small share"
fbe building of her own commercial
jtnes.
elf, the fact that Portland stands
ft upon her own legs, with no de
fence upon outside initiative or aid
ly form, is a mighty stimulant to
'.gny people, xi is giving tnem a strengtn
which no city can gain through leaning
upon outside favor. And the evidences
of this strength may be seen In her
business energy and in her employment
of capital in every corner of the North
west even In the business of Seattle.
It is Portland's initiative and capital
that grind the wheat of Washington as
well as of Oregon In preparation for the
Oriental market, "it is Portland's Initia
tive and capital which maintain the
mercantile organization essential to the
prosperous business life of the North
west. It Is Portland's Initiative and
capital that are today breaking the iso
lation which has long rested upon a
great district of Southern Washington.
More and more as time presses forward
it becomes apparent that upon Port
land, above all other places and all
forces, the independence and vital prog
ress of the Pacific Northwest depends
upon Portland, which stands by her
own strength and owns to no corpora
tion master.
The fact Is and a thousand condi
tions demonstrate it that for all the
boasts that have been made of the su
perior energy and enterprise of Seattle,
Portland has In these respects always
excelled always led the van of prog
ress in the Northwest. Seattle, In her
later development. Is simply a product
of the great northern railroad combine,
and is therefore a dependent upon its
bounty and a servant of its authority.
THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE!
In reversing itself so as to permit the
reading of the Bible In public schools
the Supreme Court of Nebraska un
doubtedly reflects a mental process that
Is widespread in English-speaking
mindo. The court rules that sectarian
instruction must be excluded, but the
Bible Itself may be read. This order.
which reflects a growing conviction
among educators, may be followed else
where, and, If it should be. It will be In
response to the desirfc for study of the
Bible as literature; and the Bible as
literature is a most interesting theme.
The sources of the modern return
to the Bible are principally pedagogical,
and not ecclesiastical. With unerring
instinct thechurches have discerned in
the proposed elevation of the Bible as
literature a menace to the Bible as re
ligious authority; and they have In
theory been disposed to resent the ac
ceptance of The Book as a book like
other books, while in practice they have
inclined to assimilate the Catholic idea
of sectarian schools, where religious
and moral Instruction goes hand In hand,
at the important formative period of
life, with art, science and language.
But educators have come to deplore
xhe growing ignorance of the sacred He
brew writings. The Bible has long oc
cupied with Shakespeare the Important
place In the elements of English study.
The styles that fed on these two gran
aries of thought and diction Milton's,
Ruskln'o, Macaulay's have compelled
the world's admiration for sublimity
and beauty. But examinations at uni
versities and elsewhere have discovered
an ignorance of the Bible so dense as
to alarm those who have at heart the
future of our literature as well as those
who are concerned for the religious con
viction of the rising generation. There
fore It is that the "Bible as literature"
is a popular cry among educators, and
has at length gained the adherence of
ecclesiastics who begin to fear that If
the Scriptures are not studied as liter
ary compositions they will not be known
at all.
How much Is inherent and how much
merely fortuitous in the pre-eminence
of our English Bible and our English
Shakespeare and we are speaking now
of their language, and not of their con
tent It is, of course, impossible to de
termine. On the one hand we know
perfectly well that the King James
translation occupies a post In English
which the Bible occupies in no other
language. It was one of the first Eng
lish books, and no other began to com
pare with it In popularity. Thus It es
tablished our vocabulary; and biblical
phrases are eligible simply- because they
are well known. Their use In modern
literature acquires Infinite power be
cause they call to their aid the accumu
lated potency of our earliest recollec
tions, the tenderness of domestic ties,
the weight of religious associations.
With a people brought up on King
James translation, the vocabulary and
the literary atmosphere of that .work
are assured In advance of a ready wel
come. Yet when we have made every allow
ance for the advantage accruing to the
Bible as literature from Its fortunate
chance as the fountain-head of our pres
ent English vocabulary, the Hebrew
writings themselves present most pow
erful claims upon the universal mind.
Their effect upon minds that have
come to them as strangers in mature
years has always been profound; and
the most convincing tributes to their
worth as human records, as well as to
their ethical value, have come from men
who have rejected utterly the claims of
their special custodians and cham
pions. Opinions differ as to the rank
of the Bible's various books, Just as
they differ about "The Princess," "Sor
dello" or Shakespeare's sonnets; but in
general such works as the prophecy of
the "Second Isaiah," the sublime drama
of Job and some of the most perfect
lyrics in the so-called book of psalms
are accounted among the loftiest crea
tions of the human mind. " For the
young to grow up In ignorance of these
wonderful pieces of literature would be
little short of a National calamity.
It would be Inexcusably weak and
foolish, however, to ignore the basic
significance of this new movement on
behalf of the Bible as literature; for the
Bible as literature is not the Bible as an
"infallible rule of faith and practice."
Literature is a composition; and every
composition has Its elements to be an
alyzed. There Is Its textual form, to be
perfected and pruned If it has come
down from antiquity, and its errors to
be explained and purged away, espe
cially if it has suffered the vicissitudes
of frequent and partisan translation.
Literature is the work of a human
mind, and as such we must Inquire Its
author's motive, the sources of his in
formation, the Inspiration of his theme,
his trustworthiness as shown by his
own and by other writings and by con
temporary records in tradition, monu
ments and lnscrlptiona In a word, the
Bible as literature Is pretty much every
thing which its closest devotees have
denied it to be, and becomes the work
of human construction it has long been
pronounced by the so-called "Higher
Criticism."
It Is perfectly clear that the eminence
of the Bible In the literary world Is to
depend upon its poetry: and In the
realm of sacred poetry It Is supreme.
The wonderful race from which It, to
gether with all the conquering religions,
came has been the despair of all rivals
and successors in this deepest of all the
emotional moods. The reasons why the
greatest poetry comes out of the early
years of a race, when the elemental pas
sions are strong, and words are vivid,
and imagination soars untrammeled to
the heavens and penetrates, undaunted
by science, into the deep, have been
often set forth; and while the Greeks
go back to Homer for their master
piece, and the ancient Latin world to
Virgil, and the modern Latin world to
Dante, and the English to Shakespeare
and Milton, the universal religious sen
timent harks back to the plains ' of
Judea, the glorious battles of Jehovah,
the ballads of the captive prophet, the
songs of the redeemed. It Is a humili
ating commentary on our boasted mod
ern Intellectual achievements that we
can only wonder at but not approach
the literary grandeur attained by a
wandering and often enslaved people,
who believed the earth is flat, who slew
their children on sacrificial fires and
who carried their national literature
orally from father to son for hundreds
of years before the art of writing was
known to them.
IN SERIOUS CASE.
A Republican minority in the Sen
ate is eo thoroughly persuaded of our
duty to the territories that it will per
mit no legislation to supersede the
statehood bill. A Republican majority
in the Senate is so firmly convinced of
the injustice of the statehood bill that
it will cheerfully abandon all remedial
legislation rather than see the enormity
of premature statehood perpetrated.
This is the explanation of the Congres
sional Impasse sent out from Washing
ton. It is inadequate.
What Is far more likely is that the
Senate is in the power of the protected
corporations, and is quite content to do
nothing this session except pass the ap
propriation bills and other measures
in which the Senators are personally
concerned, and give no relief to the
people, either on the trust or the tar
iff question. It Is not beneath the Re
publican leaders of the Senate to per
suade President Roosevelt that the
purity of his official record demands un
faltering opposition to the programme
of Quay, in no other hope than to utilize
this small and unimportant controversy
to cover up the Senate's Inaction on the
two questions that are uppermost In the
public mind.
It is worth noticing that Senator Quay
directs his antagonism chiefly at the
Cuban reciprocity treaty, and that the
Republican votes In aid of his desperate
enterprise on ostensible behalf of the
statehood bill come from the sd-called
sugar Senators. Simultaneously we
have the Senate amendment to the
treaty, inhibiting tariff reductions for
Ave years on sugar from any source,
and the British displeasure at the
amendment, wrongly understood in
London as a secret clause of the treaty.
All these things look uncomfortably like
a conspiracy.
Doubt is expressed In Washington as
to whether this Oxnard amendment wilt
seem so objectionable to the Adminis
tration as to earn Its desire for defeat
of the treaty; but whatever the Admin
istration does or does not do, the treaty
is In grave danger of defeat in the Sen
ate Itself because of that vers amend
ment The New Tork Times points out
that the amendments guaranteeing the
sugar Interest protection on Cuban and
all other sugar equal to 80 per cent of
the Dingles' duties for five years are
absolutely futile, because no treaty or
law can bind a future Legislature or
Executive. The Evening Post says that
the amendments are "unconstitutional,"
and points out that, If effective, they
would defeat any reciprocity treaties
With European countries for five years.
It looks to the Minneapolis Tribune as
if the beet-sugar Interest had played a
trump card In writing these extraordi
nary amendments Into the draft of the
treaty, and It regards It as highly prob
able that no Democrat and no Republi
can favorably disposed toward tariff re
vision will vote for the treaty. The
suspicion obtains, accordingly, that they
were contrived for the express purpose
to prevent Its receiving a two-thirds ma
jority. . We are offered tariff revision with
Cuba except on sugar. We are to have
tariff revision with the Philippines ex
cept on sugar and tobacco. Popular be
lief in the disinterestedness of protec
tion cannot long survive the ostentation
of these exceptiona Arrogant dictation
Is one of the most direct possible roads
to popular distrust and consequent dis
aster. Meanwhile this British protest will
develop the weak point of the reci
procity theory its essential unfairness.
We are lopping off a few links of tariff
Injustice when we should lay the ax at
the root of the tree. We are nibbling
around the corners of tariff reform, be
cause we are afraid to offend certain
powerful Interests by meeting the situa
tion frankly and fully by abolishing all
superfluous duties. This Indirect and
dishonest way is entitled to get us into
trouble with Great Brtaln as well as
Germany, and the more trouble it
makes, the better for us. A fair re
adjustment of the tariff on revenue
lines can offend no one, will give Cuba
and the Philippines the relief they so
sorely need, and will set the Republi
can party right before the people. Any
other course can only invite a Demo
cratic victory in 1904. The subservience
of its leaders to private Interests puts
the party la serious case. Te cannot
serve the people and the trusts.
PIANO WIZARDS.
Portland's musical development owes
much to the visits of such pianists as
Paderewskl, Sauer, Rosenthal, Gabrllo
wltsch, Hoffman, Harabourg, Bloom-field-Zelsler,
Pachmann, Gadowfsky and
others of that ilk who have charmed us
within the last four or five years. Time
was In the Willamette Valley when the
visit of a great pianist would not have
created appreciable Interest, but with
the spread of education and growth of
population that period Is past.
Undeniably, Paderewskl was herald
ed as the greatest of living pianists
when he came here, after having cap
tured the musical centers of the world.
A member of the musically gifted Slav
race, he was born in Russian Poland in
1860, was married at 19 and became a
widower at 20, long before he startled
the world with bis wonderful powers as
a piano virtuoso. Then, like a new con
queror starting from the frozen North,
his genius astonished the world as no
other pianist has dene since the days of
Liszt and Rubenstein. His poetic face
and wealth of hair first caught the Im
agination of the audience In Portland,
and when he played Schumann's "Car
neval" one felt that a master spirit was
at the piano. The poetic Imagination,
charming coloring and technique he dis
played were a positive revelation. His
Chopin was something never to be for
gotten. Rosenthal, Sauer and Hoffman came
J and they conquered, with the others
that followed them. Then came an in
teresting woman virtuoso, Mrs. Fannie
Bloomfield-Zeisler, who, was born In
Bielitz, Austrian Silesia, and came to
this country with her parents when she
was less than 2 years old. Her parents
settled In Chicago, which became her
American home. Her musical genius
early manifested Itself, and In 1S7S she
went to Vienna, where for five years she
studied under Lessetizky, who was and
Is now the greatest piano-teacher in the
world. She, too, had a splendid Euro
pean success. We remember her in
Portland as the Sarah Bernhardt of the
piano. She showed that the chief feat
ure of her technique is delicacy rather
than strength, and exhibited quite an
exceptional amount of unaffected charm
and poetry. Probably nobody but her
self ever played the D minor Concerto
of Rubenstein as she played It, with
such personality and fluent and finished
technique. Admirable was her playing
of Chopin pieces, and she realized all
the tenderness, passion and refinement
of the great Polish master.
Now comes Gabrilowitsch. He met
with a splendid reception on his first
appearance in this city last Thursday
night. There were Paderewskl, Sauer
and Bloomfield-Zeisler enthusiasts in
the audience, and for the most part
each faction asserted that its particular
star shone the brightest, but It was ad
mitted that Gabrilowitsch Is really one
of the world's great pianists. His
finished technique became apparent
when he began the Bach-Tausig num
ber in D minor. His Schumann, in
conception, was as fine as that of Pade
rewskl. His Chopin was not the free
lance kind, and he showed a reverent
spirit for ideals, especially in the Noc
turne, but he excelled In fire and exe
cution in the Etude In C major. It Is
an open question If he Is the best player
of Chopin. In the Rubenstein number
he cast a spell over his audience, and
one could have heard a pin drop. This
was the result of his wizard tone. Prob
ably no pianist now living excelled him
in the interpretation and actual playing
of the Schubert-Tausig "Marche Mili
taire." It was a message, a triumph of
genius of the first order.
It Is" difficult to say who Is the great
est among this array of great pianista
It is largely a question of speculation
and the kind of piano played. Each
great pianist has his peculiar charm,
and if one was weak in- Chopin and
strong in Schumann or Rosenthal, he
should be gratefully remembered be
cause of the peculiar direction where
shone his particular genius. Critics
generally agree that it is impossible to
find one pianist who plays all compos
ers well. It is stated that Rubenstein
had 1,000,000 musical notes stowed away
In hiq memory, and it is fair to assume
that even he was not able to play this
wonderful repertoire with the same de
gree of authority and brilliance from
beginning to the end. Let us remem
ber these great painlsts for what they
gave us individually. They are really
all great. This talk about precedence Is
Idle.
The conviction of Colonel Arthur
Lynch for treason and sentence to death
is sure to be followed by commutation
to banishment or Imprisonment for a
greater or less term. The last man
executed for treason In Ireland was
Robert Emmet, who perished upon the
gallows In Dublin In September, 1803.
John Mltchel, Thomas Francis Meagher
and Smith O'Brien, leaders of the
"Young Ireland" insurrection fiasco of
1S4S, were all convicted of treason and
sentenced to death, but their sentences
were commuted to banishment to Van
Dieman's Land, then a penal colony.
Mltchel and Meagher both escaped to
the United States In a few years, and
Smith O'Brien was afterward pardoned
and allowed to return to Ireland to live
upon his estate. After our Civil War,
Mitchel, who had been a very able Con
federate editor at Richmond, was elect
ed to the British Parliament by an Irish
constituency, but he was notified by
the British government that as an es
caped political prisoner, with an unex
pired sentence hanging over him, he
would not be allowed to take his seat.
His constituents were ready to re-elect
him, but about this time Mitchel died
Thlstlewood, Engs and their associates
in the famous Cato-street (London) plot
to kill the ministry of Lord Liverpool in
1827 were prosecuted for high treason,
but they were really anarchists, who
killed a policeman while resisting ar
rest. Charlemagne Tower, our Ambassador
to Berlin, has rented a fine residence In
that city, one that will be a credit to
the diplomatic service of the United
States, but at a cost annually that con
siderably exceeds the amount of his
salary. While the Nation has been ex
ceedingly fortunate in securing able
representatives to the courts of Eu
rope, It Is manifest that It has done so
to the financial detriment of its Ambas
sadors and Ministers. The time Is com
ing when the United States must own
the buildings in which its Ambassadors
live in the principal foreign capitals,
just as It owns tho Executive Mansion
at Washington. No man should be ex
pected to undertake a mission for his
country's honor and benefit (though in
cidentally It may be a great honor to
himself) to maintain which In suitable
style requires-the expenditure of more
than his entire salary in house rent.
No man can go to London, to St. Peters
burg, to Berlin or to Vienna as Ambas
sador of the United States and set up
an establishment on a cheap basis. None
but a cheap man would think of doing
it, and cheap men, in the wide sense of
that term, are not given these positions.
The Nation owes it to Itself to establish
and maintain permanent official quar
ters In these capitals suited to the dig
nity of the service and the official rank
of its Ambassadors.
The distinction between the two coun
tries over which King Oscar reigns is
not always borne in mind by those who
speak of the achievements of the Scan
dinavian people. While loyal to the
King, Norwegians are distinctly loyal
also to Norway, and Swedes to Sweden,
and protest promptly when honors that
belcng to the one are conferred upon the
other or upon both. For example, some
writers not so nice in these distinctions,
or who consider them immaterial, have
made the mistake of accrediting Cap
tain Sverdrup, the great Arctic ex
plorer, to Sweden, whereas he was born
in Norway, and the Fram, In which he
made his Independent voyage of explo
ration, belongs to the Norwegian gov
ernment. Such national honors as he
received have come in the main from
Norway, though Sweden has looked on
proudly and approvingly. While to
most of us this may seem to be a dis
tinction without a difference. It Is nev
ertheless real and important to the
countrymen of the great explorer, and
as a matter of fact and courtesy It
should be respected.
SPIRIT OF THE NORTHWEST PRESS
As the "World Groivg Better.
Lew Is ton Tribune.
There are many things to show that the
world Is growing better, that we are eradi
cating the dark i?pot faster than new
evils axe being learned, still it is only fair
to admit that we are not all saints yet by
any means.
Don't Believe All Rumors.
Pendleton Tribune.
There seems to be a disposition on the
part of the people of Oregon to credit all
rumors regarding the Senatorial situa
tion while the principals in the race do
not know who is and who Is not the boss
of the road.
Not True Love.
Spokane Chronicle.
Love does not seek to murder the ob
ject of Its love. Selfishness may lead to
such a crime: lust may lead to it; drunk.
enness may lead to it; but genuine, hon
est love never. The cowardly scoundrel
who attacks and slays a defenseless girl
has no right to Insult the grandest of
human passions by pretending that he
ioved" the woman whom he brutally
slew.
Tlie Inveterate Offlcc-Seeker.
Pendleton Tribune.
Just watch the man who has made a
failure of life and who Is hanging onto
the situation by his few remaining teeth.
Every time there is the least possibility of
an office, position, or any old thing be
ing created he at once begins sparring
for an onenlnjr. when he knows run well
that the people would turn him down
without any remorse whatsoever oecause
he has been a great number of years dem
onstrating his unworthiness.
Eternal Fitness of Things to ThinRS.
Eugene Register. ,
Tn tho 9nnn!ntmint of Senate and House
hp eternal fitness Of things
cpoms tn hnvi hesn observed. For In
stance, on military affairs there Is Hunt;
on ways and means. Howe; juaiciarj.
Riddle: education, Olwell; roads and high
wnvq TMos- pnrnnrntlons. Burleich: com-
banking ana commerce, nanus; norwcui-
ture, Cobb; healtn ana puDiic moruis,
Claypool; rules, Riddle; taxation, Rob
bins. The Fair's Great Worth.
Fossil Journal.
The Journal Is strongly In favor of lib
eral appropriations for both the Lewis
and Clark and St. Louis Fairs. Oregon s
crying need Is more people and more capl
tal, and In order to get these We must
spread broadcast the knowledge of our
wonderful resources. Half a million dol
lars Is a mere bagatelle compared to the
wonderful benefits the state will derive
through the Lewlo and Clark Centennial
Exposition, and a creditable display at St,
Louis would be a great immigration In
ducer.
Man's Inhumanity to Man.
La Grande Chronicle.
A striking chapter In the history of
man s Inhumanity to man is furnished by
the Inquiry of the Chicago grand jury in
to the cause of the coal famine that has
pinched the city through a bitter season of
below-zero weather. This chapter con
tains many names that the public did not
expect to find there representing factors
in the cause, the effect of which has been
Illustrated In shivering women, wallinc
children, perishing old people and the suf
fering and dying poor of the tenement
districts.
Something; In a Name.
Dallen Times-Mountaineer.
The question of changing the name of
the State Reform School to Training
fachool is being somewhat agitated
throughout the state. The idea of the
change 13 well conceived. "Reform school
sounds something like a "penitentiary"
and has a tendency of reflecting discredit
upon the Inmates. The youths confined
In the reformatory should be given every
advantage possible, even to a change of
the name of the institution if It will do
good, for It is the purpose of the state
to make good men out of the boys com
mitted thereto. Though they are wayward
they should be given a chance.
She Will Not Be Fonnd Shirking.
Boise Statesman.
Mayor Williams, of Portland, has ap
pointed a woman as a member of the
City Board of Health. The position Is one
In which there Is plenty of hard work
and no pay, but It may be set down as a
foregone conclusion that this woman
member will work as hard as though a
fine salary were attached to the place
That is the way of women when they
undertake duties of that character. Men
too often sit Idle and let things drift, but
women take hold and do all that It Is In
their power to accomplish. That la a
characteristic that may have come down
as a heritage of the period long gone by
when the sex did all the work while the
men lounged about the camp.
Why Whitman Won In Debate.
Walla Walla Unlqn.
The triumph of the sons of Marcus over
their Oregon rivals did not merely consist
in the fact that they got the best of
the debate, but In the manner in which
they gained their victory. The boys of
the Oregon university stuck to their care
fully written and verbally memorized ar
guments, while the Whitman debaters
changed their attitude with the altering
conditions cf the controversy. They
proved by this that theh culture and
training was not like a Sunday hat, made
for and worn on special occasions, but
something that had permeated their minds
and become an inherent part of them
selves. Modern oratory has ceased to be
a flowery gush of-melodious words; it Is
"logic on fire." But a logic that smells
of the midnight oil will lag on the stage
when the real performance comes off. To
rise to any complication Is the true test
of culture. Hurrah for Whitman!
Don't Get the Mulligrubs.
Albany Herald.
The neople of Portland have now secured
the much-desired appropriation for the
celebration of the Lewis and Clark Fair
and It is now up to them to make it a
success. There is no better way to make
the Fair a failure than to begin talking
failure at the very start. Ever so prom
ising an undertaking can be talked to
death by a few doubters and brawlers
As the Fair Is now to go, It Is the duty
and obligation both to the state and the
Fair for the people to talk about the sue
cess of the undertaking. It Is the first
thing of the kind the Northwest has ever
undertaken and all the West should join
In making It a success. The fact that
the Fair Is to be held In Portland does
not make it a local concern. It will help
the entire west from Mexico to British
Columbia, for the visitors must come
through the neighboring states to reach
tho Fair. The benofit to be derived
from the venture Is to get people from
the East to see the Northwest country and
to become acquainted with our resources
and possibilities. When they once reaflze
tho importance of these and the onnor
tunlties the West offers for the investment
of capital in profitable undertakings it will
be a small matter to get the people to
come nere to settle.
RiKht of Way for the Mails.
Omaha Bee.
The Postofflce Department has an
nounced its determination .to establish
no more rural free delivery routes over
roads that require the payment of turn
pike tohs. Rural free delivery has ex'
erted an Important influence for tho
good roads movement, and if it serves to
hasten the abolition of the turnpike
toll roads still remaining In different
parts of 'the country It will be entitled
to another credit mark. When it comes
to giving up rural free delivery or giving
up private toll roads, we may be sure
that free delivery will have the prefer
ence if the people themselves are al
lowed to decide
FIVE-MINUTE BOOK TALKS.
No. IS "The Shipwreck," By William
Falconer.
"The Shipwreck" Is probably the only
poem containing a passage like that which
I take from the first paragraph of tne
second canto:
Approach, ye brave companions of the sea.
And fearless view this awful scene with me;
Ye native guardians of your country's laws!
Ye bold assertors of her sacred cause!
The Muse Invites you; Judge if she depart.
Unequal, from the precepts of your art.
In practice traln'd, and conscious of her power.
Her steps Intrepid meet the trying hour.
After this the reader Is prepared to hear
that Falconer's work is at once a piece
of literature and a trustworthy treasury
of sea terms and tactics; but these are
used to strengthen and adorn his verses.
fused, so to speak. Into such fitness by
a fervid imagination. One critic speaks
very happily, as I think, of "that poetical
sailor, the nursling of Apollo, educated
by Neptune, who has versified his own
sea language with equal skill and pro
priety." As I write I have at my side a
small volume, "Cooke's Edition." con
taining the poetical works of Falconer,
Gray and Johnson. The title-page says
it Is "embellished with superb engrav
ings." One of the two pictures embodied
in the Falconer section is a "Plate repre
senting an elevation of a merchant ship.
with her masts, yards, sails and rigging,
particularly designed as an illustration
of the poem of 'The Shipwreck.' " Surely
It would be difficult or impossible to find
elsewhere than in accompaniment with
Falconer, the presentation of poetry as
sisted by means of a folded mechanical
drawing, exhaustively numbered and let
tered for reference, after the fashion
of the most repellent to most of us
technical journals and the Patent Ottlce
reports.
The way is to scale this ugly wall and
drop Into the garden of delights at the
other side of It. Everybody, nautlcally
learned or otherwise, must enjoy poetry
as good as Falconer's: and I am bound to
say. the chances seem to me decidedly
favorable of heightened pleasure to tne
student who in due time follows perfectly
the text In the rendition of material
seemingly unmeet, at first look, to harmo
nlous poetic use. Here is a passage to dq
desired for an experiment:
The sail, by whirlwinds thus so lately rent.
In tatter'd ruins fluttering Is unbent.
With brails reflx'd another soon prepaid.
Ascending1, spreads along beneath the yard.
To each yard-arm the head-rope they extend,
And soon their earlngs and the robins bend.
hat task perform'd, they first the braces slack,
Then to Its station drag th' unwilling tack;
And. while the lee clue-garnets lower'd away,
Taut aft the sheet, they tally and belay.
Reading Falconer's poems is accompany
Ing a masterful story teller, who, in three
cantos, relates the tragic tale of the
Britannia, a merchantman bound from
Alexandria to Venice, which touched at
the Island of Candla, whence proceeding
on her voyage, she met with a violent
storm, which drove her on the coast of
Greece, where she suffered shipwreck
near Cape Colonne, three only of the
crew being left alive. Incidentally come
character sketches, cleverly discriminated;
an episode of friendship and love, and
descriptions natural and of classical in
terest, which however beautiful in them
selves, are felt, in some instances at least,
to impede the progress of a thrilling nar
rative.
Tho poet was on board the ship, the
fate of which is described with marvelous
strength, beauty and feeling. Little is
known of his personal history. There
seems to be no certainty about the state
ment that he was born In Edinburgh,
Scotland. In 1732, the son of a poor bar
ber. His knowledge of classical lit
erature must have been gained, for the
greater part, while he was following the
seafaring occupation, which he entered as
an apprentice and continued in the most
of his life. He had published three edl
tlons of "The Shipwreck" in the year
1769. In December the frigate Aurora, on
which he had shipped as a supercargo.
left the Cape of Good Hope. She was
never heard of after.
Falconer's first published poem appeared
In 1751. the first edition of "The Ship
wreck" in 17G2. I regret to find among
hi-j miscellaneous poems one called "The
Demagogue," written in support of tho
reactionary administration of the period,
and assailing Mr. Pitt, afterwards created
Earl of Chatham, with other men who, as
sociated with him In manfully asserting
the principles of constitutional liberty,
were, in their personal character, not ad
mirable, as was that great man, the
friend of the American people. The lit
tie financial encouragement Falconer re
ceived was from the court and adminis
tration. His "Marine Dictionary," de
scribed as trustworthy in the naval arch
itecture of the time and in navigation,
was published In 17G9. Unfortunately edi
tions of "The Shipwreck" vary consider
ably. I am disposed to think that ono
following the authors latest revision,
with notes and differing marginal or foot
note readings where desirable, written and
selected respectively by a competent edi
tor, would be welcomed by the public.
He loses not a little who Is not on terms
more or less intimate with "The Ship
wreck." In strong contrast with the terrible
passages of description which character
ize the poem is tho relation which one
of the officers of the Britannia makes to
his friend, of -his love and the cause of
his exile to sea. He describes his sweet
heart thus:
Her srotless soul- where soft compassion
relgn'd.
No vice untuned, no sickening folly straln'd.
Not fairer grows the lily of tho vale.
Whose boaom opens to the vernal gale:
Her.eyes. unconscious of their fatal charms,
Thrlll'd every heart with exquisite alarms;
Her face. In beauty's sweet attraction drest,
The smile of maiden innocence expressed;
While health, that rises with the new-born
day,
Breath'd o'er her cheek the softest blush of
May;
Still In her look complacence smll'd serene;
She moved the charmer of the rural scene.
This is the magnificent vessel which
splits on the rocks, her fate pictured in
a tremendous scene:
Lifted on gath'rlng billows, up she flies.
Hex shattered top half-burled In the skies;
Borne o'er a latent reef, the hull Impends,
Then thund'rlng on the marble crags descends;
Down on the vale of death, with horrid cries.
The fated wretches, trembling, cast their eyes.
Lost to all hope: when, lo! a second shock
Bulges the splitting vessel on the rock;
Her groaning bulk the dire concussion feels.
And with upheaving floods she nods and reels;
Repeated strokes her crashing ribs divide.
She loosens, parts, and spreads In ruins o'er
the tide.
The close of the epic "The Shipwreck"
has been classed with the most sublime
of poetical compositions is exceedingly
tender and beautiful:
Now had the Grecians on the beach arrlv'd.
To aid the helpless few who yet survlv'd:
While passing they behold the waves o'er
i spread
With shattered rafts and corses of the dead:
Three still alive, benumb'd and faint they And,
In mournful silence on a rock reclln'd.
The generous natives mov'd with social pain.
The feeble strangers In their arms sustain:
With pitying sighs their hapless lot deplore.
And lead them trembling from the fatal shore.
HENRY G. TAYLOR.
Farmers anil Good RoadH.
Baltimore American.
That there is a rapidly increasing pub
lic sentiment favorable to the improve
ment of roads has been shown In vari
ous ways of late. The National Good
Roads Association is to hold a conven
tion In April at St. Louis, and there will
bo representatives from nearly all of the
states. The leading members of this as
sociation are men of standing and in
fluence and possessed of a great amount
of energy and push. Among those who
are endeavoring to moke the affair mem
orable are a large number of the presi
dents and high officials of the railroad
companies. It is natural for railroad
companies to promote the improvement
of highways, and some of them here
along the seaboard have made the most
A generous offers.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Lucky for Mr. Ankeny he hasn't got
heart disease. ,
It's a case of now you see 'em and now
you don't at Denver.
No hot air is coming the way of those
responsible for the coal famine.
Isn't that word "occasional" In the
weather predictions being overworked?
W. R. Hearst will now have to fall back on
Senator Tillman. Washington Post.
If he does heil get hurt.
If we are to believe the stories, told re
cently about what goes on in the Senate
restaurant' at Washington the regular
order In Congress Is not plain seltzer.
The absence of news from Honolulu
leads us to believe that the newspaper
men there haven't broken themselves
yet of the habit of sleeping between boat
arrivals.
John D. Rockefeller, who for years
has lived on a diet of milk and crackers,
is now permitted to eat a mutton-chop.
How much better than a hundred million
dollars is a good stomach!
BERLIN, Jan. IS. Amon; the curious ex
hibits that the Prussian ministry of public In
struction will Include In Its educational display
at the St. Louis exposition Is an apparatus for
measuring mental fatigue. News dispatch.
If It Is the desire of the Inventor to
test the capacity of the machine, and
can find a man for the experiment we
will send him the published reasons given
by the Delaware Legislators for voting
for Mr. Addicks.
The exports of the United States for tho
calendar year 1902 were valued at $1,360.-
096.355, being a falling off ot $104,679,505,
compared with the total for 1901. The im
ports on the other hand Increased $SS,-
S50.000, the total value being $969,270,000. The
balance of trade In favor of the United
States was $391,426,346, against $354,955,950
in 1901. The total foreign trade was $2,329,
966,364, and in the previous year was $2,345,
795,770. Oliver Wendell Holmes had occasion
to write to a man who had become rich
suddenly. He received an exceedingly
pompous letter beginning: "Mr. In
structs me to say that he has received
your letter of March 10 and would say in
reply (etc.,). John Jones, secretary." The
rich man was doubtless surprised to re
ceive this in return: MMr. Holmes has
directed his valet to instruct his secretary
to tell his typewriter to say that he is in
receipt of your secretary's letter of some
days since and would say In reply (etc,).
Sarah L. Hodgkiss, typewriter."
On one of the busiest streets In Pekln,
over the spot where Baron von Kettler
met his tragic death in 1900, a huge
monument Is now being erected in his
honor,- entirely at the expense of the
Chinese government. It Is to be In the
form of a "pallo," or triumphal gateway,
and Is to extend entirely across the
street. The top stone is 27 feet long, three
feet wide and three feet thick. One hun
dred and eighty mules were used to draw
it to the street, and 57 mules to draw each
of the smaller stones. It will C03t China
$160,000 In gold.
When Curtin was Governor of Pennsyl
vania he had a fight with the Senate.
At the close of the session the usual com
mittee was appointed to wait on- the Gov
ernor and Inform him of the impending
adjournment. It happened that the chair
man of that committee had an Impediment
In, his speech. This, is the verbal report
he made on returning from the Executive
Mansion: "Mr. President, your c-c-com-mlttee
appointed to wait on the G-G-G-Governor
and Inform him of the Impend
ing end of this s-s-session has performed
that office and the G-G-G-Governor says
he dld-dld'nt care a d-d-durn."
Dr. Arthur Lefebvre, of Detroit, at
tempted to speed his automobile In going
to the relief of a woman who had been
badly burned. The hand of the law wa3
stretched across his path before he had
gone many blocks up Lafayette avenue,
and after he had dressed the woman's
Injuries he was haled to court charged
with running at a speed of 18 miles an
hour. Judge Phelan, after hearing the
physician's story, suspended sentence,
giving It as his opinion that a doctor on
a life-saving errand should enjoy the
same Immunity from the operation of or
dinances regulating the speed of vehi
cles as Is extended to fire engines and
ambulances. The physicians of Buffalo
last fall endeavored to obtain Immunity
from the action of the local speed ordi
nances on the same grounds. General
Bull, Superintendent of Police, did not
prove as broad-minded as Judge Phelan.
He refused to grant special privileges
to physicians, saying that If he did "doc
tors would be speeding around town kill
ing more people than they cured."
According to the rhyme of an esteemed
contributor there happened "once:
Away back In the early times
How long, I do not know
Before a tree had yet been made.
Or It was known they'd grow,
A Queen of fairies reigning then
With Ideas In her head
Called her fairy subjects to
Her palace and then said:
"Do you not see that this bare earth
Is not fit to be seen;
JCow, all of you get on a move.
And we will make It green.
Go, catch ten million baby clams
You'll find them In the sea
And bring them to my palace here.
And leave the rest to me."
Very properly her orders were obeyed,
and several millions of baby clams were
caught and seeded over the earth. The
result:
And soon the possibilities
Of the soil and a wand
Were very much In evidence,
Much as the Queen had plann'd.
And the fairies roam'd through forests
Enjoying their shade
And plucking fruits and Tlowers from
The trees their Queen had made.
They had no end of a good time for
long, long years, while green trees and
all manner of beautiful things grew out
of the ground, and the turtles sang and
there wore no trusts nor Legislatures to
bother them. Yet one day the Queen
missed a favorite tree, in spite of these
latter conditions, and
Again she call'd a council to
Investigate the case.
When one poor old fairy lady
Rose up with a scar'd face
And said: "Oh, your royal highness.
I think I can explain
The reason why that one seed fail'd
Of which you now complain.
"For when I was planting tree seed
Out there on that hillside
A cat snatch' tl one and ate It,
And fell right down and died.
And on that spot I burled It
In a deep hole I made.
I would have told you ot It then
Had I not been afraid."
The Queen sprang square upon the throna
With both of her bare feet,
And glared with her long-distance eyes,
A glare no eye could meet,
Clutch'd her throat and tore her hair
And made the echoes ring,
'Til her physician drew a sword
And slashed her corset string.