The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, September 20, 1903, Page 4, Image 4

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    THE SUNDAY OREGQNIAN, FOMiAM), SEPTEMBER 2fc, l&3.
Entered at the Postoffice at Portland, Oregon,
as 6econd-class matter.
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4
YESTERDAY'S "WEATHER Maximum tem
pjerature, 08; minimum temperature, 52; pre
cipitation, 0.
TODAY'S "WEATHER Partly cloudy, with
showers; winds mostly southerly
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, SEPT. 20, 1003
UXIO.UE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
The object of the present paper is not
to describe the system referred to, in
any adequate detail, but merely to di
rect the attention of the needy to the
place where It may be found. Even
this service cannot be so great as it
might have been at one time, before the
gentle art of enticing money -from full
pockets Into empty ones had acquired
such vogue in our strenuous life. So
that after all the clhef service of this
paper must be to secure the proper rec
ognition of a master mind in finance,
whose ploneership might otherwise es
cape notice. The financial genius we
refer to is the celebrated Edgar Allan
Poe, and his "system" has lately been
elucidated in the Century Magazine by
Professor G. E. Woodberry, perhaps the
most painstaking and discerning of all
Poe's biographers.
It appears that Dr. Thomas Holley
Chivers, o Georgia, had money; while
Poe, except at rare, and negligible inter
vals, had none. Poe was a famous
critic and an able one Nobody could
lrame a; more comprehensive "tribute"
or a more' withering "review." As Dr.
Chivers inappropriately had combined
the function of having money with that
of writing poetry, it had devolved upon
Poe tfo set out in Graham's Magazine
the exact and painful facts concerning
Dr. Chivers poetry, thus:
Evn his worst nonsense (and some of It
is htorrlble) has an indefinite charm of sen
timent and melody. We can never be sure
that there Is any meaning In his words.
Ils flcures of speech are metaphor
rin mad, and his grammar is often none at
ail. Etc, etc, etc
To the man of ordinary resources this'
unequivocal condemnation' of a poet -in
circumstances by a poet without a clr-
cumstance in his pocket would rise" up
! as a decided obstacle, when the impe
cunious learned of the well-fixed one's
superior financial status and bethought
him of- a more even distribution. Not
so with Poe. He hastened to reform his
opinions. He had been too hasty. He
had formed judgment upon imperfect
Investigation. He said as much to Chi
vers when Chivers called. He valued
Chivers opinion, he sought his advice,
he borrowed ten dollars.
Subsequent ambitions of Poe, chiefly
connected with the establishment of
those celebrated magazines which were
never established, opened the eyes of
the great critic to the beauties of the
Chivers muse, and in the great borrow
er's letters to this typical friend and
benefactor we see his system working
as beautifully as TCepler's law. "I now
deeply feel," he wrote to the author of
meaningless and grammarless nonsense,
"that I have wronged you by a hasty
opinion. You will not suppose me in
sincere in saying that I look upon some
of your late pieces as the finest I have
ever read." The gentle reader is prob
ably prepared for a later passage in
the same letter:
As I have no money myself. It will bo ab
solutely necessary that I procure a partner
who has some pecuniary -means
either a practical printer possessing a small
office, or some one not a printer with about
$1000 at command.
As Dr. Chivers- did not produce the
paltry $1000, he heard no more from Poe
for two years, though he continued to
write as a humble though affluent poet
should to a great critic. But In July,
1S44, tlje need of funds bore down upon
the author of "The Raven," so that he
again sought the aid of Chivers. There
must be some excuse for the neglect,
and this was thought as good as any:
"In the hurry of "mere business, I
cfianced to file your letters away
among a package indorsed 'answered,'
and thus it was that I failed to reply.
For many months I have been haunted
by the sentiment of some duty unper
formed, but was unable -to say what It
was." Then he repeated his assurances
of esteem, and again suggested the
pecuniary assistance aforesaid.
It would be a pleasure to be able to
say that Dr. Chivers responded Avlth
alacrity to the proposal, as he did on
at least one prior occasion that of the
ten dollars; but there seems no reason
to suppose that the $1000 ever found its
way after the ten. Perhaps If it had
done so the great poet and famous bor
rower might have got upon his feet,
financially speaking, and become a pub
lisher as well as author. But disaster
followed him; and as one looks back
upon his career it seems a confused
succession of moving pictures, with the
poet always on the point of going some
where to Philadelphia, to Baltimore, to
Richmond, to Providence, ' to. Boston,
without a dollar in his pocket and bor-
rowing ten or, twenty dollars; of some
prosperous Taut weak-willed individual
who thereby unwittingly laid hold on
fame. ,
But It is well. One man can't have
all the good things in" this world. Any
body dan pay his debts. Only the gen
ius can write "The Conqueror Worm"
and "The Manuscript jFound in a Bot
tle." If Chivers had not been so easy,
the world would doubtless" have been
without these letters to him, which, in
spite of the odor of liquor about them
and the racking memory of Virginia's
cough, and the borrowings that were
never paid, the fond reader must yet
turn reverently, as he mjarvels to what
infinite jrreatnesst Nature sometimes
joins infinite littleness. Poe was, per
haps, the greatest borrower and poorest
payer of modern times; but nothing
contemptible that he did has been able
to dim the splendor, of what he said.
Against such handicaps has his fame
gone on, that by their magnitude they
attest the power of his transcendent
mind.
AN IM3IORTAL SPEECH.
Today is the one hundredth anniveri
sary of the execution of Robert Emmet
for high treason In Dublin. His im
mortality is due largely to the remark
able eloquence of his speech of defense
before Lord Norbury, who condemned
him to death. Of his Judge, Emmet
said: "My Lord, If all the innocent
blood you have shed could be collected
in one great reservoir, Your Lordship
might swim In it" Had It not been for
Emmet's eloquence, his membry would
not be more vivid today than that of
Father John Murphy, Bagenal Harvey,
the Sheares and the other martyrs who
died on the scaffold for their part In
the rebellion of 1798. Lord Edward
Fitzgerald, a distinguished soldier, was
mortally wounded resisting arrest;
Wolfe Tone, 'under sentence of death,
cut his throat. These other Irish mar
tyrs do not have the popular Immortal
ity of Robert Emmet, although their
services and sufferings equaled his own.
The singular, eloquence of young Em
met's speech at his trial has made him
the popular Irish martyr.
Emmet has more Irish admirers today'
than when he died. The rebellion of
1798 was opposed by all the great Irish
leaders of constitutional agitation for
home rule; "by Grattan, Flopd, Charle-
mont and Curran. Daniel O'Connell, to
gether with Curran, bitterly denounced
Emmet's rising of 1803. Curran refused
to defend him when he was placed on
trial, despite the fact that Emmet was
betrothed to Curran's daughter. Em
met's rising was a reckless and Insane
attempt to capture the castle iLndNarse-
nal of Dublin by a mob ill-armed, with
out organization or leadership. It was
disfigured by the brutal murder of
Judge Kilwarden, who was- dragged
from his coach by the mob and killed
before his daughter's eyes. Emmet was J
an enthusiast, a man of poetic nature,
an orator, but utterly destitute of judg
ment or the talent for organization of
successful insurrection. He made his
attempt when- the whole country was
under martial law, when, the recent
memory of the horrors of 1798 had j
crushed all the hopes of Ireland.
Against the earnest protest ofthe .wisest
patriots in Ireland, Emmetmade his
attempt, failed miserably, lost his life
and increased the sufferings of Ireland
by giving the government an excuse for
Increased cruelty and barbarous coer
cion. Altogether, Emmet's rising was
the most reckless, hopeless arid disas
trous incident in the whole hlsfbry o(
Ireland's struggle for freedom, and yet
It was so gilded by his pathetic, thrill
ing eloquence that the" name of Emmet
has been used to conjure with by- his
modern Imitators, the Irish insurrec
tionists of 1848 and the Fenians.
Emmet is apathetic figure. His youth
(he was but 23), his genius, "his elo
quence, his loss of his chance of escape'
through his anxiety to bid farewell to
his sweetheart, all help to surround
him with deep sentimental interest, but
it is historical truth to say that the
man was a poetic-minded enthusiast, ah
orator intoxicated by his own eloquence
and vain, extravagant expectations. He
could make a noble, pathetic speech,
but-he could not measure public senti
ment, could not organize it. He was an
orator, a poet, not a man with the jrift
that organizes and-executes an insur
rection that contains a fair hope of suc
cess. The government that executed
Emmet ought to have - spared, him
Tone and Fitzgerald were far , abler
and more dangerous men. Tone- was
an artful and daring conspirator;
Fitzgerald was an accomplished and
aarmg soiaier, duc jijmmet had no ap
preciable Influence or practical talent.
And yet Emmet's single speech has
given him reat popular fame. It Is
not a..great speech in the sense that
Burke, "Webster or Phillips were elo
qucnt, but It is just the kind of speech
that would alwavs affect nn arHont
warm-hearted, poetic people. Emmef'
was a heroic impracticable, a marvel
ous boy, a gifted creature, instinct with
the wonderful eloquence which has been
the glory of the Irish people, but his
genius was not of the sort out of which
comes a great man of public affairs like
O'Connell. He was an impassioned ora
tor, who expected to consummate a
great political revolution in IreUand by
a sudden stroke. Had he lived longer
he might have succeeded In kindling a
flame of insurrection over Ireland, but
would have wrought no good; only
made her misery more miserable. He
was the type of poetic-minded revolu
tionists who are always surpassingly
eloquent and always unsuccessful In
organizing viptories or in creating a
state out of the chaos of war.
He
was Vergnlaud, Mazzlnl, , Kossuth,
jauuo, vusieiur a nouie nature, out un
equal to such work as Washington,
Franklin and Cavour wrought.
Emmet dying on the scaffold at 23
probably left us the finest death song
that "his noble spirit was capable of In
-that wonderful speech, full In all Its
lines of passionate patriotism and inim
itable pathos.. Hls death was fortunate
for his permanent fame, so dramatic
was his last opportunity for eloquence
and so fitted tcr stimulate his great
'powers. His martyrdom casts an Im
mortal aureole about his eloquence. It
Is the deathless monument of the dead.
Emmet's eloquent Invectives against
England have Inspired so many Irish
patriots that have succeeded him that
they have been equivalent to an armed
Invasion, since constitutional agitators
have been stimulated by his .spirit while
they have repudiated his methods.
Among the martyrs .of our American
Revolution was Nathan Hale, a young
graduate of Yale College, a man of ex
cellent family, who was sent to the
gallows as a spy by General Howe. He
suffered- everything that Emmet suf
fered save mutilation after death, and
hfc went to hfs fate as serenely as Em
met. Before a court-martial there was
no chance for Hale to make eloquent
protest and defiance, and he had to be
gret was that he had but one life to
give for his country." "We treat- the
memory of Hale with respect; his state
has honored him with a monument; our
history recites his story with pride.
But suppose that Hale had been capa
ble of making such a speech as that ut
tered by Emmet and had been permit
ted to utter it, and it was part of our
popular literature today; then Hale
would be to our school boys what Em
met is an eloquent memory. But Hale
could not have made such a speech,
even if he had been given an opportu
nity, because he came of Puritan Eng
lish stock, while Emmet was a Celt, a
magnetic, fervid, golden-mouthed Irish
man. Hofer Is not to Tyrol what Em
met Is to Irish history, because he
emitted no immortal eloquence before
he was executed as a rebel against Na
poleon. To his eloquence rather than
to his martyrdom, Emmet owes his per
manent historic fame.
GROWING OLD GRACEFULLY.
The recent death of Thoma3 Marsh
Clark, the, presiding bishop of the
Protestant Episcopal church. In his
ninety-second year, recalls the fact that
he was. a man of most interesting- per
sonality, 'because he had mastered the
tare art of growing old gracefully. He
was an eloquent preacher and noted
for his keen sene of "humor m When he
was considerably past 75 his public
speeches were so- full of humor that
they kept his clergy In roars of laugh
ter. This blessed gift of humorous
sensibility .very likely -did not prolong
Bishop Clark's life; for men of exceed
ingly morose temper -and boorish -manners,
like Lord Brougham, have lived
to a great age, but Jt .doubtless did en
able him to grow old gracefully. The
so-called faults of age are. In a less de
gree the. very same faults that In youth
were veiled by Its freshness and beauty.
In old age, although one- Is better and
happier and more attractive to have
learned lm the passing years the lesson
of charity toward all, malice toward
none, and sympathy with old and
young, It Is better -not to consider that
one is old, but be one's self; If It Is nat-
.ural to be buoyant, spontaneous or vl
vaclous, be so, Without trying to live
. A- - , . 1
up 10 ine popujar iaea oi wnat oia age
ought to be.
Robert Stevenson was a fine-souled
man of genius .who 'died In his prime
after making a life-long flght with'
tuberculosis, but he kept a sweet spirjt
to the last days, when he wrote: To
le honest, to be kind; to earn a little
apd .spend a little less; to make upon
the whole a. family happier for his
presence; to renounce when that shall
be necessary and hot be embittered; to
keep a few. friends, but these without
capitulationabove all, on the same.
grim conditions, to keep friends with
himself here is a task for all that a
manbath,of fortitude and delicacy."
If one reads what one likes, It helps
keep one fresh. The man or woman
who hasfew resources and has no
children is apt to. enter early upon a
frivolous or melancholy old age. Moral
izing about the flight of time and re
minding, each other that to the church
yard we are creeping' year ly year is
natural, but there is a better philosophy
than this of longing for length of days
and bewailing the flight of time. The
philosophy need not be the epicurean
idea of a short life and a merry one.
but let it be a useful, vigorous life, full
of humane purpose and manly effort.
whether It be long or short. If an old
man has led a kindly, decent life, he
will inevitably grow old gracefully,
eyen if he Is bowed down by infirmity,
but If the old man has led a mean,
selfish, hard life, he will bite his flesh
like a wounded catamount and mutter
curses over the decay and death of his
powers of body and mind. Than such
a morose and mean-ohf age, better the
short steps of a -flecent life that never
reaches to the appointed age of - man.
Ben Jonson said it was not worth much
To live an oak ayhundred year.
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere.
Shakespeare finely compares an Ideal
old age to "a lusty Winter, frosty but
kindly."- This description Is applled'to
Adam in as iou iiiKe it, wno Doasts
tnat ne is a sturay man ac iour score
Decause in nis youm ne oia not appiy
"hot and rebellious liquors to his blood, SQientlous In hfs belief that It was his
nor woo the means of weakness and duty to defend his state from the deso
debillty." He, therefore, was not at 80 iation of war. This doctrine of state
a bloated beast with a life of hideous
6iu uu Buny iubi uBlUiiu mm; a. aeiuau-
and cruel Shylock, a misanthropic
mourner over the consequences of life
long animalism or luxurious indolence,
No man can grow old gracefully as
did venerable Bishop Clark without a
sound, sweet heart, that palpitates with
a childlike spirit from youth to the
grave; the spirit of sincere sensibility
for the rights and wrongs of others,
the spirit p.f Innocent mirth, the spirit
of frankness, the speech of truth and
the impulsive hand that is always glad
when it is able to be not only just, but
nobly generous. This was the spirit of
Bishop Clark; he grew old gracefully
up to his ninety-second year because
he was a Christian and yet a perennial
humorist who was sensitive jo both
.mill o.i" " "7 " luuna " a letter to Governor Letcher, of Vlr
In his own life and In the lives of his In, wfiat Wlts.0pen to
.... -" tu U1U
fciuuciuuj uecause ne entertained tne
same v!ew,of life which Phillips Brooks
expresseu wnen ne saia:
It seems as if life might all be SO simple.
and ro beautiful, sd fi-onrt to Ilv .
look at. If we could only think of It as one
long Journey, where every day's march had
Us own separate sort of beauty to travel
through; and so It we could go on clinging
to no past, accepting every new present as
It comes, finding everything beautiful In Its
time, ana suiunir ourselves to e&ch non-
beauty wlthcontlnual growth. And that can
come to pass in the sdul that really loves
and Uvea In a living, loving God.
CURSEf) WITH CUPS.
That the roval and ancipnt vk
golf has been lugged Into the' hurly-
burly of International competition Is not
a matter for much congratulation.- That
American ' defeat therein should be
seized upon as a text for the preaching
of more strenuosity we have no other
word Is deplorable Yet that ra what
the New York Times, sane and usually
serene, has done. The victories of the
Oxford and Cambridge golfers, together
with the 'capture of the lawn tennis cup
by the Mahoneys, has moved the Times
to say:
But we-ought-not to be satisfied until we
are at least on an equality with the island
ers in the two delightful and attractive
outdoor games of golf and lawn tennis.
which are almost as popular on this side as
on tho other. It seems to behoove the
guiding minds of our National associations
of the two games respectively to inquire
seriously into the causes of our Inferiority,
with '.a view of securing the removal of
them.
As the writer of the article remarks
in another place, track athletics In this
country are taken so "seriously and
strenuously" that some critics deny
their right to be classed as sport. This
has been pointed out again "and again,
and it Is undoubtedly true that the
great keenness with which Americans
pursue their sports tends more ahd
more to give" too much Importance to
victory and too little to the game Itself.
Football, .for example, with Its before-the-season
practice, seems to- be played
by college men less for the fun there Is'
In It than for the opportunity to van
quish, the other team. Members of a
boat's crew have "been known to cry on
crossing the; line behind their rivals.
Not with them was It better to have
rowed and lost than never to have
rowed at all.
And that Is the state to which we are
adjured to bring golf and lawn tennis.
"What recreation, spiced with friendly
contest, Is to be left us? Must the red
pepper of "International competltlon.be
shaken over all our games? Leave Vis
our golf. Let us foozle without the
burning thought that all America
groans and Britain hoots. The con
demnation of our conscience and the
chuckle of our personal opponent are
stimulus enough. Lawn tennis, It Is fo
be feared, has fallen from .grace. It Is
cursed with an International cup.' Leave
us, then, one game at which we can
play as suits our mood, today leisurely,
tomorrow strenuous.
BLOOD THICKER THAN WATER.
A Vancouver correspondent asks The
Oregonlan to pass judgment upon the
alleged disloyalty of General R. E. Lee
In resigning his commission In the
United States Army upon the secession
of Virginia. Our correspondent holds
that "General Lee was not disloyal, but
met the highest requirements of a sol
dier when he offered his services to his
native -state to resist threatened Inva
sion." The letter of our correspondent
has been drawnyout by the printing of
a communication in the "Vancouver In
dependent from which we make the fol
lowlrlg extract:
Lee recelyed a West Point education xat tho
Government's expense. He accepted a com
mission from the Nation, not from the State
of Virginia. For 30 years he drew a liberal
salary from Uncle Sam, but in the hour of
darkness .and of .trial, he drew his sword, not
to defend the Nation, but to take Its life.
. . -
He broke his plighted faith, and that Is
the blot on his 'scutcheon which all the
"Phlstry and soft-aoap in the world can
never wash away.
never wash away.
This question concerning the action of
General Lee has recently been argued
strongly In Lee's favor by Charles
Francis Adams, whowas a gallant sol
dler in the Army of the Potomac, and
when Lee's statue comes up before Con
gress for acceptance as Virginia's con
tribution to; the National Gallery of
Statuary It will be sure to obtain fresh
consideration. Our own judgment is
that Lee followed, his conscience when
confronted with a situation that he
could not .have contemplated when he
became an officer of the Army, more
than thirty years before the firing on
Sumter. He wrote his sister that "with
all my devotion to the Union and feel
ing of loyalty and duty of an Ameri
can citizen, I cannot make up my mind
to raise my hand against my relatives,
my children, my home." General Wick-
ham, the leader of the Unionists In the
Virginia convention that declared for
secession, used similar language", say
ing: "Gentlemen, you have decided
wrongly; I have no heart In your cause,
but I feel obliged to go with you be
cause I cannot help fire my old neigh
bors' corn fields."
General Lee had never been a seces
sionist. .He had always cast his Influ
ence In 'favor off the" Union and against
the secession of Virginia. He was the
son of "Light Horse Harry," of the-
Revolutlon. -His wife was the daugh
ter of the grandson of Washington's
wife; he was through her the owner of
Arlington, on .the Potomac, and White
House plantation, on the Pamunkey; he
belonged to a family distinguished In
the history of Virginia for more than a
century, and he decided to resign his
commission and resist the Invasion of
his state by the armies of the Union
He had always been hostile to slavery.
declaring that It was morally wrong.
and he would gladly support any con
stltutlonal measure for Its extinction.
There is nothing In General Lee's life
from boyhood that leads' us to believe
tht h(1 ws fHRr)Qsea to violate his con
sclence. and it is fair to presume and
nt flifflcuit to believe that he was con
supremacy had never been settled as It
tnr.av hv the final arbitrament of
arms. New .tmgiana nao asserted it oy
her Goverriors in her refusal to answer
President Madison's .call for troops;
Daniel Webster on the eve of the Hart
ford convention talked nullification on
the floor of Congress. In view of Gen
eral Lee's Southern education and po
lltlcal training, It is easy to believe that
he acted, conscientiously In refusing to
be placed at the .head of a great army
whose first act would be to Invade and
lay waste the corn fields of his lifelong
neighbors and friends in his native
state,
There were other Southern men who
stood fast for the Union. General
Thomas Is cited as a man who made a
dlfferent choice. General Thomas wrote
him If he went; with the Confederacy
Battafan xnnnw wjls returned
and 80 hls Nor'thern wife was able to
I n-Knm, ti tn tho. flntr Thow
f (n Bnma naaaa 'ttnnthern
uu,"' "ST
families were divided, one son going
to the Union and the other to the Con
f ederacy; but you will find on. examlna
tion that the decision was largely deter
mined by social and sectional environ
ment rather than political conscience.
Northern-born and bred men who had
lived but few years In the South became
enthusiastic Confederates, and South
ernborn and bred men who had eml
I grated to the North were among the
most energetic leaaera oi union sui
ders- The Oregonlan believes that Lee,
from h,s Pecullar Plnt of view, fol-
lowed his conscience In deciding to re
sign and resist the invasion and deso
lation of his native state. ,ThIs is not
saying that General Lee was right, for
The Oregonlar believes his theory of
state supremacy was wrong and his
Idea that his allegiance belonged to his
native state was wrong. But In 1861 It
was a question that had -been disputed
since the foundation of the Government
without any final settlement. Lee was
not a conspirator. Neither Lee, Joe
Johnston nor Longstreet ever resigned
from the Army until Virginia was
driven Into secession by the craze
which followed the "firing 'on Sumter.
This shot was fired deliberately to force
Virginia and North Carolina out of
the Union. It was necessary, as one
arch-conspirator wrote, "to sprinkle
blood In the faces; of the people." The
shot at Sumter precipitated the seces
sion of Virginia, swept Lee away from
his Union moorings, and he sailed
henceforth the rough open sea of rebel
lion. The Lees were by blood, brains and
property a Virginia family of historic
renown. Thomas," while bora & Vir
ginia, was not a "Virginia landholder;
cm. ilia HJ.C in -----
ronment made Thomas a. Union soldier;
1 t his lot with
his family and his state. Had Thomas
been a large Virginia landholder, had
he married a large Virginia landholder
belonging to one of the ancient, his-
tm.2r r If JZ, nin,r families of
Virginia, as did Lee, he would doubtless
have answered "Here" to the call or tne
Confederacy, but the Army of the
TTni R'nf HnH ohvAv.t been his
i j -vt n.i' Ma
uuiue turn ne oitu u.uiiuwu uw,
strongest ties of feeling and pride
bound him to the Nation rather than to
his .state. As it was. Thomas fished for
an appointment In the army of the Con-
federacv. but hf was ttoo late. Ques-
tlons of the motives which decide men's
conduct in times which severely try.
their souls are not decided by constitu-
tlonal argument. Lee's decision to go
with his state, to refuse to fire on her
corn fields and his old neighbors, was
perhaps not good logic, but it was the
natural, manly impulse that is ex-
pressed in the old phrase "Blood. Is
thicker than water." Of the, thousands
who fought heroically and died fear-
lessly on either side in the- Civil War
probably few could have constructed
argument for or against secession, for
or against coercion, but they leaped to
their feet on both sides at the sound of
that shot. against Sumter, simply be
cause of environment, because "blood
Is thicker than water."
From the Union standpoint Lee was
not politically right, but he "obeyed his
conscience and most men of the "North,
had they been In his shoes, "would have
said with him. "Blood is thicker than
water." He was no Hjore a traitor than
the great rebel George Washington
was, who, after fighting under King
George's flag, led the rebel army lhat
upset 1L
If there is any falling off In the gen- I
eral prosperity, the railroad earnings, J
which are regarded as "a fair index, do I
nbt show it. For the period that ended I
with July these earnings were about I
$52,000,000 greater than during the same
time in the. year before a gain of more
than 30 per cent. The people are pro-
duclng, buying and selling at an un-
preceaeiixeu rate ana me ru.nrua.us are i
hustling to meet the demands that these
conditions bring. The only shadow of
foreboding upon this prosperity is the
fact, everywhere apparent, that the
people are jiot saving tne proceeds or
thelr labor and Investment In accord
ance with the demands of prudence.
Railroad managers, however, do not
seem apprehensive of a sudden check
upon the demand that is made upon
them, as they continue to spend enor-
mous sums not only in meeting the
present requirements, but in looking
Into the future. They are constantly
adding to their rolling stock, improving
their roadbeds, rebuilding and strength-
enlng their bridges, taking curVes out
of their lines, etc., etc., thus giving
back to labor, skilled and unskilled, Im
mense sums of their earnings.
The elder brother of Robert Emmet,
Thomas Addis Emmet, who had been
imprisoned and then banished for his
part In the rebellion of 1798, came to
the United .States In 1804, and rose to
great eminence as a lawyer In New
York City. He excelled as an advocate,
and it was; while pleading a case that
he was stricken with apoplexy and died
the same day, November 14, 1827. His
son Robert rose to distinction as a law
yer and became a Judge of the State
Superior Court. Another son was a
distinguished professor of chemistry Jn
the University of Virginia. A grand
son of Thomas Addis Emmet was the
distinguished physlcjan, Dr. Thomas
Addis Emmet, authon. of standard
works on gynecology. The father o
the famous Thomas Addis Emmet, the
Irish patriot, was an eminent Dublin
physician, and Tnomas Audls was a
medical graduate of Edinburgh Univer
sity in 17S4, but he abandoned medicine
for the law, and was admitted to the
Dublin bar la 1791.
The records of the Pasteur Institute
In Paris show that 25,642 cases of
hydrophobia have been treated there In
the fifteen years that have passed since
inoculation for this disease began. A
child from Alsace was the first patient.
This was in 1888. Since then each year
has seen, the" small death percentage
from hydrophobia grow smaller. From
ten In a thousand of those treated. It
has fallen to two. In a thousand. Since
the discovery of Sir Edward Jenrier,
upon which all Inoculation against dis
ease Is based, there has been no greater
discovery In the realm of medical
science than that with which the name
of Pasteur is associated.
General Simon B. Buckner, who
graduated from West Point In 1844 and
commanded a corps In the Confederate
Army, an ex-Governor of Kentucky and
candidate for Vice-President on the
Gold Democratic ticket" In 1896, made a
speech at the opening of the Republican
State Convention at Mumfordsvllle,
Ky., on the 13th inst. He announced
his desire to stump the state In the In
terest of Colonel Morris B. Belknap,
Republican candidate for Governor. He
denounced Governor Beckham for his
pardon record and for his method of
prosecuting the murderers of Senator
Goebel;
The funeral ship that lately made the
port of San Francisco from Manila
brought over some scores of bodies, a
mute tribute to the cruel weight of the
"white man's burden" in the far East.
Its coming was not heralded with mar
tial music nor patriotic pride. A for
getful public scarcely took note of Its
coming. It Is only In the scattered
homes to which these soldiers' bodies
find their way through the kind offices
of the Government that the coming of
the death ship was terribly real.
There was never a more auspicious
time than the present to send back-door
beggars with hard-luck stories away
unrelieved. There Is work everywhere
for everybody, and, he who Idles away
these golden September days- deserves
to be overtaken by the fate that befell
the traditional "old brown grasshap
per" when the storms of Winter came.
Not only is' work plenty, but In variety
to suit the taste of all except those who
will not work at anything.
Anne Devlin was a sturdy-and faith
ful Irishwoman, who refused to betray
Emmet's place of hiding when sought
by the English authorities and chose to
go to prison rather than reveal It.
Adeqnnte Cnnsc of Complaint.
Roseburg Review.
No .wonder the Republican papers of Ore
gon are red-hot against Secretary Hitch
cock. Their timber land notices have stop
ped coming in since he besan to probe land
affairs.
i
HIS LIFE FOR. HIS COUNTRY.
One hundred years ago today the scaf-
ltir lo -ennfh
,u ,";"' " " ,' Z71 '
his purity of character, his-burning zeal.
his devotion to
since "been enshrined in the hearts of Ms
ounnv" lsf J"3'100 yea"
stace RoljetCItoet stood upon the plank.
that was to launch him into the unknown,
and, half raising the black hood that was
uruwu Ul rr ' ..T ,
in peace. "My friends said he, I die in
peace, and with sentiments of universal
love and kindness towards all men." He
. .
then removed his stock, and assisted the
hangman to adjust the noose. As. he
stood, handkerchief in hand to give the
signal, the plank was spruns, and all that
remained to Ireland was the imperishable
memory of her dearest son.
Robert Emmet was born In Dublin in the
year 1778. His father, who was physician
to the Viceroy, brought up .his children
as Nationalists, and Robert's brother,
Thoinas Addis Emmet, was one of the
foremost figures in the United Irishmen
Thomas eventually emigrated to New
York, where he became Attorney-General
of the state, dying suddenly while arguing
a case in the Circuit Court in 1827. At an
early age Robert went to Trinity College,
and there made the friendship of Thomas
Moore, a fellow-student. In the troublous
times of the United Irishmen, who were
banded together for the first time at Bel
fast In 1790, Emmet was too young to take
a leading part, but he was the head of
the movement In the university, and would
In all probability have drawn Moore Into
It had not the poet's mother maintained
a close watch upon her boy. In 1800 Em
met visited his brother in prison at St.
George, and two years later interviewed
Napoleon and. Talleyrand, the former
promising him to secure the independence
of Ireland.
It was in October, 1S02, that young Em
met returned to Dublin determined to
lead a rebellion against English rule. He
seems to have had no definite plans; ln-
deed his actions force onefo believe that
he entered upon an undertaking that he
knew to be doomed from Its Inception
With less than 5000, a ridiculous sum for
the provision of arms alone, he began his
work. A few muskets were bought, and
30 or 40 men were put to worK torging
pikes. Finally, on Saturday, July 23, 1S03,
rnrnet,ciua in green coat anu -Tv-mie
breeches, a feather waving In his hat, set
forth for the castle at the head of a few
score of untrained men, without cohesion
and without plans. On the way the aged
Lord Kilwarden was encountered in nis
carrlage, and was killed by the pikemen,
much to Emmet's sorrow. Meanwhile the
castle was aroused, and the officials were
In the utmost consternation. An effort
was made to have all the troops called
out, and it was only abandoned when the
news came that the ordinary day guard
had dispersed the rebels without difficulty
Emmet sought shelter in the "VVicklow
hills, whence he might possibly have es
caped to the Continent had not love drawn
him to Dublin. He returned to take leave
of his sweetheart, Sarah Curran, daughter
of the celebrated orator and wit. "While
In hiding: at Harold's Cross he was taken
by Major Slrr, the captor of Lord Edward
FItzGerald. "He had lived for his love,"
says Moore, and It Is not extravagant to
say thafhls love led him to his death.
Emmet was tried on September 19, 1593,
on the charge of treason, and was found
guilty. Before sentence was passed he
made a thrilling speech. His words have
not yet ceased to echo In the Irish heart.
and the adjuration to leave his epitaph un
written Is as familiar as a household
word. "Let no man write my epitaph,'
said the prisoner at the bar, "for, as no
man who knows my motives dare now
vindicate them, let not prejudice or Ig
norance asperse them. Let them and me
repose In obscurity and peace, and my
tomb remain unlnscrlbed until other times
and other men can do justice to my char
acter. When, my country takes her place
among the nations of the earth then, and
not till then let my epitaph be written,
have done."
The next day he was hanged.
Emmet's body was burl&d In Bully's
Acre, Kllmainham, but was afterwards
moved to Glasnevln cemetery,, or St.
MIchan's churchyard. It will be remem
bered that his reputed grave was opened
a few weeks ago, but the remains could
not be identified as those of Emmet.
Thomas Mobre, as previously stated, was
a college mate of Emmet's, and came
within an ace of being drawn Into the
United Irishmen's ranks. When Emmet
was hanged as the result of his puny 6f
fort at rebellion "the Irish," says Moore,
never either flght or write well on their
own soil" the poet wrote the following
lyric to the memory of the young patriot:
Oh! Breathe Not Hi Some.
Oh! breathe- not his name, let It sleep in the
shade.
Where cold and unhonored his relics are laid;
Sad. silent and dark be the tears that we shed.
As the night-dew .that falls on tho grass o'er
his head.
But the night-dew that falls, though In silence
It weeps.
Shall brighten with verdure the grave where
he sleeps;
And the tear that we shed, though In secret
it rolls.
Shall long keep his memory green In our souls.
To Sarah Curran. who went abroad after
Emmet's execution and lived for some
time in Sicily, Moore also wrote a touch
ing poem:
She Is Fnr From the Lnd.
She U far from tho land where her young hero
sleeps.
And lovers are round her sighing.
But coldly she turns from, their gaze and
weeps, i
For her heart in his grav
V is
lying.
She sings the wild song of her dear natlvo
plains,
Everv note which ho lov'd awaking;
Ah! little they think who delight In her strains.
,How the heart of the Minstrel is DreaKing.
He had Uv'd for his love, for his country he
died.
Thpv were all that to life had entwined him;
Nor ioon shall the tears of his country be
dried,
Nor long wllf his love stay behind -him.
Oh! make her a grave where the sunbeams
rest.
When they promise a glorious morrow;
They'll shine o'er her sleep, like a emile frorri
the West,
From her own lov'd Island of sorrow.
In a tender essay, "The Broken Heart,"
Washington Irving tells how Sarah Cur
ran gradually faded away after the death
of her lover.
The person who told me her story, says
Irving, had seen her at a masquerade.
There can be no exhibition of far-gone
wretchedness more striking and painful
than to meet it in such a scene. To find
It wandering like a spectre, lonely and
joyless, where all around Is gay to see It
dressed out in the trappings or mirth, and
looking so wan and woe-begone, as if It
had tried In vain to cheat the poor heart
into a momentary forgetfulness of sorrow.
After strolling through the splendid rooms
and giddy crowd with an air of utter ab
straction, .he sat herself down on the
steps of an orchestra, and, looking about
for some time with a vacant air, that
showed her insensibility to the garish
scene, she began, with the caprlciousness
' of a sickly heart, to warble a little plain
uve. air. one nau an exquisite voice, DUt
on this occasion It was so simple, so
touching. It breathed forth such a soul of
wretchedness, that she drew a crowd mute
and silent around her and melted every
one to tears. . . . Nothing could cure the
silent and devouring melancholy which had
entered Into her very soul. She wasted
away in a slow but hopeless decline, and
at length sunk into the grave, the victim
of a broken heart.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
The Lover' Device.
I sang "to Dolly, ' -
Of her hearc
How free from folly
JSv'ry part.
I tr.llled her kindness
And my ilove
H "What utterfbllndness,
Gods above!
Sho wo'uld not hearken
To my lay;
My sky would darken
At her way.
A man of cunning
Put me right.
And now I'm. sunning
In hcrslght;
For with one ditty
I won srace
I sang how pretty
"Was, her face.
Henrtnclie and Bnlm.
ALBINA. Sept. 10. (To the Editor.) Why
is hair worn in a certain style called penpa
dour? " t MAE.
After Pompadour Jim, a well-known
pugilist of the last century.
VANCOITVER,! Wash., Sept. IS. (To th?
Editor.) Please tell me what to do v.lf.i
the stones of olives. I have been advised to
swallow them, but they seem too biff.
JOHN SMITH
The question Is a puzzling one. Yoa
are quite- right not to swallow the stones.
and the advice must have come from a
surgeon, for nothing is more likely to j
cause appendicitis. Flicking the stones 1
at the waiter Is an Interesting way of
getting rfd of them, andls also useful
in calling his attention.
SE.IWOOD, Sept. 11). (To the Editcr i -would
like to know If it is injurious
swallow confetti, as I frequently get cjy
mouth full of it at the Multnomah carnival.
EMYL.YE.
See the answer to John Smith. Appen
dicitis is most formidable on paper so
don't swallow the stuff. Try kecrir.g
your mouth shut next time.
A Worm nnil n Silkworm.
Silk Is now made from all kinds cf
wood. Consular Reports.
When Dolly walked in silk attire
I told her she looked spruce,
Axchance remark that roused her Ire,
And brought me much abuse.
"Your horrid Joke" she gave a gulp
"To hint my figure's wood.
Because my skirt is made of pulp!
I didn't think you could."
I swear at sclenceand the fates'.
For Dolly's glances freeze;
I know Just how the silk worm hates
The silk that's made from trees.
Itobert Emmet: Unused September
20, iso:.
Let no man write my epitaph, . . .
Too dear a patriot for palsied rhyme,
Unwrit his epitaph; but Fame,
With burning finger traced his name
Across the scroll of Time.
"If people must gamble, let 'em gam-1
ble and be d d to 'em."
Free traders dream of taxation for rev.
enue only! Portland has It.
The West Point cadets have been de-J
prlved of their principal pleasure In being!
allowed to smoke.
King Peter has officially denied the!
rumor that he was assassinated, and wel
cannot doubt his official word.
Mrs. Davis evidently thinks that, what
ever her dentist husband could do with!
a tooth, he couldn't fill the bill.
Tho city officials will no doubt feel flat-J
tered to have their honesty attributed!
solely to the absence of temptation.
Somo Tacoma people believe in calling j
a spade a spade, but they'd fire a school!
marm that talked of Mount Rainier.
Even if Chief Hunt can show the Rob-j
erts Investigation to have been institute dj
for an ulterior purpose, how will he help!
the defense?
We are authorized to deny the report!
that Senator Tillman has ordered an im-l
mediate supply of Roosevelt-Booker
Washington buttons. '
Millionaire Williams, having been mulctl
In heavy damages for shooting Marriott,!
has learned the law protects editors at-l
most as much as It does elk.
Our esteemed poet, John Hayduck, says!
the Clackamas Chronicle, has a sllghtl
stammer, which recently caused him toj
allude to a colored man as a co-coon.
'How to cure a red nose, $1.00." adver
tised a firm. On receipt of the fee the!
prescription sent out was: "Drink somol
more and it will turn blue." This was!
worth the money, as compared with the!
"copying letters at home" and the "de
tectives wanted In every block."
Tabulated statements of tho Turkish!
atrocities are not unlike the placard ofj
the beggar who enumerated his misfor
tunes thus:
Lost my eyes In explosion -
Itight leg amputated .................... ll
Wife dead
Three children sick
Total 71
A New York policeman recently arrest
ed a drunken chicken, and one Is said t
have "run In" an elephant some years
ago, but these exploits pale beside the
arrest of a rattlesnake by Patrolman
Hamsworth. It takes more than a rattler
to rattle a Portland cop, but the results
might have been terrible to contemplate
had a belated reveler caught sight of the
monster bef6re the St. Patrick of Third
street.
Eugene. Or., Sept. 12. (To the Editor.) I
Can't? you save us from this? The Eugene!
Register is responsible.
CITIZEN OF EUGENE.
Yesterday a Register scribe dropped
into the store of the Griffin Hardware
Company and gleefully laid his lip over
several savory biscuits baked in five mln-
utes by Mrs. Drew Griffin, who Is dem
onstrating Majestic steel ranges. We ve-l
ncered those salubrious culinary conceits!
with slathers of saffron-hued butter and!
a generous sop of maple syrup from York!
State. For lagnappe we were handed al
cup of steaming Arosla. After a herplns
from the flagon of unctuous lacteal and I
two lumps of crystalline substance of!
granular consistency Into the beverage
that comforteth the brain and heart and!
aldeth digestion, we settled back into aj
dreamy contemplation of ethereal jcysj
that lift one temporarily from the travail!
and woe of .mundane desuetude. The In
dulgence In unaccustomed joys always!
tends to separate one's mind from a con
sciousness of the senses.
These demonstrations (culinary) will!
continue throughout the week, commenc-l
ing dally at 2 P. M.
Megalomania so virulently hyperpar
oxysmic in Its manifestations of sesiul-
pedalian and circumlocutory verbosity Is
apodlctically symptomatic of mental alien
ation resulting in clrcumforaneous pere
grinations through the labyrinthine mazes
of the Websterian lexicography and
eventually destined to conduct its self-
immolated sacrifice Into the Umbrageous!
avenue terminating la the bughouse.
content with saying that "his only re
"