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as eeeond-class mattter.
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EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICES.
(The S- C. Beckwith Special Agency)
New York; rooms 43-50. Tribune Building.
Chicago: Rooms 610-512 Tribune Building.
KEfT ON SALE.
Atlantic City. N. J. Taylor & BaUey,
sows dealers. 23 Leeda Place.
rhapa Auditorium annex: PostoIIice
Kews Co.. 178 Dearborn street.
Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & Kend
rick. 006-912 Seventeenth street.
Kansas City. Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co..
Ninth and Walnut.
Log Angeles B. F. Gardner. 259 South
Rnrinc . and Harry Drapkin.
Minneapolis M- X Kavanaugh. 60 South
Third; I Rcgelsburger, 21T First 'Avenue
South.
New York City I. Jones & Co.. Astor
House.
Oirden F. R. Godard.
Omnliii Barkalow Broa, 1612 Farnam:
McLaughlin Bros., 210 South 14th: Megeatb
Stationery- Co.. 1308 Farnam.
Salt lake Salt Lake News Co., 77 West
Rond South street.
St.' LouIb World's Fair News Co.. Joseph
frmMnnd. Wilson & Wilson, 217 N. 17th St.;
Geo. I. Ackermann, newsboy. Eighth and
niive sta
San Francisco J. K. Cooper t-o., .aiar-
one room, with a "lean-to" for a
kitchen. The place -was thronged with
children. This maniac fed chiefly upon
books that he could borrow (his time
being in the pioneer era) and which he
had to return In order to get others;
hence few books were kept about the
house. But in one corner of the cramped
quarters a pile of old . newspapers
reached nearly to the low celling, and
these, when books gave out, he read
and re-read with what must have
seemed to his striving wife ghoulish
zest. His sorely tried wife died one
wild night, leaving her sixth child an
Infant a few hours old. When the
neighbors came the next day to prepare
her body for burial they lifted it from
a bed which was wet half-way .across
where the rains had beaten -in between
the logs, and the excuse of the bereaved
husband was that he had Intended to
chink" the openings with mud before
the Fall rains came on It was then
midwinter but that he had "not had
time." This testimony to the contrary
notwithstanding, this man was not a
bad man. On the contrary, he was con
sldered a worthy citizen, and his ora
torical powers, backed by his "fund of
information" acquired by much read
ing, were In sharp demand when polit
ical contention ran high.
So far as Is known, there Is no cure
for the readme mania, wnatever
check can be placed upon it must come
In the form of prevention. Once devel
oped until It renders Its victim obllvi
ous to the common duties of life, it is
absolutely Incurable. If free libraries
are likely to develop this mania, as
seems probable from the number of
voune neonle who are seen on the
street-cars every day burled in books,
the multiplication of these institutions
Is clearly not an unmixed blessing.
. I . .. - I .vmnntfiv And iha nnt nil. Th
kindly-attitude toward the great finan- a most successful short meeting last cuve pastime tor. oruanae, the fevered exhausted brutes
clal interests which they haye despaired year. Is now preparing for Its opening ijLT l?SeSH
Of Obtaining irom .KOOSeveiL; uuu mcy uaj luuiunuw, nuu lueic niu. mv." 1 , - 1 T,flr tnr human fnnfl Thpsc arp nhftf
u . : .. . r j ca i . i, v.ao nprmanont nnmi sit nn. while the num- unfit f or human roou. xnese are pnases
hone in similar irame ol imuu ii occ uci uw ul uic jjc&i. iuoiuusuuicu
him succeed to the Presidency. It Is on the Pacific Coast stabled on Irving- oer or summer visitors increases uu.v
nosslble that Mr Boot is unconsciously ton Park track, ready to compete for lly from -year to year. The agricultural
nleading for those Interests in nis aa- me purses given Dy tne associanoii. v-"""-'
vocacy of a larger function for the The same management that character- tween Seaside and Tillamook are per-Vlce-Presldent.
ed the 1903 race meeting should give haps not as favorable as those In some
And yet there can be no -doubt that the better sport in 1904, for the reason that oiner poruuiis oi uw atuie, uut.
trend of our National theory and rac- there is a largely Increased number of are many mue vuneys ana piuieaua
horses to draw upon, ana tne same
tlce is in the direction of the homog
enous Administration which Mr. Root
has In mind. Our statecraft Is less and
less concerned with the rights of man
and the inculcation of Ideal principles
and more and more concerned with the
economic development of the Nation
and the employment of Its productive
agencies to the highest possible power
of efficiency in a word, with business.
And business, demands conservatism,
continuity, peace. Business does not
care so much what policies prevail, so
that they are consistently followed. One
customs tariff or one railroad tariff Is
approximately as good as another only
we must have Its consistent enioi;ce-
Sent. What kills business Is uncer
inty and the labor and perils of con
stant readjustment. 'Shis is why every
disturbing factor in a Federal Admlnlsr
tratlon is viewed with Increasing aver
sion. This is why it would not be sur
prising to see In twenty years or less
thePresident and Vice-President named
by the same ruling coterie, for the very
reason that they were in absolute accord.
to
promptness and businesslike manage
ment which made last season's meet
ing successful should produce the same
result again In even greater degree.
THAT ARMIES SHOUUJ HAVE STAGE
MANAGERS.
In the old days, before statesmen had
discovered the nebula of International
law, two nations that felt like fighting
proceeded to do one another up without
a thought for the feelings of "eminent
jurists," college professors or advocates
of universal disarmament.- In their
struggles they did not mind in the least
if they stepped upon a bystander's
corns,.and did any worthy, born In ad
vance of his time, exclaim "You cannot
do that, you know," they did not argue,
but went ahead and did It. The rights
of neutrals were unheard of In those
days; the neutral was jumped on or
left alone as the belligerent was strong
on weak, or as he happened to get In
the way, and the neutral did not scruple
to chip In with a friend If convinced
that victory was possible. Did England
engage in a little scrap with France,
AIX FOR EACH AND EACH FOR ALL. Scotland found the moment opportune
striking in its timeliness Is this run. for knocking upon England's back door
on the Drovers' Bank at the height of with a few demands; and In later times
HOPE rOK THE "VICE PRESIDENCY.
No fact is better attested in our po-
the great labor conflict at unicago.
What could more forcibly bring to the
mind of embattled and arrogant capi
tal how absolutely dependent It is upon
the favor and the confidence of the
humblest? It is the old lesson of inter-
No ioct is oeiter auesieu xu uux yu- d 0 trite a tneme o dIaac. Indeed
litlcal history than that in practice the P ' principle in tlcated
Vice-Presidency has fallen grievously 1 strike fteelf is earInff re. play a
Napoleon, far from worrying over dam
age to neutral commerce, attempted
with a stroke of the pen to place a con
tinent in blockade.
War Is a different matter today. Neu
tral commerce must not be interrupted."
Indeed it might appear to the unsophls-
newspaper reader that neutrals
far more Important part In the
which will prove highly productive
when their present growth of timber
has been coined into money and re
placed by fruit and dairy ranches.
When the rich Nehalem Is reached,
still greater possibilities await the road,
fpr the soil of that Isolated region .pro
duces not only magnillcent timber, but
about everything else that can be
grown Jn the state. As a developer of
natural resources the Astoria road has
been -a great success, and, while Its.
extension would draw away few if any
of the "beachers" who have fallen in
love with the beautiful natural sur
roundings at Clatsop, it would open up
new resorts which in time would be
come as popular as any of those which
it now brings into such close touch
with Portland. While affording the
Portlanders an opportunity to get out
and enjoy themselves and spend their
money, it would also offer an oppor
tunlty for homeseekers who are not
afraid of work to carve out a home In
an exceptionally favored locality
With river connection for more than
forty years and rail connection for
about twenty-five years, the big coun
try east of the Cascade Mountains has
been brought In fairly close touch with
Portland, but with that country lying
over near thevcoast we are almost as
unfamiliar as though it were, shut off
by an impenetrable wall. Portland is
under lasting obligations to Mr. Ham
mond for giving -iis transportation right
up to the gates of this unknown land,
and we should now like to have him
open the gates and turn In his Iron
horses
of the great' strike which are not taken
Into consideration by the warring fac
tions of the packing-house business, but
they appeal to humanity as worthy of
first consideration. Men accustomed to
slaughter are perhaps callous to the
suffering of animals in the snamme3;
nerhaDS also men who regard tne dusi-
ness entirely "from the standpoint of
profit and loss do not take Into account
the unnecessary suffering inai me
strike entails upon animals awaiting
slaughter In the yards or clumsily dis
patched by unskilled men. uut xnis is
a noint uoon which the speedy settle
ment of the strike should be urged by
men of influence in the councils of labor
and Industry. The strike is deplorable
in all of Its phases; in these it is pitia
ble and indeed indefensible.
ket. near Palace Hotel; Foster & Orear. away from, its ideal state as nxed in tne ,nrt of mutual deDende ncy to many present war than do the belligerents.
Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros but- mmds of the Founders. That omce was Q t financlal institutions "Don't hit Ji
tert L. E. Lee. faiace .aoiei ows ""'i
e Pitts. 1008 Market: Frank Scott, SO
Ellis; N. Wheatley. 83
Francis' News Stand.
IVashincton. D.C Ebbltt House News
Stand.
grouped with the Presidency as of al- . - ; nt,ta chrtnvini? r.- atralnst me." says one neutral to Rus-
Stevenson; Hotel the point of profitable operation, sla and aot phra5e ..
IF "WRITERS WERE READERS.
A writer In the current number of
The Critic lays claim to the authorship
TESTERDATS "WEATHER Maximum tom-
perature. 79 deg.; minimum, 58, Precipitation,
none.
today's "WEATHER Fair; northwest
winds.
PORTLAND SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 1804.
THE READING MANIA.
' Mrs. Thomas Wallln, of Elkhart, Ind..
a cousin of the later Walter Q.
Gresham, has been for many months In
the habit of reading one book a day
As a result of this dissipation since
excessive reading is one of the most
pernicious forms of what may be called
the milder dissipations this woman is
now insane. Assuming, says the Hart
ford Times, that the books to which
Mrs. Wallln devoted herself were nov
els. and that they were of average
length, her Insanity is not surprising.
The excessive reading of novels in
these days of public libraries and of
cheap editions of all kinds of books is
a very common abuse of what may be
called voracious minds. A great many
minds are weakened and practically
ruined, without being made entirely
daft, by the mania for reading stories
This form of what may be called use
lessness Is easily and unconsciously de
veloned where books in any number
may be simply had for the asking.
The reading mania begets, as every
one knows, in women of the middle
class, upon whose forethought and per
qualifications were identical. The orig
inal idea is also revealed in the early
Incumbents. Nominees for Vice-Presi
dent Include such names as Thomas
Jefferson, JoKn Adams, James Madison,
James Monroe and even In a later time
Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and John
C. Calhoun. The place to which these
men gladly aspired is curtly declined by
second-class statesmen of today.
Ex-Secretary Root's address to Mr.
Fairbanks at the notification ceremo
nies Is a thoughtful and suggestive pre
sentation of what must have occurred
to many minds. His hope that the
Vice-Presidency might be restored to
Its old station Is one that every patriot
miKt enhn and the arguments he
brines to Its support are strikingly sim
ilar to those advanced last year by Mr.
railroad earnings fall lower and lower,
while discharged employes everywhere
rush to take the strikers' places.
Neither labor nor capital holds a mo
nopoly of the selfish and self-centered
mood. There are purse-proud employ
ers who regard the laborer as a mere
machine from which to wring a certain
amount of results with the least possi
ble cost in wages; and there are work-
lngmen who see in the employer only
a machine from which to wrest wages
with the least possible return In ser
vice. On the one hand there is the
packing trust, grinding relentlessly on
stockman and consumer alike, often
unfeeling at heart and brutal In
method; on the other hand there Is the
union, straining every nerve to reduce
the amount of labor performed In a
J. C. snaner. a pronunem P""'""" flnv tn n1lni,i. th(l tnn-fflnlPnt work
ChJcaco. In an article which command- . tn . 1rtri i
d universal attention. At that time
Mr. Shaffer's proposals seemed chimer
ical, but the nomination of Senator
Fairbanks, who Is well equipped for the
Presidency itself, lends practicability to
the idea, as Mr. Root's admirable ad
dress shows.
There Is another aspect of the Vice-
Presidency which is usually lost sight
of. Tjut which is of perpetual moment,
in view of the occasional vacancies
through death In the Presidential chair,
and also In view of the growing power
of the Senate. It was incontestably the
view of the Fathers to make the Vice
Presidency Independent of the Presi
dent.' The original manner of his se
lection shows this plainly. They had in
man and to terrorize the nonunion la
borer with every resource which heart
less and violent cruelty can suggest.
The need of all these is to look not
every man on his own things only, but
also on the things of others. Bitterness
is engendered in the heart of the capi
talist as he looks back on his early
struggles and reflects that though he
won his way by painful toll and heroic
self-denial; though he came up from
the ranks that now hate him, yet from
which others may In turn rise like him
self; though he has conquered difficul
ties almost insuperable, and benefited
mankind by his organizing genius and
his multiplication of creature comforts;
though he has given liberally to
churches and charities, schools and col-
knock Russia up against my fences.
It is as If a squad of policemen were
sent to keep order at a prizefight and
each member of the squad constituted
himself a judge of what was a foul
blow. Jaoan and Russia may fight,
some of the other nations are even glad
to see them go at It; but they must
never forget that neutrals have rights,
and that the war must be carried on
without Inconvenience to the peaceful
trader, who not infrequently seizes the
golden opportunity to ship a few car-r
goes of contraband.
It Is thus generally accepted that
war must be conducted with every def
erence to the feelings of those not en
gaged In it, and that neutrals have cer
tainand uncertain inalienable rights.
This being the case, something should
be done to protect the rights of the
great newspaper-reading public. Our
shippers of flour have already set the
machinery of the Government In mo
tion, but no protest has been filed on
behalf of the vast body mentioned
above. The war is being shamefully
mismanaged. The American citizen
picks up his paper in the morning in
the reasonable expectation' of finding
some account of a bloody battle to oc
cupy his attention as he eats his pre
dlgested breakfast food. Instead he
learns that Kuropatkin has fallen back
upon NanshanBhan and that Kurokl,
who Is at Bangblngbang, may proceed
to Pingpangpong after the rainy sea
son, If not before. There is noth
ing Interesting in this, and the
American citizen. abandoning his
Whoever originated this useful desig
nation, it is one that will live, and
must in time replace that outworn expression,-
"the reading public," as the
writers themselves have displaced the
readers. , The number of persons in
Amrica engaged in the manufacture of
fiction is enormous, and the studied ne
glect of the Department of Commerce
and Labor cannot always retard their
progress to industrial power. The
yearly output of novels in this country
makes an average of three a day. There
are thus 1095 writers successful in plac
ing their goods upon the market, not a
weak army in themselves
Certain forms of swindling, like fash
Ions for women, have their cjcies.
Here Is an old one revived, as reported
by the Topeka Capital:
The confidence game was recently worked
to the limit near Wathena. A preacher was
approached by a couple who signified their
Intention of getting married.
Th reverend gentleman performea tne
ceremony and his wife and himself affixed
their signatures to a certificate as witnessse
A few days aco the preacher was informed
that a note acalnst him for $1000 was aue.
It developed that he and his wife had signed
a note for f 1000 instead of a marriage cer
tificate. The note had been discounted by
the swindlers. .
Curiously, there is a story in the last
mimiw nf "NreClure's Masazlne by u.
Henry wherein a confidence man re
lates a campaign of similar swindles.
Mr. Henry makes it a three-handed
game. Sharper No. 1 and a girl con
federate eloping from angry parents
stop at a farmhouse and Inquire for the
nearest minister. Of course he lives
miles away. Within a few minutes
Sharper No. 2, dressed in clerical garb
happens along and ties the knot.
Farmer and wife as witnesses sign the
marriage certificate, which turns out
later to be a note. A skillfully pre
pared fold in the document holds the
obligation. This confidence game was
played throughout the Middle West
thirty years ago, usually by presenting
what appeared to be some legitimate
transaction for signature. It breaks
out now In fact as well as fiction, and
may be expected to flourish among q
cerjain class who have no use for the
newspaper.
NOTE AND COMMENT.
Hold-ups make the Loop resemble a
noose.
Judne Parker may have some reason
of his own for exchanging the bench -for
a back seat.' - '
Old General Ma is creating as much
trouble for Russia as if he were a mother-
in-law instead.
A bis button company is up against it.
If that isn't heart-rending luck, just as
the campaign is to begin. - .
"Sure." says America to Russia; ''every
thing you say is contraband of war Is con
traband, except what we say Isn't."
In Tacpma a performer was badly in
jured In looping the loop. In Portland
you're only liable to lose your money.
others, however. A leading publisher
dclared the other day that his house
read 150 novels for every one accepted,
Thus In a single year 164,250 persons
are employed In grinding out fiction,
whether they work in such centralized
factories as Indiana or in Independent
shops such as Oregon
Vast as is the number of writers, it
is being constantly Increased, so that
in time every person out of work at any
other trade will turn his hand to the
typewriter" and typewriter girls, by the
way, have the principal qualification
for successful authorship the ability
to write fast. When this culmination Is
reached, and It Is being hastened by
the increased attention being paid to
technical schoqls, what is to become of
the writing public? Must Its members.
as the people of St. Kllda's did with
washing, eke out a precarious existence
by reading each other's books? Or will
the pendulum swing back, and a read-
The condition of the Black Mesa for
est reserve, in Arizona, consequent
upon eight years of drouth, is the sub
ject of a paper recently issued by the
United States Geological Survey. This
reserve comprises an area of about 2786
There are sqUare miles, and lies principally on the
al' endeavor in household duties the mind that the second office should not iegQS and pUrp0ses to do still more yet rights as a neutral, turns to an article ing public come Into existence once
north slope of the Colorado Gila divide.
Richly endowed by Nature In every
thing but moisture, the reserve Is likely
to become barren of even the yellow
pine, alligator, juniper and Arizona
cypress, which as a rule stand dry
weather very well. Nothing can be
more desolate than a region drained of
moisture, and nothing more dishearten
Ing than the long-deferred hope of the
ranchman for rain. A region in which
people cannot live, but from which the
hapless settler, when once established.
can hardly escape, these dry lands of
Arizona, though matmlficnt in their
scenic beauty, should be shunned as the
domain of desolation Itself. In the
judgment of even the optimistic men of
the Geological Survey, this forest re
serve In Arizona must be deserted by
cattlemen and sheepmen, who a few
years ago found rich pasturage there
for their flocks and herds, unless the
long drouth Is speedily broken,
The street-car robbers, it' is said, are
thought to be ex-gamblers. Men taking
such chances are insulted by. the "ex."
As military., critics the Germans aro
universally acknowledged to excel. Ia
South Africa they are hiring Boers to
whip the Herreros.
Considering the number of times we've
had to scare the Saltan, wouldn't it be
cheaper just to send, him a photograph
of our battleships?
Five French girls wearing corsets en
tered a walking race against five Ger
man girls wearing no corsets. Of course,
the belles Francaises gave out when the
pinch came.
Another news item from Russia "The
battleship Slava was accidentally torpe
doed.' 'If the Russians want to make their
navy last they should put all their ships
in rubber " drydocks and all their officers
in padded cells.
" It will be Ho! for the Races tomorrow,
but don't forget this little tip from the
Seattle Argus:
Another "old adaje" proven untrue. Money
does not always make the mare go.- The thou
sands which have been placed on many of the
favorites at the Meadows didn't make them go
worth a cent.
For some time the Chicago Journal ha3
been running a "daily gook," as a take
off upon the "idiotorlal page" of the Chi
cago American. Lately the Journal has
been veering round to the same kind of
mental food for its readers, and if it be
comes more Americanesque, It may easily
put its own "Idiotorlal" in the comic col
umn and run tne "uany gooit - as its own
emission of thought.
Man is accustomed to have woman
stand in the spot-light. He never becomes
sweet boy graduate or a June bride
groom, but mtnerto ne tnougnt ne nau
some show in the gloaming, when the
lights are dim and low, and there Is a
chance to get out of the public gaze. But
lo! even this is to be taken away from
him. If he Is caught in the south Plaza
Block It will be a case of "off to coop
with the cop." Poor man! ho is born to
trouble a3 the sparks fly upward, and ho
may thank his stars that he's not made
to keep within the Arctic Circle, so that
woman may have an undisturbed prome
nade In the temperate and tropic zones.
comfort of the family necessarily de
pends, a thriftlessness that ignores the
domestic duties, causes children to suf
fer from neglect and results In personal
untidiness, the effect of which is to ren
der Its victim unlovely as a woman,
wife and mother, a scandal to her
thrifty neighbors and a reproach to her
bringing up
Examples of this form of mania are".
unfortunately, not uncommon. The
writer recalls one of these a well-
known and in other respects a most es
be a mere instrument and tool of the- , ,t f thl hl . blInd to
first, idr. ixoot, it seems to us, wuiu-
olates an approximate merging of the
Vice-Presidency into a sort of ranking
Cabinet officer, in harmony with the
Administration in all things and pre
pared to preserve its policy unbroken
in the event of his succession to power.
That Mr. Root thoroughly under
stands this is shown by his reference to
the frequent occasions when -the Vice-
Presidential nomination has been util
ized for a mere coup of political expe-
all he has done, unsympathetic with his
point of view and interested in him
only as they may grind out of him a
few cents more for a few hours less.
Bitterness is engendered in the work-
ingman, on the other hand, as he re
alizes how very little his hopes and am
bitions and desires as a human being
are accounted In the counting-room of
the stockyards or the palaces along the
boulevard. How often are his appeals
for a fair discussion of differences dls-
tlmable woman, whom the reading dlency. The practice is not so senseless missea cavalierly with "Nothing to ar-
hablt reduced to a nervous slattern
while yet In the prime of her years. The
fond wife of a patient husband, the
mother of half a dozen or more sons
and daughters, witty, vivacious, well
or mischievous as .Mr. Root seems to
think, for there Is real merit In Its op
erations. The Cabinet Is chosen by the
President himself, with a view to Its
nfM-feet sunDort of his policies. The
informed she would lounge all day long Vice-President Is not, but is usually put
in a soiled wrapper upon a grimy, dls- j
ordered couch, her feet in slippers, her
hair uncombed, a book In her hand,
perfectly oblivious to the fact that her
appearance was untidy, her children as
unkempt as herself, and the household
economies at loose ends in every de
partment of the home. Her mania ex
tended no farther than this, and those
'who knew her Intimately loved her In
spite of the pernicious reading habit
that possessed her, but who can wonder
that the children who went out of this
home did not care to return to It for
Thanksgiving reunions or Christmas
festivities? Or that their love for their
mother was not attended by admira
tion for her womanly qualities? She
possessed many such qualities, for she
was kind, forbearing and gentle, did
not spare herself In sickness, and
shared the "poverty which in times of
stress befell the household with cour
age and without complaining; but
through all she clung and still cllngs,-a
listless slattern, to books, periodicals,
novels anything "to read," In season
and out of season, sane upon other sub
jects, but devoid of reason upon this.
When the victim of the reading habit
Is a man-with a family, the domestic
economies suffer quite as severely as
this, though In a different way. - We re
call an example in the case of a young
man who possessed a bright mind of
the voracious stamp. He Inconsider
ately married when quite young a girl
several years younger than himself.
The wife wanted things about the
house made comfortable and attractive,
but cared nothing for books. The com
bination, as the years went on, was a
distressing one. The reading habit
grew and grew upon the husband until
he became practically oblivious to the
wants of his family. While the rail
. fence lasted around their little pasture
lot they had wood for the fireplace, the
rails being carried in, full length, and
burned as they were, one end in the
fire, the other extending out across the
hearth until It was gradually shortened
In the process of combustion. The spec
tacle of a man sitting In the corner,
book in hand, perhaps without his
shoes, a rail thrust Into the open fire
place, one end burning merrily, the
other within easy reach of the mild
maniac, who gently pushed It along as
it was consumed, would nave been a
ludicrous one had it not been for the
restjess, anxious, sometimes scolding
wife and two or three half-clad
children who were victims of the dis
comfort that resulted from his mania.
Another instance is recalled in which
a voracious reader lived in a cabin of
upon the ticket with a view of Insuring
the support f interests which nave
been Ignored In the selection of the
head of the ticket. Arthur, for exam
ple, represented the stalwarts, who
were opposed to Blaine and Garfield.
Stevenson was In many ways the an
tithesis of Cleveland; and Sewall could
by no possibility be conceived as a Cab
inet adviser of Bryan. The Impossibil
ity of Theodore Roosevelt as an ad
viser of William McKlnley Is manifest
to any one who reflects upon the psy
chological transformation of the Ad
ministration from the suave to the
strenuous mood. It Is perfectly certain
that Mr. Roosevelt owes his present
popularity very largely to the fact that
he represented and represents a school
of Republicanism that was dissatisfied
with McKlnley and especially with
Hanna. If he had contented himself
with following In the" steps of the
Hanna regime, instead of proceeding
against the corporations as he has done,
nothing could prevent a Democratic
victory this Fall. The Independence,
the Isolation of the Vice-Presidency, Is
not an unmitigated evil
The office as now bestowed affords us,
in fact, some such repository of inde
pendent power as modern municipal
methods secure in the election of Con
trollers, Treasurers; Auditors or Re
corders By separate popular vote. The
accepted theory is that it Is safest to
Introduce a certain balance or restraint
in the Federal organism, Tather than to
gather every element of power In the
hands of the Chief Executive. Such an
Independent repository is the Senate;
such another is the House; such an
other is the Vice-Pcesidency. Orig
inally, Indeed, the Constitution dis
tinctly contemplated a Vice-President
of different ideas from the President,
inasmuch as the man receiving the sec
ond highest number of votes for Presi
dent in the electoral college became
Vice-President. Thus Jefferson became
Vice-President to Adams, his opponent
for the Presidency. This method was
abandoned, yet the Vice-President was
still vouchsafed a separate election. The
President has no power over him, and
the Senate has no choice, as the House
has. to select Its presiding officer. It
must take the Vice-President.
What Mr. Root says about the benign
and creditable ausplqes of Mr. Fair
banks' nomination Is true; and yet, as
he must know perfectly well, the lnflu
ences that wanted Fairbanks and got
him were precisely not the influences
that wanted Roosevelt. They are trust
Ing today In Fairbanks to achieve In
lthe Administration a conservative and
bltrate"! How often he and his are
disdainfully regarded by the man of
power at his desk or the woman of
fashion from her carriage, equipped
with every device of vulgar ostentation!
How few employers, as they look at the
petitioner before them, .give a thought
to the actual needs of his family, to his
desire to give his children a decent edu
cation, -to his worthy desire to rise in
the world !-
There are those who delight to call us
a Christian nation; yet nothing Is far
ther from the teachings of Christianity
than this selflsh disregard of one for
another. It Is rebuked, not only by the
author of the Golden Rule himself, but
In the pages of Corinthians where
Paul's apotheosis of charity is perhaps
the finest piece of homiletical literature
extant; In John, apostle of ' Love; in
Perer, urging brotherly love and char
ity, aiid In the self-sacrificing counsels
of James. How far the nominal Chris
tians among employers and employed
have departed In these days of bitter
and violent strife in the industrial
world from the Master's gentle com
mands, is not an Indictment of the re
ligion they pretend to follow, but only
indicates how serenely men will hold
professions in diametric opposition to
their practices.
on "How to Develop Harney County."
The entire campaign Is being shame
fully bungled, and the American
public would be justified In de
manding the appointment of a Broad
way stage manager, Belasco being evi
dently the man for the place.
When we leave a play, what do we
remember? Not the brilliant dialogue,
or the powerful plot, but one dramatic
scene. The greatest plays would be
so much jumbled dialogue without the
guiding hand of the stage manager,
and it Is the same when the drama
Is acted with the sky for canopy. Look
at the business of the Three Hundred
at Thermopylae. "The Spartans on the
sea-wet rock sat down and combed
their hair" something like Mrs. Car
ter's powder-puff In the prison scene
of Du Barry. The man at the break
fast table remembers the combs, al
though the glory that was Greece is not
even a faded memory to him. He re
members, too, the boy that stood on the
burning deck, although the thousand
gallant Frenchmen that were blown
sky-high when the Orient exploded
have passed into oblivion.
History, when she does set the stage,
gives a picture that cannot be forgot
ten; but she has unfortunately too
many cares to devote her time to the
work. What does the man at the break
fast table remember, for instance, of
things so recent as 1898? He has a
hazy Idea that Sampson or was It
Schley? licked the Spanish fleet some
where off Cuba, and he remembers that
Dewey did some shooting at Manila.
Hobson, howver, he remembers clearly,
and San Juan Hill and Its Rough Rid
ers. It Is such incidents as tnese tnai
go well with coffee and rolls, and
such Incidents the great neutral Amer
ican 'public has a right to expect In
the Far East. The sooner a stage man
ager Is appointed the better.
INCREASING VOGUE OF THE THOR
OUGHBRED.
During the past twenty years pub
lic Interest In the breeding and racing
of thoroughbred horses has Increased
enormously and this Is largely due to
the efforts of such breeders and sports
men as Pierre Lorlllard, J. B. Haggln,
MR. HAMMOND'S DEVELOPER.
There is a revival of the old rumor
that the Astoria & Columbia River
Railroad will extend Its line down the
coast to the Nehalem or Tillamook. The
principal reason given for this exten
sion Is the tapping of a fine belt of tim-
James R. and Foxhall Keene, John A. ber along the Upper Necanicum, as
and Alfred H. Morris, E. R. Thomas, well as other timbered districts lying
the late Marcus Daly, William C. Whit- farther south. It was the timber re-
ney and a host of other wealthy men. sources of the country which it trav-
Through their untiring efforts the sport- ersed that made the Astoria road a
has been purified and regulated, and profitable enterprise, but incidentally
millions of dollars each year have been ,its construction brought Into existence
paid to breeders for yearlings and two- a passenger traffic of large and steadily
year-oids that were bred in the purple
but had never faced a starter.
Ten years ago, -if $20,000 was paid
for a running horse it was thought that
the man" who had paid that price had
suddenly gone mentally astray, but to
day that much is paid for an untried
yearling. The breeding of thoroughbred
jracers In this country was thought to
have reached Its limit and it was also
believed by veteran breeders and train
ers that the limit .had been reached
Increasing dimensions. It made acces
slble to thousands of Portlanders one of
the finest seaside resorts in the country.
Its extension on down the coast would
open up more of these resorts, at the
same time that it was developing the
timber resources and opening up agri
cultural districts along the line.
The building of this road was one of
the few Industrial enterprises which
have been undertaken in this state
not to take care of a business that was
more? It Is Impossible to foretell. Of
course, as the writer to whom we have
already referred, says in his article,
"the trade of writing is a perfectly re
spectable one. Reporters, space
writers, those who compile useful books
for the market, all have their impor
tance as public servants." These wa
shall have with us always. It is, how
ever, curious to speculate on the state
of affairs that would result should there
cease to be a writing public and the
reading public become once more a fac
tor In the world of letters.
Imagine the many-sounding presses
stilled, and the three novels a day cut
off. Imagine the hundreds of thou
sands of employes in the mills of fic
tion asking for their time-checks, ex
changing the itch for writing for the
itch for reading. What are these le
gions to read? It is possible
that the neglected 1095 novels that
have been turned out each year
for the past decade might be dragged
from the dusty shelves, but It Is to be
feared that the reformed writing pub
lic would be too thoroughly inoculated
with the spirit of modernity. Last
month's book Is as dead as yesterday's
newspaper. Andrew Lang, who Is wont
to give his sportive fancy reign, "At
the Sign of the Ship," in Longman's
Magazine, .suggested in a recent num
ber that old books might be palmed
off upon the public as new. Says Mr.
Lang:
Like the person who lately reviewed ""Wutb.
crlng Heights" eo a new novel, the public
simply does not know what books exist. "Wlrl
the aid of posters and tralnboys, "Tom Jones"
and "Pamela" might bA brought back to the
troneral knowledge and 'admiration. Were
an American capitalist I should begin by fu
riously advertising Mrs. Radclllfe. "The Ital
ian" and "The Romance of the Forest" would
sell like "David Harum" If the public thought
that they were this year's" books. Portraits of
Mrs. Radcllffe (represented by a pretty young
lady with a fringe) and Interviews with Mrs.
Radcllffe would keep up the delusion that she
was not a dead person; for such the public
"has no use." The citizen who lately wrote
to Mr. David Hume to correct an error In hla
history would be easily taken In.
There Is something to be said for this
scheme, and for a time, no doubt, It
would prove successful, yet the re
formed writing public, If its reform
were more than in outward appearance,
would abjure the advertised. Left
without a modern book, the readers
would be forced to open the ancients or
none. Mpst of us, at one time or an
other, have picked up some classic In
sheer desperation, and found to our
surprise that It was more absorbing
than adventures hot from the bat of
the romantic novelist. The reformed
writing public would undoubtedly have
the same experience but speculation is
idle, the millennium Is far away.
The fate of the heroic swimmer who
attempts to save the lives of helpless
and frantic persons who find them
selves in deep water overtook Michael
Riley at Alton, 111., Friday. With seven
little girls who had, with him, inad
vertently stepped from a sandbar on
the Mississippi beach at that place Into
deep water clinging desperately to him,
Riley went down and all were drowned.
This Is the largest number of Summer
bathers yet reported to have been
drowned at one time and place during
this season of many accidents of this
class. The story is a sad one, but It
conveys no note of warning that, had
not already been sounded many times.
At a time when so many thousands of
people are taking chances in the water
the loss of many lives is inevitable.
when $40,000 was paid for Hamburg, but already built up, but for the purpose of
they could not see into the future of
the American-bred racer. Only within
the past week: W. B. Leeds offered J.
R. Ifeene 5100,000 for the unbeaten two-year-old
Sysenby. -These are just a few
of the racers in which small fortunes
are Invested.
The Multnomah Fair Association,
developing something new Evidence
of the wisdom and the enterprise of Its
promoters is now shown in the numer
ous prosperous little towns which have
sprung up along the line, almost from
nothing. The poor excuse for a service
between Astoria a-nd the beach resorts
long ago gave way- to a schedule which
The suffering Inflicted upon livestock
by the packers' and butchers' strike is
simply Indescribable. Crowded, fright
ened, at times wild with thirst, hungry,
panting with the heat one can hardly
conceive of greater animal misery than
is represented in the congested condl
tion of the great stockyards at Chicago,
The fate of the poor brutes Is wretched
enough when speedy dispatch awaits
them at the end of their long, hot, dusty
journey on the cars from the shipping
points on the great ranges to the stock
pens. But wnen aeiay ana aaaitionai
overcrowding awaits them there, their
jrhlch was organized and whici gave made "going "to the beach" a very. at-J mute misery appeals strongly to human
Experience seems to have taught the
ranchman, the camper and the hunter
nothing in the matter of forest flres. To
the north and southeast of us fierce
fires are raging, threatening homes, de
8troylng thousands of feet of valuable
timber and loading the air with smoke,
The fire fiend does not in such cases
take the form of lurid flames, but of
careless settlers applying the torch to
slashings or Inconsiderate campers who
leave smoldering embers of campfire3
to be fanned Into a blaze by evening
winds. For this type of fiend there is
neither prevention nor punishment.
If the City Courfcil listens to the ad
vice of substantial property-owners
who are interested in the matter, there
may yet be two good wooden bridges
built across Sullivan's Gulch by the end
of the present year. The situation of
this bridgeless portion of the city Is ex
asperating in the extreme to business
men or men who are trying to do busi
ness in that section. The dilatory tac
tics that have prevailed in this matter
are Indefensible on any ground of pub
lic policy, and they should be termi
nated and suitable bridges built as soon
as possible.
When tho motorman and the conductor
and most of tho passengers are armed
with "six guns?' who will be daring
enough to hail a Portland street-car after
sunset? The poesesslon of a gun impels
the inexperienced to shoot, and shooting
on Impulse Is likely to result in damage-
to the Innocent bystander. It is not hard
to imagine the motorman taking a pot
shot at some would-be passenger. And
then the conductor will rush to his com
rade's assistance. And those with guns in
the car will have to join in, or what usa
would their guns be? People near Port
land Heights may be expected to report
heavy firing in the distance any evening
now.
If the cable companies had any regard
for the suffering American public they
would refuse any dispatch mentioning a
refugee from Port Arthur. Every person,
from a European official to a Chinese
huckster that Is disgorged upon tha
wharves of Chefoo by a junk Is Inter
viewed and his opinion on the strength
of the fortress cabled all the way to
America. " A Chinaman running aDout
the streets of Port Arthur knows less
about the Russians' chances of holding
out than a newspaper reader in Alblna.
Tho business should be stopped, espe
cially as today's "refugees" report Port
Arthur's garrison to be starving, and to
morrow's will say that the place Is en
tirely unaffected by the siege.
W. Maw, Printer, of Snohomish, Wash.,
publishes a booklet entitled "Conquest,
containing a poem written by James
Lemuel Yager. "Conquest" Is dedicated
to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mary Baker
Eddy, who are, in the author's opinion.
'the two- greatest religious writers and
teachers of this continent." The point
of view of theso verses," says the author,
"13 eternity," and on a printed slip ho
adds, "No other lyric production of tho
age excels this, either in beauty or force."
And all that is asked for the right to pub
lish the verses Is a "reasonable royalty."
And yet the author saws wood, for a
frontispiece shows him, In company with
another sturdy logger, about to tackle a
Snohomish tree. "Conquest" concludes
with these, lines, which show that the
author hears more than the rustle of
leaves In the woods:
Above the power of all events
They move who heed the Voice Divine.
Let billows heave and tempests sweep.
The pestilence o'er dead cities creep.
For them who faithful vigil keep
A friendly light forever shines.
Emergency telephones for use at res
idences where persons are critically ill
and have no regular telephone service
Is a new feature of the telephone busi
ness In some of the Eastern States.
Companies are prepared to install such
service whenever requested to do so by
the attending physician, at a special
rate. This phase of the business will
be duly appreciated by physicians and
nurses, in whose hands, literally speak-
A recent paragraph in this column re
ferred to a Delaware decision tnat lead
pipe, being an Integral part of a house,
was not subject to larceny. The decision
was based upon the English common law,
which applies, It now develops, to fruit
and vegetables in the State of Delaware.
An attorney explains the situation to a
Philadelphia paper In this way:
Suppose you were to go into a watermelon
patch and cut a melon from a growing vino
ing, are not Infrequently the issues of I and carry the melon away. You would not bo
life and death.
Wholesale cremation Is practiced in
order to clear the battlefields of the
Far East of their dead In the shortest
and most sanitary way. This Is wise.
Sentiment cannot stand long before
conditions that menace human life In
the most revolting manner. The fu
neral pyre cannot be lighted too quickly
when from 200 to 1000 bodies of men
killed In battle are exposed to the burn
ing sun.
Judge Parker has relinquished a com
fortable certainty for a harassing un
certainty. He Is no longer Chief Jus
tice of the Court of Appeals for the
State of New York, and he is a long
way off from the Presidency of the'
United States
subject to larceny under the common law.
But If you should become frightened after sev
ering the melon from the vine and should lay
It on the ground and return later and carry it
away, then you could be arraigned for lar
ceny. The fact that you do not remove the
property by a continuous operation changis
the property from realty, not subject to lar
ceny, to personal property, which can
stolen.
This recalls an English decision. A
thief swiped a parcel from a counter and
bolted down the street. The string around
the parcel was uncut and kept reeling out
of the box as the thief ran. When the
man was brought up for trial he was
acquitted on the ground that he had not
severed the connection of the owner and
his property, an essential feature of lar
ceny. Now and then the law, as Mr.
Bumble observed, "Is a hass."
WEXFORD JONES..