THE . STODAY OBEGONIAN, PORTLAND, ABRilr 16, 1Q6o. Entered at the Postofflce at Portland, Or., as second-class matter. SUBSCRIPTION KATES. INVARIABLY IX ADVANCE. CBj Mail or Express.) Dally and Sunday, per year Dally and Sunday, six months o.oo Dally and Sunday, three months Dally and Sunday, per month -. .83 Dally -without Sunday, per year .50 Dally without Sunday, six months 3.00 Dally -without Sunday, three months 1.05 Dally -without Sunday, per month. .... .65 Sunday per year 'JT?H Sunday, lx months - 7$l Sunday, three months . - BY CARRIER. Dally -without Sunday, per -week -15 Daily per week, Sunday Included. .20 THE "WEEKLY OREGONIAN. (Issued Ercry Thursday.) Weekly, per year 1-M TIVV1- tlr montlia .................. ."5 Weekly, three month -50 HOW TO REMIT Send postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE. The S. C. Beekwlth Special Agency New Torki Rooms 43-50 Tribune bulldlns. Chi cago; Rooms 510-512 Tribune building. The Oregonian does not buy poems or stories from Individuals and cannot under take to return any manuscript sent to It with out solicitation. No damps should be In closed for this purpose. KEPT ON SALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postofflce News Co., ITS Dearborn street. Dallas, Tex-Globe News Depot, 260 Main street. Denver Julius Black, Hamilton & Kend rlck, 806-912 Seventeenth street, and Frue nuff Bros., 605 Sixteenth street. Des Moines, la Moses Jacobs, 309 Fifth street. Goldfleld, Ner. C. Malone. Kansas City, Mo. RIcksecker Cigar Co., Ninth and Walnut. Los Angele Harry Drapkln; B. E. Amos, 514 West Seventh street. Minneapolis M. J. Kavanaugh, 50 South Third; L. Regelsburger, 217 First avenue New York City L. Jones fic-co., Asior House. " -CWiiBnd, Cal. W. ,H. Johnston. Four teenth and-FjrankJHi streets. Ogden FT R. Godard and Meyers & Har rop; D. L. Boyle. Omaha Barkalow Bros., 1612 Farnham; Mageath Stationery Co., 130S Farnham; McLaughlin Bros., 246 South 14th. Phoenix, Arix. The Berryhlll News Co. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 429 K street. Salt Lake Salt X.ako News Co., 77 West Second street South. Santa Barbara, Cal. S. Smith. San Diego, Cal. J. Diilard. San Francisco J. K. Cooper & Co., 740 Market street: Foster & Crear, Ferry News Stand; Goldsmith Bros., 23G Sutter; L. E. Lee. Palace Hotel News Stand; F. W. Pitts, 1008 Market: Frank Scott, SO Ellis; N. Wheatley, S3 Stevenson; Hotel St. Francis News Stand. St. Louis, Mo. E. T. Jett Book & News Company, S06 Olive street. Washington, D. C. Ebbit House News Stand. PORTLAND. SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 1903. A FEW GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. Persons styling themselves reformers are always about, and always busy. But for experience with such, superior Intelligence and superior virtue might be expected in them. Surely from their criticisms on the one hand and their professions on the other, you might look for perfectibility. But talk is cheap. These persons are seldom to be taken seriously. Try them and they tail. Sp.much easier is it to And fault with things done by others than to do better yourself. Opposition In politics Is always easj. A test comes when the critic is trans ferred from opposition to office, and re sponsibility begins. And In proportion as the man's weight of character and position In office are eminent and com manding, the responsibility increases In multifold ratio. It Is your light and volatile character that has no doubt of Its own all-sufficiency. It has its schemes of "reform," and before an election It promises all things. Such character is usually estimated at its wortli which Isn't much. Some times, however, it obtains credit, but after short trial the people find it neces sary to go back to old experience. Charlatanry, however, will now and then have Its day. Often it comes in the guise of disinterestedness though its motives are selfish and sordid as possible. It wants to "run the town, for objects of its own. It professes an interest in the public weal which it does not feel at all unless it be conceded that the public weal is synonymous with Its own private 'objects and' de sires. The bearing of which observations here and there, in towns, cities and communities Portland not excepted lies in the application of them. In even' community all such pretensions, in course oi time, una tnelr proper level. A strange anomaly, amounting to a paradox, is often seen in our public life, namely: The opinions at one time or another most popular on the bust lngs are not those which the pubjic. In its heart, desires really to see carried Into effect in administration. Over and over, again and again, this has been observed, through extreme reaction from radical innovation. It is clear that the noblest conservative principle in any state must be intellect accompa nied with Integrity. The possessors of this quality are not the men and women who are everlastingly striving through e"rsational.schemes and methods to get public attention and make it appear that they are "the best people." Gov ernment by those who assume to be 'tb'e best people" is, and always has been, of all government the most intol erable. DISEASE AND CIVILIZATION. . The condition of health, or rather of disease, reported at Tonopah, an active and prosperous mining town of Nevada, with between 2000 and 2500 inhabitants, is a disgrace to an American commu nity. An unnamed disease which is in the nature of pestilence Is ravaging the town, and to it are joined smallpox and other filth diseases which, when they invade orderly communities, are quickly stamped out by Isolation of pa tients and by public sanitation. The first named; or . rather the unnamed. malady is described as "mysterious," though to the sanitary . scientist the cause of the disease can hardly be said to be a mystery, since accompanying the tale of Its prevalence and virulence is the announcement that the sewerage system of Tonopoh is In a frightful con dition and the alkali water is nauseat ing. Intelligent people In all civilized lands recognize the fact that "loaded water' is a carrier of disease. And filth accu mulatlons due to improper drainage are its active breeders. People who hud die together, drink Impure water and permit the existence of sewerage con dltions that are "perfectly frightful' have no right to expect exemption Iroro pestilential diseases or.-to -be surprised Tvhen such diseases ravage their com munity. They are wise who seek to es cape by flight epidemics thus fostered, as it Is the only open avenue of safety. CHANGING TICE LEPARD'S SrOTZ. Can the 'lepard" change his "spotz"? To be .sure he can, and will, if there is anything in it for the leopard. That is the trouble with most reforms no money In them. And spelling reform, most Important of all, has languished because there Is no profit in it for the publishers and other Interested persons. This has been recognized by a devoted resident of North Tarrytown, N. Y., by name G. "W. Wishard, and in a cir cular which has been distributed broad cast over the country he has outlined a plan "To Get the Atoighty Dollar Behind Spelling Beform." In other words, when it is spelled "Spelling Be form," Mr. "Wishard thinks the phonetic system will triumph. The "lepard" will then change its "spotz" (spelling by permission of the reformer). First of all. does the public realize what evils attend the present system, if it can be called a system, of spelling "Five million years are wasted annual ly by irregular spelling," says the pamphlet, a modest estimate that will be approved by the school children who are struggling through the tough,. dough, plough, cough, series of words. Five million years is a lot of time to waste annually. A few weeks of re formed spelling would suffice for the building of the Panama Canal. How ever, the terrors and horrors of the present way of spelling are known to all. How to bring about reform Is the problem. Simplicity itself marks Mr. Wishard's plan. The governments of English-speaking countries should give bounties to publishers who brought out books and periodicals with tho reformed spelling. In three years the entire language -would be remodelled and "the entire cost would not exceed two hundred millions of dollars." If new letters were introduced, alterations would have to be made in typesetting machines, and so forth, "but a billion of dollars wolild put the United States and the British Empire Into a phonetic paradise." A phonetic paradise for a billion glorious prospect. Richmond ' Pearson Hobson estimates that a billion dollars would put the United States Into a naval paradise, so for two billions we could spell in phonetic ecstasy within a ring fence of battleships. Nor -would the billion be loss, for under the pres ent system of spelling fifteen per cent of all books and papers printed In Eng lish is wasted, a loss of from fifteen to twenty millions a year, as near as Mr. "Wishard can calculate. So that in time the spelling billion would be saved. "Young men and young women," says Mr. "Wishard rather uncallantly, it must be confessed "you can hold meet lngs in the schoolhouses, and make the exercises entertaining as well as re formatory. As the sentiment grows stronger you can have gigantic parades, fireworks and torchlight processions that will thoroughly arouse the people." In the mind's eye one sees thousands of marching enthusiasts, phonetic Are works, banners of the "Spellng Leag," bounty-fed publishers a demonstration surpassing that of the revivalists. The nicture seems overdrawn? "We have erred then in saying that the pub He knows the terrors and horrors of the present mode of spelling. Does the public realize that superfluous let ters in our Ensrlish words are filling the Insane asylums and) the penitentiaries? Here are proofs: First a letter to the Newcastle (Eng.) Chronicle; second, an extract from the Toronto Herald: I have a very dear friend In the lunatic asylum. He was anxious to learn, but was easily confused. He had trouble in learn ing spelling and pronunciation. It was so In his spellln'g. reading, geography, history and physiology classes. At length he be came exasperated, and his mind gave way. So he was sent to the insane asylum, jer haps you will say that he went crazy from a weak mind and overstudy; but I believe from the depths of my heart that It was the habit of going against reason In spelling and pronunciation that overthrew his mental balance, and mat, it ungllsu spelling were what It ought to be, it would have built up his rational powers Instead of destroying them. One day as Frank Thomp.on past thru the penitentiary, he saw a "prisoner glance at him and then ask the gara ror privilege to speak. Then the convict reacht forth his hand, with tears In his eyes, and said: "How do yu do. Frank? Don't yu remember yur old seatmate, Tom Jones? Yu new I got tangld' up In spellng, and teacher scolded til I lost oatience. curst the old book and him too. He overheard me. yu no. and beat me so that I left scop!. That began my down ward career. I went to a distant county, and fell into evil company. I went from bad to wors. One night several of us went on a raid. One poor felo was klld. They threw the blame on me. I was sent here for life. Get the dollar behind spelling re form at once, and induce the "lepard" to change his "spotz". Begin the ac cumulation of the necessary billion, ;and keep the asylums and jails empty. Spel as you pleez, but do not spel "laf" fo netikaly as "ha-ha!" WHERE WEALTH COMES EASY. The most effective piece of advertis ing ever Issued by the Harriman sys tem is a small folder containing 151 letters from farmers living along the lmes of the Southern Pacific and O. R. & N. in Oregon, "Washington and Idaho. The special value of this literature lies in the fact that It is all plain, homely, unembellished history of the rewarded labors of ..farmers, fruitgrowers, stock men and other workers In the agricul tural, field. Names, addresses and photos are given, establishing beyond all doubt the authenticity of the testi mony offered, and there are detailed statements alike from wheat kings farming many sections of land, and from the humble fruitgrower with his five-acre patch. These little tales of real life bear strong evidence that there are other more pleasant and less risky roads to wealth than through speculation and) Its attendant evils. In one of these letters we read of a man who grows from 30, 000 to 40.000 bushels of wheat per year and Is owner of-a 3500-acre stock ranch in the beautiful Grand Ronde Valley. This man graduated from "Willamette University in 1889, and for a few years taught school before purchasing the original 160 acres from which his for tune grew. Henry Treede, of Fairfield, "Wash., began In 1885 with a 160-acre farm, and now owns 850 acres and Is worth $55,000. Frank H. "Wilson, of lone. Or., landed in "Walla "Walla In 1880 with but ?20 capital, and began work at $1 per day. He now owns 3320 acres .of land easily worth 545,000, and is clearing over 54000 per year.net profit , August Paasch came to Hood River twelve years ago with $500 capital, which he has since increased' to $12,000 by fruitgrowing. Seavey Bros., of Eu gene, last year cleared $15,800 from 100 acres of hops, and in 1903 the net profit on the same, yard was $15,860. So on through the list of 161 farmers. All tell the same glowing tale of prosperity, and all are loud in their praises' of the land that has done so much -for them. Practically all of these successful xarm- ers, as well as thousands or otners. many of whom could make even more favorable showings, began with noth ing, and owe much of their prosperity to cheap lands obtainable before the railroad came and cheap freights that followed Its completion. "With this wonderful record before them. It seems all the more remarkable that the Harriman system has for so many years neglected many other sec tions that, provided with equally good shipping facilities, could produce re sults equal to any attained In the terri tory now served by the lines of that system. All through Central Oregon, the "Wallowa and the Nehalem are thou sands of settlers who have been wait ing for years for a railroad to enable them to reach a market. .Their lands are practically worthless until there Is a railroad, but, with the completion of one, there would come out a traffic that would yield rich -returns to both pro ducer and railroad. ' VETERANS OF THE STAGE. Two grand old men of the American stage are rapidly nearlng the end of life's drama. So close indeed are they to the borders of the unknown that the last curtain may be rung down, on one or both of them before these lines are read. Down In the sunny Southland, where Nature Is alwa'ys kind to the aged and Infirm, Joseph Jefferson, full of years and honors, Is waiting the final summons, and at a "one-night sta'nd" iri Ontario, where he was forced to pause suddenly In his life work, J. H. Stoddart. loved and revered wher ever footlights shine, lies unconscious in the shadow of death.) Joseph Jeffer son was born in Philadelphia In Febru ary, 1829, and first appeared on the stage at the age of three years. He be gan starring In the latter part of the 50s, and has been continuously before the publie since that time, his most notable success being made as Rip Van "Winkle. ' Mr. Stoddart was born in England in 1827. His pronounced success came much later in life than that of Jeffer son. In fact, not until he was past 70 did he appear as a star, although for more than forty years previously he had been playing to' American audiences and was recognized as an actor of great merit and a man of irreproachable character. Jefferson, from his baby hood appearance on the stage until his enforced retirement, had rounded out nearly three-quarters of a century be hind the footlights, while Stoddart has been there for nearly seventy years. These men began life as strolling play ers at a time when blue laws and sim ilar echoes of the era of witchburnlng and other inquisitions of earlier days placed" the ban on all stage amuse ments and classed actors very low in the scale of humanity. Out of this atmosphere of supersti tion, tradition and bigotry, Jefferson, Stoddart, dear old Mrs. Gilbert, who was laid to rest a few weeks ago, and hundreds of other less Important actors and actresses have' lifted the profession until today the death of either of these grand old Nestors of their calling will cause a pang of genuine sorrow in the hearts of millions of people in all walks of life. "Wickedness, crime and degra dation can be found in all professions and among all people. There are Im moral plays and immoral players, just as occasionally we find Immoral minis ters of the gospel. But we no longer live in the medieval ages of Intolerance, and no profession Is maligned ' because of the imperfections or misdeeds of some of its individual members. The good accomplished by Jefferson and Stoddart extended far above and beyond the effect ol! the clean, whole some plays with which they enter tained and pleased the public Their every-day lives were a continual refu tation of the oft-repeated charge that the Influences of the theater were such as to render it impossible for one to lead an upright life. "With a full reali zation of their individual responsibility in the matter, they proved to the public that the stage was what actors made it, the influences surrounding or ema nating from it being good or evil in ac cordance with the life and character of those most concerned. It has been several years since Jo seph Jefferson visited the Pacific Coast, but it was only a few weeks ago that the venerable Stoddart, In his wonder ful Interpretation of Ian MacLaren's great character, Lachlan Campbell, played his last engagement In this city. It was a clean, wholesome play, and the moral it carried and the Intense manner In which Mr. Stoddart present ed it, will linger long In the minds df all who enjoyed that last evening with a great actor and a good man. Jeffer son and Stoddart have played well their parts in the great drama of life, and theater-goers as well as the children of the stage which they have done so much to elevate, will feel a keen regret now that the footlights pale and the curtain falls. ' - THE GOOD HOUSEWIFE ABROAD. If the good women representing the housekeepers and domestic scientists of Portland succeed in causing the mar kets of the city to be cleaned and kept clean, they will establish for them selves a right to the title of municipal as well as domestic housekeepers of a high grade or efficiency. There are some things that women can do better than men, as the late crusade against filthy markets in this city fully demon strates. A man, even If he were a sal aried food Inspector, would not be like ly to notice, while awaiting his turn to be served, that the grocer's clerk used his hand, now as a ladle in the pickle or sauerkraut barrel, again as a hook with which to fish salt salmon out of the brine, and still again as a lifter for a roll of butter, without' washing the ready member vbetween the various uses to which it was put.' Nor "would he be likely to follow his nose into a back room and at its behest uncover barrels and boxes in the effort to locate a stench that betokened lurking rotten ness behind the scenes. But we may safely trust women, when they once get their noses in the air, to detect what should be detected in garnered and hid den filth In the market-places. A woman on the City Board of Health has demonstrated the value of woman's work In sanitary lines, though the test is hardly a fair one of what women could do in this capacity, since she stands one to three on this board. A woman upon the School Board has proved the value of woman's work in another line of service, though here she is but one to five a numerical handicap that may be readily, appreciated by all who have ever worked with a hopeless minority. And now women have dem onstrated their ability to do effective work in the wider field of municipal housekeeping. ' -If ever the - time .'comes wh'enltr.Is found necessary to have a-.clty food in spector in order to preserve the public health and the good name of Portland, the appointee may well be a woman one who has been a practical bousewife until graduated by time from that of fice, and who is "possessed of a full quota of that Invaluable asset, known as common sense. In the meantime, let the' women who have called public attention to the filthy market-places that abound In the city be encouraged to continue the work so bravely begun, to the end that the "peck of dirt" that tradition has allot ted as the portion which each Individ ual must swallow during the term of his natural life, may not be taken in doses so heavy, and in quality so vile as to be a menace to health and even to life itself. Let the allotted measure be "clean dirt" In the sense that it is not filth, and be as evenly distributed over the years as possible. MODERATION IN ASKING. The one thing that will delay growth of this city and state, if suffered to spread, is the too-common fear of being left behind' In the race to sell to advan tage. This danger is real and pressing. "Whether it takes the shape of with drawing city property from market, which should enter Into a plan of gen eral district Improvement, to hold up buyers for an unattainable increase, or, J in case of farms, adding to prices be yond all reason, the results will be alike to prevent sales, and obstruct progress. There Is progress upward in value of city property which Is rational and In plain sight. It rests on our steady growth In population, which, again, is the outcome of Portland's lo cation, industries and possibilities. "When, In spite of housebuilding in all directions, newcomers have to hunt long and perseverlngly for a residence, when old-established enterprises are growing and new opportunities are sought in all departments, when the area of concen trated business in the heart of the city is overrunning its boundaries, and resi dence streetsand blocks are being con verted into trading streets and stores, the rise in prices of accessible ground Is certain and needs no comment. But this Increase has natural limits. Port land. Is neither New York nor Chicago, not even San Francisco, at present, though some of our property-owners seem to be acting on such, a notion. In the case of farm lands other rea sonings come into play. The first is that the owner's Idea of. the value of his place to him is apt to be far ahead of its intrinsic worth. If he has had the farm for year's past, and has put into its Improvement his own labor and forethought, Jie 'fancies there must be a special value in the strokes of his ax, grubhoe and crosscut saw. He looks across orchard and farming land, and sees the brush and stumps which have, by slow degrees, disappeared. The neat farmhouse of today means more to him than so many thousand feet of lumber. He values it as it was planned for and saved for, and by slow degrees took form and shape. The orchard trees now in sheeted bloom, with the promise of the wealth of Autumn, stand for more than so many apple trees at $15 a thousand, with five years' growth on them all. The fenced fields In growing clover and timothy, now shut up till hay time comes, stand to him for months -or years of clearing. So, in short, the farm, has groy,n almost into part, of himself.-Therefore - such- an owner, when he has made up his mind. ivith much hesitation, that the time to sell is now, in this year of heavy immi gration, cannot bring himself to set a price on It on strict business grounds. But the buyer sees, or should see,, the farm as it compares with enough oth ers to have a reason to him for every dollar of Its price. The other class of farms for sale are those bought in re cent years or months at what was then considered bargain prices, and this owner seeks to make his profit, turn his money over and seek fresh fields and pastures new. In adding a large per cent to what he gave, this man thinks he must satisfy his own notion of the profit due to his buying judgment. Surely both these men are right, within fair limits. The point is that when fancy prices are set, however naturally the owner can reconcile his reason to his demand, the new buyer sees with his own mind and appraises with his own judgment. He first inquires Into values of sur rounding lands and farms. He marks distance from town, depot, postofllce, school and trading point. He learns the product and yield of the farm as it is and as it may be in his hands, and estimates what profit the purchase money so invested must produce. And unless his way Is clear he refuses the offer and seeks elsewhere. Often, how ever, the buyer falls In love with the place. Then hard business takes a back seat. It is never lost time to impress on the Oregon farmer that neatness and beauty, paint on the house, flowers and grass In the garden, a gate that fastens, a road to house and barn over which one can walk dryshod even after a shower of Oregon rain, ofttlmes mean many a dollar in the pocket. But after all, the main point is not to try to get rich too quick and In patience to pos sess the soul. THE VICTORY OVER DIPHTHERIA The triumphs of peace we are told are greater than those of war. Nor Is it less true that the battles of peace are often waged with a determination as grim as that which has character lsed the battles of the greatest wars In history. There is this essential differ ence, however. The great battles of peace are waged to save human life those of war to destroy it. At the head of scientists who wage the wars of peace for the relief of suf fering and protection of human life stands the name of Louis PaBteur. His name represents the very strategy of science, and his triumph, the conquest of some of the most deadly diseases which menace human life. "An epic sower of ideas," as he is characterized by Arthur E. McFarlane in an article In "Medical Miracles," in a late number of the Saturday Evening Post, he has scattered the seeds of knowledge broad cast upon the battlefield of life and they have taken root, blossomed and borne fair fruitage. A typical Pasteurlan was a certain Dr. Klebs, who discovered in 1883 the specific microbe of diphtheria. He found It Jn numbers under the peculiar "false membranes" that so swiftly form In the throat and horribly choke the patient But in company, with this microbe there were many others, and to determine which of these was the arch mischief-maker, Pasteur showed how it might be "cultivated" and test ed. Eleven years of experimenting at .lengthigave the world a diphtheria rem cdy. llsjwas, in th . fXhlsjvas in the. last months of "189 The story Is a long one. It Is full of partial failures, but through It gleams a steady purpose, and from the first it was lighted by hope. The total per centage of losses from this disease had been 24& per cent. "When finally, after all of these years of labor and research, a serum "was produced and applied to patients In the hospitals, he average of losses fell rapidly to between 12 and 15 per cent. For Paris in recent years this has meant a saving of 1500 children annually. It has meant almost as much for New York, and much more for St. Petersburg and Moscow. Not only In the crowdedVtenement districts of great cities, in hospitals and in the smaller urban communities, has this record of lifesavlng been made. It has extended to towns and coun try places, wherever intelligent repre sentatives of medical science are found. "We no longer see families in which, diphtheria passes mercilessly from one child to another, giving death a vic tim in every successive patient. "When one child in a family or school has taken the disease, the alert physician immediately gives the preventive treat ment to all the others and- the menace passes. The stricken one Is treated and the chances are very largely In favor qf complete recovery. i And this is only one of the triumphs of peace. The records of medical and surgical science abound in them. And who shall undertake to say that they are not more satisfying to mankind In the truest sense than are many of the great victories the cost of which was a multitude of human lives? New triumphs for the irrlgatlonists continue to crop up. "Wenatchee, "Wash., is building a fruit cannery that will give employment to 100 hands, and $20,000 worth of the pack has already been sold. The fruit Industry center ing around "Wenatchee owes its exist ence to the Irrlgatlonists, and from the original project near the Big Bend me tropolis numerous similar enterprises have radiated until now the aggregate value of the fruit produced on the irri gated lands is an immense sum and gives profitable employment to many thousand people. The time is rapidly approaching when the irrigated lands of Oregon and "Washington will turn off a fruit crop exceeding in value that of the wheat which made these states fa mous. A large tract of wheat land near Du- fur has just been sold for $15 per acre. This Is the highest price yet paid for land In that part of Wasco County, and the Increased value is'due to the fact that a railroad will soon enable farmers to reach the market with their wheat without making a long and expensive haul by wagon. "Wherever railroads have "extended their lines property val ues have immediately 'advanced In the territory affected, and a great increase in traffic has followed. Large tracts of land In Central Oregon, which are now unsalable at $10 per acre and less, will be selling at prices corresponding to those paid in "Wasco County as soon as a railroad makes them tributary to the outside markets. The Oregonian is asked if it is "really opposed to municipal control of public utilities." This question. In view of its remarks on the Chicago election. The Oregonian must be excused for the present. It doesn't know.- The term public utilities" Itself requires deflni tlon. If we are to have municipal or state control of public utilities, The Oregonian knows no public utilities su perior to those of supply of bread, meat and clothing to those who need1 them. And of course all need them. Socialism would take possession of all the means of production and distribution, and do the whole business. A start has been made at Chicago. But The Oregonian wyi wait. David Morgan, who died at Astoria Thursday, was for more than a quar ter of a century a conspicuous figure in the salmon Industry, not only on the Columbia River, but In Alaska. He lived to see the rise and decline of the industry, but, like many others who engaged in the business, he overeat! mated the length of that period known as the "golden age" of the Industry, and died a poor man. He was a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman of the old school, and his death will be noted1 with regret by a large number of the younger generation of salmon kings and their employes. Montana priests have received a re quest from the head of the church In that state asking them to pray for rain Members of the congregations have also been asked to join In the prayers. Thus does history repeat Itself, for, long be fore the coming of the white men, the Indian medicine men offered up suppli cations for rain, more buffalo, or any thing that 4hey stood in need of. The Indians, according to some creeds, were not entitled to classification with the Christians, but it is not on record that their Great Spirit was ever unmindful of their prayers. Shooting a Mexican Is not an expen sive diversion when the man behind the gun wears the uniform of a United States soldier. Our Government has just settled with the Mexican author! ties for the wounding of Eugolio Zam brano, a Mexican, who is to receive $500 for mental and physical agony suffered In connection with the incident. The American soldier who fired the shot es caped, and the money was paid because the authorities were not sufficiently dill- gent in endeavoring to apprehend him Rain has come to the rescue of early gardens, and all growing things, to the relief of dwellers and business men on dusty streets and to the general re freshing of all Oregonians. Not that we have had a long dry spell, since less than two weeks ago the rain fell in heavy showers intermittently for number of days, but the need of moist ure was felt' and with its coming Ore gon is herself again. Judging from the quality of some of old John L. Sullivan's recent literature, we should say that he .is a deal more convincing with his pen than with his fists. The great battle between the Bus sian and Japanese fleets Is already rag lng on the front pages of the crimson journals. ' Anyhow, the contractors have had enough consideration for the taxpayer not to Insist on payment In advance. The epidemic at Tonopah has at least demonstrated that there- is one thing there that-anybody can get. ' NOTE AND COMMENT. A Promising Pupil. "Please help me, you nations," says -China. "Who aro full up of hustle and go, Tou've Impressed me at last with the lesson That I'm old and decrepit and alow.. .1 have dwelt here for ages unnumbered And drowsed the dull centuries, through, But now I mu hustle and worry, For I want to be, civilized,, too. "So come, you industrial nations. And teach me the dollar to grab; Instruct .me in managing sweatshop?. And teach me to strike and to stab. There are methods of squeezing the money From the'many. to pleasure the few Some I know, but teach ma the others. For I want to: be civilized, too. "And you nations that call yourselves Chris tian. Won't you please pay some heed to my plaint? Oh, prosper your puritan missions. Whose Incomes are blameless of taint. The men that profess your religion Speak sweetly whatever they do! So part for me preeept and practice; For I want to be civilized, too. And most do I peek an Instructor Familiar with powder and shell. For you Christians I know only honor The folk that can butcher as well. So sell me your suns and torpedoes. And teach me to murder like you; Henceforward 111 bully and slaughter. For I want to be civilized, loo." Most every man that has ever navi gated the "Willamette aboard the Al bina ferry is busy telling what Ro- jestvensky ought to do. Another sign of Summer: the Sher iffs deputy who holds the fort In the "Warwick Saloon now sits, on a crack er-box outside the door. , The "jweet o the year" Bock beer I herel Oh this Is bliss. To lessen the stock J Or Bock! Sullivan and Mitchell to fight? Can't some one-open the graves of Heenan and Sayers? Ambassador Porter is making a lot of fuss over a. dead Jones, Aren't there lots of live ones in the great family? The antls find another blot upon colonial government in the Indian earthquakes. It is suggested by the Telegram that Dr. Large, of Forest Grove, would be a great "birth insurance agent. Judg lug from his past record, we Incline to the opinion that Dr. Large would bust the company in a month. The Seattle Argus remarks that "it must be easy to' be a Christian when one lives at the "Washington and trav els around the country on Pullman trains." It would take a bigger bribe than that to corrupt some antl-Chris- tians. A. lad was recently refused a job as office boy in New York because he wrote too cood a hand, according to the New York Press. "It is a ledger hand," remarked the merchant, "and you will never rise above the level of a bookkeeper." The Indianapolis News reprints the item under the heading, Straitlaced by the Public .Schools." About every six months there is a howl that tho miblic schools don't teach writing or any such useful accom Dlishments. "What will satisfy the people? One would think that in writ ing and spelling the best possible course would be to make each pupil as straitlaced as could be. Perhaps if man had no real pockets in his clothes he might bo as resourceful as woman in finding irregular pockets. If man wore bulging sleeves with tight waistbands, it might occur to him that the bulging part would be a safe recep tacle for a purse or a handkerchief, but we doubt if lie would prove capable of re tracting his hand and letting the purse drop into the palm of ills other hand. A showman in Abilene. Kan., adver tises: "Wanted A competent lady sten ographer; must be young and good-look ing and of a cheerful disposition." As the Kansas City Journal remarks, ho makes no bones about expressing his preference. But we should like to bet that the showman is a bachelor. "Why do people, like to see eggs being fried on the stage? It would be easy to find a kitchen where one might see oggs being fried in greater quantities, and probably in a more satisfactory manner, but no one would dream of applauding a cook for such simple work. When eggs bubble nnd bacon frizzles in a play, how ever, it is quite a different matter, and it makes one think a little drama-comedy or tragedy (?f showing the preparation of an entire dinner would prove a great popular success. The Clam and the Clammer. There once was a clam and a clammer, And each had a terrible stammer; And vwhen they were riled. It would make people wild The clamor of the clam or of the clammer. The only tips worth taking are on as paragus. Seattle's City Council will' be asked to create the position of Tree Warden. Aren't the trees safe in Seattle streets? Dr. Chapman was none too early. Messrs. Frederick A. Stokes & Co. an nounce in one of their bulletins that there is one Buster Brown book that they do not publish, reviews of-which have re cently appeared in the English periodicals. This is "The Life and Times of General Sir James Browne, R. E., K. C. B.. K. C. S. T. (Buster Browne)," by General J. J. McLeod Innes, R. E., V. C. Up In Seattle a parrot scared away a burglar. The bird can't have beon there long or it would have been accustomed to Seattle people. WEX JONES. Care Required in Banks. Philadelphia Public Ledger. A stranger came Into an Augusta bank one day and presented a. check, for which he wanted the equivalent in cash. "Have to be Identified." said the teller, The stranger took a bunch otejiters from his pocket, all addressed.tpftfie' same name as that on the check. The teller shook his head. The man thought a minute, and pulled out his watch, which bore the name on Jts!nside cover. The teller, merely glancing at It, said: "That won't do." The man dug into Ills pockets and found one - of those "If-I-should-dle-tonlght-please-notlfy-my-wife" cards, and called the teller's attention to the description, which fitted to a T.- "Those things don't .prove anything," he said. "We have got to have the word of a man that we know." "But, man. I've given you an identifi cation that would convict me of murder In any court In the land." "That's probably very true," responded the teller, patiently, "but In matters con nected with the bank we, have to be more careful;" CONVINCE MAN AGAINST HIS' WILL It would be Interesting to know how Count Oyama views his failure to gobblo up Kuropatkin. Does he believe the fault lies with himself or with someone else? Did the original plans miscarry or were they themselves faulty? What are his views' of Nogi and'Kufokl. who lead, the enveloping movements? Did they do all that was possible to be done or did they fall short of what could and should have been done? .Lee, as we know, took upon himself all blame for the failure of Pick ett's charge, as Grant took all blame for the bloody error of Cold Harbor. Hut military annals show a certain order of mind which, being at the beginning seized with some grand conception, whoae execution they never attain, considers that the fault lies wholly with others who failed to do their duty. Isapolcon never would admit that he was falrly whlpped at Waterloo. He considered that he was beaten by a fluke, and to his dy ing day argued that he should have driven Wellington, into the forest of Soigines. There is a campaign of our Civil War which suggests these" interesting ques tions. It is Sherman's failure to gobble up Joa Johnston at the beginning of his campaign for the capture of Atlanta. Sherman planned this first move against Johnston. The grandeur of It struck him and he never got over the Idea that It ought to have succeeded. And further more, he had a clear Idea of just where the blame lay that it did not succeed. The problem was this. When the timo came to open the campaign. May 1. 1S54. Sherman's- forces lay a little south of Chattanooga and comprised the Army of the Tennessee, 23,000 men. under McPhar son: the Army of the Cumberland, 60.0M men. under Thomas, and the Army of tho Ohio, 10,000 men. under Schoneld; Con fronting him was Joe Johnston, with 65.000 men. strongly .fortified at Dalton. a town on the railroad leading between Chntta- nooga and Atlanta. Some i miles down the railroad in Johnston's rear was tho town of Resaca, and opposite this town to the eastward was a gap in the moun tains through which flowed the waters of Snake Creek- At this time Johnston did not know Sherman as an independent commander, nor did he appreciate his method of fighting. Johnston expected to be attacked in his front. Now Sherman in his whole career made just two as saults on works one at Haynes Bluff under orders and the other at Kenesaw Mountain, which latter was made more aa an experiment. Jn reality Sherman began the first of those flanking movements which constitute the most prominent fea ture of the Atlanta campaign. Sherman sent McPherson through the Snake Creek gap with orders to throw himself astride the railroad at Resaca. while lie with Thomas and Schofleld wan to strike Johnston at Dalton the Con federate General would thus be between the upper and nether mill stone of his numerically superior foe. Ten years after. In writing his memoirs. Shermas imagination kindled at the prospect- The plan was so grand in conception, so per fect in theory, that he could not bellcvo that it failed except through a blunder. Thus he expressed himself: "Such an op portunity does not occur but once in a single life, but at the critical moment McPherson seems to have been a little timid." Here. then, we have Sherman. explanation of his failure to capture Joe Johnston Mcpherson's timidity. Is Sherman right? Will this be the ver dict of history? Now. no view of the question Is at all accurate which fails to take'into account the personal character istics of the opposing commander. In this way campaigns should bo planned. Leo always did this. His maneuvering just prior to Antietam and his strategy at Chancelfcrsvllle was the sheerest mad nes.?. unless he had accurately gauged the mental make-up of the Union command ers. And fo the ascertainment of what Johnston himself would have done had he .found McPhorspn astride the railroad at Resaca becomes Important. In the first place, let it be remembered that It is now universally conceded that Joe Johnston Is the soldier of the Confederacy who ranks next to Lee in ability. General Grant was once asked whom he considered the Krcat ost of the rebel Generals. He did not answer tho question directly, but said, "I always felt more uneasy when I knew Joe Johnston was in my front." Johnston way not only resourceful, tactful, crafty, brilliant In his military methods, but ho was a hard hitter, a fierce lighter. John ston has told us what he would have done had he found McPherson astride the rail road at Resaca. "I would," he said, "on letting go my hold on Dalton. have thrown my whole army on McPherson and crushed him" Can there be any doubt that he would have done so? What could McPherson. with 25.C0O men. have done toward holding in check Johnston, with his 63.000? John ston's position at Dalton, of course, be came untenable. He had to retreat, and McPherson stepped aside and let him go. In one particular Sherman was rl;ht. Such an opportunity to capture a whole army never occurred again during th war. except, of course, at the end. There was a mistake, however. In Sherman's plan. He should have sent "the Rock of Chlckamauga" with his 60.000 men through Shake Creek prap. Johnston would thushave had 40.000 in his front and 60.000 in his rear and the crushing business would not have been so easy. In truth, history will vindicate McPher son's finish at Resaca. Will It also ex cuse NokI and Kuroki for not getting across Kuropatkin's path behind Muk den? And will Oyama always think, not withstanding, that his enveloping lieu tenants were a little bit slow? Land Fraud Cases. r Eugone Guard. Some of the organs of the Oregon kind timber trust' Insist that The Oregonian has caused indictments to be returned against a lot of Innocent men in the land fraud trials. The Oregonian has given the news Just as any reputable paper of good standing, that Is not "controlled.' should do. The statement that The Oregonlan"3 hatred for Mitchell, Mays, Brownell. Her Mann, Williamson. Booth et al.. caused these wholesale Indictments to be brought Is absurdly ridiculous. The Inference left by such a statement Is that the President and the others who co-operate with him are scoundrels of the deepest dye. If the parties indicted aro not guilty, then let them ask for and obtain a speedy trial. If Innocent, they have noth ing to fear, and Instead of trying to es cape trial on technical grounds or throw ing impediments In the way, they had better waive these questions and sottle the matter at once. If lnnocont. It would be impossible to convict, and the indicted men would bo much better off cloared than to have this dark cloud hanging over them. No one could doubt that a fair trial would be had. The statement or Insinuation " that the President. Judge Bellinger, Prosecuting Attorney Heney, the jurors, witnesses and others concerned are not honest, that The Oregonian has control of all these individuals, so to speak, and that they must do the bidding of that paper Is a compliment to the Influence of that paper that is not deserved, and the own er of the fertile brain which originatea such a story should be placed in the In sane asylum before bis mind wanders too , farl Degrees of Loveliness. 1 Atchison Globe. All women are lovely, but then is a 'difference: butter made by som'e women Is worth: 30 cents a pound, while but ter, made by other women isn't worth anything. Y