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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1907)
6 THE SUNDAY OBEGOXIAX, PORTLAND, APRIL, 7, 1907. SIBSCRIPTION RATES. ETINVAKIABLT IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Daily, Sunday Included, one year $ReO Ially, Sunday Included, six months.... 4!2X Sally. Sunday Included, three months. . 2.25 Dally. Sunday Included, one month 75 Dally, without Sunday, one year S.00 Xallr. without Sunday, six months 3.25 J'ail', without Sunday, three month. . 1.T3 J..: without Sunday, one month 60 Funday, one year 2. Ml Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1.50 Sunday and "Weekly, one year S.50 BY t'AIUUEK. Daily, Sunday Included, one year...... 9.00 Dally, Sunday Included, one month 75 HOW TO REMIT Send postoftTlco money c-rder, express order or personal check on your local hank. Stamps, coin or . currency are at tho sender's rink. Give postofTlce ad dress In full. Including- county and state. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon, PostofTlce tan Second-Class Matter. lO to 14 Pages 1 cent 10 to 2 Pages 2 cents 30 to 44 Pages 3 cents 40 to 60 Pages 4 cents Foreign postage, double rates. IHPORTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage Is not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BTSINESS OFFIC E. The M. C. Berkwltb. Special Agency New Tork. rooms 4S-M) Trlhune building. Chi cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building. KEPT ON 8.M.E. Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postofflee News Co.. 178 Dearborn street. SI. Paul, Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial Station. Denver Hamilton Hendrick, 906-912 Vv-ntecnth street; Pratt Book Store, 1214 nrteenth street; I. Weinsteln; H. P. Han en. Kansas Clly. Mo. Ricksecker Cigar Co., Xlntt, and Walnut. v inn.-.:,, ..lit M. J. Kavanaugh. 50 South Third ; Eagle News Co., corner Tenth and Eleventh; Yoma Nw Co. Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Su perior street. U'anhlngton. n. C. Kbbitt House. Penn sylvania avtuue. Philadelphia, Vm Ryan's Theater Ticket effiee; Kemble. A. P., 3735 Lancaster are Itue; Penn News Co. New York City L, Jones A Co , Astor Wouse; Broadway Theater News Stand. Buffalo, '. Y. "Walter Freer. Oakland. ral. YV. H. Johnson. Four teenth and Franklin, streets; X. "Wheatley; Oakland News Stand; Hale News Co. Ogden D. L. Boyle. W. G. Kind. 114 Tr. enry-fifth street. , Omaha- Barkatow tiros.. Union Station; Magcath Stationery Co! Knrramento, Cat. Sacramento News Co., K street. Salt I.akr Monn Book & Stationery Co.; RosHiifeld & Hansen. I.os Angeles. B. E. Amos, manager seven ttrept wagons. San Hi. l" B. E. Amos. Iing Beach. Cal. B. E. Amos. Pasadena, C'ttl. A. -F.- Hornlng.- l'ort Worth, Tex.Forl Worth Star. San Francisco Foster & Orear, Ferry n-s Stand; Hotel St. Francis -News Stand; 1. Parent: N. Wheatley. (.oldneld, Nev Ixmle Pollin. Kureka, CaJ. Call-Chronicle Agency. Norfolk. V.--KriiEg 4: Gould. Pine Beach, V. W. A. Cosgrovg. PORT I, A NT), SUNDAY, APRIL T. 1007. WITH HIS WORK I N'DONE. Whenta man dies who has completed Ills three score years and ten there Is mourning but no complaint. As head of a family, as a frlemi, as an exemplar of civic Ideals, his death is a loss to be regretted: but It conveys no dishearten ing suggestion of a purpose unfulfilled. fThe plans of life which he laid In his -outh have either succeeded or dofinlte Jy failed. The question of their wisdom 'or folly Is closed, and concerning them 'there can arise no dubious Imaginings Vf what might heve been had not un Hlmcly death intervened. His fame Is established; his public services are rounded and complete. The work of his lay Is done. A new day dawns which requires new hands and other Ideas, and ills departure niakes way for another 'generation whose right to a place In tlioir time Is as valid as his was in the former years. The death of the aged Is ad, but It seems inevitable, and in a world governed like this It is as nor mal as birih. No myth like that of the Harden of lOden Is needed to account for It. because It is an unavoidable re tail! of natural law. Far otherwise does it appear when a man like the late H. W. Goode Is called to his account In the prime of life, ere 'The sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be darkened," in the pride of his strength and the vigor of his ca reer. There is then a sense of power wasted, of blighted hopes and thwarted purposes. We are Ill-resigned to see the runner smitten In his tracks before the end of tho race. The common sen timent which arises in the thoughtful mind at the spectacle of a death like the late Mr. Goody's Is expressed by those furlorn headstones erected here and there In country graveyards, as if In mockery at the ruthless fate or the tdind chance that strikes .down the J'romlse and tho bloom of youth, stones rounded upward for a little way and then broken off roughly. So might a careless artisan ruin his handiwork: so idoth the power that "scars us, makes nd mars us" deal with his creatures, ft ueh deaths move the heart to misgiv Bug: they raise, problems w hich we may 4shun but not solve by saying with the 'preacher that "there Is a time to die." tttnd assuming that no man dies until his appointed time has come. All the 'stems of the lot of man, untimely sieath among the others, may have their dvlace in a plan too large for our com prehension; but a plan which eludes treason and knowledge both is the same o us as if It did not exist. Consola tion -of this sort Is like the Insidious vomfort of opiates which stupefy but Xlo not heal. So far an we can see from the lowly jdane whereon we stand In this life there 1b no plan which untimely death helps to fulfill. Many men are hurried ctway into eternity with tho problems of their lives unsolved, their ambi tions unachieved and their work undone. The poet Keats, when he ;lled, had but struck upon his lyre those first notes of surpassing sweetness whose passionate allurement will go to the end of time a question without an answer. Who shall say that Keats had flnishedhls work when his soul was called to take up Its jour ney to the undiscovered country ? When Byron perished at 37 he had but just found his true voice. He grew stcadlly fmm the time he began to write and his last long poem, '"Don Juan," Is Incom parably his best. Had he lived longer he might have come to stand for the modem world, with lis aspiration and rebellions, as Dante stands for the ago of faith. Strange and almost malig nant appears the destiny that stilled the voices of Byron. Keats and Shelley wit h a world of unuttered melody upon their Hps. Not the least among the happy fortunes, of Tennyson was the length of days which gave him time to deliver his full message to the world. Alexander of Macedon perished with great undertakings teeming In his brain, he is known to us only as a conqueror, a somewhat petty and vul gar species of fame. Had he lived to the age of Grover Cleveland he would slave planted Greek civilization through out Western Asia with roots too deep to be torn up. He would have re deemed the deserts, fortified boundaries guul oi'sauizcd au empire which could have defied Rome and made the mod ern world Hellenic Instead of Latin. His genius had only begun to unfold it self when he died at Babylon, leaving his work at loose ends. Julius Caesar, had he lived even a little longer, would have codified the Roman law, and, ber ing of democratic Instincts, with a po litical genius of the first rank, it is con ceivable that in ieorganizing the em pire he would have introduced repre sentatve" government. Augustus, who stepped Into the place of Julius, with all his cold shrewdness, knew- of noth ing better than Oriental despotism, which he fastened upon the Western world with dry rot in its train. Thus the dagger of Brutus may have delayed the progress of the human race for a thousand years. It seems idle to think that there is either Intelligible plan or purpose in the discouraging list of untimely deaths. To say that the Almighty re moves men from this world In the vigor of their years because he has need of them in heaven Is mere mockery- of rea son. However extensive the territory of heaven may be, it must be densely populated with eminent personages long before this time: while the need of the earth for ability and integrity becomes more crying every day. Undoubtedly this matter, like everything else of which we know, proceeds according to the laws of Nature, Insentient and heedless, which care nothing for man, his feelings or his work. A tree stand ing In the path of a whirlwind is blown down, no matter whether it be a pine pending under the weight of centuries or a sapling of a dozen summers; no matter whether it bear fruit or bitter seeds. Likewise man, forever strug gling with forces of which he knows little, comes one day into the tempest's path and is smitten. There may be a higher reason for his death, but If there is we cannot understand It.- To our finite intelligences the premature cut ting short of human existence must for ever remain a problem and a mystery. MAKE THE GRAFT PROBE DEEP. Tfle Hcney probe In Portland, If it should expose no graft, would harm nobody nor Injure the reputation of the city. But If it should expose graft, the lesson would be of high value, in deter ring men w ho would plunder the people and the people's government. But the prospect does not please some persons. If they do not want an In vestigation, why not? And because The Oregonlan, In Its capacity as a recorder of public doings, has an nounced the plan of Captain K. W. Spencer to raise a fund to bring Hcney here and has printed his declaration that $50,000 can be raised If Heney will consent to come, these persons and their clacquers have said The Orego nlan might not profit from an Investi gation. "Let us ask this estimable and most honorable delrer after fraud," says a newly-started labor organ, referring to The Oregonlan, ' if. In the many dec ades it has been on earth, its hands are entirely clean, and If the same enthu siasm would be displayed if some more antique 'jobs' were to be pried Into, as it is displaying in the gas exposure," and in the plan to uncover municipal corruption In Portland with the Heney probe. Tho Oregonian invites the closest scrutiny of all its acts, however far back. There never was a man or set of men who paid tills paper money or anything else for news or editorial ut terances. No man has ever truthfully or openly said he had knowledge of such transactions. The revenues of this paper have always come from legitimate advertlsments and subscrip tions. In this business it has played no favorites. What pubiic advertising It has printed has been paid for at fair and proper rates, and The Oregonlan has always welcomed investigations of this fact. This newspaper has been built up by long and honorable Indus try of Its proprietors, who have dwelt in this community more than half a century. Not chance nor luck tuts re warded their efforts and given their business its high station. That has been accomplished by unremitting labor of fifty-five years. This record is an object of prldo to the proprietors of The Oregonian, and they modestly think they are entitled to view it as such. The Oregonian lias always taken a foremost part in uncovering graft, and It will keep up this policy as steadfastly as In the past. It will welcome Heney here, or any other competent prose cutor, and will afford him every facil ity in its power to lift the mask of those who may have been robbing the people and their government. It would like to see the graft Investigations turned In every direction and back whatever length of years would be necessary to teach a lesson to would-be grafters In future. Nobody should be favored in an investigation or this ."fort. Neither rank nor power should be spared. . ' - WHAT OF THE PEOn.E Why cannot brethren dwell together In unity? Is there Just reason for this clash between Lane and Thomas Dem ocrats? Or between LockWood and Co hen Republicans?" Or between Mann and Beldlng. Council aspirants? Why is Pat Bruin boosting one of Lane's rivals? Why all this strife between Devlin, Coffey, Zimmerman and Kel laher? But perhnrs it would be strange if ail these things were not. For exam ple, when party patriots toil and sweat to elect a Democratic Mayor and then behold tho offices parceled out to aliens would It not be strange to see them petting the hand that gave them the cold turnout and promising to vote for it again? Or, when young Republicans ambitious to "run" things and to be big men each has a club of his own and the one swallows the other, would it not be strange to see them loving each other? Or when two gentlemen are eager to win a Council seat, not big enough to hold both (as such jobs al ways are), and the one calls the other a servant of the gas graft and the liquor lushers and gets a retort equally loaded, would It not be strange to be hold them in the embrace of brotherly love? Or when a "Philippine Islander," made captain of detectives under civil service rules and feeling sure his Job can't be taken away, resents the su perior authority of a so-called Chief of Police and the frequently enforced mission of raiding nocturnal resorts, would it not be strange to see him ap proving these things with his political Influence? Or when a number of Re publicans, several of them long-time aspirants for the job of Mayor, run counter to each other, would It not be stranger to behold them as Damon and Pythias? Thus analyzed, the troubles seem to be stubborn compounds and difficult to resolve into their originally peaceful elements of jobs, primaries, elections, ballots and patriotism. Behold each of those elements separately and It is an emblem of peace. All brethren have united to create and uphold them, in cluding Mr. U'Ren, yet when Mr. U'Ren is boomed for United States Senator or Governor, there springs up the same stubborn compound, seething and gurg ling with jealousy of lovable breth ren. Attention, gentlemen. Messrs. Thomas and Lane, and Messrs. Coffey, Devlin, Kellaher and Zimmerman, go to It, the people are watching you. Mr. Mann and Mr. Beldlng, show your paces. Mr. Preston and Mr. Storey, step lively there, now. Mr. Bruin, get busy with those thieves out on Nob Hill. Mr. Lockwood and Mr. Cohen, here's wishing success to your two tinged circus. Now, gentlemen, please don't give the people the "little end" of this thing after it shall be all over. Heretofore the rivals have hated each other more than they have loved the people. But you are such an excep tional bunch of patriots (don't blush) that you ought to be able to look to the people's interests first. Besides, Captain Spencer may bring Heney to town. So, for the people's sake, be square and for your own sake be honest. SIGNS ANIJ OMENS. Students of the show windows of book stores are startled every now and then to notice the appearance of a new work on Astrology. This so-called science has no foundation In either fact or rea son, but it seems to preserve a hold on the faith of the world which nothing can shake. When the earth was be lieved to be the center of the universe and the stars created for the exclu sive benefit of mankind there was some show of Justification for hoping or fear ing that our destinies were ruled by their rising and setting. But we know now that our world is but a trivial atom of dust in the gulf of space, and we have not the slightest ground for the belief that the astral bodies are concerned with our lot In any particu lar. Before astronomy had taught us the real facts about the distances and rela tions of the stars, almost everybody be lieved that they determined the for tunes of men. Schiller makes the great Wallenstein stand in abject terror be fore the incantations of an astrologer. Napoleon, though he lived in a more en lightened age and should have known better, thought there was a particular star which presided over his destinies. Kepler, who was a scientist of the first rank," made a great deal of money by casting horoscopes, as It was called, which was really nothing better than pretending to tell fortunes by the stars. What would be thought of the director of the Yerkes or the Lick observatory, should he eke out his Income in such a way? Dickens made beautiful use of the ancient superstition of astrology in his "Child's Dream of a Star," where what was once Implicit faith has be come poetic fancy. In Shakespeare's time -astrology still had respectable standing among the sciences and his plays are full of allu sions to It. Most of his characters ac cepted its dogmas, but "The lean and hungry Casslus" knew better. "The fault." he tells his friend Brutus, "is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings'" ; while the keen and passionate Hotspur, whose Intellect has not received the credit it deserves, ridi culed astrology as he did all the other superstitions of his Welsh kinsman, Glemdower. Though most of us would repel with scorn the slander that we believe In astrology, still we talk about our "lucky stars"; we invoke them with more or less fervor in brief incanta tions. "My stars," is a favorite ejacu lation, which sometimes comes very near to being a prayer. The poets still speak of the "cold stars" and tell us that they sympathize with our good or evil fortune, though perhaps they are no more sincers in these than in most of their other phrases. Sincerity is not one of the most pronounced traits of recent poetry. An eminent Methodist divine has said publicly that two-thirds of the world still believes in witchcraft. His state ment must be modified a little to con vey the exact truth. It would read'bet ter In the form that "Almost everybody believes in some relics of witchcraft." Kew housewives are entirely without traces of it. A bumble bee buzzing on the window pane foretells a visitor. Dropping the dishcloth on the floor has the same prophetic significance. A death In the family is indicated if a bird flies into the house or if a cabbage plant blossoms the first year from the seed. Stockmen abound with supersti tions about the influence of the moon upon fertility. Farmers believe that it affects their crops either favorably or disastrously, according as It waxes or wanes at the time of planting. Rad ishes sow n In the new moon will run to tops; In the third or last quarter they will produce fine roots. Nobody likes to see the new moon over his left shoulder, though this statement must be modified somewhat, for there is a sect who hold that it is fatal to behold the crescent orb over the right. Even more popular than the moon as a fetich Is the horseshoe. Very likely overy man in America, if he would tell the truth, must admit that be dearly loves to find one in the road. Nailed over the door a horseshoe brings good luck. Found and cast away It in vokes evil. In factt with almost every object that has been long used by hu man beings, superstitions of some sort are connected. Whether we would be happier or better without them is a problem which we may speculate upon but cannot sol'e. for they will last long er than we shall. TO RESTORE THE ARMY CANTEEN. The Woman's Canteen Temperance Club now comes forward seeking to undo the mischief wrought through the influence of the most powerful organi zation of women In the land the W. C. T. U. by a movement for the re-establishment of the Army canteen. As stated In the circular sent out. the movement is an interesting and signifi cant one. It was organized by the wives and daughters of Spanish War veterans in Washington, aided by oth ers in sympathy with its- object, among' these being the Army and Navy League, composed of the wives and daughters of Army and Naval officers. The formation of affiliating clubs throughout the country is now proceed ing under the direction of Mrs. W. J. Mitchell, wife of the department com mander of the District of Columbia, Spanish War Veterans. .The work is in the Interest of sol diers. It is indorsed by Army officers of mature years, long experience and National fame. As announced in the manifesto sent out. President Roosevelt strongly favors it, as do many members of Congress, liberal ministers of Prot estant denominations, bishops and priests of the Catholic faith, and Jew ish rabbis. Its opponents are the dive keepers in the vicinity of military posts, advocates of compulsory temper ance, otherwise known as prohibition ists men and women and the W. C. T. U. Its advocates declare that they have neither a theory to fight nor a theory to save, but have only to do with conditions, adding: Our young men are not automatons and their cravings and appetites cannot be regu lated by the pulling of strings. The attempt to do It. the utter disregard of human nature and individual disposition have resulted In fearful condttlona that threaten tho country. The canteen was abolished six years ago. According to the most veracious testimony its abolition was a mistake. It has certainly had a fair trial. It is useless, says the National secretary of the Woman's Canteen Temperance Club, to deny that the result of abol ishing the canteen has been just con trary to what was expected of it; it "has been followed, not by less drinking. but by more drunkenness and by an increase of all the evil consequences of the immoderate use of liquor. To deny this is useless; to persist in the course that results in the gTowth of these evils merely for the sake of theory is stub bornness of a most pernicious type. RCLNOrs SHXP-SUBSUJy COMPETITION. From Antwerp, the commercial cen ter of Belgium, comes a Chamber of Commerce report that will be interest ing and instructive reading for the ship-subsidy advocates in this country. Especially is the report valuable as a contribution to the literature upon this subject in view of the fact that the chamber took a world-wide view of the questions involved for the purpose of arriving at conclusions pointing out the course which Belgium should pursue. The decision reached is unequivocally against ship subsidies, which, "like squirts of morphia, are soothing agents of which one must 'continually renew and enlarge the dose. What is espe cially feared Is that, once inveigled into a grant of ship subsidies, Belgium may come to imagine the existence of her merchant fleet in some way allied intimately with the prosperity of the nation." The conclusion was inevitable. If. In the effort to build up merchant fleets, Belgium and every other nation adopt ed a policy of granting ship subsidies, the whole civilized world would soon be engaged in a competition as keen as that in the building of fighting navies. One nation after another must increase its subsidies in order to keep ahead, of its rivals until that day must flnally come when owners of ships would be paid by the governments of the world more than the cost of maintaining the fleets. When the competition has once begun, the "honor" of the nation re quires that it be carried to success re gardless of cost. Once we have under taken to build up a merchant marine by the giving of subsidies, we must not only meet all competitors, but "go them one better." Ultimate supremacy would lie with that nation which would pay the largest subsidies. AVhen the Antwerp Chamber of Com merce asserted that protectionism killed the shipping industry of Amer ica, It probably meant that the indus try was killed by that excessive pro tection which enables the American manufacturer to charge the American shipbuilder more for materials than he charges the foreign shipbuilder, thus reducing the cost of foreign ships, which the American shipowner is for bidden to buy and sail under an Amer ican flag. This is In line with the opin ion of the minority report upon the ship-subsidy question at the recent ses sion of Congress, when It was declared that. If American builders were freed from the extortion In prices of material used in construction, America would dominate the shipbuilding industry, as of old. Not content with a protective tariff which covers the higher wages paid to American labor, the American manufacturer insists upon a protection which secures him in the power to sell to the foreign shipbuilder cheaper than to the builder in bis own country. With good reason the Antwerp Cham ber of Commerce voiced a caustic criti cism of those who would require the people to pay a ship subsidy in order to bring foreign goods into a country and at the same time compel the people to pay in the form of a tariff to keep those foreign goods out. In deciding for llbertr rather than protected mo-nopol-, they have considered the ex periences of other nations and particu larly remark that the greatest develop ment in British shipping occurred since the ship-subsidy crutches were Lhrown away. A Presbyterian Journal of Chicago thinks that Christian Scientists should greatly rejoice at the opportunity that the suit of Mrs. Eddy's son for an ac counting of her property gives them to produce their books in court and show what has been done with the money poured into their treasury, since "it has always operated to the prejudice of the cult that there has been such a mystery about its financial transactions." As to that, If Mrs. Eddy, her heirs at law and her followers are satisfied, it does not seem to be any of the public's busi ness about the financial status of the cult. There is, however, as cited by the Chicago Chronicle, having Dowielsm in mind, always danger of personal relig ion splitting on a financial rock. The wreck does not always come In the life time of the founder, as it did in the case of Dowie. and as is threatened in Mrs. Eddy's case, but it is due to come at any time after the summit of the ambition of the individual whose name is coined Into an "ism" has been. reached. One thing in the Glover-Eddy case Is plainly apparent, and that is that the opportunity to show where the money has gone or In whose hands it now is will not be eagerly embraced by those In authority by cheerfully tak ing the books into court. "Rev." H. M. Street, the former min ister who created a stir three years ago by stumping the state In opposition to the local-option law. has been reported as killed by a dynamite explosion in Crook County, but the company in which he held a J4000 Insurance policy wants some evidence of his death. It seems that his horse was killed by the explosion and the theory was that coy otes had dragged some sticks of dyna mite into the road from under a log where it was concealed, that his horse stepped on it, and that both horse and rider were killed. Many fragments of the horse have been found, but not a trace of the man. So long as there Is no evidence of the death of the man, the 'insurance company feels that there Is a possibility that he threw a stick of dynamite at the horse and is in hiding some place awaiting the collection of the insurance. Street is the man who gave the newspapers a story about a year ago to the effect that he was held up by three armed men, presumably antl-satoon people, and when one of them came at him with a knife he knocked the villain down w ith a stone, whereupon the other highwaymen fled. Ministers who accept employment from saloons and who tell improbable stories about highwaymen must expect to be held strictly to the rules of evidence when insurance companies are called upon to pay $4000 life Insurance policies. The Michigan Legislature Is consider ing a bill which proposes to distribute the state school fund upon the basis of number of teachers employed Instead of number of children of school age. as Has been the practice In the past. There are sqme districts that have less than a dozen children, but it costs as much to maintain school in such a dis trict as In one which contains thlrty or forty children. Because the money is now apportioned according to popu lation, the small districts are unable to conduct their schools as many months as do the large districts. The argu ment is made that a child in a rural district is entitled tj as many months instruction in a year as the city child, and that the apportionment should be made according to the expenditures that will be necessary. w;hieh means acoording to the number of teachers employed. Such a change has been sug gested in Oregon, but it would have to be brought about by constitutional amendment, for the constitution re quires a per capita distribution. The celebration of Provisional Gov ernment day at Champoeg is i lose at hand. It will be sixty-four years May 2 since 102 pioneers of Oregon, the names of 101 of whom have been given to granite upon the spot where the vote was taken, voted for a provisional gov ernment of Oregon Territory. The granites shaft commemorative of this event in our history was unveiled eight years ago by Hon. F. X. Matthieu, then as now the sole survivor of the number who came on foot, on horseback and by canoe to the first hustings in Ore gon, and who by their votes sealed the Oregon country to the American Union. If the day is fine, the annual excur sion to Champoeg may be commended as enjoyable alike to pioneers and to those who know early Oregon only through history and folk-lore tales. The Willamette River is at that season of the year at its best boating stage, and awakening Spring presents a moving picture along the wooded banks and higher slopes that Is worth going far to see. The young women drilling so indus triously as Indian maidens let us for bear to call them squaws will repre sent Oregon civilization at the James town Fair, whither they will later be bound. In the same manner that a frog sitting in a pool of water under an umbrella represents Oregon climate. That is to say. both will be a misrep resentation. While some people see something extremely "funny" In such libelous presentments, they are not among those who are loyal to Oregon in a true sense and who desire to see the state truthfully advertised. A rather strange circumstance is noted in the fact that when President Roosevelt delivered an address at the dedication of Pennsylvania's new- Capi tol he did not once mention the build ing. Since then the discovery has been made that in the construction of that building the most disgraceful grafts ever disclosed in transactions of that kind. There Is no reason to believe that the President had an intimation that the grafts had been perpetrated, or that he purposely avoided mentioning the Capitol. Congressman Theodore Burton, of Ohio, chairman of the rivers and har bors committee of the House, is likely to be a candidate against Foraker for election to the Senate. Burton is a supporter of Taft for President. For aker is in control of the machine, but If he goes up against a Taft-Burton-Roosevelt combination he is likely to find his machine in need of repairs whoa the campaign Is over. The Minnesota Legislature has de feated an initiative -and referendum amendment by a vote of 30 ayes to 25 noes, in the Senate, 32 votes being necessary. The proposed amendment required a 6 per cent petition for initi ative, 10 per cent for referendum on state laws, and 25 per cent for action on municipal laws, either by Initiative or referendum. Harry Draper and his bloodhounds are on the trail of the robbers who broke into a bank at Ephrata, Wash., Friday night. Draper's record war rants the belief that there Is trouble ahead for the robbers. Certainly If ag gressiveness and nerve will do the work, the men wiU be caught. Botb the dogs and their master know their business. President Smith's reiteration that the Mormon Church has abandoned polyg amy must be taken for the truth, be cause it is official. Vital statistics, where they confound race suicide, can be said to be purely Indigenous and are not worthy of consideration. City Auditor Devlin offers a reward of $1000 for proof that any of the $1000 liquor license petitions were stolen from his office. Here is $1000 of good, hon est, easy money for Rev. Paul Rader to earn. Several gentlemen, once aspirants for seats in the City Council, are not now candidates, but they are said not to have been deterred by possibility of Heney's coming to Portland. A benedict of many years' standing and who has had much success fore casting such events says the next King of Spain will be a boy. There is no doubt of it. As the Republican party could not elect a Mayor two years ago, Lane perhaps thinks the Democratic party could not elect this time. The cobbler who discovered how to make ashes burn might make a fortune If he could discover some way to make cigars out of the ashes'. Medford has the biggest bore in Ore gon. It will go 4000 feet deep, from one to twenty-five Inches in diameter. It should get good results. Of course the "Roosevelt lemonade" has a stick In It. Officers In dry coun ties will do well to watch the soft drinks establishments. Now the ' Democrats are having a taste of nonpartisanship In their own ranks. The Czar denies that he will abdicate. Talks just like Jim Hill. SYMPOSIUM OF CURRENT OREGON TOPICS Two English Midshipmen Wha Want Trouble Red Tape Hss Mode at Kin mailt Ex-Governor Geer Com plains, About the Public Clamor for Him to Run for Office. Vagrabonda and Small Toss-sis Gravel for Maklngr Roada Mockinen and Railroad Tickets Senator Fulton' Auto. PARMERS and their sons and daugh ters, residing at Clatsop Beach, where the Galena was wrecked last Winter, iiave for several months had relief from the usually dull routine of rural life. To the excitement cre ated by the wreck itself there has been adtCed romantic interest in the welfare of two bright young midshipmen who deserted In order to avoid the necessity of returning to England on the Dud hope, now lying at Puget Sound, and about to sail for home. Presumably the middles, John Blair and John Bea dle, are in hiding In the hills In the vicinity of the wreck, and are being provided with food by sympathizing friends. Such at least Is the opinion ot the owner of the ship, wno has made strenuous efforts to find the fugitives, but has failed to get any evidence of their whereabouts. Farmers are unac customed to the profusion of profanity with which sea captains are wont to address their subordinates, and quite naturally they are unanimous in the hope that the middles will keep out of reach of, the owner of the ship as long as they desire. The boys themselves were accustomed to being cursed, and probably did not mind that so much. but they were captivated by the kind treatment they received from the farm ers' families when they were cast away upon a foreign strand. They think in habitants of the Oregon coast are a good people among whom to live. They are intelligent boys, out of good fami lies, and were sent to sea to learn navigation, rind not to perform labori ous duties of able seamen. The owner of the ship feels under obligation to return them to their homes, if he can. His Inquiries and his search have been unsuccessful, leaving him to conclude that the boys arc sheltered In some cave or hut or abandoned settler's cabin back In the hills, from which re treat they emerge at night to get food left for them at. places agreed upon by sympathizing friends. REPORTS that the Department of the Interior ran out of wrapping twine and then used up all its "red taRe" as a substitute seem to have been an error. At least the Klamath Falls Herald presents evidence to war rant belief that there is still a goodly supply of tape of brilliant hue on hand In the Department. Discussion of the subject arose out of the announcement by officials of the Forestry Service that settlers will not be needlessly hampered by forest reserve regulations. The Herald says that a farmer wanted to cut 1200 fence posts on the reserve and made application in December, 1905. The permit was granted In June, 1906, too late to permit of posts being cut and seasoned in time for hauling that year. When the time for hauling came it was found that some particular rule had not been complied with and but 600 posts could be had. The Her ald assumes, but does not say that this delay was the fault of Government of ficials, and not of the settler. The same paper tells of another settler who wanted a tree from which to make "shakes" or spilt Bhlngles, and applied for permission. The permission was granted, and he cut down a large tree, used about one-fourth of it for shakes and left the rest, which he did not need. Government officials compelled him to remove the top and debris from the reserve, lie says the work of re moving the waste roaterial brought the total cost up to $15 per thousand, whereas the usual cost of "shakes is but $5 per thousand. Quite likely the Government was entirely reasonable In Its requirement that the debris be removed. If men wore permitted to go Into the timber and take what they want and leave refuse tops and brush to lie on the ground and become dry as tinder, forest fires would be encour aged. If shakes could be procured else where at $5 a thousand, that price was evidently made possible by leaving de bris In the timber, a practice that is everywhere condemned as dangerous. Eiich of the incidents complained of presents a fair subject for lnvestlga-. Hon. The Klamath Falls Herald is apparently anxious to promote the in terests of settlers. If it will prepare an accurate statement of the circum stances and forward them to Senator Bourne, there is no doubt that the mat ter will be taken up at once with the Department, and with the President, If necessary. PROM Columbia County comes a pro test voiced by the St. Helens Mist against the practice of Portland's police department in ordering criminals out of town. The complaint Is that such prac tice simply unloads criminals upon small er towns, which are less able to handle them than are the larger cities. But if St. Helens has cause for protest against this policy, it Is not alone in that particular. It has been the practice of Willamette Valley towns for years to arresl suspi cious characters as vagrants and release them with orders to leave town within an hour. With such a "pass-'em-on" policy in operation in smaller towns, the crim inal element is bound to drift Into Port land. Valley counties do not "float" their suspicious characters for the purpose of flooding Portland, but because they do not know what else to do with them. There Is no evidence to convict, yet police au thorities know that men of this class have no legitimate occupation, and are only awalllng opportunity to commit crime. To permit them to hang around town is to Invite robbery and murder. If they could be convicted and put to work on the chain gang, no town would have reason for driv ing them out, but the desire is to get rid of them and thereby avoid crime. Appar ently Columbia County will have to adopt the same policy as other towns. PORTLAND'S City Hall is one of the few large public buildings In the me tropolis that has no directory board at the entrance. To make matters worse for visiting strangers, signs on the doors of some of the offices are not conspicuous, and the stranger who has business with the municipality must hunt around until he can find the official with whom he wishes to talk. At the United States custom-house, which contains about the same number of offices as the City Hall, there is a large directory board at the entrance, showing the offices located on each floor. The office signs are placed where they can be easily read, and are at the same time neat In abearance, so that they are use ful without marring the beauty of the in terior of ihe building. Every private of fice building In the city has a directory, which enables a stranger to go directly to to Remain In the l.nnd of the I the office he seeks, without asking ques tions of anyone. There would seem to be no reason why a publlo office building should not be equipped In like manner, es pecially In a city to which strangers are coming In as large numhers as they are to Portland. The old resident and the mu nicipal employe, who are familiar with tho City Hall, have no need of directories and signs, but strangers, many of whom have business with city officials, would appreciate aids of this kind to save them time in findliiK the several offices. (VI y- M': lf just had these, grav I I el beds in our state!" exclaimed a Wisconsin farmer, as he rode over a Wil lamette Valley bridge spanning a creek whose shores were covered with fine grav el to a depth of several feet. "Tour Ore gon farmers do not appreciate the advan tages they have In making permanent road improvements." he continued "If we had gravel like that cjose to our high ways, as you have here in the Willam ette Valley, we would have most of our roads surfaced with it In short order. I am surprised that more Oregon roads are not covered with it." The Wisconsin man overestimates the value of river gravel as a road-surface material. While it makes a surface far superior to mud. it Is much inferior to crushed rock for perma nent improvement. Its greatest advan tage is in its proximity to the roads and the consequent cheapness of placing It upon highways. As the gravel Is round and smooth, it loosens under travel and gradually sinks into the mud. Crushed rock, having sharp corners and straight edges, packs together and presents a smoother surface the longer It Is subjected to the wear of travel. At the same time, the Wisconsin man is right when he says that in the gravel beds of Oregon has a great advantage over such states as Wis consin in permanent road improvements. EX-GOVERNOR T. T. GBER is not a candidate for Senator and will not be. Moreover, he is not a candidate for any office, and would not think of such a thing if others did not continually suggest it. In a recent issue of his paper he says that he is "working hard every day in an effort to give the people of Uma tilla (."ounty a good newspaper, and would never think of an office if the subject were not perennially in the cranium of some lop-sided individual for whose ben efit the home for the feeble-minded pro vided by the last Legislature was author ized, and whose greatest fear is always, finding a churlish expression." The lan guage of this denial is likely to silence the talk of Senatorial ambitions, in the sanctum of the morning paper at Pendle ton, for no one wants to be considered a fit subject for Oregon's new elemosynary institution. AT THE same time that this hot shnl comes from the ex-Governor's paper, an evening; contemporary at Pendleton springs a boom for Governor chamber lain for Senator. That Is a inatier which lias received considerable attention anions the Governor's friends, with the result that the proposal is not looked upon with much favor. The Governor's friends are saying that the vote for legislative candi dates in the primaries last Spring show that a man can be nominated as easily without signing: Statement Number One as he can with signing It. and hence there will be few to take that pledge in the next campaign. Without a Legislature pledged to support the people's choice, a Democrat would stand no chance of elec tion to the Senate, even if he received popular indorsement. Senator Fulton has said that he will not ask candidates to sign or not to sign pledges of any kind. There is no likelihood at present that an issue will be made of Statement Number One in the next campaign, so friends of the Democratic Governor see little in the situation to encourage him to get Into the race. THE effectiveness of a parasite in de stroying codlln moth is to be tried in Oregon if YV. H. 1-atourette, of McMlnn vllle, shall succeed In securing a supply of parasites recentiy ordered by him. The parasites are to come from Califor nia, and will be turned Into Yamhill County orchards. According to the Sac ramento Union, the record made last year by the codlin moth parasite demonstrated that it is an effective remedy in diminish ing the number of worms in apples In Northern California. In orchards where the parasite had a fair start, the number of wormy apples was reduced from M to 50 pcr.'cent. Because the parasites were not at work early enough in some or chards they did not prove as effectite a desired. PRIENDS of Senator Fulton who contemplate spending a Summer va cation at Seaside, will be interested in learning that the Senator owns a huge auto, and that the car is expected to arrive any day. The Astotian says: "It is the same one used by the Senator In Washington, and was sent to the shop for a few minor repairs. 4 The manufac turer has shipped it, and the Senator is looking forward to the pleasure he will derive from his ijubble' when It does arrive. It ts a magnificent machine, un limited as to speed, and made by the firm whose car won third place In the Vander bllt cup race last year." fly AI.HEt'R County Is adopting ths I .1 same policy as the Union Pacific in selecting bridge materials. Contracts have just been let for the construction of six steel bridges for county roads. The steel trusses will rest upon concrete piers at the ends, thus making a struc ture that will stand wear and tear for years. The railroads are replacing wood en bridges with steel structures as rap idly as possible. QUASSIA wood, for use in making ma terials for spraying Oregon hop yurde, is now arriving in Columbia River ports. Tlie wood comes from South Amer ica in sticks the size of cordwood. It is taken to .planning mills, where it is cut into chips by machinery and the quas sia chips are sold to dealers, and by dealers to the hopgrowers. A the wood Is worth about $1.50 a stick, the deck hands on the river boats are more care ful about dropping It overboard than they are cordwood. A White House Regx?!.' Puck. Write, write, write. Till the cows com over the lea; And I would that my pen could utter But no single pen ran utter The thoughts tl'.at arise In m. f