6
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 22, 1907.
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PORTLAND. StTNDAY. SEPT. 22. 1907.
THE REYNOLDS CASE.
The defense of Reynolds for shoot
ing his wife's paramour involved no
appeal to the "higher law,"concerning
which so much pernicious noitsense
has oeen neara lately. 4.1 noes 1101
strain the facts of the case much to
say that Reynolds killed Herbert to
prevent the commission of a crime.
This is a very different matter from
a homicide to averse a crime. The
law tolerates a great deal In defense
of home and family; but it justly con
demns he same acts when committed
in revenge. Reynolds' defense was
based upon well known principles of
the law. There was no resort what
ever to the anarchistic doctrine that
an individual may take the punish
ment of his wrongs into his own
hands. Judge Gantenbein, In his
charge to the jury, drew with admir
able clearness the distinction which
we are making here, and it is mat
ter for congratulation that he did so,
for there is always danger that from a
case of this I.ind the imbecile and the
fanatic may draw some apology for
that precious "higher law" of which
they are so fond.
This distinction appeals, .of course,
to everybody of fair intelligence. The
difference between prevention and
vengeance is not one that requires
much acuteness to apprehend. But in
his charge, Judge Gantenbein drew
another distinction which the jury may
possibly have understood, but, if they
did, they disregarded it completely. It
was a purely technical point, and was
doubtless good law; but it was not
good sense. The judge charged the
Jury that the law permitted Rej-nolds
to shoot Herbert to prevent the
commission of a felony in Reynolds'
house; but If Hertert was not about
to commit a felony in Reynolds' house
but was going somewhere else to' do
so, then the act of shooting was not
justifiable homicide, but murder. This
amounts to saying that a man has a
perfect right to shoot to prevent his
wife's adultery under his own roof,
but not to prevent it under some
body else's roof. Thj distinction is
perfectly clear, and, we suppose per-,
fectly legal, but it is one of those nice'
technicalities which try the patience
of the layman and which juries, in
their quests for justice rather than
logic, do well to disregard. The pur
puse of the shooting was the essence
of the matter. The place where it was
done Is of little moment in the forum
of common sense, however heavily It
may weigh in the estimation of the
technical lawyer.. Nor is it of the
slightest consequence ' wheher Mrs.
Reynolds and Herbert were about to
consummate their felony under her
husband's roof or on their way to
some other place to do It. The evi
dence shows plainly enough that they
were going else-There. Technically,
therefore, the verdict is "3fective; but
this wa; one of the numerous happy
cases where juries rise above the nice
ties of legality and ac-ompllsh rough
and-ready ji tice. The saving merit
in th Jury - stem is the obtuseness
of the common mind to those exqui
site refinements of logl- which seem
so all-Important to lawyers.
What would have teen the jury's
verdict had Reynolds shot his wife
instead qf Herbert prevent the
threatened adultery? In the eye' of
the law her guilt was precisely the
same : - that of her paramour, and
had Reynolds killed her instead of
him he could have advanced exactly
the same legal Justification. The
homicide would have been committed
to prevent the consummation of a
felony under his roof. t it is safe
to say that his acquittal would not
have been accomplished so easily or
quickly. The jury would have deltb
erated a long time before admitting
that it is quite the same thing morally
for a man to shoot hiB guilty wffe as
her no more guilty lover. All through
this case, end every other of the same
sort, there runs a quiet assumption
that the woman ts an Innocent victim;
she has been tempted by insidious
arts; she has been betrayed. The man
Is a designing scoundrel; she has
sinned only through weakness, and it
usually appears In the court of the
trial that her weakness differed very
little from one of the more amiable
virtues. " .
It may be a cruel thing to say. but
it is true, nevertheless, that In almost
every instance of this sort of crime the
guilty man would not have made ad
vances without unmistakable encour
agement from the' woman. . In the
Reynolds case it Is difficult to .discern
that one of the participants was any
more a tempter or a victim than, the
other. ' There were allurements on
both sides; the letters from both were
about equally ardent; to all appear
ances one did quite as much betraying
as the -other, nd It is generally so.
We shall never reach much deflnile
betterment In these matters until we
lire willing to face the cold truth.
Women who lead lives of semi-idleness,
spending their time in an en
vironment ' of gossip. Intrigue and
ambiguous .adventure; writing such
"poetry" as the evidence shows Mrs-.
Reynolds to have written, or dabbling
In other, so-called "arts" just enough
to brln. them Into c--tact with "ar
tists" l'"-e Herbert such women may
never come to harm, but It Is by the
special mercy of Providence- if they
escape. The remedy for. this sort of
thing is good, old-fashioned, hard
work. A woman with a thriving fam
ily of half a dozen children and a
house-to take care of is not in the
slightest danger from villains like
Herbert if she attends to her duties.
Mrs. Reynolds is said to have repented
of her misconduct. " hope the re
port is true. But repentance is often
nothing more than a discreet name
for-the discomfort th t ensues upon
detection. The best ,7ay for her. to
prove her change of heart is to illus
trate it by a change of life. Her salva
tion will be but a dubious, unstable
affair until she interests herself, soul
and body, in some useful' occupation;
and the same is true in its degree for
all the rest of us.
HUGHES OR ROOSEVELT?
It is interesting to observe that the
New Tork World Is making strong
protests against "the machine scheme
to get rid of Governor Hughes by
kicking him into the Presidency.". "To
take Charles E. Hughes away from
the Governorship when he has hardly
begun his work would be little less
than a political crime," remarks the
World. The World's logic, of course,
is that it is vastly more important
that New York have a good Governor
than that the Nation have a good
President.. But let that pass.
There is an easy way out of New
York's di'mma, and it gives us
pi asure to point It out to our
Democratic New . York contempo
rary. Let the World give up Gov
ernor Hughes to the country at
large and take back Mr. Roosevelt
for Governor. ' We have the World's
word for it that the Roosevelt guber
natorial administration in New York
"marked a long step toward the resto
ration of popular government. Had
he been re-elected," says the World,
"as he wished to be, instead of drafted
into the Vice-Presidency to suit
Piatt's purposes, he would have con
tinued to raise the state against cor
porations and corruption, doing im
measureably more good and prevent
ing immeasureably more harm than
either of his immediate successors"
It is not of record that the World
contributed much to the election
either of Governor Roosevelt or Gov
ernor Hughes. But it is not too late
to retrieve an error which it now by
inference acknowledges. Mr. Roose
velt has declined a third term for the
Presidency, but he never declined a
second term as Governor of New
York. Let the World start a Roose
velt movement in New York, and we
are -sure that it will do much to recon
cile the Republicans of New York to
the probable or possible loss of
Hughes.
SOLDIERS' WIDOWS.
Among , the resolutions passed by
the forty-first annual encampment,
G. A. R., 1. tely held at Saratoga, was
one asking Congress to enact a meas
ure increasing the pensions of soldiers'
widows to J 12 a month. If such an
increase -were made and limited to
war widows, that is, to widows who
were the v.-ives of soldiers during the
war, it would be just and commend
able. Widows of this class are well ad
vanced In years.' The hardships inci
dent to the war rressed upon them
heavily "at, home more heavily, in
deed, in many instances than upon
their husbands in the field. Their
part in the war as strenuous, and if,
through the mischance of battle, or
disease, they became widows and
thereafter bore the burden and heat
of the day alone, they deserve of the
Nation such aid as will contribute ma
terially to their comfort in their de
clining years. There Is no question
about this injustice, none in ethics,
and there should be none In fact. The
case would, howevc, be vastly differ
ent if made to apply to young
widows of all soldiers, women born,
perhaps, since the close of the war,
and Svho with an eye upon the old
soldier's pension consented to marry
him regardless of his age and de
creptitude. Such widows are not en
titled to pensions. Let them go to
work if they are without means, as
thousands of widows who married
from more honorable motives have
done.
GET A TJNK ON SPECIALTIES.
Development Leagues, Commercial
Clubs, Tom Richardsons and others
are doing great work for Oregon, but
it ust, perforce, be general in char
acter. Each city and town must stand
like the tub. The community that has
a specialty gets there Just as does the
man who takes Pudd'nhead Wilson's
advice to pet all the eggs into one bas
ket and watch the basket. When
Hood River is mentioned one naturally
thinks of apples and E. H. Shephard
or E. L. Smith. Salem is not known
alone as the abiding place of lunatics
and c-iminals; there are H. S. Glle and
the prune or Louis Lachmund and the
hop; Just so the Lasselles and Albany
and prunes. Roller flour put Pendle
ton and Mr. Byars on the map. years
ago. So, too, are Grants Pass, grapes
and Mr. Carson Indelibly' linked in the
minds of newspaper readers. The name
"Holstein" brings up Mr. Frakes and
Scappoose. Shoalwater Bay and oys
ters are associated with the lower
case "r" in the calendar, and even
"Old Yamhill" is becoming known as
the home of Millard Lownsdale and
top-notch fruit. Away over on the
other side of the state the cabalistic
"K. S. & D." mean the settlement
called Arcadia and orchards, and four
hundred miles to f" e south it is Ash
land and rjeaches. " Not one man In a
thousand would know a teasel from
the tuft on the tail of the Bull of
Bashan if he saw it, yet those who use
them know that the biggest teasel
farm in the United States is on the
banks of the Molalla. in Oregon.
There is not a city, town or hamlet
within . the borders of the state that
cannot make :. name for itself if Just
one man will take the initiative. ' It
may be a product of the air, the earth
or the waters thereof. The raw ma
terial is 'there, and all it needs is de
velopment. Let "Old Man" Bennett
stay on the firing line until the Irrl
gon cantaloupe is better known than
the Rocky Ford product. It can be
done. Just as easily as Mr. Dorrls is
putting the world wise to Eugene and
asparagus. The Beaverton onion, the
Barlow tomato, the White Salmon cel
ery are possibilities. . These are but
a few suggestions for thought the
coming Winter days. It will not take
much to make a start. The acorn
that escapes the hog grows into a
mighty tree. Next year should see a
few Oregon slogans that will make the
world take notice.
BIENNIAL TROUBLE AT SALEM.
' "The trouble With Oregon is too
much legislation, rather than not
enough." This, from the Corvallis
Republican, more properly means that
Oregon has too much lawmaking on
trifling subjects and too little on big
matters. If the next Oregon ' Legisla
ture could be confined to six subjects
and be obliged to cover them thor
oughly, this state could get along with
out another lawmaking body for ten
years, and perhaps longer. The Cor
vallis paper continues:
Some soft-headed members of the Legis
lature, who do not know enough to pound
sand, are continually introducing bills In
legislative bodies, and many of them have
no merit whatever, and would be more of
a detriment than a good to any state In
which they might become laws. The very
poorest official timber In a district Is often
sent to the Legislature, and the habit Is
certainly one that should be overcome.
The . very brainiest and best educated, as
well as those who are the most successful
in business, should go to our Legtsatures.
Let us keep this fact In mind.
It makes not much difference how
many bills are intrccuced; that Is not
the root of the trouble, since few of
the bills. become laws and little stir results,-
whether they become laws or
not. The real source of the trouble Is
disregard, by members or the Legisla
ture, of the big needs of tlje people of
Oregon. This disregard is due pri
marily to the character of the law
makers, but immediately to the blan
dishments of "interests.'' The blan
dishments cover a wide range of fa
vors, from cash, which is probably sel
dom used and then only in relatively
small quantities, to "influence" and
"help" and "recognition" of varying
sorts. These latter favors give "In
terests" big influent e in the Capitol.
Many men, who would scorn cash
bribes, think it right and proper to ac
cept these "avors in return for their
Legislative votes. As a matter of
fact, this is just what many a young
man seeks a seat In the Legislature
for. He I-opes and expects to smooth
his way in the future In the direction
or important Interests, which need
friends at Salem. Numerous exam
ples of this sort could be cited In
Multnomah County of men who voted
in their public capacity out of consid
eration for their own private advan
tage. At the last Legislative session, sev
eral popular measures failed through
just such Influences. One was a bill
to prohibit trusts? another was to reg
ulate water . franchises. Still others
were bills having the following ob
jects: To tax timber on cruisings of
owners; to compel sale f Coos Bay
wagon road lands at $2.50 an acre, the
price limit of the grant; to tax fran
chises of public service corporations
on capitalized net earnings; to repeal
perpetual franchises f the Portland
Gas Company; to -require food pack
ages branded as to full weight and
measure; to collect taxes on idle land
grant areas that hav not paid taxes
in last six years; to limit all franchises
in future to 25 years; and to tax prop
erty in classes of. subjects so as to Im
pose special taxes on ppeeial kinds of
property that now pay not enough
taxes.
Now, who will say that these bills
should not have been Introduced? Who
will say that the total of bills in the
Legislature would have comported bet
ter with the interests of Oregon, had
these several measures not been
brought Into the Legislature?
It is no use, of course, to complain
about these flascoes in the Legislature;
they have always happened and will
always continue, since selfish men go
to the Legislature, both as lawmakers
and as lobbyists. The only way to
lessen the abuse is to look sharply to
the character of the candidates for the
Legislature. This has been attempted
heretofore, but the character of the
candidates was known or" r after they
carae.taek from Salem.
New members of the Legislature
will be nominated next April and
elected In June. . They are pluming
themselves already. Some of the as
pirants voted wrong on popular bills
last W'lnter. In seeking re-election
they will pose quite differently than
they acted In the Legislature.
BACK TO THE FARM.
The drift of population from the
country to the city has been noted and
deplored for some years. Farmers'
boys, attracted by . the ' wages and
amusements of the -'.ty, forsook the
plow and the hoe for clerkships and
factories. The hired man always a
poor substitute for the man, whose In
terests are bound up In the soil either
followed the boys to the city or worked
on in a half-hearted way that told
pitifully in the appearance and the
output of the farm. Now, however,
we are told, a reaction Has set in. Ag
ricultural Colleges and farmers' insti
tutes have lifted agriculture Into the
line of the professions and Improved
machinery has so lessened the drudg
ery of farm work that the' farm is
coming again Into favor. The boy,
casting about him for a vocation in
the pursu.lt of which he will be able to
be his own man, industrially speaking,
sees 1 -t, although he may be able to
hand'. : more money for a few years In
the city than in the country, the ulti
mate outlook for independence is far
better on the farm than in the fac
tory or 'he store.
Owing to this change in sentiment
and because agricultural colleges are
training boys to farm intelligently and
providently, the ownership of farms
in the older sections of the country is
changln- hands, the new proprietors
being vigorous young men with a tech
nical know'edge of farming and a fund
of energy whereby they can make this
knowledge of practical value. These
new farmers are in . many instances
sons or grandsons of the boys who
fled' the country, its loneliness and the
drudgery of old-time - farming meth
ods, and went to the city seeking
change, amusement and fortune. Love
for the country, its pure air and peace
ful environment, may have been a
heritage to which they are returning.
Be this as it may, they will not find
farming at the stage at which their
fathers left it, nor the farm a syno
nym of the loneliness from which their
fathers fled. The trolley cars and the
rural free mail delivery have done
away with the latter condition; while
new methods and improved machin
ery have taken the place of the old,
bringing the promise of more abun
dant harvests.
This is the picture that optimists
and advocates of the "simple life" are
painting, and it must be said that the
picture is not wholly an imaginary
one. Else would the work of the ag
ricultural colleges have been in vain.
NO COLOR LINE IN THE ARMY.
The one institution in this country
that takes no note whatever of the
color line is the War Department of
the government. Relative to a pro
test made by citizens of Oswego and
Watertown against the assignment of
the Twenty-fourth Infantry (colored)
to Fort Ontario and Madison Bar
racks, New York, Acting Secretary of
War General Oliver replied: ."The
Twenty-fourth Regiment Is simply the
Twenty-fourth Regiment, U. S. A. We
take no cognizance of the fact that the
enlisted -men are negroes. It receives
Its orders and does Its tour of duty the
same as any other regiment, adding:
Our experience has been that the colored
regiments cause no trouble at the floats
where they are stationed It they are rainy
treated. We. have found that as a rule
they are better disciplined than the white
regiments: whenever on duty they nave
shown great bravery. The Twenty-fourth
Regiment, in the regular course of assign
ments. Is to go to the New- York posts.
That Is all there la to the matter, and tney
will remain at these stations during the
regular tour of duty.
, Before this statement made with
the firmness and dignity that char
arterize, and must characterize the
decisions of the War Department,
those who seek to draw the color line
so as to shut out soldiers who wear
the uniform of the United States
Army from certain posts should stand
abashed. They will, with their preju
dices, certainly have to take refuge in
silence. This is the firs:, time since
their organisation that any one of the
four colored regiments has been sta
tioned at posts east of the Mississippi.
This has not been, as explained by
General Oliver, because the War De
partment has discriminated against
them; it has simply been a misfortune
if it can be so called incident to
the service. It- is possible that this
fact has given rise to a feeling that
the East was purposely favored in
this respect and that a preference In
the matter. If made known, would be
duly honored. If so, the positive and
dignified response of General Oliver
will be a deserved rebuke to an un
warranted sel-conceit. It is, more
over, a deserved tribute to the colored
troops end thel status that they have
established for (discipline and bravery
in the service. I
PROSPERITY TWILL NOT DOWN.
Days have drifted Into weeks and
weeks have drlfsed into months, since
the high financiers of the East began
predicting distreiy-. for the country un
less there should, be abandonment of
the Government's policy of bringing
to book some of the chief offenders
against th- laws. And yet the pre
dicted panic does not appear. It
seems, in fat' to be farther in the fu
ture than it was six months ago, and
on every hand appear evidences of
continued prosperity. Paul Morton,
whose prominence in the - financial
worll entitles his opinions to special
consideration, has just returned from
Europe, and Is quoted In a New York
dispatch in Friday's Oregonlan as fol
f o ws :
I have seen nothing on the other side to
Indicate that there Is trouble ahead, either
for us or for European countries. As long
as the crops continue 'to be good America
Is bound to be prosperous, and by that 1
do not mean that Wall street must neces-
sarily prosper. When there are big crops
to be moved the railroads must do wen.
and If here and there some railroad man
says he will do this or that. It doesn't mean
anything. There are forces back of him
which will force expansion of facilities. If
there Is any demand for them.
Out here in the Far West we may be
Inclined to question Mr. Morton's
statement that the pessimistic railroad
men will be forced to an "expansion
of facilities if there is any demand for
them," for evidences of the demand
are too plain to be mistaken; but there
Is no -?stioning the soundness of his
logic regarding the perpetuity of pros
perity so long as crops remain good.
The situation abroad is apparently not
greatly different from that at home.
The peculiar system of finance fol
lowed by some of our Wall-Street
railroad ;en has naturally brought
American railroad securities into a
kind of disrepute across the water,
where a higher decee of honesty and
fair dealing is insisted on than on this
side of the ocean. Having become
alarmed over disclosure of some of
the methods ' followed in American
railroading, this foreign capital sought
investment in other lines than Ameri
can railroads. The same was true in
this country, and that it was a lack of
confidence rather than a lack of money
which '.roubled Wall Street was quite
plainly apparent a few days ago when
the city of New York was offered more
than $200,000,000 for municipal bonds
bearing 4 per cent interest.
A few days before a $75,000,000
bond issue of he Union Pacific, which,
with the discount at which the bonds
were offered, made the rate of inter
est practically the same as that paid
by the city of New York, was thrown
back on the hands of the underwriting
syndicate with less than one-twentieth
of the lot sold. The fate of the Union
Pacific bonds might well be said to
indicate 'a great scarcity of money but
trfe fallacy of this th. ory is shown a
few days later, when a loan of nearly
three times the amount is promptly
snapped ua.
Locally the requirements for moving
the largest wheat cr.op on record, to
gether with legitimate demands for
money for other Industrial enterprises,
have' made a seeming scarcity ' of
money along the Coast. But If any
one with an unquestionably safe and
well-secured pr position is anxious to
demonstrate that money is not actually
scarce, but is at work or In seclusion,
let him offer to per cent to 15 per cent
interest for almost any amount and It
will be forthcoming.
The money of this country is quite
actively engaged at the present time,
but thre is a considerable amount of
it that has been withdra-vn until the
wave ' pessimism has spent Its force.
Evidence that somt of ll is already
coming out o" hiding is now notice
able, and by the time we finish mar
keting the most valuable crop of agri
cultural products ever produced in the
United States, reserves w'" accumulate
much faster and any pessimist who at
tempts to indulge in gloomy predic
tions will meet with nothing but well
deserved derision.
The name "Bull Run." as applied
to the stream from which Portland's
incomparable, water supply is drawn,
away up in .the sunny defiles of the
Cascade Mountains, is not particularly
euphonious.. Nobody ever pretended
that it was, or that it applied with any
sort of significance to the magnificent
mountain stream. Familiarity with
the name has, however, planed over
these defects, and the water supply of
Portland !s known and extolled as
"Bull ljun water" throughout the
length and breadth of ths land. This
being true, the attempt to change the
name of Bull Run River and Lake to
some euphonious title is ill-advised.
Simply stated, the time for such a
change has passed. It should have
been done when Portland first ac
quired the right to tap the stream.
Oklahoma will have the unique dis
tinction of having a larger population
at the time of Its admission into the
Union than any other of the admitted
states. According to the census just
completed, the new state will start In
with a total population of 1,408,732,
distributed as follows: Indian Terri
tory, 718,765; Oklahoma Territory,
689,967. -This makes the few thou
sands with which Nevada sneaked in
or bluffed into the Union pitiful in
dted. .
Assuming that the weather today
will duplicate lrst week's charm, no
Portlander who ''loves flowers should
neglect what , may be the last favor
able opportunity or seeing the Fall
bloom in the City Park at its very
best. The bright-hued beds were
never more beautiful than now. No
where in Portland Is there such a gen
erous and weH arranged display as in
this, public playgroup
Japan will annex Corea. The world
now sees Japan's thin pretexts in
Corea. Japan went to war to preserve
the independence of Corea and save
that land from the clutches of Russia.
So it said. Then it said Corea wel
comed the Japanese protectorate.
Now, of course it will.say Corea wel
comes Japanese sovereignty.
Over in Harney County an editor
refuses to be discouraged by Harri
man's delay. He thinks delay in the
end will bring two railroads at once,
since should Harrlman "postpone
operations too leng, Mr. Hill may take
a notion t enter the territory."
There's a whole lot of comfort in be
ing cheerful.
The Lusitania in her phenomenal
trip across the Atl ntic burned about
1000 tons of coal a day. The big coal
bin, together with other expenses inci
dent to the run from Liverpool to New
York, aggregated about $25,000.
That $29,000,000 fine against the
lawbreaking Standard " Oil wouldn't
look so very big if the lawbreakn
Southern Pacific should lose $"0,000,
000 or $100,000,000 wprth of railroad
land out here in Oregon.
Luther Burbank boasts of raising
seventy-three varieties of apples on
one tree, but did he ever sell any of
them at $8 a box? Oregon may be
a little shy on science, but look at the
financial results.
We are told that an Englishman
may now marry his deceased wife's
sister over In Britain, but we doubt it.
We also doubt that a man can marry
his widow's sister. Think about it,
you Britishers.
Judge McBride says h.- will impose
the $500 fine limit on the next person
convicted of gambling In his court.
Luckily for the gentlemen's game In
this city, Portland is not in Judge Mc
Brlde's district.
The Initiative One Hundred would
have popularized themselves In the
suburbs if they had resolved in favor
of early construction of the second
Bull Run pipe line.
Few philanthropic objects appeal
more strongly t local charity than
the Portland Open-Air Sanitarium.
It is intensely practical in saving hu
man life.
Henry H. Rogers might have saved
himself much mental stress If he had,
like Mr. Lowlt, opened an account
with Cashier Morris' institution.
If the men who .wrecked the Port
land Savings Bank had been thrust
into prison, the Oregon Trust Bank
would not have been wrecked.
The Columbia River is to have an
other salmon hatchery. What! An
other of those things td take salmon
away from the fisheries?
The men who persistently boom
Roosevelt for third terr seem to be
nature fakers, so far - Roosevelt's
nature Is concerned.
Success of one Democratl- Johnson
in Ohio may figure !n "le political for
tunes of another Democratic Johnson
in Minnesota. '
Last week's sworn testimony fur
nishes Ida Tarbell enough matter for
another series of articles on her ra
vorite topic.
Wouldn't the Initiative One Hun
dred have been more practical if they
had demanded more r-ill Run water?
The man who persuaded the teleg
raphers to strike must have been the
longest 'eased liar in the world.
Bad weather lorhed in at the State
Fair, but saw it couldn't spoil the
show and quit.
Perhaps Mr. Lwtt also will wish to
explain the Golden Eagle overdraft.
Will Bull Run water ty any other
name be more pure than now?
Who hunts the pole and comes away
may talk about it day by day.
COMMENT ON VARIED OREGON TOPICS
Why Marry a' Chinaman T Keeping th Preacher Alive Duhtou Thanks,
The I.lttle Red Hen Yamhill County Falls Ilelilnd Yonsg Hopefuls Bin;
Ones, Inrludlnjg Grafters.
Why Marry a Chinaman?
GIRLS don't need to marry China
men, says the Sliver Lake Leader
(Lake County). "Just let them
come up into this section and make
their wants known and they will be
gobbled up as quickly as a lone grass
hopper among a flock of turkeys."
This bid for feminine favor was called
forth by the recent marriage of a Cot
tage Grove girl to a Chinese of Van
couver, Wash. "The boys up that way
must be Jo-dandies," continues the ed
itor, "to let a Chinaman get away with
them."
We are glad to know that the Lake
County boys could outdo a Chinaman in
bidding for a girl. Boys, here's con
gratulations. Keeping the Preacher Alive.
HERE IS the way they keep the
preacher alive, up in Monument,
Grant County:
Charles A. Coe and wife have been .solicit
ing for the preacher and have met with
success. They visited Itl persons, and only
two refused to give something.
Can this precarious mode of exist
ence be thinning out the ranks of the
preachers? The other day we read of
one who quit the ministry for life In
surance the kind where the Insured
pay premiums and get policies instead
of prayers. Can this be the' reason,
again, that Satan Is said to be a preach
er now and then, or that vaudeville
must spread from the stage to the pul
pit? '
After all, these questions are trifling
compared with the one that has been
In our minds all this time: Who were
the two that refused to give for the
Monument preacher?
Fuel Famine.
IT MAY be of Interest to know that
Portland Is not alone in the fuel fam
ine class. Corvallis residents read in the
Republican of that town:
Many people who were depending on buy
ing slabwood for winter use will be disap
pointed to kitow that there will be no mora
wood of this kind cut at the Corvallis saw
mill this winter. The mill has been'closed,
probably until Spring, on account of the
scarcity of cars for shipping the product to
market, and also because there is enough
sawed lumber on hand to supply the local
demand during the winter.
Up In Grant County, in the midst of
timber plenty, the residents fear fuel
famine "because there Is no wood for
sale noranyone to cut wood," says the
Monument Enterprise. The only supply
at hand Is in the forest reserve, but, says
the Enterprise, "there is considerable
amount of red tape to be spun before
this privilege can be secured. If the Gov
ernment Is as slow attending to the set
tler's application for firewood as to his
other applications, there is danger that
some may freeze and a great many pay
a fine."
But not as much red tape, we imagine,
as if the timber were owned by a railroad
or a baron or a syndicate. Then there
would be something "doing" for poachers.
Not far away In forest Grove we be
hold the marvel of the citizens welcoming
a fuel trust. "Walter Rosewurm Informs
the Times," says that paper, "that he In
tends opening up a woodyard in the near
future. This would be' a good thing, we
believe, as it Is sometimes very Incon
venient to get wood, especially for the
newcomers, as there has been no place
in the city where fuel has been kept for
sale."
Yet, perhaps the Forest Grove editor is
right, and the foes of the trust in Port
land are wrong. The Portland trust
might prove its worth by moving out of
town temporarily perhaps during the
first cold snap.
Meanwhile it seems to be up to consum
ers to live In the kitchen- this Winter.
.
Don't Expect Too Much.
NEWBERG has the latest railroad ex
citement. "A crew of Southern Pa
cific surveyors were in town Tuesday,"
says the Graphic, "setting stakes for the
side track at Ihe big cannery building,
which will be 800 feet in length and open
at both ends."
But Newberg should not become unduly
excited. The surveyors may go away and
never come back, as they have been do
ing all over Eastern Oregon. By the way,
surveyors and civil engineers should not
be trusted too far In other directions.
"Three men, claiming to be civil engi
neers," says the Joseph Herald (Wallowa
County, also waiting for . a railroad),
"camped here from Saturday until Mon
day. We are Informed they torgot to pay
their stable bill and also for an iron shoe,
borrowed of one of J. A. Denny's clerks."
Dubious Thanks.
CINE eating apples came to the edi
I tor of the Silver Lake Leader (Lake
County) from W. H. McCall, an ad
mirer In Paisley, whereat the editor
to prove his "enjoyment" and. "pleas
ure" said that' did Mr. McCall know
how much the fruit was appreciated
"he would be convinced that it was
more blessed to give than it was to
receive."
The Little Red Hen.
IN the second reader we used to study
the tale of the Little Red Hen, who
found a grain of wheat, and could in
duce iieither the goose nor the duck,
the mouse nor the rat, to plant, reap
and take it to mill. So each time the
Little Red Hen said, "I will then." But
when It came time to eat, the lazy
ones were eager. Whereupon: .
Little red hen then made some breaar
That was white and light and sweet:
And when It was done she smiled and said:
"We'll see who is willing to eat.
Now who will eat this bread?" she cried.
"I will!" the gooseand the duck replied.
"I will!" said the mouse and the rat.
"No douht." said the hen, "If you get It, ana
then
How the laxy rogues longed for the treat)
She called to her chicks she was mother of
six
And that was the end of the wheat.
Does this tale fit the wood famine
that is coming' this Winter and ' the
food famine? There have been many
Summer butterflies and grasshoppers,
who flitted and Bang while the ants
toiled and put in fuel and food. "Not
I," said each of the "rogues" in the
Portland Plaza, and along the brake
beam route, whereupon the tollers, like
the Little Red Hen, had to say, "I will
then." If we are to believe Jim Tomp
kins, of Mount Hood's snowy heights,
who sees an ill omen in the thick bark
of trees and the heavy" feeding of the
bears, it will be a hard Winter for the
shirkers, who let the fruit drop from
the trees and forget that the sun will
take his heat away to Africa and South
America this Winter. And as the most
industrious worker this Summer seems
to have been the fuel trust, we may
expect Its comforts to be considerable.
This Is turning the Little Red Hen
story in an unintentional direction, but.
after all, the old maxim, "Them as has
gits," somehow is always verified.
Young Hopefuls.
LITTLE MARION, 4U years old, and
her mother, were very busy one day
preparing the noonday meal for the head
of the house. Suddenly the child startled
her mother by asking:
"Where does God live?"
"In Heaven," ansewered the mother.
"Does he live all alone?"
"Yes."
"Then who gets him his lunch?"
On another occasion, the grocer de
llvered a box of large ripe pears on the
back porch. Marlon made them a visit
and shortly afterward it was discovered
that a small bite was missing from --"ch
pear on the top of the box.
"I wonder who did this?" asked the
mother of the cook.
"There was a little black dog round
here a short time ago," answered the
cook.
Marion said never a word, and seemed
pleased that suspicion was turned in an
other direction. But after studying the
matter a short time she was seen to ex
amine herself in the mirror. Then sha
went to her mother with the question:
"Am I a little black dog?"
Horrid Editor.
WHAT kind of editor would call "cen
tral" an "old hello girl?" Yet that
is what the scribe of the Forest Grove
Times has done:
Phreda Loving is acting as switch girl
at Gales Creek while the old hello gin takes
a few weeks of recreation in the Hillside
hopyards.
Whenever that horrid man rings up
hereafter the line should be "busy now."
Oh, we can see what's coming to that
editor.
Big Ones, Including Grafters.
BANK wreckers are not the biggest
things In Oregon, by a long shot,
nor were all the marvels at the State
Fair last week. Here are some prodigies
not yet boomed in the measure of their
merit:
Rhubarb leaf, 40 inches wide Mrs. P. H.
Smith, Joseph, Wallowa County.
Watermelon, 37 pounds A. H. Grant,
Bend.
Beet, nine pounds in weight and 24 Inches
in circumference John Flick, Huntington.
Cucumber. IB inches long and 12Vi Inches
In circumference H. C. Powell, Albany.
Cucumber," four pounds 14 ounces In
welgnt. 14 inches long. 131, Inches around
C. J. Hayes, Hood River.
Oats, three acres land. 28 bushels Sam
Warneldi Alsea.
Oats, two acres land, 200 bushels, 20
pounds seed planted Harry McNab. Elgin.
Turnip. 30 Inches around C. C. Hawkins,
Baker City.
Now doesn't the above collection show
Oregon is "going some?" We shall not
mention some other "big ones" that Ore
gon can hardly be proud of Its liars and
grafters, quack doctors and shyster law
yers, office-seekers and pursuing editors.
It will be some comfort to sorrowing de
positors of the burst bank and the broken
Golden Eagle in Portland to know there
are genuine marvels in Oregon, so mod
est that their horn has never before
been tooted. By the way, isn't it about
time to put the lid on horns and 4 per
cent snake signs and slick promoters who
haven't any money of their own to do
business on but ours?
Yamhill Falls Behind.
IT used to be Yamhill County against
the world, but not now.
"Our population has decreased SO per
cent in the last week," says the Wilson's
Mill correspondent of the Dayton Opti
mist. Queer news in a newspaper of that
name, isn't, it? Fred Binney and fam
ily, Joe Baxter, Henry Freshour, John
Rowley's family, Guy Carter's wife and
Charles Saunders, all have gone, says
the cheerful Optimist.
But in Washington County, just over
the Yamhill line, what a difference!
"Girl born to the wife of Clifford Dixon,
near Forest Grove, September 8; girl to
the wife of James Patton, September, 9;
girl to the wife of Earl Hall, of Scoggnl
Valley, September 10." All this was the
work, of course of Dr. C. L. Large, at
tending. "Parties desiring the attendance
of Dr. Large In this class of cases," says
the notice, "will greatly oblige him by
engaging his services two or three
months prior to the expected event."
Thus doth Washington forge ahead of
Yamhill. Now let us hear from the
champion condensed milk baby. Yam
hill, you will have to be up and doing.
Your couples are not the best pleased in
the land because it is a boy or a girl.
You won't have enough signers for thoso
referendum petitions, by and by, unless
you hurry.
Politics in Dull Season.
LIGHTNING struck several places in
Central Oregon, after the visit of the
politicians in Klamath and Des
chutes. "A stack of hay," says the
Klamath Falls Herald, "belonging to B.
Aberbloos, of Langell Valley, was de
stroyed by fire and 60 tons were lost.
The men were scarcely 150 yards away
when a bolt of lightning struck the der
rick and set the stavk on fire." Light
ning played the same prank on Tumalo
River, Crook County, in. the timber, and
did a lot of damage.
This news may be a source of woe to
the politicians, who have been hoping
lightning would strike their quarter, when
they should be present. If the visit of
the politicians did tempt the lightning,
the people of Klamath and Deschutes may
have suffered a grievance, in loss of .crops
through lightning and rain. It would
seem to be clearly up to the politicians to
make explanations and offer regrets.
Changing the subject, the Corvalhs
Gazette tells us that "in the matter of an
adding machine, petitioned for by all
the county officers, the court instructed
the County Clerk to make the purchase."
This will make life easier for the county
employes. The adding machine will save
them a lot of labor and perhaps enable
them to close their offices earlier In the
afternoon.
Recently, the Roseburg papers recorded
that for the job of forest ranger at $75 a
month, there were 21 applicants. The men
can earn that same money as workers
anywhere. But it doesn't have the charm
that office has. "IP the disappointed can
didates will come up to London," says
the Times, "they can get $2.50 a day, or
more, and board, half a minute after they
step off the train."