THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY 5, 1908.
first
a 3 O
Br JOSEPH SCHAFER.
ji RESIDENCE of a few weeks in
the metropolis of Europe does
not 'entitle one' to write au
thoritatively about social and industrial
tendencies, a subject which in these
days It seems the ambition of every
traveler to elucidate. Months or years
would be required to equip the mind
for such an undertaking- On the other
hand, there are some points of minor
Importance, in the way of contrasts
between what one sees here and what
one is accustomed to seeing: at home,
which can probably be best presented
by one who Is not yet "acclimated,"
before time and habitual contact shall
have dulled the perception of differ
ence. In the purely physical sense, London
impresses the American visitor as a
very big: TOWN, the word town serving
to distinguish s It from New York,
which, with its "sky-scrapers" and the
things they imply fulfills his Idea of a
CITY. London has for ages built solid
ly and well, but on the horizontal,
rather than the perpendicular plan.
Despite the comparative smallness of
the country whose capital she Is, Lon
don never seems to have been limited
territorially. Whenever more building
space was needed, she simply en
croached further and further upon the
adjacent shires, with her streets,
roads, lanes and squares, setting aside
the while generous tracts for parks
end pleasure grounds. New York, on
the contrary, on, account of her strait
ened limits, built up into the air above
her little island even higher and
higher, till today the observer almost
tands aghast In the presence of a
Finger building several times the
height of a Bunker Hill Monument.
Speaking roundly, there are no tall
buildings in the British Isles, though
London presents to the eye many
graceful Bpires, with domes and tur
rets, to enhance the beauty of the
ky-llne from whatever point of
vision.
If we spoke a moment since of Lon
lon as a big TOWN, we must now
transpose tho caps and speak of her as
a very BIG town. It is easy to speak
of her seven or eight millions of people,
but statistics fall to bring home to the
unitiated the stupendous fact lying be
hind the figures. The city is so big
that when the visitor once finds him
self well inside, and he commonly en
ters by a subway, so that the phenom
enon breaks upon him all at once, he
almost consciously loses the expecta
tion of ever getting out. London be
comes his world; Its quarters, its
streets, squares and parks are the
countries and provinces of which the
world is made up. And whatever the
mere sojourner's view may be, the
true Londoner loves the regional di
visions of his city with an almost pa
triotic fervor. Even the rgged, hag
gard street Arab In the East End ex
hibits something akin to enthusiasm as
he shouts tho refrahi of his municipal
one is tempted to say his National
air:
Take me back to Ixndon Town,
l.oinlon Town, London Town,
That's where I Ions to be.
With tlio friends so dear to me.
Trafalgar Square, Oh! ain't U grand,
Oxford street, tho dear old trand,
Ieicealer Square, I don't care, anywhere,
I,ondon Town, take me ther.
Another fact which experience alone
can adequately impress upon the man
brought up in the New World is the
vastness of the accumulations of the
world's artistic, literary and scientific
treasures to be found here. While
London shares the above characteristic
with other European cities, her "big
ness," even in this respect, is note
worthy. It is a common remark here
that very few Londoners know Lon
don's treasures with anything ap
proaching to thoroughness, and he
whose stay is limited to a few months
need not hope to know them. Yet, if
he be wise, he will diligently employ
his spam time in studying at least a
few of the museums, galleries and li
braries; for, however strong his con
viction that Chicago and other Ameri
can cities are "making culture hum"
these days, he cannot but recognize
that here Is one domain in which there
Is more to be seen every day In London
for a few pence spent in omnibus fares
than he could find within the wide
borders of our own beloved land, so In
finitely superior to Europe In oppor
tunities of a different description.
There Is In all America no museum of
the Industrial and fine arts like that at
South Kensington, no library like that
in the British Museum, with Its more
than 2.000,000 printed books, its thou
sands of manuscripts, and its ex
haustive collections of relies illustrat
ing the world's cultured history. Nor is
there in the Western continents a
Palace of Westminster to house a law
making body, or a Hall of Faroe like
the historic Abbey hard by.
.Hut why continue tho list? Every in
telligent reader can expound it indefinitely
for himself. Once in a way the pat
riotic citizen of the Great Republic linds
Ms own country wanting, and he either
confesses as much, like a sensible man,
or mutually balances the account by
throwing Into the opposite scale a few
of the great things he can momentarily
call up to prove America "ahead of the
world." Some, we suspect, salve their
consciences or save their pride by de
preciating what they see, after the
manner of the New Yorker in the Nile
Valley who. unable to adduce any new
world parallel for tho pyramids, con
tented himself with the remark, "but,
yon know, there's no demand for pyra
mids. "
So much by way of general reflections.
Now for a few of those minor contrasts
the observance of which constitutes the
main excuse for this long letter.
1 shall speak first of the thing that
conies llrst In the traveler's experience,
the peculiarity of the methods of hand
ling baggage here universally called lug
Rage. The English railroads have at last
adopted something like the American
system of issuing baggage claim checks
to holders of tickets, wnich is a great
step forward. Indeed, if you know what
your address will be In London, the rail
way company will, for 6 pence, forward
your trunk from Iverpool to that ad
dress, exceeding In this respect both the
convenience and the economy of the
American system. But if you must leave
your goods at a temporary address till
a permanent one can be found, aa we
did, your troubles and vexations are
various. In the flrst place, you will
doubtless have to employ a cabman to
take them to your destination. Now the
London cabman is the one feature In the
otherwise admirable transportation sys
tem of the city which needs "reconstruc
tion," or at least more' perfect regula
tion. The cabman always charges "what
the traflic will bear." and he has no
more compunction about "discrimina
tions," "rebates," violations of "the long
and short haul clause," and other beset
ting sins of the profession than some o(
his more renowned American contem
poraries. He always expects a customer
to bargain with him. and whoever pays a
cabman his first price for 'a service will
usually pay at least double what the
service is worth. The fair rate will be
stated only when you show that you
impressions Worlds BiffiestToiini.
London as Seen
of History, University of
know what would be fair, and convince
him that you will not give more. This
haggling with cabmen Is one of the un
pleasant things about moving one's ef
fects in London.
The other is the absurd custom pre
vailing all over England of having a sep
arate porter for every detail In the handl
ing of such goods. Let it be understood
at once that cabmen and omnibus. drivers
are not, like the American draymen,
prepared both to transport your goods on
wheels and to roll them by band into a
basement or carry them up two flights
of stairs to a garret. By no means; they
are a kind of "gentlemen of the ribbons,"
who would not soil the palm or strain
the biceps in such plebeian toil. All that
is left for the distinct class of "porters."
At Liverpool, for example, one porter
will take your trunks from the Custom
House and place them on the omnibus:
when you reach the depot another will
take them from the omnibus and range
them on the pavement. Still another
wheels them into the luggage room,
where they are checked. A fourth is at
hand to carry your valises into the waiting-room,
while a fifth will assist you to
the hotel, where a sixth and last porter
carries them to your room! Being an
American, and this being your flrst day
ashore, you find you have tipped these
numerous porters with shillings instead
of 3-pence pieces, and so have depleted
your purse very appreciably. The Liver
pool porters are more rapacious than
those in London, doubtless because they
have the flrst chance at the Juicy Amer
ican prey.
But to return to the London experience:
You have bargained with your cabman
to carry your luggage and you from
one address to another, say five miles
away. He drives up to your door, fol
lowed by two or three porters. One of
these will bring your effects downstairs,
another will at least help to put them
In and on the vehicle, and both expect a
gratuity. As the cabman drives you
toward the new place of residence you
become dimly conscious of' several large
boys running behind or alongside. You
suppose them to be budding athletes,
training for the cross-country run. What
Is your surprise, on getting out or the
cab, to find these boys at your door,
ready to play the porter in taking your
goods off the cab and carrying them up
stairs. Boys in London will run five
miles for the chance of unloading a
trunk, and they, always plead the length
of the run to justify their expectation of
a liberal reward. You divide a shilling
between them ind Inwardly rejoice that
in America It is not an infallible mark
of "commonness" for a gentleman to
hand his own suit cases on and off a
cab, or even to lend a hand In getting his
trunk up the front steps.
Apropos of the custom of tipping, we
have found it in other respects neither
so universal nor so irksome aa we anti
cipated On the omnibus lines it seems
to be disappearing, due no doubt to the
competition with the well-regulated sys
tem of underground railways which now
serves nearly all sections of London un
der the name of "the tube." There Is
no chance for tips in the tube; and, as
this Is the swiftest and In many ways
the most desirable mode of conveyance,
the man who takes a bus really feels that
he is conferring a favor and is little cls
posed to pay extra for doing so. It is
still customary for the passenger who sits
in the place of honor, beside or just e
hind the gentleman with the tall hat
who handles the reins, to give something
to that functionary. But he does, it be
cause he uses the driver as a source of
information about places of Interest
passed on the way a kind of living,
speaking Baeddeker a proceeding not
without dangers of 'its own from the view
point of accuracy. The ordinary pas
senger simply pays his fare, in most
Dedication of Benington Monument
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i 0 OCCTOd' qq4
ON January 7, 1908, officers, sailors
and soldiers to the number of
several thousand, representing the
Army and Navy of the United States,
will dedicate a beautiful granite monu
ment to the memory of 57 of their com
rades who were killed by the explosion
of the gunboat Bennington's boilers in
the harbor of San Diego, Cal., July 21,
1905. The exercises will be held under
the personal direction of Rear-Admiral
Goodrich.
This monument, a picture of which is
shown herewith, is 64 feet high and
was erected by popular subscription on
the plat of ground set aside as the last
resting place of the Bennington boys.
It stands upon the summit of Point
Loma, directly above Fort - Rosecrans,
and overlooks the Bay of San Diego,
the ocean, parts of Mexico and the
by Joseph Schaf er, Professor
cases exactly as much as. -he would have
to pay to ride underground, through the
tube, the same distance.
In most of the restaurants and hotels
the tipping 'system still exists in full
vigor,, but on all the principal . streets
there are dining places in which either
the employes are forbidden . to accept
gratuities, or the business is so managed
by "paying at the counter" as to preclude
them. Many of the shaving parlors, too,
are operated on the cashier plan, in con
sequence of which the old-time gratuity
disappears.
On is, on the whole. Inclined to believe
that tho conscience of London is awake
to the evils of tipping and that the cus
tom is slowly but surely declining. This
should be an encouragement to those
American states that have already pro
hibited the practice by law, to stand by
their determination to root It out, and It
ought to stimulate other states to take a
similar attitude. It Is probable that the
attitude of royalty and of the state and
city governments have contributed power
fully, together with economic considera
tions, to bring the system into disrepute
here, for in all of the institutions under
public control gratuities are strictly for
bidden. The visitor to Hampton Court
Palace, Windsor or St. James, to the Par
liament buildings, the public museums
and galleries could not Tee an employe if
he desired to do so.
It is a striking evidence of the magni
tude of London's transportation business
that you can ride four miles, in or on, a
bus drawn -by sleek, mettlesome horses,
driven by a man who has passed a kind
of civil service examination to secure his
post, all for two pence (4 cents). Not
withstanding the enormous totals of the
daily underground travel, the principal
streets are literally crowded with great,
two-story omnibuses, together with motor
buses and a multiplicity of private con
veyances. Many streets also- have
"teams," trolleycars, which are likewise
two stories high that, is, they have seats
on top as well as inside, as do the omni
buses. The new-comer to London, especially
If he be a person of limited means, will
be profoundly interested in all that af
fects the cost of living, and a few days'
experience will supply him with a large
number of facts bearing on that point.
He must have a flat to live In, so he
canvasses this question at once and
finds that rents vary greatly with the
locality; but on the whole, they are
lower than in the leading American
cities, especially when the service of
the caretaker, which one always ob
tains with the rooms, is figured into
the account. Many Items in the cost
of maintaining a table, such as meats
(except fish), vegetables and fruits,
eggs, milk, cheese and butter, are
somewhat above what they would be In
most American cities, while bread,
pastry and ordinary groceries will not
vary much from American prices. Cloth
ing, and British manufactures of all
sorts, are much cheaper. An American
who needs to stock up on wearing ap
parel could almost afford a trip to
London for shopping purposes.
Cost of all service is much less than
in America. One pound ten shillings
per month is good pay for a maid ser
vant in a household. Most of my read
ers know that It would not be consid
ered good pay at home. They also know
that for several years past 16 cents has
been the usual charge for shaving ex
cept in Heppner, Butte and a few other
Far Western towns where the charge
is 25, and there are isolated cases in the
other direction showing the survival
of the earlier ten-cent rate. In London
three pence (six cents) is the maxi
mum general rate so fas as I have ob
served. There are plenty of two pence
shops, and a goodly sprinkling of "one
and a half pence shops,. Yes, more; at
mountainous regions of Southern Cali
fornia. The unveiling of this tribute
is looked forward to as an important
and solemn occasion. A holiday will be
proclaimed in the City of San Diego
and excursion trains will be run from
all the surrounding towns.
While the complete programme has
not yet been decided upon, that no less
than 7000 officers and men will partici
pate Is certain. By that time the
"path-finder fleets" consisting of the
Washington and. the Tennessee, will
have joined the cruisers Charleston,
Chicago, Milwaukee and St Louis and
the torpedo boats Paul Jones and Pre
ble, now at San Diego, and in audition
to the officers and men of these ves
sels there will be present hundreds of
Uncle Sam's soldiers and artillery, all
in full uniform.
Oregon
a meeting of English barbers held only
the other day, under the chairmanship
of a Member of Parliament, to protest
against the competition of foreigners
in their business, it was asserted that
many of these "foreign" shops shaved
for a penny. Probably two pence is
the most usual rate. A hair-cut costs
three pence or four pence, and for the
equivalent of about 15 cents, the cost
of a shave at home, one can command
the entire round of services within the
competence of the tonsorial artist.
Shoe-shining, which is not done In
shaving parlors but by men and boys
with movable kits, who perambulate
the streets, cos'ts two pence. Laundry
bills are at least one-third less than
with us. .
On the whole, therefore, a Winter in
London need not cost more and might
well cost less than a Winter in Min
neapolis, St. Louis, New York or Bos
ton. For a family, whose tastes as re
gards food are simple, the difference
In favor of London would be apprecia
ble. It remalnB to say a word about the
London people. On this point I speak
as a spectator, one who moves about
and observes them in their ordinary
doings, particularly in public places.
The' Impressions of difference be
tween Englishmen and Americans are
striking, if jiot numerous. In general,
one would Bay that the Briton takes
himself more seriously than does his
cousin across the sea, a characteristic
which need not be Imputed to him as
a fault. He takes much greater pains
to maintain what he deems a proper
dignity. He walks more stiffly, speaks
more circumspectly and more formally
he lacks the American's dictionary
of slang and dresses more carefully.
Whereas with us the business suit is
the favorite attire of all gentlemen
for six days in the week at least. In
Lortdon the Prince Albert coat and the
tall silk hat are in evidence every
where every 'day.
- English formalism shows itself in
a variety of ways: In the almost de
fiant reserve maintained by men under
circumstances tnat would seem to call
for some unbending one may sit for
15 minutes in a crowded car without
observing the slightest premonition of
conversation; in the very general re
quirement of letters of introduction,
which must be produced in many cases
as a preliminary to one's, reception as
a lodger in a public lodging-house, and
even as a condition of being permitted
to deposit money in a London bank.
Formalism appears, as already sug
gested, in the ordinary speech of the
Englishman; but it is more noticed in
all printed utterances which refer to
royalty, nobility or even to the official-
class. . Some of the accounts of
Smiling "Round theWorld
No. XI. Mystery of the Law In China.
(Copyright, 1907, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
SHANGHAI has 12 precinct police sta
tions and one, court, known as the
"Mixed Court," because some repre
sentative of the several consulates sits
each day with the Chinese magistrate.
Visitors are welcome at this court, as
they are at the police stations. When I
visited one of the latter, a curious cere
mony was taking place. The courtyard
was filled with rickshawsv-there looked
to be hundreds of them, all clean and
shining. It was the monthly inspection
required by the police and the. rickshaws
were being tested by pretty rough usage
from a .hammer and the well-developed
muscles of a big Irish sergeant, while the
coolies rickshaw men looked anxiously
on. If the rickshaws stand this very
thorough examination they are consid
ered safe to go another month.
The mixed court opens at 10 o'clock in
the morning, and the day I visited it, the
American Commissioner. Dr. Barchet,
the Vice Consul, was sitting with the
Chinese magistrate, a mandarin of 'high
rank. .
I was introduced to the magistrate by
Dr. Barchet, and found him very gracious,
and possessing a fair supply of English.
He was dressed in full mandarin dress,
brown satin coat, beautifully embroid
ered, and a black 'velvet hat turned up
.about the edge, and decorated with the
button, the horse-tall and the peacock's
feathers that indicate a mandarin's rank.
We went into the courtroom, everyone
quickly took their places and the hear
ings began. All prisoners when brought
before the magistrate must kneel during
the entire proceeding.
Though all tho prisoners were Chinese,
and the cases were conducted in that lan
guage, I could follow most of them, as
the English sergeants preferred their
charges to Dr. Barchet, who is a pro
ficient Chinese scholar, and he In turn
translated them to the magistrate.
The charges were mostly petty ones,
the. sentences being light a fine, or dis
missal with a reprimand.
Nature has given the police a great ad
vantage over prisoners In China, for the
cue is a handy and safe mode of com
pelling them to obey. It is rather dis
tressing to a foreigner to see the way in
which the cues are used to pull the men
about with. When a policeman brings
a man before the court he drives him by
his cue, and when he takes him away, he
pulls him by it, or if there are several
prisoners, he knots their cues together
and pulls them along in a bunch. With
such persuasion, a prisoner is not apt to
hesitate long.
For thieving, prisoners are sentenced to
a certain number of strokes with the
bamboo, or the cangue for so many
hours a day sometimes both together.
The cangue Is a large square board that
fits about their necks, and besides being
very heavy and uncomfortable, is con
sidered a great disgrace, for it has the
prisoner's name and crime pasted on it.
In order to make the punishment more se
vere, the prisoner is often condemned to
be taken to the place where the crime
was committed, and made to stand near
the store or 'house where the nature of
his crime, as well as his name are plainly
to be read by every passerby. This Is a
terrible punishment for them, for the Chi
nese are very sensitive about being pub
licly shamed, "losing face," they call It
In tho afternoon I went back to iae
mixed court and saw some men bam
booed. It was done in a different place
from where the trials take place, being
at one side of an open court, where a
desk was placed, behind which the as
sistant magistrate sat
The prisoners axe brought out and
stand at one side, waiting their turn. The
magistrate calls a name. Wan Hua, for
instance, and a prisoner steps out. The
magistrate gabbles off a Chinese jumble
of words that mean, "You, Wan Hua,
are convicted of stealing a coat and three
quilts from Mrs. Ho Soy, and are sen
tenced to 200 strokes with the bamboo."
Then he proceeds with his reading and
writing and pays no more attention.
The prisoner throws himself on a
piece of matting laid on the top step
leading to the magistrate's desk, his
trousers are pushed, down, exposing
his thighs, and two'iren in ridiculous
red sugar-loaf hats trimmed with blue.
I set themselves on the prisoner's feet
the Kaiser's recent visit; which ap
peared in the London papers would be
highly amusing to an American news
paper's constituency, despite the fact
that the writer never intended to .be
humorous. A cabinet member is always
"Right Honorable," however awkward
in the literary sense the absurd title
may appear. When- Mr. Lloyd-George
met with an injury, the other day, In
motoring from Manchester to London,
an opposition paper explained that:
"The Rt Hon. gentleman's head struck
the guard, and the glass cut Jlis left
eye."
Facts such as these tend to confirm
the somewhat widespread suspicion that
the Englishman Is deficient in the sense
of humor; and yet, I am convinced that
Americans are prone to exaggerate this
deficiency. The American's National pro
pensity to Jollity probably leads him to
overrate his own gifts in this line, while
In his eyes the Briton's studied reserve
is an evidence of the opposite mental
quality. If keen wit is a proof of the
possession of the sense of humor, . the
Englishman has It In measure hardly, if
at all, lower than the American. Let the
person who doubts this take the pains
to read the current political speeches re
ported in the . newspapers and be con
vinced! Whatever the American may think of
the Londoner's-wit, there can be no two
opinions as to his courtesy. '
The London tradesman's "Thank you"
is really a greatly overworked phrase.
It is used when ' you give your order,
when the goods are delivered to you and
again when you pay for them. It be
comes so far an unconscious reaction
that when the tables are turned and you
ask a favor of him, as to give you small
change for 'a gold coin, he still, by force
of habit: thanks yo,u instead of awaiting
that courtesy from you.
Indeed, courtesy is here a universal
trait. The London police are noted for
their civility as well as for their manly
bearing and their natty uniforms. All
classes, high and low, rich' and poor,
show themselves prompt to help the
stranger find his way about or to answer
any proper question. One need never hes
itate here, as one might in several lead
ing American cities, to accost a gentle
man on the street corner to inquire for
a certain address. . A civil question will
usually bring a civil reply; many will go
to considerable trouble to put you on the
right track. In a somewhat extended ex
perience as a "stranger" in. a number of
Middle Western and Eastern cities, the
writer has found but one parallel to this
particular trait of the Londoners, namely,
in Boston. Not being a New Englander,
he is the freer to say that for inbred
kindliness of demeanor Americans are
safe in matching the Bostonian against
the world.
and shoulders, the latter one clutching
his cue.
Two men with little flat bamboo
rods about a yard long squat each
Tell Just What He lvGoing to Do-
side when one begins and delivers
about 25 lashes then rests, and the
other takes It up, counting aloud as
they beat. The prisoner howls and
cries and begs, tears streaming from
his eyes, for although it docs not break
the skin, it is extremely painful.
The men sitting on the prisoner Joke
and laugh, the officers standing about
carry on animated conversation, and
as this all takes place in a courtyard,
open to the street, children run' in and
out playing and laughing, mothers
with babies in their arms look stolidly
on, the babies blinking solemnly, while
PEOPLE SIT BY THE RAILING
- A SORT
a little crowd of curious men stand
about the entrance. . - .
The mixed court, beine; jointly under
the Jurisdiction of foreigners, is neces
sarily more merciful and lenient than
an unmixed Chinese court
In the native city. Inside the walls
and away from outside Influences, the
most brutal cruelties, for which Chi
neso justice has long been famous, or
rather infamous, prevail.
Beside the cangue, a man . has to
carry a heavy chain about his neck as
well, and prisoners before the court
ffre obliged to kneel on chains.
A gentleman told me of witnessing
a courtroom scene in the interior of
China where a man who refused to
confess was struck on the ankle bone
with a xnalict until he fainted from the
hideous pain the bone being cbushed
to a Jelly.
Any one who has had an argument
with a rockingchalr in the dark, and
received even a slight blow on the
ankle bone, can' appreciate what a
fiendish imagination must have
prompted such a torture. During this
scene, a little Chinese girl in the court
room, laughing and prattling, wit
nessed it unmoved. She was the
daughter of the jailer and presumably
hardened to such things.
Pirates are frequently brought In
from the interior, chained together by
rings fastened through each man's col
larbone, and sometimes prisoners who
are being carried from one place to
another are hamstrung, to prevent any
possibility of their escaping.
The' most dreadful of all executions
in China is thcling chee, or hundred
cuts, where the condemned man is
given 99 cuts on different parts of the
body, contrived with such devilish cun
ning that death does not come until the
last cut, reaching the heart puts them
out of their agony.
This execution is only administered
for three crimes: attempted assassina
tion of the emperor or empress, the
killing of father or mother or the kill
ing of a husband by a wife. The kill
ing of a wife by a husband is not so
serious a matter.
Another method of execution pecu
liar to the Chinese is to put a man
in a wicker cage that Is fitted closely
about his neck, his nead appearing
through a hole in the top. He stands
on several bricks, and each day a brick
He Prances In Curvetting Handsomely.
is taken from under his feet letting
his weight be more and more suspend
ed from his neck. He is given nothing
to eat or drink, so besides perishing
from hunger and thirst he is slowly
choked to death. No man can endure
thi3 dreadful combination longer than
three or four days at the otuside.
In China a man must sign his own
death warrant by inking his thumb
nnd making the impression of it on
the paper. Chinese law, when once it
has a man in its clutches, is loath to
give him up whether he is Innocent
or guilty. So it he does not sign the
warrant willingly he is tortured until
he does it in sheer desperation.
Political prisoners, . who are sen
tenced to banishment, seldom reach the
plac5 of their destination, for after a
sentence there is almost always an ac
cident, either by the chair in which
he is carried being tipped while on a
bridge by one of the coolies stumbling
and thrown into the river, where there
Is no hope of escape from the clumsy,
tightly-closed affair, or else the ban
ished one is mysteriously attacked by
highwaymen and murdered.
All executions of any sort are free for
anyone, man, woman or child, to witness.
And the effect of that universal and
deadly system of bribery is only too ap
parent a system that saps the strength
and ability of China to become a great
country, for from one end of the king
dom to the other there is no disinterested
desire for 'advancement; only a case of
the big fish eating up the little ones and
no man so . great that he cannot b
bought.
If a prisoner condemned to be beheaded
will pay the executioner a fat bribe he
may expect to be sent out of existence
with neatness and dispatch after being
heavily drugged with opium. But if he
refuses, he must suffer a clumsy execu
tion that will be attended by torture and
pain before the end finally comes. Even
In the simple and less painful bamboolng,
a bribe will induce the whlpper to hold
the bamboo stiff, causing much less pain
than if allowed to bend and spring. The
captain of a British- barque lying off
Canton described the execution of 29
pirates who had attacked a tug manned
by coolies and slaughtered the greater
part of them. As all executions are free
to the public there was a general request
by the crew of the barque for a holiday,
and permission being granted by the cap
tain, there was a. general exodus to the
shore.
It appeared that only those of the
criminals who could not purchase ran
som were executed. Those who had t50,
or friends that could supply that sum,
were liberated on payment of the same
to the mandarin of the district. The
luckless 29 had apparently neither friends
nor money. So they were marshaled out
of prison under a . strong' guard of
soldiers; and. like the prisoners In our
WHICH IS BROADENED OUT INTO
OF TABLE.
Sing Sing who are allowed for their last
meal the best that the prison cuisine
affords, these malefactors were furnished
any mode of conveyonce at the disposal
of the authorities to convey them to the
place of execution. Most of them elected
to go in state in palanquins, or what is
the same, bamboo baskets borne between
two soldiers, while a few walked.
The condemned were marshaled in line,
and required to kneel on "all fours" be
fore the mandarin and . his suite. All
knew the procedure, ana there was no
confusion. The headsman, armed with a
keen, broad-bladed sword, stepped out
If this gentleman should fail to sever
the head of ' his victim in three blows,
his own would be forfeit But In this
instance he did his work ith both cer
tainty and celerity. Approaching the
first in line, he gave a swift, swinging
blow on the back of the neck and a de
capitated head rolled onto the sward.
The bodies weer gathered up and buried
in a common grave.
This dreadful system of bribery . and
"squeeiing" is the canker at the heart
of China. Everyone expects it from
everyone else: even the children are not
to be trusted. A Chinese woman sends
her child to a chow shop, and weighs
the food when it is brought home to
see that her own child Is not "squeezing"
her.
In making change, the smallest boy. as
salesman, will keep back two. or three
"cash." Should you . say: "How fash
ion you steal my cash? You b'long allee
same as t'ief," he will indignantly an
swer: "My no b'long t'ief; my ketchle
you watch, then b'long t'ief, but my just
make little squeeze." No one is ashamed
of It, or accounts it dishonest.
It would seem as If all the horrible
punishments so publicly administered
would effectually prevent even the most
reckless and hardened from committing
crime, but it doesn't seem to. do so. and
the courts go on flourishing on the bribes
extorted and the money paid by Innocent
people to keep out of court, for It is
openly averred that a Chinese court of
Justice, among other delinquencies, is not
even above blackmail.
It is not surprising that among the
people are such sayings as "Tigers and
snakes are kinder than judges o'r run
ners." or "In life, beware of courts; in
death, beware of hell!"
Repress Your Desire
for Strong Drink
Advice to Oregon Voters m Bow
Best to Minimise the Evils of the
Traffic In Liquor.
BY WILLIAM H. FEHSB.
PROHIBITION, what does It mean?
As Is generally understood, it means
to prohibit the manufacture and sale
of all spirituous and malt liquors as a
beveragfe not the drinking thereof as
that Is a personal privilege, prohibition
or no prohibition.
I wish here to make a plain statement:
The United States Constitution plainly
sets forth that it fosters and protects all
manufactures. You may in all honesty
and sincerity vote for prohibition but to
stop the production of liquor, the Con
stitution will have to be amended by
striking out the word "all" and put in
an exception.
Does prohibition prohibit? I am bold
enough to say emphatically, no. I need
not refer to the state of Maine, but
take my own native state, dear old Iowa.
Prior to 18S4 we had 18cal option. The
river counties of course were wet and
wide open, the wet districts waxing rich
on the desires and thirst of the dry.
Then came the greatest struggle of all,
personal liberty or a state prohibiting
amendment. The Prohis carried by 37,
000 majority. The Republican party up
held the amendment, the Democrats vot
ing for It as an experiment. What was
the result? Under local option we had
in my little home town and place of busi
ness a German club, whereby we could
get good lager beer shipped to us in bulk.
A good number of our members were re
ligiously inclined who would attend divine
service Sunday morning but in the after
noon most of them would, with their
wives and families, come to the club,
enjoying social and neighborly intercourse
with music; eating and drinking: wine,
beer, soda pop or lemonade; dancing,
cards and other games. Now comes the
state prohibitory amendment making it
a misdemeanor for a common carrier to
haul or handle spirituous or malt liquor.
This of course put an. end to the Gc-inan
Social Club.
What followed? The river counties con
tinued wet, public sentiment being against
all sumptuary laws, but to us In the in
terior where religious zeal and, I must
say, in some localities rank fanaticism
prevailed. They say our boys are saxe.
The old topers will have to go on the
water-wagon. Yes; the boys were safe,
the German Social Club was superceded
by a young men's club, oathbound pass
word and private passkey. On Saturday
night they would have come by express a
box of bananas.
The open saloon was a thing of the
past, but in my home town, before local
option, there had been six well-conducted
saloons compelled by city ordi
nance to close at 10 P. M., and remain
closed until 6 A. M. Then we had three
or four drug stores; now they main
tain and support 11 drug stores. The
proprietors of some have built for
themselves palatial residences and, I
am told, hold first mortgages on fine
farms. The prohibition cry was, "Wipe
out the saloon." Then our most be
loved country would be safe Safe from
what? Foreign invasion?. .1 guess not
Safe against a man or woman patroniz
ing a blind pig or a drug store?
What do our most ardent supporters
of prohibition put in place of the sa
loon? Absolutely nothing. The open
saloon is the poor man's club; it is a
free Information bureau; it is a place for
a thirsty man to get a drink of cold
water just for the asking; it Is a place
where a stranger is always welcome, a
place where he can leave his hand bag
gage and feel that it will be kept safe;
a place where the clerk, generally speak
ing, is an encyclopedia of facts concern
ing the city or town. Ask him a civil
question and 99 times out of 100 you will
get a civil answer. Should you have a
call of nature, where else could a
stranger go?
And right here let me ask who Itnows
of a law -making the drinking of liquor
or becoming intoxicated a crime? A per
son may become intoxicated with joy and
delight. Take for instance our old-fashioned
revival meeting or an old-time
camp meeting. To get drunk with liquor
is beastly, but not a crime in itself. If
arrested by a guardian of the peace, the
charge in each and every Instanec Is
drunk and disorderly. I need not here
mention in comparison the case of the
Holy Rollers in Tacoma which has re
cently come to public notice through the
public press.
Cities and communities have for
hundreds of ycarshad to contend with
the strong drink question, as well as that
of the social evil. They have found that
regulation does regulate only to a certain
degree. Suppression does nofr suppress,
and latterly prohibition does not prohibit
The voters of the grand old State of
Oregon are confronted by these same old
problems. Again suppression does not
suppress, regulation does not regulate
and prohibition does not prohibit. What
then is the solution? Let me tell you,
the word is "repression." Take down
your unabridged and see if I am right
or wrong. Take the words of Milton:
"Your desire for wine and all delicious
drinks which many a famous Warrior
overturns thou couldst repress." Don't
this bring back the question to the Indi
vidual him or herself? Repress your de
sires and don't depend upon legislation
to curb your abnormal desires and ap
petites. For the sake of argument if .the liquor
business is wrong, a higher and unrea
sonable license doesn't make it right
The one great trouble is the drinker and
patron of saloons. Members of high
toned clubs have ostracised the bar
keeper, but have forgottten the beams
in .their own eyes. Is the mixer any
worse than his customer? Being thus os
tracised, he says to himself: "I've got the
name, so here goes the game." Where
can you find a more liberal and generous
class than the average barkeeper? Let
a civic question arise, some public im
provement involving the greatest good
for the greatest number, he is one of the
first to contribute.
Vote Oregon dry and thereby enrich
California and Washington. Force our
young men into private drinking clubs.
Increase the quack doctor business by
writing prescriptions, etc. Vote Oregon
dry and foster the blind pig and bootleg
dispenser. The only way to regulate the
saloon business Is for the drinker to reg
ulate himself first Repress your desires.
Don't vote for a sumptuary laws to regu
late your own personal desires or appetite.