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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 6, 190S. FORTLAXD, oitrcox. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflce Second-Class Matter. Subscription Bate Invariably In AdTnnen. (Hy MalL) Dally, Sunday Included, one year. S.OO Kaiiv, Funday Included, six months.... Jffl L'uny. Sunday Included, tnree montns.. i lal;y. Sunday Included., one rnonlo..... - Dally, without Sunday, one year o u lily. without Sunday, alx months.... 3- Jially. without Sunday, three montns. . 1..S laily. without Sunday, ona month .ou Weekly, one year "tn Sunday, one year Sunday and Weekly, one year a r.lv Cnvrler.J Dally. Sunday Included, one year 9 00 Dajiy, Sunday Included, one month.... .5 How to Kemit Send postofflce money erUT. express order or personal cherk on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give poetolllce ad dress In full. Including county and state. . Foetasre Kate 10 to 14 pages. 1 cent; 8 t- 1'9 pages, 2 cents; Stf to 4 pages, a rami; 46 to ttu pages. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rates. Eastern Bnsineea Office The 8. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 4S 80 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms ClO-iia Tribune building. rOBTLaND, fcUXDAY. DEC. 6, 108. MILTON'S TEBCEXTEXABV. As the 300th anniversary of the birth of Milton draws near the stu dent of literature recalls not without wonder that to England belongs the palxn In both pic and dramatic po etry since, the close of the Middle Ages. This fact Is the more remark able since the English people are not noted for romantic or artistio quali ties, being In common repute distin guished rather .for a practical and commercial spirit. Milton's "Paradise Lost" ranks with Homer's "Iliad" and Dante's "Divine Comedy" as one of the three consummate triumphs of human genius in epic poetry. As a work of imaginative genius, Vergil's "Aeneld" fails far below it, though as an artist In language the Mantuan Is perhaps without a peer In the history of literature. Tennyson Ealutes him as "wtelder of the stateliest measure ever molded by the lips of man." If Vergil's measure Is the stateliest, Mil ton's is the most majestic No poet has ever rivaled the sustained sublim ity of his flight, none has approached the lefty harmony of his numbers. It has been said of all great poems that they are more pralsid than read, but of "Paradise Lost" this Is perhaps less true than of many others, for we know that the larger part of our com mon Ideas of the other world, the fu ture life and the origin of the human race, which are sometimes supposed to be obtained from Hebrew litera ture, are really to be found In Milton's masterpiece. John Milton was born In London, Pecember 9, 1608, some eight years before the death of Shakespeare, whom he may have seen on the streets and possibly have known by sight. The Mermaid's Tavern, where Shakespeare and his comrades often diverted themselves, was not far from the house where' Milton was born. From his earliest years he showed a strong predilection for what was then called learning, namely, Greek and Roman literature; but his taste was more catholic than that of most of his contemporaries, for he also learned French and Italian and gained some knowledge of Hebrew. Later in life Milton wrote a pamphlet on educa tion In which he severely criticised the usual curriculum of the schools and colleges of his day. Those who now advocate the teaching of agricul ture as an innovation may perhaps be comforted by the reflection that Mil ton also advocated it and that their successors 300 years from now may be doing the same thing with the same results. Milton's prose pam phlets, among many other startling things, argued for complete freedom of divorce, education and speech. His views upon divorce may have been In tensified by his own matrimonial ex perience, which was extensive but not felicitous. By freedom in education he understood the dethronement of the classics from their absolute rule and the introduction of science and the arts as subjects of school and col lege study. This aspiration of his sounds very modern, and illustrates how rapidly things move In the realm of education. Milton's argument for free speech was set forth in his "Areopagitlca," which was published In 1644, the year of the battle of Marston Moor. It is the only one of his prose works which Is still readable, being a splendid monument of style, full of profound thought and eloquent appeals to the higher emotions. Most of his pam phlets were controversial and some of them bitter to the last degree. Their personal invective, together with "what seems to us an Incoherent and in volved diction, makes them of small attraction to modern readers. Still almost every one of Milton's rrose works contains passages of unap proachable power' and beauty. Their scurrility was an unavoidable Incident of controversy in his time, and his passionate violence shows that he was at least in earnest, which cannot be ald of all pamphleteers. His Invec tive attained its acme of sublimity, and descended to the lowest depths of scandalous malignity, In pamphlets hlch he wrote in defense of the peo ple of England after they had exe cuted Charles I. This deed shocked the scribblers of Continental Europe, who expressed their horror in more or lees degraded Latin. Milton met them on their own ground, and it is pretty generally conceded that he came out of the battle victorious, though smeared with mud. Like William Cullen Bryant and the poet Pope, Milton began writing verses in his youth. His lines "On a Fair Infant" were composed when he was sixteen, and Johnson truly says of them that they gave little promise of his future pre-eminence. His first works which showed unmistakable tokens of Immortality were "L'Alle gro" and "II Penseroso," two poems In a rapid and charming meter which present alluring pictures of joy and melancholy. A year later he wrote "Coram" to oblige a friendly noble. In this poem Milton touched the very summit of his art, though not in all parts of 1L Some of the lines are of inconceivable beauty, others hardly escape absurdity in spite of their per fect style. In the main the art of "Comus" Is as admirable as the thought Is profound. Still Milton's greatest work Is. of course, "Paradise Lost." and however much we may praise the lesser poems the fact re mains that but for his epic he would not rank high above the major Eng lish poets. "Paradise Lost," with Milton's prose, makes him the repre sentative and voice of the highest thought and achievement of his time. The years from 1608 to 1674, which included his life, are known among Intellectual people not as the age of Charles, Cromwell or the English revolution, but as the age of the blind poet who embodied in his life Its j noblest virtues and expressed In his ' writings Its deepest thought and Its highest beauty. Though hts old age was forgotten by the great and his last years were passed In obscurity and almost In penury, still to the end of time the period when he lived and wrote will be called the age of Milton. Thus genius triumphs over circum stance and the long verdict of history reverses the partisan decisions of con temporaries. FOR THE OLD CONGRESS AND MB NEW. The outgoing Congress, which Is to meet tomorrow In its second session, will be presented with numerous sub jects of sound legislation, Dut 13 ex pected to do little with them. For treatment of the uppermost subject, tariff revision. President-elect Taft plans to call the new Congress in spe cial session on March 4. The so-called tarifT investigation that has been con ducted by the House Committee on "Ways and Means has been a dlscour agement. amounting almost to t farce. Practically everybody who has beon heard by the committee has urged some increase- or decrease in duty for his own benefit ana tne gen eral interests of the whole country have had little attention. There has been no close or expert investigation of prices at home or abroad or of manufacturing cost and trade condl tlons. In addition to tariff revision, good subjects of legislation are: Currency reform, amendment of the Sherman anti-trust law so as to authorize proper Interstate combinations, ex tension of the powers of the Inter state Commerce Commission over rates and capitalization, postal sav ings banks and waterway improve ments. Other matters are numerous, but these suggest themselves as the most Important. Their disposition is expected to be left mostly to the next Congress In Its special session. Extension of employers' liability In interstate commerce and of Govern ment liability for its employes will be presented; also limitation of the op eration of labor injunctions. These subjects are to be Included in the programme of the Taft administra tion according to advices from Hot Springs, Va. They have been Included in the Roosevelt policies. It will be seen that the outgoing Congress has many opportunities for needed legislation. The subjects are big ones and many could be disposed of before March 4, if Congress had a mind to get down to business. So in the short session we may expect to see Congress perhaps going on with its effort to do something with the paper pulp duty and with the Sher man law. And, let it not be forgot ten, there are a list of Federal ap pointments to receive the sanction of the Senate. Should It be marked on the political programme to change the postmater of Portland, on the ex piration of Mr. Mlnto's term this month, that will also be a very vital matter for the second session of the Sixtieth Congress. THE WEEKLY OREGONIAN. December 4 was the birthday of the Weekly Oregonlan, and aow it has begun its 5 9th year in the fullest en joyment of middle-aged health. Wher ever mail routes penetrate, be they daily or but once a week, The Weekly Oregonlan goes to the outermost ends of the Oregon Country. In its career of nearly three score years it has been a landmark of civilization, and it has shared honors in the pioneer home with the Great Book. Native Oregonians cherish it as their first reader and spelling-book in the days when schools were few and far away. The men and the women who wrought homes In the wilderness in the '40s and '60s call it friend, and know that when "the time shall come when each shall take a chamber in the silent halls of Death" their pass ing will be recorded in its columns with the good that they have done. So It pursues the even tenor of its way, growing as It goes to the chil dren grown and scattered to other states, who would keep in touch with the land of their birth. City folk do not see much of The Weekly Oregonian; yet they would profit by It. For to every owner of bush, vine or tree, the owner of one cow or ten, the horseman or the poultryman, there Is in Its columns the advice of practical men on lines that pay. , FIXING COUNTY OFFICERS" PAY. The method of fixing salaries of county officers In Oregon is unrea sonable, inequitable and often expen sive to the taxpayers. All salaries of county officers are fixed by the Legis lature, but a bill relating to a salary in any one county is considered a "local bill" and the question whether It shall pass Is left entirely to the members from that county. Under this plan one or two members in each house of the Legislature fix the salaries of the officers in their re spective countlesT Because they have this power, members have used the Legislature as a means of rewarding friends and punishing enemies. If the member from the county affected says that the bill is satisfactory to him, all the other members vote for it without question. As a conse quence, some of the county officers receive salaries that are too high, others salaries that are too low. The member of the Legislature is fre quently a transient in officialdom. Of his acts at Salem his constituents know very little. The laws regarding salaries of county officers are so nu merous and distributed through so many volumes of the session laws that even a lawyer has difficulty In determining what the salary of any particular official Is at any time. Con sequently the taxpayers never call their representatives to account for their acts In fixing salaries. The system Is wrong. Salaries should be reasonably uniform in counties where the business con ditions and cost of living are simi lar. A county officer should receive approximately what he could secure for his services In private life. If the power to fix salaries Is to re main In the Legislature, the power should be exercised by all the mem bers and not merely by those from the one county that happens to be directly Interested at the time. Quito likely a better plan would be to have the salaries fixed by the County Court, which is directly answerable to the people. County officers could be protected against re vengeful county courts and the peo ple could be protected against courts that, would reward official friends, by a provision that no officer's salary shall be either Increased or dimin ished during the term for which he has been elected. If salaries are too high, public opinion would force a reduction, to take effect at the begin ning of the next term. If they are too low, they could be increased at the same time. Under such a system the salaries paid by the people of a county would be fixed by the imme diate representatives of the county acting at home for their constituents. Placing the salary question within local control would make it more or less of a local issue in county cam paigns and thereby the wishes of the people could be ascertained. CHILDREN'S BOOKS. In the book store windows among the new Christmas volumes it is pleas ant to see a pretty edition of Miss L. M. Alcott's "Little Women." Who would undertake to say how many lives have been uplifted and bright ened by this thoroughly sound and perennially delightful book? It is the story of four girls, Jo, Meg. Beth and Amy, who had their own way to make In the world. Their girlish ex pedients and innocent little devices for getting along and making both ends meet are good reading for anybody, young or old. The steadfast Jo's stern adherence to duty, with her sDlrit of helDfulness to the other girls. Is one of the finest things in the whole world of books, or real life, either. . The truth is that the best books for young people are often the best for adults also. If they are really suit able for youth, they must possess a vi tality, a spirit of exuberant hope and power, which is the most potent of all tonics for weary men and women. How many grown people are willing to confess that they love to read fairy stories? Not half so many as there are guilty of it. Hans Christian An derson's tales are fully as popular among adults as among children. Par ents who read "The Ugly Duckling" to their children with a patient air of enduring something beneath their years are as great frauds as grandpa when he unwillingly leads little Johnny to the circus. Everybody enjoys Anderson's stories. Just as everybody enjoys "Alice In Wonder land." In fact, children get. only the husks of a book like "Alice." The kernel Is far too deep for them. Alice, with all her glrllshness, is mistress of a profound philosophy which none of the dream people she 'falls in with can refute. She Is an accomplished dialectician who is never at a loss for unanswerable arguments-. The won der Is that with all this logical skill she is still such a perfect little girl. Her metaphysics, which is as deepas Plato's, never scared a child yet. What man ever better deserved im mortality than the mathematician who created Alice among the whirl of his x's and y's? TIME TO GET OCT OF DEBT. Soon after return of good Vlmes, following the depression of 1893, The Oregonian repeatedly urged that cities and counties should take ad vantage of the good times and get out f dobt. During prosperous pe riods the people are able to pay taxes in excess of those necessary for cur rent expenses. If a city has gone into debt during hard times, it should take advantage of the first industrial revival to get square with the world again. Many of the cities of the state acted upon the suggestion, btft others have been running deeper Into debt than ever, and, if another reversal should be experienced, they would find their Interest charges a grievous burden. There are several good reasons why a city must go into debt during hard times. In the first place, the people are not able to pay high taxes. Again. by going into debt for public im provements, employment is provided for the laboring men at a time when they need it most. Then, too, a city can get more public improvements for the same amount of money during hard times than they can get during good times.' Men who are glad to do ten hours of honest work for a dollar and a half drag listlessly through eight or nine hours of careless work when times 'are good and wages are 2.60 a day or better for common labor. From every viewpoint, except, pos sibly, that of rates on interest, the best time to go into debt for public improvements is during hard times. The time to pay off the debt is when Industrial conditions are good. Prac tically every farmer in Oregon has paid oft his mortgages since good times returned, and most of them have money in the bank which they can spend clearing new land, if labor conditions' should again become such that they can get men at the wages they feel Justified In paying for such work. A city should be run pretty much on the" same principles as a private business. THE BRIBE-TAKER'S DANGERS. The Judge or the legislator or the person occupying any position of trust should remember that one who will offer a bride is also low enough and treacherous enough to expose the bribe-taker whenever it suits his self ish purposes. It Is true there is a species of honor among thieves and among rascals of all sorts, but it Is an honor bounded by self-interest. The man who succeeds In bribing a Judge or a legislator often feels so proud of his achievement that he boosts of it to his Intimate friends. and soon common rumor has the story of the betrayal of public trust. The bribe-giver has no respect what ever for the bribe-taker. Instead, he feels the utmost contempt. More over he feels no 'obligation to protect his victim, for he argues that the service rendered was paid for In cash or other valuable consideration, and that no further obligation exists. Tears may pass before he tells his secret, but eventually he will con fide to some one else the knowledge he has of a corruptible and corrupted character. The old saying that mur der will out Is not nearly so often true as that bribery will out The murderer may be the sole witness to his crime. There are always two wit nesses to bribery, and generally there are more, for the man who pays money is usually not the man who furnishes the money to be paid nor the real beneficiary of the crime. Exposure is by no means the worst consequence of acceptance of a bribe. Discovery carries with it a swift and severe punishment, but It Is of com paratively short duration: From the time a bribe-taker commits his crime he has a feeling of guilt, and prob ably of remorse, which Is a constant torture to him during his waking hours. He has an uninterrupted fear of exposure, just- as every secret crim inal has. He sees an accusing glance in every countenance. He has a per sistent fear that the other party to the act will tell what he knows.- The trusted servant of the people who betrays his trust for a consideration occupies exactly the same position as one Judas who betrayed his Master for 30 pieces of silver.. When Judas realized his position he brought the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, who had paid them to him, saying, "I have sinned in that J I have betrayed the Innocent , blood." But they turned him away, saying, "What is that to us? See thou to that." And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and went and hanged himself. SAVE THE GAME OF OREGON. Undoubtedly the invaluable Chinese (Denny) pheasant will be extermi nated in Oregon unless adequate pro tection 6hall , be afforded by law. There is now an 'open season of 60 days, and it Is nothing less than a sickening carnival of slaughter. The country sportsman has of course filled his game bag with all. he could shoot and eat prior, to October 1, for your farmer observes the unwritten law when it comes to game on his own premises and takes what he can get whenever he wants it. But with the city sportsman it is different. He owns no farms, and has therefore no lien on its game, and he encounters trespass signs wherever he goes, and perhaps a mighty vigilant deputy game warden, who Is looking for game also, in the form of the man from town. So the city sportsman stays at home till the law says he may hunt Chinese pheasants, and then he goes out and leaves a trail of devastation all over the Willamette Valley, tearing down fences, tramp ing down grain and otherwise mak ing himself a nuisance and. a terror. No. wonder the farmer "has it in" for the city invader. Yet game ought to be protected. As the Oregon Fish and. Game Associa tion suggests, no Chinese pheasants should be shot by anybody for twq. years; the- wholesale slaughter of ducks 'should be stopped; elk should not be killed at all; and trout-fish lng should have due limitation. These are the principal features of needed legislation; but there should.be also a complete and harmonious game code. Will the Legislature do rjiy thing about it? FKEMATCRE FOOTBAXX. What with the football craze run ning riot In the grammar schools, the strain to make money for athletic sports in the high schools and "fra ternities" and "sororities" in "both as side issues, the honest purpose of the public schools has become largely an unknown quantity and the taxpayers' money and the conscientious efforts of teachers to lay the foundation of a useful education In the minds of their pupils are alike being in a measure squandered. The way out of this labyrinth is simple and straight, though possibly it will not be easy. Let football be forbidden to grammar school pupils, and fraternities and sororities be in terdicted in high schools. There are, indeed, successful and experienced ed ucators who do not sanction the or ganization of football teams In high schools, since it has been found that the enthusiasm and rivalry ' engen dered by the game detract from the time and energy that should be given to study in college preparatory schools. However that may be, the introduction of football Into grammar schools encourages a boisterous, roys- tering spirit and disregard for the comfort and convenience of others and threatens to make these schools become schools of bad manners for both girls and boys. If any one doubts this statement let him take passage on a suburban car that carries a vic torious grammar school football team and their "rooters" to their homes after the game, and be convinced. " OREGON'S INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. Oregon people live on eggs and but ter of Nebraska and Minnesota. They consume vast quantities of Middle West pork. They send to California and elsewhere for honey, pickles. Jel lies and canned fruits. They bring in trainloads . and shiploads of coal, while their water-powers are wasting vast heat and power. They send away for most of their articles of clothing. Even their supply of iron comes from afar. And so on down a very long list. Of course, Oregon sends away prod ucts in exchange for those Imported. This exchange makes a big trade. The' wealth going and coming is tre mendous. But it will be noted that much of what goes away depletes the resource from which it came. So of wheat and lumber and fish. Large numbers of persons worry about it and say Oregon is sapping the strength of its soil and forest and stream. The change cannot come of a sud den. People and physical conditions will have to be adjusted to each other by gradual industrial progress, be fore farmers of Umatilla County will cease to sell their grain abroad, and will consume It at home, as for ex ample In raising hogs. Umatilla County some day may be a great hog center. Then it will not be necessary for Pendleton to import Its pork from Omaha. The Enterprise Chieftain, a newspaper of Wallowa County, Uma tilla's next door neighbor, answers a Portland criticism of that "hog-rals-Ing district" as follows: Farmers ere not planting- this or raising that u a matter of sentiment. They are In the bus!ii for profit and as soon u they can make more money raising hog-i In East ern Oregon than they can at something- else, iu.it that soon will they raUe bogs sufficient to feed the entire Pacific Slope nd enough over to furnish bacon, bams and sidemeat for oar brown brothers in the Philippines. Meanwhile the Eastern Oreg-on farmer will go on raising- that which pays him best, and pays him beat the year It Is raised. He will Impoverish the soli regardless, if it pays to do It hero and now. There Is no necessity for sermonizing In this county. The farmers here ere awake to their opportunities in the stock Ime. Some of the finest ranches In this valley have been paid with the profits of hog-raising. 'With the railroad to add from to 1 cent to the price, no doubt many more farmers will en gage In the business, and those sow In will continue on a larger scale. This states the proposition directly. Wallowa farmers will go into hog ralslng on a large scale when driven to it by waning profits of the present system. This makes it Impossible to accomplish the needed reform at once, or perhaps soon. Farming, like trade. Is not a matter of sentiment If the tradesman can make more money selling foreign goods than, home-made goods he will deal in the foreign goods. This Is the case with the shopmen of Portland. This should not. i however, stay the effort to build up home Industries. The effort will continue redoubled, of course, ' But it brings to mind that the activities of all peoples are prod ucts of industrial experience and progress. The Industrial character of any people is established by patient Industry and changed In the same way. Looking at the particular In dustry that characterizes any country, one sees many generations of develop ment behind it, prompted by peculiar conditions of soil and climate and In telllgece. Several parts of Oregon are thus developing apple culture and others the butter and cheese industry. Some day In a similar manner may come flax culture to which the Wil lamette Valley Is said to be especially adapted. Oregon is hardly more than 60 years old. It has been in touch with the world's industrial currents little more than a generation. Time will bring out particular and excelling activities. And there will be no seri ous depletion of resources. That is the croak of the pessimist. Consider- ing time and opportunity, one sees that Oregon has done very well, in deed. Every public school should be con ducted at least six . months in every year and the law should be amended so as to establish this minimum term. Possibly, however, there, might be cir cumstances which would warrant ex ceptions to the rule, and there should be some provision by which districts could be relieved from a forfeiture of their entire apportionment for failure to maintain a school for the full pe riod. A six months' term would neces sitate a special tax in some districts that have not levied them in the past, but such levies can as well be made by one district as by another. The Inhabitant of the rural district thinks the city district can best afford to levy a special tax, but he overlooks the fact that the city property-owner has a city tax to pay as well as a school district tax, and, in- Portland, he has a port tax in addition. The remote school district usually gets a large portion of its revenue from non resident owners of vacant land. Viewed from every standpoint, the. rural district is as able to maintain school six months as the city district is to maintain it nine or ten months. A law fixing six months as the mini mum will do much to raise the stand ard of education in Oregon. The condition of Governor-elect Cosgrove, of Washington, continues to be far from satisfactory and is. Indeed, so serious as to oause his family and friends the greatest anx iety. HIa disease has been pronounced chronic and the plain Inference is that It is incurable and likely to ter minate fatally within a few weeks. It is to be regretted that this diag nosis had not been made in time to save him the worry, excitement and labor of the campaign which resulted In his election. The victory is a bar ren one for him and for those who labored with him to promote it. The work and worry of a hotly contested political campaign are trying upon the nerves of a man who is in per fect health, and must necessarily lower the resistant powers of a can didate whose vital forces are weak ened by disease. Of course, had Mr. Cosgrove or his friends suspected the hopelessness of his malady he would have been spared the effort, and pos sibly thereby his life would have been prolonged for many months. How ever this may be, his present con dition Is one to excite -the most sin cere sympathy and regret. The septic tank, the successful op eration of which has been conclusively demonstrated, will do more than any one thing to improve the sanitary con ditions surrounding country homes. The Country Life Commission -would do well to encourage by Its Indorse ment the general use of this means of getting rid of filth. The septic tank is a comparatively inexpensive receptacle for all the refuse of a home and has important advantages over the sewer as it Is known to the city. The effectiveness of the septic tank has been proven by practical use at two large public Institutions in Ore gon, the Chemawa Indian School and the Asylum Farm. All the refuse from these Institutions flows into sep tic tanks and, after being purified by. natural processes, goes out into open ditches, giving offense to no one. If farm homes were provided with this means of disposing of sewage, there would be no danger of contracting disease from Infected well water and much less probability of disease germs being carried by flies to the kitchen, dining-room or milk-house. Of all the contemptible bunco men on earth, the lowest la the villain who dupes honest, hard-working girls and women by holding out false promises of pay for the work they do. When such a man has been convicted, he should be safely guarded lest the manly men of the community seize him and either treat him to a coat of tar and feathers or hang him to the nearest lamp-post. The , bunco man who preys upon women eager to earn an honest living Is lower in the scale of humanity than ho "who lives off the earnings of fallen women, (or the bunco man robs the women com pletely, and tries to start them on a downward course, while the other species of human vulture has at least the generosity to leave the women part of their earnings. In Just three weeks from the time that Fran-els J. Hcney received a pistol shot wound in the head that was at first supposed to be fatal, the plucky prosecutor left the hospital and retired to the country with his wife. He expects to complete his re covery In a few", weeks and early in the new year to be back in the court room from which but now ' he was carried In a presumably dying condi tion. All of which goes to show that his work is not yet finished and to sustain the belief that he will live to complete it Mr. Heney has the con solation that Is aald to have sustained a philosophical old turkey who was being taken to market he Is "tough." The dairymen will be in annual ses sion this week. The Country Life Commission should be in session at the same time, for there are a lot of dairymen who would like to have help in solving the question how to run a dairy farm without being tied down at home 365 days In the year. If Judge Root isn't guilty the pun ishment he has already received will win him sympathy enough to keep him on the bench the rest of his life. But even an "indiscretion" In matters of administration of Justice is a seri ous affair. If those Castellane kids were in Portland it wouldn't take 30 minutes to get them Into the custody of the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society. From the looks of things, if the charter revision committee had at tempted less it would have accom plished more. It is no wonder that some lawyers have learned to imitate their clients and ceased to fear the laws against murder. We suppose that there will be no attempt In Congress to put free soup on the dutiable list. Next year we are going to see If those big apples really grow on trees. TERCENTENARY OF JOHN MILTON, the author of "Par adise Lost," was born in Bread street Cheapslde, London, F.ng land, December 9, 1608, and was the son of John Milton, a scrjvener. Feb ruary 12, 1624-23, tha future poet, at the age of 16 years and 2 months, was entered as a student of Christ's College, Cambridge, in -the grade of a '-lesser pensioner." Milton's academic course lasted seven years and five months, or from February,- 1624-25, to July, 1632. His college nickname was "the lady," because of the peculiar grace of his personal appearance. His reputation for scholarship and literary genius, ex traordinary even then, was more than confirmed during the latter portion of his residence at Cambridge Milton had wished to become a cler gyman, but abandoned that resolution, his reasons principally being that "tyr anny had invaded the church." Began a life of leisurely Independence, dedi cated to scholarship and literature. In the Summer of 1643, Milton married Mary Powell, of Forest Hill, near Ox ford, she being 17 and Milton 35. The Powell family was Royalist, while Mil ton was a Parliamentarian. Wife soon left him, and Milton began a public protest against the existing law and the theory of marriage. In 1645 his wife again Joined him. Ha became a Secretary of State under Cromwell. Name of Milton's second wife was Katherlne Woodcock, whom he married in 1656, but she died 15 months' after ward. Milton and Cromwell knew each other, intimately. Milton Just escaped the scaffold at the restoration under Charles II. Milton's third wife was Elizabeth Mitishull, whom he married in 1662-63. For 18 years he had been building up an epic poem which eventually assumed shape af "Paradise Lost," and thls,poem was finished before July, 1665. It was sold to a London printer for five pounds sterling, the promise of another five pounds sterling after the sale of the first edition of 1300 copies, and the further promise of two additional sums of five pounds sterling each after the sale of two more editions of the same size respectively all his copyright and commercial interest in "Paradise Lost" being gone forever. In 1671 appeared Milton's "Paradise Regained." November 8, 1674, Milton died of "gout struck in," or gout fever, at the age of 65 years and 11 months. A few extracts from Milton's famous poems follow: L'ALLEGRO. Hence, loathed Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born In Stygian cave forlorn, "Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks and sights unholy! Find out some uncouth cell, Where brooding Darkness spreads his Jealous wings And the night-raven sings; There under ebon shades and low browed rocks, As ragged as thy locks. In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. But come, thou goddess fair and free. In heaven yclept Euphrosyne, And by men heart-easing Mirth, Whom lovely Venus, at a birth With two sister Graces more. To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore; Or whether as some sager sing: The frolic wind that breathes the Spring. Zephyr, with Aurora playing As he met her once a-Maylng, There, on beds of violet blue And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew, FiU'd her with thee, a daughter fair. So buxom, blithe, and debonair. Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful Jollity, OuIds and cranks and wanton wiles. Nods and becks and wreathed smiles. Such as hang on Hebe's cheek And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides. And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it' as you go. On the light fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty; And if I stive thee honor due. Mirth, admit me of thy crew. To live with her &.nd live with thee. To unT-eproved pleasures free; To hear the lark begin his flight And singing startle the dull night. From his watch-tower in the skies. Till the dappled dawn doth rise; Then to come in spite of sorrow, And at my window bid good-morow, Through the sweat-briar or the vine. Or the twisted eglantine; While the cock with lively din Scatters the rear of darkness thin. And to the stack or the barn-door stontlv struts his dames before; Oft listening how the hounds and horn Cheerly rouse the slumbering Morn, From the side of some hoar hill. Through the high wood echoing shrill; Sometime walking, not unseen. By hedgerows elms, on hillocks green. Rleht against the eastern gate Where the great Sun begins hts state. Roh'n In flames and amber ligm, The clouds in thousand liveries dlght; Whila the ploughman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrowed land. And the milkmaid slngeth blithe, . And the mower whets his scythe. And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. 0 HIS BMXB-NES3. When I consider how my light Is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide. And that one talent which is death to hide Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and pre sent My true account lest he returning chide. "Doth God exact day-labor, light de nied?" I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies. "God doth not need Either man's work, or his own gifts. Who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best His state is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed. And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They' also serve who only stand and wait" LTCIDAS. AlasI what boots It with Incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade. And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? Were it not. better done, as others use. To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair? Fame Is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise That last Infirmity of noble mind "o scorn delights and live laborious days; But the fair guerdon when we hope to find. And think to burst out into sudden blaze. Comes the blind Fury with'th. ab horred shears. And slits the thiu-spun life. "But not the praise," Phoebus replied, and touch'd my trem bling ears: Tame Is no plant that grows on mor tal soil. Nor In the glistering foil Set off to the world, nor in broad rumor lies, But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes And perfect witness of all-Judging Jove; As he pronounces lastly on each deed. Of so much fame in heaven expect thy meed. JOHN MILTON, POET ON HIS DECEASED WIFE. Methotight I saw my late espoused saint Brought to me Ilka Alcostls from the grave. Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave. Rescued from death by force though pale and faint Mine, as whom wash'd from spot of child-bed taint Purification In the old law did save. And such as yet once more I trust to have Full slKht of her In heaven without re straint. Came vested all in white, pure as her mind. Her face was veiled, yet to my fancied sight Love, sweetness, goodness, in her per son shin'd So clear as in no face with more de light. But O as to embrace me sho lnclln'd, I wak'd, she fled, and day brought back my night! COMl'S. This Is the place, as well as I may guess, Whence even now the tumult of loud mirth Was rife and perfect In my listening ear. Yet nought but single darkness do I find. What might this beT A thousand fan tasies Begin to throng into my memory, Of calling shapes, and beckoning shad ows dire. And airy tongues that syllable men's names On sands and shores and desert wilder nesses. These thoughts may startle well, but not astound The virtuous mind, that ever walks at tended By a strong siding champion. Con science. O, welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white handed Hope. Thou hovering angel girt with golden wings. And thou unhlemlsh'd form of Chastity! I see ye visibly, and now believe That He, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill Are but as slavish officers of ven geance. Would send a glistering guardian. If need were, To keep my life and honor unassall'd. FESER09O. Hence, vain deluding Joys. The brood of Folly without father bred! How little you bestead. Or fill the fixed mind with all your toys! Dwell in some idle brain, And fancies fond with gaudy shapes possess. As thick and numberless As the gay motes that people the sunbeams. Or Ukest hovering dreams. The fickle pensioners of Morpheus' train. But hail, thou goddess sage and holy. Hail, divinest Melancholy! Whose saintly visage is too bright To' hit the sense of human sight, And therefore to our weaker view O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue; Black, but such as in esteem Prince Memmon's sister might beseem. Or that starr'd Ethlop queen that strove To set her beauty's praise abo-e The Sea-Nymphs, and their powers of fended. Tet thou are higher far descended: Thee bright-haired Vesta long of yore To solitary Saturn bore: His daughter she In Saturn's reign Such mixture was not held a stain. Oft in gljmmering bowers and glades He met her, and in secret shades Of woody Ida's Inmost grove. While yet there was no fear of Jove Come, -pensive nun, devout and pure. Sober, steadfast and demure, All in a robe of darkest grain. Flowing with majestic train. And sable stole of cypress lawn Over thy decent shoulders drawn. Coma, but keep thy wonted state. With even step and musing gait. And looks commercing with the skies. Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes; There, held In holy passion still. Forget thyself to marble, till With a sad leaden downward oast Thou fix them on the earth as fast WORDSWORTH'S SONNET TO MILTON. Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee; she la a fen Of stagnant waters; altar, sword an pen. Fireside, the heroio wealth of hall and bower. Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of Inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart; Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure ns the naked heavens, majestic, Tree. ... , So didst thou travel on life s oommon way. In . oheorful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. Ages of College Presidents. Omaha Bee. Almost without exception, the great educators who have brought name and fame to the leading colleges and uni versities in the United States were In the prime of life when called to assume executive control. Taking up the names most quickly recognized by the general public and coupling with them their age at the beginning of their incum bency, we have this table: Institution. President. Age. California t.-t.j.... . .. - City of New York.John H. F'"1;, -J Columbia lul "Yv .rnPll Jacob G. Schurmiin. .4U ..:;7 '. .v.) . .41 . .4 ( . .4J . .."'rt . .KS Harvard Charles W. Eliot... Illinois ,, ; '' ' Iwa George E. M.-.Lean. .tnhns HODkins ...Daniel j C. Gllman... Michigan James B. Angoll Minnesota VViii Missouri A- lloss H"1.', .4l Stanford David Starr Jordan. . -4'J Williams Hurry a. . iim. . . Wisconsin Charles R. :.n Ulse.-I Yale Arthur T. Hadloy 4.1 While every rule has its exceptions. . t M,,n,IFaf ,,1 .rtllsr nrpslrlerit and wm a n. .to. u. , n.t... ,.nt,e rt rvint orvlc6 tO UIO UUO VY,JV I.w.w . ........ the Institution over which he presides is, according 10 mo records. who starts in with a good academic setting and some tested educational experience before he nas passuu. wuui beyond tne' 4U-year niarK. 'secretive British Diplomacy. Manchester Guardian. The secrecy of diplomacy is carried to much greater . lengths in England ihan in most European countries. Not only are statements in raruameni fewer, but they are much less frank than they are In Germany or In France. Why They Stay Away. Boston Transcript. ti-i,.. n.nr. mon Hon't co to church. The miesi e-MJiauanu" - that they resent being asked to pledge sums, large and email, on their way out for various side projects. Next!
