'I
'1
i r ' ?wtl 1 i
I i -
H V .11 ll N" EI.KItKTH WATK1NS.
CONGUKSS voting National medals in
Bold t,. Orville anil Wilbur Wright
"for their ability, courage and suc
cess in riaviKatins the air," is a signal
Iiunor conferred on but a dozen previous
occasions as a reward for meritorious
acts of a peaceful nature.
Our National medalists belong in the
innermost sanctuary of the National teni
rle of fame, where they can bo placed
only by .Joint resolution of Congress, ap
proved by the President. The first of
their number was Washington himself,
whom the Continental Congress in 1776
voted a gold medal and the Nations
thanks for his causing the British evacu
ation of Boston. Since then upward of
40 joint resolutions of Congress have con
ferred this great honor upon the con
spicuous heroes of our various wars
'n??hft0i,eS We alreaJy K"Ow by heart'.
.Rut this is now an era of peace, and
That Interests us more is to recall the
eleeds of civilian glory which Congress
old rewardcd with National medals in
How l-'ranois W'ou . His.
. II1. ,riShts are the first civilians to
receive this reward In more thac 20 years
Of previous recipients of this category
the last -was Joseph Francis, of Boston,
inventor of the lifecar. Congress In
March 187. passed a Joint ration
thanking him for his "life-long services
to humanity and to his country." and
bv X IpI.? medal to be Presented
by the President. Cleveland withheld
ils signature from the resolution until
too late after adjournment, but In 1888
" w Peed again, and the medal was
plnnea upon the Inventor's breast by the
president in the east room of the White
whV , medal was the Ingest
which th mint has ever stamped for any
.uttujy larger xnan a but-
ter plate-and is said to have cost V
Muum.W a exhlbltion the National
wIvDCW"S., rHmrkabl6 in many
"ke many eniuses. he was
kiw?. yUth- en ""'y he ea-
ilblted a fancy boat at a fair, and when
MeehM.re"1TVeVrora the Massachulet
Mechanics' Institute the tlrst prize for
MR. DOOLEY QN THE RETURN
t Copyright. 1000, by H. II. McClure & Co.
""" saia Air. Dooley,
vhat's th1 American -Vo,..,
w conili
comln' to flnnvliflwr'
"Have ye been readin what th' naval
. experts have to say? ' asked Mr. Hen
nesffy. "It isn't that." said Mr. Dooley "Iv
coorse, ivrybody knows that th' ships
are In tur-rblo condition. Th' ammynl
tlon hists won t hist annythlng but th'
crew, th' guns are as llble to go off
fr m wan end as th' other an' 'tis a
well-known fact discovered be a book
keeper iv a shoestore who's a naval ex
pert whin business is slack an' he has
uawthln' important to think about that
befure thoy sailed a school iv mackerel
was found lirnily Imbedded in th' six-inch
armor plate. 'Twas with a sad heart
that mo an" me frind, th' naval expert,
Keen th' fleet e.oajln' up an' loadin' with
vmokcless powdher an' 12-inch shells an"
ailiu' away on their errand iv Peace.
We cxpli ted to read iv thiin bein' towed
into Bonlcs Airs be a lumber hooker or
pulled off th' rocks at Houkgong be a
Oilneso Junk or slammed against th'
coast iv terrible Terry del Fooyga an' th'
orttoers an' crows biled in an iron pot
be th' simple natives iv that inhospital
l.ind. But, Hinnisey, sthrange as it mav
seom to thlm that know th' dhreadful
facia, nawihin' happened to th" doomed
armada, as naval experts calls it amongst
ourallwa. on'y rollickln" on th' blue wa
thers iv th' Passyfick or shakin' th' light
fantastic leg ashore or shootin" holes in
t-invas tarsets that had been named in
honor iv a friendly nation afther th'
tups Iv th' Jap'neso navy. An' here is
th' fleet home again an' safe in harbor
n tir jolly tars settin' with a lass on
their knee an' a glass Iv knock-out dhrops
In their hand, telliu' th' story iv th'
rroose while havln' their pockets picked.
TIs a good thing th' Japs didn't know
that anny good baseball pitcher cud put
an in-.hoot through th' thickest part Iv
th' biggest iv th' boats. That th' ships
have eonic home at all is due to tit"
pathritism iv th' naval experts who re
fused to publish to th' wurruld their se
cret knowledse iv th' helpless condition iv
our navy an on'y confided it to th' mag
azines. "But it wasn't about that I was goln"
1o talk to ye. Hinnlssy. No. sir. It s a
far more seeryous matther thin that. Ye
know what sherry wine is? Te've heerd
iv It annyhow. 'Tis a dhrink that is given
to women that don't know anny betther.
Mind ye. 1 don't say annything against
it. Far be it fr'm me in my business to
speak 111 lv anny form. No doubt it has
Its qualities, an' if taken be th' tub might
have good en'eetx. If th' doctor said to
ye: "Ye must lave off dhrink in anny
form except perhaps a little sherry vino
btfur meals," y wud tell ye'or little boy
a fast rowboat. This was back In 1R19.
Then the Secretary of the Navy sent him
to the Portsmouth Xavy-Yard to build
lifeboats for our men-of-war. and he fell
to inventing lifetaving apparatus of sur
prising design.
Some of these are said to have been
the world's iron floating vessels. His
lifecar was given to the world as far
back aa 18.18, and one of these was placed
on the Now Jersey coast, near Long
Branch, in ,1849. The following- year,
when the British immigrant ship Ayre
shire. was wrecked off the beach, Fran
cis' lifecar was given Its first trial and
saved 200 of those on board all save one.
who insisted upon rWing outside the car
while hie family were inside. The Gov
ernment, which 37 years later was to
vote the Xation's thanks to the then ob
scure inventor, had taken small stock
in the "crank Invention" and had allowed
Francis to install it only at his own ex
pense. Today this same car is on exhi
bition in the National Museum as one of
the Nation's sacred relics. The first four
years that Francis had this and other
lifeboats in use they saved 2150 lives.
He was 78 years old when the Nation
gave him his long-merited reward.
Thirty-two years before Napoleon III
had presented him with a diamond
sudded snuffbox of gold valued at J2S00
and 27 years before the Czar had given
him the Knighthood of St. Stanislaus,
with a medal and diploma. He had also
received medals and awards from various
foreign, American and international in
stitutes. Melville's Heroism Rewarded..
Two years after this award to
Francis, Congress had,' however, voted
a gold medal to a national hero -who
although not a civilian, had rendered
these rewarded services upon a mis
sion of peace. This was George Wal
lace Melville, who until recently was
engineer-in-cbief United States Navy.
He was a veteran of the Civil War
when he sailed for the polar regions
with De Long in the Jeannette in 1879.
They had been gone from San Fran
cisco two years when their vessel was
sunk in the ice. When Melville and
De Long succeeded in reaching land
with a portion of the crew they were
150 mile3 apart, and De Long and all
but two of his men had perished. Mel
ville never gave up until he had found
BY F. P. DUN-NT.
to take th' coal scuttle an' have it filled
with sherry at th' Dutchman's on th"
corner. But 'tis far fh'm bein an' in
vitoratin' booze. Afther th' beautiful
ladies iv France have taken off their
shoes an' srtockin's an' danced out iv a
grape the varyous kinds iv durink that
projooc love, pothry, oratory, path
ritism. courage, audacity, wife-beating
an' all th' other manly vices, somebody
takes what's left, sqeezes it in a press,
adds three thousand parts iv wather an'
some brown sugar an' calls it sherry. It
is what Dock O'Leary calls 'alcohol in
its least dangerous form. I advise all me
patients to take it," says he 'Ye niver
read in th' pa-aper about a man inflamed
be long potations iv sherry wine shootin'
a polisman. It is too bad that our people
cannot accustom thimsilves to light wines
like th continental nations. 'Give me a
thimbleful Iv rye, I have a chill,' says he.
That's sherry over there on th' third
Shelf to th' rieht If. v,' r
started with whin I moved Into this place
in tn winter iv- fcrhtn j j I
i.,?, , ,now 'wnin' An" 1 exP'ct to keep
it tut i rurnish a day's conganial enjve
ment to Gavin th' undertaker. Wan day
about twinty years ago I thought I had
a customer fr it. but before I cud get.
th cork out he switched
-i"NT !!at I ve told y wht sherry
Th,?, J that U' so harmless
wW t n? " ?? annybdy anny good,
what will ye think whin I tell ve that
there are men In our Navy that are ad
dicted to th use lv this effyminate per-
;L'retn not on y that- bt It gives
thlm th same gloryous effects that are
projooced among voters be rale dhrink.
T1'? 1 "a" " T't" sorrow, but 'tis so.
Jenn I X1 Plcked up a Pa-aper an'
read th headlines: 'Cruise nearly ended.
Gallant fleet manned be spllndid officers
an crews on its way home. Counthry
waitin feverishly to honor thim. Captain
coort martialed for dhrunkenness."
" A-l-.a." says I, 'now I 11 read somethint
worth readin' an' I plunged into th' story
with th" eagerness that ivery honest man
feels at th' prospect iv seein' a hero
hauled off his perch. I looked fr a
grand story iv dhrink. 'Th' sailora are th"
boys to do it up fine." says I. Me idee
iv a sailor was a man that cud engulf
th' state Iv Kentucky without winkhV an
eye, a man that niver ate excipt be
tween dhrinks. a man friver arid, a
Sahara iv a man that wud on' -r bloom
toe constant irrigation. What quantity
wud cheer such a man? Or was there in
far-off Africa some suttle native ben
in that wud make our own Caucasian
uds seem thin indeed.
"Well, there was th' story all spread
befure th' const and reader in th" most
kindly fashion. Th' captain was a good
an hon'rable man. His crew liked him.
lie C&ilfXl Vllm Chin 11 IT. .
bs nis fellow officers. He wore bis
GtSVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT TH LATEST
winners.;. OF NATIONAL HONORS
AT THD-, RAMDS OF COMGK&SS
- te
the bodies of De Long and his com
panions, four months later, returning
them to the United States, where they
were buried with honors in 1884. When
Congress voted him his gold medal for
this great exnibition of bravery it also
advanced him 15 numbers.
Saved-a Hundred laves.
The next civilian, before Francis to
receive such an honor was John Horn
Jr.. of Detroit, whom in 1874 Congress
voted a gold medal in recognition "of
his heroic and humane exploits in
rescuing men. women and children
i"11 drowning in the Detroit River."
This man had saved more than 100 peo
ple at odd times and often had had to
pay for his heroism by remaining bed
fast for weeks following exposure to
the water filled with ice. During the
great conflagration of the Detroit rail
road depot in 1866 he rescued nine per
sons, one after the other, continuing to
swim until he collapsed from exhaus
tion. At another time after a long
struggle in the ice to save a woman he
had been carried home by four men
who had to work over him four hours
to restore his blood to circulation. The
safcie day that this medal was awarded
to Horn Congress voted its first gener
al appropriation for life-saving medals
which have since been awarded by the
executive without the need of specific
Congressional action. The vear previ
ously Congress had voted special med
als to Captain Jared S. Crandall, lighthouse-keeper
of Westerly, R. I., and his
volunteer crew of nine men who pushed
out a couple of small boats and saved
32 persons from the wreck of the
steamer Metis, in Long Island Sound
August 31, 1S72.
The Man AVbo Saved Seward.
A gold medal and 500 was voted in
OF THE FLEET
unyform with honor an' pride. All this
made n 3 downfall th' betther readin'
Th cajrtain wint ashore to a dinner give
he th ripnsintative iv America's mighty
JmZ, c Tanslers' ur "rave consul
Abijah Gummers, an' th' watchful eye lv
alm,rV ,STn that our her as far
too cheerful fr such a company. He
showed all th' signs iv exhilaration- his
eyes were sleepy, his gait onsteady an'
his face wore a pleasing expression iv
onreasoning anger mingled with despair.
An what d ye think brought him to this
tw lajerS ,v th' hl"ia ammonya
th? Th ? slhronS men weep. . None iv
th valiant nitro-glycerine that ye an'
L Hinnessy, use to drive dull care awav
with. No, sir. Th' captain confissed it
all. Befure lavin" th' ship he had taken
w1 gl3SS lT Sherry Wine! No
wondher he was coort martlalled fr con
duct onbecomin' to an officer an' a gin
tleman. B
"Sure, I think in thim days an" that
kind iv flghtin' a man had to be craw
or in dhrink to go on at all. It was
olOSt,WUrrUk' a kind lv roueh an- tumble
on th- sea. If Hogan's frind, Nelson
wasn't dhrunk he was crazy. Why in
wan battle. Hlnnlwy. th' admiral that
was Ins boss flags him not to fire. Nelson
had on'y wan eye, th' other glim havin'
been knocked out in a row. an' he put
his spy glass to th' extinct lamp an'
lllhV ,What ta,k 13 tnis ye have
about signals. I don't see none. Go on
an fire,' says he. He looked on th'
fK.anr.' r th' '"c11 or th' Eyetallans or
1. Dane8vr annybody he was sint to
hgnt, as his personal inimies, just th'
same as wan iv me longshoreman custo
mers does a frind that gets into an argy
ment with him about pollyticks. ln"
there was that fellow John Paul Jones.
Did ye iver hear about him? WTell sir
he was in a flght with an Englishman an1
his own boat was sinkin'. "Boys." says
he. It wud be onsafe to stay here anny
longer an" be drownded," savs he. 'But
where .will we go? Ah. an idee sthrikes
me. W e 11 step aboord th' inimy's boat '
f-y?k . .An', they done 50 w'lth soords
in their teeth au' their pig-tails flyin'
in th air. 'D'ye ralire that this is my
boat?" says th" English captain. 'Where
else wud ye have us go afther th' batin"
ye give us?" says John Paul Jones, tappin'
him abaft th' ear with a belayln' pin.
An to make th' ship more homelike, he
histed th American flag an' sailed to
STJ0 tal1 over with Binjamin
Franklin, an' he lived in Paris fr a good
mannjr years an' was a great man with
vJ 1 "lv in th" Rooshyan
navy an' was threated badly be his grate
ful counthry an' died an' was buried
no wan knew where onti! th- American
Ambassadure discovered his remains
which manny people don't think was him
at ail but a Frineh corpse, an' brought it
back to America to be buried again. An'
If - ? .'f
If i ;-TV"i
, S - J
ill V WV 5
1S71 to Geoigo F. llobiuson, the man
who so heroically saved the 'life of
Secretary Seward from the assassin
Payne. Robinson, then 33 years old,
had fought in the war with a Maine
regiment until severely wounded, in the
leg by canister shot at Bermuda Hun
dred. After having lain in the hospital
nearly a year, and -before his wound
had entirely healed, he was detailed
from the hospital to act as sick nurse
to Secretary Seward, who was then
confined to his bed with a broken arm
and jaw. caused by his having been
thrown from his carriage. At 10
o'clock on the night of Lincoln's
assassination and while he was at the
bedside of Mr. Seward. Robinson was
startled by a disturbance in the hall
outside the sickroom. lte opened it
and on the threshold found an athletic
man brandishing in one hand a pistol
and in the other a bowie knife.
Catching the gleam from the knife
now. aimed at his own throat, Robinson
struck at the assassin and warded off
the weapon, although receiving a blow
on the head which knocked him to the
floor. The assassin then rushed to Se
ward's, bed and striking with the knife
at the Secretary's throat already had
gashed one cheek to the bone when Rob
inson, unarmed and despite his wound
and long suffering, seized Payne just as
the knife was about to bury itself in Jlr.
Seward's throat. He dragged Payne oft
the bed, but while doing so received two
stab wounds In his own back, from which
he afterward became partially paralyzed.
He. however, held onto Payne and saved
Seward's life. Then, disregarding the
blood which was filling his shoes, he kept
his finger pressed upon the severed artery
of the unconscious Secretary of State
until the arrival of the Surgeon-General.
Then, having saved Seward's life, he
was himself carried oft to the hospital,
where his own wounds nearly proved
fatal. The House report recommending
the joint resolution for his medal praised
Robinson for displaying "a bravery never
surpassed in the annals of any country."
Following his recovery he was given ' a
clerkship, first in the Treasury, and
afterward In the Quartermaster-General's
oflice.
Two distinguished civilians were voted
medals in gold and the thanks of Con
gress in 1867. These were Cvrus W.
Field and George Peabody. Field was
thus honored "for his foresight, courage
and determination in establishing tele
graphic communication by means of the
Atlantic cable, traversing midocean and
connecting the Old World with the New."
The award to Peabody was made "for
his great and peculiar beneficence in giv-
" oiuii oi money, amounting to
a lot iv diffrence it makes to John Paul
wuires.
"Yes, sir, thim were th' days an' thim
were th' boys. It's a diffrent matther
now whin th' battles cr th' bluffs iv th'
wurruld are bein' fought out between
navies that look like collections iv cook
stoves. There can't be anny rale feelin'
about it. Ye can't get mad about an
inimy that ye can't see excipt through a
pow'rful tillscope. There's no such thing
as a broadside or grappling with th'
Inimy or sthreamin over th' side with a
cutlass in ye'er mouth an' a pistol in
ye'er hand. Th' captain, who's a, mim
ber iv th' Young Men's Christyan Timp'
rance Union whin he's ashore takes a
peek through his glass an' figures out
that th' inimy is about six miles away.
He whistles down a chute to a lift'nant
in a steel safe to begin flrin'. Lie lift'nant
says to th' cap'n iv th' gun crew: 'What
is th' thrajeetory?' 'Two be four, pro
fissor," says th' mariner. 'Th' cosine iv
eight plus th' cubic root iv th' ballistic
power minus atmospheric resistance
eight times six is forty-eight, all right.
If ye firs four miles ahead lv where ye
nachrally think th" inimy is an" a mile
an' a half above him ye may an" thin
again ye may not, him him," says th'
liftnant. And th' chances are he won't
know whether he's landed a punch or
not till he gets home an' reads th' pa
aper. War is more iv a tusiness thin It
used to be. Wanst it was pothry; now
its mathymatics. Th" most important
men in a modhren army are a corn doc
tor an' a vehtrinary surgeon. Th' gin'ral
niver looks to see whether a sojer has a
fearless eye but is mighty particular to
find out whether he has good feet. An'
ye d as soon thrust an expert accountant
who dhrank as- a naval officer. Maybe
tis a good thing, Hinnissy. Th' less war
Is like a picnic iv th' Longshoreman's
Lmon th less wars there'll be. I wnd
den t mind goin' to war with John Paul
?3n.vS: 1'7e ften SF n msilf sthripped
tir th waist an' in me bare feet, with a
cutlass firmly grasped in me jaws an' a
couple iv pistols in me hands, hoppin'
over th' side iv a British man iv war
chasin" some Sassinach up a mast an1
havin John Paul Jones say to me: "Me
brave fellow, a glass iv grog with ye.'
But I can t pitcher mesilf enjyln' shoot
in a gun at an inimy I can t see undher
a commander who figures out his ordhers
with a lead pencil an' a piece iv paper
out iv a thrigamomethry an' whin th'
battle is over givin' me a bottle iv
Ivoomyss to cllibrate th' victhry with "
"D ye think th' cruise iv th' fleet was
a good thing fr th" peace !v th' wur
ruld? asked Mr. Hennessy.
,30" Sva.id Mj- E,ooley. "but it was a
good thing fr th' politeness iv th'
wurruld. Didn't ye iver notice how
respictful ivrybody Is to ivrybody else
n a town where ivry man carries a
gun .
(Copyright, 1909. by H. H. McClure
& Co.)
A combined Danish and French aelentifli
eipedmoa will visit the Uanish We"t
Indies in an endeavor rto H.i.rain. .
th vlxyT l,y l'l"ol-utkinK Insect la
1
2.000.000. for the promotion Of education
in the more destitute of the Southern and
Southwestern states." Peabody. born in
l9o. was the Carnegie of his time. He
began clerking in a store in Danvers,
Mass when only 11 and grew to build
up the largest dry goods business of his
generation. Although settling in London
as a broker In 1S37, he from there sent
money to found the Peabody institutes
and museums scattered over this country.
The large donation for the promotion of
education in the South was increased in
1869 to J3.600.000. He spent millions on
Phlanthropies here and contributed
$2,o00000 for the building of model lodg
JoS buses for the. poor of London. In
1867 Queen Victoria offered to make him
a peer,, but he declined. But she pre
sented him with a portrait of herself,
winch now hangs in the institute at Pea
body, Mess. He died a bachelor in 1809
and was the first private citizen of a
foreign country to be honored by burial
In Westminster Abbey, but to carry out
his wishes his relatives had his remains
removsd to Massachusetts, to lie beside
those of his mother. The Monarch, the
first frigate of the British navy, carried
his body across the Atlantic, where It
was received by an American squadron
commanded by Farragut. Gladstone's
tribute to. him was that he taught the
world how a man might be the master
of his fortune and not Its slave:
Three civilians who received the
award immediately prior to these were
Ship Captains Creighton, Low and
Stauffer of the merchant vessels Three
Bells, Kilby and Antarctic, voted "valu
able gold medals" as a reward for "gal
lant conduct" in rescuing about 500
Americans from the wreck of the
steamship San Francisco. In 1853. This
ship, carrying the Third Artillery, had
set out from Fort Wood. N. Y., for
California, and had not gone far when
w iccneu on tnnstmas eve by a heavy
k W Z
WHY NOT CREATE DISTRICT NORMAL SCHOOLS
If Power of Taxation Were Conferred, Oregon Could Be Well Provided With Xormals.
BY W. C. EDWARDS.
AVING been a careful observer of
our school system and its workings,
of our normal schools and their
troubles. I desire to offer a few remarks
from the standpoint of the rural portion
of the state, as I see it.
The two features that enter into our
public schools, essential to their sta
bility and success, are territorial bound
aries and the taxing power. Without well
defined boundaries conflicting interests
would produce and maintain perpetual
controversy that would destroy progress.
Without the taxing power there would
be no assured permanency of support,
which would be a constant source of
struggle that would be fatal.
To illustrate, in Coos County we have
the twin cities of Marshfleld. and North
Bend, situated about three miles apart.
Within a year each of these towns, being
a district or unit of our school system,
has erected a .school building that is a
credit to it, costing from J40.000 to J50.000.
This has been accomplished without con
flict or tfcuble between them, being com
plete units within themselves. Each took
stock of its resources and requirements
and proceeded to supply itself according
ly. This having been done each district
will maintain just such a school as it
feels willing and able to pay for.
Neither of these schools has been a dis
turbing element or corrupting influence
at the Legislature this Winter. Why
not? Simply because they are each com
plete units within themselves and are
working under general laws. This plan
holds good throughout the grammar and
high, schools of the state. Without ter
ritorial boundary and local taxing power
it would be impossible to carry this work
forward, and since the teacher is just as
much a part of our schools as are the
pupils and the schoolhouse, so are our
normal schools as much a part of our
public school system as are the grammar
and high schools.
The only way that we shall be able to
supply ourselves with good teachers and
keep the normal schools away from the
Legislature and out of politics, and poli
tics out of the schools, is to apply the
same principles that have kept our
grammar and high schools from these
corrupt and corrupting influences, that
is: district the state and confer on each
district, boundaries and local taxing
power.
The Senate plan this winter has been
to establish and maintain one large cen
tral school, at or near Portland, in order
that we may have a high standard of
I.- 'iiv? .-. .;i-
sea, which swept overboard four offi
cers and 120 men. She then sprang
a leak and was disembarking the re
mainder of her passengers when over
taken by a gale in which the plucky
sea captains named came to her rescue.
Besides their goid medals, these skip
pers were also voted 7500. while each
mate was given $500 and each man and
boy aboard $100. These awards were
not made until the sixties.
Commodore Vanderbilt's Generosity.
Commodore Vanderbilt received the
thanks of Congress and a gold National
medal in 1862 for presenting his steam
ship VanderblU to the Government.
He had just built his handsome steam
ship of 5000 tons to. as he said, demon
strates 'that individual enterprise could
without the aid of Government encour
agement place upon the ocean steam
ships equal, at least in magnitude
power and speed, to any which had
been constructed under Government
patronage and protection in any part
of the world." He spent about J 1,000,
000 on her, and she broke the trans
atlantic record. .
In March, 1862, Commodore "Vander
bilt received a letter from Stanton
asking him if he would undertake to
prevent the Confederate steamer Merri
mac from escaping out of Norfolk har
bor. The . commodore answered by
telegram that he would come to Wash
ington next day, and arriving here, he
had his first meeting with Stanton,
who took him over to the White Honse
to see Lincoln. He offered Lincoln
the Vanderbilt, which, he said, if prop
erly manned, would either keep the
Merrimac bottled up in Hampton Roads
or sink her, if she ventured out. Lin
coln asked the commodore to name the
sum for which he would undertake the
service.
"Nothing will induce me, sir, to be
come a speculator upon the necessities
of my country," said the commodore.
"I make a gift of her to the Government
for the services proposed." And the
ship was off Fortress Monroe, on time,
in three or four days.
'TUsked Yellow Fever.
For risking his life to attend yellow
fever patients on our man-of-war Sus
quehanna, Dr. Frederick Henry Rose, of
the British navy, was voted a gold medal
and the thanks or CnnT-nc ; .. io;d i
April of that year the fever had broken
efficiency. Let us . look at this proposi
tion calmly for a little while. We have
in the Willamette Valley about all of the
institutions of learning above the ordi
nary high school that are in the state;
two or three universities and some half
dozen colleges, besides most of the bet
ter city schools, yet with all these ad
vantages probably one-half of all the
schools in the part of Oregon bounded on
the north by the Columbia River, on the
east by the Cascades, on the south by
the Calapooia Range and on the west
by the Pacific Ocean, are being taught
by teachers from the grammar and high
schools, without special training for their
work. As for the other six-sevenths of
the state, perhaps 75 per cent of the
teachers have no special training except
that acquired by experimenting and very
many of them are very young and only
from grammar schools.
We need from 600 to 800 new teachers
in Oregon yearly. How can we give
any considerable portion of this number
the advantages of actual teaching work
under proper critic teachers, at one
school?
They should have charge of a room full
of real live children for one-half day at
a time, not less than two or three days
out of each week for at least six months
of the last year of their course.
Few young men and women from the
rural parts of Oregon would complete
their course at such a school and of
those that did, not 10 per cejit would
return to us and teach our county
schools. This would compel the brightest
and best of our young people to o away
rrom home to get any good schooling and
would tend to take them permanently
away from the country. If we are to
Improve the educational conditions in
the rural parts of the state we must
bring centers of education and culture
just as close to them as possible.
If we are to have normal schools, why
not allow three or four counties in the
interior of the state to form a district,
tax themselves and build a school as
would meet their wants and such as they
are able and willing to support. For ex
ample, the people of Drain long years
since saw the necessity for such a school
and built one, but not having the tax
ing power, could not take care of it. so
they asked the state for help, and have
had about J5000 a year for support, and
a perpetual row ever since. If they were
allowed a district of say Curry, Coos,
Douglas and Lane counties, a territory
larger than any one of ten of our states
containing 50,000 population and having a'
property valuation of $60,000,000, a tax of
one-tenth of one mill would furnish them
$6000 a year. Suppose the school was lo
cated at Drain, the center of the district.
Drairf has JSOOO a year of local funds, a
good building and a good school for train
ing department. This, with the perma
nency they would have behind them
out on tlio Susquehanna." while site lay
at Jamaica, and Dr. Rose, at great per
sonal risk, not only volunteered his serv
ices on board while she was there, but
sailed in her to New York, devoting him
self to the care of the sick en route Six
other foreigners were voted medals in
1847 for "so gallantly and at imminent
peril of their lives" rescuing the officers
and crew of tho United Stales brig Som
ers In the harbor of Vera Cruz. These
were the commanders of three ISnglish,
two French and one Spanish vessel,
which went to the Somers' assistance af
ter her capsize, and who both., clothed
and entertained her officers and crew
after thus saving their lives.
Kane, the Arctic Kxplorcr. --
The year previously gold medals were
voted also to Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the
Arctic explorer, and his brother officers,
as a testimonial for their bravery during
ttie Lady Franklin relief expedition for
the rescue of Sir John Franklin. Dr.
Kane, a surgeon in our Navy, had barely
escaped with his life from a crater in the
Philippines, had practiced medicine in
China, had had a thrilling encounter with
Bedouin robbers in Egypt, had visited
the King of Dahomey and had been in
the Arctic regions with the Grinnell ex
pedition, all prior to this final triumph.
He sailed in search of Franklin in 1853.
enlisted Eskimo recruits, made a "far
thest north" record, discovered Humboldt
glacier, and, after being deserted by a
part of his company and having to aban
don his ship, moved his boats and sick
60 miles over the ice and managed to
reach Cape York after a thrilling expe
rience of two years. He and his men
were received with great enthusiasm on
their return, and besides being voted a
special Arctic medal by Congress, were
given the Queen's medal by the British
government.
Each of these national .medals has been
designed especially for the honored re
cipient and they have been works of art
in themselves. Thev . hnvp v. n
Lstamped from any die already on hand
l ni v rciiresentea a nigli
degree of the sculptor's art. The joint
resolution just passed instructs the Sec
retary of War to have the Wright
brothers' gold medals adorned "with
suitable emblems, devices and inscrip
tions." Washington, March 15.
would make it a much better school than
it has ever been.
B! suPpo"s6 they taxed themselves two
tenths of a mill, which would jive Sl'ono
a year, which, added to the local fund
? ?rodu7f an aggregate resource of
17.000 annually. . .
This would be sufficient to employ- a
splendid faculty and should turn olt 10
or 50 trained teachers each year. If the
fchoelWfhe Renerally applied with such
,1 the output of each would lanrelv
remain within its own district and grad
ually supply the demand. '- '
Are they needed? There- are in these
MOUrofCwH,tiKSvabOUt 700 teachers, about
000 of which have no special training.
Do these counties need such a school?
If the state could only see its : way to
1 scTT to build and maintain such
a school In order to meet the local de
mands they would have no business at
tb Legislature, ' nothing to trade and
nothing to trade for, and. would it
burdensome locally? Let us see "It
S v?Sthe taxpayer 20 cents on every
$1000 valuation, on. $10,000 the sum of $2
f yPar". 0311 a man worth $10,000 afford
to pay $2 a year for the purpose of having
much better schools? !
And what is applicable to these four
counties is equally applicable and neces
sary to six-sevenths of this state. And
to the advocates of one large school let
me say, make one district out of all
that part or the Willamette Vallev north
of Lane County and at a two-tenths of
one mill tax you would have about 173.-
J? Z.Car for maintenance of a normal.
Adopt some such plan throughout the
state and the normal question will be
forever settled in Oregon.
Drain. Or.. March 10.. - :.
February.
Baltimore Sun.
Mmd the warm furs of her, wound and
wound, ' - .
The snowy-white wisp of hr. over th
ground; .
TrippinB ana whirling, with frost on bt
head
And cheeks like the cherries of faraaise rea-'
Eyes like the starlight but jcive . ''
The year s at the turn and the day' growBI
long!
Whoo! how she shivers; at night on the hill
She sits by the rivers at morn they are tu;;
Far fly the echoes, the skaters are out
With ripple of laughter and ringing of rtiout
Dread not her rigor tar down !n her evoi
" skies' dream ot an APrll of opal'tn
Whirring and swirring, with feet like a
feather.
She dances the' daae of the sipping
weather:
Fury of Winter time, shudder of gloom -But
under her dancing the dream of th
bloom, .
And there m the valleys like violets they
swing. "
Those feet of her juani at the gates of th
Spring