THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JULY 2.5, 1909.
8
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lORTLAND. SnfDAT, JULY IS. 190.
THE PERFECT VACATION.
The doctor in one of Margaret De
land's pathetic stories was too poor
over to give his old horse a week in
the pasture. The forlorn beast had to
go over the same roads day after day,
week in and week out. rain or shine.
Summer and Winter, without break or
change In the weary routine. Natur
ally he began to droop by and by, and
finally the doctor founc himself with
out a horse. Teams which have to
draw a stagecoach over the same route
all the year round begrn to pine after
a while. They refuse their oats and
lose their spirit. Horses are like hu
man beings. Inasmuch as they cannot
work effectively -without interest In
what they are doing, and their Inter
est, like ours. Is destroyed by monot
ony. We must have change or all that
" Is worth while In us perishes. Con
scious life Is nothing else but change.
Give a human being two successive
moments which are fn all respects
alike and you extinguish his existence
for the time. Anesthetics make every
thing the same to us. and in doing it
they annihilate consciousness. The
world is real In so far as it is a pro
cess of passage from one epoch to an
other through continual births. The
reality is In the birth, and not in what
is born
Monsters who heap up mountains of
riches which they cannot use by ex
p'oitlng those who toil used to imag
ine that they gained something by
keeping the drudge's nose pressed
hard down on the grindstone all the
time. Now they know better. In dol
lars and cents even It pays to let
everybody have a vacation, and a good
long one. Samson returns to his
treadmill more of a giant than he was
when he went a-fihing, and the Phil
istine lords draw usury from his rest
In the shape of wine and oil. The
lords themselves are prone to forget
how much the slave trudging In his
chains round and round the pillar
needs some little break In the toilsome
cycle, because their vacations last all
the time. As a piece of property he Is
worth more year after year If he has
a chance to disport himself In the
woods for a week or two. It Is only
those who never work who under
value the need of rest. Just as the
woman who never soiled her lily hand
with a dishcloth or a broom makes
inhuman demands upon the strength
of her kitchen maid, so the leisure
class, the men who eoll not. neither
spin, and yet whose raiment exceeds
in glory all that Solomon ever wore,
are most merciless to those who earn
their bread by their sweat. The great
poet learns In suffering what he
teaches in song. Likewise doth the
merciful master learn the bitterness of
toil by tolling, and out of his knowl
edge grows the beauteous blossom of
human kindness. Cruelty and Ignor
ance are much the same thing whe
we get down to hard pan. Socrates
mas not so very far from right when
he taught that knowledge was virtue.
Just as he who understands every
thing Is ready to pardon everything,
so he who has tasted the bitterness of
unrelenting toil hastens to mitigate
the pain of the worker by merciful
rest.
No more beautiful thing was ever
said of the dear God who loves us all.
we hope, than this, that he giveth his
toeloved sleep. Sleep and peace are
his most precious blessings. "My
peace I give to you," said Jesus when
he set out on that long and mysterious
journey to the other world and left the
disciples to weep for him on the lone
some earth. Through what battles
had the Savior conquered that peace?
Our concept of Heaven is a place
where we can rest. "On the other
side of Jordan, in the sweet fields of
Eden, where the tree of life is bloom
ing, there Is rest for you." Hard is
your case if there Is no rest for you
before you get there. The old Scotch
woman who thought of Heaven as a
place where she could sit all day long
in her rocking chair and knit. knit,
knit, while the still eternities lapsed
away, never had a vacation. Most of
mankind have none. That is why
their hearts are encrusted with selfish
ness and their minds besotted with
Ignorance. When we are resting we
grow gentle and the seeds of wisdom
grow Into life. It Is merciless toil that
makes men brutal. No saint was
ever saintly when his body was sore
with labor or his mind broken with
fatigue. The fiends of the Inquisition
sought to send men to hell by keeping
them awake week affer week. They
knew how weariness drives us to for
get God and welcome the devil and all
his works. It Is fools who say that if
people who work had more leisure
they would waste It In vice. Vice is
the refuge of those who nave no other
solace. It is the last resource of the
body whose painful labor knows no
surcease.
Even In the case of the vicious rich
debauchery is a last resort, & confes
sion of hunger for which they can find
no food. No millionaire would spend
hit vitality in sordid drunkenness If he
knew any better way to dispose of It.
With him Ignorance is the mother of
sin. If he knew better he would do
better. The poor man squanders his
strength because he has so little. The
rich man because he has so much. In
the bones of the toiler the pains of
dissolution continually rage, and he
seeks to assuage them by drawing a
little nearer to death. The besotted
rich live so near extinction all the
time that the false vigor of vice seems
to them like real life. They need a
vacation from their lateness as much
as the poor laborer needs a vacation
from his toll. Will the time ever
come when each family In the great
cities, father, mother, all the chil
dren and the old aunts, shall go forth
for a month In midsummer to the
Creen country, and, living with God
In paradise, forget for the time th
harshness of their lot? The great
problem of the world is to win rest for
those who toil too much and to win
toil for those who rest too much. The
STeater problem Is to learn how to
spend the resting time when we hav
won it. Toil drives men to vice for
consolation, and vice in its turn com
pels them to toil without remission
It Is a discouraging round, but som
time we shall break the magic of the
circle and escape into that liberty
which comes from full obedience to
nature's law.
FAMILIAR. YET HARD. LESSONS.
It's a bad piece of business for a
man to marry a woman much older
than himself. In such alliance noth
ina- fits. Disgust or Indifference Is
llkelv to arise on one side, and Jeal
ousy on the other. The true object
of marriage is the making of a horn
and the rearing of children. Happy
harmony between husband and wife is
the indispensable condition of this re
alization. Shakespeare could give, and
did give, as good advice on many mat
ters of life as we find in holy writ
and better. In some instances, because
It proceeds from the experience of
modern life. This passage, for one:
Let still the. woman take
An elder than herself: so wears she to him,
So sways she level In her husband'a heart.
Nothing more needed on this sub
ject. It is the last word. Likewise,
on intermarriage of the races. Let
the tragedy of "Othello" stand for that
lesson.
And, for a lesson on the folly of
those who, in their advanced years,
give away their property or estate and
expect others,, even their own chil
dren. to care for them, read, and never
forget, "King Lear."
Incidents or examples of all these
mistakes are occurring continually. In
the daily reports presented through
the newspaper, they follow in rapid
succession, and in steady train. They
tread each other's heel, throughout
the year. What seems to be new un
der the sun is reappearance, mostly, of
new incidents of old experience. Yet
withal it's mighty hard to learn the
lessons.
DISTRIBUTING FORTUNES.
Pessimists who delight to torment
themselves with the repeated assur
ance that "the rich are growing richer
and the poor are growing poorer'
would not be obliged to scan the
dally papers very closely to secure
many exceptions to this rule. Some
philosopher, who must have been a
close observer of the antics of the
descendants of the wealthy, once re
marked that it was "only three gen
erations from shirt sleeves to shirt
sleeves." The transition does not
come so rapidly with all of the rich.
but there are ever before us many
who take kindly to the whirlwind dis
tributions of the wealth for which they
engaged neither in tolling nor spin
nlng.
"Silent" Smith, the nerveless son of
a Chicago millionaire who amassed a
fortune in Western railroads, left no
vivid trail along the primrose path
and died early with his share of the
Smith millions well taken care of.
His sister, however, at an expense of
many millions, became Lady Cooper,
and the Smith millions made some
portions of staid old England sit up
and take notice. In last Sunday's
Oregonlan a London cable announced
that Lady Cooper had spent $9000 for
music alone for a single evenings en
tertainment. Now comes the news
that Miss Anita Stewart, the step
daughter of "Silent" Smith and heir
to many of his millions, would become
the wife of a bogus Prince for'whom
she paid 11.000,000 in advance. When
as disreputable a man as the bogus
Prince Braganza can secure $1, 000, 000.
from his victim before marriage, it is
easy to understand that the prospects
for a rapid distribution of the remain
der of the fortune are excellent. With
such prodigal waste of money the end
of the Smith fortune can be foreseen.
and a generation or two hence some
member will ba obliged to begin all
over again.
This is only one Instance, and it Is
bv no means an isolated case. The
Thaw fortune, which a dozen years
ago was the envy of thousands of toll
ers In the smoKy city wnere it was
amassed, has been flung to the four
winds, and another generation will
probably remove the name of Thaw
(com the lists of the rich. Not all of
the very rlcn matte ioois oi inem-
selves or permit their offspring to do
so, but, sometimes for one reason and
sometimes another, all of the great
fortunes of the earth are broken up
and divided. Both the Gould and the
Vanderbilt fortunes have shrunk
amazingly since the death of the men
of the family who knew what hard
work and thrift meant, and the same
fate awaits many other American for
tunes whose possessors Know more
about spending than saving. It would.
of course, be much Detter ror society
as well as for the rich themselves, if
these distributions of wealth could be
made in a channel where It would do
more good in the immediate present.
Eventually, however, the pile is spread
out so thin that It no longer attracts
notice, and the world's attention is di
verted to some newcomer who has dis
played a genius for accumulating
money.
AGAIN THE GOOD ROADS PROBLEM.
Lane County purposes to be up and
doing in the matter of experimental
road construction, according to the
present plan. The first stretch of
macadamized county road in that
county will be laid between Eugene
and Springfield and the work will be
begun as soon as the details of con
struction can be arranged. The sooner
the better, for the season is far ad
vanced and satisfactory work on high
ways in the Willamette Valley can not
be done when rain is falling and the
ground Is soft.
The roads in Lane County are not
worse than those in most other sec
tions of the Willamette Valley, but
they cannot by an stretch of imagi
nation, backed by loyalty to climate,
be called "good roads" during the
Winter and Spring seasons. The rains
of these seasons conduce to the
wretched condition of these roads, of
course, but they do not excuse it. since
proper road construction would In
sure good roads in spite of the Winter
rains. This Is conceded by men who
understand road construction. It is
equally true that the best of material
for county road building abounds in
the Willamette Valley and is readily
accessible.
These are facts that only have to be
acted upon with intelligence and de
termination by County Commissioners
to remove the stigma of disgrace from
Oregon road and an- unmerited re
proach from Oregon's climate as fost
ered by the abominable county roads
of much of the Willamette Valley for
full half of the year. v
Good road building is expensive, of
course. But when did the taxpayers of
the state refuse to come forward with
a tax levied for the public benefit?
Besides, is not heavy toll exacted from
farmers every year for "bad roads" in
the form of a direct tax upon broken
down and worn-out road equipment
vehicles, harness and teams? There
are losses, too, incident to the Inability
to supply local markets with garden
orchard, poultry and dairy products at
the season of the year when these
being the highest prices.
The question of building good roads
In Oregon is no longer a theoretical
one. There are stretches of public
highwavs short, it is true in Mar
Ion, Clackamas, Yamhill, and possibly
some other counties, that can be
traveled with comfort and speed the
year round.' with or without a load
while in many districts of Multnomah
County the roads are emphatically
"good roads" at all seasons.
It Is high time for Lane County to
take up for early solution the good
roads problem. Progress along other
lines in that county has been notable
and substantial in recent years. There
is no reason why the public spirit of
its citizens should lag In this direction
and no reason to suppose that, being
once aroused, as we are assured that
it has been, that it will again return
to the idea that bad roads are in ac
cordance with the decree of Nature in
our worst Winter climate an afflic
tion to be endured because impossible
to overcome.
BOGIES OF DIGDO.V.
That old familiar infliction that we
were wont to be assured was a friend
In disguise the boil assumes new
terrors under the pen punctures of Dr.
Woods Hutchinson in the Saturday
Evening Post. The wonder, after
reading the diagnosis of this infliction
as given by this prolific writer, is that
so many thousands of unsuspecting
mortals before his time came safely
through the ordeal of a single boil, not
to mention the pestiferous colony
that followed In the trail blazed by
the first Intruder. Were it not that
Dr. Hutchinson writes both A. M. and
M. D. after his name, we might seri
ously doubt the magnitude of the dan
ger that he depicts.
It is certain that many men before
his time came down to good old age,
even though they had, not once, but
many times, stubbed their toes In boy
hood while running barefoot after the
cows, skinned thlr knuckles and
shins in a furious bout on the school
playground, cut their -fingers with the
rusty blade of a knife that they had
perhaps found in the barnyard, taken
splinters from their flesh with brass
pins, etc., etc., regardless of the hugs
that lie in wait to take advantage of
these and other commonplace inci
dents and accidents to destroy human
life.
Dr. Hutchinson has, by his profuse
presentment of this and kindred sub
jects, proven that there Is absolutely
no limit to the activities of an enthu
siast in bugology, bent upon the com
bined purpose of exploiting his opin
ions and incldentaly his medical and
surgical knowledge, and adding to his
bank account. He may, furthermore.
be congratulated upon having devised
a formula whereby he can advertise
without running up against the code
of ethics formally prescribed by the
profession, which makes advertising a
misdemeanor to which grave penalties
are attached.
ONE HUNDRED GOOD BOOKS.
There is more catholicity In the list
of novels for Summer reading Issued
by the Portland Public Library than
In many similar efforts for the public
good. This list makes the modest
claim that it includes "one hundred of
the best novels." It admits, therefore,
that there are other books Just as good
and perhaps some better than the ones
it mentions, which is a very unusual
concession. Most lists of one hundred
books, as the harassed reader is well
aware. Include all the best and exclude
11 the second best and worse. It Is
marvelous that this should be so,
since no two lists are alike, but con
cerning the fact no doubt Is possible.
This selection from the Portland li
brary, In spite of Its modest preten
sions, is a great deal better than some
we have seen. It contains nothing
which Is not excellent, while its scope
is wide enough to please any reason
able lounger. A catalogue which runs
through the whole alphabet and in
tersperses Jane Austen, George Eliot,
Meredith and Trollope among its more
frivolous authors cannot be accused
of triviality. One imagines that it is
more likely to be charged with the
crime of over-seriousness.
On the Summer boarder and vaca
tion loiterer good advice about read
ing is for the most part wasted. What
thev want is something frankly silly.
Laura Jane Libbey Is more congenial
o their taste than Charles Kingsley.
They prefer Opie Read to Sir Walter
Scott. If they cannot find a book
which requires no exertion of mind to
read it, they will not read at all. Still,
even among this discouraging ciass
there is here and there a person who
does not believe that rest necessarily
means vacuity of the intelligence and
these grains of wheat among the chaff
will be thankful for the hints in the
public library's list of 100 good books.
Most of us require a little Jog before
we are quite ready to go back to the
old books we read twenty or thirty
years ago. We remember them witn
a hazy pleasure, but for the most part
we are satisfied with memory: we do
not care to take the trouble of reading
them again unless somebody says we
ought. This list gives the lazy con
science many a kindly hunch of that
character. For exampee. It sets down
Miss Mulock'ff "John Halifax, Gentle
man.", among the books one might
peruse to the profit of his soul in a
hady bower beside a babbling brook.
Few are well acquainted with "John
Halifax" now, and Miss Mulock is lit
tle more than a luminous mist just
vanishing in the backward and abysm
f time. Still the novel Is a good one.
much too good to be forgotten. John
was a man of sterling worth, and his
evotion to his Invalid friend Phlneas
adds a touch of tenderness to a char
acter which is almost too upright to
be human and lovable. John's one
fall from perfect grace happened on
the memorable afternoon when he ran
away with Phlneas to see Mrs. Siddons
plav Lady Macbeth, perhaps this ex
cellent old book does not quite escape
the disgrace of being goody-goody. It
av be that John Halifax was some
thing of a prig, and we should have
liked him better if he had played
hookey for the sake of fish Instead of
Shakespeare. Miss Mulock was as
serious as George Eliot in her quiet
way. Her character can weep and
pray and even smile gravely, but Ihey
never frolic.
It would b interesting to know
when the Summer is over and the Au
tumn leaves are falling, Daisy dear,
how many people followed the counsel
of the library sages and read three
of George Meredith's novels. In ou
humble opinion the man who reads a
single one between July 1 and Augus
31 deserves a credit mark. Meredith
Is not adapted to hot weather. His
books make demands upon the atten
tion. A wayfaring man who tries to
read him is doomed to disappointment
He does not harmonize with ham
mocKs ana snaay porcnes. To peruse
him properly one must sit erect in
chair, preferably wooden with
straight back, without any distracting
birds or mosquitoes near by. It
rather straining a point, in fact, to
class George Meredith among the nov
elists. He fits in more acceptably
among the mathematicians, or at least
the metaphysicians. He looks a great
deal better by the side of Immanuel
Kant than he does along with Jane
Austen. Still, if any stray vacationer
should be persuaded by this advice
from the library to dip into Meredith
It will depend on himself whether he
closes the book in disgust or reads it
through with enjoyment. The feast is
there, but one needs good teeth to
chew the meats and a sturdy stomach
to digest them. He is not an author
for intellectual valetudinarians.
But Is there any good reason why
the approach of warm weather should
enfeeble our brains? Is not a vaca
tion enjoyed all the better if it Js
varied with a little genuine intellectual
work? The body relishes its holidays
more when it is not permitted to be
too indolent. A brisk ramble In the
morning, a vigorous tramp in the af
ternoon, emphasizes the long hours of
the day's rest and makes them sweeter
to the physical frame. Is it not much
the same with the brain? Does It not
grow stale with too much idleness and
find unbroken rest toilsome from
sheer monotony? In our opinion
everybody would pass a pleasanter va
cation If he would bind himself by i
solemn vow to do two hours' serious
work each day and then fulfill the
vow. Thus one might learn the ele
ments of a language, as it were, by
guile, or begin a science. We all
know about the London doctor who
translated Horace riding in his car
riage from one patient to another,
What Oregonian will capture renown
by writing a treatise on hydraulics on
the mornings of his vacation, before
the rest of the company Is awake?
ITALIAN LABORERS IX SOUTH.
Even if there is no truth in the re
port that Italian immigrants are
made slaves of in the South, the
Southerners are guilty of incredible
folly In tolerating conditions which
give rise to the rumor. All Italy
seems to be stirred up over tales of
peonage in the Gulf States, and the
Government is quite likely to start
another investigation. There have
been one or two already, caused by
similar rumors, and they have not
been entirely fruitless. Of course the
consequences can be nothing less than
disastrous to the South. No other
section of the country needs intelligent
and honest labor so badly as the tier
of states along the Gulf. The whites
there who are willing to work for
wages are notoriously of an indolent
and none too bright character. The
adults willingly permit their children
to support the family by working in
the factories, while they themselves
pass the time loafing in the shade. Be
sides that, they are physically defi
cient. The average Italian workman is
many degrees more desirable as a la
borer than the poor whites of the
South, while between him and the ne
gro there is no comparison possible.
He Is industrious, capable and fairly
honest. Moreover, he is not a spend
thrift. He saves his earnings and
sends them home for deposit in a gov
ernment savings bank. If we had a
postal savings bank he would deposit
them here. One would think the
South would do all it could not only
to attract such admirable Immigrants,
but to make them contented after
they arrived. Instead of that, we hear
tales of brutal cruelty, and even of
slavery, one after another, in a con
stant stream. Is there some taint In
the disposition of the Southern em
ployer which makes it Impossible for
him to pay honest wages o his em
ployes? Is he so permeated by inher
ited love of slavery that he prefers it
to free labor, even against the law?
Happily, the Italian government is
awake to the welfare of its subjects
In foreign lands as well as at home,
and we may be sure that conditions
will be thoroughly investigated. If it
is true that Italians cannot earn as
high wages in the South as they can
at home, that is another laurel leaf
for our tariff.
TUT, PERSM.N REVOLUTION.
A singular feature of the revolution
which is raging in Persia is the atti
tude of the priesthood of the national
church, the Mohammedan Shiites.
They are on the popular side. In
most cases when uprisings against
tyranny take place the hierarchy is
found on the side of the government.
It is so in Russia today. It was so in
England during the war between King
Charles and his Parliament. But of
the nineor ten million people in Per
sia the majority who sympathize with
the revolution is so large that the
priests would have no congregations
left if they sided with the Shah. More
over, though they have as a rule been
bitterly hostile to innovations coming
from Europe, the Shlite priests seem
to have welcomed the new spirit of
reform which has swept across Asia
from Japan. At any rate, they are
with the people in their uprising
against the cruel despotism of the
monarch. The church has excommu
nicated Mohammed All for his per
jury in breaking the oath he swore to
observe the constitution of 1906, but
since he has the open support of Rus
sia and the more or less clandestine
backing of England, he will probably
manage in the long run to hold his
own against both priests and people.
England and Russia have heavy
financial interests in Persia which the
success of the revolution might en
danger. The Shahs for many years
have been ruthlessly extravagant,
wasting the taxes wrung from the
people without scruple and borrowing
millions from abroad. They have ne
gotiated heavy loans in Russia and
also in England. Besides, there are
both British and Russian banks in the
wretched country-wlth extensive con
cessions. Last Spring an agreement
was reached between England, and
Russia to maintain the Shah on his
tottering throne and at the same time
parcel out Persia between them in the
shape of two "spheres of influence."
Of course, the uprising of the people
militates against the consummation of
this pleasant treaty. A nation sen
tenced to be plundered by outside
Icivilizers puts great difficulties in their
way when It rises in revolution. The
Persian revolutionists have a capable
leader in SIpadar Khan, a man who
began life as a horse-trader. He
seems to belong to the type of M
hammed, who was a camel-driver be'
fore he became a prophet. Sipadar
is a good commander. He defeats
the Shah's troops whenever he meets
them, but his victories are made large
ly futile by the intermeddling of tho
foreigners. Still, he now has posses
sion of the capital and may possibly
capture the Shah, who has shut him
self up in a mountain fortress to await
aid from the Russians.
The basis of the revolution is eco
nomic. Under the wretched rule of
its monarchs Persia is unable to sup
port its population. Men have been
compelled to go by the hundred thou
sand to Russia and Turkey in Europe
to seek work, and with them upon
their return they have brought the
new ideas which are keeping those
countries in turmoil. Under a repre
sentative government the people have
come to believe that taxes would be
lower and life less miserable. This
opinion prevails in every province of
Persia. The people are so thoroughly
convinced of its soundness that they
are willing to fight for -It, and -while
they may not dethrone the Shah, they
are likely to obtain a stable constl
tution in the end.
NEW ENGLAND WCMEN.
New England has given to the world
men and women of high moral and
mental attainments scholars, theolo
glans, poets and statesmen men who
left their stamp not only upon their
dav and generation, but upon the
sands of time, and women who in l
different but not less useful and posl
tlve way made the world better for
having lived in it. Harriet Beecher
Stowe, Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth
Stuart Phelps-Ward, Lydia Huntley
Sigourney, are names that represent
women who, while wives and mothers
home-makers and helpmeets of man in
the most literal sense, yet found time
to work in the larger neid oi tne worm
and made tfferein an Impress that was
strong and lasting.
Nor Is the long roll of New England
splnsterhood without names that stand
for high endeavor in the wider world
of human usefulness, of which the
home is the center. Women who,
Lonely, homeless, not the less
Found v'eace In love's unselfishness
And blessings where'er they went.
A calm and gracious element.
were in their long, cheerful, busy day
known by the names of Louise M. Al-
cott, beloved of children; Mercy Whit
tier, The sweetest woman ever fate
Perverse denied a household mate;
Lucy Larcom and Cella Thaxter, who
went through life with songs upon
their lips and work for others in their
hands; Susan B. Anthony, fearless
apostle of the political equality of her
sex; Frances E. Willard, of whom her
biographer says "Nature meant her for
a journalist, but thwarted her own de
sign by giving her the heart of a phil
anthropist"; Ida Lewis, the "Grace
Darling of America," through wnose
strength, skill and courage many lives
were rescued from the surf on the
bleak New England coast; Mary Emer
son, over whose grave In Sleepy Hoi
low Cemetery, Concord, her illustrious
nephew. Ralph Waldo Emerson
caused to be Inscribed the words "She
gave high counsels" these names rep
resent a few of the women wno aid
well their part in the sphere in which
their lives were set, wasted no time in
self-pity and passed on in serene con
tentment, conscious of duty well done,
The life record of many of these
women has come down to us. They
represent fn the main untiring Indus
trv. gentle, womanly sympathy and
high Ideals. Take, for example, the
following entry from the diary of Mary
Emerson, under date of November i
1805:
What a rich day so fully occupied In
nursulng truth, that I did not touch a novel
which for veara I had wanted. Rose before
liht: read Butlers Analogy, commented
on the Bible: read a few of Cicero's letters.
washed, carded, cleaned house and baked.
Is not this mixture of menial tasks
and high scholarship Inimitable?
Or this from the diary or Louise ju.
Alcott, under date of June 1, 1872:
Twenty years ago I resolved to make the
family Independent if I could; at forty that
la done. Debts all paid, even the outlawed
ones, and we have enough to be comfort
able. It has cost me my health, perhaps,
but aa I still live there la more for me to
do. I suppose.
And there was "more for her to do. '
She lived many years longer, an earn
est striver to the end, supporting her
father and other members of her fam
ily, and. dying at the age of 66, left a
competence to those for whom she had
tolled so cheerfully and so long.
In the lowlier walks of life the single
women of New England held the same
attitude of helpfulness and devotion to
duty that was so conspicuous in women
of this class, the details of whose lives
have come down to us through biog
raphy and folk-lore tales. A charm
ing writer, now deceased, published
some years ago chronicles from mem
ory of "New England Bygones, one
chapter of which was devoted to Han
nah, the typical "hired girl" of the
New England of a past century. So
runs the story:
The lifelong serving woman, by running
In her sorrow groove year after year, nac
become 'a sort of machine. The neighbors
spoke of "Hannah" aa having been a good-
looking lass, but when i nrst u
she was much the worse for wear. Yet no
body seemed to think that she had grown
old. Her name and her virtues were a peren
nial possession of the house and the neigh
borhood. She was always called "Hannah."
The more unkindly they treated her. the
more natural she became. The serving
woman grew lean and wrinkled and ugly,
but Hannah grew venerable and beloved. In
that household Into which death had come
Hannah was sure to be found. There was
something In her itfe that preached that
great faith that she bad borne with her
from childhood, and which she plainly
shaped Into simple words that utter self
sacrifice that clothed her like a garment
and put out of sight all that was homely
about her Treading with weary reet tier
toilsome way she transmuted the Joys and
sorrows and stinted Incidents of ber homely
life Into pure gold.
Of Lucy and Hester, two sisters who
were the tailoresses of all that rugged
countryside, the same chronicler says:
The room In which they worked
seemed to catch all the sunshine lying about
Their goose was always pounding at
seams, their tongues were aiw.ja guiug in
oncert and they were the busiest, plump
est, most prospersons of old maids. It may
be after all that they had fallen upon their
true vocation and that they were Jollier
and more useful with their goose In hand
than they would have been as wives and
mothers. Be this as It may, they passed
Into two old. but still cheerful sisters whose
serene later years and calm end were a rest
and a lesson to their weary neighbors.
So runs the story of New England
splnsterhood, through many a chapter
of endeavor, simple and exalted, it is
embellished with many a tender, many
pathetic, incident, yet through it runs
a thread of usefulness and devotion to
duty, of happiness and of helpfulness
which made life la . the. best sense J
worth the living. Contemplating these
lives lowly and exalted, we can read
ily understand the feeling which
caused Whlttler to exclaim:
Be shame to him of woman torn
Who hath for such but thought of scorn.
A Los Angeles judge has decided
that "no house Is big enough for a
married couple and a mother-in-law."
Being invested with vne prejudice of
the ages, against the woman who is
the wife's mother. Judge Monroe can
not be expected to know, or knowing,
to admit, that in thousands of house
holds all over the land there are gra
cious, gentle, gray-hatred grandmoth
ers, mothers of husoands or wives,
who are elements of peace and help
fulness therein, beloved and honored
alike by parents and children. His
assertion to be true must be made spe
cific. There are mothers-in-law and
mothers-in-law, just as there are sons-in-law
and sons-in-law. He who does
not recognize this fact writes himself
down a man of slight discernment or
unreasoning prejudice, either of which
characteristics disqualifies him to be
a Just judge.
John D. Rockefeller has begun to
shift some of his big burdens on his
son. He recently deeded to his heir
the valuable blocks in New York City
bought some years ago for the Rocke
feller Institute for Medical Research,
upon which great buildings will be
erected in the future. His reason for
this transfer is that the Institute work
shall not be halted by his death. The
old man has also transferred to the
younger a half block in the rear of
Fifth-Avenue Baptist Church which is
to be torn down and replaced by a
half-million-dollar edifice to satisfy
the pastor. Dr. Charles F. Aked.
Rockefeller, Jr., has also bought his
father's sixteen-story office building in
Cleveland, and other property there.
It may be assumed tnat John D. feels
old age creeping on him, and that he
is satisfied Standard Oil can take care
of itself.
A child now blesses the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Gunjiro Aoki. Mrs.
Aokl, it will be recalled, was the mis
guided daughter of Archdeacon Em
ory, of Oakland, Cal., and her an
nounced intention to marry a Japanese
attracted the attention of the entire
continent. This was last March.
Mrs. Emory, the young woman's
mother, took an active part in ar
ranging the nuptials, and on that ac
count came in for much general criti
cism. It will appear now that the
mother knew what sne was about,
though she ought perhaps to have
known earlier. It may be remem
bered by some that The Oregonian in
timated at the time that the mother
probably had some strong motive for
her attitude and actions.
James Hamilton Lewis, of Chicago
"Jim Ham" thinks It wrong to tax
Chicago incomes and then use the
money for distant enterprises in the
Rocky Mountain States'. Now that's
so, perhaps; but what are we to do
about It? Oregon contains more tim
ber than any other state, but the pro
ceeds are used mostly for irrigation
systems elsewhere.
"Remember," says President
Wemme, of the Portland Automobile
Club, in his letter of advice to his fel
low automobilists about today's run
into the country, "remember that you
are an American citizen and a gen
tleman." Some day, we are sure, Mr.
Wemme will be able to insert "there
fore" before "a gentleman."'
Dr. Parkhurst, of New York, in a
recent contribution to the Evening
Journal of that city, said: "A libel
suit is the appeal which a man makes
to the courts to come to the relief of
his threatened and perhaps tottering
reputation." Very true, this Is; alto
gether true.
Those young naval officers all agree
that young Sutton committed suicide
while on his back, unsuccessfully re
sisting the fistic assaults of one or
more of his fellow officers. Sutton
was therefore so excited and angered
that he shot himself, not others.
Stuff.
Rev. William Danforth, who was
here last week, is a playwright, as
well as a sermonizer. Doesn't he know
that the playhouse is the vestibule of
hell? If he doesn't, The Oregonian
can put him on the track of the in
formation, right here in Portland.
You have observed, no doubt, that
when Mayor Simon announces that he
Is going to do a certain thing, it is
then and there half done. That is
what happens when there is a Mayor
who knows how, and who cares not
whether the galleries are looking.
Strange how so many railroad-
builders all at once discover the great
attractiveness of Central Oregon.
Strange, too, why all want to go In by
the same route. Don t crowd, gentle
men. There will be plenty, of room
when you arrive.
Pleasing indeed to observe the un
reserved commendation of Portland
offered by all tourists, especially the
Elks. The latter, we are glad to note,
have not had their fingers caught by
the pressing down of the Sunday lid.
The tariff bill," says La Follette,
"is based on greed, graft and pull."
But La Follette has "pulled" for Wis
consin as hard as he could. The
tariff is a local question, and La Fol
lette is struggling for re-election.
President Taft makes It clear that
he meant downward when he said
the tariff Should be revised downward.
The English language has to be taught
to some people with a big stick. Or Is
it only a near-big-stick?
Admirable thing in that Vancouver
(B. C.) judge to fine himself for speed
ing his automobile. But we should
like to hear his opinion as a speed
maniac of his action as Judge.
The other young Sutton was soundly
hazed at West Point, and won't tell
who did it. Naturally, the cadets are
pleased. They didn't have to kill him
to silence hirn.
Two railroads into Central Oregon,
up the Deschutes? This is really too
much. But there is no need to be ex
cited. We have not one yet.
Mrs. Collins may Indeed have lost
her husband's love, if she ever had it,
but did she much help matters?
The Nation may well ask itself, Who
s running the Government. Aldrich or
TafU
:f U PS'.-.- .
SILHOUETTES
BT ARTHUR A. GREENE.
The Impending dangers from which
a morbid mind suffers most are those
which don't happen.
,
Politeness is like an air cushion.
There may be nothing In it, but it eases
one wonderfully.
"Slow but sure" doesn't apply to a
belated train when a man has an Im
portant business engagement.
There seems sometimes to be noth
ing In the universe but the echoes of
old sobs and the stains of long-shed
tears.
Prejudices in one's mind are like rats
in a trap: it Is easy for them to get
in but very difficult for them to get
out.
To m Friend.
I would not be the rose that blooms
Where gay parterres are spread.
Nor yet the rosy wreath that twines
'Round beauty's graceful head.
No! Let me be the rose that wins
A glance and smile from thee.
When none are by thy beating heart
' And blushing cheek to see.
Long treasured for the giver's sake.
When nature's charms are past.
But claiming still, though dry and sere,
Caresses to the last.
No matter how hard up you are, you
should always have a smile to give a
friend.
Remember
often means
that an easy beginning
a hard finish.
Many a fellow who has a definite
aim in life gets "buck ague" at the
critical moment.
About the only thing that is easy to
find after losing it Is one's temper.
Don't find fault with a man who
counts his chickens before they are
hatched. It is frequently his only
chance at the adding machine.
Too many of us are generous be
cause It affords a chance to show off. .
Many people who cannot tell a lie
will dress up one so that it looks like
a lineal descendant of George Wash
ington. To a very young girl a handsome man
looks like a blooming lilac bush In the
pale moonlight. .After she grows older
he looks like a paying-teller behind a
wicket.
A fool in evening clothes can always
go farther than a sage in rags.
Many a woman is kept busy trying
to appear innocent by concealing what
she really knows.
No one has yet drawn the capital
prize In the matrimonial lottery.
"Ain't It Romantic f"
"Drink to me only with thine eyes,"
Said Willie to Marie,
But Willie drank, and so did she.
Till Willie couldn't see.
And so he thought her eyes were fine.
As naturally he should.
And both of them continued to
Imbibe the flowing wine.
Now Willie's shy a pocket-book,
Also a watch and things,
And Marie's wardrobe's looking up
As ardently there sings
Each day a new admirer
Who dutifully brings
A bank account of generous size.
While she drinks to him only with her
eyes.
Retribution.
Out of the past there comes a Shape,
Gaunt and somber and drear;
And pauses at the gate each day.
Bringing to me a fear
That after all there's a reckoning,
A time when all debts are paid
For the bitter shame and the tarnished
fame
Of the pawns in the game we've played.
And, speaking him fair, as I meet him
there.
He gravely returns my smile,
But I know he knows that I'll pay some
day '
The accounting after while.
So this stolid collector whom we call Fate,
Diligent, tireless, stern,
Waits, unsleeping at the gate,
Smiling perhaps, but firm;
Seeking his right to a settlement
Of the prodigal waste we've made
Demands his due. Insisting anew
That the debt of folly be paid.
And I shudder and fear as somber and
drear
He stands at the gate each day
And makes me to know, whether or no,
Whatever excuse is made.
That after all there's a reckoning,
A time when ail debts are paid
For the bitter shame and tarnished fame
Of the pawns in the game we've played.
Threatened skunk Farm Makes Fass.
Logansport, Ind., Dispatch.
Property-owners in the vicinty of the
farm owned by Robert Baker, near Ida
ville, threaten an Inunction suit if Baker
persists in his purpose of starting a
skunk farm.
Baker is a trapper, who has made much .
money from skunk oil and skins. But
skunks are getting scarce, and this has
led him to believe that he can make more
money in raising them than In hunting.
Experiments which he has made convince
him that they can be successfully and
profitably raised, and he is now arrang
ing to go into the business on a big
scale.
He is going to fence in five acres with
fine meshed screening, which will ba
sunk in the ground three feet, and which
will be six feet high.
Baker figures to raise about 1000 skunks
every year, and he has contracted for
machinery to extract the oil. Tills is al
most as valuable as the skins, which
average about $1 each.
President Taft'a Opportunity.
St. Paul Dispatch.
President Taft can make himself al
most the idol of the American consumer
by vetoing the tariff measure and throw
ing the entire question over to the reg
ular session of Congress in December
when the Congressmen will have had time
to hear the voice of the people and feel
the lash of public sentiment that Is de
manding a reduction of the tariff rates.
Any other result will spell defeat for the
Republican party in the Congressional
elections next j eax- v . , --v. -. .
.i '-st-a.-i. a