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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1909)
I r--rT- -r.-r--iX-T 4 -v- TrvTTT YT1 A TT.T'ST 20. 1 !IO! )t fecroittatt PORTLAND. OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflc M re.-.nd-i"lass Matter. suhsrriotlon Kates Invariably In Advance. (By IlatL Sunday Included, one year. ......$3.00 Dui.y. Sunday Included, six month! 25 r;ii;.v, Sunday Included, three months... 2.15 "Jjilv. Sunday Included, one month jally. without Sunday, one year........ 6 OO O-iKy. without Sunday, six month 3 25 Daily, without Sunday, three month.... DjIIv. without Sunday, one month .WJ tYeekly. one year . eundiy. one year... 5? Sunday and weekly, one year.... 3 0 (By Carrier.) fly. Sunday Included, on year 00 Dally. Sunday included, on month 75 How to Remit Send postoffire money order, express order or pergonal check on our local bank Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give po'tofllc ad dress In full. Includlnc county and state. rotae Rate 10 to 14 paces. 1 cent: 19 to 2S pages. 2 cents: 30 to 40 paxes. 8 centa; 41 to 60 paxes. 4 centa Foreign postage double rates. Eastern Business Office The 8. C. Beck wl h Special Agency Nw York, rooms 4S 3 Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-513 Trlrune building. PORTLAND. SUNDAY. AUGUST 19. 1909. IT IDA tiREAT OUTLOOK. Last week'n industrial and com mercial reports from various parts of the country gave highly gratifying- ac counts of the progress of business and industry. In and throughout Oregon a general uplift is apparent. The prospect encourages and heartens the people to an extent seldom if ever witnessed In our state. That Oregon is actually at the beginning of a new stage of her development is manifest to all. New forces, hitherto strangers to the state, are actively engaged in large undertakings, and competitive effort on extensive scale now for the first time in the history of the state gives a-ssurance of activity and devel opment in directions hitherto unat twnpted. The new railroad era will carry with it every kind of additional growth and progress. Production, In the modern time, will never make consid erable advance without assistance or immediate promise of railway exten sion: for the pioneer methods that sufficed In the former time, will not be renewed now or hereafter. People must live In touch with the world. They refuse isolation. Hence the greater part of the vast area of Ore gon is peopled, or only sparsely In habited by owners of flocks and herds. The land cannot be cultivated, because there is no outlet to market. Human habitations are so distant from each other that schools cannot be main tained, and families that desire social intercourse and the education of their children live where neighborhood may be possible. Hence the only human occupants of the greater part of the ountry are men employed as herders Df cattle and sheep, some of whom hear no human voice but their own for months at a time. In other places, where there are resources 'of timber and of agricultural lands, that must, some time, come Into use, a few per sons or families that began settlement years ago are still drearily waiting. Others, tired out with -waiting, have moved away. But there Is now at last excellent promise that these solitudes will be made, through railroad ex tension', available for settlement and habitation; and within a short tirrte they will reward with immense ton nage the roads that may enter them. Here Is the secret and explanation of the active 'competitive movement of the great railway systems, now for the first time appearing within this state. We expect the coming census to show a population of about 600.000 in Oregon. The gain within this decade has been greater than within any other in the history of the state; but, under the Impulse of new force now begin ning to appear, with the stimulation these new forces will give to those already here, we may reasonably ex pect the population and wealth of Or egon to be doubled within the next ten years. Financial conditions In our Eastern states are such now as to favor and strongly support these new undertak ings in outer fields. It is this fact that gives assurance of earnestness and perseverance In the undertakings of our railroad and other new work in Oregnn. All vestiges of the latest finan cial disturbance and upset have disap peared. Whereas, a year ago, there were two or three hundred thousand Idle freight cars in the railroad yards, there now is shortage of cars, and most of the great railroad systems are ordering more. The review for last week of business conditions In Eastern cities gave out reports of "large Fall purchases." "active demand," "sales exceeding best previous years," "large numbers of visiting buyers." and the like; and prices of farm products, es pecially staples, make unusually ex cellent returns to agricultural indus try. Building is active In most of the cities and towns, and in all growing places there Is unusual firmness in the real estate market. All this is sure to tell with effect on the progress of our Northwest states, especially Oregon on Oregon more than the rest, because this state has been neglected, more than any other, by the primary force of modem activ ity, namely, railroad extension and development, yet now has sure prom ts of receiving the attention which so long has -been deferred. We look for very active Industry and business, and for extraordinary growth In Ore gon, and Indeed In all the' Pacific States. Bestir yourselves, now, you who would not be left behind! Ob serve that the outlook, especially In Oregon, offers a prospect never beheld In Oregon hitherto. The fruit of en ergy, amid such resources and oppor tunities, cannot fail. But it is neces sary, not only to seize the occasion, but to concentrate the purpose and effort. It la true that everything comes to him who waits, only when he works as well as waits. No result can be had without use of the means nec essary to achieve It. This Is no time or place for our Micawbers; and the original Micawber himself had to leave off waiting 'for "something to turn up." quit his old haunts and ways, and turn up something for himself. WOMEN AND WOMANHOOD. One ot the addresses at the meeting of the British Association for the Ad vancement of Science In Winnipeg shows, how the outlook of an eminent man may be circumscribed by too much specializing. It was Professor M. E. Armstrong- who gave the ad dress In question and he made his blunder by deserting the realm of chemistry, where he Is an authority, and straying Into sociology, where he seems to be an ass. "The most dis quieting feature of the times." said he, is the revolt of women against their womanhood and their claim to be on ; - I an equality with man In every" way if the professor should talk such non sense when he discourses on the car bon compounds, what would become of his- reputation? The serious part of Professor Arm strong's blunder pertains to his facts. Women are guilty of no such "revolt" as he describes and they make no such claim. The contention of women to day Is distinctly for their womanhood, not against It and their only claim is for rational treatment as women, not for equality with men. For example, they are struggling to secure for wom en working in factories time and strength enough from their toil to care for their children; to secure for girls who work at night protection for their innocence; to secure for little children the opportunity to play in the open air; and for mothers who do piece work the opportunity to escape tuber culosis. Is this a desertion of" woman hood? What a wonderful alteration In the common talk of the world a little honest information would some times make. THK NEGLECT OF COOS BAY. There was a time when the man agement of the Harriman roads in Oregon thought the construction of a road from the main line at Drain, down Elk Creek and the Umpqua River, and thence to Coos Bay would be a profitable undertaking. Large quantities of material were assembled and much work was done; but the financial depression that ensued, soon after the commencement of the work, caused suspension of operations, and nothing further has been done to this day. After a while the matter was refer red to Mr. Harriman himself, who re plied that if assurance were given that the road would pay 4 per cent on the investment he would cause the road to be built. In the nature of things such guaranty is impossible. No individual or association could afford to execute such undertaking: and it is doubtful whether Mr. Harriman's advisers would accept any such guaranty if made. But the Coos Bay country Is there, and is its own guaranty. It has a large and growing population, int ense resources in timber and coal. and great bodies of excellent agri cultural land. Several years ago the Harriman man agement in Oregon believed that a road from Drain to Coos Bay would be a profitable undertaking. Hence It was carefully surveyed, large quan tities of rails and other materials were carried to the Initial point, and other quantities to Coos Bay; and grade and tunnel work for a time was actively prosecuted. It was discontinued, un der the financial stress that stopped all new work for a time. Now, it is, doubted whether the road will pay; and work has not been renewed. What can have happened to produce this conclusion? Was the" undertak ing ill-advised. In the beginning? We should think not. That is, we can not suppose the sagacious men who started the enterprise were mistaken about It. Besides, there is much more reason now at Coos Bay for a railroad than there was then. This Is one of the miscarriages in railroad matters that has helped to create impatience and dissatisfaction throughout Oregon with the slowness and delays that have retarded the de velopment of the state, and moreover that add eagerness to the welcome extended to other builders, known to have strength to give the old system a shake-up. OUTER WENDELL HOLMES, nn Aiie-nst 29 one hundred years will have elapsed since the birth of -in....- n'ondoii Holmes. Although he died but a little while ago; In 1S94. he has already become ratner a aim figure to the public. The bright say- in nf hi "Rrwltfast Table" books "are seldom quoted now. not because their wlttv sheen Is tarnished but De- cause the soldiers they were meant to stimulate and inspire nave won ineir battle and gone home to rest. One or two of his poems are still recited bv schoolchildren. The One Hoss Shay. The Last Leaf, The Pearly Nautilus furnisn apt anusions oc casionally. Perhaps there may be old fashioned people who have read Elsie Venner and his other novels. But to ih c-rent nubile the memory or Holmes, like Lowell's and Longfel low's grows wan with the years. Once regarded by his pious country men as a sinister character an enemy f God, an emissary oi-oatan. ne is ow remembered only as a benignant ...Mniot u-hri took creat delieht In writing theological platitudes. To us they are platitudes. 10 nis earner ontemporaries they were poisonous blasphemies. Dr. Holmes had the fortune to pe born in that wonderful year 1809 hen Darwin, Lincoln, and a dozen other stars of the first magnitude came down to earth. Nature seemed to be aware that the human race was ready to make a mighty march for ward and mustered her energies to n,AviH a band of leaders all of the same age and all of the highest ca pacity. Holmes, tnougn ne came lino nrnrici in crimnanv with the cap tains, turned out to be not much more than a corporal, but he was Drave as the best of them ana none was truer to the flag of freedom. He never made much ado over the company ne ... hr-n in hut It tickled his con ceited New England fancy to recollect that Dr. Samuel Johnson came into ,. -nri.i in 1709. almost exactly a century before he did. Upon this co incidence Holmes constructea a paral lel between his own career and John son's. Now and then ne wouiq get. down his Boswell to find out Just what his British exemplar was doing at the same hour a hundred years before. He even went so far as to. express a certain uneasiness because he was un able to die in 1884 as he ought, in or der to complete the parallel. This may or may not illustrate the childish delight of the Boston literary mag nates of Holmes' day In. everything British which they could possibly as similate to themselves. They were provincial to the last degree and ap preciated every kindly attention from t.-r,n-innci a neasant relishes a pass- int g word from a DuKe. l neir purring .niirann under British patronage cor ftmnse the modern public if it had not so nearly forgotten them. t nr Holmes his literary em- in ence was a very real and import ant affair and he spent a great deal of time accounting for it by the doc trine of heredity. He came, to be sure, of the best New England blood and was nurtured 'in Its most genteel traditions. To him the product of so much intellect and select culture was necessarily something exceedingly rich and rare. To us It is apt to look thin and taste vinegary. Holmes made a great deal too much of heredity both in his theories of life and in his books. He did not remember as he oughjt that most bright literary lights have burst out of chaos without any particular forewarning. Who would try to ac count for Shakespeare, Burns or Gib bon by marshaling their ancestors? In Elsie Venner Holmes made the same literary blunder, which Ibsen did in Ghosts and which Hauptmann re peated in Vos Sonnenaufgang. -The plot of the book turned on the In heritance by offspring of a parent's acquired traits. This Weissmann has shown to be a very dubious doctrine. Perhaps It never occurs at all. The real forces for good and evil in the world are education and nutrition, or the lack of them. Heredity seems more apt to transmit our gains than our losses to the future, but it trans mits neither to any such extent as Holmes liked to fancy. In his heart Holmes was not half so much a phy sician or literary man as he was a theologian.' He was a sort of self conscious, well starched. New England Voltaire. The absurdities and cruel ties of current creeds were as appar ent to him as they ever were to the great Frenchman and he attacked them as boldly. He lacked Voltaire's love of mischief but he really had something of the same poignant wit and a shadow of the genius. But Voltaire took hold eagerly of every thing that promised hope for mankind while Holmes cared for no reform out side of theology. He ridiculed the tee totalers. He had only cold words for the abolitionists. In everything but religion he was a strait conservative. Like many other conservatives, though, he overlooked the ominous truth that all abuses are propped up by each other and If you topple one down you threaten the rest. Re formers In general have found that before they could do much in their particular field they had to begin by reforming the church, since many evils are securely intrenched in that sacred stronghold. By attacking con ventional religion, therefore. Holmes effectively attacked all that deserved destruction and his . conservatism, much as he made of it, was more Imaginary than real. To him be longs the glory of helping drag the American people by the heels and hair out of the slough of superstition and teaching us to think honestly and sensibly about our eternal welfare. This is credit enough for one man. "RELUCTANT PARENTAGE." Periodically, or oftener,' some grave professor comes forward with a severe arraignment of the wives of the United States, because of an alleged scarcity of children. In solemn tones and with mien austere, he arraigns women for shirking, as he assumes, the maternal function and, all un heard condemns them to dire penal ties for allowing the race to die out. One, Professor Armstrong, Ph. D. LL D., F. R. S., etc., etc., Bristol, Eng land, has lately been traveling in Canada and he tarried long enough at one of the populous Canadian cities recently to voice this plaint in unusually solemn tones and words of more than ordinary bitterness, even for men who sound this false alarm. If this herald of disaster wiir look around him In any city or thriving country place; if he will take a ride in the elevated roads of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit and look' down from his rapidly shifting viewpoint upon the surging mass of Juvenile humanity be neath him; if he will loiter about any of the public school buildings in any of our great centers of population at the dismissal period, or halt in the shade hard by any country school house in the early Springtime, he will realize that he has struck a false note In a worn out tune, when he raises his voice in the aspersion of women be cause they are shirking their part In race perpetuation. Children? There are millions of them! Taxpayers are groaning every where because of the constantly in creasing levy upon the resources to build schnolhouses and support schools that the swarming multitude may be given the proper chance or start in life. In vain do school trus tees exert themselves throughout va cation period of each year to provide room for the increased number of children that each succeeding Septem ber sends trooping to the school house doors demanding admittance. Equally in vain do the "good district fathers" in the rural sections strive to keep ahead of the yearly increas ing outflow of Juvenile life from the farmhouses of a populous, prosperous land. As for villages, their streets are thronged and their homes and schools are crowded with children. There is no lack of child life anywhere ex cept in the fevered imagination of the alarmist and the homes of the relative few, to whom Nature perhaps, for good reasons of her own. has declined to send children, or who, exercising the divine right of choice in so grave a matter, have decided that it is not best for them or for possible posterity to bring children into the world. All of this outcry of a menace to race perpetuation based upon reluctant parentage, or more especially reluc tant motherhood, comes with a harsh and grating sound from the throats of men who spend 'their days com piling dry statistics, except when they are croaking out their alleged findings. Practical people, who look around them; people who take an interest In schools and who are factors In or derly communities; people' who give time and endeavor to the care of or phans or to children worse than or phans who were called Into the world by the Incapable or the vicious, do not find time or cause to deplore the scarcity of children. There is no evi dence in their vicinity of a decreasing birthrate. They find no reason to as sail women for neglecting or refusing to exercise the maternal function. On the contrary ea'dly be it said they are forced many times to deplore what seems to be the mistaken bounty of Nature in the propagation of the human race, as they toil, now with in dignation, now with tears and always with pity to reduce, as far as kind ness and practical endeavor may, the results of this mistake of Nature to the minimum of infantile and mater nal suffering. Dr. Woods Hutchinson, whoss pen Is busy with vital topics is wordy at times without being logical, but upon the topic under consideration he is sane. From a long article, under the above head In the current number of the Woman's Home Companion, we clip the following and commend its careful perusal to grave alarmists of Dr. Armstrong's type who extol the virtues of "old fashioned parent age:" As a matter of fact, scarcely the slightest trace of Intelligence or Intention or deliberate forethought entered Into tt production of the Ideal "big. old-fah!oned families." ex cept where the parents expected to profit by tbs labor or wages of their offspring. How many of them, for Instance, would have come Into existence If the mother had been for a moment consulted about the matter? How many of the "surplus" children, whose lives must inevitably be wasted in the attempt to rear 10 children upon means adequate for four, would vote for the continuance of such a p!an If they could be consulted? The only differ ence between the "selfish" parents of today and the "eelf-sacriflcing," devoted ones of a century ago is that the former think about the problem, while the latter didn't. Another great misconception which befogs this question ie that such tendency toward race suicide as extols- is chiefly the fault of the woman in the case. The prospective male parent of today m Just as keenly alive as- his mate to the burdens and handicaps imposed upon him by an unnecessary profusion of off spring, and what is more Important and fun damental, to te.serjous injustice commlttted against the child brought into the keen, re morseless, modern struggle for existence with out the best of rearing, training and equip ment. A serious defect in this beautiful dream of "the days of old" is that neither the fathers nor the mothers of these huge families had any par ticular Intention, or Indeed any idea, of sacrificing themselves for the race, or doing their duty by the community; they were simply following their in stincts and taking the consequences more or less patiently and stupidly. PSYCHOLOGY OF THE FRATERNITIES. Replying to one of the high school fraternities which had sent a delegate to beg for lenient treatment. President Urion, of the Chicago school board, declared that the rule would be en forced even if It "depopulated the schools." The rule in question pun ishes fraternity members by suspension from school. " The sentiment of the board is for making it still more rigor ous instead of relaxing It. In a short time it is to be expected that a pupil who joins a fraternity, will be expelled from the Chicago schools, not merely suspended. The Record-Herald, com menting on the stand the board has taken, gives three reasons which seem to Justify It. For one thing, "the fra ternities are positively and greatly harmful"; second, their members have been treated leniently for several years; and. In the third place, for ev ery inch of Indulgence they have re ceived they have returned "defiance and despicable trickery." This was to be expected, of course. Boys and girls of high school years have not as a rule developed the moral sense sufficiently to feel under much obligation for concessions or benefits. In this respect they are wonderfully like orientals or savages who take what they can get without gratitude and are more apt to despise their ben efactor than to respect him. The fra ternities are apt to think that a school board, which shows them mercy. Is afraid of their "influence." Cunning and trickery are the natural resources of their immature years. Just as they are found to prevail In undeveloped nations. All communities, at a cer tain stage of evolution, trust to their wits and the arts of deception to gain their ends. Half-civilized men, like our fraternity youths, are notoriously given to mendacity. It is only the les sons of stern, experience which finally teach them the superior practical value of truthfulness in word and deed. According to many observers we have this important lesson still to learn as a nation of traders. What wonder, then, that the high school pu pils have not mastered it? That the high school fraternities are an evil no sensible person thinks of denying. The only people who ap prove of them are the boys and girls who have tasted of their illicit delights and certain parents who are unspeak ably silly. Still they are an evil which, like a great many others, must be ex plained by some of the better tenden cies of human nature, mingled of course with some of the worst. Prob ably the worst thing about them is their secrecy. Among mature men and women, secrets may be innocent enough. Sometimes there Is a valid reason fop them. But when children try to conceal anything relating to their conduct a wise parent forthwith scents mischief. The ritual and pro gramme, which the fraternities make such a mystery of, are in themselves mere nonsense, very naturally, but of that nonsense the members are Just at the right age to make a pernicious use. It becomes to them a 'sort of magic possession, which exalts them above their schoolmates. It is a fetish to be worshiped and obeyed in defi ance of all proper authority. When fidelity, to the fetish has been made a crime by parents and teachers the fascinated children cling to it all the more tenaciously. Membership In the fraternities thus acquires much of the charm of melon stealing to the coun try youth. It is doubly delightful, be cause of its wickedness and danger. But we must not permit boys and girls to steal melons simply because they feel pleasantly wicked when they are doing it. This evil charm of secrecy acts in unison with the "gang spirit" to make the fraternities Irresistibly attractive to high school children. The gang spirit is perfectly well known to po licemen and social workers every where. It seizes upon boys at about the high school age and unites them into bands which 'become full of the Ishmaelite passion. Every man's hand is against them and they are against every man. They fight, steal, riot and sometimes murder as a unit,' keeping the secret of their conduct with In flexible fidelity. The high school fraternity ' is. from a very truthful point of view, nothing but a "gang" organized among the pupils. Psycho logically, its origin is the same and it works for purposes just as undesir able with the same pernicious secrecy and loyalty to a bad ideal. It does not promote theft and arson, to be sure, but are. defiance of authority, vanity, conceit and systematic false hood very much better in a youth? The high school gang is a little more veneered and polished than the hood lums who throw cobble stones at the police, but at heart it is the same thing. Imitation of the college frater nities has given it form but its spirit Is borrowed from the slums. The high school pupil. In fact, is at exactly the right age to imitate the worst he sees in every quarter and admire it as something manly, grown up or romantic. He, and . she too, joins a fraternity for the same reason that he smokes cigarettes. He does it for the same reason that he slinks in at the back door of a dive and lies to the barkeeper about his age in or der to get a drink of gin. In his eagerness to be an Imitation man he apes vices because '' they are easier than virtues and thus saps the possi bility of ever being a real man. But the "desire for manhood, organization, action, responsibility, which the fra ternities minister to In evil ways, is innately good. They are only one more symptom of the purposelessness of our schools which have made a golden calf of the -study of words and despised, all the springing forces of life. Immortal, Infinitely gifted with energy, those forces have taken their own wild course and the fraternities are one of their crude creations. . NEW FIELD FOR EXPLOITATION. 1 The Oregon farmer, along with his fellowmen engaged in other, callings, has undoubtedly offered a fairly good market for various styles of "gold bricks," but It remained for Mr. F. W. Gaines of the -neighboring state of Washington to put something new in this line on an over-crowded market. Briefly stated, Mr. Gaines engaged in the work of . exploiting the Oregon State Railroad Commission, taking or ders for possible decisions or orders which the commission might make in connection with grain freight rates. This exploitation for financial benefit of a state commission supported by the taxpayers was, of course, made with out the knowledge or consent of the railroad commission. There was no possible show for Mr. Gaines to se cure any reduction In freight rates which could not have been secured by the farmers themselves, yet It Is ap parent that this itinerant financier of railroad commission decisions suc ceeded In securing the signatures of a large number of farmers to con tracts which awarded the promoter one-half of all the reduction that might be secured by order of the railroad commission. The scheme is new and original, and. If its Inventor Is permitted to get away with the money, it will offer great opportunities for enlargement. If an individual can collect money for decisions of the railroad commission, there would be no logical reason for preventing some other speculator from exploiting court decisions.or other offi cial rulings from various departments of our state government. In attempt ing to discredit the integrity of the state railroad commission, the patrons of Mr. Gaines' sure-thing game have seriously Jeopardized their chances of securing a rate reduction at this time. Had the matter been taken up by the injured persons direct with the com mission the case would have been much stronger. Eventually there must be a reduction in grain freights from the Interior to Portland, but it will not be secured by such methods as were followed by Promoter Gaines. As the river rate on grain has been dragged into the case now before the railroad commission, the investigation should disclose whether or not a sav ing can be effected by handling wheat by boats. Under the present method, where the State of Oregon is paying several dollars per ton in maintenance and operating expenses of the port age road at Celilo, there Is no means for determining the actual cost of moving grain from Interior points to Portland by water. winr meV do not enlist. A Washington dispatch informs us: "Returning prosperity is having its ef fect on recruiting men for the United States Army, making it more difficult to keep up the standard established during the time following the panic of 1907, when splendid material was available from the ranks of the un employed." It is undoubtedly true that returning prosperity is quite a prominent cause of scarcity of men for the Army, but there is another cause of increasing prominence. In both the Army and the Navy are a considerable number of overbearing aristocrats whose arrogance makes life for the enlisted man anything but pleasant. That there is. an increasing number of this class of tyrants. Is made reasonably clear by the recent Investigations set in motion to de termine why one of the Buttons was killed at Annapolis and another se verely hazed at West Point. This testimony showed quite clearly that a large number of the young men who a few years hence will be giving orders to enlisted men in the Army and Navy, are little else than drunken, brawling rowdies. The chief charac teristics of these coming officers, as revealed by the recent investigations, are extremely brutal, snobbish and a top-lofty air of superiority over the people who pay their expenses. Their predecessors at West Point and An napolis might have been of a higher order of men. but among them were undoubtedly a few who possessed that trait which so frequently accom panies brass buttons and gilt braid, by which the enlisted man Is mad? to feel himself an object of scorn and con tempt. "Returning prosperity" naturally makes it easier for unemployed men to secure work where they can be treated as fellow men and not as brutes, than is posMole when the streets are crowded with idle men in search of any kind of employment. It is easilv apparent, however, that our Army and Navy is not getting a very fair deal when they are compelled to seek recruits among the "floaters" who can find employment elsewhere only when times are good. Perhaps if life in the Army and Navy was made a little more attractive, American citi zens would hot regard it as a "last re sort" to be seriously considered only in preference to starvation. NEW METHODS IN LOGGING. Oregon's and Washington's greatest resource, timber, makes one of their most progressive industries. Best skill and keenest brains are called for con tinuously, in growing quota, to ease and cheapen problems of logging, transportation, milling and market ing An instructive lesson in this re gard is presented in the current issue of the TImberman, whose editor, George M. Cornwall, is widely known throughout the two States. This is sue Is devoted particularly to logging matters, as a sequence to the Pacific Coast Logging Congress, held at Se attle six weeks ago. It contains much information about practical subjects of logging, that will be new to most persons, even engaged in the industry. One of the interesting comments of the Timberman Is the following: Logging Is an engineering science and as auch it must he considered in the future , to a greater extent than it has in the past. The country is doing bigger things In every de partment of human activity, and the logs ng buslnets U no exception to the rule. It takes close application and a high grade of engi neering skill to be able to lay out the proper location of roads, which will intersect and draw to one common point the greatest amount of timber in any one tract. The grasp of this one problem Is the deciding factor in determining the ability of .the engineer, which often can be fully realized only after the tract is well opened up. There la a growing field on the "Pacific Coast for young men with a knowledge of engineering, both civil and mechanical, who will devote their time to a study of Pacific Coast logging requirements, with a view of being able to present in an intelligent and practical manner a working plan for opening up and legging a tract of timber. This is practically an unoccupied field, and one of the underlying motives which dominated the congress. Constant problems in this line of en deavor, as . in other. activities,, though in keener degree in this, perhaps on account of the magnitude of the in dustry, are enlargement of output, sav ing of labor and expense and new means of reaching timber that to old methods was inaccessible. In this work electricity is sure to play an In creasing role. Young men, in occupa tions of mechanics and engineering will find best efforts in strong de mand. It is altogether an encourag ing prospect for the youth that ex pects to exchange industry and talent for good pay and progressive oppor tunity. It is commonplace to say that no man's life is essential to the world, and that the railroad trains will come and go as before, should Harriman succumb. But Harriman has a genius for combination and for making rail roads successful; and stockholders in the great numbers of railroads which have been brought under adjustment with each other by his hand, includ ing not a few roads that didn't pay till he took hold of them, naturally have apprehension of consequences that most probably would follow his retire ment. It is from this point of . view that apprehension disturbs the stock markets. Secretary McVeagh is reported as favoring a plan of reducing- the size of the paper currency of the United States. It goes without saying that all currency including bank notes, should be uniform in size. If greenbacks and gold and silver certificates are made smaller, the National Bank notes must be correspondingly re duced In size. This would entail heavy expense for new plates. There is nothing to Justify it, therefore op position to the change is developing in financial circles. On general prin ciples, it is well not to tinker with the Nation's currency. It seldom pays. Insanity has mustered in and sent to the asylums of the State of New York an- army 30,000 strong. The crime and the shame and the woe; the furious struggle for riches, the bitter struggle for existence that led to the unwilling enlistment in this army can only be imagined. Alienists look wise and grow wordy when interviewed upon individual cases, but the far reaching, underlying cause of this en listment is found in the rapid pace at which humanity is moving on the great highway of modern endeavor. Another vessel in the Alaska trade scarcely seaworthy has gone out of commission. The Ohio lies on the bottom in Carter's Bay. The lives of six of the crew were sacrificed to the inpact of the hull of the old craft with a rock in Northern waters. The value of wireless telegraphy In the event of disasters at sea was again demon strated in the fact that the ship's passengers were all safely landed through this means of bringing pass ing craft to their relief. The hop-pickers' harvest in the Willamette Valley will begin in earn est tomorrow with the pleasing feature of an advance from fifty to sixty cents a box, without so much as their ask ing. With large yield and prospect of fine weather, growers are happy; hence the voluntary advance in the pay of pickers. Besides It Is not pleasant to be generous by compulsion a possible factor in this twenty per cent advance. Writers continue to satirize Dr. Eliot's "Five Feet of Books." Among the latest is an essayist in the New York Medical Journal who writes: "We have in preparation a Five Mile Shelf of Medical Books designed for careful perusal by the laity, in order that they may be able to converse with professional men on purely medical subjects." And this for the literature of a single branch of science! The death of Ellis G. Hughes Fri day evening was a shock to the com munity, to which he had long been known. An aggressive, energetic and successful business and professional man, who had at various times been connected with municipal affairs in an advisory capacity, Mr. Hughes was widely known and his sudden demise will be greatly deplored. Upon calm reflection Dr. Brougher probably wishes there were two of him. Log Angeles Baptists want him and Portland Baptists are loth to give him up. He is charmed with Los Angeles and delighted with Portland. The question of salary does not enter into the problem of "go or stay," hence his dilemma. The public schoolteachers of Ore gon are to be instructed through the mediumship of fifteen institutes be tween now and Thanksgiving in the proper performance of their duties. If so much effort in their behalf does not befog it will certainly enlighten them. Senator Chamberlain says he Is weary from serving the people so long. He probably means that he is tired of telling the people how much he loves them. It is not surprising. If the public school children of Portland are to see President Taft, what better place can be selected than Park and West Park streets from Sal mon to Clay or Montgomery? The Georgia Legislature refused to ratify the amendment to permit an in come tax, on the ground that this re source ought to be reserved for reve nue to the states. Today we laud George E. Eccles, wireless operator of the Ohio, every Inch a hero, who died a hero's death. Will we remember his name tomor row? . Senator Bourne may not be so eager to act the chief host for President Taft in Portland now that speech making has been substituted for golf playing. It is gratifying to note increased activity in the Washington County industry with which Dr. C. L. Large is prominently identified. Destruction of the big trees in the Yosemlte Valley can be regarded as little less than a National loss. Mr. Harriman has wonderful vital ity, in view of the hordes of doctors Who have treated him. If this thing keeps up, they will have to build an annex to the Hall of Fame for aviators. After we have picked our hops and sold them we can prate on the wick edness of It,' TOPICAL VERSE Dying Minor League Cmpire. C. P. McDonald in Chicago Tribune. An umpire of the minor league lay dying - on the hay; Above him bent a bosom friend to hear what he might say: And as he took his comrade's hand, he said: "'Twill soon be o'er; I'll never call a ball or strike or foul tip any more. But take a message for me, pal, back to the old gang there. And tell them honestly I always tried to treat them square; Then break the news) to all the friends and relatives of mine You'll find 'em all at Bingen fair Bin gen down the linei "Tell my folks and my companions I have ump-?d my final game; I have made my last decision and I die unknown to fame; And pay I died just like my father taught me how to die When he was umping and some grouch would swosh him in the eye ! And when he died, of what he left they let me take my choice Of all his goods and chattels I took . nothing but his voice; And all the, years I've used it. it has boomed -out strong and fine. Just like the pater's used to boom at Bingen down the line! "I'll never hear the rooters roast where I am going at Each time I call a third strike on some idol at the bat; They'll heave no bottles at me when the home boys lose the day" His friend bent closer, for the voice was faint and far away. The dying ump. by force of will then gave a final shout: "Ladiesandpentsthebatt'riesare " but here his wind gave out. The butt of fandom's jeers lay dead. The soft moon rose to shine Just as it shone on Bingen fair Bingen down the line. Easy. The poet has an easy job; He never has to think; He only needs a fountain pen. Soma paper and some ink. Leavenworth Post. The pitcher also has a snap; He only needs to bat. To throw his speedy twister past, And a glove to throw them at. Minneapolis Messenger. The farmer has a lot of dough; His lire is mighty sweet; He only needs a hunk of dirt, A thresher and some wheat. Hutchinson Gazette. The weather man is lucky, too; His job is much admired; He only needs some sun and rain To hand out as desired. Cleveland Plain Dealer. The ultimate consumer's got "Em beaten to a finish; The only thing he has to do Is watch his- hopes diminish. Indianapolis News. The Backwoodsman. Springfield Republican. The silent wilderness for me! Where never sound is heard. Save the niHtling of the squirrel's foot. And the flitting wing of bird, Or its' low and interrupted note. And the deer's quick, crackling tread. And the swaying of the forest boughs. As the wind moves overhead. Alone! How glorious to be free! My good dog at my side. My rifle hanging on my arm, I range the forests wide. And now the regal buffalo Across the plains I chase: Now track the mountain stream to find The beaver's lurking place. I stand upon the mountain's top In solitude profound; Not even a woodman's smoke curls up Within the horizon's bound. Below, as o'er its ocean breadth The air's light currents run. The wilderness of moving leaves Is glancing In the sun. I look around to where the sky Mpets the far forest line; And this imperial domain This kingdom all is mine. This bending heaven these floating that ever roll. And wilderness of glory, hring Their offerings to my soul. Mv palace, huilt by God's own hand. The world's fresh prime hath seen; Wide stretch its living halls away, Pillared and roofed with green. Mv music is the wind that now Pours loud its 'swelling bars. Now lulls in dying cadoncf-e; My festal lamps are stars. Though when, in this my lonely home. My star-watched couch I press, I hear no fond "Good-nighf think not I am companionlcss. Oh no! I see my father's house The hill, the tree, the stream And the looks and voices of my home Come gently to my dream. And In the solitary haunts, While slumbers every tree. In night and silence. God himself Seems nearer unto me. I feel his presence in the shades. Like the embracing air: And as my eyelids close In sleep. My heart it" hushed in prayer. On the Bench nt San Pedro. New York Mall. Upon the beach where trampling break ers roar, And sp?nt surf sprawls along the shift ing sand. The tide at times flirgs forth on every hand Seaweeds and shells upon the sloping shore. Waifs of wandering waves that ever more , The deep has rocked, they lie at last on land, While round them ever to the ancient strand The old Sea mutters her mysterious lore. Thus we are borne, but whither? Day by day. The tide of Time forever ebbs and flows. Thfi flood of years thus surges cease- While still beyond and stretching far away, Span of the Infinite that no man knows. Lies the vast waste of the unfathomed sea. A New Airship. Washington Herald. Most wondrous times we're coming to. As everyone will not?; The Ship of State has? left the sea On which it used to rioat. I fain would stretch its swelling sails. Designed for days gone by. And, mounting in the upp?r air, Go flying through the sky. Though pathless were the olden waves On which it was embarked. At least it had a proven chart, The early fathers marked. But now io guide its voyage new, It has a new resource. For from the stations they have reached The wind bags mark Its cours.
