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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1910)
8 THE SUNDAY OREGOXIA, PORTLAND, MAY 8, 1910. FOBTLAD, OREGON. Entered at Portland. Oregon, Postofflce as Second-Class Matter. Subscription Kates Invariably Ld Advance. (BY MAIL.). EalIy. Sunday included, one year. .... .$8.00 . Dally, Sunday Included, six month! . 4 25 raily. Sunday Included, three months. . 2.25 Daily. Sunday included, one month.. -75 Dally, without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six month!.... 3.25 Dally, without Sunday, three montha.. 1.75 Daily, without Sunday, one month..... .60 weekly, one year 1.50 Sunday, one year 2.50 Sunday and weekly, one year 3.50 - (By Carrier). Dally. Sunday Included, one year Z 9-00 Dally, Sunday included, one month 75 How to Remit Send Postofflce money wrder, express order or personal check on vour local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postofflce ad dress In full, including: county and state. Postaa-e Kate 10 to 14 pases. 1 cent; 19 to 28 puses, cents; 30 to 40 pages, 8 cents; 40 to t0 pages, 4 cents. Foreign postage double rate. Eastern Business Office The S. C. Beck with Special Agency New York, rooms 48 B0 Tribune building- Chicago, rooms 510 612 Tribune building- rORTLAXD, SUNDAY', MAY 8. J01O. PARLIAMENT AXD KING. Hereditary prerogative of the Lords has been forced upon the at tention of Great Britain as an active issue of politics in the present contest between Lords and Commons. The similar prerogative of the Kingship has not been enlivened hitherto into a political issue, owing to the popu larity of King Edward, which grew out of his ready submission to the popular spirit. The late King was a shrewd poli tician, especially throughout the pres ent crisis. He adhered assiduously to the role of neutral between the war ring factions of radicals and conser vatives. The anti-royalist sentiment found Itself silenced during his reign. So favored was he ly the body of the electorate that. the conservatives tried continuously to make out that the Asqulth party was designing en croachments on the King, and this the Liberals denied with much warmth. The same supremacy which the Commons assert over the Lords belongs ultimately to the Commons over the succession or disposition of the kingship. Tet the conduct of the monarch and events of politics have not raised this question against him . as they have against the Lords. The new King is confronted with a perplexing situation, that gave much concern to his father. Though he is not so popular as the late King was, yet his subjects are desirous of af fording him full opportunity of mak ing successful emergence from the severe clash of factions. He has as sumed the title of King according to "the old-time hereditary procedure. I The British are sticklers for due and , ancient form, and there will probably , not he re-assertion now of the rule, that has been evolved from centuries ( of strife, that "an English monarch ' is now as much the creature of an act of Parliament as the pettiest tax t gatherer in his realm." Nor is there V 1 U.-1.1 a - .- . i - . , of Parliament to divert the succession , of the kingship to the monarch of its , choke. The elective kingship princi i: pie. however, is firmly established in British law and precedent. Dispatches say that the death of King Edward will perhaps defer the struggle tnat was scheduled for this .. Summer between Lords and Commons ' over the right of the Lords to veto acts of the Commons. This may be true, yet it will be doubted. While radicalism is evidently in the ascen dancy, still the British people at base are attached to old customs and forms ; and this chane In the succession may .! make them conservative again for the " time. It cannot be supposed, how ever, that the Literal-Irish govern ment will be deterrea from Its deter ; mination to place before the electorate the issue of abolishing the veto of the Lords as tc money bills and of .-allowing the Lords to delay other kinds of legislation during only two t sessions of Parliament that is not . more than two years. This would so nullify the authority of the Lords that the Commons would be empowered to enact any law, regardless of the Lords and without reference to the elec torate. It -would give the Commons power to enact home rule for Ireland. On May 26 the present recess of Parliament was to end and the contest was to begin over the reform resolu : tions of Asquith in behalf of the Com mons and the resolutions of Rosebery in behalf of the Lords. The Asquith resolutions, besides being as outlined ; tn the foregoing, .would also limit the duration of Parliament to live years. : Those of Rosebery declare the ne- ' cesslty for "a strong and efficient sec- : ond chamber": assert that such a chamber can best be obtained by "re .: forming and reconstructing the House of Lords." a necessary preliminary to which "Is the acceptance of the prin ; t-iple "that possession of a peerage " shall no longer in itself give the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords " ... The Lords will first pass on the Rosc ' berr resolutions and then are ex pected to reject the Asquith resolu tions. Next will follow a request by - Asquith upon the new King for "guar . antees," and then election of a new " House of Commons. The guarantees would he assurance from the King that In case the Liberals should win ; the elections, the Crown shall appoint sufficient number of new peers to outvote the Conservatives in the . House of Lords. So that the new monarch lias a complex role to play in the clash of ' political factions. Should he plant himself as opposed to the Liberal pro gramme the cry will go up for su premacy or the Commons over Crown ss -well as over Lords. But it is more probable that the new King will study - Try avoid this crisis. His long line of predecessors have probablv taught him by example the wisdom of re training from political conflict. Such action might precipitate a demand for r-assertion of the old Parliamentary - right of disposing of the kingship" though with what intensity would de pend on circumstances that cannot bo foreseen. Parliament has deposed ; Kings and set others in their places, t though only in extreme emergencies' as when in 16SS the throne of James II was given to William and Mary, , In 1399 that of Richard II was coii ; ferred upon Henry IV and in 1327 -13d ward II was deposed In favor of his son, Edward III. It Is early yet for the appearance of t" The sea serpent, but, pending the ar rival of that Summer visitor, some very fair fish stories are drifting in. The - eteamer Oshkosh. which arrived from Nestucca the other day, is reported - Co have encountered a, school of sal. r.-rnaa in which the fish were so plenti ful that free movement of the steamer was impeded. The vessel, in fact, found the royal chinook so plentiful that in forcing her way through them a crimson wake was left behind. Al though salmon are selling at extrava gant prices in the Portland market, the Oshkosh crew apparently made no effort to open a passageway for the steamer by lifting a. few tons on deci. With salmon so plentiful that there does not appear to be room for them in the Pacific Ocean, there is every reason to believe that the Columbia River will this year harvest a record breaking pack. EQUAL RATES FOR THE SAME HAUL. The ideal basis for railroad rates Is a uniform unit 'of charge per mile of haul. That may be what the two houses of Congress have in mind In their long-and-short-haul amendment to the railroad 'bill, in some approach or other. But the commerce and the upbuilding of the country have not grown on this theory, and, should It be applied, the readjustment of trade centers would be stupendous and in many cases ruinous. President Taft had. this in mind last Wednesday in ot. Louis when he said: The problem of fixing railroad rates is a most difficult one. and the man who says he knows how to do It is the only one in the community who thinks so. There has been introduced into the House a modification of the ions; and short haul clause. Some people seem to favor a mileage basis for freight rates. I would view the adoption of such a principle with a great deal of anxiety. I am afraid those jrentlemen who are most emphatic in thinking that is the eas iest solution of the question, these gentle men who come from the interior, will find themselves in the same position as that son of Erin who sat on the limb and sawed it off. Cities have been built, trade "zones" have been created and commercial In stitutions have been established by ap plication of the doctrine hat a railroad may meet the competition of cheap water transportation by charging less for a haul to a port of commerce than for a haul of similar or shorter length to a point not favored with water traffic. Theper-ton-per-mile rate has never been applied to the railroad polity of this country, although it is the admit tedly ideal unit. Should the water competition principle' of ratemaking be abandoned, there will be yet to reckon with factors of gradients, and traffic volume and distribution in com plex array. It Is clear that should the present system jjf ratemaking be abandoned for this other, the trade centers least upset -will be those on the seaboard and those on navigable waterways of the interior. ' Complexity of Interests involved make this a delicate matter for Con gress or the Interstate Commission to handle. Perhaps, in abstract justice, equal rates should be charged for the haul the country over. That is a question for inland trade centers to decide. And the ones that favor it should be very sure in advance that the uniform rate system -will not give their trade to other localities or will not spread their trade over large areas which they now hold tributary. The proposed system will not give centers that have only railroad traffic the cheap rate advantages that other centers derive from their ocean or river highways. rHOPHECY AXD niU'lLLMK.NT. The transportation problem, local as well as transcontinental, has ever been the chief problem of our de velopment as a state. "Shut In from all the world without" for half "a cen tury, the sparse population of Oregon drew upon such resources as every where abounded in such measure as supplied its immediate noodo nnH waited, at first ill content, but later in dreamy isolation, for the coming of the long-deferred transportation era. A quarter of a century ago comple tion of the first direct transcontinental railway startled the people from the stagnation that had overtaken them, but still did scarcely more than stir the sluggish waters of waiting oppor tunity. It was only when lines of local transit began to be developed lines that brought the farm in closer touch with the market that the new life, long promised to the Wiiiomoi Valley, was executed. The electric lines to Oregon City, to Estacada, to Gresham, tapped the sources of our nearer market supplies and distinct growth was witnessed along these lines and in the towns at which they terminated. Still it was slow growth, compared with the re sources that waited development. Then came the Oregon Electric, reaching out to Salem and to Forest Grove; then the United Railways effort; and now comes James J. Hill, the great railroad builder, with the suggestion of electric lines that will in time place every section of the Willamette Val ley in touch with every other section, so to speak, and all in touch with Portland as the great commercial cen ter. "There are here two or three mill ions of acres, that are unsurpassed in the world for climate and soil," said Mr. Hill, speaking of the Willamette Valley. All of this expanse is di rectly tributary to Portland, while from the fertile acres of Idaho. South eastern Washington and Eastern and Southeastern Oregon, the great North Bank Road, Its feeders and the feed ers that in a few years will gridiron these vast areas will come the wealth which Is born of traffic, the combined .products of mines and fields and or chards and stock ranges to feed the commerce cf the farther world. - Surveying the possibilities of the fu ture from this standpoint, it is easy to acquiesce In the view of Mr. Hill that we "have good cause to be thank ful that Portland Is located where it is." OREGON'S BANKING STRENGTH. New wealth poured into Oregon banks at the rate of more than $12$,. 000 per day during the months of Feb ruary and March, as shown in an of ficial statement Just issued by James Steel, State Bank Examiner. In the 5 7-day period between January 31 and March 2 9. there was a gain Indeposits in the Oregon banks of $7,336,948.11. of which more than $6,000,000 was credited to the National banks. In undivided profits, dividends unpaid, surplus fund, and nearly every other item which would Jn any manner re flect prosperity, there were substan tial gains scored by both the state and the National banks. It was in the National banks that the most flatter ing show4ng was .made, and the sin gle Item of deposits compared with those for all of the National banks, in the United States, makes a most in teresting exhibit. The report of the Controller of the Currency covering the same period as the report of the Oregon State Bank Examiner, gives . the condition of 7083 National banks at the close of business March 29, 1910, and also for January 31, 1910. This shows loans and discounts amounting $5,432, 093,194, a gain of $202,589,719 as compared with the figures for Jan uary 31. The deposit accounts of these banks had a total of $5,227, 851,556, or approximately $37,000,000 more than in January. It is in this deposit item that the remarkable showing of the Oregon National banks appears most prominently, for, while the 70 8 2 National banks scattered throughout the United States, had an average gain of but little more than $5000 each, the average gain in de posits of the Oregon banks was $90.- 000 each. In other words, more than one-sixth of the total gains in deposits made by 7082 National banks was made by the 74 Oregon institutions. The total deposits of the Oregon Na tional banks were more than $51,000, 000. Although this state is hut scantily populated and new in development, the average deposits per bank are practically the same as for the entire number throughout the United States. As this phenomenal gain in deposits in the Oregon banks was made in what is usually considered the dull season, the showing will be much more favorable in April and May. The record-breaking sales of timber and farm lands and the immense expendi tures made by the transportation com panies make it a certainty that the next bank statement will have gains much greater proportionately than those which have just been noted. Oregon has to a marked degree al ways succeeded in financing most of her local enterprises with money which flowed into the state in pay ment for our agricultural and timber products, farm lands and mines, and with new wealth coming into the state on a scale never before reached, our independence of the East . w-ill be more pronounced than ever. - THE OREGON TRAIL. There are many signs that Ameri cans are beginning to take a. more In telligent interest in the history and natural features of their country than they did formerly. The feeling that we have nothing here worth traveling to see and that nothing has ever hap pened west of the Allegheny Mountains which is worth reading about is pass ing away as knowledge of the many marvelous beauties of Western Amer ica increases and the truly romantic history of the region becomes more widely known. The old notion that the natural scenery of the United States lacks "human interest" or that it is devoid of the enchanting veil of tradition arises for the most part from ignorance. Switzerland and Holland would be devoid of traditional halos for a person who knew.nothing about what had happened there and the same is true of the territory of the United States west of the Mississippi. scarcely a spot in that wide region is without its tragedy or its x mantle episodes and portions of it, like the old Oregon Trail, for example, fairly throb with historic life. Charles M. Harvey's article, "On The Road to Oregon," in the May At lantic forms part of a rapidly growing literature which concerns the affairs of the Far Western country, a literature as different as possible from Mark Twain's "Beyond the Mississippi," and the tales of Bret Harte. Books which combine accuracy of statement with deep interest of narrative have been published lately upon the Columbia River by Professor Lyman, of Whit man College; upon the history of the State of Washington by Professor Meany; upon the Old Mississippi, the history of the Hudson's Bay Company and a multitude of topics of the same sort and their number proves that they find readers. The time is at hand per haps when the people of the United States will find their own country as interesting as Europe and part of the enormous sums we spend every year in travel will go to obtain knowledge of our home scenery and cities. The human race seems almost Invincibly determined to care nothing about the things which really concern . it and spend its time, money and thought upon the remote and impossible, but as we evolve doubtless we shall be come more sensible in that particular. Mr. Harvey's article displays deep knowledge of his subject. It is diffi cult to see how more facts atout the Western country could be stated in the same space or arranged in a more pleasing style. Of his accuracy it is needless to speak since his well known studies of the history of the Coast region put it almost beyond the possi bility of criticism. He does not even fall into that adoration of - the Whit man myth which it seems very diffi cult for most people -who write upon Oregon to avoid. The Independent, of New Tork, has lately revived this pa thetic fiction with a vigor which indi cates that it will probatly never die. The advertising exigencies of Whitman College would probably make it cer tain of immortality, even if the human mind were not a born lover of men dacities. But careful as Mr. Harvey has been In his statements he says one or two things in his Atlantic article which excite a little surprise. The re mark that Marcus Whitman in the Winter of 1842-3 "made a daring ride from his post on the Willamette across the mountains and prairies to the East," is an example of what we mean. Whitman's post at Waiilatpu was a long way from the Willamette. It was from that isolated and threatened place in the Inland Empire that the determined missionary set out in the rigor of that memorable Winter. Whitman's purpose was to wring a little aid for his missions from the Eastern managers of the church funds, but he did not succeed. In 1S43, when he joined the great migra tion at Independence on his return trip, ho was almost penniless. The Ap plegates had to relieve his hunger on the way to Fort Hall. Except as an incitement to emigration, Whitman's famous journey, heroic as it was, seems to have been fruitless. The course of events went on unchanged at the missions. Difficulties with the savages steadily increased and finally culminated, as everybody knows, in the tragic, death of Whitman and his wife. It is useless to try at this date to fix the blame for this unhappy event, but it seems to be scarcely doubtful that if the missionarv so ciety which sent Whitman out to the Oregon country had sustained him properly the massacre never would have occurred. The very fact of his isolation and neglect tempted the In dians to carry things with a high hand in dealing with him. Mr. Harvey says in another place that Nathaniel Wyeth "was the first Amrican who crossed the Continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Taken literally this may perhaps be true, but it must te very literally :. deed. Lewis and Clark did not begin their formal expedition until they had assembled their men near St. Louis, one must admit, but the fact that they traversed the entire Continent does not seem to be disputable. John Jacob Astor's expedition under Hunt set out from St. Louis In 1811. but Hunt must have gone to that city be fore he could have left it for the W'est and it is rather straining a point to say that he did not cross the Con tinent. Difficult as it might be to prove that any person before Wyeth ever went from the Atlantic "to the Pacific in a single continuous journey, still Mr. Harvey's statement chal lenges crsjicism so daringly that it ought to be modified. PASSING OK THE RANGE. The early settler who engaged In small farming was the most potent fac tor in civilizing the West. Following on the heels of the cattlemen and the Indians, he has by easy stages moved forward the frontier all the way from New York to the Pacific. The East and West movement fairly well com pleted, he is now shifting that imag inary line to the north and south. In that great empire in Central Oregon some of t!.e cattle barons are making their last stand, but it, will be of brief duration, for the new railroads now entering the country will bring a multitude of settlers w.- will speedily take up the great range over which the cattle herds have roamed for dec ades. In Idaho the same economic change is taking place. A recent Lewiston dispatch announces the withdrawal from the Nez Perce and Camas Prairie region of Bales & Jones, one of the most extensive cat tle firms in the Northwest. Encroachments of settlers on the vast domain over which the herds of cattlemen have ranged for years have narrowed the scope of their operations to such an extent that they are "crowded" for room, and will shift to the secluded Big Hole country in Mon tana to make a last stand : -ralnst the coming settlers. . This last stand In that wild land, however, will soon be over, for the same influences that have steadily shifted the frontier line from New Tork west will follow the over lords of the range into their new loca tion. ' There Is no more "frontier" in all the West. It has been supplanted by a new order of industry, and the country and the Nation are distinct gainers by the change. Experience has demonstrated that while the small farmer as a rule does not engage in stockralsing except on a moderate scale, nearly every farmer- in a rich agricultural district turns off a few animals each year. It is not improbable that in the ag gregate the output of the hundreds of farms that have taken the place of one of these big ranches will equal and perhaps exceed that of the ranch, while husbandry will have produced, in addition to the returns from the stock, something more than a good liv ing for the farmer. The stock thus turned off In small numbers by indi vidual farmers as a rule is superior to the usual range standard. The crying need of the Northwest is more set tlers; the break up of the big ranches goes far toward providing n :w homes for them. OLD-SEW LESSONS OF TUBEUCtLOSIS. Great movements are the fruits of long periods of cumulating knowl edge. People rise to an emergency, generally only after protracted wrongs or suffering. One of the striking ex amples of this truism is the present day war upon tuberculosis a war for which civilized people have been strengthening the sinews of their knowledge for ages, especially during the century wherein the germ theory of disease has become fixed as a max im of life and death. Many of us imagine that our pres ent knowledge of tuberculosis infec tion is of recent origin. We remem ber that twenty or thirty years ago there was supposed to be little danger of one person's taking the dread dis ease of consumption from another. Now we know that this consuming sickness is most malignant in this re spect. And we learn further that Old World centers were well informed of this menace a century and a half ago. Smollett, the celebrated English author who was contemporary with that time, has left in his "Expedition of Humphrey Clinker" a narrative of his day's terror of consumption and a description of the desperate safe guards taken against its spread. At this time the germ theory had made considerable progress among medical men and scientists. In 1762, Antonius Plenciz, a Viennese physician, had made the most illuminating statement of this theory that the world had yet seen. He declared all infectious dis eases due to micro-organisms, either of plant or animal nature, and his brilliant discoveries opened the way for today's knowledge of disease and Its preventives. Air, he suggested, was a medium of germ transmission. This was not a new theory at that time, but the presentation of It was the most convincing that had yet been eeeh. Smollett was a physician by forced profession and a literary writer by choice. Evidently he was Informed of the Plenciz discoveries, since he was a traveler on the continent and was well versed in scholarly affairs of his day. Nine years after Plenciz published his researches, Smollett wrote the crown ing work of his career, "Humphrey Clinker," while death was slowly creeping upon him near the town of Leghorn, in Italy, On the subject of consumption he wrote: v Snares are laid for our Jives In every thing we eat or drink: the very air we breathe is loaded with contagion. We ean ?.t.V?. ?!''P .t",,tho,ut rl"k ot Infection'. Z lnI c"onr place ,s rendezvous of the diseased -you won't deny that many disease.- are Infectious: even the consumri tion Itself is highly Infectious. VheT a person dies of It in Italy, the bed and bedding are destroyed, the other furniture is exposed to the weather, and the apart ment whitewashed before it is occupied by a living soul. You'll allow that nothing receives Infection sooner, or retains it longer than blankets, feather beds and mattresses hdeath! how do I know what miserable objects have been stewing In the bed where I now lie: When one considers that the germ theory was not then widely under stood and that communication and prevention of disease were still a mys tery, except with a relatively few per sons of unusual scientific acumen, one realizes that long periods of suf fering had brought the people of Italy to the knowledge that the bedding ot a consumptive patient should be de stroyed, in order to make away -with a source of fresh sickness. Experi ence, after all. is the wisest teacher, and acquaintance with germs is ac cumulated experience. It used to be a mysterious custom, and a proved preventive of disease, to prepare the initial bandage of the infant with a severe heating process. Round this practice grew superstition that has been cleared away only In recent years by the world's having learned that heat destroys germs of sepsis and sickness. a cit;y again destroyed. Cartago, the ancient capital of Costa Rica, scarred and humbled by the recurrent earthquakes of nearly four centuries, has again trembled and crumbled before the seismic destroyer. Of the scant 5000 which numbers the population of the unstable city, 600 are said to have been swallowed up in the gaping fissures opened by the unseen disturber, or crushed beneath the falling walls of the doomed city. Memory recalls in this connection a picture, in an old school geography, purely imaginary, as were all illus trations of such catastrophes before the day of photography, illustrative of the scene at Caracas in one of the many earthquakes that have shaken and shattered the Venezuelan city. The picture was of toppling buildings and heaps of ruins; of awful- fissures opening in the earth, into which de spairing human beings, with arms up lifted imploringly and mouths open as If In shrieking or in prayer, were sink ing; of mothers holding their Infants aloft In the forlorn hope that the lit tles ones might escape the all-destroying wrath of Nature, while flames, bursting out in every direction, com pleted the picture as of the inferno, to which in the creed of the time and place all the damned were to be con signed. Photography, with its presentment of the actual scenes of earthquakes of modern times as of San Fran cisco, In which a stately city went down before the combined fury of earth and fire; and of Messina, where in not alone a city, but a densely pop ulated province, was scourged to ruin and desolation by the same forces of Nature in revolt has given a no more striking picture than that which con veyed to the imagination o! the chil dren gathered in the old school-houses of a past generation the story of earth quake and Its awful possibilities. By the reflected light of this old picture a crude wood cut at best it is possible to see the ancient capital of Costa Rica crumbling again into ruins; its terror-stricken inhabitants fleeing, or trying to flee, not knowing which way to go: the yawning chasms opening to receive them; their af frighted attempts to turn back; the representation of the holy maternal Instinct that held with frantic clutch helpless babes high above the heads of not less helpless mothers; the flames behind, the toppling walls be fore what words could convey as has this old picture the terrors of earth quake and of fire. A MEMORIAL, TO BITNYAN. The project to erect a memorial building to John Bunyan at Elstow, the village where he was born and where he lived most of his life, will Interest every American who cares for great men and great literature. It is easy to foresee that contribtions to the memorial from this country will be generous, for nowhere else in the world Is Bunyan more loved or his works more read than in the United States. W'e have learned to include the Pilgrim's Progress among the im mortal classics of English literature and the life of the Tinker of Elstow, who gave it to the world, is almost as familiar to us as that of Washington or Emerson. A carper might say that Bunyan's life, is better known as a whole than in its details, but that "re mark could be made of almost any famous man. A number of stories have, in fact, clustered about his memory which are commonly believed because it seems as if they ought to be true about such a character, al though upon examination no evidence can be found for them. For example, now that the press Is occupied with Bunyan on the occa sion of the proposed memorial in El stow, we read In various accounts that he belonged "to the stern Crom wellian forces." There is no founda tion for the tale that Bunyan fought in the army of c .omwell agcinst King Charles. Indeed, if he fought at all in the parliamentary war, it is likely that he was on the King's side. He never displayed the slightest disloy alty to the Stewarts. After the res toration his submission to Charles II was little short of abject, so far as politics went. In religious matters, of course, the case was different. Bunyin never took much interest in politics or any other earthly affairs except the mere business of r-.aklng a good liv ing by his trade. His mind was en tirely occupied with the concerns of heaven and hell. One imagined that this world always appeared a little vague and unreal to, him. It is cer tain that he had little or no sympathy with revolutionary politics and was in spirit much more of a loyalist than a rebel. The stories of Bunyan's twelve years' imprisonment are also stretched a good deal in common report, though he himself never told anything but the truth about it. He need never have gone to Bedford Jail at all if he would have riven the justice who tried him his word that he would stop public preaching. The law under which he was punished was aimed not so much at suppressing relirious differences as at quieting sedition, which was rife in England at that time. Much Of the Cromwellian dis content lingered among the sectaries and found expression at their gather ings. It was deemed wise to put a stop to what might have become a public danger and Bunyan's preaching therefore fell under the ban with that of every other minister not belonging to the established church. The mag istrate who tried him for defying the law was his friend and did all he could to persuade Eunyan to mitigate his rebellion. But the heroic tinker would not promise to hold his tongue. He replied to the justice that he would preach as long as the Lord gave him breath and accordingly there was nothing to do but to shut him up. Still his imprisonment was not ex cessively severe. Time and again he visited his family at Elstow, while he was theoretically languishing in Bed ford jail. He even found opportuni ties to preach and made a trip to Lon don now and then. Hence, while we sympathize with Bunyan as with all the mighty confessors for freedom of speech, we are not disposed to weep much over the horrors of his impris onment. It was more like that of a modern trust magnate convicted of theft than that of the typical martyr. In jail he had most of the comforts he had been accustomed to and was well supplied with writing material and such books as he wanted. It will not i.e forgotten that his great work was composed during his half farcical Imprisonment. Many books he did not want. The Bible was almost the only literary work with which Bun yan was familiar, but of that book his knowledge was amazing. He seems to have known it by heart. From one point of view the Pilgrim's Progress reads almost like a mosaic in Scrip tural texts. He has one at his pen's tip for every emergency, to illustrate every point he makes, to comfort his hero in every trial and deepen his joy in every triumph. The sty: ! of "The Pilgrim's Progress" is good be cause it is that of the Bible. Outside of the Scriptures Bunyan was an Ignorant man, but he was not a beggar by any means. The common belief that he was a thrift less dreamer needs modification. From his youth he was a good man of busi ness. He knew how to make money and to save it. His house was com fortably furnished and he kept his family in easy circumstances. Ir his own somewhat morbid imagination Bunyan was a vile wretch whose de pravity went beyond the power of words to picture, but as a matter of fact he was a pretty good citizen. There is no record of his ever doing anything very bad even in the days of his greatest wickedness. He some times swore and was fond of outdoor sports with other young men of Elstow-, but that is all. As for vie 3, he knew nothing abut it from per sonal experience. His wickedness was purely theological, that of a man who has been caught in the vice tf a re lentless creed and feels that fcj must square his life with it. This re quired in his case a good deal of black paint on innocent actions, but Bunyan was an excellent painter. His fame as a preacher shows that. When he went down to London to preach the people gathered in such crowds that he had to be carried to the pulpit on men's shoulderr r er their heads and his sermons were tfc talk of the town. The stcries we read of the effect of his exhort tlons remird us of St. Patricl; offering salvation t the Irish. But his eloquence is almost lorgotten now. Bunyan's fame rests upon "The Pilgrim's Progress." and judging from the ijorennial attraction of that wonderful book f -r -11 classes of readers, he is as sure of earthly Immortality as any man who. ever lived and wrote. Mary, Princess of Wales, soon to be crowned Queen of England, is said to be cold and haughty, as well as a most ambitious woman. As Princess Mary of Teck she was betrothed to the oldest son of the late King Edward, the Duke of Clarence. This young man died suddenly in his early man hood, and his betrothed wife quickly shifted her affections to his brother, now King George V. They were mar ried in something over a year after what was proclaimed her sad bereave ment. Her aunt, the Dowager Em press of Russia, had a similar experi ence in marriage, with a similar re sult that of turning her from a vi vacious, sympathetic girl into a cold, unlovely woman. She was, as Prin cess Dagmar of Denmark, betrothed to the elder brother of the late Em peror Alexander of Russia, who died of consumption after a long and pa thetic struggle. Thereupon Princess Dagmar was transferred to Alexander, and made him a faithful wife after the cold manner of the new Queen of England. Ambitious, even implacable in her determination to bend the af fairs of state to her will, the Dowager Empress is feared and hated in Rus sia. . It can only be hoped that the analogy between these two lives will cease with the accession of Mary as Queen Consort of England. The inauguration of a most gra cious philanthropy will be witnessed today in laying the cornerstone of the Old People's Home at East Thirty third street and Sandy Road. The generosity of the late P. J. Mann, ably dispensed and administered by his widow, renders possible "the establish ment of this home in accordance with ample means and well-laid plans. The site donated by the Ladd estate is an admirable one for. the purpose. The late Henry W. Corbett gave the nu cleus for the home, while generous donations from other sources have been added to the fund from time to time. The whole has been carefully conserved by Mrs. Mann, as president of the Old Ladies' Home Association, and, following out the wishes of her late husband, she will supply what ever funds are needed to complete the work so auspiciously begun. The ex ercises will be historical and devo tional, and the public is cordiallv in vited. Obviously there are "snakes" in the Interior Department that should be killed. Secretary Ballinger has suf fered severely from their venom. He will do a good Job by clearing up the Department of its spies and sneaks. It appears to be definitely settled that a short fat man stole that $5000 from a local safety deposit vault, which relieves the tall dark man who usually figures in such episodes of the necessity of proving an alibi. Illinois Democratic legislators are confessing to being bribed, and the indictments against them are being promptly quashed. Another famous Oregon method thus gets a foothold elsewhere. Anyone may see the comet now, if he is lucky, by rising at 3 A. M. Tet there are some people who will be content with hearsay evidence that It Is there. William J. Bryan is going to Mis souri to help out state-wide prohibi tion. Not very auspicious either for prohibition; or for Democracy in Mis souri. Five hundred people were killed In a few seconds by an earthquake down in Costa Rica. Tet there are people in Oregon who whine about the rain. Perhaps after all, that sewer-pipe trust may not have such a terra-cotta cinch on the Council. Though perhaps it will be well to wait and see. The Senate finally permitted Bourne to circulate 60,000 copies of his "speech at his own expense. Mr. Hill should be given a free hand while the spirit moves him. Mothers' Day. But what day Is not mothers' dajr.? TOPICAL VERSE Night. Softly the twtlijrht falls, upon the world Like eyelids drooping 'over slumbering eyes; Slowly the sunset glory leaves the skies To the white moon, her stiver wings un furled. Down dropping all her borrowed plumes of light. The little pools along the 6lender streams Like mirrors hold the dancing starlight gleams. And sigh with rapture through the short, sweet night. As some fair woman with translucent veil Screens her bright beauty from too eager eyes. So shielding darkness over hill and dale Hides lovely earth from nighfs farsee ing skies. Too soon, too soon will dawn supplant the night And earth will wake again to sound and .light. New York Sun. The Annual. When the soap is on the stairway and the rugs are on the lawn. And the paper-hanger's coming, while the plasterer has gone. When the men are all dejected and are bothered with the blues. While their wives are madly shuffling in enormous overshoes Oh, the house is in a turmoil at the very blush of dawn. When the soap Is on the stairway and the rugs are on the lawn. When the cullud lady's smashing alt the raable statuettes, And the hardwood floors are ruined by the roller-skating pets. When the grand piano's damaged by a can of color spilled In Its innermost recesses by a man who should be killed Oh, it's then we see a picture never painted; nay. nor drawn. When the soap is on the stairway and the rugs are on the lawn. When you're eating from the gas range find are filAAntni, in Ha hall And you sit down in the kalsomine In tended for the wall. And the batter cakes are' tinted with a dash of indigo. And your coffee tastes of benzine and there's borax In the. dough Or a broom will send you sidewise like a timid, startled fawn. When the soap is on the stairway and the rugs are on the lawn. Ah. for somewhere east of Suez, where the best is like the -worst. And a human habitation by houseclean ing is not cursed! For there's tumult in the attic and the cellar is a mess. -And you have to screen the windows with a bureau when you dress. And you have a very doubtful spring less cot to sleep upon. When the soap is on the stairway and the rugs are on the lawn. Chicago Post. His New Ordeal. The hero of the jungle took his razor from it! case; "1 s'pose." he sighed, "that etiquette de mands a polished face." He ran the scraper all about until his skin grew sleek Then went to meet the Kaiser and bo kissed upon the cheek. I "I've roused the tawny roarers and I've chased 'em all away; With hippos and with elephants Tve- joined in friendly play; But, reeJy, now." the colonel groaned, "t know 'twill make me weak To face the German Kaiser when ha smacks me on- the cheek!" They're waiting in old Berlin for the eagle from the west; The town looks like a section of a Tankee Doodlefst: The Krupp guns will be booming and the Deutscher folks will shriek When William in the bahnhof kisses Teddy on the cheek! Cleveland Plain Dealer. Triolets of Springtime. The lark is a-wing And a robin is singing: Again it is Spring. The lark is a-wing, 'Twixt poles on a string The carpets are swinging; The lark is a-wlng. The robins are singing. Green buds reappear. Fond lovers go Maying; , The bock's on the beer, Green buds reappear. And faintly I hear ' A German band playing; Green buds reappear. Fond lovers go Maying. Chicago Record-Herald. Meester Marka Twain. Dey say eet was hees job for joke An' poke fun at seempla folk. I don'ta ondrastan'. I nevva read w'at's een hees book; I only see da way he look I only know da man. An' evra time he pasea by He show to me so kinda eye Es beautiful to see; For dough I'm domba Dagoman. So strange, so queer, een deesa lan. He nevva laugh at me. An" dey dat say he only joke An' maka fun weeth simpla folk Ees mebbe so. dey He. Ees mebbe so de no could see How moocha sweet charity Ees am ila from hees eye. An' now dat he ees gon' an change For 'nudder land dat eesa strange To heem as eet can be I care baylleve dey dere are kind To heem, poor ptranger, a-9 I find Dat here he was to me. T. A. Daly in Catholic Standard and Times. To the Ticket Stubs. (On the Morning After.) Tou, that were so crisp and clean Only yester even. Now, with mutilated mien. Cloud the morning heaven. Tou, that seemed to promise me Thrills of Thespian magic. Breathe, through mists of memory. Truths belated, tragic. Dreams are but an empty life; Now in mournful numbers O'Rlght H 2 and 4") you knife All my viaioned slumbers. Almost willingly I paid For your bright possession. Why. I liked you as a maid Likes a love confession! Saw In your prefigured date First, the play's gay lassies: Then, beside each pleasant plate, Cheerful stuff in glasses. Didn't It come true? Of course; Even with additions. Such as headaches, blues, remorse. Breakfast-time contritions. But my brain this question sings When I've shot my rockets: Why are you the only things In my punished pockets? Punci.