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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1911)
ENGLAND FOLLOWS AMERICA'S LEAD IN INTRODUCING PRISON REFORMS rntuw for Convict Looming Much Brighter Idea of Heavy Punishment for Trivial Offenses la Losing Ground Under Influence of Progressive Penal Officials Recreation for Prisoners Provided. r v I : i- ::i:Lis 1 --gSr-'Tr r . : - " hJ ;.! ;! r f V:-, : -ftM 4;':. . - -l-v - LONDON. April 51. (Spclal. Kor t futur It will b a fr Jollier thlff to In Jl! In Enalnnd thn rr bofor. Vp to now tho prrlnt Id hu bn that wroDitlor houll V -liei- with punlbmnt. ld on thick and hrd. CruHty ha often bn mlxd up with tho proc. and Kn llh admlnlKtrator ha nrd at ' Irans-Atlantlc mthw1 as maklnc Ufa too downy for I ho criminal. Hut lately Ihero has rom a rhana-o. and thi afk arcs a start made with a notable reform. rtnl of all. the new of Judae IJnd wy'l children's court In tener filtered throurh the land: then the Jurice hlm elf came alone to tell the tMlnrs of srobatlna surreenes. Children's courts fotlowed In rnrllsh titles and proved U.:lr oiillty. Klnally WlnMon Churrh Ul took rharsre at the Homo Office, s-hlrh Is mprrnt orer such tblnics. and ahrre Wlnt-n enters the proceedlns ery speedily move. But to nnder rtand the mean In a: of the chances. It Is tnx-arr to allude to some of the . (bases etlstmar either at the present noment or until Winston Churchill's trnral. Actor ?low s Horror. Erery on bas heard of tha "ilrket-sf-sre man. The dramatist and the BOToltet have written op the traredy ' f h Ls lot. bat It was left to Arnold Saisworthy In "Justice" adequately to ' sortrsy the horror of tho "tlrfcet-of-' mvs" system. U'lnaton ITiurrhlll waa , rwica present at the performance of this pta. and It Is a-eneralty believed 1 that Its unemotional Indictment Incited Ihm Horn Secretary to tread In mora lively measure the path of prison re ' form. Jwst as Charles Reade's "It'a Never Too late to Mend" proved a . novel with an effective purpoee on a similar them years as;o. ! Tha "tk-ket-of-leave- rretfm. pre crtbed by the prevention of crimes I art. 1171. practically ordained that a man when one committed to Jail for a term of penal servitude should never be free from police supervision. On Ms release from prison, he was given a ticket, which he had to present per sonally to tiie police office nearest his place of residence once a month. If 1 he failed to report himself, the police 1 looked him op. Ton will see at a r lance how harshly this regulation bora npon many a man aeeklnv the war back to an honest livelihood. The last that ho waa a "ticket- -leave" ..J I it- .- i. ... t m man could not bo suppressed; his em ployer or workmates learned of the prison stain, and he was made a quit tor, and In nine cases out of ten turned outlaw gain. Story Is Black One. , If half the good-will at the back or the Bocletv for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals a pet chalty -ot the wealthy class- had gone into seme scheme for ufvguardlng dis charged prisoners from disaster, the story of prison administration In E riff Ion 1 woui'i not be such a black page In the nation's history. The worst aspect of the "ticket of leave" system, however, is disappear In this week. The. supervisory work hitherto carried on by the police hence forth will be undertaken by a central agency for the aid of discharged con victs. This Is a newly established amal gamation of ail existing prisoners' aid siH'letles. Including the excellent so ciety run for prisoner' wives and chil dren by tha Uurhea of Marlborough. Well-considered plans will come Into operation for helping prlsonerera real ly desirous of reform back Into the ranks of decent clilsenship. Hardened lawbreakers will be dealt with by the police, as heretofore. But there will be lees hounding a man back to crime again. From' the moment a man Is arrested In Britain for a serious offense to the time of his discharge, he la bereft of his Identity. lie Is a number, not a man. Jack Jones, the 7-a-week clerk, wbo goes to Jail for forging his em ployer's signature to a check, first comes before a magistrate sitting In a court of summary Jurisdiction, who commits Mm to take his trial at the next Assises. Prison Await Offender. lie to bundled off to await hla trial In a local Jail, and when sentenced eventually by the Judge. Is sent to one of the U prisons dotted about tha coun try. The largest are at Dartmoor. Portland. Parkhurat. Fentonvill and Wormwood Fcrubba His hair la cropped and his beard la shaved. He loses his clothes and Is dressed In an ugly uniform, marked with the broad arrow. More than that, he loses his name the symbol of all human associations and Is officially called C ::. X 44. or something like thst. When r i: la delivered like a bale of goods at Portland prison by two- warders traveling conviota are v"Ha"HHBeHsaasMsasHSBs' . 1 handcuffed together a receipt Is sent to the smaller prison from which he waa forwarded. He Is now a helpless unit at tha mercy of a highly developed system, entirely within the power of warders, mostly time-expired army men who are frequently petty tyrants. If he Is in good health, he eats, works, rests, ex ercises simultaneously with 700 or S00 others. The letters he writes and the letters he receives are Inspected by of ficials, the amount of correspondence allowed bearing relation to his good or bad behavior. When wife, sweetheart or intimate friend 'comes to the prison to see C 22. a warder Is on fluty at the Inter view, and stands in a gangway be tween them, lest forbidden goods, such as tobacco, should be smuggled Into the prison. Method Are Hevoltlng. fntll three or four years ago a re volting method waa employed In con vict prison to make sure that con victs were not secreting any contra band article, an abuse to which the late Jabex Balfour, the notorious ex magnate in the city, first called atten tion. In prison parlance. It was called "a sand bath." Convicts were psraded one by one in a state of nature before their warders, who examined tholr naked bodies, so rigorous was the in spection. Solitary confinement, still meted out to convicts, in lesxenlng periods of du ration, works much harm and misery. Sunday Is the worst day of the week. After church parade for the prisoners are marahaled for divine worship Just s they are for physical exercise the men. cell by cell, are locked away for the rest of the day. when, as Oscar Wilde explained, "they rot and rot" True, book can be borrowed from the prison library. Tet there Is no social Intercourse, and men who have never trained themselves to find solace In reading suffer In consequence. Occasionally stray rays of humor pierce the gloomy monotony, as when a prisoner known a Monte Carlo Well, who had hsd a meteoric career at the gambling tsblea. on the last Sunday of his Incarceration electrified the con gregation In the prison chapel, where he officiated, as organist, by playing a a voluntary the refrain of a song com posed labout his own exploits. "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Mont Carlo." Such amenities are raru, JTw. can fora-et that deep within the heart of the prison buildings is the flogging ap paratus an Iron frame in the formof a triangle, to which desperate break ers of prison law are bound for chas "tlnement. Rule and regulation, discl pllan and drill, and all that Is meant by "rHI tape." bind each man round and round, so that (Initiative Is lost and he becomes a mere machine. Many prisoners try to escape from the Jails. Some succeed for a while and have an excitins: run before even tual capture. But only one man ever got clear away from Portland prison. He had a sense of humor, too, for he returned his prison uniform to the gov ernor of the jail by post, with a polite note explaining that he had no further nse for It. The Home Office took a great stride In the direction of reform a year or two ago when It Inaugurated a scheme to break up the monotony mat pre vailed within prison walls during the long Winter evenings. This official concession to the humanitarian spirit took shape in organizing illustrated lectures In several big Jails. The ar rangements are in the hands of the governor and, chaplain, who prepare a svllabus. and submit It to the Home Office. ' Travel Talks Popular Travel talks. Illustrated by lantern slides, are the most popular themes. A lecturer who has addressed 800 convicts told me he four.d them the most at tentive and appreciative audience he had ever spoken to. His subject was a tour In Egypt, and he could tell by the rapt Interest of several prisoners in the front rows that they knew the ground almost as well as he did. These con victs in the front rows doctors, law yers, financiers" and militsry men were first offenders, and as far as pos sible were segregated from the sea soned criminals. Musicians and vocalists are also al lowed sometimes to solace prisoners. A notable Instance of this was seen at Wormwood Scrubhs prison soon after Christmas, when Home Secretary Wins ton Churchill granted a special permit to a large party of London amateurs to perform "The Messiah." But beyonil all this, far-reaching new mini will rnme into force on May 1 in respect to preventive aetention. inn adopted witnin a o-up.o . j--.-. reform enables the habitual criminal n Impossible to ignore that question to be sentenced to undergo soxmany from the most practical point of view, years' detention, after the expiration of For months past a volunteer associa nis term of benal servitude. In place of tion of citizens has been considering it. the "ticket-of-leave". system. By this; They have spent money liberally to means hundreds of the most deter- ' have plans drawn which will meet the mined criminals in the country will be city's needs, and do It In a way to detained and It is proposed that they i add to the beauty of the city Portland sliall he employed at userul trades ana earn gratuities for their work. Cer tificate of Industry are to be gTanted, and the possessor of three will become eligible for a gnrden allotment, the produce from which may be purchased "at market rates for use In the prison, the money to be given to the prisoner. The most industrious and well-conducted prisoners will be allowed to as sociate at meal times and in the even ings, together wtth such adddltional relaxation of a literary and social char acter as may eem advisable from time to time. Howard Association Aids. Much of this Impetus toward prison reform In England has been fostered by the ceaseless-propaganda work of the Howard Association, represented at the great International Prison Congress held at Washington last October. Thomas Holmes, for many year the beet -known police court missionary in London, and for the last year or so secretary of the Howard Association, waa Invited by the American Govern ment to take part in the congress and to form one of a party to visit Amerl csn prison. "If some of the American methods were grafted on to the English admin istration." he saya, "the effect would be remarksble for good. I found that their probation system was worked much more effectively and thoroughly than It Is In England. Their probation officers are fitted absolutely for the work. On this side there are no paid probation officera as such; they are either voluntary worker or servants of some charitable society, not state offi cials. At present we are only playing with the probation Idea In England. If we could get men of character and capability, occupying fairly well-paid nosts. we should have better result than you have In America." Secretary Holmes went on to say that in his opinion the weakness in the position of the American probation of ficers resided in the fact that the Judges made the appointments. If the probation officer was a strong man. be Influenced the Judge too much, and II a weak man he was apt to become a creature of the Judge. Lead Is Fallowed. He feels strongly that England is following the lead of America, slowly but surely. In the development of the parole system, though no legislation has as yet passed in this direction. "We are getting tired of Judges in flicting very long sentences practi cally life sentences." he says. "Thero Is a constant agitation always golnr on behind the scene to get sentence com muted. Again and again the Home Secretary has to reconsider the sen tences prisoners are serving. This psts him In a delicate position. He has to consult the Judges who passed the sen tences. If the Home Secretary com mutes the sentence, it Is e. snub to the Judge. What we want In England at each prison 1s a board, consisting of the governor, chaplain, doctor, a repre sentative of the Home Office, and one or two visiting Justices. They should have the power of releasing on parole any prisoner whose condition warrant ed that concession. But the American Board of Parole Is not comprehensive enough: It is too much In the hands of one or two." The mercantile element In some of the American rtate prisons came In for some adverse criticism, but In matters of greater space, better buildings, bet ter equipped workshops," greater varie ty and volume of work, and more re creation and education for the prison era, the Amer-.can state Jails, said Sec retary Holmes, are superior to the English. But in the construction and appointment of the local country Jails, he thinks the advantage lies with the English models. Weakness Cause of Crime. As to the big problem of crime, the Howard Association strongly dissents from the Lombroso school of penolo gists, who profess to believe In a crim inal type of Individual. For the last SO years Secretary Holmes has come into in timate personal -contact with thousands of criminals, male and female, murder ers, houhebreakers. forgers, and every variety of wrongdoer. He has arrived at the conclusion that weak-mindedness and physical defects are the main causes of crime. The curve of the frontal bone In the law-breaker is no different than the forehead develop ment of Hie respectable citizen. Home Secretary Winston Churchill told Mr. Holmes that he will consider the possi bility of piovldlng special training for the feeble-minded and feeble-bodied young prisoners in Jails. Like manv earnest men familiar with the misery and tragedy of civilization. Holmes has a cheerful personality. He Is a constructive optimist, who to use bis own words, "finds a deal of good in the worst men." Sratilc MlnlHter to Kprak. ' VANCOUVER. Wash.. April I!. (Special.) W. H. W. Rees. of Seattle, lecturer and minister, will give an address at the First Methodist Church here Tuesday evening at 8 o'clock. He will speak on "Winners." At the church tomorrow the three-hundredth anniver sary of the translation of King James' version of Ihe Bible will b commem orated. , IMPORTANT ISSUES SUGGEST NEED OF CARE IN CHOOSING COUNCILMEN Body, When Unit, Is Real Governing Power, Initiating All' Measures, and Granting All Licenses and Franchises. Moral Standards and Need of Future to Be Considered. BY OGEORGB A. THACHKR. THE great interest shown by the cltiiens of Portland in the past few weeks as to who will be the next Mayor of the city suggests the even greater importance of what kind of men will be elected to fill the ten ! vacant places in the Council. To be sure the Mayor Is commander-m-cniei and appoints the Executive Board, of which he is chairman, and the moral effect of his position is very great. His vote outweighs nine Councilman and in some Instances 11. if he opposes a measure, but he has no voice at all in proposing any measure for the welfare of the city. Ha can suggest and ad vise, but he can't help to legislate. Ho Is the executive. The members of the Council Initiate all measures and grant all franchises and all licenses and make all regu lations subject to the Mayor's veto -which does not count If the Council Is a unit. The Council is the governing body of the city. Is constructive work necessary to keep pace with the city's growth? it it is, then the Council is of more im portance than the Mayor. There are two matters which illustrate that fact most conclusively. One is the physical growth of the city and the needs of the future. The other is the moral standard In dealing with certain social questions which are certain to become public nuisances If neglected. In the matter of the city's growth the streets are of the greatest im portance and over their extension and opening the Council is supreme. The crowded condition of the down-town streets Is a matter of remark every few days. What will it be in 10 years if no. sensible plan for circulation Is bound to Decome. The first essential Is a street of de- cent width running east ana wesi. Burnside street is the one which, on every account, is most suitable as a main thoroughfare. It Is now 60 feet wide. If It were made 100 feet wide, in 10 years time the wisdom of that step would be so apparent that no critic could be found. Today, west of the river, there is scarcely a valuable building that would have to be torn down to make the street what it should be for practical use. At the same time if it is put ofT the old shacks which are being torn down in that part of town will be replaced by modern buildings, and If nothing is done for a wider street, the problem will become as difficult as It would be today to widen Washington street. It's a very practical matter, which concerns every property owner In Portland, and every voter who has the slightest Interest In his home city. There is a very pungent illustration offered to the voters at the polls this year of the folly of neglect. They are called upon to say If tho city shall borrow a quarter of a million dollars to buy Council Crest. George H. Hlmes says that many years ago he was much impressed with the beauties of Council Crest, and urged that the young city of Portland buy the 100 acre tract for a park. The price was $16,000. There Is no need to explain why that extravagant (?) proposal was Ignored. Think of the taxation! Some 20 years later, when the tract was reduced to 60 acres, and the price had increased to $30,000, Mr. Hlmes suggested to a wealthy citizen of Tort land that he buy it and leave It to the city as the citizens did not appreciate their opportunity. This, too, failed. He was Instrumental, some 25 years ago, in getting a road constructed which made this tract easily accessible to lovers of the beautiful. Mr. Hlmes estimates that he has taken some three thousand per sons to Council Crest, among them be ing visitors from all parts of the clvl lixed world, and he says that they all agreed that In no city in the Eastern or Western continent is there such a bean t Kill natural park with such an outlook on snow-clad mountains, ever green forests and great rivers. wind ing through a fertile country. Now thst the tract has been reduced to 30 acres and is being exploited as a private pleasure resort with its more or less Inane diversions, the City Coun cil haa submitted a proposal to the vot ers at the coming June election to issue bonds to the tune of a quarter of a mil lion dollars to buy Council Crest for a city park. It can't be purchased for that In the open market, but possibly It may be condemned, and the various concessions will expire some time and then Portland will own .10 acres of tha original 100 which an economical city could not afford to buy for $15,000. It is to be remembered right here that while a city may get along without a park. It cannot get along without streets wide enough to accommodate its busi ness. That Is to say, that the widening of Burnside or some other street Is first and foremost a practical proposition. A Social Quest Ion. The question of saloons, of prostitu tion and of gambling are always in the background of every administration. It is very rarely that a public sneaker will touch upon these matters In a scientific wy. They are socially tabooed. On the other hand, the police department finds them the most practical questions that confront them, and the police settle them In a practical way. yielding occasionally to the demands of certain associations representing a portion of the public. L Thero are 419 faloons in Portland, and the license Is fsm ft year, me cny e population 1s about 2i7,OO0. Allowing one voter for every five person, that pro vides a saloon for every W men of Usui ge. Remembering that some men don't drink ministers and policemen are barred by their professions It will ap near that taking the average each sa loon must sell enough liquor to perhaps 75 citizens or lees to make sufficient profit to pay rent, an Interest on bar fixtures, wages of a bar-tender. $S00 li cense to the city, and some kind of a living for the proprietor. Then there are many visitors to the city, lumbermen, fishermen, pallors, and others, who spend money In the saloon. Of course. It is a purely arbitrary estimate that 25 per cent of the voters In Portland don't patronize saloons, and It is quite dif ficult to estimate the number of visitors to the city who do patronize saloons, but there Is no reason to believe that there are more than 100 men. Including visitor who patronize each saloon on an aver age. That Is to say that the number of visitors who drink equals the number of residents who don't drink. It ia true that many men. as well as women, use whis ky, wine and beer In their homes. To meet that demand there are 13 wholesale liquor dealers. 10 wholesale dealers wiio sre rectifiers, 21 grocers and druggists who sell liquors, and four breweries. (There will be another brewery shortly. I am Informed, but It has no license yet.) Then there are 33 restaurants that sell liquor with meals. That makes an even 800 establishments to furnish liquor to the citizen of Portland. It Is absurb to claim that the busi ness Is not periecny legiiMiiaie, anu it ought to be entirely respectable. Society demands a cortaln commodity and even in the "dry" counties there who J9 probably. many a man votes "no license" who ships in his family supplies from the whole salers. The figures on consumption tell tha storv. Professor William B. Bailey, of Tale, furnished a table of statistics for "The Independent" recently. In 1S10 the consumption of beer per 'capita was a trifle over one gallon and a third. In 1909 the consumption of beer was a trifle under 20 gallons per capita. The significant thing, however, is that the consumption of spirits containing a large percentage of alcohol has de creased about one-half since 1840. In that year the consumption of whisky, brandy and rum was two gallons and a half per capita. In 1909 it was one gallon and a third. There has also been, an increase in- the use of wine. Con sidering the effect of large doses bf alcohol on the nervous system. i tho change in the drinking habits of the people shows something to encourage the hope that temperance may bo achieved in time. Total abstinence is doubtless a dream of the social re former In view of the history of the Professor Bailey's estimate there are four millions of gallons of beer consumed in Portland in a year, and four hundred thousand gallons of whisky, brandy, gin and wine. The Idea of absolutely stopping all that by voting prohibition which by the way, the November election showed was im possible shows conclusively to most people that the problem of temperance must be approached In another way. Profits or Saloons. Supply and demand regulate every business of an ordinary nature. It is admitted, however, that saloons should be. regulated. In 1907, on the first of April, there were 441 saloons In Tort land. At the June election that year a law was passed at the polls forbidding the increase of saloons until there were more than 600 persons to each saloon. Since that time 22 saloons have gone out of business almost entirely through lack of renewal of certain licenses. On the 'first of April, 1911, when there were 419 saloons, a new license law went Into effect, which, among other things, provides that the number of saloons shall not be Increased until there are more than one thousand persons to each saloon. It also raises licenses in case of wholesalers, restaurants, gro cers and druggists. Restaurants sel ling liquors are limited to 40. It Is impossible to figure profits1 of course, for individual saloons, but it is pretty self-evident that there Is no real need for 419 saloons in Portland to sell drinks over the bar. On the other side of the ledger and balancing the profits from drinks sold to less than 100 men, on an average, are the expenses of $S00 license, the rent, which must run highe than $600 a year, more often than below that sum, the wages of a bartender, and the profits of the proprietor, who must live and support his family. In other words, the saloon business in Portland is very much overdone. There is confirmation of that in the fact that over 100 saloon have their licenses handled' by power of attorney, which is equivelent to saying that they are ynder the direct management ami con trol of the breweries. A man without saloon experience puts a few hundred dollars into the venture and hangs on as long as he can, and then someone else takes his place. Saloons In Ixs Angeles. In the report of the conference for good city government at the last annual session of the National Municipal League it was stated that Los Angeles, with its population of 319,000, limits the number of laloons to 200. Port land has over 100,000 fewer citizens, but possesses 219 more saloons than Los Angeles. These figures are prob ably entirely trustworthy. From every point of view It appears that Portland has too many saloons too many for the good of the city and too many for profit. That means that. profits must come from other.sources side lines, so to say. What are those side lines? There are only two gambling and prostitution. Of course, they are not necessarily conducted in the same quarters, but the saloon can easily be made the headquarters the directory and public office. To estimate how popular these side lines may be made it is only necessary to inquire what the people's amuse ments are. The spirit of life and hap piness which animates us all demands recreation. 'Certain sports requiring some skill with an element of chance appeals strongly to men. In society that reckons itself good, the best in genuity is taxed to devise new forms of amusement, but card-playing for small stakes requires no ingenuity whatever, and it fills the blank. The brewers, with their lieutenants, the saloon-keepers, are good business psychologists and offer these attrac tions to their guests. Naturally the men who spend the most time in sa loons have fewest Interests and pleas ures, and their need of social intercourse Is as compelling as that of the man with world-wldo opportunities. t Tho People at Play. A gentleman of the Municipal Asso ciation told me recently that the North End furnished amusements as bad asi anything on the continent, and he ad vised me to see for myself. I spent two evenings there recently and I could not agree with him. It's a fairly order, ly place on the whole. I think that the Municipal Association and church peo ple and society people are disgusted with the North End amusements be cause they are frankly vulgar. The conventions which make a disrobing scene on the stage rather pretty, but daring, are lacking in the nickel-in-the. slot photographs in the suloons which are as attractively indecent as human ingenuity can suggest short of offenses punishable by a Jail sentence. The un derworld has dull intellects, however, and must be hit squarely between the eyes to find the point at all obvious. Then there is the theater. There is not a vulgar joke on the stage that is any worse than some .or ine speecnea in Hamlet. Of course, there is no wis dom or beauty in any part of the per formance, but the audience would not eaioy or understand it if there was. Tfcey appreciate the music, though. I have seen an audience nsieii wm rapt attention to "The Holy City" sung by a physically fine creature, who be fore the song invited some man in the audience with her eyes to meet her In a box later to drink beer, as could be found in a church social. There is nothing Incongruous to the visitor to the North End In the combina tion. His brains are arranged in air-tight compartments, just as the an. cient peoples' were. To see four sirens in pink tights singing "Rock of Ages would not make the theater-goer on Burnside street double up In a spasm of mirth. He Is as solemn as an owl and enjoys both ends of the perform ance. Therein he shows his descent. There was more or less of the Baccha nalian In ancient religious r tes as we all know, and we are merely a later generation. Even in Oregon w-e have had the "Holy Rollers." In public en tertainments oh Burnside street, there Is considerable prancing about in flesh ings and cuticle unadorned. Interspersed with perhaps the song. "I Want Some body to Play With" for the alleged rea son that "mamma has gone to the angels" by a young woman dressed as ,rMv as a srhool girl, but who is exchanging; knowing glances and Big- nals with some young fellows In the front row of chairs. Another young woman who Is in some danger of catching a cold offers a toast to George Washington, the father of his country, which is- followed by a touching sentiment concerning the star-spangled banner offered by a middle-aged harridan. Our brothers of the underworld have their thoughts come to the surface only in spots. End now that their patriotic feelings ' and re ligious impulses have been tickled, they are ready to enjoy the negro com edian show the color of the inside of his mouth and the. whites of his eyes as he .attempts to slt cn the top of a barrel without a head and drops into it. Forgotten is George Washington whilo the house roars and the whole stage family place the negro and his barrel in various positions in a prolonged ef fort to separate the two,, with sugges tive inquiries as to the length and sharpness of the nails ii.side the bar rel. When the negro clog-dancer with black broadcloth trousers cut balloon pattern, after a particularly clever skit, manages Incidentally to shift his waist band and spit into his balloon, the lumber jacks and their brothers whe can hit a spittoon with a stream of to bacco juice, exclaim with profane and admiring emphasis. Why not? It is barely two generations since Charles Dickens celebrated the skill of Amer icans in . the matter of expectoration, and every cultivated family is proud to have "Martin Chuzzlewit" and "Ameri can Notes" in their libraries. - If the stage villain is determined enough to set his teeth in the seat of the trousers of the Irish comedian the house goes wild, and is in a mellow mood to listen to that long-suffering individual (when he has adjusted his flaming red side whiskers), as he sings "Then Ireland Shall Be Free." The theatrical manager knowing that beauty draws the sons of men with a single hair (or less) hus arranged a row of boxes in the upper gallery where the actresses congregate. Even a bashful man will not lack society and beer at $1 a bottle. . In fact he can't get away from either one If he responds to the impulse of 'curiosity. He can easily be wheedled out of his week's wages and walk home if he has a home to go to. Naturally the fair and frail get a commission on the harvest of beer. I am informed that it runs on a sliding scale and that is prob ably correct. Ten cents on the first bottle and 50 cents a bottle if more than one bottle is purchased. To him who hath it shall be given, whether it is skill, beauty or wealth or beer. This is the nightly programme;. this is the confessional of the under world. Here the student of sociology and of anthropology can feel a conviction that he is looking at the human race In a perspective of 1000 years or more. Evo lution has a practical meaning after an evening in the North End. though it doesn't seem to have for the mis sionary always. He. too, has air-tight compartments In his brains. To illustrate. Outside on the street was a gospel wagon and several young women were singing with their eyes entranced "We Are All Going Home." Then a ministerial person in a black coat sawed the air and clenched his fists and dogmatized about Ood and heaven and hell in the -conventional fashion. The' gospel wagon had its audience, too. but it did not applaud like the audience inside the building. It simply gazed with the mild curiosity of the ox thnt hus been fed and watered, though some of the scamps tried to exchange signals witli the girls who wanted to bless thir fallen brothers. I could not help think ing that if: the girls in the gospel wagon had worn harem skirls and the preacher cduld have talked like, a poli tician who wants votes, they might have gotten hold of the Imaginations of the dull of intellect and the weak of will and made them think (in spots! of what they wished. At any rale they could have drawn tho crowd. The bars would have been deserted and the the ater would have been half empty. As it Is the saloonkeeper or his tute lary deitv. the brewer, have th- bislns In the North End and they use them to sell beer. Their guests do not have brains enough to select their pleasure or wills to secure them. They lake what is offered. The city of Portland charges a license to their entertainers which totals approximately $350,000. It costs something over $2,000,000 a year to run the city government. The brew ers arrange indirect taxes for a sixth of that amount, and it is a favorite il lusion of the taxpayer that he does not pav taxes unless he pays them to the sherilf at the courthouse. (To Be Continued.) SUICIDE FOLLOWS FALL Victim Believed to Have Cut Throat to Km! Agony. HILLSBOT.O. April 22. (Special.) William Blomquist was found dead, lying deep in the snow under the tres tle that spans lleidel Creek. Thursday. His throat was cut and an open knife and a razor were found at his shir. Ap pearances Indicated that he had fallen from the trestle, 175 feet above, and being seriously hurt had killed himself to end his sufferings. Coroner Brown empaneled a Jury, which found a ver dict of suicide. A book among his effects showed that he had joined the Western Fed eration of Minera in 19o. Ho was about 55 years old. His blankets were hanging on silla from the top of the trestle to the bottom. The Coroner was compelled to raise the body with a derrick to the track above. JUROR IS ALLEGED BIASED Petition for New Trial Asserts H Made Prejudicial Remarks. SALEM. Or.. April 22. (Special.) Alleging that A- W. Shrunk, a juror in the case of Fred Betchen, had expressed a desire to serve on the jury and that Shrunk had made the declaration that foreign cattle are unwelcome in tnis state, a petition for a rehearing was filed in Circuit Court today. Betchen is charged with eloping from Nebraska, with Josephne Rule, a mar ried woman. Open Postoffice Is Wanted. PENDLETON. Or.. April 22. (Special.) With the signature of more than GuO patrons of the Pendleton postofflce at tached, a petition asking that the local office be kept open on Sunday was today forwarded to Postmaster-General Hitch cock by Postmaster Brown. It Is be lieved that the document will be favor ably acted upon and that Pendleton will be one of the few cities in the North west to stand out against the move to close the offices on Sunday. Six Get Marriage Licenses. VANCOUVER. Wash.. April 22 (Special.) George H. Williams, of Se attle, and Miss Olga Herrmann, of San Francisco; A. H. Ciderberg, of Port land, and Miss Victoria Snider, of Vic toria. B. C. and George Green and Mis Maude Moore, of Portland, secured marriage llcensea iero toda-