THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND. JUNE 1G, 1918.
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PORTLAND, SUNDAY, JUNE 16. 1916.
GOING AHEAD WITH AIRCRAFT.
News that the first member of the
American Flying: Corps has won his
ace accompanies reports of the great
execution done by the British and
French airmen on May 31. The Brit
ish destroyed, drove down out of con
trol or shot down with guns twenty
eeven German machines and lost only
one. The French brought down twenty-three
and gravely damaged four
teen planes, destroyed six captive bal
loons and inflicted, serious loss on
marching German troops with ma
chine gun fire. French planes carried
reconnaissance far to the rear of the
German lines, and the British crossed
the Rhine, bombed the railroad sta
tion and a factory at Karlsruhe,
dropped four tons of bombs on the
railroad stations at Metz-Sablons, Kar
thaus and Thionville, in the Lorraine
iron region, and six tons on the Bruges
docks and the Zeebrugge-Bruges canal,
using- thirty-one tons of bombs in all.
That indicates what Americans might
have been doing.
American airmen have only just
begun to participate in air fighting,
though we had hoped that by this
time they would have taken the lead.
Towards the 22,000 planes promised
before July 1 we had on May 25,
according to the House military com
mittee, 1316 American planes in
France, of which only 325 were com
bat planes, and 3760 in the United
States, practically all besides the 325
combat planes being training planes.
What the American people are most
anxious to know is how fast. the Army
is being provided with combat, bomb
ing and observation planes the types
which do most service in the battle
area. On this point only fragmentary
information is obtainable. In the New
York Evening Post David Lawrence
says that the Curtiss plant produced
over 3000 training planes last year,
and in one week of May turned out
104 and in another week 110. It has
now been ordered to go ahead with
Bristol combat planes, for which the
organization of workmen does not dif
fer materially from that required to
put out training craft, but had pro
duced less than a dozen to the middle
of May. It can produce in quantity,
for it has not only made training craft
until we have a surplus, but has made
hydroplanes and flying boats by the
score for the Navy, also fighting craft
to protect the flying boats of the
British Navy. The Dayton plant is
turning out in' quantity the De Havi
land plane, which is superior to the
Bristol for fighting, but the Standard
plant at Elizabeth, N. J., has not
turned out a single combat plane,
though it has made scores of training
craft and is making hydroplanes. It
is a great plant, but is slow in getting
started. The Liberty motor has made
good so far that all the Navy craft
are equipped with it.
The chief obstacle to quantity pro
duction hitherto has been the frequent
change of Aircraft Board decisions
from one type of plane to another and
the thousands of changes in parts,
particularly of the Liberty motor. The
plants and the organizations of skilled
mechanics are there, but they have
. been used to only a fraction of their
capacity and much of their output
has been scrapped because of changes
in detail and of absurd demands for
accuracy to the ten-thousandth part
of an inch. It is difficult under these
circumstances to hold together a body
of skilled workmen, who can find
other jobs with ease and the mainte
nance of such an organization requires
contracts which will employ them for
months ahead, with the assurance of
other contracts to follow. It requires
that, when provision has been made
to fill a contract, it shall not be can
celled to make way for a new one
for which preparation at great ex
pense must be made anew, in doubt.
too, whether that will meet the same
fate. .
Reorganization of the Signal Corps
gives promise that the great plants
which have been erected will be used
to their full capacity. General Squier
will hereafter devote his attention ex
clusively to telegraph and other sig
naling systems and apparatus; General
Kenly, as director of military aero
nautics, , will command the . aviation
section, and John D. Ryan will have
charge of aircraft production. We may
expect that, when Mr. Ryan makes
a decision, it will stay decided and
that, having begun to make a good
plane, he will not stop making it be
cause General Kenly's experts have
designed a better: that is, not until
the new design has been perfected
beyqnd risk of many changes in de
tail nor until all appliances for mak
ing the new craft have been provided
so that manufacturers can turn to it
and continue production without per
ceptible diminution of output. That
prospect gives promise of several thou
sand American fighting and bombing
planes at the front long before the
present campaign ends. It gives prom
is to the thousands of American air
men now pinned to the earth that
they will soon go up in the air to
spread that terror in Germany which
the mere anticipation of their coming
has already inspired. Then the French
women and children and the wounded
soldiers in Red Cross hospitals who
have been massacred by German air
men will be avenged tenfold.
With this comforting prospect we
may as well put behind us the thought
of past blunders. Charles E. Hughes
may be trusted to uncover the truth
as to the precise nature of those blun
ders, and as to who is culpable. The
public has such Implicit confidence in
his fearless pursuit of wrongdoers and
in bis justice to the innocent, as dem
onstrated in former Investigations, that
it will calmly await his report, in
assurance that any errors which he
may discover are "not being repeated.
But it will demand that his report be
published, and that every person whom
he finds culpable be brought to Jus
CA1CC1UATIOX DOES HOT WORK OUT.
The great injury which would be
done to several important industries
of the Northwest by enforcement of
a uniform advance of 25 per cent in
freight rates goes to show th'at the
means adopted to increase freight
revenues was fundamentally wrong.
An increase of 25 per cent in the
freight revenue of railroads was de
sired, but it is very doubtful whether
a 25 per cent increase in freight rates
would produce it. For example, there
is grave danger that it would destroy
the trade in loganberry juice, and, con
sequently, instead of adding one fourth
to the revenue from that source,
would reduce it to little or nothing.
As 25 per cent of the higher rate
on lumber from the Pacific Coast to
the Middle West would be at least
several cents per hundred pounds more
than an equal percentage of the lower
rate from the South, diversion of busi
ness from the Douglas fir belt to the
yellow pine belt might result in less
than 25 per cent of additional revenue.
Evidently .addition of 25 per cent to
railroad revenue is a far more com
plex problem than is implied in raising-rates
25 per cent at a stroke of
the pen. It requires consideration of
the - amount' of additional . revenue
which would result from a certain in
crease in the rate on a certain com
modity. Some commodities may yield the full
25 per cent increase in revenue, others
a smaller percentage, while some may
show an actual decrease. Entire mar
kets may be transferred from one
source of supply to another, with a
general derangement of business. For
example, loss of lumber trade by the
Pacific Coast might cause shipments
of canned goods and clothing to this
section to diminish so materially that
the expected revenue from that source
would not be realized.
Readjustment of rates to yield a
certain sum in revenue is a compli
cated task for traffic experts. It can
not be done in a few days by a com
mittee of advisers to an autocrat in
Washington. The attempt to do it in
that way is a foretaste of what we
might expect at frequent intervals if
Government operation of railroads
were to become permanent.
CURE FOR THE BOCHE DELUSION.
Caspar Whitney's book, "Gott Mit
TJns," tells what is really the work
undertaken by the United States and
the allies. It is to drive from the
minds of the German people that
which he calls "the boche delusion"
that the Germans are a superior peo
ple chosen by God to conquer and
rule the world by force. He proves
this not only by the writings of men
like Bernhardt, but by the acts and
words of Germans of every rank and
calling seen and heard during fifteen
months behind the German lines.
While the Germans were victorious
and boastful and, therefore, expressed
their real thoughts, he talked with
them not only officers but privates,
not only men who had never been out
side of Germany but men who had
lived for years in the United States,
and he found them all to be obsessed
with the same delusion which is ex
pressed by their rulers, preachers' and
professors.
The German any German, high or
low believes that might is right, that
Germany having the might, not only
has the right, but is chosen and di
rected by God to overpower and rule
other nations. He believes any means
justifiable to overcome resistance, his
defense of any cruelty being, "He was
an enemy." To his mind that justifies
the murder of Edith Cavell, the mas
sacre of women, children and prison
ers, the destruction of towns, the
breaking of treaties, the bombing of
hospitals and the sinking of hospital
ships. There is to be no restraint upon
Germany's efforts to reach the goal
of world empire.
There is but one cure for such a
delusion; that is defeat, so complete
as to be undeniable and irremediable.
Defeat can convince the German peo
ple that their delusion is a delusion
not all of them, for the Hohenzol-
lerns and the junker, military caste
may be dismissed as incurable, but
the great mass of them, enough to
make the incurable powerless.
CARRYING HOME THE PACKAGE.
It is becoming apparent that under
the order of the Provost Marshal of
the Army classifying store clerks as
non-essential workers when within the
draft age, the country is going to wit
ness some sweeping changes . in the
conduct of retail business. The ques
tion' is fraught with many possibili
ties. For example, there has been no
specific ruling as to whether delivery
clerks are to be included in the spirit
of General Crowder's order, and since
it is the policy of the Government no'
to interpret its own rulings until
specific cases have been submitted to
it through regular channels, business
men can only "play safe" while await
ing the full development of the Gov
ernment's course of action.
Proposals to sell all goods on a non
delivery basis, which are now being
discussed by merchants' associations
In various cities, coupled with numer
ous plans for making schedules of
delivery charges -which shall discour
age- unnecessary service while they
avoid discrimination against goods
which the buyer could not be ex
pected to carry home, involve techni
cal considerations. The details aro
not as simple as they may seem to
the outsider. It will cost little less
to deliver a shirt waist than half a
sack of potatoes, but a good deal less
in proportion to the value of the com
modity, and still less in proportion to
the profit on the- transaction. But it
is desirable that delivery of extremely
light and portable articles shall be
penalized, regardless of their value,
if worthwhile curtailments are to be
effected, and it would be a hardship
upon buyers to refuse to deliver bulky
necessities, or to charge exorbitantly
for the service. Neither the postage
stamp principle nor the zone system
seems to be quite applicable without
modifications, and charges based
either upon weight or upon value
have their disadvantages. It is for
these reasons that merchants, willing
as they have been to co-operate in
effective labor economies, have been
dilatory in coming to an agreement
Buyers sooner or later will be forced
to accept drastic modifications of
service which they have in past years
come to accept too much as a matter
of course. At least two privileges are
practically certain to be taken from
them soon. One of these is the "C. O.
D." delivery of articles of small value,
and the other delivery on approval,
which, in a very large proportion of
J cases means two calls at the residence.
and the return of at least part of the
articles ordered. The latter service
has been particularly subject to abuse,
which in turn has been the outgrowth
of the practice of shopping to kill
time, and also of ordering goods for
the purpose of impressing acquain
tances, without any real intention of
keeping them. These are real abuses,
which add materially to the "over
head," and their suppression would go
a long way toward solving a vexatious
problem.
A DISASTER.
The heavy loss of strawberries re
ported at Hood River because of in
ability of growers to obtain sufficient
help to harvest the crop has almost
the dimensions of a tragedy. For our
well-being, we need not only the staple
foods which contain the "calories"
upon which food lecturers place so
much emphasis, but also certain other
foods which contribute less tangible
elements and also give zest to appetite.
Among these the strawberry in its
season has no superiors and few
equals. It is a pity that strawberries
cannot be supplied plentifully in these
times of war bread and other neces
sary makeshifts, for they would go far
toward mitigating the hardships of a
conservation diet.
All those who might have gone to
work in the berry .patches but re
mained idle instead will have this on
their conscience, and staying at home
will pay an added penalty by being
themselves deprived of this king of
berries. ,
. It is much to be hoped that there
will be an awakening, in time to sal
vage the remainder of the Northwest
fruit crop.
WALT WHITMAN AS A WAR NCRSE.
It is a little more than ninety-nine
years since Walt Whitman was born,
and in the preparations for observance
of his centennial it is certain that a
good many facts about the poet will
be brought to light again which have
not been emphasized in the past, even
in the minds of his admirers. There
is, for example, the circumstance that
he wrote a quite formidable quantity
of prose, which has been swallowed
in oblivion; and in these times of war
there will be deep interest in his work
as a war nurse. It is not so generally
appreciated as it ought to be that
Whitman was highly efficient in hia
work among the sick and wounded of
the Civil War. and that, although he
lacked special training, and was not
formally attached to any staff, he
probably saved a great many lives.
There was at the outset of the Civil
War no such preparation for the care
of the unfortunate as we are witness
ing now. Whitman was moved to
volunteer for service by receiving news
that his brother had been wounded
severely at Fredericksburg and he at
once started for Washington. He ar
rived there after numerous adven
tures, having his pocket picked and
suffering other minor inconveniences,
and did not reach the front until his
brother, whose wounds had been ex
aggerated in the reports, had re
covered. Then he tarried in the hos
pital camp, became greatly interested
in the work there, and eventually
spent nearly three years as a kind of
supplemental nurse, whose efforts
were no less welcome because of their
irregularity. Service is better organ
ized now, but personal devotion of the
kind which Whitman brought to it
probably -is not common.
It was late in 1862, after a year and
a half of war, that the poet reached
the National capital. One of his
biographers estimates that there were
more than fifty thousand 'sick and
wounded men at the capital. They
occupied the public buildings at first;
then overflowed into one-story wooden
barracks. The capacity of the upper
floors of the Patent Office was taxed
to its limit; part of the Capitol was
filled; every building that could be
converted to the purpose was utilized.
Camp diseases were leaving ineradi
cable marks. There was no such
thing as antiseptic surgery. Surgeons
and nurses worked frantically, but
many things were left undone. Such
a work as now is being done by the
Red Cross, the Y. M. C A. and the
Knights of Columbus had not even
been thought of. Most of the suffer
ers were without news from home.
There was no definite "welfare work,"
and no knowledge of the part played
by psychology in promoting re
covery.
We would hesitate now to send our
boys overseas if we dreamed that they
would be subjected to conditions such
as Whitman found. He himself was
without money. He got a little news
paper work to do and copied payroll
in the office of an Army paymaster
who was his friend, and supported
himself with the proceeds. But he
earned no more than enough for bare
necessities. Every moment that' he
could' spare from toil and sleep he
devoted to the patients in the hos
pitals. Later, friends who had heard
of his work supplied him with money,
which he disbursed freely in the good
cause. It is said that he made his
influence felt to a greater or less ex
tent upon a hundred thousand pa
tients. It is interesting today to read
his own theory of the value of the
little- things in bringing about cures.
For example, he wrote:
To- many of the wounded and sick, espe
cially the youngsters, there is something In
personal love, caresses and the magnetic
flood of sympathy and friendship that does,
in Its way. more good than all the medicine
In the world. I have spoken of my regular
gifts of tobacco, delicacies, money, food,
knick-knacks, etc.. etc. But I steadily found
more than I could cure and turned the bal-a-nce
In favor of cure by the means I have
here alluded to in a curiously large propor
tion of cases. The American soldier is full
of afection and the yearning for affection.
And It cornea wonderfully grateful to him
to have this yearning gratified when he is
laid up with painful wounds or Illness, far
away from home, among strangers. Many
will think this merely sentlmentallsm. but
I know It is the most solid of facts. I be
lieve that even the moving around among
the men, or through the ward, of a hearty,
healthy, clean, strong, generous-eouled per
son, man or woman, full of humanity a-nd
love, sending out Invisible, constant cur
rents thereof, does Immense good to the
sick and wounded.
It will be understood, of course, that
Whitman's "invisible, constant cur
rents" were projected in a manner far
different from that of those back
parlor sentimentalists who substitute
platitudes for action. He was always
doing something, and that something
was always practical. When he made
a trip through a ward or a series of
wards, it was his custom to give some
trifle to each patient, even," he has
said, "a sweet biscuit, a sheet of
paper or a passing word of friendli
ness, or but a look or a nod, if no
more." There Is in another of his
biographies the testimony of a soldier
whose leg he saved by a bit of per
sonal attention bestowed at the right
time, and who did not -even learn his
name until long afterward. He was
not a well-paid nurse, as nurses are
today, and, as has been said, his own
resources were small.
On a much grander scale, as to
equipment and facilities and numbers,
the kind of work which Whitman in
augurated, and the value of which he
was among the first in the whole
country to sense, is being carried on
today in the hospitals of this country
and France. So much more is known
of wound treatment and the care of
the sick than was known then thar.
more of our men doubtless would re
cover without attention to the niceties
to which Whitman and a few others
gave themselves. But when one reads
of efforts to preserve the morals of
the wounded, it will be well to re
member that it was an American poet
who more than half a century ago
gave impetus to the movement which
has resulted in the most comprehen
sive welfare scheme that the world
has ever known.
Whitman believed that wars are
fought, in the last analysis, for the
preservation of democracy. What he
wrote of that war he might have said
of this one:
To thee, old cause!
Thou peerless, passionate, good cause.
Thou stern, remorseless, sweet Idea.
Deathless throughout the ages, races, lands.
After a strange, sad war, great war for
thee
(I thhile all war through time was really
fought, and ever will be really fought,
for thee).
These chants for thee, the eternal march of
thee.
A RALLflNG POINT FOR RUSSIA.
Every scrap of news which seeps
out of Russia in these days adds force
to the argument for armed interven
tion by the allies in that country
The people realize that they were be
trayed into the hands of their enemy
by the Brest-Litovsk treaty, and that
the terms of that infamous document
have been flagrantly violated by Ger.
many.
The Bolshevikl never were support
ed by more than an active minority
of the Russian people. Their victory
was that of an organized minority
over an unorganized and mainly pas
sive majority. Recent events Indicate
that the majority is becoming or
ganized . and actively resistant, and
that many supporters are falling away
from the Bolshevikl, having learned
how vain were their dreams. But the
great mass of the Russian people re
mains dumb with terror, paralyzed
with mutual distrust. The terrorism
of the Czar's Black Hundreds has
been followed by that of the Red
Guard and then by that of the Ger
man soldiers.
The greatest need of Russia Is a
force to which the people who want
to fight and work for their country's
freedom and regeneration can rally
in confidence that it will net betray
them. They have been betrayed so
often and so shamefully by their own
leaders that mutual distrust has been
ingrained in their minds, and pre
vents development of such a force
from within Russia. It must come
from without. No nation is better
qualified to supply such a force than
the United States, for all writers who
have visited Russia since the revo
lution began are agreed that the peo
ple look to the American form of
government as the model by which
they should build, American com
merce as the instrument of their eco
nomic revival and development and
the American people as the one Na
tion which seeks profit only as an
incident to the benefits it confers by
commerce.
This attitude- of mind on the part
of the Russian people warrants con
fidence that if a single division of
American troops were to land in Rus
sia with enough surplus arms and ma
terial to equip a Russian army, tens
of thousands of patriotic Russians
would rally to it and would soon con
stitute a new army which would fight
as that of the Grand Duke Nicholas
fought before it was sold out.
If the allies do not quickly go to
the rescue of Russia, national dis
integration may proceed at an accel
erated pace, Germany may get so
strong a hold on the country as will
require far greater effort to breuk,
and its resources may be used in year
ly increasing quantity to prolong the
war in the west. Every considera
tion of war strategy as well as friend
ship for Russia demands that the al
lies act, and act soon.
NO LANGCAr.K FOR IT.
Dr. William Wallace Campbell'
statement that "it is utterly impos
sible to give the faintest conception
in lay terms of Einstein's theory of
relativity," coupled with the declara
tion that if Einstein is right we shall
have to modify all our "known knowl
edge" of the universe, would seem te
call for a change in our system of
education. An announcement which
Dr. Boothroyd sets down as the most
remarkable in the history of the hu
man race cannot be explained to iu
because we have not been prepared
to receive it. The perturbations of
the orbit of Mercury, even the law of
gravitation itself, may be in the bal
ance. Substantiation of the Einstein
theory will "modify every conception
now current regarding the universe."
All this may come to pass right under
our noses, while we remain in the
dark. The scientists in our midst arc
as Stanley in darkest Africa. We
lack mutual knowledge of a language
tn which to convey momentous
thoughts.
The language will be acquired, of
course, although by degrees. In this
instance it will be a language of higher
mathematics, which it would seem
that we have too greatly neglected.
Perhaps it was with a sense of the
bearing of this study upon our future
that Professor Edwin Bidwell Wilson,
of the Massachusetts Institute, of
Technology, urged recently in the
course of a lecture in Boston that
teachers abandon the practice of di
viding mathematic courses into arbi
trary strata, which the Boston Tran
script remarks may "very well suit
the hierarchical divisions of the curric
ulum, but which may or may not
bear any relation to the actual needs
of the case." This is illustrated by
the separate grooves reserved for
arithmetic, algebra and calculus, which
Professor Wilson would greatly mod
ify, if he did not disregard them. Pro
fessor Wilson has cited with approval
the following from the preface to a
book called "Calculus Made Easy," by
Silvanus P. Thompson, an English
writer on physics and engineering:
Some calculus tricks are quite easy. Some
are enormously difficult. The- fools who
write the textbooks of advanced mathematics
I take the trouble to show you how easy the
easy calculations are. On the contrary, they
seem to desire to Impress you with their
tremendous cleverness by going about it in
the most difficult way.
Being myself a remarkably stupid fellow
I have had to unteach myself the difficulties.
and now beg to present to my fellow fools
the psrts that are not hard. Master these
thoroughly, and the rest will follow. What
one fool can do another can.
Professor Wilson goes on to say, as
quoted by the Transcript, that "all
problems involving rates of change of
quantities, except possibly the sim
plest problems, require for their solu
tion, and even for their statement, a
knowledge of the calculus." This takes
in . so many matters involving phe
nomena with which we are confronted
daily that it would seem to be a prime
requisite for the youth of the future
who expects to deal with problems of
gas engine pressure and the improve
ment of airplanes. Professor Wilson
also makes a plea for the throwing
open of certain parts of trigonometry
to the lower students at least those
parts which would aid them in un
derstanding the problems which they
are called upon to solve.
If most persons are right In sup
posing that the world is now enter
ing upon an era in which science is
to have fuller swing than it ever has
had before, it is clear that something
will be required to make mathemati
cal studies more comprehensible and
more popular to the average student.
There is wrong psychology about the
system which lets it be taken for
granted that mathematics is dull and
higher mathematics all but impossible
of achievement, yet that is the feeling
which the beginner in arithmetic has
when he comes in contact with upper
classmen. While we are humanizing
the classics, upon which much stress
Is being placed in certain quarters, it
might be yell also to humanize our
mathematics. The reflection will not
cease troubling us that the perpetual
drouth between the co-ers of the text
books on mathematics is in part at
least the fault of the teachers.
We are now, perhaps, about to pay
the penalty for our past omissions.
Everything that we thought we knew
about the universe may be changed
some night, when the astronomers
have finished extending the calcula
tions for which they laid the founda
tion at Baker and at Goldendale the
other day. But they will not be able
to tell us about it. because the lan
guage which is spoken and understood
by the laity contains no words for it
A somewhat similar situation must
have prevailed when the l.atin mis
sionaries first began to teach our
Norse ancestors the rudiments of
theology and philosophy. If the Ein
stein theory of relativity is confirmed,
it is going to cause a mighty reform
in mathematics teaching, to say noth
ing of its effect upon our conception
of the universe.
The Food Administration Is citing
with approval the example set by 100
women of Oklahoma City, Okla., who
have just completed the financing of
a co-operative plan for marketing the
surplus from war gardens. The plan
will be followed with profit by cities
not provided with other co-operative
markets, but its most interesting fea
ture is a Liberty kitchen, where it is
proposed to can and preserve all pro
duce which would not be sold in time
to escape deterioration. A kind of
circle, but not a vicious one, is estab
lished. The kitchen will be main
tained from the proceeds of a "wagon
tax" on the market gardeners, and
the proceeds of the canned produce
will be used to defray the original cost
of the market building and to meet
other expenses. A modern canning
equipment will be Installed and there
will be accommodations for fifty cook
ing classes of women. Oregon, how
ever, will continue to hold the ago on
the wheeze about folks who sell what
they can and can what they can't,
which is said to have been born in
Astoria some forty years ago.
Six million garments from the United
States Army are to be "reclaimed."
and the announcement is of more than
ordinary interest because this is the
first time in the history of our Army
that the thing has been done. Hereto
fore partly wornout clothing has gone
incontinently into the rag bag. But
the vastness of our present organiza
tion has made need of economy more
imperative and its measure more ap
parent. It is one of the valuable les
sons we have learned from our allies,
who wasted on a large scale in the
early months of the war. Our Gov
ernment is wise In taking the step in
time, and modern facilities for textile
work are so complete that by tho
time the salvage of soldiers' clothing
is thorough there will be no way by
which the ordinary individual will be
able to identify them as "second
hand." Arrangements are being niadft by
the German states for the division ot
captured territory, but there is still
force in the adage that a bird in the
hand is worth two In the bush, with
the addition that after getting him in
your hand you must keep him there.
The dry states look with perfect
equanimity on the renewed efforts to
make National prohibition a war
measure without waiting for the states
to ratify the Constitutional amend
ment. They do not see why people
should want to drink, anyway.
Austria having "liberated" the Poles,
will now proceed to point out to them
the inestimable privilege which is
theirs of Joining the armies of the
central powers or taking the conse
quences of refusing to do so.
It is all right to rejoice over the
prospect of good crops, provided we
do not let our optimism unduly in
crease our appetites. Whatever the
surplus, it must be reserved for our
soldiers and our allies.
It is proposed to amend "Give until
it hurts" to "Give until it exhilarates."
But it reads all right either way. the
whole thought of the sentence being
comprehended in the one word, "Give
The chaps who have failed to volun
teer for fear they wouldn't be sent to
France will all step forward, of course,
when they read of our plans to send
across an Army of 8.000.000 men.
Any way they are looked at. the
rulings of Provost-Marshal Crowder
seem to contain mighty little comfort
for the fellows who married in the
hope of escaping the draft.
A convict at Salem serving a life
term repudiates relationship to Ad
miral von Tirpitz. There are depths
to which even a life-termer will not
sink, it seems.
George Creel Is not the only former
expounder of Socialist theories who
has seen the light since the Bolshevikl
began making unrestrained radicalism
unpopular.
The Red Cross proposes to show that
junk is nothing else than matter out
of place. There are few commodities
that cannot be put to'some good use
nowadays.
Judging from the size of the wood
piles this season, the coal-saving
movement Is already well under way.
Now that the new star is growing
dimmer, we are almost convinced that
it was the Kaiser's star, after all.
Even a leaky iron teakettle may be
melted into a shell that will kill a
Hun.
Henry Ford has. decided to run for
the Senate by Christmas, instead.
LIFE AND SERVICE OF MRS. HENRY L. PITTOCK
Early Days la Iortlaari Ideat Irlcatloa With Jlssy Charitable aad Phllaa-
hrople Prajerta Hrr rlelpfalaras aad Kisdsraa Istrrral la W omra'a
I atom aad . alldrra's Home Other I srfsl Activities.
MARRIED At the residence of the brlde"s
father, on the "Oth Inst., by R-v. c s.
Kingsley. Mr. Henry L. Plttock and Miss
Oeorslana M. Burton, all of this city.
(From The Oregonian. June 2J. lsuO.)
rpiKl'S simply was chronicled In the
1
fifty-eight years ago. the wedding
of the young printer and publisher and
the comely girl who had consented to
cast her lot for life with him. There
was no other reference to the event.
It was characteristic both of him and
her, then and always after, that they
should be reluctant to obtrude their
affairs upon the public notice.
The union of Georglana Burton and
Henry Tittock took place at the Burton
home near Sixth and Jefferson streets.
The bridesmaid was Sarah Abrams.
then soon to marry H. A. Hogue, a well
known citizen, and the groomsman was
George T. Myers, a rising young busi
ness man who played afterward a large
part in the commercial life of city and
state. Mrs. Hogue. who lives in good
health at the Nortonia. has sprightly
memories of those early days in Port
land. The Abramses and the Kurtona
were next door neighbors and Georgi
ana and Sarah were students at the old
Portland Academy and Female Semi
nary, an institution which was the alma
mater of many Portland and Oregon
boys and girls.
"I can rememfcer vividly how Oeorgi
ana looked then," said Mrs. Hogue. the
other day, "a handsome and vivacious
girl, simple and frank In manner and
outspoken in speech, and exceedingly
popular with a large circle. She was
not quite sixteen when she was married.
But those were the days of early de
velopment and early marriages and
Oeorgiana was quite a mature woman."
Sarah Abrams was married in 1861. and
the friendship between Mrs. Hogue and
Mrs. Plttock continued throughout all
the Intervening years.
Probably It will not be amiss to say
something of the pioneer environ
ment of Mrs. Plttock. The Portland
Academy, located on the block west of
the Ladd home (Jefferson. Columbia.
Sixth and Broadway), was under the
fostering care of the Methodist Church,
which had much to do with the begin
nings of Oregon. The principal during
Mrs. Pittock's days of pupilship was
Dr. C. S. Kingsley, who performed the
marriage ceremony, and in the student
body was represented practically every
family of consequence In the town. The
academy was In the suburbs, bordering
the woods. The population was but a
few thousand: yet Portland was the
metropolis of the entire Pacific North
west, and, therefore, its commercial,
political, social and educational center.
The business district ranged along
Front and First streets, and the dwell
ings of the residents were scattered
ahout an area now pretty completely
covered by large buildings. It may be
recalled that The Oregonian was printed
at that time at First and Morrison
streets. The young couple lived suc
cessively at Sixth and Jefferson, then
near Third and Morrison, and then at
Fourth and Salmon, and then at the
handsome cottage newly erected on the
block bounded by Washington, Stark.
West Park and Tenth stre ts. Young
Plttock. with his clear vision of the
long future, had bought that property
in 1856 for $300, and he had It cleared at
a cost of $100. lie It remembered that
It wns covered with a heavy forest
growth, and that even when his house
was built, and the young husband and
wife, with their first child, were domi
ciled therein, the place was to be
reached only by a path through the
trees.
Imagine the time. If you can. when
the moving, bustling, hurrying metro
politan Washington street was but a
trail to a pioneer home! But so It was.
Mr. and Mrs. Plttock got Into tht-ir
modest residence In 1861. and there they
lived for many years, and there all their
children except the first (nine tn
number) were born. Later they built,
and occupied, a larger dwelling on the
same block. Both houses gave way in
time to the expanding movement of the
city's Industrial and commercial growth:
yet they lived there in peace and happi
'ness. for exactly half a century, first
beyond the city's outskirts, then in a
populous residential district, and finally
In the very heart of a great clfy. They
gave up with reluctance a home site
which they had established for life, and
moved four years ago to another new
home on Imperial Heights, west of the
city, and once more in the virgin woods.
A great business block now tenants the
Plttock home block.
m m m
Asked If she could recall the names
of the pupils of the late '50s at Portland
Academy, Mrs. Hogue gave a few who
were in the intimate circle of herself
and Mrs. Plttock.
"I have In mind." she said. "Sarah
Klizabeth Davis, who became Mrs. John
Marshall, still living, and a lifelong
friend of Mrs. Plttock; Anna Davis
(Mrs. Fuller). Delia Davis (Mrs. Will
lam Rraden), Samuel Moreland, William
Deardorff and Caltha Cotton (how could
I fail to remember the budding romance
of these two. watched by us all until
their marriage?), Llbby Clay, Mary
Royal. Rebecca Jane Greer. Leonard
Powell, and many, many more."
James McCown, of The Oregonian. an
old-time student of Portland Academy,
recalls other names, including Lizzie
Couch (Mrs. Dr. Gllsan). Nancy Carter
iMrs. U F. (.rover). Sallle Dobbins
(Mrs. George T. Myers). Kosa Frazer
Mrs. M. S. Burrell). Fletcher Royal.
Willian Moreland, F. O. McCown.
Thomas H. Brents and others.
Herein is perhaps the keynote of Mrs.
Pittock's character her fidelity to
friends and to prlnciplea for among
those early-day associates were those
whose companionship and intimacy she
courted and retained till her death. It
is significant, too. that among those
other associates who Joined her in her
philanthropic enterprises still appear
many of the same names that were
there in the beginning, unless removed
by death or other unavoidable circum
stance. Thus we are led naturally to
origin of the Ladies Relief Society as
long ago as 1867. She was one of the
founders of that admirable institution,
which was the legitimate outgrowth of
the unorganized activities of good
women in various charities for months
and even years prior to that time. On
March 20. 1867, the Ladies' Relief So
ciety began its legal existence. Prom
inent In the Initial work were the
Couch, Lewis and Flanders families and
Mrs. Plttock. On July 12. 1871. the
Children's Home was founded. The
first letterhead of the home bears the
name of Mrs. Amory Holbrook as presi
dent. Mrs. Plttock was a member of
the advisory board. Others active in
the work at that time, and a little later
I some of them continuously to the
present, though others nave passed on
were Mrs. Rosa Burrell. Mrs. Theodore
Wygant. Mrs. Cleveland Rockwell, Mrs.
C. A. Dolph. Mrs. H. Thielsen. Mrs. K. G.
Hughes. Mrs. Julius Loewenberg, Mrs.
D. P. Thompson, Mrs. A. J. Meier, Mrs.
P. J. Mann. Mrs. J. P. Morey. What an
honor roll of names distinguished for
charity, kindliness and motherliness.
What a galaxy of good women, devoted
to family and not less concerned about
the welfare of children unhappily bereft
of the care of parents.
The Children's Home is one of the
beautiful charities of Portland. It has
had an uninterrupted career for more
than half a century of usefulness and
service. It has done its great work
without noise or sensation. Hundreds
and thousands of homeless children have
found there love, thought fulness, rai
ment, food, education and Christian in
struction. The inspiration for its worthy
deeds was the abounding benevolence
aud motherly feeling of such, women. as
Mrs. Plttock. They gave the institution
always not only their constant personal
supervision. but they provided ite
finances, seldom calling on the state
and not even disturbing the general
public by appeals for assistance.
T have been associated with Mrs.
Plttock In the management of the Chil
dren's Home for many, many years.''
said Mrs. A. J. Meier yesterday. "She
was one of the best women that ever
lived: and he had besides great energy,
sound Judgment and strong will. Ve
relied on her. and she was never wrong.
She was always peaceful and peaceable,
but very strong in finding the right
way and taking it. What a kind heart
and great soul she had:"
"It was a privilege to be associated
with Mrs. Plttock." said Mrs. D. P.
Thompson. "I saw some things about
her beautiful character which were per
haps denied to others who were not
with her in her daily benevolent and
charitable work, which took up so
much of her life. It happened fre
quently that a distant relative or family
acquaintance of some child in the home
would express a willingness to care for
htm or her. If the child could be sent.
Frequently such invitations came from,
the distant East, and the matter of rail
road transportation was a great prob
lem, since there was no fund for such
purposes. Inevitably In euch cases. Mrs.
Plttock would say that we ought not to
go outside the board for subscriptions
and she would offer to provide a liberal
share of the necessary amount, and
thus the money was always raised. She
was a good, generous, wise, competent,
helpful and useful woman. Not many
will ever know the many kindnesses
she performed on her own account for
needy Individuals, and only the women
who worked with her understand the
full measure of her service to the sev
eral Institutions with which she was so
long identified the Children's Home
(Ladies' Relief Society), old Peoples
Home. Unitarian Church. Woman'
Union, and others."
Thirty-one years ago. a group of
Portland women conceived the Idea of
establishing a home for wage-earning
girla and women strangers in the city,
who could not easily find and pav for &
suitable domicile. Mrs. Pittock w as one
of the originators of the project, and
its final relization is the fine establish
ment (Martha Washington Home) at
the corner of Tenth and Montgomery
streets, where about 50 women live In
comfort and even refinement, at very
small cost. So great Is the present suc
cess of this excellent undertaking that
there were forty more applications for
admittance in the month of May than
could be accommodated. The first loca
tion was at Fifteenth and Flanders
streets, the site of the original Chil
dren's Home. In time these quarters
were outgrown, and otherwise became
unsuitable, and a new location, with a
more commodious establishment, was
sought and found. The Interest of Mrs.
Plttock in the Woman's Union, its man
agement and Its work, was unfailing.
She was its fourth president and she
was from the first a member of its
board. Her unusual energy and tact
and her clear insight Into practical
problems made her entirely acceptable
as the one woman to be the chairman
of the finance committee; and this place,
she long occupied, discharging Its duties
faithfully and cheerfully.
"I remember an incident In the affaire
of the union some years ago that shows
the sensible bent of Mrs. I'ittock'a
mind." said Mrs. J. 15. Comstock. presi
dent of the union, yesterday. "The
union had a mortgage debt of J.'.OOO and
it was a source of great worry to the
ladies. Times were not good, and it
was not easy to pay the Interest, to say
nothing of the principal, and to meet
current obligations besides. Mrs. Plt
tock took hold of the troublesome affair
with characteristic resolution to find a
solution. She did. with the aid of other
active women. She got the rate of in
terest reduced from eight- to six per
cent and raised the money to pay ail
hut $lli0 of the principal: and she got
through an amendment to the by-laws
providing that when the balance should
be paid as it was no mortgage should
ever again be placed against the prop
erty of the organization."
The Woman's Union was perhaps first
In the thought and solicitude of Mrs,
Pittock. not excepting even the Chil
dren's Home, which for so many years
received so great a part of her capable
helpfulness. Four years ago. she ltist
the robust health which had been her
fortunate endowment during many
years. She sought then to give way to
others: but "we could not and would
not hear of it." said Mrs. Comstock.
"I told her that she need do no work,
but we wanted to have her with tie
whenever she could come, so as to get
the benefit of her counsel and the con
tagion of her wholesome and wonderful
spirit." As to the Children's Home, "t
insisted on her staying on the board.'"
said Mrs. Thompson. "Whenever any
thing came up which normally would
go to Mrs. Pittock. I agreed to take,
care of It- So would others have done."
I.ast August the Portland Woman's
Union abandoned its old quarters and
occupied the Martha Washington Home.
On October 20. 1917, there was a public
reception marking the formal opening
of the institution. It may be of interest
to note the personnel of the women in
terested in that notable reception, as
disclosed by the newspaper announce
ments of the event. Here it is:
Mrs. J. Tl. Comstock. the president, will
be assisted by Mrs. Henrv K. Jones. Mrs.
P. .1. Mann. Mrs. H. I.. Pillock. Mrs. ". It.
Tenipleton. Mrs. Klllolt K. Corbelt. Mia.
Adnlph A. D kum.
Presiding at the tea table xv 111 be Mrs,
Jacob Kanim, Mrs. Mary H. Steers. Mra,
Klizabeth Hamilton. Mrs. Helen 1-aiid ir
bett. Mrs. Thomas I.. Eliot. Mrs. H. V. Cor
bet! and Mrs. Frederick Essert.
Mrs. A. J. Meier will prcsuio over the,
basket Into which the voluntary sliver of
ferings will be dropped.
There were others, too. prominent in
the social and philanthropic world, who
had a place at the reception: but it is
Intended herein to indicate by name,
only part of those who have been the
mainstays of the union, most of them
for many years.
Mrs. Pittock was present at the func
tion. It was a happy day for her. not
withstanding her long illness and
feeble health.. An existent photograph
shows her seated in the center of an
attentive group, flanked on one side by
her devoted friends and fellow- servitors
In every good cause Mrs. 1. J. Mann
and Mrs. Henry K. Jones while in the
background were others of those whose
names appear above. It was Mrs. Pit
tock's last appearance at any formal
public occasion. Put it must have been
with her a grateful thought that she
should have been able to witness the
actual consummation of many years'
labor of herself, and others equally un
selfish and Capable, in the dedication of
the Martha Washington Home, and that -so
many of the fine women who had o
long served with her on the board of
the union should have been able also to
take part in the ceremonies.
Mrs. Pittock was a life-long member
of the Unitarian Church, and there are
many there, too. to testify to her
willingness to perform her part, and
more, in the religious life of the city. -
The purpose of this article has been
to make record of the public and semi
public work of a good and useful
woman, who has ended her work, and
gone forward. Of her family life, and
of the countless little deeds that made
up the cum total of her character, and
of the desolation of a home created by
her death, and of the fifty-tight years
of constant companionship with her
husband, now finally broken by her
death. It is not intended to write; ncr
is it needful.