TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAX. PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 6, 1921
ESTABLISHED BT HEVBY L. P1TTOCK.
' Published by The Oregonfan Publishing- Co.,
- W Sixth Street, Portland, Oregon.
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PORTLAND'S CLAIM TO BIO SHIPS.
j When the shipping- board consld-
i ers the ports to which it should alio
. cate Its large passenger ships on
I which subject it will have a hearing
' on November 14, it will have to de
I oJde whether Portland Bhall be
. placed on an equality with other Pa
1 clfic ports as to passenger and fast
; freight service to the far east. The
claims of Portland are based on the
amount of its foreign commerce
; since the war. During the war, ow
' ins to conditions which were so ab
normal as to be no guide to present
action, our commerce sank to an in
significant total, but the war no
sooner ended than a steady increase
set in. The total Imports aDd ex
t ports grew to more than 147,000,000
. In 1919 and made a further increase
to more than $69, 000,00 in 1920
Though value of all commodities was
much lower than in 1920, exports in
'- the first ten months of 1921 were al
most $54,000,000 and the prospect is
; that, in spite of lower values, the
j total commerce for the year, both
export and Import, will exceed that
; for 1920.
This increase, during a period of
i world-wide depression when the
1 commerce of other Pacific ports has
greatly decreased, is most signifl
: cant. It has been produced by no
: great ship-owning combination, by
i no traffic agreement between ship
ping companies and railroads, by no
special favors from the shipping
' board. On the contrary, such influ
f ences have worked against Portland
' and in favor of competing ports. The
port's commerce has grown through
,. tbfi Inherent strength of our position
as a port, developed by the enter
prise, capital and co-operative spirit
of the community and by recognition
' In our trade territory of the port's
advantages. An evidence of this
strength is the fact that 98 per cent
. of export cargoes are of local origin,
' the products of this territory, which
s could have been sent to other ports
through no Influence but discrimina
tion that has but lately been abol
: tolled. Private lines at other ports
' rely for profit on local traffic which
rarely reaches 65 per cent of a
cargo, the other 35 per cent being
transcontinental freight obtained
under contract with railroads to give
particular shipping lines their im-
: port and export traffic. These con
' tracts are generally with foreign
lines, therefore are contrary to the
' declared policy of congress that the
' American merchant marine shall be
built up. Lf these were annulled, as
they should be on the ground of op
. poaitlon to public policy, a much
larger volume of transcontinental
' .freight for export or import would
flow to Portland. If its ratio to local
traffic should become 35 per cent at
Portland, a much larger number of
ships would be loaded here without
. effort to concentrate traffic here in
preference to competing ports.
This Is a policy which Portland
rightly asks the shipping board and
the interstate commerce commission
" to follow as in accord with the spirit
of our railroad and shipping laws
'and as in accord with the purpose of
; the American people to maintain a
, merchant maj-ine. It would bring to
- Portland a large quantity of traffic
: which pays high ocean rates and de
j mands express service. There would
j l: no difficulty in completing car
i goes with local freight, wheat, flour
and lumber, for which there is a
steady demand in Japan and China.
'. M a Portland line of passenger-cargo
j whips were as well advertised as the
. Seattle line operated for the ship-
ping board has been at public ex
!J pense, it should build up a good pas
; senger traffic which would be de
i vsioped by the commerce that the
Uoe would Increase. With only local
.-.-advertising a Japanese steamer re--cently
secured forty-one passengers,
mainly from local territory.
.Portland, on behalf of the Colum
bia Pacific shipping company,, has
applied to the shipping board for al
location of three steamships of the
803 type to operate on its trans-Pacific
route. These vessels are E22
feet long, draw 31.6 inches of water,
carry 12,000 deadweight tons and
have a speed of 14 knots. They are
preferred t5 the 535 type because
they have accommodation for elgh-ty-four
first-class and no steerage
passengers as against 249 ficst-class
and. 300 steerage on the 535s, and
they carry a crew of ninety-two as
against 196. The suggestions which
the board has under consideration
for final allocation assign five of the
seven 502 ships to a New York-Rotterdam
line and two to a California
oriental line. They assign five of
535 type to "a United States north
Pacific port on the Japan-China-Manila
run," the question apparently
being whether Portland or Seattle
shiall be that north Pacific port By
providing ships with much steerage
room on a route where immigration
of laborers is forbidden, the board
would Increase the Initial loss that is
inevitable and would delay the day
when they would become profitable.
:The circumstances suggest that, in
order adequately to provide for
nojrth Pacific porta, the five ships
stiould be divided between Seattle
artd Portland, not all operated from
one port. In this manner the just
claim of both ports to American ser
vice . would be satisfied and the
greatest aggregate traffic would be
secured. Hy applying for only three
when five a" e to be ullocated, Port
land leaves the way open for alter-
1 A
nate sailings from the two ports, for
both to strive for traffic and for a
judgment by results of the respective
merits of the two porta and the two
operating companies.
Those who deny Portland's claim
to this service raise the old question
as to adequate depth of water In the
Columbia river channel. The offer
of the Columbia Pacific to operate
the 602 ships, which have a foot
more draft than the 535s, in that
channel should be sufficient answer
to that question. The company is
managed by experienced steamship
men. alive to the responsibility they1
assume, and they have hitherto run
ships without mishap and without
loss. .Their offer is backed by tne
pledge of the Port of Portland to
maintain sufficient depth for a sate
31-foot draft, and It and the gov
ernment together will have seven
dredges to make good the pledge.
Ships come from the orient with
only a fraction of a cargo, removing
all doubt as to the inward voyage.
While they go out fully loaded, they
can overcome any difficulty arising
during the short period after the an
nual freshet when depth is deficient
by taking on fuel and part cargo at
Astoria, as is done at other ports of
far greater magnitude than either
Seattle or Portland. The channel
will be both deepened and widened
through the joint efforts of the Port
and the government from year to
year, and before there is any prob
ability that liners would come in
with full loads any vestige of doubt
as to an adequate channel will have
been finally removed.
If the board should deny Port
land's claim to any of the big ships.
it will do so in, the face of a showing
such as few ports can make. This
port has built up Its commerce to
the present proportions by its own
efforts and by heavy expenditure in
improving channel and harbor, by
building docks and by the attraction
which cargoes offer to ships. It has
done so without the aid of large
combinations of capital extending to
the Atlantic coast and having alli
ance with foreign shipping com.
panies. It has done so without the
favor of railroads. If the board
should decide against it in this case,
It will not exclaim despairingly that
its back is against the wall. It will
go on building up its commerce with
the abundant resources of its own
territory, and it will go on fighting
for its share of government ships
and of the foreign commerce of the
nation. It will also continue to re
sist by all means available against
all forms of discrimination. It asks
no favors and it will not tolerate
favoritism shown to competitors.
EDUCATION IN INVESTMENT.
If investment bankers undertake
to educate the small investor in the
folly of buying wildcat stocks, they
will have a large contract on their
hands. If they do it wisely, they will
develop a wide field for attraction
of capital to extension of American
Industry and foreign trade. ' The
process of education began after the
panic of 1907, when the extremely
low price of sound stocks led great
numbers of people to buy small lots
for Investment, not for speculation.
That process was continued on a
gjand scale by the sale of liberty
bonds to millions who had never
seen a bond and who regardedgov
ernment bonds as something for the
rich, entirely beyond their own
reach.
Sellers of bogus stock still have
things very much their own way
among the class of people that they
victimize. To such people, who have
only a few thousand dollars to invest,
reasonable dividends on sound stock
yield too small an income to attract
them. They have heard and read
of the great profits of corporations.
and want to share' them. The con
stant campaign against corporations
has deceived them, for the dema
gogue represents large profits as the
rule, and carefully conceals the fact
that not only are they exceptional
but are often the fruit of years'
labor in building up a business with
out profit, or that a year of big
dividends alternates with two or
three years of small ones or none
at all. They do not tell that highly
profitables mines are either rare
lucky strikes or the product of years
of careful development by skilled
engineers at enormous cost. Men
who have such mines do not hawk
stock in them about the country. Not
one in a thousand of the mines In
which stock Is peddled ever becomes
a paying producer. But the seller
only mentions the few bonanzas, and
leaves the impression that there are
no losers.
Going from door to door and from
farm to farm, untracked by officers
of the law or by representatives of
honest business, the stock faker has
everything his own way. He can be
lavish with promises of rich returns,
for he will have changed his name
and place of business before the
time for fulfilment comes and he
leaves his dupes so poor that they
are unable to take up the pursuit,
they are so scattered that they can
not well combine for that purpose,
and they are often too ashamed to
tell of their loss. The faker is a
rapid talker with an Impressive,
persuasive manner and pictures vi
sions of sudden wealth which make
his "prospect's eyes bulge with
amazed cupidity. He gives no time
for deliberation when he sees that
his victim' is worked up to the right
pitch of excitement, but produces
his subscription blank and fountain
pen and says, "Sign here."
Money thus lost is doubly wasted.
for It discourages many from thrift.
and It prejudices others, unable to
discriminate between the genuine
and the spurious, against corporate
securities of any kind. It puts
obstacles In the way of the dealer
In sound Investment, and deprives
the country of the benefits to be
derived from a multitude of small
investmens in its railroads. Indus
tries, ships and Import and export
business. Such are the main source
A British and French wealth. The
popular impression that British in
dustry and commerce are owned by
a comparatively few millionaires Is
erroneous. Under laws" guarding
against fraud and reckless specula
tion, they are owned mainly by hosts
of people of moderate and small
means, who are guided by the advice
of family lawyers and bankers or of
brokers whose business could not
survive advice to Invest in fraudulent
stock. The financial strength of
France is due to cautious investment
by both peasants and city people of
the proceeds of thrift. There is a
great amount of capital in small
blocks in this country which could,
with profit to Its owners, contribute
rto the general prosperity.
There is a field for a general cam
paign of educalon on this subject.
The stock swindler not only wastes
the proceeds of his fraud, but fright
ens many into rejecting good oppor
tunities for sure profit. The small
Investor needs to learn the familiar
law that high returns mean great
risk and that the less the risk the
smaller is the return. As in war, the
best defensive for the legitimate cor
poration is a vigorous offensive. By
openly attacking and pointing out
the deceptions of the swindler, its
agents can make the opening for
sound securities. In so doing he will
do an Incidental service to the whole
nation, for he will help to clear the
tog of socialism out of many minds.
A man who has worked to earn the
few thousand dollars he invests will
scout the suggestion that interest
and profits are robbery of the working-man;
he will rather tell the so
cialist orator to go to work and save,
then see how he likes his own medicine.
THE DISLIKE FOB WORK.
It Is most refreshing to be assured
from an erudite source that the
semi occasional disinclination to
work Is a physiological fact, and
not to be mastered by will power.
A British authority, speaking before
the Royal Institute of Public Health,
assured an eager world) that con
tinuous employment is in defiance of
natural laws, and that an antipathy
to toil does not necessarily connote
laziness. This is the dictum all of
us have waited patiently for, as a
relief to personal responsibility.
The new theory Is that in nature
we would toll intermittently and at
our pleasure or necessity, quitting
whenever we felt like it. Periods of
resolute effort would be followed by
abstention from work. Thus, lf the
worker arrived in that Monday
morning frame of mind which re
gards with something akin to ab
horrence the task ahead, he would
accept the physiological hint and go
fishing until he felt more inclined to
labor. Men whistle and skng in war,
the theorist contends, because the
routine is varied and surprising, and
tremendous expenditures of effort
are succeeded by complete rest and
relaxation. There is no schedule to
appal, no clock to dismay. As one
proceeds with the examination of
this intriguing theory, however,
there comes a-sense of familiarity,
as at old lines re-read. It seems
not so new nor so novel nor so in
triguing as when it was advanced,
and the most slothful could not wish
that it were reconciled to the tasks
of the world. , .
Differently interpreted, it is per
ceived that the physiological fact, by
whatever, name we name It, is our
old chum and tempter, laziness. It
Is probably true that in an, aborig
inal state our forefathers were ac
customed to suit their own conveni
ence about the matter of work. They
were chumps otherwise. But like
many other natural facts, this one
has been set aside by an advancing
race because it Interfered with -progress
and comfort and happiness.
Those who still cling to it are the
Idlers and tramps of the present.
In distant ages mankind might have
told himself that it was the natural
and pre-ordained thing for him to
cling to the equator where there was
warmth and fruits. However na
tural that impulse was, he conquered
it, most fortunately for civilization.
Indeed, the path of the race is
strewn with discarded physiological
fact.
The work of the world is not ac
complished by men who labor inter
mittently and at will but by the
slaves of the clock. At times their
service may be irksome, but they are
equal to the occasion and remain
efficient. With all these busy beagles
of science barking on new scents
and now and again running to earth
the simplest of disregarded facts as
though it were a gray wolf at the
least, it Is difficult to keep pace with
the best thought of the times. Cer
tainly we were in no need of a defi
nition and excuse for indolence, yet
here we have it, and no one will pay
the slightest heed to It for the suf
ficient reason that they can't af
ford to.
A NEGLECTED GRAVE IN OREGON.
Nine years and more have passed
since Homer Davenport, cartoonist.
drew his last picture and came back
to the old home town of Silverton,
to rest in a country graveyard.
Though In life he depicted men and
events with a rare insight and a
graphic touch, it is pleasant to fancy,
as Kipling did, that death but widens
the perceptions and frees all mortal
talent from the Inevitable shackles of
mundanity . . . that "each In
his separate star shall draw the
thing as he sees it for the God of
things as they are." For if there be
truth in the fancy, a rich reward
awaited this master of the cartoon,
a reward that did not depend upon
human fallibility, upon mortal mem
ory, as did the placing of a monu
ment at the grave in Silverton.
No more cynical comment upon
the evanescence of fame, or of ap
preciation, may be found than the
neglected resting place of Daven
port. We are at best but a forget
ful folk, too busied with our own af
fairs to weave a wreath of sentiment
Yet though nine years have passed
and the tribute is tardy, it is good
to know that Davenport's old friends
and neighbors of Silvertton are now
committed to the erection of a mon
ument above his clay. Marble and
granite do not of themselves attest
the worth of one whose race is run,
but certainly a stone at the grave of
this great cartoonist and very hu
man man is well bethought, and is
essential not only as a tribute but to
the good name of Oregon.
If we had pride In Davenport, the
selfish, self-congratulatory pride of
possession, the nation could find no
fault with us. But lf our pride -were
no greater than this, if it did not
rise to a joy in his achievements and
their significance, the absence of a
true appreciation would require no
more scathing criticism than the
fact that his, grave has been neg
lected. The appearances are against
Silverton and against Oregon, yet
each in its heart knows well enough
that the memory of Davenport is no
figment, but is as genuine and af
fectionate as when he was at the
zenith of his fame. A monument at
Silverton will aC the least be evi
dential of our loyal memory.
A monument at Silverton will
serve to remind all country boys, in
whom there stirs the fond and rest
less vision of genius, that boyhood
in the country, is not an inauspicious
Introduction to the world. Homer
Davenport was a country boy, re
bellious at the routine of the farm
an unschooled stripling whose dear
est friends were animal pets, whose
recreation was the crude drawing of
country characters. By the stand-
ards of that time and the present he
was uncouth and ill equipped, yet in
the years that followed he made men
cringe with shame before the truth
he drew, or blink back the tears that
welled when he touched their hearts
with penciled pathos. His gift of in
sight was strange to the verge of the
metaphysical. Perhaps it was be
cause he studied and made friends
with birds and dogs and horses that
he received the gift of character
analysis, which when transmitted to
paper in a few deft strokes suddenly
made clear to men much that had
been unperceived. A kindly, gen
uine genius was his at heart, and his
heart was that of an artist.
So it was that the' keen edge of
his satire, his inimitable flair for
the caustic, might turn at will to
such a theme as that afforded by
the public clamor against . Admiral
Dewey, when the old naval hero
deeded to his wife the home that
was a national gift. It was typical
of Homer Davenport that he re
buked not the admiral but the bay
ing public, with the memorable car
toon, "Lest We Forget." In this de
piction America was urged to re
member an historic day . . .
by a flag-ship whose huge guns were
twined with smoke, and on whose
bridge stood Dewey.
It would seem that we, too, have
been forgetting. We have been for
getful, or at least neglectful, of the
fact that Homer Calvin Davenport
was such a son of Oregon as de
serves the most honorable place in
our memories not only a great car
toonist, but a great man, who tri
umphed over poverty and vicissi
tude.
THREE HTNDRED BOOKS A YEAR.
Master Matthew Marsh of Oak
land, California, is ten years old and
an unusually bright boy. When
visitors pat the manly little fellow
on the head their patronizing atti
tude is not unmixed with awe. For
Matthew is the most recently dis
covered juvenile prodigy in all the
land. He reads 300 books a year
and in three years has accomplished
an eight-year course in school. With
out in the least desiring to cloud
the bright vision of his . future,
wherein his parents must surely
have glimpsed presidential honors,
It is pertinent to .inquire what has
become of the long succession of
infant wonders who preceded him.
Have they made history? Alas, the
records are silent.
Yet not exactly so. As Maeterlinck
points out in . hist psychological es
says, as science preserves in the life
histories of infant prodigies, it is
manifest that extraordinary youth
ful precocity is not always, and in
deed seldom, redeemed by mature
genius. The noted Belgian, by the
way, was the despair of bis school
masters. If every prodigy were to
fulfill the presage of youth the num
ber of preternaturally brilliant men
so provided would more than equip
the world with intellectual and off!
cial leaders. The fact is that men
who attain eminence have seldom
been, by the test of abnormal in
tellectual manifestations, remarkable
children. Learning and understand
ing, two very different acquisitions,
came to them tediously and by dint
of hard study and application.
Mathematical marvels have been
common in childhood, and in many
instances the inexplicable gift was
attended by a distinct loss in men
tality. In all other things the
prodigies of figures were subnormal
children, often verging upon idiocy.
Facility with numbers In such cases
has remained a profound puzzle to
scientists, who can only assume that
the subliminal consciousness with
magical intuition gave these children
their instantaneous insight. Cer
tainly the facility was not one of in
tellect. In other cases, where Juve
nile prodigies of mathematics were
normal, it has been repeatedly shown
that the . gift waned and departed
later in life, usually at the time
when school lessons were under
taken. This additional fact is taken
to Indicate that the growth of a
trained intelligence dulls the fine
edge of divination. The case of the
Oakland boy is, of course, by no
means a parallel, yet it .partakes of
some of the characteristics of these
latter instances. He, too, is pre
cocious to the point of wonderment,
yet the distinction is in the plausible
admission that an unusually active
intellect may be wholly responsible.
His case is not necessarily mysteri
ous. Precocity has strange whims, and
it is likely that the wreck of many
a promising career has been caused
by too much cargo. There are physi
cal limitations that demand respect,
and which, if ignored, are usurious
in requiring the forfeit. It cannot be
admitted by even the most bookish
that an approximate average of one
volume a day, for a boy of ten years,
Is a healthful mental or physical
diet. The playground can know him
but seldom, if at all, and the sunny
spaces that are dedicated to boy
hood have never heard his shout.
Far from being a cause for pride
and parental complacency, this trend
of Matthew's should occasion alarm
and anxiety. His penchant for books
is like, and yet unlike, that heroic
attempt of a Spoon River citizen
whose lofty vision was the memori
zation of the Encyclopaedia Bri
tannica. All families wherein are average,
normal children, neither too bril
liant nor too dull, all homes where
there Is a natural childish distaste
for overmuch study, should feel well
content. Intellectually their children
are safe and sane.
THE ART OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN.
One is privileged to speculate
upon the mortal tenure of the great.
Their deaths, as their lives, are mat
ters of public moment Wherefore
we would ask if the dark cavalier
must call for a certain merry gentle
man. Charles Chaplin hlght, before
America accords to him the laurel
wreath that an ungrudging Europe
cast at his ludicrous feet? Certainly
it will be a sad day for all the conti
nents, and the islands in between,
when Charles presents his creden
tials for Immortality. . Though we do
admit that we would miss him and
mourn the creative talent of this
master mimic, it is significant of the
American estimation of Charlie that
we have not yet grasped the first far
view of that exalted perspective in
which England and France have
placed him. To them he is an artist
with an artist's soul; to us he re
mains something more than a come
dian and something less than a
genius. Our perceptions are thickly
plastered with custard pie.
Consider then, for the sake of con
trast, an expression of national opin
ion for France, as voiced in L'Es-
prit Nouveau by M. Elie Faure,
bearing well in mind that this pub
lication is esteemed in its own land
for the cultured finality and saga
cious discrimination of its disquisi
tions on artistic effort "Chariot,"
as the French affectionately refer to
Charlie, implies as nothing else the
wealth of kindly sentiment behind
the sobriquet It was so that Chi
cot the Jester was wont to refer to
his king, Charles III. Kindled by
his theme, the critic says:
Chariot la the first among all mankind
to create a clneplastic drama which is
not only clneplastic. In which the action
doea not Illustrate a sentimental fiction
or any Intention to moralise, but makes
a monumental whole, projecting from the
inner realms of being hia personal vision
of the object In Its visible form and Ita
material and senetble milieu. Chariot ap
pears to ma aa a poet, even a great poet.
a creator ot mytns, or symbols and Ideas,
tile accoucher of an unknown world.
This tribute certainly is more
complex than our easy appraisal of
Chaplin as a scream," or "a riot"
but it deserves so to be, for it as
serts that the art of Chaplin is com
plex and wonderful, with a spiritual
aura about . it that we never had
sought to discern. Nor is this Gallic
vision to be discounted. There is
something more than tradition to
support the rumor that the French
are critics of the finest as compe
tent to speak with authority of art
in all its phases as a fishwife is to
speak of eels and flounders. More
over, through the filigree of such
terms as critics are given to, we dis
cern a glimpse of the real Chaplin
that is not strange to us. He has
moved us to more than laughter,
that fumbling little figure -topped by
a battered derby. We have been
near to tears even in our most joy
ous moment. He does create.
One would blunder who might at
tempt to segregate and analyze the
appeal of this film comedian, this
fellow who never has been success
fully imitated by his hundreds of
imitators, this celluloid thespian
who is funny, excruciatingly so
but funny in a different way. It is
simplest to say that in his portrayal
of character there is pathos as well
as humor, and a most charming
gaucherie which taps the well-spring
of human sympathy with every antic
but pathos above alt.' Our hearts
warm to him because we are sorry,
for as no other comedian ever
dreamed to he has brought laughter
to the borderland of teara He has
humanized the mirth of the stage.
We do not shriek with mirth occa
sioned by inane and madcap frivol
ity, by venerable devices of the slap
stick. Our laughter is evoked by
this tattered, lovable grotesque who
is so strangely like one we may meet
at the next turning, but never shall:
an oddly human personality drifting
at destiny's whim in a queer but
slightly burlesqued world.
They say that Chaplin is wef.ry ot
his role, and that he has an aspira
tion toward the serious. He would
enact such parts as partake of dig
nity and require the tempered
finesse of such talent as he knows
is his. It Is-to be hoped that the
opinion of his friends, and they are
legion, will dissuade him from such
a step. We do not wish to lose the
classic comedian for the sake of
gaining even a great tragedian.
These last have not been uncommon,
but there has been only one Charles
Charles the First and presumably,
the last
WHEN 6TEPTOE MARCHED.
The last survivor of the disastrous
Steptoe expedition against the hos
tile Indian tribes of the Pacific
northwest which left Walla Walla
on May 6, 1858, is dead. He was
Michael Kinney, who lived to see the
Indians pacified and dispossessed
and the battle grounds of his day
green with growing corn. He passed
at the ripe age of eighty-nine years,
and thus was lost the last personal
contact with those dramatic years
which were so rife with blood and
bickering between the advancing
settlers and the tribes. Peace to
him.
No longer do we discuss the ethics
of an ancient dispute. Wrong and
cruelty were not the exclusive in
struments of Indian discontent One
must remember that the inexorable
approach of civilization was to them
an invasion of their country and
their tribal rights, much as the ar
rival of an armed power on Ameri
can snores would re regarded by
us today. Yet dispossession of the
tribes was ordained and necessary,
and it is in the light of this concep
tion that we must scrutinize the his
toric drama which led so thrillingly
to peace and development The de
feat of Steptoe wrought the reaction
that made possible all that we have
and hold in the modern northwest.
Colonel E. J. Steptoe, of the regu
lar army, was one who learned his
lesson in the bitterness of defeat for
it was he more than any other of
his time who held that the Indians
should be accorded the hand of fel
lowship and showered with conces
sions. Peace and the suppression' of
settlement was his watchword. He
scouted the notion that the savage
tribesmen, when fairly dealt with.
were of different nature than their
white neighbors; holding that there
could be no hostility under an equit
able arrangement of the rights of
Indians and settlers. In this opin
ion obviously he overlooked the eth
nological fact that to the wild war
riors of the Oregon country any con
cession whatever was but a confes
sion of weakness and fear. The
lodges were riotous with laughter at
the folly of the white chieftain.
Suffice it is to say that the grow
ing truculency of the Indians, the
impudent frequency of their of
fenses, brought an illogical situation
to a most logical climax. The Step
toe expedition to Colville, occasioned
by the report that Mormon emis
saries were fanning the war flame
among the Yakimas, was not a puni
tive project but it precipitated such
action as hastened war and the in
evitable conquest of the hostile
tribes. Under orders from General
Clarke, Colonel Steptoe marched
from Walla Walla that May morn
ing of 1858, with three companies
of dragoons and a detachment of
mounted infantry. His pacific in
tention, matched with his belief that
diplomacy was a finer weapon than
any musket is attested by the fact
that the little column carried but a
small amount of ammunition. When
it was discovered that the pack train
was overloaded with equipment he
did not hesitate to order that the
extra ammunition be left behind.
All would have gone well with
Colonel Steptoe, doubtless, had not
he and his men marched near to the
boundary of the Coeur d'AIene coun
try, instead of directly toward Col
ville, his objective. Now the Spo
kanes and the Coeur d"Alenes were
the Indian irreconcilables of their I
time, and they met the indiscreet
commander with a war party of
1500 fighting men, feathered and
painted and gleeful at the prospect
Warriors of the Yakima and Palouse
tribes were one with them in their
intent to check the progress of
Steptoe, to annihilate his force, and
to send word throughout the north
west that the day had dawned for
the obliteration of all settlement
Their chiefs rode out to parley, but
not to treat and waved aside Step
toe's assurance that he was not on
a hostile mission. Battle, they said,
was what he wanted; and battle he
should have. Incongruous as it may
seem, the warriors who opposed this
expedition were better armed than
the regular army detachment. They
bore rifles of long range, whereas
Steptoe's dragoons were equipped
only with short-range musketoons.
To retreat was prudent and Steptoe
acted upon that strategy. The In
dians, exultant at this evidence of
fear, as they interpreted it pursued
and surrounded the expedition near
the present site of Rosalia, Wash.
There Steptoe fought his pacifism
forgotten in stern necessity. Taking
his position on a small hill, he re
pulsed the attack through that long
day of May 18. When night fell his
men had -but three rounds of am
munition apiece. Discretion was the
better part of valor. The comman
der abandoned his pack train and
howitzers and under cover of dark
ness retreated by forced marching
to the Snake river crossing, eighty
miles away. While his losses were
not heavy, they were humiliating.
With him rode eleven wounded, and
In shallow graves on the field were
left a captain, a lieutenant and six
enlisted men.
You may be sure that General
Clarke acted upon the hint Concen
trating nearly 2000 soldiers at Fort
Walla Walla, he drilled them in
Indian warfare, placed the major
portion of them under command
of Colonel Wright and sent them
against the hostile tribes. With this
formidable and determined expedi
tion marched a company of Nez
Perces allies in the uniform of the
regular service. - Two culminating
battles were fought before the In
dian insolence was humbled one at
Four Lakes, on September 1, and
one on the Spokane plains. Though
in both engagements the Indians
suffered heavily, Wright had no
losses, either in killed or wounded.
An episosde of the campaign was
the capture and slaughter of a large
number of Indian mounts, by which
cruel but necessary procedure the
entire Spokane nation was practi
cally unhorsed in two days. The dis
consolate warriors clustered the
hills and shouted to the soldiers to
desist, to permit them to make
terms, but the order was carried out
with rigorous zeal. Said Wright in
his reply to an appeal for leniency:
"You must trust to my mercy. If
you do this, I shall then give you
the terms upon which I will give
you peace. If you do not do this.
war will be made on you this year
and the next, and until your nations
shall be exterminated."
So peace came through Steptoe's
blunder. - It seems so very long
ago, now that we travel on highways
and railroads from prosperous city
to city, through hundreds of lesser
cities and towns, by lands that are
fenced and plowed and planted
yet it is not long. The lifetime of
Michael Kinney spanned the full
scope of these historic events and
the development of the northwest
The Pacific states are young and at
the threshold of a splendid future.
Among hunters and naturalists
there has for long existed a debate
as to whether the cougar, or moun
tain lion, is a vocal performer. Some
there were who said that the cry
of the great cat was indisputably
like that of a grieving child or worn
an. Others maintained that when
this puss of the pines sang to the
moon the shivers ran up and down
their spines. Arrayed against them
were those who insisted that In years
of experience, lives spent in the
wilderness, they never had heard
the cougar manifest its presence by
even so much as a mew. It was the
silent hunter of the forest. The late
General Funston had most convinc
ing proof, however, that the cougar
was vocally equipped. In the At
lantic Monthly of a recent issue.
Vernon Kellogg relates an experience
which he shared with Funston in
their youthful years. Not only did
they see the cougar but they heard
it express itself. "Just as it was by,'
narrates Kellogg, "it carelessly let
slip from its throat a blood-curdling
cry, half bestial, half human." So
far as we are concerned this settles
the matter.
"When 1 was a kid," said the
hermit of Rocky butte, tamping his
pipe with a calloused forefinger, "it
seemed as lf the years were slow as
turtles, and the skyline many miles
away. Now I know that there is
nothing so swift as the race of time.
and that the horizon is amazingly
near at hand. I looked forward in
those days to the future, and got a
great deal of fun out of it; now I
look backward at the past and with
just as much enjoyment. This morn
ing there was a mist in the hollows
that reminded me of a morning
thirty years ago, when I went after
catfish to a lake that's drained long
since. I got a, good deal more satis
faction out of that memory than I
do out of knowing that & fellow's
going to pay me cash tomorrow for
ten cords of wood."
One of the most hopeful signs of
the times, occasioning much excite
ment in newspaper circles, is the re
port that the fair students of Rad
cliffe college read the editorial page
in preference to the beauty hints.
A battleship lasts but a few years
before it is junk, even in times of
peace. But a good road runs straight
to the sunrise, endures for a lifetime
and brings happiness and conveni
ence to millions.
Once again we are apprised, this
time from Walla Walla, of the dis
covery of that rarest of all living
creatures the porcupine who
"shoots" his quills.
A former governor of Idaho died
awhile ago in a Kansas poorhouse.
Contemplating this bit of news, there
is good reading in any of the bank
advertisements.
A bridegroom being "shivareed"
sailed into the crowd with a bit of
stovewood. He'll do. No arrest
A stitch in time saves nine, but the
citizen who says no to a bootlegger
saves ten dollars and a headache.
The Listening Post.
Br DeWItt Barry.
MOST of the department stores In
Portland have a. very liberal
system of merchandising. Goods are
sent on approval and taken back if
returned in good order.
A young woman artist recently re
ceived a commission from an ad
vertising agency mat wanted some
sketches of a high-grade percolator
for use with some coffee ads. The
artist called up nearly all her ac
quaintances in search of an urn for
a model, but if they were not away
from home they did not have a suit
able one. Finally she telephoned a
friend who worked In an office down
town, a woman with a practical turn
of mind. She promised to ,have a
percolator in the studio within half
an hour, and true to form appeared
several minutes before her time with
one of the handsomest models under
her arm.
"It's splendid, just what I needed.
But where did you get it?" was the
astounded manner in which the artist
greeted that miracle.
"Oh, I charged it," explained the
practical one. "Went Into Blank &
Blank's and picked It out and had
them put it on my account You
sketch it today and I'll take it back
in the morning In good order and get
full credit."
Now of course In this case the
practice did not harm, but there Is
little doubt that it Is frequently
abused. The clerks, especially in
millinery and ready-to-wear gar
ments, have to be continually on their
guard to prevent customers from re
turning garments that have been
charged and worn to someone's party.
a
There's a daddy who lives on the
Peninsula who takes the greatest in
terest in his son's studies. Nights he
helps the youngster and a few days
ago was asked why he didn't come
and visit the school. "Mother did."
urged the boy.
Of course daddy turned it down
with some masculine reason, but a
few afternoons later he went to the
school, found the room and entered.
Teacher was in the midst of a lesson
and eeiodded welcome,, and then
motioned to a seat The pride of the
family was immersed in his studies,
did not raise hia head, but when the
lesson was finished and the teacher
went to speak to daddy the son saw
him.
"I don't know how to welcome you.
you see It's so very seldom that we
have the fathers of the children come,
but I'm deeply appreciative," and
teacher went on with her next class
in which son acquitted himself nobly.
"They never want to tell me what
an easy life teachers have any more,"
daddy explained in telling of his visit
"They have a man-sized job. It's
hard work and they have to know
their business. I think I am good at
my line, but that girl worked harder
than I ever have. They have to show
results and' the manner In which they
do it well my hat's off to them."
Running a barber college must be
a profitable life. The student
wielders of razor and scissors pay to
learn and the patrons pay to get
their shaves and trims. The colleges
are located where they will attract
the floating laborers, near the em
ployment agencies. They offer ton-
sorlal service at about 'half what a1
regular shop can and attract a good
trade. It Is seldom that their chairs
are empty and the constant jingle of
the' cash register must be muslo to
the ears of the owners. True the
college has to furnish towels, hot
water, light, soap and supplies of
that character. Including diplomas,
but the students have to purchase
their own tools, often at a good price
and from the schools.
The up-town barber of this day has
none too prosperous an existence,
what with rents and othwr' costs, and
when they have paid their Journey
men their guarantees, usually run
ning to $27.50 weekly with 60 per
cent or more of what they take in
over a certain sum, there Is not much
left, after paying the overhead, as
profits.
This is momentous news for weed
hunters tout there are fields of
teazels near the Kings Heights car.
Just take the private line that be
longs to No. 653, in other words
"Scotty" Gordon, and you'll see them
alongside the road.
This weed collecting is getting to
be the most engrossing of fads, no
home is complete without a few Jar
dinieres filled with cattails or other
weeds dyed all the colors of the rain
bow. Autumn tints make the hills
behind the west side a glory never
to be forgotten. Just ask Gordon, the
man with the hair the color of flam
ing maple leaves, and he will stop
old 653 at the right spot
a
Up Washington street they come,
cutouts open, hitting the -high spots
on the hill past the city park and
then on and up the steep grade to
Arlington heights. A continual pro
cession of them every hour of the
day. autos being tested by garage
mechanics. This is the favored plact
for trying out invalid motors. There
is little traffic and the grade Ii
enough to give them a good work
out. Sometimes they stall and then
the mechanics clamber out and get
busy under bood or on the ground
making adjustments. It seems as if
several hundreds of cars are sent at
this hill at high soeed every day.
a a
It was In a Washington street cafe
terla. A patron, after paying his
check, quietly said to the cashier:
"I think you have made a mistake In
my change.
The cashier froze and then bristled
and belligerently came back In tonei
audible for yards: "You want to b
sure before you accuse' anyone ol
short-changing you."
"But you gave me a dollar to
much," explained the customer.
Greetawleh Meridian DIseoHed.
The meridian of Greenwich, .Eng
land, is generally accepted as the
starting line from which to reckon
longitude and time all over the earth.
But objections are, from time to time,
raised against the universal adop
tion of the Greenwich meridian for
such purposes. Recently Italian sa
vants have emphasized, these objec
tions by pointing out that on the me
ridian of Greenwich clouds and bad
weather are frequent. Interfering
with astronomical observations. They
suggest that the civilized world
should agree to adopt the meridian of
Jerusalem as a common reference
line, because there the skos are
clearer, and the possibility of making
Palestine neutral territory would
eliminate political objections, ,
Fog.
By Grace K. Hall.
The fog hangs low, so very low. to
night. It seems as thouirh
Wraith hands, moist with unnatural
sweat.
Lift at a smothering blanket that
presses closely down
A cold gray blanket that is strangely
thin.
And iets the chilling night wind en
ter In.
There are grotesque figures stumbling
through the haze
Weird shapes and shadow things .
Like men outlined by pupils on the
board:
Forms most erratic with awkwarl
legs
And all the rest a flat, thin smear ot
chalk:
But In the fog these chalk men walk
And fade away while ye, they talk!
The fog hangs low, so very low. to
night. It seems as though
One's dreams, ambition and desire
Could rise no higher
Than this cold vapor blanket, thin
and gray.
That shuts away
The whole world, leaving but a nar
row walk
And men of chalk who fade away,
while still they talk.
But comes the sun!
And eerie figures one by one
Assemble their true selves from out
the haze.
And take again their normal forms
and ways -As
strong men, rising from a mist ot
doubt and pain,
Conquer, through will and faith, and
take the trail again.
PORTLAND IN AUTUMN,
Autumnal mists have crept upon the
town
Filling all space with gray obscurity,
OT ghoulish forms of men and objects'
droll.
And lofty trees shrouded In mystery.
A kindly fog that makes all men akin.
And lends a grace, a friendly harle
quin. That whether king or pauper, friend
or foe.
Beneath its close embrace, one may;
not know.
Then slowly lifts this gray, uncanny
veil.
And through the clinging curtain ot
the mist
Lo! wondrous colors, gold and green
and rose,
Creep from the gray and somber
amethyst
Aa the sculptor hewing a marble
mass,
His thought upfoldg in, forms that far
surpass
The irnwrought stone, thns slowly
rise to view.
Myriad beauties, that the mists sub
due. From out the clinging tog, beauty un
folds. Wrought by the greatest sculptor,
thought divine.
Tall, stately forests, rich with colors
bright,
Flaunt their deep radiance in the opal
light.
High through the autumn blue an
eagle files.
And far beyond, where valley and
mountain lies.
Lifting its mighty summit to the day.
Mount Hood shines out resplendent,
through the gray.
ELEANOR B. WHITB.
THE GIRL AT THE FERRY.
The little road which ribbons through
the fern,
Like a secret, shyly told, like a love
wish softly bold.
Was odorous of her the girl at the
ferry.
With level, candid eyes, and Hps of
cherry.
And wlnd-blowsed hair, and brown
dear hands;
Singing to the river that no one un
derstands, But the water and the heart, for the
murmur round the boat
Is an echo of the mystery that gath
ers in the throat
And sings the soul to aching note by
note.
0 fair girl at the ferry, with the cliffs
on either side,
1 would like to ride forever with you
on the tumbling tide;
But the spirit of the water has trou
bled, wish denied.
Yet you'll sing, aa does the river,
though the swell which push
you o'er
Lift their lips of spray and. kiss yon.
and forget you ever more,
Till the rain cries out of heaven: "1
have kissed you once before."
And the boat will bear lta burden.
It will moan and sway and) swing.
In the short creed ot ita mission, like
a faithful living thing.
While the current calls to ocean for
Its cleansing bath of brine.
As my spirit longs to lose it Id the
purity of thine;
Till the fateful things which bind us
to denying and despair
find the afterwhere.
GUY FITCH PHELPS.
THE BEST GIFT,
I've asked of life to bring me love
and beauty.
I've asked of life ta bring me Joy
and song;
I've asked of life for sertngth to do
my duty.
For rest andi comfort when the way
is long.
I've asked of.U'e for every hope's fal
fillment
For sunny days, with skies of fair
est blue;
I've asked for all the Joys that life
can bring me,
In ties of home -and fr'endshlpt
firm and true.
I've asked, and when my asking
seemed not granted,
I've felt that life for me has been
in vain.
And yet, I find her gifts were passing
lovely,
Since she has brought me loneliness
and pain!
And now, I'm thanking life for every
pleasure.
For every bright and sunny day
well spent;
I'll aak for nothing more to fill life's
- measure.
If she will only bring me sweet con
tent. OLIVE F. PRUNER.
BLUEBIRDS IN WINTER.
'Neath winter skies for dsys and days.
Obscured by clouds of gloomy grays,
Our spirits grow depressed and drear,
"Til happy blrda In blue, deep blue.
Fly over, calling "True, It's true.
This rain won't last through all the
year,
So smile, dear heart, be of good
cheer."
How oft our fancy's Idly drawn
To lands where summer birds have
gone;
Bluebird, favorite east and west.
We learn the truth anew from you
While you're calling "True, it's true.
We stay because we love home best
Home-keeping hearts are happleat."
GRACE McCOKMAC FRENCH.
X,