TTTT: SUNDAY OREGOXTAN", PORTLAND, DECEMBER 11. 1921
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TWO PHASKS OF THE TIMBER PROB
LEM. One cannot, so runs an old axiom,
have one's cake and eat it, too. The
parallel plight of the timber industry
is distressingly obvious, for of the
wooded wealth of the nation ap
proximately one-half has been ex
hausted In a relatively brief period
of development. Here, it would
seem, is a cake that disappears by
huge gulps, creating profits as it
nourishes the economic stomach but
causing the conjecture as to what we
shall do when it is eaten. As the
northwest is custodian of most of
the national timber supply the prob
lem of reforestation directly and
pointedly concerns the states where
the last great stand flourishes. It is
their enigma, and though the na
tional government will aid them in
solving it they will unquestionably be
called upon to provide the funda
mentals of that answer. The very
fact that reforestation is a live topic
the subject at present of two
measures pending in congress is re
assuring and forecasts, beyond doubt,
some satisfactory solution before an
actual lumber famine is upon the
continent.
In the east, in Michigan, to be ex
act, Henry Ford has risen in
prophecy. He predicts the speedy
and ultimate demolition of our for
ests unless there is adopted a plan
proposed by himself namely, that
of selective lodging. It is probable
that Mr. Ford's agents have mis
quoted him, and that he does not ad
vance this method as a panacea, but
merely as one applying to economy
and insured reforestation In the
hardwood districts. For it is evident
that selective logging neither origin
ated with him, nor is unusual. Tim
bermen everywhere have known al
ways that such a method would con
serve the supply and insure a con
tinual growth, yet in the great conif-
eroua torests oi me west tney Know,
as well, that the method is not only
Impracticable but prohibitively ex
pensive. Clearly this is not the an
swer. Selective logging was witnessed in
Oregon and Washington during the
war, when the government oper
ations applied it to both spruce and
fir. Cost of production was a minor
matter when contrasted with the
urgent needs of the nation for prime
timber, and it was then observed and
retained as a practical lesson that
private operators never could prac
tice it. Under the most careful
supervision selective logging in Ore
gon would double the cost of oper
ation, with the result that lumber
prices would rise until the market
was destroyed. Such a course, would
but anticipate a time when, by sheer
lack of timber, the cost of lumber as
a building material would cease to
make that material attractive. Steel
and stone and brick would largely
replace wood in such construction as
now demands lumber.
Moreover, while selective logging
can be practiced in the hardwood
forests of the east, in the yellow pine
of eastern Oregon, and in the sugar
pine of the west coast yet only at a
startling increase in operating costs
it Is the opinion of the forestry
department and of tiuibermeu gen
erally that it cannot, under anyclr
cumstances, be applied to Douglas
fir. This important timber crop must
be cut clean if a new stand is to suc
ceed the old. Mr. Ford's proposed
salvation for the industry is here re
jected by nature.
In the northwest the problem left
by logging has two aspects one that
demands the clearing and agricul
tural occupation of Iogged-off lands
suitable for farming; the other the
urgent need for systematized and en
forced endeavor to reforest those
lands which are suitable only for
timber crops. It Is reproachful to
the northwest and to the nation that
neither of these has ever been boldly
approached or satisfactorily an
swered. To the state itself, which
could worry along with the rest of
the country when its lumber should
be gone, the first project is by far
the more important. When the ag
ricultural logged-off lands are finally
productive vast areas will be ten
anted and immeasurable increases
made to the general prosperity. '
Though we may chafe at a dwindl
ing timber supply there is comfort in
the thought that wise old Nature has
solved the matter of reforestation
again and again, in the natural proc
ess of growth, decay and reseeding.
Thus In the northwest, where select
ive logging does not and cannot ap
ply, the problem resolves Itself into
the comparatively simple one of in
suring the indispensable second
growth and of protecting it against
the hazard of fire. This, of course,
la well understood and if practiced to
the same degree would constantly
return to bearing the logged-off
ersij. It requires the burning of the
slashings before the seed lias ger
minated, the seasons for such pre
cautionary steps varying with the
elimatic location of the Individual
tract. Half a century must ensue
before the seedlings have groan to
such girth as warrants the sawl and
even then the new timber will be
puny by contrast with' the old. But
It will be timber, and that is the- all
Important consideration.
There are stark and stumpy areas
In Oregon, along the road to Astoria
for example, where the timber has
been gone for a score of years, with
out the vestige of an endeavor being
made to clear It for agricultural pur- between the farmer and the man j spirit," and we passed through an
poses or to return It to the bearing; I who has something to demonstrate era in which it Was held unfair to
of fir. Idle, worthless and nonpro- j to him, the winter fair has distinct take advantage of an adversary's ne
ductive, these stretches accuse us. advantages, provided it also is held cessities or to overwhelm him by
They serve to remind the passerby
of the pressing need for an intel
ligent, comprehensive programme,
participated in by owner, state and
nation, that will insure reforestation
of the lands that are not agricul
tural, and the clearing and settle
ment of those that are. The project
Is not necessarily a formidable one.
Rather it is a neglected public duty
I that, some day, will engage the at
tention of the state as a paramount
USSUe-
PI lil.M'l I V KIR DIVORCES.
Doubtless it is convenient to the
parties concerned to seek divorces in
other counties, but it is not good
public policy to permit them to do
so. The privilege fosters divorce
through permitting its principals to
escape publicity, and inasmuch as di
vorce is a public evil the interests of
the public require that the facts be
known in every case. Judge Tucker's
recent interpretation of the divorce
laws, in which he held that divorces
granied outside the county of resi
dence are invalid, is welcome. As
the Morning Astorian points out, in
a recent discussion of the subject,
"the Interpretation squares with
right and justice whether it squares
with the law or not."
Portland, or Multnomah county,
has lor long been schooled in the
casual ease with which marriage ob
ligations are assumed and fast away.
Its residents have grown fully as
weary of a monstrous situation as
Clatsop county citizens have grown
of granting divorces to couples from
Multnomah county. Our own divorce
list is lengthy each month, and the
more so because it cannot be ade
quately compared with the records
of local marriages. Many Portland
couples, seeking to evade the stricter
Oregon laws, hasten to the Gretna
Green of Vancouver. The result is
that local statistics are not evidential
of the facts. Marriage, we have come
to believe, should not be lightly as
turned and only under sensible
supervision of the law. Unless this
policy is carried out the divorce evil
will continue to grow. But divorce
should be of prime concern to the
law, as well as marriage, and all
reasonable safeguards should be
thrown about the institution.
It would seem that the restriction
of divorce suits to counties in which
at least one of the parties is a resi
dent would act as a deterrent. Peo
pie who are finical about their de
cision to part, who seek the co'mpar
ative anonymity of divorce in other
counties, may properly be suspected
of having little real claim to free
dom. It Is evident that they value
their peace of mind, their social
standing, above the coveted decree.
In many instances, of course, this
would not prove to be the case but
if greater publicity will serve to
lessen the number of divorces, then
such publicity is required. Divorce is
of such public concern that it should
never be made easy, and should
never be encouraged by loose laws.
REGULATIONS OF LABOR IMSPCTES.
The present-day view that there
are three, not two, parties to labor
disputes, and that the interest of the
third party the public is superior,
is well expressed by President Hard
ing in his message to congress. The
right to strike has been loudly pro
claimed, but a strike is impossible
without organization, and Mr. Hard
ing asserts the same right of the
people to regulate the operations of
labor organized into unions as it ex
ercises over the operations of capital
organized into corporations. He em
phasizes the point by saying that
"the people who own the largest In
dividual aggregates of capital are
themselves often hard and earnest
laborers." Thus he leads up to the
proposal that the law "set up judicial
or semi-judicial tribunals for the
consideration and determination of
disputes which menace the public
safety."
This is the plan which Kansas has
adopted with a large degree of suc
cess. We had an example of the
workings of the same principle in
the action of the railroad labor
board to prevent a railroad strike.
Its necessity and justification were
proved by the widespread distress
caused by the coal strike in Novem
ber, 1919, and by the certain disas
trous consequences if there had been
a railroad strike.
These examples go to show that
there are limits to the right to strike
as there are to the right of men to
combine their capital. 'Those limits
are passed when exercise of the right
Uiflicts Injury on the community that
grants and protects it, whether that
community be city, state or nation. A
combination of capital in a corpor
ation may not use its right to re
strict the supply or enhance the
price of its product or to ruin its
competitors. Nor may a combina
tion of workmen In a union use its
right to deprive the people of fuel,
transportation or any other neces
sary of life. The president asserts
"the superior interest of the com
munity as a whole to either the labor
group or the capital group."
Thus we are reminded that the ex
ercise of rights may reach a point
where they become wrongs through
reaction on third parties. Endurance
of these wrongs can only be com
pelled when there is no other means
of preventing a greater wrong to the
parties directly concerned. Mr.
Harding proposes 'such other means
mediation, arbitration and as a
last resort judicial tribunals. Courts
decide men's right to life, liberty or
property; surely they should be
trusted to decide justly between em
ployer and workman. When nations
unite to form a world court to pre
vent war between nations, shall not
this nation establish courts to pre
vent industrial war? ,
Where else than In the Pacific
northwest would a county fair held
In December be regarded seriously
enough to draw a crowd? The ex
ample of Ashland, now holding its
second exhibition of the kind. Is an
earnest of what can be done in a
peculiarly educational way. For this
is the season when farmers have
time to give care to their displays,
and more than that to study those
-of their neighbors, which constitutes
more than half the value of a fair,
while the department which has to
do with farm conveniences and
advantages is likely to be worth
more than at any other season of
the year. After the harvest is in
and the farmer has his money in
hand Is the time to plan improve
ments for next year. In respect of
its opportunities for co-operation
i In a state like Oregon, where winter
is but
spring.
a merging of autumn a
nd
MAKING WAY FOR A GREATER PORT.
The Port of Portland commission
has initiated the work of giving the
port a deep, straight channel con
necting the upper and lower harbors
by contracting with the railroads to
fill the terminal site in Guild's lake
and by buying Swan island. In so
doing it makes the first step in re
moving the west half of the island,
closing the east channel of the river
and substituting a wide channel on
the west.
These are logical developments
from the decision of the railroads to
bulla new terminals. Material being
needed to fill the site, the most eco
nomical place to obtain It is the ad
jacent west channel and the shore of
the island, and the railroads will
readily pay the cost of dredging and
piping it to their land. Since the
owners of the Island were ready to
sell at the appraised value and since
the whole will be noeaed for further
harbor improvement, the Port wise
ly acquired It by exercise of the
power given it by the last Port com
mission law.
Portland is now assured of a
straight channel 35 feet deep and
300 feet wide between the upper and
lower harbors In the course of the
next year. When this is completed,
tne crooked east channel can be
closed except for d'schayge of flood
water. At the same time work will
proceed on construction of the new
railroad terminals. The natural se
quel will be filling of the low land
east and west of the island and ex
cavation of half the island itself in
making a broad ship channel of
ample depth for the largest vesel.
Growth of Portland's commerce In
the last two years has broadened its
people's views as to what should be
done to accommodate shipping. They
now see twenty-three great ships in
the hfarbor on the same day. They
see those ohips pushing up the river
from terminal No. 4 in order to get
closer to the source of local water
-affic until terminal No. 1 is over
crowded and the dock commission
buys land for its extension, while at
least one ship is constantly at ter
minal No. 2. They see the municipal
dock revenue swell to more than
$90,000 in one month. Existing
berthing space at public docks leaves
small margin over the requirements
of vessels coming and going.
All these things signify that the
port Is having growing pains and
must be given more room. It cannot
longer endure an island and a pair
of swamps dividing its harbor. It
must have space for more docks,
railroad yards and factories. It has
advanced to the front rank among
American ports and must build ac
cordingly.
UI1KN THE WORLD WAS YOl 'NG.
Sir Bampfylde Fuller, who writes In
the Nineteenth Century and After of
the contrast between the peoples of
ancient and modern times, raises an
age-old question concerning the in
gredients of human happiness. There
is little doubt that he makes out a
case for the ancients, if to be care
free is to be happy and if taking no
thought of the morrow is the way to
be profoundly content. We are re
minded that life In those times had
fewer comforts, luxuries and amuse
ments than the present has, and we
are able to judge from the way the
people comported themselves that
they were exceedingly happy in their
own primitive ways. faith strong
enough to overcome reason had ad
vantages, and it was easier to ask an
oracle to forecast coming events
than to worry about them. But peo
ple lived in the present and not for
the future; because -they wye less
prudent they were more "sporting";
they were vastly gifted with imagi
nation, if not with what we call com
mon sense.
Money, and also thrift, which is
the outgrowth of the discovery of a
means of husbanding the present for
use in the possible adversities of a
coming day, were (he product of
emergence from the happy-go-lucky
period. If. Sir Bampfylde suggests.
the future could be annihilated,
money would vanish. The so-called
lust for gain is but a phase of ca
pacity for looking ahead., If one
may consult a seer Instead of rea
soning from the experience of the
past and if he believes that what is
coming to pass has been foreor
dained and is inescapable, then
thrift and forehandedness are un
necessary, and life when it does not
happen to be miserable contains
nothing to dampen joy.
The pictures we have of the an
cients are pictures of a people con
stantly at play and satisfied with the
most childish things. Athletics were
held in the highest esteem, "but their
prizes were such chapleta or gar
lands as might be improvised by
children in a playing field and of
fered nothing whatever to a desire
for profit." liven Herodotus seems to
have failed to comprehend the un
calculatlng romance of the earlier
centuries and says that the Persians
could not understand the fitting out
of a costly expedition merely to re
cover a runaway wife. Herodotus
himself thinks that the Trojans
would surely have raised the siege
by" giving her up. We are not sure
that he is wrong; rt may have been
that the real cause of particular
wars was the grain trade of the LUsl-
lespont; but that is an issue merely
of dates. The real ancients cared
nothing about trade. Their only
motives for war were the hope of
glory and the desire for revenge or
perhaps booty.
It is difficult to appraise the rela
tive values of anticipation and real
ization in the scheme of happiness.
In not spending our present sub
stance in riotous living we capitalize
expectation and give reality to vi
sion, which is a kind of modern sub
stitute for the devil-may-care of an
cient times. Curiously, the so-called
gulden age was the age in which men
were supposed to have been least
tempted by lucre, but its metal
would suffer, we think, If assayed by
the critical standards of today. A
war undertaken for purely senti
mental reasons will seem to us to be
nearly as cruel and fully as wasteful
as one waged for gain. The denun
ciations of lust for gold which fill
the mouths of the Hebrew prophets
remind us that the term "ancient" is
in itself relative in its application.
Those prophets lived in a world
then old. By and by, if they had
lived, they would have seen the pen
dulum swing in an opposite direc- .
tion.. for about a thousand years I
there was a revival of the "sporting j
, mere force of numbers. Chival?
was its phenomenon, and chivalry
was again attended by superstitious
disregard fer the future. Statecraft,
no less than private adventure, was
regulated by seers. "What should
we think of our government." asks
the writer, "if, being uncertain, say,
as to its Irish policy, it deputed the
secretary of state to consult a clair
voyant who lived in a grotto "under
the cliffs at Matlock? In ancient
days nothing would have seemed
more obviously appropriate."
Shall we say that we have wholly
outlived that time? Fortune telling
is still a profitable business, there
are multitudes who think it Is un
lucky to spill salt, sit down thirteen
at a table, or start to travel on Fri
day. But In the mass our super
stitions counteract one another, and
as a people we do not regard them
very seriously. On the whole we are
living again in the spirit about which
the prophets complained. We have
profited, though perhaps not quite
enough, by the experience of the
past; thrift, which is easily con
founded with lust, has returned: we
think of tomorrow, as the ancients
did not; we are disillusioned, and
"disillusionment is one of man's
severest trials."
The experience of the ancients,
and of the modern ancients, and the
ancient moderns contains a moral
for those who seek it. Undoubtedly
we have much to be thankful for in
peace and orderliness, notwithstand
ing the war from which the world
has just emerged, which had its
prototypes even in ancient times, and
at the same time deplore the lack of
imaginative vivacity and idealism
which characterized the fathers of
the race. This points, in the author s
mind, to education of the young a-s
a means of counteracting the grow
ing pressure of economic consider
ation. "It is for that reason that
our public schools are so successful,"
he says, without a trace of cynicism,
we think. "They may impart but
little useful knowledge, but they are
a protest against the all-sufficiency
of the commercial spirit." In "all
sufficiency," rather than in "com
mercial," it would appear, the author
has found the precisely descriptive
word. I
PROGRESS TOWARD LONGER- LIFE.
The report on mortality records
submitted to the Association of Life
Insurance Presidents at its recent
convention contains a significant
phrase. After presenting an an
alysis of the causes of death in
some 20r.000 cases in 1920 and 185.
000 in 1921, it says that we "see at
the outset that about 28 per cent of
deaths during this year have been
caused by diseases which under our
present habits of life are p-etty sure
to continue at high ratios." The
diseases to which allusion is made
are cerebral hemorrhage, organic di
seases of the heart and Bright's
disease, all of which' to a very large
extent are indicative of functional
breakdownrand the meaning of the
words "under our present habits of
life" is enormously important in con
nection with them. Possibly a dras
tic change in the habits of the whole
people might effect an improvement
in this phase of the record, but il is
observable that the scientists think
it too much to expect.
We may well question the implied
conclusion that the cause of the 28
per cent is utterly hopeless, while
admitting the gravity of the prob
lem, but our interest Is attracted for
the moment to the list of maladies,
comprising the remaining 72 per
C ent, among which it is declared that
"we must seek large results in 'the
prolongation of human life." Here,
for illustration, is tuberculosis, which
in 1921 caused about one-ninth of all
deaths, but we note that no longer
than ten years ago- its ratio stood at
nearly one death in four. This re
markable drop is one of the most
conclusive indications of how much
can be accomplished when cause and
cure of a disease become matters of
common knowledge and community
concern. Typhoid fever has been
relegated to -a secondary place,
though in former years it was a
dreaded scourge. The same is largely
true of diphtheria, which, however,
has shown an alarming recurrence in
recent years due to relaxation of vig
ilance growing out ot overconfidence.
Smallpox has been relegated by vac
cination to the 4Ttatus of a disease
that no longer mispires fear, and
deaths from pneumonia have de
creased nearly 40 per cent in a single
year. Here, it would seem, we may
have the key to the question of pro
longing human life as a whole, since,
as has been suggested, every im
provement that the record shows has
been predicated upon discovery of
the cause and on arousing the people
to the gravity of the case.
The so-called degenerative diseases
differ from others chiefly in the
seeming remoteness of their causes.
It is easier to visualize the associa
tion between a contaminated water
supply and a typhoid epidemic than
It is to connect the habits of early
life with the consequences to the in
dividual In his middle fifties. The
necessity for popular education is
only made greater by the difficulty
of the problem, but the task ought
not to be abandoned on that account.
We are nevertheless gaining, on
;the whole, in our efforts to prolong
life and make existence more toler
able while we live. The death rate
among the Insured was reduced from
9.58 per thousand in 1920 to 8.24 in
1921. If the ratio were constant for
the whole population, this would
mean a saving of 153.000 lives, and it
is actually true that in the experi
ence of one company the lowering of
the death rate that has been really
achieved is equivalent to having
added four years to the expectancj
of life of its male policyholders. If
the country would remove tubercu
losis from among the causes of mor
tality to the extent that it has con
quered typhoid and smallpox, it
would accomplish the further equiv
alent of adding three years more.
So, too, estimates made for other
preventable diseases indicate that
life expectancy can reasonably be
counted on to attain an average
maximum of seventy years, if death
from disease alone be taken into ac
count. The present maximum aver
age is fifty-one years, as shown by
the actuarial tables for 1910. and in
terms of the whole nation, such life
extension would make for such an
increase in national values as to
justify any cost.
We discover therefore that as to
deaths from disease we are making
real progress. There is, however, a
disquieting note in the report on vio-
lent deaths. "We talk learnedly," particularly the physical luxuries of
says the statistician, "of bacteria and j life are comparative by the hard
bacilli but overlook the bacillus auto- ships of that trip east in 1870 a
mobilis, whose presence can be dis- i full quarter of a century after the
covered without the aid of the mi- movement across the plains jbegan.
croscope and whose homicides might
be largely prevented." The number
of deaths from this cause increased
15 per cent" in 1921 by comparison
with 1920. The experience of ten
months shows that ten thousand
lives or more will be prematurely
ended this year In that manner
alone. It Is discouraging to find that
Just as we were beginning to have
sound reason for hope that science
would conquer disease, our efforts to
prolong life should be "ao largely
nullified by the pure carelessness and
callousness to consequences which
the ever-increasing rate of casualties
by this form of violence implies.
WHAT HE I'SED THEM FOR.
With its usual failure to report the
truth, the Eugene Guard says that
in discussing President Wilson's
partisan, conduct of the war The Ore
gonian made no reference to Mr.
Tumulty's, list of republicans whom
Mr. Wilson "placed at the head of
war activities."
The Oregonian made due refer
ence to those appointments. It
called attention to the fact that none
of the republicans in question was
placed in position to aid in shaping
the war policy of the administration.
They were placed In subordinate po
sitions of arduous labor but without
opportunity to share in "direction of
affairs.
Charles E. Hughes had shown dis
tinguished executive ability as gov
ernor of New York, but Mr. Wilson
could recall his service only as the
insurance investigator andmade him
a sort of detective to unearth air
craft scandals. He recommended that
Colonel E. A: Deeds should be prose
cuted, but Secretary Baker refused
to prosecute, and Mr. Tumulty selects
the colonel for special eulogy.
We remarked that In order to
strengthen his case. Mr. Tumulty
dragged to the front the politics of a
number of army and navy officers, as
though such men ever gave a
thought to party when there was
duty to be done.
When the emergency called for
the best ability of the country's best
men, Mr. Wilson not only made a de
tective of Mr. Hughes, choice of al
most half the nation for president;
he set ex-President Taft to adjust
wages. The best use he could find
for republicans was to make them
hewers of wood and drawers of
wffter. Mr. Tumulty's list of names
clinches the case.
Coalltjon governments were
formed by every great power op
posed to Germany except the United
States, and they won. The success
gained by the United States was
gained In spite of, not because of, the
partisan Wilson administration.
REASONS FOR RECLAMATION.
Nineteen years have passed since
the reclamation act was passed, and
Secretary of the Interior Fall has
taken stock of what has been done
under it. By expending $130,000,000
the government has supplied water
to 1,661,960 acres and has increased
their value about $350,000,000. Of
this area 1,225,480 acres were irri
gated in the year 1920 and produced
crops worth $66,171,650. The gov
ernment also supplied water through
private canals to 1,183,292 acres out
side its own projects, which produced
crops worth $47,505,770 in 1920,
adding $100,000,000 to the value of
that acreage. On government proj
ects are 32,835 farms with "a popu
lation of more than 125,000 and 223
towns with a population of 324,000,
879 schools, 649 chureTnss and 247
banks with deposits of almost $144,
000,000. From a business standpoint no
better means could be adopted to
provide occupation for the unem
ployed than to make the proposed
appropriation of $20,000,000 as a
loan to the reclamation fund, to be
used in completing projects now un
der way, and to establish the re vol v
ing fund of $350,000,000 for recla
mation of arid and swamp land. By
that means what is now worthless
will be made valuable and many
thousands of men will acquire homes
and become substantial citizens with
a stake in the country.
SAVING IT WITH FLOWERS.
In the latest volume of reminis
cences by Ezra Meeker, who at the
ripe age of 91 has just written and
published another book, that vigor
ous old pioneer tells how in 1S71 he
started from the then territory nf
Washington for New York with a
cargo of boom literature and a mis
sion to persuade more Immigrants to
come west. On the two days pre
ceding his departure he picked fifty
three varieties of flowers then grow
ing in the open air in Olympia and
these he also took along. The enter
prise was a success, if we may judge
from the rapid increase of the popu
lation of the whole Oregon country
in the years immediately following,
and the reader will have guessed
right the first time if he has taken It
for' granted that Mr. Meeker's ex
hibit of flowers did more to accom
plish what he set out to do than his
wagonload or so of books. "They
did as much to advertise the terri
tory," says the writer, speaking of
the flowers, "as the books, and, in
fact, I believe more. It was a case
of where we builded better than we
knew."
One nmed not go far to find the
moral of this pleasing tale. But
there are other morals to be had for
the extracting from-the annals of a
man of 91 who has spent the better
part of a busy life in the Pacific
northwest. The history of the region
is necessarily a story of contrasts.
For example, travel between Port
land and Puget sound in that day
was by conveyance which "by cour
tesy was known as a stage, but in fact
was a mud wagon, well named 'dead
axe.' " The writer does not remem
ber how often the passengers got out
to pry up the wheels and lighten the
load. But "now one can skip along
almost the whole route on a hard
surfaced road, the Pacific highway,
as smooth and as solid as tne best
paved city street, and travel far
In three hours as the mud wagon
could in three days." The route to
the east, for those who had no pa
tience for the return journey over
the still difficult overland trail, was
by boat to San Francisco and thence
by comparatively fast trains which
negotiated the distance between that
city and New York in about eight
days. Sleeping cars were rare and
were uncomfortable when they were
obtainable, and dining' cars wen
practically unknown. We are re
minded that the refinements and
miilp nnnpr Hit flvumirp rnnititlnns
of travel at the time. For example:
Th ,i, ,. ..,. , . ..i
vessel, old and decrepit, as no other could
then be obtained for the route. The ter-
rors or the Columbia river bar seemed
present In the minds of the passengers as
we uoate don the placid waters or toe
tanned the feeling of uneasiness In the
minds of the passengers. The stench from
trie DiiKfl water ana nurnmg on lamp
was enough to sicken one without drawing
on the Imagination. The gong
sounded for all hands to go below, as
there were breakers ahead, and soon an
utter blackness overshadowed us, followed
by a deluge of water down the , stairway.
An Impromptu prayer meeting opened tbe
session.
The stage between Portland and
San Francisco was not, perhaps, the
worst part of the journey. Mr.
Meeker recalls:
It took eight days to make the trip to
New York, most of the way without sleep
ing or dining car, and part of the way In
a smoker with stifling clouds of smoke
and vile stench of art unventllated car full
ai people, two In each seat and some sit
ting upon baggage In the aisle. For four
days and nights I did 'not catch a wink
of sleep other than that which came over
me sitting bolt upright alongside a com
panion traveler. It's different now In the
palace sleeper and appetizing diner. One
must have experienced both trips to ap
preciate the latter and tbe measure ot
progress which again wo will spell with
a capital P.
Mr. Meeker tells how Horace
Greeley was profoundly impressed
it was a New York January with
that nosegay of outdoor flowers from
the Pacific coast and how Jay Cooke,
then in the heyday of his fame, ac
quired Hy the sale of United States
bonds which f inn need the war of the
rebellion, regarded them so highly
that he commissioned Mr. Meeker to
tour New England, talk to the peo
ple, and exhibit his evidence of the
psculiarly salubrious climate of ttle
west. One would like to believe, for
the sake of romattce. this resulted in
the building of the Northern Pacific
railroad to the coast, but the facts
are that constructl6n already had be
gun a few miles north of Duluth and
that the band of steel that was to
unite the oceans wa.1 even then being
laid. It is nevertheless a reminder
of the remoteness of the Pacific
slope from the center of population
that little or nothing was known in
Washington and Oregon of what
was being done, and that a private
syndicate of pioneers had under
taken the publication of a book on
ihe resources of Washington territory
in the hope of persuading investors
to turn In that direction,. It was
not known until afterward that work
had been started which was destined
to revolutionize not only the west but
the entire" United States.
Nevertheless, as the author makes
plain, a bouquet of outdoor flowers
did give new heart to the promoters
of that vast enterprise and it stimu
lated as no conceivable quantity of
advertising literature could have
done the immigration movement
which did not wait for the comple
tion of the railroad but set in at once
by the central overland route and
found Its way northward by sea.
There was not then a mile of rail
road in the present state of Wash
ington, except a short portage line at
the cascades of the Columbia, which
ought not to count since it was but
part of a steamboat line, and the first
railroads in Oregon had made little
progress. The first operating steam
railroad in Washington, between
Wallula and Walla Walla, commonly
called the "rawhide" road, was
opened in 1871. In the same year,
however, ground was broken at Ka
lama by the Northern Pacific and
twenty-five miles of road were built
northward. The last spike on the
line between Portland and Puge:
sound was not driven until Decem
ber 16, 1873.
We are reminded therefore by Mr.
Meeker's reminiscences that tran
sition from the horse-drawn vehicle
and the ox-team as a means of over
land transportation has occurred
within fifty years, not a great while
in the history of the world', nor even
In the life of a man. Here is a piti
zen of Old Oregon who was in his
forties when railroad building began
in this region, and who, at the age
which some men regard as beyond
the prime, was only just beginning to
witness the epochal transformation
which since has taken place.
Though In full realization that the
parody perverts the spirit in which
the immortal author of the "Sea
sons" wrote, it is nevertheless diffi
cult to refrain from suggesting that
the couplet be amended to read:
Delightful task! to rear the tender thought.
To teach the young bank cashier how to
shoot.
It is almost time for a reminder
that there is a way to gather Christ
mas trees without sacrificing the In
terests of forest conservation. Tho
Christmas spirit ought to be a suf
ficient shield against vandalism,
though sometimes it is not.
Notwithstanding the reported in
vention of an instrument for deter
mining one's vocal ability, the num
ber who will insist on testing their
voices in the old disturbing way is
not expected to diminish for a sea
son or so.
The joy of the children over the
restoration of the nickel ice cream
will be a small matter by comparison
with the relief afforded to business
generally by the repeal of the nui
sance tax.
Belgium, supposed to have been
the hardest hit by the war, has of
fered a loan to Argentina. There is,
after all, nothing like thrift nd in
dustry for putting a nation back on
its feet.
Leave it to George M. Cohan to
find a substitute for "Yankee Doodle
Dandy" as a winner of applause If
he enters the theatrical game in Lon
don, as he promises to do.
Instead of looking for the woman
in a crime nowadays, the detectives
look for the automobile, which is a
lot easier to put one's finger on.
Recent developments in a number
of localities reinforce the conclusion
that crime in the long run doesn't
pay.
The best moonshine ever distilled
won't make the first Christmas Tom
and Jerry taste like the real thing
The reduction in the price of pie
ought to solve the breakfast food
problem In New England.
Seattle may have sent us a few
bandits, but it makes up by catching
them, for us again.
The Listening Post.
By neWItt Harry.
I ( NK of Joe Reigs pet chipmunks
! Vy naked to death Thursday night.;
I Joe is a manr-siderl human, for he
.m.'m. ...s mA man-
,.
i ages wrestlers among his many other
activities. But the Reig pets are
worth more than passing notice. One
. chipmunk remains and then there are
the two little green frogs, one-quarter
dollar size, the other as big as a
silver dollar. As Joe told of the
chipmunk's death his voice had a
break.
"I've had as many as half a dozen
of the little 'chaps in our basement
at one time," the amusement impre
sario explained. "They ore easy to
capture and live in the woodpile.
They eat sunflower seeds and nuts
and they come when you whistle.
"Their nests are built in a crack
in the woodpile and they gather
pieces of cloth, string and soft ma
terials to line it. Nights they all
sleep together rolled in a ball, and
you can pick them up after dark
without awakening them. They climb
a.X over you and make the finest of
pets. One of the best tricks is with
a big nut. Tie It on a string and let
It hang from a branch or piece of
wood, and the chipmunks will pull it
up and work until they manage to
get It loose. But Thursday night one
of them crept into the ash-bottom of
the furnace and Friday morning he
was dead
"The two little green froga have
been with us for three years and
grown from dime and quarter size to
quarter and dollar dimensions. The
smaller nearly lost his life a couple
of weeks ago when he fell Into a tuo
of hot, soapy water In response to
the alarm i rushed down, baled him
out and put him into fresh water and
In a few minutes he revived and
hopped away. You see they cling to
the rough cement walls and watch
Mrs. Reig work. Several times they
have had narrow escapes when
perched on the hot water pipe as the
faucet Was turned on. Food Is a
simple matter. Soon after they
adopted us 1 went down under a dock
and got a section at old, water
soaked and partially-decayed plank.
I keep this plank moist and they evi
dently get most of their meals from
minute Insects and spores that the
plank produces."
"He climbed aboard a Broadway
street-car," writes a contributor, "a
large man and wide, clad In wrinkled
blue, a pair of shoes of hilarious tem
perament and an infinitesimal black
bow tie. Anchoring himself to a
handstrap. he addressed loud and Jo
vial remarks to the conductor and his
Immediate neighbors. The conductor
wasn't feeling that way, nor was
anyone else.
"By all unwritten rules and regu
lations on Saturday night at 6 o'clock
one is supposed to feel limp and pes
simistic. Life Is without savor and
death but a shadow. Cheerfulness Is
a deliberate affront.
"Cold indifference and wooden
faces met his ill-limed attempts at
humor. Did he notice this and al
low silence to compensate for the im
perttnent cheerfulness of his expres
sion? He did not!
"Head and waistcoat he towered
above his audience, his wide, toothful
grin flashing on and off with the
regularity of a 'now you see It, now
you don't' electric sign, with the
sa.ne Intriguing effect. He was Im
possible, absurd and ridiculous, not
to"say foolish, but quantity, not qual
ity, gave him the center of the stage.
Smiles, bored yet pitying, lirted the
sagging mouths of the weary home
goers. " 'Poor fish,' murmured the end
man. shifting his three by six person
more comfortably in his two by four
seat. His upraised glance met that
of the lady with tjie eyebrows, where
at she allowed the beauty-spot at the
corner of her lip to slide upward two
notches and a quarter.
"A block or so farther on the large
stranger plowed his way out and
down. Tired eyes followed him. Tired
bodies wriggled about to watch him
disappear Into the dark. And out of
the fullness of common thought a
voice echoed, wistfully envious, 'poor
fish.' "
"Tilden Diet" was introduced to
Portland last week by Dr. J. H. Til
den of Denver, and thereby hangs a
tale. Dr. Tilden says tnat those who
eat too much court an early death
and makes life pleasant by recom
mending a balanced menu of an ap
ple for breakfast, two pieces of toast
and a glass of milk for lunch and a
baked potato with combination salad
and spinach for dinner.
However, the amusing bit of the
learned doctor's visit seems to be la
connection with his Introduction t
the White Temple audience. Mayor
Baker, in presenting the food expert,
made an excellent little five-minute
talk In which he speculated on what
Dr. Tilden was to say. threw verbal
bouquets, and completed his remarks
by admitting that he did not know
the doctor and had not heard any
thing about htm until a day or so
before.
"Ladles and Oentlemen and Mr.
Mayor." Doctor Tilden said when he
came out and bowed. "I also am ig
norant about many things. Now I
never heard of Mayor Baker before
I came to Portland."
mm
Last vacation season a young Port
and girl, with a tendency to plump
cess, spent several months at the
beach, and had to buy nearly a com
plete new wardrobe on her return.
Her net gain was around 20 pounds.
Since September she has been doing
some rigid dieting with the result
that some 13 pounds have been ban
ished and she has hopes of being In
shape for a bathing suit and another
beach season by June.
m m m
Readers of "The Listening Post"
rave been generous In their contribu
tions of late, and notes of this kind
ere always welcome. One writes of
the holiday season and of the arrest
cf a Santa Claus in Philadelphia last
year for picking pockets, while at
work.
Christmas cheer negins to appear.
Holly, mistletoe and seasonal greens j
are in toe iiuum ....linn BUa tne
street stands should be In evidence j
this week.
I
Americanization week Is brou nt
, rT , , ,
to mind by a sign in a bookstore
urging that you "learn to be an
American for 25 ceuU."
The Battle.
By Grace I . Hall.
There Is a battle to be fought by
every man
! Though he may loudly talk of peace
with lips aflame
May lend his splendid powers
to
further mortal plan,
May have auch visions as the great
of earth acclaim,
Still shall he some time stand and
face the wordless fact
That he Is but a puppet if he once
had lacked
Control to keep his balance In the
flood
That sweeps men o'er the whirlpools
in their blood;
And when man Is not sure of this
one certain test,
How may he proffer counsel that
would rule the rest?
Men are but little boys turned out
for longer play;
In each there are the thrngg that
have been wrought
Into a character, In alow and halting
way.
And oft In error, by those whose
mlndB have brought
Too little of real insight to the task,
Too little fitness to perfect tho plan.
And out of error, what shall truly
come, we nsk.
Except a faulty, stumbling, groping
man?
But he must garh, through his own
blundering falls,
That certain poise which heeds no
master calls.
To stand against the shocks, and hurl
defiance back.
Or better still, to merely firmly
stand,
So poised, so sure in what the others
lack.
That is the rourage but few men
can command;
To let life do its worst, and, undis
mayed, Hold to tho truth that he is master
still.
That through the storm his soul Is
unafraid
As giant oak upon the riven hill
That Is the battle, raging fierce and
long
Mastery of self and victory to the
strong.
TIM: ROY alt WtV.
A century or so ago
Thero lived a king who was not alow.
In fact he set a pace and he
Seemed always bent on one long spree.
With rioting and sport and cup
He drained the royal coffers up.
Hj pawned the plate and soaked his
crown
Taen borrowed from hla friends In
town.
The queen at last with tears devout
Begged her wild lord to cut It out.
She said, "Dear, your ways I vum
Have placed the palace on the bum.
The larder's void; there's naught to
drink
While I wear last year'a hat Juat
think!
And my poor maids. I do declare.
Have not a gown that's fit to wear."
The king grabbed up his plum-ed hat,
Said he was king for "ah a' that."
Then forth he strode with lordly paoe
Down to the favorite market place.
And there 'mongst tradesmen great
and small
And with the most unheard of gall
Bought everything In sight, and swore
It pained him that he saw not more.
He stormed and raved and loudly
vowed
That such a mercenary crowd
Of knaves should drawn and quar
tered be
As marks for all posterity.
"And know ye varlets," then quoth he.
"Of all black crimes and vllllany
The blackest one Is when you bring
Around old bills unto your King."
And thus It was a precedent was set
Which full half the world is follow
ing yet.
And tradesmen still, arc wond'rlrg
with dismay
At al- the would-be kings .round to
day. H. BANCROFT.
TOTKMS OF THE FOREST.
Weirdly, grotesquely, mocking the
sky.
Perched on brown hillsides,
Hot. barren nnd dry;
Carved by man's carelessness,
Saved by God's fealrlessness,
Itobbed of all gentleness.
Trying to die.
Threatening, beckoning, your grue
some hand
Hardens the henrts of men,
Darkens this land.
You take the fruits of work,
In your shade devils lurk,
Even the men who shirk
Heed your demand.
Black-coated, black-hearted, having
no face;
Having no mouth or eyes;
Pleading for grace.
From your gray resting ground.
There, from your stricken mound,
Without word or sound.
You ask for grace.
Still cursing, still scorning all that
gives life.
Your corpse a mounment
To errors rife;
Your worthless body lies
Under the seething skies
Calling for sacrifice
For world-born strife.
Unwholesome, uncanny prayerg you
receive.
Dead nature, worshipping.
Seems to believe
In your dead, helpless state.
Trusting In worthless fate.
Half aloud calls you great;
You who deceive.
FLOYD H. WILKINSON.
MAIDEN MOON.
maiden moon, ah, coy maiden
Ah.
moon,
I can see you hiding there
Behind dainty curtains with silver
lace rare;
I think I may gaze at you goon.
Glimpses I get of your fair, bright
face.
As draperies more apart:
A vision of Joy and delight to my
heart,
A promise of beauty and grace.
Slowly you glldo toward my eager
gaze.
Reluctant to leave you bjwer.
Imbued with enchantment of this
witching hour,
Elusive you seem through the hage.
Now you sail forth In glorious sheen.
A flood of loveliest light;
As stately and splendid, you dasxle
my sight.
I crown you heaven's proud queen.
NORMA DANIEL ARANT.
PASSING VKtllS.
How fast glides time on magic wing
Summer, winter, autumn, spring.
The old years go. the new vears come
Like muffled cadence from a drum:
From youth, maturity to age
Our life Is acted on its stage
We laugh, we cry, we love, we part.
We feel the sorrows, Joys and smart.
T... ...I,;, K...1, fulth ...Ill imvumA
The wnole , an enchantlng dream-
The dismal clouds go drifting by
Adorned with sunBhlne from the sky.
All rainbow-tinted they depart
And leave contentment In the heart:
Then gazing to'ard the western strand
God signals, and we understand
H leftg the vcll of mvRt,rv
And bades us view eternity.
MILTON C. ARUSTKONU.
mm