TlTE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 18, 1921
ttnilaitCDrfffimtart
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GROWTH Or THE LIBRARY IIKA,
We have advanced a great way
since the time when Franklin and
Jefferson first perceived the need of
public libraries and a still gi eater
distance in point of time since it was
true of John liunyui that the only
books he had opportunity to read
were the Bible and a copy of Fox's
"Book of Martyrs." Intellectual curi
osity Is fostered by opportunity for
its gratification, and it is measurably
true that the marvelous development
of the century through which we
have Just passed has been due to the
multiplication, not only of books, but
of facilities for obtaining them. The
growth of public libraries, on-of the
significant phenomena of the past
hundred years, is likely to have had
as much to do with the achievements
of Americans- as a people as any
other single Influence, except the
public schools. .
We are reminded of these facts by
an interesting and significant collec
tion of letters In which are sum
marized the tastes and Inclinations,
the yearnings and ambitions, of a
large number of persons who live in
the remoter districts of Oregon.
These letters are to be contained in
the records of the Oregon state li
brarian, and in the aggregate they
constitute an Intensely human docu
ment, because of the catholicity of
" taste which they reveal. We shall
do well to remember, in appraising
the growth of the movement which
now puts the book of his choice into
the hand of virtually every resident
of the state, that It was not until well
toward the middle of the nineteenth
century that the free public library
had an existence, and that in the
days of Us beginning It was the prac
tice to surround it with restrictions
that make strange reading today.
Even after the idea that easy ac
cess to books was an adjunct of edu
cation obtained ground, libraries
were slow to respond to the adminis
trative needs of the time, and it is
only In recent years that the plan
of carrying the book to the people
has been perfected. The primitive
conception of a library as a collec
tidn of tomes on shelves had a good
deal of inertia to overcome before It
was expanded into that of the mod
ern library, which seeks to supple
ment the work of the schools, and
which does more than that, because
it contains the process of education
beyond the point where the school
has ceased to function. If it is not
precisely a weapon in. the war on
illiteracy for a certain degree of
literacy is presupposed by the de
mand for books it is at least a
stimulant of study, and it feeds the
urge for self-development which is
so strong a factor in fostering a
spirit of individualism and of inde
pendence, of which we can hardly
have too much.
The demand for informational
books is one of the signs of the times.
We begrudge no one his recreational
reading, but we are right in esti
mating the seriousness of a people in
their efforts to advance by the kind
of books to which they incline. "The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,"
"The Outline of History," and
"Growth of the Soil," which appear
among those in greatest demand, are
moreover something besides pastime
books, and the overwhelming trend
of reading, as appears from the rec
ord, is toward educational works. We
discover constantly that the desire
for self-improvement is dominant, as
in the call from nearly every part of
the state for books on vocational
topics, and that the commendable'
spirit of research is reflected in
many particulars that betray the in
quiring, which is the intelligent,
mind. 'As an illustration of the lat
ter fact, the following specimen let
ter received by the state librarian
Is to the point:
Please send me a book on the life and
death of Christopher Columbus. I have
read somewhere that he "died in chants,"
and I wish to know certainly, as 1 am
billed in a dramatic reading. "The Death
of Columbus." If his hands were mana
' cled. it will affect my gestures, as I must
impersonate him in his last moments.
.. Those who would contend that the
point is one of trivial detail and
that it makes little difference, since
Columbus has been a long time dead,
are reminded that the passion for
accuracy is to be encouraged, since
it may become a matter of profound
moment in the shaping of the
character of a people. Information
may not be a substitute for logic and
reason, but it is at least the material
on which sound conclusions are
founded, and the habit of slipshod
acceptance of fable for fact may
even be dangerous to our peace.
There is a moral, too. In the circum
stance that the request for a book
to enable an actor to perfect his art
comes from a community far from
the beaten track. It is a reminder
ef ihe craving for the finer things of
life which it Is necessary to satisfy
if rural life is to be' made attractive
and the trend of population toward
the cities checked. The effort at ad
vancement is visible everywhere, and
Js a complete answer to the pessi
mists who hold that people no longer
are willing to help themselves. No
obstacle will be sufficient, for ex
ample, to daunt the author of a let
ter like this:
I am confronted with the very diffi
cult problem of getting books from the
express station In our district. I live on
a by-road, impassable in winter, and with
only two neighbors using this road, neither
of whom Is very obliging about hauling
in in the fall. The last time 1 ordered a
traveling library It remained so long at
the express office that they threatened to
charge storage; then a pupil and myself
had it brought to within a mile of the
school on a logging train and carried it
In parcels up a ateep hill, knee-deep in
mud. Then I have to watrh my chance
to get it bark o town, sometimes send
ing it back long before it ia due in order
la get it back on time.
Yet it will surprise rfTany citizens
of Oregon to be told that there are
more than 760 such traveling li
braries in, Oregon, that the the ex
perience related is not exceptional
and that the demand for books of
the predominantly educational type
is strong in proportion to difficulties
to be overcome. Ten thousand indi
viduals having no access to either
local or traveling libraries but who
are similarly served, as only a few
years ago would have been deemed
impossible, are a testimony to the
growth of the desire for education
done. They argued that If Miss Lowell
was in be designated as a poetess th
the Society of Arts and Sciences shouULhave
described 'Miss Severn as the "creatress of
me ttenda character dances. and Mine.
tluok as "a brilliant female arliftt or
artiste). Some even went so far as to say
that the topic for discussion ought to be
ine nrotner and sisterhood of art and
mat l nomas Hasting. (Jeorge B. T.uks,
Walter Damrosch. Norman B. Oeddes.
-losepn I'rban. Howard t handler ' hristy,
Albert .sterner and Chaining Pollock
others on the speakers' list, should have
oeen described as he-architect, he-painter.
he-muslclan, he-scene painters, he-illus-
iraiora and he-playwright.
It is interesting to learn that the
most of the officials of the Poetry
boclety of America who were con
sulted on the subject favored the
elimination of the word "poetess"
from our lexicons. That they hap
pened to be men only intensified, we
think, the compliment to Miss Lowell
by indicating that they were willing
without reserve to admit her to the
fellowship of art on equal terms. A
which springs from within, no less J " I ,' . 1. ' V'rej-
than to the development of the idea " 1711" '
LhaSeettimaUtCaafun " ft W f th " n
is a legitimate function of the state. LQ , t1 , D
of the amateur, which of course Miss
Lowell is not." We pass over the
confusion of "amateur" with "nov
ice" in this instance to comment on
the circumstance that the point is
historical rather than etymological.
The termination "ess" has ancient
warrant as a designation of femin
inity, and none at all for the implica
tion of inefficient craftsmanship,
yet the latter has survived, the age
when the Inferiority of women was
popularly assumed. "Poet" at least
avoids the sense of disparagement,
however slight, which an unneces
sarily particular term might contain.
It will surprise no one to be told
that Harry Kemp dissented from the
general judgment. "I would call Miss
Lowell neither a poet nor a poetess,
said Kemp. "If I were speaking of
Ldna St. Vincent Millay or Sarah
Teasdale, I should say poet, not
poetess, but in the case of Miss
Lowell, I honestly don't think either
term is correct." But this precipi
tates an issue which we shall leave
to others to decide. The question is
whether art shall keep pace with
science, and recognize the equality of
women by the peculiar though ef.
fective process of depriving them of
a distinctive designation.
THE LIVES OF SOLDIERS.
They mistake the purpose of the
study of history who would elimin
ate, as certain extremists are now
proposing to do, the biographies of
great soldiers from the reading of
young students. It is forgotten by
these that soldiers have fought for a
noble purpose which consecrated
heir calling, and that even now we
may derive inspiration from their
lives.
A recently published library list is
therefore timely and to the point.
The great soldiers presented for re
view are George Washington, the
Marquis de Lafayette, King Alfred,
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Nelson, Rob
ert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. The
dignity, the chivalry and the nobility
of Washington, the liberty-loving
soul of Lafayette, the spirit of Lee in
Jefeat, the facility with which Al
fred turned his military victories to
peaceful uses, the insistence of
Cromwell upon the people's rights,
the rugged simplicity and honesty of
Grant and the vast patriotism and
devotion to duty of Nelson are not
mere incidents in the development of
the world. To blot them from the
curriculum would be to Ignore the
valuable and essential fact that even
in war the stage has sometimes been I WILD AND WOOLLY.
dominated by high-minded men. I The description "wild and woolly'
Any of these soldiers, we think, I is relative, as we are reminded by
would have been as clearly at home reading the words of a circuit rider
In a disarmament conference as on a ofthe Methodist church, who says
battlefield. There is among them that one must now go to the east and
not one who waged war for the sak I not the west for excitement, that the
that a certain amount of convention,
which in its essence is respect for
the rights and feelings of others, is
necessary in any well-ordered state.
of war.
FICTION IN HISTORY.
The will of Colonel Charles W.
Whittlesey, who commanded the
"lost battalion" in an historic ordeal
in the forest of the Argonne, and the
testimony of a soldier of his command
discredit the popular version of that
historic episode a version nevertlfe-
less which it is safe to predict will
persist regardless of the verities.
Like the "I'p, guards, and at them!"
of the duke of Wellington and Na
poleon's "All is lost save honor," the
retort popularly attributed to Whit
tlesey to the German commander's
demand for surrender is of the type
that people would much rather be-licve.
The message of the German com
mander, by whose troops Whittlesey'
men were surrounded, was not a
verbal one, as has been supposed.
but was written in good English and
delivered by an American soldier who
west is sedate and law-abiding by
comparison with the older settle
ments, that conventions are respect
ed by westerners to a degree not
known in the eastern states. It is
indeed precisely by the matter of
conventions that wild-and-woolliness
is to be judged. The cowboy and the
gambler, both quick on the trigger.
are not necessarily wilder or woollier
than the' citizen of the metropolis
who has cast restraint aside, They
are but symbols in either case, the
real point being their defiance of
rule.
Curiously, though we put a good
deal of emphasis on the respect for
laws and conventions in other asso
ciations than mere obedience to
criminal laws, it is doubtful whether
the world would have made much
progress but for the unconventional
ists. The wild and woolly character of
the west in the days of the pioneers
was pnly superficially displayed by
card sharps and two-gun men; it
was in fact a protest against exces-
was sent through the American lines rerl"!?18 wh.ich 8ci?ty sure
blindfolded. He handed the message
to Colonel, then Major, Whittlesey,
who upon reading it simply ordered
the soldier to return to his company,
and put the paper in his pocket.
Whittlesey preserved the message,
however, and bequeathed it to a
brother officer. The circumstances
as now revealed clearly indicate that
no reply, profane or otherwise, was
sent to the German commander.
Whittlesey's sole answer was to re
sume fighting, with the sequel which
is now known.
It is revealed also that the German
captain who sent the surrender mes
sage was so irritated by the silent
contempt displayed by the lost bat
talion that he decided to wipe out
the entire command with liquid fire.
rhe chemicals were brought up and
were to have been showered on the
ravine in which the battalion lay on
October 7, 1918. It happened, how
ever, that this was the day when the
American advance crashed through
the German lines and drove the
enemy out, of their own positions.
The German message, the text of
which has never been made public.
said in substance that the cries of
the American wounded could be
heard within the enemy's lines, and
demanded that Whittlesey surrender
in the name of humanity. The
ground of the appeal and the subse
quent preparations to use liquid fire
in Retaliation upon a brave foe pre
sent a curious study in the psychol
ogy of the German command. "
The entire episode illustrates, too.
the fashion in which the substance,
if not always the letter, of historical
accuracy is likely to be preserved.
It now appears settled that Whit
tlesey was silent but events have
proved it a silence fairly translatable
in the words which popular legend
has associated with the event.
anything, 1 have my groceries, etc., hauled
POET OR POETESS
Is Amy Lowell a, poet or poetess?
The question, running less to the
merit of Miss Lowell's work than to
the broader issue of the propriety of
employing the mark of sex distinc
tion, was raised recently on the oc
casion of a "brotherhood" dinner
given by the New York Society of
Arts and Sciences, on which Miss
Lowell's name appeared on the pro
gramme as "a poetess of distinction."
But the discriminating eye of a re
porter discovered that Miss Lowell
was not the only woman on the of
ficial list, "singing" being repre
sented by Alma Gluck, and "danc
ing" by Margaret Severn. Owing to
the poverty of our language, no noun
of femininity was employed to de
scribe the latter. Whereupon it oc
curred to certain critics that inas
much as art is universal, there ought
to be no distinction In any case.
Science already has declined to draw
a dividing line. We still have
"sculptress" and, occasionally, "au
thoress." but the opening of the pro
fessions to women lias not yet af
flicted us with "doctoress" or "law
yeress" or any of their possible
equivalents.
The members of the Society of
Arts aDd Sciences, as would be ex
pected of them, were inclined to take
the matter seriously. We take the
followiftg summary of their feelings
from the news columns of the New
York Evening Post;
llany contended that a ellght had been
to breed if It is not careful of Itself.
The staid and long-settled com
munity, for illustration, is apt to put
too much stress on non-essentials.
such as family connections and asso
ciation with a particular "set," and
to divide into cliques which In turn
are held together by bonds of con
ventionality differing only in kind
but not at all in degree. Caste, the
Inevitable product of too-long asso
ciation, is fostered, and finally be
comes highly unpopular, especially
with the outs. The safety valve used
to be emigration with its chance to
start life over again. WiWness and
woolliness followed as a matter of
course, since the new country was
peopled with folks who had been
surfeited by restrictive rules
But it became apparent presently
that laws not only laws against
crime but certain reasonable cus
toms which we call conventionali
ties also have their purpose in the
scheme of things. The spirit of so
cial anarchy runs its course and the
fever dies out. The happy custom
of accepting every man at so-called
face value, not asking him what his
name was "in the states," suffers a
-number of jolts. Benevolence is im
posed on and the black sheep are
just numerous enough to warrant
misgivings that there may be some
thing worth while in conservatism
after all. People grow more care
ful in choosing their acquaintances,
put locks on their doors, quit lend
ing money to strangers, and matters
are again pretty much where they
were. A life of protest too long
drawn out is as irksome as conven
tion itself. It is finally realized that
the rules of the older societies were
not accidental, that they were the
result of slow growth and that they
are founded on the experience of
the mass.
But it is a truism that every gen
eration must learn certain lessons
for itself. The old idea of protest
persists until it finds outlet and ntil
the victims of conventions have op
portunity to experiment tor them
selves. Deprived of their once-obvious
recourse to emigration to a
new country, people have nothing to
do but protest at home. The easjl
would never have become wild and
woolly If the west had remained so.
We presume that presently there will
be an efflux of westerners, weary
with comparative western.,restraints,
to the disorderly, tumultuous and
liberty-loviqg communities of the
east.
This explains no doubt, why it is
that anarchy in fashions reigns in
the old communities which is what
the Methodist circuit rider is com
plaining about and not in the west.
In the west, he observes, children
of twelve months still cling to -their
mothers' skirtsr he thinks that the
eastern child would have to be three
or four years old before he could
reach that high. Western modes
are (comparatively) sedate, domestic
life Is (again comparatively) idyllic
and uneventful. It is to the eastern
date lines that we turn for sensa
tional news while 'the west pursues
the noiseless tenor of its way. These,
however, are the passing phenomena
of ever-changing time. Wildness and
woolliness are but sporadic mani
festations of the human tendency to
kick over the traces, and always are
followed by that other reaction
which, comes with understanding
OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
The groundwork of the modern
history of California, of which we
are reminded by the recent sale of a
collection of Fort Sutter papers to
the library of Congress for 18450, ex
tends across the boundary line of
that state into Oregon. It was to
Fort Sutter that John C. Fremont
turned back from the Klamath Lake
country In May, 1846, when over
taken by the messenger, Lieutenant
Gillespie of the United States ma
rines, with a message the precise
import of which may never be
known.. A good many of the occur
rences of those stirring times are
still enveloped in mystery, and the
inner statecraft that may conceiv
ably have furnished the reason for
Fremont's sudden move is one of
them. If there are documents among
the Fort Sutter papers that throw
light on the incident, they are valu
able indeed.
"Fremont was as good as driven out
of California by the Mexican au
thorities early in 1846. He had trav
eled west on his third great recon
nolssance and had entered the region
from the south; he obtained permis
sion from the Mexican governor to
explore me country, nut tnat permls
sion was later rescinded and Fre
mont was told to take himself and
his expedition out of Mexican terri
tory by the shortest possible way.
He remained just long enough to
preserve his military dignity and
then set out for Oregon, with the
professed purpose of prospecting for
a new route to the settlements in the
Willamette valley, which Senator
Benton called the "Wah-lah-math,"
then the only populated American
country of consequence west of the
Rocky mountains. But it is now
known that the administration at
Washington had decided early in
1846 upon a policy in California.
Orders in fact had been dispatched
in 1845 to the commander of the
Pacific squadron telling him how to
proceed in the event of war.
Fremont's association with the ad
ministration and h!s opportunities
for obtaining confidential informa
tlon as to its intentions were excep
tional. As the son-in-law of Senator
Benton, chairman of the senate com
mittee on military afairs, he will be
presumed to have known a good deal
of what was going on. It is known
that Commodore Stockton of the Pa
cific squadron had been instructed to
"maintain as friendly relations with
the inhabitants as possible," and this
was the tenor of every message sent
openly from Washington. The ex
istence of war with Mexico was rec
ognized by congress on May 13, 1846,
and only a short while afterward Gil
lespie found Fremont at Klamath
Lake and delivered the message to
which allusion has been made. That
Fremont's subsequent action in fo
menting the uprising, of California
settlers, or at least in giving it the
encouragement of his official pres
ence, was thought out in advance
now seems probable. The "bear flag
republic" was no accidental affair.
Fremont's appearance on the scene
at a critical moment, his known con
tacts with the Polk administration,
the fact that he had been officially
recalled, made him a pre-eminent
figure among the Americans in Cali
fornia. 'His influence was unlimited
there.
Even then Fremont left a care
fully prepared loophole in the event
that the government's policy should
change. In his "Memoirs" he says:
In order to place It In the power of
my government to disavow my action,
should it become expedient to do so, I '
drew up my resignation from the army,
to be sent by the first opportunity to
Senator Benton, for transmission to the
war department, in the event of such a
contingency. j
Gillespie carried no written orders
to Fremont that help to solve the
puzzle. His papers consisted of only
such official letters of instruction as
would identify him, and included
nothing that would embarrass him if
they should fall into the hands of
enemies. For the rest, all inter
changes between the men were
wholly verbal. But, says Senator
Benton, in his "Thirty Years' View,"
"It is not to be supposed that Lieu
tenant Gillespie had been sent that
far, and through so many dangers,
merely to deliver a letter of intro
duction on the shores of Tlamath
Lake." It is said that the Polk ad
ministration, fresh rrom its diplo
matic victory in the matter of the
northwestern boundary, , by the sum
mer of 184 6 was fearful lest Califor
nia should fall into the hands of
Great Britain. A European nation,
not the American republic, was the
bete n6ir of the Polk cabinet, and
the diplomacy which had won the
ports of the Columbia and Puget
sound was fearful lest San Francisco
should fall into alien hands. Pub
lished history says only that Gillespie
communicated to Fremont the de
sire of his government that the
region "should not come under the
direction of any foreign power," and
the testimony of Fremont, given in a
suit for remuneration for his outlay,
before the United States court of
claims, is not much more illuminat
ing. Fremont then said:
He (Gillespie) informed me that he had
been directed by the secretary of state
to find me and acquaint me with his in
structions, which had for their principal
object to ascertain the disposition of the
California people, to concentrate their
feelings in favor of the United State, and
rind out, with a design of counteracting,
the design of the British government upon
the country.
The vast remoteness of the Pa
cific coast country from the centers
of population is Illustrated by a
number of incidents. News of the
settlement of the northern boundary
issue was months reaching the Co
lumbia river. The bear flag republic
In California was established without
knowledge that a state of war with
Mexico actually prevailed. When the
army of the west was organized,
with General Stephen W. Kearny in
command, and sent to "take the
earliest possible possession of upper
California," it was not known that
Fremont already had assumed con
trol of affairs. Kearny, meeting
Kit Carson at Albuquerque on the
way, obtained an account of the in
cident in so exaggerated a form that
he diverted all but fifty of his ex
pedition of 300 men to Mexico,
marched with only fifty to complete
the formal subjugation of California,
and paid for his mistake by being
defeated in an engagement near San'
Oiego in which he was saved from
complete rout only by timely rescue
by sailors and marines. Meanwhile
Fremont, as the result of l?is quick
return from his Oregon trip, had the
situation in the north in hand and
was acting as governor of the terri
tory under warrant of appointment
by the fleet commodore. The con
flict ot authority which ensued, and
which resulted in the trial by court
martial of Fremont and his resigna
tion from the army, belongs to the
history of our neighborinr; state.
Fremont was a long distance, as
communication went, from the seat
of authority when, apparently act
ing on his own initiative, he set the
wheels of government in motion at
butters fort. As has been said, he
left a way by which his acts might
be repudiated if the government de
sired to do so. Nothing in his sub
sequent writings, or in those of his
father-in-law, is inconsistent with
the presumption that he may have
received and acted on orders which
have never been revealed. The true
story of what took place on a certain
night in 1846, on the shores of Upper
Klamath lake, In Oregon, is needed
to, complete the chain of circum
stances, both military and diplo
matic, which resulted in adding Cali
fornia to the galaxy of states.
DEATH OF AN APOSTLE OF GOOD
COOKING.
The recent death in Boston of
Mrs. Mary Johnson Lincoln at the
age of seventy-seven is a reminder
that the modern science of cookery
is the development of a relatively
recent time. We do not lose sight
of the great antiquity of the use of
fire in the preparation of food, but
we are mirldful that it has been
only as the result of a Beries af
painfully laborious steps that the art
has been developed to its present
high standard. In which it is univer
sally recognized as a science as well.
Nor do we forget that cooking of
sorts many of them exceedingly
good has been practiced for a great
many years. The Greeks had a
glimpse of the principles of cookery,
and the art attained a very high
place during the Attic age an age
in which, however, nothing was
known of the underlying principles
of the preparation of food and
nothing at all of the chemistry of
diet. The high dignity which
attached to the cook's position in
olden times was apt to have been
the result as much of the confiden
tial nature of his position as of his
skill in the preparation of food for
the table.
Mrs. Lincoln was a contemporary
of Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rohrer, of
Christine Terhune H e r r i c k and
others still remembered for the fine
wholesomeness as well as the appe
tizing vigor of their teaching. It is
not forgotten that until recently
nothing much was known of the
value of foods as such, and that less
attention was given to the scientific
method of their preparation than to
their appeal to the palate in itself.
The greasy frying of all meats and
some other foodstuffs, which con
tributed largely to the once wide
spread malady of indigestion, was
not long ago a national practice.
Who knows how greatly the practice
of eating food that had been pre
pared by swimming it In boiling fat
may have Influenced national health,
or to what extent it might not have
gone if the new school of cooking
reformers had not come into being
about the time that Mrs. Lincoln
was in the heyday of her powers?
We now remember her as the author
of cook books in which sane and
wholesome methods of food prepara
tion were advocated, but she was
more than that. She taught the
principles of cookery, of nutrition.
of food combination, in the begin
ning . of the era when so-called
scientific cookery" was only dimly
understood and was much ridiculed.
It will have bqen forgotten by many
persons that the cook books which
Mrs. Lincoln prepared, and on which
the ordinary conception of her work
is founded, constituted only a small
part of her mission. She was the
apostle of popular knowledge of the
sound principles of diet. That which
a few professional cooks dimly con
ceived in an older day she made
popular with the rank and file.
The importance of good by which
is meant wholesome cookery was
first recognized by a department of
the United States government in Mrs.
Lincoln's time. Schools for scientific
popular instruction in cooking were
not opened anywhere until the latter
half of the nineteenth century, and
it is not forgotten that they were
widely ridiculed at first. The desir
ability of weighing and measuring
the ingredients of the dish was
scoffed at by cooks who knew things,
or thought they did, by instinct, but
who did not realize that cookery was
In fact an exact science. The chem
istry of cooking is a relatively
modern discovery. The great value
of the development of cooking on
a scale of precision has lain in its
effect in making really good cooking
more nearly universal than it was a
few years ago.
We still remember how cooks used
to scoff at novices who used the
measuring cup.l but we now know
that measure and rule and knowl
edge of underlying principles have
greatly improved our national table,
to say nothing of our health. We
still Wave cooks who are instinctively
good cooks, as some of our grand
mothers were, but study of under
lying principles and the practice of
cooking by accurate rule and knowl
edge of the chemistry of the proc
esses involved has contributed, in
an extent that can hardly be over
estimated, to the universality of the
art. It may be that the professional
chef still blooms to best advantage
in foreign lands, but it is probably
true that in no country is wholesome
and healthful food preparation so
widespread as it is in the United
States.
pur own grandmothers were apt
to scoff at those who brought
measuring cup and scales to their
aid in cooking; it was supposed that
the so-called natural appetites of
men were a sufficient guide to food
selection; the instinctive cook was
long a bar to the development of
methods of precision. The idea that
girls might learn something of cook
ing in a school was a long time
taking root. The application of
chemistry to cookery was long
regarded as nonsense, and the use
of scales and measuring cup as the
mark of the tyro. The dyspeptic
New Englander, who was no more
afflicted, it can be said, incidentally,
than those of other sections, fell
back slowly before the Inexorable
fact that scientific cookery was a
national necessity as well as a
gustatory delight. The idea that the
business of the school was done
when the three 'R's had been taught
was a long time dying out. Domestic
science, of which the preparation of
food wholesomely is but a part, had
an uphill fight before it gained the
recognition that it deserved.
' It will not be forgotten by those
who knew of Mrs. Lincoln's work
that she was among the pioneers in !
bringing exact methods to the
kitchen, and that she and others who
followed along the trail that she
helped to blaze were scientists in the
truest sense of the word. They have
made good cooking well nigh uni
versal i- America and it is perhaps
not too much to say that they have
largely increased our national effi
ciency by developing understanding
of the relation between cookery and
Individ ua health.
When the nation waa at war and
it was desired to save wheat for
shipment to the armies overseas, the
people at home were urged to eat corn
as a substitute for the other grain
Now the motive for eating corir-conies
from another source the shortage
of potatoes. The potato crop this
year is found by the federal bureau
of crop estimates to be 356,074,000
bushels, which is more than 15,000,
000 bushels below the figure of 371,
280.000 bushels, representing the
average of five years from 1915 to
1920, and more than 72,000,000 bush
els less than the bumper crop of
1920, which was not only remark
able for a single year, but also helped
materially to increase the five-year
average. But corn may also come in
handy as a substitute for both rice
and beans, for both these commodi
ties also show a short yield for 1921
There is no discounting the theoret
ical mission of Indian corn in the
premises: the practical difficulty-4
lies in persuading people to change
their habits to fit an emergency.
Plans now under way In many of
the colleges of the country to pledge
250,000 students to help the poverty-
stricken students of Europe are
founded on a sound principle. In
pointing out that the reconstruction
of Europe, which may be the work
of years, depends on trained and in
formed leadership the proponents of
the movement also indicate a fact
upon which the welfare of the entire
world may depend. It seems to have
been overlooked that unless the in
stitutions of higher learning are
maintained, there will In a few
years be no engineers, no physicians,
no competent health officers, and no
teachers in any of these professions.
More fortunate peoples who are in
clined to view the troubles of others
without alarm will realize, on a little
reflection, that the period which
would thus be created is real and
warrants any reasonable sacrifice by
which It may be forestalled.
In a list of twenty-five authors,
compiled for a referendum of
readers, Kipling leads and Harold
Bell Wright is twentieth. Kipling
has ability and Wright has a good
publisher. This is not to Infer that
the latter lacks ability to write a
good story; he can, but it is lik the
sunshine of a day gone at night,
while Kipling's is reflected in a glow.
Why do the total disarmament
people always ask the United States
to disarm first, as though this were
the most heavily armed and belliger
ent nation, when it took Germany
two years to drive us into war? Why
don't they pick on some really mili
tarist nation like the republic of San
Marino?
There seems to be opposition to
establishment ot a line of motor
buses to run between Portland and
Puget sound cities. There is little
demand for them. One may ride
once for the novelty of it, but after
that it's the train for him. There
is comfort in a coach.
We of this coast should dress up
a big fish after the manner of the
Thanksgiving turkey and make It th
piece of resistance for the Christmas
dinner. It would lack drumsticks
and wishbone, ot course, but have
enough others and someone might
find a lucky bone.
Hungary is grateful to the United
States for disinterestedness in mak
ing peace, apparently because we did
not take anything from the proud
Magyars. One good reason is that
Hungary has been so severely
trimmed that nothing worth taking
remained.
"It comes high but we must have
It" seems peculiarly applicable to the
feeling of the Chinese toward the
western civilization. But they must
wonder, sometimes, whether it is
worth the price.
The Leavenworth prison authori
ties are put on their mettle by Gard
ner's threat to escape, which is not
likely to make' it any pleasanter for
that self-assertive young man.
Now someone has taken the
trouble to add them up. and has
found that 5-5-3 totals thirteen. Not,
however, an unlucky number, as al
most everyone will asree.
Only a few days more to buy
Christmas seals and by doing so not
only help tuberculosis sufferers but
diminish the danger to the rest of
the people.
A French mechanic has invented
an automobile that can fly, so that
even the pedestrian who goes
straight up in the air will no longer
be safe.
There is still time before Christ
mas for a good snow storm, but we
never did subscribe to the green
Christmas makes a fat graveyard
idea.
ItKMAKKS ON MKX AMI EVENTS
Potato IIIII I'hllosopher nisrove-ra a
Krw Facta and Foililca.
(K. V. Howe in Howe's Monthly).
I find the devil never bothers mo so
long as 1 keep out of his territory.
When a man Is hungry. Fhould he
go to work, or engage in rioting?
That is the great question now being
argued.
All this luck business is largely
bunk. The real thing is to earn money
in fair competition with others, and
save some of it.
The new thought gentlemen are
always demanding new conditions.
There will be no new conditions; we
must make better use of old condi
tions. Do you know what the trouble is
with most disagreeable people? They
eat too much, and do not properly get
rid of waste matter; what they need
Is not greater opportunity, or more
liberty, but a dose of castor oil.
No man can amount to a great deal
without being somewhat stingy. It Is
the stingy men who combine their
savings and invest it ia useful and
necessary enterprises. If we had only
Sunny Jims and Johnny Greathearts,
we should have no Mg institutions.
Find a banker who has crippled his
institution by making loans on insuf
flclent security, and you will usually
find ho has been driven into the dan
gerous course by boomers screaming
that ho should be broad minded and
help the town. Kvery really capable
hanker is a little unpopular because
he is safe.
Be a gentleman: a home owner, a
good mechanic, an agreeable neigh
bor, a good citizen, a aocxl and suc
cessful farmer, foreman, superintend
ent, business man, or millionaire, in
stead of a poor man howling for help.
The help the poor get from the gov
ernment and their neighbors Is
scanty. It is always easier to make
a living than It is to beg it.
Had there ever been men who lived
forever, and without work; had there
ever been men who sincerely loved
each other, and generously divided
with those less fortunate; if, in short,
conditions had ever been better than
they are now, I could understand
present thundering human protests.
nut conditions are now actually bet
ter than they ever were before.
The chief of police of Chicago says
half of the policemen under him en
gage in bootlegging. Prohibition may
prove a very good method of dividing
party spoils. I don't say it Is done,
but a man appointed to enforce pro
hibition in New York city would cer
tainly have a very great opportunity
o make money on the side, nrovidlna-
he lacked nobility of character.
Capital has been abused since the
world began, although actually as re
spectable as the old flag. There Is
occasionally a mean capitalist; also.
here Is the red flag, occasionally a
Smile-Smile, Ium-You-Snii!e nan
robs those who have confidence in
him; I once saw a book of 200 pages
devoted to preachers who had gone
wrong. There Is evil in everything,
but as a steady thing, capital is con-
tderably above the average.
Charles (',. Dawes has been 'ap
pointed head of a budget bureau re-
ently created by congress. .Mr. Dawes
seemB to have proper realization of
he difficulties before him. He says
he Implements placed In his hands
o curtail the expenses of government
re equal only to what a tnothplt-k
I would be were It used in tunneling
Pike's peak. The bureau Is Impotent
unless congress eliminates many of
the numerous departments, bureaus
and commissions now existing tmdi
national law.
A Watted Day
lly t.race K. Hall.
I kept dream for you, a splendid
dream.
And in it life and hope were very
sweet ;
We drifted in the sunshine down a
stream
Where fringing plnc-tops lean
across and greet;
And o'er the heart peace lingered like
a mist.
And tender as the lips you one
time kissed
You left the dream untold its mean
ing lies.
A dnrkenlnjf shadow, ever. In my
eyes.
I kept a day for you. a gladsome da v.
With all it held of mirth and Joy
and thought:
It's spirit with the throb of life was
gay.
It held rare promises that love had
brought
From out the treasure-house of sa
cred things.
And words to thread like pearls on
sliver strings
Words that were Just for you and
songs, unsung
You left the heart-strinBs silent,
tlio pearls unstrung.
The fact that one man has money
ana another has not Is precisely th
same sort of injustice as that exist
ing when one has youth and strength
and another miserable old age. l!od
made that rule and man caiino
change it. Old men may hold con
vcntlons and make a row, but will
Inevitably waste their time and th
money thoy paid for half-rate ticket
to the conventions; the undertake
will get them at the appointed time,
Just the same. This is gloomy, bu
It Is often necessary to admit the
truth of disagreeable things.
What sort of "stories" do rich men
tell? I lately heard the owner of i
two-million-dollar yacht tell this: i
farmer and his wife were out milk
Ing. The farmer was busy doing the
evening cnores, ana his wife was
milking a cow. Suddenly a hutie bull
siartea lor them. The farmer
promptly jumped the fence and yelled
to his wife to run. But she calmly
went on milking. The bull charged
up to within a few feet of the
woman, stoppod, looked at her, and
then, moving away, began nibbling
grass. The farmer came back, and
said to his wife: 'Why didn't you
run? Wasn't you afraid?' She
plied that she was not. 'Why?' the
farmer asked, in astonishment. Be
caupe,' his wife replied, as she pro
ceeaed with the stripping, 'I was
milking the bull's mother-in-law."
Perhaps it is natural that the
disarmament conference bombshell
should come from the country In
which the word sabotage was coined.
It is nearly time to substitute
"better late than never" for "do your
Christmas shopping early" on the
line at the top of the copy book page.
When more jail sentences are sub
stituted for fines, which are only a
tax on the profits, bootlegging will
tie less popular than it is now.
The original Peeping Tom lost an
eye; his modern imitator only loses
his job, for peeping at a whole room
ful of Lady Godivas. at that.
It is said to cost $750,000 to feed
the rat population ot the United
States, and obviously it is not worth
the price.
Winter, according to the calendar.
begins next Wednesday. According
to the thermometer, it is already
here.
Charlie Chaplinj denies that he is
going to play Hamlet. He must have
heard of the experience of Eddie
Foy.
The president of a large corpora
tion which employs many men lately
said: "We never h-ve any places to
offer. A man has to make his own
place. All that we ardently desire
to do for a man, and all that we think
we should ever do. for his own good
and for the good of the company, l
to offer him a foothold, an oppor
tunlty to prove his value. If wo
give him a foothold he should be able
to climb the rest of the way himself.
And if he wants more than a foot
hold, then we take it for granted
that has no confidence in hla own
ability, but hopes to be promoted by
making himself agreeable." This is
excellent sense, from a man of wide
experience and unusual intelligence.
Better cut It out and refer to it fre
quently.
Klihu Root is said to bo a very in
tcllfgent man; Theodore Roosevelt
once told me Root was the smartest
man then living. Have not the
writers of slush not observed that
Root never writes or talks it? You
never saw anything from Root's pen
that was not worth preserving as an
example of common sense. You may
recall his controversy with William
R. Hearst, who had been abusing him
for years. Root finally wrote 20 or
30 lines In reply, and has never spoken
of Hearst since. Hut that was
enough. In 20 or 30 lines he disposed
of Hearst. K. H. Gary is another very
intelligent man, by common consent,
and no one ever heard of his writing
or talking slush. But once a year ho
makes a report to the steel corpora
tion, of which -he is chairman, and
talks more good sense than has been
heard during the twelve months his
report covers.
H. G. Wells Is unquestionably an
Intelligent and well-informed man.
In a recent newspaper article he says:
The czarlst government (in Russia)
treated elementary education as an
offense against the atate." This, of
course, is a monstrous falsehood. A
peculiar thing about Russia under the
cuars Is that nobody told the truth
about it. The czarist government
was bad nough. but everyone who
wrote about it lied atrociously. I am
amazed that a man like H. G. Weils
should declare that under the czars
elementary education was treated as
an offense against the state. He is
a tremendous man: I have been read
ing and admiring him, but shall wash
my hands of him. He does not seem
to be any more reliable than our
own tremendous writers.
THE TKITH IS 11AHII TO HEAIl.
We're not ushamod of the uniform
and. If you are a friend.
You will never say against it any
word that will offend;
It has covered honored bodies, and by
heroes has been worn.
Since the birth of the Republic and
the Stars and Stripes wero born.
Uniforms have many patterns, some
are "khaki, some are blue.
And the men who choose to wear
them are of many patterns, too;
Some are sons of wealthy parents,
some nro college graduates.
Some have, many muni) virtues, some
are simply reprobates.
Wc have many skilled mechanics,
men of brains a ad letters, who
Loyally have served the country that
they are a credit to.
No, indeed, they're not all angels.
Blackguards? Yes, we've some of
these,
When they came Into the army they
all wore civilian clothes.
Men of all kinds, when they're drink
ing, misbehave, act rough and
swear;
Drunken soldiers or civilians are dis
gusting anywhere.
We have eat with you in public.
smelled your whisky-ladeu breath.
Heard remarks inane, and silly, nearly
boring us to death;
Though we offered no objeotlons
when these deadly borea we met.
Yet you think you should exclude ua
from the most exclusive set.
If you meet us out In public, on the
streets or anywhere.
We don't merit sneering glances or a
patronlzlnir stare.
For we have an honored calling, as
our Karmcnts plainly show;
You may be a thief or parson; how on
earth are we to know?
I don't care for your profession, occu
pation, what you do.
When your gaaing at a soldier and
he's looking buck at you.
Who Is there to Judge between you,
as you stand there, man to man?
Only one the God Almighty; name
another If you can.
Drop your proud and haughty bearing
and your egotistic pride.
Get acquainted with the oldler and
the heart and soul Inside;
Test and try to analyze him, criticise
him through and through
And you'll very likely find him Just
as gon a man you
ARTHUR N. SALINGER,
Staff Sgt., D. E. M. L , V. S. A.
POOR MAM
Have you heard people say, in a
cynical way,
Of men whom the world has deemed
great:
"Oh, he Is not much' His folks they
arc Dutch!
Why, I am acquainted with hlin:"
It may be a tutor or mayhap a suitor
Of Borne winsome lars In the town:
"Oh, he's of the prigs! His father sells
pigs!
Why. 1 am acquainted with him!"
It might chance that Kate, though It
be a bit late,
Glvea one honored seat in "the
house":
"Oh, he's on old fool! His name
should he mule!
Why. I am acquainted with him!"
it might be
given high
Was born
Suppose it's a preacher
a teacher
Whom good luck has
place:
"My stars. He's a mutt!
in a hut!
Why, I am acquainted 1th him!"
While cynics thus rant, In my pres
ence I grant.
My thoughts chant a different re
frain: "How came It that Fame gave the
man any name.
Since you are acquainted with him!"
F12ABL GREGORY CARTLIDGE.
HI XM(1 WITH THE FOOTMEX.
"If thou hast run with the footmen.
and they have wearied ther, then how
canst thou run with the horses!"
Jer. xM:5.
Shall I tell you of the footmen
I am running wltn today?
While the horsemen with their glit
tering arms.
Their shouting, and their glad alarm.
Long have sped upon their way?
There's patience with his plodding
reet.
That swerve not from the right
Hope, joyous, with some glad sur
mise,
And faith In steadfast, wistful eves
Par reaching toward tho light.
And there Is pain, with piercing dart.
And fear, with furtive glance;
And doubt, that stumbles on the road.
And self, deep weighted with his load.
And lost in gloomy trance.
And there are surely, sullen cares.
And anger, like a thief;
And irksome little things that wait.
mpatient of my lagging gait;
And heavy clouded grief.
My captain! must I run with these?
The horsemen gain so fast!
Kaint soldier, follow my bihost;
Obedience is my only test;
The first may yet be Isst!
MARY ALKTHKA WOODWARD.
KVKIK.lt KI! TIME.
ust once a year we feel tlie thrill
That only Christmas gives.
list once a year in every hart
The Christmas spirit liver;
And in this bare, sa vre-covered land.
Where blows the north wind keen.
ust once a year we see and simll
The lovely evergreen.
We're ever loyal to the saRe
And yet to Christmas tin e
The evergreen alone belongs.
The nr. the spruce, and pine.
The Christmas spirit could not live
In sagebrush tray, we fear.
So we shall borrow the t-vernrten
This season of the year.
We do not miss the Christmas crowd
That surge in larger places
For those that shop In small-town
stores
All have familiar faces.
The Christmas star shines down a'.ike
On wood or sagebrush hill.
And to all hearls the angels sing
Their song of peace, goodwill.
MARGARET HUMPHREY.
Vale, Or.