TITE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, TORTLAXD, DECE3IBER 2.', 1921
5
KSTAItMSIIKD Ii lfKNRY I,. PITTOCK.
Pnblishii by The Oregonlan Publishing Co ,
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C. A. atorlf:n.
M;ui;if,er.
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NKVKR WAS SICK A CHRISTMAS,
This December day the curtain of
a most engaging necromancy is
drawn aside, the world for its stage,
No rabbits emerge from tall silk
tiles, no stooped and grizzled Merlin
calls "l'resto!" to our stupefaction
But we are nevertheless bewitched
every mother's son of us, and every
mother's daughter, for, as by a spell
merriment claims us, and geniality,
and tolerance. Ours is a broader,
more beneficent concept of friend
ship and neighborliness, and it -were
difficult to be sour or down
hearted. Tins I; because we are,
miite willingly, enchanted by the
most potent magic man ever experi
onced. None save it could banish
frown and care, and for a season,
told in hours, bring near to us the
realization of human brotherhood. It
is the white magic of Christmas.
It would seem, to the most casual
seeker as to the savant, that a titanic
and benevolent force is wakened
with the yule. If faith shall move
mountains, what then of the poten
tial energy that vivifies this day?
Housed from slumber, like some good
old genie, with fists to his sleepy eyes,
the Christmas magic touches each
frozen heart and creates an April in
mid-winter. Against his smile the
cynic shall not prevail, nor bitterness
hold dispute, nor poverty tremble in
the cold. lie waves but once at the
strong box, the lock turns, the chest
yields its treasure. Priceless of
paltry, heavy with gold or merely
bright with tinsel, his gifts are rich
as those the wise man .brought to
Bethlehem of long ago. They are
the tributes of love.
Laughter swept in a great tide up
to the stars this morning, the laugh
ter of children, of men and of
women. It rolled through inter
stellar space as silver liquefied, to
beat against the gates. And all the
world knows that, as it rose and
swelled and gathered volume, it bore
into the darkness and cast up on the
impalpable shores of forgetfulness
if but for a day a debris of trivial
hates and frets and unworthiness
that was our heaviest burden. It
'cleansed the halls of the universe, as
Heracles cleansed the stables. It
was, if you please, the voice of that
magic which makes us even as chil
dren. What if our engineers, laden with
conquests and degrees, could call a
council with our EInstelns and our
Frcuds, and our Edisons and our
Maeterlincks, and by dint of an ex
haustive application and erudition
contrive to harness this force, to- tap
it at will as it tapped the boundless
store of electrical energy? The
project is cylopean, fourth dimen
sional visionary, if you choose. So
long has our planet concerned itself
with practical research, bo long have
our scientists scrutinized and ana
lyzed and classified the physical
verities, that such a proposal seems
more figmentary than to talk with
the men of Mars. Yet we remem
ber, in our annals of history, the time
when each man's hand was against
his fellow, and our progenitors were
ruthless as the beast-stalking, two
legged animals of prey. The cen
turies wrought with them, as with
plastic clay, until they walked erect
in the spirit as in the flesh. Here,
whatever shame we may feel for our
lapses into war, and the selfishness
of commerce, is the evidence of an
instrumentality singularly akin to
that which rules the world this day.
Omnipotence has but used the force
progressively. Let those who think
to shape our thought and future
dwell well upon this. The world Is
weary with, waiting.
There is at Washington a confer
ence such as we, nor the intermin
able generations before us, have
never witnessed. From its surface
aspects, from the suspicious conten
tion that swirls about its sessions,
It is absurdly easy for cynio and re
actionary to raise the charge of in
sincerity and voice the prophecy of
failure. It is predicated on the strong
belief that nations need no longer
war with one another. Christianity
came to the world nineteen centuries
ago. He lies who sys or Intimates
that this shining effort is not the
great fruitage of the Christian ideal.
Grant, if you will, that its .statesmen
there assembled are no more than
puppets, speaking words which are
thrust into their mouths, gesturing
stiffly as so many mannlkins. Pup
pets they are, as kings and queens
and presidents and counsellors have
been before them but they are the
puppets of providence, and their
shadow show is the prelude to peace
on earth, good will toward men. The
magic that Is resurgent with the yule
has found expression there. Never
before has it been freed from its
reservoirs in such volume, freed to
work for the work-a-day world. The
centuries are as yesterday.
Scrooge, In that far land where
you have gone, these things are
known to you: That the hearts of
men are the hearts of the universe.
That life is bitterest to him who
dwells alone. That material success
is flat to the palate and wry to the
throat, if one does not wash it down
with a bumper of brotherhood. That
he laughs best whoso eyes are dim
with tears of a very human sym
pathy. That nations inarticulate are
finding tongue, and shall, some day,
and too a, speak for a pact of toler-
I ance to last so long as the world
wags . . . a pact to outlaw pov
erty and famine and pestilence and
war. That he keeps Christmas best.
and keeps it only, who celebrates
Christmas in his. heart through three
hundred and some-odd days.
And. knowing this, no doubt the
soul of you that blossomed late in
life Is the least . bit impatient of
mortal understanding, and vexed
that we of your old ways are dullards
and slow to learn. Be patient yet
a while.
This thought for Christmas and
today: We are nearer now to the
hills of Utopia than ever we were
before. There is no retrogression.
There is no vertigo that shall draw
us into the abyss. There need never
again be fear. Destiny has toiled so
many ages, to us a bewildering
period, that the little race of men
might find itself and justify its soul
so many ages that she will not;
dare not, strike the temple of her
toil and scatter it in shards. She is
making ready for the consummation
of eons, when the science "of the
spirit will function with the science
of brain and brawn. There are por
tents that never gleamed before
visions that are near enough to
touch. Be patient yet a while.
When Christmas walks with you
today, know also that it walks with
many millions of men, diverse and
far apart, yet near in fellowship.
This day is not as other days. It is
the armistice to self, whereon, with
the utmost good will one may give
and take the greeting:
"Merry Christmas to you '."
A FEDERAL ANTI-LYN.'IIING BILL.
By proposing that lynching be
made a federal offense, Representa
tive Dyer strikes at a crime which is
a national reproach and with which
few of the states have dealt success
fully. He proposes a penalty of five
or more years' imprisonment for per
sona found guilty of "depriving any
person of life without authority of
law as a punishment for or to pre
vent the commission, of some actual
or supposed offense." State or mu
nicipal officers who fail to make rea
sonable efforts to protect a prisoner
threatened by a mob would be held
criminally liable, and the county in
which a lynching was committed
would be held liable in pecuniary
damages.
Lynching may be held to violate
the federal constitution since it is
contrary to the bill of rights. Negroes
are its most frequent victims, espe
cially in the south, and their equality
before the law cannot be held to
have been fully established while this
continues to be the fact. Aliens have
been killed by lynchers on several
occasions, and the government has
had to confess its inability to inter
fere with operation of state law when
the government of their country
called for punishment of the guilty:
the only redress possible was com
pensation by special act of congress.
This is not a dignified position for a
great government to be placed in
The frequency of unpunished lynch-
ng has often furnished a pointed re
tort when any other nation was
criticised by Americans for acts ol
barbarism, and was eagerly seized by
the Turks. As the federal govern,
ment must take the responsibility in
the case of aliens, it should exercise
power to punish lynchers.
Penalizing the county which fails
to restrain lynchers should be an
effective preventive measure. lit ac
cords with the sound principle that
government is legally bound to
protect Its citizens and their prop
erty. That principle was enforced
by the courts when Allegheny county.
Pennsylvania, was held liable for the
damage done in the railroad strike
riots at Pittsburg in 1877, and the
county was compelled to. issue riot
bonds to compensate the losers. A
county thus punished would soon
make lynching a very unpopular
port.
SENTIMENT MIST GIVE WAT.
The systematic campaign just
begun by the United States depart
ment of agriculture to exterminate
the Flanders poppy wherever it has
gained a hold on American soil
suggests the superior claim of reason
over sentiment in a matter involv
ing so fundamental a consideration
as the prosperity of useful crops.
It is true that the poppy of Flanders,
dotting American fields on every
hand, might serve as a reminder that
something of France and Flanders
had become an inseparable part of
America, but at what a price! The
pathologists know that the chief
reason why the poppy blooms in the
low countries is that the people have
not been able to rid themselves of
they know that the beautiful
little flower is as a matter of fact
an economic pest, and they believe
that we shall serve sentiment best
the end by giving our land to
better use. There is indeed a
deep sentiment, which only the
visionaries will disregard, in the
Idea that a sound and well-fed body
is essential to the development of
the soul.
The poppies are now blooming in
New Jersey fields because soil con
taining the seeds was brought over
in transports returning from the
other side. The earth being used in
filling land along the shore was soon
besprinkled with tiny flowers, the
seeds of which are so light that they
are carried great distances by the
wind. But the experts at Washing
ton, who lately have had a watchful
eye for pests, soon discovered the
newcomers, and the edict for their
destruction has gone out. Before
next seed time every field that shows
sign of a poppy will be plowed
over, and henceforth precautions will
be taken against the dumping of
ballast from countries where the
poppy grows.
If similar vigilance had been
exercised half a century or more ago
good many million dollars would
have been saved to farmers and
fruit growers of the United States.
The San Jose scale of apples is only
one of many that might be cited in
illustration of the destruction to food
crops that these aliens have caused.
It has been measurably placed under
control in recent years, although at
eavy cost, but It has been succeeded
by others. The alfalfa weevil, which
could have been kept out by the
exercise of only moderate vigi
lance, has caused havoc in one of
our most important forage crops.
More recently the federal authorities
have reinforced the quarantine
against foreign plants and soils,
because they often contain animal
organisms as well as seeds. The
root-knot nematode and the sugar
beet nematode, which are among the
most dangerous of this class, attack
growing vegetables and have caused
almost incalculable damage within
only a few years. Neither was native
J to America and both were brought
to the country in earth clinging to
imported plants and vegetables.
The new regulations of the
department of agriculture require
that, all nursery stock and other
plants offered for Import must be
free from earth of every kipd, and
plant roots, rhizomes, tubers, etc.
must be washed to free them from
all trace of soil. It was only to be
expected that the rule should work
hardship in some Instances, as for
example when it was discovered by
horseradish importers that washing
the roots caused them t lose much
of their potency. In this, as in other
matters of the kind, however, it has
been necessary to view the interests
of agriculture as a whole, and it is
seen that it would be far better t,o
worry along witnout imported norse
radish than to open the door3 wider
to plant enemies of any kind.
MONOGAMY AMONG WATERFOWL.
Constancy, the theme of poets and
novelists, is not a human attribute
alone. If the expression of this trait.
through the monogamous marriage
relation, denotes that sentiment we
classify as love, then it seems cer
tain that the grand passion is shared
by other and lesser members of the
animal kingdom. Not often does this
occur, but frequently enough to
prove that nature's exception to the
rule applies in other than human
Instances, and particularly among
the birds. For some of these, as Vis
count Grey of Falladon recently
pointed out, are unquestionably
monogamous. "Till death do us
part," is an Inviolable pledge of their
mating ritual.
It is rather an Interesting glimpse
at the man himself, this, ornitholog
ical romance that engrosses Sir
Kdward in his idle hours. One
would scarcely have expected the
former war-time secretary of the
British foreign office, an ex-ambassador
to America, to be a student of
natural history with a bent for
original research. But it seems' that
at Falladon, Tor half a lifetime, he
has reared wildfowl and observed
their domestic habits, with the result
that he is able to declare authori
tatively the practice of monogamy
among certain waterfowl. Queerly
enough he cannot confirm the pop
ular belief that wild geese mate for
life, and that the death of either
bird dooms its survivor to loneliness.
But he is specific and convinced in
at least two instances of monogamy,
each among ducks.
The North American wood duck,
Sir Kdward says, is essentially mono
gamous and constant, with a highl.T
developed domesticity. It mates for
life. Long ago nature lovers named
this most beautiful of waterfowl tho
bridal duck, because of Its varied
and colorful plumage, its gaily
painted beak and its plumed nape,
wings and tail. Ifefver a bird seemed
dressed for his wedding it is the
drake wood duck, and for onco
sentiment and fact do. not wrangle.
Again he noted that the red-crested
prochard ducks were true to their
vows, and has narrated an interest
ing though melancholy instance in
proof.
The drake and his mate were In
separable, as they had been for some
seasons, when the she duck met with
an accident and was mercifully
killed. Seeking to prove or disprove
his theory of monogamy, the natural
ist attempted to induce a mating
with another of the same species.
But the red-crested drake, discon
solate, would have none of them and
mourned for a month. The slrds At
Falladon are not confined, and so,
one day, the drake took wing and
flew away, never to return.
"It was as if he had gone off on
an endless search to find his losl
mate," commented Sir Kdward.
It may be that the instances cited
by this English observer are by no
means unique among the many
varieties of waterfowl, which are re
markably developed in the scale ol
intelligence. Their migratory habits
make it next to impossible to speak
with authority or even to investigate
regarding the duration of theit
nuptial contracts. An instance almost
identical, and in actual wild life, has
been observed in America, Its char
acters a pair of pin-tail ducks. Fof
some days the observer had noticed
that, as he passed an isolated patcll
of marsh grass, a drake pin-tail
would take wing and circle back
again. This circumstance, repeatedly
noted, led to an investigation.
In a three-foot circle of trodden
marsh grass was the body of his
mate. She had been dead at least a
fortnight, and there was every evi
dence that the drake had remained
by her side from the moment that
she fell.
FIXING THE DATE OF EASTER.
The calling of a conference of
astronomers, under the presidency
of Cardinal Mercier, to reform the
calendar with a view, among other
things, of giving Easter a fixed date
revives an issue that has given con
cern to the calendar makers for
many years, without, however, re
sulting in definite action for a long
time. The present system of dates is
variable in far less degree than it
used to be, and to all intents and
purposes is so well understood that it
may be doubted whether there is in
reality any widespread demand for
a change.
The first attempt to prescribe a
universal day for the Easter solem
nity was made in 325, when the task
of computing the date was assigned
to the bishops of Alexandria, which
city was then the center of science of
the world, but their method was -so
obscure and unsatisfactory, in keep
ing with the- status of science in gen
eral in that time, that in 444, while
Alexandria observed April 23, Rome
observed March 26, and there was
variation at other places throughout
the Christian world. The establish
ment of the reformed calendar in
England some thirteen centuries ago
and subsequent efforts to co-ordinate
the date of the Paschal celebration
have measurably served the .. chief
advantage of any calendar, which is
to co-ordinate effort in any line.
The present moon-controlled Easter
in theory can fall upon any one of
thirty-five dates, but in practice we
do not experience so wide a variation
as to give cause for worry about it.
For example, the earliest possible
date is March 22, for which it is
necessary that the Paschal full moon
shall fall on March 21, and also that
March 21 shall be on Saturday at
the same time, a coincidence of con
ditions unlikely to occur more than
once in a long time. It has not been
so for more than a century and will
not be again until 2285. The in
cidence of Easter on March 27 this
year will not be repeated until 1932,
and after that it will not be repeated
in the present .century. It will fall
on a date earlier than Marti 27 only
five times between now and the year
1000, and three of thqse times it will
be on March 26. There will be but
sixteen March Easters in the rest of
the century.
The so-called Inconvenience of a
movable Easter, which is more ap
parent to scientists and mathemati
cians than to those who are chiefly
interested in its religious phases, will
not be greatly lessened unless there
is universal agreement on the new
date to be chosen. It is one thing for
mathematicians to decree a thing
and quite another to put it into
effect, as we have seen in the years
that the metric system has been agi
tated throughout the world, and
there are practical obstacles to
change. The proposal to assign
Easter to the third Sunday after the
spring equinox will reduce the range
of dates to only eight, which is an
improvement, not in principle, but
only in degree, while the effort to
give it a permanent date seems to
present the issue whether any date
can be chosen that will meet the ap
proval of all. This much has been
achieved in the Christian world in
the rast few centuries, that Catholics
and Protestants have agreed on a
calendars in common, and it would
seem more practical to attempt a
further accord by bringing the Greek
church into line than now to attempj
a further revision that would, only
create further confusion. Easter is
essentially, in any event, more con
cerned with the spirit than with mat
ters of mathematical computation, or
history, or dates.
OX SHORT AND KOI I'GLY WORDS,
Because the subject intrigues us.
and because every reader of a news
paper has more or less definite Ideas
about such things, we print here a
letter from a rather hypercritical
friend at Raymond, Washington, who
says his name is Robert White. Let
us remark at the outset that our
reply would be the same, if the other
White (Richard Grant) who knew
a thing or two about words and their
uses, had written us with the same
complaint (an impossible assump
tion):
'Those we love, we chastise," or words
to that effect.
Outside of several small faults, which
I will (co into later, I class The Oreronlun
with the New York Sun (under lana)
ChicaRo Tribune and Kansas city Star.
Now I will crab: o. 1 Why do you
call every actor or actress who happens
to visit Portland a. Portland actor
actress fas the case may be), because he
or she spent seveAl days here in the sum.
mer- of 1IKJ7, or whenever it was? Hon
estly, it causes me pain; too much "I-
knew-hlm-when stuff.
Crab No. 2 Lay off the word "lure.
Webster defines the word as follows: Bait
decoy, entice. "Road lures autoists!'
I. tire, lure. lure. Honestly I'm tired of
seeinj? the word.
Crab No. 3 won t you kindly ease up
on laud 7 "Visitor lauds our climate.
Somebody is lauding something or other
all the time.
I am sure that your vocabulary is lara-e
enough to find synonyms for my two
word aversion.
Now look here, Robert, do you not
know that you are assailing the holy
citadel of newspaper English, which
finds its most consistent and con
spicuous expression in head-lines?
Did you ever write a head-line? Try
it; try it on your vocabulary; try it
on any article in any newspaper, and
you will learn a thing or two about
how language is made.
Some superficial people think
words are coined by the lexicog
raphers, who follow certain estab
lished rules and customs and who
by their mere etymological fiat
make or break the entire future of
a word. Not so; not eo at all. We
betray no newspaper secrets when
we say that it is done in the silent
watches of the night or perchance
in the broad glare of shining mid
day, in that critical hour when the
first edition of the afternoon paper
is being rushed to press by the
perspiring and aspiring head-line
writer. His very soul revels in
short words; he passes all his work
ing hours and many sleepless ones
in the elusive search for short,
triking, astonishing, pithy words.
and when he finds a new and rare
one which may be substituted for an
old and familiar one, he seizes it,
and throws it in the very faoe of the
appreciative public. Your true prac
titioner of the gentle art of head
line writing passes from triumph to
triumph, making two short words
blossom where one long one grew
before, and the result is language,
which the people in turn accept, and
then the dictionary makers dutifully
fall in line.
Some one has described the lexicog
raphers as a cult of arrant cowards.
A word begins to creep into the
language by way of the newspapers,
or through the other common vehicle
of slangdom, and they say it is not
English. The newspapers and the
people continue to use it, and pretty
soon the dictionary men haul down
their flags and surrender, saying in
chorus, "You're right; it is a good
word."
With this explanatory exordium
let us proceed in due and ancient
form to defend ourselves and our
capable, loyal and orthodox staff.
Our answer to Crab No. 1 Is: We
never do; that is, hardly ever.
As to Crab No. 2, the usage of
"lure" in the sense of attract or
allure is abundantly" justified by all
the standard dictionaries, without
the implication of any special or
questionable bait or decoy or entice
ment. Lure is surely here to stay.
It is good enough for us.
Crab No. 3 hasn't a leg to stand
on; and a crab without a leg is a
sad object. "Laud" means "praise,"
exactly that, and has meant it from
its beginning in the Latin "laus"
(Iaudeo) we have not tried to trace
it farther and will doubtless mean
it till the millennium, and later. It
Is a good and true word. If our
friend will look in his bible or his
book of ' common prayer, he will
discover that the headline writers
have given no new meaning to the
short and expressive "laud." They
may regret their Inability to add to
it some new twist or turn or slant;'
but facts are facts. They haven't
done it. They can't.
Now let us chide our polite critic
for his use of the offensive "crab"
as a verb. Where did he get it? It
is a colloquialism from which even
your most eager and venturesome
head-line writer would shrink with
a feeling akin to alarm, not to say
disgust. "Lure" he will use without
compunction, and "laud" with a
knowledge of the perfect respect
ability of all its antecedents; but
"crab" never! Only four letters in
crab as in lure and laud, but there
are depths to which he will not
descend. We might put up an argu
ment, too, about "lay ofr' vide
"lay off the word 'lure'," supra
but we let it go. It may be sound
grammar some day. There are
those who say it is now, but not we.
P. S. We join with our Raymond
purist in deep admiration for Mr.
Dana and the Sun, Those were the
golden days of journalism, to be
sure. But would our friend say that
Mr. Dana was infallible as an
authority on language? It would be
a position hard to maintain. For
example, he laid down the rule
and an order from Dana was law
and gospel in the Sun office for
everybody, from the managing editor
down to the office cat that "prime"
means "first" and nothing else, since
it comes from the Latin primus
(first). What d'ye think o' that?
But language do grow, though the
Sun do not move.
INDIANS IN THE WORLD WAR.
Areport on the conduct of American
Indians in the world war, just pub
lished by Dr. Joseph Dixon, a savant
employed by Rodman Wanamaker,
shows that early misgivings as to
their availability under the condi
tions of modern warfare were with
out foundation. It was formerly be
lieved that even though the Indian
did not lack personal courage, and
although he did not fear to die, his
want of the instinct of discipline
would militate against him in large
operations and that he would fail in
the gigantic maneuvers in which
heavy artillery and other unfamiliar
weapons were employed. In this
judgment the experts, happily for
the reputation of the Indian, are
shown to have been wrong.
The history of Indian warfare in
the west has been one of attacks by
overwhelming numbers, of fighting
against odds only when cornered,
and of fleeing the moment the for
tunes of battle were reversed. The
theory that he who fights and rijns
away may live to fight another day
was the very foundation of Indian
tactics. We do not read of reallj
bloody battles between Indians, meas
ured by civilized standards of fight
ing, because the losing side almost
always knew when to withdraw. A
couple, of dozen scalps were counted
a rich, haul in the time when the
Blackfeet were warring on their
neighbors in the northwest, and
many a Bannack victory was cele
brated over the taking of only a
scalp or two.
We deduce, therefore, from the
commendatory words of Field Mar
shal Lord Haig, who tells Dr. Dixon
that American Indians were indis
tinguishable as individuals from the
troops of European blood, which is
meant as high praise, and of Mar
shal Foch, who "cannot forget the
brilliant service which the valian
Indian soldiers of the American
army rendered to the common
cause," that the civilization of the
Indian is complete. For he was no
only valuable as a scout but also in
trench fighting; he withstood as well
as any others the dread and suspense
of bombing and gas attacks and the
violence of the enemy barrage. No
precedent in Indian warfare and no
possible influence of heredity ac
count for the transformation of the
skulker of the plains into the soldier
of the modern day. The change
simply indicates a latent adaptability
which, had it been sooner manifested
in other ways, would have redounded
greatly to the advantage of the
tribes.
THE GROWTH OF METHODISM.
The continued growth of the Meth
odist Episcopal church, reflected in
an increase of 90,404 members in
the year ending December 1 last, as
reported by the editor of the Meth
odist Year Book, and the vastly in
creased sums expended by the benev.
olences of the church are strongly
suggestive of the vitality which this
organization obtained by transplan
tation to tho new soil of America. It
will be remembered by the student
of ecclesiastical history that Meth
odism had its beginning in England,
but it has thrived more generally in
the favoring atmosphere of newer
countries. It is noteworthy that its
membership in the United States is
now 3,938,655, by comparison with
642,087 for all foreign lands, and
that the church has made greater
progress in this country than in the
place of its birth. The reason is
doubtless that it is stimulated by the
obstacles and inspired by the diffi
culties that attend the labor of the
pioneer. Its present eminence in
missionary fields, no less than its
growth in membership in the United
States, attests its peculiar fitness in
this regard.
It is not forgotten that Oregon
owes a debt to this predilection of
Methodism for missionary work, or
that out of a venture that super
ficially seemed a failure there flowed
results of incalculable moment to the
state. A good deal of the credit for
the early permanent settlement of
the northwest is due to the efforts
made by the Methodist missionaries
to bring the gospel to the Indian in
habitants. The inscrutability of the
ways of Providence is illustrated by
the circumstance that, although they
did not accomplish much for the im
provement of the aborigines, they
nevertheless were a vital factor in
the formation of the new state. In
the perspective of the years, in
which we are able to view results as
whole, we now see that failure
with the Indians, . which may have
been inherent in the nature of the
Indian and not the fault of the mis
sionary plan, was but an incident,
and that results upon the whole were
good. The stimulus which the Ore
gon missionary venture gave to set
tlement of another kind, the early
leadership of the missionaries in edu
cation and in good works of every
sort, their stabilizing Influence in
the formative period of government
and the example of their untiring
zeal and unselfish labor must be
taken into account in any appraisal
of the benefits which have resulted
from on of the most romantic epi
sodes in the history of all religious
work.
"No mission," said Dr. David Liv
ingstone on the occasion of his first
return to England from Africa, "has
yet been an entire failure. We who
see such small segments of the
mighty cycle of God's providence
often imagine some to be failures
which God does not. Eden was such
a failure. The old world was a
failure under Noah's preaching.
Elijah thought all was up with
Israel, and Jeremiah wished his head
were all water and his eyes a foun
tain of tears to weep over one of
God's plans for diffusing his knowl
edge among the heathen. If we
could see a large arc of God's provi
dential cycles we might sometimes
rejoice when we weep." The arc of
the cycle which is commonly unob
served in all missionary endeavor, as
was peculiarly true in Oregon, is the
reflex influence of missionary work
upon those for whom it was pri
marily not designed, j
'. Methodism is linked with other
denominationsjin the early history of
the cortliwest, but it was Methodists j
who first heard and heeded the call, j
and who established the first schools
and aided in the establishment of the
first American government west of I
the Rocky mountains, after having
founded what was practically the
first permanent American settlement
in the west. The Methodist concep
tion of an industrial mission among
the natives, which brought a large
number of lay members, was re
sponsible for a considerable and in
fluential contribution to early leader
ship in domestic affairs. The first
provisional governor was a lay mem
ber of the Methodist establishment,
and schools founded by the church
werfi for some time the leading, if
not the only, institutions of learning
in Oregon.
As Dartmouth in its early stages
was an Indian school,' so Willamette
university, the first collegiate institu
tion on the Pacific coast, owes its
existence to the expiring mission
school of the Methodists in Oregon
The history of American settlement
of the Willamette valley, indeed, be
gins with the Rev. Jason Lee an
embraces a long list of pionee
churchmen whose prodigious en
deavors and heavy sacrifices hav
never been appreciated as they ought
to have been. The robust Christian
ity of Father Wilbur, the part h
had in making education possibl
throughout the territory, and his
indefatigable labors in civic as well
as religious affairs will not soon be
forgotten by readers of history, no
the names of "Father" Waller, Isaa
Dillon, Nehemiah Doane, T. F. Royal
and a host of others who toiled that
others might enjoy the fruits of their
labors. The spirit of Methodism, for
tifled by the mightiness of its task
and undiwouraged by the Elijahs
and the Jeremiahs of tho world
needs to be reckoned among tl
primal factors in the reclamation of
the wilderness and the prosperity of
civilization In a new land.
It is not surprising therefore tha
statisticians of the church are still
able to point to evidence of vigorous
growth. It reminds us that whercve
there is work to be done men will be
found to do it, that the need for
pioneers did not cease when the
frontiers were crossed, and that mod
ern problems are as intriguing to
the spirit of tho evangelist and the
missionarv as were those of old.
The relatively small gain in acre
age of improved farm lands noted
by the farm census bureau for the
past decai is not as discouraging
as it might be, when it is considered
that the period embraces the time we
were engaged in war, but it is. in line
with tho declining rate of improve
ment ever since 1SS0, when new
farm land showed an increase for
the previous ten years of more than
50 per cent. This was reduced to
25.6 per cent in 1890, to 15.9 per cen
in 1900, and has dropped to 5.1 per
cent in 1920. But this has been ac
companied by other changes, not in
cluded in the bare outline, which
need to be taken into'account. There
has been rtiore intensive tillage of
farm lands already in use and t
great improvement in farm ma
chinery, which has increased the
unit of production .per man suffi
ciently to offset the slower gain in
improved acreage so that we are in
reality not as badly off as we seem
to be. As the frontiers are pushed
back, we must look for better meth
ods rather than new acreage to solve
the food problems of the world.
The question In regard to the sub
marine is whether it is of any use
when employed according to the
rules. It is not denied that the war
ships sunk in the North sea in the
first month of the war were sunk
lawfully.
A man rose early and built a fire
n the heating stove and went back
tombed. Later the house was in
flames and was destroyed and two
children were burned to death. This
happens often, but people will no
learn.
There is a prohibition campaign
on in Mexico, where the mescal and
the maguey work overtime to pro
duce alcohol, which only goes to
show what a lot of real optimists
there are in the world.
With the mail trains guarded by
marines, the outlaws have taken to
robbing banks, with more success in
other places than they encountered
in Portland, where bank clerks are
taught to shoot
It is scarcely three-quarters of a
century since tho Japanese were first
introduced to western ways, and
already we begin to read of moon
shine distilleries being found on Jap
anese farms.
The interstate commerce commis
sion declines to let Henry Ford re
duce rates on coal on his railroad,
but there's nothing to prohibit hin
from dropping flivvers another notch.
Another contributing factor to the
increase of the longevity of the peo
ple . in the next decade may be a
growing understanding of the deadly
character of moonshine booze.
Mr. Edison's estimate of two peo
ple in a hundred who are intelligent
will be taken with a grain of salt by
the fellow who can t think who the
other one might be.
Emma Goldman says that she still
loves America, but it cannot be said,
even under the influence of the
Christmas spirit, that her affection is
reciprocated. N
The thrift week propagandists
were wise In setting their date some
time after Christmas, so that we all
may have a chance to catch up.
Fortunately for the government,
the last quarterly installment of the
ncome tax was payable ten days be
fore Christmas this year.
The lady who is reported 'to be
about to become the bride 'of the
kaiser is not marrying for mey, if
common reports are true.
We bid the pessimists remember
that Christmas is not all an affair of
loud neckties and Connecticut-filled
clears.
We wonder what effect Henry
Ford's currency scheme would have
on the price of a flivver, anyway.
Another thought for Christmas:
The holiday shopping won't have to
be done again for another year.
Mr. Bryan says that war will be
impossible if grievances are aired.
and he talks as an expert on air,
The Listening Post.
By De Witt llnrry.
CHRIS
air!
HRISTMAS MKSSAC.ES! In the
From Tortland millions of
them going: north, south and to
every point of the compass over the
wireless. It's a difficult matter to
believe that the air Is filled with our
thoughts at this time of the year
but this is the case, federal wire
less sends to every point of the globe
from Portland, the major station of
all of the telegraph business of tlio
northwest. Seated in an office build
ing In the center of the city skilled
operators dispatch toll messages to
every point of the compass!
We Intrust these messuges of good
cheer to the air at Hillsboro. Port
land is the clearing station' for the
northwest, several hundreds of thou
sands of square miles of empire.
Kvery message that originates i
Seattle, Spokane, Puget sound, the in
terior of Washington, in short any
place north of Portland, must come
through this city to go south, or to
the center of communication.
Out at Hillsboro C. H. Sholtz for
the past several months has been per
fecting the airless fingers of that sta
tion. Six hundred and twenty-six feet in
the air tower the antennae that pluck
the throbs of thought from hundreds
of miles below and above. At the
crest of the tower the crown oscillates
five feet each way, but the wireless
waves, steady and clear, are on thelf
message.
The radius of tho Tortland plant,
roughly, is 4500 miles. In other words
it can ride, to China or across the.
racific. Tlitte are few wireless sta
tions of the world that can ovcrcmu
this ono for sheer riding power
waves and all that arc overcome.
Sholtz, their expert, has gone south
to another plant.
Christmas day, 1917! Second Cana
dian division, at Mount St. Elol! On
the top of a ridge in the wire car
casses preserved by the cold from of
fensives of three months before.
Every thaw brought offensive and
disgusting reminders of what had
gone before and what might be a sol
dier's end.
Fifty yards apart lay the. opposing
trenches. Christmas? No!
"Kamarade fer der Kreltzchlld!"
from out of the mess and mire.
But you knew that every Hun who
sought to establish the least vestige
of a Christmas spirit was actuated
by "kultur."
As I remember Christmas day, 1917,
we raided in the Ypres salient in the
front of St. Eloi VImy Ridge three
times A. M., M. and T. M., or 10, 15
and 3 o'clock. What few of us got
back had a celebration on December
20 four days after. Christmas, bat
talion strength at start of operation
1140 men; strength on December 29
620 men. We survivors got all the,
Christmas packages, all the Christ,
mas run and everything coming for
twice as many men.
I love my dog. He's an Airedale,
As dogs go, he isn't a champion, but
he has a lot of endearing traits. Tarn
while not an aristocrat. Is the ruler of
11 ho surveys.
Yesterday he wandered away from
home several' blocks away. In front
of a butcher shop, apparently an
chored, was a Spitz aristocrat.
Slinking about the dark was a non
descript pup.
Did Tam hesitate?
He took charge of -tho eituation. He
walked up to tho puppy, as guardian
angel, and showed him the favors of
dogdom. As for the Spitz, Tam Just
scooped four or five paws full of
snow and sent hira about his busi
ness.
In a department store.
"Where can I get "escalator downf
she asked.
To the left," answered the sales
girl. "It's a reprint, isn't it?"
"No, I want to go home."
.
Pain is sweet! Ask your dog if this
is not so? Music rough harmony
11 are under this category. Try it
some time. At the first sound wheth
er it Is harmony or discord I'll bet
the dog's there. He don't like it. But
he can't resist.
Telephone girls never talk back-
It's part of their training. No matter
how exasperating you may be you
can t get by. I heard a fellow say
last week "I hope your mashed po
tatoes always have lumps."
There was no retort.
"Powdered sugar" is what a noble
young fellow calls his girl. She's all
peaches and cream and he likes t
tell her so.
Dainty in the extreme was the
long-limbed flapper who entered the
shoe storo, and she displayed an ex
pause of silk hosiery. She bought
a pair of hose and, while the clerk
watched the passing traffic through
the window, put them on. Then she
sat down and bought a pair of shoes
The procedure was made necessary
on account of modesty she had a
small hole in the foot of hr stocking.
MEItnr CHRISTMAS.
I wish you merry Christmas, dear.
A dav most charming;
Freedom from exery anxious fear.
And all things harming.
May sorrow ever turn to song.
May right come forth irom every
wrong;
All happiness to you belong,
With naught alarming:
I wish ypu merry Christmas, dear,
Neath nine and holly;
Be banished thinking insincere,
All melancholy.
May every grace your lire adorn.
Your roses never have a morn.
Life's Joy be yours noon, night and
morn,
And all things jolly!
a,
w'sh you merry Christmas, dear,
In self-denial;
wish you hope and peace and cheer,
In every trial.
May you be free from a'l dismay!
May every hour or every day
Go gladly round its sunny way,
On Times fleet dial!
SIRS'. FRANK A. BRECK.
ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
They say to wish that one were young
s but a sign his song Is sung.
And glad am I through all the days
That I have yet some joyful lays,
That I have wisdom for my guide
hough purchased at the loss of
pride.
But there's one day in all the year
When everything is gay with cheer
That I a little child would be
To shout aloud and dance with glee.
To feel that joy that knows no laws
And BOmes from 'waiting Santa Claus.
UiiACil. ii AiNii
The Village Snowstorm.
II j- Grace K. Hall.
The bare trees shiver In the chilling
wind.
The winter gray lies on the fallowed
f ields:
And from the tipsy chimney mouth
there now asccmU
A spiral of thin smoke, bending in
the air
Like some wralth-f iuure, making
niofk obeisance
To some imagined sovereign on the
sagging rouf.
The
top t.t distant distant
trees
on the river's bank
like lace edging, starched In
Are
scallops stiff.
And pinned on upside down, to trim
the sky ;
And
from af:ir they are a greenish
hue,
That
yet biends perfectly into
the
blue.
A rakish saw-buck sits beside the
path :
And clapboards swinging to the
woodshed wall
By one lone nail, seem strangely like
to drunken sailors
Out on leave, who, dizzied by their
freedom arid debauch,
Swing, maudlin and uncertain,
through a crowd,
Their rolling gait bespeaking gales
and storm.
A lean dog flattens through the
splintered crack
Beside the creaking gate, and seeing
then
The neighbor's cat go marching
proudly by.
Gives instant chase, with eager yelps,
'til both arc lost
In yapping, hopping figures down the
roiid,
Fath f.fr the moment blind to his
abode.
The Kchoolhouse stands aloof within
a lot.
Its wide detachment hinting of dl
dain.
Until, from out tho cracked bell In
the steeple peals
A loud, long call for youth's oecdU
ence.
A farmer, muffled in his macklnaw,
goes by
Upon a spike-tailed mare who, proud
and cold.
Feels sharp upon her flank tho flick
of flying flakes.
And, dancing edgewise, proves her
1 royal blood;
While ho who rides slumps In hie
saddle? low,
And mutters maledictions on the
snow.
w'lthin each house, throughout the
village still.
Tho fires glow red where oaken logs
arc piled;
The housewives brew; and dash the
yellow cream
Against the rolling churn; while
snowy bread
Turn golden brown within the red
topped range;
Then, kitiiien duties done, the frau
at hist
Her mending deftly done; tho day Is
past.
Night draws her somber shawl In
trailing folds
About the shoulders of tho waiting
hills;
In valleys, 'cross tho fields, and by
tho road
A dozen red eyes gleam Into the
dark
Tho eyes of tall lamps standing by
the sills,
Like prisoners looking out of narrow
cells.
A silence falls a solemn, peaceful
hush.
That is a soothing, magic anodyne;
White shrouds are draped upon each
trembling bush.
And draperies of gossamer adorn
each vine;
The snow-flakes, softly tapping at
the pane.
Remind ono of the tender, gentle
. thoughts
That somehow never found a form In
words.
But drifted mutely through a hungry
heart
And went away, mere shadow things
unreal.
Feace rests upon the village; snow,
banks lie
Against the fences; birds have found
retreats;
And deop, soft ermine, drifting from
the sky.
Is worn by fairy watchmen of the
night.
A GREETING.
I wish, dear friend, I had some rif
to send you
For Christmas day.
But I have none, so I can merely lend
you
This little lay:
I hope your Christmas akles will net
be dreary
But bright and blue:
That sun and moon and stars will all
bo cheery.
And shine for you:
That those you love the most and
mostly treasure,
May with you share
Tho Joys that flow in swift, unstinted
measure
Dispelling care.
And, if at times, your thoughts should
go a-straying
As moments flee,
hope that they may come without
relaying
Direct to me.
J. & STUNZ. ;
I.IFK'S SEA.
As, surely does its course affect the
stream;
Upon the plain, its waters calmly
e: Irani
Then surging o'er a mountain's boul-
dered steeps
It falls, a raging power, rending the
deens!
Wearing Its course, yet by Its course
controlled,
What lies beneath, by calm or tur
bulcncy told.
Thus shaped the currents of our little
lives;
One on a rugged, steepened pathway
strives;
Another rhymes a song from shel
tered glen
A WRrrior or a minstrel, fashioned
thus are men.
Countless human tides that make
life's sea
A goal, and yet phtce of destiny.
JANKTTK MARTIN.
"GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN."
"Good will! C.ood will!"
The angels fill
The sky with Christmas carols clear;
"Good will! Good win:"
God with us still!
Christ's reign of love is here!
"Good will! Good will!"
Though winter's chill
Of want and pain yet numb the earth;
"Good will! Good will!"
For soon distil
Soft showers of peace to bless our
dearth!
"Good will! Good will!"
The words yet thrill
Our souls w ith songs that never cease;
"Good will! Good will!"
God shall fulfil
His promise through the Prince of
Peace!
MARY. A. WOODWARD.