THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND. JANUARY 8, 1022
KNTABLISHED BY HENRY I PITTOCK.
Prbllshed by The i 'regonlan Publishing Co,
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TIIK OKK.1N OF LIFE.
The dispatches from Toronto con
taining the account of a famous
English biologist's declaration that
(dentists no longer are willing to ac
cept Darwin's conception of the
origin of life have been too brief to
Kive us an adequate measure of the
grounds on which lie bases his con
clusion, but we need no help to in
terpret the universal Interest that
the subject holds for reasoning men.
Kver since a very long time ago,
when it was commonly believed that
man came into being by having life
breathed into his nostrils, thus con
verting his inanimate body into a
thing with a soul, the problem which
Darwin only crystallized into a for
mula but which the savants of the
ages had found a fruitful theme for
speculation has profoundly Inter
ested th curious. Now, It appears.
Professor Bateson has left us with
out even a theory to comfort us.
"Obscurantism," as he calls it, im
plies such a confession as well might
have been made centuries ago.
Thinking man, nevertheless, was
born for speculation, and we may
well suppose that Professor Bateson
himself would not discourage fur
there Investigation. Science has de
rived a good deal from its researches
into the origin of life, though it may
be as much m the dark as ever upon
the main subject of its quest. We
recognize that It Is as futile as it is
idle to Indulge in mere guesswork,
but systematic inquiry continues. It
is not too much to hope, for example,
that the chemistry of the protoplasm
will some day be advanced suffi
ciently to furnish us with a working
hypothesis, or that we shall learn,
the reason why, though the known
chemical elements of the lower or
' ders of life are abundant and though
tho physical conditions necessary for
their development can be regulated,
we are still unable to determine the
precise difference between the living
and the dead. Recent experiments
in this field have not been wholly
discouraging. It Is something to have
produced growth artificially and to
have prolonged the life of organs de
tached from their original hosts, as
scientists already have done.
The early theories were but fan
tastic speculations, yet out of them
something tangible may emerge.
The Idea of our extra-terrestrial
origin may woll be held In abeyance
until the sciences of greater pre
cision overtake biology. Astronomy
with Its corelated ologies may con
ceivably take us back to the point
where men supposed that life was
conveyed to our planet in the form
of cosmic dust or upon meteor
ites thrown off other etars. It Is yet
remembered that Kelvin and Von
Helmhoitz, laboring independently,
stressed the presence of hydrocar
bons In meteoric bodies and their In
dicated existence in the spectra of
the talis of comets, and that Arra
henlus, the Swedish physicist, held
the idea that life Is universally dif
fused and Is constantly emitted from
all habitable worlds by spores which
traverse space for ages, the vast ma
jority being destroyed but a few
finding resting places on bodies that
have reached the habitable state.
Darwin himself sought to abolish the
conception of life as an entity, pos
tulating that "living" matter was but
the exceptionally complicated devel
opment of chemical and physical
properties recognized in evolution.
This it was that drew the fire of hos
tile critics upon Darwin's devoted
head, but the service which Darwin
performed as a stimulator of orderly
investigation is still the conspicuous
achievement of his memorable life.
We now interpret a miracle' merely
as an occurrence outside the pale of
our understanding, but do not cease
to seek the reason for it on that ac
count. The relationship between, the
organic and the Inorganic is some
what better understood than it was
'a few years ago. Chemists know that
they can not only produce alcohol by
fermentation, which corresponds to
'.organic method, but that they can
-also synthesize it, as from limestone,
coal and water. Thus a bridge from
the inorganic to the organic is con
structed, the importance of which
it is impossible to appraise now: The
progress that we have made in the
inew chemistry may be pregnant with
meaning for those who are to follow
lin the paths of the investigators of
the present day. While the spirit of
-inquiry persists hope beckons. The
."obscurantism" of the scientist is no
'more a call to pessimism than it is a
challenge to carry on.
We are handicapped at the outset
by the difficulty of defining life.
Spencer's suggestion that it is "the
continuous adjustment of Internal re
lations to external conditions" Is not
satisfying, nor is the generalization
that "life is the element associated
Iwlth matter which distinguished the
giving from that which is not alive,"
but we need not because of that de
Ispalr. The term "vital force" is a
'thread binding all of the phenomena
'of being and of motion and of change
Jvhlch we do not comprehend, and
-'or the present is as good as any
! other. Yet men, having framed a
' hew definition of miracle, look for
' ward with increasing confidence to
J fhe discovery of the meaning of life,
' and finally of the nature of life
Itself. It is the one subject con-
cerning which human curiosity is
inKatid'i'e. Me one problem which,
tnlc w ii :s sooner solved, will en-.
J gage the attention of Investigators
until the end of time.
No one, we think, would receive
with mdre cordial hospitality the
criticisms now leveled at his theories
than Darwin himself If he were
alive today. He was not dogmatic,
he asserted no original claim on any
theory, he formed his Judgments in
the light of knowledge which he
knew would be added to as time
went on. Tentative though they
were, his conclusions formed the
working: basis of the biology which
we now know, and which also ex
pands amazingly as one investigator
after another turns on the light.
Moreover, Professor Bateson has
been careful to say that Darwin's
theory of evolution Is In no sense
disturbed In principle, though It, too,
may be modified by new discoveries.
The important fact about Darwin is
that he was a profound thinker and a
great investigator, and that, whether
all he believed was true or not. he
did more than any other man of his
time tar organize and give direction
to the spirit of scientific curiosity, for
which above ail others the nine
teenth century is famed.
THE "WONDER CHILD" FINDS A MATE.
The wedding of Winifred Sackville,
Stoner Jr. to a Frenchman named
Charles Philippe de Bruche, which
has just become known, although it
took place several months ago, will
cause more than a ripple of interest
among the intellectually elect. It
will be remembered that Winifred
was a "wonder child" only a few
years ago. A further fact of interest
about her is that she is the youngest
person ever to receive recognition in
"Who's Who," in which the follow
ing description of her attainments
appears:
Born, Norfolk. Va.. August 19, 1902; ed-ur-ated
at home, through travel, attending
lectures in universities and by reading
extensively In libraries. Has made Im
promptu speeches In public since age of
4; has traveledthroughout United States
demonstrating "What Is Natural Educa
tion. Episcopalian. Author: (Here fol
lows a list of more than a dozen books.
Including "Mother Goone in Ksperanto,"
published when Winifred was only b.)
A hobby of Winifred's parents was
"natural education." That they
wholly succeeded by the natural
method will appear from an inter
view with the young woman printed
soon after the news of her marriage
became known. "We found." she said,
in explanation of her new ronance.
"that we shared each other's inter
ests on every vital point. We are
linguists I speak twelve languages
and Charles speaks seventeen. My
husband and I both love the same
poetry and the same writers of his
tory and science." But the real value
of the natural method of educa
tion appears in the following: "More
Important still," she told the inter
viewer, "I love him, and that is all
that matters."
The Stoner method is all right. It
gets results. The real reason why
normal young people wed is neither
affinity in languages nor liking for
the same brand of poetry. It Is com
prehended in the final sentence, in
words that any girl or boy can un
derstand. DIVINING KODS.
The Arizona college professor who
reports that he has invented a device
for detecting the presence of min
erals under the surface of the
ground imposes no tax on scientific
credulity, as did the hazel-wand ne
cromancers who used to go about
the country "locating" veins of ore
and underground watercourses by
means of a magic switch. The news
dispatch from Tucson Is wanting in
particulars, but it permits the in
ference that some of the well-known
principles governing magnetic af
finities may. have been employed.
Certain metals are better conductors
of electricity than are others, and
we know more about electrical cur
rents than we formerly did, so that
it is reasonable to suppose that an
intelligent and systematic experi
menter may have turned this knowl
edge to account. Perfection during
the war of a submarine detector,
which has since been adapted to the
guidance of ships through harbor
shoals, is quite likely to have fur
nished the inspiration for the new
prospecting invention.
The divining rod had a different
status. Kvery westerner is familiar
with the claims of so-called diviners,
who, employing a simple forked
stick, the tip or joint of which was
supposed to incline downward when
ever it reached a position perpen
dicularly over a deposit of mineral or
body of water, at one time reaped a
harvest in every region' where min
erals and water were the chief objects-
of the people's desire. But
those who believed in these claims
need have no shame for their gulli
bility, since no less august a body
than a German society for the study
of divination solemnly asserted
shortly before the war that the value
of the Instrument had been scien
tifically established, even to the ex
tent of locating unseen deposits of
potash. This body held, however,
that the success of the system was
not dependent on physical laws, but
on psychical relationships which are
not yet understood. In other words,
merit lay in the person employing
the device and not in the divining
rod Itself.
An "abnormal psychological con
dition in the diviner, analogous to
clairvoyancy," as it is described by
one writer, will not mean much to
the average man, but it may explain
the undoubted sincerity of many so
called diviners. Modern science long
ago repudiated any connection be
tween the divining rod and water or
metal, but at least one eminent Brit
ish scientist has satisfied himself
that the rod may turn or twist with
out any voluntary deception on the
part of the user, the phenomenon
being accounted for by a reflex ac
tion excited by some stimulus on the
mind, which may be either a subcon
scious suggestion or an actual im
pression. But here the confusion of
impressions Is likely to result in fal
lacious conclusions, and self-deception
on the part of the diviner is no
more satisfying than failure of any
other kind.
True science rejects clairvoyance
in matters of this kind, and statis
ticians have evidence that divining
rods do not usually divine. Like the
rainmakers, the diviners have a cer
tain percentage of chance In their
favor, and it is curiously true that
the hazel switch has not been proved
to be more accurate than mere
guess-work. But the Arizona method,
if It Is founded on sound principles of
physics, may conceivably revolution
ize prospecting throughout the world.
A genuine want Is filled by John
Anderson through his system of sup
plying healthful reading matter to
the logging camps and sawmills of
the northwest. In many cases it was
only for lack of anything better that
workmen in the lumber - Industry
read the seditious literature which
the I. W. W. and other disloyal or
ganizations circulated most indus
triously among them. One effective
antidote is to provide a substitute,
which Mr. Anderson does. He also
travels among the camps and mills
delivering addresses, both religious
and patriotic, to men who were for
too long a period sought out only by
radical agitators who preached dis
content, contempt of law and de
struction of property. . Lumbermen
who know Mr. Anderson's work
highly approve it, and for the gen
eral good it should have general support.
IN THE INTEREST OF ACCUBACY.
There is a better chance that the
truth will overtake the lie than
there used to be, as Is again shown
by the British war office's d-enial
that the destruction of the Hamp
shire, resulting In the death of Lord
Kitchener, was due to the machina
tions of a German woman spy, who
obtained her information from a
British officer. It now appears that
the woman in question was securely
locked In a British prison cell dur
ing the entire period In which prep
arations for Kitchener's journey to
Russia were being made, and that
owing to certain changes in the
schedule made at the last moment
before sailing she could not have
known enough to have aided the
enemy even If she had been free.
The story nevertheless I3 easily
accounted for. After she had been
released, no evidence having been
discovered which would implicate
her In any overt act, she returned to
Germany, where, to ingratiate her
self with the patriots of the father
land, she circulated the account
which until only recently has passed
for history. It now seems that she
was not a heroine, but only a self
seeking fabricator, and that the Brit
ish authorities erred only in releas
ing her from captivity too soon.
A fact of dominating interest Is
that the stigma has been removed
from the British officer who was ac
cused, not of intentional perfidy, but
of weakness which iri time of war
would have been as disastrous in its
effects.
TWO GOLDEN DECADES.
The first debates in congresa on
the subject of opening the way to
the settlement of the Oregon coun
try, of which this year marks the
centenary, may be viewed without
violence to our sense of historical
proportion as the most significant
happenings of the kind in many
centuries. They were precipitated
by the introduction of Dr. John
Floyd's second bill to promote the
development of the west. Floyd, who
was a representative from Virginia,
did not have the satisfaction of see
ing his pet measure passed: It was
defeated, indeed, by the decisive vote
of 100 to 61; but those who rnvr
cherish his memory know that noth
ing that has come to pass in a hun
dred years has so fully justified the
reputation of any prophet. Within
a decade after Floyd began his fight
another important event occurred
the establishment of steam naviga
tion on the Missouri river and the
great invasion of the west, which
was soon to extend to the Pacific
coast, followed almost immediately
afterward. In about another decade
the missionary movement was under
way; west, northwest and southwest,
the whole of the vast region from the
Rio Grande and the Red river to the
parallel of forty-nine north and from
the Rocky mountains to the ocean,
was won by English-speaking Amer
icans within an inconceivably short
time.
The twenty years between 1830
and 1850, which were the most mo
mentous in the consequences of the
social phenomena which character
ized them, were also without parallel
In the history of any continent. The
irruption of tho Asiatics into Europe
only Is comparable with the move
ment which here set In during the'
first half of the nineteenth century,
and the Tartar overflow lacked the
essential qualities of spontaneity,
celerity and completeness which
marked the winning of the west by
peace-loving peoples of Anglo-Saxon
stock. Even in our own country the
hegira was without precedent. It
had taken two centuries, as Sey
mour Dunbar points out in his
"History of Travel in America,"
for the pioneers of Virginia and
New England to reach the Mis
sissippi river; they covered the
great space between the Mississippi
and the Pacific in the two decades
after that. They "added to the do
main and settled a quarter of a
million square miles In the Oregon
country, took about '600,000 square
miles of western and southwestern
territory from Mexico, got a thousand
miles of Pacific coast and overran
the Intervening region." We read on:
By the close of IPSO the extraordinary
outburst requiring so few words for its
definition, but which was so profound in
its effect upon the whole world was com
plete and irrevocable. The things that fol
lowed. Including the continuation of the
outward movement then in progress, were
consequences of whst had already hap
pened. TCot far from 2,000,000 aquare miles
of territory were penetrated and occupied
as a direct or indirect result of the heglra
that took place in America between 1S40 1
kf.,4 1fiA TI.ll. . 1. . ... 1 .. . I
question and the earth's area affected by
it were, in respect of size, the most ex
tensive and largest Involved of any similar
phenomenon within a like Interval of re
corded history.
This was a golden decade in a
literal as well as a figurative sense.
It Influenced not alone the destiny
of America but that of the civilized
world. By its enormous addition to
the stock of gold it created a new
buying power which stimulated the
industries of every continent on the
globe and vastly accelerated com
mercial expansion and development.
The United States, acquiring an im
portant outlet to the Pacific, blos
somed as if overnight into a world
power. Immigration from other
lands, and with it our present "melt
ing pot" problem, virtually dates
from that time. Emigration to
America profoundly affected Europe;
our access to the western coast was
eventually to result in amazing
changes in Asia; the hermit nations
emerged from their cells of solitude:
trade flourished; the former luxuries
of the rich became the necessities of
all the people; new senses of social
values were created. People setting
out from the east said that they
were going to Oregon and California,
and so they were; "but beside them
strode consequences that were going
further still." The imponderables of
the beginning were the more momen
tous in the end.
It is a task for the psychologist
no less than for the historian to ap
praise the motives which actuated
the principals in these events and to
set them in their proper relation-,
' ships. Conflicting emotions inspired
the greatest drift of population
the world has ever known. On the
one hand the desire for greater free
dom -even though purchased at the
price of solitude; on the other a new
manifestation of the gregarious spirit
common to normal men. A mass
complex which even now we cannot
analyze operated to people a wilder
ness, revise the geography of a con
tinent, and set all our social precon-
ceptions at naught. A quaint re
minder of the spirit that actuated a
small minority of those who helped
to beat the frontier back is found in
the words of that sturdy old back
woodsman, Daniel Boone, who said
In 1813:
I first removed to the woods of Ken
tucky. 1 fought and repelled the savagea.
and hoped for repoee. Game was abundant
and our path was prniverous, but soon
1 was molested by Interlopers from every
quarter. Again I retreated to the region
of the Mississippi; but again the specula
tors and settlers followed me. Once more
I withdrew to the licks of Missouri and
here at length I hoped to rind rest. But I
was still pursued for I had not been two
years at the licks before a damned Yankee
came and settled down within a, hundred
miles of me.
The colossal mass, representing
In an aggregate that which Boone
symbolized in the individual, were
stirred by reasons which it is
probable they themselves did not
understand, and which they could
not have reduced to an epigram if
they had understood them. They
constituted together with the Boones
and their kind the most amazing
manifestation of Individual aspira
tions working in unison to a com
mon end of which there is any ink
ling in the history of the ages.
TUMULTY ON WILSON.
' The case for Woodrow Wilson as
president has now been laid before
the American people by Joseph P.
Tumulty, who as his private secre
tary was his closest associate and
most devoted supporter. Whatever
opinion we may form on the merits
of the case, reading of Tumulty's
work leat'es no room for doubt that
Wilson was his hero, who had his
unstinted admiration and his single
hearted devotion. In a sense he was
Wilson's Boswell, but he was much
less and much more. Though Bos
well was a toady to Johnson, he was
so faithful as a diarist that he
recorded all his sage's words and
acts whether they reflected well or
111 on his subject, and he made
Johnson famous. Tumulty shows no
sign of the toady; he Is a loyal co
worker, endowed with much politi
cal sagacity, one whose advice was
often sought, not resented when vol
unteered, and sometimes followed,
though appropriated as Wilson's
own ideas, as was th:, Wilson way.
But Tumulty is a hero-worshiper,
and his hero looms so large before
his mental vision that he cannot see
in their true light his hero's acts
nor the events In which Wilson
played a leading part, nor can he
judge fairly the acts of those who
opposed Wilson.
Nevertheless the book has intense
Interest as a review of Wilson s
public career by his most ardent
champion and by the man who has
most intimate knowledge of his
public acts, his policy, his motives
and his character. It is a most
valuable contribution to contem
porary history. The Oregonlan has
been reproached for permitting a
biased and partisan review of the
Wilson public service to be set forth
in. its columns; but it performed what
it conceives to be a clear journalistic
duty in printing the Wilson record
from the Wilson point of view. .It
was frankly the Wilson story, and
the telling of it was committed to
the man who by hig position and
relationship had earned the right to
speak.
Gravest among the many criti
cisms of Wilson's course as president
are the charges of intense partisan
ship under circumstances which
demanded subordination of party to
the common purpose for which both
parties should work together, and
egotism which made him impatient
of advice that did not agree with
his own ideas and which led him to
assume dictatorial power in defiance
of popular rebuke. In the effort to
vindicate him from these charges,
Tumulty adds supporting testimony
for them. He cites with censure
partisan opposition from the repub
licans which was provoked by Wil
son's rejection of any suggestion that
came or seemed to come from the
opposite party and by his tenacity
in keeping executive control of the
government in time of war in the
hands of himself and those demo
crats who bowed to his will. Natur
ally partisanship on Wilson's side
stimulated the same vice among his
opponents, but In the eyes of the
worshiping Tumulty it was a virtue
in Wilson.
These defects in Wilson's character
and policy showed throughout his
administration, and they wrecked
the work which he Intended to make
his greatest achievement placing
the United States at the head of a
league of nations. Contrary to a
very common opinion, Tumulty re
veals that as early as April, 1911,
Wilson foresaw the war and hesi
tated to seek the democratic nomi
nation because he doubted whether
he would be a good war president.
Almost from the outbreak of the
war he realized that all that America
stands for was at stake and should
align the United States with the
allies, but the stronger became the
demand that we fight after Germany
had given direct provocation the
more determined he became in pre
serving neutrality.
Because Roosevelt, Wood and
other prominent republicans led the
preparedness agitation, he regarded
it as a partisan scheme of his politi
cal foes to force his hand. He had
admitted the need of preparation by
instructions to the secretaries of war
and navy as early as July, 1915; in
the following December he approved
Garrison's continental army scheme,
which was designed to prepare the
public mind for the draft; he ad
mitted that voluntary service would
not meet the Impending emergency.
Yet at the first breath of opposition
in the house, be turned against
Garrison's plan. He. made some
speeches for preparedness after much
urging, but said not a word for the
plan which he had endorsed, re
marking that he was ready to accept
an alternative, though the occasion
demanded such forceful advocacy of
a single well thought out plan, as
Roosevelt would have given. When
Garrison resigned and joined the
preparedness forces, he was con
sidered to have gone over to the
enemy. In 1916 Wilson made no
fight for genuine war preparation,
but accepted whatever congress did.
The natural explanation is aversion
to following the initiative of political
opponents.
The same mental bent showed
after our declaration of war. In
magnitude the war was evidently to
surpass all others in our history and
was destined to demand all the
energies of all our people, statesmen
as well as all others. The policy on
which it was conducted and the
terms on which It was Closed would
not only occupy the best brains of
both parties, but would give a turn
to our -foreign policy for many years,
whichever party should be in power.
To a mind not obsessed with parti
sanship, the occasion demanded that
both parties join in both war and
peace councils in order that the
nation might act as a unit, then and
in future foreign relations. With
that end in mind the allies formed
coalitions and won by them, though
Tumulty's memory fails him on this
point. But Wilson hotly resented
the suggestion, and Tumulty con
siders that he made adequate use of
republicans when he assigned them
to subordinate positions, where they
had no voice in shaping policy ' or
directing the war. To his mind it
was a democratic war, in which
republicans must help where he
assigned them and without discus
sion vote "aye" to all his decisions.
Even before victory had turned to
the side of the allies Tumulty urged
him to ask for a democratic congress
that he might make a democratic
peace. Hence came the fateful
letter of October 24, 1918, when
peace was evidently near, in which
Wilson said the republicans were
"pro-war but anti-administration."
He said they had sought "to take
the choice of policy and conduct of
the war" out of his hands, when in
fact they had sought to share with
his party the work and the- respon
sibility. Tumulty defends this act
of partisanship by citing republican
appeals for election of a republican
congress, when this was simply the
reaction to Wilson's own entire
course. He names as precedents
Lincoln's appeal in 1864 and Mc
Kinley's in 1898, though these are
no precedents for the situation in
1918. Lincoln was opposed by Mc
Clellan, who ran on a platform de
nouncing the civil war as a failure,
though he repudiated it, and that
meant abandonment of the union.
McKinley asked for a republican
congress after the democratic mem
bers had united almost to a man
against Spanish war bonds and had
threatened to read out of their party
the few dissentients. During the
world war the republicans never
refused the administration anything
and only urged its more vigorous
prosecution. The sole ground of
Wilson's appeal was his desire to
keep affairs in his own hands as
leader of a very tame democratic
party.
After the mandate for which he
had asked was denied him. Wilson
went on as though It had been given.
He consulted only his few familiars,
whom Tumulty names, about peace
delegates, and though Root. Taft and
one of the supreme judges were
proposed, he turned them all down.
He took the strong sentiment In
favor of some kind of a league of
nations as approval in advance for
any league that he might form at
Paris. He ignored the warning
conveyed in the senate's round robin,
slipped into the covenant in weak
form some of the amendments pro
posed by Root, Hughes and Taft,
and returned with a demand that his
perfect work should be ratified with
out change. When the senate, as the
co-ordinate branch of the treaty
making power, sought to take part
in the work by adopting reservations,
he called them nullification and
would have none of them. To him
his league was the .only possible
league, and reservations would put
us outside the concert of powers.
How far astray he went was shown
by the discussion of the reservations
by Lord Grey and the Paris Temps,
plainly indicating that the allies
would accept them.
. The adulatory Tumulty describes
his tour of the country on a last
appeal to the people as that of a
battle-worn "grim warrior," driven
by the great idea of a crusader to
fight to the death. To impartial
minds it will appear rather as a
final display of obstinacy on the part
of one who was so infatuated with
his own work that he expected all
to deem it holy, one whose mind
was so narrowly partisan that he
could see only evil motives among
critical opponents. His course re
calls to mind these lines of Gold
smith on Edmund Burke:
Who, born for the universe, narrowed
his mind.
And to party gave up what was meant
for mankind.
For we must accord to Wilson
credit for great qualities of mind
and character, and a noble purpose
to benefit mankind while building
his own fame. His oratory could
sway a crowd, and his personal
charm could win the love of indi
viduals, though he was commonly
held cold because he was not a
"mixer." The pity of it is that he
failed to see how acceptance of co
operation would have disarmed the
partisanship of his opponents, would
probably have won success where he
failed, would thus have served the
cause he had at heart and would
have brightened his fame though he
shared it with others.
A LIFE SACRIFICED TO SCIENCE.
The death at Vera Cruz of Dr.
Walter B. Cross, a scientist of the
Rockefeller Institute engaged in re
searches into the occurrence of yel
low fever in Mexico, provokes remln.
iscences of the long fight waged to
master this peculiarly destructive
malady. It recalls also the death
about twenty years ago of a member
of the staff of Dr. Walter Reed, Dr.
J. Y. Lazear, who permitted him
self to be bitten by infected mos
o.uitos in order to establish Dr.
Reed's theory of the nature of the
communicability of the disease. A
co-worker of Reed and Lazear, Dr.
James Carroll, also exposed himself
to the bites of the germ-carrying in
sects and contracted the fever, but
recovered. The very brief period that
has elapsed since then is the meas
ure of the rapidity with which
science has moved to eliminate a
dreaded scourge.
Yellow fever is properly classified
among the maladies that infest the
tropics and that until recently have
made them practically uninhabit
able by white men, but its horizon
has extended far beyond the tropics.
In 1793, when our republic was still
young and public health systems un
organized, there was a yellow fever
epidemic In Philadelphia, then a
town of some 40,000 inhabitants, in
which more than 4000 persons, or
more than 10 per cent, died. The
fever reached New York in 1798 and
more than 2100 died. The southern
states, owing to their proximity to
the West Indies, from which epi
demics were borne on the wind, long
had their regularly recurring fever
seasons, with terrible mortality. In
1878 no fewer than 132 cities and
towns south of Mason and Dixon's
line suffered, with some 75,000 cases
and more than 20,000 deaths, an
event still remembered for the wide
spread impairment of morale which
it caused as well as for its high death
rate.
Yellow fever was Indeed the
world's most deadly plague when an
American commission began its re
searches soon after the Spanish war
in an effort to make conditions
better for our army of occupation in
Cuba. It was during this investiga
tion that Dr. Reed, whose work has
been commemorated by a great hos
pital in Washington, established the
association of the mosquito stego
myia fasciata with the spread of the
fever from man to man.
The fa.ct of greatest Interest, next
to the nature of te disease itself,
which was established by scientists
working in this connection, was the
community aspect of preventive ef
forts. When tlie Rockefeller Insti
tute some time ago sent the Japanese
physician Noguchl to western South
America to help the people banish
the fever, it concentrated its efforts
upon educating local governments to
the necessity for organized action,
and Dr. Cross was on a similar mis
sion to Mexico when he died. It has
been proved In the United States,
however, that where health authori
ties are vigilant epidemics can be
almost eliminated, for there has been
no recurrence of moment In this
country since the return of the
United States commission from Cuba
in 1901. The result, too, has been
the virtual stamping out of the fever
from the age-old centers of infection
like Havana and Rio de Janeiro, only
a short time ago among the plague
spots of the world.
Typhoid and yellow fever are In
timately associated in the history of
epidemiology by the circumstance
that Dr. Reed's first Inquiries Into
the latter were the by-product of ef
forts to reduce the incidence of the
former In our military camps, and
the amazing results which have been
obtained in controlling typhoid are
even more indicative of what can be
done by communal measures. For
example, a report recently published
by a life Insurance statistician shows
that In sixty-eight cities of the coun
try in 1920 the mortality rate from
this cause was but 3.7 per 100,000 in
habitants, whereas during the civil
war period a rate of seventy to
eighty deaths per 100.000 was not
uncommon in the principal cities of
the north. But this was reduced
rapidly, so that In the quinquen
nium between 1905 and 1910 it
varied from fifteen to twenty-two per
100,000, and the final triumph comes
In 1920, with a rate of 3.7. The rates
for some cities are but one-tenth of
the rate of ten years ago.
Typhoid, malaria and yellow fever
have been removed from the list of
hideous maladies within about
twenty years and smallpox, in every
locality where vigilance has been
consistently maintained, has also
been reduced almost to zero. It Is
necessary, nevertheless, that all pre
cautions shall be continued. The
sense of false security, as was illus
trated by the smallpox outbreak in
the region of Kansas City, is most
dangerous to health.
A "wet" advocate wants to know
"what we do with all the money we
save by prohibition." Moat any bill
collector could answer his question.
It Is going for a class of goods that
doesn't cause headache on the morn
ing after.
John Cowper Towys suggests that
every American business man should
retire at 50 and devote the rest of
his life to pursuing a hobby. Most
of them pursue the hobby all right.
but they don't need to. retire to do it.
The dinosaur recently found in
Canada was only thirty feet long, a
mere pony dinosaur, as it were. But
one cannot help thinking what a
commotion he would have created if
he had been taken alive.
It seems appropriate that the
United States, which suppressed the
Barbary coast pirates, should take
the lead in moving against their de
scendants who violate tho laws of
civilized warfare at sea.
The Harvard astronomers are go
ing to measure the heat of the stars,
and by and by, at the rate science is
advancing, a way will be found to
use It under boilers on earth.
The Chinese have a postoffice sys
tem, after six thousand years of get
ting along without one. They may
be slow, but they are sure, over that
way.
"Marriage Too Easy," says a news
paper headline. A clear case of
want of precision in statement.
"Getting Marled Too Easy" is ob
viously what it meant.
The prediction of a French hermit
that a great American statesman will
die during 1922 ought to cause a
million brethren to make their wills.
Emma Goldman's chances for a
pardon in all probability have not
been enhanced by the recent indis
cretions of Debs.
"Mexican Bandits Kill an Ameri
can," says a headline. Normalcy
Is spreading across the southern
boundary line.
India has 300 poets, but what she
needs is a philosophy on which, re
gardless of caste, all of her people
can unite.
One advantage about . cold days Is
that one can use more fuel with
feeling that there is an excuse for
being extravagant.
Emma Goldman Is on the way to
a round-up of the herd at Berlin,
but finds the going bad.
Judge Deich enters Into the spirit
of the season by marking down a
fine to $9.99.
The trouble with some people
seems to be that they think a naval
holiday is an excuse for not doing
any woik.
Th a trmthla In T-' v-r.t 1a nKn.i,
hard to solve as the famous riddle of
the Sphinx.
Seed catalogue time approaches.
The Listening Post.
By DeWltC Harry.
INTEREST in "Main Street" con
tinues unabated, and residents of
most cities Save studied their locali
ties well. Of course. Portland's "Main
Street" is Broadway, or is it Wash
ington street? In any event there
are streets In other sections of the
city just as important to these dis
tricts, miniature "Main Streets" in
fact.
What of Burnside street, the "Main
Street" of the floater and of the
woods worker, the business and en
tertainment center for that large
class of single men who have few
ties and live from day to day? Its
importance cannot be passed, and it
is a street of stores, many restau
rants and theaters, all of a class to
appeal to this kind of man.
First street as it continues south
develops into a series of "Main
Streets" for the foreign population,
and into a regular Ghetto district
near its far end. North there Is
Thurman street on the west side,
with Its shows and shops and retail
center where the Twenty-third-street
car enters.
Then on the east side there are
severa-i important streets that con
tain their own life nearly to them
selves. Grand avenue, across the
Morrison bridge. Is likely the sec
ondary retail district of the city, with
Its banks and complete service. In
Albina there is Russell street and Its
Intersecting streets from the river
up, Albina, Williams and Union, ail
ccntalning their own business cen
ters and independent of other parts
of Portland.
Kllllngswortli avenue Is an impor
tant trade center for the peninsula
district, and in St. Johns. Le,its. Scll
wooil, Sunnyside, MontaviUa and
others they have their own retail
centers, where the life of the com
munity is found, with improvement
and district clubs and all that goes
to make up community or small town
life. It's really a number of small
towns within tho one large one. The
life that Sinclair Lewis found in his
"Main Street" should not bo o far
off from any one of these small sec
tions of Portland.
This spirited debate took place
during a rest period in a football
game in a vacant lot. The opposing
teams gathered to breathe and talk
and every word led to another until
the boys were going strong. One
with great wealth of description, told
of knowing a boy who was deaf, and
they started to discuss loss of the
senses.
"I'd klnda like to be deaf," started
the argument, '"cause then I wouldn't
hear you kids Jaw and then I couldn't
hear my mother call, either.
"Oh, I'd rather not be able to feci
anything," was the upright remark
of one tad lying In a nice, ioft,
muddv Dlace. "I couldn't feel a lickln'
then and when I'd play football
could just slam you fellows right,
and if you'd hit me I'd never know
It"
"Aw, shucks, you kids make me
tired." from the muddiest one. You
dowanna lose any of them senses,
Couldn't hear musio nor feel your
dog's fur when you' pet bim. Aw,
shucks!"
Then the kid with the black eye
and thp tough look brought forth
the surprise of the debate by develop
ing a ctraln of poetry. "Yes, and any
of you fellows would be sorry if you
lost any of your senses. What if you
couldn't see. eh? Wouldn't know
there was any footballs or anything
or any birds or dogs. Or if you
couldn't emell, what good would your
nose be. Only to blow. And If you
couldn't taste, why, then, you better
Just quit eating. You kids always
make me tired; you don't know noth
ing."
And they resumed their game.
e
The fascination of overhearing the
chance conversation, all unlntention
ally, cannot be overestimated. Even
though one may not want to appear
an eavesdropper, fragments of talk
often float to one's ears. From two
women who were walking the follow
ing drifted back:
"Both legs are disjointed and
don't know what we can do for her,"
was the startling remark with elo
quent gestures.
"Poor thing! How docs Mary
feel?" asked the companion.
"She's Just heartbroken. But if
that were all it might be all right.
Just think her head was crushed
and she lost most of her hair, too,'
and tho horrible details wore catego
ried. "When w e found her she did not
have a stitch of clothes on her body
and she had been lying out all night
In the enow and cold."
Cudgel our brain as we would, no
remembrance came of euch a tragedy
In the news of several days back, but
the intense Interest waned when we
heard:
"Well, it was the dog's fault. He
dragged her outside, and Mary found
her the next morning, her complex
Ion all washed away. I went down
and got her another doll as nearly
like It as I could."
m m
The passage of human birds of
flight brings back recollections of
cinders and movement, the free, open
life of the migratory man. The box
car passenger, the dare of riding fast
passenger trains, the chances of
clearing a freight division, all speak
the determination to get some place
that is better than the one you are
In. Spring is usually the season
when the hobo hits the grit, but in
times of little work men travel more
than when conditions are settled.
Nothing to do where you are? Then
go some place else.
Private J. Marsh, military medal,
27th battalion, city of Winnipeg,
Canadian infantry, passed through
Portland yeeterday en route to Can
ada from California. He repontu
that it took 13 days to ride from San
Diego and that the sunny south is
Infested with visitors, both those ar
riving by automobile, passenger
coach or boat, and those who get
there by other means. The density
of population Is such that there are
very few open jobs. So he flitted and
is going back to Canada, where he
thinks he has a chance to get some
work Marsh served several years
overseas, was wounded, decorated,
and was one of the youngest soldlero
In his battalion.
A co-worker had lower living costs
forcibly brought to mind yesterday
when he bought golf balls for 60
cents that formerly cobt 75 or lucre.
Windows.
II y Grace K. Hall.
They look out on the street.
With eyes unwinking,
And many hours they give no light,
no glow;
They are like eyes we meet
And pass, unthinkinr".
Ana never Know.
Sometimes we muse of them
In twl'.ig'ht gloaming.
And even ask what lies behind the
sill;
But mostly weary men.
With instincts homing,
Pass, tense and still.
Yet, there's a room, we know.
With more of ineantfJr
Than we may ever gW'H, beyond that
frame;
We must draw very near.
And softly leaning.
Press 'gainst the pane.
Keep back reflections, too,
That, seeing clearly.
We may liehold the beauties through
the gloom;
And. thus beholding, oft
We love most dearly
The wondrous room!
They look but do not see,
These eyes unmoving.
And we look hack, yet draw not near
to them;
Blind are they, yet we
Pause not for proving
The souls of men.
A KKY TO III! MAW IIKAIITS.
I planned hikI schemed, contrived
HMd dreamed
In fashioning a key
That might unlock the hearts of men,
Dlsc'iosin'g mystery;
I labored long, but toiled in vain
Success, ne'er came to mo.
For God's great plan of inner man
Whs veiled in secrecy.
I studied then tho hearts of men
Through history's worn pagos.
The great today, the "common clay,"
The masses and the sages;
In dumb despair I tore my -hair,
Sank down in desolation.
And thus, in thought, a key was
wrought
To the sad situation.
This magio key's simplicity,
'Tls fashioned In ono's youth.
With substance got from melting pot
Of double distilled truth,
'Tls counterpart of human heart.
And opens wide csrh door ,
Of mortal man since world began
Now and forever more.
MILTON C. ARM STRONG.
TIIK OLD AXD TUB KKW.
The old year
The cold year
That started in on high,
lias passed now.
It's gassed now.
The new year's here to try.
The old year
Was bold here
With money running strong.
We spent It
And lent It
And scattered It along.
The new year
Is due here
To slrow us how to work;
To save it
And shave It,
No time for us to shirk.
The new year
'Tls true, dear.
Means saving every dime
But money
Like honey.
Accumulates in time.
ALLAN TURNER.
ANTICIPATION.
few days past the old,
But
Old
year
And yet I Bwear that spring Is near!
I saw a sunbeam on a hill
Felt in the air a little thrill
That would not bo denied.
And one I love, spoke of next May
In an expectant, gladsome way,
While overhead a fleecy cloud
Sailed rainbow-tinted, slow and proud
Defying wintry winds.
On bare, brown bough a little shoot
I, ike fairy touch upon a lute
Foretold the radiant hours to conio
When birds and beeH no longer dumb
Will sing In melody.
Yes, spring, glad spring is on her
way,
March winds and April showers, then
May;
Anticipation, dream-filled hours.
Expectant hush, then fragrant
bowers
Spring wirelessed today.
JANETTE MARTIN.
A FANCY.
A fairy at twilight flitted my war:
In tho whispering leaves I could hear
her say,
"Oh, what have you done with the
golden hours
I gave you at dawn, and what of
the flowers
You gathered last eve from the star-
fields bright?"
I trembled and cried, "They died In
the night;
And the golden hours, I have lost
them too
In the golden dream of what I
would do
If someone gave me tho gift of song."
The fairy smiled, "You have done no
wrong.
For a golden dream is a priceless
gem
In the crown of a day." A tiny stem
Gave way 'neath soft departing feet:
It glided down my lips to greet
In one long kiss. Oh blissful ban!
The stem became the Pipes o' Pant
ROBERTA SFENCE1.
TIOItnA INCOGNITA.
Where do I want to be?
Not In this place not here!
Routine I know too well
Awaits my patience here.
Argentine! I wonder If
I'd love it there. I'orhaps:
Full southern nights aglow
With man-made lights of
Latin revelry, and music.
Notes that might move my
Brain to feelings foreign
To its nature. Perhaps
There'd be dark eyes and hair
And the rhythm of a dance
That comes of sunny Spain.
Yes I'd like it there.
Youth loves useless pleasures
Success too trifling now.
When I am old mayhap
I'll love It here I know
will for Age loves sombre quiet.
W. 13. JONES.
NOW.
Now, is a cragged Island.
Pushed upon a sea of foam;
Now, Is a white ship, quivering.
To reach a fog-bound home.
Now holds the bud within her hand
Of an undying spring;
Now Is the silent, mighty chord
That future ages sing!
Now Is a sun that shines unseen.
While men still grope for light;
Or bird, that breaks a secret snare
And mounts In Joyous flight.
Now Is the golden coin of good
That has been, or will be;
Now knits the soul of man to God
Now Is eternltv!
MARY ALKTHEA WOODWARD.