THE SUNDAY OREGOXTAN, PORTLAND, MAY 14, 1922
and prudential reasons, according to j trade practices, was welcomed by the freely: but special information is al-
this version, and was reported by I better class of merchants, who real- ' ways aristocratical and hierarchi-
USTABLISHED BY HENRY I.. PiTTOCK.
i'ublished by The Oregonian Publishing Co
135 Sixth Street. Portland. Oregon.
C A. MORDEX, B. B. PIPER.
Manager. Editor.
The Oregonian is a member of the Asso
' isted Press. The Associated Press is ei--.usively
entitled to the use for publication
f sJI news dispatches credited to it or not
"tbsrwise credited in this paper and also
the local news published herein. Ail rights
f publication of special dispatches herein
re also reserved. m
Fremont secretly, if at all. in view of , ized that it restrained dishonest com-
ubscription Kates Invariably In Advance.
By Mail.)
Tally, Sunday included, one year. . . . $8.00
Iaily, Sunday included, six months.. 4.25
Dally, Sunday included, three months. 2.25
Daily. Sunday included, one month... .75
Daily, without Sunday, one year 6.00
Daily, without Sunday, six months... 3-25
1 -ally, without Sunday, one month 00
Sunday, one year 2.50
(By Carrier.)
Pally, Sunday included, one year. . . . S3. 00
Dallx. Sunday included, three months. 2.25
Daily, Sunday included, one month.. .79
Daily, without Sunday, one year 7.S0
Dally, without Sunday, three mowths. Z.95
Dally, without Sunday, one month 63
How to Remit Send postoffice money
order, express or personal check on your
-cal bank, stamps, coin or currency are
t owner's risk. Give postoffice address in
lull, including county and state.
Postage Kates 1 to 16 pages, 1 cent: 18
'o 32 pages. 2 cents; 34 to 48 pages, 3
'fnts; 50 to 64 pages. 4 cents; 66 to 80
pages, 5 cents; 82 to 96 pages, 6 cents.
Fcreign postage double rate.
Eastern Business Office Verree & Conk
I n, 300 Madison avenue. New Tork; Verree
Conklin. steger burning, Chicago; Ver
ree & Conklin, Free Press building. De
troit. Mich.; Verree & Conklin, Monadnock
i.uilding, San Francisco, Cal.
iOO DISCOVERY ON THE PACIFIC
COAST.
Republication in the Sacramento
Bee of an item from an early Califor
nia newspaper concerning- the first
discovery of gold on the Pacific coast
is provocative of reflection upon the
ommon incapacity of individuals to
foresee the far-reaching conse
meuces mat may now from appar
ently trivial events. The item, con
-isting of nine lines of printed mat
er, or about sixty words, related the
incident with all brevity and without
i-omment. It was not the kind of
reatment, in all probability, that a
-imilar news Item would receive to
day, but It is explicable on other
grounds than the primitive state of
journalism in that period
Nothing was more remote from the
expectations of the first Americans
who came to the Pacific coast than
the discovery of gold. Those first to
o to California were actuated
mainly by the same motives that in
duced the pioneer settlement of Ore
gon. As a matter of fact, if the Ore
gon trail had not been blazed by the
northwest pioneers in the early
forties, and if immigration into the
"rcgon country had not already se:
in, Jt is unlikely that California
would have been settled at the time
and in the manner that it was. The
history of the two sections is inex
tricably interwoven and this is pecu
liarly true of the political aspect of
'he great westward movement. A
strong current of patriotism that ran
through the Oregon immigration,
which occurred at a time when it
was clearly understood that settle
ment was likely to turn the scale in
favor of th'e United States in the
northwest boundary controversy,
made easier the work of those Cali
fornia propagandists who used to
intercept Oregon travelers in the
Snake river country. One of the
arguments effectively employed by
these first California real estate
iioomers was that the presence of
Americans south of the parallel of
42 degrees was necessary to hold
that region for the United States, in
view of the trouble between this
country and Mexico which culmi
nated in the Mexican war.
It is clearly enough established
that James Marshall, widely reputed
to have been the discoverer of gold
at butter s Fort, upon which the
greatest mining excitement in the
history of the world was based, was
an Oregonian before he was a Cali
fornian. He had come to this state
m 1844 and had spent the winter of
1844-45 in the Willamette valley.
There is better reason for believing,
n the light of Iaterresearch. that
the real discoverer was Charles Ben
nett, whom very early comers to Ore
gon will remember as the proprietor
of the Bennett house at Salem,, but
this in nowise diminishes Oregon's
laim to this historical distinction.
Bennett was likewise an immigrant
of 1S44 to Oregon, he also was em
ployed by Captan John A. Sutter at
Sutter's Fort, and it was he in all
probability who found the first gold
nugget and expressed the belief that
it was gold. "His eye," says a later
annalist, "was the first to behold the
dust, he was the first to identify it."
But the point of interest in any con
troversy over the subject is in this
instance that it was the Oregon im
migration and the motives underly
ing it that produced the man who
found gold in California.
Part of this interesting history is
related on a modest gravestone in a
cemetery at Salem, where lies Ben
nett, who served his country faith
fully though ho reaped no great ma
terial reward, and died in 1S55, the
victim of a hostile arrow in the In
dian wars in the Walla Walla coun
try. The story does not rest upon
the unsupported testimony of an epi
taph, but was attested in a still
earlier day and while events were
fresh in memory by Stephen Staats,
Frank Shaw, John Minto and others.
Marshall's title to the designation
Oregonian was precisely as good as
Bennett's was. so that this state's
sentimental association with the dis
covery is preserved in either event.
Neither Bennett nor Marshall became
a bonanza king. Bennett thought
so much better of other ways of mak
ing a living that he returned to Ore
gon late in 1S49. Marshall, his head
turned by his apparent good fortune,
took to obeying spirit beckonings
which somehow never guided him to
a real gold mine and died a pen
sioner of the state.
This discovery from which all
mining development on the Pacific
coast dates was made in January,
184S. There is credible historical
evidence that gold had been found in
California even prior to that time
the effect it was feared the news
might have on adjustment of pend
ing issues with Mexico. The flaw in
the tale is its want of confirmation in
any of Fremont's own correspon
dence a fact which does not, how
ever, warrant its utter rejection.
Because so few of the participants
in momentous affairs are able to ob
tain the perspective of them nearly
every unusual event becomes the
subject of subsequent controversy.
The famous Blue Bucket mine of
eastern Oregon is one example of
this; the date of the first finding of
gold in southern Oregon is another.
The accepted legend is that James
Cluggage and James Pool bore the
same relation to gold mining in Ore
gon that Bennett and Marshall did to
that in California, Cluggage and Pool
having panned the first color late in
1851, in the gulcl. where now stands
the town of Jacksonville. But a
quarter of a century or so ago, when
the topic was fresh and also contro
versial, a number of highly credible
witnesses came forward to testify
that for some time prior to the au
tumn of 1851 mining operations
were being carried on by a man
nemed Bills, on Big Bar, on the
Rogue river, not far from Perkins'
ferry. David Linn, later a pioneer
settler in Jacksonville, and Wesley
McGanigal set out from Oregon City
in October, 1851, on foot for Salem,
where they outfitted for the Cali
fornia mines. Linn, whose credibil
ity was gcod and whose story was
confirmed by others, said that he and
his fellow travelers came upon Bills
some weeks prior to the Jackson
ville discovery, and that he had then
Lapparently been mining for some
time. "Vnother contributor to the
history of the period, Lee Laughlin
of North Yamhill, laid claim in be
half of his party to having found
gold in the Rogue river in Septem
ber, 1849.
This may have been true. Failure
to remain and develop the Rogue
river placers at that time is plausibly
accounted for by the hostility of the
Shasta Indians, and also by the
glowing reports that had been re
ceived from the more distant El Do
rado. The rush to California from
Oregon, which nearly depopulated
this territory, was a veritable stam
pede, stopping for nothing, pausing
not even to develop by laborious
processes the Rogue river sand bars.
For word had reached Oregon that
gold nuggets in California required
no digging, but were lying on the
surface, temptingly exposed to
glorious southern sun.
petition. The object sought by the
cal." There is, too, a distinction be
tween a man who is rich in general
proponents of the "truth in fabrics" 1 information and one who is only a
bill, recently pending in congress, is
measurably realized by the order of
the trade commission now upheld by
the high court. The full text of
the decision is not yet at hand, but
it seems probable that it enunciates
a principle widely applicable to other
clashes of merchandise, which is that
the consumer may wear or eat or
otherwise utilize any commodity he
chooses to buy, that he has the right
to believe that he is getting what the
label calls for, and that he need not
qualify as an expert in a hundred in
dustries in order to protect himself
against fraud.
Certain trade customs established
in the older times will have to be
discarded, but the hardships thus
wrought will be more than offset by
the obvious advantages gained. The
contention that "merino" has from
time immemorial meant to the trade
a mixture of merino and cotton may
have been based on fact, but a new
and a better precedent is about to be
created. The label "wool and cot
ton," which will be required hence
forth, will mislead no one. To the
layman, the opinion of Justice
Brandeis that "wool" means "all
wool," not part cotton, will seem
eminently just and sound.
The trade will have less difficulty
in adjusting itself to the new condi
tions than some of the conservatives
suppose. Jo great loss will attend
I.OST ART.
The grief of British citizens over
tne departure of Gainsborough's
"Blue Boy" for America, which is in
tensified because it is only a re
minder that other works of art are
going the same way, is not likely to
oe moctitiea by reflection upon the
experience of France, which onlv
two years ago attempted to prevent
the. selling of objects of sentimental
value by placing a prohibitive exDort
duty on them. This French law has
just been repealed, largely because
it was seen to be a violation of the
principle that the private owner of
property is not in fact the real owner
thereof unless he may dispose of it
as he sees fit. In France, as also in
England, it has also been realized
that it is unfair to tax individuals
and at the same time withhold from
them the means of obtaining the
wherewithal to meet the tax. In both
countries the general movement to
seek buyers for the contents of
private galleries has been the result
of heavy financial burdens imposed
upon those who formerly were re
garded as wealthy but who in fact
are having a hard struggle to get
along.
In England works of art are made
exempt from inheritance tax when
sold to a public museum or gallery,
which, however, only gives those in
stitutions an advantage amounting
to the sum of the tax over foreign
bidders, and this has not in practice
operated to restrain the trade. It is
pointed out by British observers, too,
that creation of a national fund
would be more likely to bring higher
prices to sellers and greater profits
to dealers than to meet the purpose
sought, which is to keep works of art
at home.
For all that is likely to be done
about it, it seems probable that
American collectors will continue to
profit by the financial situation in
Europe. That a large proportion of
purchases are made for private col
lections in the United States does not
make it improbable that they will in
due time become public property.
The recent gift of the priceless Hunt
ington collection to a foundation for
public enjoyment is only one of many
examples of the tendency of Ameri
can owners to share their treasures
with their fellows. Our government
is slower to acquire property of this
kind than European governments
are, but the spirit which inspires
public benefactions is nowhere so
general as it is in the United States.
HONEST LABELS.
In upholding an order of the fed
eral trade commission prohibiting.
In substance, the practice of labeling
a fabric wool when it is composed of
wool mixed with some other textile,
the supreme court of the United
States but extends the ethical prin
ciple embodied in the pure food and
drugs act to other lines of commerce
and industry. It is interesting to re
call that the effort to enforce a high
standard of business morals met its
first substantial success within the
present generation. Formerly the
doctrine of caveat emptor prevailed
almost universally. It was assumed
to be part of the duty of the buyer
to determine whether he was being
cheated or not.
Nor should it be too readily as
sumed that all were dishonest who
held to the old practices. In a more
primitive state of society than now
the discarding of a number of the
ancient formulas. The twentieth
century consumer is too busily en
gaged iu a number of more im
portant things to become a critical
judge of every kind of merchandise.
Moreover the trade itself will benefit
in the long run by the reestablished
confidence of its customers. There
will be no such resistance to the en
forcement of the new standards as
was encountered in the early days of
the reform movement.
LOSING A MILLION YEARS.
The estimate of the actuary of an
engineering organization that the
average American workman loses
eight days :r. each year on account
of illness is another of those impres
sive calculations that dazzle us with
their enormous aggregates. There
are about 42,000,000 wage-earners in
the United States, male and female.
Eight times 42,000,000 is 336,000,000.
Disregarding odd fractions for the
sake of convenience, 336,000,000
working days are equal to about a
million years.
The figures obtain more signifi
cance from the fact that at least
one-half of all disabling illness is
now regarded by excellent authori
ties as preventable by methods with
which we are now familiar. As to
the other half, the doctors have hope
for the distant future, but are not
inclined to make promises. Half a
million years are a very considerable
number, however, even when com
pared with the probable age of the
world and other near-infinitudes.
Theoretically, the wealth that might
have been created by these workers
in the time lost because of sickness
would amount to something like a
billion dollars.
The chief value of the calculation
is that it may claim the attention
here and there of an individual and
convince him of the reasonableness
of preventive measures. From the
seed thus sown the harvest may be
garnered after many seasons. The
lesson that most needs learning just
now is that sickness is both a per
sonal and a community affair, and
that its elimination will be brought
about both- by individual initiative
and social co-operation. A little
more than half of the so-called pre
ventable illness is due to communi
cable diseases, for the inception of
which the victim may not be respon
sible, but the spread of which is
largely inexcusable. We have ad
vanced considerably in the theory of
epidemiology in the past quarter of
a century but in the application of
known remedies we still have a long
way to go.
"well-informed person." The latter
fills us with alarm, the former puts
us at our c-ase. The absolute de
mocracy of interchange of facts,
each as futile as all the rest, ought
not to be overlooked in the building
of the characters of people doomed
to live among one another in a so
ciety such as ours.
There is small reason, however, for
supposing that pedagogues will ever
succeed in making general informa
tion special, as the author seems to
fear they will do. To do so would
be to destroy its value by giving it a
specific value a paradox that the
happy possessors of inquiring minds
will easily comprehend. The fact
seems to be that, notwithstanding
the experience of Edison and Maxim,
of innumerabl2 makers of question
naires, and of others who hold that
the acquisition of miscellaneous in
formation is a declining art, the
natural curiosity of men cannot be
restrained. The fault is with the ex
aminers and not the examined. The
quantity of knowledge which, un
classified and unorganized, can be of
no possible utility to its possessors
and yet is retained by them can be
attested by any one who chances to
venture into the deep waters of gen
eral conversation in a mixed com
pany without being sure of his facts.
attitude of the federal government
and of the other states indicates that
experience may have taught its
people that there are certain dis
advantages in playing a lone hand.
exists bargaining was one of the in-
under circumstances which curiously I tellectual activities of the people.
also connect Oregon and California, j The one-price system in merchandis
The immigrant caravan of 1845 to I ing was the forerunner of the new
Oregon was met at the junction of I era, obtaining currency with increas
iiie trail to California, on Raft river, j ing specialization of education. For
a tributary of the Snake, by Call- merly men and women were pre
fornia emissaries, who, as has been ! sumed to know more or less about
suggested, believed they had a po-1 the goods they bought. Prudent
micai ruiion to periorrn. or a
number of Oregon-bound settlers
who were diverted to the southern
route, the two Bonney girls are be-
housewives could detect the cotton in
"woollen" cloth and the sand in
sugar. Now the pressure of other
duties and tire multiplication of com
lieved by students of history to have -J modities make it impossible that any
a bone-fide claim to the first dis-lbut experts in each line shall be im
covery. The girls found a number of I mune against sophistication and de
nuggets in a creek bed on a tribn- ceit.
tary of the Sacramento and the In the long run business is honest,
metal was identified as gold by a I for its own protection when not on
physician who knew John C. Fre- profoundly moral grounds. The pure
mont, then in caniornia. xvews of food law, wnich constituted the en-
THE USES OF USELESS INFORMATION.
People of the sort whose enjoy
ment of a beautiful flower is more
than doubled by knowing the name
of it, whose delight in beholding a
stately building is enhanced by a
knowledge of the orders of architec
ture, and to whom a landscape
brings longings for acquaintance
with long-forgotten historical events
will find a fellow t,o their liking in
Robert M. Gay, who writes whim
sically in the current Atlantic on
"Useless Information." Mr. Gay re
minds them that "there are already
signs that we are beginning to per
ceive that the uses of information
are more mysterious than we have
realized." It is not by accident that
the mental processes of human be
ings are disorganized and disorderly,
or that all well-appointed heads
carry about with them a quantity of
odds and ends, picked up without
thought or conscious intention dur
ing the journey of life. He would
foster this "hunger of the mind,
which we call curiosity," and which
"like hunger of the body, is instinc
tive." Special or useful information,
he points out, we acquire because we
think we ought to, but general or
useless information we collect be
cause it is pleasant to do so. "Hence
it is that a man's general informa
tion is the true key to his personal
ity." It may be that this was what
Thomas A. Edison had in mind when
he formulated the rece: t:v cele
brated questionnaire which drew the
fire of critics who could detect in it
no key to the usefulness of the man
under examination. For we are re
minded that we live in an age of
over-specialization, that the danger
we run is that intellectual curiosity
shall be abated rather than men
shall know too little about particular
things, and that greatness is com
monly achieved by getting out of a
rut. Miscellaneous information may
well be regarded as a mark of hu
RHODE ISLAND TRIE TO TRADITION.
Rhode Island's belated decision to
pass a law providing a method of
co-operation with the federal gov
ernment in enforcing the eighteenth
amendment to the constitution of
the United States is a reminder that
little Rhody has long had a tradition
of non-conformancy to live up to.
Usually it has at length fallen into
line with the rest of the country but
always it has taken its time in doing
so. .Never. lacking in essential
patriotism, though insisting on being
patriotic in its own way, it has a
curious record for consistent ob
stinacy. Rhode Island always hangs
back. It has not yet ratified the
prohibition amendment, although
there is precedent for supposing that
it will do so in the course ,of time,
after the demands of Rhode Island
tradition have been duly appeased.
Last of the thirteen colonies to
ratify the original federal constitu
tion after having refused to send
delegates to the constitutional con
vention, it found itself in a peculiar
and anomalous situation at the very
beginning of the existence of our
national government. But even
before that its people had mani
fested the same recalcitrancy that
has characterized their attitude in
more recent years.. The first gov
ernment of Providence was a pure
democracy, "ignoring any power in
the body politic to interfere with
those matters which alone concern
man and his maker." This spirit
but echoed the feeling growing out
of the religious controversies with
which the period was rife, and it
took time to convince the settlers
that pure democracy in its practical
workings might be very close to
anarchy. Each of its separate set
tlements was independent at first.
When it was determined by some of
them to obtain a patent from the
British crown, and this was done,
the towns at first, from jealousy and
exaggerated Ideas of their individual
importance, declined to enter into
the compact. Both jealousy and
over-emphasis upon the rights of
independent communities existed for
a long time. When the union of
settlements was formed, which was
accomplished only under fear of
internal revolution and of the active
hostility of Massachusetts, this feel
ing was transmuted into jealousy of
other colonies and of other states.
Rhode Island has been in conflict
with its neighbors to some extent
almost ever since. It was at outs
with the rest of New England over
the King Philip war, it wrangled
interminably w-ith Massachusetts and
Connecticut over boundary matters.
It was long shut out from, the united
colonies of New England. Its pri
vateers did effective service during
the war of the revolution, in which,
however, it united with the other
colonies for defense. After the
peace had been won, it resisted every
effort to enlarge the powers of
congress. Rhode island, still tne
champion of extreme individualism,
stoutly maintained its right to levy
import duties on its own account and
to circulate its own paper money.
When the federal constitution was
submitted to the states, the Rhode
Island town meetings refused to
ratify it, many attempts to call a
convention to consider it failed, and
U was not until discriminatory action
had been threatened by the federal
government that it consented to the
instrument. But this consent was
not given until May 29, 1790, almost
two years after ratification by the
required nine or more states had
been formally celebrated at Phila
delphia, on July 4, 1788.
The slight satisfaction of joining
in the ratification ceremonies in
1788 was denied to the minority of
Rhode Islanders who were in favor
of joining the union. The people of
Providence had prepared to cele
brate the occasion when a thousand
men, some armed, led by a justice
of the supreme court, rode into town
from the surrounding plantations
ar.i compelled the citizens to desist.
Ratifying the constitution, though
under coercion, as has been said, in
1790, the state then declined to
frame a constitution of its own but
continued to operate under its
charter from the crown until 1842,
and then framed a new instrument
only as the result of threatened re
bellion growing out of the archaic
provisions for representation in the
charter which the state had out
grown. It held fast to a property
qualification for suffrage until 188S
and did not permit election by
plurality until 1893, before which
time election of state officials was
A BARD WHO SANG LN TUNE.
The mysterious quality in the
songs of Stephen Collins Foster that
have made them endure when better
music has been forgotten is recalled
by discussion of Kentucky's claim
upon this bard. It is true that he
wrote "My Old Kentucky Home."
which, with "Suwannee River," con
stitutes his best claim to fame, but it
is now believed that he never saw
Kentucky, although one of his bio
graphers thinks that he may have
spent a few days there on his wed
ding trip. Yet Kentucky does well
in honoring him. He has not had
his equal in his particular field, and
no other composer of folk songs, in
which the spirit of a period has been
embodied, has a better claim to
fame.
Foster wrote 17 0 songs, of which
four survive. In addition to the two
mentioned, "Massa's in the Cold,
Cold Ground" and "Old Black Joe"
are still remembered and occasion
ally sung. The wonder about him,
as one of his sympathetic biograph
ers has conceded, is that anyone
could write so poorly as he did and
yet touch the popular chord so un
erringly. He had practically no con
structive capacity; his songs were all
on the same level; he neither varied
nor developed his themes. He knew
little or nothing of harmony, and yet
the very limitation of his powers De
came virtues. "My Old Kentucky
Home" and "Suwannee River" were
marvels of simplicity and directness
of utterance which no amount of eru
dition and sophistication could have
surpassed in potency. The success of
Foster is an illustration of the futil
ity of hoping to formulate a rule for
catching and holding the popular
fancy. Trained musicians have
failed no less completely than the
army of ambitious songwriters who,
taking their cue from Foster's work,
have thought that want of knowl
edge was helpful to genius. But
somehow they did not possess the
divine fire and they, too, failed.
The inability of this American
bard, who was born in Pittsburg,
diad in New York and wrote south
ern songs all his life, although he
never in all probability saw the
south, to adjust himself to his en
vironment was not peculiar to him;
it seems to have been a common fail
ing of composers of the past, al
though it is less true of those of to
day. His family regarded musical
talent as a weakness and discouraged
it. He had an unnappy aomestic
life, was intemperate and improvi
dent, did not support his family and
died in poverty. Most of his songs
were written in a room in a cheap
lodging house or in a saloon in the
lower east side in New York. For
most of them he received sums
of less than $25. His greatest suc
cess netted him about $1500, only a
fraction of the sum yielded by some
of the popular music of more recent
days, but a million copies of it were
sold and it is still selling. For many
of the years of his short life he lived
on the bounty of admirers, who gave
him clothing, which he pawned for
drink.
This was the bard to whom Thack
eray alluded when he said that a
vagabond with a corked face and a
banjo had moistened his spectacles
more than thousands of tragedy
queens dying on the stage to ap
propriate blank verse would have
been able to do. The celebrity of
Stephen Collins Foster, for a reason
which still defies critical analysis,
must be conceded in any estimate
of American popular songs.
We advise the paragraphers to
make the most of the proposal to
arm the policewomen wTiile the sub
ject is fruitful. By the time women
have been on the police force as long
as men have been chances are they
will be able to shoot as straight.
The summer training camp season
furnishes just the right leavening of
militarism to remind us that the
smaller our standing army is the
greater the desirability that the
private citizen should keep himself
fit.
The Listening Post.
By DeWItt Harry.
I'HIMARY SV5TKM I l .VDER FIRE
Mothers' Day.
Br Graet i Halt.
Several Newspapers Discuss rlsd-
vantastes and Sunnest Remedies.
Woodburn Independent.
The direct nrimarv system would
pOOKS! What comrades they are. , be thrown into th(. di,card with as , Som y their blossom. In
J How comforting they have been mtle delay as possible If it were not An n'eel. .mils oa" lip .till
to most of us: How they have served ; that the people fear a reaction to the warm and glad.
to while away the time: What long : boss-ridden days of old. If we can Th whits insignia ail hsarta nndsr-
a elass-
irteresting journeys have we taken! return to a convention method with-1
by their aid, all the while comfortably out the pernicious presence of a polit
ensconced in our own firesides: Books ical dictator, there would be no hes-
have made all of us better. Books
have made it possible for us to per
fect ourselves in our chosen work.
itation on the part of a great vol
ume of ired and disgusted voters,
and numerous candidates, too, In di-
Books have ever been friends, and recting that such be done
teachers. If we but know where to It would be folly and inconsistent
look, or search long enough, books to hold both party convention and
will solve nearly any difficulty. I direct primary. One only should be
Libraries have a fascination for I seriously considered, and in order to
most nersons who regard books in the 'save taxpayers and ward off a grow-
manity, as the author regards it
since to know one thing with final : f.-equently thrown into the legisla
thoroughness is an attribute of the ture. It had two state capitals until
brute, -.vhile to know eve.-ythaig is 1900, the legislature meeting in
the mark of a god, the obvious infer- ! Newport in April to canvass the vote
ence being that a smattering which i and adjourning to meet in Provi
is neither the one nor the other is dence in January for the transaction
a human occupancy of neutral of business.
ground. "No human specialist." the A state that was satisfied for more
writer observes, "has ever achieved than half a century with a colonial
the singleness of purpose of a bee or charter granted by a British king
a beaver." Either a bee or a beaver and that steadfastly set Its face
would be dull company in a crowd.
It is on the score of its availability
in polite conversation that Mr. Gay
makes his strongest point for general
information. "When the facts ex-
against every attempted change
might have been expected to be out
of tune with so Important an inno
vation as the eighteenth amendment.
Whether it ever shall ratify that
.anged are all useless, one is as ; amendment is not a matter of conse-
good as another, there is no silly j quence, but its action in passing
tha find was suppressed for patriotic j terms wedge to official regulation of talk of shop, and talk circulates j legislative act in harmony with the
Rhode Island having decided to
enforce the Volstead law, it may De
necessary for Its inhabitants to take
a short walk occasionally in order to
get outside of the state for a drink.
Peggy Joyce is not to be exploited
in the motion pictures. Just why
she needs an addition to her emolu
ments from the rich husband indus
try is not altogether clear.
The reputed discovery by a Har
vard professor that alcohol is a cure
for botulism ought not, however, to
make spoiled provisions any more
popular than heretofore.
The candidates have less than a
week left in which to persuade the
voters that they will not only reduce
taxes but leave a surplus for distri
bution among the people.
Trade follows the flag always
provided, of course, that there are
ships and crews to follow the flag
and that vessels are able to get car
goes aboard.
A graduate shoplifter who can
"lift" 200 dresses before detection is
a woman with a future. Many-
women dread their past; this one is
different.
What has become of the Nick
Carter and Diamond Dick stories
and that other delightful contraband
literature of our youth?
proper light, who have some realiza
tion of their importance. It is inter
esting just to browse among; the
shelves and look at the serrated rows
of these friends, all ready to instruct
or amuse. And books, we all have
our favorites, have hidden stories for
those who will search them out.
Take the Immortal Samuel Pick
wick! Certain passages will stand
out in this book with startling clar
ity to those who have read it. We
all have our favorite chapters. But
what portion is the most liked of
this book?
Go Into the library and take any
book and lay it, back down, as if to
open the pages. Let it do as it will,
it will open at some place of itself
The chances are that the page thus
exposed will be that most frequently
referred to, the page that nearly
opens from habit. Now with this test
it would seem that the most popular
bit of the life history of the Hon.
Samuel Pickwick Esq., M. P. C P. P.
P. C. was the episode of the trial of
Bardell vs. Pickwick, where the
famous romance of Goswell street
was aired for the public benefit.
Make the test with other book.,
almost any of them will yield results,
some with greater alacrity than oth
ers. In the "Four Horsemen" the
chapter wherein the story of the bat
tle at Desnoyers' chateau is described,
when the Germans are driven from
the grove by the French onslaught,
seems to be preferred and reread.
"Treasure Island's" best liked mo
ment is the tense incident of the
battle for the blockhouse, when Long
John Silver led his mutineers to the
attack. In one of Frank R. Stock
ton's books a simple little story about
the unsuccessful effort of a man to
match a piece of red calico takes the
palm, by this system of judging.
Some books will be found to test
out better than others, but few will
fail. It is a most excellent rule. If
you want to know what sort of a
book you have just try it out. The
chances are excellent that you'll find
the crisis of the story with little
effort.
Rather a husky young fellow was
having dinner with his best girl in a
confectionery store. The young wom
an might have put in the day at a
movie or browsing about the library,
but the male portion of the sketch
evidently did some fairly hard physi
cal work, might have been a solici
tor or one who has a strenuous day.
The menu card held an assortment
of lunches, dainty and delicate. He
ordered the most promising; it was
boiled salmon and coffee. The girl
got a salad. He completed his meal,
as served, In about three mouthfula
and ordered another of the same. He
was through with the second install
ment before the girl had eaten the
last bit of her lettuce and looked the
card over and sent out for a bowl of
chili con came and a sandwich. While
the girl was eating an ice he topped
this selection off with two cups of
coffee, a piece of pie and some French
pastry, and as he paid the check was
complaining of hunger and predicted
that they would have to eat another
meal "after the show."
ing army of Incompetents seeking of
fice, let us get rid of the direct prl
ary. This can be accomplished by re
adopttng the former caucus and con
vention plan, having one general
election in November, and permitting
the names of other candidates upon
the ballot sheet who des're to file
as Independent, independent-repub
lican. Independent-democrat, prohi
bitionist, socialist, progressive or any
other title than those named by con
ventions held prior to the election.
This would be a check upon conven
tions and would guard the poople
from the machinations of one or more
bosses who might otherwise become
too powerful.
As between the sofa and the au
tomobile cushions, the latter are des
tined to see the most wear in the
next few months.
It Is almost a safe wager that
those who are talking war in France
are not survivors of sieges like that
of Verdun.
The candidates are "making it hot"
for one another, which is a lot more
than the weather man seems able
to do.
The politician who broadcasts his
speeches by radiophone also has the
advantage of freedom from heckling.
Communistic Russia is willing to
make a capitalistic deal for oil, pro
vided the price is high enough.
To judge by the dandelion crop,
who would guess that it was winter
until only a few days ago?
The woods about the city and the
trees within are full of house-hunters.
Nearly every front yard or hedge has
Its pair of searchers, for desirable
apartments are in demand by thou
sands of bird families. Some of the
earliest on the scene have their homes
well under way. The feathered citi
zens hardly seem able to wait for
th trees to get their leaves fully
spread. They even begin their nests
on the bare branches.
Sparrows like humans, but they do
not like man-made homes. Not many
species of birds will build their nests
in bird-houses. Sparrows don't care
to occupy homes already built, but
they do like to build on sheltered
porches or under the eaves, and a
mighty nuisance do they prove to be
at. times. Most of the real friendly
birds like to be within a few hundred
feet of human homes, as hawks do
not usually venture that close to man
kind. But most of them have learned
to be wary of cats while residents of
the city.
In any event It's nesting time and
the many trees of the city are filled
with chattering, courting bird couples,
for those who have not yet chosen
their mates are becoming desperate
and courtships are rapid. There are
a number of birds who have not ar
rived in their summer home, but the
majority of those who wed and raise
their families in Portland are on the
ground and mighty busy.
"Curiosity Killed the Cat" in Cot
tage Grove, according to the Senti
nel. Let's allow the editor to tell
his own story:
A feline on the L,. .',. Green place be
came intensely interested in the opera
tions of men who were placing dynamite
for the blasting of stumps. Fifty blasts
were set off almost simultaneously, much
to the consternation of pusty, who broke
all speed records in getting within the
protecting walls of the barn, where a few
minutes later she was found dead. Tho
screams emitted by the cat as she raced
away from the scene of the explosions In
dicated that she was mad with fright. It
Is thought she was scared to death rather
than injured by the concussion.
A local department store is show
ing a choice selection of novel wom
en's hose, under the caption, "Why
Roll Your Own?" The hose are fitted
with a neatly finished top with an
elastic center, having all the appear
ance, so an expert assured the writer,
of the cleverest hand-work.
An able assistant writes that a
rumor has been started to the effect
that Luther Burbank has succeeded
in crossing' the oyster plant with the
milk weed, which leads Btlbates to i
remark that the harvest likely will
be oyster .tews.
System Losine Popularity.
Ontario Argus.
Gradually more 1. apparently i
realization in Oregon that the pri
mary system is not the panacea that
its champions thought it would be
and that Is is a useless expense to
the state. The notable thing about the
change of sentiment is that It ia
coming, not from the politicians, but
from many people who have hitherto
taken but slight interest In politics,
but who are realizing that the pres
ent rise in the cost of government
has come largely because of the de
sire of the self-nominated, primary
selected officeholder to pander to
every ism and clique which wanted
to. dip into the, public treasury. Per
haps it is right to say that It is
not the fault of the primary idea or
basic principle that has caused the
trouble of which the Eugene Guard
and the SalerrTJournal complain, but
the abuse of the principle a. It 1.
applied in practice; but this abuse is
so easily accomplished that It nulifies
the good which the primary was do
signed to obtain. That it appear, is
the contention of the val ey papers
which once were the arder.t support
ers of the primary idea.
Albany Democrat.
The "Oregon system" has some
good features, especially in the op
portunity it offer, every ambitious
citizen to run for office. An example
may be had in the case of a candi
date for the legislature In Marion
county who ha. turned his family
over to the Associated Charities of
Salem for support while he devote,
his time to the more important work
of campaigning.
Making Oregon n Soviet.
Albany Herald.
Mr. U'Ren bob. up again with hi.
plan to "sovietize" the state. He will
ask the people of Oregon to abolish
the party method of electing legis
lators and to substitute therefor a
system that shall elect them accord
ing to their occupation in life. Each
part and parcel of the body politic 1.
to be a political group all by Itself.
We will have the farmer group, the
farm-hand group, the merchant group.
the lawyer group, the editors' group.
the printers' group and the chamber
maid group, and so on all down the
list. Really, we don't understand Just
how this is going to work out. In
Russia there was a party of the sol
diers and sailor., another party of
the tradesmen, etc. .and there the
experience was that legislation do
scended to the point where there was
a , continual warfare between the
various groups for law that would
work to the advantage of each one
It was the bloc system raised to the
nth degree. Mr. U'Ren would also
abolish the state senate and do away
with the governor, electing in place
of the two houses one lower house,
which will have the power to pass
laws and elect a governor to its own
liking. Of course, under such a sys
tem the governor would not bo the
equal of the legislature, but its tool.
Of all the hair-brained, foolish, dan
gerous schemes, this one is the pre
mier. It will make self-interest
rather than reason the deciding fac
tor in legislation. And the pity of
it will be that there will be plenty
of boobs who will favor it.
stand.
And render homage silently and
sad;
Beside new mound, aome head. e-
bending low,
While dumb lip. frame strange
prayers they used to know.
In countlasa home, a .plrlt has
paased through
The open door, within a crumbling
hell.
Upon a grassy slope beneath the blue
A tired one at last I. resting well;
But she has taken with her to that
sleep
The .oul of that earth-home .he
used to keep
Dear folded hand untroubled, quel
breast.
White drooping lid. on dim and
weary eyes
We would not roue you from your
peaceful rest.
Nor startle you to being, with our
cries i
But when today we walk life', empty
hall.,
A gray, enfolding .hadow o'er u
fall.
We make no moan henlde your empty
chair,
We touch each day the thing, you
loved of old.
Glad In our heart, you have no pala
to bear.
That all your .ong. have s.lver
notes, and gold;
White bloom, shall we wear
throughout the year.,
And pin them on, each time,
through falling teara
BLOSSOMS.
A flood of downy whiteness .hook the
breeze
And scattered smeh an I nee nee through
the tree.,
That nature lo.t its breath aad
.topped to sip.
With silent eagerness and moistened
lip.
The sweet opiate of a summer- blos
soms. What evil could disturb their ehaat
composure?
Perchance a traveling butterfly dis
closure. Made with .ugge.tlve caressing of
wing.
Since he had been denied th right to
lng.
Lest, added to hi. gay and gaudy
llghtnese,
Hi. silver .ong might rob th flower,
of brightness.
Or was it that a Jealou. el ud. low
lying, Thought to bedim their lu.tsr, and e
sighing.
The hypocrlt let fall a tear or two.
A. If to .how their prld and her
virtue,
That all this frightened fluttering
and ewaylng
Was made in hope of deadly storm
allaying?
So they their virgin .weetne. wan
ton toed.
The while each new appearing cau.e
was lost;
When suddenly I saw one tortured
petal
Drop twisting to the earth and lightly
settle
Discordant whirring, through the
stillness stirred
And flashing red, there .ipped a hum
ming bird.
And her and there with many an
amorous nipping.
With fickle heart, bright coat, and
gallant dipping.
He proudly shattered every perfect
flower,
And, tiring, left them for a fresher
bower.
So. flowers, like dovrs, were scattered
underfoot.
And faintly sought In vain to take
new root.
KATHIv YN EAST HA XI
No Wild Changes Wanted.
La Grande Observer.
If the newspapers, and there are
very few of them left, which are
throwing fits over any criticism of
the present direct primary law which
has brought about a social democ
racy in Oregon and caused public
expense to not only jump to high
peaks, but also has depreciated the
quality of men for office, would only
be calm for a second and cease having
hysteria they might understand that
there is no disposition to return to
grafting politicians who controlled
conventions, but there is a de.ire to
take the best out of the old conven
tion system and combine it with the
best the direct primary has to offer.
This means the holding of a conven
tion, according to the Observer's view
point, for the purpose of writing a
party platform and to make recom
mendations tc the people of candi
dates. Tt would help clarify the hazy
atmosphere, such as we now have
politically, but it would not prevent
anyone running for office who saw
fi. There are no wild change,
wanted' that we can see, but there i.
a desire to better canditlon. and cut
down public expense. Why should
anyone refuee to indorse such an
improvement?
Religion of Governor Olcott.
CORVALLIS. Or., May 12. (To the
Editor.) Kindly state Governor Ol
cott's religion in The Oregonian.
MAURICE KLIFTS
So far as we know Governor Olcott
does not actively affiliate with any
denomination. His parents were
Methodists; hi. wife is an Epi.co
palian. Heard In the nr Future.
Life.
Mother: Children, here's a quarter.
Go down to the saloon and get your
ice cream, cone and soda water. And
on your way back stop In the drug
tore and bring your father noma
SI-RING TRAIL'.
Over the hill, and from far away
Springtime is calling, "Come forth
and play!"
Cares are as nothing, the morn : the
year , -Gil.
ten. with gladness, for beauty Is
here;
E'en in these arid, gray, sage-covered
spaces
Spring sparkles forth from a number
of place..
Over the hill by the great rock, piled
high
Dim runs a wagon road toward the
far sky;
Strange lovely blossoms grow by the
way.
Medley of colors 'neath sagebrush so
gray.
Hidden and sheltered in strong, gen
tle clasp
Ne'er they escape from it. motherly
grasp;
Jackrabblts scamper aero., tne dim
road,
Perchance It goes past a deserted
abode.
Oh, great Is the mystery, great I.
the thrill
Of the old wagon road that runs over
the hill!
There', the prosaic path that was
worn by the cows.
Which, in springtime, great scope for
discovery allows.
Through the grea.ewood flat, on
down by the river
We could explore it forever and ever!
Cries -cross paths made by the rabbit
and other.
Of his assortment of strange wild
folk brother.
Beckon u. on with promising toll.
Pa.t ant-hill, high and deep badger
holes;
What joy it Is, after old winter' chill.
To wander again on the trails of the
hill!
MARGARET HUMPHREY,
Vale. Or.
TO YOU.
An armful of dewey red. red roses,
Mental rosea, that a quits true
Their lovely petal, ne'er shall fade.
From out my heart to you.
Theae dewey red, reo ro.e.
With their leave, of magic greens;
Bloomed In my heart's garden fair.
In seasons of my golden dream.
Tese dewey red, red roses
Grew In human warmtn ana oil.
And on each lovely petal lip
I've softly prea.ed a awet. sweet
kl.s.
5o, accept them, please, dear friend.
Whoever you in life', garden be.
An armful of dewey red, red ro.e.
Straight from my heart to the.
MARCELLE REBKR
TABLES Tl'RN'KII.
I kept a hazel switch above the door
When he wa. but a little lad.
And u.ed It lightly or referred to It
Sometime when he wa. bad.
But all too loon h grew quite tall.
Th us.le.. .witch wa. thrown
away;
Forgotten incident of boyhood'
trial
Until in Jet the other day
He put a switch above the door to'
me,
(My laughing boy. so big. an kind
And .aid, "See mother, I'm the big-
ge.t now.
Table are turncu, you'll have to
mind."
JANET IE ltAKTl.V