The Sunday Oregonian., December 24, 1922, SECTION THREE, Page 4, Image 30

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 34, 1922
ESTABLISHED bk' HENKK L. PITTOt'K
Published by The Oregonian Pub. Co.,
lii Sixth Street, Porumnd, Oregon.
,C A. MOKDE.N. K. B. PIPER.
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FROM SOUP TO NUTS.
Those optimistic persons who be
lieve that the legislature by reduc
ing appropriations can greatly cut
down the individual's tax bill are
now provided with material for
specific demands. Friday, The Ore
gonian published the state budget
for 1923, item by item.
It would be almost worth while
to offer a grand prize to the person
who could pick out one small item
the elimination of which would
meet with unanimous approval. It
is one of the inherent phenomena
of attempted tax reduction that no
suggestion can be made but some
group of citizens arises and ob
jects that to touch that item. would
impair, perhaps destroy, the public
peace, health and safety of the
state of Oregon.
Some time ago The Oregonian
fell in with what seemed to be a
demand by responsible agricultural
leaders for repeal of the state
bounty on predatory animals. Yet
now we hear vigorous objection
from other responsible agricultural
interests. The theory that the state
should pay a bounty on animals is
one of our oldest traditions and
traditions are difficult to abolish.
The nucleus of government in Ore
gon the first bringing together of
the settlers in the Willamette val
ley for mutual protection was in
spired by depredations on livestock
by predatory animals.
If it is permissible to strain a
point and refer to assessments
made without power of collection
by the name of taxes, it may also
be said that the first taxes raised
in Oregon went to pay bounties on
predatory animals. The historic
gathering at Champoeg, at which
was framed the plan of provisional
government, was planned at two
prior gatherings, now known in his
tory as the Wolf meetings because
Hhey were called primarily to dis
cuss the bounty question.
So we have been fighting wild
animals for eighty years, and they
are still with us. If one may judge
from the favorite argument of
those who support the bounty, pre
dacious animals have thrived and
multiplied under the system. For
suggestion Of repeal usually pro
duces in response figures showing
the remarkably larger number of
.scalps taken in the current year as
compared with prior years.
But the bounty system, which
costs the state handsomely, is men
tioned but .to illustrate that even
eighty years' experience with the
futility of an appropriation does
not produce better than greatly di
vided opinion on whether it ought
to be repealed. If anybody doubts
it, the way is open to test the state
ment. Demand the repeal of any
appropriation on the list and then
dodge the bricks. ;'
And as it is regarding individual
items, so it is regarding the groups
or budgets. State, city, county,
school district and port think that
all the others are the ones responsi
ble for high taxes and are the ones
that should retrench. But of all
the tax-levying units, the one that
has the least public support, the
one that gains the least apprecia
tion of how little comparatively its
functions affect the total tax bill, is
the state government. In every
movement for economy all eyes
focus on the legislature.
But examine the figures published
Friday. The sum to be raised by
state-wide taxation next year is
$8,835,295.39. Of this amount
$5,484,965.58 is to be raised by mill
age levies voted by the people
themselves, and of the -last named
sum, $2,018,998.32 is for elementary
schools. This $2,018,998.32, al
though levied by what is termed a
state tax, does not leave the coun
ties in which it is raised but is
there apportioned among the pub
lic schools. The sum raised by tax
ation which will go for appropria
tions to be made by the legislature
for the general going expenses of
state government and maintenance
and upkeep of state institutions is
$3,350,329.81.
The bearing of the last named
amount upon the total tax bill will
be better elucidated by comparison
with the total raised in the city of
Portland. The sum to be raised in
Portland by taxation for all pur
poses in 1923 is $13,781,765.50. Of
this sum a trifle more than $3,000,
000 is for what are termed state
purposes, and of that $3,000,000
only about $1,200,000 will go to
cover appropriations made by the
legislature. Here is about one
tenth of the total tax bill of the
Portland oroperty owner, and upon
tnat one-tenth it is proposed shall
be performed the major operation
which is to save the life of the
patient!
The moral if this comparison is
not that it is impracticable for the
legislature to try to save money or
that it ought not to be done. The
moral is one that has already been
pointed out several times, and ac
cording to present indications will
be pointed out many more times.
It is that material saving in the
tax bill can only be accomplished
by retrenchment in all departments
bf government, from top to bottom
. -from soup to nuts. That takes in
the electorate, too, for the people
have been as free with approval of
public expenditures as any of their
representatives in office.
XOMADS ON THE SEA.
The plight of fourteen shiploads
of Russian refugees reported as
having sought, haven in a Chinese
port; where they have been refused
permission to land, contains the
raw material for a new Odyssey.
Here are an indefinite number of
human beings, exiles from a land
whose newly constituted authorities
will imprison or execute them if
they return, literally without a
place in all the wide world to which
to turn. A century ago, or less,
they might have sailed away in the
hope of finding an unoccupied but
hospitable shore, there to begin life
all over again. It might not have
been much, but it would have suf
ficed. Possibly, eyen, they might
have formed the nucleus of a new
nation, as in times long before his
tory began to be written other
peoples had done. . -
By a similar association of cir
cumstances it may be that the west
ern hemisphere was first populated.
It is now pretty generally conceded
that it was after- such a fashion
that the islands of the south seas
became the home of a new race.
Always the vanquished tribes of an
older country were thrust out Into
the sea; those of them who did not
perish found foothold beyond the
horizon, there to inflict upon oth
ers the punishment they them
selves had suffered. Island after
island may have been thus brought
under human conquest. It is diffi
cult otherwise to account for the
choice of abiding places that some
peoples have made.
The Russians lately reported in
Shanghai, which doesn't want them,
are unfortunate in living in a twen
tieth century world. They have
ships to carry them but the globe
has been charted almost to the last
acre and over every bit of seacoast
floats some national flag. It is im
practicable for them to turn pirates
and there seems to be nothing else
for them to do. "
Now here is a plot for a novelist.
No hero in history, we think, was
ever in tighter fix. Where prac
tical statecraft has failed, we
wonder what a writer of fiction
might do.
CANADA'S IMMIGRANTS AND EMI
GRANTS. Some Canadian cabinet ministers
and leading business men are taken
to task by the Vancouver Province
for saying that Canada was losing
population, both native and new
settlers, by emigation to the United
States, and census reports are
quoted to show that Canada in the
last terl years gained a larger per
centage than the United States.
Why should it not be so? Construc
tion of new railroads through the
Canadian northwest and liberal
terms offered for sate of land at
tracted great numbers from the
United States before the war, and
there was little emigration from
Canada to this country during the
war. No doubt there has been con
siderable movement across the
boundary in both directions during
the last four years, but the new
farm and oil lands that have been
opened should have held the bal
ance about even.
In former years there was cer.
tainly a large movement into the
United States. That was natural
while the dominion's population
was small and was mostly spread
along a strip extending only a few
hundred miles from the boundary.
for the United States offered the
attraction of a larger population, of
more varied and larger opportunity
and of milder climate. Canada gave
us some of our best citizens, among
them being ,James J Hill and
Franklin K. Lane. Immigrants to
Canada from Europe have been
mainly of Anglo-Saxon blood, while
those of all nations have come to
the United States.,, In view of the
quality of some of these immigrants
and of the trouble they have caused,
their coming has not given us as
great advantage over the dominion
as we at first thought. The opinion
is common that, we might have
been better off t if the population
had been, smaller and m,ore care
fully selected.
Probably Canada's turn has come
to have the bulk of the immigra
tion from across the Atlantic. Those
of non-British birth have hitherto
come this way because of a preju
dice against swearing allegiance to
another European sovereign than
the one under whom they were
born, as well as for other reasons.
Our restrictions now apply par
ticularly to that class of immi
grants, and they may go north
ward. So far it has been a distinct
gain to Canada to have a more
homogeneous people. It may es
cape the grave evils associated with
our mixed foreign-born population
through the working of its selective
system. It has abundance of room,
gouu iana, many untouched re
sources, and every modern inven
tion helps to temper the rigors of
a northern climate and to break
down isolation. A great future, is
before Canada. Why should it
worry?
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
The extent to which the physical
well-being of the child is coming
to be regarded as a matter of con
cern to the state is graphically set
out in the report of a survey just
completed by the civic development
department of . the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States.
The summary will be particularly
interesting to those who recall that
it is hardly' half, a century since
controversy was at its height over
the issue whether any form of edu
cation ,was a public function.
The survey included 160 cities
having 3,018,896 children in at
tendance at the elementary schools.
It is mentioned with disparaging
implications that ninety-eight of
these cities make no provision for
competent physical examination ,of
children on entering school. "There
can- be no doubt," says the com
mittee, "that much disease is spread
because of this neglect." How
ever, 103 cities provide school
physicians, instruction in the care
of the eyes is given in all but thirty-
nine; and the number providing
dental clinics is steadily growing.
School nurses are found in all but
twenty-five of the cities, the num
ber ranging from one for each 2500
pupils to one for each 17,0001 the
average being one to 3021.
The problem of malnutrition is
vigorously attacked in forty-four
cities, which provide, children with
milk in mid-forenoon and mid
afternoon. Sixty others arovide
milk for the undernourished only;
thirty-four make monthly reports
to parents as to the weight of their
children. Experts say that the na
tional average of child undernour
ishment is 33 per cent, but it is
significant that the children of the
well-to-do suffer in this respect as
extensively ae do those of the poor.
. It will not be the fault of the
schools if the citizen of the future
is physically incapable of with
standing the strain of our civiliza
tion. Meanwhile we are not a little
disturbed by the report that juve
nile offenders against the laws of
the country are again increasing in
numbers; for example, that in the
state of New York 76 per cent of
defendants brought before the
courts are under the age of twenty
one years and that this proportion
holds with some modifications for
the country at large. It will not be
seriously contended that solicitude
for the child's health provokes law
lessness but one wonders how far
the sense of family responsibility
may be undermined by the state's i
continued taking over of functions
not very long ago held to be mat
ters of exclusively private concern.
Is physical health, valuable
though it is, more important than
moral well-being? Have we, in our
desire for progress, put emphasis in
the wrong place? . And since the
school is inclined to advance the
physical interests of the youngster,
and the parent is correspondingly
willing, to let the school do' it.
should the school also be held ac
countable for. the painful showing
made by the younger generation in
the juvenile courts? .
. - SOU, AND AIR,
' The conclusion just announced by
experts of the department of agri
culture that soil is a living thing
dovetails nicely with the programme
of the American" Association for the
Advancement '.. of Science, , which
intends to concentrate on an ef
fort to learn how plants use the
energy sent to the earth from the
sun and to discover if possible how
nature's method can be improved.
To say only that soils lose their
capacity for producing crops of
food is to beg a rather important
question in view: of the fact that
they have the power to restore I
themselves, after reverting for a
time to a state of nature, and also
in the light of the experience of
the old world, where productivity
has not declined in regions where
agriculture as a technical science is
practically unknown.
The bureau of soils at Washing
ton comes very near to Invading a
metaphysical field When it declares
that "the soil is a living thing in
exactly the same way that an ani
mal or a plan is a. living thing."
Life, then, is universal, as more
than one school of speculative phil
osophers has told us before. The
analogy, according to the bureau of
soils, is complete. The soil breathes.
It has a circulatory system a solu
tion carrying food material similar
to the blood in animals. It is the
home of the same kind of bacteria,
chemical substances and processes
which are important to animal
growth. "It digests organic mat-,
ter," says the bureau, "disposing
of the remains of animals and
plants through processes like those
of animals."
The scientific world has traveled
far since Liebig made his epochal
contribution to our knowledge of
soil chemistry. But chemistry has
advanced since Liebig's time and so
has biology and the, union of the
twin sciences in biochemistry in
dicates how difficult it is to draw
precise boundaries. The theory that
the rocks have life is relatively
new; we have for a longer time re
garded plants as alive; yet the proj
ect of the association for the ad
vancement of science Is a reminder
that we may be even now on the
outskirts of an important new field
of truth. Having treated soil as a
compound of chemical elements
only, we may be on the verge of
discovering that we have omitted
an important factor. If we are able
to determine the particular man
ner by which soil restoration is ac
complished we may be able to di
rect these forces so as greatly to
reduce our fertilizer bills an item
likely to assume large economic im
portance within a few years.
Dr. Spoehr of the Carnegie Insti
tute of Washington points out in a
recent technical journal that so far
as the composition of food material
is concerned there exists a closed
cycle.. Man feeds on animals and
plants; plants feed on the carbon
dioxide given into the air by ani
mals as the result of the latter's
use of food. The process of con
version by the plant of the waste
products of metabolism into food,
which ,is carried on through the
leaves of the plant, is called photo
synthesis. Light, and perhaps heat
aid in the transformation. Nothing
in the theory of photosynthesis as
a significant factor in giving char
acter to Tood conflicts with present
knowledge that chemical elements
In the. soil are also drawn upon, but
we need to know more than we do
about the relationship between the
tWO. " . .
Conception of soil . as a living
entity does not, however, indicate
that present methods of maintain
ing its efficiency should be aban
doned until we have discovered bet
ter ways. The ancient formula of
rotation and rest still holds good
In a recent statement by the de
partment of agriculture, the fol
lowing 'interesting paragraph ap
pears:
The soil gets tired Just as you or I do,
and in extreme cases has a complete
breakdown for a time, according to the
treatment it gets and the conditions
unoer wnicn it exists,, The soil, there
fore, must be properly exercised bv plow.
ing and cultivation; It must be properly
fed by plants, the remains of which
it can digest: and bv a rotation nf ninnti
just as the dairyman finds it necessary
to change the feed of his cows to keep
i" uigu aiiD oi prouuciion.
In line with this theory experts
of the department have traveled in
Europe and Asia, collecting spec!
mens of soil for comparison. It is
found that there are similarities in
practically every instance between
the soils of the old world and the
new, and that the former are still
producing good crops notwithstand
ing that they were fertile for many
centuries before the discovery of
America. Wheat and alfalfa still
flourish along the Applan way,
where artificial tertilizers are em
ployed but incidentally if at all. On
the other hand, soil fertility is on
the whole declining in the United
States, though most of the land has
been farmed for considerably less
than a century.
The department of agriculture
employs a peculiarly apt figure !n
alluding to Its experts as "soil
dootors." The tendency of the
modern, physician is to rely less
than formerly on medicine. By re
ducing the intake of medicine the
soil doctor will perform a high eco
nomic service. If the chemical
fertilizer propagandists had their
way the cost of living would be
enormously higher than it is now.
PIONEERING IN UTOPIA.
The death the other day in
Kansas of Thomas -A. Robertson,
which received but a brief mention
in th news, recalls another of
those queer adventures on which
men embark who seek the ideal
but have no comprehension of the
practical measures necessary for its
attainment., Robertson, scion of a
noble Scottish family, half a cen
tury ago conceived the idea of es
tablishing a manorial community
on the western plains of the'United
States. . Enlisting the co-operation
of others of similar mind, he estab
lished a colony at Runnymede, the
very name which he gave it redo
lent with memories' of barons in
quest of larger opportunity. Here,
however, the analogy ended. What
ever may be said of those Runny
mede patriots, they knew .how to
get what they went after, which
Robertson and his associates did
not. '
A flaw in the scheme was that no
membei of tne group seems to have
realized that farming is not only a
vocation requiring technical train
ing but that it also means hard
work. They reversed the usual
processes of pioneering, as one who
dwelt in an upside-down Utopia
might be expected to do. With the
remnants of the fortunes they
brought with them they began by
constructing architecturally beauti
ful manors and lodges and laying
out polo fields and parks on their
best land. Their motto seems to
have been, "Man shall not live by
bread alone." But while the spirit
dined richly the body starved!
Weeds grew in the grain fields,
cattle strayed or were stolen and
fences fell into decay. None but
the founders of the community
were surprised when the experi
ment withered after a few years.
On a smaller scale the history, of
this venture is constantly being re
peated. Individuals - as well as
groups perennially become ob
sessed with the notion that it is the
farmer's own fault that he works
s hard as he does for so little re
ward. Showing the farmer how to
run his own business is almost a
national sport. Theoretical uplift
ers of the agriculturist flourish be
times as did the proverbial green
bay tree. : But scorching suns and
unseasonable frosts and inconsider
ate floods have a way of scotching
their hopes. This came to pass at
Runnymede, as it has done for
many another aggregation of-theor
ists. The tragedy is that the fate of
Robertson, who- ended his days in
poverty because he never learned
the lesson of labor, will make no
impression on those who come after
him. Some men insist on finding
out the truth by their own experi
ence and in no other way.
The fundamental difference be
tween the Utopians and the pi
oneers who succeed is in their con
ception of what is worth while. The
Utopian idea of a pleasant life is
one holding no exactions, entailing
no discipline, involving no unde
sired tasks. In all probability they
would not be happy if they could
succeed in a pecuniary way. They
know nothing of the satisfaction of
achievement, of the rewards of self-
denial, of the value of disappoint
ment in moderation as a sharpener
of joy. Nor do they ever'learn that
the most practical farmer is also an
idealist of sorts that his life would
frequently be intolerable if it were
not for his hopes and his dreams.
THE WEATHER AND THE CITIZEN.
A certain aspect of romance is
imparted to the annual report of
Chief Marvin of the United States
weather bureau-, byt allusion to co
operation with aviations and to' the
widespread emttoymf "oralo;
telephony , in spreading' J weather!
news and forecasts to the remotest
corners of the country, and partic
ularly by certain references to in
ternational co-operation in devel
oping the BCience of meteorology,
which is admitted to be still in its
infancy. Few are the citizens who
realize the strides that have been
made recently in this field of gov
ernmental activity. It is only a little
more than half a century since of
ficial weather reporting, then in an
experimental stage, was tentatively
committed to the surgeon-general
of the army, and less than a gener
ation since the bureau was organ
ized as a unit of the department of
agriculture, in recognition, of the
specific economic service which it
performs.
The report points out that me
teorology is essentially an interna
tional science." Diplomats may
haggle over boundaries but cyclones
and anti-cyclones have no regard
for political distinctions or three
mile limits. It is at least some ev
idence of returning normalcy that
the chief of the bureau is able to
say that "nearly all countries now
maintain meteorological services,"
and that observations are once
more available. '
Germany. Austria, Czechoslovakia
and Poland now exchange data
with the United States more freely
than they did before the war, not
withstanding irregularities which
prevail in other official exchanges.
We receive daily reports from Ice
land, which most persons' think of
as a hopelessly isolated community
in a northern sea. But even more
significant progress is indicated in
a paragraph relating to the Amund
sen polar expedition which sailed
north in June of this year:
The exploring ship Maud4 hs equipped
with radio apparatus and has a scientific
officer on board. It Is the plan of this
expedition to pass through Bering straits,
reach the farthest point north that is
possible, become frozen in the ice, drift
therewith for an estimated period of
about three years and come Into the
open sea to the northeastward- of Green
land. The ship expects to maintain
radio communication with the United
States signal corps station at Nome,
Alaska, for nearly two years. A number
of observations have already been re
ceived. This arrangement will provide
valuable observs tionj from the most
northern points at which observations
have ever been transmitted as a daily
programme.
The connection between the
Amundsen ship and the orchardist
in Oregon is by no means indirect.
It is more and more coming to be
understood that our knowledge of
major weather phenomena is en
hanced in proportion to our ability
t to measure the direction and veloc
ity of storm movements as a whole
In a particular similar to that in
which multiplication of tropical ob
servation stations has reduced hur
ricane forecasting almost to an ex-
act science, expeditions like that of
Amundsen are . contributing to
greater precision in predicting
weather movements from the north.
A "spray forecast service," the im
portance of which will be appreci
ated by every orchardist who takes
care of his trees, may be made im
measurably more worthwhile as the
result of observations taken very
near to the North Pole. This is as
true of all the various economic
phases of meteorology which have
been carried forward within less
than a decade. ' If the farmer may
not control the weather, he at least
can guide his operations by what
he knows of the immediate outlook
The practical value of this is better
understood than it was a few year
ago.
Tha step forward from the radio
telegraph to the radio telephone
has been perhaps the most note
worthy event of the year. In all
the departments for whose especial
benefit the weather service was
organized agriculture, commerce
and navigation this has been felt.
Necessity for employing expert te
legraphers has been. obviated. Ex
tension of rural telephone lines into
farming communities had overcome
only part of the difficulty. 'The
marvelous advance in radio teleph
ony," as the report tells us, "has
entirely changed this situation."
Many thousands of farmers in
stalled radio receiving apparatus
during the year and "are now ob
taining, the weather forecasts and
warnings, which are so important
to their, operations, as promptly
and as effectively as the business
interests in urban communities."
It Will interest the farmer to
learn that but for arrangements for
co-operation between a ship in the
polar circle and stations situated
in .Iceland, in Czechoslovakia, in
Sweden, and his own local office,
the weather news he receives daily
in his own home would be vastly
less dependable than it is.
HISTORICAL PARADOX.
Recent commentators on the his
torical bacKground of Astoria, first
permanent American settlement in
the west, almost universally fall
into the error of stating that John
Jacob Astor lost possession of his
property at the mouth of the
Columbia as a consequence of seiz
ure of the post by a British man-of-war
in the war of 1812. This
was not precisely the fact. Yet the
point that Astor's interests had
been sold by his perfidious part
ners to the North-West company, a
Canadian concern, prior to formal
capture of Astoria by the British
sloop Raccoon and that British cit
izens were already in actual pos
session would not be worth quib
bling over if it were not that these
events created one of the most in
teresting paradoxes in our history.
This incident in the annals of As
toria raises it above the level of the
commonplace among settlements
which have risen or fallen by the
fortunes of war.
..The paradox was that by his zeal
in completing the formalities of
capture of Astoria, by hauling
down the American flag, raisins
the British , jack and rechristening
the place Fort George, in honor of
his king,' the British commander
greatly weakened the case of Great
Britain in the later negotiations by
which title to- the country was
finally determined. The British
contention would have been simpli
fied if the officer had contented
himself, on finding the post in
possession of his countrymen, with
exchanging civilities and sailing
away. The Astor party's American
status was unquestioned at the time
of settlement in 1811, though Astor
had associated himself with a num
ber of Canadians whose sympathies
were later with Great Britain in the
war. The nationalistic predilec
tions of the resident partners, com
bined with the undoubted diffi
culties which would have attended
their situation in the event that
they were discovered trading under
the American flag, impelled them
yAACcept an offer of purchase made
by the Northwesters. Astor, bound
by the acts of his co-partners,
though far from the scene, had lost
his interest in Oregon without any
act of war. Capture of the post by
the British was not necessary to
oust him, and restitution of the ter
ritory under the first article of the
treaty of Ghent did not restore his
property rights, though it const!
tuted an unintended recognition of
the American claim. ' ,
One of the five principal points
in the American argument for sov-
ereignty over the Oregon territory
was that the act of restoration
which took place in 1818, was in
fact a formal concession to Ameri
can status and that it re-established
the continuity of -settlement and
occupancy then regarded as a vital
essential of our contention. The
restoration clause of the treaty by
which the war of 1812 was termi
nated provided: "That all territory,
places and possessions whatsoever.
taken by either party from the
bther during the war, or which may
be taken after the signing of this
treaty, shall be restored without de
lay." This was inserted at the be
hest of President Madison, probably
at the suggestion of Astor, though
there is ground for supposing that
Secretary Adams in later negotia
tions thought little of the impor
tance of the region in dispute. Tha
latter, wrote the British minister
at Washington to his superior at
London in 1818, "stated in fact that
the American government put very
little value on the post at Astoria."
At another time Adams "only ob-
served that, in his opinion, it would
be hardly worth the while of Great
Britain to have any difference with
the United States on account qf the
occupation of so remote a terri
tory." But literal interpretation of
the .treaty of Ghent being insisted
on,- the retransfer was made and
Adams gained his contention that
"a settlement, which the United
States had formerly possessed, at
tle mouth of the Columbia," was
properly a subject to be adjusted in
accordance with the treaty of
Ghent. Possession, though Astor
had surrendered it, and though
Americans had moved away, was
re-established by this act.
Even then the British might
have clarified the issue in their own
interest by making an express res
ervation as to the nature of restora
tion, and it indeed was subsequently
asserted they did do so a claim,
however, which the official records
failed to support. This' aspect of
the Astoria matter adds another
chapter. to the complex and highly
romantic diplomatic history of the
time. The British foreign secretary
directed the British minister at
Washington to "assert,- in suitable
terms, the title of Great Britain to
the territory." This instruction.
said Minister Bagot, was "executed
verbally by the person to whom it
was addressed." Yet. omission of
reference to it in the archives of
the period, as well as failure of the
British captain to make a written
stipulation in the final articles of
restoration, would appear now to
have been fatal to the British case.
George Canning's admission in 1826
that "it is a most perplexing ques
tion,", and that there were "diffi
culties, both in maintaining and
abandoning our claims." shed a
bright sidelight on the excellent
temper in which the result was ac
cepted by Great Britain and on the
amity in which the diplomatic ex
changes were conducted by both
sides. , .i
Mr. Astor's personal losses in
consequence of the unfortunate
outcome of his one; venture in the
northwest were heavy, in 'view of
the purchasing power of money
and the size of private fortunes in
tlfat time, although Mr. Astor was
perhaps even then one of the rich
est men in the United States. He
received for the entire property
transferred by the- partners some
$40,000, the sale including a large
stock of furs at Astoria, inventoried
at $36,835 but worth perhaps eight
times that amount In the markets
of the orient. This would leave
but $3165 to reimburse him for the
cost of three ships sent to the Pa
cific coast, two of which were lost,
for the building of Astoria and sev
eral interior posts and for main
tenance of the establishment and
employment of labor, much of the
latter being brought from the Sand
wich islands. Astor himself esti
mated his investment at,upwards of
$200,000, which in' all probability
was not far from the truth. It but
adds interest to the curious Astorian
paradox that while the act of cap
ture did materially . weaken the
British subsequent claim, its res-
toration "had no effect whatever on
Mr. Astor's personal claims. That
usually shrewd and capable trader
paid heavily for several errors of
judgment, chief among which was
his choice of partners to whom he
entrusted the management of af
fairs at a long distance from home,
And if Captain Black of the Rac
coon, in December, 1813, had not
fallen into another error of judg
ment when he captured a post al
ready held by his countrymen a
new chapter might have been writ
ten in the history of diplomacy and
settlement of the west. .
"What's the constitution between
friends?" is a sayinaattributed to
a political boss of a bygone genera
tion. "What is the constitution
when it stands in the way of our
jetting what we want?" practically
my the radicals of the present day,
who wish to deprive-the courts of
power to pass on the constitutional
ity of acts of cingress. What real
difference is there between the old
time boss and the man who in the
name of progress would make the
constitution anything that the ma
jority.in congress choose from year
to year to make it? Both stand for
the unbridled power of an aggres
sive minority to impose its will on
an unorganized and more or less
passive majority. A tyrant is no less
a tyrant when he calls himself a
progressive or by any other smooth-
sounding name; ' "
A Colorado soion has offered a
bill to require parents who are lax
in their duties to attend special
classes for instruction. Judging
from recent reports on the way the
youngsters are carrying, oh the
problem of furnishing class room
for adults is not going to be a sim
ple thing. .
One difference between the gen
tleman farmer and the dirt farmer,
according to the showing made at
a tecent stock thow, is that the
former alone is able to keep a
blooded horse. The plain farmer
nowadays rides around in his
automobile.
Let it ' not be forgotten in the
excitement of Christmas that the
modern Santa Claus wouldn't be
half as efficient as he is without
the help of the men who distribute
and deliver the United States mail
When a man is resting he gives
off heat at the rate of 336 thermal
units an hour, and as high as 755
when engaged in hard work. That
accounts for the fact that some of
our houses are so cold.
We have been told that there are
men mean enough to have put off
buying household necessities in or
der to palm them off on the fam
ily as remembrances from Santa
Claus. '
A statistician estimates that the
women spend 85 per cent of all the
money in circulation. We don't
know where he got his figures, .but
somebody spends it, all right.
Anyhow, now that we have
passed, the shortest day of the year.
spring seems on the way, though
the calendar tells us that winter
has only just begun.
.Also, that "last annual payment
on the income tax" doesn't mean
last, but only latest. It is well to
use precise English, even in offi
cial transactions.
The name of the new president
of Poland is Wojciechowski. Only
way to "murder" that is on "the
linotype. '
The fact that the Turks are pro
hibitionists doesn't prevent them
from trying to bottle up the -Dar
danelles.
This is the time when the man
who makes his wife a Christmas
present of his favorite book de
serves to get a ; side saddle in
return.
The kind of scrapping the navy
men yearn for is not at all like th
kind specified in the disarmament
treaty. " . '"' .
The senate the other day con
firmed 1700 nominations between
taking-up time and- noon.' More
Christmas gifts for the deserving
poor. '-.
Ever now and then the thought
occurs that it is lucky that the
near east is no nearer than it is.
Snow and sleet reported at At
lanta, Ga. What do they mean,
"Sunny South!" - 4
The Listening Post.
By Denltt Horry.
JUST 20 years ago Christmas the
guests of the Palace hotel, Hepp
ner, enjoyed a Christmas dinner for
which they paid 25 cents. The menu '
was as follows:
The Palaee Hotel.
CHRISTMAS DIN N EH,
" Price Twenty-Five Cents.
... Menot
soup
Consomme Chicken Giblet
! .'FISH
'. Baked Red Salmon, Drawn Butter
RKLISHES - -Celery
Pickles
Boiled Ham with Wine Sauce
KNTREES
Baked Spring Chicken with Dressing
nvnter Patties a la Reina
Suckling Pig Stuffed with Brown Sweet
Potatoes
Veal Croquettes, Cream Sauce
Apricot al la Conde
. ROASTS
Prime Ribs of Beef au jus ' '
Leg of Pork with eaKeu flpu
VEGETABLES
Mashed Steamed Potatoes.
. Brown Sweet Potatoes
Stewed Tomatoes Boston Baked Means
PASTRY
Mince and Pumpkin Pie
Christmas Plum Pudding with Hard
Sauce.
Macarooa Ice Cream
Phil Metschan managed the Palace
hotel at that time and M. B. Haynes,
who now runs the Condon hotel at
Condon, Or., was the chef. Most
of the traveling men of 20 years
ago will remember Haynes' skill
This meal was all real stuff. The
top price for the best, room in the
Palace hotel-and three 'meals at that
time was $2 per day, and the Christ
mas dinner was a sort of an extra
treat for the guests. At mat time
it was every hotelman's ambition
to own a hotel where he could
charge $1 a night for a room.
Metschan bought the food for the
dinner. Chickens cost $3 a dozen
ham 12 cents a pound, wine 15 cents
a gallon, beef and pork roasts 7
cents a pound, potatoes 50 cents a
hundred pounds, and celery was the
most expensive item on the list, as
it had to come in by express.
Them was the good old days
now gone forever. All regular meals
in the hotel were 25 cents, but there
was' a 50-cent table for transients.
ornamented with a bottle o catsup,
on which the same foods were
served. The Palace hotel burned
down a few years ago, but memories
of those brave old days will remain
forever.
' '
Office building drinking in private
seems to be on the- increase. One
day last week the police staged
a. raid and searched a number of
suspected rooms in one structure
It was a known fact- that there
were several roll-top desk bars in
operation in the building. The po
lice came in about 20 strong and
went to several suspected locations.
Many of the tenants knew the raid
was in progress, for it lasted an
hour or more. .
One realty agent, accustomed to
have his little nip whenever ne
wants it and to pass one out to
friends at times, was told by his
stenographer that the search was
in progress. It shook him so that
he went to his safe and hauled
out his pet demijohn to steady his
nerves. Just as he was pouring
nip a hat appeared over tne nan
transom. He threw the crock out
of the window, a hundred or more
feet to the Street, where it shattered
to bits and the precious fluid cas
caded over the pavement.
A friend with offices on .the same
floor had framed him. On a wager
the plotter had placed a hat on a
ruler and raised it to the transom.
The association of ideas did the
rest.
One shoe manufacturing firm in
the east has four midget salesmen
on the. road made up like Buster
Brown. Each salesman carries, as
traveling companion, a huge "Tige"
dog trained to follow at his heels
while he covers his territory. One
of these couples was in Portland
last week and attracted a great deal
of attention.
Yet another factory uses geese
for attracting attention. Each sales
man on the road is furnished with
one huge goose, dyed red, that fol
lows him bbout the various towns.
.
Guests at a party given in the
home" of a prominent Laurelhurst
resident the other night noticed
that the host had his cocktail shaker
engraved. Close inspection showed
this motto cut in the silver:
"E Pluribus Unum."
".'
A couple of promoters of the
shady variety were talking.
"How's your concern coming
along?" asked the first.
"Oh. fine," was the reply. "Got
a $7000 stockholder last month, but
guess we'll have to get out after
another one soon."
-.'
During the recent cold snap, when
roads were ice covered and staunch
men drivers feared to venture forth
on long auto drives, Mrs. J. F. Booth -
showed them all up. She started
from Portland Sunday morning at
9 o'clock and arrived in San Fran
cisco the following Tuesday at 5
A. M.
The latest practical joke epidemic
has taken the form of sending the
undertaker after one's friend. Ac
cording to some threats the under
taker is liable to. figure as em
balmer for several of the jokers.
He was all fussed up. All day
he had worn a blue serge coat with
brown- trousers.
"That's the peril of having two
suits," he complained to his wife.
A few days ago a chicken hawk
flew low over Broadway. Swinging
in bold curves he searched the hard
pavement with keen: eye, only to
soar away over a tall office build
ing in apparent disgust.
According to a recent dispatch
from Washington they seem to be
getting ready to fight the next war
by mail. The navy yard there is
turning. out letter boxes instead of
cannon.
According to Dick Childs at the
Multnomah hotel, Sunday inquiries
from guests are 50-50 for church
and golf course locations.
The sight of a woman with
pierced ears wearing the tiny ear
rings of a past age is novel enough
to attract more than passing atten
tion these days. In the first place
the one we saw had to expose her
ears, but at that she vied success
fully with the bun -banged vamp
with lengthy danglers at her side:
'Twas Christmas Eve.
By Grace K. llall.
'Twas Christmas eve. All day the
snow
Had softly settled down.
The human tide, In endless flow,
Surged swiftly through the town;
A million lights, blurred soft and
dim,
Were lanterns yellow-gold.
As silently the night closed in
Glistening, still and cold.
The windows how can one por
tray
Such solendor as was there?
An artist planned the rich display-
Art beckoned everywhere;
The crowds, with comment iow or
shrill.
Paused idly, passing by,
And paid their tribute to lit
skill
That satisfied the eye.
Cut later, when the streets wera
bare.
And other folks gone home,
I saw a widow standing thexe
3eside the pane, alone; -
The wind plucked at her somber
veil
And peltered her with snow.
The church bells sent their pleasant
peal
And still she did not go.
I ventured softly up to her.
Intent to learn just why
Sht stood so long, with eyes a-blur.
On things she could not buy;
'Twas Christmas eve, and I was
thrilled
To say some friendly word
But luckily my tongue was stilled
Before my voice was heard.
I wonder if you've ever done
A crude and unwise thing
Just thoughtlessly, that made your
cheeks
Turn red and burn.and sting?
A second's look it was not art
That prompted her to come:
Her eyes were on a painted cart
A rocking-horse-and-drum.
WHERE THE YOUNG CHILD LIES.
"And, Io, the star, which they saw
in the east, went before them, till it
came and stood over where the
young child was." St. Matt. 2.
From a world, grief drowned
To a love uncrowned,
Lying low in the manger of want
and sin.
There the eager soul
Finds its star-lit goal,
And waits to enter in!
From despair's dark night
To the rapture bright
Of a hope that wings to the skits
above.
From a faith grown cold,
To hands that hold
The treasure rich, of a deathless
love.
Where the young child lies, .
There anguish dies.
And the throb of each earth-bord
wound will cease, ,
From his wide, sweet gaze,
Flow the blessed rays.
That heal the heart with a stead
fast peace.
Where the young child lies,
We lay our prize
Of a. life from the gloom to the
glory led,
Of a spirit free
With" the liberty
That finds its God, though the
stars are dead!
MARY ALETHEA WOODWARD.
C'HRISTMA'S BELLS. - i
Dear Christmas bells, ' ah ! sweetest
bells, ' "
You bring again the olden time,
When youth and joy ran hand In
hand
And life was one bright, gladsome
rhyme. ',
Glad Christmas
bells, oh! - hopeful
bells..
Give cheer to
those, upon life's
wiy,
Who wander weary, far, alone.
Ring love tQ them, this Christmas
day.
Ring, Christmas beJis, cheer faint
ing hearts.
Give hope again to those who fall
Across the world, through darkest
night.
Sweet peace ring out and glad
. . ness call.
Oh! joyous bells, o'er, poorest home.
In saddest heartsj where, hope has
died, '
New courage shall come back again,
Where e'er you ring this Christ
mastlde. JUNE MACMILLEN ORDWAY.
PHANTOMS.
The gray days of winter steal.
Like phantoms grim and white,
Through corridors and silent rooms,
Bereft of gleaming light; .
And with them comes the sobbing
wind, .'
Sighing at my door.
And with them come a loneliness,
I never, knew before. , ,
I sit beside my own hearthstone,
And watch the evening fall.
And watch the slender shadows
dance.
Grotesquely on the wail;
And with them comes a longing,
As they flit across the room.
And with them comes a dream of
you, '
, Amid the darkened gloom.
The gray days of winter creep.
Within the soul of me,
And chill the song of laughter,
That always used to be;
And with them "comes the dripping
rain.
Upon my window sill, .
And with them comes a yearning,
That never can be stilled.
HELEN CRAWFORD. .
THE YULE-TIDE,
Every season yields its wealth;
The Spring's the time for flowers.
Then nature's magic 'wakening
Breathes promise of bright hours.
Fair Summer's reign! O'er field and
wood
'Neath arching skies of blue
The earth responds to heaven
Refreshed and kissed anew.
Comes Autumn's golden harvest -
With garnering of sheaves;
Reward for toil's endeavor, .
Amid the falling leaves.
v '
But Winter brings the Yule-tide
In heart and home supreme.
Kind thoughts en wing and Joy bells
bring
Again the Cbrist Child theme.
. JEANliTTIS MARTIN.
TO A LITTLE CHILD AT
CHRISTMAS.
And I would know the Joy once
more, .
This glad day brings to you,
And I would have your sweet belief,
That all was true;
But changing years have - only
brought
Life's cold 'reality.
For I have lost your perfect trust,.:
That once belonged to me.
And so my earnest wish for you,
L'pon this Christmas day;
That coming years may never take
Your simple faith away.
HELEN CRAWFORD. '