LINCOLN COUNTY LEADER
CHAS. F. & ADA E. SOULE, Pubs.
TOLEDO OREGON
Now that we have wireless teleg
raphy steps should be taken to get
messages without messenger boys.
Manila Bay seems the actual cause
f the Dewey rejoicing, but really the
Spanish navy is at the bottom of It.
An Ohio man Is said to have Invented
an odorless onion. Such a discovery Is
calculated to take away the breath.
A certain woman has cowhlded a
man who kicked her dog. Every dog
has his day and this canine's was a
hummer.
Helen Gould Is opposed to polygamy.
So far as the record goes she is not
particularly enthusiastic in favor of
monogamy.
None of Captain KIdd's pirate gold
bas been found In New Jersey, but the
State has discovered there's millions
In forming trusts.
Marked cards have been discovered
In a swell gambling club in Berlin.
This offense should be worse in the
eyes of the law than lese majesty.
A curious thing about money In poll
tics is a candidate with a barrel giving a
check to his friends with the ulterior
view of giving a check to his enemies.
Since there are exceptions to all
rules Dewey's habit of arriving ahead
of time Is no Justification for the gen
eral run of oversmart people being too
previous.
There is one man among the seamen
of the Olympla who had nothing to do
on the memorable first of May he had
been detailed to carry water to the
wounded.
An excuse for Canada's uncertainty
as to where the real boundary lines run
In Alaska may be due to its eyes not
6etng well on account of the glitter of.
the gold near by.
Nobody especially minds that there's
something bright In the prospects for
Spain after all. It has yearly three
thousand hours of sunshine as against
America's twenty-one hundred.
The star Polaris is flying toward the
earth at a speed of 288,824,000 miles a
year. We advise Polaris to look up
the records of the parachute artists and
learn a lesson from their general experi
ence. A Texas woman has been suing a
man because, as she claimed, he shook
hands with her so hard that he broke
her leg. An illustration of the way
they shake hands in Texas might not
be wholly devoid of Interest.
The Buffalo Express thinks it is fun
ny that Minnesota produces more frogs
than any other state in the Union. Per
haps the Express doesn't know that
Minnesota produces more lakes than
any other state In me Union. The lakes
may account for the frogs.
A political boss, recently deceased,
erred a term In prison. The period
of his Imprisonment was shortened for
good behavior. If the good behavior
had begun earlier, the term would have
had no beginning. Respect for law
which only develops behind prison bars
Is something of an af terthought. There
are other political bosses whose be
havior is not up to the grade of good
ness which shortens incarceration.
For the first time in her annals, Porto
Itieo has enjoyed the excitement of a
municipal election, and has experienced
the unwonted legal procedure of a trial
by Jury. Eleven natives, with one
Yankee to act as foreman, composed
tne Jury, and the result of their deliber
ations is said to have been eminently
satisfactory to every one except the
culprit The election, although promis
ing as a first attempt, was marked by
Innocent, but somewhat embarrassing,
Innovations. The supervisors became
hungry at noon-time, and adjourned for
dinner, taking the ballot-boxes with
them. This rendered the appointing of
another election necessary to forestall
possible complaints of illegality. These
and other encouraging facts show that
American ideas and methods are mak
ing headway In Torto Rico.
Those who are looking forward to
employment as agents in the field for
he decennial census bureau, will have
their fears somewhat allayed by the
announcement from Washington that
after a consultation with the president,
Superintendent Merrlani has prepared
a circular of instructions to the actual
census takers which forbid the asking
of questions leading Into family secrets
and likely to provoke fights. The presi
dent has ventured the opinion that It
Is unwise to put questions thait are like
ly to humlllate-the citizen. The ques
tion which aroused most indignation In
the taking of the last census was as to
whether a person had any acute or
chronic disease. This was generally
regarded as stepping Into the domain
of privacy, and a soft answer was
rarely received. In view of this thd
statistics on this point were generally
regarded as worthless anyhow. Old
maids will still have to state their aces,
however.
In the fierce duel between armament
and armor that began with the inven
tion of Ironclads armor has at present
decidedly the advantage. The recent
test held by Russian Government offi
cials of the armor for the battleship
which the Cramps are building few
Russia Is a signal victory for the new
Krupp method of hardening ship
plates. Five shots were fired at a five
inch plate from a five-Inch gun, Mid
vale armor-plercLng shells being used
In each Instance. Velocities varied
from 2,057 to 2,090 feet a second. .In
no Instance did the projectile penetrate
more than half a plate, and generally
only about two inches. In every case
the shell was smashed to pieces with
out making a single crack In the plate.
It is fair to suppose that relatively
thlckeT plates wll yield equally good re
sults. This triumph of armor will have
an Immediate effect upon our naval
plans, for the increase 1m the resisting
power of armor will mean a lessening
In the weight carried on the side of th
ship, thus allowing a larger coal capa
city and greater armament. Every cx
peitaent in naval armor in the past
five years Is against the building of
slow battleships. The department Is
now talking of insuring a speed for our
new battleships that onily a few yeari
ago was considered the maximum for
the unarmored commerce desti-oyers.
This tendency can only be checked by
the discovery of some new explosive or
form of armor-piercing shell.
The Immemorial and almost univer
sal opinion of all English-speaking peo
ple is that there is and can be only
one Justification for taking a human
life, and that Is self-defense. The
State, by due process of law, can com
mit homicide, but the individual can
do it only when his own life Is in peril.
This general proposition was denied
in a recent address by a member of the
Supreme Court of Connecticut, Judge
Simeon E. Baldwin. The venerable
Jurist brought by his denial a hornets'
nest about his ears, and in sheer self
defense, he has offered a second state
ment somewhat modifying his original
declaration. He does not wish to be
understood as advocating suicide, but
he does think that there are cases in
which a doctor should let nature take
its course, all hope of recovery being
inevitable; also that there are extreme
cases in which one may with a good
conscience relieve himself of the bur
den of existence. The first recorded
suicide occurred when armor-bearer of
the Hebrew King, Saul, disobeyed his
royal master's orders to run him
through with a sword. The king then
used the weapon on himself. The only
other notable suicide reported in the
Bible was that of Judas, a thousand
years later. The race from which our
religion was derived has always held
suicide to be downright murder. The
detestation of all Christians for Judas
rendered his example a more effectual
safeguard against self-slaughter than
any prohibition, legal or religious,
could be. But the position of Judge
Baldwin does not lack precedents. Ac
cording to Strabo, it was an establish
ed custom of one famous Greek coun
try, Ceas, to allow those who attained
the age of sixty, or were infirm, to do
as they pleased about living any long
er. The Stoic philosophers rather en
couraged the taking of one's own life
when the fates seemed to be adverse.
Many cases of suicide by eminent and
honorable men could be cited from
Greek and Roman history, especially
the latter. The hara-kiri of Japan
dates back fully G50 years. The Rom
an law treated self-murder as a venial
offense, but the English law treated
it as a great crime, and an accessory
to it was punished as a criminal. In
1882 the State of New York included
suicide in its list of felonies, and not
long afterward a man who tried sui
cide was sentenced to one year in the
penitentiary. But public sentiment did
not sustain the law in that State or call
for its extension to other States. The
feeling toward one who takes his own
life, or seeks to do so, is pity rather
than censure, and legislatures cannot
alter this sentiment. Nor is there any
reason to suppose that legislation has
an appreciable effect In preventing
suicides. The man or woman who has
reached such a state of despair as to
seek relief In the grave Is not in a
mood to heed the penalties of the law.
The only really potent restraint Is the
fear of punishment beyond the grave.
No doubt many a Hamlet has been re
strained from ending his life by the
fear that death would not end all. In
proportion as immortality Is a vivid
and confident expectation, Is the hand
of self-destruction stayed, no matter
how Irksome the burden of existence.
Vapor from Smokeleaa Powder.
What Is called smokeless powder
really throws off a shadowv vanor.
This vapor is perceptible only when
viewed through a dlfek of violet glass
Inserted In an ordinary fleld-elasa. Col.
onel Sweet of the army medical mu
seum, Washington, made this discov
ery.
T'S Jolly hard lines," Bailey
Junior said, flinging himself
oo
down In Jack's armchair.
"What's hard lines?" I asked, thinking
at the same time that although he had
been Jack's best man when we were
married he need not be quite so fam
iliar with Jack's own particular arm
chair. I never like to see any one at
home In Jack's chair, because, if I am
left a widow, I mean to keep it sacred
to Jack's memory.
"A fellow isn't allowed to see Baby
Jones alone for five minutes."
"Why do you want to see her alone?"
I said, for the fifth Jones girl, in my
mind, was still a child. Perhaps this
was due to the fact that she Is called
"Baby," but .lack says It's because
she's not allowed to have her 17th
birthday until the two eldest girls are
"off." Mamma Jones may be right;
more than four girls out at one time is
a great responsibility.
Bailey Junior, who had retained the
suffix "Junior" ever since he went to
school with his eldest brother, looked
at me in surpr!se. "Why. do I want
to see her alone?" he replied; "because
I want to propose, of course; a fellow
can't propose with an audience."
"You propose!" I echoed. "Propose
to Baby Jones!"
"And pray why shouldn't I?" he ask
ed. "Anything the matter with me?"
He pulled down his coat and stuck out
his brown riding boots on my new
hearth rug. Bailey Junior prided him
self on his bootmaker. "I can afford to
keep a wife; Jack's married."
"O, but .lack's quite different," I said.
"Any one can see In a moment that
Jack's different. Besides, you'll never
get the chance," I continued, remem
bering Mamma Jones' theory.
"Why the deuce not?"
"Because the four others have to go
off first, and they must go in proper or
der. Jack says so."
"What's Jack got to do with it?"
"O, nothing," I answered; "but Jack's
bo clever; he always sees through
things."
"Why have the others got to go 'off'
first?" Bailey Junior asked. "Baby's
marriage hasn't anything to do with
the others."
"Oh, yes, it has; you don't under
stand." "No. I don't; and I'm hanged If any
one else does. Why can't they begin
marrying from the other end?"
"Because if the county knows that
Baby's old enough to marry, that would
make the others Just too old, don't you
see? It's a point of honor with the
Baby to remain under 17 till the eld
est girl's off."
'Thew!" said Bailey Junior, "now I
see; that's why she's so closely guarded
and why the eldest girl Is always
thrown In my way; but I won't have
her, I will tell you. No Mamma Jones
in the world will make me marry the
eldest; none of your serving for Rachel
business for me."
"That's right," I said, "but you'll
have to wait for Baby until some other
fellow does want the others."
"O, Lord!" he exclaimed, In a tone of
voice which was scarcely complimen
tary to the eldest Miss Jones; "and I
sail for India this day week."
"I'm awfully sorry," I said; "but
that's the principle and code of honor
In the Jonrs laml y. You can't pick out
the best and leave Mamma Jones sad
dled for life with the plain ones."
Bailey Junior was silent, and I tried
my best to think of some plan to help
him out of hi3 difilculty. It was of no
use to suggest asking Baby Jones to
spend the day with me and letting
Bailey Junior meet her here, for the
Jones girls never went about singly;
they hadn't enough friends to go all
round, so that If you asked one to tea
two always came. They were such a
devoted family.
"Dear little girl," he said, "sacrificed
to her elder sisters. She'll be thirty
before she gets her hair up at that rate.
I wonder what her age really is?"
"She's probably got mixed herself,"
I said; "but isn't it up yet? It will be
getting quite worn out."
"It's in a sort of maidenly plait,"
Bailey Junior said, reflectively, "awful
ly becoming, don't you know, but "
"But It's time she wore quite long
dresses, and put it right up, isn't it?
A big girl old enough to be married in
short skirts. Jack thinks it horrid."
"I think they're lovely," Bailey
Junior answered, "so arched and slen
der; Just think of the eldest girl's."
"O, no one does," I said; "she was
put Into long skirts before she left the
nursery, and she was never allowed to
play lawn tennis."
Bailey Junior's furlough was ud. and
5
he went back to India without having
proposed to Baby Jones. I met her six
weeks later, and she told me she had
had a letter from him asking her to
marry him. She seemed much aston
ished that he should want to marry her
and not her eldest sister. The Joneses
are not an Imaginative family, and
such an unconventional proceeding had
not suggested itself to the youngest of
the family.
"Poor old Bailey!" I said. "He sat
for an hour and a half talking to Bel
la," that Is the eldest girl's name
"the day he went to say good-by, hop
ing that yon would onme In; he was
determined to propose to you before he
sailed."
Baby Jone3 opened her eyes wide.
"Did he really? But he ought to have
known that mamma said he was to
marry Bella. I was sent out to do some
shopping, and the others staid In their
rooms and said they were out. I won
der why he didn't propose to Bella?"
"Because he was In love with you,"
I said. "Don't you like him, Baby?"
"O, yes," she said slowly; he's nicely
sunburned, and" (with a little sigh) "I
do like his boots. But it's Bella's turn
first."
She took Bailey Junior's letter and
opened It.
"I must ask mamma," she said, "for
the poor fellow seems quite anxious,
and he's in such a hurry. He wants
me to wire back yes or no. He needn't
be so Impatient when it's only me he
wants."
"Baby," I said coaxingly, "don't ask
your mother un'il you have sent the
wire. Mothers don't always under
stand these things."
Then I turned and left her reading
the letter slowly to herself.
"Bella will be awfully cross," I heard
her murmur; "perhaps he has an elder
brother who wouldn't mind marrying
Bella."
By the same post next evening I re
ceived two letters. The one was from
Bailey Junior, asking me to plead his
cause .with Baby Jones. It was an ar
dent, romantic letter, showing a vast
Imagination and a limited understand
ing of the character of his future wife,
and the other was from Baby Jones!
It was not so romantic, but. Jack says,
it Is full of common sense, and charac
teristic of the Jones family. It ran
thus: "AVIred back yes. But It cost
me thirty shillings!" Westminster
Budget
His Occupation.
A rather good story Is told at the
expense of the Rev. W. W. Moir, rector
of St. Eustace Church. It is Mr Mtv,
custom to take the offertory every Sun
day to some one of the hotels and re
k celve a check therefor. The hotels are
glad of the small change, and It Is more
convenient to send a check to the secre
tary than a quantity of small change.
Mr. Molr was counting out the silver
and bills at one of the lnr-m
... . ov uiritris
! while the clerk was making out the
cnecK. lie observed a 6mn:l boy watch
ing him with evident curiosity. "Well,
my boy, what Is It" asked the rever
end gentleman in his usual kindly way.
"Oh, nothing, sir," said the boy, and
glancing again at the pile of silver and
nickels on the counter, "only, are you
the gentleman what runs the slot ma
chine downstairs?" The Adirondack.
Lord Woln-ly'a Wae.
No other living British soldier has
gained promotion more rapidly than
Lord Wolseley. The following are his
various steps, with dates: Ensign.
1852; Captain. 1855; Major, 1858; Lieutenant-Colonel.
1850; Colonel, 1805;
Deputy Quartermaster-General. 1807;
Assistant Adjutaut-Genernl, 1871; Major-General,
1S73; Quarter-master-Gen-eral,
1880; Adjutant-General, 1882; Gen
eral, 18S3. He received 25,000 for his
services in Ashanti, and 20,000 for his
conduct of the Egyptian Campalgu. He
was the youngest captain In the army,
having reached that rank after only
three years' service.
Conan Doyle.
Conan Doyle is a methodical worker
and a hard worker. He pastes up over
his mantel-shelf a list of the things he
Intends to do in the coming six months,
and he sticks to his task until it Is done!
He must be. a great disappointment to
his old teacher. When he had finished
school, the teacher called the boy be
fore him, and said, solemnly: "Doyle
I have known you now for seven years'
and I know you thoroughly. I am go
ing to say something that you will re
member in after-life. Doyle, you will
never come to any good!"
Don't let a fool annoy you; laugh at
him.
A KLONDIKE babeTT
This Tiny Infant Maa8e1 tn .!
When Ptronss Me n?J l
A tiny infant managed to live J
out a mother's care In the KimJ
country where sturdy, stout-heal
Just- turn. . J
mviuib Qf
iroiu tvnhu
Vy "r, JcJ
W mm .V I'muiu
aahA I ir 1 1 1 rT n .. I
oanghter, so t
and frail that
body thought
could possibly i;
Mae Eldorado
BABY MAE.
little one was rJ
eu uecuuse tu uer navent Into this n
of tears In the land of gold A f,
J l - . i - A
days after the baby's birth the mots
died. 1
A small dog sledge bore to their lJ
resting piace tne remains of the
wife. During the services, Dr. Mai
aiosier stepped forth and gave the dei
woman in ner comn the tenders!
promise that one woman can make!
another. "I will be a mother to ji
motherless little baby girl," sobbed 11 J
Mosier, placing on the cold brow
the Wisconsin bride her gentle hand
The terrible winter dragged aioJ
slowly and the doctor expressed
little hope for the poor little child
bf
had weighed only three pounds at bir
and its life hung constantly bv
thread. But, the baby grew and sol
became the pride of the town. "How
Mae?" the simple-hearted miners we
wont to ask as they trudged by til
little house on their way to and froi
work. Dally the question was askei
and daily the answer given "that !
would live, please God."
When the summer came little Mae'
father and foster-mother thought
wise to send the little one to Its granl
parents in Wisconsin, to escape tJ
rigors of another winter In the frozei
north. Mrs. John MacDonald, wife o
one of the wealthiest miners of th
Klondike, offered herself as Bal
Mae's escort, and early in July th
Journey was begun.
All Dawson was on hand to bid tt
child farewell. Gold dust and nugget
were showered as parting gifts, uml
a handsome sum was realized and prJ
sented to the Klondike babe. Dawsoi
wanted to show its appreciation of tti
little one's pluck, and that was the onl;
way the miners had of doing it. Babjj
Mae was carried by an Indian packet
across the Wheto pass and over thi
mountain to Skaguay. Warmly elai
In flannels the baby was as snug as i
bug In a rug, nestling against the ta!
Indian's back. When Seattle wa:
reached Mrs. MacDonald turned thi
baby over to Mrs. J. S. Bresse, a sister
of Mrs. Endgren, who was to conduct
the infant to her grandparents' home,
It is there now, receiving the best oft
care, and thriving. In spite of Its check
ered career, at the age of C months
Naturally, the little one Is the pride ofj
the good folks of Madison, as It was of!
the miners at Dawson.
Mae Bennett, the baby's mother, was
the daughter of a prominent Granej
Army man of Madison. Her sweet
heart was Jesse Endgren, a student oft
the State university. They were mar
rled in February, 1808, and on the
same evening left for Dawson City,
MEXICO'S VICE PRESIDENT,
Ha Shook Hands with McKlnlej anil
Lanrler in Chirngn.
' That was a notable gathering tn Chi
cago when President McKlnley. Si
Wilfrid Lnurier, the premier of Canada,
and Don Ignacio Marslcal, Vice Presi-
dent of Mexico, met In one room ano
shook bands. Don Ignacio is one ol
the brilliant men of the Mexican re
public. In addition to being Vice Pres
ident he Is Secretary of Foreign Attain
and Is regarded as a possible successor
to Diaz. He made a favorable Im
pression during his visit in Chicago,
where he attended the fall festival ana
postofflce corner stone laying.
Probably the oldest toy In the worl
la the top. It has been used all over tM
wotW for thousands of years, and 1
some savage tribes Is used In the P
romance of religious rites.
Before every failure there are pl$Y
of signs to give the people warning.
they will read them.
M V
DON" IGNACIO MABSICAL (