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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1901)
LINCOLN COUNTY LEADER. OHAS. F. ADA K. SOULB, Pubs. TOLEDO OREGON. There Is a demand for an enlighten ing work' on "How to Be Happy Though an ex-President." We wish Mr. Wu Joy In his efforts to solve our race problem for us. At any rate, he can tell us some very true things about the outrage of lynching. Fashion is beginning to comport with good sense in one particular. A Wash ington fashion expert says small con tracted waists are no longer fashion able. It has been discovered that some of the young Vanderbilts pay taxes on nearly a sixteenth of their possessions. Obviously they lack the genius of their progenitors. New ruins are being discovered In Home, but so far no proof has been brought to show that some dealer in antiquities did not manufacture them in bis cellar. A Pennsylvania man and woman who have been engaged for flfty-sejen years have decided to get married. We hope he . has thorough confidence In his ability to support a family. The country needs an author with geuiuH of Mrs. tttowe to write a book which shall do for the lynching evil what "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did for negro slavery in the South. Speaking of Senator Davis, his col league, Senator Hoar, said: "No spark from his wit was ever a cinder in the eye of a friend." Both as a tribute of friendship and ns an epigram Senator Hoar's sentence deserves to live. Alvord, the bank embezzler, has been sentenced to thirteen years In the peni tentiary. Good conduct may cut this down to about ten years. Alvord's stealings amounted to nearly $700,000, or almost $70,000 a year for the term that he will have to serve. The pun ishment is not severe enough to re strain other men from committing sim ilar offenses. One Sunday evening a rough-cast innn rose In the Reform Clum meeting, and said: "I believe in owning up. When I get into trouble by making a fool of myself, or by letting somebody else lead me out of the way, I ain't goln' to shirk the Ida me. I am goln. to take my own load on my owiTHhoul ders. I shall Just speak no and .ny, Billl'lke, did that!'" There's an example, as well as a rebuke, for sev eral kinds of whimpering Blnners, In high places and Hi low. No reform would ever have been ac complished If the element of self-Interest had been wholly eliminated." Ev ery advance In the direction of popular government has been due to the dis satisfaction of men with existing con ditions and their, determination to get more out of life than had been allotted them under monarchical institutions. So, also, with the trusts. When the people of tho United States feel that they have the "losing end of the trans action" they will, purely as a matter of self-interest, apply the remedy which they may conceive to bo most effective. After a receut contest it camo out that In some Instances the struggling athletes were sustained by the use of arsenic, strychnine and nitroglycerine. Tho winner In a close trial may tri umph because the trainer has been Ju dicious In administering tonic drugs. But does not the pharmaceutical road to victory seem less attractive than the old way which led through physical strength and skill unaided by the stliu ulauts which medicine offers? There Is a modernness alwut the possibility of being beaten by a sixtieth of a grain of strychulne, which to earlier athletes would have brought both wonder and regret. ' One of the most astonishing achieve ments of tho Victoria era Is tho rapidity with which news Is transmitted. The New York Herald finds, In looking over Its files of 1837, that when William IV. died (June 20) and the young Victoria was awakened and saluted ns Queen, the news of the King's denth was brought to this country by the packet ship St. James, halting from Londou, and did not reach New York until forty five days after the event. Contrast that tedious delay with the posting of phy. slclans' bulletlus and state proclama tions lu America, Australia, and India almost before the Ink with which they wero written at Ostwrn or Ixuulon was dry! Kveu Shakspcarc's Puck was slow wheu ho proposed to "put a gir dle round alwut tho earth In forty minutes." Sixty-three years from now will our methods of transmission be considered ns slow and antiquated ns we consider those of sixty-three years ago? The cadets nt West Point Military Academy, realising the storm of Indig nation that gathered as a result of the investigations concerning hazing, have voluntarily signed a pledge to abandon entirely that practice which haa brought the institution so much dis credit The cadets have done well. The military academy belongs to the people and not to the cadets. The cadets are not even patrons of the academy. The people are the patrons. Students at tending other institutions where they pay tuition may be said to be patrons of those Institutions. The cadets at West Point pay no tuition. The people pay for their education and pay the cadets a salary besides. Therefore the people have a right to dictate how the academy shall be run as the managers of no other Institution have a right to dictate. When the people learned how their academy was being conducted the cadets knew there would be a change. The latter have wisely determind in ad vance that they will reform. The peo ple will expect the pledge to be kept On P. D. Armour's tombstone might well be Inscribed: "The young man who wants to marry happily should pick out a good mother and marry one of her daughters any one will do." For I. D. Armour never said a wiser thing, and no man ever paid a finer tribute to the mothers of this country. It is easy to imagine the woman Ar mour had in mind. She is a type of the times. She Is not too modern, and there is nothing ancient about her. Her social qualities are unquestioned, and yet she does not live for society. She reads and dresses and worships as her conscience and Inclination direct.' Tn the home Is found her kingdom. By her example she teaches her daughters how to become good wives. The things that she teaches are less than the ' things that her girls actually learn j from her. Association as well as In clination draw the daughters Into the channels that lead to domestic happl- j ness. Her example is stamped on their young lives. She Is the queen of a ' name to which the mind of the husband and parent Is ever turning. Peace abides there, and the household ma chinery does not Jar. That Is the wom an r. D. Armour was thinking of, and what she !s it Is possible for her daugh ters to become. The young man who studies the mother of the woman he wishes to marry is wise. Rural free delivery Is an addition to the postal facilities of the country that has come to stay. When an appropri ation of $200,000 was asked for to in augurate the experiment, Mr. Loud, chairman of the House committee on postottlces and post roads, objected; but when It was proposed to appropriate $3,f)00,000 to go on with the business the- chairman of the, .committee had -thltjg to say.. Mr. Sperry of Connec ticut, a uionilcr of the committee, had much to do with getting the matter started. He was for many years post master at New Haven, and his practi cal Ideas with reference to the conduct of the business of the Postofflce De partment have been of much service. Mr. Sperry gives it ns his opinion that It would be useless now to try to pre vent the spread of rural free delivery. In which opinion, doubtless, the other members of the committee, and the department Itself, agree. Rural free delivery has commended Itself to the people of the farms, and since they like it Congress would not presume to withdraw or do much hanging back. Tho wonder Is that free rural deMvery was not' undertaken before, but now that It has proved of .such utility and popularity, the whole country Is reach ing out Its hand, and expansion of the system must go on until there are no more townships to conquer. Albert Kdword comes to the throne of England at an age when most men consider their active Ufework practic ally over. He faces a task calling for every energy of brain and body and freighted with the gravest responsibili ties. As an offset to this, he Is stout of frame, rugged of constitution,' and gen erally In robust health. He Is Idolized by the English, a fact that Is accounted for by hla democratic habit of making every man he meets Jils friend. His princely Waring has been agreeably shaded with courtesy to his Inferiors In rank, and he has been active In his sup port of deserving public charities. In euterlng upon ids reign he has the good will of every subject condition that Icascna the difficulty of his position. One of the penalties of royalty Is the obliteration of private feeling. The stntejlemands of tho new king the per formance of certain public ceremonies with which his personal loreaveincnt must not bo permitted to Interfere. HU. mourning for his mother must be ob served in secret Before his subjects he must bear himself with cheerfulness and dignity. It Is a situation Identical with that of the favorite actor, who must strut and grlmnce for his public, even though his heart be breaking. . In hla youth this king was a rollicking, devil-may-care prince. Ho hnd the fol lies of youth and outgrew thenf. Ry his acts ns Edwnrd VII. will I dis covered the exact strength and quality of his manhood. One of the things a man cnu't under stand is why his sisters get offended when ho doesn't rush In to see the now little red babies at their house. PRACTICE OF -HAZING CUSTOM ORIGINATED IN COL LEGES OF THE EAST. Atrocious Brutality to . Defenseless Students Has Stirred the Country Merits Penitentiary Term Rules of Conduct Prescribed for Freshmen. Great interest in the subject of col lege hazing was stirred throughout the entire country by the startling charges which were made in connection with the death of Cadet Booz of the West Point National Military Academy. The --- - 0 . w ..o .uc iu.Mbi.ij uuiuu up pointed to look Into the accusations brought by the young man's family were closely followed by the public, and every average American citizen read with horror and disgust the allegation that the life of the boy was ended by hazing of the most outrageous charac ter. The blood of all decent and intel ligent men or women boiled when they read the revolting story that tabasco sauce had been poured down the throat I. It 1 M XI. .1111 1 , IIAZRS AND ONE of the student, who was at the mercy of the hazers. The victim was so ter ribly injured by the fiendish act, so runs the story, that death at last came to his relief as a natural consequence of the wounds Inflicted. When the barbarity of this Inhuman treatment of a defense less student was realized there was a demand for an Investigation and the detection and punishment of the stu dents who were guilty of such atrocious brutality. The demand resulted in the appoint- mcnt of tho military board, which at once began taking evidence. Tho case was not more than fairly started when a second Incident was brought to light through the statements of other par ents, who alleged that they had lost a son whose death was directly traceable to hazing which he bad received at West Point These two cases prove quite conclusively. If any proof were needed, that the Infamous practice of hazing Is far from extinct, at least In some parts of the country. Hazing Is distinctly a product o'f eastern college life. It originated there and there has - PAINTING A OADBT'S FACS. TOSmo IN A BLANKET. never been much of it indulged in out side of the colleges of the East. It has been practiced to a limited extent in the universities of the West, but It never found a strong foothold in the Missis sippi valley nor In the States beyond. Origin Is Hazy. College hazing is so old a custom that its origin Is 'somewhat hazy. One theory is that it was at least a partial outgrowth of the fagging system of English colleges, in which it was the custom to make new students do me nial work for the upper classmen. The hazing which' has been indulged In has largely been practiced upon freshmen, but occasionady other classmen have been hazed. To haze means to disturb, harass, annoy, and it was in some way figured out that this was Just what ought to be done to men entering col lege for the first time. It was decided that they should be servile and that they should do whatever they were told byupper classmen, no matter how absurd or degrading an act should ben demanded of them. As early as the year 1700, sixteen years before .the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, the following regulations were enacted at Yale University: "It being the duty of seniors to teach freshmen the laws, usages and cus toms of the college, to this end they are empowered to order the whole freshman "class or any particular mem ber of it to appear, In order to be In structed and reproved, at such time and place as they shall appoint, when and where every freshman shall attend, ausvver uii proper questions-ami benave decently. ' "The freshmen are forbidden to wear their hats In the college yard until the May vacation; and whenever a fresh man either speaks to a superior or isl spoken to by one he shall keep his hat off until he is bidden to put it back on. "A freshman shall not play with any of the members of an upper class with out being asked. "Freshmen are required to perform OF THEIR VICTIMS. all reasonable errands for any su perior. "Freshmen shall not run In the col lege yard nor up and down stairs, nor call to any one through a college win dow." In the "Ancient Laws and Liber ties" of Harvard similar restrictions upon the freshmen are found. Among them are: "No freshman shall wear his hat In the college yard unless it rains, halls or snows, provided he be on foot and have not both hands full. "Freshmen are to consider all other classes as their seniors. "No freshman shall speak to a senior with his hat on, nor have It on in a senior's room, nor in his own If a senior be there. . "When any person knocks at a fresh man's door, except In studying time, he shall immediately open the door without Inquiring who is there." Fighting Freshman Sustained. The death blow to the hat law and most of these other absurd regulations was Btruck over 100 years ago, when Levi Hedge, who was afterward a fa mous professor, threatened to knock down a senior who demanded that be remove his hat The trouble was brought before the president of Har vard for adjudication and he decided In favor of Freshman Hedge. Although these regulations were early overthrown the spirit underlying them was kept alive and frequently mani fested Itself tn the mistreatment of members of the freshmen class. Tho new college men were "smoked out," taken from bctl at midnight and doused under the town pump, painted with green or red paint, made to eat or drink rile combinations, blindfolded and made to run three or four miles, made to sing or dance or deliver orations, while very often they were shorn of their hair completely. There have been many instances of the most vicious kinds of practices.. Young men have been thrown into rivers or lakes, head ed up in barrels and rolled down hill, etc. Occasionally freshmen havt re sisted the perpetration of these out rages. Revolvers have been drawn by both sides, but when the freshman who was thus inclined to defend himself has been caught unarmed he has often been made to pay dearly for his self-defense. . With the progress of education and civilization these practices have be come less common in many of the large universities, but that they still exist to some extent and in their worst form is evident from the developments in the West Point case. This fact led an old college man to remark the other day: "The time has come when the brutal college hazer should be treated In ex actly the same way as any other crim inal. No effort should be spared either by the college or civil authorities to catch the culprits and when appre hended they should be given the full penalties allowed by the law. If a few of the young wretches, who are nothing but brutes in human form, were sent to the penitentiary as they should be for five or ten years It would have a most salutary effect upon college hazing." AMERICAN POETS LONG-LIVED. With Some Exceptions, Our Bnrda Have Reached the Allotted Age. A most striking fact is the longevity of our poets. The typical American poet when nn; thinks Cf !t SUd 210- tlces the faces that look down from his library walls is found to be an aged, hoary man, says Oscar Lovell Teiggs In the Forum. Of the eight poets pic tured on the frontispiece, six are gray beards and incline to baldness and of the' black-haired heads, Lanier lived to be 39 and Poe to be 40. " No American poet has had the advantage of John Keats of dying young with still enough nPCnmnllah ft Tia pninnapul isrlfK v i.i. nil 11 .- Shakspeare on the ground of his prom ise. Aiany lair nopes centered in Cora Fabrl, Anne Aldrlch and Winifred .Howells, the youngest of the sister hood to lay down their pens; but their work was too incomplete to give prophecy of their maturity. Joseph Rodman Drake at 25, Stephen Crane at 29, James Berry Bensel at 30 and Francis Brooks at 31 had hardly begun their true poetic career. Probably our llteraure sustained Its greatest loss In the death of Richard Hovey, who was destined to accomplish great works and to win high renown; it 36 he was Just prepared for bold adventure. . Tluirod and Emma Lazarus had fulfilled much of their promise at 38. Edward Row lands Sill and Buy ard Taylor,--whose premature deaths were much lamented, l-n4 i. m M. A n 1 Ktv l uuki j ci nine ui vu.uiiu oo io accom plish not a little well-rounded and well- proportioned work. Longfellow, Low ell, Whitman, Story and Halleck en tered the 70th; Emerson reached the 80th mark: while Freneau, Whittier, Holmes and Bryant passed It. Dana lived on Into the 00th. CimA fAnr nAnolltnn 111. ' T t .owiuo icn Bcuoinvc Matures, .iiKe roe and Richard Realf, suffered pain and travail, largely the fault of their pe culiar temperament; Ill-health affected the output of some; the Civil War cut' short the lives of several; accident closed a few careers; and four suffered violent death at their own hands. But for the great majority the currents of life ran smoothly, and, save the or dinary incidents of change, they lived In serenity of spirit A Female Electrician. Mrs. Ayrtou, who Is well known for her researches In the field of electricity, hnd the honor the other evening of din ing with the 800 members and guests of the Institution of Electrical Engineers at the Hotel Cecil, In London. Her presence brought up the novel question how she should be recognized by the speakers at the dinner. The earlier speakers said, "My lords, lady, and gentlemen," which sounded odd. The Lord Chief Justice improved on this with "My lords, Mrs. Ayrton, and gen tlemen," while Sir John Wolfe Bnrrv struck out the formula, "My lords, mad am, and trentlempn." Mrs Atrtnn f - - j ivu n" uiu time ago Justified her election to mem bership by a thoroughly scientific es say, "On the Hissing of the Electric Arc," a subject which she still further Investigated, and on which she read a paper, in completion of her Inquiry, at the recent meeting of the institution In Paris. , - The Largest Incubator. New South Wales has not only the largest duck farm in the common wealth, but also probably the largest Incubator In the world. The farm and . incubator are situated at Botany, near Sydney, the latter, according to a Syd ney paper, having a capacity of 11,440 duck eggs, or 14,080 hen eggs. It Is not necessary that it should be filled at any one time. The eggs can be put In nt Intervals, as they are available. With fifty eggs only It will works Just as well as If It were filled. The Incubator wa dwtgncd nnd constructed by Its pro prietor, with the aid of an ingenious local mechanic. A woman's beauty Is nevr consider ed a good recommendation by another woman. Matrimony often means a month of honey and years of vinegar. - i- - , . 7 I v - '