Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1906)
LINCOLN COUNTY LEADER CHAt. P. ABA B. SOULS. Fab, j TOLEDO OREGON Football,' for lack of A better name to describe It, is still designated as a port Doctors will doubtless agree with that London scientist who asserts that disease Is a blessing. Too many men allow their religion to hang in the closet through the week with their Sunday clothes. Some of the watchdogs of our na tional banking system seem to have lost the faculty of finding and follow ing the scent. Just to show what heroes they are, ome of the life Insurance experts an nounce that they carry policies In their own companies. It is, expected, meanwhile, that the forests will remain in their place until the courts have decided whether or not they are to be preserved. In Japan Admiral Togo Is fondly re ferred to as a lobster. The admiral Is small man physically and can't fight much except when he Is on bis ship. It Is asserted, on the other hand, that big hats for women are not going out of fattUiuu. The report that they were, doubtless, was started by some designing masculine person. "Three saved by chewing gum'' is the head over a news Item. It seems that the three used chewing gum to plug a hole In their canoe. Then they were saved by not chewing It, after 11. Russia's bad way. never ' could be more forcefully Illustrated than by the lamentable fact that the stroke of one man's pen could open the dungeons where political prisoners have been left for years to wither and die. Professor Wiley proposes to test the effects of cold storage food on the hu man system. It is to be hoped that he will try the cold storage egg himself, o that he may speak from personal experience Instead of merely observing its effect ou some hired man. About half a century ago England took notice of one fleet only, the French. Now things have changed. Japan has revealed her naval power; Italy has a fairly good navy; WU helm II. rules over Germany and has announced that the country's future welfare must be sought for on the seas; the United States wish to have no rivals' on the ocean and Russia is beginning to rebuild her fleet. This continent Is no longer the scene of the most striking innovation; Amor, lea is an old story. Africa 1b the new world. The French are stretching a telegraph wire from the Mediterra nean across the Sabnra to Timbuktu. The wire has already reHched the Tuat oases. It will pass thence to the Ahag gar Mountains, where live the Tuareg bandits, and so Into a country which a few years ago was extremely dan gerous to an avowed Christian. No matter how profound and learned lawyer may be, he seems to be In capable of drawing his own will so that It will not be set aside. This was the fate of Samuel .T. Tilden's will, and now we are informed that the will of Chief Justice Edward M. Paxon of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, be queathing J.1,000,000 for the establish ment of a farm school for boys, Is void for such an obvious defect as the ab sence of subscribing witnesses. Some times It looks as If people who know how to make money never know any thing else. There are men who have never been detected In wrong-doing whose per formances are nevertheless so hostile to the public welfare or so acceptable to self-seekers that their honesty Is Impugned and their patriotism dis counted. Any prosecuting officer will testify that there is nothing In the whole catalogue of crimes so difficult to trace as political corruption, noth ing so difficult to fix as bribery. The public should not wait for proofs. The Tote should not wait for evidence. It Is not only essential that public men have their dishonesty unproved, but that they be men of such proved hon esty and absolute Integrity that no breath of suspicion has ever tainted their reputations. A friend of the editor asks this ques tion: "Why do Americans as a rule go after the dollar harder than Euro peans?" Plainly, because dollars will buy more In this country than In Eu rope. Dollars will buy some things there, but here they will buy every thing that is worth buying. In Eu rope It makes no difference how much money a man has, nor how decent his character, neither be nor his family can amount to anything In particular. He must'.be born to the manner. Else the door of opKrtunlty Is closed. In this country. If h is the right sort of a man, he enn buy freedom from fear and worry, recognition. Independence. He can aspire to be and become all that any other American can aspire to become. And that is why our critics across the waters fail to understand us. Years ago they called us a nation of shopkeepers. They can see us only as dollar chasers. ' Rut the fact Is we want money because of the things it will buy. We do not hoard It. We are royal spenders. Of course there are some among us who believe that money will buy nnythlng content ment, happiness, or even character. They learn differently. Rut surely It Is not altogether an unworthy motive that -we should desire money that we may minister to the wellbelng of those whom we are fond of. It Is not a sor did desire, this one of wanting money to educate our children and give them a chance In life better than our chance. And that Is why Fritz and Patrick and Nels and Antonio and Moses, wben they come to us over sea, Join with us In the dollar chase. It Is only when we begin to long for dollars we cannot use that we become money mad. The American wants dollars for what they will buy and be buys what he wants. There Is close relation between be lief and reasoning, but there could be no greater error than to suppose that reasoning is the only thing that can produce beliefs' and that all of our be liefs are the result of reasoning. Most people would feel tnfnilted If fold that they believe anything whatever with out reason, and yet the truth is that of all the beliefs that exist In any human mind not one In a thousand bas been produced by reasoning and not one In a million by Investigation, re flection and reasoning. The greater part of our most cherished convictions are Inserted In us ready made, Just as a cartridge Is Inserted In a gun or a box put'lnto a wagon. This Is easily prov ed by asking people why they believe certain things. In most cases it will be surprising to see how they are em barrassed by the question and what trifling and Inconsequential replies they make. Sometimes they become Impatient and Indignant and intimate that what they believe is self-evident, or they say: "Any foot knows that." They drop the subject as soon as they can, but not until they have made It evident that they believe without rea son and without ever attempting to reason. How, then, do we come to be lieve certain things? Evidently by mere Imitation or by a sort of hypnotic suggestion. In childhood and youth we believe everything we hear. What ever Is constantly said in our homes or by our associates we Install among our settled convictions and retain them long after we have forgotten when, where and from whom we first heard them. We are as passive In re ceiving these impressions as a colt Is In getting used to harness. We would naturally suppose that convictions that were acquired so easily would be Just as easily upset and abandoned, but It Is Just the reverse. The beliefs which we have acquired we know not how and which we are at a loss to defend are exactly those that are most lnvlu cmle. We would at least expect them to melt away before strong argument, but argument has no effect on them. Argument will often overthrow and re verse beliefs which were acquired by argument, but these beliefs which are foisted upon us hypnotically do not yield to reasoning. These traditional beliefs cannot be said to be an evil. The fact Is our very life Is founded on them and governed by them and we could not live without them. Life is too short for everything to be rea soned out. We must be set up in busi ness with an immense stock of ready made convictions or else we would be more helpless than the brute creation. They are valuable also for the very reason that they cannot be over thrown, for without this quality there would be absolutely no stability In hu man character. On the other hand, It Is obviously absurd to reason that cer tain opinions and beliefs are well founded because they are widespread and of great antiquity. A belief may be perpetuated from generation to gen eration in an ever-widening circle for thousands of years and even become universal without ever having a parti cle of fact or logic for Its basis. That we can never entirely free ourselves from lnvoluutary beliefs Is certain, and that we would perish If we were deprived of them is certain also, and yet our safety depends on keeping them In check by reasoning and Inves tigation. We must be continually sloughing off our groundless beliefs or we shall be completely swamped by them. This is not an attractive pic ture of human nature, but it Is a faith ful lueness. Papa'a Viewpoint. Her Father What are your pros pects, sir? The Suitor (modestly) I am fifth vice president of the Braien Assur ance Society. Her Father Well, you may come and see me again, If the Jury acquits you! Puck. Paper Shaving- for Bed. In several places In Frussia, expert menu are being made with a some what novel material for soldiers' beds, namely, shavings of paper about three centimetres broad and several hundred metres long. These are stuffed Into bags on which the soldiers He. They are said to be more comfortable than straw and more springy. Straw beds, moreover, must be changed every six 'months. These new beds of paper shavings need changing only once In two or three years. Farming; by Night. In order to demonstrate that. If nec essary, agricultural operations can be carried out day and night continuously with gasoline motor, an interesting trial was recently carried out In Eng land on a farm near Biggleswade. A field was Illuminated by acetylene gas, and two 6-foot mowers were attached to an Ivel gasoline tracter. Under these conditions fifteen acres were cut la the short time of 3 hours 35 minutes. New Active Volcano la Nevada. A volcano throwing off molten lava has been discovered In Nevada. The volcano Is in Rye Patch, Humboldt County. Although that section has been traversed for years the crater has Just been found. The men were In search of cattle when they came on the stream of lava, and, tracing it to Its source, found the volcano. , One of the largest and most famous trees In England Is the Cowthorpe oak, thus named from the town wherein It stands. It Is gradually decaying and disappearing, although it still puta forth green leaves every year. Like other giant trees In a state of decay, Its trunk seems to be sinking Into the ground. About 200 years ago It was 78 feet in girth at the ground level, and 80 feet high. Now It is but little more than 64 feet In girth at the ground, and only 37 feet high. China Is so well suited by natural conditions for the production of silk that even the most antiquated and un scientific methods cannot deprive her of the first rank In that Industry. In Japan everything connected with the silk business is scientifically regulated. No silkworm Is allow to hatch unless the egg has passed a scientific Inspec tion. The mulberry trees are cultiva ted on scientific principles. Similar methods are pursued In other countries where silk Is produced. But In China rthese things are almost entirely disre garded, and yet China keeps near the head In production. Her undeveloped resources in this Industry are so enor mous that Mr. Anderson, our consul at Amoy, predicts that when China adopts modern methods she Will give a new turn to the silk business of the world. Quallfled to Practice. When the late Secretary Hay was crossing the Atlantic In 1805 on his way to Paris to serve as secretary of legation he told the following anecdote to one of his fellow travelers. On ap plying for admission to the bar of Illinois he was summoned to appear before a commfttee of prominent Chi cago lawyers to be examined ns to his qualifications. He went to the place appointed and found the committee assembled; but for a long time they took no notice of the young candidate, but continued talking vigorously together on various subjects. At last one of the lawyers, turning to him, snid: "Mr. Hay, what would you do If a client should come to you with such a case as this?" and proceeded to de scribe very elaborately a complicated legal case. "I should ask for a retaining fee of fifty dollars," promptly replied Mr. Hay, "and tell -ini to call to-morrow." "Mr. Hay, you are admitted," said the gentleman, and with a hearty laugh from all present the proeeed- 'lngs closed. Very Foraretful. Clergyman I'd like to pay a fitting tribute to your husband's memory. Widow He didn't have any mem ory; he couldn't remember to mall a letter. Social Problem. Lumber Yard Lem I hain't seen Weary Willie around lately. Seven-League Saunders No; he's disguised himself' as a college profes sor an' llvlu' In one ' dem. He's golu' to write a magazine article on Celr lives au' habits." Puck.' i TRUE CAUSE OF THANKSGIVING. By Rv. Percy Trafford Olton. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and for get not all His benefits. Psalms clil., 2. One of the frequent causes of our failure to have the thankful spirit Is forgetfnluess of past benefits. Con cerning the past the majority of peo ple try either to forger It altogether or they try to live In It altogether. Both are equally wrong. It is not In tended that we should live only to for get, nor Is it meant that we should live only to remember. The past Is a book in which we re cord the experiences of our Journey and to which we can refer for guid ance and comfort as we. press on through the unknown future. And when the day's travel happens to be through a barren and cheerless coun try, we should be able to turn to those pages which record days of great blessing wben we were passing through a land flowing' with milk and honey. But we are so apt to forget the ben efits of the past. When we come to the end of a day's Journey and sit own to enter Its experience how readily do we record the disagreeable things the disappointments, the vex ations, the crosses that have been met with. Somebody has passed us trav eling in ease and luxury while we tramped on foot; somebody has spok en an unkind word or has done us an injury; somebody has gone by that day with head erect and smiling face, while we staggered under the burden of a heavy cross, with the pain of a great sorrow cutting like a knife into our soul, and we pour out the bitter ness of our life on the pages of our book of memory. All that has not been as we would like is carefully entered, and as we sit there and turn over the pages of the book we find entries similar to the one we have Just made records of trials and disappointments and hard ships and reading them it seems as If there was no other soul in the wide world whose lot could be more cheer less and desolate than ours. We have no song of praise, for there is no melody In our hearts; we cannot say "Bless the Lord, O my soul," for we feel that for us there Is no special reason for thanksgiving. Why is it thus? It is because we have forgot ten to make notes of the benefits. Oh, the patience and long suffering of God! Truly, He can say of us as He said concerning the children of Israel: "How long will this people pro voke Me, and how long will It be ere they believe Me for all the signs which I have showed unto them?" He has led us step by step through the wilderness; He has provided for our every need, and j-et we are con stantly doubting His wisdom and goodness; we will not call, to remem brance His unfailing providence. Let us look back and see how great and manifold have been the blessings. There is no child of God who has not abundant reason to thank God for past benefits. If we will but look over the past and count up some of the Innum erable blessings a great wave of praise and thanksgiving will sweep over our souls, and out of overflowing hearts there will burst forth the song of the psalmist of old: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that Is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all Ills benefits." MEN VS. MODELS. By Rev. Henry F. Cope. But he himself went a day's Jour ney into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a Juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die. I. Kings xlx., 4. One thing about all the Old Testa ment heroes endears them to the av erage man; they were so average themselves; they had enough leaven of earth to make us feel they belong to us. Here Is this old ginnt, rock like prophet Elijah, throwing himself down under a bush, sulking In a pet like a a child. He who stood before kings and armies flees from a scolding wom an. No matter how much be was to blame we are glad he did It; it Is Just what we would have done. Only a nature capable of great heights can be thrown Into such depths of despondency. There are no waves on puddles. The shallow na ture Is always calm. The great waves rise where there are great depths. A mailer nature than Elijah's would have maintained Its dignity. Too many superficial thinkers look far all saints to be on precisely the same pattern; they expect all heaven's heroes to be as much alike as two church angels. They have standards of the ideal religious mnn by which they measure all men. Being created by preclsionlsts their ideals are of tho emasculated, milksop type, possessed only of negative virtues, the product of a process that robs a man of all his individuality and leaves him with as much stamina and character as a, pint of boiled water. The Creator never builds with bricks, nor ever makes two pieces of rock precisely alike. Uniformity is a human foible. True religion Is not a quarry where the rough rocks are hewn to one sice and shape, still less Is it a brickyard where men are made pliable as clay before being baked into rectangular prisms. The Ideal religious man does not lose his per sonality, temper, or passions; the thlngs that mark and distinguish htm are not taken out; they are brought Into holler service. They are not treat ed as faults to be eradicated, but a forces to be developed and ennobled. If some men had had the making of Elijah they would have snipped and curried him down until he was as In nocent of individuality as a newly fledged theological student. They would have trimmed bis whiskers and put a white tie on him. They would have taught him to subdue his voice and to suppress bis vigorous action. Instead of running before the king's chariot he would have learned to walk softly, like an old family cat. And, by that time, Elijah would have learn ed better than to throw himself down under a tree In anger. To do so would muss his clothes. Instead, he would be able to put his hands together, roll his eyes upward, and quote poems on resignation. The mechanical gaugers of religious character are Inexpressibly shocked to find a man who persists In maintain ing any of the rugged excrescences of his old nature. They cannot under stand the cowboy who wants tq whoop when he feels religious, nor the miner who can go to meeting Iq flannel shirt, nor the doctor who is too busy reliev ing pain to go tochurch, nor any of the men who express their religion so thoroughly In doing good that they have no inclination to spend one day in expressing It by feeling good. Piety Is not a process of robbing men of personality; it Is a power that takes and develops a man according to what he naturally Is. It does not conventionalize; it converts; it simply swings all the great forces of the life into new directions. The forces per sist. Whatever was strongest for evil In the mnn will now be strongest for good. So that no two live men are alike, even religiously. Religion does not make models; It makes men. No model ever did any thing toward making this world. There are no model men In the Bible; they nre all rugged Individuals, each going his own way. The greatest of them nil was far, Indeed, from a model In the eyes of the standardlzers of his day. Let a man be himself and he is most likely to please his God; let him with all his peculiar powers seek to serve his God and help his fellows. If he is an Elijah let him not try to be a pretty parlor picture. Better be n faulty man than a flawless model. SHORT METER SERMONS. Care calls to prayer. Love and laws rule the world. Many of our crosses come from our crooked ways. Some men think that grace grows by grumbling. Most doubts would die if we did not dodge them. Happiness rsts on thoughts more than on things. Only those who love the world can live above it. The flnnlcky man always thinks he alone Is faithful. Giving with grunting may be worse than withholding. Holiness without heart is but a hin drance to humanity. The man who Jumps at conclusions seldom lands on facts. A man can He with his tone while his tongue tells the truth. The robe of righteousness Is not the same as the cloth of the clergy. Some churches that claim to be working for men are only working men. Never put off to tomorrow tha meanness you might as well glva up to-day. Nothing hurts the feelings of ths stuffed martyr worse than letting him alone. Too many sermons are attempts to feed the people on cook books tnataal of on bread.
