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.