PAGfl FOUR.
ASTORIA, OREGON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1904.
Clie morning flstori an
ESTABLISHED 1873
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DISCOURAGING CRIMINALS.
Neit to the murderer and the rapist, the robber is
the worst of all criminals. As a rule, the man who
will undertake a robbing expedition will also take
human life if there is any occasion to do so. Dis
covered in the act of wrongfully possessing himself
of the property of another, he will use his gun, and
when he shoots he does so with the purpose of kill
ing. Few men commit murder for the satisfaction
which the crime affords them. Usually murders are
committed by men who are surprised at some lesser
crime. .
The attorney who appeared for Jay N. Saylor,
sentenced to four years' imprisonment from this
county on Thursday, can not be scored for his plea
in behalf of the unfortunate young man. The at
torney asked the clemency of the court, on the
ground that his client was young and indiscrete.
This is part of the business of an attorney; it is
quite as essential that a case be properly defended
as properly prosecuted. In no other way can the
ends of justice be subserved.
But it is gratifying to know that the plea fell
upon deaf ears in Judge McB ride's court, and also
gratifying to note the comments of the court upon
the case. Crime, said Judge McBride, has become too
general to justify any leniency, and the court passed
sentence within one year of the maximum. Saylor
might have been sentenced to a term of five years,
and he was sentenced to a four-year term.
Everyone will sympathize with the unfortunate
young man whose career has started so badly. It is
regrettable that any man, young or old, should land
in the state prison. He is an object of pity and it
is to be hoped that, upon the expiration of his sen
tence, he will begin life anew with better results.
Yet the attitude of the court toward criminals is
very proper. Had leniency .been exercised in the
ease of young Saylor, other erring young men might
have been influenced to follow in his footsteps. When
it becomes generally known that our courts mean
to deal harshly with wrongdoers, the tendency to
ward crime will be lessened, and the world will be the
t letter for it. As to the plea of the youth of the
offender, the court very properly overlooked it. Most
of our very worst criminals range in age from 17
to 23 years, and they are the men who should be
most rigidly dealt with.
not that some one may find on the earth's surface
the point of greatest latitude and no longitude, but
because it will mean a more definite knowledge of
conditions, of life, of temperature, of ocean cur
rents, of depth of water, and of prevailing winds.
This is all information that has practical applica
tion. It enriches the world's knowledge, because it
makes known facts that are now unknown. In the
field of science the value of such knowledge would
be well worth all the expense an 3 hardships of the
expedition.
THE DIVORCE PROBLEM.
The Examiner, always outspoken in its sentiment
against divorce, contributes this additional argument
in favor of the sacredness of the marriage vows:
George Meredith, the English novelist, has turned
teacher. He says:
. "Some day the present-day conditions of marriage
will be changed, and marriage will be allowed for a
certain period, perhaps 10 years,"
Then Mr. Meredith utters other drivel of a like de
gree of imbecility.
Meredith is 76 years old. If he is sincere, age has
made of him an old fool And there is no fool like
an old fool.
But when novelists find the crowd passing them
by they have a way of attempting the role of re
formers, and they usually reform on those lines that
will bring notice and notoriety.
The business of a novelist is to tell stories. As a
philosopher he is usually an ass. But assume that
Meredith is sincere it is a hard thing to do his
proposition is as disgusting as it is absurd. Civil
ization and morality are founded on its contradiction
His plan is merely throwing a coat of respectability,
in the shape of a custom legalized by law over
vice, and calling it virtue.
In spite of the frequency of divorce in America
there is a decent sentiment in favor of the inviolabil
ity of the marriage contract The healthy American
loves his home, ne guards his wife and children as
his supreme possessions, ne will fight for them, kill
for them and die for them.
His children are, in his mind, not the wards of the
state, as Meredith senilely suggests, but his own flesh
and blood.
There is nothing more beautiful than the love of
the old husband for his old wife. Yet Meredith would
have them totter into a divorce court, announce that
they had lived out their 10 years of marriage and
each go away alone, the old man seeking a new wife,
the old woman a new husband.
The American believes in the home, the sacredness
of marriage, and he believes that any man advocat
ing free divorce is either a fakir or a fool.
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"The Store That Does Things." i
IMEN'S OUTFITTERSl
P. A. STOKES
OVERCOATS
PRACTICAL POLAR EXPLORATION.
A proposed north pole expedition under the aus-
pices of some French scientists is described in the
Independent, says the Post-Intelligencer. It hasn't
the mere reaching the pole itself as an object. Its
fret purpose is scientific investigation and explora
tion. The expedition is to consist of two ships, each
of which is to be a remodeled and reconstructed
Fram, the wonderful little vessel that carried Nansen
across the Polar sea. They will be equipped with
wireless telegraphy, and though carried apart by the
drift of ice, they will be in constant communication
' with each other.
When the Siberian drift was found on the eastern
coast of Greenland, Nansen came to the conclusion
that there was a current from the northern coast of
Asia right across the pole. He proved the correct
ness of his theory by subsequently drifting over the
region in the ice. The value of his expedition was in
the soundings, which proved a deep Polar basin
covered on the surface with broken and drifting
floes, and the general trend of the current. Mr.
Charles Benard, a French naval officer, has studied
Nansen 's voyage and the chart showing his drift in
the Fram. He has elaborated further the theories of
Nansen. He accounts for the current that flows
across the northern ocean, and has attempted to chart
it more definitely, with the object of sending out
the expedition noted above. The whole mass of ice
and water circulates. Warm water enters the Arctic
between Iceland and Norway. The cold water pours
ut along the east coast of Greenland. This causes
a motion eastward along the Siberian coast to about
the 150th meridian, where the current bends north
and flows back right over the pole itself. This flow
is accelerated by the contributions of the great Siber
ian and American rivers and by the weight of the
confined mass of ice and snow, resting as it does on
the water. ' - -
The success of the proposed expedition is desired,
THE BOY AND THE GIRL.
It has not been many months since an eastern court
decided that a boy was much more valuable than a
girl.. In the case at issue several children were
killed in a street-car collision. Suits for damages
followed, the court awarding greater amounts in the
cases instituted by the parents of the boy than in
those started by the parents of the girl. In effect,
the court ruled that the boy was more valuable than
the girl that his earning capacity was greater, and
that he would develop into something more sub
stantial than would come with development of the
girl. However, there are two sides to the case, and
no less an authority than the Saturday Evening
Post readily figures it that the girl is the better
creature of the two. Its idea of the matter is sub
mitted for the benefit and satisfaction of those who
could not find consolation in the decision of the
court above referred to: .
When the czar's little girls were born each was
welcomed with a salute of a hundred guns, and the
natives felt like putting on mourning. When the
boy was born the salute was three hundred guns and
the nation "went wild" with joy. Here, of course,
was an amusing survival of the ancient days when
the tenant of the throne got his seat by winning it
and held by deserving it. But isn't there, even in
some very sensible families and among some very
enlightened people, a sneaking survival of the notion
that a boy baby is worth three hundred guns and
a girl a grudging, for-politeness-sake, hundred!
Yet, so far as the solid benefit to the parents is
concerned, a boy isn't to be compared with a girl.
The boy is turbulent and mischievous, a trial and
an anxiety, and finally marries and belongs to his
wife s family. But the girl she helps to make the
home during her unmarried life, and when she mar
ries her home is an extension of the one she left.
A boy can make his parents proud. A girl can
make them both proud and comfortable.
Lieutenant Peary thinks of making one more trip
to the polar regions. When a man gets the Arctic
exploration habit it is very hard to swear off.
The youth of the country is now compelled to
read about the Trojan war when it would prefer to
be getting the latest news from Port Arthur.
9
The Chicago prediction that wheat will be.worth
$2 a bushel promises larger holes than ever through
the loaf of baker's bread.
The Japanese are amazed at Russia's stupidity in
not knowing when it is surrendering time.
We have 'em from the
short top coat to the pop
gular
breasted
lengths. Made from neat,
catchy patterns, such as will
appeal to all good dressers,
belted-back, double
fifty-two inch
and price w
o
t matter.
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a secondary
$7.50
TO
$30.00
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ml l
K A
HinSduffr fi
Men's Suits
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This is the department 0
we take especial pride in q
calling your attention to. q
Here we have everything
that is worth mentioning O
in the "Sartorial" world, g
We are showing some hand- 8
some suitings in browns and 9
grays, both in the homenpun g
and worsted effects. To
buy a suit here is to be 9
fashionably dressed. g
One Price to All 3
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$IO.OO to
$30,00
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P. A. STOKES
"The Store That Does Things."
MEN'S OUTFITTERS
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THINGS 8EEN AND UNSEEN.
National Prosperity Not the Great De
siderstum.
The one killing, blasting superstition
of the age, the blight which him fallen
upon human thought, the mildew which
works the decay of social morality, In
the asumptlon that nothing li of con
sequence In this world which cannot
be discerned by the seniles; that no
knowledge Is certain or precious but the
knowledge which is derived from expe
rimental reasoning; that no possessions
are of much account which cannot be
turned Into things measurable and pon
derable. It underlies much of our mod
ern education, which sets before Itself
no other aim than that of qualifying
the person receiving It to accumulate
material wealth. Now and then some
small philosopher thinks he has made
a perfectly conclusive point against
a college education when he points out
that very few of our contemporary plu
tocrats have reeclved such an educa
tion. The inevitable reply of every
truly educated man has not occurred to
him, that no man upon whom a col
lege education had not been wasted
could every by any poslblllty be found
in such a class. Sensible men who are
accumulating wealth know when they
have enough. But such a philosopher
understands the public to which he
speaks, and knows that his argument
will be accepted as unanswerable by
the great majority. Why, indeed, they
ask, should any man seek an education
if it does not qualify him for greater
success In accumulating the things
which are seen? And what is success,
if it Is not tho heaping up of these
visible and tangible evidences of ma
terial prosperity? Washington Glad
den, D. D.
PACIFIC LUTHER
AN ACADEMY
AND BUSINESS
COLLEGE
We do not attempt to advertise
all the particular advantages of
this school. If you wish to learn
of them write for bur catalogue,
which is sent free on application.
Address,
DEPARTMENT B,
PACIFIC LUTHERAN ACADEMY.
Parkland, Wash.
AN ASTORIA PRODUCT
Tale Bohemian Hccr
Best In Tho Northwest
North Pacific Brewing Co.
Staple and Fancy Groceries
FLOUR, FEED, PROVISIONS, TOBACCO AND CIGARS.
8upplles of All Kinds at Loeit Priest tor Flshtrmsn, Farmer
and Loggers.
Branch JUnlontown, Phones, 711, Union town, 713
A. V. ALLEN,
Tenth and Commercial Streets. ASTORIA, OREGON.
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PLUMBING and TINNING
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supply- of
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