3.
OREGON
UN
ON
'
TARIFF FOR REVENUE, INCIDENTAL PROTECTION AND SOUND MONEY.
VOL. I.
CORVALLTS, BENTON COUNTY, OREGON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1897.
NO. 21.
liOr THREE TURKEYS
HOWTOLLIVER WON HISTHANKS
GIVING DINNER.
His Five Shots in the Gallery Result
in Only Two Misses -Proprietor Gives
H im One Bird and Pays Good Money
for the Others.
Boze a Good Shot.
Shooting for turkeys on Thanksgiving
is not confined entirely to the country.
Those people who recall the times in the
rural districts when they furbished up the
old squirrel rfle or the family shotgun and
attended an old-fashioned turkey shoot
' will be glad to know that there is a chance
to accumulate a bird by prowess in marks
manship right here in town. It came, this
knowledge, like a bright ray of sunshine
to "Boze" Tolliver. "Boze" hailed from
Missouri and he had been in Chicago a
year. Times were tough and he and "the
old woman" had hardly earned enough to
keep themselves and the family. "Boze",
had done teaming and odd jobs with his
horses, but the fact was that right before
Thanksgiving' "Pete had the cupboard,"
to use a Missouri phrase.
To be sure, "Boze" had half a dollar,
but that wouldn't provide a Thanksgiv
ing dinner for six hungry people. He
went out on the street and wandered
along about six blocks, trying to think
what he would get the most of for 50
cents. Presently he heard a sound some
thing like a bell ringing and a sound also
of shots. He looked across the street and
saw a shooting gallery, with quite a crowd
collected in and around the doorway, and
'he crossed the street rather aimlessly o
watch the sport for a minute. When he
got over there he saw that the crowd were
shooting for turkeys. He pushed his way
in and inquired the price of shots and the
rules of the contest. n'-. 5 .
Now, "Boze" was a famous shot''back
yon in Missouri," arid could bark a squir
rel with his rifle, or even kill a prairie
chicken when flying from him straight
away, and his mouth watered at the pros
pect of gaining a turkey by an exhibition
of skill with a rifle. He was told that
the price of shots was 10 cents apiece;
. that he must, ring the bell fairly on the
smallest target to win a turkey. The hole
on the smallest target was about as big
as a 22-caliber cartridge and was exceed
ingly difficult for even a practiced marks
man to Cnd.
Only one man won a turkey while
ENTITLED TO THREE TTTHKETS.
"Boze" watched the snooting and nearly
forty shots were fired. It was evident
that the proprietor was not losing money
on the hcheme.
"Boze" stood and watched. He did not
like the new fangled looks of "them ar
brieh-loiiders." Finally, as the crowd
thinned out soiue the proprietor said to
"Boze," "Want to try your luck?"
"Well. replied "Boze," "I hain't never
tried nary bricb-aoader, but ef you'll let
me shoot my own rifle I'll try yon a few."
"What caliber is your rifle?" said the
shooting gallery man.
"It's a Haw kens rifle," said "Boze."
"Oh! I mean how big a bullet does she
throw," said the proprietor.
"Oh!" said "Boze," "she kerries about
a hundred and twenty to the pound. It's
a powerful little bullet," .
"How many shots do you want to
take?" asked the gallery man.
"Well, I reckon about five," was the
reply. -
"Go ahead and get your gun," was the
proprietor's answer, and "Boze" walked
home and got out his artillery. It was a
typical squirrel rifle, with the "buck horn"
hind-sight, knife-blade front sight, cap
3
A THANKSGIVING DINNER
bax and patch box in the stock and car
rying a bullet scarcely larger than a pea.
"Boze" returned leisurely to the gal
lery after assuring his wife that he
"didn't aim to shoot ary feller." The
shooting gallery began to fill up to see the
muzzle-loader perform. "Boze" had meas
ured out the powder, carefully greased the
patch and pushed the ball home with the
hickory ramrod. He braced himself, took
careful aim and fired The ball barely
missed the center and the bell hummed
lightly. The Missourian loaded his rifle
carefully, nimed and firod again. This
time the bell ran? clear and true, the
crowd cheered and '"Boze" smilingly re
marked: "By cat, 1 reckon that gits a gob
bler." .
'.. He reloaded" his rifle tor a third shot
and, bringing the gun to his' shoulder for
third time, he fired and rang the bH
clearly again. The crowd by this time
was in ecstasies, all but the proprietor.
Even "Boze" was affected with a sense
of joyful hilarity and on .his fourth shot
he fired a trifle high.
Reloading his old standby for the fifth
and last shot he brought the gun up with
the steadiness pf machinery. At the crack
of the rifle the bell rang like a gong so
clearly had the bullet reached the center.
"Boze" was entitled to three turkeys.
. "Tell you what I'll do," said the pro
prietor., "I'D give you a " dollar and a
quarter apiece for two of 'tbse turkeys.
That will put you two dollars ahead, with
your Thanksgiving bird free and your
shooting costing you nothing."
"That's fair," said "Boze." "I kain't
fight over that."
So "Boze" returned home triumphant
with turkey and money and the Tollivers
had as big a feed as anyone. And all be
cause "Boze" had cultivated a knack for
rifle shooting. As he said to himself at
the diuner, with his utterance somewhat
choked with "stuffin':
"What a feller kin do hain't allays goin'
to do him good, but what a feller kin do
kin be depended on to come in sometimes.
It looks . to me thataway." Chicago
Chronicle.
Should Be Thankful.
Yes, there are gloomy aays of dark repining,
That sadly flit along on leaden wing,
And yet, somewhere, the sun Is always shin
ing, every winter surely ends In spring.
Yes. there Is pain and suffering neart-rend-Ing,
Aid pitiful old age, grown faint and gray;
Bui young Uvea some to crown the old lives'
ending
Think of the children In the world to-day!
Yes. there is war. God waits a littler longer
Ere he will nil this jarring strife subdue;
But- human life to-day was never stronger.
And human hearts were never half so true.
Yes, in each life there will be bitter "sorrows
But 'tis not long this space of mortal
breath;
There waits for each of us a grand to-morrow,
There waits for eaeh the kindly night of
. oeatn.
A world where sunbeams dance and birds
are singing,
Where violets never fall to come In May
Where little children's yoices sweet are ring-
lnK.
Where love shines steadfast on the darkest
way! . .
A world where dear life meets us, full of
eladness.
And guides our steps o'er easy paths and
steeo:
And where her smile has faded Into sadness.
Dear Death soothes every weary heart to
sleep. m
Beyond our sight the angels are rejoicing,
They staud around the- throne In shining
ranks;
On. let us Join the song that saints are
voieliiir.
He Is our Father let us. too. give thanks:
The Housewife.
Gla 1 Tilings Are No Worse.
"Lampton, have you any special cause
for thanksgiving this year?
"Yes, sir; I'm glad one turkey Is enough
for a man and wife and six children.
Chicago Record.
Comparative Joys.
"Have you much to be thankful for this
year, Grumpy t
'Well something. I m thankful that
AND MONEY
BURN.
they can't
than they
months."
make it any
have during
tougher for me
the last twelve
The Real Reason.
"Jimmie," asked the Sunday
teacher, "why is it that so many
are grateful on Thanksgiving?"
school
people
" 'Cause that's the time they alius gets
turkey." Detroit Free Press.'' .
Although you are this time of the year
The theme of many a loast
From lips of those who love you dear,
You also got a roast.
Judge.
Herbert I "like Thanksgiving dinner
the best of any in the year. Aunt Jane
How is that? Herbert- Because it is so
good that I never want the dessert first.
Truth,
TO
GIVING THANKS.
A quaint, brown bouse, Just out of town
We young folks know the way;
'Tls there, each year, with Grandma Dow,
We keep Thanksgiving day.
A host of uncles, cousins, aunts.
Gathered from far and near.
The wanderer from home returns
To greet his kindred dear.
So great the crowd, so small the house,
'Tls full to bursting, quite;
But grandma says, "There's room for all
Who may with us unite."
And 'round the cheerful hearth where we.
As children, loved to play.
With many a merry song and Jest
We keep Thanksgiving day.
Then "ting-a-ling," the dinner bell
Summons us, one and all;
To hasten to the laden board.
Nor wait the second call.
The turkey, roasted to a turn.
The place of honor takes;
Here, too, such doughnuts, puddings, pies.
As only grandma makes. ,
And seated thus, each one recounts -
The blessings of the year:
The dangers passed, the hearts made glad
We give attentive ear.
Then on the youngest papa calls:
"Come, Ned, 'tls your turn now."
Cries Ned, "I's thankful as can be
That we's got Grandma Dow!"
Good Housekeeping. -
SOMETHING ABOUTTHE DAY.
The Thanksgiving Festival Was Long
of a Peripatetic Natnre.
HANKSGIVING
till as late as 1080,
nearly sixty years
after its idea - was
first suggested, was
eminently a movable
feast, liable to occur
at any time from
January to Decem
ber and in any place
throughout the colo
nies, wherever - the
various inhabitants
felt gratitude to be a becoming emotion.
Instead, too, of a general expression of
thanks, as is now the custom, they ren
dered up thanks in detail on one occa
sion it would be in return for much-needed
rain, then for triumph over the Indians
and again for the safe landing of the Eng
lish supply ships. One time, indeed, in
July, 1021, when rain finally came after
a prolonged period of drought and prayer,
they appointed a thanksgiving of one
week in duration.
Were such a peripatetic Thanksgiving
to come in vogue again it would be quite
a shock to us of this generation, with our
pre-established notions of Thanksgiving
as inseparable from roast turkey, cran
berry sauce and pumpkin pie. Fancy sit
ting down to our Thanksgiving dinner in
April when- we might esteem ourselves
lucky if we were furnished with aspara
gus as a delicacy and rhubarb pie as a
dessert, for if we had been pilgrims or
even Massachusetts Bay colonists we
would have been obliged to choose be
tween taking what the soil produced or
going without, these present happy days
of a whole Florida garden being landed
by express at our doors in midwinter not
being yet on the American program. Or
imagine the Thanksgiving dinner of July,
1021, partaken of perhaps to the delight
ful accompaniment of the patter of the
rain for which they had so fervently pray
ed and with green corn as the piece de
resistance, or that Thanksgiving in June,
1037, after victory over the Pequods.
when maybe strawberries garnished with
roses formed the menu. i.
On these occasions, though, the colonists
had evidently quite lost sight of the part
that the autumn harvest plays in the ob
servance tne prehistoric significance of
the festival, the season being with them
purely and simply a many-voiced thank
offering in acknowledgment of the better
ing of their condition. After it became an
annual auair it suppiantea m a measure
the English Christmas, whose celebration
was too riotous to meet their strict re
ligious notions this the puritanic Thanks
giving, supplying the unalloyed devout
ness which was the one thing they would
willingly have retained in the Christmas
of their forefathers.
As has been seen Thanksgiving day for
the first sixty years of its existence was
a hit-and-miss affair as to time and place,
and even after it had settled down into an
annual autumn festival if the people did
not feel particularly encouraged the ob
servance of it was liable to be omitted,
and it did not assume its national charac
ter till during the revolution, when Con
gress recommended the yearly appointing
of such a day. In spite of this, though,
in the years intervening between 1784
and 1789 there were no Thanksgiving
days. In lioM Washington issued a
Thanksgiving proclamation hTview of the
adoption of the Constitution and after
that to the time of Lincoln, the example
of the first President was intermittently
followed by his successors.
But only 3ince loos can Thanksgiving
be said to have been a fixed and universal
American custom, and in that year the
Governors of the different Southern
States united with their Eastern brother
officials in issuing Thanksgiving proclama
tions, and the example set' by Lincoln in
lsbd of issuing a Thanksgiving proclama
tion suggesting the last Thursday in No
vember as an appropriate day has been
followed since without break bv every oc
cupant of the presidential chair.
j.nough long in coming to its fulfillment,
like some fair oak tree that requires many
years of storm and sun to bring it to its
full beauty, Thanksgiving, the Sunday of
our national year, is now an imperishable
monument of the faith, the benevolence
and the softer graces so often averred
to have no existence in this practical
work-a-day American world.
A THANKSGIVING DINNER IN 1621.
Pilgrims' Banquet to Indian Chiefs
Was Fit to Set Before a King.
"The state dinner of the occasion the
real Thanksgiving dinner took place on
Saturday, the last day of the celebration,"
writes Clifford Howard of "The First
Thanksgiving Dinner" in America, in the
Ladies' Home Journal. "Notwithstand
ing that the kitchens of these wilderness
homes were sadly wanting in many of the
most common essentials of cookery, there
was no lack of good things nor of appetiz
ing dishes at this great feast. The earth,
the air and the water had yielded of their
bountiful supplies, and the good dames
had done honor to their skill and ingenuity
by setting before their hungry guests and
companions a repast as sumptuous and
tempting as it was varied and delightful.
Foremost of all there was roast turkey,
dressed with beechnuts; then came rare
venison pasties, savory ..meat stews with
dumplings of barley flour, delicious oys
ters (the trift of the Indians, and the first
ever tasted by the white men), great bowls
of clam chowder with sea biscuit floating
on the steaming broth, roasts of all kinds,
broiled fish, salads, cakes ad plum por
ridge; while the center of each of the long
tables was adorned with a large basket
overflowing with wild grapes and plums
and nuts of every variety.
"It was the time of the Indian summer.
The soft, mellow sunlight shone warmly
through the drowsy haze, illumining the
somber woodland with a rich golden light,
while the gentle winds of. the south, laden
with the sweet perfumes of the forest,
came as a lingering dream of summer to
add to the joy and brightness of this
Thanksgiving feast. Upon the balmy air
rose the hum of many voices and the
merry music of laughter, as the Pilgrims
with their Indian guests partook of the
feast th-it the Provider of all, things had
given them."
An Electrical Letter Carrier.
A very clever mail delivery box has
been placed in a number of the larger
buildings at Geneva, Switzerland, by
an enterprising electrician. This mail
box has a compartment for each of the
stories of the building;, and when the
letters are deposited on the ground uoor
the carrier delivers them as required.
The deposit of a single letter makes an
electric contact, which starts a bell go
ing on the respective floor, which does
not cease ringing until the letter is
taken out.
At the same time it opens the faucet
of a tank on the roof of the house,
which causes water to flow into the cyl
inder forming the counterweight of the
mail box elevator until the weight is
heavier than the box, when the box
ascends and the flow of water ceases
simultaneoulsy. As the box passes each
story the mall intended for it letters-,
papers and small packages falls into
boxes in the corridor on that floor. This
is performed very reliably by a little,
spring at the bottom of each compart
ment in the elevator mail box, which
causes the bottom of the compartment
to catch for a moment, and the release
throws out even a single piece of paper
thinner than a postal card into the sta
tionary box provided for its reception.
By its own weight the box descend
to its place on the ground floor. Should
by any mischance a single piece ef
paper have remained in the elevator,
upon striking the bottom it will at
once go through the same series of
movements as before. New York
Evening Journal.
Voice from the outsideHeah, I'se got
hold ob two ob de bigges' turkeys in de
coop, but dog ef dev ain' stronger den
I is.
The Wires Crossed.
NEWS OF THE WEEI'
From
all Parts of the
and Old World.
New
BRIEF AND INTERESTING ITEMS
Comprehensive Review of the Import
ant Happening's of the Gar-
rent Week.
Rear Admiral Alexander Golden
Rbind, U. S. N., is dead at his home
in New York city. He had been con
fined to his bed for five weeks,
The labsr troubles which have been
brewing in Randsburg, Cal., for soma
time culminated . Wednesday, when
about 100 members of the miners1
union went in a body to the Roxie
mine and peremptorily drove superin
tendent Clarke and five men out of the
camp for-working below the schedul
of tBe union.
- A new industry has started
la
Owensboro, Ky., with 100 employes.
It is to utilize cornstalk cellulose for
lining battleships. Materials for mafc
ing an imitation of silk and for making
celluloid are among the products. Pa'
per is another product. W. W. Gibbs.
of Philadelphia, is president, and the
stockholders are Easterners.
The owners of the German ship Po-
trimpos, stranded at Long Beach
Wash, have bought two 10,000-pound
anchors of the United States warsln
Vandalia, which was wrecked at Samoa
several years ago, and will ship them
from San Francisco at once, for use in
floating the Potrimpos next month
is expected that the ship will be put
into deep water in less than a month
A remonstrance against allowing
Chinese coal miners to be imported
into the state for the purpose of min
ing coal at Wilmington and other towns
in place of the striking miners, will be
placed before Governor Tanner in th
name of the United Mineworkers
of
Illinois. The . governor will also be
asked to co-operate with the secretary
of the miners' federation in" keeping
out the coolie labor. Secretary Ryan
says if the Chinese come bloodshed
will surely result. If Governor Tanner
refuses to interfere President McKinley
will be appealed to.-
Aiiree men were Durnea to death in
a fire at Hot Springs, Ark.
' Marshal Blanco has extended a full
pardon to all rebels in Cuba.
A rumor has reached Simla that a
native officer and 35 Sikhs belonging
to the Kurram column have been inter
cepted by tne tribesmen in a ravine
and slaughtered.
Two men met death in Southern Or
egon. One was struck and hurled
from a trestle by a train on the South'
era Pacific, the other was run over by
the same train while switching in the
yard at Grant's Pass.
A Naples dispatch says Mount Vesu
vius is in great activity. A mass of
lava is ponring out from the Artio de
Cavello crater, which opened in 1895.
Two wide streams are flowing down in
the direction of Vitrova and Hia'no del
Inestro.
A terrible famine is raging in the
province of Archangel, Russia. Many
have already died of starvation. The
j-'-ople wander about reduced almost to
skeletons, the heads swollen to the size
' of baskets. The only means of subsist
ence is tea.
i
The chamber of commerce of San
I Francisco, has sent the following mes
sage to President McKinley: "In the
name of humanity and patriotism, the
j chamber of commerce of San Francisco
I respectfully urges upon you the prompt
, dispatch of the revenue cutter Bear to
j the Arctic, under, command of Captain
. Healy, with discretionary orders, fully
equipped and provisioned, to rescue
. over 400 men imprisoned Dy ice near
, Point Barrow, and with authority to
use, if necessary, reindeer, at the gov
ernment station, to facilitate the land
ing."
; The United States supreme court has
j affirmed the decision of the lower court
in the case of the interstate commerce
commission against the Alabama Mid
land and the Georgia Central railways,
and otherB. The case arose out of
1 charges by citizens of Alabama that the
companies were disregarding the long
and-short-haul clause of the interstate
' commerce law. The point at issue was
whether, when there was competition
between railroads and water transpor
tation, the roads must file lower rates
; with interestate commerce commmis
Bion, and it was decided in the nega
tive by the court
I The anarchists of New York cele
, brated the 11th anniversary of the con
viction of their comrades in Chicago,
at a public -meeting. mere were
about 500 anarchists in the audience.
Johann Most presided snd spoke of the
"canaille of capitalism," which he said
congratulated itself that the social
question had been squelched,, and that
peace and order. prevailed. He wanted
to tell the political bandits that "the
anarchists were not gathered to mourn
or to shed tears, but to sing a song of
triumph, for the future was not far off. "
He called the governm ent a cowboy
government, with apologies to cowboys,
and tickled his hearers by saying only
one bomb was fired in the Haymarket,
but it did excellent execution.
Consul Duester, at Crelfeldt, Ger
many, reports to the state department
at Washington a discovery made there
which it is said revolutionizes the
methods of illumination. It is an in
candescent gas lamp. Single jets of or
dinary size can emit a light of much
more than 1,000 candle power, and fine
print can be read at a distance of 100
feet. The inventor says the cost for a
light of 1,500 candlepower is only i
cents per hour, while that for an or
dinary electric light of 40 candlepower
ii 14 cents per hour.
THE CRIME AVENGED.
Murderers of the Spicer Family Strung
Up by a Mob.
Bismarck, N. D., Nov. 16. Alex
Coudol, an Indian half-breed, and Paul
Holytrack and Philip Ireland, full
blood Indians, the first of -whom was
sentenced to death for the murder of
six members of the Spicer family last
February, and had just been granted
a new trial by the supreme court, and
the latter two self-confessed accessories
in the murder, were taken from th
county jail, in Wood county last night
and lynched by a mob.
The lynching had apparently been
cooly planned, and was carried out
without a break. Sudden and swift
retribution was meted out. Williams
port, where the hanging took place, is
about 40 miles from this city, and off
the railroad. The news of the lynch
ing was- received here this afternoon
The men had been in the custody of
Deputy Sheriff Kelly. They were
taken from him by the mob and hanged
to a beef windlass several yards from
the jail. Their bodies were left hang'
ing during the entire day, the coroner
not having arrived, and no one else
volunteering to cut them down.
About 40 men were concerned in the
lynching. They rode into Williams
port on horseback late at night, and
tethered their . horses a short distance
from the city, that they might secure
Them again as speedily as necessary
after the deed was done. The jail is a
substantial stone structure, and was in
charge of Deputy Sheriff Thomas Kelly.
Since the confinement of the prisoners
there, so great has been the fear that
they might escape in some way, that
one man had watched the prisoners all
night. Last night Kellv was on watch'
There was a meeting of the lodge of
Woodmen in a building near the jail
and as Kelly was a member, he expect'
ed to meet some of the members of the
lodge after the meeting had adjourned.
To while away the time daring the
night hours, he was playing solitaire
in front of the cells in which the mur
derers were confined. About 2 o'clock
there was a rap on the outer door of
the jail, and Kelly .rose quickly and
turned the key in the lock, thinking
that the -persons he expected to meet
had arrived. -
No sooner had he opened the door
than the mob crowded into the corri
dors. All of them were masked, and
the leaders carried ropes. Kelly at
once realized what the mob had come
for. The lynchers were quiet but Ao-
termined. The leader presented a re'
volver at the head of the deputy sheriff
and told him they wanted his prisoners.
and demanded that he open their cells,
Kelly demurred, but saw that resist
ance was useless: and unlocked the
door. Two of the prisoners were con
fined together, and the other in a seper
ate cell. They had been aroused from
sleep by the entrance of the mob. and
sat up, half awake and trembling" in
terror. Holytrack and Ireland were
pulled from their beds, ropes were fast
ened about their necks, and they were
dragged out on the ground, after being
told to prepare for death.
The men were then dragged to a hnge
beef windlass, which had been erected
to suspend carcasses of slaughtered
beeves, and were strung up on a cross
beam. Cudol was the first man to be
hanged. It is reported that he was
asked before he was hanged whether
Blackhawk and Defender had also been
concerned in the murder for which he
was about to be hanged. He answered
in tne amrmative. xne rope, wnicn
had been fastened about his neck, was
then thrown over a crossbeam, and he
was suspended in midair. Holytrack
and Ireland were treated in a like man
ner and the mob then quietly dispersed.
IN A SNAKE'S COILS.
Museum Watchman Severely Injured by
an Anaconda.
Philadelphia. Nov. 16. A huge an
aconda on exhibition here today severe
ly injured Samuel Masher, the museum
watchman, and crushed to death m
valuable trick pony. The pony vai
tied to a feed box alongside the ana
conda's cage. Masher . saw the reptile
had worked one of the boards of its cage
loose and had stretched out a short dis
tance. He pushed the board to, believ
ing the anaconda would pull within its
cage again. Instead, it wriggled out
and wrapped itself several times about
Masher. The latter screamed for help,
and the pony, frightened by the big
reptile, began jumping about. This
saved Masher's life, for the reptile un
wound himself from him and com
pletely encircled the pony. Masher
fell to the floor unconscious. When a
number of employes reached the scene,
the snake began to unwind itself, and
appeared to be getting ready for the
fight. The men kept aloof until a lasso
was obtained and the snake finally
made secure. Several of Masher's ribs,
were broken, and he was taken to a
hospital.
Marching on Havana
Key West, Fla. Nov., 15. Riano, in
Havana province, has been attacked
again, the insurgents making no effort,
however, to enter the town. The in-
urgents were under Juan Delgado.
The Spaniards made no resistance.
Calixto Garcia is said to be marching
toward Havana through Matanzas prov
ince with a large insurgent army, many
arge guns, and plenty of ammunition,
arms and dynamite.
London, Nov. 16. The Rome corre
spondent of the Daily Chronicle says:
Baron von Bullow, the newly appointed
German secretary of state for foreign
affairs, in an interivew with the pope,
has warmly complained against the
sympathy of the Vatican with the
Franco-Russian alliance and its hostil-
ty to the triple alliance. He declared
in the name of Emperor William that
if the Vatican persisted in such a policy
the German government would retali
ate on the Roman Catholics.
CIVIL SERVICE LAW
Strong Effort Will Be Made
to Secure Its Repeal.
OPPOSITION IN WEST AND SOUTH
Sufficient Number of Senators and Rep
resentatives Fledged to In
sure Its Abolition.
Washington, Nov. 16: A strong
effort will be made during the coming
session of congress to secure the repeal
of the civil-service law. . The support
ers of this movement say that they
have hal promises from a sufficient
number of senators and representatives
to co-operate with them to insure its
success, provided that all those mem
bers who have heretofore favored the
repeal are still of the same mind.
Thomas R. McKee, the journal clerk
of the house of representatives, who
has long been a bitter opponent of the
existing law, and who has taken pains
to ascertain the views of many of the
members -on the subject, said today
that he was confident that if the oppor
tunity offered for a direct vote on the
question of repeal, it would be carried t
by a large majority.
"While it is not true," said he,
"that I have been engaged in making
a canvass of the house on this matter,
it is true that I have talked with a
great many members about it. I am
convinced that for suoh a proposition
my own state of Indiana would give its
entire 13 votes, and I believe that Ohio
and Illinois are just as much opposed
to the law. As for the Western states
I do not believe that they will furnish
a single vote for the retention of the
system, and in the South, both Demo
crats and Republicans, with only a few
isolated exceptions, would welcome its
abolition. It is purely an Eastern, in
stitution, and it is entirely unrepubli
can and un-American.
"It was originated by the college
professors and educators of the East,
especially of New England, the center
of our educational system, for- the ex
press purpose of providing easy and
comfortable berths for such of their
graduates as were not physically able
to stand the strain of the professional
life for whjch they were trained, or
who found the professional ranks al
ready well filled. The manufacture of '
:ollege graduates went on so fast that it
became necessary for the professors to
find some ' outlet for the young' men
whom they were turning into the
crowded fields of law, medicine and
theology. So they turned to the gov
ernment and, with Dorman B. Eaton at
their head, himself a life-long educator,
induced it to require of applicants for
government positions a preliminary ex
amination, which, in many cases, they
knew only men fresh from the college's
could pass successfully. ,
It is a fact that President McKinlev
is now having as much trouble in satis
factorily filling the 300 or so places he
has to give away as Grant did to dis
pose of 200,000 places. There is al
most as much eagerness and strife
around the White House today over a
little $600 position as there used to be
over the appointment of the minister to
Germany. This shows that the desire
for office ie still as strong, and it is a
natural desire. Representative Gros
venor made a strong point when he said
in his speech that the right of a man
to participate in the affairs of the gov
ernment in other ways than by merely
casting his ballot was one that could
not be constitutionally taken away
from him. The heads Of the govern
ment department should have the right
to make the appointments of their sub
ordinates, and they should be held re
sponsible for their actions. The presi
dent would then have less of his time
wasted on small matters of patronage,
and after filling the, larger and more
important offices would then be able
to devote himself to affairs of state.
That there is a strong sentiment in
the country at large "in favor of there-
peal of the law I am sure, and I am
satisfied, also confident, that the senti
ment will find expression in congress
during the coming session. The only
recent vote that has been had upon the
subject which gives any foundation
upon which to base a calculation as to
the reeult, was had towards . the close
of the last session of the 54th congress.
A proposition was made by Mr. Brosius,
of Pennsylvania, to extend the opera
tions of the civil service law in a cer
tain particular. The question was as
to the consideration of the bill, and it
was defeated by a two-thirds majority. '
While this was not a direot vote it
afforded an indication, if not of the
strength of the repeal movement, at
least of the weakness of the supporters
of the civil service system.
It is my opinion that if nothing
else is done, the civil service commis
sion will be abolished with all of its
cumbrous machinery. In its stead a
departmental examination to determine
the fitness of applicants for appoint
ment in the government service will be
substituted. This- would be very
proper, so far as the Washington de
partments are concerned, but I would
not require even thio in offices outside
of Washington, and I wouid limit alT
office-holding tenures to. four years
each. The civil service commission
costs the people now $150,000 a year."
A number of others have spoken in a
similar strain recently.
Confessed to Drowning HI Child.
Kansas City, Nov. 16. At Livesley,
Mo., the trial of William Carr, who
confessed to drowning his 3-year-old
daughter in the Missouri river, was be
gun today. No defense was attempted,
the lawyer appointed by the court urg
ing that the state hasten the prisoner's
fate. Judge Broadus reserved his do.
oision. , . .
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