V - N. Y r Jf K 1903. THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL '..',. '' ' t-a s. ; eiar e trn oasooj daxly govsaau 6t Tajaaoi street, som . . a4 nrta, yortlamd. Oregon. znarajrssvr szkoosatzo vapzb or oboo. ' Entered at the Poatofflce of Portland. Oregon, for transmission through tha (nails aa seoODA-4Usag mattes . Postage for single copies For aa I. 16 or lt-pasa papsr, 1 cant; II to II gages, S mdU; over 16 page eenta, Telephones l Business Office regoa. Main ee; Columbia, T06. Editorial Reese Oregon, Mala 1 00. City fiditer Oregon, Main JJO. JOtTRrtAL, one year . . . . THB JOURNAL, six months ... TUB JOURNAL, three months, Ilia JOURNAU by tha week., ay Casrlesi . a 4 4 Y ay Mailt TUB JOTTRNAI by matt par yaar THB JOURNAL, by mall, alx montha THIS JOURNAL, by mail, three montha .It no . if . 1.10 . .10 ..14 00 .. t o ,. 100 Let others frame their creeda: mine la to workv To da my beat, however far It fall Below tha keener craft of stronger hand. Tt be myself, full hearted, free and true. To think my own thoughts straight out from tha heart, To feel and be, and never stop .to ask: "Do all men soT Is this the world's highway f Charlotte M. HalL A: ... . UMHJTCD PRAISE OF CONGRESS The Republican press of the country Is now engaged In administering a tooat of whitewash to the Fifty-seventh Congress, and is proclaiming that tl has made a record upon which the party can aafely go before the 4 public In the next elections. This would not be the Judgment of an Im . partial critic. In many Important respects the session was productive Of serious disappointments. In the next national campaign Republican Orators will find themselves forced to take the defensive, and it will be no easy task for them to gloss over the fact that their party has signally i Called to carry out its pledges. But for the obstructive tactics of Republican Senators, there would have been no necessity for the extra session of the Senate, called by President Roosevelt. It remains to be seen whether even now- the pur poses for which this extra session was called will be accomplished. .Many most ' important measures in which the people were deeply In terested were blocked by the filibustering of Republican Senators. Even tha anti-trust law which was passed is of very doubtful utility, and many whose Judgment is entitled to respect, assert that it win prove but a feeble barrier to tha encroachments of those gigantic . aggre gations of capital which are the greatest menace of our country's welfare. THE LAWS DELAYS. ,.. The mills of the gods grind slowly, but In many instance tha mill of Amer. ican Justice grind much slower still. Witness the case of Cordelia Botkln. For several years she has been' de prived of her liberty and the state In which she Is under arrest has been put to the expense of tens of thousands of dollars in the several trials and stilt the question Is not fl natty solved whether she is guilty or innocent. There are, and have been in the past, many similar cases. It is not necessary for us to pass upon the guilt or innocence of Cordelia Botkln, but It is perfectly plain that she cannot be both guilty and innocent at one and the same time, and if the for mer, she has lived too long, for the crime with which she is charged is sufficiently heinous to warrant hang ing, If anyone should hang. On the other hand. If she Is Innocent, this woman should not be detained in prison for one moment and has already been deprived of liberty and rights where government should have no power to restrict. Temper Justice with mercy and there Is mercy in speed. BAR PIUOTAQq BUSI ......... ex The town of Bloomlngton, in Mis souri is preparing to move ten miles across country in order to plant itself Upon a railway line. For 62 years the cltlsens of the town have been praying that a railroad might come their way. Six times their hopes have seemed upon the point of realisation, but in each Instance they have been disap pointed. So at last Mohammed will go to the mountain. The citizens have made up their minds to pick up their homes bodily and move to the nearest railroad. Here's an opportunity for anyone who wants to buy a second hand town site. 1 r: of publicity aa to the operations of the trusts, but more than publicity jiwlll be required to check their operations. Nothing Is more essentially undemocratic or more radically at variance with the principles of our gov ' t'irnment than the destruction of all competition, which Is the primary -(Object in the formation of trusts. In the next national campaign, the curbing of the trusts will be. one of the chief Issues to be submitted to the people, and the record -of the Republican party upon this issue is a - aorry one. President Roosevelt realised - the necessity of anti-trust legislation, fcnd but for Ms determined attitude the Republican majority in Con Kress would have left the subject entirely untouched. But the Presi dent's Views were far too radical for his party, and the law which was finally passed was lacking in nearly all those restrictions which be regarded to essential. There were many other serious sins of omission on the part of the Flfty-seventa Congress, and its record is capped by the most extravagant expenditures the country has ever known. The total appropriations . exceeded $1,500,000,000. European governments have looked with utter tunaxement upon this unparalleled prodigality and the voters of the country HrW eertainly demand a rigid accounting from tha Republican majority. 1 It would be wise tot the Republican press to begin the preparation of apologies for the Fifty-seventh Congress, rather than wast time and space la unmerited praise. eextain degree Las ?ry. -rlV--.--s)9.v.;apf; Ajrra lAtn chops. km la PertlUsing and Pruning Pe- vslopsa, Recent study of ants has added an other to the many facts that show the Intelligence these Insects possess. This ' SENATOR GORMAN. ;, After an absence of four years Arthur Pue Gorman of Maryland Again resumes his seat in the United States Senate, Mr. Gorman was a worn In last week and was accorded a tremendous ovation as he appeared pn the floor of the Senate chamber. During the interim, in which Senator Gorman's seat was occupied by ft representative of the opposite party, placed there by political chance and be heavy Republican landslide four years ago, Maryland did not have the brilliant representation that it enjoyed when Senator Gorman was in power. The defeat and return of Arthur Gorman to the Senata are but another evidence of the peculiar state and doubtful trend of the great game of .politics. It marks, in Gorman's case, an epoch in the life of a man, and Indicates a gradual return of former Democratic states to the fold and file of true Democracy. : Maryland should hever have gone over to the party of trusts, of opu fence, and greed. Four years appear long to sufferers,- and Maryland ftvaited but four. Her pride was wounded, her patriotism questioned. Then he anger was aroused and plans were considered to save, to reclaim her (ram the clutches of the Republican party. The moat tangible evidence of Maryland's resentment was the election , Of Senator Gorman. At the meeting of the senatorial caucus. Senator Gor loan was chosen chairman, the office carrying with it the Democratic leadership of the Senate. Senator Gorman's return to the Senate is a cause for Democratic Jubilation. He is a man of brains, "a great speaker, p. sound debater and will make bis presence felt among his colleagues. THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE COLUMBIA. Washington advices afford strong ground for the expectation that the . Oovernjment will soon enter upon the great work of Improving the mouth - of the Columbia. The Secretary of War now has under consideration the report of the Board of Engineers, recommending the construction of Jetties, and he has assured Senator ' Mitchell and Senator Fulton that he will reach a decision within 10 days. It is believed that he will adopt the board's suggest lone. The Government is expending very large sums in river and harbor Improvement, but it is doubtful whether there Is a single case where a similar expenditure will give aa great and as beneficial results as In the Opening of the Columbia River. The Journal has had frequent occasion to comment upon the necessity of- improving Oregon's great waterway. The people of tbe State will cer ; xainly hold the Republican administration responsible, if with all its tre s mendous outlay of public funds, it is neglectful of this crying need. The j; e-ppropriations of the Fifty-seventh Congress amounted to over a billion find a half of dollars. In this enormous total were Included many large i Items which it would be extremely difficult to Justify. None wjll be found to criticise any outlay necessary for improving - the great natural channel of the commerce of the Pacific Northwest. It , Is a work of vast importance to the people and will prove of Inestimable '.: Value la the development of trade. The Sultan of Turkey evidently expects to crush out the insurrection In Macedonia without any interference from the powers. He doubtless expects the usual flood of diplomatic protests, Joint notes and ultimatums, all of, which he will calmjy ignore. Meantime the Turkish troops will carry on their campaign of barbarities until all opposition is at an end. It At an old story, repeated many times. actually plant And raise their owri crops. The big leaf -cutting ant of the tropics is the most proficient species in the agri cultural line. These ants visit plants and cut little fragment out of the leave. Borne times they will ruin a whole plantation over night, leaving the plants with ragged fragments of their foliage. Until recently it was supposed that the loaf-cutters ate the pieces of leaf. But now It Is known that they carry the fragments to their mounds, where they chew them over and over, moistening them at the same time with sold secre tions, until they have made a soft spongy mass. This Is kneaded and worked over and over again until It is a big heap full of small holea In this spongy mass the snts deposit the spores of a certain fungus wulch forms the greater part of their food sun ply. Different speclee of ants have dif ferent species of fungus. The most highly developed of them all Is grown by a Draxtllan ant. It Is known as the Rozltea gongllophora. This fungus Is very rlcn and full of al bumen, which Is particularly loved by the ants. To produce most albumen the fungus must not be permitted to seed. Of course this Is a simple matter, well known to every florist and agriculturist But It certainly is wonderful that ants should have learned it. They attend to the pruning of the fungus stems and suckers Just aa care fully as a human planter would. As soon as the fungus begins to grow it sends out fine thread-like stems into the air. If these are allowed to grow they will finally bear spores. But the ants do not permit them to grow. They keep certain members of their colonies busy biting them off the moment they appear. After being prunea for a short time the fungus begins to develop llttlo swellings wnicn are particularly rich In albumen. "And after being cultivated for a few months the little swellings are found everywhere around the bottom of the pile. Homo species of ants carry fertilisers to their gardens. They bear finely chewed wood, mouldering leaves, dead insects and other similar material to the fungus plantations to enrich the soil and in crease their yield. "MMM. eemessig ASTORiA, ,Ora. March I. The control of the bar pilots has always beea a prolific source of trouble, and of more or. leag -"iyfl Whenever the eueJeat Is broached here, invariably creep into the conversation in timatlons that makt one wonder whether or not It Is possible to handle ths business without these deplor able eeadltloae reatalalng. - However, it has been the avowed Intention of Gov ernor Cbamberlaisj te caeee an administration such a will eradicate these abuses, if they exist, and elevate ths pilotage business la the estimation of tbe people vi Mwit ana or inose wno go aown 10 ins see in ships. With that end in view, the Governor appointed the following commission under the law of list, now In force: Captain X E. Campbell. Oeorge Nolaod of Astoria, and Sylvester Farrsll of Portland. The board that served under Governor Oeer was: E. W. Tallant. Martin Foard of Astoria, and Sylves ter Farrsll. the last .named being reappointed by Gov ernor Chamberlain. TaneUJCat Veea Ignored. The impression is general here that Mr. Farrell, the Portland member, has not been consulted by the two Astoria members In any matters relating to the p flotage on the bar, but has been compelled to confine his attention te the river pilotage. - Under the law, bar pilotage IS compulsory. Incoming vesssls must accept pilotage, when spoken by the pilot Schooner, or pay full pilotage rates. Outgoing, they must accept pilotage or pay harf the rates. Pilotage on the river above Astoria Is non-compulsory. It Is the bar pilotage that makes what trouble grows-out of tha situation. The new commission appointed by Governor Cham berlain will assume Jurisdiction on March IS. In the. event they accept the offices. Mr. Noland and Mr. Far rell will accept Captain Campbell haa not yet con sented. He hesitates bemuse, as hs stated to The i Journal correspondent, he believed the sale of the I state's pilot schooner, the San Jose, had' robbed the j oommlastoa of all Its power. ' As a matter of fact, i the sale of thst schooner U of doubtful wisdom. Dem- ecru Is here allege thst It was a Republican scheme to tie the hands of the appointees of Governor Cham- i berlain. At any rate, in the judgment of Captain Camp bell and Mr. Noland, the schooner should not have been sold, unless provision was made to purchase so other. a Expensive Pareaase. The San Jose was bought In San Francisco about IS years ago. Connected with that purchase is one of the many allegations of "graft" that are Incidental to all Astoria conversations anent the pilotage. It Is alleged that the San Jose waa bought after a former schooner was lost. A man was sent to San Francisco to I buy a schooner. The San Jose was lying In the har bor, bearing a sign, "This schooner for sale for M.tOO." bui ib.ouw or me state s money wss paid ror it. n. of all the forma of ram that flee before the gun craft was brought here, put Into proper cond tlon, n of the can)era the .hyest and wariest la not the some few bottle, of wine were opened at several so- j cratur, of th, for.,t or .tream, but the ordinary un cial festivities., and., when the San Jose put out to sea chinaman. Between lack of comprehension and aa the official Oregon pilot boat, there was left no ...ntjou, fe.r, he regards the little machine, with money from the UO.eQO of Insurance the state received th, ,Bppng ,hutter in a aplrit of mingled awe Aid 'ro!".th low! of th. ',rmer choonr- .. hatred.- That is why good photographs of American The San Jose, therefore, represents a 110.800 pur- rhinamBn . . ,.,. 19 mayor; . , .... rf .- . ;j.,.' If -t f John Weaver, who has Just been elect ed -Msyor of Philadelphia, is one of the moat able men who ever filled that post. He was formerly Philadelphia's District Attorney. ft W - c , j -- ' 11 r hJ&T AT AL.KALI By real Be leaey. 4 T r e Ig4 2 HUNTS WITH A CAMERA oay.. The sale was consummated by authority of a reso- been really successful in catching th Chinamaa as h Sierras, and has had the wild beasts of the country sit unconsciously to him for their portraits; but When he feels his wits sharpened for particularly difficult work be puts his smallest picture taking apparatus in his pocket and goea down into San Francisco's Chinatown. There he passes for a collector of curios and rare prints, as. Indeed, he Is. After visiting a few of the shops he takes up a position on a corner where the light is favorable and where he himself Is not too conspicuous. Past hint flows the unceasing business and pleasure of the Oriental quarter. It may be 16 minutes or half an hour, or even an hour before some eddy of slant eyed humanity will present the phase that he wants. Then comes the sharp click of the shutter, fortunately unheard, as a rule, in the bustle of traffic. Misumroaiea oy auuioruy oi a reso- miMUt hl dailv himtn.Hi. Arnold Oenthe of Hun lutlon which was adopted by the Leglslaturs during ; Fnncllco. Mr. Oenthe has tramped through the almost the confusion of the closing hours, rew persons here , unknown p,rt. 0f Mexico, atudylng the inhabitants; he knew of the proposal to sell It It la understood here , hB, rrled hl. 0.m,.. ,nto unmaooed reirions .of the that Governor Chamberlain learned of It only three or , H. tha ,t .... h. tt four days ago when informed thereof by an Astoria citizen who was In Salem. Sals aa a Surprise. "The sals of the San Jose," said Captain Campbell, "wis a great surprise to me. I am not sure I care to serve now that the schooner has been sold. By ex pending 11.000 it could have been madu ses worthy. It would have been -my policy to do that and have it ready for use next- fall. Now. there Is only the pilot achooner, the Pulitser, In use. It Is owned by the pilots. "Of course there should be two pilot boats, one cruising north and one south, during the winter sea son. And one of them should be owned by the state. As' it Is now. the pilot boat Is controlled by the pilots, and the commission Is not In a very strong position to give a good administration. There'a aomethlng wrong about the sale of that sehooner. The Importance of all these mattei to Portland U great, indeed. The friction that has been created heretofore has been detrimental to the chipping Inter ests. The Oregon and the Washington pilots have been at loggerheads. Charges of corruption tiave been mado against this and that person connected with the Washington commission. Allegations are freely made that the Washington, commission has exacted tribute from the Oregon pilots. And, in fact, tne whole sub ject is wrapped !nfnystery and clouded with charge and countercharge. , every citizen taxes a view amer ent from that of every other cltlcen. So that it oalls for somewhat of moral courage and public spirit to serve on the Oregon Commission. The present members, howev.er, are all determined to bring order out from chaos, to administer their offices so as to conserve the Interests of both the ship pers and the pilots, and they may be depended upon to do this during tne coming rour years, it Wuj iw a service of inestimable value to the City of Portland, the City of Astoria, the shipping men and the pilots themselves. . .Those insubordinate boys and girls at Oregon City who are seeking to compel redress of their supposed grievances by refusing to attend school, te not likely to get much sympathy. The plan of biting off one's nose to spite one'a face is never very satisfactory as a method of retaliation. If these young people choose to stay away from school, no one will suffer so mqcn as themselves. In spite ef the vaunted anti-trust legislation by Congress, there are no glgne of panic among the trust magnates. Vw.li took a century for this Government to pacify the American Indiana. yUl It take as long to pacify the Filipinos?' Chinese Newspapers. There nave recently come to our study table the first issues of three magazines In classical Chinese: The True Light, a monthly magazine pub lished by the American Baptist Mission In Canton; China's Toung Men, also monthly, published by the National Committee, of the T. M. C. A in China, under the editorship of Mr. D. Wlllard Lyon of Shanghai; the Luklang News, an Amoy newspaper started by ths Rev. Jamea Sadler of the London Mission. Huu jQBum every au uaya. The first of these is, of course, de toted mainly to the interests of the wapusi v-nurcnea . in ,tne canton pro vince, and the name of the Rev. R. II. Gravea. one' of the beat sinologues in South China, in connection with this un dertaklng, is sufficient guarantee of its success. The second Is published bi monthly snd, as Its name indicates, is devoted to the Interests of the young men In China, and the low price puts It within ths reach of all. We predict Sot it a large lnfluenoe among the student class in China. The name of the third is an old name of Amoy, and the paper is designed to be a thoroughly up-to- date newspaper pervaded with Christian influence and of sufficient literary finish to secure large circulation among the literati, as well as the business men of Southern Fukien and the Amoy Chinese Who have emigrated to the East Indies and the Isles of the Pacific. The under taking is financed by a company in which most of the shares are Held by Chinese officials and wealthy business men. The Shanghai Mercury of Mar S. says that "if some philanthropist would only supply a dally under proper foreign ed itorship with the sinews of war until It was fairly on Its feet. It needs no gift of prescience to see that such a paper would in a few years have a million aub scrlbers, and we don't know how many million readers in every province of the Empire. The reputation of the for eigner for veracity is high, end Its news would be read with confidence. But more, it would contain, besides a lead ing article, really leading somewhere, plenty Of other useful information now conspicuous by its absence In the usual native paper. We are not without hou that the Say of such an enterprise Is not far distant" Christian lateUlgeaoer. WOXX or THB T. AL 0. A. Rsv. J. Wilbur 'Chapman, D. t., secretary of ..the Evangelistic Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, is now conducting a series' Of services in Toledo, Ohio. In the course of his address to a large assemblage of men Saturday afternoon, he declared that the spirit of evangelism waa not dead among the men of the great cities of North America, and cited the remarkable work that has been devel oped in the last few years by the Young Men's Chris tian Association In its special evangelistic meetings for men. He said: Studies the Weed of Man. T have been connected with the Toung Men's Chris tian Association from my youth up and intimately as sociated with there in their work for young men. They have always been Intensely earnest in their evan gelistic effort, and have constantly studied the needs as well as the temptations of men. With enterprise and persistence they have adapted their services . to reach the largest number of men of the cities, rail roads, and colleges of ths country. Since the appoint ment of specialists to conduct these meetings four years ago, immense men s meetings in in Aires nave oeen developed and sustained Sunday after Sunday, crowd-1ns- the largest theatres in the cities. "I am indeed surprised myself that even in the City of Washington, a place which has been supposed to be the least responsive to evangellstlo effort, to find that for two years a great service haa been held With an attendance often exceeding 1,600 men, and averaging for the winter over 1,600. The most men In Washing ton are found in constant attendance, participating in the actual service with the enthusiasm which charaor tertsed the old . Moody . meetings. Since January 1. 100 men have in these meetings declared their pur pose of leading Christian lives. Work In Many Cities. In the old City of Baltimore a series of men's meetings has been averaging over 1,000 men each week. Here over 600 men have signed cards expressing tne purpose of leading a Christian life since November 1, and pastors report constant accessions to their churches through these services, conservative old Springfield, Mass., often gathers over 1,600 men at a theatre service. Kansas City has averaged 1,100 men a week for three months, and in New York, Carnegie I ail $8 often packed with great audiences or men, who listen to the discussions of great moral (Questions. Indeed, the associations spare no expense of effort or money for these audiences, engaging the beet music al talent and often circulating 40,000 Invitations for a single service besides posters, newspaper adver tising, etc, to attract tbe attention ana attendance or men. . . - Tie Ken CHve Taeix Aid. ; in soms niaces at least 300 men are engaged on different committees working up these meetings. The addresses for the most part are straightforward, vir ile, manly appeals te the brains and consciences or men, and without wavering or apology men are urged to take an Immediate stand for what Is dean, manly and Christian. Probably the man who w roost suc cessful in this work for men la this country is Fred B. Smith. For at least 46 Sundays m tne year ne is addressing audiences of 600 to 1,000 men, and last year over 1.300 men expressed their purpose to lead a Christian life at meetings, conducted by him. No email proportion of these men are leaders in .the social, in tellectual and business lifs of their communities. This is one of the most encouraging demonstrations or the fact that the old Gospel has not lost its power, and where men unite with, courage and power in under takings of large purpose, large results follow. What; V.A Tmim, Uan'a r'HnlHtlnn aaMlAtlotf h&Ji A Tnnrtpflt ef Is possible in every city and town In $bl country.", Patience is the main requisite for this work, and it often happens that a morning's work will not bring out ons first class photograph. In ths course of the recent New X ear's festivities he took several pictures, showing the festival life there men, women and children In the gayest of rich apparel celebrating Chinatown a great day. In all hla pictures, however, one notices at least one face on which Is imprinted an expression of startled wrath and alarm; sometimes even of murderous hatred. This is the face of the man who has seen, too lata that be is being photographed. Sometimes the hands are half raised and outstretched. In one picture, a Chi nese mother is pathetically grasping at her little child to turn its face from the American devil machine. Were It not for Mr. Genthe's powerful build and unmistakably athletic bearing, he would probably Jose many of his pictures at the hands of ths subjects, and perhaps come to Injury himself. As it Is, he is by no means safe In Chinatown, now that he is becoming so well known there. Just what the objection of the Mongols is to being photographed Mr. Genthe has not been able to deter mine, though many of them have talked tb him and pro tected against his work. They seem to believe that the production of the picture lmpllea a lessening of tbslr own vitality and force, as if a man were made up of a multitude of thin layers and ons laysr were taken from him to be fixed upon a glaas plata, Even the cultivated Chinamen have this dread of the camera. Once, after Mr. Genthe had secured an excellent street picture and was enlarging it a polite and richly dressed Chinaman called upon him. The wlelder of the camera at once recognised bis face as one which, in the picture, was a distorted mass or wisiiui emotions. "How much do you want ror tne picture you iook of mer' asked the visitor in good English. "It is not for sale," explained Mr. uentne. "it you Wish a print you are welcome to one." "No; I want the plate that makes tns pictures."; "I am sorry, but I can't let you have that" "How much does he give you for HT" demanded the Chinaman, suddenly, after a pause. "Whor" "Lo Chung Chi." "I don't know him." "He is my enemy. He must not have tbe pictures. What use might he not make of it against me? I will nav vou more than he." . "Please understand," aaid Mr. Genthe, "that this plo ture Is not for sals to you or Mr. Chi, or any ons elss. It is for my own collection." The visitor waa disconsolate. As nearly as Mr. Genthe could determine, he believed that his enemy, by obtaining the picture, could practice tortures upon it, which inflictions would be repeated on the person of the original and cause him to pme away. The Chinaman finally went away, only half satis fied with Mr. Genthe's promise that the photograph Should not leave his own place. "You make It unsafe for us and our wives and our children to show our faces," said he bitterly. wmzaauora nr tkb show. . The News takes pleasure in presenting the first fully authenticated and conclusively proven snake story of the season. Like all good tales, it comes from Canal, noted for woodchucks and chipmunks. On Saturday, 8, D. Hasson, well known in this city, started to drive to Utlca, and when In the vicinity of the Luce farm he caw a snake crawling on the snow. It had bean lying Oft a rock sunning itself nd had started for its winter home when Sam discovered it. He took his buggy whip and threw the animal into his sleigh. It measured three feet in length, and was quite angry when cap tured. ' Sam drove on to Utlca and made the statement that "spring was surely here, as be had seen 'a snake erawl in alone- the road." There were a number of doubting Thomases tbsre, who immediately inferred that he hod been seeing things that were mythical. Sam stuck to his allegations until some claimed that he had not seen any reptile at alt but was lying. Then be took them to bis sleigh and brought forth the live snake. ,,It vu taken to one of the stores in Utlca and placed on ex hibition. It ts like the common garter snake in appear ance, only much larger. The reptile was apparently uninjured by Temg out in iw cow. anu some inina it may be a species of winter snake, that used to be common in Canal, but of late years was thought, to be extinct -v ' . ; - It's a sure sign of spring, and many are glad Sam rot it merely because it will offset the woodchuck, who predicted six weeks more of -winter weather. Franklin (Fa.) mews. .! A mail carrier wss killed down In West Virginia the other day. But he wss only a white man, and , there is no undue excitement In administration cir- cjtyi. 'Waabington Ppsfc ...... -' - "Alkali is a stockmen's station in mid-desert in Lake County.. It Is about 76 miles from Lakeview and 40 mtlee from Paisley. The nearest point te ether water IS at the liead of Albert tLalra tn.th mnth anA tir.ut Z6 miles. Alkali la the last stODDlnsr nolnt where there s water en the route from oivtiiutina tn th iur It Is la the center of a great alkali bed. the plains tamar miies arouno. oeing covered With the white substance; giving it the appearance from a distance of great snow beds. Here in the center of this wssts a nam moth spring bolls forth, sending out a stream of Jure water which Is soon absorbed by the alkali and ry sands. The Xost and Kis Station. James Johnson, a whltehaired old man trnnwH throughout tha eountrv aa "TTnol linni, vr. h station at Alkali. The station consists of a 10 -room shack, a few haystacks and a watering place for horses. It was established exclusively for atoiknun mnatiw sheepmen, the only persona who ever venture that way, savs an occasional tranner. "ITncla Jimmu" nmiim at this station yeer in and year out though there are times thst he does not see a human being for weeks. In ths fall and spring it Is lively st Alkali, but through the winter travel Is scarce, and In mid-Summer a vis itor Is a novelty to the old man. Tha ahMnman aA to the desert early In the fall to take advantage of the winter range. At this season of tha vaar tha nn riia and melts, producing a growth of short grass suitable for sheep feed. All through the winter the sheep thrive on this graas and .eat snow In the adjoining mountains and foothills for water. By the time inrln la the grass Is all gone and the sheepmen drive their flocks from the desert before the soorchlng sun kills every thing in the way of vegetation and dries away the snow snd water. As these sheepmen come and a-a iTnoia Jlmmle has his hands full entertaining them. He knows every man from one end of the deaert to tha othar. ui all speak well of Uncle Jimmy. Boreee, of Information. The old man Juat suits the nlsoe. He rmamh.r everything he hears. Is a fairiv mntu nnnir Matured and makes his guests feel at homa His bis- una may oe a little yellow with soda, his bacon may b fried a little too brown, his coffee msy be a little toe black, for his condensed milk gives out occasionally, put Uncls Jlmmle makes up for these defects In some way. He will surprise his guests with fried duck tor supper occasionally, or give them boiled eggs for break fast or make a rloe pudding. It might not look tempt- Ing to the rugged stockmen at homa till ft tnrtnths of camping out and eating their own rooking one of Uncle Jlmmle's meals Is considered a treat fmm mafi points of view. Then he knows the news. He la V He remembers everything each guest saye. It matters not how many of them there may be at one time, and he tells the next guests what th. f,i.r AiA anf i,M T t nn i , . - . .. . - iuu ui nigs in news rrom civili sation about the wars and politics and social events of the kind that Interests these people. Uncle Jlmmle re peats It all to future guests until he gets something better. Then occasionally some one leaves a ItwalwlMP with Uncle Jlmmle. This he reads ever so many times during his Idle days that he gets It committed to mem. ory and if It chances to be worn out when , tha n fSie tome, he.ttlH. ,.m wnafas lii it. - v: . Haa Maay Divers less. The old man finds many diversions during the long periods of loneliness. He has his dogs, his cats, chick ens, ducks and geese and he Is surrounded by coyotes. While the bounty law was on he made some extra money trapping these animals. Then he catches an occasional wildcat and sells Its hide. The outside of his shaok Is covered with hides and all kinds of ugly traps. He has two or three old-fashioned guns, but hs is a dead shot with them. lis hunts for geese and ducka and goea fishing occasionally. How Uncle Jlmmle catches fish and kills ducks an! geese out on the desert is a mystery to the stranger, but Uncle Jlmmle soon convinces one that hs does it The spring bolls forth from a crater-like opening li the ground. The hole Is 20 or 30 feet across and oi unknown depth. Uncle Jlmmle has thrown up a circular embankment around the spring which gives It tbe ap pearance of the inside of a circus ring, exoept that It is full of water to the top. A ditch out through this dam enables the old man to irrigate a small garden spot and his pond around the spring has been planted with fish. He has constructed a walk out over the Dond to the. spring and he walks out to the spring and fishes in the deep water where he has no trouble in landing a mess of beauties for favored guests. The man with the small bottle usually receives these special foods. A remarkable thing about this Bprlng Is that it ap parently haa no bottom. Hundreds of feet of cord have been let down into It with a weight attached, and none has yet been found long enough to reach the bot tom, Sow He Hants. And the duck hunting is Just as simple as fishing. Uncle Jimmy has only to close up his house and hide Inside and keep still for a day or two and the wild ducks will come to his pond and attempt to catch his fish. He waits until a large number of them light on the water and then he turns loose one of his old-fashioned guns, and he never fails to do execution. He never gets but one shot but he makes it count. . But wild geese hunting Is more difficult After the water has disappeared in the alkali sand it rises up In a swale a half a mile from his shack. A rank growth has sprung up here since Uncle Jlmmle fenced it in and the wild geese light and feed In the shallow pond among the weeds and grass. Uncle Jlmmle has dug sev eral pits at convenient points around the pond and when the geese get to coming In pretty lively, he hides in one of these pits long before daylight and at dawn ha usually gets a shot, and he never shoots without aLilMl. Domesticated Bees a. The host at Alkali has a large flock of wild geese, which have become perfectly domesticated. He found the nest of a wild goose down among the flags In the alkali pond and watched It from day to day. When the old goose began "setting," Uncle Jlmmle "swiped ' her -eggs and placed them under one of his common hens. They all hatched out, took to their hen-mother hand somely, have continued to breed and now he has a large flock. They swim upon the circular pond in his yard and never think of leaving. They arc as gentle as the commonest aomesucaiea geese. Then he has his funny episodes to help kill the time. He started in with a pair of cats and soon had a dozon or mora He was too tender-hearted to kill any of them, and there were no neighbors with whom to share them. Coyotes and wild cats are death on house-cats, but the cat never strayed far from the house, and but few were lost In thia manner. Tbe cats were tuklng the place. Whenever he left the Kitcnen aoor open mty ransacked the cupboard and table In seurch of food. There was nothing else for them to eat near the plum, and animal instinct warned them against straying out into the desert where the coyotes- were watching foi them. ' round a Bemeay. Tha old man found, by accident, a way of keepln. the cats out of the kitchen, but it worked BucceBfuil and permanently. In whlllng away the time he decided to make some ornaments for his "parlor," and starteJ in by stuffllng a coyote's skin. When he had sewed it to gether and stuffed it he found that he had no head for it as the scalp had been taken. Not to be outdone, h .iit the needed part from a wildcat's skin,. sewed i. tha novota skin and stuffed It accordingly, placing glass 'marbles of different colors in the openings fur ovps Stuffed and placed erect on a board the animal was a ragged-looking one as well as a novel out. It did not look well enough, to place in thf parlor, ho nirt miin ntood it In the kitchen. The cats were under the floor, watching for an opportunity to enter. x.. oiHont the old man left the kitehen door open while he went for a bucket of water. The cats all antered in a body, and in a moment he heard a noise that startled him. He rushed back and found the cats clinging to tbe walls snd celling and mewing In a moat Pitiful manner, at the same time gazing at his stuffed animal. They had torn tne tame cioin ana the cloth from the cupboard In their attempted flight The Cats Scattered. The old man was dumbfounded. He thought they had all gone mad on the spot He attempted to drive them out and In doing so broke the only window pane m th room. This was all they needed. They made a grand rush for the opening and they poured through II like a stream of water until the last oat had escaped. Two or threelays afterwards they approached the place cautiously, the old cat In the lead. She reared up on the stoop and looked In. There stood the fok animal. It was sufficient She ran for life. The otheri followed. Uncle Jlmmle was not troumea turiner who his cats In the kitchen. A combination of two of theit most destructlvs enemies was too much for them. - vnr months after this episode the old men enter. talned.hts guests by telling ths story and demonstrat. ing the truth of it by taking the animal in his hands, end chasing tbe 'eats "from one point to another about the place. . In his Isolation tbe host at Alkali dees not find life so burdensome, after all. - ' i. t r- V