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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1904)
THE OREGON ' DAILY JOTOKAIi, rOBTIiANP. SATTJUPAY ETESiyg. MAKCH 12. Ift04. 1 Some Pccitfiarities Presented by j Peru. (By Frederic J. Hariris. Special CrrepoBdnt t The Journl.) ' i. v" jr.i .jlt swum r '.jr.. Ms- '1 -Refill ..wi r- I A" V B. Kb.a 7 , ) ., i ' i S . 1 , i .... . ... ' & W DfcA kJL-jJuj-jutLliL u-.-M.ji) 1 rf "1 1 - -- 8HACKLES MAKES HIM FEEL IMPORTANT. Lima, P. South America haa alaya been a rich" flsld - for - anter Vrlse. Tha first merry-go-round that , was. taken Into the Interior , mada lta owner a fortune In a few weelea. It was ; patronized by everybody; from the mem bers of th city council down to the school children. It was a sorry old ma chine that had traveled the rounds of many country fair , circuits, and was about ready for the acrap pile, but H nw lta palmiest day when Its owner wandered this way. ' The natives "went against it right," to , use the language of the proprietor. . A barber put up his shop for tlaketa and rode them out in fside of two days, and several cttisens mortgagf-rt . their houses in irder ' to 'raise . money, with which -to purchase : more rides. In a few weeks the lucky .owner bad taken. In enough money to keep the wolf from his door for many a day. He finally traded the old merry-go-round for a half Interest in the big gest store in town, convened his claim into cash, and went on his way rejoic ing. ' Ka JTumbered tha Honsaa. The man who furnishes the numbers for houses has been this" way. He num bered them inside and out In one little town her arranged with the authorities to be paid a certain price for each num ber he put up. Hl contract should have read "numbers to be. attached to the door of each houae." but he Inserted the letter "s" and made door read plural. He put a number on every door of every houae. inside and out, upstairs and down, and told them it was the lat est atyle In the United States. There was some objection raised, but the agent gllbly'told them their city would soon 1 grow, and when their mall was brought by carriers each member of the family could have letters and papers left at the door of his or her room. He col lected ' his money and promptly shook the dust of that, town from his feet. 'The inhabitants are patiently waiting for the place to grow so they can have their mall delivered In thelr rooma., i-v .''-The King ef Orafterfl. .' The greatest grafter who ever visited Teru, and the . most successful, waa ) Henry Melggs., The accomplishments of all ethers are small compared to hla operations. He was one of the boldest ' nni most successful lobbyists in his try. It la told of him that on a certain occasion, when he bad a bill pending before congress, which he wished passed at once, that he went to a ball and se lected for his partners the wivea of the men who could vote his measure through for him. As he danced with them he left a 11.000 bill in the hand of each, and told them -If the bill became a law ho would pay hla respecta te them in a similar manner the next time he danced with them. There was no delay in mak lug hla measure a law when it came up for consideration. The slickest trick that Melggs ever 'worked was when he employed a French gambler to wis back money spent as bribes. This dodge worked with sue cess for a long time, and saved the plun ger many thousands of dollars. The professional gambler posed as Melggs' ) private secretary. When a big deal was about to be pulled off the parties who were to be bribed for putting it through would be asked to Melggs' home for din . ner. After the meal the promoter would be excused he never played cards him self and the secretary would Invite the guests to join him in. a game, He never failed , to get the money bark, because ' that was the way he earned his salary. Jfcocky Boads to Travel. Railroads were Melggs' specialty, and he hjiillt them, no matter what the cost The average resldenc of the United Slates does not properly appreciate the excellent transportation facilities he has at hla command. If he ever travels on ome of the railroads of Central and Mouth America then he will think of those at home and resolve that blessed is their name. I saw a algn at one sta- , lion, which stated that the morning train would leave at "8 o'clock or there abouts." This meant that it might go t g sharp, or three or four hours after ward. - If one of the officials happened to be going up the line, anda notion to iurry etruck him, he might order the ' train out an hour ahead of time. Those ? iwo words "or thereabouts" could bo given a very broad Interpretation when ' necessarjAgtnd used to cover up a multi tude of Irregularities in the time table. . The prlnted-fPassenger regulations of the railroad revealed some astonishing privileges. . It quotes the rates for first, second, third nnd fourth class passen- ; :er, and stated that travelers of the. four -laa mlsht carry one. rooster or e pit." provided, tbe rooster wax con cealed In a sack, or the pig's nose was tied so It could not squeal. The regu lations authorised a traveler of the third i class to carry both rooster and a plgj lCtliey were properly sacked and gagged. y J The cost of constructing some or these little "jerk-water" lines was enormous. A contractor told me that 1.000 laborers died while he was build ing 115 miles of track through a swamp. Tne nanaung or mis mongrci labor is an intricate problem. If you beat them It does little good. They will get up after a thrashing and kiss your hand. you pm tnem in cnams they" feel like martyrs. : Instead of feeli ing disgraced the shackles seem to a aa to the native's sense of importance. He feels that he must be a bold, bad man to be treated in such a decisive way. It rather glorifies him In his own esti mation. The Bamoe Cap Oame, One contractor who nas had lots of ex perience with them, ssys it does no good to punish them in ordinary ways. He said he had one fellow who was very shiftless, and who was a constant source of trouble. He kept up a run ning fire of talk with all those around him, and constantly shirked his work. Finally the contractor called him up from the trench, and said to him, "Tou are very tired. That Js why yeu don't work better. Bit down here in the shade and rest. Have a drink of water, and cool yourself with this fan." The a tontshed loafer had nothing to do but comply. His fellows began at ones' to tease him. He was in much the same position as the small boy in school caught at hla mischief and made to wear a dunce cap. The big booby stood the fire of his comrades for awhile and then began to bawl like a baby. He begged to go back: to work, and offered to work all the rest of his lire without a cent's pay, just to, show that he was in earnest. When he was allowed to get back in the trench he did not shirk again, and on that Job, from that time on, all that was necessary to arouse some idler waa to ask him if he wanted to come up in the shade and rest. Save ran at Taaerala. The innumerable feast days cause much trouble among the laborers. They hate to work on a holiday. One con tractor solved the problem by having a priest-come to say early mass on the works, - and giving his men a sort of barbecue later in the day. He gave them several abeep te kill, and several kegs of rum to drink after the day's work was done. They always had a jolly spree of it, but it did not matter so long as their usual time had been put In. These natives turn every func tlon into a feast. They have just as good a time at a funeral as at a wed ding. Once I had a little fellow work ing for me ss chore boy. One evening he came around quite dressed up and in vlted me, to his house. He said hla brother waa detid and the family were going to give "a gathering." I made up my mind to attend the "gathering." It proved to be a aort of wake. The -corpse was laid out in one of the front rooms. When the guests arrived they would go In and take a look at the dead body, never falling to mention how natural he looked, and what a bright boy he had been fwhen he was alive. This part of the ceremony over, they would Join the crowd in the front yard, where there waa a wash boiler full of Ice cream, ready to be served, and plenty of liquids of a strong nature. They played kiss ing and hugging games, all night, and it was reported to me next day aa having been a very Jolly party. The customs of these days are very tame, Indeed, compared with those of the barbarians who were the ancestors of the poor wretches we see about us now. When the Spaniards invaded the temples of the Inca sovereigns, during their search for treasure, they invaria bly found a room where human beings had been sacrificed. It was always veritable chamber of horrors. In some dark corner would be the ugly, wooden idol in whose pame all this needless slaughter was committed. The cannibal ceremonies of the past have been grad ually reduced to harmless wakes - at funerals, and wholesale sprees In which all hands get as Jolly full as their hides will hold. ; i , ranena Chiaeha Island. The Chlncha islands are pointed out to every passenger on the ships which sail down the coast' of Peru. They are volcanic rocks sticking out of the wa ter, and are famed for the large quan tities" of guano which were formerly ucptmlted on them. Ouano Is bird ma nure. It la valuable as a fertiliser. These ocean rocks were favorlV roost ing places for milllona of sea birds, and gradually became covered over with their droppings.. Twenty-five years ago this stuff sold for $100 per ton. and its sale in the markets of the world brought more money into the treasury of Peru than any gold mine on earth has ever produced. ' The sup ply seemed almost inexhaustible, and for manv rears hundreds of ships were employed In transporting it to Europe and the United States. When the in dustry was at its height there wouia nmettmAs be as many as a hundred sailing ships waiting at the Chlncha Islands for cargoes. The work of dispatching tnem was very slow, and it was not uncommon tnr vessel to be waiting eight or nine months. Mary a captain broke his heart at this waiting game. Great fraud was nmotieed bv the Peruvian officials in charge. ' They would accept bribes and allow some captains to loan anrna oi others in the line. . They, would send those who refused to pay them to Callao to have their decks caulked, and force them to take their places at the end of the line when they returned. Handling the guano was one of the nastiest Jobs that men ever had to per form. When a deposit was disturbed the stench that came up from it was something dreadful. The men had to wear masks on. their faces to protect their lungs and nostrils from the strong fumes of ammonia.1 Chinese coolies were- imported to a o - th e work.and many a poor devil, distracted from his awful task, deliberately jumped into the sea or down a chute into a ship's hold filled with guano, the fumes of which soon choked him to death; The Industry has about died out because the supply Is nearly exhausted, and the de mand is growing much less. England Hot on Xap. A British minister has just been sent to. Bolivia, and this is the first repre sentative England has had in that coun try for nearly 40 years. The last diplo matic agent sent there arrived at the Capital on a -feast 'dayand immediately applied, for an audience with the presi dent. It did not suit his majesty to receive ministers on that particular day, so he sent word for the Englishman to come around some other time. This re buff rather nettled British dignity, and the president was very much surprised to receive a note a little later, saying that the accredited representatives of Great Britain were not accustomed to being put off on pretexts by presidents or anyone's else. Then the president got ruffled. The upshot of the matter was that the British minister was tied to a mule, head backwards, and driven out of the country in this undignified atti tude. When the outraged Englishman finally reached a cable office, he communicated the account of his 'woes to the British foreign office. The story goes that the Official In charge, without taking the trouble to look up Bolivia's geographical position, ordered a battleship to the scene to insist upon proper amends be ing made for the insult. This is a a-reat Joke, for the reason that Bolivia Is an Inland country and has no port at all. When the British head of foreign af fairs got down his map to look up Bolivia he took his pen and scratched a ine through it, thus severing all diplo matic connection with it. When the nres- Ident of Bolivia heard of this, several months afterward, he retaliated in smart fashion. An American firm was getting out some new geographies for Bolivia and he wrote them: "Leave EnaTand blank on maps in our school books." This was many year ago, but there are still many of these old geographies in circulation which show no British red. SHIPBUILDING OF . WORLD LAST YEAR According to published statistics of last year's shipbuilding, the jiumber of vessels launched in the whole world was 2,441. with a tonnage of 2.679.531 and an indicated horse-power of 2,352,485. For 1902 the number of vessels launched waa 2,394, with a tonnage of 2,715,670 and an- indlcated horse-power of 2.017,254. Morn than one-half the new tonnage of 1903 was produced within the United King dom, England turning out 871 vessels of 766,295 tons, Scotland 362 veasels of 484. 853 tons, and Ireland; 25 vessels of 1M,- 482 tons. With the exception of the United States, no foreign country launched an aggregate tonnage equal to the Clyde alone, which built during the year 277 vessels of 446,869 tons. The sta tistics show that there were decreases on the Clyde, the Tay, the Dee, the Tyne, the Wear, the Tees, the Hartlepool, the Thames, in Ireland, Germany, France and Holland, and Increases on the Forth, the Mersey, the Humber, the English channel, in the colonies, the United States. Russia, Norway and Sweden. Italy, Austria, Hungary, Japan, Den mark, Belgium and China. The Clyde decrease was not so serious as expected. last year being a record year. mOFSLLZB SZYXCS. An invention by Qeorge Lasher. local coppersmith, will be of interest, to all mariners along the coast. It is marine engine governor, and has been designed for the purpose of regulating the speed of a propeller. In a storm at sea the propeller is frequently thrown above the surface of the water, and as no resistance is met with in such cases it makes many unnecessary revolutions a minute. As a result the shaft Is put at an enormous strain and the propeller itself 4l frequently broken. There has Deen "ive means oi reguiaung mis mat' ter. The invention is made entirely of cop per, and consists of a small standpipe and air pumps, to which are attached an Ingenious arrangement which con trols the speed of the propeller at all times and under the most trying circum stances. A model which has just been completed has been subjected to a thor ough test, and proved more than satis factory to those who are Interested in the device. The model will be shipped to San Francisco tonight on the steamer Oregon. It is being sent to Henry Christie, a master mechanic In the em ploy of the Dollar line of steamers, Who will make practical experiments with It P. A. Qanty, Angus Oor and J. Holtsman of this city have assisted in financing the project, and are con fident that it will prove a success and supply a real -want. For many years Mr. Lasher, the in ventor, served in the United States navy, and has had more or less expert ence with ships the greater part of his life. ' Some time ago he became con vinced that there were too many accl dents happening to vessels on account of the constant and frequently unneo essary strain put upon the shafts and propellers, and he set about the task of discovering a means to overcome the imperfection which .exists, IlOn i KA7T. While coming up 'the river yesterday the, steamer Albany broke her shaft. It is stated to be probable that a new one will have to be procured in the east, and the steamer will be tied up for several : weeks. The Albany belongs to the Western Towing and Transportation company, and of late has been la com mission towing logs for the Portland Lumber mill. Until the necessary re pairs arc made to the vessel the No Wonder of the Shaver line will take tier place. 7 DOES DOUBLE DUTY It's like a magnet draws people to your store; It speaks for you by" day" and does double duty at night, burning your name into the public mind. There is nothing so effect ive as an ELECTRIC SIGN. It will tell the people in a moment that you are up-to-date. It will show your location at night. It makes an impression that is not easily extinguished; the public never forgets where it saw anything that impressed them. They are effective, economical, convenient and tell the tale at the proper time and place. On flat or meter ' basis. Special on term contracts. be made rates Ctall on us pleased to explain all details. and ive will ElECTK COMPANY SEVENTH AND ALDER STREETS: f