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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1904)
THE OREGON JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING? MARCH 27. .1804.', ... ..... leading questions discussed for the sunday journal by ;...::. : ; able foreign anid American writers -John D. Rockefeller As Viewed In France (Br xi. arorriM.)' N OT very long Ago, in one or tne great salons or ew xor. whnre diplomats from all coun- '' tries ars freauent visitors, the problem of finding a future husband for a little Yankee girl, the granddaughter of the American billionaire, J ohn p. . Rockefeller, war seriously . discussed, and the iholce la said' to have fallen upon a son of the Kaiser. This union Is said to be the goal of John D. Rocke feller's , ambition. ,. , ' i And why not? - Is it not a fact that the Hohenzol lerns have not money enough,, while the Rockefellers have too much, and would not this union be profitable to all con- cernedT". ' :' -4 i- To the American mind there is no thing strange in this bartering away of heiresses, settling their fate even be fore they have reached their teens. It In admitted that a marriage which may take place 10 cr 12 years from now, in 1914 or 1916, between the young Mar quts of Stafford, a boy of 10, and little Miss Margaret ..Carnegie, a young lady of 8 years, Is considered settled. The little marquis Is the heir presumptive to the ducat coronet of Sutherland and Miss Carnegie will inherit probably two hundred millions of dollars. Gould any union be more suitable? In the same way it is said that future marriages have been arranged for Miss Gladys Vanderbllt, who if to have the young Duke of Leicester, little Miss Alice Chauncey is to marry the Count of Caledonia, and little Marguerite Drexel, daughter of a former partner of J. Pierpont Morgan, ts In time to be Lady Torrlngtbn. y' ' r Why then should not 'the grand daughter of the real ruler of the United States marry a son of the ruler of Ger many? . T'- ' ', ' Does not Rockefeller even now control many Institutions In the United States which on this side are -owned by the government? The growing fortune of this insatiable moneymaker constitutes In Itself the strongest . condemnation of our present social conditions, and one asks one's lf what is then this all-powerful man. this semi-god, who through his nu merous trusts already dictates the laws of the United' States as he wants to dictate the laws of the whole world, and who has the power to make the mil lions of people prosperous or miserable? 5 iMHMHMKWMHHHW I The Dangers of Japanese Pan I Mongolism (By Alfred UUr.) Celebrated French Explorer and Orlen- talisu. - . : -, I "NTHE great conflict over the, om- 'mercuu supremacy in , unina. me Japanese have gained an Immense advantage over the Whlta nations. Closely related by racial ties and char acteristics to the Chinese and with a perfect understanding of the peculiari ties of the Chinese people, : they have acquired an 'enormous Influence In the Celestial empire since the recent war between the two countries. They have not attempted to force through great reforms at once,, they have not tried to make the Chinese buy large quantities of machinery or arms. They have not thrown on the market large amounts of cotton, oil or Indus trial stock. Thw hava carefully avoided . dealing In even the smallest quantities of opium, the criminal and immoral trafflo which undermines every undertaking . In ,the Orient .-. ; ' They have never tried to make the Chinese buy all kinds of merchandise, which they did not know what to do with. They have gained important results from the activity of their numerous agents; they have Introduced novelties In China,, but always novelties for which there was ft demand In everyday life. . ' ' '-' They have started from small begin nings and been satisfied with slow re sults, and In this they have, of course, been helped by the similarity of the written language. ' ' A box of English, American or Swed ish matches is to the Chinese an Inven tion of the foreign devils. A. Japanese box with the same contents with a Jap anese label, easily read by the Chinese, is almost Chinese. The Japanese agent, traveling in Chin ese costume, resembles the Chinaman as one egg resembles another. He speaks, or at least reads, and writes to perfec tion the language of his customers. The heavy And bulky merchandise he keeps for himself until be has created demand for them, and he is continually creating new demands. . He takes from his pocket a package of Japanese cigarettes; he lights one with a Japanese match. He takes from his trunk ft bottle of seltzer, and In, drinking It shows how good' it makes him feel; he looks at his watch., and drinks ft glass of beer. He shows the powers of his field-glass, demonstrates In practice the use ot his bicycle. ;He carries comlo and commercial papers; he laughs while reading the former, and Is absorbed In the news, of the latter, He allows the natives to admire his comfortable shoes, bis needles and safety pins. All this awakens the curiosity of the Chinese1, who recognize the practical value of the articles and soon adopt them, and the point of the 'wedge has been Inserted. ' Orders for goods follow and the peo ple who buy watches soon want clocks; after matches come candles, and in this manner the Import of Japanese goods' has grown, not forced, but , de manded by the Chinese themselves. . ' The Japanese, who are careful not to show theii contempt of Chinese customs and habits, are no longer the enemy who destroyed the Chinese navy only a few' years ago; they are friends and allies, and day by day their influence grows, while the hatred of the white, secretly nourished by them, continues to , In crease. If the Japanese pan-mongolism is al lowed to grow as It has during the last few years we shall undoubtedly, within the life of ft generation or two, witness the formation of an Immense Yellow empire, which will precipitate ft merci less race war, which is likely to become fatal to Europe, ' ' But there are three forces of differ ent nature which counteract this gi gantic movement toward Japanese Chinese alliance and which Piay suc ceed in averting the danger. One Is the 1 Russian pan-Mongollsrn, which endeavors to bring the Chinese under Russian influenoe and power; the other Is new movement In China her i Is he a benefactor to the poor., is he an encourager of energy and work, or is he a generous Maecenas to art? . . Every one, who knows him will answer you that be la nothing of the kind; that John D.. Rockefeller takes a special pleasure in. defying public opinion; that itls fortune has been built from nothing, and that, aided by luck, he has always spread misery and continues to create misery among those around him. From the very day when he stumbled over his first oil well he has been busy ruining and depriving his fellow men of their property, and to .carry out his plans he has used means which under ordinary circumstances and in any well-regulated society would, have landed him in the penitentiary for a considerable number of years. -Having gobbled the entire supply of oil in the United States, Rockefeller conceived the" gigantic scheme ,of making his fellowmen pay exorbitant prices for oil and other neces saries of life, and at the same time re ducing the wages ald the workers for their toil. -, .... . -v . .; And this ," great conqueror, ' who has proven himself to be above the civil and criminal laws of the United States, has never concealed his acts, but has broken the laws openly and defiantly. He carea absolutely nothing for the good opinion of his fellow citizens, but should the day come when he would care to become popular , he will undoubtedly buy popu larity,, as he bought everything else, without , any expense ' to himself. - He will simply ruin a few more thousand smaller fortunes and, - with the spoils, endow this oountry with Rockefeller universities. Rockefeller : hospitals and Rockefeller libraries -and a new public spirited clttsen John D. Rockefeller. - In- the meantime he continues to "operate." he swallows up""the fortunes of his countrymen and, as his own for tune grows, the number of those who are dependent upon him and who are in his pay grows to fantastic propor tions. His "subjects" are found among all classes consumers, producers, small manufacturers and bankers, small spec ulators, and, most numerous of all, ft vast army of salaried employes. He Axes as autocratic dictator their wages as well as. the cost of their living. And this flagrant contradiction between the increasing prices of all the 'necessaries of life and the decreasing wages paid for labor is wttbut ft doubt the most serious and .dangerous problem which self, which may result In the destruc tion of both Russian and- Japanese plans, when , the Chinaman becomes aware of the true nature of his situa tion, and the third Is the political spirit which exists In and dominates the Jap anese pan-Mongolism, It would carry me too far to describe the ' Russian pan-Mongollsm. It is enough to look at the results already achieved by the crafty diplomacy of the czar, which has ' added thousands of square miles of Asia's .territory to Rus sia. " -, The Russian government has gained an enormous influence In China, and will undoubtedly In the future work to ward ft European alliance against the yellow peril as threatened by Japan, and should the czar succeed In this It will be the end of the Japanese pan Mongollsm. " The middle classes of China, though willing to deal with the Japanese com mercially are,' however, the worst stumbling block In the way, and the lack of confidence shown by the higher classes of conservative Chinese, who fear the radical tendencies of the Jap anese people, Is rapidly increasing. ' The Japanese, who believe themselves the equals of the white people because they have bought modern battleships and Krupp guns, and because they have adopted derby hats and congress shoes, also believe, themselves great Socialists because they have adopted ft vague par liamentarism. . The German "Kathedersoclallsm" has become a universal Institution with them, and the more progressive middle classes, who are also the strongest ad vocates of pan-Mongollsm, Imagine that the teachings of Karl Marx are Indis pensable to liberate and rejuvenate the yellow ra.ee. " The result Is that the young Chinese who , study In Japan become Imbued with ft political radicalism, the whole significance of which they do not un derstand, but which Is enough to bring pan-Mongollsm In.j disfavor with the Chinese government, and for this rea son the imperial government of China is exceedingly suspicious of the Jap anese agents. i 1 c Denver Corr. of St Paul Pioneer-Press. The western genius who discovered that there is a market for canned jatJH rabblt has probably sounded the death knell of the long-legged, long-eared, swift-running creature that has so long been a picturesque denizen of the prai rie. The first canning factory has been established at Echo, Or., and thousands of jackrabblta are slaughtered in this vicinity every month to keep pace with the demand for this new article of food. Other canneries will be established in the west and the jack will have no range that he can call his own. t Not that the jackrabbit has ever been free from the persecution of man. He has been hunted in various ways and for various purposes, but chiefly for sport In California, Colorado and near ly every western, state, where fruit Is grown fruitgrowers wage a relentless war on jackrabbit because of the de structive habits of ths knjmaU : Jack rabbits have been knowif 40 destroy huge orchards by girdling the trees, and for this reason they are under the ban of fruitgrowers. In. Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, California and the Dakotas the sport of coursing has taken firm hold on a large part of the public, and this also results In the death of thousands of jackrabblts annually. In spite of these forms of . Slaughter,, however, and In spite of the huge roundups which have been held to give the ranch population a holiday and to combine pleasure with business, the jackrabbit tribe has con tinued to Increase and It is estimated that they are nearly as plentiful now as faces the government of the United States today. v The trusts have centralised the con trol of all products and facilities In America in the, hands of ft very small group of capitalists, who are draining the public of that great country of Us former wealth. . '-. - All necessaries of life are from BO to t& percent higher In the United States than they were 10 years ago. i Meat which In 1895 cost only 10 cents, now costs 18 cents, pork has risen from 10 cents to 18 cents and eggs from lS-to" 82 cents ft dozen. -. But not , satisfied with the natural growth of their fortunes the American trust kings have used all kinds of tricks, which would at least have made them impossible In good society in Europe. K The famous steel trust, which- started on its brilliant if meteorlo career by Increasing the wages of its employes with $2,000',000 a year, subsequently made a cut of $10,000,000 in these same salaries, and this is generally attributed to the Influence of John D, Rockefeller, who la now in full control-of this enor mous undertaking. ;, V , ' Rockefeller; also controls almost all the railroads , of America, with an army of ' 850,000 - employes, whose salaries amount to about $50,000,000 ft year, and he Is responsible for ft cut of S I The Great Servant Question I (By Kftdy Xenry Somerset.) Copyright. 1904, by W. R. Hearst. Great Britain . Rights Reserved. HERB Is probably no question which has more : anxiously oc cupied the domestic mind of late years than the decline of the old fashioned servant The difficulty began to be felt in America before we were altogether conscious of it In. the old country, bUt now the dearth Mas spread equally to the homes of England and America.- ; " "' ; If I were asked to say briefly wherein I think the trouble began, I should not hestitate to affirm that It lies In the fact of the decline of the old-fashioned mistress, for It is impossible that any servant can feel that she is part of the family unless she Is-accepted as such by those who employ her. For it as part of the family that the servant of old days gave not only her .work t her affections. I well remember how a little girl, when she first entered service, came to be trained in the nursery among the children' who very often were to be come her .future-employers. .Service In those days was not looked upon as. ft degradation, but rather as a promotion, and the child entered her new duties with the feeling that she bad accepted an honorable profession in choosing domestlo service as her career. Her existence was a matter of Interest to her mistress, her promotion, if she did well, a certainty; and by and by with the years, , she grew to be the friend who shared the recollections of the-past and the responsibility of the household, and was ft distinct factor In its well-being. The great Lord Shaftesbury used to say that his whole career was changed by his nurse! His parents were entirely occupied with the pleasures ana. respon sibilities of their position. Sitting by his nursery fire, the little lonely lad used to listen by the hour to tho bible stories told him by the sim ple woman who was destined to mould the mind of one of England's greatest philanthropists. From her he learned his childish prayers; from her he gath ered that enthusiasm for Christianity which was so distinctly ft mark of his beneficent career. . . Again, Sir Walter Scott has told us how be. would go night after night under cover of the darkness, to listen to the evening prayer offered by his old gardener, and how those words of bless ing and of supplication sent blm back to his work cheered and brightened, to understand more rightly the romance of human lives. Story after story could be gathered as to the effect on the minds of some of the world's greatest men. brought to pass by the humble friends who formed part of their domestlo life. It is the relation of the one to the other that produces the quality of ser vice, the absence of which we now so greatly deplore. The fault cannot possibly be on the one side only, It must exist with the employer as much as with the employed. The servant question is es pecially ft woman's problem, and I think that her failure to solve It rests as ft stigma upon her which every woman should combine to remove. The chief factor,' it seems to. me, in the decline' of the old-fashioned idea of service exists In the distinction that la made between ft servant and an employe. The ethics which govern the employ ment of women in other capacities do not extend to domestlo service. It Is rarely that ft woman will treat a servant as though she required ah individual Of equal intelligence, but rather as though all she demanded was ft subordinate. rYnmvr nt? In the earliest days of the west There Is little doubt however, that the sys tematic bunting of the Jackrabbit for market purposes will soon make Inroads on the tribe, and in time the Jack may become as extinct as the buffalo. A Jackrabbit roundup In the west Is full of Interest to the uninitiated spec tator, although it is apt to be anything but pleasant when the actual slaughter of the animals begins. A huge circle of hunters Is formed, miles In circum ference, and an Inclosure built of woven wire so high that no Jackrabbit could Jump over It is the objective point of the hunt. : From the entrance to this In closure extend two fences, broadening out as they leave the corral. : Into this wedge-like space the rabbits are driven, after which they will naturally run into the corral as the only exit In sight, there to be slaughtered at the leisure of theWiunters. v,; '.";','',-'-, ' A hunt of this sort on sagebrush prai ries where rabbits are plentiful will re sult In scaring , up thousands of Jacks. At a recent bunt near the canning fac tory at Echo, Qr.; over 8,000 American hares were killed and two coyotes were caught. It Is estimated that as many rabbits escaped as were killed on ac count of the thin line;, ' v The sight as the leaping rabbits rush into the corral, driven by the shouting hunters at their rear. Is remarkable. The big Jacks are terrified, and as they rush Into the entrance of the corral at top . speed . their crowding, struggling forms nre almost entirely hidden by dust Once ' In the corral they rush T per cent In the wages of these men. And one must not forget that this reduction has been made while the' United States Is ' enjoying and ha enjoyed ft long period of unusual prosperity. What may not happen. In case of ft great financial crisis? . , , 5 , There Is another trait which shows the character of America's trust mag nates. . Some two years ago Rockefeller, Morgan and their consorts, finding them selves with too large an amount of pre ferred stock of the United States Steel corporation, In a fit of charitable gener osity, which was duly praised by a subsidised press, offered these shares to their' employes. Several million dol lars' worth of stock was bought by 150,000 orsployes at $85. Today it is not worth $60? To send up the value of the stock It was necessary to show larger dividends, and what was more natural than to start with a cut In wages, and the poor employe, having lost $80 on every share of stock which he had bought, is again robbed of part of his salary. In Europe these tricks of high finance would have landed all these millionaire directors In jail; In America they are only admired, and among them all John D, Rockefeller reigns supreme. J. P. Morgan, George Gould and other I have heard women on more than one- occasion, when servant had made some mistake, or error of julgraent. and excused herself by saying, "I thought. I had better act In that way," reply to her, "I do not require you to think, I require you only to obey." I think that if the mistress were to take the servant Into her confidence, explain - her plans with regard to her hpuse, tell her why she requires work done this way or that, discuss with her, make it of interest and Importance, she would probably receive In return an In telligent service, which would amply repay her. The employer who superintends, per haps a thousand hands has friction and his strikes, but on the whole, he usually gets on with tils employes, and often keeps them a lifetime.' I think that this arises from the fact that good work Is recompensed by promotion, and that Intelligence and care are recognised and rewarded, not merely acepted as a matter of course. And if such an atti tude as I have mentioned were assumed by the business man. toward his em ploye the work of the world would soon be at a standstill. There Is an Indefinable social stigma attached to service, which has caused in telligent and self-respecting women to snun it. for this idea, of the social infer iority of the domestic servant has per meated all classes. I have heard the roughest factory girl, who' may be earn ing $2 a. week, speak of another girl as.a. "mere servant" And this social In feriority la unconsciously emphasized by me mistress in many 01 tne email de tails, of life. . For Instance, I know many women will never address ft ser vant mrougn tne post as "Miss" or "Mrs." but .will simply put the Chris tian and surname. - Many are extremely arbitrary In' Eng land on the subject of their servant's dress, and liberty to don the raiment that she may think proper hi not even given her when she Is off duty. . But- above all things, I think the reason why service la shunned, especial ly by the young, Is the fact that the op portunity is not given for her to meet the opposite sex, and consequently the prospect of marriage becomes extremely small. In; old days, when house holds were larger and more men were employed the servant girl had the oppon tunity at any rate of meeting the youths employed' on the estate, with the result that when she left her employer In order to marry, In many cases her husband still remained In his service. Moreover, I think that It is well to re member that just as the mistress now adays requires more amusement and change, than In former times, so the same restless spirit has spread to the classes of less opportunity. The woman who In old days was content to sit, at her fancy sewing, to- play with her children, to supervise her house and who had few " Interests outside her garden gate, has nowadays a hundred engagements to fill In her week, committees to attend, theatres and .picture galleries to Vlslt, literary work to undertake, and life has become to her a constant panorama of changing Scenes and interest. If this spirit has Invaded the mistress, it has also possessed tne maid. And yet, too often she may not go out of doors, no special time is appointed to her as particularly her own, she alone of all the household 16 not supposed to require any change of scene or wider Interest It is not even deemed necessary for her to attend the clubs which are opened for shop girls, and, almost universally, work and Isolation are the characteris tics of her life. A graceful recognition of service ren dered and a right recognition of the In nrijL? t a nTT a ddtt hither and thither In a frantic effort to escape. They leap high against the fence, and others try to burrow- under the wire. An occasional coyote who is trapped with the rabbits is also too frightened to do anything but try to escape. He makes no effort to kill the rabbits, despite the fact that a Jack is the choicest food which he knows. When the last rabbit has been driven Into the Inclosure the gate is closed, and then the hunters enter with clubs and begin the work of slaughter. When,the clubs begin to descend and the rabbits fall dead right and left, the fright of the victims in the corral becomes a veritable panic. Higher and higher they leap against the wire fence, but always they are flung back and the vicious club de scends and ends their existence. Blood Is scattered from one end of the corral to the other, and soon the Inclosure Is literally carpeted with dead Jackrabblts. Strange as it may seem, the women who take part in these hunts do not hesitate to seize clubs and take part In the work of slaughter in the corrals. . If the hunt has Keen for sport only, the animals are divided among the hunt ers, but if It Is for market purposes the animals are beheaded and dressed ftnd hung In cold storage until the cannery can. use them. The Oregon cannery is using about 1.000 pounds of jackrabbit meat a day, and orders are said to be coming In so fast that the cannery can hardly supply them. , At a recent jackrabbit hunt near Sal Ida, Col., several hundred Jacks were killed, in one day by a party from Den- multi-millionaires have felt his heavy hand now that, he Is looking for larger prey, and ft battle Is Imminent between Other' matadors. . -A''-'.:,,', ', :.',''), The majority of the American people look upon the battle of giants only a curious spectators. . If you tell them that their nation Is In Imminent danger they look at you with a pitying smile. They will not admit that Rockefeller with his billions may overpower the government , They will answer you In the most phlegmatic manner that the stars of the union have not lost their brilliancy, and. that If Rockefeller should go too1 far . congress and people . are amply able to show him his place.' It cannot be denied that It Is Inter esting to watch this game of the financial giants, but the number of dis interested onlookers is rapidly diminish ing. Worklngmen and small capitalists, the, first victims of these filibusters, are beginning to show : signs of Im patience, and the day will, come when all these group's of sufferers will have their , representatives In congress and government, and I sincerely hope for my brother republicans In America that their reistanc may come In time to save that great republic from the most contemptible and dangerous forma of despotism that of great financiers be yond the reach of the law. dividuality of the servant are. the only recipes for obtaining faithful, affection ate service. I well' remember how. on my first trip to America, now 12 years ago, I visited that great American woman, Francis Wlllard, In her home at Evanston. What struck me first about that re markable personality was not the bril liancy of her conversation or the charm of her welcome, but the fact that when we were seated round the dinner table she turned In the most natural and graceful way to her maid and said: "I do not think I have made my little Swedish Ida known to you." There was a. charm In the sense of oneness be tween employer aud employed that never left me; and although such an action may not be deemed universally advtsa' ble, It Is that spirit which wins heart felt service. Domestlo service is In England the largest woman's Industry. Nearly one third of tne occupied women population of the United Kingdom are domestlo servanU; but the census of 1901 dis tinctly ihows that the number of women thus employed is declining rapidly, and in that year the Women's ( Industrial council made Inquiries Into the cause of the unpopularity of domestlo service, and found that it was not Industrial, but social. There Is no distaste for household work; but a stigma of Inferiority and the lack of liberty were found to be un surmountable objections. Again, it is among the worst paid of woman's Indus tries. The labor department of the board of trade published some time ago a. report on the . wage of indoor do mestlo servants, Which showed that the average money wage la $90 a year in London,, and $77.50 a year in the rest of England and Wales. This, of course, applies to England 'and not to America, where the wages are on a much nlgher scale; but It tends to show that the spirit ts prevalent which depreciates the value of domestic service, and cheapens It as well In moral estimation as In mon etary remuneration. I believe that until the whole aspect of the servant question is readjusted to suit the requirements of modern lite we shall not get the faithful friend and helper who was the comfort of our childhood, and the companion of our mothers. The whole problem of the home has to be faced afresh. In every profession and trade, the need of special training has been universally recognized. The management of a house Is also supposed to come by the light of nature to wo man, Instead of by that education which is required for every other science. When women are able really to teach their servants, and when a mistress can give to the apprentice a knowledge of the art which she desires to acquire, then I think domestlo service will have been raised to a different level. I am glad to know that a school has been opened In Chelsea, London, for do mestlo training, in which the whole art of managing a household Is taught on practical lines. I can conceive nothing that will bind servants to their mistresses with more faithful affection than the fact that a young woman, having really mastered the true art of housekeeping, gently and quietly imparts It to the girl to whom she shows the dignity of labor and the real Intelligence required for mastering the intricacies of domesticity. To clean a kitchen- will then become an art to polish furniture an accomplishment, and cookery a science. Domestic . service will then be lifted out of contempt, and mistresses and em ployes will become friends In the fac tory of the home. ver and other points In the state. This was not a roundup, but the rabbits were killed by tho good old-fashioned shot gun method. The most picturesque and exciting method of hunting Jackrabblts is by coursing, in which trained dogs do the killing. Owners of coursing greyhounds in the west have large fortunes invested in their kennels, and much time and money are spent in training the dogs to make , Ideal coursers. The dogs are drawn in pairs for the series of courses. When a jackrabbit is started from be hind a clump of sagebrush two of the dogs are released. Then comes a merry race across the country. The trained greyhounds have difficulty In gaining on .the jackrabbit but before long they have worked up within striking distance. Then the rabbit turns, and the dogs wheel like well-oiled machines and are again In close pursuit The Judges are. watching the actions of the dogs and are scoring all the points against them. Finally the nearest dog seizes the Jack rabbit and tosses the. animal high in the air. When the creature reaches the ground It is dead, Its neck having been broken, and the Judges score for a good kill. Then this Is repeated when an other pair of dogs Is turned loose. Prises are awarded, and in many cases mucp money changes .hands owing to the faith of the dog-owners In the cours ing merits of their respective animals. Coursing does not result in the whole sale slaughter of Jackrabblts like the roundups which have been described. For this reason It has not come into t ' -"tmL vUl iae increasing Poetry In (By Bailey Mlllarl) (Copyright, 1904, by W, K. Hearst) G OMING immediately after a state ment made in a special cabin by Lady Henry Somerset that the taste for , poetry Is on the wane among English "women, this article by Bailey Millard, , the noted American author, Is of extraordinary In terest; Whoa, Pegasus! Let me get my feet Into the stirrups. Oh, how can I Join the Parnassian steeplechase without ft firm seat In the saddle? , . Tho Parnassian steeplechase? Don't you know about that, dear reader? Don't you know that the Callow Muse Is off and away, rough-rldina like mad, with a whole rough-ridden herd stampeded at her heels? : Yes, there Is just otow a tremendous output of poetry an amazing, an In credible output and all the literati who have been telling us that this Is not a poetic age either know not of what they speak or else they are trying to lull us Into fancied security. Buss Carman, whose forthright at tacks upon us as a prosy people have been particularly painful, and many other stern critics of this supposed Day of the Dollar, have been hurling their bolts against the Indifferent Public be cause, forsooth, as they declared It it did uot read poetry. When Mr. Carman said not long ago that poetry was out of date those of the aesthetic life sighed. "Alas, too true!" Other magazine writ ers have taken pains to explain "The Reason Why. We Have No Poets," which was that nowadays nobody read poetry or cared to listen to It. In fact we have been told so often that this was not a singing age or an age that lent an ear to song; that we had to come to ac cept what the scholarly folk naa as sured us was "the prosaio tenaency 01 the times. The wise ones said that the Muse was dying, and that settled It But just when we naa tnougnt mat we heard the odious death-rattle in the lady's throat and were wondering If Al fred Austin would be Induced to act as one of her pallbearers, up she springs from where she lay "suspiring on tne ground," and forth she bubbles Into soulful song, doing a neat little skirt dance the while. Bhe wasn't dying after all. How do we know this. Because of the fact that piles of poetry are coming from the press; that In one month no less than 48 different volumes of verse Atutuae 01 tne ward All Peoples and Countries (By Mrs. John A. logan.) (Copyright 1904, by W. R. Hearst Great Britain Rights Reserved. r T is a matter of Infinite pride that very American can justly feel that the United States is at peace witn all the world and that we have the confidence Of all peoples of whatever race or condition. The complaint has been made, usually by some one of our own people, that we have not always been quite just In our dealings with others. It would be folly to claim that every American has been honest and upright In his transactions with Individuals of other races. That would' be to presuppose that all men were honest which Is In itself a very vio lent supposition. - ' : But as a nation and ft beneficent gov ernment I think we can claim the highest motives and the most generous actions toward all mankind. ; More than one we have been appealed to by downtrodden people for assistance In helping them to shake off the yoke of tyranny and lift from their weary shoulders the multiplied burdens that were crushing them. We have responded to their appeals In the name of humanity without violating International laws and regulations to the extent of causing the powers of the world to unite against the United States, mainly on account of the Justice of the cause of the oppressed nation. Therefore no other nations could interfere without ar raying themselves on the side of Inhu manity and oppression. - , The results have Justified, the action of the United tSates, and the people seeking" aid have been redeemed from cruel despotism and are today rapidly re covering from the years of robbery and misrule under which they have lived. The cost of the struggle for freedom to the petitioners' of the United States has been prodigious In the sacrifice of human life and treasure, but finally cul minated In forcing Spain to leave Cuba, and allow the peoplo of that fruitful Island of the Caribbean sea to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happi ness. Later, as If to compensate her for the loss of Cuba, we paid Impoverished Spain millions of dollars for the Islands beyond favor as a sport among ranchmen and' others, who simply look on the Jack rabbit as a pest The jackrabbit is an animal peculiar to the western states. It is found no where else. The speed of the animal has always been proverbial among west ern men, like the speed of a coyote. In a straightaway race it is claimed that the Jackrabbit can distance the coyote, but he usually falls a victim to the coy ote's superior Intelligence. The favor ite coyote method for catching jackrab blts Is for one of the animals to start ft Jack and attend to the active work of keeping the victim on the run, while the other coyote sits down patiently await ing the arrival of his dinner. The Jack rabbit when be has a free range, will run in circles, and the- coyotes cleverly count on this habit Before long the rabbit will arrive at the place from WhCW he started, and there coyote No. z, frsh and ready for a short sprint, will swoftp down upon him and then di vide the mearwlth the coyote that has done the actual chasing. Jackrabblts have always been a table delicacy with western ranchmen. Their meat is stronger than that of the cotton-tall, but when properly cooked is very pleasant to the taste. Now that the jackrabbit Is being Introduced In cans to the world's kitchens, It is quite likely that his sphere of Influence wUl be widely Increased, and it Is only a question of time when the establishment of jackrabbit farms for the propagation of this table delicacy will become a com mon thing In the west , 1 1 , ' ' ' tJ i 'a s r' - uemana ior America " ' ' have been printed In New Tork and Bos- ton . alone. There now lies before me on my desk printed volumes of verse by the score. All day I have been drtnklng at this new Pierian fount laying in it, and even boating In It. Ah, what a rare day! I am prepared to overwhelm with confusion anybody who says this is not a poetic age. , ...':.- Why, It la safe to say that there are twenty American poets today to one of the Elizabethan age. And nobody, of all these rhyming folk but ts willing to ad mit that what is written In the way cf ' verse now is, on an average, as good poetry, If not better,' than what was written In the reign of the red-headed queen. They are quite ready to declare ' that when that serene senate of intel lects, the Scholars of the future, shall weigh and sift the poetical product of the ages they will find as much merit In -what Is now written as our present liter ary masters find in the poetry of the. past They are capable of voicing the dictum that in that distant day the idols' we now worship shall have crum bled Into dust Indeed, Hamlin Garland (a poet ' whose name suggests the wreath-ed bays) says that some of them . have crumbled already. - , - But this bewildering pile of poetry lies before me. It Is Indeed an aston ishing array, and the hundreds of lyrto titles in the publishers new catalogues are still more astonishing. There is ev erything In this present boiling of the bards from "Hasty Pudding Poems" and "Sonnets of a Telephone Girl" to "The Queen's Chronicler" and "The Great Pifocesslon." It would seem frorri the evidence here shown and by the an nouncements of future publications made by the men who feed the hoppers In the poetry mill that half the popula tion Is either writing or contemplating putting forth verse. Why, one of the books at hand bears in its preface the solemn assertion that "all men are poets," and I for one cannot gainsay It Of course many of tho 43 new vol umes of verse are by Lyrical Little Folk, The Callow Muse is here well to the front But there is in the batch good poetry as well as bad, which is no great wonder, seeing how thoroughly the in fection, has spread over the land. But don't believe anybody even Mr. Bliss Carman himselfwho says that this Is not a poetlo age and that we are not a singing nation. With so many writers, of verse (and the number Is growing dally) there must be also num berless readers. unuea axates 10- t the 'seas that were captured by our In trepid navy, and re are still paying millions more for the enlightenment and civilization .of the savages who inhabit : those Islands. Yea, more an .army of civilian educa tors and humanitarians have followed the victorious troops all over those Islands, feeding the hungry, binding up the wounds, and succoring the poor, beggarly natives, who never before knew anything of the blessings of civilization and free dom.' : With the avowed ' purpose of fitting them for self-government and Independ ence the government of the United States has provided schools and teachers for the people, and doubtless before half of the twentieth century has come and gone and probably before the quarter milestone has been reached, the army and these noble agents will have accomplished the herculean task of lifting a race out of darkness ' and oppression Into the sun light of civilization and prosperity. No other nation on the globe has ever before been so magnanimous or done so much for a people whom they have sub jugated or rescued from the tyranny of church or state. - The statesmen of the greatest nations of the earth have devised no such plans or opportunities for the welfare and de velopment, of their dependencies as those conceived by American statesmen and executed by the government of the Uni ted States for those far away Islands. Remembering the clause In the consti tution of their own beloved land which provides that all men shall worship Ood according to the dictates of their own consciences, these conquered people have . been protected In their religious rights. As rapidly as they become converted to loyalty to the government of the United States and a sense of Justice, the prop erty of the church has , been and Will be restored to them without any guarantee except loyalty to a government that has brought them light and progress. Less than a decade has passed since Dewey sailed Into Cavlte and was rein forced by our heroic army; and yet phe nomenal .success has crowned their work and their unspeakable sacrifice. Hundreds of the natives have flocked about their benefactors and are acquiring the lan guage of civilization. Hundreds of others have Joined the army to aid In putting down the turbulent desperate spirits that have infested the isjanda The scandals-precipitated by Individuals have been insignificant compared to the achievements of the army,, the navy and civilians in extending the benefactions of Christianity and liberty, and will soon be forgotten, especially since the culprits hove suffered the penalties imposed for their crimes,. , Not many months ago the United States had another opportunity to display the high and noble principles underlying the foundations of our government. , The ar mies of Europe and our great republic were called to Peking to protect diplo matic representatives fro.n butchery of the pagan hordes who s'wigpttdown upon the capital of the great rrrtWre of China. Following this brief , engagement all other armies, savs that of the United States, with the knowledge, if not the approval, of tholr officers, entered upon a campaign of shocking rapine, looting and- unspeakably disgraceful conduct, which was only stopped by that magnifi cent soldier and noble gentleman, Gen eral Chaffee, the American commannVr, whose vigorous protest of no uncertain purport will ever stand to the credit of himself and '. his country. - One might continue to enumerate the Instances . that have placed th I'nltcd States In the front rank of nntion In humanity and heroism, and In the ad vancement of Christian civilization, a place from which she 'will nvr be din lodged -while she is loyal to th lewis, of the constitution made by the founders of, the American republic, Ansa Was Heaeed. ' From the Pepin County (Wlm ) Cnurict, Anna Carlson had the plur f having "Visitors last Wednesday, evri uig. ,