Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1904)
Editorial Page of TKe Journal D PORTLAND. OREGON. FRIDAY, DECEMBER t, MM. THE OREGON DAILY AN C S. JACKSON Published every evening ( except Sunday ) and every NOW GO TO THE BOTTOM OF IT. TT NEVER RAINS but it pour. I was thought that Tanner creek sewer embraced all the woes of the city engineer's office. Since the eventful day when the public first began to discover that the real rottenness of Tanner creek was only a small part of what could legitimately either be charged up to or suspected of the city engineer's office rumors have been flying thick And fast. It has been a quiet day indeed when something has not been turned up in some d:rectton bringing the office under matters now stand the public is pointed if the day develops nothing The very latest sensation is the gineer's payroll has been stuffed. rumors of this sort heretofore. Upon casion the city auditor for reasons that were doubtless quite satisfactory to himself insisted that people draw ing pay from the engineer s department should appear before him and make oath that they worked the number of days credited to' them by the engineer. It was quite apparent what this meant the auditor undoubtedly had information which led him to believe payroll stuffing was going on which in tbe bud if he could. But the industry while appar ently discouraged has never been The funny little procedure of the city engineer's chief 'clerk with Mr. Goddard in which he is said to have ex pressed his entire willingness to increase the number of ,i diys credited to one workman so as to bring the total Up to a certain amount is an amazing procedure that has opened the eyes of the other officials to what ap parently .is going on, with the result that a robust in' vest igat ion is now in progress that threatens to unearth jtjb.e, most startling condition of affairs, - Every step which has recently been taken seems to logically lead in the direction of which has so long infested the public of this city. Those who are best informed are inclined to believe that the surface has scarcely yet been scratched and that when it is opened in every direction the taxpayers .will be treated to some revelations that will surprise them. In any event it is usually difficult to open up such matters; sometimes they seem to open up of This appear to be one of the times. should therefore be followed closely and persistently. After the city council gets through probing, th grand jury, which is fortunately now in session, will doubtless 'be found ready and willing to do its share to clean the Augean stables. ST LOUIS EXPOSITION THE GREATEST of exposition is over. While probably not a fiiuj.cl success, it was not such a financial failure as the Pan-American fair at Buffalo.' The men who subscribed to the stock of the exposition will not get all or perhaps any of their money back, but in other and indirect way they will doubtless be well paid for their investment, and do not regret hav ing made it. The big fair on the whole, was a outclassed in sue all former expositions. It was planned on a magnificent scale, and all its promises were kept. It opened on time after a postponement of one year, In this respect following the example of Chicago and it closed last night at the time set. It was visited by ap proximately 19,000,000 people, all of whom were enter tained and instructed, in a greater or. less degree, ac cording to their rapacity, inclination and leisure. On the whole, the Louisiana Purchase exposition has been a success, and those who originated and carried it out are entitled to much credit. Chief among these is the president of the exposition, David R. Francis. He has devoted about four years of hit time, and all his efforts and ability during that time, to the fair. He is a man of exceptional executive ability, and was just the right man for the important place hs filled. St. Louis, and Missouri, and the whole country, owe Mr. Francis a large debt of gratitude for his excep tionally able services. While there were many able helpers, his was the main brains of the business. It was no small man who could go to the government in an emergency and borrow $4,600,000, and pay it just as promised. The St Louis exposition was conceived on a grand scale from one point of view we might say too large a scale. Its equal, in magnitude, we are not likely to see again, in this country or elsewhere. There will be other expositions, but probably none, for a good while at least, will attempt so much, will be planned on so vast and varied a scale. We believe that we shall have here next year quite as m abuse causes AfOtuxT. Chicago Dispatch in New York Herald. Dr. Chalmers Prentlc told th mem bars of the Illinois Optical society, at the annual meeting which waa bald re cently, that many men died of apoplexy and heart-failure because they abused their eyes. "Men come to me from th farm to th elty and brek down because df th strain upon ..ilr yes," said the opti cian. "In th country their eye are accus tomed to long distances. They go on until middle age without confining them selves to an office. Then suddenly they come to a city. After that their eyes mast be used In work that 1 confining. Tbe result 1 that they break down pre maturely People wonder what caused It They are right when they attribute It to the sudden change In th mode of Ufa But It 1 th unusual test upon the eye that causes tbe snap. "Man who break down and die of heart disease and apoplexy are often th vlo tiros of tblr own short-sightedness They have not treated the eyes properly. The teat Is too severs. Th eyes respond by undermining the Integrity of the brain. A breakdown accompanied by a fatal stroke of apoplexy I th penalty." Dr. i'rentlce advocated an innovation In th practice of th optician. "Do not be content with th story told by the man who comes to you for relief," hs said. "Of course. It is necessary that you question him closely about his hours of work, th time and length of his work ing day But that will not suffice, it would be well for you to go to that man's place of business and study his desk, th light that atrlk It and then you will be In a position to prescribe for him intelligently. Those detail make all th difference In th world. Than study the occupation of your client Do not preacrlb for a farmer ss you would for a musical di rect nr. even though they suffer from th am, ailment Kvery case must be treated separately." From th lone Proolalmer. Such an attroekMis exhibition of th aurvivsi of barbarity as the shooting rorteat bald north of the warehouse day aternooa would disgrace a INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED BY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO. Sunday morning at streets, Portland, Oregon. OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE CITY OF PORTLAND At the outset everything at St. Vale, thf big St. Clark fair I fresh suspicion. As CIVIL SERVICE inclined to be disap new and startling. charge that the en HERE CAN There have been at least one oc night s meeting. was felt that what efficiency. that a process of he proposed to nip totally destroyed. training not of a frssional fireman. present chief who, deep pride in the exposing the graft to be done but a Campbell has the they know what with their own. to carry out his partment of whose their own accord. proud. They are The various leads reach this is to have so that a pull will complish what is CLOSED. Hence thfey resent vice as applied to been afforded fine the idea. NOW great success. It J publican politicians in favor of tariff revision, provided find it necessary. we who made the crowd of savages. W hop to aoon see ths parsing of this barbarous practice along with Spanish bull-baltlng and kindred sports. Remember we are not living In the middle agea, but In th dawn of th twentieth century. Shoot at a target for your chicken and if your thirst for blood must be appeased, cut their heads off with an ax and drink the blood. From the Baltimore Sun. There was a town of goodly else. Where dwelt a peaceful band; Wher Honesty and Industry Abroad, walked hand In hand. Each neighbor lived a neighbors should. Nor feared a people's frown; A perfect brotherhood of men And Justice ruled th town. Until It chanced a stranger came. One most unlucky day. She pitched her tent right In their midst And vowed she'd come to stay. A creature Of uncertain years And many evil tricks; She styled herself "the people's slave." Her name was Politic. Then Justice laid her scales Mid1. And Friendship moved away; Honesty gave up his Job. Because It didn't pay. And Politics took up th reins And drove things with a will; Right on through envy, hate and strite. And she I driving still. Arrow. From th Pendleton Eaat Oregonlan. It la estimated that the government In searching for reservoir sites on th Butter creek Irrigation project baa pent almost money enough to build a canal from Barn hart to Butter creek, covering the larger part of the govern ment reservation. Ware such a canal now open, to receive the flood water of the Umatilla that will flow to wast thl winter, nearly 100,000 acres of arid land would be converted into an alfalfa fieM within the next lx month. Th unanswerable results of such flooding In Umatilla county prove this Under th present plana Of th government thl leclamatlon must be delayed Indefinitely. u it ever JOURNAL JNO. P. CARKOLt The Journal Building, Fifth and Yamhill worthy, interesting and enjoyable a fair as St. Louis had even more so, because of the very fact that it will not be so immense in scope. At St. Louis people were simply lost; there was so much to see that most people saw and understood but little. Here, in three or four days, one can see all we will have to show, and it will be quite as interesting and instructive as anything and Louis was. Louis exposition; hail, the Lewis and AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT BE no doubt of the non-partisan sentiment in favor of civil service in .the charter as manifested by the unanimous vote at last Whatever the pretext for change it was really aimed at was to put the fire chief upon precisely the tame plane as the, chief of police, making him an appointee of the mayor, from which would necessarily follow that the department would soon degenerate into a political machine, thus destroying its A paid fire department is a comparatively new thing in Portland. While the city has had a part paid de partment for some years, when the new plan went into effect.it was found necessary to build from the ground up. The work was. laborious enough for it meant the tew individuals or a particular com pany, but all of the force, in fire fighting, and the dis cipline which goes round the clock in the life of a pro' This work was undertaken by the - too, had something- to learn. But he was young, rigorous, intelligent laita enthusiastic with efficiency of the department and the advance made under his unhampered administration has been very gratifying. It is true that much still remains start has been made in the right direc tion and the tendency is toward higher efficiency. Chief confidence ' of the property owners; his ambition is and how it dovetails They want to see him have a fair show ideas for they, too, want to see a de efficiency they will have reason to be perfectly satisfied that the only way to the department lifted out of politics neither get a man into the department or out ot It once he is in. 1 hey want the men to stand on theiHfcwn merits and to owe their places to their in dividual excellence. By that same test they wish to see the chief tried. , Unfettered they believe he will ac expected of him. any interference with the civil serr this department wherein so far has proof of the value to the taxpayers of WATCH THE COMEDY. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT, big boss, having in timated that there should be a revision of the tariff schedules, Fairbanks and some other Re cheerfully chirp: "Certainly, we are revision that is, of very easeful, expert we should on thorough examination But let the country understand that tariff law, and who have refused to alter it, must be the ones to revise it. Revision must be made by the friends of the protected interests." This is about the substance of the remarks of Fair banks and other leading Republicans. We all know, or we all should know, who has made the tariff schedules, and why they were so made They were made not by congress, but by the trusts and protected interests. The trust magnates and big manufacturers and others who designed to get something for nothing out of the com mon, toiling people, wrote out the tariff schedules; wrote out also various campaign fund checks; and congress that is, the Republican majority simply O. K.-ed the bill. Now when Fairbanks talks about careful, discreet and scientific tariff revision, he simply means such revision as the trusts and big protected interests dictate. Yet there is Roosevelt, who may have a notion that the toiling common people are entitled to a little protec tion or at least to protection against tariff robbery fot that is exactly what it is. At any rate, it will be quite interesting to see the friends of this species of robbery reform it. It will be a congressional comedy especially when above all these cheap Fairbankian grafters stands a man with a big stick, and nobody is sure in what direction he may smite. TOM A WD TOMATO. Thorn K. Watson, late Populist can didate for president, describe in "Beth any." hla novel just published by the Appletons, the feelings of a public man at a formal dinner. After celebrating th lavish hospitality of the south be fore tbe war. where all th viand were eet on th table at one, he says: "It has hsppened to me several times In my life to be arrested, convicted and sentenced to din with other well-dressed convicts, mala and fmale, at a awdl dinner on of those formal function where solemn flunkies bring you onlv on thing to eat at a time. When you have pecked awhile at that on thing. wnatever it may De, solemn flunkies take It away and bring you another plan and some other thing to pack at awhile. 'Sometimes it happen that thl one thing la a blg.deflant looking tomato. To lit In one's chair, gazing at tha last course which th flunky haa Just put on; to realise that this entire course consists of a solitary tomato, looking fiercely red and raw; to glanc along th table and to realise that all the con victs, male and female, have one tomato apiece, and are trying to look cheerfully at th convict boss the host haa over whelmed me .every, time It got th chance. The scene I heart-rending." From the New Tork World. The British admiralty haa ordered two new warships, on of which Is to be known ss ths Lord Nelson. They are to be the biggest in th world. Bach Is to cost (7,(00.00. A duplicate In this country would "com to" much more, owing to the steel monopoly. Each ahlp will carry four 11-lncb gun of Increased power gained by making them 4( feet long th depth of an average Brooklyn house. Til ere will be 10 guns of t 1-6 -Inch calibre, all on th upper deck, untouched save by th heaviest sees. Five tor pedo tubes and a lot of email gun are added. The protective plates are If inches thick. , Ths displacement Is to be 18.600 tona. only a little above that of the King Ed ward class. Our heaviest ships, the Connecticut class, weigh 11,000 ton. Th Baltic displaces about (7,100 tons. Th Lord Nelson Is 410 feet long, but mac a wider than aay merchant I Small Change Now Japan now or never! Senator Mitchell also wrote a letter December Oregon. is no terror in good Old The hard winter prophets are getting strenuous. They had a lot of fun but fun some times costs. The exposition was a big suooess. will ours be. Bo Question: Has Johann Most a right to live and travel? Doubtful. More and mere we are learning that politics should cut no figure In munici pal government The Journal believes that the city of Portland baa a good and fit municipal Judge, and a good and flt county Juugo. and a good and flt circuit Judge. AnS) they're all Republicans, too. The city of Albany will have to raise more revenue. That Is plain. Bow will it do It la the serious question that is being considered by our people. There are three ways, an Increase of rats, a bigger assessment and an Inoreass of license rates. The general opinion seems to be that all will have to be resorted to some. Albany Democrat "Soma" la rather gQpd. Oregon Sidelights j Pendleton baa soma very nervy boy thieves. A one-lsggsd chimney sweep la cessfully operating in Corvallls. Madras, Crook county, Is to have a big milling and .manufacturing Capital, $60,000, crook county's wheat, product this fall Was Just about double that of last year, and the yield of other cereals was greater than usual. Albany Democrat: Assessor Mo- Knight very properly proposes to assess about 76,000 acres of land belonging to th Northern Pacific not heretofore as sessed, suggested by the sal of some of the property. By all means, and at a good figure. A hunting party that met with com plete failure In its quest for gam re turned Saturday from a trip to southern Benton. The crowd was a Jolly one, and the lack of birds was more than compensated for in th amount of fun that was had. Corvallls Oasette. Well, well! La Grande Observer: Th largest car load of lumber that ever cam over tbe Klgln branch and probably th 1 argent that ever oama into La Grande arrived in thl elty last evening. The car was loaded at Elgin by Galloway' Bros., th lumbermen, and consisted of 61.000 feat of lumber. Inigon Irrigator: Iriigon Is unique in that she has ao little legal machinery. Th only sworn officers we bava are a postmaster and a notary public. Of course we leave out the school board. Our nearest Justice of the peace Is at Ion, and constsble ditto. We never had a deputy hrlff, but then w never need ed one very badly. However, we are doing pretty well. La Grande Observer; Dr, Gem ge w. Carper, who lived In this valley during the winter of 18(4 and then moved to Promise, Wallowa county, at which time there war only five families, says now there are many, being over 100 votes oast there last June. Mr. Carper had the honor of preaching the first sermon In Promise, cast the first vots and offi ciated at the first wadding. Ha also enjoys the distinguished honor Of hav ing 161 descend ants, of which SI are great-grandchildren. Bugen Register: F. J. Bcofleld com menced loading another 100. 000-pound shipment of bones to Ban Francisco to hla own establishment, which will all be collected her In Lan county to grind up to enrich our worn out lands. This Is a great fertiliser. This will be tbe last shipment tnl season Mr. Scofleld Is a rustler In this line of business, and handles th business on his own ac count Mr. Bcofleld says Lan county could grind up and use it own bona dust to good advantage on Lan oounty soil. Fossil Democrat: Elmer Mathews ha lng a carload of Jersey cows to Wheeler ooontv from the Wlll.roette v.llev Th., county from the Willamette valley. They arc going Ilk hot cakes, he haa only four head left at W. B. Thompson's ranch, and he has decided to bring two or three more carload up to sell In Wheeler and adjoining counties. Our people ars beginning to pay mora at tention than formerly to the quality of their milch cows, hence Mr. Mathewa la having little trouble to dispose of his Jersey. Crowfoot correspondence of Lebanon Kxpress-Advance: One of the Crowfoot swells decided to tak hi best girls to the party Thanksgiving evening. She. however, lived a short distance above Sodavllle. H arrayed himself In hi Sunday clothes, hired a rig, drove around for his girl and started to th party But th course of true lor never did run smooth. When about a mile from Sndavllle tha horse left ths rod and th buggy landed against a telephone pole, smashing It up pretty badly. We are at a los to say what happened next. Cottage Grove Nugget: Probably for th first time In th history of Cottage Grove, last Sunday was the first, that on desirous of obtaining a drink at a bar could not find a way to procure It. Last Tuesday night Policeman Martin gave Imperative orders to all place where gambling In any form was known to exist that It must cease at one. Sub sequently on arrest wa mad and Clark Wheeler fined th party (II which waa promptly paid. No further viola tion wer discovered. Joe 'Bush thus Indignantly writ to th Silver Lsk Oregonlan: I will ask for a little space In which to reply to n article that appeared In the Central Oregonlan June II, stating that I baa took my departure with "finger on the rain of Geo. Ma nan's IK bridle and forking one of the ZX horse." was a faltxhood pure and simple, and that you was wrongfully informed ss to ths fscta In ths ess. I will admit that I left Sliver Lake about tha time that th ar ticle appeared In your paper, bnt as to the horse T taken from th Companies ranch was wholly In my charge, and wss not the property of the 7.X Company, hut was a horse I ws braking for N. M Mlllgen In regards to Msnan's brtdl. It was slmptv a case of playing even In whlob Mr. Ha nan understood. Portland's Famous 1804 Dollar From th New Tork Herald. There Is one dollar In Chicago that 7.000 men would like to posaeaa Scarcely a person In th world who handles American money has not heard of th Dexter dollar, coined In 1804. Ita rarity, aa well aa the history which at tache to It has made It tbe most fa mous piece of money on earth. The Dexter dollar baa come to Chi cago to stay. Ita new owner la W. F. Dunham, a druggist, who has a large collection of coins. Since hla father put th coin collecting be In hla bonnet years ago he ha had on ambition to own the "King of Rarities." Mr. Dunham bought the dollar in New Tork at auction October 11. It cost him 11,100, but even at that figure he bought It cheap. Ha bad set a value of 11, SCO on It and waa prepared to pay that much for the coin, but th other bidder dropped out There la no other dollar Just Ilka this one, While there are several other 1604 coins of this denomination, they are ren egade In a way. Moat of them show the marks of a varied career. They have at time gone for bread. Borne of them have dangled at the and of watch chalna or dona service aa a medium of adver tising In display windows. The "King of Rarities" has not had to keep company with money made to spend. It has remained wrapped. In silk and tissue paper, waiting to corns into the possession of some on who would not part with it In a way th action of th present owner In buying th coin waa a patriotlo deed. Ha bought it for th city, and ays It shall never leave here When the Field Columbian museum Is housed down town he will give his collection to that Institution. ' This dollar makes Mr. Dunham's col lection of American dollar th moat valuable in exlatenoa. The collection la complete, containing T4 dollars from 1704 until the last one coined. The 1714 dollar la valued at $160. The 1886 dol lar has a market value of Me. Tbe coin of 1616 oost him 6200, while th dollar of 1S61 oost 666. Th dollar coined the following year la worth 1(0, while th 1868 dollar commands a price of 140. Great as the premium on these coins Is, th rarest specimen of th other 73 which th mint has coined does not equal th value Of the "King Of Rari ties. " The Dunham collection of silver dollar has coat Its owner about 11,160. but numismatists agree that this Is leaa than the value of tbe 1104 coin alone. Collectors generally agree that the 1604 coin is worth (1,000. and that price waa realised for it whan H. G Brown of Portland, Or., bought th coin from R. O. Parvln of Denver In 1101. Th dollar haa had a Strang history. It waa discovered by an American col lector in Berlin U 11(4. At that time it waa looked up with other valuable cotna in a collection the property of Adolpb WeyL It Is not known how the coin oama Into hla possession, but It la presumed ha received It from th United Btatea mint 8. H. A H. Chapman, of Philadelphia, bought the coin In Berlin for (1,000. They resold it th sam year to Scott, a New Tork collector, for li.ooo. He In 1886 allowed It to pass to J. B. Dex ter for (1,1(0. Dexter kept th coin until 1(81. when he sold It to Parvln, of Den ver. Aa soon as Brown beard of the sals to Parvln he telegraphed an offer of (1,000 for tbe coin and obtained It Recently Brown was compelled to sacri fice his (11,000 collection, and ths coins were put up at auction In New Tork last month. Had It not bean for a shipwreck; tbe 1(04 dollar would probably be worth but little mora than ita face value A large number of tham were struck oft, and ao far aa la knows all but a few of them now lie at the bottom of tbe Pacific be tween Cap Horn and Hongkong. The Huguenots were responsible for sending the coinage of that year to ths Orient When th dollar waa struck; off at the mint a Huguenot employed there saw th resemblance between th por trait on the dollar and th feature of Martha Washington. Ths Huguenota throughout ths country sat up a hue and cry against having tbe picture of any. president or any member of any presi dent family on the money. Aa a re sult none of tbe coins waa sent from th mint for general distribution. A few were traded by the mint for perfect specimens of coins that ware not In th mint cabinet and that account for th foreign cities In New Tork the rep fact that a fsw are in th hands of coin resentatlve of th foreign firm are be- collectors. 4 In th history of th mint, published In 188, th statement la mad that there are probably not more than eight genuine dollar of thl Issue extant. i nai statement is at variance with a table by which coin collectors are guid ed, but It 1 alleged that com of th 18 are restrlkes. Th It known places In chronological order of their appearance "J Ti1?,," . 7 ., trwner- t0 th PrS"t time are aa follows: Highest Its. price reslnwd 1 - Mint cabinet. Phils a Bust esDlnet . (Pbd ess..,... (Bestrlk) 6 Batata ef M.tW . A- Btlekser C. a mat 4 City of Oms hi Byron Heed L O. Parmiee. . ... . ... . H ieaford. 6 Mint cabinet. Baa Iraaelseo, Ooeasr, t-Js: Ch,M- R Applstea W. A. Lllllendahl A Ooglo. ... a M. J. Mlekley. T W. B. Wstraore. . . I. O Parmiee H. S. Adams. e-M.ts.fM. U- mm n c. Paris. 8370 S-sbtst. of T. at 52fc- Oarrett o. H. Berg. K.-h A Co 10 J. P. Lyma. f) . . Phlneat Adssts. 11 W. F. t Minna m H. o. Brown. B. O. I'arTln. J. B. Dexter. 81.200 ST40 (800 B. H. s) H. Chapman. W.rt Mono 12--James Ten Byck.. 18 J - II. Bl la worth . Dr H man B. Ll Oder- Joseph Rosenthal's sona. Th original 1804 dollars are from one obverse and on reverse die. The draped bust of Liberty faces right; th head I bound with a fillet, and th hair Is flow ing. There are six star before and even behind th bust above Liberty. The upper right star almost touches the letter "y." On th raven is an heraldic eagle bearing a shield on Its breast Ih tile beak Is a aoroll Inscribed "E Plurl- bus Unum." In th right talon ar II arrow; In th left an olive branch. Above, from wing to wing, 1 an arc of cloud, and beneath thl a field of 11 tars. Tha edge 1 lettered "On hun dred cents, one dollar, or unit" This Is lightly struck in some parts. The first specimen In th mint cabinet weight 411.1 grain. Mr. Btickney pro cured hi coin from th mint in 1141 In exchange for ether oolna. The ootn now owned by th Apple ton estate wa bought at an advance ef 1710 In 1168 from E. Cogan. Pamoelee bought the dollar now owned by the city of Omaha from C. H Sanford In 1174 for 1700. Thl 1 1180 more than th price given by numismatists, but Is probably cor rect This dollar bad been obtained from an aged woman in 1148. She pro cured it at the mint aome time previ ously. Several restrlkes wers coined In 1868 at the saint with plain edges. Three ware recovered after diligent search. Two were destroyed at the mint The other waa placed In th cabinet wbre It remains. It 1 Included in tne col lectors' table aa No. 1. The difference between the originals and a rest r Ike Is as follows: Obverse The original die was reout In the word Liberty, the stars and data, which made them larger and deeper. Reverse not having th original die, a new one waa used, wbleh differs In many respect from the original. Tbe weight of the restrlkes waa 881.6 grain. There I on specimen in th mint and one In England struck between 1660 and Kit. In tbe latter year all dies re maining ware destroyed. Efforts were made to letter tbe edges of these retrlkes. but without complete success. There waa one of these plecea In th Berg collection. It was sold In 1(68 for 740. The coin collector who buys an 1114 dollar la regarded among numismatists In about the same light that a super re gards a theatrical star. He becomes a celebrity. Since Mr. Dunham obtained tbe 1114 dollar a month ago he haa received mora than 1,100 letters from coin cranks. would-be" coin crank, beggars, siuy girls, widows and old maids. Ha has heard by latter or hundreds of old coins which are for sale. "I'll take 160 for an old half-cent" one man wrote "I could use (6 If you'd let me have It" wrote another. "Please send us (100," wrote a third; "huaband Is sick and I need the money. If you can pay 11,100 for 11 please give us (100 for nothing, but thanks." MSSsSSSSl Tkc Play Somewhere In the Works of prehts torlo commentator it Is recorded that the manuscript of "Devil's Auction' made that little voyage to Ararat In the ark. This may or may not be true, but th memory of man oan produce nothing In the negative, , Seriously speaking, this hoary old conglomeration of talismans, tumblers. high divers. Invisible hypnotists, trick scenery, fairy queens, calcium lights, trap doors, Imps, toe-dancers and puns. was produced In 1811! And It never haa had a losing season. In Us original form tbe auction was straight pantomime, performed In on sot aa an afterpiece. Thar la a man named Bnow attU living In Leominster, Msas who waa In th origlnsl produc tion In Boston. With bis brother, be furnished moat of the pantomime. Maffett and Bartholomew famous in their day were also members of ths company. At .that time there wss no scenery worth mentioning, no girls la tights; not even a calcium light Today it Is Impossible to think of the show without thesa elements. Charles H. Yale was a stage manager In 1611, whan he was engaged by the owners, Ollroore. Gallagher and Gardner, to write words for tbe pantomime ("Words" Is used advisedly.) He col lected a few Jokes of the period some of which, by the way, are still in use and Introduced a lot of specialties. After a few seasons en th road. Tale himself secured th production, and the rest Is currant history. By digging up new features continually the owner of "The Devil Auction" made it a fresh eat.r talner each eeon OH mora, on of tbe original owners of "The Devil's Auction." Is now a Phila delphia manager; Gallagher haa scarcely enough to live on, whll Gardner, who went to Australia aa a speculator, la worth something Ilk 116.000.000. There la little more to aay about "Th Devil's Auction." It haa soma good epe- claltles. aome glittering scenery, some good acrobats and some extremely tire some performers. Th bouse waa com fortably filled. RACE WHITNEY. rnsASxa riog From the Indianapolis Sentinel. The fame of the Wabash river pearls t spreading far and wide, and even In Pari dealers era having a big demand for tham, their customers being th member of th nobility and th aris tocracy The gama are advertised aa tha 'Wabash" pearls, and by this name they are sold In a number of th larger selged with "hurry up" orders, and they are unable to come anywhere near sup- plying ths demand. They are paying fancy price for th gam ss fsst aa they appear on the mar ket On of these pearls whlob sells to a small dealer along th Wabash for 1160 will bring three time that sum before it reaches the hands Of the Psria dealer, and It is bsrd to comprehend the price he would put on the gem when he placea It on the market The "Wabash" pear la regarded as par excellence by the foreign nobility. It is known that tha Wabash river haa produced thou sands and thousands of dollars' worth of pearls during th past twelve months, and it Is tbe unanimous belief of those who ar In position to know that thou sands ar sold which have not come to the knowledge of tha general public Many people ar hunting pearls In the Wabash river. At Longtown on dsy laat week hundred of people were at work on a big sandbar there. Th bar was full Of mussell shells. In which the pearls ar found. Th penrls grow on ths inside of th shells, which are broken open and tbe pearl carefully removed by th hunter. It Is ssld ta production of pearls from th Wabash river Is unequalled by any other stream in tbe world, and it Is no wonder, therefore, that th eye of the foreign dealers and nobility are turned toward Indiana. The quality of tha Wabash pearl stand far ahead ef all others, and from th vary moment it Is found It Is marketable. Several small fortunes have been made by th pearl hunters, and the end 1 not yet TKIS TOO XOTJSf From th Dallas Observer. The Review Is glad that hog killing has commenced, because, owing to th liberality of Otto Shu its we have been living high on aparertba, sausage, etc. the past week. Jefferson Review. Thl 1 on of the kind of Item that makes a self respecting publisher ashamed of tha business In Which he Is engaged. It cheapens ths nswspaper fraternity In th estimation of th peo ple, and Injure th business of pub lishers who ar conducting their affair on a decent end dignified basis. It Is on par with tha "eordwood" "turnips," and "patched pants" Joke, that have been going the round of th country pros for the last on hundred years. Th editors .who write such stuff Imagine they are saying something witty, ap parently sever stopping to think that they are cheapening themselves and their papers when they writ It Hap pily, this styls of "Journalism" Is going out of date among self-respecting pub lishers, and Item Ilk th on printed In th Review are aetdom seen outside th half starved papers la obscure country villages. The Market Basket j This Is between seasons, and there is not much happening in tbe markets. Supplies of all kinds of vegetables ar now quite heavy, and prices this year are muoh more reasonable than they wer during tbe previous season. Columbia rlvsr smelt cam Into the markets during the week. The first mall shipment oama from tbe Cowllta river and was sold at a Fourth street market at 71 cents a pound. Sine than the receipt, have shown a small in crease, but beyond one or possibly two market th price Is still too high and supplies too short to admit ef them be ing .old in th general markets. The Columbia river smelt as It Is familiarly known to the people of thie section. Is quits a different fish from that commonly called amelt Tbe fish earn to make their headquarters In ths vicinity of ths Columbia river and its tributaries, and very few of them ar caught elsewhere In fact the Colum bia river sm.lt la not only a Columbia rlvsr fish In name, but It la unknown outside of this stream and Its tributa ries. In a week or two. If th present weather conditions do not Chang too much, the run of smelt will- begin In earnest and prices will malt as snow before th ray ot th sun. Laat year the. run of smelt was not ss lsrg as usual and th price did not go below 10 cent a pound. Two years ago th catch waa ao great that smelt ware sold at wholesale In this market at II cents foa a 60 to 76-pound box. At that time I they wer sold on th streets by th malt man ror axacuy on cent a pound. Thar are other grades of smelt In thl market ell the time, but they are riot Columbia river's. They, ars some times caller silver smelt and ar caught mostly along Puget eound. Today they are sold at 10 cents a pound, while Co lumbia river fish Is going at IS cants a pound. There Is a scarcity this weak of good freak salmon. Steelhead salmon Is ths scarcest, and la now almost out of mar ket What few fish ef this class are be ing caught are bought up by tbe cold toraga man at good prices, and quota tions in the retail marketa are advanc ing. Bllveraldea, although In larger supply than the steel head, are very scarce and In this grade, tee, aa advance Is expected next week. (' Grapes that come all tbe way from Spain packed In oork dust are now on sale at tbe larger markets and are quoted at II cents a pound. They ar of the famous malaga variety. Sparerlbs are In the market and are finding their usual large demand. Today thsy are ejected at 6 and 10 cents a pound. MB tenderloin Is coming for the hoUdajfi".nd finds sn eager demand at 20 centr pound, retail. Tha eaon for China pheasants, quail and grouse closed Wednesday at mid night There la still a good supply ot teal, widgeon and mallard ducks on hand. They are selling at lower prices this week. Poultry supplies ars quite large and tha market Is somewhat weaker on ac count of the larger receipts of wild birds, chickens are being quoted t retail at 17 and It c.nte a pound. Oranges are muoh more plentiful, sad tha quality Is batter, with prlcea somewhat lower. The supplies of ba nanas are quite large, but prices re main at last week's figures, although th fruit Is better. Oregon grape are now out of market and even the Cali fornia ar not of good quality. Tha latter are selling at 40 cents a 1-pound basket New potatoes from California are In larger supply, and are quoted cheaper at three pound ror I cents. Other vegetable remain plentiful and unchanged. The following price rui generally In th marketa: Chickens. 17018c; turkeys. sefjiec; tame ducks, T5c0l each; tame geese. I1.256U.76 each; widgeon, lie pair; mallard, II pair; teal, 60o pair. Oranges. 26 40c. dosen; tanjerenes. 15c; bananas. 26 80c dosen; grapes, Tokays, Vsrdals, Cornlahona, 40o per I ,,... ,,i i.,.b.i inr,u fancv finltaan- bergs, 11.71 per box; Baldwins. 11.80; Rhode Island ureenings. i.ou; pears, winter Nallla, 11.10 psr box; grape fruit. I for 26c; Jsrsey cranberries, llo quart; strawberries. 10O pound. Steaks, 8 0i8o pound; mutton chops. 8916c pound; veal outlets, loviino pound: pork chops, lO011ttc pound; roasting beef, 10, UHOllo pound; boiling meats, 8 08o pound; pot roast, Olio pound; corn beef. 801Oo pound; ham, llo pound; boiled bam, lOo pound; sparerlbs, 801Oo pound; pork tender lota, leo pound. Crabs, 1 for lie; lobsters, lie pound; eastern frog legs, lOo dosen; shrimps. 100 pound; eastern prawns, 80O pint; salmon. 1 pounds llo; flounders, lOo pound; rook cod. It He pound; Califor nia soles, lie pound; perch. lOo pound; California striped bass, llo pound; Sac ramento shad, I for lie; smelt. Colum bia river, 40e pound; Puget sound, lOo pound; catfish, lOo pound; black pod, 1 pounds 16c; halibut I pound lie; stur geon, 11 Vie pound. New potatoes. I pounds for lie; rad ishes, turnips end green onions, 1 bunches le; water cress, 6c bunob; let tuce, fancy heads', 1 for 6c; egg plant 5010c each; mushrooms, 25016a pound; tomatoes, 100 pound; huckleberries, I pounds llo; rhubarb, 4 pounds tic; sweet potatoes, 10 pounds tie; walnuts, 2 pounds !6o; others, too pound; beans, trlng. 1 pounde llo; lima, green, 1 pound tie; artichokes, 75c011 dosen. celery, 6010c head; pepper. lltto pound; cahhsge, lO016o heed; cauli flower, lO015o head; Oregon garden t pounds 16a " December t The batter part of th evening was warm, and the thaw con tinued till the morning, when the wind shifted to tha south. At 11 o'clock the chiefs of the lower villa;, brought down four of th. Bhsrhaa We explained to tham our intentions, and advised them to remain at peace with each other; w alao gave tham a flag, some tobacco, and a speech for their nation. These wer accompanied by a letter to Messrs. Tm beau and Gravllna at th Rlcara vil lage, requesting them td preserve pear If possible, and to declare the part which we should be forcd to take If th Rlearaa and Bloux made war on those whom w had adopted. After dis tributing them OUT curiosities we dis missed them, apparently wall pleased at their recaption. About a Moralist Mr. WUllamdean Howe El, tbe eel h rated novelist, visited Washington the othsr dsy. Apropos of hla visit they tell th fol lowing exceedingly diverting anecdote.: "Mr. How His," ssld a literary friend to him on morning, "did you ever see a more remarkable fall than tblar "Tea," hs replied "This Is nothing to the fall that followed the "Rise of Silas Lephem." Whereat th literary friend simply roared, Lewis and Clark ,