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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1907)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. AI'RIL 1. i:C7. if o of Km ews Remarkable Experiments with Show Animals By Tody Hamilton Ma Real 3M Copyright. l,7,-ly R JB". Hamilton. swig. II0 IT comes to handling th 1 I matter for the large papers of 11 . tha oountrr. the press agent WW, require air of his JonrnalwUe .as wall as diplomatic sonny. tie matter must be prepared especially ' and exclusively for the paper to which it la offered. It must te box only wsu ' written, but ct a character In "harmony t with the class of matter usually favored ; Lv that particular Journal. The avenge metropolitan Journal will ' , favor tha show only when tt can be dona ' without violence to tha tastes and In- 1 " terest of tha readers. Tha notioe must ' rot bear the mark or paving been lusted in" It must have tha air ot belong- . lna- there. Ilka any other piece ot news or interesting; Information, and tt must! y be worthy ot tha precioua apnea it takes . In the paper. la such a notice perhaps ' tha barest allusion is permitted of the ; ahow. though It may be detailed da . sorlpUnn ot new phase ot circus lira. " or of a novel act. -. Tba 'Interest" must be thererlB any case. : Now, as to what la of publlo Interest! .- tha press event and tha city editor very ' i frequently differ, and In theaa little differences of opinion tha agent usually ; -gives way. But I have dona so very ' reluctantly. Many times I-have flat tered .myself that I 'had a first-class article; on a highly Interesting theme. only to find myself turned down at the desk. ; Sometimes the column would be ' cut down into an Inconspicuous stickful . that would send chill down my spinal , marrosr. Tet when I eouldtrt "reach" 'I did not suffer myself to be east down. ' but would rewrite the article and try it on another paper, If I had set my heart on any particular paper I tried a new ' subject, perhaps a- different method, -' until 1 succeeded, v And that success was always very dear to me. , i , . ' There era three points In every circus notice to be considered: First, to inter-I - est tha editor so far as to get into print; secondly, to excite public curiosity r to. see tha thins; itself; third, to please I , or satisfy the proprietor of the show. A Junket to Winter Quarters. t - Every year just before tha opening; of . . our aaaaon at Madison Square Garden , I have taken a .erge party of nswspaner : men from the New York dallies to our winter quarters at Bridgeport, Conn. All tha papers knew that It was purely and simply an advertising scheme. Why, then, should they aaslgn their beet re '. porters and expert special writers en . high salariea to go with me to Bridge port? Because there wss not a city editor but knew that I had aome novel acheme or scientific experiment to pre sent to the publlo that would be fully worth the space and expenae, with the indirect advertisement in the bargain. Some of tbeae private exhibitions In . terested the whole scientific world, some of tbem merely muted the readers next day Any of them were good for from half a column to a column and a . - half of readable matter. . We would go up on a special car at an early hour for a morning newspaper . man and breakfast was served on the car. At Bridgeport a 10-horso team once 0 horses met us at the station , ; and carried us out to the winter quar ' ters of the show. After tha inspection ,f the new outfit of rolling stock, the ring barn, where riders, male or female, entght be ' practicing, and witnessing wnaterer new I had to offer, we were .. driven to a hutai where a fine dinner , was served. . , At ': these banquets the mayor of Bridgeport usually presided,, and among " the gueats are the local newspaper edi ' tors, visiting scientists, animal experts and other prominent , men, who thus have the opportunity of meeting the New York reporters. Immediately after , dinner the latter men get out "copy." which done and the stuff dispatched by apecial messenger, "the gang" scoepts the freedom of the-city. And we have al ways bad aflrst rata sociable time. . Dinner in a Wild Beasts' Den. - ' , 1 . 1 ' .' ; , Once I arranged to have luncheon 0 aerved ln'tlie big -circular den of trained .. animals. The brutes were loose and ' J hi . , . , , , , ii,. Occupations for Women in Portland ." ' - ' By K. . W. ' -STvORTLAND Is fast becoming a man . I J ufacturlng city and new Indus- I tries are being founded here X , 'which depend largely for their op- . aratlon upon the work of women, .Conditions of labor and of wages are still far from those which obtain in eastern ' cities where such Industries furnish some . times tha entire working life of a com "munlty aad where the number of wage anting women In a manufacturing com . , munity sometimes far exceeds tha num ber of men. In any manufacturing city, however, where women find employment quea ' , tlons of far-reaching importance , . ars raised. . Where may tha wage-earning girl get - amploymentT How many hours a day 'Will she have to work . How much can - aha earn? What will she hsva to . pay for room and board? . -These are but a few of tha questions . Tor which she must And answers. In dealing with such a large subject as this h la well to take first a compre hensive glance at the whole Held of la- ; cor open to women in thla city, what la required In each and what she may earn . In different lines. ; What She Msjr Do for Living. fi' Sba, may for, Instance, go Into fao- . tory work,- enter as a clerk In a depart- - ment 1 store, get employment as a waitress In a restaurant and so on. ,Jurtland has abundant opportunities for ' tha girl - who is just starting to ' earn her living, and It is the purpose of the , ' series of articles, of which this Is the first -to take these occupations .up In succession and try to give soms definite information In. regard to them. , The kind of work for which there Is oonstaat and unceasing demand In Port , land IS in the home. Women who would be glad to pay tit to 121 month for - the servicee of a girl of ordinary Intel ligence, who would keep tha kitchen In - order, ecok three meais s day and (with tha assistance ot the mistress of the home) sweep and dust one room each day; who would be glad to give a girl i one week day snd every Sunday after noon off; who demand nothing In the way of watting up to prepare suppers after the theatre or the care of amall children; such women find It Impossi ble to get any help at all. It Is almost imposslbls for a girl to rake the same amount of money clear . expense at store or factory work. "Vet all the factories of the city are . wall supplied with henda. and although sAme employers really try. (as I know In certain cases) to dissuade girls from that line ef work In favor of house -k. their advice is uniformly U ,m r.. r ' "" i' , '-iir-' " J ' 'Z'hrttt:'MrPl' ;' Till - r,-.; : W i . . '. r . i.ii .. x . . r V: ... i I) K.i- ivi.fi..- ill " -f XV 5 J : . ' 'J :- iiJZlS S , ., -- were posed by the trainer, or permitted to roam at will about the arena. The reporters entered through the empty an imal cages conected with the steel training enclosure. Only afew of .the nored. , The factories are , full, the kitchens empty. Why? ' From the point of View of the intelli gent working girl for theaa reasons. Whether they are sensible or what means may be taken to overcome the supposed objections each reader may judge. In domestlo . employment the girl objects to: . " ' First Loss of freedom; except when she is out of the house there is In msny homes no time that she can call her own. If she Is quick and finishes her allotted work the mistress hunts up something more for her to do. Second. It hurts her self-respect to be expected to perform personal service Third. She is ths only one of her clsss In the house. -The rest of the family have' companionship; she has none. ' c . Fourth. She bsa no place for privacy. ' Fifth. , The orders that she must have "Bo followers" is humiliating. Sixth.: She is often called upon to take care of tha children after a hard day's work and feels, that an imposi tion. "'.',,.... Seventh. There are no definite hours and requirements. , She msy st any time be called upon to perrorm extra work without extra pay. , If on the other hand we talk of fac tory work the following objections msy ba raised, . . . , V - i- Objections to Factory,;:, i " First Unless her home Is In the city It tskes almost all that she can make at factory work to pay her board and room. She bas still to pay ner launary bill and the food she can afford la not so good nor so wsii , eeeicea as tnst which she would get In a private home. Second. Tha hours are long and in many cases she must be upon her feet all dsy long. The hours for factory work are usually from 7:tQ to f:S0 with a half hour at noon. , Third. The nolne and din of the ma chinery Is bsd for the nerves and In duces nervous diseases. . ' Fourth. . Performing merely mechani cal tasks all day long snd every day the ssme thing over and over without opportunity for original work is nar rowing and stultifying. . It makes ths girl merely a machine. Fifth. She never aees her work dene. Until one has spent some time among me nurry and driving ' machinery ef industrial work this would not be recognised aa a reasonable factor. - Later on. tt enema the most Important of alL one is tiired ta do one thing, and over and over, ana day after another, year In and year out there Is no lessening of her work, ahe majr band bar utmost bolder ones could be prevailed upon to accept the Invitation to lunch. "My 'uty is to my . paper," said one man. "I'll be out here to write a thrilling ac count of it If they eat you." . energies to tha task, yet work as hard as she msy, fingers flying, brain and nerve alert on this one task, still it comes pouring in, on snd on, a steady stream. Though ahs should stick to it for years for all her llfe-stlll the amount to be done Is not lessened one bit ... , ' ' ' Sixth. ' The employment .Is uncertain. When she needs the work most a strike may be started and all the factory hands be ordered out When orders ars full the factory may be closed . for days at a time. Seventh. Her employer may at any time shift the work so that she has to take up a new line of work at which she can esrn only half as much as at that which she has mastered. . Visit to Paste Factory. . 1 It chanced that tha first factory which I visited In search of definite in formation of wages and wort wss a paste f eetory. ' Not bill-poster's paste, but edible .paste, such as macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli and other varieties whose names ars too foreign for my untutored tongue or pencil. Here I found but a few girls employed, and that at light and easy work. Ths mixing of the paate la done by men.--, After the long strips or tubes of pssts come from the machine they are laid In wooden trays and spread to avoid touching. -Tha stor ing of these trays until ths psste Is quite dry naturally requires considerable room but that Is provided by running the trsys one above another through out the length and height of the large rooms. The work of the girls is to spread the paste upon the trsys which sra then placed in position by men. Olrls also pack the psste In the paper certons snd paate the label and string with which It Is fastened upon the carton and tie It. They may also ba given ' the . work of packing the paste Into tha wooden boxes In which It Is slso sold. The work is light the ssnl ration good, the rooms airy. However, there is but little of this work in de mand., As to wsges. Beginners can earn about SS.S0 a week. Experienced girls who csn handle the product quick ly and deftly, who wrap and paste quickly and neatly can. after consider able practice, make from II to It a week. This Is as high as the wages are likely to be in this work because there Is nothing) difficult to learn snd no great skill Is required. A macaroni plant Is sometimes oper ated in connsctlon with other products, as In the case of the Pactflo Coast Bis cuit factory where nandy, crsckers. oskes snd msnaronl are manufactured in dif ferent deDartmanta. , . Thnr were two big lions, two royal ri Bengal' tigers.1 two black leopards and two spotted ones, two pumas, two great bears and ether beasts. Barring the Jumping into the middle of the table of a-black leopard just as three or -four men got seated, there was nq accident. In justice to the reporters It must be added that none of them flinched, Take thla beaat away." said the Her sld man, calmly pouring his glass full to an even brim,, "he's got a foot In our beer.".; ., '. - And amid the 'roars of laughter from those outside the trulner took the ani mal in his arms and unceremoniously threw him aelUe.; . At snother time I had arranged to Illustrate how wlld-anlmala seise their living prey. Two big tigers were de prived of their meals for it hour-.; then a full grown but most Innocent-looking sherp was plaoed In the empty compart ment of their cage. The crowd of inter ested reortera and animal men' filled the srace In front, while the growling beasts, anxious to get at the unfortu nate sheep, roused the whole, animal house to loud curiosity, ' When a Lamb Bluffed' a Tiger. At a signal from me a keeper threw down the intervening gate, and In the next Inatant the larger of the tigers bounded through -the Opening. But whether the gentle ewe was paralysed with frar or simply stumped by curios ity, she confronted the' savage beaat with steady frame, and look. Their I noses were not six inches apart. And the big tiger waa scared. ' . He leaped back Into tha other com partment to' hls mste and. glared through the grating at this contemptu ous defy, while. the boys set up a shout. They said the poor sheep deserved Ufa But ' the noise they made waa fatal to the Innocent, for it attracted her atten tlon a moment. In that moment the wild beast was on her bock end his ter rlble yellow fanga . were deep In her throat. " While the bill substituting electricity for the hangmen's rope was pending in New York state, tha subject wss being widely discussed in the newspapers throughout -the state. In the heat of the debate pro and con I conceived tha Idea of testing the affect of electricity on certain beaats of aacertaJnlng how many volts of the alectrle current might be administered with, safety. .- It waa not only interesting as an experiment. but apropos two valuable considera tions, mark you, in reaching for a free advertisement. " Trying It on the Menagerie. - I took with me a certain learned sclentlat In electrical affairs, who brought with him the necessary Instru ments, and the usual earload of flret elaaa reporters from ths big dailies. ' By arrangement with the local electrlo company at Bridgeport we got tha neces sary force, made tha connections, etc We tried ths current . upon soma 10 dlffsrsnt animals, lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyneaa, ate., carefully recording the number of volts received by each before showing symptoms of succumb ing to tha unusual treatment- Natural ly enough aome of fhese animals vigor ously reaiated tha experiment. But It waa good for a oolumn or more in tha morning press. Two days later the legislature passed the ' present law of electrocution. . . . ! . : Effects of Music and Liquor. ,. The effect of muslcf upon wild antmals was anotner interesting experiment. What was learned by It bas affected the oporationa of keepers and tralnsrs all over the world. Besides the report ers present there was a swarm of keepers and trainers, who are rather In credulous of any influence upon wild beasts other than the whip and Iron. A violin played softly and slowly would rouse the kangaroo to an atten tion and swaying movement almost pathetic In Its Intensity, when the vloirnlst struck up a rollicking Irish, jig all tha animals leaped to their feet and I began to hop asound their cages In the Jamestown Ijxpbsitiori t sW a sag istii 1 1 wsj i in 8 By Justin Percivat ' T WHEN ou arrive at the James ; exposition. If you ars a farmer or a student of agriculture and horticulture, you should go lm . msdlately to the "States Ex h.blt building," where will be displayed and demonstrated all that represents the Improved features of the lateat and beat in farm Implements, vehicles and appli ances.'; ' y . The , "States Exhibit Palace," it Is called and rightly, tor It Is one of the largest and most Imposing structures on Really Good Whiskey Safe and Sane By Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, Chief Chemist of the U. B. Bureau of ' Agrlculttirs. WHISKEY is a distillate from the . fermented mash of malt and . It contains all the congeneric products formed with ethyl alcohol during tha fermenta tion that are volatile at the ordinary temperatures Qt distillation. -Most of the whiskey sold at retail . i . " . .'v; liveliest manner, as If trying, to keep time to the tune set them. - The reporters ' were astonished, for they saw that tha elephant quadrilles in the ring, the horses waltslng to the muslo of ths band during the" perform ance were trslts .not artificially - ac quired, but a true effort of nature un der the spell of music. The assembled animal men were still more surprise. For their benefit tha thing was tiled over and over again. ' The effect was the most ' marked . upon tha Australian kangaroo, .this animal apparently having the most correct ear for music. In tha nature of the ease, all of these experiments were given by me without any previous knowledge of how they would turn out. I had to "chance .it" as to whether the result would be Inter esting or a fiasco. In this way I went Into a trial , of liquors on different animals.''-, .-." Lord Byron said that . "man differs from the lower animals In his ability to get drunk"; but that great poet, like the greatest this oountry ever produced, who described a herd of cattle "lap ping" the cool waters of. the brook, didn't know much about it. Most ani mate other than tha carnlvorl will take to whisky as a duck swims, by nature. It - was my experiment that showed the carnlvorl exceptional.. The elephant needed no coaching to drink whisky by tha pailful. A .monkey got as drunk as a lord, and had no objection to mix Ing drinks. It wss the same way with bears.' In my youth I onoe saw. a lot of hogs having a high, old time on a gallon of whiskey, cutting as many antics as the most oe ruddled human creature. Quails, geese, fowls snd birds of all kinds will get -as full as a goat." while tha latter animal Is an adept at all the vices of humanity chewing tobacco and drinking liquor inclusive. Only tha car nlvorl, ao xar as i Know., ana as we learned that day by test, are teetotalers by nature. ..;. ... In the experiment of mirrors w pre sented a big plata glass mirror at the side of the lion's cage. The animals bristled all ovsr at their dreadful coun terfeit . presentment, and backing away uttered a aeries of growls that were much like barks of an angry dog. while they half -crouched for a spring at the Intruders. The tigers would back away, put back their ears and hiss Ilka house eats. ; . . : Catnip has the same sobthlng effect upon tigers and leopards as upon . the domestic cat One of our experiments wits successful in producing most amus ing antics. They will smell of it, roll ever It on their backs, taste It and in various other ways show their pleasure St Its presence,, One of our. party who had a penchant for independent expert- f the groundsf 100x600 feet In six. . The architecture Is of the late English ren nalssance period, being built of brick veneer. This handsome building . will remain as one of the permanent onea that will form a nucleus for tha colonial city that Is to live on after the close of the exposition, November .80, 1907. This building was designed for the use of the several states in tha exhibi tion of their products of agriculture and horticulture, etc., these Industries being especial features of Interest at the expo sition. . In this building and In that erected by the John Deere Plow com should not even be called ' "blended" whiskey, for it is tha . antithesis of "straight" whiskey. It should, there fore, be called "crooked" whiskey,, for It Is an imitation. It la nothing whatever except neutral spirits, colored and flavored. I think that a drink like this Is a poison, purs snd simple. It ooagulst-oi the ; proto plssms la the eelis and brings on old age. ; ments fed a whole pound of catnip to a big elephant and then, as he said afterward, "waited breathleaaly to a him act like a cat" But to his disap pointment the elephant swallowed ths catnip and never even anlffcd or wlnkod, Tha truth of the old story that ele phants are really afraid of mice was practically demonatrated at one Of my aeances at Bridgeport We had Several mice and rats In a hasket A mouse was secured by a string and permitted to run near the head of the pachyderms tethered by chains in a long line in the elephant bouse. The moment tba near est beast got eyes on ths diminutive chap he trumpeted loudly and began tugging at his chain to get away, all the time holding his trunk curled up well out of reach. , Finding his efforts to free himself vain, the elephant turned around and with his head furthest away from his enemy began to stamp and kick his hind feet Ills terror was communicated to tba entire herd of ti, all of whom were soon trumpeting, stamping and rattling their chains. - Thla became so violent that the elephant keepers, were afraid to per mit any further teat ' i . In the meantime some of tha visitors became so dubious about tha interest of the experiment that they went away suddenly. One found safety on top of some bales or hay. ' Anotner - never atopped until ho was secure among the raftera of tha building. There was some danger of a breakaway and stam pede. ,. So we contented ourselves by turning the rats loose among tha Hons and tigers. Both of these big cat spe cies behaved much as ladles would. They jumped out of the way and looked at the vermin with absolutely comical expressions of disgust and horror. Ths mors agile leopards, however, pounced upon the rodenta like houae cata and devoured, them. In a twinkling. On nearly every Sunday while the show waa st Madison Squars Garden I presented some similar kind of a novel entertainment that would make legiti mate news for next day's papers.' The Monday papers are less crowded with news mstter, and any fairly good press matter of this character will find tender consideration. One of tha moat meri torious of these Sunday entertainments was a test of strength of various snl mala A registering machine was fat tened to heavy, 'deep driven stakes.. To this machine elephants were attached by stout ropes and set to pulling with all their tltantlo strength. Then horses were tried, singly, la pairs, and finally In teams of six, eight and ten. Camels were tested and "sacred" jjxen, aebras and other beaats. " For tba first tlma In history a careful Display Comprehensive pany and aasoclates. Via, Deer at Co., Deere Mansur Co., and the Molina IVagon company of Mollns, Illinois, the Kemp tt Burpee company of Syracuse, New York; the Pain Manufacturing com pany of Ott-imwa, Iowa, and ths Stover Manufacturing company ef Free port Il linois, may ba seen a comprehensive exhibit of agricultural Implements and farm machinery generally, farm equip ment and methods of Improving lands, and the appliances and methods used In agricultural industries. . , In this connection the government trill demonstrate ths latest discoveries As long as men can keep his sells limpid and keep his protoplssms limpid he will never grow old. -. . v . ! Aloohol absolutely coagulates the pro toplasm the moment It touches it, but the alcohel that Is In whiskey or brandy or rum is so mingled by nature's opera tions thst it Is sn entirely different proposition. For instance, you take ordinary field corn and put sugar In It more than sweet corn has snd tt doss not tests like sweet corn. It la not sweet corn. Naeure has a way of combining ths elements in foods which man cannot Imitate, and therefore, whea nature pro record was mada of tha pulling strengtl or eaon. xnen. the pulling power oil 100 men was tssted and found belowj that of a single elephant- -' On another ocaslon I had a rug of warJ between a medium slsed elephant amtj 100 men skilled at the rope. The big' neast simply warned away with jl men and without apparent effort . I . One of the most successful means of making circus news Is' throurh the re porters themselves; that la, to make th newspaper man the medium. One New York reporter made a most thrilling ar tide by standing Up agalnat a board and letting tha knife . thrower hurl hatchets and tomahawks at htm until h was so hedged in wits steel that huJ couldn't move It required great nerve. cnaries xneonore Murray, novelist and apeetal writer, spent a week with tlx show In England riding with j the per formers in parades and In the- ring. In a Connecticut town he was made tip a a clown and appeared in ' the ring a such throughout me evening perform sncs without tha knowledge of tha Id,- S00 people in the audience. He gave hie Interesting experience In a full psge II Nelly Bly In tha Lion's Cage, "Nelly Blv" went Into tha lion's eag with ths kine. of beasts and lived to write a good story of her sensations. Another New York newspsper man spend a morning with It leopards, amongUhml j a black one so llerce that It had to-. forced Into a corner of tha cage at fr- quent Intervals by men stationed outalde with poles and hooks. - r At tha close of one season I organised a troup or "Rough Ridera." thus antld-i patlng the ' famous organisation with which .Roosevelt was Identified in later years. My company waa composed wholly af, newspaper man. They rode across the Brooklyn brldg With the show one Saturday night, .The main point,' however,, was ths crossing ef Jumbo. Tha man who rods lilm after-, wnrd became ths Sunday editor of one of New York's largest dally papers, and still chuckles over tha senaatton that waa created by tha proposition -to tske the mighty beast over the suspensloa bridge. Jumbo's snoeesaful passage, as a matter of fact, waa hailed by the pub llo as tha beat Indication of tha saefty of tha great apan. , . ,. . . These matters may seem trivial new, as far In tha background of events, but In that day they were tha prominent subjects of general discussion In the newspapera at well as In private cir cles. It was my first business to keep thorn alive as long as possible. Nothing, big or little, wss neglected to. produce this result . f" . . : , - -. i for controlling and forestalling ths at tacks of inaects and pests. The cinch bug, . the grasshoppers, granary weevil and grain moth will be considered and studied. Fertilisers, eoll Inoculation and ottfer Important means -of i. Improving lands will ba taken up and explained In every phase of their usefulness. The demonstrations In ths many possible uses to which the farmer may VJ1 natured alcohol will ba of great benVl-V to all farmers, and Its moderate cost will appeal to every one. The use of freo alcohol will revolutionise the eon dltlone of farm life. ; . duces SO different substances ' as she does every time a whiskey is fermented, and all 20 of them oome over In the still, alcohol among them, then you put these natural elements away to beeoma mellow, t6 marry (ss the distiller saytK which tskes yesrs to accomplish It Is a long drawn out ceremony you make a beverage which Is tonic and whole some and healthful and non-poisonous. A young woman In Chicago reacued a boy from drowning at .the sacrifice of her Easter hat She deserves three Carnegie medals one , for saving the boy, , - . '