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NEWS ITEMS
Of General Interest
About Oregon
Arguments in Favor of Three
New Legislative Acts Are Filed
. Salem Arguments in behalf of the
proposed tax limitation amendment,
rural credits amendment and the
amendment to repeal Oregon's Sunday
closing law were filed with Secretary
of State Olcott this week for inclusion
in the official election pamphlet.
The tax limitation argument was
submitted by Robert E. Smith, secre
tary of the Oregon Taxpayers' League,
the rural credits argument by the com
mittee in charge of the Oregon Refer
endum League, and the argument for
the repeal of the Sunday closing law
by Dan Kellaher and Ben A. Bellamy,
of the Independent Retailers' associa
tion of Portland.
The arguments for the three pro
posed amendments in part are as fol
lows :
"Are taxes in Oregon high enough?
Shall we limit their further increase
to 6 per cent a year? These are the
questions in considering the State
Wide Tax Limitation Amendemnt.
"Oregon's per capita tax is higher
than that of any 'other state in the
Union. During the past ten years
taxes have increased 37 per cent a
year. Taxes have increased five times
faster than population.
"As a result, Oregon has been going
backward in population and wealth for
the past three years. Last year seven
families left the state to each new
family coming into it. In the face of
these discouraging conditions there are
those who have plans which will result
in still greater increases in our taxes.
Unless a limit is provided the legisla
ture and our public officials will con
tinue to increase our taxes as rapidly
as they have in the past.
"The amendment limits the increase
in taxation to an annual increase not
to exceed six per cent unless a greater
increase is authorized by the people.
"The farm debt of Oregon, secured
by real and chattel mortgages, is con
servatively estimated at $30,000,000.
On this debt the farmers are paying
an average rate of about eight and
one-fourth per cent interest. Added
to this the costs of renewal and com
missions, the rate paid is probably
little under nine and one-fourth per
cent.
"The rural credits amendment pro
poses to take the burden out of the
farm mortgage at interest of five per
cent. The cost of title searching and
appraisal will be from $10 to $50, ac
cording to the amount of the loan. The
farmer must pay off one per cent of
the original sum borrowed each year,
That is, the payment of six per cent
on the mortgage will pay interest, cost
of operation and wipe out the debt en
tirely in a period of 36 years.
"This system would mean to Oregon
an annual saving in interest and mort
gage costs of $750,000. It would mean
an end to the perpetual worry and ex
pense of mortgage renewing; practi'
cally an end to foreclosures, lost homes
and blighted hopes; better equipped
farms and greater rural prosperity.
"The continuation of the old blue
law, which will be enforced if not re
pealed, simply means putting the peo
ple of Oregon in a straight-jacket on
Sundays. If not repealed this anti
quated law will be enforced strictly,
as it is now being done in Washington,
Lane, Linn, and other counties in Ore
gon, where now you cannot purchase a
newspaper, a cigar, refreshments, gas
oline or anything else on Sunday.
"If enforced it means that all mov
ing picture theaters must close on Sun
days; it means that no baseball games
can be played on Sundays; it means
that all pool and billiard parlors, and
bowling alleys or other innocent exer
cising sports and recreations operated
for pay or profit must not operate on
Sundays; it means that Sunday news
papers cannot be printed, sold or deliv
ered on Sundays; it means that all
pleasure resorts and recreation delights
of all kinds, including picnics, must
cease on Sundays, if entrance fees or
charges are made.
"Ice cream, confections, foods of all
kinds, and regular business of any
kind except medicines, and medicines
only, at drug stores cannot be sold or
delivered on Sundays. It means that
you cannot get a shoe-shine, that you
cannot buy a cigar, or candies, or flow
ers, on Sundays, unless you can prove
them necessities or charities."
School Terms Increased.
The school directors of Clatsop coun
ty have increased the length of their
terms of school until the short term of
six or seven months during the year
has been almost entirely eliminated.
The annual report of County Superin
tendent Byland, which has just been
filed with Superintendent of Public In
struction J. A. Churchill, shows that
last year there were but two districts
in the county having six months of
school, while more than three-fourths
of the remaining districts had terms of
nine months.
Prison Employe! Quit.
Salem T. E. Cornelius, head of the
Oregon Penitentiary brick yard, has
resigned, and his wife, who is matron
in charge of the women's ward, will
resign at the end of the present month.
Mr. Cornelius has been connected with
the penitentiary for six and a half
years under four administrations ana
has served as deputy warden, chapel
guard, farmer and superintendent of
the brick yard. Superintendent Minto
said that it was the intention to close
the brick yard this month, as the men
would be needed in the flax fields.
NORTHWEST MARKET REPORTS;
GENERAL CROP CONDITIONS
Portland Wheat Bluestem, 79c
per bushel; fortyfold, 97c; club, 86c;
red Fife, 86c; red Russian, 86c.
Hay Eastern Oregon timothy, $23
24 per ton; valley timothy, $1922;
alfalfa, $1415.
Millfeed Spot prices: Bran, $26
26.50 per ton; shorts, $2929.50;
rolled barley, $31.5032.50.
Corn Whole, $37 per ton, ; cracked
18.
Vegetables Artichokes, 75c$l per
dozen; tomatoes, $1.501.65 per crate;
cabbage, $22.25 per hundred; garlic,
lc per pound; peppers, 25c; eggplant,
lc; horseradish, 8c; lettuce, $11.25
per crate; cucumbers, $11.25 per
box; rhubarb, lj2c per pound; peas,
34c; cauliflower, $1.25 per crate;
beans, B7Jc per pound; celery, $1.10
1.25 per dozen; corn, 66c per
dozen.
Potatoes Old, $1.501.65 per sack;
new, 22 jc per pound.
Onions California red and yellow,
$33.25 per sack.
Green Fruits Apples, new, $1.75
2 per box; cherries, 47c per pound;
cantaloupes, $2.75 3.75 per crate;
peaches, 75c$l per box; watermel
ons, lj2c per pound; figs, $11.50
per box; raspberries, $11.25 per
crate; plums, $1.151.50 per box;
prunes, $1.261.50; loganberries, 60c
$1 per crate; blackcaps, $1.501.75;
currants, $11.25; pears, $2.753 per
box.
Eggs Oregon ranch, Exchange
price, current receipts, 23Jc per dozen.
Jobbing prices: Oregon ranch, can
dled, 25c; selects, 26c.
Poultry Hens, 1415c per pound;
broilers, 1718c; turkeys, live, 20
22c; ducks, 1215c; geese, 9llc.
Butter Cubes, extras, no bid; prime
firsts, 24c. Jobbing prices: Prints,
extras, 2729c; butterfat, No. 1, 26c;
No. 2, 24c; Portland.
Veal Fancy, 1212Je per pound.
Pork Fancy, 1010Jc per pound.
Hops 1915 crop, 8llc per pound;
1916 contracts, nominal.
Wool Eastern Oregon, fine, 2326c
per pound; coarse, 3032c; valley, 30
33c.
Cascara Bark Old and new, 4c per
pound.
Cattle Steers, choice, $7.508.30;
good, $6.757.25; cows; choice, $6.25
6.50; good, $5.606.25; heifers, $4
6.60; bulls, $35; stags, $4.506.
Hogs Prime light, $8.20 8.80;
good to prime, $7.758.10; rough
heavy, $7.607.75; pigs and skips,
$6.607.10.
Sheep Yearlings, $66.50; weth
ers, $5.606.50; ewes, $4.755.25;
lambs, $68.25.
Northwest Wheat Crop Estimated
at 55,000,000 Bushels
The wheat crop of the Pacific North
west is estimated by grainmen at from
54, 000, 000 to 66, 000, 000 bushels. The
remarkable improvement made in the
past few weeks justifies them in rais
ing their estimates to these figures.
At the present time the weather could
not be better for filling out, and glow
ing reports are coming in from all
sections.
As to the future prices, the situa
tion is as uncertain as it ever was,
but one thing seems sure that is that
the market will be on the basis of Chi
cago. The tendency now is to get on
a parity with the East. The late Chi
cago bulge put that market up about 7
cents, whereas prices here have ad
vanced only about 3 cents. The coast
market is not yet on the Chicago par
ity, but it is not far from it.
Ship 12 Cars Fruit Daily.
Puyallup, Wash. With more than
8000 berry pickers in the valley and
the berries ripening very fast, Presi
dent W. H. Paulhamus, of the Fruit
Growers' association, said that the
association will ship a dozen cars of
berries a day for the coming week.
About 2000 pickers can still be used
in the valley, Mr. Paulhamus esti
mates. Ranchers in the vicinity of
Puyallup are in greater need of pick
ers than are Sumner ranchers, because
most of the Puyallup berries are Ant
werps and Marlboros, and ripen much
faster than the Cuthberts.
Umatilla Crop Promising.
Pendleton, Or. With harvest in
Umatilla county a week or two late,
predictions are that a much larger crop
will be harvested than was expected a
short time ago. The cold spring was a
great hindrance to growing grain, but
recent rains, followed by warm days
have brought out the crops wonder
fully, especially in the lighter grain
sections. Wheat and barley are ripen
ing rapidly. Usually cutting begins in
most of the wheat sections shortly af
ter July 10, but it is reported little
will be cut this year before August 1.
Hay Harvest Starts on Coast.
Marshfield, Or. Haying season,
which comes later on the Coast than
elsewhere in Oregon, is in full swing
and the crop is abundant. The ranch
ers on Coos river have been busy with
their mowing machines for the past
week, and the Coquille valley farmers
are also harvesting their hay. Many
Coos county stockraisers depend upon
corn ensilage rather than hay and that
crop will be gathered later in the year.
Roseburg Shipping Sheep.
Roseburg, Or. More than 1000
sheep were brought here Sunday by
George Kohlhagen, preparatory to be
ing shipped to the San Francisco mar
kets. As many more were shipped to
California Saturday by Pelton & Selec
mann, local livestock buyers.
SCENE
REGIMENT
REGIMENT OF
SIGNAL CORPS TELEGRAPHER
Bird Expert Pickpocket
W. J. Trench, agent for the Santa
Fe, a year ago left his overalls hang
ing on a peg when he went for a visit.
In one pocket was a valuable key with
a string attached to It. The string
dangled out of the pocket. When Mr.
Trench returned he found his overalls,
but no keys. He has Just found the
string and the key when he kicked a
wrea's nest while stepping over a
bunch of cactus. Mentone (Cal.) Dis
patch, San Francisco Chronicle.
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STOCK POOLS OF OTHER DAYS
Financial Glanti Involved In Question
able Transactions In 1882 Gave
Entertaining Testimony.
Stock pools of the present day have
nothing on the pools and corners of
a generation ago In either magnifi
cence or plcturesqueness. Certainly
there has been in recent years no such
naive and entertaining testimony re
garding such operations as that
brought out by a state senate investi
gating committee in 1882, with Jay
Gould, Rufus Hatch, a big speculator,
and Henry Ward Beecher as the star
attractions. They asked Jay Gould if
he was familiar with corners and
he told how his brokers started buy
ing Chicago & Northwestern at about
80 and bought more than there was.
"I paid what I thought it was worth,"
he said. "It resulted in carrying the
price up very high. I did not pay
over 80. The stock fell back after
the corner to about 80. I think it went
up to about 250. I think I was in
duced to part with some at about that
price." Mr. Gould's matchless gener
osity, however, was not shared by Ru
fus Hatch, according to his testimony
when aBked if ho was opposed to
stock watering. "I am," he replied
promptly, "unless I am in it." Henry
Ward Beecher added to the entertain
ment of the investigation he did not
know why he had been called by
supposing that in a general way he
understood the system of dealing in
futures. "It iB a part of my profes
sion," he said, "to deal in futures."
His dealings in stocks, however, were
limited to two occasions. On the first
occasion he bought at 400 and sold at
100. "I thought it a good stock to lay
up," he observed, "but found it good
to lay dowp."
CONTENT IN SIMPLE THINGS
Pity, Affection and Love, for Instance,
Lead to Rich Contentment and
Serene Peace.
You may choose not to ignore the
evils of life, but you may study them,
Just as the physician and the surgeon
study all the morbid growths of men
tal and corporeal life.
By a cIobb study of the dreadful
foe you may in the end master the
secret of his destructive power, and,
perchance, you may come upon this
discovery, that the evils of life do not
flow from the nature of things, but
from human blindness, from human
selfishness, from precisely that lack
of cohesion among the various mem
bers of the human family which alone
can raise them to higher levels of cul
ture and happiness.
If men were more sensitive to each
other's feelings, if they could under
stand one another better, they would
cease to deplore their own sufferings
and find that life in the larger sense,
a corporate life of consenting human
individualities, contains within Itself '
potentialities of real happiness.
Quite elementary and simple things,
like pity and affection and love, sup
ply us with materials, not for wailing
and misery, but for, a rich content
ment and a serene peace.
A White House Fete.
I know nothing more impressive in
Its dignity, more complete in its way, .
than the White House, en fete. It em
bodies all our best tradition of hospi
tality and cordiality of perfection
without ostentation. Then there is
something in the atmosphere which
hangs about it especially during the
days of a closing administration, which
makes one think of that serenity that
seems to cling around the woods of
Mount Vernon, and which appears
there almost like a material reflex
from the calm and tempered ripeness
of its owner's soul. There is, I imag
ine, an affinity, a certain likeness in
the magnanimity of all generous, wise
and simple men whether of ancient
or modern times. Alas! too hard for
our generation of egotists to follow or
even respect. The only ideal which is
preached nowadays is "one's duty to
oneself." From "Pieces of the Game,"
Countess do Chambrun's book.
Beautiful Flag Flower.
Among the stateliest and proudest
of the members of America's flower
family none excels the larger blue
flag, which also wears the names of
blue iris and fleur-de-lis. Ruskin calls
it the Flower of Chivalry, which haB
a sword for its leaf and a lily for its
heart. Longfellow pronounces it "a
flower born in the purple, to Joy and
pleasance." It blooms In the wet,
rich marsh and meadow, from May to
July, and flndB its home from New
foundland and Manitoba to Florida
and Arkansas. The flag flower must
look to the insect world entirely for
its propagation, particularly to the
bees as its pollen carriers. So It puts
forth a flower that is blue tinted, for
Its experience has taught it that a
bee can be wooed with blue better
than with any other color,
Two of a Kind.
The visitor claimed to be a good
pianist with unusual ability in reading
music at sight. Seeing a sheet of
music on the piano rack, she sat down
and began playing, pounding the keys
with little regard for correctness of
time. Observing the small daughter
of the household watching her earnest
ly, the would-be admired player
pressed harder on the loud podul, lift
ed her bands higher, and ended with
a flourish.
Whirling around on the stool, she be
stowed a patronizing smile upon ths
child, who looked up and naively re
marked: "I can't play that, either."
Woman's Home Companion.