davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
, 1890-09-25
COUNTY FAIRS.

The bounteous harvest Of this
year has been SO nearly gathered
that now, with barns, bins and
storehouses fairly bursting with the
rich returns nature has made for the
husbandman's labor, the agrlcult-
ural comm unities have time to turn
their attention to the fairs, which
very fall, play no important q pare
In the farming districts.
This fall, above all others, farmers
will be enabled to make q most
creditable display at their county
fairs. With crops of grain never
before equaled in this section, either
In quality or quantity, With fruit
and vegetables unexecelled by the
products of any country, and with
stock of all kinds equal toany, there
IL no reason why the several fairs
this fall should not surpass in the
excellence and extent of their ex-
hibits any former attempts made in
this line.
These fairs, aside from the fact
that they stimulate competition in
the various branches of husbaudry,
have another and very important
phase affecting largely the farming
communities. This is the oppor-
tunity given for social intercourse.
In many Of the newer and more
remote agricultural districts, the
people have no opportunities what
ever for social recreation aside from
those given by occasional spelling
matches, school exhibitions or neigh
borhood dances, and, accordingly,
the county fair is looked forward to
with eagerness In those sections ms
affording a chance to renew old
frien dships, make new friends, and
mix with n larger portion of the
world than often falls to the lot of
these dwellers on the outskirts of
civilization.
SO to the hard-worked tillers OF
soil the few days spent on the
county fair grounds every fall are
boon, and whether walking about
among the products of their sum |
mers toll, displayed on every hand,
or gaining new ideas from minds |
bright and polished by contact with
the world, or examining into the
merits of new and improved ma
chinery designed to make their
labors less, full enjoyment Is found
and a compensation for the oft
times necessary privations they
must undergo while waging contin-
lal warfare with the forces of ma
.ure, which remain ever ready to
render his toll of naught.
Long live the county fairs!
, 1890-09-25
THE SLATE PROD UCT

According to bulletins issued by
the census bureau the total value o
the slate produced in the United
States in 1889 was 1914, 1858. Oi
this, 81, ,775, 27l is the value of $685.
800 squares of roofing slate, and
$3.50, 502 is the value Of slate for all
other purposes besides roofing.
AS compared with the statement
of the tenth census report of 1880 on
stone, the roofing slate product oi
1889 Is nearly twice as great in num-
ber OF squares and In value. A con.
sideration of the slate used for pur-
poses other than roofing appears to
have been omitted from the tenth
census report, however.
The slate product, according to
"Mineral Resources of the United
States, 1885," was in that year 682,- :
400 squares, valued ut 81, 053, ,44O.
Prior to 1890 there were but twelve
slate producing states, but during
the present year slate has been
found both in Washington and
Idaho. two states not included In
the twelve, but inasniuch rs in slate
quarrying the initial operations are
those of stripping ana excavating
preliminary to actual output, some
time must necessarily elapse before
any returns for labor can be realized.
With tho increasing importance of
slate for roofing aud other purposes
1t LIS to he expected that improved
, 1890-09-25
SER VICE PENSIONS


Not long ago the REVIEW declared
that the high-water mark of pension
legislation had been reached and
that the service pension bill
would never become n law. That
expression has called out the follow.
ing protest from II member of the
g. A. r.:
WooDBURN, Iowa, Sept. II.
To THE EDITOR OF THE REVIEW:
have just read your thoughtless
screed of the 11th inst with reference tc
the proposed service pension bill,
think 1t doubtful whether you were one
| OF us, or, at least one OF the boys who
served faithfully three and four years,
| always on duty, and so have no hospital
record. Yours, very respectfully,
JNo. NEwsoME.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, as
the writer was an infant when the
war broke out he was not called
upon to put down the rebellion.
But enough of such personalities.
III Mr.. Newsome intended to con-
vey the impression that the Grand
Army of the Republic isa unit i'm
favor of service pensions he is far
from the truth. When the question
came before the grand encainpment
at Boston Ii prevailed by the close
vote of ia to 100. Thus 1t WINS
shown that the men who would he
the beneficlaries under the proposed
law are nearly evenly divided upon
the proposition. If the sentiment of
the veterans Is so closely divided,
what may we reasonably infer the
sentiment of the general public to
be? If nearly one-halfof the Grand
Army is opposed to the service
pension proposition 1t is more than
probable that the great bulk of the
general public Is ready to call n halt.
The proposition would not be 80
amiss If 1t proposed to award a
service pension to the volunteers, or
even TO the better class of the
drafted men; but 1t treats all classes
alike. The skulker who was never
in a battle, the bounty jumpers who
were forced into an engae ement at
the point Of the bayonet, the coward
and the poltroon are classed In with
the great army of volunteers who
marched to the front, and ranked
with the men who went into the
service when they could have been
exempted by disability or age.
1t is easy for the Iowa veteran to
say that this or that article is a
"senseless screed, "but the mere dec
larations falls long way short of
proving the assertion.
, 1890-09-25

majority's exercise of Its rights and
its duties? DO they imagine thai
the enactment of scenes like that o.
Thursday in the house Is calcu'
lated to strengthen their position
and claims upon the public? If so,
they are doomed to disappointment
If the democrats had been at theil
post of duty, instead of absenting
themselves for the evident and ad'
mitted purpose Of preventing the
progress of the business of the coun'
try, IL would have been unnecessary
to lock the doors of congress In Or
der that the interests of the public
should not suffer by delays and fail
ure to enact necessary legislation.
Briefly here lie the situation. The
republican party went before the
people and pledged itself to enact
stipulated legislation in the event OF
its success at the polls. Almost
from the opening day of the session
the minority has pursued tactics In
tended to prevent the majority from
carrying out those pledges. Had 1t
not been for the strong common
sense of Speaker Reed the present
session of congress would have ac-
compllshed practically nothing, the
summer would have been FILTERED
away and the publlc's interests en-
tirely neglected.
There Is only one way out of the
dilemma. Every republican MEM
Der who Is not upon n sick bed Is
in duty bound to stay at his post of
duty until the pressing legislation
can be enacted and the session
brought to close. That will place
the democracy in the embarrassing
attitude of ncglecting its duties and
interfering with public interests, of
passing its time in striving to de-
prive the nation of necessary lcgisla-
tlon, of skulking in committee
rooms and corridors and kicking
down the door of the house in its
eagerness to get away from its place
of duty.
Men who kick down doors to
escape from the halls of legislation
should be entirely excluded from
congress.
, 1890-09-25

way to resent an insult Is to strike
when 1t is given, and not to resort
to oil the prelinlinaries Of a pitched
battle, which 10 pretty certain to
end In the defeat of the weaker par
ticipant, although in nine cases out
OF ten the bully Is the stronger of
the two. II boy or a man Is in
suited by rowdy or a bully, he is
excusable In striking n righteous
oiow on the impulse Of the moment,
and IL Is the duty Of bystanders to
see to 1t that the rowdy Is not per-
mitted to half kill the object of his
tyranny or spite. Bullies and row.
dies soon lose all stomach for their
occupation undor such tactics,
whereas the resort to the ring only
places every advantage in their
hands.
Itspeaks we'll for the tone of
English thought when such men
ms Slavin and McAuliffe are not per-
mitted to beat each other into in
sensibility for the delectation OF
crowd of human tigers, Ii is pity
the law can not get at such men as
Fox, and at all other abettors of
prize fighting. It's disgrace to
the American people that such men
should thrive and grow rich by
violation of the laws, to array them
selves In fine raiment and ofier
golden and diamond badges tor the
Of brutality and to
Induce vain and weak men to court
death by leaping from lofty bridges
or by casting themselves into whirl-
pools and danperona rnnida
, 1890-09-25
- -
THE DEADLOCK.

Those democratic members who
were so eager to escape from the
house of representative that they
found 1t necessary to kick open the
door ought to be kept at home In
future. The evident purpose of
these men, and in fact of the Ell tire
minority, Is interference with the
progress OF public business, because
the majority, upon whom rests all
the responsibility, declines to con-
duct affairs just as the democracy
would like to see them conducted.
The country saw fit to entrust the
republican party with the legis-
lative and executive branches of
the government. Naturally 1t will
hold that party to a responsibility
for all its acts. Why, then, should
the democrats exert every expedient
that tends to interfere with the
, 1890-09-25
THE WORLD GRO WING
BETTER.

Richard X. Fox has remarkable
conception of what constitutes an
outrage. According to his depraved
taste, the arrest of the pugilist Nc
Aulitfe, directed and executed I'm the
interest of law and at the dictates
of humanity, is an official display of
tyranny.
This man Fox is disgrace to
nineteenth century civilization.
He revels in everything that tends
to the elevation of the brute in
stincts of mankind; he prostitutes
the press by publishing vile, flashy
sheet that is excluded from every
decent American home, and he de-
votes his time to the encouragement
of brutal contests in the prize ring.
He comes as near the incarnation of
Mephistopheles as any other man
In America; and when he dies the
world will be well rid of devil.
One hundred and fifty years ago
the English people looked different.
ly upon pugillsm. 1t was patronized
by the nobility, and men of high
standing were not above participat-
ing in contests Of the prize ring.
At schools and colleges iisticufis
formed an indispensable part of
boys education. The life of a frail
youth was made miserable by the
bullying of great hulks who tyran-
nized the whole school by beating
and cutting every boy who dared TO
dispute their sway; and all this was
encouraged under mistaken belief
that 1t made the rising generation
more manly and more courageous.
The world knows better now. 1t
has learned that the encouragement
Of prize fighting ut schools breeds
bullies and towards. The expert
ence of war has demonstrated the
TACT that prize fighters and the vile
scum with which they associate are
debasers of women In peace and !
In battle.- Patriotism, love
of country and bravery can not be
beaten into child; they must he in
herited, or cultivated by lofty lltera-
,ure.
Nor IL IL necessary that boy of
he present day should endure in
'ult and wrong. There are occa-
ions when he Is justified In strik-
Dg out from the shoulder. But the
, 1890-09-25
THE IRISH ARRESTS.


Balfour's arrest Of Dillon and
" Brien, aside from all question of
right or wrong, has an appearance
at this distance of political folly.
Ihere was no occasion for the ar
rests. Ireland Is peaceable now,
and quiet. Dillon and O'Brien have
uttered no sentiment that humanity
VIII notapplaud. Ireland is menaced
oy munger and famine; through no
iauit OF the Irish tenantry their
crops have failed and they are
utterly unable to pay their rents.
The Irish leaders, in this emergency.
declared that no Irishman should
rob his family of the means of sub
sistence In order to pay his rent.
You can make nothing out of that
nut humane counsel, an assertion of
the highest law of nature, the right
OF self-preservation. If that be con-
spiracy, then Dillon and OBren
are conspirators, but conspirators of
stamp that the world will ap-
plaud.
Balfour Is utterly unable to deal
with the Irish question in a states
manlike manner. He has shown
his hand repeatedly as u partisan.
England does not deal with an En-
glish mob as she does with an Irish
crowd. The London agitators are
not arrested for conspiracy and
thrown into prison. But let an
lrishman counsel his fellow coun-
trymen to live first and then pay
their rent, and the whole power of
the British government stands watt
ing TO throw him into prison. Bal
four hates the Irish, and he makes
no effort to conceal his hatred. He
regards Parnell, Dillon and O'Brien
as personal enemies, and he has
acted accordingly.
If the purpose Of these arrests was
the stoppage of relief contributions
from America, as asserted in LON
don, Mr.. Balfour has overshot his
mark. We should choose to take
the opposite view, and to give the
tory government credit for keener
knowledge of American spirit. We
should rather think that Mr.. Bal.
four has planned to arouse Ameri-
can sympathy In order to encourage
so that the Irish ten
antry may be better able to pay
their rents. Balfour may always
be relied upon TO take the part of the
landlord as against the
tenant.
O'Brien Is oftentimes impulsive
and imprudent, but upon this occa-
sion he certainly has done and said
nothing that the world will not ap-
nlaud XF
, 1890-09-25
facilities for quarrylng it win soon

facilities for quarrying 1T viii soon
be adopted.
AT present nearly all Of the slate
quarrymen In this country, and to a
considerable extent the firms operat-
ing the quarries, are either Welsh or
OF welsh descent, many Of them
having learned the method ofquar.
rying slate In the celebrated quarries
Of Wales.
from present prospects there
seems good reason to look for favor.
able reports from the slate regions Of
washington and Idaho as soon as
the quarries are thoroughly opened
ana properly operated. This will be
n valuable aid to builders, for as this
STATE - supplied with an abundance
Oh nhe building stone and timber 1t
only needs slate to complete Its sup.
plies.
, 1890-09-25

IN THE OLD CHA MEL.

|
The Pacific coast is land of con.
flicting yet harmonious phases-old
yet new. 1t Is a wilderness, and at
the same time center of wealth, OF
literature and art; region of deserts
and a land of rain, place for dolce
far niente and the scene of untirlng,
resistless feverish energy. No king
dom presents a wider range of con-
ditions and resources. The popula-
ton Is the most cosmopolitan In the
world. In fact the Pacific coast Is
a world in itself.
California has been a state for
forty years, Oregon for thirty-one
years, and Washington and Idaho
for few months. The Californians
have been celebrating the anniver-
sary of their admission, and their
papers have been filled with sketches
of pioneer history. A great deal of
old wheat has been winnowed, and
u vast fund of new information has
been gathered and placed in type
for the first time.
A popular belief credits California
with the earliest American settle.
ment, whereas in fact the stars and
stripes waved over Oregon and
Washington many years before they
were furled to the California breeze.
Oregon was pretty well settled when
gold was discovered In California in
1S4s, and sent hundreds Of men to
the gold fields. The Willamette
valley sent wheat and fruits to the
gold-Inad throng at San
Francisco, and q number of Oregon
pioneers thereby laid the founda.
ton of fortunes. farm products
bringing fabulous prices in the Cali
fornia markets.
The first wave of Pacific coast i'm
migration was almost entirely di-
rected toward the Pacific North.
west Hundreds came to Oregon
where one went to California. The
Spaniards had the better part of the
farming and grazing lands of Cali.
fornia, whereas the Willamette val
Icy and the fertile prairies of West
ern Washington were open to settle.
ment. The discovery of gold at
Suffers mill threw glamour over
California and cast the Northwest
entirely in the shade. That
discovery, followed by the
literature of Bret Harte and
Joaquin Miller, and later by the
of the Central Pacific
railroad, gave the Golden state an
easy prestige that she held for nearly
forty years. That prestige is shat.
tered at last. The collapse of the
California boom, the build.
ing Of railways into the Pacific
and the exceptional op.
portunities afforded here for capital
and enterprise, turned the stream of
into the old channel
from which IL was diverted more
than forty years ago.
No man can, presage the future.
We know, however, that forty years
after the admission OF Washington n
il will be a richer and more popu-
lous state than the California es TO-
, 1890-09-25

day, and probably of the California
Of the future. Cnlifornia's climate
Is too like that of Spain. 1t lacks
the cool, energizing tone Of our
northern dir. The Pacific North
west Is on tho future line of oriental
commerce, and II is also on the line
of II growing civilization, and not of
dying one.
The earliest immigrants were
wisest after all. They chose the
better land, and time has verified
their wisdom.
, 1890-09-25

THE NE'z .PERCE SCARE

Naturally 1t transplres that the
recent Indian scare in the vicinity
of Little Salmon meadows, Idaho,
was largely tho result of an over.
wrought Imagination.
Chief Joseph has made his last
fight IL was n gallant, though
bloodthirsty aud revengeful stand,
but 1t resulted dlsastrously to his
tribe, and Of the warllke band that
swept the pastoral valleys of Idaho
twelve years ago, leaving behind a
blackened, bloody trail to guide
Howard and his troops, there re-
mains to-day but broken-spirlted
remnant.
For an Indian Chief Joseph IL a
remarkable man. He has excep-
tional qualities Of generalship, and
savage though he be, is enough of a
statesman to realize that his time
for warfare has forever passed away.
He knows quite well that he was
beaten when his tribe was strong
and when the settlements were few
and far between, and that any re-
slstance he might make to-day
would be the means of the complete
determination of his broken band.
But the Indians who were en-
canned at tbe Iit,Io SoImon nood-
owsw were not part of Chief Joseph's
band. The Grangeville Free Press
declares that they were always true
anu Hrin friends OF the whites. The
latest issue OF that paper contains
the following sensible statement of
the situations:
Our neirhbors In that oo,ntry oro
king great outcrv with ANAL reason
We, of Camas Prairie livo adioi,in,t tho
on which theso jpdi,rs "a
side. They are ali rorsoroli,, enosyn -,
our people as peaceablo orderIv and lao.
abiding Indians. who nro now no thev
have ever been. the firm friends of Tho
white race. and from whom no outbreol
need be feared. The renegades of Chiaf
Josepb's band are not omony the,, ana
even If thew were in force TO inoite an
outbreak. tbov wopld rscsiva email ala
and less comfort from these resorv,,ior
Indians. Knowing thpaa Indians xyo |
do. we incline IN h..iievo th,t ,ho r.nor,s
Of their lawles.ness are verv much e.ag-
verated In oil uxoh.Lii,'., -. .,
bottom facts are sifted down. Il will he |
Found that some scalawag white man |
las been selling whisky to tho Indians,
md that under the inf Of liquor
'oine indian mas been indulging In antics
'na 'a seS.ur's wh'ci, tue viVid imsgina-
Iors in,aru..,nd ,o' sa,' a'u .s1 ,so,a..u se'
war. A drnnken Indian ia 40 ,rra,inroi %
md puenacious. and as ant 10 be as bis
! fool as white man in a like cond,-
ion, and his demonstrations should be
reated with discretion. If he is crazed
o .he point OF running amuck," he
uo IN se'i-oeienso DO promptly
,sna 49,, m Ju. h Vtay lin, sUoa ciuo-
,anale w,iI .ohsr w hi,' -, '"'ny p,on
nythipe. These lanses howsysr .re
offenses, and are punishable
n the organized Indian courts on the
eservation. The apprehensions of
ribal outbreak are groundless. Such
sports shouid DC discourased' as dotri-
nehsai W sne pest interests OF the coun-
, 1890-09-25
THE GREAT NORTYER ~

| niuny tnousanu people WOttlu glV'
considerable money for reliable in
formation as to the route that viii
he followed by the Great Northern
railroad across the state of Washing
ton. Very likely the management,
of the enterprise are included I'm that
class of speculators.
Great Falls, Montana, Is the pres.
ent western terminus of the road,
and Fairhaven, on Bellingham bay
is probably the point of ultimate ter.
mination. The question for deter.
mination is, How shall the gap be
crossed, where Is the road to strike
the Columbia river, and what passes
shall 1t climb across the Rocky and
the Cascade mountains? VIII the
road build on the southern route and
enter Spokane with It's main line, or
will 1t cross the Spokane d North
ern to the north, and depend upon
that road tor connection?
The indications point to the for
mer course, provided the company
can get into the city easily and can
acquire suitable terminal facilities.
The business of this city is too rich
a prize to reach with feeder, and
the company clearly desires to
place Spokane upon its main line.
The route between this place and
the Columbia river offers an excep-
tionally advantageous field, is free
of engineering difficulties, and is
capable of rich development. 1t
would tap the heart of the Big Bend
of the Columbia river, and would
carry the railroad through Water
willie to the West, and take 1t direct
ly to the Wenatchee river, which
offers an advantageous pass to the
summit of the Cascade mountains.
A branch line to the north would
give 1t connection wish the Okano-
gan mining district. This route
would run sufficiently north of the
line of the Northern Pacific, and
would give the Great Northern a
commanding position, by which it
could easily develop all the imper-
ial domain lying north of the North
ern Pacific and south of the inter-
national boundary line.
On the other hand 1t seems i'm
probable that the new line will
choose to leave the Big Bend coun-
try to the south and TO pierce the
region to the north.
The policy of railroad companies is
rather toward piercing an agricult-
ural region with their main lines
and relying upon branches for con-
nection with the mining districts.
The passes and canyons almost
this course in the case of the
Great Northern. True, the road
would have to cross the Grand
coulee, but Engineer Stevens has
declared that he has found five or
six points at which such crossing
could easily be made. Engineers of
he Great Northern have been oper-
iting the past summer in the coun-
Try around Waterville. Their move
nents have been attended with
show of secrecy, but
hey have made Waterville their
That town is due
vest of Spokane Falls, and the in
ervening country is perhaps the
,est portion of the West as yet re-
undeveloped. If the Great
Northern should fail to build
through the Great Bend, some other
will grasp the opportunity.
That rich section can not much
onger remain isolated and un-
developed.
, 1890-09-25

AN exchange announces tho sad ia
ings that John Arkell, Russell Harri.
sons partner, has had the misfortune n
lose his pet alligator, present from A
Florida friend, and to which he had be-
come very much attached. John is n
be pitied in his bereavement, but thsn
he can find some consolation In know
ing that he still has Russell Harrison
, 1890-09-25

Nor only has nature blessed the grca,
Northwest with abundant crops and rich
mines but IL adds one other blessing. in
the way Of fair weather, to enable ths
farmer to harvest his crop and the mine,
to develop his claim, and also to onabla
the visitors 10 the Spokane exposition ,o
see this great country in all its attract.
iyeness '~'
, 1890-09-25

Mr. MAZE is having a time of II with
the government. lie will never be sure
ot his dues until the president of tbs
United states and the supreme court
have passed upon the matter in his IA
vor the money has been paid to him
and he has spent the last dollar IL
sometimes takes the government of the
United States II long while TO correct an
Injustice.