The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-11-02
FROM THE Big CITY
Portland's City Coun-
Gil Sensation.
Charges of Bribery Have
Been Preferred.
That Railroad Commission Again
The Importation and protection
Of Song Birds.

: Portland, Oct. 3Oth.-f the books Of
the Oregon Fertilizing Co. are to be
trusted, the disappearance of $500
lies between G.. s. Bratton and sew
eral members of the city council, and
the grand jury is now at work trying
to fix the responsibility. Last year
the city built crematory several
miles down the Columbia and made a
contract with the company to operate
it and take all the garbage of the
city down to the river to the crem-
atOry for $500 per month. There has
been great deal of complaint about
the furnace not doing its work well
and many noses have detected foul
odOrs, If their owners are to be be-
lieved. Committees from the council
and Committee of One Hundren have
visited it, with the general verdict
that the city's money was not well
invested. Finally, the company
ceased to operate it and the council
disallowed their bill for the month
Of August on that account. Later the
bill was allowed and paid. Later
still Mr.. Bratton ceased to be the
manager of the company and the
officers Of the concern made the pub
lie charge that $3.50 Of the $500 al
lowed had been paid to members of
the council, basing the charge upon
the company's books, which show that
but $24O were received and Mr.. Brat
toms explanation that he had to give
the remainder to members Of the
council to secure their votes for the
allowance What truth there is in the
charge the grand jury is endeayOring
to discover. This is the first definite
charge Of corruption made against
the new council, and though the
amount is small the people would
like very much to know if it is true.
If members Of that body will sell
themselves so cheaply the city would
stand no show at all were some big
job to come along. The members
seem anxious to have the matter
thoroughly investigated, so that the
guilty ones may be distinguished
from their assbcia1es, or the honesty
of all be estab blished.
1t has been suggested by a humor-
GUS individual who has been a mem
Der of the third house. for several
sessions and has probably had house
bill 104 referred to him oftener than
any other person, that the legislature
at its next session increase the rail
road commission to fifteen members.
This would by no means accommo-
date all the candidates, but it would
give a dozen more of them chance
to get in. Then, after the election of
members is over, he suggests that
the bill be amended so as to have
the commissioners serve without pay.
In this way fifteen very worthy per-
sons could hold an extremely honor
able Office, and the ninety members of
the legislature could show their good
will q total of 1850 times, without
costing the state a cent. This sugges-
ton illustrated the evil and absurd
ity of election of commissioners by
the legislature more forcibly than
the gravest argument, and at the
same time suggested the difficulty Of
repeating the act creating the COM
mission.
The society that imported the Ger
man song birds about five years ago,
the moving spirits of which were the
late Frank Dekum, president, and G.
F. Pf1ueger, secretary, has now In
transit forty pairs of nightingales,
some of them the regular variety and
some the black-headed kind. They
will arrive in few days and will be
kept at the city park until May,
when they will be released for nest
ing. Only one pair of the lot formerly
imported arrived and these were not
in good condition and probably died.
It Is believed that the new ones will
arrive in good health, as special care
is being taken with them, and that
in q few years the song of the night
ingale will delight the ears of Oregon
1ulieta Money is also being raised
to secure fifty pairs of Southern
mocking birds, and these beautiful
singers will probably be added to ma
lures choir in Oregon. An effort will
be made at the next session of the
legislature to have the law protecting
foreign song birds amended so as to
protect our native birds as well.
There is no reason why the killing
of birds and the robbing of nests
should not be made an offense, re-
gardless of the species. There are no
harmful birds in the state of the
smaller varieties, and all of them are
a help to the farmer and orchardist.
Besides this, the protection of birds
by law is an object lesson in kindness
to the lower orders of animal crea-
ton and love for the beauties of ma
ture that must have good effect
upon the rising generation. Not
enough attention is paid to this sub
loot ir, o,,r. y,,,hlic SchooIS p P b