The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-03-24

tftF 1iblnn Eift OF fiyuu'UGfs AltNOuEN,
a. IL the custom IN our house Of lords.
no premonliory warnings were given
that there was 70 be an oratOrlcai out
break. the length Of the succeeding aes-
sion and the paucity Of accomplishment
yielded every indication that Il was al
least IN contemplation and might take
place At any timse. Subsequent events
supported this idea. The ponderOus
Oaken dOora whlch concealed the packers
from the outside world allowed no whis-
per Of Il 10 escape. but upon the fac Of
each member as ho loft the rooms after
the gtssl0n OF ThursdAy was plainly
revealed that II any combination OF any
kind was 20 be made. II would not be
until hH had had hiA say and until the
searchliRht OF Investigation and inquiry
had been turned upon every possible
point and view OF the much -mOoted and
much-dlscuased question.
The packers were between the devil
and the dep. deep sea: from Tuesday
until Thursday they had talked and
talked and talked. and Friday morning
found them ready TO fght Il out on ths
same lines and talk some more, even II
tho Portland's commisaa riat did suffer as
a consequence. by this time the Norris
combination had changed It's appearanc.
Aside from some notifications male by
Mr. Norris himself. It had been 20
amendbd and ramifed that II could not
even recognize Itself. having much the
appearance OF retired prixehght-r hunt
Ing 4 hacker. All this time the members
we're 'slocutin'." as Mrs Partington
would put II. untii they were r.d In the
face and were compelled 10 change
their collars A. q matter OF protection
They were still adrift They had lost
their bearings and had no idea OF either
the Latitude or Longitude. The ieryid.
staceato eloquence Of Elmore; the gut
terai accentuated oratory Of Seaborg.
tho persuavinSsH OF Hanthorn. George
Norris. Megi-r and the others had had
no effect About this time that coupIet
began TO bother me
Early In the sessions G. ". Sanborn,
concluding he would have NOR time TO
devote to the convention II he went to
New York and there FIRST transact his
business. CEASED 10 be Il factor In the
meeting. so Il is difficult 10 determine
Just what clements OF elOcution there
are dormant within him, However. the
other members talked Just the same as
n he had BEEN there. so II really did not
make much difference During ali this
symposium OF animated conversation, Mr..
George had found time to introduce an
other consolidation scheme and for a
time the remains OF the other one were
laid aside. II did not help matters
much: every member seemed determined
aOt to agrce with any other member as
TO what wers the yitalities Of the COM
binatlon. and Il really looked for a time
as II the top-heaVy meeting would fall
OF Its own weight
The session OF Friday night was long
one. Midnight had almost gone when
the members appeared. looking much as
Uncle Josh's villain did after the old man
had thrown him down the skylight.
They were tired. That was plainly 10 be
seen. SO was I, but nom OF them no.
ilced that The thought has sometimes
struck me that they did not care. How
belt. they were all soon In bed. drea ming.
mayhap. OF what they would say the
next day
Saturday mornings meeting was a lats
one. II resulted as the others had This
time II was evident that nothing ma
tcrial could eventuate from the labors OF
the various sessions, unless the members
arbitrary mended their ways. and I
then once more bethought M OF that
couplet, How on earth had they. with
primary two-fold object before them
and the propositions all prepared before
hand. occupied Ave whole days in find
ing out that none OF the schemes werA
feasible TO them? There was not very
many In attendance. and II gradually be-
came matter OF wonderment to me
how they made the talk stretch far
enough 10 20 around. During the lun-
chson time skirmished around. but was
confronted with the same thick veil OF
silence as before. However. one incau-
tious member confdentially told me that
II the afternoon session OF Saturday
brought forth no fruit and nothing came
of the evening meeting. they would prob
ably ajourn without doing anything ex-
oept pay their hotel bills. | thanked
him cordially for this. with which was
perforce content Strangely, II turned out
exactly as he said. Oblivious OF the
beauties of the glorious day outside,
Saturday afternoon went. with the mem
bers OF the meeting, as had all the other
afternoons preceding IT, They wera all
late at dinner Saturday night. and It
was apparent that before boat time some
thing was to drop. Something did drop
the curtain Early In the evening the
weary packers filed out one at time
and solemnly made the announcement,
suppressing sigh and a half-formed
yawn, that the Columbia River Packers
Association had finally adjourned: but
even this was not to be the end-there
was string attached to the adjourn
ment. 1t was only for the purpose OF
allowing the members 20 obtain a few
draughts of sea breeze that they might
return TO the Portland Tuesday, the 2tth,
and take a homeopathic dose OF the
medicine OF the previous week.
The fruits of the meeting can be epi-
tomized in one word-nothing. Many
subjects were discussed. many matters
not at first contemplated were given at
tention. but this one word describes the
summum bonum of the sessions achieve
ment, in as far as anything. tangible is
concerned. Aside from the two already
mentioned. another proposition for com
oinauon was submitted, meeting the
same fate as the others None OF them
nave been discarded. but are held In
aoeyance pending the meeting of Tues
day,
This is not by any means the first time
the packers have tried to get together
upon some basis of mutually. They
have whereased and whereased and rs
solved many is the time before, so the
talk OF this session did not even possess
the merit OF newness. It seems to be
the individual desire of each packer TO
have some kind OF combination upon
which he can rely, but the difference of
opinion as to how that combination can
be most easily effected is so great that
some of the packers express the sorrow
ful opinion that none can be consum-
mated; others are more sanguine, and
ara confident that the result of the meet
ing OF Tuesday will be eminently salts
factory to all concerned, including the
fishermen and the wholesalers. At all
events, they will make a desperate at
tempt TO harmonic the various interests
and theories and find some happy
medium upon which all can settle
SALMONTHA.
Like clocks one wheel another on
must drive, affairs by dlligent labor only
thrive.-Chapman