Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1902-12-20

ueau. Inere IS something 10 lie said
for this attitude of the clergymeD. A
philosopher once put the case thus: "A
dead rascal Is no more admirable than
a live rascal save that he Is incapable
Of further rascality. Why, therefore,
should he be eulogized? This state.
ment Of the proposition appears logical
and 1t no doubt appeals with particular
force to clergymen. who, from their
very profession. may be supposed to
deprecate any departure from the truth
even In Difference to the tradition "De
mortuis nil nlsi bonum." Whatever
license in eleguic matters may be per.
mitted to tOmbstones or even to men
rot IN holy orders. 1t must be conceded
that silence Is after all the highest
charity which may reasonably he ex.
pected Of preacher. The clerlcs Of
Hamilton, Ohio. have done wisely and
seemingly in resolving to leave POST.
norton eulogles of doubtful ver1city
to the tombstoncs. Heaven lies about
us In our infancy. but the clergyman
cannot AFFORD to lie about us when we
are dead. The storied urn must do
that.
An official report has been made to
the bureau of forestry showing the de-
tails Of the losses caused by forest
fires in Oregon and Washington dur.
Ing September last. These details GOV.
er the losses not only In standing tim.
Der but In manufactured lumber, saw.
mills and farm property. and amount
IN the aggregate to $12,767,OOO, Of
which $3.01O.OOO was In Oregon and
$S.S07,OOO in Washington. The area
burned over In Oregon was about no..
600 acres, and upon this area there
was loss on farm buildings, stock.
equipment, school houses and bridges
Of $751; 600; OIL sawmills and manufac.
tured forest products Of $4,000; and
OH standing timber, $3,4O4,OOO. The
area burned over in Washington was
larger than that In Oregon, amounting
to $4,000 acres. The loss OIL farm
property was $0O7. 600; on sawmills and
manufactured forest products, $751;.
700; OH standing timber. $1,000, OOO. One
cause Of this great destruction Of prop.
crty was the dryness Of the summer
and prevailing strong east wind. But
even under these circumstances there
would not have been such destruction
had 1t not been for carclcssness. which
was the direct cause. The report states
that In many instances the fires smol.
dered for long time and no one paid
attention to them. "Nfany blazes start.
eel from the unextinguished canpilres
Of berry pickers or hunters, and others
resulted from careless burning Of
slnshings." The bureaus agent reports
that nearly all Of the fires could have
been extinguished before they became
serious, but either no one was In the
vicinity, or. X there were any persons
there, they would not go out Of their
wny to stop the fires. Reasonable pre-.
caution on the part Of individuals
would have prevented the loss of mill.
Ions. In the sections where govern
mcnt rangers are In control there were
no serious fires. The evident lesson
which the State governments Of Oregon
and Washington should learn Is the
necessity Of an efficient forest patrol.
Had there been such probably none of
these serious fires would have occur.
red. As much Of the wealth Of the two
States Is In their standing timber and
lumber products the necessity for such
a patrol ought to be apparent. 1t Is
useless to expect that individuals will
be careful about starting or extlnguish.
ing fires. or even care how much prop.
erty Is destroyed.
AZ
A man that has taken reasonable
care Of himself ought not to be old ut
fifty. But at fifty David Loeb of New
York felt that he had lived too long,
and 30 committed suicide. Loeb was
not poor. He retired from business
two years ago, land had since seemed
Respondent because he had nothing to
do" He was bachelor. II Loeb had
married he would have had his wife
and children to love and think Of In.
stead of being obliged to concentrate
his thoughts upon his bored self. II
keeps the heart young to be interested
In the welfare Of others. Or II when he
was In active business he had had the
sense not to let It absorb him to the
exclusion Of everything else he would
have remained young and able to en-
Joy life. No man that desires to avoid
miserable old age will permit the
work habit to enslave him. He will
read books, go about among people,
form friendships, cultivate his tastes,
ride hObby-do anything rather than
narrow himself down to mOney.mak.
ing routine that Is sure to harden the
feelings ana atrophy the mind, and so
make walking mummy or him. Any
one that starts with good constitution
and decent outfit of brains should not
be exhausted at fifty. II he finds him.
self wOrld-weary and fatigued with
life ut that age he has only himself
to blame. And he can freshen his spir-
1t and revive his energies by searching
out ways to do little good. Loeb, IL
he had become the friend and helper of
children, or had made 1t his business
to be special providence to some poor
family In his nelghbOrhOod, would not
have been troubled with the despond.
ency that led him to the dlsgraceful
crime of suicide.
n IL