Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1909-07-09
What l. safe and Sane?

~ in the lower pal OF town, where
fire works were discharged by per-
sons having little or no knowledge of
the nature Of the explosives or the
manner Of handling them. But it
seems that those who know the least
about such matters are generally the
foremost in occupying the grand
stand whenever such work is to be
dOnr
While We may rejoice over result
in this instance seeming to justify the
a,iugc All S we'll that ends well, il
may not be amiss to stick a pin in
such facts as that the proximity OF a
barn filled with hay is not safe place
for children to discharge fire-crack-
erS. nor should wooden side walks be
trusted where a spark may find lodG-
ment to start aconfiagration later on
\ third Of the city of Portland, Me. -,
was DESTROYED by fire from crack
er at celebration in 1866, involving
a loss estimated at so, 900, 900. The
discharge of roman candles by women
on the balcony of the " Green Tree, y
as weapons of attack Of pedestrians
and making buildings and other OBJ
jects targets for craftsmanship, can
hardly be classified as either safe or
sane, and some of the proceedings on
" Butterfly Row were scarcely less
reprehcnsible. The attempt of a
cranky male biped to ride as a bob
on a rocket-Stick had he not AIMED il
at an angle that might have gril'ei
everybody in its passage on street
grade level. might have been toler.
ated.
J Is it not strange that with the
fearful lesson taught by the factory
fire, the night before, such an apathy
should exist and a leading newspa
) per should condone the fact? Wash,
it shown that it might not be restrict
ed districts that alone would suffer
from sparks and even faggots tina,
have Travelled mile or more with
sufficient vitality to ignite a flame
How can our city authorities fail tC
realize these possibilities and the dan
ger that constantly attends the wan,
of ordinary precautiOn? Have not
the people right to demand reason
able exercise of foresight and protec
ton from the saturnalia that some
times prevails through lax methods
Have q decided opinion and the cour.
age to express it, and if possible in.
fuse a little backbone into those
charged with official duty.
A QUESTION of COsTs. Not long
ago, two neighbors got into a con.
trOversy about line fence. One Of
the parties involved had the other
arrested for not maintaining legal
fence. The trial came off before a
Justice of the Peace and jury, which
resulted in an acquittal OF the ac-
cused, costing the county nearly for.
. ty dollars. The jurors thought the
complaining witness was actuated
by motives of spite even, if there had
been a technical violation of law, and
the complainant was in the same pre-
dicament with respect to a portion
Of his fences. In cases of this kind
the complainant ought to be made tC
pay the cost, if he can be reached
through any Ia v ON the subject. The
STANDARD has on several occasions
/ advocated the amendment OF the
criminal code in order to give the
. Prosecuting Attorney of the county
the power and authority to require
security from the complaining wit
ness in misdemeanor cases, whenever
. that official may deem such course
, proper, whether the trial shall occur
in either the Justice or Superior
court; that if this official should fail
r to require security the defendant
7 may apply to trial court for an order
in that behalf. Such a law will tenC
1 to put aquietus on petty crimina
} prosecutions which are instituted
from motives of revenge, in which
the prosecuting official may have beer
misled by reason Of the false repres
'entations of the complainant, or by
some party at his instance.
HEAT AND HUMIDITY Heat, the
last week in June, throughout the
East, was of unusual effect, from its
humidity. Although the tempera-
ture was not unusually high, for this
time of the year, the death-rate in
the larger cities averaged consider
ably more. One suicide is reported
from that cause. and an average oil
half a dozen daily from sun-strOke'
: and physical depression. At Den
yer, Col, the car-rails were twisted
and displaced by the heat, which
reached IS degrees. The wreck oil
two trains, attributable to this
cause, has resulted in injury of a
score or more of people, but none
are reported so far to have had q
fatal ending.
AT Hutchinson, Kansas, a relig.
ious sect exists, which wOrships
snakes, and handle the odious rep
, tiles and welcome bites of the most
poisonous serpents. If they survive