Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-01-04

in Oregon" is enjoying a great sale,
at least in Oregon. More or less of
o close observer Of men and events
and the logic of circumstances, all his
life, Geer has wonderful ability as a
narrator. He is good story teller,
and that is everything in constructing
y gossipy, reminiscent history. His
mind is cumulative. He has Won
deful memory for the flotsam and jet
sam cast up by the waves on the rest
less ocean of life The trivalities, the
inconseQuential things, that your for
NAL historian, who writes from the ac-
cumulated memoirs and libraries Of
the world, disdains to notice or over
looks are all stored by a mind like
Geer's, and when they are picked in
his preservatory memory become
highly spiced literary chow-chow.
With fine perspective for import
ant events, still nothing is too small
or unimportant to record and the par
ticles glitter with human interest,
That was the talent that made books
like "Peppys Diary" and Boswell's
life of Johnson" immortal works. 1t
Is this talent that makes Geer the
Thucydides of Oregon. At any rate
the book stores cannot keep enough to
supply the demand
Justice Thomas Mcbride has fallen
heir TO manuscript volume, written
by his deceased brother, the late Con-
gressman John r. Mcbride, of Spo-
kane, Wash, that he is thinking Of
having published 1t is in the form of
a diary, kept day by day over long
and busy life, when commonwealth
were in the making and the genius
for literary expression still survived.
The writer knew John r. Mcbride,
and sat with him in a national con-
vention at st. Louis. He was a quet
man, of scholarly habits, an unusually
close observer Of men and events.
His history of Oregon would include
old Oregon, or the Oregon country be-
fore Idaho, Washington and part Of
Montana were carved out Of this ter
ritory. He was contemporary as a
young man, with DR.. John McLaugh-
in.
Justice Mcbride also possesses the
diary which his father, DR.. Mcbride,
kept crossing the plains, which is
mighty interesting reading. These
valuable memoirs should become the
property of the State Historical socie-
ty, and should be published by that
corporation. The individual should
not be compelled to bear the expense
of a matter that has universal interest
for 0regonians.
Now that election is over, and Sena-
tor Jonathan Bourne is in the ranks of
the defeated, all ought to be salts
fled who enjoy destructive tactics in
political warfare. The man who put
over the parcels post, and got the only
respectable appropriations since the
days when Mitchell and Dolph we're in
their glory is worthy Of mention in
this chronicle of current political
events. He has for several years been
the best known and best advertised
man in Oregon. He could command
an illustrated page in the New York
World or the Saturday Evening Posi-
any day, and did command many o
them, without money and without
price. He wrote leading articles or
the Oregon system for the Atlantic
Monthly and the North American Re
view, publications supposed to be no
for sale to anybody. The bitter figh
put up on Bourne bore fruit The ma
chine put forth its candidate, with al
the attributes of deity, and pictured
Bourne with all the defects Of de
mon. The back country vote, that still
believes what Is given out in print
withheld its ballots from Bourne, ant
he is not senator after March 4, 1919
When all is said and done politically
Senator Bourne Is probably the mos
remarkable mentality ever produce
in Oregon AS a constructive genius
as collector OF data, as an analyst 0
facts, as a writer of clean-cut, irrefut
able statements of fact, he is withou
peer in the United States, so far a
my reading goes,
The mass of information he gath
cred from the four corners Of the civ
ilized world, and the investigation h