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Editorials, Comments Humor, Features BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA, Spokane is almost literally "between the devil and the deep sea." Or, rather, between two devils and two deep* blue seas. On the one hand stand the two mighty Hill lines, with Jim Hill holding the reins and planning and scheming and scheming and planning. On the other side stand the Milwaukee and North Coast, two stalwart youths who sim ply insist that they must come in out of the rain, and on their own terms. And between the two, and receiving the knocks and compliments of both, stands Spokane. It reminds one of a story an old Irish uewspaper printer, by name of McKoo, used to tell, when "in his cups." He was a great admirer of Napoleon, but when intoxicated he thought he was an even greater conqueror. He used to tell his own version of the battle of Waterloo, and it ran something like this: " 'Twas at the gr-reat battle of Waterloo. The day was dark and gloomy, and shot and shell shrieked through the air, and men died by thousands on every side. The criticalest time then did arrive. On the one side stood the Iron Juke, on the other the gr-rand Napoleon, and betun the two of 'em, and bearin' the brunt of the charge, stood the immortal E. R. McKoo." That is the humorous side—for everything has humor in it, if we will only look for it—but the situation is one of the most serious that has ever confronted an American municipality. The Press is going to speak very plainly and frankly about the whole question, which is of such vital impor tance to us all. The Press does not believe in "tooting its own horn," but it feels sure that the people will acknowl edge the truth and sincerity in the statement that this is the only newspaper which absolutely can be relied upon in presenting the issues in the railroad fight. Its only interests are newspaper interests, and the interests this news paper takes in Spokane as a good citizen. It has no "axe to grind" for either side, in any way, and the sole pur pose is to serve the majority of the people to the best of its ability. Therefore The Press is in a position to view the railroad issue as a judge, and not as prosecuting or defending attorney. And here is the way the situation appears today: It is a three-cornered struggle—a struggle between the two Hill lines, the allied Milwaukee and North Coast roads, and the city of Spokane. The Hill lines strenuously desire to keep out competition. The Milwaukee and North Coast strenuously desire to be in competition here with Jim Hill's four ribbons of steel. The city of Spokane strenuously desires to secure its just rights in the whole deal. It's a big game of chess, and the best organized players are now, as they always have been, the railroads. The Press believes that the nail was hit on the head in the news story printed in this paper last evening, in which it was asserted that John L. Wilson's visit to this city was to line up the council for the Hill interests, and oppose the entrance of the Milwaukee. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT? As the average man working for about all yon get, with probably a family, certainly some obligations that keep you industrious and fairly honest, what do you think about this police matron business? What do you think about this jail investigation, any how? What is your honest opinion of the sort of a police sys tem this town si ion Id have! What do you think about the public officials of Spo kane, from the little you know of them? Your opinion is probably the same as your neighbor's. You have an interest in these things. This paper probably has about the same general idea you have, because pri marily The Press is the square deal paper of the average citizen. If there are women in jail there should always be a woman there to take care pf them, should there not? Re gardless of any other consideration, women should care for women, and a man, even though he be an angel of light, which at the last reports was one of the things Mr. Sulli van claimed neither for himself or his helpers, has no business having charge of women who are helpless, and who may need personal attention. So we need police matrons in the name of common decency; that's so, is it not? The Press leaves you to struggle with these big prob lems: Why do the public officials and the council so eager ly oppose the efforts of the Woman's club to get matrons:' Why is Spokane the only city in the west without matrons;' What especial reason do you suppose is at the bottom of it all? The jail investigation committee should work to the best advantage. It should not owe its life to the man who frankly confesses beforehand that he believes Sullivan is all right. Now isn't that so.' tf you are going to investi gate you want a committee not beforehand pledged by its very authorship, the authorship that give it authority to act at all, to a favorable verdict, now do you not ? Well, that is all The Press has ever asked. That is all labor and the women and the Germans ask. Wonder why they don't get it. Ponder on that a minute or two, will you? What do you think about the police force? Don't know much about it, do you ? Nobody else does. Why, then, if the force i> so righteous, must all these pains be taken to insure ;i preordained favorable report being brought in? Why can't we be given a chance to find out the truth by the presumably unbiased officials at the top? Wonder why? Think that over, too. will you? What has the present bunch of officials done to give this city better government 1 To give it cheaper govern ment, do you know? Has the council any reforms? Has the mayor shone as a white and shining light in any one big public campaign! lias much of anything been done to make the burden less for the average citizen ? And have the public service corporations, and the lobby ists, and the machine politicians, and the money interests, and the railroads really been bothered any since we changed the men in the place- of trust? Honest, now, has any good thing been done? Study out the record of the present administration, study these officials as you would a clerk you were paying out of your profits. Use just ordinary horse sense, look at things as a business man ami not as a mere mut, WHERE JS SPOKANE GETTING ANYTHING WORTH WHILE OPT OF ITS OFFICIAL CREW! And if there wasn't a charge true that has been made. still, is Spokane fortunate in its selection of public offi cials.' How are taxes and wages and general prosperity, and how much more than before of their just share of the tax burden are corporations carrying, and how much more efficiently and economically are city and county depart ments run? Think it over. "I nd ho you used to lie in »lcr army a soltehier, Adolf? \hH id boaniblo you uefer run uvay from dor foot" "Nefer. Kfuii din ing a bnddle vonee I vent to der rear und enguged bim." " Mot vans running avay, wass id nod?" "Aeli, no. Ad fairst 1 tttt ho, but veil 1 vent to del rear J fount id wass already der enemy's front." WE'RE GOING TO WIN OUT RIGHT gmnbap -press LOVE 'EM, KILL 'EM! Jersey, inherited a span of very beautiful horses. She dearly loved them, hut "got stuck" on automobiling, and. for fear the animals wouldn't be properly loved by others, had the horses shot. There's an idea in this for our millionaire readers. If you love a thing and have to part with it, kill it! It is a demonstration of great wealth and eclat. Of course, if you are a millionaire, you are the only teflr son on earth who counts. There is no one else on eamh who is capable of caring for your horses. Kill them! Ejin the beasts themselves couldn't be happy with anyone qlfe. Shoot them! This is the egotism of it. But you can afford egotism if you are a millionaire. Jt may be that the loved things from which you have got to part, through death perhaps, arc children. It's all bjhe same. Call in somebody to shoot them! Comment on this matter would hardly be worth while, only down east society is making much of Mrs. Edgertdai. She has done something novel. She has carved out a ntcdic for herself in the halls of social fame. It is a most notable demonstration of the power of wealth. Not every society woman can afford to deliberately and publicly pistoL'a $5000 team of horses, and hence Mrs. Millionairess Edger ton is entitled to extended newspaper notice. Goosevale Correspondence A Pesky Botheration. The postcard shower fad has struck Goosevale, and on the slight est excuse our citizens and resi dents get showered with picture postcards by their circle of ac quaintanceship. There appears to be a competition to see who can get the most cards, and as each generally bears a fool message, our mails are badly clogged, owing to the attempt of the postmaster to UNPOPULAR SCIENCE S7RATFD, BUT jFATRFAt/T CAUT/ON MUST J9F OBSFRV££> GW/NG TO TAF FACT THAT ONF At AY "DROP" /itS MONFY INTO SOMF TH'N<?S WHFRG 7HF S/MPIF IAW OF GRA V/ 7A 7/OA/ (OR MY 07HFR JLAWJ WJll NEVFR HAND JT BACK. "You mustn't throw snowballs," said Jamie's father to him. "Huh, I like that," said Jamie. "Ilow in 1 going to hit anything if 1 don't throw them?" Charley had a Mexican hairless dog. A man mot him on the street. • Has that dog got fleas?" asked the man. "Yes." replied Charley. "Well, he hasn't any hair." pur sued the man. "Where do they hide?" "They don't have to hide," ex plained Charley. They're invisible fleas." Adelaide Adams' mother was Mrs. M. E. Edgerton, a millionairess down in Now read them all. 'Pears to us the time of the senders and the post master could both be put to better use. Waffle supper at the schoolhouse tonight. The waffle is displacing the fried salt pork as a esculent in this section. Wes Wheatcakes had a house warming at their new home Friday, it was a grand success. BY A. D. CONDO ROLL 4 P//TCS OP pAP£R INTO A TUBS AND FOLD UP ON£ f/VD /)ft£R r/ye a?a/va/^r SHOW/V. DROP /9 COIAI INTO TH£ TUBE. AIOW IHVFRT THE TUB*, HOLDIA/C YOUR tj&FM HAND AT TH£ OPSA/ FNlf /)/vD T//£ CO//V W/U AGA/N /9PPF/9R. R£P£A7 TH/S UNT/L YOU CAN DO IT WITH P£RF£C7 £/)$£ /9A/D PReC/S/O/V. 7//£tf£ /9R£ NUN£ROUS OTH£R WAYS /N WHICH 7H/S PRINCIPI£ NAY B£ DFMON- tying a ribbon in her hair. It was a pink one. "This will match your red lips," commented Mrs. Adams. "Better put a blue one on me," urged Adelaide. "It's so cold Today my lips will be blue." Mabel had been warned not to do her lessons on the dining room table, because she had more than once spoiled the white tablecloth. Again she was discovered there hy her mother, who told her to go to another table lest she upset the ink. "The Ink," said Mabel. "Yes. the ink." said her mother "That's funny." said Mabel, I'm using a lead pencil." The fight is mercenary on both sides. The Milwaukee wants all it can get out of the city. The Hill roads want to maintain their monopoly of the city's business. And we, the people, want and are going to insist upon all the cessions and improvements in our. financial condition we can secure. The terminal rate problem is a hard one to solve satisfactorily, any way you look at it. But there are two propo sitions which are NOT hard for us to solve, and the new roads are not going to get in here until they have agreed to 'em. These are the common user clause and grade separation. Other roads, in the future, have got to be permitted to use present tracks for entry, and street crossings must be safeguarded. Must we wait for some awful lesson of death to enforce grade separation? Such a lesson will surely come if we don't eliminate the danger. Remember this, citizens, and make the new roads "come through." Here is the final question in this editorial, and it is the most vital, perhaps: What does all this mean to the man who pays the grocery bills? Does terminal rates spell cheaper spuds or coffee or salt pork, or whatever else he and his dependents are in the habit of feeding on? The general supposition is that this is exactly what terminal rates would mean, but is there any guarantee of it? Can anybody put it down in black and white? There may be such a thing as an "increasing cost of operation," in at present unheard of particulars that will absorb the terminal rate margin, swallow it whole, in fact, and leave the consumer undisturbed by any altered aspect in his monthly account. In all the argument that is raging back and forth over the terminal rate and franchise question in Spokane, this point has been but lightly alluded to. It is the essential element of the whole proposition. Especially is this true if the problem is left to the public to decide by ballot. "Cheaper grub" should be the crude but comprehensive issue of that campaign. If it is not, and the assurance of obtaining it is not clearly defined, Spo kane will be staking considerable in the way of railroad maintenance and expenditure against a rather shadowy pros pect of benefit. That man who pays the grocery bills, Mr. Consumer, by the way, happens to be a personal acquaintance of most of us. He also wears clothes, and shoes, and other items when he can afford. These also come by freight. Yes, we are between the devil and the deep sea, but we are going to stick our ground, and win out right where we stand. Lady—Tut, tut! Don't you know that when your enemy smites you on one cheek you should turn the other? Kid—Aw, gwan —he smited me in do smeller! A soft hearted Irish foreman found himself compelled to deal conclusively with a too easy going subordinate. "Mike," he remarked, "Ye'r laid off to hunt for a job ye can hold with one hand while ye ate breakfast with the other. Ye needn't come back till ye've found it, and when ye've found lave it." Horoscope "The stars incline, but do not compel." Monday, March 21, 1910. Now on the work of man and his desire, Jupiter shines with all his help ing fire. On this 80th day of the year, at 9 a. m. over Washington, the Sun enters the sign of Aries, and Spring begins. The 10 day old Moon is governed by Leo. Jupiter rules as the great planet of good fortune, pros pering all intercourse among men, benefiting the merchants and the traders, aiding work ers and imbuing undertakings with virility and sound vigor. Under this aspect, it should be good to open new places of business, begin new affairs or enlarge and improve old ones. Bankers and financial affairs generally are under a good sign. "A bright portent" ascends in the sky. Invention and creative power should be greatly stimulated by the influences that exist to day, for the planets that gov ern are held by astrology to be conducive toward these facul ties. Letters, contracts and other written instruments should be carefully studied, with an espe cial thought to future events. You would think that any animal two feet high and over six feet long would want comething bigger than an ant for its meals, wouldn't you? Well, this great ant eater would not tomb anything else. He hides In the dense forests of South Amer ica, and is so timid and inoffensive Cbttortal JJage "JUST KIDS" ORDER HARD TO OBEY. THE GREAT A N'T EATEIt for under the indications there is a probability that many things begun today will have effects and results that are far more permanent than is imag ined today. Lovers who are inclined to fickleness, deceit, flirtation or unfaithfulness are under a most malignant sign, threatening them with a great calamity to come in the future as a result of any wrongful act done in these 24 hours. For the household the aus pices are good over "creat ures with feathers." It is an especially good time for ducks, geese and turkeys. There is a sign this day de noting "turn thou not against a faithful companion nor be thou swift to believe evil of a friend." Persons born between now and March 27 are on the cusp of Pisces-Aries. These people generally gain by vigilance ana caution, so long as those quali ties are not permitted to de generate into distrust and sus picion. Children born today will gen erally be upright and loyal, but often suffer from overwork or over-indulgence. They should learn to live simple, calm lives. FAMOUS POEMS OF LOVE. Alter? When the hills do. Palter? When the sun Question if his glory He the perfect one. Surfeit? When the daffodil Doth of the dew; Even as herself, () friend! I will of you! —Emily Dickinson. that a mouse could scare him half to death. When he tears up an ant hill he slides his sticky toque through the swarming bunch of surprised ants. The ant has not lived who could get off the tongue whan onoe It is glued on. BUT WHERE WE STAND Mark 12: 34—"Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." o^^^ KSI'S said those words (o a man who had >vv /*< been asking him important questions, be- On • \jfl l[o cause of the disposition lie showed, lie was x/l 1/ W» ini, "' ,( ' st '. v in a good, a hopeful frame of y/ W mind. He was very near to the very great- est of blessings. Two thoughts are ein | phatically suggested by the text. First, i "What is God's Kingdom.'" and, second, "What is it to be not far from it ?" j The expression, "kingdom of God," is used in three senses in the New Testament. Simetimes "kingdom of God" means heaven, the upper kingdom; sometimes it means the church, the visible kingdom on earth; and some times it means the kingdom within the heart. In this last sense it means the right disposition, the graces of the Holy Spirit, such as "love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, tem perance, gentleness and faith." [f one has this kingdom in this latter sense—has it with in him —he will seek to be in the church, the visible king dom, and will be preparing for heaven, the upper kingdom. Without the kingdom within the heart we never can come into the heavenly kingdom. This is really what all men, lleop down, long for—to have God's kingdom within. Noth ing else will ever satisfy the heart of man. The second question suggested by the text is, "What is it to be near God's kingdom?" This may be answered by: We are near God's kingdom when we are rightly educated and striving to live up to our education—when we know the Bible and are trying to put its precepts into our daily lives. Again, we are near God 's kingdom when Christian peo ple are earnestly praying for us. In the second chapter of Mark we have an illustration, where four men brought a paralytic, on a bed, to .Jesus, who healed him of his disease and also pardoned his sin. Still, again, we are near God's kingdom when the Holy Spirit is striving with us. As when we feel like crying out to God for help. And still again we are near God's kingdom when we are brought into trouble. Notice the jailer of Philippi, in the Kith of the Acts of the Apostles. (Jod is trying, by these troubles, to bring us into bis kingdom—to give us the best blessing it is possible to get God's kingdom is not something afar off, away in the air. It is right near, to be had by giving ourselves up to God, that he may do for us what we so greatly need to have done. Indeed, (Jod Himself brings His kingdom l ight to our doors. P.ut notwithstanding that, there are hun dreds and thousands who are right near, just to the bor ders, of God's kingdom who never come into it. Whose fault is it? THE CRUX of the trial of National Committeeman Tom Taggart, in Indiana, seems to lie in the question as to whether Tom knew that there was gambling at the French Lick hell. Of course, if Tom didn't know where his tens of thousands wore coming from it would he a shame to convict him. Just think of wrongly jailing a marl *aho didn't know how he was becoming rich! % CONGRESSMAN HITCHCOCK is hot after the NeP braska senatorship, on" the ground thai Bryan doesn't wav,(. it. For a man who's harking up the wrong tree .Mr. Ili_ cock is making a huge noise. KING EDWARD has cut out wine from bis table, and all the dudes in England—aud America, too- are ready for hysterics lest lie take ii|» gin instead. This is a fashion note, purely. A LONDON new fashion is jewel imitation of insects. Ah, ha! We see the future of the California flea, and it's a darned sight nicer to wear it in your wife's hair or collar than in the small of your hack! DR. COOK is coming hack to New York, lie has discov ered Brazil, hut he'll have a deuce of a time getting $2 a seat from us for the information. THAT father of .'52 children says he doesn't worry ovo* the high cost of living. Probably v couple of dozens of the children are working. HOW NEAR GOD'S KINGDOM AM 11 By Rev. J. H. Shields Pastor of Fifth Presbyterian Church OBSERVATIONS Spokane, Washington March 20, 1910