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) THE ATLANTIAN 5 What the Figures Really Mean There is an old saying, usually accepted, to the effect that figures do not lie. But bare statistical compilations can not always be accepted as arguing a fact or establishing a conclusion. The statement is now made that New York physicians who are especially interested in the treatment and cure of alcoholism are much per- urbed because hospital records in that city show that seven thou sand persons are annually admitted to these institutions to be treated for inebriety, where only three thousand were heretofore admitted. It is argued from this fact that drunkenness and drink ing are increasingly alarmingly. The conclusion, while natural, is not necessarily final. In fact, the figures prove nothing in themselves. The observation of those who are in a position to study and know conditions as they exist tends to substantiate the hope that the consumption of intoxicating liquors is decreasing to a very marked extent. Records of the in ternal revenue office lend color to this belief, and the accretion of “dry” territory in many of the States of the Union would seem to be cumulative evidence. The fact is that scientific men, and w T e presume doctors in New York and elsewhere will not object to being so classified, have come to regard drunkenness as a disease. It is but natural, then, that it should be treated as diseases are treated. Their prescribed method of treatment is found in the hospitals and not in the jails. It would not seem to be sufficient cause for alarm, or even dis couragement, should these hospital records show even a much greater increase of “commitments.” Our founds of the medical profession are working along the right lines. Whether they have discovered the “panacea” or not we shall not say. But as diagnosticians they are unquestionably expert when they find the man or woman suffer ing from dipsomania a candidate for the ambulance rather than for the patrol wagon. Politics and the Courts By education, if not by instinct, the people of the United States universally look upon the Federal Supreme Court, as a body, as personifying and individualizing, collectively, all tfieir exalted ideas of justice, equity and incorruptibility. No more wholesome condi tion could exist. Chaos is near when a people loses confidence and respect for its courts. We have ever hedged these tribunals about with traditional reverence and a faith that they approach immutabil ity. And this is not a blind faith, though the pathw'ay and beset with many vicissitudes. It might require long argument to establish the premise, but the conclusion is a safe one that these perplexities QUEER, BUT CORRECT. Prof. Brander Matthews, in his quality of phiologist, said the other day in New York: “The past participle, ‘gotten,’ has gone out in England, though it still lin gers on with us. In England, however, ‘gotten’ is almost as obsolete as ‘put- ten. ’ “In some parts of Cumberland the villagers still use ‘ gotten ’ and ‘ putten ’ and a pupil teacher once told me of a lesson on these past participles wherein she gave her pupils an exercise to write on the blackboard. “In the midst of the exercise an urch in began to laugh. She asked him why he was laughing and he answered: “ ‘Joe’s put putten where he should have putten put.’ ” After all, the best Thanksgiving is thanks living. IT PROBABLY WAS. One of the big railroads lines has a regular form for reporting accidents to animals on its line. Recently a cow was killed and the track foreman drew up the report. In answer to the question, “Disposition of carcass?” he wrote: “Kind and gentle.” ‘ ‘ Thanksgiving ’ ’ is not a day; it is a habit. We can not ne thankful on Thanksgiving Day unless we have been learning how every other day in the year. There are some simple rules: Walk on the sunny side of the street; live as much as possible in the best room in the house; think about your friends, not your ene mies ; talk about your good luck, not your bad. These are some of the ways of ac quiring the spirit or cheerfulness which is the only soil in which fV ‘ * Thanksgivin ' M. Farr are not so much the creation of the courts as of the law-making bodies. The indisputable fact remains that in the end right does prevail. And this is saying much when we stop to consider that infallible man is legislator, juror, advocate and judge. The Supreme Court of the United States has stood, since this government was established, as the rock to which the ship of State and the lesser craft of individual enterprise could be and have been safely anchored. No more sincere eulogy could be spoken, either of the men who have occupied that exalted bench or of the men who as chief executives of the land have appointed them. Presidents are politicians. Some of them have been popular heroes, but all have been the creatures of one or the other of past or present great politi cal parties. But the court, never elective, has been almost com pletely divorced from politics or political influence. W. C. Wilson on the Job W. C. Wilson, president and general manager Atlanta Bag gage & Cab Co., has announced the perfection of the arrangements of a private telephone exchange, whereby the public can, without delay or inconvenience, obtain information relative to trains con nection, baggage, etc. In the past this had become a cause for complaint and to remedy this Mr. Wilson has installed an up-to-date private exchange with a lady in charge both day and night and has taken special means to meet the public need. The directors are to be congratulated on giving a good officer liberty, and the good officer is to be complimented for the promptness with which he used that liberty. Let us all be friends. Broken Promises (New York World. Many people will be asking this evening why it all happened. We think these paragraphs will explain it: Tariff revision should be immediate, and on the whole there should be a substantial revision downward.—Mr. Taft at St. Paul, September 26, 1908. The wise custom which limits the president to two terms re gards the substance and not the form, and under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination.—Mr. Roose velt in 1904, repeated in 1907. It is not often that the people of the United States find an op- two presidential promise-breakers A PINE DISTINCTION FOR THE FAMILY. He had had bad luck fishing, and on his way home ho entered tho butcher shop and said to the dealer: “Just stand over there and throw me five of the big gest of those trout! ’ ’ “Throw ’em? What for?” asked the dealer in amazement. “So I can tell the family I caught ’em. I may bo a poor fisherman, but I’m no liar. ’ ’ WHAT WAS THE USE? ‘ ‘ Haven’t found your dog yet, I hear?” asked Smith of his neighbor Jones. “No,” answered Jones ruefully. “Well, have you advertised?” asked Smith. “What’s the use?” said Jones; “the dog can’t read.” portunity to pass judgment upon at one election. WHY HE COULDN’T GO IN. A small but very black negro was standing very erect at one side of the door of a house where a.colored man had just died. The services were about to begin, when the negro clergyman appear ed at the door and said to the little fel low : “The services are about to begin. Aren’t you coming inside?” “I would if I could,” said the small boy, “but, you see, Iso de crape.” NO MORE CHILDREN. Little Mary’s father had denied her a pleasure which she had confidently ex pected to enjoy. That night, when she said lior prayers at her mother’s knee, she concluded with this petition: “And please don’t give my papa any ••■ore children. He don’t know how to .... *’ IS*'