Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

6 THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN. THCIUDAY. Jl'I.Y 19. 190*. The Atlanta Georgian. JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES, Editor. P. L. SEELY, President. Telephone Connection!. Subscription Rites: One Year $4.50 Six Months 2.50 Three Months 1.25 By Carrier, per week 10c Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday by THE GEORGIAN CO. it 25 W. Alsbsms Street, Atlanta, Ga. ■nlered second-elm matter April S. ISOS, at the PoatoBra at Atlanta. Oa.. under net of cenareaa of March A U7L THE GEORGIAN COMES TO GEORGIA AS THE SUNSHINE Love looka not with the e/ss, but with the mind; And therefore la winged Cupid painted blind. —Shakespeare. An American Vicereine’s Death Tbo death of Lady Curxon, wife of the former viceroy of India, la an event of peculiar pathos, and touches responsive cord of sympathy throughout the United States. A* Mary Letter, the daughter of a Chicago capi talist. she was one of the most popular young women In the United States. The wealth and luxury which sur rounded her from her very girlhood left her still un spoiled when her alliance to George Nathan Curson, In 1895, whllo he was secretary of Mate for foreign affairs, opened up to her a more splendid destiny perhaps than has ever fallen to the lot of any American, woman. At the time of her marriage there was no assurance what ever that ahe would one day be called upon to All the high position which subsequently became hers But four years later laird Curson was appointed to the position of viceroy and governor general of India. Then followed a career for the tactful and lovable Amer ican woman which more than one of the crowned heads of Europe might well have envied. Sharing with her husband the throne upon which had sat the rajahs of India, surrounded by a barbaric wealth and magnificence which recalled the moat luxurious period of the nabobs of that enchanted land, aha maintained her composure and Indefinable savolr falre In such a manner as to en dear her to all with whom ahe came In contact The great durbar In which she participated was con fessedly one of the most splendid In the history of India. 'We would haw to go back to the days of Cyrus or Bar- danaplaut to Imagine anything more Impressive than some of the scenes which marked the gorgeous festivi ties. But dissension arose between her husband and the stern, Implacable Kitchener, who Insisted that the, milita ry commander of India should be independent of the viceroy In military matters. The tension became such that Lord Curson resigned his position and returned to hla homo In England, where he has spent moat of the tlmo at the bedside of his wife, who never fully recovered from the serious Illness of a tew yeara ago. While ahe had been In feeble health for aome time, her death was not expected, and waa a source of peculiar sorrow. Lost In the pomp snd ceremonials of a land which hna long been proverbial for Its oriental splendor and wealth, It seemed strange at times to think of the vlce- rclno as an American woman, but those who are best qualified to know declare that she always retained the simplicity of a child of the people and a daughter of a free republic, so far as her character and conduct were concerned. There may bs little to glorify in the conduct of Eng land In India, but there waa much In toe life and loving tanderncss of Mary Letter to command admiration, The Matrimonial Epidemic. We do not undortake to explain It, but content our selves with recording the fact that the matrimonial ven tures among people of distinction, announced during the past few days, have almost amounted to an epidemic. In nearly every one of them there waa something of a sen sation, and the general public feel that they have been given an embarrassment of riches. Newport waa duly shocked to learn that Mrs. Burke- Roche, who waa celebrated even before she made her notable complaint that ahe couldn't live on a meaaley hundred thousand a year, had been married almost a year to a "whip" who actually earned hla own living. The truth baa been divulged In aome myaterloui manner, and, hlushlngly entering a plea of guilty, the happy pair have sought seclusion, presumably on an ocean liner, to enjoy their belated honeymoon. It will be remembered that the announcement came aftar the marriage of Mrs. Roche's dsughter, who entered Into matrimonial bonds only s short time ago, and It II entirely possible that mother and daughter may meet and spend a pair of honeymoons together on the continent And then came "Zasa” Carter’s leap Into the great conjugal Perhaps. This marriage, too, waa carefully con cealed for some time, and Dave Belasco exclaimed, when he beard of It, that he would aa soon have expected to hear the devil calling tor holy water aa to think of Mrs. Carter entering, really and truly, Into n state of double blessedness. Fired by his mother's exsmple, young Dudley Carter took occasion a few evenings afterward to announce that be was engaged to marry Norma Munro, daughter of the we)l known publisher, and a young wpman of very decided personality. There seems to bo some difference of opin ion between Miss Munro and the man In the case, as she is reported to have denied the engagement, but per- hapr this is only a part of the amiable fooling which seems to be a legitimate pert of engagements, and It will all come right In the end. Most Interesting of all, perhaps, Is the statement that no leas a man than Bourke Cockran, the great Tammany orator and member of congress, Is engaged to marry Miss Ide, of Callfornls. It Isn't so many moons since It wss rumored that the distinguished Irishman Intended to en ter a monastery, but he changed hla mind about that mat- tar, at I salt, for It la since that time that he stood for an other election to congress—which of course meant bis election. He Is one of the real forces in the Democratic party. There Is not much likelihood that he will ever succeed to the presidency, for there seems to be an unwritten law that no great orator shall ever be chosen to the chief magtstrgey of the republic. But he will always be a power In the counsels of the party and on the floor of the bouse, so long aa he remains there. But the applause of listening senates to command la not enough to satisfy all the cravings of hla soul and be feels that his life should be rounded out by such a compaulon as he appears to have found. iYo wish him, and all the other brides and grooms and grooms and brides-to-be, all the happiness In the world, but we would Ilka to know what there Is In the at mosphere Just at this season to precipitate this epidemic of marriages. The Tipping Crusade. We have no deBlre to be flippant at the expense of the unfortunate, but It would hardly be natural to pass over without comment the fact that a waiter out In Indiana dropped dead from heart failure when he waa handed a five-dollar tip by a man from Cripple Creek who had Just made a lucky turn. The melancholy fact Is thst It a waiter In the east had been handed a tip like that, particularly In one of the fashionable restaurants along the Great White Way, he not only would not have dropped dead, but In all prob ability he wouldn't have turned a hair. He wonld have looked upon It aa entirely a matter of course and If the dinner party had been large and he bad been a bit more attentive than the rules and regulations call for he prob ably would have been actually Insulting If he had been given anything lest. Aa It was, it waa rather a small town In which the Incident under discussion occurred, otherwise even the new and more or less unsophisticated west would have been more accustomed to five-dollar tips, fn Chicago, for Instance, such an honorarium—to debase the term— would not have been very extravagant The occurrence will serve at least to call attention to the crusade which a few xealoua people are still msk- Ing sgalnst the tipping evil everywhere. It Is one of our foreign Importations which has flourished mightily In our American soil. Aa usual when we take up a matter, we have gone further than the people we Imitate, ft haa become a nuisance and It Is hoped that the crusade will be effective at last Somebody Is liable to drop daad at any time. St. Swithin and the Rain. Will It rain for 88 days more? People who believe In signs and omena will take something more than passing Interest In the question, for last Sunday Was St. Swlthln's day. On that day It rained and every day since, so, according to the supersti tion. which has obtained for nine hundred years, we should havo rain every day for the next 38 days. Swithin waa an English ecclesiastic of the ninth cen tury. He was chaplain of King Egbert and finally bish op of Winchester. It Is he who Is said to have fstab- llshed the tribute known as “Peter’s Pence," and the regular contribution of tithes. At hla death he was buried, by his own desire, in the churchyard of the cathedral of Winchester, so that the sweet rain of heaven might fall upon bis grave." A hundred years later he waa canonised, and' the le gend goes that when an effort was made to remove his body and bury It In the church, on July 16, it began to rain. This continued for 40 days, during all which time the removal of the body had to be deferred, snd the pro ject was finally abandoned. True or legendary, something of the kind gave rise to one of the moet generally accepted superstitions fn, the world. The "otdeat Inhabitant" In every Chris tian country la ready to maintain that 40 days of rain are certain It It rain* on St. Swlthln's day. Hence the proverb: St. Swlthln's day, gif ye do rain, for 40 day* It will re main; St. 8wlthln's day. an ye be fair, for 40 days ’twill ratn nae maUr.” People generally are keeping their eye on the weath er, and tho good saint—or at least bis legend—Is on trial. WILLIAM IRA VERS JEROME ADDRESSES GEORGIA BAR; SUBJECT, “PUBLIC OPINION" New York District At torney Leading Speaker. Mr. Churchill’s Platform. Winston Churchill's race for the governorship of New Hampshire Is assuming definite proportions and the peo ple up that way, Including himself, insist on taking It seriously. On Monday the Lincoln Republican Club met at Con cord and adopted a platform which promises a num ber of reforms. The platform advocates the enaotment of laws pro hibiting the giving of free railroad transportation; the election of railroad commissioners by the people; the taxation of the property of public service corporations their true value; prohibition of political contributions by corporations; publicity of campaign receipts and ex penditures; public registration of lobbyists;' nomination candidates for office by direct vote; stringent enforce ment of the liquor laws and the present laws against gambling, Including book-making at the Salem race track and elsewhere. In hla letter of acceptance Mr. Churchill says In part: “I subscribe without reservation to the several propositions today set forth, and would suggest that they be submitted to the other candidates for gov ernor. If they will all assent the success of the cause is assured, and that Is more to me than any personal consideration. In auch event. If thought desirable, I would gladly efface myself iu behalf of such one of the other candidates as the Lincoln Republican Club thought fit to Indorse.” The Indications are that the Lincoln clubs through out the state will be content to have Mr. Churchill as their standard bearer In the approaching campaign, and that he will make It very uncomfortable for the Boston and Maine railroad, which Is represented aa dominating the situation in the granite state. His success at the polls will be even better than dramatising bis book. x WANTS. To the Editor of The Georgian: I want to seei a sun-tanned preacher with plow- handle corns In Ix.ls hands. ! want to see a national banker hoeing a bean patch. I want to see a politician who says the country la all right, and won’t go to ruin, whether he la elected or not, and who la running for the office and not solely In the Interest of ths dear people. I want to see a man In the Georgia legislature with backbone enough to make an effort to past an honest election law bill. I want to see aome big railroad offlalala who carry grander and nobler sentiments, and have mors feeling and love for their people than Sam Spencer hat. t want to see s newspaper printed In Macou that, when speaking of Democracy. It don’t seem to think I am the whole thing, and when speaking of farmers’ organ isations won’t say It’s a good thing If they will only keep out of politics; and when speaking of Popullsta will not want them all disfranchised, and let the ring bosses, poli ticians, corporations, their henchmen and the negro vote. 1 want to see a Judge that will make It aa hard for millionaire murderer as for a penniless negro murderer, and as hard for a Rockefeller rogue aa Tor a negro hog thief, and treat a firm who administered poison by means of canned meats, aa an Individual who administered It, In wines, fruits or confectioneries. I also want to see a United State* Judge who will not sell hi* learning and honor to the money power and throw In a lot of Injunctions. And I do really want to see one—Just one—honest, unselfish, truthful, free from greed officeholder, one who la earnestly and honestly striving to serve his country and people. And then when all these wants are gratified, I shall earnestly look for the millennium. J. B. HOWARD By J. WIDEMAN LEE. Warm Springs, Oa., July 19.—The annual address before the Georgia Bar Association was delivered this morning by William Travers Jerome, district attorney of New Tork. Hie address, the aubject of which waa "Public Opin ion," waa aa follows: Mr. President and my brethren of the Georgia Bar: I am sure I greatly appreciate th< honor and compliment of your Invita tion to address yotr on this occasion. When your learned president some months ago extended to me the Invita tion to be present and speak, the pleas ure afforded me—and the distance of the event—made It very agreeable to accept and easy to promise anything; but I fear, that as the time approached for me "to make good” on my accept ance, diffidence effaced pleasure, and aa I stand before you I feel a greet deal as I did when as a led I wea making my first argument before sn appellate trib unal. And os then I stuck very close ly to my brief, I must be pardoped If I do so now. Tha fundamental and real reason for gatherings such as this Is not to listen to the learned papers which may be read. These are Interesting and often valuable contributions to our knowl edge of particular'subjects and they serve, In a measure, to characterise our meetings. The reel reason, though perhaps not gentrally recognised and seldom stated, Is deeper and the reeults are more valuable than the elucidation of some abtrusa point of law even when It concern! Important questions of the day. The value of such gatherings le be cause they bring the members of our profession Into closer personal contact and acquaintanceship. They make us realise our power and Influence and our capacity for service, and they develop a solidarity and professional unity and a spirit which haa In It tremendous possibilities for good. I think no re flecting man leaves auch gatherings without having hie pride In and love for his profession Increased and quick ened and a keener sense of honor and responsibility to his professional breth ren awakened. I cannot bring for your consideration a learned paper on some legal subject The reasons why concern me alone and would not Interest you. Moreover, as I looked over the program of your ex ercises I saw there was little need of enlarging the discussion of purely tech nical subjects. . If I am correct In my conception ot what the fundamental purpose and re sult ot such meetings as this la. It may not be out of place at this time to of fer a few reflections upon "Public Opinion, Its Power, Some of Its Evils and Injustices, and Our Duty aa Law yers to It.” Of the power of public opinion no one has doubts; of Its evils and Injus tices few care publicly to speak, but of these every thinking man Is aware, and our duty as lawyers toward It and In fluence over It Is little thought of. Difficult to Determine. There le no mystery as to what pub lic opinion le. It Is simply the opinion held by a majority of persons, usually conceived of ee a large majority, upon any given aubject at a given time and place. But to determine what is public opinion upon any particular subject at a given time and place Is often the moet difficult task that can be under- tikm Nor again, Is there any mystery aa to why public opinion Is so potent Ultimately no doubt Its power rests on the physical strength of a majority, but Its Immediate motive force le not found In thla. Kmereon haa touched the prin ciple when he aays; "Yet,we hare the weakness to expect the sympathy of people .In those actions whose excel lence Is that they outrun sympathy, and appeal to a tardy Justice.” The men who ere doing things, who are thought to have, end ofteq do have and exercise power, no lees than the great mass of the people whose individual opinions go to make up public opinion, crave sympathy and approbation. There are men, guided by a high sense of du ty, who will do and continue to do their duty aa they see It regardless of this majority opinion-which we call public opinion, but with how much ef fort and depression I The man who de clares he le Indifferent to public opin ion, If he be not a fanatic, le too often something of a fool and a knave—a knave to lie and a fool to think you be lieve him. To a public officer, the dis charge of his duty with or In the face of public opinion le like the difference In the running of an engine with oiled or sanded bearings. - How potent public opinion le Is everywhere evident to thq lawyer. Whet more solemn declaration of Its will can a people make than to declare In Its constitution of government that a thing shall not be done and that the legislative body shall enact aultable law* to prevent the doing of the pro hibited act? And yet he* Maine, for example, been able to enforce Its pro hibitive law*? Do not Ite sworn offi cer* almost everywhere fell to fulflll their oaths of office? Like officers do not fall In their duties where crimes such aa larceny are concerned. In my own state the constitution pro hibit* gambling and enjoin* the legisla ture to pass laws to prevent It. The legislature, however, has dared to pees a law which while In form aimed to prevent gambling on race track* was notoriously designed to protect It, and this waa possible only because public opinion permitted. There Is a large group of laws, nota bly those concerning the social evil, restriction on the sale of liquor and Sunday observance, which will Illus trate the power and the evils, too, of public opinion. It would be Interesting and Instruct ive to have some competent person trace the genesis and by comparative study give us the bletory of the growth bll*?* from representative gatherings Into bodies of delegates whose chief j function Is to formulate and perfect In | detail measures dictated by the people ’ as a whole, or by a majority or sup- : posed majority of them. This Is the natural and logical out* j come of democracy In large, complex ; and Intelligent communities like ours. j Whether we like it or not. It is a con dition which confront^ us. It seems to me wise and good men will not seek to ] change it, something I believe Impossi ble to do, but frankly conceding the great and, if possible, growing power 1,, mT - t . wire of public opinion, they will seek to In- T Sew y orli July j,._ w fluence It, to form and guide It an.l ... .. of tills longing for approbation and sympathy which Immediately gives to public opinion Its power. But whatever Its cauee and whatever Its history, pub lic opinion stands today a* the moet Important single Influence In the life of the nation. Public Opinion Nearly Omnipotent. With us. as perhaps with no other nation, and now aa never before, public opinion le nearly omnipotent and ha* largely converted and tends to convert more and more our legislative assem SOUTH’S GROWTH AND PROGRESS THE RECORD IN RAILROAD BUILDING T From The Chattanooga Tradesman. HD moet prosperous jeer In the his tory ot railroads In the Mouth snd throughout the country, In fnet, closed with the flu-si year 1806-190!, on June 30. There Is no better wsy to Judge the conditions of the country then by the oper ations of Its railroads This being tree, the tatter half of 100G nnd the llrat bslf of 100! were the banner period of genera business In the South. All previous record* were broken, every railroad In Ibe Booth haring don* s larger budge** during that period than eny similar period liefore. The volume of business wee phenomenal, but, according to the eertmstes ot official; who hero carefully looked Into the condition*, the new flee*1 veer will brook the marvel ous record of that lust closed. 1 Hiring ten mouths of the twelve Jnet peat. the trunk Mure In the Mouth did a cepsetty buslneer In moving freight end experienced the Inrg eat peesengrr buelnrta they have ever known. Branch llnee enjoyed slmoet es great Inereeee In tonnage oa the mein llnee nml many of theoe feeder* thot had oarer before been poylog property, earned good dividends for the owner*. The year wee remerhsbl* In many re- *neete. Freight moved toward every pofat of the compass, showing that tha peculiar local condition* brought the great revenues to the railroad*. The South produced more guoilB demanded In other sections than It ever did before, and consequently laiught more heavily In the Northern and Eastern markets. Commercial Intcreouree -tween the cttle* of the southeast and aouthweet and northwest w*s_ — IP The'"port! on' the'tlnif of Mexico and the lower Atlantic developed their commerce marvelously, giving a tremendous Inereeee In freight* hauled. Cube, the Panama country and Mexico were heavy borer* In the United Bute* nnd the-great bulk of thla tragic w*» handled by the railroad* In the Booth through Southern port*. Krerythlng seemed to work to the hand of the railroads recoiling In * volume of buet- neas that surprised the moat sanguine. While the Month ha*Juid a number of en terprising mgnnfaetorlng cities, tbeee end numerous others aemed to take on new life, and many of them have doubled their for mer tonnage. IMveratteatloe of crop* throughout The Booth added many more thousands of ton* of freight and all three swte arse Iu* use constantly with a. demand for prat er than the supply. During the Brat, two month*. July and Angnat, ISO*. Imelnee* wee very large, parity of the n« month of Meptemh—. . ulug up to the prenent. few of the .rail road! could her* moved * greeter Of business than we* offered them. Six months of the time, the roede were clrar- ly unequal to the teak, and the nneeltelled Temand fov ears wa* general. Few of the railroads have been able to Isaac accurate statement* of the peat year e Imalneas. hot many have Issued estimate* which are next to atartllng. 1110 Nashville. Chattanooga ami Bt. I-onT* railway earn,M nearly a million dollars more than Its capital stock. The Tralsvlll* and -\*.h- vllle, Illinois Central <joe*n ami Creocenf Monte. Atlantic Const line. Meaboard Air Jne amt several others have laened rati, mated statements skewing that their earn ings were Jnet about the amount of their capital atock. The Southern railway en joyed as greet or greeter Increase than other road* sud lint ft* It* beery capital isation Its ahowtns would be ** good a* *"-fbe result of inch prosperity I* already Ma-JSS °,M operating In the Mouth hut le now si rs n£lng t-> build away new linn amt eg- *The Illinois Central prepnera building a line from Nashville to Jeckuoe. Mia*., connecting with the mala Uas to New Orleans. The Frisco System proposes build ing from Itgton Mouse, 14., to Jackson, Birmingham and Nashville. Tha Mobile, ckeon ni ‘ JacL . line to Jackson. Tenn. . mlngham and Atlantic Is now building two lines Into Atlanta and one to Birming ham. Thla company also propose* build ing over the right-of-way of the Nashville end Huntsville railroad to Nashville. The Southern railway la building from Hteren- sos, Ala., to Chattanooga, to mile*, and It building another Important line from Walland, Tenn., to Anderson, M. C„ form ing a more direct line to Charleston in' Ksvannnli for Its lines Ml Tennessee am Kentucky. Besides these, tha Southed, will butld * acere of earnll tap Mura. Thee* are bat a tew of the numerous road* that ere under construction now or prac- ’*"■"■ certain to build during the prra- ly e |p g| _ ent flecal year .Other Southern roads'ere drelt practically'’certain to'hut! gregattr — success haa try, new companlee here been organised for roe of railroad enterprise* In the Booth created Interest throughout the conn- and In the past few monthe a score of companlee here been organised for the purpose of building roads In the Month, hat have given no aemnnee of their abil ity to do so aa yet. Her era I of them, how ever, will probably materlaHs*. rerhapa, the moet encouraging feature of S llrnad manenven thla year la the build- g of * second track by s number of the moet Important trnnk lines. The business on tbs trunk Hnes has grown In the past year to where It can not be handled sne- ind t number •-tracking the . . — .s pushing us double-track work ou through Memphis to New Orleans. The Louisville and Nashville le preparing to build the second track from OalletTn, Tenn., Jnet north ot Nash- make It work for higher things In the varied life of oar people. Correlative to that craving for ay pathy and approbation which la large nn element In giving public opln l -I, it- I„,u 1-r, 1- th.it j-rin- Ip],- .-I till! of human nature thst demands con formity and also tends to yield It. cannot but think that this largely springs from pride of opinion apd In tellectual Iatlnea*. How few of us have substantial reasons for the opinions bold on any subject. We have adopted them because nature abhors a vacuum (n the mind as In the physical world, A head-line 111 a newspaper; a hasty flance through sn edltoria'l; a bit of In- ’ormatlon or misinformation gathered from a speech or In conversation; our belief that moat ot our'associates hold a particular view: esrly education and environment; these and such es these are the reasons for most of our opln Ions. Hut having once accepted a be lief and provided or been provided with a formula for It our pride Is enlisted and w* are too riMa iegfly go eMtagi the dissenter without any examination of the reasons for hla dissent. And thus public opinion Is not Infrequently formed lightly and upright men bent only on public service are mad* to feel the weight of Its displeasure because they have darsd to run counter to It d advocate measures or do sets which rest on the w isest and moat un Iflsh reasons. * Standpoint of the Individual. It I* true enough, as the poet says that "the Individual must wither and the world be more snd more” and I am now considering the matter from the standpoint of the IndlvlduaL, But there Is a tremendous waste In Injustice ot thle kind. It tends to drive end keep the best men out of the public service and to bring Into It a 'group of time servers who under cover of bowing public opinion seek only their own In- crests. ■To say that the rule of public opinion has Incidental evils 1* after all only tr •ay that It Is like all human Institu tions. My reeding and my own obser vation and experience make me believe that the people ere never consciously unjust or ungenerous. Indeed they for- Ive In their public servants everything >ut pecuniary dishonesty end often overlook transactions which from moral point of view It Is difficult to dls tlngulsh from the latter. A public man may with safety oppose public opinion If his views are well founded and he can command a hearing for them. A public officer may, without harm to himself, refuse obedience to public opinion If he be honest, snd has good reason for his conduct, and can make the people eee wh with their demani But It la this Inability to get a hear ing which enables public opinion to compel many men to conformity rath er than to draw them into leadership and make them Influential In lta own formation. In many parts of the country, and es peclally In our great cities, a man’i ability to command a hearing must largely depend upon the newspapers, and It Is by them that the greatest Jus tlce and sometimes the greatest lnjus tics Is done. Power of tho Newspaper. If public opinion Is the greatest sin gle force In our public life, surely the newspaper Is Incomparably the great est factor In Ite formation and spread A wise English writer In an scute and friendly criticism of our Institu tions has spoken of the newspaper as discharging three functions, vlx.: "Nar rator, advocate and weather-vane.” It Is as ’.’narrator” that It haa, I believe, lta greatest Influence. By Ms reporting of facta—and too frequently Actions— of all facts public and private, It fur nishes the material for the formation of public opinion end gives that publicity without which government by public opinion could not safely exist. wsj wss i—*uii ,ae seconn iracx rrom t'hettsnoogs through Kaoxvlll* to Morris town. Tenn.. end le ready to doable-track Ite mein line from \i ashing ton to Atlanta. On a nnmtier of other divisions some dou ble track work will he done. The Queen xml Crescent also propose* building a sec ond track from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, sad will likely liegtn the work beforsths flora of the jeer U07. It wee compere- tlvely Imt * few Tran ago when bank ruptcy threatened < majority of the rail roads of the Mouth. Then when ersry one Is able to declare a handsome dividend In addition to making eitenslre improvements It le not strange that Inreeton throughout tho country nr* attracted by the statements of the Southern railroads. While the southeast Is making rapid rides In Increasing Its railroad rtclUtlM, Is not even doing as orach as the south west. fa Tex** amt Loutatana. railroads ere balldlng In almost every direction. The Colorado Joutbern, New Orieee* ted I’s- ride, * division of the Frisco, l« 1-vlr.r rapidly constructed from Baton Bnnge IB DeQelney, where M connects with the Ksi ■as City Mouthers to Beaumont. The M_ lerala. Brownsville and Mexico le searing completion from lirownnlll* to Houston, the Baton Booge line will connect It over the Beaumont, Hour Lake and Western. All of theoe are known •• nag ._ eel hie southwestsr* Maes with the tork Island and Frisco proper. The St. out* Southwestern Is building from near Shrew-port to Beaumont, Houston and Gal veston. The Hants F* to buMdlsg from nesr Beaumont through IouUtana with New Orleans St the objective point, ac cording to s high official of that com pany? Not less than twenty other lines are building through Texas sud as many era projected m Louisiana. Arkansas snd Okla homa- Doubtless, rang of them wtn ac complish some construction this year. Those backed by the larger romps ales, however, are pnctlrtUy certain to mate- K sitae. Every section of the country I* ■proving In a general way snd the rail- roads are haring dlffienlft to keep psern The financial ektea skew no panicky symp toms. and. barring unforeseen things, the Mouth wIM add 14 pee cent to Its railroad mileage within the next two xeera. The newspaper seeks, or should seek, -to discharge Its function as advocate through Its editorial column, but It seems to me thst there Its Influence, though still great, has diminished. It Is the editorial page which "the man on the street" he* especially learned to discount, while he too often accept* the statements of the news columns a* ac curate account* of the.events they pur port to chronicle. It would seem, more over; a* It the growth of the megatlne has had something to do with the lose of Influence of the editorial page. Being leea ephemeral snd partisan In char acter, the articles In the magaslnce have been more Judicial In tone, and their greater length have given opportunities denied to the editorial writer, with the result that their Influence on public opinion has been steadily Increasing and so far has been a beneflrent one. While Important In this character. It seem* to me that the newspaper Is of least value aa a "weather-vane.” Thla may well- be because commonly no more difficult task can be set than to determine what really Is public opinion on any' subject at a given time and P *After sn event, especially such an on* ss an election, It I* easy to see whet public opinion was, but before hand It la different. Its Mott Serious Publio Wrong. As the most Important function of the newspaper, ee It effects public opln. Ion, le-dlscharged In Its acts as "narra tor," so It le a* "narrator” that It does ite moat serious public wrong. When It frankly sets ss "advocate,' as It does In Us editorial page, public opinion le helped or harmed as the cause advocated Is good or bed and I* accepted or rejected, but public opinion Is not deceived. But when under guise of reporting facts It wilfully misstates and "fakes” It does serious snd, to In dividuals, often irreparable Injury. Now Is It possible to here e wise end beneficent public opinion when the sup posed facts upon which It I* founded are not facte at all but flctlone? I am not learned enough In the his tory of journalism, nor have 1 been a doe* enough observer to know whether or not thfs evil la of modern growth, bqt that It le a real and eerloue evil Is ond dispute. am not thinking now of those mis statement* which simply go to make a good story, or which pander to a crav ing for sensationalism. These usually only affect tndlvudual* In their private relations and not public men snd meas ures. I mean those sinister snd delib erate misrepresentations which seek, under the guise of reporting the news, to play covertly tn the news columns the part of "advocate” and to Influence pqbllc opinion on men and measures In a way not possible through the edito rial page when the news columns are straight. There I* one Injustice which public opinion not Infrequently does, and It la on* which lawyers ran do much to cor rect. and that Is the criticism of Judges i Continued on Oneotit* Peg*. Nile It la "An drew Carnegie, citizen of the world" these ilny*. the greet Iron master has never forgotten that he made his money about Pittsburg, and so when- ever anything happen* in Pittsburg, especially If It bears the name of Car negie, he Is heard from. Twenty of the most notable men In Europe are to be hla guests when the melt/building of the Carnegie Institute Is opened next April. Among them ' will be Professor Adolph Hat-neck and Dr. Robert Koch, of Germany; M. Delcasse, late foreign mlqjejer; Profetior Marcellln B. Oula Edmund Roatand, Baron D'Eatour- nhlles de Constant and August Rodan. of France; Alma Tadema, Lord Hugh Cecil, William H. Preece, Frederlo Hardison, Molnerly Bell, William Hug gins. and possibly James Bryce, of England; Msasten Maaetens, M. Van Karnedeck. director of the Temple of Peace, of Holland; .Count Albert Ap- ponyl. of Hungary. And Pittsburg may be depended upon to entertain them mpst royally. Great fortunes are hard to estimate. It Is now sold that 'Alfred Belt, tre- qucntly spoken of as a near-bllllonalre, really left only a paltry hundred roll- lion dollara, which. In these days, is nothing unusual. On the other hand, it would seem that the estate of the n * ■ vr ALFRED BEIT. late Marshall Field waa under rather than over-estimated. The value of the property left by him In New York I* appraised at 18,000.000. It is not Im possible thst he was the richer man ot i he two. Newport has been thrown Into a flut ter of excitement by the report thst J. Nicholas Brown, the "110,000,000- baby," has been threatened with ab duction. The mother of the child Is ■rostrated today. An extra guard hu Men placed over the lad. It Is de clared thst a band of criminals from New York are here after the million aire baby. Many New Yorker* will leem with regret of the eerloue Illness dt Colonel "Bill" Brown, politician, newspaper man and “man-nbout-town.’’ Colonel "Bill" wa* at one time Joint proprietor of The Dally News, with the late Ben. Wood, and represented hi* district In the *tate senate. He has a wide circle of acquaintances among public men. Isldor Wormser Is the bad boy of this village. He does things that wt would spsnk our children for doing, and It Is about time that we condemn hint as a nuisance." That la what T. C. Zinsser, the presi dent of tho village of Hastlngs-on- Hudson, said yesterday, when the young New Yorker, who ts s banker at No. 16 Broad street, hae a town houee at No. it West Fifty-fourth street and a country residence near Hasting*, waa brought up before Judge Tomkins on a charge of having ex ceeded the automobile speed limit, sec ond offense, and wee fined *60. GEORGIANS IN GOTIIAM. By Private Leased Wire. New York, July 13.—Here sre some of the visitors In New York today: ATLANTA—W. B. Byck anil wife. H . Friend. Jr.. J. Hargrave, Ml*» Kirk- caldle, W. E. Neall and wife, W. Vance, J. L. Boynton, P. M. Davie, C. U Stovall C. J. Beaaden, J. W. Hlnrilfl*. R. G. Hitt, W. P. McCord, W. O. Ml- sell C. L. Moore.’ ' , AUGUSTA—C. D. Perkin* ami wife, , A. Bonner, W. C. Welch. „ MACON—Mrs. L. Dempsey. Mrs. «• W. Wahbury. _ T SAVANNAH—H. Blumenthnl. P- 7- Hassen. Jr.. M. Lehwald, W. B. Sim- well. THIS DATE IN HISTORY- JULY 19. 1203—Fall of Constantinople t« VeneUal crusaders. 1333—Edward III defeated the Scots at battle of Halldon HIM. , 1853—Lady Grey proclaimed queen « England by earl of Arundel. 1573—Dr. John Calus. founder of came College, Cambridge, died. 829—Quebec capitulated to the lieh: 130 year* before It* conquest by Wolfe. , 1789—British sloop Liberty scuttled *n* sunk by people of 1779—American force defeated Br at battle of Paulus Hook 1312—United States brig Nau ue lured by squadron of British frf* 1121—Ge'orge IV crowned king of Eng land. ,, *t 1824—Iturblde, Mexican leader. eh« Ptdillo. . -e If rltf» 1849—Greet Are In New } ork ’ 30} buildings destroyed. ^ 1884—Battle of Peach Tree < ref*. 1870-Napoleon III declared war 1882—Fun”ral of Mrs. Abraham Lines* f888-L l8 p Prt R«vl!Ud.ed 1899—Secretary of War Alger 1905—Chinese declared boycott » American good*