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VOL. V. No. 12.
AUGUSTA, GA., JUNE 28, 1924.
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Mobile Rector Bishop of Natchez
•Father Gerow Is Secretary of Interior Worfy Is
Named Successor Opposed to Sterling-Reed Bill
of Bishop Gunn
Bishop-Elect is Native of Mo
bile and Rector of Cathedral
There—Alumnus of Ameri
can College at Rome.
(By N. C. W. C. News
Service)
Rome, June 24.—Pope Pius
yesterday named Rev.
Richard 0. Gerow, D. D., rec
tor of the Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception, Mo
bile, Ala., Bishop of Natchez.
News of the appointment of Fa
ther Gerow to succeed the late
Bishop Gunn in the Mississippi See
was received in Mobile Monday af
ternoon and brought mingled joy
and sorrow to the Bishop-elect's
friends, joy because of the honor
that came to him, and regret be
cause it will take him from his nat
ive city.
Father Gerow was horn in Mo
bile about thirty-nine years ago,
and his life thus far, with the ex
ception of his college and seminary
days, has been spent in Cathedral
parish. He was educated in the
Cathedral parish school and McGill
Institute, connected with the Ca
thedral, and made his classical stud
ies at Mount St. Mary’s College.
Maryland. His philosophical and
theological studies were made at the
American College in Home, where
he received his Doctor of Divinity
degree. Ordained in 1908, Father
Gerow was stationed at the Cathe
dral, and a year later succeeded,
as chancellor and secretary to Bish
op Allen, Most Rev. John W. Shaw,
D. D., now Archbishop of New Or
leans ,who was at that time named
Bishop of San Antonio. For the past
four years Father Gerow has been
rector of the Cathedral.
The Bishop-elect of Natchez is a
son of the late Warren Gerow,
widely known in his day as an art
ist, and Mrs. Annie (Skehan) Ge-
jow, who still lives in Mobile. He
Ts an only son, and has one sister,
Mrs. T. Peyton Norville, also of
Mobile.
Father Gerow is still a young man
in his thirties, but he appears many
years younger. His executive abil
ity has been demonstrated by his
work as rector of the Cathedral and
previously as chancellor. He has
been unusually interested in the
activities of the younger members
of the parish and Diocese and was
very active in promoting the Boy
Scout movement, at one time serv
ing as Scoutmaster. His record at
Rome indicates his intellectual at
tainments and ability. Like Bishop
Gunn whom he succeeds, Father Ge
row is extremely modest. Another
outstanding characteristic is his
gentleness, kindness and thoughtful
ness of others, in which he again
resembles his illustrious predecessor.
But above all stands his religious
fervor and deep spirituality, exem
plified by his work and example dur
ing his fruitful years at the Cathed
ral.
The consecration of Bishop-elect
Gerow, the date of which has not
been set, will mark the second oc-
(By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Dublin—The consumption of in
toxicants per head is far less in Ire
land than in England or Scotland.
No doubt there are instances where
intoxicating liquors arejeonsumed to
excess in Ireland. From these cases
exaggorated deductions are some
times drawn.
The peasants attend fair or mar
ket, say once a month. They start
from their home early in he morn
ing with a light breakfast. They
do not partake of any more food till
their return home. In he meantime
tiliey may consume a few drinks.
They bear signs of intoxication,
but if they had had food the amount
of liquor "drunk would have had no
effect. These peasants will not, as
a rule, taste drink again until the
next mark'd day or fair day.
Centralization Opponent
Hubert Work.
Father Abram J. Ryan
Lauded by General Sher
wood in Congress
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
Washington.—A tribute to the late
Rev. Abram J. Ryan, poet-priest of
the Confederacy, was paid by Rep
resentative Isaac R. Sherwood, of
Ohio, during the Memorial Day ex
ercises in the House of Represen
tatives. Gen. Sherwood referred to
many of the songs and poems
which inspired the men of the op
posing armies during the Civil War
and ended by saying:
“The greatest dramatic poem of
the South was written by F'ather
Ryan, the chaplain of a Mobile
(Ala.) regiment, who was captured
at Fort Sanders in the charge on
Fort Sanders in east Tennessee. He
wrote ‘The Conquered Banner,’ the
last sad requiem of the Confed
eracy. It was written with a pencil
in a hospital at Knoxville, Tenn,
in a single hour.”
General Sherwood is the oldest
man now alive who held the rank
of General during the Civil War.
He is a veteran member of the
House of Representatives, having
been first elected to that body in
tile Forty-third Congress.
•
McCORMACK TO SING IN
LONDON
London, Eng.—John McCormack is
announced to sing in London this
summer. He has not sung here
since he became an American citi
zen.
In rural Ireland the people are
generally speaking sober. Arch
bishop O’Donnell who has a very
extensive knowledge of the country
denies that Ireland has ever been
an extremely intemperate country;
hut he reminds the people that
strong drink does not agree with the
Irish temperament. He recommends
total abstinence and condemns the
pernicious practise of illicit distil
lation which has sent many adults
to lunatic asylums, has had a griev
ous effect on children and on child
life.'and is a blight on every neigh
borhood where it exists.
Stringent provisions for the sup
pression of this practice are con
tained in the licensing proposals in
troduced by the authorities in the
tweny-six counties of Southern Ire
land.
Tells Congressional Commit
tee Washington Should Not
Do What States Can Do
For Themselves.
(By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Washington D. C.—Secretary Work
of the interior department May 25
voiced emphatic opposition to those
features of the Sterling-Reed hill
which would involve federal subsi
dies to the states for educational
purposes. Testifying before the
house committee on education, Sec
retary Work said:
“I am not in favor of the federal
government doing any thing for a
state or a county or district that
the state, county or district can do
for itself. If money is to be spent
for such purposes the government
will, have to send officials into the
states to supervise expenditures and
there will be an inevitable lower
ing of local pride and initiative.”
The secretary also expressed a
preference for an enlargement of the
existing bureau of education ratlier
than the creation of an independent
department as proposed by the Ster-
iing-Rced hill. He said, however,
that he believed there should he no
particular opposition to the creation
of a department provided “no sub
sidies were contemplated.”
Dr. A. 0. Thomas, state commis
sioner of education for Maine, ap
peared before the committee to
speak in favor of the Sterling-Reed
bill. He declared the measure would
bring educational relief to “under
privileged districts” particularly in
the rural communities. His argu
ment was that it was a proper func
tion of the federal government to
see to it that conditions are made
such as to check the drift of rural
populations to the cities.
REFORM OF CALENDAR
DISCUSSED AT PARIS
Holy See and America Re
presented--Permanent Date
For Easter Considered.
By M. MASSIANI
(Paris Correspondent, N. C. W. C.
Service.)
Paris.—An American Mr. Willis H.
Booth, president of the Interna
tional Chamber of Commerce, and a
Jesuit, Father Gianfranceschi, pres
ident of the Pontifical Academy of
Science, sat together on a commit
tee of experts which has just held
a meeting in Paris at the invita
tion of the League of Nations to
study the question of the reform of
the calendar. Mr. Booth was the
spokesman of the commercial and
economic groups, while the latter
represented the Holy See.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
sent the Rev. Mr. Phillips, secre
tary of the Royal Astronomical So
ciety of London, and the Patriarch
Society of London, and the Patri
arch appointed Prof. Egenitis, di
rector of the Athens observatory.
A first consultation was held in
August, 1923.
The replies received up to the
present time indicate that it is im
possible to form a definite opin
ion on the subject of calendar re
form, and that the study must be
continued. In the business and in
dustrial world, for instance, there
is much difference of opinion on
a date for Easter because of the
diversity of the interests involved.
The ijotel keepers in northern
countries want Easter to fall as late
as possible, while those in warmer
countries want it to come ea’rly in
order to attract Easter tourists.
Dressmakers and tailors want Easter
to come so early that people will
want to buy two complete outfits,
one for Easter and another for the
summer. Educational institutions
are also interested from the point
of view of the division of the
school year, but the representatives
of the schools of the various coun
tries have not all made their re
ports yet.
It is plain that the question is
not yet ripe, and that in any case
a delay is advisable, even if the
Holy See had not reserved its de
cision.
The Special Committee has decid
ed to hold another meeting in Oc
tober. This meeting will be held
in Geneva.
^(Continued on page 2)
Consumption of Liquor in Ireland
Less Per Capita Than in Britain
Speaker At Georgetown
Calvin Coolidge.
Sisters Nurse Klansman
And He Commends Them
in Louisiana Legislature
, (By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Baton Rouge, La.—Speaker J. Stu
art Douglas of the Louisiana House
of Representatives, an admitted
member of the. Ku Klux Klan, re
cently slipped and 'fell on the floor
of the House and broke his shoulder.
He was taken to Our Lady of the
Lake Sanitarium here, conducted by
the Franciscan Sisters.
When he returned to his duties
in the House he took occasion to pay
public tribute to the Sisters as fol
lows :
“I was taken there as a stranger
and came away as a good friend. I
dseire to say of the good Sisters
there that they are doing a noble
work and words are not sufficient
to praise them in the manner they
deserve. I congratulate the people
of Baton Rouge on such an insti
tution.”
Papini Cancels Visit
His Health Will Not Permit
Course at Columbia. .
New York.—Prof. Giovanni Papini,
author of “The Life of Christ,” has
cancelled his engagement to teach a
course at the Columbia University
Summer School because if ill health,
the university authorities have an
nounced.
Professor Papini was to have con
ducted a course in contemporary
Italian thought. His coming to Co
lumbia had been protested hv the
Italian Presbyterian Ministers’ As
sociation on the ground that he was
“anti-American and a believer in
Fascism,” hut President Butler of
the University had disregarded these
protests.
President Extols
Religious Loyalt
At Georgetown
Religious Conviction is As
Necessary to College Men
As Wisdom and Experience
He Tells Graduates.
(By N. C. W. C. New^ Service.)
Washington, D. C.—In 1796 an ag
ing man, but of soldierly mein, rode
quietly up to the lone buildipg of
Georgetown College here, hitched his
horse to the white-washed paling
fence and entered. It was George
Washington, President of the United
States, paying an unexpected call to
the college and to his two nephews,
students at the institution.
Monday of last week, Calvin Cool
idge, thirtieth President, duplicated
the call of the first Chief Executive
of the land at Georgetown, though
under more modern circumstances.
He had further precedent, however.
For Georgetown, founded the year
the American Constitution was rati
fied and since become one of the
country’s greatest universities, has
been host at one time or another to
almost every President of the United
States. Presidents Grant, Arthur,
Hayes, Cleveland, McKinle3’, Roose
velt, Taft attended Georgetown Com
mencements. Mr. Harding had an
nounced his intention to follow in
his predecessors’ steps, but his death
prevented his doing so.
Greeting to President Coolidge
President Coolidge came to
Georgetown Monday to present di
plomas to 500 students, the largest
number ever graduated by the uni
versity, and to speak words of en
couragement and advice to the young
men as they left their study halls
to take up their work as trained citi
zens in the outer world.
His arrival was more pretentious
than that of his illustrious predeces
sor. Georgetown had prepared to
receive; him. As the motorcycle out
rider of the Presidential party whirl
ed through the great iron gates the
academic procession headed by Pres
ident Creeden and the university
deans descended the steps of Gaston
Hall to greet their distinguished
guest. And as the President alight
ed. the band struck up the National
Anthem and the great throng fill
ing the campus before the building
rose and cheered. The exercises took
place out-of-doors, the president,
the commencement speaker and the
faculty being seated on a decorated
platform before the an'fcient build
ing.
President Extols Loyalty to Religion
Loyalty to religion is one of the
fundamental virtues, President Cool
idge told the graduates in his short
address. And loyalty is one of the
great needs of today.
“I would not venture to say what
our country needs most from its edu
cated young men and women,” he
said, “but one of its urgent needs
is a greater spirit of loyalty, which
can come only from reverence for
constituted authority, from faith
in the things that are. There must
be loyalty to the family; loyalty
to the various organizations of so
ciety; loy^Jty to the government,
which means first of all the ob
servance of its laws; and loyalty to
religion.
“These are fundamental virtues.
They are the chief characteristics
of faith. If education has not given
that clearer insight into all that
touches our life, whether it come
from our relation to the physical
world or our relation to mankind,
it will be a disappointment and a
(Continued on page 2.)
Charleston “Miscellany” Proves
Kentucky Pictures Gift of King
(By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Bardstown, Ky.—New data have
been found definitely establishing
the fact that the ancient pictures
hanging in the old Bardstown Ca
thedral here were actually gifts of
Louis Philippe, King of France, to
the Bishop of Bardstown. Repre
sentative Ben Johnson of Kentucky
some time ago sent certain data
from 'Washington indicating that
the pictures, which are of a relig
ious character and have drawn large
crowds every week, were gifts of a
king.
The verification was found by
the Rev. Henry S. Spalding. S. j".,
of St. Louis University, while he
was examining the historical ar
chives at Loretto Academy, Loretto,
Ky. Leafing through copies of the
“U. S. Catholic Miscellany,” publish
ed in Charlestown, S. C., until about
1810, Father Spalding came across
an article published in 1832 giving
account of a speech in the House of
Representatives by Charles Wick-
liffe, Representative from the Bards
town District. In this speech. Wick-
liffe was quoted as saying definite
ly that the pictures Bishop Flaget
of Bardstown had received from
France were the gifts of the Duke
of Orleans, later King Louis Phil
ippe of France. An extract reads:
“The articles' upon which duties
have been paid, and which the hill
contemplates to refund, consist of
paintings and of articles of church
furniture presented some years
since by the then Duke of Orleans
now King of France, to the Bishop
of Bardstown. They are specimens
of art and taste, designed as orna
ments to a house of public worship.’