About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1909)
4 The Semi-Weekly Journal. Catered at tba attest* Poetotflcv as M»U Mat ter as tb« Recced Class. JAMES R. GRAY, Editor and General Manager. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. Twelve •ostia.... •'J* Ite Bootle IT lire* Tbe Seal-Weekly J««n»sl Tsseday sod FrWajr. and to malted bl the abort eat routes tor early delivery. It ceatelaa news from all ever the world, bewuht hr eoeclal teseed wires lais our ofnee. It has a Bast oC distla«ulabed co ? t f lbulo ,;*: wits atroog devartmeats te special value to ths batoo and the tana. Agent. wanted at every pestoffke. LlUerel aotototeetas allowed. Outfit free. The only traveling repreoestatlvee we have are J. A. Bryan. B. g. Boltes. C. C. Cwte and M. A GUreath. We wUI bo reepceslbte •sly tar aaoaey paid to the above sajoed travel tag repreeeataUvee. * ♦ ♦ NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS* <. The label used for addressing ♦ ♦ your paper shows the Ums your ♦ ♦ subscription expires. By renewing ♦ ♦ at least two weeks before the data ♦ ♦ on this label, you insure regular ♦ ♦ set rite. ♦ la ordering paper ebanged. bo ♦ ♦ sure to mention you old. as well as ♦ ♦ your MW, address- If on a rural ♦ ♦ routs, please give the route num- < ♦ bar. * ♦ #• eannot enter subscriptions to ♦ ♦ begin 'with back numbers. Remit- ♦ ♦ tance should bo sent by postal « ♦ order, or registered mall. * ♦ Address all orders and notices ♦ ♦ for thia department to THE SEMI- ♦ ♦ WXIKLT JOURNAL. Atlanta. Ga. ♦ Tuesday, December 14, 1909. Woodman. spare us a Christmas tree. Carrie Nation has smashed another sa> loon. Who is Carrie? War and rumors of war are followed by the daily rumor of Zelaya's resignation The trouble with sailing under false colors is that a man never fools himself. One of the events booked for Atlanta In May is the appearance of the Halley comet. Cotton is still going higher. It could go higher yet, and not be In the race with beef. The government is hot after germ-in fested cow* Another move against the milk trust. The latest charge against Dr. Cook that he paid K<X» for his polar records. Is double-Barrilled. China is to have telephones. What's the use. for who could ever understand anything they said over the phone? Out west, a church organisation bought a piano with peanuta The west is wak ing up to the importance of the goober. Cheating the government is an ancient art. the sugar fraud hearing develops. And a modern one, too. as the peniten tiaries show. Number of drunks shows an increase. That doesn’t mean anything. Every thing in Atlanta shows an increase. Thia season of the year always ushers In more than the usual number of sui cides. Some people like the melancholy days, and some can’t stand them—that's all the difference. Colonel Watterson has bet a breakfast that Cannon won't be speaker on the first Monday in December, 1911. If there is no "catch” in this, we must commend the colonel’s audacity. Fourteen billion, one hundred and six million dollars is deposited in American banka, according to the monetary com mission The announcement is tantalis ing, coming so close to Christmas. The comet will be ten million miles away when it comes into our view In May. People would get on as harmo niously as the planets and stars do If they were willing to keep as far apart. Reflections of a Bachelor New York Press. Save your pennies and your family will take care to spend the pounds. Children show great wisdom In not hav ing the delusions about their parents that their parents have about them. A man has a natural tendency to fall in tove with women older than himself till he’s 30; after that he can't find any older than be is. What a man likes about breaking his neck chasing after a public office is how he wants to be able to say, if he gets it, that he accepted it. One of the nicest things to a girl about being engaged to a fellow is bow he can act like a crazy man about it, just the way they do on the stage. Pointed Paragraphs Chicago News. It’s human nature to want to roost a little higher up than your neighbor. Men are natural-born listeners; if they can't buy parrots, they get married. The power of an argument may depend on the compressed air back of it. Many a woman ceases to believe in love at first sight after marrying that way. A girl never has very much respect for a man’s judgment if his neckties don’t match his complexion. RUBBERN~ECK~OWLS DALLAS, Tex.—Travelers who have no ticed the wise-looking little owls sitting up in front of prairie dog holes have often heard from old plainsmen how hard it is to capture one of these owls. "Knowledge’’ Nelms, of this city, has dis covered a new scheme. As is well known the owls won’t run until the Intruder is very near. Then the owl plunges down into the hole. "Knowledge” says his method is to get about ten paces away from the owl and begin circling around. The owl will not ta»e its eyes off him. according to "Knowledge.” The Idea is to keep on walking in a circle and the owl will slowly strangle himself to death by twist ing his head around to watch you. ATLANTA'S FARMING INTERESTS. One of the soundest and timeliest plans our chamber of com merce has projected is that to stimulate and develop the farming interests contiguous to Atlanta. It is proposed that the chamber, through educational methods and possibly through more specific aid, shall encourage what is known as intensive cultivation of crops, thus increasing the yield of every acre in this neighborhood and placing the art of agriculture on an up-to-date, scientific basis. The idea was suggested by the movement of the National Farmers’ union to establish a great farmers’ college, and so it becomes part of a statewide and American undertaking. Recent years have clinched the conviction that every aspect of the city’s and the country’s welfare are inseparably bound to gether. Commercial bodies are coming to realize that their right ful sphere of activity is by no means fixed by corporate limits. It has always been true that the growth and prosperity of a town is determined very largely by the producing capacity of its surround ing territory and, in a majority of cases, by agricultural capacity. The greatest monarchies of old arose in the midst of fertile valleys. With a few exceptions, the greatest cities of today have crystal lized from rich farming areas. But it is only within the recent times that this fact has been consciously appropriated and turned to profit. i In the vigorous present day competition of southern cities, that city will forge ahead and remain ahead which does most for its tributary communities. This. then, is the underlying idea upon which the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is proceeding. It is a frequent saying among visitors to Atlanta that she has achieved big things despite her lack of outlying resources. The statement is but relatively true. The fact is that the resources are there in abundance and will come forth whenever they are properly bidden. Under the power of modern, scientific methods the farm lands adjacent to this city can be made to double or treble their present harvests. The production of foodstuffs throughout the United States is considerably less today than it is in European countries. This is not due to any natural advantages which the latter enjoy, but simply to their more intelligent and more thoroughly organized system of cultivation. That is the whole story, and its point is especially applicable to Atlanta’s environ ment. The enforcement of this general -truth will be a dominant principle in the agricultural college which the Farmers’ union is planning to establish, and the proposed work of the chamber of commerce will be a practical and valuable ally. The details of the chamber’s project are yet to be worked out. Two specific propo sitions. however, have already been suggested. One of these is the establishment of an experimental farm near the city, where the results of intensive cultivation can be demonstrated. The other is the offering of prizes for the best production of foodstuffs per acre. A committee has been appointed to consider these and other features, and it is to be hoped that there will be little delay in pushing the enterprise to a definite conclusion. Every family in the city is really concerned in the success of some such movement, for the time must come within the next few decades when Atlanta’s supply of truck farm stuff will be no small problem. Already it has become evident that the milk supply is insufficient whenever any demand out of the ordinary is made upon it. During automobile week numbers of families were unable to get milk for days together, despite the fact that it is shipped here from scores of towns within a radius of a hundred miles, ft is not at all improbable that the same situation will arise in the case of foodstuffs. THE COST OF RURAL DELIVERY. A deal of discussion has been bestirred by the assertion that our rural free delivery mail service is an enormous expense to the government and is, perhaps, responsible for the postal deficit. .Due inquiry will establish the fact that the monetary cost of the service is in no sense enormous, but, on the contrary, com paratively small, when the wonderful and widespread good accom plished is considered. Official reports and enlightenment of rural mail delivery, the cost per capita is not more than one dollar and seventy-eight cents. Where else in all the history of the nation’s or of an indi vidual’s investment can we find so much gained for so little spent! Aside from the human aspect of the situation —the exchange of news between friends and kindred whom distance separates—the purely practical, we might say, financial value of the service is far above the outlay of one dollar and seventy-eight cents per capita. Every one knows that the progress of a community and its wealth producing capacity is determined largely by the extent of its con nection with the big world beyond it. If America were cut off from cable connections with Europe her industry would weaken and shrivel beyond calculation. Suppose Georgia were forced to think and trade exclusively within the borders of the immediate commonwealth. Despite her variety and abundance of resources, she would find herself almost helplessly crippled in business. Cer tainly she could not move forward as at present. What is true in these typi n il instances applies to every rural community. The physical resources of a county as well as its edu cational welfare are bound up inseparably with that correspond ence with the outer world which daily mail alone can bring. There can be no question but that the rapidly growing orchard industry of north Georgia is ascribable very largely to the rural postman, who, astride his pony or seated in his little cart, .drives morning after morning through the tangled forests of spruce pine and oak. up and down the rugged pathways, stopping here and there to deliver a letter, a check, a business contract, an order from the broker in the far away city. Before his advent, not even the chance of money-making could induce many men to make their home and devote all their time to unfolding the possi bilities of those remote regions. But since he has come mountain sides that not many years ago were bleak are now as green as Lebanon in the springtime and are ruddy with luscious harvests each autumn. This is but one instance. The same thing is true of mining and agriculture, cattle-raising and all other forms of productive labor. This aspect of the rural delivery service has been consid ered particularly for the reason that those who prate of its expeii siveness have questioned its practical value. When those higher values of education and social intercourse and public enlighten ment are borne in mind, the element of expense scarcely deserves a moment’s consideration. One dollar and seventy-eight cents per capita for our rural delivery is not only the most beneficent investment the govern ment could make, but it is also one of the most businesslike. THE PEOPLE'S DEMAND RENEWED. The demand of the American people for a more businesslike regulation of freight rates and a more effective control of all unwieldy corporations will find a vigorous voicing in the present session of congress. A more timely or propitious season for the renewal of such a demand could scarcely be conceived, for the past few weeks have loomed big with warnings that without cer tain needed adjustments in the machinery of the law the wage earner as well as the merchant must remain helpless against what at bottom amounts to a pilfering of his pockets. The bold rob beries of the sugar trust is the most spectacular instance, though it is by no means the only one. Indeed, the war which Englishmen are now waging against special privileges finds an essentially true reproduction in the United States. Several measures looking to the correction of these ills are in prospect or have already been broached in congress. The bill recently offered by Senator Cummins, of lowa, deals particularly with the matter of freight rates. Press reports indicate that it contains several provisions which should become law. Among these is a clause to prevent a rate increase becoming operative until it has been approved by the interstate commerce commission. Our own state presents a striking illustration of the need of some such safeguard against the present power of a ra*lfoad to inaugu rate excessive tariffs. The fact is the people of Georgia haxe within the past year paid one million dollars or more to the rail road lines of the southeastern territory because of the absence of such a safeguard; one million dollars which in the light of evi- JHE ATLANTA SEMI- WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14. 1909 dence is unwarranted tribute. And they are still paying and ■will continue to pay until the end of a long maze of legal technicalities has been reached. The situation referred to is that arising from what is known as the case of the Macon Grocery company and others against carriers in the southeast. On July 1, 1908, the railroads in this territory announced that within thirty days they would promul gate an advance of two cents per hundred pounds on shipments of grain, hay and food products. In plain speech this meant a tax of two cents per hundred pounds on the everyday necessities of each family and individual in the state. The roads themselves conceded that this -would amount to five hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars a year in Georgia alone. The complainants claimed and in general opinion proved that it would amount to million or a million and a half dollars a year. Yet. despite the sum which the consumer had at stake, the commission was powerless to prevent the increase going into effect. And, though one court issued an injunction, that was speedily overruled by the court above on technical grounds. The result is that over a year has elapsed and several months will probably yet pass before the supreme court and the interstate commerce commission will pronounce upon the reasonableness of the tariff. True, if it should be declared unreasonable the shippers may bring suit and stand a chance at least of reimbursement for the excess they have paid. But the history of similar cases is that the small dealer, he who suffers most keenly, never undertakes the expense of such litigation, and consequently becomes a permanent loser from a rate that was at the outset unjust and illegal. All this would be obviated were the interstate commerce commission em powered to pass upon the validity of a tariff before instead of after its depredations had been felt. Another provision of the Cummins measure prohibits a carrier issuing capital stock without a payment at par either in money or property. Whether this be the specific remedy needed would re quire further inquiry, but most certainly there should be more adequate restrictions thrown about the present possibility of watered stock with its long train of public evils and private corruption. Whether it be the Cummins bill or some other, the hour ia ripe and imperative for substantial legislation of this character. And with the encouragement of the administration it will come. The president is pledged to a betterment of the present situation. The whole country is looking to him for a redemption of his word. The demand for a righting of economic wrongs is as deep and virile today as ever. The people’s conscience may sleep for a night, but its awakening is as certain as the dawn. THE NATIONAL CORN SHOW By Frederic J. Haskin The department of agriculture esti mates that the corn crop of the pnlted States this year will amount to 2,167,31#,- 000 bushels. At the current prices this represents a value of more than J1,900,000,- 000—almost two billion dollars. This esti mate foreshadows the greatest corn crop on record with the sole exception of the lumper crop of 1906. which fell only a little under three billion bushels. It is im possible for the human brain to conceive the full significance of such enormous fig ures. but they tell, even to the dullard, the fact that corn is king. The third annual National Corn Show will be held in Omaha early in Decembei, and at this exhibition King Corn will hold court. The first annual show was held in Chicago three years ago. Al though not a financial success, it was ac counted a most interesting exhibition of corn and other farm cereals. It was brought to a close by an allegorical pa geant in which King Corn brought to his throne Queen Alfalfa. The third anni versary of the wedding will be celebrated at Omaha. Chicago decided that the corn show was too slow; that the people did not care for “still life” expositions. Omaha did not accept the verdict, and by its corn show of last year proved that it could be made a great national suc cess. State corn shows, with general ex position features attached, have proved to be very successful in many western cities. Sioux City, lowa, has the honor of originating the corn exposition idea some 12 or 15 years ago. « • • More than 50,000 ears of corn will be exhibited at the Omaha show. Other grains also will be shown, but corn is to rule supreme over all. prizes to be distributed will aggregate >50.000. But perhaps the greatest public Interest will center in the contest fqr the largest and finest ear of corn grown in the country this year, for which a prize of a gold cup has been offered by a certain breakfast food concern. The wide advertising giv en to this prize cup in the newspapers and magazines has focused the interest of the whole country upon this one feature of the National Corn Show. Every corn growing state will be represented in the exhibits, as well as every variety of corn grown. Including the decorative effects, ranging from a landscape done in corn to the latest thing in milinery copied in maize, the show will boast more than 8,000 separate exhibits. • * • “More corn to the acre” is the slogan of the national corn show. James G. Blaine once predicted that corn would become the backbone of agriculture in the United States, and the prophecy long since has been fulfilled. It is conceded that the prospective corn acreage of the nation is now nearing its maximum. With 101,000,000 acres devoted to the growing of corn in 1908 the total yield was 2,668,- 000,000 bushels, and the farm value of the crop was 1,616,000,000. The acreage was more than double that of wheat, and its value a billion dollars greater. In fact, the acreage of corn in 1908 was greater than that of all the rest of the cereal crops of the nation taken together; the yield was a full billion bushels greater than the aggregate yield of all other grains; and the American farmer receiv ed more for his corn crop by nearly half than he received for all his other grain crops. • • • If the farmer can get 1 cent a bushel more for his corn his profit is increased >27,000,000. If he can induce his land to grow one bushel more to the acre, he has profited to the extent of nearly $60,000,000 by the operation. By increasing the yield per acre of corn vast wealth will be add ed to the national store, and by enhanc ing the quality of the yield the farmer can multiply his profits. • • • It is a distressing fact that the figures for 1908 show an average yield of corn amounting to only 26.2 bushels to the acre. This is but little larger than the aver age yield of all the years since the close of the civil war. While all the rest of the world has been making vast strides in productive capacity, the com farmer has stood still, increasing his acreage at a remarkable rate, but giving little atten tion to increasing the yield per acre— the very pivotal point in profitable farm ing. The corn exposition will seek to remedy this. It will endeavor to show the corn farmer that he may double his crop if he will. It will call his atten tion to the eloquent lesson of New Hamp shire. a state certainly far below the average in soil fertility, yet with the highest average of per acre yield in the United States. Did every corn field in the United States do as well as the New Hampshire corn fields in the years from 1879 to 1908 the annual corn-husking of the nation would produce one and a fifth billions more bushels than it does now. In other words, the brains of the New Hampshire farmer, applied to the corn fields of the nation, would smite the rocks of latent wealth and make a stream of gold amounting to three quarters of a billion dollars flow therefrom. And even New Hampshire’s average yield per acre Is poor farming as compared with that which the national corn exposition aims to teach. • • • The old saying that “blood will tell” applies with as much force to plant life as it does to animal life. In one of the recent text books on corn there is an il lustration of the old-fashioned pod corn ear and the celebrated “Pascal Ear” which was the champion of America in 1907, and which sold for >l5O, or nearly 15 cents per grain. The difference be tween a “razorback” and a prize-winning Poland China hog was never so marked. A few years ago the various experiment stations throughout the corn belt began a systematic study of corn. They give free information and advice to farmers. • * * The railroads, with an eye to the mil lions that may flow into their coffers di rsctly and indirectly through an enhanced prodltwtJon of corn, have given their aid to the movement by furnishing “Corn Gospel Trains” which carry the good news of the new evangel of progressive farm ing to all sections. The farmer is given object lessons of what may be accom plished by correct methods. For instance, he is shown that at a cost of only six cents per acre to test the seed he sows, the farmer may vastly Increase his har vest. One striking picture held up to him is shat of two fields with only a barbed wire fence dividing them. The seed of the one was tested. That of the other was not. The result in the tested field was 77 bushels to the acre, and that in the untested field was 35 bushels. All careful students of corn culture agree that the application of scientific methods to com culture through the country might easily, he brought up to 60 bushels per acre. At that rate the ’ United States could supply the world With its corn, and have enough left to substitute every grain of wheat grown on the globe. • • • The versatility of com surpasses that of any other grain. At a recent exposi tion no less than 100 separate and distinct commercial products made from com were exhibited. Besides furnishing hu man food in many forms, and the cup that cheers in many varieties, it yields the glucose that constitutes the base of doz ens of by-products, edible and otherwise. It produces dextrin and gums used in sizing and printing cloth. It furnishes starch for the table and starch for the laundry. The stalk furnishes fodder for the cattle, cellulose for the protection of the vitals of war ships and for the mak ing of smokeless powder. • • • America expects to make much out of its foreign market for corn in the next decade or two. Eastern Asia Is becom ing Interested In corn as a foodstuff, and those who have studied the situation declare that there are not enough ves sels on the Pacific ocean to carry the vast stores of corn that will be required to meet the demand which may be created in the Orient. Furthermore, other parts of the world are becoming interested In this peculiarly American product, and while Argentina shows some signs of be coming a competitor as a corn-growing nation it will be many years before it will be a formidable rival. • • • Pellagra, said to be due to damaged corn used for human food, is a disease occuring most frequently in Italy and other southern European countries, where the corn is of an inferior quality and where it is Improperly curecr. Instead of injuring the export trade in American corn for human consumption, pellagra may Increase the demand, since export corn is usually the best grown on Ameri can soil, and can therefore be used with more confidence than the inferior kinds grown in southern Europe. suffragettTleaves PRISON FOR HOME LONDON, Dec. 10.—Miss Alice Paul, formerly of Philadelphia, the suffragette who was arrested on November 9 and sentenced to a term at hard labor for her share in the suffragette protest at the lord mayor’s banquet in Guild hall, was released from Holloway yesterday on the completion of her sentence. She left the prison in a cab accompa nied by two wardresses. On going to the home of friends a doctor was called im mediately, owing to her weakened con dition. / Although palpably ill. Miss Paul was cheerful. She declared sjie did not regret her conduct and was prepared to repeat it if necessary. “I practiced the ’hunger strike' until November 11,” she said. "Since then they fed me twice a day by force, except one day when I was too ill to be touched. I have no complaints against the Holloway officials.” Prairie Floated at Last PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 11.—The trans port Prairie, which was aground in the Delaware river on the night of Decem ber 2, while proceeding down the river with 750 marines for Central America, was floated at 10:15 a. m. today. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WILL URGE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION Always on the alert to take advantage ( of any opportunity whereby the indus trial, financial or economic conditions of Atlanta and the state might be improved and strengthened, the chamber of com merce has decided to institute a campaign for the promotion of education along the lines of scientific farming. A committee on agriculture, probably headed by David Woodward, will be ap pointed in the near future, and plans for the promotion of the development of the farming resources of the state will be formulated and pushed by them. This decision was reached by the direct ors of the chamber of commerce at their regular monthly meeting, after careful discussion of the merits of the project, and the relative value of farming as touching the commercial, industrial and financial structure and future of this city. The matter was broached by Wilmer! Moore, who stated that his attention had been called to the proposed educational ; plans in the agricultural field which the National Farmers’ union president, I Charles S. Barrett, of Union City, had outlined at the recent convention of that body in Macon. MR. WOODWARD’S PLAN. Vice President David Woodward, who was presiding in the absence of President Asa G. Candler, thereupon spoke clearly and forcibly upon the subject, and It was as a result of his suggestion that final and decisive action was taken. Mr. Woodward called attention to an article by James J. Hill, the great rail way magnate, published in the World’s 1 Work under recent date, dealing with the startling fact that the production of food stuffs in this country was far from keeping pace with the rapid increase of population. In this article Mr. Hill, who has made a deep study of the question, and who, by the way, has a personal and perhaps selfish motive in encouraging the growth of food products In the way of grain crops, presents the facts in a manner that leaves nothing to the Imagination, but the woes held by the future. It is shown that the production of food stuffs in the United States is far less than that of European countries in proportion to population, and it is also pointed out. that this is due, not to any natural ad vantages of soil or climate possessed by these countries over America, but to added intelligent effort and the applica tion of the laws of farming to the soil. | According to Mr. Woodward, these con ditions are true of Georgia as of any section of the United States. He showed that the farmers realize this, and urged that the efforts of the Farmers’ union to conduct an educational campaign re ceive the hearty co-operation of the At lanta Chamber of Commerce. MI mister to China Is a Clever Diplomat CHICAGO, Dec. B.—Although he has never held office, William J. Calhoun, of Chicago, appointed minister to China, 'has rendered signal service to the govern ment as a diplomat. He is credited with < 7 W. J. CALHOUJf, Appointed minister to China. having caused one war and with prevent ing another. Few lawyers have achieved the reputa tion that is Calhoun's. Upon two occa sions he has been called upon In great crises, and in each his decision was con sidered final by a president of the United States. It was Calhoun's dispassionate report to President McKinley which precipitated the war with Spain. He had investigated conditions in for the president who wanted the truth. Three years ago Calhoun went to Ven ezuela as envoy extraordinary fbr Pres ident Roosevelt. This was when the slightest undiplomatic step might have involved the United States in wai; with European powers. Calhoun’s report pre vented conflict. It is curious that although Calhoun as a fciwyer represented interests Roosevelt fought continually, he was the man deem ed fit when the strenuous one wanted an unbiased report. FR UifIxCHAN~G eTwI LL HOLD CALLED MEETING President I. F. Murph, of the Georgia Fruit exchange, from his home in Mar shallville, has called a meeting of the executive committee of the exchange for Friday, December 17, at 10 o’clock, in the room of the exchange in the A., B. & A. building in Atlanta. Manager I. M. Fleming is today send Ing out the call for this meeting to the following members of the committee: President I. F. Murph, ex-officio chair man, Marshallville. J. O. Booton, Marshallville. J. W. Frederick, Marshallville. A. O. Murphy, Barnesville. A. J. Evans, Fort Valley. M. J. Yeomans, Dawson. P. J. A. Berckmans, Augusta. A. M. Kitchen, Baldwin. J. H. Hale, Fort Valley. W. W. Stevens. Mayfield. I. M. Fleming, secretary, Atlanta. At this meeting a report will be made, showing that through the offices of the exchange over >3OO due the shippers of the state by certain commission merchants for overcharges on freight, last season, has been collected and returned to these shippers. But for the exchange this mon ey would never possibly have been col lected and given to the growers. Manager Fleming and Assistant Mana ger Marks will report to this meeting the success with which they have met since the November meeting in organizing for the coming season. It now seems that practically all of the fruit grown in this state during 1910 will be handled through the exchange, which met with such great success during the past sea son, its first. Other business of importance will be transacted then, too. • TO ENCOURAGE EDUCATION. In this he met the concurrence of the entire board of directors, who indorsed his views after brief but searching dis cussion. That intelligent farming would do wonders for the sections contiguous to Atlanta is without question a fact. The phrase “intensive fanning,” is familiar to the readers of Atlanta newspapers, and many columns of space have been de voted to discussions of the effects to be attained thereby. It is this form of agriculture that the chamber of commerce proposes to en courage. Their proposition is that through scientific application of the teachings of agriculture as modernized and reduced to common sense system by those who have made a deep study of the matters, will do wonders in developing the natural resources of the territory adja cent to and tributary to Atlanta. There are thousands of acres of waste lands I in this immediate territory that could be ■ made to blossom like the rose garden and , produce yearly riches through the proper | application of scientific, concentrated i farming methods mingled with ordinary ' Industry. -There is nothing that contributes more to the prosperity of a great city than the contingent prosperity of the territory surrounding it. It is this gaeat principle ’ that the chamber of commerce has in , view, and that will be followed out -with characteristic energy, industry and fore sight. TO FORMULATE PLANS. It will be the work of the committee on agriculture to make a thorough study of the best means of promoting the ad '! vancement of intelligent, up-to-date ag riculture in this section, and to make an exhaustive report to the directors at the next regular meeting, giving the results of their researches and offering sugges tions as to the best means of accomplish ing these ends. Just now two plans are suggested, one of these being the establishment of an , experimental farm where scientific farm ers will be employed to develop the pos sibilities of the territory along agricu)- I tural lines. The other is the offering of | prizes fqr the best production of food stuffs per acre, on a plan similar to the ’ corn prize contests of southwestern Geor gia. i That this action on the part of the At lanta Chamber of Commerce will have a far-reaching and beneficial effect upon both the city and her environs is a fore gone conclusion. Hitherto the aims and I endeavors of the body have been directed to an effort to advance the city proper, but in reaching out into the broader field the organisation is only proving the al ready acknowledged fact that tn this city, as nowhere else, the business men and leading citizens In every walk of life are striving toward the ultimate advance ment of the state in which they live. Political Stories from the National Capital BY RALPH SMITH- WASHINGTON, D- C.. Dac. H.-The chances are about even that Judge Lur tdn’s elevation to a seat on the supreme court bench have gone glimmering, and that President Taft will look elsewhere for a successor to the late Justice Peck ham. Secretary of War Dickinson, of Tennessee, who has been pressing Lurton for appointment, is gravely alarmed over the situation tonight. And some mem bers of the senate are predicting that the president will withhold* Lurton’s nomi- I nation. Lurton’s decisions have been too favorable to corporations. it is stated. There was a hitch in the program to nominate Lurton for the supremo bench yesterday, when his name was to have been sent to the senate. While the failure of the president to 1 send in the nomination was attributed to the action of the judiciary committee la urging him to further consider the ap pointment because of Lurton’s age, it is an open secret that the criticisms of Judge Lurton’s decisions on the circuit bench are behind the delay. It is pointed out that Judge Lurton, on the supreme bench, would have to over rule the recent Standard Oil decision, or reverse his decision in a case involving practically the same points. The Judiciary committee, although pro testing against Lurton on account of his age. has agreed to recommend his con firmation if the nomination is made. But the president fears, it is said, that the radical Republicans not on the judiciary committee may oppose the nomination in the senate and air Lurton’s alleged cor poration record. WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 11.—Initial steps looking to the nomination by the Democrats four years hence of Judson Harmon, governor of Ohio, for president, were taken here this afternoon upon the occasion of the governor’s arrival to at tend a gridiron dinner. It is planned to have him take a swing around the southern circle this winter or next spring, explaining Democratic doctrine and incidentally launching his presidential boom. Governor Harmon was met at the Wil lard hotel by Congressmen Arbury and Cox. Ohio. Democrats: Slaton, of Texas., Hay. of Virginia; Underwood, of Ala bama; Bartlett, Griggs and Howard, of Georgia; former Gov. E. Benton McMil- Jand, of Tennessee, and several others. It was at this meeting that the pro gram for a trip through the south was discussed and tactily agreed upon as the best plan for launching the Ohioan’s cam paign for the Democratic nominatioa. WASHINGTON, Dec. 10.—As a result of recent abuses, Postmaster General Hitch cock has orderd an investigation of the franking privileges accorded members of congress. Reposing In the Washington postoffice, are ar least four typewriters, a few baby carriages, several jugs and other articles which are not used by members of con gress alone. On each and every one of these is to be found the names of some legislative servant who has tried to use the frank, but failed miserably. FARMERS HAVE MONEY IN LARGE QUANTITIES VALDOSTA, Ga., Dec. 11.-According to the statements of the banks just made here, the people of this section have mors ready cash on hand than at any time in their history. The statements alsq. that Valdosta has more deposited in her banks than any other city of her size probably in the south, the total amount being over two and quarter million dol lars. ’ These deposits are owned largely by the farmers which shows that the heart of south Georgia is just now about the moot prosperous section in the whole country. The great crops and the fancy prices being had for both long and short sta ple cotton are of course responsible for this big bulk of money. The prices for both staples have held up splendidly throughout the season, with no prospect so far of any weakening. Canada’s Heaviest Man Dead OTTAWA. Ontario, Dec. 10.—Canada’s heavyweight citizen was buried at Quion. Quebec, near here Wednesday when in a specially designed coffin J. J. Muldoon, a farmer, aged 55, of Muldoon, Pontiac county, near Ottawa, was interr ed. Muldoon weighed 461 1-2 pound*.
