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THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1913.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA, GA,, 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mall Matter of
the Second Class.
JAKES R. GRAY’,
President and Editor.
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Now Is the Time to Kill
The Pernicious Cotton Tax
The Senate majority, while accepting the tariff
amendment which places a prohibitive tax on cotton
futures, -was at least prudent enough to provide that
this unjust and dangerous scheme should not become
operative until September, 1914. That concession is
distinctly reassuring, for it indicates that the Senate
has felt the' sobering influence of business opinion
and furthermore it gives time for a deliberate weigh
ing of the many ills which the imposition of such a
tax would entail. It is unthinkable that right-mind
ed, patriotic men will insist upon a measure which
means hardship and disaster to every field of Amer
ica's cotton interests, particularly to the cotton grow
er, when they duly realize its effects ; and this they
:annot fail to do when they have given the subject
sufficient thought.
It is much to be regrett d that the Democratic
caucus of the Senate ever lent its approval to the cot
ton tax. Leading Southern Senators, notably Sen
ators Bacon and Jmith, of Georgia, Senator Overman,
of North Carolina, Senator Smith, of South Carolina,
Senator Fletcher, cf Florida, and both Senators from
Louisiana, offered . arnest and logical protests against
the so-called Clar..e amendment. They showed its
grave menace to th legitimate cotton interests of the
entire country an' especially to the farmers of the
South. Unfortunately, however, their wise counsel
did not prevail. Y.*t, the fact ..ha majority deferred
:he operation of the tax for a year is evidence that
caution and common sense are at length asserting
themselves.
Emphatic opposition to the amendment has devel
oped in the House; and if th- House Democrats will
urge their convictions in the forthcoming committee
conference over the tariff bill (he amendment can be
defeated. It is ver., important that tnis be done now
rather than in the njonths to come. Fear of the pro
posed tax has already had a depressing effect on the
price of cotton. There was a decline of nearly three
dollars a bale when the action of the Senate caucus
last Friday became known at the Nhw York' ami
New Orleans exchanges. The later announcement that
the tax, if finally ratified, would be suspended a year
proved stimulating but it is evident that so long as
there is a serious probability of this amendment going
into effect, cotton interests generally and the farmer
especially will suffer. The sooner it is killed, the
better for the South and for the country at large.
The tax on cotton sold for future delivery is ut
terly irrelevant to the purpose of the. tariff bill and,
indeed, is sharply at variance with the spirit of that
great measure. Such a tax would invite and en
courage the very sort of evil which tariff reform
seeks to prevent. It would force out of the market
a. large number of small buyers, for the merchant
with limited resources could not afford to take the
risk of the continually fluctuating prices to which
cotton more than any other cpmmodity is subject, if
he were deprived of ; the "hedge” protection by a heavy
or prohibitive tax. The result would be the concen
tration of the power of purchasing cotton in the
hands of a few large interests, so that the tyrannies
of monopoly, which the tariff bill is designed to
check, would be developed anew in their most dam
aging form.
. It should be noted furthermore that the Clarke
amendment, while professing to prevent gambling in
futures, is aimed solely at the cotton trade. It takes
no account* whatsoever of hedging in corn and wheat
and other commod ties. Why this flagrant discrim
ination against the South’s ^nitf agricultural product
and chief item of commerce? Were the proposed
amendment in any wise consistent, it would apply to
all cAmmo4ities in which contracts for future de
livery are made. But it is palpably insincere; its
avowed purpose of reform is clearly a sham; it has
no excuse for existence.
Such a scheme cannot long withstand the public
condemnation it has aroused. Sooner or later it
mus't be abandoned because of its inherent folly and
viciousness. The safest and fairest course the Demo
crats can pursue is to abandon it now. Let the
Democrats of the House stand firmly against the
proposed tax and those of the Senate will fall into
line. This can be accomplished without difficulty or
delay of the tariff bill; and it will save Southern
interests from incalculable harm.
Not the smallest advantage of cooler weather is
the additional pocket space you get in a vest
Now for Currency Relorm.
! The supremely important business now before
| Congress is the banking and currency bill which was j
j reported yesterday by the House Committee and |
which will soon be tvell on the way to enactment.
This legislation is made doubly imperative by the
passage of the tariff measure, for it is equally a
part of the great task of economic reconstruction in
which the country’s vital interests are concerned. If
the emancipating effect of tariff revision is duly to
| be enjoyed, it must be followed promptly by the
steadying, sustaining influence of financial, reform.
The reduction and removal of a crushing tariff
tax will go far toward lifting the burden of monopoly
from Amerfcan enterprise and will release fresh
stores of commercial and industrial energy. But an
adequate system of currency and banking is necessary
to supply the means and material through which
this new freedom can be utilized. The era of busi
ness expansion which the tariff law, if given a fair
test, will bring in must be accompanied by an era
of business confidence and security such as is vir
tually impossible under the existing system of
money and credit. The Democrats owe it to them
selves and to the nation that this urgent problem be
solved without delay, for so long as it remains in
suspense business cannot come fully into its own.
This, the leaders in Congress keenly realize and
there are cheering indications that they will press
the banking and currency bill to speedy passage. It
has the unanimous support of Democrats in the
House; some of them, to be sure, differed over mat
ters of detail but all such conflicts of opinion have
been settled in ta c party conferences and when the
administration measure comes to a vote the party
ranks will stand unbroken. Debate in the House
should require only a few weeks at the most, so that
the bill will probably reach the Senat before Sep
tember ends, or shortly thereafter.
Rumors that a movement to postpone currency
legislation has been developing in the Senate are un
founded. There, as in the House, the President is
stanchly supported in his appeal for the promptest
possible action. In the earlier days of the extra
session the enactment of a currency bill immediately
after the tariff bill was considered extremely im
probable; indeed, ardent friends of the administration
doubted that Congress could be held in. working order
the long summ - through and that two such far-
reaching measures, either of which would be a tre
mendous task, could be put into effect within a sin-
glj session. But from the hour the President ap
peared before Congress with his earnest and persua
sive address on the need of currency reform, there
was a remarkable and refreshing change of opinion.
Inci .fference war ieu into cordial interest and prac
tically all opposition among Democratic members
was overcome. 3inc’. then the demand for action on
the banking anc cui rency issue has grown continually
stronger in Congr* s and throughout the country.
A poll of the Democratic Senators taken yesterday
showed thirty-five jf them as favoring immediate
consideration of tui measure and only one, Senator
Hitchcock, opposing it. Senator, Hitchcock, as The
Journal’s Washington correspondent relates, has pro
tested against currency legislation at this time from
the beginning of the extra session. But he is con
spicuously alone; The great majority of Senate Dem
ocrats like the great majority of those in the House
are firmly behind the administration bill and its
passage will doubtless be effected with much more
ease and expeditioi than was the tariff bill.
Opposition, there will certainly he; and probably
there will be further changes in the details of the
measure as it comes from the House. But the larger
Issues involved have been thoroughly considered and
settled. The bill is well described in the House com
mittee's report as "designed to bring about necessary
changes in the present banking and currency system
and to correct long-standing evils that have had a
slow and deep-rooted growth; it aims at the rectifi
cation of essential defects, although it does not seek
to make all the changes that might, from an ideal
standpoint, be deemed desirable.” The fact is, if Con
gress waited for a currency measure that would he
equally agreeable to all interests and that would
serve as a ready panacea for each and every financial
ill, it would never move forward a step in reform.
The admirable quality of the pending bill is that, it
embodies the combined wisdom of many thinkers
who have studied this problem from divers stand
points and that is is approved by a greater number
and variety of sober-minded business men than any
other measure of the kind yet proposed.
It meets the crucial needs of the time by substi
tuting public or Government control of the country’s
monetary resources for private control; by creating
checks against the undue concentration of money at
one or two financial centers and by providing for*a
system of currency that will be flexible and respon
sive to sound credit, instead of rigid at, now. When
these wise principles are put into operation, the
menace of financial panics will disappear. The
country’s common business interests will no longer
be enslaved to Wall Street. America!, enterprise and
initiative will fc; secure as well as free. The encum
brances and perils of an outworn system will be
lifted from our industry and commerce. Times will
be better for the merchant, the working man, the
farmer, the hanker—better for every citizen as well
as fi. the country as a whole.
The Tariff Victory.
Real tariff reform, with all that it means to free
business and free government, has at last been accom
plished. To this great end Democracy has fought
through arduous ar.d trying years, has suffered defeat,
distrust and long exile from power but it has fought
witj the steadfast faith which a true cause inspires
and its victory today is well worth the long years
of battle.
The struggle hr.s been waged in a people’s behalf
and it is the people who have won. The passage of
the tariff bill in the Senate yesterday shows that
Government by particular interests is over and that
Government by the public mind and public conscience
has truly begun. This much assured, we may he cer
tain that all the other evils, economic and political,
with which this country’s affairs have been burdened
will in due time be met and overcome.
The passage of the bill is a distinctive tribute to
the unswerving and tactful leadership of President
Wilson. To his earnest purpose to redeem the party’s
highest pledge, the precision and energy with which
the measure was urged through Congress is very
largely due.
Particular credit must also be given the mag
nificent work of Senator Simmons In the Senate and
Mr. Underwood in the House. And to the great rank
and file of Democrats in both Houses the country is
singularly indebted,.
The hill now goes to conference and will shortly
be agreed upon by both Houses and made a law. The
business world no*- knows under what tariff sched
ules it must work. Doubt and suspense are removed.
From this time on trade and industry will press
steadily and confidently forward.
THE BABY BOND
By Dr. Frank Crane
(Copyright. 1913. by Frank Crane.)
OUAITRY
Editorials In Brief
The honeymoon is over when the bride discovers
she might have done better.
• • •
Very likely Mr. Jerome was winning when he
was pinched.
■ • •
Wizard Edison began his biennial vacation last
week and fell 11 in Portland. No doubt his old
antipathy to rest and sleep and recreation has re
turned with douole force.—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Result In Maine.
Unofficial returns from the special Congressional
election held Monday, in the Third district of Maine
give the Republican candidate a plurality of less than
six hundred in a total of some thirty-six thousand
votes. In the regular Congressional election last
year the Republican candidate in this district re
ceived a majority of more than seven hunderd votes.
Tflese figures cannot reasonably be construed as a
rebuke to national Democratic policies. They show
that a district normally Republican has remained so
but beyond that they carry no particular significance.
Certainly, they do not indicate any break in the
Democratic ranks; for, in the Presidential election
last autumn Mr. Wilson received fourteen thousand
six hundred and ninety-two votes in this district,
while in Monday’s election the Democratic candidate
for Congress received upwards of fourteen thousand
five hundred.
Perhaps the mor t interesting result of the day was
the heavy deer ear., evidenced in the so-called “Pro
gressive” ballot. Tin Bull Moose candidate polled
only some sixty-five hundred votes as compared with
o er thirteen thousand cast for Roosevelt In the
Presidential election *n 1912, a falling-off of more
than fifty per cent. This record would seem at least
to signify that th. new party has not held its own
in Maine despite t - exertions of the “Progressive”
leaders in that state.
Had the Republican majority in the Third district
been a large one, u would not have been especially
surprising, for, by elections frequently go against the
party in power. On the whole, the result is rather
assuring than ethtrwise to national Democracy.
Railroads Are Getting Ready.
Omens of an unusually prosperous year continue
to multiply.
The railroads of the Southeast are bending all
their energies to prepare for the great volume of
traffic they foresee. “Shops are being run at full
capacity,” says an announcement by the Southern,
“to put every available car in repair and car-builders
are being urged to turn out new equipment as rapid
ly as possible.” The roads also earnestly ask the
co-operation of shippers in efforts to expedite the
handling of cars, for it is realized that the demands
of the season now opening will tax to the utmost
the resources of all transportation companies.
This is direct and tangible evidence of the good
business ahead. The abundant crops of the South
will start the streams of prosperity rolling, wide
and deep; and every field of commerce and industry
will feel the enriching flow.
A Baby Bond is a bond you can buy for $100; you j
can even buy one for $10 down and the rest on partial t
payments.
Baby Bonds are as essential to the financial world
as real meat babies are to the family.
The money of the United States up till now has
been in the hands of a small group of men supposed to
be endowed with superior wisdom and divine sagacity.
The people could not understand Finance, and would
they kindly not ask questions, but deposit their savings
in the bank and look pleasant? The government would
‘also kindly mind its own business and not put the
soiled hand of politics upon tne Holy Ark of Finance.
Like all strange, mysterious and esoteric groups,
from the Egyptian hierarchy down to the village
Browning club, this, too, was found to be stutied
witn sawdust.
There is nothing about High Finance that cannot
be made plain if the game is square.
Darkness rather than light is loved by the same
kind of people in tne L. S. A. as it was in Galilee.
The people were to put their money in banks. The
bankers were to invest this money in securities. The
people were not competent to judge about securities.
The result was that tne able middlemen got the apple
and the people got he core, if any.
Now’ comes a new order of things. They are break
ing the securities up into small pieces, sizable for
small buyers. Bonds used to mean $1,000, more usual*
ly $10,0ou; now they may mean $100.
The workingman with $10 savings can buy his se
curity direct.
To make this adventure safe there should be the
most exacting government supervision. If govern
ment is good for anything it ought to be good for pro
tecting the people against public frauds.
It is not sufficient to “punish” tne rascal who ad
vertises bad securities He must be “prevented” from
offering them.
Given reasonable protection by the government, the
common people will hasten to buy state, industrial and
other secu*ities.
And the common people have more readj r cash than
the bankers and millionaires.
“The small investor,” says B. C. Forbes, “is des
tined to become the backbone of American finance.
His is the custom most to be coveted. He will be
come a bulwark against destructive legislation and all
forms of confiscation.”
Says George W. Perkins:
“Practical public ownership, that’s what I would
term it. The movement has only begun. The time
is coming when every man with even a few liunureu
dollars saved will put his surplus over the amount
needed for an emergency into standard securities. To
my mind, the steady increase in the number of stock
holders in the corporations foreshadows genuine pub
lic ownership—not of the type in which the entire
business and industrial system of the country is to be
thrown into the political arena to the tender mercies
of the spoilsman, but a practical method of distribut
ing the natural prosperity.
“The solution of the problem is to have the whole
nation interested in the success of the great, sound
industrial and railroad enterprises.”
Are we beginning to “get a glimpse of what is
meant by the Democracy of Wealth?
The Hartford Times: “The trend of modern se
curities is toward the issue of securities of smaller
denominations than formerly.”
Moody’s Magazine. “The poor market for bonds
during the past few years has forced corporations to
issue and bond houses to sell high grade securities in
size within the small saver’s reach.”
The Ohio State Journal: “An interesting feature of
the awakening demand for investment securities is
that $100 bonds are at a substantial premium over the
$1,000 pieces.”
Buy a Baby Bond and see how it feels to be a
“bondholder,” all ye thrifty that are putting by a lit
tle of your savings each month!
Ayp *T)MELTf
GML topics
Conpoaa stairs. vriLTnTO/»
“SAFETY FIRST”
By, Frederic J. hiaskin
WHAT THE CHOIR SANG ABOUT THE NEW
BONNET.
A foolish little maiden bought a foolish little bonnet.
With a ribbon and a feather and a little lace upon it.
And that the other maidens of the town might know it,
She thought she’d go to meeting the next Sunday just to
show it.
But though the little bonnet was scarcely larger than
a dime,
The getting of it settled proved to be a work of time;
So when ’twas fairly tied, all the bells had stopped
their ringing,
And when she came to meeting, sure enough the folks
were singing.
So the foolish little maiden stood and waited at the
door;
And she shook her ruffles out behind and smoothed
them down before.
“Hallelujah! hallelujah!” sang the choir above her
head,
“Hardly knew' you! hardly knew you!” were the words
she *thought they said.
This made the little maiden feel so very, very cross
That she gave her little mouth a twitch, her little
head a toss;
For she thougnt the very hymn they sang was all
about her bonnet,
With the ribbon, and the feather, and the bit of lace
upon it.
And she would not wait to listen to the sermon or the
prayer,
But pattered down the silent street and hurried up the
stair,
Till she’d reached her little bureau, and in a bandbox
on it,
Had hidden, safe from critic’s eye, her foolish little
bonnet.
Which proves, my little maidens, t^hat each of you
will find
In every Sabbath service but an echo of your mind;
And that tne little head that’s filled with silly little
airs,
Will never get a blessing from sermons or # from
prayers.
...
QOZES THINGS IN GENTLEMAN'S DRESS ALSO.
I notice the frequent criticisms on woman’s dress,
and particularly the late attacks on slit skirts, etc.,
b. t you do not notice so many on the vagaries in
men’s costumes. My early recollections go back to
pleated frills on gentlemen's shirts, and It would be
considered inexpressibly funny nowadays to see a
man’s shirt front decorated with a linen cambric frill,
bleated and pressed with a hot Iron until it stood
out stiff and prominent. Nowadays the time and care
is put out on woman s shirt waists, .n the old times
tne most elaborate laundry work was expended on
tnese beruftled shirts for men. These frills were
aoout four inches wide and when they were very full
the dua, looked somewhat like a pouter pigeo'n when
he dressed himself.
Later on came the tedious needlework on what we
called linen bosomed shirts, where the tucks were
small and close, and the collars had linen cards
stitclied in t by hand. When 1 was younger In my
prime it took the most of three days to complete one
of these elaborately tucked men’s shirts That was
earlier than sewing machine days, and it was the
right time ,to write about "Hood’s Song of the Shirt.”
1 noticed only a few days ago the dress of a well
dressed society gentleman. The barber had helped
him, and the tailor had equipped him but nevertheless
he wore a shirt with pronounced stripes in It. and a
white collar at his neck. Thirty years ago it would
have been considered positively ridiculous to wear a
striped shirt when dressed for a visit.
Now it is the rule and the universal shirt except
for a ball or elaborate dinner cos.ume.
I wondered where this fashion of striped shirts
originated. Nobody could explain.
Accidentally I chanced upon an old Harper’s Week
ly, and there I found the following:
"Until recently, if a man was seen wearing a
striped shirt surmounted by a plain white collar, the
explanation was easy: either that man had no white
shirt, or he had no striped collar. The union of these
incongruous objects had been the result of an exi
gency. Now, however, it is the very thing to make
such a combination. Now for the reason:
"The Prince of Wales, or somebody else high in the
walks of fashion, happened to be caught 'in a place
where he had to borrow a shirt. The best that could
be done for him was a striped shirt and a white col
lar. He was seen when thus arrayed. His imitators
promptly began to wear striped shirts and white col
lars as the regular thing. Thus, one by one, are the
rights of the cad stripped from him.”
Don’t you see how it works? I am told that all the
British snobs waited to see what sort of a hat the
Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward, wore in
spring and fall, and then they fell on the particular
shop and cleaned it up.
It has been a never-ending story that silly women
import their dress styles from France, y?at hoop skirts
were a maternity style, set by Empress Eugenie and
adopted by the young ladies of America at once.
Nevertheless our dressy men folks are about the
same sort of imitators and will wear striped shirts
with white collars and turn up the breeches at the
ankles when they go to call on young ladies.
As Mrs. Poyser aptly remarked: ‘"The Lord made
the women to match the men.”
The women started the "barehead” style, allowed
the hot broiling sun to pour down on their faces and
arms, wherefore the dude men went them one better
and they go bareheaded with sleeves rolled to elbows
and no hat at all. A bad case of the pot calling the
kettle black!
Worry Is Diseased Thought j
(Collier's Weekly.)
Concentrated thought is virtually irresistible. All
the vast edilice of modern science and indu&tiy is ob
viously the product oi thought, much of it of our own
time and observation. Tne birth of an idea in the
human mind is cleariy the on e and only dawn of em
pires and revolutions, of engines, pniiosopnies, trade
routes, civilizations.
To class worry under the head of thinking, there
fore, seems a glaring sacrilege. Yet worry is thought,
for all that—diseased, impure, adulterated thought. It
means an admixture of emotion, of the worst of all the
emotions—fear—into one’s thinking. Instead of con
centrated, clear, serene thinking on the problem in
hand worry is thinking, muadled black with fear. It
is about as helpful as clapping the brakes upon wheels
toiling uphill.
Yet all the world is laboring under that Egyptian
heaviness of the wheels and almost every spirit is a
spirit in the dark prison of fear. But once we grasp
tnis truth clearly, once w r e convince ourselves that we
can rid our thought of emotionalism, of fear, the day
of our deliverance is at hand. And the substitution of
encouraging, healthy thought, of new channels among
the worn ruts, is a powerful aid.
There may be failures and backslidings, as is cus
tomary in all mortal effort and human endeavor. But
fear is weakened like a choking thing, and more and
more clear and unimpeded becomes our thinking. For
we realize at last, once for all. that where thinking
cannot help us, fear certainly will not. And then we
have worry by the throat.
The first touch o f fall reminds us that ths straw
lid must soon he off.
“Safety first” is a slogan heard in every American
mine and shop that is keeping abreast of the times.
It bespeaks a higher appreciation of human life and a
recognition on the part of capi
tal, as well as of labor, that the
body of the worker 'r* the first
and mpst important thing to be
preserved. All ris» to life and
limb will never be eliminated
from the mine or from the great
manufacturing plant. But it is
possible greatly to reduce the
number of accidents and to elim
inate entirely those that are pre
ventable, or that are the result
of careless methods or faulty
machinery. '
• • •
The mining industry has
caused the greatest number or
fatal accidents, as well as serious injuries. The min
ing operators realize this fa<£. Last year t' -» Amer
ican Mine Safety association was organized, which
will hold its second meeting in Pittsburg on September
22. At this meeting all of the great mining compa
nies of the country will be represented. The object
of the organization is to increase the safety of mines,
especially coal mines, by taking every possible precau
tion to prevent accidents and to provide for the
promptest possible rescue of miners from a mine in
which an accident occurs.
• • •
One of the most thoroughly organized safety sys
tems in the world is now in operation by the United
States Steel corporation. The different branches of
this great trust had been attempting to lessen the
number of accidents for several years. The corpora
tion itself had a liberal system of compensation for
accidents, but the work was not systematized. A
committee of safety has now been provided to or
ganize a harmonious safety scheme. The members are
selected from the different departents and sufticient
funds are provided to carry out the plans suggested.
The comittee has spent over $u,000.000 since its organ
ization, but it has .'educed the number of accidents 43
per cent. This means 2,600 fewer accidents and a sav
ing to the community of at least $2,000,000 - year.
* • *
Care upon the part of the workmen is essential
to the success of every safety movement. A campaign
of education along this line is being conducted in
almost every industrial plant. Lectures are given the
men and demonstrations of the dangers to be avoided
in various parts of the works are frequent. Mottoes
are printed upon the pay envelopes and upon the walls
and in every available place, in some plants thesq
are changed frequently. Amongt he rqost practical
aie: “Remember, itr~is better to cause e delay than
an accident,” “The prevention of accidents and inju
ries, by all possible means, is a personal duty which
every one owes, not to himself alone, but to his fel
low workmen,” “Let every employe be a committee of
one to prevent some one accident,” “Look out for the
other man; you might hurt him,” “Foremen, careless
ness is dangerous; if workmen insist upon being care
less, discharge them.”
• • •
In large shops much of the machinery is operated
by electric power. So far as possible the electric
wires are covered, but wherever the slightest danger
of a shock is possible a large sign is displayed. One
ox those much used is sta tling enough to be under-
tood by the most illiterate, loreign workmen. It in
cludes a skull and cross bones, a clenched hand from
which radiate llames and between them tile word
“Llektrika.” In some shops this sign is kept illumi
nated by electricity. The eiectrlc illumination over
some of the entrance gates to tne works of the Amer
ican Steel corporation has taken the form of the
following sentences:
Work for safety. '
Think for safety.
Talk for safety.
Boost for safety.
• • •
Ideas for additional safety devices are always in
demand. Some plants award prizes to workmen who
suggest safety ideas for their own protection or that
of other workers. That the safety movement extends
to every department is evidenced by the fact that one
plant has expended the sum of $32,500 to prevent ac
cidents to lamp tiimmers and window cleaners.
* • *
One of the devices which checks many accidents
permits a woikmen ceught in the machinery instantly
to stop the wheel. A wire is stretched within easy
reach, which is connected with the switches, this
enables the man whose finger or clothing gets caught
in a wheel or cog to rtop the machinery by a single
Jerk of the elbow. The invention has already saved
the loss of many arms ar#i legs.
* * •
The United States bureau of mines is entitled to
much credit in originating tne saiety campaign which
is now’ extending into every industry. This bureau,
created by congress in 1910, has originated many of
the safety devices now being introduced into the dif
ferent mines. It conducts an experimental mine in
Pennsylvania for the purpose of testing new methods
and machinery for coal mining, designed to lessen the
risk to the miners. Safety explosives have been the
subject of special investigation. Over 10,000 tests
were made last year in analyzing the explosives sub
mitted for examination. The 'experimental mine is
equipped w’ith apparatus for record.ng the speed of an
explosive and the pressure produced. Safety explo
sives are now used in many of the largest mines in the
country. Aside from their advantage in safety, they
are more economical than the dangerous ones formerly
used. /
• * •
The bureau of mines has six rescue stations, lo
cated in the parts of the country where mining acci
dent! are most likely to occur. It has also eight res
cue cars which may be sent promptly to the s .ene of
any mine disaster. At the stations and also on oard
are cars, mine safety lectures are deiiveied and in
struction in rescue arid first-aid work given to miners
who desire to take them. The interest manifested in
these lectures and instruction has been most gratify
ing. More than 30,000 miners attended the safety
lectures last year and more than 10,000 took part in
the rescue and first-aid work. About 1,000 certifi
cates were issued to men who completed the course;
These are highly prized by their recipients.
• • *
Each of the mine rescue cars contains eight oxygen
helmets, a dozen safety lamps, a field telephone with
2,000 feet of steel wire, a collapsible steel mine cage,
cage, a pulrnotor, and a generous outfit of the band
ages and other appliances used in first-aid-to-the •
jured work. Each car has had a regular itinerary,
stopping at different mines and demonstrating its
apparatus. As a result most of the larger mines have
within a few months installed modern rescue apparatus
of their own. A crew of men, selected from volun
teers among the miners, is trained by government
experts in the operation of # the apparatus.
Col ege Students' Earnings
That 500 Columbia students earned $120,000 to
ward their college expenses last year gives an idea of
the development of self-support among college youth.
The figures indicate average earnings of $240, derived
in the main from tutoring, but gained also from such
varied occupations as hotel clerk, elevator runner,
renting agent, subway platform man, telephone oper
ator, waiter, etc.
The participation of gird students of Barnard and
the Teachers’ college in self-supporting work and
their comparative incomes have a special interest.
One earned $125 teaching modern languages during the
^summer, while another cleared $232 as a stenographer,
and a third made $247 as a restaurant cashier. These
earnings approximate to those of male students and
have a bearing on the question of “equal pay for equal
work,”