Newspaper Page Text
4
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1913.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
JlTLAJTTA, GA., 6 NORTH FOBSTTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mall Matter ot
the Second Class.
B. GRAY,
President and Editor.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE
Twelve months
Six months 400
Three months .;.... 260
The Semi-Weekly Journal Is published on Tuesday
and Friday, and Is mailed by the shortest routes for
early delivery.
It contains news from all over the world, brought
by special leased wires into our office. It has a staf*
of distinguished contributors, with strong departments
of special value to the home and the farm.
Agents warted t:t every postoffice. Liberal com
mission allowed. Outfit free. Write R. R- BRAD
LEY, Circulation Manager.
The only traveling representatives we have art
J. A. Bryan, R. F. Bolton, C. C. Coyle, L. H. Kim
brough and C. T. Yates. We will be responsible only
for money paid to the above named traveling repre
tentative!.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
The label used for addressing your paper
shows the time your subscription expires. By
renewing at least two weeks before the date on
this label, you insure regular service.
In ordering paper changed, be sure to mention
your old, as well as your new address. If on a
route please give the route number.
We cannot enter subscriptions to begin with
back numbers. Remittances should be sent by
postal order or registered mall.
Address all orders and notloes for this de
partment to THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL.
Atlanta. G*.
A Wise Suggestion; Adopt It.
The proposal that the State Prison Commission
employ at least lour civil engineers and road ex
perts to aid the various counties In the efficient
building of highways is so obviously wise that it
should be put into effect with the least possible
delay. Such a plan would reduce the cost and
increase the service of Georgia roads and would
also furnish a basis and starting point for the
development of a Statewide system of good roads,
which is the paramount need of our highway in
terests.
Commissioner Patterson, the author of this sug
gestion, has written to the officials of each county
asking their opinion of the proposed enterprise.
He explains that the engineers could be at the dis
posal of the counties for at least ten days In eacn
year and could assist them in locating, laying out,
improving and maintaining their roads, in putting
the proper surface on roads, in constructing
bridges and in doing this work in the most com
petent and economical manner. "We realize,”
says the commissioner, "that most of the coun
ties are unable to employ an engineer for all ot
his time, however advantageous that would be; it
has been thought, therefore, that this department
could be of assistance In providing these four ex
perts at the expense of the State, whose services
the counties could use.
This offer will doubtless evoke widespread re
sponse, for, it goes to the pith of problems that
concern scores of Georgia counties. Koad building
and road maintenance are an art based upon a
science. They call for trained judgment and ex
perience. In the selection of material, the de
termination of grades, the putting on of binders
and in many other particulars, the advice of an
engineer is indispensable, if the work is to be dur
able and the .ax payers are to receive a due return
from thelr'money. If It were possible, every county
should employ Its own road expert; but since this
cannot be done,/it is the State’s duty to shoulder
this task in behalf of its common interests.
Much money is being spent in Georgia for high
way improvement. Some communities are voting
liberal bond Issues for. this purpose, others are
levying a special assessment and nearly all of
them are alloting a fair portion of their revenues
to road work. There is no lack of public en
thusiasm but there is a very manifest need of
sounder methods in the use of these funds. A
dollar advisedly spent will go further than ten
loosely applied. A road constructed on a scientific
basis will last longer and be far cheaper than ten
roads carelessly built. A corps of engineers would
save the State and the different counties Incom
parably more money than their service would
cost.
This policy offers another advantage even
greater than that of economy; it would develop
among the counties a sense of common needs
and would thus lead eventually to the formation
of a well connected system of highways. As con
ditions now are in Georgia most counties are. build
ing roads chiefly from a local standpoint, where
as the value of every road depends primarily upon
its relation to other roads. Because of this, there
has been a persistent demand in recent years for
the establishment of a State Highway Commission
which could coordinate the labors of the individual
counties and weld the separate links of roads Into
a strong Statewide chain.
The engineers suggested by Judge Patterson
would go far toward serving this purpose. Their
work would supply at least the nucleus of effective
State aid and supervision. Being in continual
touch with the needs and plans of all counties
they could be of inestimable value to each county.
Those States that are making most progress in
the good roads cause and that are realizing the
richest return upon their investment in this fieict
have adopted in some form a State Highway Com
mission. Georgia cannot afford to lag In this im-
nortant enterprise.
Is Sulzer Legally Impeachable?
The impeachment trial of Governor ' William
Sulzer, of New York, suggests an Interesting ques
tion as to the exact nature and latitude of such pro
ceedings. Is Sulzer, the Governor, subject to Im
peachment for offenses which, If he did commit
them, were individual and private rather than official
acts? Is he amenable to a court of Impeachment on
charges that relate to things done before he entered
office and even before he was elected?
The impeachment process Is distinct both In
method and purpose from the ordinary criminal
prosecution. It Is designed primarily to protect the
State from official misconduct. The federal constitu
tion provides that "judgment In cases of impeach
ment shall not extend further than to the removal
from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any
office of honor, trust or profit under the United
States.” The constitution further provides, however,
that “the party convicted ahall nevertheless be sub
ject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment
according to the law.” The distinction is herein
clearly drawn between impeachment and prosecution
in the legal sense of the latter term; and the princi
ple set forth in the federal constitution Is followed
by most of the States, New York included. The mis
deeds of an individual and also those of an official
may be prosecuted, but impeachment is designed to
reach and punish official misdeeds alone.
On this theory, It does not appear that impeach
ment is the proper or permissable course in the case
of Governor Sulzer, so far as the main charges lodged
against him are concerned. He is accused, in the
first place, of having diverted to his personal use
certain campaign funds contributed to his election
and of having spent them in Wall Street speculations
and, in the second place, of having failed to account
for certain campaign funds in the report he filed, as
required by the law, after his election. Other charges
are made but they are of a relatively minor charac
ter; it is on these two that the appeal for his convic
tion mainly rests.
Now, if William Sulzer were guilty of either of
these accusations, he should certainly be punished
and he would deserve the condemnation of all right-
thinking people. They are unquestionably subject to
legal presecution, if they have a basis of truth, but
it is seriously to be doubted that they furnish
grounds for the impeachment of William Sulzer, the
Governor. The first offense as charged was committed
before he was elected and the second before he was
inaugurated. Neither, therefore, can have reference
to any of his official acts. It is not the misconduct
of a Governor but the misconduct of a candidate for
office that is challenged; and that, it would seem, is
a matter over which a court of impeachment is with
out jurisdiction.
Governor Sulzer’s enemies in the Tammany ring
have resorted to divers scandals in an effort to in
timidate him into doing their will, and among these
was a breach of promise suit, alleging certain wrongs
done years ago. It is evident that he would not be liable
to impeachment on that charge, because it pertained
to individual conduct and to incidents that occurred,
if occur they did, before he was connected with the
gubernatorial office. For the same reason, the later
charges concerning his disposition of the campaign
fund are scarcely a matter for impeachment, al
though they may be for criminal prosecution.
This is, to be sure, a speculative rather than a
practical question; hut the proceedings of the New
York court of impeachment, composed of forty-eight
members of the State Senate and nine members ot
the court of appeals, will he watched with mSuch iris
terest for whatever light it may throw on this issue.
Get Ready for the Canal.
During his brief stay in Atlanta yesterday Mr.
John Barrett, director general of the Pan-American
Union, made a timely and cogent plea that Southern
cities prepare promptly and adequately for the open
ing of the Panama canal. Upon such preparation,
depends very largely the future of the South’s com
mercial and industrial welfare. If this section is to
enjoy its due portion of the fresh advantages the
canal will create, it must be ready to seize them
and turn them to definite account as they arise.
The opening of the canal will be not only a na
tional but also a world event. Its opportunities are
being eagerly awaited by all the countries of Europe
and by Asia as well as America. England, Germany,
France, Holland and Japan have been systematically
studying the new trade routes and the new fields of
business that are soon to he developed. They have sent
embassies to Central and South America to cultivate
the friendship and ascertain the needs of the peop'e
in that region. They have built ships specifically
with a view to handling and directing the new com
merce. In short, they have prepared and are still
preparing for the opening of the Canal.
f, as Mr. Barrett says, the United States does
not bestir itself to similar enterprise, it will find
that Hamburg and Liverpool and the far East, rather
than our own cities, will derive the chief benefits
from the canal. Especially urgent is the South’s
duty in this regard. By every natural circumstance,
our section should be the prime beneficiary of the
new commercial era that is soon to be ushered in.
Our ports and our business centers are at the very
threshold of opportunity but they must be prepared
to claim and to hold what will he naturally their
own.
The truth, it is gratifying to note, is being real
ized more and more keenly by alert commercial
organizations in Georgia and neighboring States.
It is to be hoped that they will lose no time in
beginning a methodical and co-operative campaign
in behalf of their common interests.
Good Work for Soil Improvement!
The campaign of education which representative
fertilizer manufacturers are conducting in the inter
est of soil improvement is typical of a new economic
A Different Huerta.
Mexico’s "Independence” day came and went tame
ly enough. None of the predicted demonstrations
against American residents materialized. There
were parades at the capital and General Huerta
made his speech. But the occasion was far from
hilarious. To most Mexicans, indeed, "Indepen
dence” day under the present regime must seem
a broad satire rather than a national festival.
There was one significant note in Huerta’s mes
sage to Congress, a note of uncertainty and in
decision- concerning himself and his spurious gov
ernment.
He took pains to emphasize Tiis willingness to
surrender his power to a successor who is con
stitutionally elected.
This is a different Huerta from him who forced
himseli into the Presidency through slaughter and
intrigue and who spurned the peaceful sugges
tions of the United States.
era in the 3outh.
The farm, though always recognized as the ulti
mate source of our prosperity, has until years compar"
atively recent been regarded as a thing apart from
the daily concern of commerce and industry. But now
the progressive merchant and manufacturer are get
ting into practical, intimate touch with the problems
of the farm and with its opportunities.
This is evidenced in the liberal support given corn
clubs by business men, in the demonstration trains
sent out by railroads and in the co-operation of hank
ers with enterprises for rural development.
Particularly useful is the publicity campaign the
Southern fertilizer men are now carrying on in behalf
of soil improvement. The fact that they are helping
themselves in no wise lessens the value of their work
to farming interests. The spirit they thus manifest
is admirable and is characteristic of modern business
and the progressive South.
Now it’s Indian summer.
The Treasure of Pecans.
Pecan growing Is bound to become one of tne
most important branches of Southern agriculture, j
If, Indeed, it Is not already so. The food value ot \
these nuts Is unusually high, the cost of producing {
and marketing them is comparatively low, while
the demand for them is worldwide. These three
conditions form the basis of a permanent and
profitable Industry.
Mr. Alexander McKae, a successful horticul
turist of Alabama, contributed to a recent issue
of the Florala (Ala.) News an interesting dis
cussion of the nutriment in pecans. In this con
nection he uses a particularly pungent illustra
tion. A quarter of a large pecan kernel, wnen
lighted at the end as if it were a candle, will
burn with a slow, clear fiame “as pure and Irae
as a wax taper.” “Wheft a small portion is well
charred, blow out the iiame and let the nostrils
feast on the odor of the slender thread of smoke
arising. Every meat eater instantly exclaims
burnt steak.” The fact is the very oils which
make up the rich sustenance in beef are contain
ed in pecans, though in a far purer quality and
far more abundantly.
If, as some economists predict, a food substitute
for meat must be found, because of the steady in
crease in population and the decrease in the sup
ply of meat, the pecan, ’ It would seem, will go
far toward answering this need. Mr. McRae con
tends furthermore that pecans, while serving the
same purpose as beef, can be grown so cheaply
and so plenteously and handled with such a mini
mum risk or loss, that they are an ideal food .
product both from the farmer’s and the con
sumer’s standpoint. The pecan tree is hardy, ot
rapid growth, of early fruition and its old age
is even more bountiful than its youth. Feeans
are not perishable, as meat or fruit or vegetables
are. The cost of marketing and storing them is
thus slight.
In America the growth of the finer varieties of
the pecan is limited to the lower South but tne
demand for them extends over the nation and tne
world. It is gratifying to note that this important
industry is receiving more and more attention in
Georgia. It offers safe and fruitful field of in
vestment to business men and farmers alike; as
a source of steady wealth and enterprise for tile
State it is, perhaps, unsurpassed.
Japan and China.
Far different from Japan’s attitude a fortnight
ago is that now assumed by some of her leading
diplomats who disavow any intention on the part of
their Government to force war upon China. Japan
is simply seeking an apology and just indemnity,
they say, for the death of certain Japanese subjects
who were, killed in southern China during a battle
between the regular and the rebel forces. They
deny that ill-tempered or brow-beating tactics are
to be pursued.
It will he remembered, however, that'the original
Japanese demand upon China was peremptory in the
extreme and indicated that the young Republic must
either accept the stipulated terms instantly and with
out negotiations or make itself liable to military attack.
This harsh and uncalled for ultimatum was thought
to be due chiefly to feverish conditions at Tokio
whose populace is in a ‘continual state of political
unrest. The Government put on a blustering front,
it was supposed, to divert the dangerous mood of its
masses from domestic affairs, a device to which un
easy rulers have often resorted.
Be that as it may, something has evidently hap
pened to sober Japan’s first pell-mell policy. It ’ is
possible that her ally, Great Britain, has Jet it be
known that China must not he bulldozed or embar
rassed on trivial provocations. England’s and, in
deed, all Europe’s interests in the far East are rather
seriously involved in the destinies of the Chinese
republic. The future development of China and its
large commercial possibilities depend upon the sta
bility of the new government. That government,
though fairly well established and, in the main, effi
cient so far as internal affairs arc concerned, is cer
tainly unable to withstand the shock of a foreign
war. Its finances are low and its home responsibilities
are at present unusually grave. There is little likeli
hood that the dominant Powers of the world would
countenance a Japanese campaign against China.
The New Business Era.
R. G. Dunn & Co.’s commercial review of
the past week is particularly encouraging. Busi
ness confidence, we are told, is deepening and
there is a pronounced tendency "to extend opera
tions further into the future.” The volume of
trade* is larger than at this time a year ago, more
machinery is active and more people are em
ployed. Especially significant is that part of the
report which declares:
“Less conservatism is manifest in the wool
market. Buyers of leather are operating
more freely. Pig iron reflects Increased firm
ness, with heavy sales of Southern iron a fea
ture. The strong statistical position of cop
per has been reflected in a continued rise in
prices.”
These conditions are all the more noteworthy
in view of the fact that they prevail immediately
after the passage of a tariff bill which lowers the
duty on a great many commodities and removes
it entirely from others. Dismal prophecies that
progressive legislation would disturb the coun
try’s business have been completely belied. At no
time since the tariff bill was introduced has there
been a sign of depression and now that its terms
are practically all known and are soon to become
effective, industry and trade are pressing forward
more vigorously than ever before, freed from sus
pense and cheered by a .fertile future.
The fact is the United States is entering a new
economic era. Under the wise leadership of the
Wilson administration, old barriers that discourag
ed individual enterprise are being removed, old
discriminations that fostered particular interests
at the expense of general interests are being
abolished. A tariff that is fair to the people and
to business as a whole is soon to be followed by
a banking and currency system that will be fair
to the people and to business as a whole. The
conditions of our economic life are being made
more jus*, and for that reason they will inevitably
be more prosperous and secure.
Soon there’ll be another glad chorus—the fur
nace rakers.
Many a rusty looking overcoat has a stiver lin
ing, as it were.
The Horror of Jewels
BY DR. FRANK CRANE.
(Copyright. 1913, by Frank Crane.)
You have read de Maupassant’s story, ‘'The Dia
mond Necklace”? It tells of a poor and beautiful
young wife who borrowed of a rich friend whom she
had known in her school days a string of diamonds to
wear to a ball. She lost the trinket. Her husband
borrowed a great sum of money, had the necklace du
plicated by a jeweler, and gave it to the rich woman,
to avoid the charge of theft. The poor couple worked
years to pay off the debt. The wretched woman, re
duced to drudgery, lost all her beauty; became wrin
kled, bent, old before her time. One day she met by
chance her wealthy friend. They spoke of the neck
lace. The poor woman told the tmtn about her experi
ence. The rich woman said it was too bad—for the
necklace was but paste.
The tale is an artistic expression of what might
be called The Horror of Jewels.
Almost every precious stone of x great value, almost
every $20,000 rope of pearls, or $1,000 solitaire dia
mond, or extraordinary ruby, has a history that runs
to the accompaniment of vanity, envy, lust, theft, hate
and murder. Not one has produced any speck of real
love or pure peace of mind. '
The devil probably weal's a million-dollar diamond
ring. And his wife jewels running into the billions.
They ought to.
The desire to own, wear or collect gems of fabu
lous value is akin to the lowest cravings of which hu
man beings are capable. It is an advertisement of of
fensive pride. It is provocative of unhappiness.
Precious gems are the seeds of those passions that
destroy content.
To display them marks a certain lack of good breed
ing, of that gentleness that makes a gentleman.
They are the crystallized sap of the vicious inequity
of privilege. *
If one has money the worst form in which he can
invest it is in the parade of gems.
The queer part of it is that you never can tell.
Once we could distinguish real pearls from imitation
by the person who wore them; if it was a lady with an
income of fifty thousand a year they were genuine;
if she was a working woman they were false. Nowa
days the wealthy classes lock their real jewels in
safety deposit vaults and wear imitation. They can
arouse all the detestable emotions desired by wearing
the false jewels, and run no risk of losing the real.
The paste jewel holds the same “legal tender” relation
socially to the true jewel that the ten-dollar bill holds
commercially to the gold eagle.
Expensive jewels are of value to the rich as a quick
means of squandering their money and creating mis
ery. “To us,” says Gustave Tery, “there is no differ
ence between a necklace costing a million francs and
one costing three francs; but to the rich the differ
ence is very real, since it comes, if I calculate cor
rectly, to nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine
hundred and ninety-seven francs. Which is not to be
sneezed at.”
PRAISE FROM WELL KNOWN AUTHOR.
Sept. 1, 1913.
My Dear Dr. Crane:
Just a word of appreciation from one of your
steady readers. You are doing the very thing that I,
for one, have longed to see done: namely, the state
ment of profound and essential things with such sim
plicity that any one who could read the words could
understand them. This is the idea of democratic writ
ing, and merely follows the habit of the very greatest
writers. Homer, the Bible, Shakespeare, Cervantes,
etc.
Your “Why Was I Born?” states a whole philosophy
of life with a clearness and brevity to me remarkable.
My own hearty thanks! Sincerely
t JAMES OPPENHEIM.
Quips and Quiddities
A mother who was going to take her children visit
ing with her had been instilling the old rule of “Chil
dren should be seen and not heard.”
“And now, what are you children going to act
like?” she inquired as a last precaution.
“Like movin’ pitchers,” came the ready resonse.—
The Delineator.
* * *
Colonel W. F. Cody, otherwise known as “Buffalo
Bill,” is responsible for the following:
“At ono time for a few months I was at the head
of a theatrical combination that did business in the
middle west. During a tour of one night stands in
Ohio and Kentucky business was bad. We finally dis
banded in one of the Ohio towns, where only one per
formance was given. This was a matine and the au
dience was conspicuous by its absence. As I was
hurrying out of the office, when the performance was
about half over, I nearly stumbled over a small girl
who was crying bitterly. I stopped and, bending down,
asked:
“ ‘Why, what’s the matter, little girl?’
“‘I want me money back!’ screamed the child, be
tween her sobs.
“‘Why, don’t you like the show?’ I asked. ‘You’ve
seen only tjie first act, you know.’
* ‘I don't care nothin’ ’bout the show,’ howled the
child. ‘I’m ’fraid to set in that gallery all alone!’ ”—
Everybody’s Magazine.
* * •
He had just reached the philosophical stage when
he slipped into a restaurant between bars for a bit to
eat. He ordered. Then fie sat staring ahead, quietly
thoughtful in expression, and waited.
It is admitted he did some waiting, too. What hap
pened to his order couldn’t be understood outside the
peculiar convolutions of a restaurant kitchen, but he
spent half an hour sitting there staring ahead of him.
At last it came. As the waitress put the order be
fore him, he started from his deep study, as if he had
forgotten he had an order coming. Then, looking up
at the fair transporter of edibles, he said:
“You don’t look a day older!”—Everybody’s Maga
zine.
Holland for Woman Suffrage
With the government of Holland pledging itself to
bestow suffrage upon certain classes of w,omen. follow
ing closely upon similar action in Hungary, the world
wide character of the suffrage movement becomes
more than ever apparent. Neither in Hungary nor in
Holland are the women satisfied with half-way meas
ures, however. Not less th^n a thousand protestants
sent in a deputation to the premier yesterday demand
ing that they be placed on an absolute political equal
ity with men, and the premier thought it at least worth
while to explain to them that this could be done as
soon as the constitution was altered. The women,
however, demanded t^at a pledge that this will be
done should b e forthcoming now; These European de
velopments are more striking than our own suffrage
victories, because one expects vital political changes
in a new country, and a democracy, and does not ex
pect them, so readily where custom and tradition are so
firmly rooted as they are in the smaller countries of
Europe. The speed with which the movement has gone
ahead in the last five years is simply amazing. No
one would have ventured to predict such happenings
ten years ago; now no one would dare to say that we
shall not have a German government promising suf
frage within the next deeade. At any rate, this Dutch
women’s victory may be expected to cause further ire
among their British allies across the channel, and Mr.
Asquith will have to face the question why England
should lag behind her little neighbor of the North Sea.
—New York Evening Post.
The.har^l that rocks the cradle usually also gets
next to most of tl ~ “rocks” in hubby’s pocket.
How, a girl does hate to have red cheeks just
after coming out of a dark hall with a young man
who needs a shave.
THE CLEAN MILK CRUSADE
III.—PRO TEC TING THE BABIES.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
Sanitary science has shown that the two principal
sources of epidemic diseases are milk and water. Com
plex conditions of city life have tended to increase the
dangers of contagion from milk
and to decease those from wa
ter. Municipal waterworks have
served to narrow the supply to
one source, making it possible
to guard it against infection;
on the other hand, the increase
in population has multiplied the
sources of milk to such an ex
tent that the maintenance of a
sanitary supervision over them
all is next to impossible.
* * *
A case in point is that of New
York. With its milk supply
coming from 45,000 farms, lo
cated in five states, and amount
ing to 15,000,000 gallons a month, it is easy to see that
the difficulties of controlling the production of the
milk: are innumerable. Furthermore, while water, un
der' present systems of distribution, is as pure when
it reaches the consumer as it was when it left the
source, milk stands a chance, of gathering contagion en
route, besides offering nature’s best vehicle for the
multiplication of the germs in it at the source.
* * •
The present system of milk regulation in most
cities is fairly thorough, so far as the middleman, the
doiiYman, is concerned. But back of him is the farm
er. The dairyman may gather his milk supply from
a hundred farms. He mixes all the milk he gets
from them. Ninety and nine farmers who supply him
may all be careful ttf a degree, but the hundredth on*
may stray out into* the hills of indifference, and his
supply may contaminate the whole dairy. In Oressoy,
Pa., a few yeajs ago, there was an epidemic of ty
phoid. Ten cases occurred in eight families. Inves
tigation showed that they ail drank milk from the
same dairy. The epidemic stopped as soon as the sup*
ply of. this dairy was freed from contamination.
• • •
In Savannah, Ga., an outbreak cf typhoid was in
vestigated, and sixty-three cases were traced to one
dairy. This dairy itself was dean and wholesome.
But it furnished milk for a baker shop, and there waS
a case of typhoid in a room over the shop. The empty
cans from this shop contaminated the whole dairy
supply. In Newark, N. J., there was an epidemic of
typhoid some years ago. Sixty-nine cases were traced
to one dairy. It procured some of its milk from a
farm where a man had been ill with typhoid. In Salt
Lake City an epidemic of twenty-nine cases of typhoid
was traced to one dairy, which drew a part of its
supply from a farm where there had been a case of
typnoid. In Palo Alto, Cal., 232 out of 900 milk user!
from one dairy had typhoid fever. The milk cans
from this dairy had been washed ill water from a
creek that was contaminated with sewage.
But if milk may be fatal to grown-ups in many;
cases, it is nothing as compared with the damage im
pure milk does to the health of infants. With tender
digestive tracts, liable to be disturbed by the *east
untoward condition, it does not require even contagion-
infected milk to jipset them and endanger their lives.
Dirty milk without contagion in it is more fatal to
babies than contagion-laden milk is td adults. There
fore* it is peculiarly important that the milk used inj
the feeding of infants shall be clean as well as free
from contagion.
Hel-e is where the sanitarian encounters another
difficulty. The majority of the babies of the present
day do not come into homos where good milk entail*
no extra burdens, but rather into the homes where, if
sheer poverty does not hold sway, at least every cent
that can be saved must be saved. The result is that
in the homes where tne majority of babies are to bf
found the poorest grade of milk is encountered—sim
ply because it costs less.
The death rate among infants is so high that one-
statistician has calculated that the chances of a baby
surviving are much less than those of a man of eightyf
Of all the people who die in the course of a year one
out of every six is a baby less than a year old. It
has been estimated that half of this mortality is due
to bad milk, and there are now innumerable milk de
pots maintained where the supply of milk for infants
is looked after by philanthropic societies.
Th? best example of what these milk depots are
able to do is found in New York. There Nathan Straus
initiated the work, and it is now being forwarded by a
number of organizations. The New York milk com*
mittee, in 1912, formed the Babies’ Welfare associa
tion, which became the central organization of 150
agencies dealing with the welfare of babies. Through
their efforts the infant mortality in that city was cut
from 111 to 105 per thousand babies born. Out of
1,350 babies born alive and supervised during the first
month, only thirty-seven died, which was only a third
as many as died where they were not looked after by
outside influences. The main effort was to induce
the mothers to nourish their children in the natural
way, and out of the 1,313 babies living at the end of
the first month less than 4 per cent of a hundred were
forced to rely on cows’ milk. Yet 1,700,000 quarts of
fresh, clean milk was distributed through the fifty-
five municipal milk stations.
The two efforts that are being made in all the
progressive cities are to induce mothers to forego bot
tle feeding for their babies, and, where this cannot be
done, to see that the babies get wholesome milk. In
Chicago not long ago there was published a cartoon
entitled, “The Long and the Short Haul.” It showed
one baby with a nursing bottle, the tube of which
started at a farm sixty miles away. The milkman
was milking dirty cows in a dirty stable and using a
dirty bucket. Then came the haul to the railroad,
then a wait, then the trip to the city on the trains
then it was hauled to the dairy and thrown in with a
lot other milk. From there it was taker* to tbs
house* in a bottle. At each step the possible sources
of contamination were shown, and it was stated that!
the average bottle-fed baby had to draw its milk
through this tube. At the top of the, cartoon was a
modern Madh^ma with her baby, ana this was the
short haul. %
During the first year of its life the average baby;
consumes 500 quarts of milk. When one considers
that this milk may, under present dairy conditions,
come from fifty or even a hundred dairy farms, and
that any one of them may render the milk of all the
others dangerous, ,t will be seen what a gamble with
death the mother who buys milk from the average
dairyman forces her baby to take. \\ hen it is re
membered that babies who get their milk by the short
haul show a death rate only a third as great as those
who get it by the long haul, it will be seen what havoc
tlie long haul plays. Under ordinary conditions thirty*
five out of every hundred bottle-fed babies die, while
only eleven out of a hundred breast-fed babies fail to
survive.
The Nuts We Eat
The old butternut, a very rich and fragrant nut of
the olden time, has almost disappeared. Very few peo
ple of the present generation have ever tasted u but
ternut. The black walnut is becoming fewer, and in a
generation hence it will hardly be known. And yet it
is a precious nut, lull of goodness and rare taste.
Those old pans of cracked walnuts, in the, long win
ter evenings, made up a family joy that has never been
surpassed. The hickory nuts, especially the good old
shellbarks, figured prominently in those nUtty days,
and the chestnuts, too, including the hazel nuts and
beech nuts; but they are all growing scarcer and have
sadly strayed away from the human heart.
The pecan is becoming the .great American nut.
There are thousands of trees cultivated in the south,
and the nut has become commercially important. Trees
are reported bearing $200 to $500 wqrthVof nuts pot*
acre. It is a rich nut, but quite too hard for the novice
to pick out the kernels. There are, however, machines
that do the work perfectly. But, after all, for rich,
well flavored and grandt mouthfuls of nut, give us th*
English walnut.—Ohio State Journal.