Newspaper Page Text
4
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLASTA. GA, 5 NORTH FOBSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mail Matter of the
Second Class.
JAKES R. GIAY,
President and Editor.
SUMCWHOI PRICE.
Twelve months "6c
Six months 40c
Three months 2»c
The Semi-Weekly Journal is published on Tuesday
and Friday, 2nd is mailed by the shortest routes for
early delivery.
It contains news from all over tne world, brought
»y special leased wires into our office. It has a staff
of distinguished contributors, with strong departments
of special value to the home and the farm.
Agents wanted at every postoffice. Liberal commis
sion allowed. Outfit, free. Write R. R. BILYDLEY,
Circulation
The only traveling ißpresentatives we have are B.
I**. Bolton, C. C. Coyle, L. IL Kimbrough, Chas. H.
" oodliff and L. J. Farris. We will r>e responsible only
ior money paid to the above-named traveling represent
atives.
f ~ s
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
T** label used for addressiag your paper sbowi the time
jour subscriptieo expires. By renewing at least two weeks be
fore the date on thl« label, yon insure regular service.
In ordering paper changed, be sure to mention your old. as
w *’l as your new address. If on a route, please give the route
uutEoer.
We cannot enter subscriptions to begin with back numbers.
Kem'ttsnce should be sent by postal order or registered mall.
notice for this Department to THE
SEMI-WA.EKLY JCLRNAL. Atlanta, Ga.
k.— „ 4
Congress Should Act
On the Dyestuff Crisis.
Th® handicap which America/s textile industries
have suffered for the past year through the ever
dwindling supply of dyestuffs has become critical.
Billions of capital and millions of laborers are
threatened with disaster. Our manufacturers of
cotton, silk and woolen goods depended on Germany
for the great bulk of their synthetic dyes, which
are practically as essential as the fabric itself.
At the outbreak of the European war im
ports from Germany ceased. Since then the
mills in this country have stinted along on
such meager stores as they could procure at
fabulous prices until now, when these stores are
virtually exhausted, they are face to face with an
alarming crisis. A situation that affects so many
people, so many Important interests in every part
of the Union, and so far-reaching a field of the rla
tion's economic life demands prompt treatment at
the hands of Congress.
We say Congress, because this problem is one
that cannot be solved without adequate legislation.
America has an abundance of the raw material
from which dyes can be made, and it has among its
scientists the needful knowledge and skill. Qut
the establishment and prosecution of dye industries
require large outlays of capital. Says an authority
on the subject:
"By far the greater proportion of all dyes
used today throughout the world are de
rived from coal tar. There are about nine
hundred of these dyes, and In order to manu
facture them the chemist must have at his
command nearly three hundred substances,
intermediates, some solid and some
liquid, all obtained from coal tar, all practi
cally colorless, and none of them capable of
imparting color. The coal-tar dye industry,
therefore, comprises no fewer than twelve
hundred different products, with as many more
separate processes of manufacture, and It re
quires hundreds of different sets of apparatus
of widely varying capacity and design for the
carrying out of many hundreds of different
operations."
Naturally, then, capital will not venture into so
expensive a field without some assurance that the
industry can be maintained on a reasonably perma
nent basis. Investors will not be willing to sink
millions of dollars in an industry which will be
crushed by ruthless German competition after the
war is over unless Congress adopts adequate meas
ures to control such competition. In its present
aspect, therefore, the problem is essentially one of
legislation. The crude materials for making dyes
are here in plenty; American scientists are able and
eager to turn these materials to account; and the
needed capital will be forthcoming, if the Govern
ment will only safeguard it against jealous and
reckless onslaughts from monopolistic interests in
Europe.
Dr. Charles H. Herty, President of the Ameri
can Chemical Society and head of the department
of chemistry in the University of North Carolina,
stated the case convincingly when he said yester
day in addressing the American Cotton Manufac
turers Association convened in Atlanta:
"Our manufacturers and capitalists -stand
ready to proceed with all possible haste tt> the
development of a national self-sustained dye
stuff industry. They ask only that Congress
insure them against unjust foreign competition
which they rightly realize cannot be met on ;
even terms for several years and which they
have every reason to believe will be ruthless
in Its character in the effort to regain lost
markets."
A request that is so reasonable and fair and
that involves so broad a realm of American indus
’ try and commerce should not be denied or neg
lected. It is not a request in behalf of any special
* interest which is seeking seiraggrandizement at
the expense of public rights and •w elfare; rather, it
is in behalf of the country’s common interests which
now are slavishly dependent on foreign manufac
turers and which never can be free unless native
enterprise is duly protected against unjust compe
tition from abroad. The cotton growers as well as
the cotton manufacturers of the South are con
vened. Mill operatives as well as mill owners are
concerned. And the rank and file of all Americans'
whose prosperity rests upon free and healthful busi
ness conditions are concerned.
Clearly, therefore, as Dr. Herty declares. Con
gress should enact timely legislation to prevent the
dumping of German dyestuffs on the American
market at cutthroat prices when the war is over
and also to provide reasonable tariff protection
against that danger. Otherwise the German dye
trust will have unlimited power over American dye
industries —infant industries which could not sur
vive if their foreign compe»ftora attacked them
with prices less than the cost of production, as un
doubtedly they would.
Such legislation can be passed by a Democratic
Congress without in any wise violating Democratic
principles regarding the tariff, because this is an
emergency case and demands emergency measures.
Bills to this end are now before the Ways and
Means Committee© of the House. They ought to
be given a chance. If they are defective, let better
c ubstitutes be brought forward. In any event.
Congress should take prompt and adequate steps to
relieve a situation which is one of the gravest
American industry ever faced.
What Will Holland Do?
The report that Holland has closed her German
frontier and is massing all her available forces
along that 'border suggests a world of interesting
possibilities. For the past week the Dutch military
and naval authorities have shown uncommon cau
tion and activity. Officers on leave of absence
have been recalled; railway cars which were placed
at the army’s disposal on the outbreak of the war
and subsequently were released have been requisi
tioned again; departmental heads have been daily
in conference; and sundry other circumstances
have betrayed a sense of national anxiety.
The natural inference is that Holland suspects
an invasion of her neutrality or fears that the
drift of the war situation may draw her into the
conflict. It is improbable that the Allies would at
tempt to land an army on Dutch soil for a march
upon the Teutons without Dutch consent. But, as a
leading publicist of the Netherlands is quoted as
saying: *
"If the Germans begin seriously to be
afraid of such a contingency, what influence
will that have on Germany’s attitude toward
us? We must assume that she is acquainted
with our defensive capacity. If she judges that
capacity inadequate and considers that a Brit
ish irruption through Holland into Germany is
to be feared, would it then be strange if we
were approached from the German side with
proposals to which we cannot submit, because
they would mean the abandonment of our
neutrality toward the Allies?”
The Dutch Government so far has been impec
cably neutral and self-contained despite ‘mart’}
trials to its temper. Wrapped in the shadow of
fire and sword, it has kept peaceful and cool. Its
commerce has suffered at the hands of both bel
ligerent groups, but especially at the hands of Ger
many whose stealthy' sea warfare has sunk twenty
eight Dutch vessels. These accumulated wrongs
were capped by the recent destruction of the Tuba
nita, apparently by a German submarine. No won
der Holland’s nerves are on edge.
The present crisis, however, seems independent
of the submarine issue, though that issue may. bulk
large in the outcome. The point of immediate
friction lies in the demands which Germany may
make, or perhaps has made, on the apprehension
that the Allies contemplate an invasion of German
soil byway of the Netherlands. That, at least, is
the gist of the veiled comment now coming from
Amsterdam and The Hague. Public sentiment in
Holland has been for the most part pro-Ally, but It
has been first of all and pre-emiently pro-Dutch.
The Government has deemed strict neutrality best
for the country’s interests both now and hereafter,
and the majority of the people have shared that
conviction. But If Germany, doubting the good
faith of that attitude or doubting Holland’s ability
to maintain It against British pressure, should
force the issue—there seems little doubt as to where
Holland, facing the necessity of a choice between
the Central Empires and the Entente, would cast
her lot. She would not cast it with the side that
has destroyed her peaceful ships and the side which
from all present omens is destined to defeat.
The total war strength of the Dutch, regulars
and reserves, is about three hundred and twenty
thousand men, well trained and well equipped.
These forces, together with the country’s wonderful
system of water defense, would prove very formid
able in repelling an invasion. - But without striking
a'blow on her own account Holland could wield a
far-reaching influence on the war’s outcome simply
by opening her territory to an Allied expedition
against the Teuton lines in Belgium and in Ger
many itself. The Kaiser’s forces thus would be
caught between two fires —a predicament which at
this juncture might become overwhelming.
It should be noted, however, that as yet there
is no official explanation of Holland’s interesting
activity and no official hint of what her course will
be. The entire situation is largely conjectural. But
apparently it is filled with grave possibilities.
Sometimes we think that Carranza can't find Villa
and is afraid that someone else will.
Join the Savers.
The year 1916 marks the one hundredth anni
versary of the establishment of savings banks in
the United States. That is an event well worthy
of celebration the country over, for no institution
renders broader service or fosters sounder pinci
ples than those which inspire and aid the people to
practice thrift. America is w’orld-famed as a land
of opportunity, not for favored classes or groups
but for the great rank and file. It has been the pe
culiar mission of the savings bank to enable hun
dreds of thousands of perqpns to materialize
opportunities, to turn humble beginnings into
royal ends and to attain that measure of
economic stability and freedom which is so impor
tant a part of human happiness. Essentially a
democratic institution, the savings bank has exem
plified and at the same time promoted the spirit of
true Americanism.
These banks have earned a broad title to their
name. They have saved a vast* deal more than
money. They have saved energy and labor and
character and ideals, making them all count for.
definite achievement and enduring good. They
have saved thousands of homes from w r ant and
thousands of persons from misery. They have been
in some respects our greatest agency of conserva
tion, for they have prevented the waste .and en
couraged the development of human resources.
Thus they have contributed to public no less than
individual welfare and have played a notable part
in the nation's prosperity and advancement.
The most appropriate way to observe the cen
tenary of savings banks is—TO SAVE. Every uian/
woman and child in Atlanta should have a part in
this nation-wide celebration by starting a savings
account, however small it may be. The surest way
to develop thrift, on which >o much of life's con
tentment and usefulness depends, is to make just
such a beginning. A dollar put. safely away and
drawing interest will give the depositor a new out
look and a new purpose. It will inspire him to
add others to it, and so through the months and
years it will grow into a shield against the '‘slings
and arrows” of uncertain fortune and into a sword
by w’hich difficulties can %e conquered and oppor
tunities achieved.
I
vfila might be said to be a moving picture.<
Germany now seems to be impatient with her
enemies because they don’t hurry up peace nego
tiations.
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOIiKNAL, ATLANTA, < ivaaaai, AntlL i, 1916
Why We Dream.
BY H. ADDINGTON BRUCE.
FROM time to time J. receive letters of inquiry
regarding dreams. Most of the writers of
these letters seek light on specific dreams
that have puzzled them. But also I receive in
quiries as to the meaning of dreams in general.
And recently a question was put to me which
a great many people have asked themselves--
namely, the question, "Why do we dream at all?”
In answering this question scientists used to be
coiitent with calling attention to the connection
between dreams and physical conditions experi
enced by the sleeper—sensations of heat, of cold,
of pressure, etc.
A dreamer, they would say, is a perso'n who,
while asleep, experiences some sensation which
disturbs him —such as a sensation of cold, dufe
to a current of air from an open window’ blow
ing on his foot, which has become exposed by
the slipping of his bedclothes.
The sensation reaches his brain, and prompts
him to attempt to account for what he feels. If
he were awake he could readily and promptly
do so. But, being asleep, with his consciousness
to a considerable degree limited, he is obliged to
invent .an explanation. This explanation is his
dream,
Undoubtedly this answer to the question of why
we dream is correct, so far ’as it goes. But it
does not go far enough.
It does not explain why similar sensations of
heat, of cold, or of pressure give rise to strikingly
different people. This phase of the question must
also be taken into account.
And, taking it into account, an Austrian psy
chologist, professor Sigmund Freud, has made
certain discoveries which enable us to answer our
question more definitely than ever before.
Professor Freud has found that there is an
emotional element in every dreaifi. Also he has
found that our dreams, no matter how trivial they
seem, always relate to ideas and desires which
for one reason or another are displeasing to us.
These ideas and desires, because they are dis
pleasing, we put out of mind and try to repress.
We do not like to think of them, we wish to for
get them.
We can do this well enough when we are awake.
But in sleep, with our consciousness off guard,
the case is different.
Then the repressed ideas come surging upward,
to reassert themselves and make us think of
them. The physical sensations which we expe
rience in sleep give them their chance by causing
our mind to become partially active.
But, fortunately, a certain repressive power still
is at work. If the displeasing ideas and desires
did completely emerge into consciousness they
would be so painful that they would awaken us.
Therefore, things are so arranged that they can
emerge only in a disguised, often fantastic, and
quite unrecognizable form.
On this view, that is to say, dreaming is a pro
tective device to enable us to continue sleeping.
Sometimes, to be sure,. the mechanism works
badly. The repressed ideas are too strong to be
denied. What happens then is that our dream
itself becomes so disturbing that we awake in
order to escape from it, as in the case of night
mares.
This theory of Freud’s, it must be added, has
been criticized. Personally, I believe there are
one or two types of dream —like the so-called tel
epathic dream —to which, it does not apply. But
it has been borne out time and again by psycho
logical analysis of dreams.
In instance after instance it has been proved
that dreams do have a hidden meaning that ac
cords with the Freudian theory—that, in fine, they
do relate to ideas and desires distressing, some
times repellant, in character.
(Copyright. 1916, by H. A. Bruce.)
The Great Soul
BY DR. FRANK CRANE.
NOT every one will profess that he wants to be
good, but all admit they would like to be great.
And greatness, although a secret matter, is
yet well known: it has had Its masters, examples, and
teachers, and whoever’ will may attain unto it.
Herein lie the secrets of being great.
The great soul has its resources within itself; the
small soul looks to outside things and other people.
The great soul asks, “What is true?” The small
soul is satisfied with honesty toward others.
The great soul can concentrate; the small is dissi
small soul is superficial, he sees only symptom®.
The great soul is of hospitable mind; the small soul
clings to prejudiced.
The great soul cares only that he be sincere; the
small soul that he produce a desired effect.
The great soul is honest with himself; the small
soul is satisfied with honesty toward others.
The great soul can concentrate: the small is dissi
pated.
The great soul dominates his environment; the
small soul is dominated by it.
The great soul has decision: the small soul con
stantly hesitates.
The great soul has poise: the small soul is ever
unbalanced.
The great soul has principles; the small soul
policies.
The great soul learns the general laws that run
through the universe, and trusts therfi even against
appearances; the small soul sees only the present profit
and loss, and hence is confused and can neither believe
nor understand.
The great soul is above worry: the small soul is
burdened by it.
The great soul has no fear; the small soul is
harassed by fears continually.
The great soul lives easily—that is, with dignity
and calmness of mind; the small soul is readily upset.
The great soul speaks concisely, and his yea is yea;
the small soul wrangles.
The great soul first makes sure he is right and is
then firm; the small soul is first firm and then casts
about for reasons for being so.
The great soul is sincerely humble; the small soul
is vain.
The great soul is appreciative of all; the small soul
is flattering toward those from whom he seeks some
favor, negligent or insolent toward those who cannot
contribute to his advancement.
The great soul is temperate in all things; the small
soul intemperate in his beliefs, his opinions, and his
tastes.
The great soul has the atmosphere of charity, is
tolerant toward all and helpful in the very character of
his life; the small soul is satisfied with acts of charity.
What impresses you in the great soul is his’reserve
power; in the small soul the performance or the word
seems greater than the man.
Says the Chinese “Li Ki,” “The services of Hau Kt
were the most meritorious of all under heaven. But all
he longed for was that his actions should be better than
the fame of them.”
(Copyright, 1916, bj’ Frank Crane.)
We’ve had the hymn of hate, why not the song
of spite?
The Searchlight
ORDERING DINNER BY WIRELESS.
Passengers coming into Naw York by ocean steam
er can order the dishes they prefer for the first meal
ashore by wireless. A system ,ias l a tely been in
stalled in one of the large restaurants for that pur
pose Advertisements are displayed on the steamer
bulletin boards which include a list of popular viands
and the code signal to be used in ordering them. BO
represents beefsteak and onions; CBC, corn beef and
cabbage; HE, ham and eggs and there are similar abbre
viations for other articles. Special arrangements are
made by which the price of the message is divided
between the patron and the restaurant unless the order
exceeds a certain sum, when the restaurant bears it
in full.
Sometimes a man is just as effectively adver
tised by his hating enemies.
DIXIE GOES AHEAD. —The Great Sponge Market.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., March 2!^ —This city
claims the distinction of being the largest sponge
market in the western hemisphere. Over a hun
dred schooners with their diving boats sail from its
little river to the sponge beds in the gulf; and a
local colony of 2,000 Greeks are engaged almost wholly
in the sponge business. They have imported their
native methods unchanged, even employing the same
picturesque boats with high prows and brilliant colors
that are used in the Mediterranean.
♦ ♦ *
The Greeks have an absolute monopoly on the busi
ness of diving for sponges. They go down into one
hundred feet of water in rubber suits and helmets, cut
the sponges from the bottom with a knife, and bring
them to the surface in nets. Now and again a man
gets his rubber lines tangled, and his air supply is cut
off, or he remain® belbw too long and becomes para
lyzed. Sometimes a big man-eating shark becomes
unduly curious, and makes a menacing swoop at the
diver. His usual defense in such a case is to open his
sleeve and let out a rush of air bubbles, which almost
invariably frightens the shark away.
• • •
At any rate, thdtee undersea adventures do not ap
peal to the Americans. They are willing to take a risk
for sufficient cause, but not for a diver’s wages, so the
Greeks have no competition in that part of the busi
ness. Before they came to Florida sponges were taken
only by negroes, who went out in row boats
and "hooked” sponges in compF.ratively shallow water
with long poles. It was a primitive and ineffectual
method, and all Florida did not produce a fraction of
what is now exported annually from Tarpon Springs
alone. *
• • •
The Greeks saw their opportunity, and went first to
another Florida town tarther south, where they in
vested 16.000 in a schooner and began diving for
sponges with great success. The local people held a
mass meeting, decided they did not want any “furrin
ers,” ran the Greeks out of- town and burned up their
boat. The Greeks then went to Tarpon Springs where
they received a very different reception. The people
realized that Greeks could develop the sponge industry
to the great benefit of the town. So they purchased
boats and equipment for these men from the Mediter
ranean and set them to work. Both the Greek colony
and the sponge business grew apace The Greeks now
own their boats, and about half of the local firms deal
ing in sponges are owned by Greeks. They also con
duct all of the ice cream parlors barber shops and
poolrooms in Tarpon Springs. They form nearly half
of the population and have just about a fair share of
the business.
Although the Greeks dwell in the|r own quarter of
the town, and preserve their national customs, they
live In perfect amity with the Americans. There are
very prosperous firms in the sponge business which
are conducted by Greeks and Americans working in
partnership.
The Greek likes American business methods, Amer
ican money, American movies, and many other Ameri
can things; but when it comes to cheese, wine and
candy, he insists on having his own. Hence there are
in Tarpon Springs many picturesque little shops deal
ing in these things, and in other strictly Greek dain
ties which are beyond the appreciation of an American
.palate. There are also Greek coffee houses, where you
may see the divers in from the gulf sipping the drink
from little cups and smoking water pipes.
BORDEAUX SAD, BUT SURE OF VICTORY.
— ■ BI HERBERT COREY. '
BORDEAUX. —Lt is in Bordeaux that the newcomer
to France first comprehends it means to
a country to be at war. Here is a city of 300,000
people in which there is no laughter, and no love mak
ing, and no happy, idle noises. A city in which the
men who stroll past for the most part wear bandages
or hobble on crutches or bear themselves jauntily under
the new shrapnel hemlet, which is the sign that its
wearer has been ordered to the front. A city in which
women are the motormen and sweep the streets, and-. In
which the men are old or unfit. It is a busy city
busy with the business of war—but it Is an uncan
nily quiet city. Os a Sunday afternoon the Bordelais
march past the chairs of the sidewalk cases in a tragic
silence. They seem almost unreal. It is as though
they were the ghosts of happiness.
“'What is It about Bordeaux that is so depressing?”
the members of our party of four asked each other.
It was not the wounded nien. The streets crawl
with wounded men. But so do the streets of other cities
of this stricken land. It was not alone the silence.
That is to be expected of a Sunday afternoon, when
the trucks have ceased from battering at the cobbles.
It was not altogether the sadness. France grieves, but
France grieves in privacy. Hey men and women are
dignified and reticent in moments of great emotion.
At last we puzzled it out
“There is no love making.”
In happier times these Sunday streets would have
been filled with laughing, chattaing, flirting, utterly
happy and absorbed young men and women. A French
crowd is usually a cheerful, loquacious, lively, rather
noisy gathering. The men and women are frankly In
terested jp each other. In Bordeaux today the young
girls seem not to go upon the streets, in whioh there
are no young men. The men go about their business
quietly. Os fourteen women who passed the Case de
Bordeaux as I sat watching, eleven wore mourning. At
my side sat an elderly couple—a father and mother,
perhaps—gazing straight before them, with never a
word to each other. Their silence was eloquent of
despair
“In Bordeaux,” a Frenchman once told me, “the
Bordelais begin a conversation about politics, but in
five minutes they are talking about food.”
It is one of the strongholds—some hold almost the
one surviving stronghold—of the old epicurean tradi
tion. Here the man who would replenish his cellar
sips at wines by the hour from a shallow silver saucer,
and discovers in each wine qualities that our grosser
western palates are unable to find, even when the road
has been signboarded. There are at least two restau
rants in which dinner is a rite, to be preceded by long
conversations with the maitre d’hotel and followed by
a glass of wine with the glowing chef, if that artist's
efforts have proved worthy. Today a good part of the
patronage of those high altars of St. Boniface is fur
nished -by casual Americans newly landed from the
ship, who merely seek to end an animal hunger. They
are served by young women who do not pretend to a
knowledge of the servitor’s art. They only carry dishes
to and from the tables.
These statements are not at all exaggerated. Bor
deaux before the war was the third port of France.
Today—if the imports of war material be excepted—it
is the first port of France, for Havre’s business has been
diverted to it. It is the shipping point of one of the
world’s greatest wine districts. It may be that it is
handling a greater tonnage than ever before in its his
tory. One hears of fortunes being made here on war
business, just as one likewise hears the complaints of
merchants who order this and that for theri customers
only to find their goods commandeered for the govern
ment when they reach the pier. It is futher from the
line of war than any other considerable city in France.
If happiness is to be found in France it should be here.
One finds silence instead.
An utterly wrong Impression will be received by the
reader if he assumes that Bordeaux is down-hearted or
discouraged. Bordeaux is sad, of course. Ther is not
a to*n or hamlet of the dozen nations involved in this
struggle that is not sick to its very heart of war. But,
Bordeaux seems to be resigned to a struggle that may
last for years, but in which France will be victorious
in the end. In Paris one hears talk of the war being
ended by midsummer. Here they contemplate calmly
the possibility that it may last for two years or more.
Some are talking of five years more. The one thing
that one never hears suggested is that France may be
defeated. ' •
Perhaps it is in consequence of this conviction that
victory is certain that the people of Bordeaux seem to
have a somewhat milder attitude toward the enemy than
one finds elsewhere. There is a strong admixture of
As sponges become scarcer the fleets have to go
farther and farther out into the gulf to get a good
harvest. They now usually remain for two or three
months at a time, returning all together at certain
times of the year, -when the great sales are held. Early ,
fall, Christmas and Easter are the times of the most
important sales, and upon these occasions Tarpon
Springs becomes one of the liveliest little towns upon
the globe. The Greek diver is a daring, happy-go
lucky chap, who makes big wages and does not believe
in saving them. When he hits town he usually collects
several hundred dollars, and proceeds zealously tn
spend it all before going to sea again. He is - Ifberaa
and boisterous patron of wineshops and coffee houses
and movies. He decks himself in the gaudiest and
most expensive clothes that money will buy. He
rather overruns the town, but seiobT.'. -Joes any harm
either to himself or anyone else.
Easter' is the most important occasion of all. being
a great Greek holiday. There is much feasting, and
candle light processions through the streets at nigfct.
At the time of the Christmas sale the Greek cross ia
celebrated. The whole colony gathers at the bayou
behind the town. The young men, all expert swimmers,
line up on the bank, clad in trunks. The pfiest throws
a wooden cross into the water and there is a race for
It, the boy* who wins receiving a prize.
When the sponges are brought up by the divers
they bear no resemblance whatever to what you buy in
a drug store, for the commercial sponge is merely the
skeleton of an animal. In the natural state it is cov
ered with a thick mucus. This is pounded and washed
out, the roots are cut off with sheep shears, the sponges
are sorted according to variety and strung In bunches
of ten to thirty each. There are a number of varieties.
The -wool sponges are the most valuable, others being
grass, yellow and wire sponges.
Sponges of all kinds are becoming scarce, and the
prices they bring are surprising. Wool sponges bring
from $2 to $4 a pound. A little ragged heap of sponges
that you could cart away in a wheelbarrow often sell®
for several hundred dollars. The sponges grow in
banks upon the bottom of the gulf, and the great ob
ject of the fisher is to discover a new bank, for a large
one is a veritable bonanza.
When a sale is held the sponges are carried to the
water front, where they form great heaps, divided ac
cording to kind and quality. The buyers are Americans,
most of whom live in Tarpon Springs as representa
tives of various northern firms. The Greeks who own
the sponges are on hand to exhibit them and extoll
their value, but there is no haggling. Sealed bids are
made upon each lot, and the highest offer gets the
sponges.
Tarpon Springs is an absolutely complete and inde
pendent unit in the sponge business. There is a local
supply house which deals in all the paraphernalia of
the divers, and the brass helmets which they wear are
made by a local machine ehop. For the rest, the outfit
consists in a rubber suit, iron Shoes weighing twelve
pounds, rubber hose to connect the diver with the pump
on deck, and the rope by which he is lowered.
From Tarpon Springs the sponges go chiefly to New
York, Chicago and Cincinnati, where they receive the
final process of bleaching, and are then placed on the
retail market In addition to Tarpon Springs, the
sponges are taken in commercial quantities at Key
West, Miami and in the Bahamas. In all of these
places, however, the primitive method of the long
pole and the hook still prevails, and the sponges can
only be taken neat the shore, while the men of Tarpon
Springs cruise from Rock Island to the Tortugas, and
bring in more sponges than aJI of these other fisher
ies put together. Tarpon Springs has been rewarded
for giving the Greek a fair deal.
Spanish blood In the Bordelais, from which the stranger
is apt to argue unforgiving hatred. On the contrary,
one finds a disposition to separate the individual enemy
from his government. Thousands of German prisoners
are held here in detention camps. A good part of last
year’s vintage was made by them, in default of the|
usual vineyard labor. An item of last Sunday’s pro
gram was the passage through the city of a dozen
military automobiles, filled with apparently contented-
Teutons.
“Joy riding," was the laconic explanation of the
maitre d’hotel. ' Jl’
~.. That was incredible!, of course, but inquiry proved it
.true. Prisoners who behave themselves well are often
taken for such rides through the countryside. An
amazed comment was made upon this fact.
“Why should we not?’ asked the mattre d’hotel.
We do not hate these men. It is only their masters
that we hate. These men did not want the war any •
more than we."
It Is true that this detached point of view is impos
sible to those Frenchmen who live nearer to the line of
war and who might conceive themselves in danger in
the event of a successful break through by the Germans.
But that it is possible ven to the Frenchmen who live
at Baordeaux is a testimonial to the coldly logical qual
ity of the French mind. Now that the first hysteria,
of war has passed he is showing himself able to dissect
the situation that made this war possible. It is his
hope that this war will make it impossible for any
group of. men sheltered behind the closed doors of
chancelleries to make another war. His hope is shared
by some of France’s greatest thinkers. Some of Eu
rope s autocratic centers of this plague of war may be
eliminated by a democracy grown powerful through
sacrifice.
This same logic has convinced the Bordelais that the
total suppression of amusements creates a morbid and
unhealthy state of mind, and an effort is therefore
being made to return to something like a normal mode
of life. It is true that few have Peen able to force
themselves to act upon this conviction, but they are
trying manfully to do so. There has been no dancing
in Bordeaux since the beginning of the war. Not many
pianos have been opened since the first Boche crossed
the Belgian border. There is no singing at social gath
erings in private homes. On the other hand, the occa
sional concert is fairly well attended, and “ice” skat
ing upon a rink covered with a paraffine composition
Is very popular, and “The Mysteries of New York" is
nightly crowding the cinema in which this wildly sen
sational film is shown. t
But logic does not lift the weight from the heart.
My most vivid memory of Bordeaux in war time will
ever be the silent, drifting, apparently aimless crowds,
the black robed women in the churches, and the strong
man in the cathedral who clasped the feet of the Virgin
before whose cold stature he knelt
(Copyright, 1916, by Herbert Corey.)
Quips and Quiddities
Mr. Stretcher —“Yes, it’s cold, but nothing like what
it was at Christmas three years ago, when the steam
fron the engines froze hard and fell on the line in
sheets."
Mr. Cuflfer —"And yet that wasn't so cold as in ’B7,
when it froze the electricity in the telephone wires, and
when the thaw came all the machines were talking as
hard as they could for upwards of five hours.”
“Well, gentlemen,” said Mr. Longbow, F the coldest
year that I can remember was in the Christmas week
in ’B4, when the very policemen had to run to keep
themselves warm."
But that was too much, and with silent looks of in
dignation the other two left to his own reflections the
man who treated the truth so lightly.
• • •
One glance at the editor’s face was sufficient to
warn the staff they were is for a hot time.
"Send Mr. Scribbler to me,” he snorted to the of
fice boy.
The reporter of that name entered the august pres
ence serenely conscious that he was innocent of any
offense.
"Now, look here,” roared the editor, "you’re the idiot
who reported that charity ball, aren’t you? Well,”
and he pointed with accusing finger at a printed para
graph, “just look what you’ve written: ‘Among the
prettiest girls present was Colonef Oldknutl’ 'What
d’ye mean? He's a man, isn't he?”
“He may be,’ said the reporter, quietly, "but that's
where he was."
