About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1917)
4 THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL ATLAJTTA, GA., 5 IOKTB FOISYTH ST. > Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mail Matter of the Second Class. JAMES K. GRAT, President and Editor. % SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. Twelve months ‘ 6c Six months <Oc Three Months - 6c The Sejni-Weekly Journal is published on Tues day 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'staff of distinguished contributors, with strong depart ments of special value to the home and the farm. Agents wanted at every postoffice. Liberal com mission allowed. Outfit free. Write R. K. BRAD LEY. Circulation Manager. The only traveling representatives we have arc B. F. Bolton. C. C. Coyle. I. H. Kimbrough. Chas. H. Woodliff and L. J. Farris We will be responsible only for money paid to the above-named traveling representatives. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS The label used for addreesag your paper show, the time saba'll pm-c expire*. By renew teg at b-ost two weeks be fore the date oo thia label, you insure reg-ilar semre. 1b ordering paper changed, be wire to mention your old. as well as yon- new address If on a route, please give th' route awinber. We eannot enter <rubwrtpt ons to begin With back numbers, nil leaner should be sent by po«til order er registered mail. Address all orders and notices for this Department to pHE SEMI-MEEKt-.V JOURNAL. Atlanta. Ga. The Entente Reply. The Entente reply to President Wilson's peace soundings leaves no doubt as to the main object's for which the Allies are fighting, and no doubt that an early end of the war is next to impossible un less Germany is ready to abandon the attitude of Victory and accept the lot of defeat. The President*proposcd. in his note of December the eighteenth last, that the belligerent groups make an avowal of their respective views “as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded And the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a guaranty against its renewal or the kindling of any similar conflict in the future." The Central Powers answered almost immediately. But they merely reiterated their desire for a peace conference; they said nothing of specific terms. The Entente Powers, on the other band, now’ explain rather definitely what they meant when they de clared long ago that they insisted and would con tinue to insist upon “restitution,” reparation and guarantees.'* Restitution, we are now given to understand, means first of all that Belgium, Serbia and Mon tenegro must be restored, and that the invaded ter ritories of France. Russia and Rumania must be evacuated. But more than that, it means “the restitution of provinces or territories wrested in the past from the Allies by force or against the iril] of their populations.'* This implies, of course, a return of Alsace-Lorraine to France and of the tali an Tyrol to Italy. Somewhat to the same ef fect is the demand tor “The liberation of Italians, of Slavs, of Rumanians and of Tcheco Slovaques from for i eign domination; ahd the enfranchisement of populations subject to the bloody tyranny ot the Turks.” E’ r **‘T farreaching "liberation” looks to the ex ion of Italy’s sway across the Adriatic and to upbuilding of Serbia, Montenegro and Rumania, all at Austria's expense. Such exactions may seem severe; but a power which has fattened upon its small neighbors, treating their rights and liberties with cynical disregard, will have scant room for protest if the whirligig of time brings in its re venges. Concerning their second prerequisite to peace, reparation, the Allies do not, and could not, par ticularize at this juncture. Questions of indemnity for war damage must be settled after the fighting is over. It is made plain, however, that “just” compensation for the countries which have suffered Invasion will be expected. There is little or no likelihood that the Allies, even though their vic tory should be overwhelming, will exact of the Central Empires a monetary indemnity at all pro portionate to that which Prussia exacted of France ,n 1872. It is doubtful, indeed, that the Central Empires could survive a war tax which would be sufficient to repair all the damage they have done tn Belgium and France and Serbia, not to consider Russian Poland and Rumania. The probability is that reparation will be sought, for the most part, in territorial cessions, if the Allies are able to dic tate terms. Regarding •’guarantees,” the Entente reply, while avoiding questions of detail, indicates cer tain broad lines of policy which are no less inter esting to-neutrals than to belligerents. The Allies, we are assured, “associate themselves, with all their hopes, with the project for the creation of a league of nations to insure peace and Justice throughout the world.” This is explicit approval of an idea which now finds especial favor in the United States and of which President Wilson him self is an earnest advocate. (It should be noted in this connection that Germany also has indorsed that idea.) The Allies declare, however, that be fore definite steps toward preventing future wars can be taken, the issues of the present conflict must be settled. As to their particular sphere of interests, they require “The reorganization of Europe, guaran teed b> a stable regime and founded as much upon respect of nationalities and full security and liberty of economic development, which all nations, great or small, possess, as upon territorial conventions and international agreements suitable to guarantee territorial and maritime frontiers against unjustified attacks.” The phrases here employed derive their signif icance partly from their context which refers to “restitution.” Thus, “the reorganization of Europe” Is involved in the proposed handing-back of prov inces and territories such as and the Italian Tyrol and in the “liberation” of Slavs and Rumanians -from foreign domination. The Allies propose to carry their -process of “reorgan ization” still further by expelling the Ottoman Empire from Europe ancT. presumably—though they are silent on this point—establish Russian or joint contYol at the Dardanelles. Territorial readjustments, however, are mere ly the outward aspects of such reorganization as the Allies apparently have tn mind. There must be a new regime, founded upon respect of nation alities and vouchsafing “full security and liberty of economic development which all nations, great or small, possess.” Especially notable in this con nection is the avowal, M lt goes without saying that if the Allies THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1917 .wish to liberate Europe from the brutal cov etousness of Prussian militarism, it has never -been tbeir design, as has been alleged, to com * pass the extermination of the German peoples and their political disappearance. That which they desire above all else is to insure a geace upon the principles of liberty and justice, upon the inviolable fidelity to international obli gation. with which the government of the United States has never ceased to be inspired.” If the statesmen of the Entente Powers live up to these lofty principles, which undoubtedly are in the hearts of the peoples they represent, they will make the settlement of the war, not a game of shrewd diplomacy, but a broad and shin ing covenant cf human rights. As a response to President Wilson's suggestion that both belligerent groups state the objects for which they are fighting and the terms on which they would tease, the Entente note is as complete and defin.te as could be expected. Certainly, it meets, on the Allies’ behalf, the broad purpose of the President’s proposal which was made in the hope that if both sides would avow their aims fully and frankly there would be an opening for peace. Whether one considers the Entente terms as tow disclosed, reasonable or excessive, vindic tive or just, one must recognize that’ Entente diplomacy has spoken out so that all the world could understand. And. what is particularly im portant, the people of the Allied nations know pretty definitely what they are fighting for and what their governments are seeking. This cannot be said of the .Central Powers. The German Government, which thinks and speaks for all the others associated with It, has never in dicated on what terms it' would be willing to set tle the war. It has left no doubt of its eagerness to stop hostilities and draw the Allies into a peace conference. But it has refused to give any hint of the terms which it would- propose at such a con ference. It has refused to let the outside world know for just what it is contending. It‘has re fused to let its own people know. It is suggested that in as much as the Allies have declared their aims and terms, Germany now may confide hers to President Wilson and that thus the way to another peace move may be opened. This is entirely conjectural.* The Central Powers may be weaker than the world suspects; in that condition they may sue for peace in the near fu ture Or they may be stronger than the world suspects, in which circumstance they may hurl de fiance at the Entente terms and fight on more resolutely if not more effectually than ever. How ever that may be, there is no mistaking the Allies’ determination to press the war with new vigor and boldness and to stand out for the conditions they have set forth until they are either victorious or are convinced of the impossibility of achieving their aims. Unless, then. Germany is ready to ac cept terms which contemplate her defeat, there is no apparent chance for the war to end until at least one more spring campaign has been fought. Ready for the Land Show. As preparations for the Southeastern Land Show to be held in Atlanta February 1-15 ap proach completion, the success of this admirable enterprise becomes doubly assured. To its devel opment, four States have contributed their energy and resurces. and they will contribute liberally, too, to its popular patronage. Throughout Geor gia. Florida, Alabama and South Carolina the pur poses of the Land Show have aroused cordial in terest. Scores of communities as well as indi viduals and corporations are preparing exhibits. All the booths originally planned were applied for weeks ago, and every day or so brings some, new demand for space. Indeed, the present scope of enterprise is at least twice as great as its first design. As the first land show ever held in the South and as one of the best constructed and best adver tised ever held in America, the Southeastern ex position will draw visitors not from this region alone but from the North and West as well. Com ing at the high tide of the season of southward travel, it will attract hundreds of tourists and hundreds of persons in quest of opportunity. The railroads have granted special rates and liberal stop-over privileges. It was not until recent years that the country at large conceived of the marvelous resources awaiting development in the Southeast; indeed, it was not until recent years that the people of the Southeast themselves began to realize the wondrous range of their natural treasure. The coming land show will accentuate the new national interest in Southern resources. It will bring investors and desirable settlers into Georgia and neighboring States. It will bring together buyers and sellers of land, and will win more people to the soil. It will quicken the forces of progress already at work in the Southeast and, and will point the way to still wider reaches of prosperity. Our Wealth in Ores. In the unexampled output and profits of Amer ican mining industries in the last twelvemonth, the South as a whole shared substantially and Georgia's part though not of major importance was distinctly promising. The- aggregate value of the 1916 production, according to estimates by the fed eral Geological Survey, was three billion dollars On copper alone, the net profit is estimated to have been some three hundred millions. These unpre cedented earnings were due mainly to an advance in the prices of virtually all minerals; and high prices, in turn, stimulated production and pros pecting. Thus in Georgia a number of mineral deposits which had not been considered of great commercial value sprang into importance when war conditions sent prices soaring. Mica, barytes and manganese are among the Georgia minerals which have been developed during the last two jears with unusual energy and emolument. Now that plants for extracting and handling these ores have been built and firmly established, it is likely that they will continue operating successfully after the war is over and European exportation is re sumed; for, It was largely the heavy initial cost which made such enterprises of doubtful prospect in years gone by. Throughout the Piedmont area of Georgia, there has been more prospecting since 1915 than for a decade preceding—not mere ad ventures but practical investigations, guided by geological science. Important results have follow ed, and pthers doubtless will come. This State is rich in many resources, but among the richest of them all, potentially, are its minerals. WHISKEY’S LAST BULWARK RE MOVED—EVERYBODY SWAT TING JOHN BARLEYCORN By Ralph WASHINGTON, Jan. 13.—Once upon a time there was a prize fight between two pugilists who were terribly in earnest. One wore a white ribbon and the other a red sash. They sparred for several rounds, the red sash holding his own appar ently. But after a while the boy with the white ribbon began to land what appeared to be telling blows on his adversary. First, the red sasher had an eye blackened; then his nose was smashed and bled. He insisted to his seconds, however, that the damage wasn’t really hurt ing’ him. In the second round the other eye was closed, but still he insisted that he hadn’t been injured. Finally, the white, ribboner landed a blow that tore off an ear, and when the red sasher returned to his corner he admitted to his second; ’’This fellow ain't hurting me much, out he ain’t doing me any good.” The story isn’t original. It was told in the lobby of the United States capitol at the expense of an attorney representing the liquor interests a few minutes after the supreme court rendered its notable decisions on the Webb-Kenyon law and the West Virginia prohibition act. The attorney for the whisky people appreciated the application of the story. The decisions of the court certainly didn't help the whisky traffic. On the con trary, they were relatively more severe to John Barley corn than was the blow that took off the pugilist’s ear. And to make it worse for poor old John, the United States senate came along the very next day and passed the Sheppaj-d bill prohibiting the sale of intoxicants in the city of Washington and District of Columbia. There seems no question that the lower house will follow the senate’s step and pass to the Sheppard bill, so the national capital will be dry after November 1, 1917. • • • Liquor Forces’ Hardest Fight Hr I® doubtful if the liquor forces eier made a harder fight against a prohibition proposal than was staged in the senate, not that the whisky traffic in Washington is of itself of such consequence, but because, primarily, passage of the legislation commits congress to the principle of prohibition, and, secondly, the capital of the nation, as a city, is regarded as a sort of model throughout the country. The prohibitionists are elated over the victories, and already they have begun to shout about the consti tutional amendment for nation-wide prohibition. It they expect to put this measure through congress at this session they are mistaken. While a majority of both houses favor national prohibition, it seems improbable that the proposal will command the required two-thirds vote in either house. Ihe supreme court decisions as to the constitu tionality of the Webb-Kenyon law and the West Virginia prohibition act are far more consequential than the “drying” of Washington. The decisions practically deprive whisky and other intoxicants of the protecting wing of the federal government. The commerce clause of the constitution means nothing when its operation runs counter to state laws, prohibit ing the importation and possession of intoxicants. • • • Last Bulwark Removed The commerce clause of the constitution has been the bulwark behind which the whisky traffic has felt secure for all these years. It mattered not what the people of a particular state might decree with refer ence to the sale, manufacture or importation of'whisky, in the opinion of the distillers because the courts would not sustain a law that sought to interfere with the shipment of whisky in Interstate comerce. There were precedents a-plenty to justify the belief of the distillers, but these precedents went to smash when the supreme court got a fair crack at old John Barleycorn. If the states that have gone "dry” are not “dry*’ in the future it will be the fault only of the state officers changed with the duty of enforcing the prohibition laws. The court decision will not apply to Georgia’s quantitative prohibition, or two-quart law, for the Georgia legislature legalizes the importation of at least two quarts a month by each individual. The decision means, however, that state officers need have no fear about seizing and confiscating shipments in excess of two quarts to each individual, and as for the blockade runners (blind tigers) who have imported whisky in the bulk, they may just aa well quit business. Whisky consigned to such birds can be seized by the state and confiscated the minute it crosses the state line. The Georgia Pecan. The remarkable attainments and rich possibil ities of the Georgia pecan industry are attracting special attention from the federal Department of Agriculture. This is the one species of nut, say the Department experts who are studying pecan culti vation, “which promises soon to surpass any other grown in America.” Concerning the food value of pecA kernels, we are told that they contain two thirds as much protein and from four to six times as much fat as round steak, and have at least four times as much fuel value. ( These properties, to gether with its delicious flavor, assure the pecan an ever-widening popularity. Hence the substan tial inducement of the pecan orchard as an invest ment. It has been computed that ten acres of these trees, matured and bearing well, would be sufficient to support the average family. Certain it is that those who have planted pecan orchards in Georgia and have tended them with skill are re ceiving, or are assured, royal returns. In the Al bany district alone, upwards of fifty thousand acres have been planted in paper-shell pecans. The aggregate value of such investments in Georgia probably exceeds fifteen million dollars, and the yearly output of the groves is becoming one of the peculiarly important sources of the State’s pros perity. Pershing’s Withdrawal. The semi-official announcement that General Pershing's forces soon will be withdrawn from Mexico has long been expected. . Military judg ment as well as general expediency counsels that course. As matters now stand the troops are in a poor position strategically. ’For service in border protection, they will Jie much valuable on the American side of the frontier. Months ago it be came evident that the original design of the puni tive expedition had been effected as nearly as it ever could be. Villa remains uncaptured and his bandit forces are still a menace to Mexico’s peace if not to American security. But t'i e mere pres ence of General Pershing's column v Chihuahua cannot mend that situation. The expedition now can be withdrawn with good grace as well as safety. The United States has made it plain that whenever occasion demands, its troops will be sent across the Mexican border, despite Carranza’s fussiness. Buffalo Bill kept alivo. a fine tradition; and for that alone bls memory should be bon >red. THE SPIRIT OF THE DAY’S WORK—By Dr. Frank Crane Perhaps we might get along better if we remem bered that it is all in a day’s work. There’s a lot to be done, but we don't have to do It all today. And the higher the task, and the more difficult, delicate, and important the matter, the more necessary it is to attack in the spirit of a day's work at a time. To learn to play the piano, or to read French, or to overcome a bad habit, or to write shorthand, or to achieve poise, and patience, or to be good—nobody can come at such accomplishments at once. It is little by little, the steady forcing of the will upon one’s stubborn desire, mind, or fingers, whether we feel like it or not, just as a day’s work, it is so we crawl up the steep hill of perfection. The will to do is important, and the ambition to do is necessary, and hard work counts; but one essential to any excellence, whether in craftsmanship or charac ter, is time. * * gomehow or other the past endues us. There's no such thing as a fresh start. Every new start carries •with it something of those we made before. Every effort silts something into our nerves or muscles or brain cells so that they are different next time. The power of the thirtieth day is the result of the invisible dividends of the twenty-nine preceding days’ work. Somebody asked Susanne Wesley, John’s mother, MOST people suffer from nightmares only when asleep. But some have nightmares in waking moments. And waking night mares. by all accounts, are even more unpleasant than the sleeping kind. Here is a description of a waking night mare: “The sufferer wakes from sleep to find himself oppressed by some weight which confines him up on his back, and prevents his breathing, which be comes exceedingly laborious, so that the lungs can not be fuly inflated by any effort he can make. “The sensation is now the most' painful that can be conceived. The person becomes every in stant more and more awake and conscious of his situation. “He makes violent efforts to move his limbs, especially his arms, with a view to throwing off the incumbent weight, but not a muscie will obey the impulse of the will. He groans aloud, if he has strength to do it. Every effort he makes seems to exhaust his little remaining vigor. “If left to himself, he lies in this state generally about a minute or two. when he recovers all at once the power of volition.’’ Tn exceptional cases the paralysis of waking nightmares has been known to persist for ten minutes, even for fifteen minutes. Naturally, and especially if it is of frequent' occurrence, it greatly alarms its victim. And, undoubtedly, it represents an abnormal nervous condition, but one that usually ig of no seriousness. Strictly speaking, it' is nothing more than a prolongation after sleep of nightmare ex perienced during sleep. Often those afflicted by it know that they have been troubled by an extremely unpleasant dream. Just as often, to be sure, tliey have no remem- pWAYS TO ECONOMIZE. VI .—Lighting the Home. Y” WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.—A number of investiga tions made by the United States bureau of standards deal with household lighting prob lems. The work of this bureau deals largely with the application of scientific methods to practical ends, and its experts have several things to say to the ultimate consumer which may show him how to save money In his household budget. • • • The matter of lighting the house is one where a little knowledge points the way to a small monthly saving. The whole item of the lighting bill is, as a rule, not a very large one, but it may just as well be made as small as possible. • • • The choice of a means of lighting Is usually deter mined by considerations of taste and convenience rather than by that of cost. You can light your house with anything from candles to tungsten lamps, and you have probably selected the light that gives you the least trouble without paying much attention to relative expense. This Is a sound* enough proceeding in a matter whose total Is relatively so small, but having made your choice of a lighting system, it is certainly desirable to get the greatest efficiency for the least possible money. • • ■ If you use kerosene oil to light your Jiome you have an economical system. The average cost of kerosene lamp light is about 20 cents per 1.000 candle hours. There are a number of kerosene lamps available which use incandescent mantles instead of the naked flame. These lamps give three or four times as much light as a kerosene lamp without a mantle, but, according to the bureau of standards, the construction of such lamps is usually rather complicated, and hence they do not always prove satisfactory. There is also the cost of the mantle to be considered. < In deciding whether or not to use this type of lamp, it is necessary to balance these factors of convenience and greater cost of apparatus against the greater ejciency of the mantle. Large numbers of city homes are lighted by gas. In most cities the quality of the gas is regulated by law, as the householder has little means of judging the lighting power of the gas. Figuring on a basis of the standard usually set, and a typical price of $1 per thousand cubic feet for gas. an open-flame gas burner will give you light at the rate of 25 cents per thousand candle hours, a price 25 per cent higher than that of kerosene light. It is possible greatly to increase the efficiency of gas light by the use of gas mantles. • • • The efficiency of the gas mantle depends largely on the care you take to keep it in good condition, as such mantles are rather fragile. In fair condition, a good mantle will give you light at the rate of 1.000 candle hours for 5 cents, making gas burned through a good mantle the most economical lighting system where the price of gas is not too high. This figure is calculated on a basis of » a thousand feet for gas. If your local price is higher or lower, the cost will of course vary accordingly. In any event, the use of the mantle is clearly an economy, even when the cost of the lamp and the mantles is considered. In a year a good lamp and globe will more than pay for themselves, and give you about three times as much light besides. Many persons use a gas mantle where a bright light is required for reading or sewing, but are content to burn an open flame where a dim light is sufficient. Tn a case like this it is advisable to install one of the small mantle burners. Such burners only cost 10 cents for the fixture, and 25 cents apiece for the mantles. They give as much light as the open flame and only use one-quarter as much gas. They give a steadier light, and there is less danger of fire. • • • If your house is lighted by electricity, there are three main types of bulbs that you can buy to equip your fixtures. These are the ordinary carbon bulb, the* metalized carbon, and finally the tungsten. A .tungsten lamp gives about three times as much light as a carbon bt!lb while using the same amount of current. The metalized carbon bulb gives from a half to a third more light than the ordinary carbon form. The tungsten is thus by far the most efficient and economical of the three. Where a given quantity of light is desired, the tungsten lamp will furnish it for a third the cost in current. Whatever the system of measuring and charg ing for electricity, the bureau of standards maintains that the tungsten lamp is far the cheapest to Use, even where the company will replace broken carbon lamps free of charge, and the consumer has to buy his own tungstens. It is sometimes stated, and with some reason, that the tungsten lamp is easily broken, but the more modern forms are not nearly so fragile as the older ones. The conclusion to be drawn from all the evidence is that it is by all means advisable to use tungsten lamps. WALKING NIGHTMARES why she told her children the same thing over and over twenty times. "Because nineteen is not enough," she answered. In that greatest of earthly businesses, mothering. It is the spirit of the day’s work that helps. To carry on so complicated and vital affair as the training of children there is needed above all that self-possession which comes only when we conceive of our work as lasting but one day. And it is when we look forward too much and keep expecting results -that time alone can give, that we fall into the petulance or fretfulness that destroys the quality of our guidance. The clock has millions of tick-tocks to make, but It has a moment in which to do each one of them. The sun rises regularly to his duty, and sets at night satis fied with what increment of growth his day’s work has supplied to living things. And we—we need never expect to arrive—our busi ness is not to arrive, it is to travel, to cover each day our allotted span, leaving all (questions of ends and values and rewards to that Mind that think* in centuries and weaves men and the labors of men into its vast fabric. Our plan is on th© trestle-board*, our lines are known for this day's duties: let us d-» what is marked for us; it is for us in this world to live "by the day," and not •'by the job.” / (Copyright, 1917, by Frank Crane.) brance of dreaiping. This simply means that the distressing sensa tions of the paralysis have blotted out all recol lection of the images of sleep. They have been dreaming, they may depend on that, and they have been having dreams not at all to their liking. From these dreams they have to escape by waking. But' few'people—if any—ever pass di rectly from sleep to full wakefulness. There is always—or almost' always—a semi-waking state through which sleepers must go. It is in this borderland state of partial wake fulness—known technically as the hypnagogic state—that the paralysis is experienced. With full wakefulness it disappears, as does, in many cases, all memory of the bad dream that preceded it. Its explanation, obviously, is linked with the explanation of nightmare in general. But this does not mean that the paralysis and the'sleeping night mare alike are due merely to disturbed bodily conditions, notably indigestion. Such, of course, is the common impression with regard to nightmare. In point of fact, as medical psychologists now are well aware, nightmares have an essentially mental origin, rather than a physical one. They result from the presence, In the subcon sciousness, of painful emotions and ideas, of which the dreamer, in his waking moments, may never be fully conscious. To get at these emotions and ideas is usually most difficult, even by the advanced methods of modern psychological analysis. But once they are got at —or when, so to speak, they have been "out grown” by the one having them —nightmore, whether of the waking or the sleeping sort, ceases to torment. Copyright, 1916, by the Associated Newspapers.) The Journal Information BureauW* prepared • o furnish reliable information In answer ,te al most ary question that you choose to ask. You are inviteJ to make J-ee use of this service. There is no charge of any sort except a two-cent stamp for return postage. Address THE JOUR NAL INFORMATION BUREAU, FREDERIC J. HASKIN, DIRECTOR. WASHINGTON. D. C. L : J' In most places It is possible to buy lamps calcu lated for different voltages, and this is a point worth considering. Thus, if the current supplied to you is 115 volts, you can usually buy of your dealer lamps rated at 113 volts. 115 volts, and 117 volts. If you use a lamp rated at a little lower voltage than you actually get through your -wires, you will get a brighter light, but the lamp will burn out and breax sooner. If the rated voltage and the actual voltage are the same, you have a lamp which combines brightness and long life. If you buy a lamp rated a little higher than the actual voltage, it should last longer, but the light will not be quite as good. Considering the small cost of the lamp, it is probably best to use the form whose voltage 1s identical with that of your city current. z / In considering your electric lighting problem, the shade or reflector should come in for due attention. You should select a reflector suitable for the particular purpose in hand. If you are reading or working at a table, it is probable that you do not need the whole room lighted brightly, and a shade which concentrates a moderate amount of light on your table will give you all the light you need, where you need it. Such a shade’ should always produce a soft light, free from glare, and should cover the incandescent filament in the lamp so that the very bright glow will not dazzle your eyes if you chance to look up. There is a certain small loss of actual efficiency in the use of such a shade to absorb and diffuse the light, but this is greatly overbalanced by the desirable quality of the light it gives, and by the saving to your eyes. No arrangement which lets the light shine directly into the eyes should be regarded as satisfactory, however cheap and efficient it may be. If you burn gas or electricity in a city, you probably have a meter' for each. It is advisable to learn to read these meters for yourself. This is not »o much in order to keep a check on the company readings as for the insight it gives you into the cost of various appliances, and a safeguard against various forms of leakage. When all your lights and heating appliances are turned off, the meters should be motionless; and if there is any movement, even the slowest, there is some sort of a leak which should be investigated. If you use a particular appliance, such as an electric iron or electric toaster, you can calculate how much it costs you by turning off every other socket and burning the appliance in question for a given length of time. By reading the meter before and after, you will see how much current it has used in that time, and you can calculate the cost on the basis of the local rate. The man who reads the meter can easily show you how. Most appliances also have the amount of electricity they use stamped upon them, and from this It 1* easy to calculate the cost per hour on the basis of local rate. The convenience of such appliances often overbalances any greater cost of operation they may have over the old ways of ironing or toasting, but it is always advis able to know just what such 4 convenience costs in dollars and cents. It happens that the consumer considers his gas and light bills unnecessarily large, and in such case he is inclined to blame the meter or the company’s reading. In many states it is possible to have the meter tested free by request, and it can be done almost anywhere on the payment of a fee. In the majority of such cases, however, the meter proves to be right, and' "the consumer has failed to reckon on the increased amount of light he uses in winter, on large lamps that he may have bought to replace small ones, on the fact that his lamps may be getting old. In such a case the old lamp gives less light, and it is necessary to burn more of them to get the same illumination; but the amount of current consumed by each lamp remains the same. In the selection of all sorts of lighting device*, the thing to bear in mind is the ultimate cost of a unit of service. The automobilist figures his tire cost in miles per dollar. He would rather pay S4O for a tire that will give 5,000 miles than $25 for a tire that only gives 2,0000 miles. In the same w-ay, when buying an elec tric bulb or gas fixture you should bear in mind the amount of current it will use and the length of Its life rather than the original price you pay for it. To hear some people talk, one would imagine we never had rough weather in January.
